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HISTORY 


OF 


DISSENTERS, 


FBOM   THE 


RJEVOILUTION 


IJJ  1688,  TO  THE  YEAR  1808. 


IN    FOUR    VOLUMES. 


BV 


JOAVXD  BOGVE  ^  JAMES  BENNETT,  s. 


>■ 


VOL.  IV. 


lotrtmn: 


••  '•    '••  •   V* 


PRIKTEP    FOK   THE   AUTHORS;,'*'  '   ' 


1  4 


AlTD  SOU)  BY  WILLLAItfS,  STATIONEK'S  COURT;  CONDER,  BUCKLERSBURT; 
GALE  AKP  CURTIS,  BATNE8,  AND  HAMILTON,  PATERVOSTER.ROW; 
-WILSON,  M£WS«ATK;   MAXWELL,  TEMPLE-BAR; 
AND  OOLE,  HOLBORN. 


1913. 


a. 


.  « 


I 


Jl. y 


J  i 


•^a,*  sj.    .'.    jwr«*    -    - 


'  ♦ 


f,  L 


i       • 


4 


»    •  ■  * 


•    *    »     • 

•         e         •  • 


.      Y 


8.    JACKSON,    PftrNTER,   ROMSElil. 


CONTENTS 


**•  OF  VOL.  IV. 


CHAP.  VIIL    «ECT-  II.  Lives  ofemifieni  Christians. 
Life  of -sir  John  Hartopp>  itr  Thomas  Abney  y   k 

Sir  Richard  Ellys,  Thomas  Hollis         -  .  e\% 

Thomas  Hollisjun.  Daniel  Defoe,         «  «  9,  X{ 

Joseph  Williams,  John  Taylor  .       .  «  .  14>  f  1 

Mrs.  Bendish,- Mrs.  Rowe     •  -«  •91,96 

CHAP.  IX.  State  ort'  RfiLioioK  ik  the  World. 
SECT.  I.    State  ttflUHgion  in  ^Engfand. 
Corruption  of  public  rnorali^,  favourable  occurrences  85^  41 
Huchinsonianism,  eminent  men  intbe  establishment  43,  Ai 

SECT.  IL    Eminem  men  in  Seoflmd. 
Tbe  marrow  of  divinity  condemaed  ,      ."m.  .  53 

Prosecuti9p  of  prpfessor  Sippj^on  .#.    ?  .    ^         .5^ 

Rise  of  the  secess^op,  rise  of  theglasaitea  .      •         57,  64 
Prfisbyt^ry  of  relief^,  revival  ai  Camberalang  .  6T»  69^ 

SECT.  III.    Religion  in  Ireland^  ,  - 

State  of  protestants  and  catholics  r,         •  '74 

Presbyterians,  rise  af  arianism  -  -  ,   •    75,  79 

SECT.  IV,    Religion  in  America.  ]  .,  : 

^Revivals,  eminent  men,  Jonathan  Edwards        85,  qY,  99 

THIRD  PERIOD. 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  GEORpE  ^IJ.  TO  )808. 

CHAP.  I.  New  Sect*.  'SECT.  1.    SdnJemanians. 
Tiieir  principles,  history  of  this  commtmion  lOV,  ltd 

SECT.  il.    Swedenhorgians.  ig(j 

"CHAF.  IL     State  of  Religious  JLib'ertt. 

Reconciliation  of  the  clergy  and  the  court           .  147 

American  revolution            -            -            -         •  i4gj 

.Application  of  tbe  cler^^  for  relief  froni  subscription  13s 

Dissenters  apply  for  relief           -           -           -  jgQ 

Relief  granted  to  Roman  catholics          ^-           -  17q 

Application  for  repeal  of  the  corporation  and  test  acts  174 

Frendi  revolution.           .           -           -           .  igj^ 

.  CHAP.  Ut.  Controversies.    SECT.  I.  On  Dissent. 

Grraham'^  attack  on  religious  establishments  1313, 

Controverify  concerning  village  preaching  -  214^ 

SECT.  II.    Arminian  Controversy. 

Its  commencement  between  Pelagius  tind  Augustine  S@(j 

Arminlus  against  Be^a  -  -  -        -  22J 

Rise  of  arminianism  in  England  «  ..  2^ 

Revived  by  Mr.  Wesley  -  •  -  *  229 

Review  of  the  controversy  •  -  *  93Q 


vi  .  .  "'      cosriy^i/.  '      } 

SECT.  II,    Socinian  CotUroverstf^ 
Iroeljus  Socinus,  Seiretus  -  -  341^  S43 

^ociiiiaDiftpi  ifi  England        »  . .  >.  *  ^        *•  345 

Dr.  Priestley  bpoomes  its  champion  -        .  r .      248 

Publications  of  Mr^  Lindsay,  Gilbert  Wakefield  :  S5],  .362 
Dr.  Pelshanxis  attack  on  ]VIr.  Wijberforc^  •  9o3 

J  f  -  CHAP.  IV.    Seuinaribs. 

4^cad§niy  at  Homerton,  Hoxton  -       «        858,  Q6A 

New  oolite  at  Hackney,  academy  at  Daventry  9Q5,  ^8 
Western  seminary,  Axminster  academy  .<  »  271,  273 
Tprksbir^^eminary,  seminary  at  Newport  Paguel  27<J,  27» 
At  posport,  Warrington  academy  -    .        2^1,  29%^ 

Baptist  aca4eipie^,  8^m.inariie3  in  Wales    .    -        287,  295 
-    SECT.  IL    Review  of  Seminaries.  r  204 

CHAP.  VI.   "Outward  State  of  Dissenters. 
"  SECT.  I.    Numbers  and  Rank. 
Causes  of  increase,  causes  of  decrease  «        311>  318 

List  of  dissenting  churches  *-  -  927; 

Tiew  of  diSbrent  communions  •  -  328- 

* '  *  ' '  SECT.  IL    Labours  and  Support  of  Ministers.  •     ' 
Funds  and  benefactors  •  ,'•  -         8^7^ 

'-     •  *  SECT.  if.    'PjihUc  Services  and  Associations. 
Addresses  to  the  king  -  '         -^'  rr  365 

CHAPt   VI.     .InWARP'StATE  OF  I^ELXCIIpff* 

Effects  qt*  the  ariai^  con  trov:ersy  -  n.v  ,     .^7fK 

Irr^ligion  in  the  dcadenaies,      -     .  r  .  ~  372 

influence  oi.tbp  independepts  .        .•  <*   •    <  ^  373 

Religion  of  ttie  baptists,  quavers,  ^nd  method ists  37& 

DfBCision  of  character  produced  by  Dr.  Priestley  ,  37^ 

Estabiishmeqt  p?  the  missions^ry  society  «  383 

Village  preaching,  religionof  ttie  independents  387,  389; 
Of  the  independents,  of  the  metbodists  '  390,  391: 
Ahtinomiaqisjiii  -  .  •  39^' 

Life  of  Dr.  Benson,  John  Mason  -  S97»  40S. 

Dr.  Chan<;|Ier,  Dr.  Lardner,  Dr.  Langford     404,  400,.  411 
Dr:  Fumeaiix,  Job  Orton,  Dr.  Price  414,  416,  421^ 

Dr.  Fordycc,  Dr.  Priestley,  Dr.  Guyse  425,  429,  438 

Dr.  Wilton,  Thos.  Strange,  Samuel  Brewer  444,  448,*  455'' 
Isaac  Tpms,  Dr.  Gill,  Robert  Robinson  459,  464,  468. 
John  Roland,  Dr.  Stennett,  Samuel  Pearce  475,  477,  480 
State  of  religion  in  England,  in  Scotland  483,  487 

In  Ireland,  in  America  *  •  49}ji  403 

Influence  of  Dissenters  •  «  «  496 


INDEX. 


Vol    P«ft. 

Ab^^,  Bir  Thomas     .IV,      3 
Address  to  king  Wm.     II.  144 
■  ■toqneehMary   IL  145, 
'     ■  to  qaccn  Anne  II.  150 
>  to  George  L      III.  363 

^'       \/ii  George  11.   III.  371 
America,  state  of  reli- 
gion io  II.    42^ 

IV.     85 

IV.  4y3 

Arminian  conlroyefsy   IV.  335 
^rian  controversy         III.  213 


EDgladd,  state  of  reli- 


▼rt. 


Baptists 

Baxter,  Richard 
Bates,  Dr. 
Benson,  Dr. 
Bennct,  Benjamin 
Bendish,  Mrs. 
Board,  dissenters 
Bradburvy  Thomas 
Brown,  Simon 
Brewer,  Samuel 
Bunyan,  John 
Burgess,  Daniel ' 


I.  141 

II.  188 

'  II.  204 

IV,  39 

III,  42d 

IV.  24 
IL  143 

III.  489 
II.  455 

IV.  455 
II.  248 
II.  276 


Calamy,  Dr.  Edmund  III.  452 


Controversies 
Clarke,  Matthew^ 
Crisp,  Dr. 
Cromwell,  Richard 
Cniso,  Timothy 

Davis,  of  Rothwell 
Defoe,  Daniel 
Disisent,  controversy  oh 

Deistical  controversy 
Doddridge,  Dr« 


L  388 

III.  435 

I.  399 
II.  298 
II.  254 

I.  388 

IV.  12 

III.  179 

IV,  209 
III,  250 
III.  475 


gion  m 


Evans,  0r, 

Flavel 

Fordyce,  Dr. 
Fitter,  Dr. 

Gale,  Dr.  Joho 
'  Gaunt,  Mrs. 
Gill,  Dr. 
Guyse,  Dr. 

Harris,  Dr« 
Uartopp,  sir  John 
Henry,  Philip 
■       ■  ■  ■  Mattnew 
Hollis,  Thomas 

,.       ■■jam 
Howe,  John 


n.  809 
IV.    85' 
IV.  483 
IIL  449 

IL  199 
IV.  425 
IIL  486 

IIL  421 

IL  306 

.IV.  464 

IV.  438 

IIL  459 

IV,       I 

IL  209 

IL  289 

IV,      7 

IV,      9 

IL  214 


Introduction  L      I 

Independents  L  123 

Influence  of  dissenten  IV.  496 
Ireland,  state  of  religion  IL  404 

IV.   73 

IV.  491 
Keach,  Benjamin  II.  363 


Langford,  Dr. 
Lardner,  Dr« 
Liberty,  religious 


Lisle,  lady 
Lowman,  Moses 


IV.  411 
IV.  409 
L  178 
IIL  lis 
IV.  146 
IL  304 
IIL  484 


fillys»  sir  Richard         IV.      6     Marshall.  Walter  IL  23« 


I  If  D  E  X. 


Vol.  Ipftgc, 

Methodists                    III.  i 

Methodists,  wesleyan   III.  9$ 

I '              ■  calvinistic     111.  75 

Mora  viaa  brethren        III.  101 


Nealy  Daniel 


IIL  460 


Orders,  dissenting  I.  419 

Orton.  Job  IV,  4l6 

Qtttwaid  state  of  dis* 

ters  II.    92 

in.  314 
IV.  311 

OwoD,  Dr.  IL  d35 


Bearce,  Samuel 
Pomfrety  Samuel 
Prisbft^ans 
Priestley,  Dr. 
Frice»'Dr. 

• 

Quakers 


IV.  480 

III.  424 
L  llO 

IV.  429 
IV.  421 

L  157 


Reasons  of  dissent  I.  286 

Religion,  state  of  among 


^ssenters 


Reynolds,  Thomas 
Robinson,  Robert 
Rowe,  Mrs. 
Ryland)  John 


II.  155 

III.  7« 

IV.  369 
IIL  445 

IV.  46a 

IV.     31 
IV.  475 


Sandemanians 
Seodiaaiyes 


Vol. 

IV. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 


Scotlandy^'state  of  reli- 


gion m 


Shower,  John 
Smith,  Jeremiah 
Sodnian  controversy 
Stennett,  Joseph 

Dr. 
Strange,  Thomas 
Swedenborgians 

Taylor,  Nathaniel 

John 
Toms,  Isaac 
Tong,  William 
Trosse,  George 

Veil,  De 


IL 
IV. 
IV. 
III. 
IIL 
IV. 

IL 
IV. 
IV. 
IV. 


107 

1 

264 
258 

316 
50 

487 
412 
433 
241 

285 

477 
448 
126 


II.  257 
IV.  21 
IV.  459 
III.  441 

IL  27§ 

IL  267 


Warren^  Thomas  II.  243 

Watts,  Dr.  Isaac  III.  467 

Williams,  Dr;  Daniel  III.  417 

.*.*-Aaeph  IV.     14 

Wilton,  Dr.  IV.  444 

World,    state    of  telt* 

gion  in  IL  457 

Wright,  Dr.  Samuel    lU.  464 


%*  The  mUhors  regret  thai  they  have  been  ^evented  by  tite  unex* 
pected  quantity  to  which  the  last  vohtme  has  extended^  from  giving^ 
as  tfiey  designed^  a  list  of  the  Subscribers\names» 


TO  THE  BINDER. 

The  two  first  slieets  qf  the  third  volume  must  be  taken  from  the  end 
qftfiesecoiii  vQbme»  within  tIte  boards  of  which  they  were  originallg 
pMtdied* 


HISTORY  OF  DISSENTERS. 


•      ...  . 


CHAP.  VIIL 

» 

OVES     OF    EMINENT     PERSONST'  AUO^G    T^E     DIS* 

SENTERS. 

SECTION  II. 

eIives  of  eminent  christulNS  who  were  not 

MINISTERS, 

SIR  JOHN  HARTOPP. 

Jlhis  celebrated  baronet  was  born  .about  tbe  year 
1637.  His  father  was  one  of  the  first. English  gen- 
tiemea  honoured  with  the  new  title.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  Charles  Fleetwood,  esq.  but  was,  in 
1711,  deprived  of  this  lady^  whom  Dr.  Watts  de* 
scribes  in  her  funeral  sermoA  as  a  woman  of  eminehit 
religion.  From  the  same  writer  we*  learn,  that  sir 
John  "joined  the  ipdependent  church  over  which 
Dr.  Owen  presided,  and  continued  an  honourable 
member,  under  successive  pastors,  to  the  day  of  his 
death.^^  Boldly  patronising  the  despi^  cause  of 
the  dissenters,  amidst  the  fiercest  persecutions,  he 
was  a  devout  and  diligent  attendant  on  their  public 
worship,  till  the  infirmities  of  years  confined  him  to 
his  private  and  domestic  devotions.  He  frequently 
instructed  his  family  by  reading  to  them  the  dis- 
courses which  he  bad  written  from  the  lips  of  the 
first  preachers  in  his  early  days ;  and  to  him  we  owe 
many  of  those  which  are  contained  in  the  folio  volume 
of  sermons  and  tracts  by  Dr.  Owen,  with  whom  h% 
maintained  the  most  endeared  friendship. 

VOL.   IV.  B 


\ 


3  HISTORY  OF    DISSENTERS. 

Elected  by  rfie  freeholders  of  Leicestershire,  as 
their  representative  in  parliament,  he  displayed  a 
most  ardent  zeal  fot  the  religious  and  civil  liberties 
of  his  country,  and  became  a  strenuous  advocate  for 
thie  bill  which /Was  to  have  excluded  James  the  se- 
cond from  the  throne.  For  this  reason  the  whole 
weight  of  the  court  was  employed  to  prevent  his  re« 
election ;  but  the  Hartoppians,  as  they  were  called, 
prevailed,  and  he  was  thrice  returned  member  for  the 
county.  This  popular  patriot  and  pillar  of  the  dis- 
sent lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five,  and 
terminated  his  labours  on  the  first  of  April,  1723. 

Dr.  Watts,  who  had  entitled  Lady  Hartopp^s 
funeral  serBi6ii  ^*  The  last  enemy  conquered,'^  pub- 
lished one  for  the  baronet  in  the  form  of  a  treatise,  on 
^'  The  Happiness  of  separate  Spirits.^'  The  character 
which  the  pneacher  gives  his  deceased  friend,  daims 
•a  place  in  this  niemoir.  '^  When  I  name  sir  John 
Hartopp,  all  who  knew  him  will  agree  that  I  name  a 
gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  Christian.  He  sbooe 
•with  eminence  among  persons  of  birth  and  title, 
^hile  his  obliging  deportment  rendered  him  easy  of 
access  to  all  his  inferiors,  and  the  delight  of  all  his 
friends.  He  had  a  taste  for  universal  learning; 
mathematics  were  a  fevourite  study  with  him  in  his 
youth,  and  evea  in  his  old  age  he  maintained  his 
acquaintance  with  the  heavenly  bodies^  But  the 
Book  of  God  was  his  chief  study,  his  divinest  delight. 
The  Bible  lay  open  before  him  day  and  night.  De<^ 
airous  of  seeing  what  the  Spirit  of  God  said  to  men 
in  the  ori^nal  languages,  he  commenced  some  ac* 
quaintance  with  the  Hebrew,  when  he  was  more 
tliao  fifty  years  old,  and  kept  his  youthful  know* 
ledge  of  the  Qreek.    He  took  pleasure  in  the  doc* 


MVESOF  KMIKXNV   DISSENTERS*  ^ 

tfioes  of  grace,  in  thd  glbries  of  the  person  of  Christ 
God  in  our  nature,  and  the  wondrous  work  of  redemfK 
lion  by  his  dross :  he  adored  him  as  hia  Lord  and  Goii 
and  was  zealous  to  maintain  the  honour  due  to  hi* 
divine  nature*  What  he  knew  in  the  things  of  God| 
he  resolved  not  to  know  only  for  himself,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  all  who  had  the  honourof  his  acquaintance; 
Many  join  with  me  to  ccmfess  how  often  we  departed 
from  his  company  refreshed  and  advanced  in  useful 
knowledge.  I  cannot  but  reckon  it  among  the  bles^ 
sings  of  heaven,  when  I  review  the  five  years  I  spent 
in  his  family,  in  my  younger  part  of  life*  I  found 
much  instruction  to  myself,  where  I  was  called  to  be 
an  instructor*  His  zeail  for  the  welfare  of  his  country 
and  of  the  church  of  Christ  in  it,  carried  him  out  to 
the  most  extensive,  toilsome  services  in  his  younger 
and  middle  age.  He  applied  his  time,  his  spirits, 
hts  interest,  and  bis  riohes  for  the  defence  of  the  na* 
tion,  when,  forty  years  ago,  it  was  in  the  utmost 
danger  of  popery  and  ruin.^'  How  pleasant  must 
have  been  th^  setting  sun  of  this  good  old  man,  whea 
he  saw  his  country  saved  from  tyranny,  and  the 
church  from  popish-  (persecution,  Britain  under  the 
liberal  reign  of  George,  and  Zion  blessed  with  such 
pastors  as  Watts  and  many  of  his  cotemporaries.  If 
there  are  now  but  few  baronets  among  dissenters,  it 
is  equally  true  that  there  are  few  Hartopps  among 
baronets. 

SIR  THOMAS  ABNEY. 

Sir  Thomas  Abney,  a  Christian  patriot,  was  heir 
to  higher  honours  than  if  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards 
had  flowed  in  his  veins ;  but  he  was  also  descended 

B  2  v^ 


mf  HISTOEY   df   DISS£NTCRS. 

fifbm  one  of  thMe  fkmiNes  which  heralds  pronouitce* 
ancient  and  honoumble.  Wilaley,  in  the  county  of 
I^rby^  the  family  seat  for  five  hundred  years,  was 
the  place  of  hfs  birth,  in  January,  1630.  Early  de- 
prived of  his  mother^  he  was  committed  by  his  ^ther 
to  the  care  of  a  pious  aunt,  lady  Bromley,  who  was 
honoured  to  produce  those  religious  impressions 
which  rendered  him  afterwards  a  public  blessing.  Tn 
early  life,  he  thought  it  his  glory  to  be  a  puritan,  and 
having  adopted  the  sentiments  of  the  independents, 
he  joined  this  church  in  Silver-stPeet,  of  which  Dr. 
Jacomb,  and  after  him  Mr.  Howe,  waa  pastor.  He 
first  married  the  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Caryl, 

and  on  her  death  he  became,  in  1700,  the  8on-in-lai;«^ 
of  Mr.  John  Gunston,  of  Newington-'green,  whose 

in.emory  the  muse  of  Watts  has  forbidden  to  die. 
The  name  of  Abney,  also,  has  been  handed  down  to 
,  posterity  by  means  of  its  connection  with  that  of 
Watts,  who  found  in  the  house  of  air  Thomas  and 
hiB  descendants  an  asylum  for  thirty^six  years. 
.<  Though  decidedly  devoted  to  an  unfashionable  re- 
ligion,  he  rose  to  the  highest  civic  honours^  for  he 
was  chosen,  in  1693,  sheriff  of  London  and  Middle- 
sex, and,  before  the'Cxpiration  of  his  year,  alderman  of 
Vintry  Ward.  He  received  from  king  William  the 
honour  of  knighthood,  and  though  it  was  some  years 
before  the  usual  term,  he  was,  in  1710,  elected  lord 
mayor,  when  his  conduct  gave  occasion  to  the  asser-* 
tion  that  '^  the  house  of  Hanover  owes  the  throne  of 
Britain  to  a  x]issenter.^^  For,  in  opposition  to  the 
majority  of  his  brethren  on  the  bench,  he  had  the 
courage  to  priopose  an- address  from  the  common  coun- 
cil to  king  William,  assuring  him  of  their  determina- 
tion to  stand  by  him  against  the  pretender,  whom  the 


LIVES  l))P  KMfl^Ellf?   Df^ENHERS.  9 

¥*rench  king  had  lately  proclaimed  soTer^ign  oCGreak 
Britain.  His  boldness  and  prudence  having  triumph- 
ed in  the  city,  the  address  not  only  encouraged  the 
king,  to  whom  it  Was  presented  while  he  was  wiUi 
the  army  on  the  continent,  but  gave  the  tbiievdf 
loyalty  to  the  nation,  which  re-ecboed  the  Jangiidgft 
of  the  metropolis  from  Caithness  to  the  lands  end. 
The  king  dissolved  the  parliament  at  this  favourable 
moment,  and  sir  Thomas  Abney  was  chosen  member 
for  London,  of  that  legislature  which  passed  the  act 
for  the  abjaration  of  the  pret^ider,  and  the  furfher 
establishment  of  the  protestant  suceeasion.  :  The  bitt 
received  the  royal  assent,  the  day  before  king  Wil- 
liam died,  and  was  the  means  ofsecuring  the  throne 
to  the  house  of  Brunswick.  A  person  of  distioctionv 
complimenting  this  dissenting  lord  mayor  oh  his  zM 
and  address  in  the  critical  affair,  said,  ^'  you>lmiia 
done  the  king-  more  service  than  if  you  had'  raided 
liim  a  million  bf  money/'      >  .  >  ^2 

That  the  dignities  to  which  he  was  exalted,^  and 
thepopularity  he  acquired,  did  not  seduce 'faiafaedtt 
from  a  due  regard  to  the  honour  which  comes  Irom 
above,   is    evident    from  an  aneodotd,  whiph.  wiil 
have  a  yery^«  different  effect  on  the  Chtiatiaii.  aad 
the  man  of  the  world*    The  evening  of  thelKfoy  00 
which  he  entered  upon  his  mayoralty,  he  witbUrew 
Bilently  from  the  •assembly,  went  tp  ^lis  own  ^holise, 
performed  the  usual  family  worship,  and  then  reluro- 
.  ed*  to  the  ^sompanyl     He  probibly  cecalled  an  exfu»- 
,*ple  which  may'ahready  have  occuried- to  the  re«dev, 
.that  W  David,  Who   returned  'fr<liafi  a  r&yii  pn^ 
'■  cession,  dn  a  Battoni^li  festival,  ^^  to 'bleat  hifi.ih$Hl9^- 
hold.*^    Sir  Thomks  Abney  lived  to  be  fiithe*  oS  the 
City  of  iiondofi,  which  received  at  least  as  n^uth 

s  3  ^ 


8  HlfitORV   OV   DISSENTXES, 

honour  from  the  ^^v^isdom,  patriottsQfi,  and  piety  of  iti 
father^  as  it  confered  on  him  by  its  pDpuiation,.talents, 
nireailh»  or  coi^merce.  This  distinguished  ornament 
]6f  the  metropolis,. the  senate^  and  the  church  of  God, 
Jived  to  the  good  old  age  of  eighty-three,  and  depart- 
dMi  to  higher  h(»iours  February  6,  1723« 


SIR  RICHARD  ELLYS. 

In  the  number  of  men  of  rank  among  dissenters, 

idnecif'the  most  respectable  was  this  baronet,  whose 

Opulence  and  title  were  the  least  part  of  his  honours. 
During  several  parliaments  he  had  a  seat  in  the 

.house  of  commons.      Piety,    when  blended   with 

lkigotTJr,'and  debased  with  a  relish  for  arbitrary  power, 
makes  a  man  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing :  but  when 

Itiberalsentimen^ts  of  civil  liberty  are.  grafted:  on  the 
stock  of  pure  religion,  they  form  the  ch^r^cter  whicj), 
it  is  devoutly  to  be  wished,  should  distinguish  all 

;the  representatives  of  the  people  of  Gri^t  Britain. 
•  'As  a  man  of  learning,  he  made  a  respectable  figure 
among  the  literati  oi  his  day«     A  specimen  of  his 
Meoisr  will  be  found  in  his  "  Foi^tuita  Sacra  ;'^  which 

lie  bigfhly  ciredttabte  to  his  erudition  and  his  critical 
powefsr     ' 

'  Btit'to  be  pre-»eminent  in  goodness  is  infinitely 
•Hpierior  to  learning  and  honours :  and  this  high  dis- 

-einction  was  thfi.iiliifepttance  of  sir  Richard  EUys, 
>1^  doctrinesioC  the  old  puritans  fprmjed  hi^  .creed* 
^ioh  eanctifi«d  his.soul,  and  cetniered  him  ^^evoUt, 

*  9  tminble,  and  a  zealous  disciple  lof  r  Chris^t.  :  He  had 
6n6e  beeh-undec  the  iiifluenoe  of  a  different  'system, 
Imt' he  received  the  koowiedge  af  the  truth  from  oita 


LIVES  OF   ElliltKSNt   I>l«E2tnR8«  7' 

inferior  to  himself  in  evefy  thing,  but  an  aoquaiat* 
ance  with  the  gospel ;  arid  the  bigotted armiliian  was  '- 
constrained  by  the  convertetion  of  an  agedCbriatiaii ' 
wooiBQ  to  throw  away  the  high  ideas  of  himself,  aa4 
to  lie  prostrate  at  the  &>ot  of  the  cross,  ascribing 
his  salvation  to  the  righteousaesB^ef  tbe^ Redeemer* 
and  his  free  and  sorereign  graee<  ^  He  was  a  gpsat 
admirer  of  Boston's  fourfold  stated 

Sir  Richard  appears  to  have  been  first  a  member  of 
Dr.  Calamy's  Qongregation^  but  on  Mr.  Samuel  Say's 
succeeding  him  in  the  pastoral  office,  he  joined  Mr. 
Bradbury^s  church,  and  continued  in  oommunioa 
with  that  society  til)  his  death. 

THOMAS  HOLUS, 

Sheffield  was  his  native  place.  The  deatfa-  of  hit 
mother,  when  he  was  only  twelve  years  of  age,  deeply* 
io^pressed  his  heart ;  and  the  counsels  of  his  fatbep 
t)n  the  n^ournfql  occasion,  aided  by  thei^ffse^g  dis* 
courses  of  Mr*  Fisher,  their  minister,  weie  the  means 
of  his  conversion  to  God)  thus  at  an  early  period 
a  foundatioii  was  laid  for  that  eminence  of  character 
to  which  he  afterwards  attained.  From  She^ld  h9 
removed  to  London,  a^  th^^  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life. 

His  teniper  was  naturally  i^wtm  and  impetuous ; 
but  under  the  government  of  Christian  principles,  it 
pro^upfri  only  an  energy  of  character  which  displays 
ed  itself  ^n  exttaprdinasy  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God, 
and  the  happiness  of  man;  Habitual  sense  of  the 
evil  of  sin,*  was  accompanied  with  deep  humility  $. 

^  See  the  account  of  this  change  more  fully  given  bj  himafelf,  ia 
Bottoa^s  Memoirs,  sppsadix;  p.  2&  .     . 

9  4 


whUe,  from  .a  lively  faith  in  the  promises,  flowed  the 
animating  hope  of  the  fi;iend$hip  of  Jehovah,  aod  of 
eternal  bleasedaess.  This  delightful  aoticipation  of 
hjsaven  h^  h^d  the  felicity  for  many  years  to  enjoy. 

The  9sdv^ion  of  his  children  lay  near  his  heart ; 
and  to  train  them  up  in  the  knowledgre  and  practice 
of. religion:  was  his  assiduous  care,  while  his  instruc- 
tions received  a  tenfold  force  from  a  holy  life,  pecu- 
liarly'exemplified  in  public,  domestic^  and  secret 
devo%j<>ik«  To  find  his  labours  crowned  with  success 
>yai9rhi8<enviab{e  reward.  In  his  latter  years  it  pleas- 
ed God  to  afflict  him  with  blindness ;  and  though  to 
a  man  who,  like  him,  wished  (o  do  good  by  personal 
exertions,  its  long  continuance  must  have  been  pe- 
culiarly distressing^  h^  was  enabled .  to  bear  it  with 
exemplary  patience,  and  was  never  heard  to  c6m- 
plain  orimufmur.:  He. died,  in  the  hope  of  heaveq, 
^t  a  very  advanced  age,  in  1718.  The  text  chosen 
for. hip  funi^ia}  sermon,  sttiri kingly  describedihis  spirit 
and  cbpj^aciter,  PhiK  i.  Qh 

I .  To  dogoi;yl  was,  earlyiin  life,  .a  ruling  principle  ia 
the  h^avt  of  Thomas  Hoi  lis,  Itnd  one  of  the  grand 
9i)ds  for  wihich.heconsidet'edhiihselftohe  called  into 
eKisteoice*  White  but  a  youth,  he  laid  aside  a  part 
of. hia  learnings  for  pioi:»s  :and  benevolent  purposes; 
and  as  his  property  increased,  his  charity. increased 
Utill  more. :  That,  he  mi^ht  be  the  more  extensively 
*  useful,  he  lived  in*  liie  most  economical  niannen 
How  honourable  is..fffugaility,  when  the  design  ia  to 
feed  tlie. hungry,  tand  to  convey  the  knowledge  of 
aalvs^tioB  to.the  pisri^hing  senl !  >  There :  i^i  a  dignity 
in  it  beyond  aiU  the  -  splendour  of  .worldly  gr^tn^essb 
An  iminense  quantit;y  of  good  booj^s  was  distributed 
by  his  hands.    A  lover  of  the  hoiwe  of  God|  and  feel- 


tITES  OT  EMINENT   DTIdENTlRS*  8 

ing  the  pleasure  and  benefit  of  public  worship, 
besides  contributing  with  an  open  hand  in  a  ttiulti- 
tude  of  instances^  to  the  building  of  meeting-houses, 
he  erected  two  bX  his  own  expense,  one  at  Doncaster 
and  the  other  at  Rotheram,  with  schoob  attached  to 
them,  and  permanent  benefactions  for  their  support: 
Sheffield  derived  advantage  from  being  the  place  of 
his  birth  ;  for,  besides  assisting  his  townsmen  in  the 
erecting  of  a  place  of  worship,  he  founded  almshouses 
for  the  residence  of  sixteen  poor  persons,  with  soma 
additional  support. 

In  sentiments,  Mr.  Hollis  was  a  baptist ;  but  he  was 
for  sixty  years  member  of  a  psdobaptist  church  at 
Pioner's-hall,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Anthony 
Palmer,  Richard  Wavell,  and  Dt*  Jeremiah  Hunt% 


THOMAS  HOLLIS  Junior. 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  person  just  described, 
and  inherited  not  only  the  piety  but  the  public 
spirit  of  his  father.  He  too,  though  a  baptist,  was  a 
member,  of  the.  same  paedobaptist  church.  Early  in 
life  he  made  a  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ;  and 
from  the  benefit  of  it  to  his  own  mind,  he  used  to 
jrecommend  it  earnestly  to  others.  The  advancement 
4»f  the  divine  life  in  the  isoul,  was  the  object  of  his 
peculiar  solicitude ;  and  diligent  attention  to  every 
ordinance  of  religion  was  a  distinguishing  charac«f 
teristic  of  the  man. 

When  in  bu&inesi^,  he  was  so  good  a  manager  of  hia 
time,  that  a  portion  of  it  was  daily  redeemed  for 
mental  improvement.    In  the  choice  of  books  he  was 

^  See  Dr.*Hunt*»'fanenii  Bermoa  for  T.  HoUis, 


11$  HI8T0&T   OF   DISSBNTKAS. 

exceedingly  careful,  and  would  often  say,  that  the 
little  leisure  he  could  coinmand  made  this  absoliitely 
necessary  for  him.  When  he  advanced  in  years,  he 
laid  aside  those  which  were  more  difficult  and  ab- 
struse, and  selected  such  treatises  as  were  plain  and 
practical  and' of  a  devotional  strain.  His  respect  to 
ministers  for  their  works  sake  was  uncommonly 
great :  and  such  was  his  moderation  towards  those 
whom  be  did  not  approve,  that  when  the  preacher 
did  not  please  him,  he  never  used  words  more  severe 
than  these,  "  I  would  not  chuse  to  sit  constantly  un- 
der that  minister.'^ 

The  public  spirit  which  he  inherited  from  his 
&ther,  shone  forth  in  him  with  still  superior  lustre. 
To  do  good  was  his  delight ;  and  his  benevolence 
was  not  confined  within  the  limits  of  a  sect.  To  the 
baptists  he  was  a  most  generous  friend.  The  society 
of  independents  with  which  he  communicated,  re- 
ceived distinguished  tokens  of  his  bounty.  But  still 
more  suhbtantial  marks  of  his  libetality  were  conferred 
on  Harvard  college,  in  the  Massachusets.  By  his 
donations  to  this  American  institution,  he  displayed 
not  only  the  benevolence  of  his  heart,  but  the  sound- 
ness of  his  judgment  and  the  comprehensiveness  of 
of  his  views;  for  what  can  so  extensively  promote 
the  happiness  of  mankind  as  piety  and  learning  united 
in  the  breasts  of  public  teadiers"^  ?    Still  higher  praisi 

*  Dr.  Wadsworth,  the  president  of  Harvard  college,  thus  de* 
Scribes  their  obligations  to  Mr.  Hollis.  **  He  founded  two  profess 
eorships  in  it,  one  for  divinity,  the  other  for  miitheniAties  -and 
natural  and  exi>ertiiteJ)tol  philosophy.  Out  of  l^e  ^cfyoe^  or  in- 
terest of  his  donations,  he  ordered  fourscore  pounds  per  annum  in 
our  money  to  each  of  his  professors,  and  ten  pounds  a-piece  per 
annum  to  poor  scholars,  of  a  laudable  character^  designed  for  the 
work  of  the  gospel  miniatiy,  as  an  help  to  defray  the  charge  of  tbeifi' 


LITES  07  EMINENT   PXtSEKTEItS.  11 

is  due  to  Mr.  Hollis  for  those  noble  principles  which 
gave  a  prefereace  to  that  school :  it  was  because  it 
did  not,  like  many  of  the  colleges  and  universities  of 
Europe,  confine  its  benefits  to  a  privileged  sect ;  but 
opened  wide  its  doors  to  all,  bade  all  welcome  to  its 
literary  advantages,  and  placed  ill  on  a  level  as  can* 
didates  for  its  honours  aud  degrees. 

After  being  half  a  century  ^  member  of  the  same 
church  as  his  father,  he  died  in  1731,  in  the  seventy* 
second  year  of  his  age% 

John  Hollis,  bis  brother^  W9S  from  his  youth 
equally  eminent  as  a  Christian  for  his  devotional 
spirit,  and  his  exemplary  conduct  in  every  relation. 
He  possessed  too  the  public  spirit  of  the  family.  He 
died  in  1736,  and  from  his  funeral  sermon  being 
preached  by  Dr.  Hunt^  it  appe?irs  that  be  was  % 
piember  of  his  chjurch*  Three  such  men  confer  i^ 
glory  on  a  Christian  society. 

.  If  any  of  the  posterity  of  Thomas  Hollis  the  eld^ 
still  remain^  under  what  obligations  do  tb^y  lye  to 
be  followers  of  their  excellent  progepitors  t 

education ;  and  twenty  pounds  per  annum  to  the  treasurer  of  the 
college  for  the  time  being,  to  reward  him  for  his  care  and  trouble 
for  managing  the  donations  be  has  sent  us.  Besides  these  things^ 
he  has  given  us  a  curloui  ap|>aratU8  for  matheitiatical  and  philo- 
aopfaical  experiments. .  By  tii^s  means  we  have  Hebrew  and  Greek 
types  to  be  fsed  in  printing ;  and  be  has  jst  sundry  times  augment* 
ed  our  college  library,  ^ith  very  valuable  books,  partiy  of  his  own 
gift,  aud  partly  by  procurement  from  friends.  Indeed  his  heart 
"wna  extensively  engaged  in  doing  good;  in  essays  to  promote  God's 
•glory  and  the  welfare  of  mankind."  » 

^  Spe  bis  iuneral  ^eriyion  by  Dr.  Hupt,.ai^4  Crosby *fl  History  of 
Baptists,  vol,  IV,  p.  229* 


li  '    history'  of  bisseVte^is, 


l"    ..•  '•     ^       ••<, 


. '  DAisriEL  DEFOE. 

'  'this  remarkable  man,  the  author  of  Robinson. Cru* 
iSOe,  was  born  in  London,  in  1638.  His  fether  whose 
ftarrte  was  James  Foe,  being  a  dissenter,  seiit  his  son 
for  education  to  Mr.  Morton^s  academy  at  Newin^- 
ton-green,  and  he  wds  no  dishonour  to  his  tutor* 
Daniel,  not  liking  his  patei^nal  name  (and  certainly  it 
has  not  a  Christian  sound)  prefi3red  the  syllable  De, 
tb  give  it  greater  dignity.  Jle  entered  early  into 
t)usiness  is  a  hose  factor,  but  was  not  successful: 
though  unable,  however,  t6  satisfy  the  deman'df^  of 
his  creditors,  fee  was  acknowledged  to  have  acted  in 
an  honourable' manner.  From  1692,  whten  thi* 
reverse  in  his  circumstances  took  place^  during  the 
feign  of  William  and  the  former  paW  of  that  of  queeri 
•Anne,  he  was  in  various  employni'ents  under  govern-p^ 
fcient.  When'  th^  Uni'iA  between  England  and  Scot- 
fanfl  waa  in  agitation,  he' was' stent  dd^n  td  Edinburgh, 
where  he  rendered  cbnsid^fableservic^' in  forwarding 
the  important  measure.  After  the  accession  of  the 
bouse  of  Hanover,.be  was  lio't  in  any  public  situation^ 
but  subsistqdby  his  pen  9^  a.nnah  of  letters,  which  has 
perhaps  in  fewer  in&tan€es.<tbdn  any  other, employe- 
men  t,  been  the  road  to  opulence.  After  seventeen 
years  of  literary  labour  for  bis  support,  he  died  iti  low 
circumstances,  leavipg  a  numerous  family  %  Mr.Defof 
bad  a  sQul  of*p^culi^r. ardour  which  wasqonstantlyeii^ 
gaged  in  son^e  enterpr]ze,aDd  at  times  hurried  him  into 

Excess ;  but  he  was  a  very  able  and  good  man,  and 

•    •  ♦         . 

^  Qe  had  attained  such  facility  in  composition,  that  he  ones 
wrote  two  shilling  pamphlets  in  one  day ;  and  what  ^as  a  shilling 
pamphlet  in  those  days  would  now  cost  haif-ai-crown« 


i.iVEt  OF  Eminent  DissEktEks.  Id 

Tiis  writings  have  been. beneficial  tq  ihcf.  world,  for  he 
always  appeared  the  friend  of  piety  and  morals.  Hiji 
religious  writings  show  him  to  have  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  of  the  Christian  life,  and  to 
have  highly  valued  the  practices  and  modes  of  piety 
and  domestic  government  of  the  old  dissenters. 

He  was,  indeed,  a  stedfast  dissebter,  and  wrote  va- 
rious pamphlets  in  defence  of  thieir  principles.  He 
entered  the  lists  with  Mr.  Howe,' on  the  subject  of 
occasional  conformity,  and  it' was  allowed  that  he 
maintained  his  ground;  '     ' 

Mr#  Defoe  wrote  a  multitudis  bf  political  pam- 
phlets, from  1683,  till  after  the  accession  of  George  the 
first,  in  which  he  ever  shewed  himself  the  patron  of 
the  protestant  religion  and  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  For  two  of  them  he  was  prosecuted :  the 
reward  of  one  was  the  pillory,  and  for  the  other 
he  had  a  pardon  from  the  queen;  but  in  neither  case 
was  there  any  thing  to  his  dishonour.  Some  of  his 
satirical  pamphlets  were  mistaken  for  serious  com- 
positions. On  commercial  subjects  he  wrote  much 
and  with  singular  ability^  His  Robinson  Crusoe  was 
first  published  in  1719.  Attempts  have  been  made  by 
malice  an^  envy  to  rob  him  of  his  character  or  his 
fame  in  this  extraordinary  performance,  but  without 
success.  The  "Family  Instructor^ln  two  volumes  had 
gone  through  sixteen  editions  in  1787,  and  "  his  Reli- 
gious Courtship"  twenty  one  in  1789.  There  have 
been  between  twenty  or  thirty  editions  of  his  "True- 
bom  Englishman/'     By  such  unequivocal  marks  has 

the  public  testified  its  value  for  his  works?. 

»  ^^ 

^  Bio^raphia  Britannic.i,  art.  Defoe% 


M  .  HISTORY   or   DISBSNT^RSc 

JOSEPH  WILLIAMS. 

As  the  example  of  eminent  ministers,  which  eccle^ 
9iastical  history  presents,  is  frequently  rendered 
ineSieient  to  private  Christians  by  the  notion  that 
their  superior  religion  was  a  professional  excellence^ 
which  is  not  to  be  expected  from  those  who  are 
employed  in  secular  ajSairs ;  the  same  propensity  to 
excuse  ourselves  from  resembling  the  eminent,  may 
have  induced  some  to  remark,  that  the  memoirs  which 
we  have  given  of  persons  not  in  the  ministry,  were 
taken  from  the  higher  ranks  in  life,  where  indepen- 
dent circumstances  and  freedom  from  the  distractions 
of  business,  render  devotedness  to  the  service  of  God 
and  his  church  comparatively  easy.  It  is,  therefore^ 
with  peculiar  pleasure^  that  we  now  introduce  to  our 
readers  a  devout  tradesman,  whose  religion,  excellent 
for  its  own  superiority  to  the  ordinary  standard,  be^ 
comes  still  more  valuable  for  the  stimulus  it  furnishes 
to  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  who  must  ever,  like 
him,  be  occupied  with  the  labours  of  a  secular  calling. 

Joseph  Williams  was  born  about  the  year  1691,  and 
^as  the  son  of  li  pious  clothier,  at  Kidderminster.  His 
first  serious  impressions  of  religion  were  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  a  boy  in  the  neighbourhood,  when  he 
was  but  seven  years  old.  These  solicitudes  were  in* 
creased,  about  six  years  after,  by  his  fether's  remarks  on 
the  death  of  his  sister,  "  I  felt  myself,"  he  says  "  much 
inclined  to  get  into  some  place  of  retirement,  to  rnedi^ 
tate  on  death,  and  an  interest  in  Christ  appeared  to 
me  better  than  all  the  world/'  After  this  he  bewails 
the  pollution  which  his  mind  experienced  by  being 
put  to  work  among  the  weavers  in  his  father's  shop. 
To  a  similar  cause  many  a  youths  once  modest  and 


Livi:8  or  &Mi:sf£Ni(  dissemxeks  19 

Ttriuous^maya^rille,  the  debauchery  of  his  life.  And 
^he  perdition  of  hisi  souU  Vexed  with  their  filthy 
<;on  versation,  ht  e^t  1m(  prevailed  on  bis  father  to  alloiy 
him  a  separate  room  for  wovk^  where  be  kept  a  religious 
book  close  by  hikn,  and  without  any  interruption  to 
his  duties,  committed  to  memory  the  whole  of  Mason's 
hymns. 

About  this  time,  bis  father  taking  him  out  for  a 
walk,  to  impress  on  his  heart  the  importance  of  early 
religion,  reiat^  to  liitQ  tba  following  aaecdote,  ^^  I 
waa  coming  homeone  evening  with. an  elderly  gen- 
tleman and  bis  son. .  They  had  been  spending  some 
hours,  with  persons,  who  bad  thrdwn  out  severe  re* 
(lections  on  dissenters,  which  the  old  gentleman,  who 
nefercaoie  to  meeting,  exceptwhen  he  was  ia  Loo* 
don,  bad  the  cotir^i  to  oppose.  After  relating  to 
me  what  he  h^  aaid  to  them,  he  tucned  to  his  son^ 
aad  exclaimed,  sop,  though.  1 1. have  not  myistelf  been 
so  religious  .andicarefnl  of  my  soul  as  I  should  be,  I 
cannot  but  have  a  tender  concern  for  your  everlasting 
happiness;  and  here,  befture  Mr.  Williams,  I  admonish 
you  nU:  to  live  after-  my  example,  but  keep  close  to 
such  persons  as  the  dissenters.  I  have  often  advised' 
you  to  make  this  man  your  associate,  he  will  lead  you 
an  the  way  to  heaven*  You  are  got  in  with  a  knot  of 
young  fellows  who  will  do  you  no  good :  but!  will 
not  stir  from  this  place,  till  you  have  promised  me  to 
abandon  that  set,  and  make  this  man  your  daily  asso- 
ciate. Mind  religion  in  your  youth,  and  do  not  do 
as  I  have  done.  1  have  slighted  many  convictions, 
and  now  my  heart  is  hard  and  brawny/'  These  last 
words  struck  young  Mr.  Williams  as  a  clap  of  thunder, 
and  the  design  of  his  father,  in  relating  the  anecdote, 
seemed  happily  accomplished. 


10  HISTOnV  OF   DISfilTNTERS. 

A  ycHing  companion  with  whom  he  afterwards 
associated,  was  exceedingly  useful  to  him,  though  at 
length  he  exemplified  the  melancholy  close  of  Mr. 
Baxter's  lines,  which  they  often  read  together. 

■  He  warmed  me  with  his  zeal,  when  I  was  cold. 
And  my  remissness  lovingly  controurd. 
For  such  a  friend  I  had*     Though,  after  all. 
Himself  became  my  warning  by  his  fall. 

In  the  year  1719,  he  lost  his  father,  of  whom  he 
says,  *^  he  was  an  excellent  pattern  of  self-denial  and 
diligence  in  his  heavenly  calling.  He  redeemed  much 
time  from  his  bed,  rising  commonly  by  four,  and 
spending  two  or  three  hours  in  reading,  meditation, 
and  prayer,  before  the  family  were  up.  He  was  a 
man:  of  a  passionate  temper,  but  through  bifs  great 
watchfulness  and  close  walking  with  God,  it  seldom 
appeared.  His  death  greatly  impressed  my  mind; 
and  roused  me  out  of  the  spitit  into  which  my  in* 
tended  marriage  betrayed  me.'* 

After  his  marriage  he  went  on  very  prosperously  ' 
In  business,  for  some  time ;  but  in  the  year  1725  he 
lost  to  the  amount  of  almost  the  whole  of  his  captlal, 
which  he  says  became  the  means  of  enrichingf  him 
with  a  more  spiritual  state  of  mind  and  stronger  as* 
durance  of  his  salvation  than  he  had  before  enjoyed. 
When,  shortly  after,  some  aggravating  additions  were 
made  to  his  temporal  afflictions,  he  wrote  thus  to  Mr. 
Pearswell,  of  Taunton.  ^'  I  have  not  suffered  loss,  but 
reaped  the  greatest  gain,  the  tidings  were  at  first  sur- 
prising, and  the  swelling  billows  began  to  toss  my 
mind,  and  disturb  my  rest ;  but  O  what  serene  calm 
follows  when  God  speaks  peace !  How  sweetly  did  he 
assure  my  soul  that  by  this  cross  providence  he  was 


LIVES   OF   EMINENT    DISSENTERS.  17 

faithfully  pursuing  the  great  end  of  electing  love  to 
take  away  sin/* 

On  the  return  of  prosperity,  he  was  agitated  with 
solicitude  lest  he  should  be  lifted  up  with  the 
pride  and  self  importance  which  wealth  too  frequent- 
ly generates,  and  seek  his  happiness  in  the  world 
rather  than  in  God.  But  in  his  diary  he  writes,  "  I 
humbly  hope,  yea  surely  in  this  I  may  be  confident, 
by  the  experience  now  of  twenty-seven  years,  but 
more  remarkably  of  the  last  twelve  years,  that  the 
love  and  favour  of  God  is  what  I  prize  above  all 
things/'  The  letters  and  the  verses  which  he  wrote 
on  his  journey  at  this  time,  display  a  heart  amazingly 
detached  from  the  world  and  ardently  devoted  to 
God.  A  copy  of  verses  which  were  addressed  to  his 
wife,  he  sent  to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  with  the 
just  and  useful  remark,  that  many  fine  things  are  pub- 
lished which  were  written  to  young  ladies  to  win 
affection,  but  he  deemed  it  worthy  of  the  muse  to 
address  something  to  a  wife,  to  cherish  conjugal 
attachment.  After  having  been  married  twenty 
years,  he  recorded  the  various  favours  of  heaven,  ancl 
recalled  some  of  his  severe  afflictions,  among^  which 
he  observed  that  the  loss  of  five  children,  all  dear  to 
him,  but  especially  the  two  last,  was  the  most  severe. 
"  The  rending  of  such  branches  gave  my  heart  sen-, 
sations  the  most  painful ;  but,  blessed  be  God,  who 
enabled  me  quickly,  without  a  murmuring  word,  or 
repining  thought,  to  submit,  because  it  was  his 
will/' 

As  the  church  at  Kidderminster,  of  which  Mr. 
Williams  was  a  member,  had  been  deprived  of  a 
minister  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Bradshaw,  in  1742,  Mr. 
Williams  united  with  several  friends,  twice  a  week,  in. 

VOL,    IV.  c 


IS  HISTORY   OF    DISS£NT£ltS« 

a  private  room  to  supplicate  the  Head  of  the  church 
to  grapt  them  a  pastor  after  his  own  Jieart-  The  de- 
light which  he  expressed  in  these  exercises,  and  th^ 
confidence  of  a  favourable  result  which  they  inspirecf, 
abundaritly  recompensed  the  pious  solicitude  for  the 
interests  of  the  church  which  he  and  his  friends 
Evinced.  "  We  trenibled "for  the  ark  of  God,'*  he 
says,  "  andlhe  zeal  of  his  house  hath  eaten  us  up ;  but 
he  granted  us  the  desire  of  our  souls,  and  the  minister 
of  bur  unanimous  choice. declared  his  cordial  accep- 
tslhce  of  our  invitation/*  Were  the  same  purity  of 
motive  cultivated  by  all  who  exercise  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  choosing  him  who  is  to  watch  for  their 
souls,  and  the  same  methods  adopted  to  secure  the 
happy  result,  how  many  churches  would  be  preserved 
from  disgraceful  dissentions  and  as  ruinous  elec- 
tions! 

On  another  occasion,  which  frequently  puts  the 
ireligion  of  a  tradesman  to  a  test  more  severe  than  it 
tan  endure,  the  success  pf  a  person  who  had  lately 
become  his  rival  in  business ;  Mr.  Williams  displayed 
that  true  dignity  of  mind  which  religion  inspires. 
He  charged  himself  not  to  be  dissatisfied  that  his 
rival  had  been  in  some  instances  beforehand  with 
him  ;  to  reniember  that  the  divine  householder  cared 
for  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  and  saw  that  hi^ 
neighbour  had  a  family  to  provide  for ;  to  labour  to 
love  the  man  who  seemed  to  be  in  opposition  to  him ; 
lo  enjoy  his  prosperity,  and  not  to  suffer  an  envious 
thought  to  find  a  place  in  his  own  heart. 
,  The  solicitude  which  he  manifested  for  the  salva- 
tion of  his  children,  by  writing  to  them  such  letters 
as  would  do  honour  to  any  pen,  was  recompensed  by 
the  exquisite  delight  of  seeing  their  early  and  decided 


LIVES  OF   EMINENT   i3ISS£KtERS«  Id 

piety.  Of  the  youtigest,  who  was  afterwards  the  wife 
of  the  Rev.  Richard  VTinter,  of  London^  he  says; 
*'  she  has  not  yet  finished  her  fifteenth  year,  and  has 
melted  my  very  soul  with  her  sense  of  gratitude  and 
duty,  and  her  ardent  aspirations  in  favour  of  her  pa- 
rents.'* These  are  her  expressions,  "  my  gratitude 
to  you,  dear  sir,  should  Warble  in  the  sweetest  strain^ 
and  sparkle  with  the  most  reflbed  lustre.  I  am  sure 
it  warms  my  heart.  God  will  reward  you  for  all  yout 
tender  care  and  diligent  watchfulness  over  your  chil- 
dren's souls."  He  declared  that  Gbd  had  given  hitn, 
not  only  to  long  f6r  the  cotivers^ioh  of  his  children; 
whom  from  his  inmost  soul  he  dedicsited  to  God  at 
their  baptism,  and  devoted  to  him  every  day ;  but 
also  for  the  salvation  of  others  who  came  within  his 
reach.  "  I  have  the  joy  of  seeing  all  my<rhildreri 
walking  in  the  truth,  and  of  hoping  that  no  less  than 
seven  young  persons  have  been  born  of  God  in  my 
family,  within  these  three  or  four  years.**  This  dis- 
position so  benevolent, and  so  truly  Christian, induced 
him  to  address  a  yoUng  clergyman  with  whom  he 
was  once  in  company;  and  his  serious  remarks  pro- 
duced such  an  effect,  that  the  young  man  in  tearl 
begged  his  prayers  and  the  favour  of  His  correspond- 
ence. The  impression  proved  permanent  and  etfec- 
tual,  the  minister  became  a  faithful  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  and  Mr.  Williams,  who  lived  but  a  few  years 
after,  maintained,  from  that  time,  an  affectionate  cor- 
respondence with  hini;  delighted,  as  he  said,  with 
the  honour  of  being  a  winner  of  such  as  are  winner^ 
of  souls. 

In  the  year  1755,  Mr.  Williams  was  taken  ill  on  sk 
journey,  and  wrote  to  his  wife  the  following  sen- 
tences.    "  If  it  be  fhe  divine  will,  I  would  gladly 

c  2 


r 


JtO  UlSTOKY  OF   PI8SBNT£RS. 

return  to  my  native  places  either  to  recover  strength, 
or  to  die ;  but  if  it  please  him  who  said^  ^  Take 
Aaron  up  to  mount  Hor,  and  he  shall  be  gathered  to 
his  people  and  die  there,'  to  say,  let  Joseph  Williams 
die  on  the  road,  or  at  Windsor,  or  Oxford,  I  desire  to 
say  in  every  case.  Father,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be 
done.^^  His  wife  received  the  letter,  which  breathed 
throughout  the  langus^e  of  heaven,  about  an  hour 
before  the  writer  himself  was  brought  home.  His 
complaints  terminated  in  a  lethargy,  in  which,  about 
ten  days  after,  he  died,  on  the  twenty-first  of  Decem- 
ber, 1755,  in  the  sixty-third  j^ear  of  his  age. 

His  memory  has  been  cherished  with  pious  affec* 
tion,  not  only  by  his  children  and  relatives,  who  felt 
it  their  honour  and  privilege  to  be  allied  to  one  so 
evidently  born  from  above,  and  tending  towards 
heaven;  but  by  multitudes  who  knew  him  perso- 
nally, or  learned  from  his  memoirs  how  eminently  he 
walked  with  God/^  His  talents  were  so  considerable, 
that,  had  he  received  a  superior  education,  and  de- 
voted his  life  to  the  pursuits  of  literature,  he  would 
have  risen  to  distinction  among  divines  or  authors. 
Amidst  the  cares  of  an  extensive  business,  he  pub- 
lished, in  1740,  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  The  principal 
Causes  of  some  late  Divisions  in  Dissenting  Churches, 
traced  to  their  Origin,  in  a  letter  from  a  Dissenter  in 
the  Country ,^^  which  was  revised  by  Dr.  Watts.  In 
1748,  he  gave  to  the  public  an  Abridgment  of  David 
Brainerd's  Journal  among  the  Indians.  His  diary 
forms  his  highest  eulogium,  and  may  be  pronounced 
one  of  the  most  useful  books  which  a  Christian 
tradesman  can  read^ 

«  4 

«  Extracts  from  the  Diary,  Meditations,  and  Letters  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Williamsy  of  Kidderminster^  w]|i^h  was  edited  by  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Fawcett^  of  Kidderminster. 


\  CHIVES  OF  EMINENT   DISSENTERS,  31 

JOHN  TAYLER. 

He  was    a  member  of  thfe  baptist  church  in  Wild- 
Street;  exemplary  in  his  deporttneiit  as  a  Christian  ; 
ancf  eminent:  in  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of 
men,  by  e^i>^nding  a  very  large  portion  of  an  ample 
estate  for  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  cause. 
Large  quantifies  of  good  books  were  distributed  by 
him  througH    the  country  for  the  benefit  of  poor  mi- 
nisters, and     indigent  families  ;  and  many  were  sent 
abroad  ivitli     the  same  excellent  design.     It  may  be 
mentioned,     to  his  praise,  that  his  benevolence  was 
not  confined  to  a  sect;  it  was  enough  for  him  to 
know  that  the  person  was  indigent  and  would  make 
a  proper  vise  of  his  botinty. 

Having  had  a  remarkable  deliverance  during  the 

gieat  stpTixi.  in  1703,  he  commemorated  it  by  annually 

consecrating  the  day  to  devotion :  as  long  as  he  Jived 

he  employed  a  minister  to  preach  a  sermon  suitable 

to  the  occasion ;  and  by  his;  will  he  made  provisioq 

fqt  the  continuance  to  the  present  tinie\ 

Mrs.  BENDISH, 

If  It  could  not  be  said  of  Oliver  CromwellVfemily, 
as  Xerxes  once  affirmed  of  his  army,  that  the  men 
sicted  as  women,  it  may  be  asserted  that  the  women 
displayed  the  spirit  of  men.  Few  families  have  produc- 
ed 'Such  a  constellation  of  heroines.  Amoqg  these 
Mrs.^Bendish  shines  a  star  of  the  fir^t  m^gn^ude,  and 
furnishes  an  example  of  the  female  character  so  unique 
^  to  claim  and  reward  the  study  of  her  species. 

*  Crosby^ 


fi9  BISTOBV  ,0V  0ISP]|;NX£R8* 

She  descended  from  Oliver  Cromwell  by  Bridget  his 
eldest  daughter,  who  was  qpiarried  in  1645  to  Henry 
Ireton,  of  whom  Burnet  said,  th^  "  he  had  the 
principles  and  temper  of  a  Cassi us,  stuck  at  nothing 
to  turn  England  into  a  commonwealth,  and  was  bent 
on  the  king's  death,  when  Cromwell  was  in  suspense/' 
Mrs.  Cleypole,  Oliver's  younger  daughter,  would 
have  preferred  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  to  the 
dangerous  elevation  of  her  own  Ikmily ;  and  the  wife 
of  Ireton  disliked  the  power  of  her  father  for  the  op- 
posite reason,  because  she  had  imbibed  from  her  Cas- 
9ius  a  republican  antipathy  to  the  governn^ent  of  a 
single  person,  which  reqdered  odious  the  name  of 
Protector  even  when  borne  by  a,  father  whom  she 
revered  and  a  brother  whom  she  loved.  She  united 
strong  sense  with  commanding  depprtpient  and  that 
lirdent  devotion  which  could  not  fai}  to  be  branded 
ivith  the  name  of  enthusia^mp  The  death  of  Iretop^ 
in  1651,  which  opened  the  way  for  her  father's  ele^ 
Vation  to  sovereign  power,  was  fpjlowed,  after  some 
(ime,  by  her  marriage  tp  Fleetwood*  whom  she  .sup« 
))lied  with  more  political  wisdom  than  he  knew  hQW 
to  use  ;  and  when  her  counsels  were  not  followed, 
her  foresight  anticipated  the  crisis,  which  her  in-> 
fluence  could  not  prevent.  She  died  soon  after  the 
Restoration. 

Mrs«  Ireton  bore  to  her  husband  one  son  and  four 
daughters,  of  whom  Bridget,  the  subject  of  the  suc- 
ceeding pages,  was  the  third.  She  was  born  abput 
the  year  1649,  and  was  educated  under  the  eye  of 
ber  grandfather,  with  whom  she  was  a  favourite.  From 
him,  she  qsed  to  say,  she  so  early  le^rped  the  art  of 
keeping  a  secret,  that,  when  she  was  only  six  years 
#ld,  she  sat  between  his  knees,  at  a  cabinet  council^ 


LIVES   OF   EMINENT  PISSENTERS.  29 

on  the  most  important  affairs,  aad  on  some  of  the 
counsellors  objecting  to  her  being  present,  the  pro- 
tector replied,  ^' there  is  not  a  secret  that  I  would 
trust  to  any  of  you,  that  I  would  not  trust  to  this 
child. '^  To  prove  his  opinion  well  founded,  he  would 
tell  her  something  with  en  air  of  confidence,  and  then 
bid  her  mother  and  grandmother  get  it  from  her  by 
promises,  caresses,  bribes,  threatenings,  and  punish- 
ments ;  against  all  these  she  held  out  with  astonish- 
ing coolness  and  determination,  acknowledging  her 
duty  to  her  mother  but  maintaining  that  she  was 
bound  to  keep  the  secret  entrusted  to  her  by  her 
grandfather.  As  she  grew  up,  her  character  justified 
these  early  expectations,  and  her  appearance,  which 
was  an  exact  feminine  likeness  of  the  protector,  was  a 
faithful  index  of  her  mind. 

She  married  Thomas  Bendish,  esq.  of  an  ancient 
and  honourable  family,  whose  father  served  both  king 
Charles  and  Cromwell  in  the  quality  of  ambassador. 
Her  husband  dying  in  1707i  &he  was  l^ft  with  three 
childrent  Ireton,  Bridget,  and  Hepry,  and  remained  a 
widow  during  the  rest  of  her  life,  Her  residency 
was  in  Suffolk,  at  a  place  caUed  Sputb  Town,  near 
Yarmouth.  Left  with  an  income  of  two  o^r  three'hun* 
dred  ai  year,  she  laboured  to  increase  it  to  the  extent 
of  her  own  liberal  habits,  ^pd  the  expectations  of  her 
family,  by  embarking,  without  fear,  in  several  hazard- 
ous schemes.  In  the  i^alt  works,  carried  on  at  South 
Town,  she  was  employed  with  indefittigab)e  industry 
among  her  labourers,  stopping  to  the  meanest  drudgery, 
from  the  earliest  daivp,  UU  it  was  dark.  Having 
undertaken  the  business  of  grazing  cattle^  she  attend- 
ed the  neighbouring  fairs,  travelling  in  a  single^horse 
cU^se,  hv  night  ox  by  day,  whetj^er  she  knew  the 

<?4 


24  HISTORY   dF   DISSENTERS. 

road  or  not.  She  has  been  heard  to  say,  that,'  in  the 
darkest  night,  on  a  wild  opeiji  heath,  with  which  she 
was  totally  unacquainted,  while  encountering  the 
mostdreadful  thunder  storm,  she  has  yet  been  perfectly 
happy,  singing  a  psalm,  and  not  doubting  but  angels 
surrounded  her  chaise  and  formed  her  guard. 

As  she  was  not  too  delicate  for  the  driidgery,  she 
was  not  too  proud  for  the  appearance  of  labour ;  though 
she  was  formed  to  shine  in  a  court  or  command  upon 
a  throne.  The  following  description  is  given  by  an 
eye  witness,  and  though  evidently  a  caricature,  it  may 
enable  a  judicious  reader  to  form  for  himself  a  picture. 
**  At  her  residence^  which  was  quite  open  to  the  road, 
I  have  very  often  seen  her  in  the  morning,  stumping 
ftbout  with  an  old  straw  hat,  her  hair  about  her 
ears,  without  stays,  and  when  it  was  cold  an  old  blan- 
ket about  her  shoulders,  and  a  staff  in  her  hand,  in 
a  word  exactly  accoutred  to  mount  the  stage  as  a 
w^tch  in  Macbeth ;  yet,  if  at  such  a  time,  she  was  ac- 
costed by  any  person  of  rank  or  breeding,  the  dignity 
of  her  manner,  and  politeness  X)f  her  stile,  which 
nothing  could  efface,  would  instantly  break  through 
the  veil  of  debasement  which  concealed  her  native 
grandeur,  and  a  stranger  to  her  customs  might  be 
astonished  to  find  himself  accosted  by  a  princess, 
while  he  was  looking  at  a  mumper.^^ 

"  After  working  all  day,  insensible  to  the  calls  of 
nature,  she  would  eat  and  drink  most  plentifully  of 
whatever  happened  to  be  before  her,  then  throw  her- 
self down  upon  any  couch,  hard  or  soft,  sleep  pro- 
foundly for  a  short  time,  and  rising  with  new  life  and 
vigour,  dress  herself  in  all  the  grandeur  that  her  pre- 
sent circumstances  or  the  remains  of  former  greatness 
would  allow,  and  ride  in  her  chaise,  or  on  her  pad, 


LIVES  OF  EMIKSNT   DISSENTERS.  25 

into  Yarmouth,  pay  innumerable  visits  of  business, 
ceremony,  or  charity,  figure  at  the  assembly^  and  re- 
ceive the  precedence  in  all  company,  as  a  lady  who 
once  expected  to  have  beefn  one  of  the  first  persons 
in  Europe.  Splendid  she  never  was,  her  highest 
dress  being  a  plain  silk,  but  it  was  usually  of  the 
richest  sort,  though  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  of  if  hat 
is  called  quaker's  colour,  and  she  wore  besides  a  black 
silk  hood,  that  was  out  of  date,  and  though  hoops 
were  in  fashion  nothing  could  have  induced  her  to 
wear  one.  Yet  there  was  somethingr  in  her  which 
could  not  fail  of  attracting  notice  and  respect,  amidst 
the  most  numerous  company,  where  many  might  out-^ 
shine  her  in  splendour  of  appearance.'^ 

.Her  ardent  benevolence  rendered  her  the  common 
friend  of  the  poor,  to  whom  she  gave  her  money,while  it 
lasted, with  profusion  rather  than  liberality;  and  when 
she  had  nothing  else,  she  gave  them  the  wisest  advice 
in  the  kindest  manner,  and  so  powerfully  pleaded  their 
cause  with  the  rich,  that  she  seemed  not  so  much  to 
solicit,  as  to  demand  the  relief  which  she  judged  it  their 
duty  to  give.  If  she  found  a  sick  person  destitute 
of  proper  attendance,  she  would  perform  the  meanest 
offices  for  them  herself,  and  passed  much  of  her  time  iu 
the  most  wretched  appartments,  administering  to  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  relief  of  the  afflicted.  Amidst 
the  sufferings  of  the  nonconformists,  she  stood  forth 
their  fearless  champion,and  waged  war  with  the  hosts 
of  spies  and  informers,  to*  whom  she  was  a  constant 
terror.  "  Sometimes  she  circumvented  and  outwitted 
them,  sometimes  she  bullied  them,  but  in  the  end 
she  generally  got  the  poor  parson  out  of  their  clutches. 
On  these  occasions,  and  all  others  which  adniitted 
of  their  interposition,  she  was  sure  of  the  ^mmon 


26  HISTOItV   OF    DISSENTERS. 

people,  v^ho  idolised  their  benefactor,  while  the  higher 
classes  of  all  parties  valued  her  for  her  dignity'  of 
manner,  superior  sense,  engaging  elocution,  and 
knowledge  of  the  world/' 

As  few  men  could  rival  this  woman  in  courage,  so 
it  was  sure  to  appear  whenever  man  or  woman  at* 
tacked  the  reputation  of  her  grandfather  Oliver. 
Gratefully  attached  to  him,  to  whom  she  ascribed 
the  praise  of  every  excellence  which  she  possessedf 
when  she  was  complimented  on  any  attainment  she 
would  reply,  "  1  learned  this  of  my  grandfather.^'  She 
was  such  an  enthusiast  for  his  fame,  that,  not  con  ten  ted 
with  pronouncing  him  the  first  of  mankind,  equally 
distinguished  among  saints,  among  statesmen  or  gene- 
rals, she  also  expected  that  every  one  in  her  company 
should  echo  tofcis  praises.  Two  stories  are  related 
of  her  offering  to  fight  duels  with  gentlemen,  who  had^ 
in  a  stage  co^ch,  disputed  the  propriety  of  canonising^ 
the  protector;  but  as  they  betray  marks  of  being 
both  intended  for  the  same  event,  though  the  circum- 
stances are  contradictory,  and  neither  of  them  seem 
capable  of  confirmation,  they  are  not  worthy  to  ba 
fecorded.  In  a  violent  fever,  when  she  was  supposed 
to  be  deprived  of  sense,  finding  lady  Fauconberg,  hcF 
^urit,  yield  too  miich  to  what  was  spoken  by  som^ 
in  the  room  to  the  dishonour  of  Oliver,  she  rose  up, 
to  the  astonishment  of  alii  and  sajd^  *^f  1  did  not  be- 
lieve my  grandmother  to  have  been  one  of  the  most 
virtuous[  women  in  the'  world,  I  should  conclude 
your  ladyship  to  be  a  bastard ;  for  I  am  astonished  tha^ 
the  daughter  of  th^  greatest  and  best  man  that  ever 
lived,  should  be  so  degenerate  as  tq  hear  with  pj^tien«^ 
-his  memory  so  ill  treated, 


XITES   OF   EMINENT   DISSENTERS,  ft9 

In  religion,*^  Dr.  Owen  was  her  favourite  author, 
and  she  has  been  ridiculed  for  calvinistic  eQlhusiasni 
and  confideDce  in  her  election  to  the  kingdom  of  hea* 
ven.  That  such  religion  should  be  viewed  by  many 
with  an  evil  eye  is  not  surprising ;  but  when  it  is  a{^ 
firmed  that,  possessed  of  piety,  sincerity,  and  n^agna* 
nimity,  in  the  highest  degree,  ardently  desirous  of 
serving  God  and  promoting  the  truest  interest  of  all 
mankind,  even  of  her  bitterest  enemies;  she  yet  waf 
fawning,  suspicious,  and  capable  of  any  falsehood  or 
cruelty,  must  not  every  judicious  person  perceivf 
that  the  author  of  such  a  relation,  in  attempting  an 
antithesis,  has  fallen  upon  a  contradiction  ?  As  the 
best  part  of  the  description  is  supported  by  the  evit 
dence  of  facts,  of  which  the  worst  is  destitute,  reason, 
as  well  as  charity,  requires  that  we  should  ascribe  th^^ 
former  to  the  excellencies  of  Mrs.  Bendish,  and  the  lat« 
ter  to  the  pr^udices  of  the  reporter.  Though  she  wa# 
charged  with  lavishing  in  charity,  what  was  due 
to  her  creditors,  she  declared  that  she  would  die  in  no 
ones  debt;  and  as  the  fact  justified  the  assertion,  should 
w^e  not  ascribe  it  to  her  attention  to  equity,  rather 
than  to  accidental  coincidence  ? 

That  her  religious  principles,  engrafted  on  such  an 
ardent  temperament,  produced  fruits  which  cool 
prudence  would  never  relish, wemay  readily  conclude* 
If  she  questioned  the  lawfulness  or  expediency  of 
any  undertaking,  she  adopted  the  method,  which  she 
said  her  grandfather  always  employed  with  success, 
by  shutting  herself  up  in  her  closet  for  fasting  and 
prayer,  and  searching  the  Scriptures,  till  she  came  to 
some  determination,, upon  which  she  acted  with  the 
confidence  of  success  that  usually  attained  the  object. 


58  HISTORY  OP   DISSENTEHS, 

Thus  she  was  induced  to  say  in  similar  emergencies^ 
6he  would  trust  a  friend  who  never  deceived  her. 
After  her  days  of  labour,  she  would  frequently  pay 
t:isits,  at  ten  or  eleven  at  night,  mounted  on  an  old 
mare,  never  accompanied  with  a  servant;  for  she  said, 
G6d  was  her  guard,  and  she  would  have  no  other* 
The  unreasonableness  of  the  hour  even  in  those  more 
sober  days,  never  rendered  her  visits  unwelcome,  and 
in  addition  to  the  usual  sprightliness  of  her  conversa- 
tion, if  religion  was  the  theme,  she  was  generally  so  ele- 
vated as  to  insist  upon  singing  a  psalm  before  she 
would  retire.  She  thep  mounted  her  mare,  atone  in 
the  morning,  siqging  a  hyn)n,in  notes  rather  boisterous 
than  melodious,  till  she  arrived  at  home. 

As  she  had  formerly  hazarded  her  life  by  delivering  a 
relation  from  imprisonment  for  the  Rye-house  plot, 
to  which  she  was  said  to  be  privy ;  when  the  revolution 
wa's  determined  upon,  she  was  entrusted  with  the 
secret^  and  went  about  to  different  shops  in  the  town 
to  look  at  silks,  and  other  articles,  and  on  going  away 
would  drop  bundles  of  papers,  tq  prepare  the  minds 
€>f  the'people  for  the  great  event.  It  was,  perhaps,  for 
this  service  thj^t  archbishop  Tillotson  introduced  her 
to  quetn  Mary,  to  obtain  for  her  a  pension  suited  to 
her  former  station ;  but  the  prelate  and  the  queen  sooi^ 
after  died,  leaving  the  affj^ir  uqaccomplished.  Mrs, 
Bendish  live4  to  the  age  of  eighty,  and  died  in  the 
year  1 729. 

The  be^t  portraits  of  Oliver  Cromwell  are  said  tp 
require  only  a  little  softening,  to  niake  them  the  most 
perfect  resemblances  of  Mrs.  Bendish.  She  was 
esteemed  by  the  first  persons  of  her  days,  and  Dr. 
Waits  addressed  to  her  one  of  his  lyric  poems,  which 


LtVSS  OF   EMINENT   X>ISS£NTERS.  29 

closes  with  a  dissuasive  from  tears,  well  suited  to 
her  masculine  soul'. 

The  original-turn  of  this  lady's  mental  phisiognomy 
inust  always  distinguish  her  frcm  the  crowd  of  bio- 
graphic portraits,  and  he  who  has  once  attentively 
marked  her  features  finds  that  he  has  for  ever  increased 
his  acquaintance  with  human  nature.     The  energy, 
of  her  soul,  communicating  its  impetus  to  ours,  ren- 
ders the  fatigue  of  inaction  intolerable;  while  her  de- 
cision of  sentiments  and  character,  which  compelled 
every  thing  to  serve  her  purpose,  raises  a  blush  for 
the  chamelion  miqds  which  can  tamely  take  the  colour 
of  every  surrounding  object.     Her  religion  has  been 
charged  with  entt}usiasm,but  it  was  evidently  the  en- 
thusiasm of  benevolence  and  intellect,  to  which  it  was 
equally  impossible  to  live  for  herself,  and  not  to  think 
for  herself.  From  the  splendid  rank  for  which  she  was 
formed,  she  possessed  the  rare  ability  of  descending,  at 
the  call  of  duty  or  charity,  to  the  habiliments  and 
fatigues  of  labour,  %X\\\  retaining  the  power  to  charm, 
and  enjoy  the  most  polished  society;  and  though  she 
pursued  the  business  of  earth  as  if  it  were  her  heaven, 
she  made  religion  her  business,  as  if  she  had  no  other 
employment  on  earth.    The  courage  of  an  Amazon, 
which  could  brave  danger  and  look  contempt  out^  of 
countenance,  was  united  in  her  breast  with  the  tender 
charities  which  give  the  truest  charm  to  the  female 

^  Then  let  these  aseless  streams  be  staid. 
Wear  native  courage  od  your  face. 
These  vulgar  things  were  never  made 
For  souls  of  a  superior  race. 
If  lis  a  rugged  path  you  go. 
And  thousand  foes  your  steps  surround ; 
Tread  the  thorns  down,  charge  through  the  foe. 
The  hardest  fight  is  highest  crown'd 


90  HISTORY   OF   DISSENtERS. 

form,  whenivatching  by  the  bed  of  sickness  or  of  death. 
Though  called  to  force  her  way  throtigh  a  world  in 
arms  against  her  dearest  attachments  to  kindred,  liberty 
and  religion,  her  philanthrophy  ever  blazed  with  un- 
abated ardour,  add  amidst  the  numberless  vexations 
which  she  endured,  she  maintained  to  old  age  the 
cheerfulness  that  could  sing  hymns  to  the  silence  of 
midnight  or  the  thunders  of  a  storm  ^. 

Mrs.  ROWE. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Rowe  is  one  of  the  few  women 
ct|uaHy  celebrated  in  the  world  for  her  talents,  and 
til  the  church  for  her  piety.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Walter  Singer,  a  gentleman  who  knew  the  nature 
ofrdigion  too  well  to  imagined  that  superior  station 
exempted  him  from  the  obligation  of  confessing 
Christ  under  the  meanest  and  most  persecuted  form. 
While  he  was  imprisoned  for  nonconformity  in  Ilches- 
ter  jail,  he  was  assisted  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Portnell, 
which  produced  an  attachment  that  ended  in  mar- 
riage. Mrs.  Singer  was  removed  early  in  life,  but 
her  husband  survived  many  years,  and  was  so  much 
respected  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Frome,  to  which 
he  Removed,  that  he  was  visited  by  persons  of  the 
highest  rank,  and  by  bishop  Kenn  once  a  week.  His 
daughter  used  to  relate  that  when  he  was  near  hi^ 
end  ^^  he  often  felt  his  pulse,  cpmplained  that  it  was 
still  regular,  but  smiled  at  eyery  symptom  of  ap* 
proaching  death*  He  would  say.  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly.     Com^,  ye  holy  angels,  that  rejoice  at? 

^  Anecdotes  afMra.  Bendish  by  Rev.  Samuel  Say,  Dr.  Brookes, 
and  Mr.  Hewling  Lusoq.  See  Noble's  Memoirs  of  the  protector 
rate  house  of  Cromwell «  . 


LIVES  OP    EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  81 

the  conversion  of  £t  sinner,  and  conduct  my  soul  to 
the  skies.  But  thy  time,  Lord,  not  mine  is  best/* 
One  of  those  who  called  themselves  free  thinkers  was 
so  aflTected  with  the  sight,  as  to  be  ready  to  exclaiit), 
•'  almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian/^ 

.  The  subject  of  this  memoir,  who  was  the  eldest  of 
three  daughters,  was  born  at  Ilchester,  the  place  of 
her  father's  imprisonment,  Sept.  II,  1674.  "  When 
she  received  the  first  impressions  of  religion,"  says  the 
Rev.  Henry  Grove,  who  commenced  her  memoirs, 
*'  does  not  appear;  it  is  not  unlikely  that  it  was  as 
soon  as  she  was  capable  of  it ;  at  once  perceiving  her 
obligations  to  the  author  of  her  being,  and  in  the 
same  measure  as  her  opening  reason  discovered  them, 
feeling  their  force.^*  In  one  of  her  devout  exercises, 
she  says, "  my  infant  hands  were  early  lifted  up  to 
thee,  O  God,  and  I  s6on  learned  to  know  and  acknow* 
ledge  the  God  of  my  fathers.^'  Her  taste  for  the  fin« 
arts  appeared  almost  in  infancy,  for  she  loved  the 
pencil,  when  her  hands  had  scarcely  strength  to  guide 
it,  or  to  squeeze  out  the  juices  of  th^  flowers  with 
which  she  contrived  to  colour  her  drawings.  Music 
assisted' her  in  poetry,  and  gave  a  measured  move- 
ment to  her  prose ;  for  when  quite  young  she  scarce- 
ly ever  wrote  a  familiar  letter,  which  did  not  bear  the 
marks  of  a  poetic  genius ;  and  liaving  begun  to  write 
verses  at -twelve  years  of  age,  she  was  announced  to 
the  world  in  1696,  when  she  was  but  twenty-two,  by 
a  volume  of  poems  on  various  occasions.  Her  modesty 
forbidding  her  own  name  to  appear,  her  friends  gave 
her  that  of  Philomela,  the  nightingale,  in  allusion, 
perhaps,  to  the  name  of  Singer,  as  well  as  to  the 
sweetness  of  her  strains.  In  more  advanced  years, 
ihe  deeply  regretted  some  things  in  her  early  poems. 


82  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

They  introduced  her  to  the  family  of  lord  Weymouth, 
\i^hose  son  taught  her  French  and  Italian,  and  was 
surprised  to  find  his  fair  scholar  in  a  few  months  able 
to  read  Tasso's  Jerusalem  with  ease.  She  wrote  her 
paraphrase  of  the  thirty-eighth  chapter  of  Job,  at  the 
request  of  bishop  Kenn,  when  she  was  not  twenty. 

Several  men  of  genius,  among  whom  are  mentioned 
Prior  and  Watts,  were  ambitious  of  being  united  to 
the  accomplished  lady,  who  charmed  every  one  she 
came  near. '  But  Mr.  Thomas  Rowe,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Ben9ni  Rowe,  a  distinguished  minister  of  the  gospel, 
and  himself  a  superior  scholar,  poet,  and  historian, 
was  the  happy  man.  This  match  of  intellect  is  said 
to  have  been  happy,  beyond  the  common  lot  of 
human  life;  though  some  might  have  foreboded  that 
two  geniuses  would  be  rendered  irksome  to  each 
other  by  mutual  claims  of  ascendancy,  or  reciprocal 
neglects  of  the  inferior  attentions  which  are  so  neces* 
sary  to  the  happiness  of  domestic  life.  In  some  ten- 
der lines  addressed  to  her,  under  the  name  of  Delia, 
long  after  their  marriage,  Mr.  Rowe  says, 

Short  be  my  life-t  uncertain  date. 

And  earlier  far  than  thine,  the  destined  hour  of  fate. 

Whene'er  it  comes,  mayst  thou  be  by. 

Support  my  sinking  frame,  and  teach  me  how  to  die* 

His  wish  was  granted,  for  a  feeble  constitution,  ex* 
hausted  by  excessive  study,  sunk  under  a  consump- 
tion. May  13,  1715,  when  he  was  only  twenty-eight 
years  of  age. 

As  it  was  only  in  compliance  with  her  husband's 
inclination  that  she  had  resided  near  London,  Mrs. 
Rowe  soon,  retired  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Frome, 
where  she  determined  to  spend  the  rest  of  her  days 
in  the  solitude  which  was  her  delight.    She  now 


LIVES   OF    EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  S3 


99 


vrrote  the  works  entitled  "  Friendship  in  Death, 
and  "  Letters  moral  and  entertaining/^  to  impress,  as 
she  said,  the  notion  of  the  souls  immortality,  without 
which  all  virtue  and  religion  must  fall  to  the  ground, 
and  to  make  the  mind  contract  an  habitual  persua- 
sion of  our  future  existence.  In  1736,  she  published 
the  history  of  Joseph,  a  poem,  which  she  had  written 
in  her  youth.  She  employed  herself  much  in  devout 
meditation  and  in  contemplation  on  death,  which  she 
anticipated  with  delight  ;•  though,  till  about  half  a 
year  previous  to  her  decease,  she  scarcely  ever  knew 
what  illness  was.  On  the  commencement  of  the 
attack  which  first  threatened  her  life,  she  complained 
that  she  found  her  mind  not  quite  so  serene  and  pre- 
pared to  meet  death  as  usual,  but  "  from  the  contem- 
plation of  the  atonement,  and  mediation  of  Christ,* 
she  afterwards  derived  such  confidence  and  satisfac- 
tion that  she  said,  with  tears  of  joy,  "  I  know  not 
that  I  ever  felt  the  like  in  all  my  life.^*  She  had 
nearly  recovered  her  usual  health,  and  had  been  con- 
versing with  a  friend,  in  high  spirits,  when  she  retired 
to  her  chamber  for  extraordinary  devotion,  as  was  her 
custom  on  Saturday  evenings.  The  servant  shortly 
after  heard  a  noise,  and  going  to  her,  found  her  fallen 
on  the  floor,  in  an  apoplexy  which  terminated  her 
life  the  next  morning,  February  23,  1737,  in  the  sixty- 
third  year  of  her  age.  A  devotional  book  was  lying 
open  before  her,  and  some  loose  papers,  on  which  she 
had  written  the  following  lines. 

O  guide,  and  counsel,  and  protect  my  soul  from  sin  ! 
O  speak  andlet^me  know  thy  heavenly  will ! 
Aud  whisper  heavenly  comforts  to  my  soul ! 

She  was  buried,  according  to  her  request,  under  the 

VOL.   IV,  © 


04  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

same  stone  with  her  father,  in  the  meeting-house  at 
Frome.  A  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Mr. 
Bowden  to  a  crowded  auditory ;  for  she  was  highly 
esteemed  in  the  town,  and  the  poor  flocked  to  her 
grave  with  tears,  telling  of  her  unbounded  kindness, 
and  pouring  blessings  on  her  memory.  For  her 
generous  heart  spurned  the  love  of  money,  which  she 
thought  so  dishonourable  to  religion,  that  she  used  to 
gay,  it  is  fit  sometimes  to  give  for  the  credit  of  reli- 
gion, when  other  reasons  are  wanting,  that  the 
enemies  of  religion  should  not  say,  "  that  Christians 
are  covetous/^  In  one  of  her  private  papers,  is  the 
following  vow :  "  I  consecrate  half  my  yearly  income 
to  charitable  uses  ;  and  though  by  this  I  have  reduced 
myself  to  some  necessity,  I  cast  my  care  on  my  graci-* 
ous  God,  to  whom  I  am  devoted.  I  am,  indeed,  un- 
worthy to  wipe  the  feet  of  the  least  of  the  servants  of 
my  Lord  ;  but  let  me  administer  consolation  to  the 
afflicted  members  of  my  exalted  and  glorious  Re- 
deemer, and  I  give  the  glories  of  the  world  to  the 
wind.  By  this  generous  sacrifice,  she  was  enabled* 
besides  her  other  charities,  to  place  poor  children  at 
school,  and  give  Bibles  and  instructive  books  to  the 
ignorant.  Her  devotional  papers  were  left  to  be  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Watts,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Devout 
exercises  of  the  Heart,'^  which  we  had  rather  fed  than 
criticise ;  and  in  her  desk  were  some  letters  to  be 
eent  to  some  persons  to  whom  she  was  anxious 
io  be  a  blessing  after  death. 


STATE   OP  RELIGION,  35 


CHAP.   IX. 


STATE   OF    RELIGION    IN    THE   WORLD, 


SECTION  I. 

STATE    OF    RELIGION    IN   ENGLAND* 

JLhe  irreligion  of  our  country,  in  the  former  part  of 
this  period,  is  attested  by  a  public  document  of  high 
authority ;  for  his  grace  of  Canterbury  and  thirteen 
bishops  published,  in  the  year  after  the  accession  of 
the  house  of  Hanover,  *'  a  declaration,"  which  loudly 
complained  of  the  national  sins.  -  They  affirm,  that 
*'  the  chief  hopes  of  the  enemy  in  the  rebellion  then 
excited,  seemed  to  arise  from  discontents  fomented 
by  some,  who,  too  much  valued  by  themselves  and 
others  for  their  pretended  ^eal  for  the  church,  had 
joined  with  papists  in  their  wicked  attempts."  Yet 
that  members  of  the  church  of  England,  amidst  high 
professions  of  zeal  for  her  interests,  should  attempt  to 
set  up  a  popish  pretender  for  her  support,  is  pro- 
nounced by  the  prelates  "  such  an  absurdity,  as  no- 
thing but  an  infatuation  from  God,  inflicted  for  our 
sins,  can  suffer  to  pass  upon  the  nation^" 

The  charges  which  the  bishops  prefer  against  their 
cotemporaries  for  infidelity,  hypocrisy,  strife,  and 
rancour,  are  substantiated  by  every  publication  which 
describes  the  moral  character  of  the  age,     The  gall  of 

^  Declaration  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  bishopa 
in  aad  near  London,  against  the  present  rebellion •     1715, 

p  2 


36  HISTORY    OF   DISSENTERS. 

bitterness  with  which  the  tories  in  the  church  labour- 
ed to  poison  the  intercourse  of  society,  and  destroy 
liberty  of  religion,  sooii  appeared  to  be  spent,  but  the 
transition  from  bigotry  to  indifference  and  infidelity 
was  as  terrible  as  it  was  natural.  The  deistical 
writers  were  so  numerous,  bold,  and  active,  and  their 
attempts  to  proselyte  the  higher  classes  of  society 
were  so  successful,  that  many  well  meaning  Chris- 
tians were  depressed  by  the  most  gloomy  forebodings, 
and  seemed  to  admit  that  revealed  religion  was  about 
to  disappear.  Bishop  Butler,  who,  as  the  champion 
of  revelation,  had  watched  the  progress  of  its  enemies, 
felt  so  little  assurance  of  success  in  his  efforts,  that 
he  said  to  his  clergy,  "  the  influence  of  religion  is 
more  and  more  wearing  out  of  the  minds  of  men,  the 
number  of  those  who  avow  themselves  unbelievers 
increase,  and  with  their  numbers  their  zeal.  The 
deplorable  distinction  of  our  age  is  an  avowed  scorn 
of  religion  in  some,  and  a  growing  disregard  to  it  in 
the  generality  ^^* 

The  notorious  South  Sea  scheme,  in  1720,  contri- 
buted  to  the  depravation  of  the  public  mind.  The 
nation  caught  so  greedily  at  the  gilded  bait,  that  even 
grave  religious  persons,  who  were  afterwards  asham- 
ed to  own  their  losses,  were  involved  in  the  general 
Tuin.  Fed  by  prodigious  profits,  the  mania  of  specu- 
lation raged  to  such  a  degree,  that  South  Sea  stock 
rose  to  one  thousand  per  cent,  and,  for  some  days^ 
every  other  business  was  neglected ;  for  all  ages  and 
ranks,  statesmen  and  clergymen,  whigs  and  tories, 
physicians,  lawyers,  and  tradesmen,  with  multitudes 
of  females,  crowded  Exchange-alley,  to  procure  a 
share  in  this  golden  mine.     Forsaking  the  path  of 

I  Charge  at  the  end  of  his  Analogy,     8vo,  179  U 


STATE    OF    RELIGION.  37 

sofcer  industry  and  moderate  gain,  multitudes,  espe- 
cially in  the  capital,  ran  after  the  bubbles,  as  they  were 
called,  which  started  up. every  day,  till  a  hundred 
new  companies  were' formed,  with  the  pretence  of 
raising  three  hundred  millions.    If  the  love  of  money 
16  the  root  of  all  evil,  ho\y  much  vile  fruit  must  it 
have  produced  at  this  period.     The  natural  conse- 
quences of  insatiable  cupidity  soon  appeared.    Those 
who  fancied  themselvesi   princes,  intoxicated    with 
their  sudden  elevation,  launched  into  such  excess  of 
luxury,   debauchery,   and   pride,  as  seemed  to  set 
heaven  and  earth  at  defiance.     But  as  soon  as  the 
bubbles  burst,  they  were  plunged  into  despajr,  ran-, 
cour,  and  deadly  hatred.     When  the  king  hastened 
from   Germany  and  assembled    the    parliament,   to 
enquire  into  the  public  calamity,  such  scenes  of  fraud 
and  extortion  were  detected,  as  destroyed  the  confi- 
dence of  society,  which  seemed  divided  between  those 
who  had  shewn  no  moderation  in  the  public  plunder, 
and  those  who  now  set  no  bounds  to  their  thirst  for  re- 
venge.    The  charitable  corporation,  a  company  form- 
ed in    1707,  to  lend  money  to  the  poor  on  small 
pledges,  and  to  persons  in  higher  life  on  good  securi- 
ties, was,  in  1731,  found  to  be  robbed  of  capital  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  five  hundred    thousand 
pounds.     The  cashier^  Mr.  Robinson,  member  of  par- 
liament for  Marlow,  and  John  Thompson,  a  servant 
of  the  company,  absconded  in  the  same  day,  \vhich 
induced  the  proprietors  to  present  a  petition  to  par- 
liament, and  produced  the  discovery  that  some  of  the 
first  persons  in  the  nation  had  joined  with  the  two 
fugitives,  and  several  of  the  directors,  to  embezzle  the 
capital  of  the  company.  The  petitioners  complained  that 
piultitudes  were  plunged  into  the  deepest  distress. 


3d  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

A  passion  for  gaming  raged,  also,  among  indivi- 
duals of  all  ranks  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  legisla- 
ture interposed,  and  passed  an  act,  in  1739,  for  the 
suppression  of  the  growing  evil.  The  journals  of 
the  times  remarkably  abound  w^ith  instances  of  rob- 
bery and  murder,  aggravated  by  every  cruelty ; 
while  the  complaints  of  barbarity  in  the  jails  in- 
duced the  house  of  commons  to  appoint  a  committee 
of  examination,  which  disclosed  many  shocking 
scenes  of  tyranny  insulting  over  wretchedness. 

Another  subject  deeply  affecting  the  public  morals 
^xed  the  attention  of  the  legislature.     The  cheap- 
ness of  the  lowest  kinds  of  spirituous  liquors,  had 
induced  the  poorer  classes  to  abandon  themselves  to 
the  most  loathsome  excesses  of  drunkenness.     Cel- 
lars" covered  with  straw  were  provided  by  the  venders 
of  the  fiery  poison,  that  those  who  had  dropped  down 
from  extreme  intoxication,  might,  on  their  recovery, 
be  at  hand  to  pursue  the  same  course  again.     Multi- 
tudes   thus  quenched  their  reason  and  their  life, 
amidst  the  roar  of  profaneness  and  blasphemy  truly 
infernal.     To  remedy  the  enormous  evil,  the  legisla- 
ture imposed  a  duty  almost  amounting  to  prohibition, 
but  it  seemed  only  to  prove  that  drunkenness  laughs 
^   at  human  laws ;  for,  without  paying  the  duty,  the 
spirit  was  again  swallowed  at  the  corner  of  every 
street,  amidst  threats  and  insults,  which  intimidated 
informers,  and  set  magistrates^at  defiance.     Perceiv- 
ing that  the  quantity  consumed  was  greater  than 
before,  the  ministry  proposed  to  benefit  at  once  the 
revenue  and  ih6  morals  of  the  country,  by  enacting 
a  more  moderate  duty,  and  obliging  the  retailers- to 

■  Painted  boards  invited  the  poor  to  be  drank  for  a  penny,  dead 
drunk  for  two^peuce,  promising  them  dean  straw  for  nothing. 


STATE   OF  RELIGION*  39 

take  but  licenses.  This  measure  was  seriously  op- 
posed, as  pernicious  to  morality,  and  the  question 
agitated  the  -nation  and  the  legislature  to  a  degree 
almost  incredible.  The  whole  bench  of  bishops  voted 
against  the  ministry.  The  earl  of  Chesterfield,  who 
had  ridiculed  the  new  bill,  perceiving  this,  said,  "  I 
doubt  whether  I  have  not  got  on  the  wrong  side  of 
the  question  ;  for  I  have  not  had  the  honour  to  divide 
with  so  many  lawn  sleeves  for  several  years/'  The 
bill,  however,  passed  in  spite  of  Chesterfield  and  the 
bishops,  nor  were  the  ministers  disappointed  in  their 
expectations  of  benefit. 

The  preaching  which  prevailed  at  this  time,  must 
be  reckoned,  also,  among  the  evils  that  afflicted  our 
country.     It  was,  indeed,  less  bigotted  and  papistical 
than  that  which  was  in  vogue  during  the  latter  part 
of  Anne's  re\gn  ;  for  the  public  taste  began  to  loathe 
the  .claims  of  uninterrupted  sqccession  from  the  apos- 
tles and  the  necessity  of  episcopal  sacraments  in  order 
to  salvation  ;  but  a  cold  ethical  strain,  excluding  the 
(ioctrjnes  of  the  Gospel,  betrayed  the  preacher's  ambi- 
tion  to  become,  what  an  able  prelate  has  happily 
ridiculed  by  the  appropriate  naipe  of  the  *'  ape  of 
Epictetus.^'     In  this  line  bishop  Butler's  sermons  at 
the  Rolls  are  ^  finished  model,  which  was  but  too 
generally  followed,  and  helped  to  promote  the  infi- 
delity which  he  so  mournfully  bewailed.     Sherlock, 
master  of  the  tenjple,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Lon- 
don, was  more  worthy  pf  the  popularity  which  he 
enjoyed  as  a  preacher;  for  ^e  paid  more  attention  to 
Christian  doctrine,  and  he  not  unfrequently  surprizes 
us  with  such  strokes  of  sentiment  and  eloquence,  as 
would  have  ^atoned  for  any  defect  but  that  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.    Yet  he  also,  like  the  other  divines 

D  4 


40  HISTORY    OF    DISSENTERS. 

of  this  era,  was  affected  with  the  epidemic  of  the. 
times,  dread  of  infidelity,  which  induced  him  to  make 
deists  of  more  importance  than  they  could  have  made 
themselves.  Warburton,  who  blazed  the  comet  of 
George  the  second's  reign,  contended  for  the  credi- 
bility, while  he  opposed  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 
With  arrogance  to  assert  whatever  he  chose,  and 
powers  to  defend  almost  any  thing  he  pleased  to 
assert,  if  the  end  of  controversy  be  the  propagation 
of  truth,  by  the  conviction  of  opposers,  he  was  most 
completely  foiled ;  for,  he  rested  the  evidence  of 
revelation  on  such  grounds  as,  in  spite  of  his  mighty 
paradoxes,  frequently  exposed  the  cause  he  defended 
to  the  contempt  of  the  infidels.  To  neglect  the  de- 
cencies of  letters,  as  well  as  the  meekness  and  bene- 
volence of  religion,  in  the  treatment  of  infidels  and 
all  opposers,  became  the  fashion  of  the  Warburtoniaa 
school. 

The  worship  of  talent  was  the  prevailing  idolatry 
of  this  period,  of  which  Shakspeare  and  Pope  were 
dii  majorum  gentium.  Literary  clubs  were  formed, 
where  nightly  sacrifices  of  conviviality  were  offered 
to  the  vanity  of  prostituted  intellect.  When  Johnson 
became  the  hierophant  to  these  literary  heathens, 
they  may  almost  be  said  to  have  been  evangelised; 
for  though  he  spent  his  evenings  among  them,  in 
9uch  a  way  as  made  him  blush,  and  would  have  made 
an  enlightened  Christian  shudder,  yet  it  may  be 
reckoned  a  felicity  that  he  became  their  saint,  to 
supply  the  salt  of  grace  to  the  wits,  among  whose 
productions  his  periodical  papers  are  pre-eminent,  as 
well  for  purity  of  morals  as  for  dignity  of  thought  and 
expression.  In  prose  he  has  happily  taken  the  pre-, 
cedence  of  Addison,  whose  Spectiitor  has  much  to 


STATE   OF  RELIGION,  41 

pollute  as  well  as  to  divert  and  instruct ;  but  in  poetry 
he  has  not  eclipsed  the  fatal  glory  of  the  Cato,  where 
suJciJe  becomes  a  splendid  sin,  and  thus  is  likely  to 
be  preferred  to  a  sombre  virtue.  The  poetic  fame  of 
Pope,  however,  has  been  the  bane  of  religion  ;  for  in- 
dependent of  the  seductive  lustre  which  he  has  given 
to  the  daemonology  of  Homer,  and  the  unblushing 
deism  of  his  Essay  on  Man,  pure  heathenism,  in  spite 
of  a  few  solitary  truths  introduced  for  the  sake  of  the 
rhyme,  ever  feeds  his  lamp  and  scents  his  works, 
which  paganise  the  taste  of  thousands. 

Garrick,  the  Roscius  of  this  age,  infected  it  with  a 
dramatic  mania,  which,  in  proportion  as  it  transported 
men  into  the  visionary  scenes  of  the  theatre,  rendered 
the  sober  realities  of  eternity  gloomy  or  disgusting. 
While  the  play-house  was  crowded  to  the  neglect  of 
the  church,  and  Shakspeare,  edited  by  the  first 
scholars,  was  studied  more  than  the  Bible,  need  it  be 
asked  what  was  the  state  of  the  public  mind  ?  If, 
however,  it  is  not  yet  sufficiently  evident,  let  it  only 
be  remembered  that  Foote  ventured  to  bring  on  the 
stage  a  farce  composed  of  blasphemous  puns  on  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  very  words  of  inspira- 
tion, for  the  sake  of  holding  up  Whitefield  to  ridicule. 
That  such  a  being  as  Aristophanes  could  succeed  in 
rendering  one  like  Socrates  the  laughing  stock  of 
Athens,  has  been  considered  a  proof  of  a  dissolute 
age ;  nor  is  it  enough  to  wipe  away  the  odium  from 
the  period  of  which  we  write,  to  say,  that  the  Minor 
was  discountenanced ;  for  the  very  attempt  was  in- 
vited by  the  profaneness  of  the  public  manners. 

There  were,  however,  breaks  in  these  clouds, 
through  which  heaven  smiled  on  fearth.  The  atten- 
tion paid   to  the  evidences  of  revelation,  though 


Sft  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTCRS. 

accompanied  in  many,  perhaps  in  most  instances 
with  the  neglect  or  misrepresentation  of  its  essential 
troths,  was  yet  favourable  to  religion.  Unspeakably 
more  edifying  than  the  ancient  prize  essays  in  behalf 
of  priestly  claims,  it  furnished  many  valuable  works 
calculated  to  instruct  Christians  as  much  as  to  con- 
fute unbelievers.  The  lecture  founded  by  sir  Robert 
Boyle,  produced  some  admirable  treatises,  among 
which  Derham^s  astro  and  physico-theology  claim  a 
high  rank.  But  the  analogy  of  natural  and  revealed 
religion,  by  bishop  Butler,  forms  a  treasure  which 
will  enrich  every  age  and  clime. 

Our  country  was,  at  this  time,  not  entirely  inatten- 
tive to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  foreign  parts, 
though  not  so  earnest  in  the  cause  as  its  importance 
demanded.  One  of  the  Danish  missionaries,  at 
Trahquebar,  coming  to  England,  gave  a  history  of 
their  labours  and  success,  in  a  personal  conference 
with  George  the  first.  They  afterwards  wrote  a  more 
full  account  of  their  mission,  which  was  answered  by 
a  kind  letter  from  the  king,  assuring  them  of  his  rea- 
dinessto  give  every  proof  of  affection  for  their  lauda- 
ble design.  At  the  desire  of  the  English  in  India, 
they  erected  schools  for  the  children  of  the  natives. 
They  gratefully  acknowledge  the  assistance  _  given 
them  by  the  society  for  promoting  Christian  know- 
ledge, which  was  now  furthering  the  same  benevolent 
object,  by  providing  for  the  east,  an  edition  of  the 
New  Testament  in  the  Arabic  language.  The'details 
of  these  efforts  with  their  success  among  the  heathen, 
were  eagerly  read  among  many  in  the  establishment^ 
and  served  to  fan  the  latent  flame  of  relimon. 

Of  all   the  events  favourable  to   religion  in   this 
period)  the  new  spirit  excited  among  some  pf  the 


STATE   OF  RELIGION,  43 

clergy  is  the  most  important.     It  could  now  no  lon- 
ger be  said,  that  the  history  of  dissenters  was  that 
of  religion.  Whitefield  and  Wesley,  wrth  the  original 
band  of  church  metbodists,  were  followed  by  others, 
who  adopted  their  principles,  and  imbibed  their  spirit, 
but  adhered  more  firmly  to  the  church  of  England, 
which,  from  this  time,  has  presented,  like  the  church 
described    by    Solomon,  ''  the  appearance  'of  two 
armies/^     The  evangelical  clergy,  as  the  new  party 
was  afterwards  called,  could  but  ill  accord  with  those 
who  placed  the  marks  of  a  true  churchman,  not  in  a 
vital  belief  of  the  doctrines,  but  in  conformity  to  the 
rites  of  the  establishment ;  nor  was  it  without  colour 
of  reason,  that  they  were  reproached  as  intruders, 
who  came  to  disturb  the  peace  (though  it  was  the 
peace  of  the  grave)  which  had  now  reigned  for  near  a 
century  in  the  church.     But,  entrenched  deeply  in 
articles  and  homilies,  and  inspired  with  the  zeal  of 
recent  belief,  they  withstood  all  the  attacks  of  their 
enemies,  and  gained  constant  accessions  to  their  num- 
bers.    To  thirty-four  of  these  clergymen,  Mr.  Wesley 
addressed,   about  the  end  of  George  the  second's 
reign,  a  proposal  for  union.     Many  who  were  hostile 
to  establishments  in  general,  as  well  as  tp  the  parti- 
cular constitution  and  forms  of  the  church  of  England, 
now  rejoiced  to  find  the  Gospel  feithfully  preached  in 
pulpits,  from  which  it  had  been  banished  since  the 
expulsion  of  the  nonconformists.    .  ^ 

Together  with  a  new  spirit  among  the  clergy,  a 
novel  species  of  philosophy,  intimately  connected 
with  theology,  was  introduced  from  a  quarter  whence 
it  was  least  expected ;  and  though  contemptuously 
rejected  by  some,  welcomed  by  others  with  enthusi- 
astic ardour.  The  author  of  this  theoiogico-philosophy 


44  HISTORY    OF    DISSENTERS. 

,  was  John  Hutchinson,  who  was  born  in  1670.  After 
serving  the  duke  of  Somerset,  as  land  steward  and 
surveyor,  he  procured  from  him  a  sinecure  place  in 
the  king^s  mews,  which  enabled  him  to  devote  his 
life  to  study.     In  his  travels,  he  investigated  the  dif- 

'^/ferent  strata  of  the  earth,  and  formed  that  extensive 
and  poble  collection  of  fossils  presented  by  Dr.  Wood- 
ward to  the  university  of  Cambridge,  and  obtained,  it 
is  said,  in  a  clandestine  manner  from  its  owner.  He 
published  his  discoveries  in  such  a  style,  as  could  not 
have  failed  to  obstruct  the  reception  and  celebrity  of 
more  popular  sentiments\ 

"  After  conquering  the  resistance  of  repulsive  teippers  and  far? 
tiguing  language,  we  find  his  system  maintains^  that  the  source  pF 
wisdom  has  givjcn,  in  the  Hebrew  Scnptures,  all  true  philosophy 
as  well  as  theology ;  that  it  is,  therefor^,  necessary  to  examine  into  the 
radical  idea  of  the  words  he  has  employed ;  that,  in  order  to  this,  w$ 
must  discard  the  vowel  points,  which  are  a  modern,  if  not  a  diabolical 
device,  to  Conceal,  rather  than  convey,  the  content^  of  the  Bible  ; 
that  when  the  Mosaic  history  is  understood,  it  confutes  all  other 
systems  of  the  universe,  not  excepting  the  Newtonian,  with  its  doc- 
trines of  gravity,  attraction,  and  repulsion ;  that  the  world  is  a  ma<v 
chine  of  limited  extent,  of  which  the  sgnis  the  main-spring,  at  th^ 
centre,  the  most  dense  state  of  air  forming  a  wall  at  the  extre^lity^ 
and  all  the  planets  revolving  upon  mechanical  principles;  that  tlic 
deluge  was  an  exhibition  of  the  Creator's  power  to  reduce  the  earth 
to  its  first  principles,  and  form  it  again ;  that  the  visible  creation  was 
intended  to  be  an  image  of  the  Creator,  his  attributes  and  relation^ 
towards  his  creatures ;  that  the  heavens,  or  celestial  fluid,  composed 
of  fire,  light,  and  air,  are  designed  to  teach  the  Trinity  of  Father,  Son, 
and  Spirit;  that  the  Deity  imparted  a  knowledge  of  all  these  mys- 
teries to  the  first  parents  of  the  human  race,  who  were  placed,  not  in 
the  paradise  of  Epicurus,  but  in  a  kind  of  observatory,  or  school  of 
philosophy ;  that,  after  the  fall,  visible  representations  of  the  Trinitj 
in  unity  were  given  in  the  cherubim,  on  the  east  of  Eden,  placed  ia 
a  tabernacle,  similar  to  that  of  Moses,  where  our  fallen  parents  wor- 
shipped, being  taught  the  rite  of  sacrificing,  circumcision,  and 
other  symbolic  ceremonies ;  that^  from  tbenc»)  a  revelation  may  be 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOX.  45 

The  association  of  ideas  would  lead  us  to  com- 
mence our  account  of  eminent  men,  during  this 
period,  with  the  name  of  sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose 
philosophy  the  system  of  Hutchinson  was  designed 
to  oppose,  and  who,  on  many  accounts,  may  claim 
precedence  among  "  the  'men  of  name."  Without 
stepping  out  of  our  department  to  characterise  his 
philosophy,  or  attempt  the  hopeless  task  of  adding 
to  his  praise;  we  shall  only  record  his  humble 
acknowledgments  of  the  divine  Author,  whose  works 

said  to  have  been  given  to  the  whole  human  race,  without  which, 
man  could  know  nothing  of  God  or  religion  ;  that  the  idolatry  of 
the  heathen  was  only  an  apostacy  from  the  true  philosophy,  by 
worshipping  the  works,  instead  of  learning  from  them  the  author  of 
nature ;  that  to  recover  the  true  philosophico-theology,  the  Mosaic 
ecouomy  was  given,  representing  in  its  tabernadle  and  utensils,  the 
structure  of  the  uifiverse,  as  well  as  pre-figuring  a  Saviour,  who 
should  be  the  Creator  tabernacling  among  his  own  works,  to  make 
expiation  for  sin  by  a  sacrifice  of  which  all  nations  have  retained  the 
abonginal  tradition ;  that  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  a  figure  of 
Christ^s  humanity,  as  the  Saviour  himself  declared,  in  which,  as  a 
temple,  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the  godhe:id  bodily,  while  it  was 
also  a  grand  monument  to  the  creative  honours  of  the  Deity ;  and 
finally,  that  the  figurative  language  of  Scripture  is  not  mere  allusion 
or  embellishment,  but  an  application  of  the  material  world  to  its 
true  design  of  teaching  spiritual  and  divine  doctrine.  If  this  sketch 
of  Hutchinsonianism,  hasty  and  compendious  as  it  is,  be  thought 
disproportionably  protracted,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  system 
has  founded  a  school  in  religion  and  philosophy,  has  been  warmly 
espoused  by  bishops  and  their  clergy,  taught  by  the  most  distin- 
guished scholars,  and  cherished  by  some  of  the  most  devout  believeri 
in  Revelation,  as  an  antidote  to  what  they  deem  the  atheistic  ten- 
dency of  the  Newtonian  philosophy.  It  has,  indeed,  been  rendered 
ridiculous  by  some  injudicious  friends,  among  whom  may  be  ranked 
Mr.  Romaine ;  but  the  pious  manner  of  bishop  Home  will  insinuate 
its  principles  into  the  breasts  of  the  devout,  the  erudition  of  Park- 
burst  recommend  it  to  the  studious,  and  the  cultivated  taste  of  Mr. 
Jones  may  procure  it  admirers  among  the  lovers  of  elegant  learning. 


46  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

he  so  successfully  explored  ;  his  diligence  in  studying 
and  elucidating  the  volume  of  revelation,  which,  by 
his  publications,  he  recommended  to  the  world;  and 
the  purity  of  his  moral  character,  without  which 
professions  of  faith  are  but  hypocritical,  and  transcen- 
dant  genius  only  rises  to  a  level  with  fallen  spirits. 
If,  in  other  countries,  infidels  exult  in  the  leaders  of 
science  as  their  own ;  in  ours.  Christians  may  not 
only  point  to  a  Milton  at  the  head  of  modern  poets, 
and  a  Locke  among  metaphysicians,  but  may  boast  of  a 
Newton,  the  first  of  mathematicians  and  philosophers, 
who  acknowledged  the  existence  of  the  Deity,  and 
received  the  holy  Scriptures  as  the  revelation  of  his 
•infinite  mind. 

Woolaston,  the  author  of"  the  Religion/of  Nature 
delineated,'^  should  stand  next  in  the  list.     His  sub- 
ject, it  is  true,  is,  of  all  others,  most  equivocal ;  byt  his 
mind,  of  the  first  order,  combining  simplicity  and 
original  force,  with  profound  knowledge  of  the  learning 
of  others,  has  reared  a  system  of  natural  religion,  not 
indeed  without  the  aid  of  Revelation,  which  has  now 
blended  its  beams  with  those  of  reason,  but  without 
any  discoverable  obligation  to  that  paramount  source 
of  information.^    The  delineation  of  the  religion  of 
nature  was  one  of  the  most  important  publications  of 
its  day,  in  the  department  of  moral  and  metaphysical 
discussion,  and  ranks  among  the  few  books  which 
supply  the  elements,  and  excite  the  habit  of  thinking, 
while  they  inspire  equal  admiration  of  the  author 
and  esteem  for  the  man.     ♦'  The  Religion  of  Jesus 
delineated,^'  by  Reynolds,  with  less  mental  vigour 
or  learned  lore,  contains  many  valuable  passages,  and 
is  an  excellent  companion  to  the  former. 

Lord  chancellor  King  was  another  of -the  distin* 


LIVES   OP   EMINENT    DISSENTERS.  47 

gmshed  writers  of  this  age,  who,  though  not  of  the 
clerical  profession,  enriched  the  church  with  theolo- 
gical productions.    When  a  very  young  nian  he  pub- 
lished an  '*  Enquiry  into  the  Constitution,  Discipline, 
Unity,  and  Worship  of  the  primitive  Church,''  valued 
equally  for  its  frank  simplicity  and  its  copious  learning, 
and  which  is  said,  with  great  probability,  to  contain 
the  principles  which  prevented  him  from  entering  the 
church  of  England,     It  certainly  has  convinced  many, 
that  the  essential  principles  of  the  independents  pre- 
vailed in  the  Christian  church  during  the  three  first 
centuries.     His  critical  history  of  the  apostles' creed 
is  worthy  to  be  studied  as  a  supi^lement  to  bishop 
Pearson's  admirable  exposition  of  that  ancient  sum- 
mary. 

Among  distinguished  churchmen,  archbishop  Ten- 
nison  deserves  a  place,  only  on  account  of  his  mild- 
ness of  character  and  elevatfon  of  rank!  Burnet, 
bishop  of  Sarum,  again  occurs  to  our  notice ;  because 
he  died  after  the  accession  of  George  the  first ;  but  ' 
he  has  become  already  so  familiar  to  our  readers,  that 
we  have  only  now  to  give  an  estimate  of  his  character 
as  a  divine.  As  far  as  zeal  for  pure  morals,  serious- 
ness in  the  discharge  of  pastoral  and  episcopal  duties, 
and  catholic  liberality  towards  dissenters,  deserve 
praise,  it  is  his  due  ;  but  he  who  looks  for  an  accurate 
perception  ^f  revealed  truth, a  precision  in  the  mode 
instruction  which  leaves  no  room  for  misapprehension, 
and  a  fidelity  which  spurns  at  accommodation  to  the 
times,  as  essential  to  constitute  a  faithful  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ,  will  not  concede  that  title  to  Dr.  Burnet. 
His  "  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England,'^  which  were  designed  to  prevent 
"  diversities  of  opinions/'  labours  to  prove  that  men 


/ 


48  HISTORY   OF    DISdEKTEHS. 

of  diversified  opinions  may  honestly  sign  them,  though 
conscious  of  direct  hostility  between  their  sentiments 
and  those  which  the  compilers  of  the  articles  intended 
to  express.  By  his  explanation  of"  the  literal  and 
grammatical  sense/'  he  has  earned  the  disgraceful 
glory  of  sanctioning  in  the  establishment  the  prevalent 
practice  of  subscribing  with  the  hand,  a  declaration  of 
unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  words  intended  to 
(Tonvey  sentiments  which  the  mind  rejects  and  the 
heart  abhors. 

Dr.  Wake,  who  succeeded  Tennison,  as  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  in  1715,  and  held  the  see  during  se- 
venteen years,  was  principally  distinguished  by  a 
scheme  which  he  formed  to  unite  the  churches  of 
England  and  France.  How  far  this  proposal  of  alli- 
ance with  a  catholic  communion,  was  honourable  to 
the  English  establishment,  or  its  primate,  must  be 
determined  by  the  reader^s  opinion  of  the  differences 
and  resemblance  of  the  two  churches. 

Hoadley  was  a  happy  unique  amongst  bishops  ;  for 
he  defended  the  cause  of  religious  liberty  with  so 
much  vigour  and  ability,  that  he  deserves  the  thanks 
of  posterity  as  the  founder  of  a'  liberal  party  within 
the  bosom  of  the  establishment.  The  undue  praise 
which  bishop  Butler  acquired  as  a  preacher  during  life, 
found  its  counterpoise  in  the  charge  of  popery  .brought 
against  him  after  death  ;  but  the  true  and  only  basis 
of  his  fame  is  the  able  reasoning  contained  in  his 
Analogy  of  natural  and  revealed  Religiou.  To  Dr. 
Wilson,  bishop  of  Sodor  and  Man,  belongs  the  praise 
pf  devout  superiority  to  the  grandeur  or  emoluments 
of  the  world,  faithful  devotedness  to  the  labours  of 
his  ministry^  and  urtbounded  charity  to  the  needy,  in 
"which  course  he  persevered  to  the  age  of  ninety^ 


«XATE  OF   RKLIQION.    .  49 

three,  when  he  died  the  oldest  and  poorest  bishop  in 
Europe. 

Dr.  William  Lowth,  father  of  the  celebrated  bishop 
of  that  name,  ranks  among  the  first  ornaments  of  the 
church  c^  England  in  his  time,  for  personal  virtues  and 
biblical  learning.  The  distinction  which  Dr.  Water? 
land  acquired  will  not  descend  to  posterity,  with  whom  ^ 
good  intentions  will  not  atone  for  the  absence  of  supe^ 
rior  talents.  His  book  on  the  sacrament,  conducts  the 
mind  not  to  the  pure  fountain  of  truth,  but  to  the 
semi-popery  of  men  who  wrote  what  a  confused  ima« 
ginatioD  dictated,  betbre  controversy  had  given  accu- 
racy to  truth.  Dean  Stanhope  was  a  celebrated  devo- 
tional writer,  who,  with  the  unction  of  the  fathers  h^ 
retained  their  mysticism.  His  translations  of  Austin 
and  Thomasa  Kempis,  and  his  manual  of  devotions  are 
likely  to  injure  those  who  are  not  previously  well 
iatbrmed.  As  a  commentator  on  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures, Whitiby  is  celebrated  beyond  his  deserts^ 
though  he  merits  praise  for  attending  to  this  impor^^ 
tant  labour,  at  a  time  when  it  was  much  neglected. 
The  ^name  of  Hervey,  must  not  be  omitted.  His 
personal  excellencies  as  a  Christian,  and  his  faithful 
laboers  as  a  minister  of  religion,  are  universally  ac- 
knowledged, but  his  style  as  a  writer  is  full  of  faults, 
though  of  such  a  kind  as  will  continue  to  render  hiih 
popular,  in  spite  of  the  just  censures,  of  all  who  have 
formed  their  taste  upon  classical  models.  His  Therou 
and  Aspasio  has  been  more  useful  than  almost  any 
other  publication  of  modern  theology ;  for  though  he 
was  but  an  inaccurate  divine,  which  appears  in  his 
account  of  the  nature  of  faith,  he  has  placed  its  object 
in  sueh  a  light  a^  tends  to  fix  and  charm  the  mind  of 
♦very  serious  reader,  ^ 

vol.,  IV.  E 


so  BIIJTORY  OF   DISSCMTE&S* 


SECTION   11. 
STATE  OF   RELIGION    IN    SCOTLAND. 

Jb  ROM  the  reformation  to  the  commeiicement  of  thb 
period,  the  church  of  Scotland  had  enjoyed  but  few 
interval  of  real  tranquillity.  When  not  in  a  state  of 
actual  conflict  with  the  civil  rulers  who  wished  to 
deprive  her  of  her  existence  or  her  power,  her  situa-^ 
tion  wa» so  precarious,  as  to  produce  a  constant  alarm. 
But  the  accession  of  George  thefirsft,  by  disappointing 
the  hopes  of  the  Stewarts  who  were  the  hereditary 
foes  of  presbytery,  introduced  a  season  of  permanent 
peace,. and  left  the  ministers  at  full  leisure  to  attend 
with  composure  of  mind  to  all  their  spiritual  functions^ 

The  internal  state  of  the  Scottish  church  appears 
to  have  been  exceedingly  prosperous.  It  is  asserted 
by  some  to  have  excelled  every  forlber  period  in  the 
number  of  devoted^  active,  and  zealous  pastors,  and 
in  the  superior  fneasures  of  knowledge  and  piety 
among  the  people;  Others  who  give  the  palm  to  the 
period  which  elapsed  from  1638  to  1660,  allow  the 
second  place  tor  excellence  to  the  time  when  George 
the  first  ascended  the  British  throne. 

While  stormy  seasons  are  the  harvest  of  the  his* 
toriaix,  and  the  sufferings  of  mankind  furnish  events 
which  deeply  interest  the  feelings  of  the  reader,  the 
time  of  peace  affords* few  materials  for  the  historic 
page,  and  these  too  inferior  in  effect*  The  attempts 
in  1715,  and  1745  by  the  exiled  royal  house  to  regain 
the  throne  of  their  ancestors,  presented  a  faint  image  of 
the  distresses  of  former  days ;  but  their  short  duration 


I 

'    STATfi   OT   RStlGIOK.  &1 

nnd  their  feeble  effects  do  not  entitle  them  to  parti* 
cular  notice  in  ecclesiastical  history.  It  must  be 
mentioned,  however,  that  the  presbyterians  were  to  a 
man  the  zealous  and  stedfast  friends  of  the  House  of 
Hanover  ;  and  that  the  only  adherents  of  the  Stevvartd 
were  to  be  found  among  the  episcopalians  and  Roman 
catholics. 

If  we  forni  to*  ourselves  the  pleasing  representation 
of  the  humble  presbyteria  in  the  Scottish  church, 
labouring  with  assiduity   and   perseverance   among 
their  flocks  in  preaching,  catechising,  and  pastoral 
visits;    and   multitudes  under  their  care  imbibing 
divine  knowledge  and  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and 
iadorning  their  Christian  profession  by  a  holy  life,  we 
shall  have  a  full  idea  of  what  was  taking  place,  during 
the  early  part  of  this  period,  in  hundreds  of  parishes 
and  among  ten  thousands  of  the  people.     But  peace 
has  its  temptations  which  were  powerfully  felt,  and 
proved  greatly  injurious  to  the  purity  and  prosperity 
of  this  highly  favoured  church.     Small  as  the  emo- 
luments of  office  might  be.  tolsome  they  Would  appear 
great,  while  the  respectability,  attached  to  the  mi- 
nister of  an  established  church,  with  the  rank  he  holds 
in  society,  will  powerfully  influence  many   in  their 
choice  of  a  profession.     From  these  causes  men  of  a 
different  spirit  entered  on  the  clerical  office ;  add  by 
the  want  of  activity  and  zeal  in  the  teachers,  piety 
decayed  among  the  people,  so  that  the  conclusion  of 
this  period  presehted  an  aspect  far  less  pleasing  than 
its  commencement. 

But  however  favourable  the  external  state  of 
a  communit}'  may  be,  events  will  occur  to  imbitter 
the  sweets  of  life,  and  to  furnish  trials  to  the  wise  and 

fi  2 


6^  HISJORY   OF   DlfiSSKXERS. 

good.    Such  was  tb^  effect  of  a  measure  needlessly 
adopted  by  the  British  government  in  the  end  of 
queen  Anne's  reigD^     The  oath  of  abjuration  which 
bad  at  the  union  been  required  of  Scotchmen  in  civil 
offices,  viras  in   1712  imposed  on  the  clergy,  under  a 
penalty  which  involved  their  utter  ruin.     Not  one  of 
the  body  was  disaffected  to  fhe  existing  government; 
but  many  of  them  were  enemies  to  an  oath  except  in 
cases  of  absohite  necessity  ;  and  some  scrupled  parti-- 
cular  clauses  as  binding  them  to  express  their  appro- 
bation  and  support  of  episcopacy,  and  preventing 
them  from  seeking  the  farther  reformation  of  the  land. 
So  widely  were  these  sentiments  extended,  that  more 
than  a  third  part  of  the  ministers  refused  to  comply 
^ith  the  requisition  of  government,  and    became 
liable  to  a  penalty  of  five  hundred  pounds,  a  sum 
which  perhaps  not  fifty  of  the  whole  body  would  have 
been  able  to  pay.     In  this  distressing  situation,  thrust 
out  of  the  protection  of  the  law,  these  nonjurors  re* 
jnained  from  year  to  year.     In  1715,  and  again  foujr 
years  after  in  1719,  the  subject  was  brought  forward, 
and  the  oath  with  certain  alterations  commanded  to  - 
be  enforce^.     The  stern  principles  of  the  old  presby- 
terians,  dictated  by  conscience,  refused  to  comply; 
and  they  continued  to  the  day  of  their  death,  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  their  office  with  the  nake<;) 
sword  of  the  law  hanging  over  their  heads. 

Another  evil  effect  of  the  oath  was,  that  between 
the  ministers  who  submitted  to  it,  and  those  who  re- 
fused it,  not  only  coldness  but  an  alienation  of  heart 
was  produced  ;  and  atone  time  but  for  the  wisdom  of 
principal  Carstairs,  a  schism  vi^as  likely  to  have  taken 
place  in  tfee  Scottish  church.  The  people  too  entered 
into  the  subject  with  the  ardour  characteristic  of 


ttATt  Of  liELYGIOK*  bS 

i^otdimen  in  disputes  pertaining  to  religion.  Being 
in  general  hostile  to  the  oath  and  its  adherents,  they 
viewed  with  suspicion  and  dislike  many  excellent 
men  because  they  were  on  the  opposite  side. 

Before  the  abjuration  oath  had  ceased  to  barrass  the 
minds  of  the  Scottish  clergy,  3  circumstance  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind  arose,  which  was  for  some  years  a  source  of 
disputation  and  strife.  An  anonymous  book  written 
in  England  during  the  timeof  the  civil  vtrars,  entitled, 
•*  The  Marrow  of  modem  Divinity,"  which  had 
floated  silently  down  the  stream  of -time  with  the  mass 
of  middling  publications,  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
minister  in  Scotland,  who  was  greatly  delighted  with 
the  manner  in  which  the  writer  had  stated  the  doc- 
trines of  the  GospeU  From  him  it  was  handed  to 
Mhers,  till  ttt  laSt  iHr.Hog,  of  Carnock,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  clergy  for  piety  and  zeal,  in  1718, 
published  a  new  edition  with  a  recommendatory 
preface* 

An  alarm  of  heresy  was  instantly  raised  ;  the  book 
was  brought  before  the  general  assembly,  in  1719; 
and  numerous  errors  extracted  from  it  were  con- 
demned. The  favourers  of  the  Marrow  Doctrine,  as 
it  was  called,  remonstrated  against  the  measure  and 
asserted  the  orthodoxy  of  the  author,  but  in  vain ; 
for  by  an  act  of  the  assembly,  in  4720,  a  sentence  of 
condemnation  passed  upon  the  book  itself.  Its 
friends,  among  whom  were  Mr*  Bojdton,  Mr.  RiccaU 
ton,  the  Erskines,  and  many  of  the  best  men  of  that 
communion,  stood  forth  boldly  in  its  defence,  both  in 
the  ecclesiastical  courts  and  from  the  press.  The 
•majority  however  was  against  it :  and  by  the  assembly, 
in  1732»  the  former  decree  was  confirmed ;  and  the 

s  3 


I 


A^  HISTOAY  Ofi  DI8SENTEAS. 

t)retKreri  who  contended  that  tbe  Marrow  of  oioderii 
Divinity  was  an  oftbodox  book,  wiere  rebuked  at 
tbeir  bar. 

The  condemnation  of  heretical  books  is  a  measure 
which  has  often  been  resorted  to  by  established 
churches,  but  seldom^  if  ever,  with  success.  .Rome, 
relying  on  her  infallibility,  thundered  out  her  ana- 
themas against  erroneous  publications:  ,  but  evea 
infallibility  could  not  insure  efficacy  to  the  measure. 
In  the  Jansenian  controversy,  where  she  strained 
every  nerve  to  ruin  the  reputation  of  particular 
authors  and  their  works,  the  effect  Was  only  to  make 
the  authors  more  popular,. and  to  give  their  books^  a 
greater  sale  and  wider  circulation.  The  humour  of 
condemning  books  seized  the  convocation  of  £ngianci 
^n  the  reign  of  queen  A^ue,  and  with  aS' little  success 
and  honour ;  for  the  writers  of  the  erroneous  volumes 
escaped  unhurt:  and  all  the  learning: and  orthodoxy 
in  the  venerable  bipdy  were  trampled  in  .the  mire  by 
the  queen,  who  as  head  of  the  church,  and  conse- 
quently supreme  judge  of  controversies  in  ieligion, 
did  not  fhink  proper  to  confirm. their  decision. 

With  both  these,  warnings  before  her  eyes,  the 
church  of  Scotland  enters  the  field  and  energises  h^ 
inquisitorial  power,  but  in  circumstaqc.es  more  awk- 
ward than  either  of  her  sister  establishmepts.  The 
book  which  she  condemined,  was  written  by  one  who 
was  neither  of  l^er  own  communion  nor  of  her  own 
.country  \  By  the  friends  of  evangelical  doctrine  it 
was  conceived  to  have  stated  with  singular  perspicuity 
many  important  truths :  but  it  coQtained  expressions 

*  Principal  Haddbw,  one  of  its  greatest  adversHries,  in  a  pam- 
phlet which  he  published  in  the  controversy,  asserted,  that  it  wus 
,  written  by  a  Loudou  barber  in  the  time  of  the  cumoionwealtb* 


91^ATI  OP  ft£LtGiaN.  66 

of  a  paradoxical  kind,  which  though  capable  of  being 
interpreted  in  an  orthodox  sense,  might  yet  convey  a 
very  heterodox  meaning.  For  the  orthodox  senna, 
as  coBJi^eyiog  the  ideas  of  the  author.,  the  advocates 
for  the  marrc^  ardently  contended,  and  its  adversa^ 
ries  were  as  keen  for  the  opposite  side;'  and  on 
account  of  this  difference  they  entertained  the  most 
unfavourable  ideas  of  each  other,  as  hostile  to  the 
principles  of  holiness,  or  the  doctrines  of  grace.  The 
injury  done  )Lo  the  iChristian  people  by  such  disputes 
no  tppgue  can  express* 

The  peace  of  the  ehurch  of  Scotland  was  again  dis- 
turbed by  the  opinions  of  a  man  who  held  one  of  the 
most  important  ecclesiastical  stations.  John  Simpson, 
professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Glasgow, 
was  accused  of  ipaintaining  a  variety  of  notions  either 
contrary  to  scripture  or  beyond  the  line  of  divine 
revelation^  Qf  these  sentiments  and, his  conduct,  the 
general  assembly^  in  17J7,  e3{;presse(|  its  disapproba- 
tion. Some  years  afterwards,  a  more  serious  accusa* 
tion  was  brought  against  him ;  for  he  was  charged 
with  denying  the  divinity  of  (Jhrist,  apd  teaching 
the  arian  doctrine  to  ):he  students^,  the  alarm 
throughout  the  country  was  greater  than  \fe  can  now 
conceive:  horror  seized  the  ^ealpus- meinbers  of  the 
church ;  and  the  cause  w^s  jbrpnght  before  the  general 
assembly.  The  accu^atjons  of  his  opponents  he 
endeavoured  to  confute  t^y  a  confession  of  his  tauh 
.in  orthodox  iapgnage;  and  tor  offensive  expressions 
which  he  had  used  he  expressec}  his  sorrow.  Ihe 
,assembly  however,  ip  17^9t  conceived  that  heresy 
enough  was  proved  to  justity  them  in  suspending 
bim  from  the  exercise  of  his  functions ;  and  in  the 

ic  4 


5iB  HISTORT  6t   i)ISSEKiPiRS. 

followftig  y^ta  they  declared  him  unfit  to  be  entrusted 
tvith  the  education  of  youth  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel'. 

Professor  Simpson  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of 
talents,  learning,  and  respectability^.  Some  have  as- 
serted, that  he  was  not  an  ariaii :  and  in  rhis  sentiment 
several  of  the  students  from  England,  who  attended 
6n  his  lectures,  concur.  On  the  contrary,  those  of 
his  countrymen  who  examined  the  subject,  confi* 
dently  assert  that  he  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ. 
Whatevei:  he  was  found  to  be  at  that  higher  tribunal 
before  which  he  has  long  since  appeared,  he  seems 
evidently  to  have  been  destitute  of  some  qualifica- 
tions of  great  importance  to  a  professor  bf  divinity. 
The  fancies,  to  call  them  by  no  harsher  name,  for 
ivhich  he  was  first  brought  before  the  ecclesiastical 
courts,  discover  a  mind  eager  to  pry  into  things  not 
revealed,  enamoured  of  novelties,  and  calculated  to 
produce  a  race  of  conceited  whimsical  young  men, 
who  losing  sight  of  the  grand-principles  of  the  Gospel, 
will  employ  their  time  and  strength  in  the  pursuit  of 
trifles. 

If  he  was  an  arian,  it  was  necessary  for  him.  in 
order  to  be  an  honest  man,  not  to  continue  a  day 
longer  as  a  professor  of  divinity  in  the  Scottish  church. 
Her  creed  is  Calvinism  in  every  part,  and  for  calvinists 
oaly  her  offices  and  her  honours  are  designed.  If  an 
arian,  he  should  have  imitated  the  heroes  of  the  refor- 
mation in  their  conduct  towards  Rome:  he  should 
have  forsaken  her  altars,  and  bidden  adieu  to  all  her 
advantages,  for  what  he  deemed  the  cause  of  truth. 
But  such  was  not  the  spirit  of  professor  Simpson:  he 
ate  of  her  barley  loaves  and  fishes  to  the  day  of  his 

f  Ik»ton*8  I4eaioir8.    Browa's  History  of  the  Secession. 


d2ath;  for  the  assembly  hftd  the  faumahitjrb'fttlov^ 
bim  to  retain  his  salary,  while  they  Ktripped  him  of 
his  office. 

But  by  far  the  ihost  important  event  Itlatiftg  Iff 
the  church  of  Scotland  during  this  peri<kl,  Was  th^ 
Recession  which  took  ptac^e  in  J7d2.  Ebene'zetr  £r^ 
skine;  minister  of  Stirling,  soil  of  Henfy  Er^kille  i 
confessor  whose  name  adorns  th«  catalogue  6f  th« 
nonconformists,  being  appointed  to  preach  a  sermoii 
before  the  synod  of  Perth,  with  great  boldness  ehu* 
merated  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  sins  and  defect 
tions  of  the  chtircb:  and  among  these,  patrotaage,  ahfl 
the  evils  arising  from  its  rigorous  e^cercise,  wete  npi 
forgotten.  Clerical  men  have  never  been  famed 'foi^ 
being  humble  and  docile  heareVs ;  nor  did  the  present 
instance  furnish  an*  feirception.  Instead  of  meekty 
receiving  the  word  of  eithbrtation,  for  three 'days  tfi* 
synod  warmly  disputed  concerning  the^bnoxiouft 
preacher;  and  at  last  determined  that  he  should  be 
rebuked  at  their  bar,  both  for  the  matter  and  the 
manner  of  his  sermon.  From  this  decision  twelve 
minis^ters  and  two  elders  dissented,  and  Mr.  Erskine 
appealed  to  the  general  assembly;  but  here  tob  he 
found  the  same  reception,  for  embracing  the  senti^ 
mefits  of  the  synod  they  ^ordered  him  to  be  rebuked 
at  their  dread  bar.  Conceiving  that  he  pleaded  fpif 
the  cause  of  God  and  truth,  Mr.  Erskine  protested, 
that  without  violating  his  conscience  he  could  not 
submit  to  the  rebuke,  and  insisted  that  he  should  be 
left  at  liberty  to  deliver  the  same  lestiinony  on  every 
proper  occasion.  Three  other  ministers  Wiiliatti 
Wilson,  Alexander  Moncrief,  and  James  Fisher  joiii« 
td  in  his  protest.    The  meekness  «nd  gentleness  of 


Chmt  do/iiot  aftp«aF  to  faai^e  ;heen  ,tbat  day  tbc.reig»r 
Wg  pHneiples  ip  the  asaeo^bl v ;  foEthey  ordered  tjieir 
^omniission,  at  the  next  meeting  to  proceed  against 
the  four  brethren,  and  if  they  did  not  retract  their 
pfoiwt  and  *QKpres»  their  soi^roWr  for  -  it, '  to  auapend 
Uien)  frotn  their  office,  or  even;  inflict  severer  censure, 
Mr.  Erskiqe  and  bis  adherents  remaining  stedfast  iq 
theirf  eetitinients,  tb^  sentence  of.  suspension  wa9 
proiippQced  against  them ;  and  some  months  after- 
wards at  another  meeting,  the  same  ecclesiastical 
coiijrt  finding  them  still,  as  they  termed  it,  obstinate 
and  impenitent,  their  relation  to  their  congregations 
was  dissolved :  itbje  moderator's  casting  vote  deter- 
fnined  a  point  sp  important  in  its  consequences  to 
the  Scottish  establishment.  Against  this  sentence 
too  the  four  brethren  protested,  insisting  that  the 
Validity  of.  their  office  as  minister^,  apd  their  relation 
to^  their  congregations  should  not  be  affected  by  it ; 
and  they  declared  a  secession  not  from  the  constitu-p 
tion  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  tp  which  tliey  profpssed 
their  ardent  adbejrepce,  bvit  from  the  prevailiqg  party 
IP  b^r  judiicatories,      , 

,  Su[ph  was  the  commencement  of  a  separation  fron^ 
t}ie . established  church,  the  most  considerable  thajt 
ever  took  place;  a  separation  which  has  been  ipcreas-* 
ing  foir  fourscore  years,  and  which  is  likely  to  \)e  of 
e<)ual  duriation  with  the  church  itself.  Nor  can  it  be 
denied,  that  for  the  first  half  century  at  l^ast  of  iti^ 
existence,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  few  sects 
can  boast  of  so  many  laborious,  faithful,  and  orthodo); 
ministers,  and  intelligent  xuid  exemplary  p^vate 
Christians  within  the  pale  of  their  commupjon. 

The  leaders  ip  the  secession  were  meq  of  eminent 
piety,  unsbakep  integrity,  (jle^pl^  cgncerned  fo|:  tbj^ 


I  STAVE  .09  ft^LIGIAK^    •  10 

prosperity  of  religion,  and  wholly  devoted  to  *hm 
service  of  Christ.  Their  preachiQg  was  evan|elicait 
and  the  manner  of  some  of  them  exceedingly  populac* 
B4it  they  had  studied  that  part  of  the, Gospeil^whick 
enjoins  crucifii^ion  to  the  worlds  and  keq>ing  at  thft 
remotest,  distance  from  every  vioe,  mpre  th^n  that 
which  inculcates  the  meekness  ,and  gentleness  of 
Christ,  and  the  catholic  philanthropy  which  sweetena 
as  well  as  purifies  the  soul.  Their  principles  iOf 
church  government  were  injurious  to  their  minds. 
While  the  independent  derives  all  his  r.eligion  both  as 
to  doctrine  and  discipline  from,  the  sacred  Scripturet 
the  Scotch  presbyterian  of  those  days  derived  a  mu]« 
titude  of  his  ideas  from  the  confession  of  feith,  th^ 
books  bf  discipline,  the  acts  of  the  general  assembly^ 
andtsome  in  addition  to  these  from  the  solemn  league 
and  covenant.  These  at.  once  perverted  and  coo« 
tracted  his  heart,  and  brought  into  his  religious  sys« 
tern  a  multitude  of  human  ordinances  which,  h^ 
xegarded  as  essential  parts  of  divine  truth :  hence 
flowed  a  spirit  of  intolerance^  and  sourness,  wd^ 
severity. 

From  the  defectivenes  of  the  system  of  which  they 
were  not  aware,  no  small  part  of  their  dissatiaiaction 
with  the  established  church  arose.  While  indepen* 
dency  professes  to  govern  believers  in  Christ  by  the 
rule; of  God's  word,  presbytery  takes  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  a  parish  under  her  care,  and  attempts  to  re* 
strain  them  by  the  rod  of  her  discipline.  Her  det^« 
mination  is  to  make  wolves  and  beats  act  likelambs> 
and  display  the  dispositions  of  lambs.  In  the  mass 
of  population  in  any  country,  how  inadequate  thf 
effect  of  such  a  discipline  must  be,  need  not  l)e 
.proved.    Calvin  undertook  the  task  at  Geneva  in 


tfd  BISTORY  or  filrS9£NTERS. 

Iftdre  favdurabie  circumstances  than  England  or  Scot* 
land  did  ever  present ;  but  it  Was  a  source  of  perpetual 
torment  and  unceasing  dlsappointnteht,  and  no  mi- 
Ulster  of  any  established  church  has  ever  had  better 
Success.  The  failure  of  the  Sbdtch  clergy  in  thig 
herculean  labour  was  a  source  of  bitter  complaints  to 
Mr.  Erskine  and  many  other  pious  ministers  of  that 
communion;  nor  could  they  be  persuaded  that  it 
#as  an  impracticable  attempt,  and  that  the  church  and 
the  world  are  two  different  things. 

Another  difficulty  arising  also  firom  the  system  of 
established  presbytery,  Mr.  Erskiue  and  his  bretbreii 
found  in  the  character  and  conduct  of  many  of  th^ 
Jiersons  with  whom  they  virere  associated  in*  an  eccle« 
siastiCal  body.  During  the  long  period  of  the  churches 
^tee,  some  were,  from  year  to  year,  entering  on  the 
performance  of  the  sacred  functions,  who  were  not 
endued  with  the  spirit  of  their  office*  But  with  these 
ftien  they  were  obliged  to  associate  in  their  church 
eourts,  to  unite  with  them  in  variouii  parts  of  minis- 
kHal  duty^  and  to  acknowledge  them  as  brethren  in 
the  work  of  Christ.  Scarcely  can  any  thing  be  con^ 
tei^d  more  abhorrent  to  the  sentitneots  and  feelings 
of  pious  men.  Pre^tery,  unless  it  be  composed  of 
good  men,  is- the  worst  of  ^jtl  constitutions  for  a  con^ 
fCientiQUS  n^jnister  to  be  under ;  and  it  lays  the  most 
pumerous  stutnbling-blocks  in  his  way.  Independency 
W^rfant^  a  pastor  to  unite  himself,  and  hold  ooofw 
tfiunion  with  those  only  whom  lie  believes  to  be  faith- 
^1  niiniatters  of  Christ.  Episcopacy  is  a  loose  system 
ytiieh  eicercisea  but  little  controul  over  the  parson  of 
t  parish,  if  he  performs  what  the  rubric  enjoins.  He 
fi  required'to  have  scarce^  more  intercourse  with  the 
heighbooHng ,  priesthood    thw  is  agreeable  to  bill 


STATE  OF  RELIGIOK.  6| 

efaoice ;  and  in  the  meetings  of  the  bishop  with  the 
c'ergy,  there  is  no  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  authority 
in  which  he  is  required  to  take  an  active  part  in  con* 
junction  with  his  worldly  brethren.  But  presbytery 
is  a  compact  and  active  system^,  which  obliges  a 
Minister  to  sit  and  vote  in  ecciesiastical  coi^rts  ^^ 
conjunction  with  the  rest  of  bis  body,  and  to  unite 
with  the  worst  of  men  in  carrying  into  execution  the 
decisions  of  their  courts^  however  contrary  they  may 
be  to  his  own  judgment.  This  grievous  inconvenience 
was  deeply  felt  by  Mr.  Erskine  and  those  who  thoughj( 
with  him :  it  was  their  continual  burden,  and  it  was 
one  of  the  things  which  led  to  a  separation  from  the 
established  church. 

To  prevent  an  entire  separation  was  at  last  the 
anxious  wish  of  those  who  had  acted  with  so  much 
severity;  and  in  1734  the  general  assembly  decreed 
that  the  seceding  brethren  should  be  restored  to  the 
execution  of  their  office.  To  be  wise  at  the  moment 
when  wisdom  is  required,  is  qn  invaluable  blessing  ; 
for  if  the  mind  be  unhappily  given  up  to  folly  then^ 
wisdom  may  come  too  late,  and  have  no  other 
office  left  but  to  bewail  her  absence  in  the  time  of 
need^  It  was  so  here,  for  the  seceders  would  not 
accept  the  boon.  Still,  however,  the  assembly  waited 
five  years  more  before  it  finally  cast  them  out.  Bui  in 
1739  they  were  commanded  to  appear  before  the  court| 
and  a  willingness  was  expressed  to  receive  them  again 
into  communion.  This  offer  being  rejected,  the  assem* 
bly  of  the  following  year  deposed  them  from  the  minis* 
terial  office,  as  to  the  exercise  of  it  in  the  church  of 
Scotland.  * 

The  seqeding  brethren  were  not  idle  spectators  of 


(US  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 


I 


these  proceedings.  Immediately  afte;*'  their  suspen-^ 
^on,  they  formed  themselves  into  a  distifict  ecclesiastt- 
dal  body,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  the  associated 
presbytery,  and  drew  up  what  they  called  a  testimony^ 
Containing  a  view  of  their  principles,  which  they  held 
tb  be  thosd  of  the  church  of  Scotland  in  her  purity. 
Still  however  they  did  not  lose  sight  of  returning  to 
th^ir  former  stations;  but  when  the  fevour  was 
dffered  to  them,  in  1739,  they  were  unable  to  accept 
ft ;  for  by  keeping  their  eyes  stedfastly  fixed  on  every 
thing  amiss  in  her,  they  perceived  so  many  and  so 
great  corruptions,  that  they  were  afraid  to  go  back 
into  her  communion.  After  a  time,  a  second  testi- 
mony appeared,  comprising  an  immense  mass  of 
historical  record,  detailing  the  sins  of  the  land,'  and 
the  defections  of  the  church ;  and  this  they  made 
one  of  the  standards  of  the  body.  Not  satisfied  with 
these  displays  of  their  prinfciples  and  complaints,'  aft^r 
they  were  entirely  separated  from  the  church,  ia 
1743,  they  renewed  with  an  oath  the  soliemn  league 
and  covenant,  to  which  was  attached  a  long  histoticat 
confession  of  national  sins  (some  of  which  were  at 
least  of  a  very  doubtful  nature),  and  they  wient  so  far 
as  to  make  it  a  term  of  ministerial  and  Christian 
communion. 

In  the  course  of  these  proceedings,  the  activd  and 
faithful  discharge  of  their  ministerial  functions  pre- 
sents a  more  pleasing  prospect.  Mr.  Erskine  and  his 
colleagues  became  itinerants  and  preached  throughout 
the  country.  For  this  service  they  were  well  quali- 
fied by  their,  eminent  skill  in  theology,  the  superior 
purity  of  their  doctrine,  and  the  fervour  and  energy 
of  their  elocution.  While  the  methodists  in  the 
south  inveighed  bitterly  against  the  corruptions'  of 


MATE  at  ^ktteitfK:'!  6S 

the  English  cla^;  the  seceders  were  not  tehftod 
them  in  intfoducitigimo  their  discdursesr  the  def&i* 
tioDS  of  the  church  of-  Scotland.  If  hoth  bad  beeg 
more  sparing  on  the  siibject,  aqd  sp^nt  tlie  time  it 
occupied,  in  catling  sinners  to  r^entadce,  it  would 
have  accomplished  a  more  valuatble  purpose.  Hdw« 
erer  the  effect  was  powerful ;  multitudes  joined 
them,  the  number  of  their  congregatioiU  increased; 
continued  yearly  to  increase,  till  «  bheck  was  re« 
ceived  by  an  unne^tural  division  amongst bemsielireb.  \ 

While  in  the  e^tcess  of  their  zeal  for  little  thingsi 
and  the  indulgence  of  scrupulosity  of  consci^nce,^ 
the  seceders  had  proceeded  to  raiise  high  WaUs  9? 
separation  between  themselves  and  all  other  Chris^ 
tians  in  the  worl<),  in  1745  the  baneful  efifeetsbflhis 
contracted  spirit  were  betrayed  in  rending  to  pi^'e^ 
their  own  body,  and  producing  a  separation  which 
exposed  them  to  the  ridicule^  of  their  enemiei^i  and 
covered  them  with^  dishonour -even  in  |he  eyes'^of 
their  friends.  In  the  oath  required  of  persons  who 
become  burgesses  of  corporations  in  Scotland,  th^Ni 
is  the  following  clause :  *^l  profess  and  allow:  with 
my  heart  the  true  religion  at  present  professed  within 
the  realm,  and  authorised  by  the  laws,  thereof.;  I 
shall  abide  by  and  defend  the  same  to  my  lifefs  end, 
renouncing  the  Roman  religion  called  papistry/* 

This  declaration  some  bf  the  seceders  condetved  to 
be  perfectly  consistent  with  their  principles,  becaust 
it  was  the  pure  religion  of  the  church  of  Scotland 
which  they  professed  they  'Would  maintain. .  ..To 
others  of  their  body  it  appeared;  unlawful,  because 
the  oath  was  administered  by  the  members  of  the 
estat^lished  church,  and  must  mean  religion*  as  it  at 
present  existed  in  the  estuUishment.     When  the 


fH  HMXOHV  0?  ^IftiBHTI&S. 


Ml^Mt  'iv!ts  brought  before  fbe.aaynod,  thoi^  wh«r 
thought  the  o^th  lavirful  were  desirous^  th^(  fprbearr 
wee  might  be  e^jercised,  and  qo  decision  iqade  upqn 
it ;  and  tbis  was  carried  by  a  iQajority  of  vpte^«  Th? 
etber  party  ytrpuld  not  acquiesqe  in  this  arrangementr 
but  leaving  the  pUqe»  though  poiifessediy  the  mipp^ 
rity  t^ey  daiin^d  to  tb^ipselves  the  nam?  and  powera 
p{  the  synod*  excommunipat^d  their  brethren,  and 
repoftineed  all  fellowship  with  them*  From  that 
tipie*  i746«  they  became  two  separate  bodies,,  and 
y^etfi  know.Q  to  the  world  by  the  undignified  napies 
0^  btirghers  and  antiburghers,  from  their  approbation 
pr  tbi^ir  condemnatioo  of  die  burgess  oath^ 
.- '  ' 

Puring  ^e  course  of  this  period  another  ^eparat 
(ion  from  the  church  of  Scotland  took  place,  but  on 
principl($8  directly  opposite  to  those  of  the  seceders^ 
Thj?  author  of  lit  was  John  Glas,  minister  of  Tealingt 
^oouAtry  parish  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dundee^ 
who  bad  imbibed  the  sentiments  of  the  independentSt 
\filkt  parried  th^m  to  a  degree  of  minuteness  and 
rigcMir  far  beyopd  the  advocates  for  the  system,  in 
England  and  America.  Though  an  inveterate  leoismy 
Ip  presbytery,  be  had  not  the  manliness  to  quit  his 
giving ;  but  after  having  for  9ome  years  tormented  and 
perplexed  the  ecclesiaatical  courts,  by  modes  of  ri^^ 
aoning  to  which  they  had  been  altogether  unacous- 
toimed,  he  was  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  the  presbytery 
of  Dundee,  and  as  his  answers  tended  rather  to  cout 
firm  than  to  remove  the  suspicions  of  his  departure 
§nm  presbyterian  priiiciples,  be  was  cited,  in  April, 
1728,  before  the  synod  of  Angus  and  Mearns.  .  He 
there  apeiily  avowed  his  sentiments  concerning  the 

;.       '   ^  Browa*ft  htttoiicsl  Account  «f  the  Secession* 


STATC:    OF   RELtGlOjr*  OS 

neiure  and  discipline  of  a  Christian  church ;  and  be« 
iag  asked  whether  he  thought  himself  obliged  to 
publish  these  opinions,  h^  answered,  ^^  I  thii^k  myself 
obtiged  in  conscience  to  declare  every  truth  of  Christ, 
and  keep  nothing  back,  but  to  speak  ail  the  words  of 
this  life,  and  to  teach  his  people  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  he  commands,  so  iar  as  I  can  understand9 
though  others  may  differ  from  me  and  I  may  be  ex- 
posed to  hazard  for  declaring  them*^'  The  synod 
then  pronounced  him  deposed  from  his  office  as^  mi-* 
nister  of  the  parish  of  Tealing ;  and  he  published  an 
exposition  of  the  proposition  ^^  that  a  congregation  or 
church  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  its  presbytery,  is  in  its* 
discipline  subject  to  no  jurisdiction  under  heaven.^' 
^  Notwithstanding  all  means  for  reclaiming  the 
Glassites,''  says  Brown,  **  they  obstinately  went  about 
preaching  their  principles  in  fields  or  streets,  or 
printing  pamphlets  in  favour  of  them*  so  that  at 
length  the  synod  deposed  Ht.  Qla^  from  the  .office 
of  the  holy  ministry,^^ 

That  many  ministers  who  approved  of  the  church 
of  Scotlapd,  might  disapprove  of  the  sentence  which' 
completely  drove  an  able  man  from  the  establishment, 
might  naturally  be  expected ;  but  that  Mr.  Glas 
himself  should  appeal  to  the  general  assembly  against 
a  sentence  ^hich  only  deprived  him  of  what  he  could 
not  consoientipusly  hold,  seems  strange  and  unrpa^i^ 
sonable.  The  assembly,  however,  on  the  twelfth  of 
March,  1730,  confirmed  the  sentence  of  deposition 
passed,  by  the  synod.  As  he  had  published  in  the 
preceding  year  his  ^^  testimony  of  the  king  of  the  mat- 
tyrs,^^  and  had  even  acted  upoq  the  views  which  he 
there  avowed  by  forming,  in  the  parish  of  which  he 
^ad  been  minister,  a  church  upon  his  own  principles, 

Y«j.;  lY.  f 


M 


60"  HISTOIIT  OF   DISS£$7TEBS. 

why  did  be  yet  linger  on  the  threshold  of  the  estab- 
lish men t,  clinging  to  its  door-posts  and  compelliiig 
the  rulers  to  drive  him  out  by  force,  and  then  com- 
plain of  his  expulsion  as  an  injury  ? 

Mr.  Glas  was  a  man  of  very  considerable  talents, 
and  illustrated  some  parts  of  the  gospel  with  peculiar, 
felicity,  simplicity,  and  purity.     He  died  in  1773.' 
It  was  not  till  the  end  of  this  period  and  the  begin-; 
ning  of  the   next  that    his  opinion  took  root   ia. 
£ngland,    under    the    name    of    Sandemanianism, 
and  produced  a  new  religious  sect  of  which  an  ac-» 
count  will  be  given  in  its  proper  place.  '  Though 
differing  so  widely  in  his  opinions  from  the  aeceders,* 
he  equalled,  or  perhaps  exceeded  them  in  a  con- 
tracted spirit,  in  excluding  all  other  Christians  from 
his  communion,  and  in  short  in  confining  Christianity 
tO' himself  and  to  his  sect. 

This  is  a  strange  phenomenon  in  the  religious 
world,  but  particular  countries  have  their  endemial 
diseases.  The  plague  has  from  time  immemorial 
mvi^ed  Egypt ;  the  yellow  fever  is  the  scourge  of  the 
West  Indies ;  and  goiti'es  afflict  and  disfigure  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Alps.  A  malady  of  the  soul  similar 
to  the  last,  seems  to  be  the  curse  of  Scotland.  An 
excessive  zeal  for  little  things,  like  an  enormous  wen, 
has,  with  but  perhaps  one  exception,  disfigured  every 
sect  that  has  arisen  in  that  country ;  and  drawing 
tway  the  vital  energy  which  should  have  communi-^ 
cated  strength,  has  weakened  its  spiritual  powers.^ 
To  ascertain  the  cause  would  be  important,  as  it 
might  operate  as  a.  preventative  in  future:  but  it  is 
certainly  a  striking  peculiarity  in  the  Scotch  charac-r 
ter ;  and  if  it  could  be  purged  by  hellebore,  the  whole 


8TATIB  OP  EBXIQIOKt  0? 


produce  of  Antieyra  coi)|d  not  be  pyreh'as^  at  A' 
price  too  bigtu 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  this  period  another  sect 
isirose,  which  took  to  itself  the  o'atne  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Relief.  It  derived  its  origia  from  the  tyranny  of 
the  church  of  Scotlapd,  and  alone  of  all  the  divisiopa 
io  that  country  caii  lay  claim  to  the  praise  of  liberality 
in  principles.  The  person  compelled  to  be  its  founder^ 
was  Thomas  GHHespie,  minister  of  Carnock,  a  man  of 
apostolical  sanctity  and  2^al,  as  faithful  to  his  charge, 
^od  as  unblamable  in  his  conduct,  as  any  age  can 
produce.  One  distinguished  mark  of  a  true  Scotch' 
presbyterian^  till  within  the  last  fifty  years,  was  that 
a  congregation  has  a  right  to  choose  its  minister. 
Bvt  a  party  in  the  church  was  now  beginning  to 
prevail,  of  ipen  who  carried  the  law  of  patronage  to 
the  otn|ost  rigour,  aqd  treated  the  sentiments  of  the 
pec^le  with  sovereign  contempt. 

In  17fi^,  a  candidate  being  presented  by  a  patron 
to  a  parish  within  the  bounds  of  the  presbytery  to 
which  Mr.  Qillespie  belonged,  the  inhabitants  werer 
unwilling  to  receive  hiiq  as  their  pastor.  The  busi« 
ness  being  finally  brought  before  the  general  assembly, 
they  enjoined  the  presbytery  to  proceed  to  his  ordi« 
natron.  Mr.  Gillespie,  whp  was  appointed  to  preside 
pn  the  occasion,  refused  to  take  part  in  a  service 
which  he  conceived  to  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospe);  s^nd  several  of  bis  brethren  Concurred 
with  hiitt.  Far  frona  venerating  the  pious  scruples  of 
a  tender  conscience,  the  assembly,  provoked  at  thpir 
refusal,  inflicted  ecclesiastical  ciensures  on  all;  but 
poured  the  full  strec^m  pf  its  vengeance  on  Mr.- 
Gillespie's  head,  by  deposing  bi(n  ftcm  the  o^Oe  of 


66'  HISTORY' OF   DI88EKTERS. 

the  CUristian  ministry,  and  ejecting  him  from  bis 
parish.  This  sentence  was  pronounced,  after  solemn 
prayer  to  God  and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  All  the  blasphemies  in  the  army  and  navy 
for  tXventy  years  past  have  not  equalled  the  profane- 
nessof  that  one  act  of  the  venerable  assembly  com- 
posed of  the  ministers  and  elders  of  th«  church  of 
Scotland.  The  deposition  of  this  good  man  was  the 
commencement  of  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity, 
'which  with  but  little  interruption  has  continued  with 
increasing  strength  to  the  present  time. 

For  Mr.  Gillespie  to  have  ceased  from  his  evange- 
lical labours,  on  account  of  so  unrighteous  a  sentence, 
would,  in  his  view  have  been  disloyalty  to  his  Lord, 
and  cruelty  to  the  spuls  of  men.  He  therefore  conti- 
'  nued  to  preach  to  his  congregation  at  their  request, 
but  not  in  the  kirk,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  next 
general  assembly  would  restore  him  to  his  charge. 
But  the  application  then  made  on  bis  behalf  was 
ivithout  effect ;  nor  were  repeated  applications  after- 
wards more  successful ;  the  same  baleful  influence 
which  deposed  him  still  continued  to  bear  sway. 

All  hopes  of  his  restoration  being  blasted,  his 
hearers  procured  for  him  a  place  of  worship  in  a 
neighbouring  town ;  and  he  continued  near  six  years 
to  miqister  to  his  congregation,  unconnected  and 
alone.  But  in  1758  he  was  joined  by  Thomas  3qs-^ 
ton  (son  of  the  great  man  of  that  name,  whose  praise 
is  jin  all  the  churches  of  Christ)  who  resigned  his 
charge  in  the  church  of  Scotland ;  and  they  united 
as  fathers  of  the  new  denomination,  the  Presbytery 
of  Relief.  They  professed  to  maintain  the  principles 
of  the  church  of  Scotland  in  their  purity;  they  were 
willing  to  hold  communion  with  all  the  good  minis«> 


STATE   OF   R1:LI6I0K.  69 

ters  and  private  Christians  in  the  establishment ;  and 
their  avowed  design  was  to  afford  relief  to  such 
parishes  as  had  ministers  imposed  on  them  by  law 
contrary  to  their  will,  and  which  did  not  wish  to  be 
fettered  with  the  chains  which  the  seceders  had  forged 
for  their  adherents.  Boston  was  as^  popular  as  Gil- 
lespie was  good ;  and  in  consequence  of  their  catholic 
principles  and  evangelical  preaching,  the  number  of 
their  followers  and  congregations  increased  from  year 
to  year.  This  was  the  ground  which  had  Mr.  Er- 
skine  and  his  colleagues  occupied  in  their  secession, 
would  have  conciliated  to  them  vast  multitudes  of 
the  members  of  the  establishment,  and  rendered  their 
labours  and  influence  more  extensive  and  beneficial'. 

« 

Nearly  twenty  years  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
period,  Scotland  exhibited  what  may  be  called  the 
marrow  of  ecclesiastical  history-— an  extensive  revival 
of  religion,  which  took  place  within  the  bosom  of  the 
church.  After  a  long  season  of  comparative  inefficacy, 
in  which  ministers  complained  that  they  had  laboured 
in  vairi,  a  spirit  of  attention  to  divine  truth  was 
excited  through  different  parts  of  the  country  in  an 
extraordinary  degree ;  and  multitudes,  who  had  been 
'Walking  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  were 
converted  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

This  revival  first  appeared  in  1742,  at  Camberslang, 
a  village  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Glasgow  During 
a  course  of  sermons  on  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  by 
Mr.  M^CuUochy  the  minister  of  the  parish,  the  people 
began  to  be  impressed  in  an  unusual  manner  and 
degree  ;  religion  occupied  their  whole  attention  ;  they 

'  See  a  more  full  account  of  this  body  in  the  Quarterly  Magazine^ 
Tol.  I.  p.  13-^6.  I 

F  3 


70  HISTORY  OF   tflSS£NT£;R»i 

were  convinced  that  they  had  not 'been  regdnerated, 
and  with   the  most  painful  anxiety  of   soul   they 
inquired, "  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved/'    Seasqnd 
of  worship  were  immediately  multiplied;  and  the 
minister's  time  was  occupied  from  morning  to  night  ia 
giving  spiritual  counsel  to  his  awakened  flock.     The 
consequeinc:eswere  infinitely  delightful  t  in  the  space 
of  a  few  months  three  hundred  persons  displayed  un- 
equivocal evidences  of  the  Christian  life;   nor  did 
future  years  give  occasion  to  object  that  it.wa9  a  tran- 
sitory emotion  of  religious  feeling;  f6r  the  generality 
of  them  continued  faithful  unto  death.    The  divine 
jlame  spread  from  place  to  place,  and  the  most  zealous 
ministeEs  in  different  parts  of  the  country  had  the  joy 
of  seeing  in   their  own  parishes  the  same  spirit  of 
Revival,  though  scarcely  any  in  an  equal  degree.  Mr. 
Whitefield,  who  soon  after  visited  Scotland,  contri* 
buted  by  his  poweifful  labours  to  promote  the  glorious 
^ause. 

While  the  friends  of  religion  rejoiced  in  this  re* 
markable  display  of  divine  grace,  it  was  violently 
opposed  and  attacked  by  many  of  the  clergy,  as  the  > 
quintessence  of  enthusiasm  and  folly.    They  spoke 
and  wrote  against  it;  they  warned  the  people  against 
its  baleful  influence,  and  displayed  a  zeal  scarcely  in- 
ferior to  that  of  its  friends  who  believed  it  to  be  the 
work  of  God.    In  every  revival  of  religion  a  similar 
.spirit  has  been  exhibited  ;  many  men  of  iK>te  among 
the  clergy  have  been  the  mb^t  violent  opposers ;  and 
they  have  drawn  afterthem  a  considerable  body  among 
the  people,  especially  the  learned,  the  fiishionable,  and 
the  great.     The  cause  of  vital  piety,  however,  was 
not  left  without  defenders.    Dr.  Alexander  Webster^ 
then  one  of  the  most  eminent  ministers  in  Edinburgh, 


STATE  #F  R£UGIOK#  9l 

appeared  on  its  side ;  and  by  reasoning  from  general 
prihciples  and  the  examples  of  former  times,  vindi- 
cated the  genuineness  and  excellence  of  the  work  as 
proceeding  from  a  divine  influfehce.  The  same  ies^ 
timony  wad  borbe  by  John  Maclaurin^  of  Glasgow^ 
a  man  second  to  lio  one  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived 
for  intellectual  powers  and  Christian  virtues ;  by  the 
venerable  Dr.  John  Erskine,  of  Edinburgh,  lately 
deceased,  atid  by  many  others  who  were  also  eye** 
witnesses,  and  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  V 

Unhappily  the  seceders,  from  whom  better  things 
might  have  been  expected,  violently  opposed  the 
work,  publicly  testified  against  it  as  a  delusion  of  the 
devit,  and  appointed  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  that 
by  the  interposition  of  heaven  it  might  cease.  They 
conceived  that  if  any  great  work  of  religion  was  to  be 
accomplished  in  Scotland,  it  must  be  by  them ;  and 
because  this  revival  had  not  taken  place  in  their  com- 
munion, it  could  not  be  from  above.  Their  conduct 
on  this  occasion  gave  great  offence  to  the  pious  and 
unprejudiced  members  of  the  established  church,  and 
contributed  to  degrade  them  exceedingly  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  had  formerly  viewed  them  with  high 
esteem.  When  the  Gospel  is  preached  in  purity,  the 
Spirit  of  God  demonstrates  by  the  influence  with 
which  it  is  accompanied,  that  he  does  not  lay  so  much 
stress  on  the  peculiarities  of  an  external  system  as  its 
votaries  too  often  do. 

Many  eminent  men  flourished  in  Scotland  at  this 
time,  but  the  space  allotted  to  this  part  of  the  work 
forbids  us  to  insert  even  the  briefest  sketch  of  their 

'  See  Robe^s  Narrative,     Divioe  Influences  the  Sprinuf  of  the 
extraordinary  Work  at  Camberslang,  by  Alexander  Webster, 

F  4 


Ti 


HISTORY  OF  DySEKTER^. 


lives.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  pi»8  by  two 
divines,  who,  in  their  different  departments,  have  had 
few  equals.  Thomas  Boston,  of  Ettriok,  who  may  b^ 
called  the  apostle  of  humble  life,  and  whose  ^'  Fourfold 
State  of  Man'^  has  been,  perhaps,  the  most  useful 
bopk  of  any  published  during  the  eighteenth  century, 
di?d  in  1732.  So  highly  have  his  numerous  writingi 
been  esteemed,  that  it  is  but  a  few  years  since  his 
friends  ceased  to  copy  his  manuscripts  for  the  press. 
The  other  may  be  justly  denominated  the  instructor 
of  the  learned  and  the  wise,,  and  the  defender  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gos-pel  against  the  cavils  of  human 
pride.  Such  was  John  Maclaurin,  of  Glasgow^  whp 
died  in  1754,  and  to  whose  volume  of  sermons  and 
essays  there  is  nothing  of  superior  excellence  in  the 
English  language.  They  were  two  of  the  most  holy, 
humble,  and  devoted  men  that  the  Christian  churcb 
has  ever  produced* 


fTATE   0#  RfiLiGIOirJ''  ^S 


« 


r 


SECTION  IIL    . 

STAtE   OF   RELIGION   XN    IRELAND. 

J.  o  this  unhappy"  isle  the  accession  of  George  ttid 
first  introduced  a  state  of  lasting  external  tranquillft]^ 
unknown  in  its  ancient  annals.  The  expulsion  df 
the  natives  from  tHeir  estates;  confiscation  of  propertjr-, 
and  the  long  train  of  former  outrageous  oppressions 
were  now  at  an  end :  but  of  equal  laws  securing  the 
rights,  and  having  in  view  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
community  it  coiild  not  yet  boast.  The  Roman 
catholic  body  was  lying  under  the  scdurge  of  a  mult- 
titude  of  unjust  and  cruel  statutes ;  and  in  the  course 
of  this  period  tok>  large  an  ad(|ition  was  made  to  th6 
number.  If  ever  a  class  of  people  was  warranted  to 
entertain  prejuxlices  amidst  the  protestant  religioti^ 
the  Irish  catholics  Were  the  men,  who,  by  the  fret 
government  of  Britain,  that  had  the  Hibernian  par«- 
liament  entirely  at  its  command,  were  treated  worse 
than  slaves.  .        * 

But,  while  crushed  by  the  iron  rod  of  powet,  the 
bitter  hatred  of  their  oppressions  served  to  attach 
them  more  strongly  to  their  religious  opinion^ 
Always  superior  in  number  to  the  protestiants,  duri^Ag 
this  period  the  superiority  was 'greatly  augmented; 
and  a  multitude  of  converts  from  the  episcopal  pro- 
testant  church  reconciled  themselves  to  the  see  of 
Rome :  protestant  colonies  planted  i-n  tdany  parts  of 
the  south  and  west  gradually  disappeared,  and  no- 
thing was  to  be  seen  but  proselyted  adherents  to  the 
Romish  faith. 

The  episcopal  protestant  established  church  of  Ire- 


74  HISTORY  OF   •ISS£KTBil8. 

land  was  rich  in  tythes  and  estates,  for  she  is  supposed 
to  possess  a  thirteenth  part  bf  the  soil ;  but  poor  in 
labours  and  in  success  ^  The  tythes  her  clergy 
exacted  with  sufficient  strictness,  and  the  estates 
n^^re  leased  with  abundant  care ;  but  the  people  were 
sbamefully)  n^lected.  In  --  somiie  parishes  there .  was 
fio  building  for  the  established  worship,  ii^  others  no 
li^il^iiage-lioujgf^  and  the  incumbents  were  all  their 
life  npn-reaifleiit ;  so  that  th^a  only  worship  was.  tbiit 
of  the  church  of  Rome:  and  ip  the  greater  part  of 
those  places  where  the  serviice  of  the  Irish  qhqfch 
wa^  perforqaed,  it  was  in  so  ineffectual  a  manner,  that 
jth^  people  wer^  gradually  dropping  off  into  the.com-* 
jnunion  of  Rome^ 

During  the  ^hole  of  this  period,  s^nd  indeed  almost 
to  the  close  of  thi9  century,  Ireland  presents  a  pheno- 
menon which  never  did,  and  it  is  boped^  never  will 
/Igldii  jsppear  in  the  Christian  world*  A  poor,  illiterate, 
pei!sectttQd  priesthood  with  their  whole  flock  groaning 
upder  oppression,  is  seen  endeavouring  amidst,  severe 
restrictions  and  under  the  frown  of  popular  apinion, 
to  propagate  a  system  of  gross  error  and  degrading^ 
sijiperstition.  The  opposite  side  presents  a  etergy 
jciot  deficient  in  literature,  abundant  in  wealthy  cbe- 
.fished  in  the  bosom  of  power,  and  supported  by  the 
strong  arm  of  civil  authority,  headed  by  a  consider- 
able number  of  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  digni- 
fied ecclesiastics,  with  pure  doctrine  in  her  articles 
and  litmigy,^  aqd  employed  to  diffuse  4ivin^  truth 
among  the  Iriah  people,  all  pf  whom,  as  thay  tytbed, 
th^y  doubtless  accounted  themselves  bound  to  teach* 
The  result  of  the  contest  must  astonish  as  wejl  as 
shock  every  pious  and  candid  mind :  the  erroneous 

-  *  Dr.  Campbeira  Answer  to  the  bishop  of  Clo]fii^» 


'  fiTATE  OF  EELIGI01ff«  ;7S 

and  superstitious  priests  of  Rome  gained  the.viotoryc 
the  protestant  episcopal  clergy  were  driven  from, the 
field,  and  had  the  mortification  to  see  (if  they  were 
at  the  pains  to  look)  the  priests  leading  away  their 
flocks  ia  triumph  to  the  Roman  fold* 

Tlie  conduct  of  the  clergy  of  the  protestant  Irisfh 
church,  from  the  revolution,  till  near  tl^.epd  of  tke« 
eighteenth  century,  wa$  indeed  such,  ^s  \fhh  feW 
exceptions,  to  merit  the  seveiiest  reprobation*  Amoojg 
them  might  be  found  a  considerable  number  of  w^orthy 
men,  highly  respe<itable  in  their  deportment  and  cha^ 
racter, eminent  fqr  literary  attainments,  and. presenting 
to  the  public  numerous  efforts  of  genius  and  displays 
of  learning  both  sacred  and  profane.  But  during  aH 
this  time,  not  one  perhaps  in  a  county  was  an  active 
parish  priest  suited  to  the  state  of  the  country  and 
the  people,  preached  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  Gospel, 
visited  and  catechised  his  flock,  and  entered  into  the 
cabins  of  the  poor  to  instruct  them,  to  fortify  their 
minds  against  the  attempts  of  the  Romish  emissariesi 
and  to  reclaim  those  who  had  been  led  astray.  Such 
indeed  was  the  criminal  sloth  of  the  clergy;  that  it 
merits  to  be  held  up  to  the  execration  of  all  succeeding 
ages,  as  the  grand  cause  of  the  deplorable  state  of  reli* 
gion  in  that  country,  and  of  the  political  calamities 
which  have  sprung  from  it,  and  been  so  severely  felt. 

The  presbyterians,  for  of  that  denomination  wert 
nearly  all  the  protestants  without  .the  pale  of  the 
established  church,  present  a  more  pleasing  prospect. 
In  the  beginning  of  this  period,  both  the  great  body  in 
the  north,  and  those  in  Dublin  and  the  south  main- 
tained the  pure  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  and 
their  ministers  laboured  among  thtir  flocks  with  an 


79:  HisxoB^Y  or  DisssnTsn. 


tbdtsaMse;  but  on  mrrower  grounds;  for  at  a. iqeetii^ 
c^  tha  ministers  and  principal  persons  Bt  Antrio),  it 
was  agceed  to  propose,  as  a  condition  of  enjoyiiig 
toleration,  tbat  they  should  subscribe  the  :Westir 
minster  confession  of  fSsptfa.  A  general  sypod  hel4 
soon  after,  )716,  at  Belfast,  unanimously  9pprove4^^ 
the  terms  ;  and  provided  they  could  not  be  obtained,' 
they  consented  to  the  acceptance  of  a  strong  formuls^ 
expressing  their  belief  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Chris* 
^ianity*  After  a  delay  of  more  than  two  years,  in 
1719  they  gained  the  wished*fcMr  toleration,  on  don^ 
jditions  more  liberal  than  they  had  themselves  prq* 
posed ;.  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  entirely  owing  tq 
the  gracious  interpositioB  of  George  the  first. 

The  conditions  w^re^  that  dissenting  ministera 
should  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  abjuration, 
and  renounce  the  belief  of  the  pope's  U^urpe^  power 
pver  temporsil  princes,  transubstant^ation,  the  invoca** 
tion  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints»  and  the  sacri-t 
fice  of  the  mass.  It  >vi|s  also  required  that  the  placea 
of  worship  should  be  registered^  To  these  was  sub- 
joined the  following  cJapse :  ^\  provided  alwfiys^  that 
this  ^t  shall  not  extend  to  give  any  eaaeiQ  papists^ 
<tr  popish  recusants,  nor  40  any  that  ip  preaching  ox 
writing  shall  deny  the  doctrine  of  tl^e  Trinity,  aa 
expressed  in  the  thirty-nine  articles  agreed  upon  in 

plikc^  ill  tbe  midst  of  worship,  by  two  j[astice9  of  the  peace,  To^ 
tsdy  md  Archer,  who  sent  hiin  as  a  va^aot  oiit  of  tbe  country^ 
He  had  been  before  clisturbed  in  the  services  of  bis  congregattoQ 
and  forced  to  a^)pear  at  the  assi^es^^  and  he  had  borne  these  iojariea 
with  patience ;  but  he  thought  it  was  now  time  to  claim  the  pro-; 
tection  of  the  higher  powers,  A  complaint,  addressed  to  the  duke 
of  Grafton,  and  lord  Galway,  procured  immediate  redress;  % 
severe  reprimand  sent  to  the  meddling  justices  put  a  stop  to  their 
violence,  and  enabled  him  to  continue  his  laboun  in  peace*  See 
too  Boyse's  Works,  vol.  IL  p.  36l,  370^ 


the  coinrention  held:  at.  London  in  the  yeiir  i/S63/ 
and  referred  to  in  the  s^enteenth  and  eighteenth  of 
Charles  the  second'^.'*  Popery  and  wianism  were 
very  bad  things,  but  thks  was  not  the  legitimatte 
nediod  .of  previ^ntion.  To  aim  a  thf  ust  with  a  sword 
at  the  heart  of  a  man  in  a  raging  fever,  is  but  an 
awkwafd  way  of  removing  his  disease. 

Soon  after  this  event,  a  root  of  bitterness  sprang 
up,  of  the  Boxious  fruits  of  which  the  Irish  presbyte* 
rians  Me  unhappily  tasting  to  the  present  time.    The 
arian  heresy,  soon  found  its  way  across  the  Channel, 
and  iofeeted  some  of  the  ttunisters  of  Ulster.  Hiimnn 
depravity  perverjts  every  benefit  from  its  proper  use. 
External  peace,  while  it  gives  leisure  for  theological 
disquisitions,  too  often  makes  men  feel  themselye$ 
not  to  be  strangers  and  sojourners,  but  at  home  ih^ 
their  own  country;  and  thus  unfits  the  niind  for  in- 
vestigating  them  with  that  spiritual  disposition  which 
is  so  necessary  to  the  discovery  and  reception  of 
truth.     In  this  list  it  is  painful  to  insert  the  name  of 
Abemethy,  whose  example,  was  followed  by  some  of 
his   brethren  in  the    neighbourhood.      Enthusiasm 
gaining  a  temporary  victory  over  prudence,  did  not 
allow  them  to  keep  their  sentiments  secret;  and  the 
rumour  of  heresy  quickly  spread  over  the  whole 
country.    The  fears  of  the  orthodox  were  alarmed, 
and  that  union  and  peace  which  had  formerly  reigned^ 
gave  place  to  discord  and  strife.    But  though  they 
conversed  freely  with  their  associates,  and  gave  inti« 
mations  of  a  change,  like  their  English  brethren,  the 
Irish  arians  did  not  come  forward  boldly  and  declare 
with  frankness,  *'  we  were  in  an  error,  but  have  now 
found  out  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  truth,  which 

*  See  Biog;raphia  Britannica,  vol*  h  p*  SO, 


807  HISXOUT  OF   BfSSBNXERSf 

wc  will.opeiiiytpvafais,  at  th6  risk  of  losing,  erery 
t^mi^oral  beo^ftt.^^  Such  a  spirit  of  integrity  did  not 
fall  to  their  lot ;  and  Emiyn's  niantle  does  not  appear, 
tO'  bav^  been  taken  up  by  any  of  these  Elisbas. 
^hat  they  s^em  to  bare  had  much  at  heart,  was  a 
sg^ure  cpntipusiflce  in  th^ir  present  station.  With 
this  view  they  thought  to  shelter  themselves  under  a 
g:en,eral  principle  of  acknowlec^ged  excellence,  by  de- 
claring against  the  imposition  of  human. forms  as  a 
test  of  orthodqicy.  Wbep  this  sentiment  is  professed 
to  defend,the  rights  of  conscience,  every  genuine  idis«- 
senter  \f\\l  ,harl.  it  with  applailse.; .  but  when  it  is 
brought  fomjtrid  piily  1k)  conceal  from  public  vrew,  the 
cloven  fopt  of  apjanisQi  which  the  person  is  ashamed 
to  shoiY9  little  praise  is  due  either  for  liberality  or 
i^prightufiss.   : 

This  plaii^ible  pretext,  however,  did  not  lull  the 
orthodox  asleep;  on  the  contrary,  it  excited  the 
keenest  fears  that  there  was  a  design  to.  change  their 
present  mode  of  ecclesiastical  government,  and  to  lay 
aside  the  li^estminste^  confession  of  faith.  In  this 
temper  they  attended  at  the  synod  «it  Belfast,  in  1720. 
The  new  party,  finding  itself  not  suflSciently  strong, 
did  not  think  prqper  to  ma)ce  a  publip  appearance 
against  the  ancient  system;  but  acquiesced  in  the 
decision  of  (be  majority,  which  resolved  that  sub^^ 
cription  tq  the  Westminster  confession  of  iaith  should 
be  required ;  and  that  those  who  scrupled  any  par-. 
ticular  expression,  should  he  allowed  to  propose  th^^ 
own  explanation,  which,  if  agreeable  to  the  analogy 
of  faith,  should  be  (received.  This  was  called  thst 
pacific  act ;  but  instead  of  allaying,  it  is  said  to  have 
increased  the  jealousies  which  previously  subsisted. 

The  progress  of  the  controversy  bore  a  resemblance 


STATE    OF   RELIGION.  81 

to  that  in  England.  By  the  discontents  of  the  people 
the  majority  of  the  ministers  was  influenced  to  sub- 
scribe the  Westminster  confession,  as  containing  the 
articles  of  their  faith.  The  new  lights,  which  was 
the  name  given  in  Ireland  to  the  Arians  and  Soci- 
nians,  inveighed  against  all  human  impositions  and 
the  authority  of  men  in  matters  of  religion.  Mr* 
Abernethy,  trusting  to  the  powers  .of  his  eloquence, 
published  an  able  pamphlet  in  order  to  compose  the 
storm  by  influencing  the  brethren  to  cease  from  their 
debates,  and  allow  every  minister  to  follow  his  own 
judgment*.  Some  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  pastors 
in  Dublin  wrote  a  preface  and  a  postscript  to  Mr. 
Abernethy's  publication,  strongly  recommending  the 
adoption  of  the  principles  which  it  contained ;  and 
they  attended  at  the  general  synod,  at  Belfast,  in  1721, 
in  order  (o  press  the  same  measures**.  Mr.  Master- 
loun,  a  zeafous  subscriber,  suspecting  or  rather  be- 
lieving the  heterodoxy  of  the  nonsubscribers,  of 
which  the  Dublin  ministers,  if  we  may  judge  from 
their  strain  of  writing,  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
aware,  wrote  with  great  ardour  against  them,  and 
excited  still  greater  alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
A  defence  of  the  former  pamphlet  appeared  from 
Abernethy's  pen  ;  and  several  others  entered  the 
field,  but  no  effects  in  removing  or  even  lessening  the 
jealousies  were  produced  by  all  their  efforts.  The 
controversy  continued  to  rage  till  1726,  when,  in  the 
synod  of  Dungannon,  the  nonsubscribers  were  not 
allowed  to  continue  in  the  communion  of  the  presby- 
terian  synod  of  Ulster.     In  consequence  of  this  act 

*  It  is  entitled  «  Seasonable  Advice  to  the  protestant  Dissenters 
in  the  North  of  Ireland," 

*»  Nathaniel. Wild>  Joseph  Boyse,and  R,  Chopping 

VOL.    III.      ^  G 


82 


HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 


all  the  other  ministers  of  the  presbytery  of  An  trial, 
having  joined  with  Mr.  Abernethy  in  refusing  to  sub- 
scribe, were  separated  from  the  general  body^  From 
that  time  arianism,  which  had  before  lain  concealed 
in  the  parlour  and  in  the  study,  was  seen  publicly  to 
ascend  the  pulpit,  and  cause  its  voice  to  be  heard  by 
the  congregation. 

Some  years  after  this  controversy  had  ceased,  and 
the  minds  of  the  Irish  presbyterians  had  returned  to  a 
more  tranquil  frame,  they  directed  their  attention  to 
thut  degradation  which  they  were  suffering  as  a  body 
by  the  operation  of  the^testact.  An  application  to  par- 
liament for  relief  was  deemed  expedient ;  and  to  prepare 
the  public  mind  for  a  favourable  reception,  some  of  the 
ministers  pleaded  their  cause  from  the  press.     A 
pamphlet  by  Mr.  Abernethy,  in  1731,  "  On  the  Un- 
reasonableness, Injustice,  and  Impolicy  gf  the  Test 
Act,"  met  with  distinguished  approbation,  and  per* 
baps  heightened  their  hopes  of  success.     The  encou- 
ragement given  by  some  persons  of  distinction,  and  by 
many  members  of  parliament,  had  still  greater  in- 
fluence on  their  minds ;  and  in  1733,  it  was  deter« 
mined  to  bring  the  business  before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons.    In  the  department  of  argument,  dean  Swift 
entered  the  lists  against  them,  and  with  all  that  acri- 
mony of  spirit  in  which  he  was  pre-eminent  above 
every  other  man,  and  which  never  overflowed  more 
copiously  than  when  he  was  contending  with  whigs 
and  especially  presbyterians,  opposed  their  claims. 
The  feelings  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  church  were  in 
unison  with  the  wrath  of  their  champion  ;  and  by 
their  superior  influence  with  the  rulers  of  the  land^ 

^  Narrative  of  the  seven  synods  in  the  north  of  Ireland* 


STATfi  OP  Keligioi^.  83 

the  application  of  the  dissenters  was  rendered 
abortive  ;  so  that  they  were  constrained  t6  sit  down 
again  in  their  chains  ri vetted  on  them  anew  by  superior 
force. 

The  impolicy  of  the  refusal  might  astonish  those 
who  consider  that  the  presbyterians  amounted  to  at 
least  one  half  of  the  protestants  of  Ireland,  and  that 
the  protestants  were  far  inferior  in  numbers  to  the 
Roman  catholics,  whom  it  was  the  constant  endeavour 
of  eadh  administration  to  discourage  and  depress. 
But  such  as  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  Ireland 
will  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  with  grief,  that  the 
mfeasuresof  its  government  were  in  too  many  instances 
dictated  by  other  principles  than  reason  and  justice, 
or  even  policy.  Here,  however,  there  was  a  peculiar 
obstacle  in  the  way — a  privilege  which  the  established 
church  conceived  to  belong  to  her  favoured  sons. 
When  has  an  established  church  parted  with  one 
atom  of  power  or  privilege  which  it  was  able  to  retain ; 
or  which  the  spirit  of  the  times,  or  the  irresistible 
authority  of  the  civil  rulers  did  not  compel  it  to 
relinquish  ? 

Arianism,  during  this  period,  was  advancing,  but 
perhaps  with  slower  steps  than  in  England,  to  sow 
the  seeds  of  error  among  the  Irish  dissenters,  to  banish 
the  spirit  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  and  to  drag 
after  it  the  torpedo  of  lukewarmnessand  indifference, 
which  has  never  failed  to  accompany  it  in  its  progress 
through  Gre^t  Britain.  The  fire  of  controversy  has 
been  seen  im  her  hands,  blazing  abroad  and  giving 
heat  enough:  but  in  how  few  instances  has  she  been 
found  kindling  in  the  breasts  of  her  votaries,  the' 
flame  of  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  niankind  !     It  has, 

G  2 


84  HIStORY  OF  DISSEKtERS* 

frequently  been  observed,  in  surveying  the  annals  of 
the  church,  that  when  any  religious  body  has  declined 
in  purity  of  doctrine  and  fervour  of  zeal,  it  has  pleased 
God  to  raise  up  others  either  to  reclaim  them,  or  to 
occupy  their  place^     Such  \^as  the  merciful  dispen- 
sation? of  heaven  in  the  present  instance.     About  the. 
year  1746,  a  minister  of  the  seceding  communion 
came  over  from  Scotland,  and  planted  the  standard 
of  the  cross  in  Ulster ;  and  he  was  afterwards  followed 
by  others  of  his  brethren   both  burghers  and  anti- 
burghers.     Wherever  the  new  lights  were  introduced, 
the  friends  of  the  Gospel,  justly  disdaining  to  have 
their  own  and  their  children's  ears  polluted  by  the 
sound  of  heresy,  forsook  their  old  connections,  and 
joined  themselves  to  the  congregations  of  the  seceders. 
In  consequence  of  this,  there  has  been  a  continual 
increase  of  their  numbers  to  the  present  day''.   What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  the  peculiar  sentiments  of 
these  men  as  to  church  government,  they  deserved  to 
be  highly  esteemed  for  their  faithful  preaching  of  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  for  the  sanctity  of  their 
lives.     Every   Christian   naturally  prefers  his  own 
denomination  to  all  others,  because  he  believes  it  to 
be  mosf  consonant  to  the  sacred  Scriptures ;  but  he 
has  the  spirit  of  Christianity  yet  to  learn  who  does 
not  wish  prosperity  and  success  to  the  denomination 
by  which  the  Gospel  is  purely  preached,  and  who 
does  not  give  it  the  preference  to  his  own  when  the 
pulpit  is  contaminated  with  dangerous  errors. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  period,  the  methodists 
both  calvinistic  and  arminian  extended  their  labours 
to  Ireland:  and  the  latter  formed  societies  in  the 
principal  cities. 

^  Rogers's  speech  before  the  associated  synod  at  Cookstowo^  I8O9. 


STATE   OJP   RELtGJON^  85 


SECTION  ly. 

STATE  OF   RELrGION    JN    AMERICA^ 

Jl  HE  religion  as  well  as  the  soil  of  America,  has 
frequently  displayed  an  almost  miraculons  transition 
from  the  barrenness  of  a  polar  winter,  to  the  delights^ 
of  Paradise.  One  of  these  astonishing  revivals  in  the 
church  will  form  the  principal  subject  of  this  section. 
It  was  preceded  by  the  peculiar  darkness  and  chill 
which  are  the  harbingers  of  day-break*:  but  before 
the  morning  dawned,  the  day-star  appeared.  As 
early  as  the  year  1718,  the'church  at  Northampton 
enjoyed  a  considerable  revival,  under  the  ministry 
of  Mr.  Stoddard,  who,  though  the  chief  promoter  of 
the  pernicious  scheme  which  tended  to  confound  the 
church  and  the  world,  yet  laboured  in  the  Gospel 

*  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  who  prefaced  his  testimony  by  observing, 
f*  1  am  now  in  my  eighty-third  year,  and  have  been  sixty-five  years 
a  preacher  of  th€  Gospel,  and  had  converse  with  the  first  planters 
pf  th^s  country,"  says  in  the  year  1721,  "  1  cannot  but  be  affected 
as  the  old  ipen  who  saw  the  foundation  of  the  second  temple,  an4 
wept  Rt  the  vast  inferiority  of  it  to  the  former.  Too  many  are 
given  to  change,  and  leave  the  order  of  the  Gospel,  which  was 
the  very  design  of  tkese  colonies.  The  grand  interest  of  New 
£Qgtand  is  changed  fropi  a  ^ehgioqs  to  a  worldly  object"  That 
this  was  uot  thfi  querulous  p^oaning  of  ^n  old  man,  who  could  see 
no  glory  but  in  the  scenes  of  former  days,  is  proved  by  the  universal 
concurrence  of  writers  in  every  period  of  life  and  denomination  of 
Christians,  who  lamented,  that,  with  many  excellent  ministers  there 
was  a  very  general  suspension  of  those  divine  influences,  which  had 
formerly  transformed  the  transatlantic  wilderness  into  a  fruilfal 
field.  Such  facts  also  are  adduced,  as  painfully  manifiBst  thatt|utl| 
flr^w  the  picture  over  which  religion  wept. 

9  a 


.  } 


•6  -  HISTORY  OP   DISSENTERS. 

with  Such  a  spirit  as  the  Redeemer  loves  to  bless. 
Of  the  five  harvests  of  souls,  which  he  used  to  say  he 
h^d  seen,  during  his  sixty  years  ministry,  this  was 
the  last  In  each  of  these  seasons,  the  greater  part 
of  the  young  people  in  the  town  were  awakened  to 
solicitude  for  their  salvation.  Three  years  after,  such 
effects  attended  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Whiting,  at 
Windham,  jn  Connecticut,  that  the  church  kept  a 
day  of  thanksgiving,  when  a  sermon  was  preached, 
from  which  it  appears,  that  in  six  months  upwards  of 
eighty  persons,  \Vho  had  been  careless  or  profane 
were  joined  to  the  church.  "  The  neighbourhood 
rings  of  it,^'  says  the  preacher,  "  while  the  contigu- 
ous chujches  exclaim,  what  hath  God  wrought  ? 
But  why  should  this  spot  only  be  wet  with  the  dew 
of  heaven,  and  the  surrounding  country  remain  dry 
and  "barren  ?'* 

Freehold,  in  New  Jersey,  was  the  scene  of  another 
remarkable  triumph  of  religion.  The  gospel  had  been 
introduced  here  by  Walter  Ker,  who  was  driven  from 
l^cotland,  under  a  sentence  of  perpetual  banishment, 
by  the  iron  sceptre  of  James  the  second.  After  a 
long'  life  of  more  successful  labours,  than  it  is  pro- 
bable he  would  ever  have  enjoyed  in  his  native 
country,  he  entered  into  his  rest.  His  charge  be- 
carne  in  a  few  years  unhappily  notorious  for  an  inde- 
cent contempt  of  religion  and  morals.  Mr.  John 
Pennant,  a  pious  youth,  having  consented  to  preach 
to  them  for  a  season,  was  so  shocked  with  their 
impiety,  that  he  told  his  brother,  he  repented  of  hav- 
ing engaged  to  labour  among  a  people  whom  heaven 
eeemed  to  have  abandoned.  But  the  labours  of  a 
month,  produced  such  a  change,  that  he  then  said, 
^  I  wouFd  beg  my  bread  to  enable  me  to  realise  the 


STATE   OF   BELIGtOK«  <3? 

iiopes  I  have  formed/'  The  place  of  worship,  ivhich 
bad  been  deserted,  except  by  those  who  afterwards 
coafeseed  that  they  went  there  only  for  diversion,  or 
to  talk  on  business,  was  now  crowded  by  persons  of 
all  ranks,  penetrated  with  the  importance  of  eternity, 
and  overwhelmed  with  abhorrence  of  their  sins 
against  the  majesty  and  holiness  of  God.  Multi* 
tildes  of  both  sexes,  confessed  with  tears  their  former 
ini<]uities ;  and  those  who  remained  unchansced,  were 
so  ashamed  of  being  thrown  into  a  disgraceful  mino- 
rity, that  they  gladly  retreated  from  notice.  The 
race  of  the  excellent  youth,  who  was  the  instrument 
of  this  change,  was  as  short  as  it  was  swift  and  glori- 
ous. After  enjoying,  in  two  years,  more  success 
than  has  frequently  attended  the  labours  of  a  long 
and  diligent  life,  he  was  called  up  to  his  reward 
April  23,  I73a, 

Two  years  after  his  death,  the  town  of  Northamp- 
ton was  distinguished  by  a  most  remarkable  ble'ssing* 
from  heaven.  Perhaps  it  was  to  anticipate  and 
silence  the  objections,  which  the  wisdom  of  thisr 
world  raises  against  every  display  of  divine  influence 
on  the  human  mind,  that  Providence  selected^as  the' 
instrument  of  this  work,  Jonathan  Edwards,  after- 
wards president  of  the  college  of  New  Jersey,  one  of 
the  most  clear  discriminating  minds,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  masters  of  moral  and  metaphysical  science 
the  Christian  church  has  ever  known  ?  He  had  suc- 
ceeded his  maternal  grandfather,  Solomon  Stoddard^ 
in  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church  at  Northampton, 
where  he  says  the  young  people  had  begun  to  betray 
alarming  symptoms  ofapostacy  from  the  spirit  and 
principles  of  their  fathers,  The  American  custom  of 
cx>mmencin^  the  l^^bbjith  on  Saturday  evening,  and 

Q  4 


8S  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

ending  it  at  six  o'clock  on  the  following  day,  was 
unhappily  abused  by  devoting  the  remaining  hours 
to  parties  of  pleasure,  which  completely  obliterated 
the  good  effects  of  the  preceding  solemnities.  But 
towards  the  end  of  the  year  1733,  the  profane, 
haughty,  obstinate  spirit  of  the  young,  began  to  be 
exchanged  for  a  sober,  humble  mind,  flexible  to  the 
voice  of  religious  instruction  and  faithful  admonition. 
They  coniplied  with  the  first  recoramendat'on  of 
Mr.  Edwards,  to  snatch  their  Sabbath  evenings  from 
worldly  pleasures,  and  devote  them  to  private  or 
social  religion. 

A  village,  about  three  miles  from  Northampton, 
first  displayed  the  symptoms  of  extraordinary  solici- 
tude for  eternity.  The  death  of  a  young  man  and 
^oman,  the  latter  of  whom  devoted  her  last  moments 
to  persuade  others  to  seek  the  same  felicity  which 
she  enjoyed,  contributed,  together  with  the  funeral 
sermons  preached  on  the  occasion,  to  diffuse  through 
the  younger  part  of  the  town  a  predominant  impres- 
sion of  religion.  The  peculiar  and  affecting  circum- 
stances which  attended  the  death  of  an  elderly  per- 
son, produced  similar  effects  on  the  aged.  At  this 
time,  Mr.  Edwards  preached  a  course  of  sermons  on 
justification  by  faith  alone,  a  doctrine  which  bad 
been  controverted,  ridiculed,  and  rejected,  but  ,was 
now  believed  with  the  fullest  conviction  of  its  truth, 
and  welcomed  as  the  only  refuge  from  the  wrath  of  a 
justly  offended  God.  These  sermons  which  produc- 
ed the  powerful  and  happy  effects  are  in  print,  and  so 
profoundly  argumentative  are  they,  that  no  one  who 
reads  them  will  say  that  the  passions  of  the  hearers 
were  wrought  upon  by  mere  vociferation,  or  rheto- 
rical displays  of  future  torments ;  nor  will  any  one 


Sf  ATE   OF  RELIGION.  89 

deny  that  those  who  could  understand  them  must 
have  possessed  cultivated  and  vigorous  minds,  supe- 
rior to  the  danger  of  being  affected  by  sounds  with- 
out sense. 

Several  remarkable  instances  of  conversion  now 
increased  and  diffused  the  general  impression  of  reli- 
gion on  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  One  young 
woman,  who  had  been  the  principal  leader  in  those 
practices  which  had  before  injured  the  youth  and 
grieved  the  minister,  came  to  Mr.  Edwards  to  inform 
him  of  a  change,  which  he  was  at  first  averse  to  be- 
lieve, fearing  lest  it  should  serve  to  encourage,  others 
in  her  former  siiis.  His  incredulity  was,  however, 
vanquished  by  the  happy  evidences  which  she  gave 
of  a  divine  influence  on  her  heart,  and  his  fears  were 
put  to  shame  by  the  effects  produced  on  the  minds 
of  others,  who,  convinced  that  it  was  of  God,  fled  to 
seek  from  him  the  same  mercy.  From  this  time, 
religion,  regarded  as  the  one  thing  needful,  became 
the  only  subject  of  conversation  through  the  whole 
town  ;  and  business  was  pursued  as  a  religious  diity, 
though  in  neighbouring  places  it  was  reported  the 
people  of  Northampton  neglected  every  thing  but 
their  souls.  Scarcely  a  person  was  to  be  found,  old 
or  young,  rich  or  poor,  who  was  not  deeply  concern- 
.  ed  for  his  salvation,  while  the  greatest  opposers  be- 
came as  serious  as  those  whom  they  had  most  derided. 
For  several  months,  each  day  added  to  the  number 
of  the  new  converts,  so  that  every  house  was  filled 
with  joy  over  a  child  or  a  parent,  such  as  that  which 
angels  feel  over  a  sinner  that  repenteth.  The  face  of 
the  whole  town  was  changed ;  seriousness,  or  bene- 
volent affection  and  sacred  joy,  sat  on  every  counte- 
nance ;  places  of  public  amusemept  were  abandoned 


to  HlftXORY  OF  0ISSENTERS* 


\ 


for  the  minister's  house,  where  eager  inquiries  wer© 
made  concerning  the  true  sources  of  consolation  and 
the  discriminating  differences  of  genuine  religion  and 
false.  The  assemblies  of  the  church  were  crowded 
with  worshippers,  whose  praises  are  said  to  have 
been  so  much  like  those  of  heaven  and  their  attention 
to  the  divine  word  so  tremblingly  alive,  that  the 
most  stupid  spectator  would  have  been  compelled  to 
exclaim  ^'  hoyir  dreadful  is  this  place,  tor  God  is  here 
and  I  knew  it  not;  surely  this  is  no  other  than  the 
house.of  God,  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven.'* 

The  fame  of  this  event  wa»  spread  and.  received 
according  to  the  different  characters  of  men.  Whito 
the  sceptical  and  profane  ridiculed  it,  under  the 
name  of  the  Northampton  distemper  ;.  those  who 
came  from  distant  places  to  judge  impartially  for 
themselves,  were  made  partakers  of  the  same  grace, 
and  returned,  calling  it  "  a  glorious  work  of  God.^' 
Many  neighbouring  towns  felt  the  same  influence,  and 
Windsor,  in  Connecticut,  presented  a  similar  scene^ 
at  the  same  time  as  Northampton,  while  neither 
of  them  knew  of  the  other's  circumstances.  Seven 
years  after,  religion  obtained  a  general  prevalence, 
in  many  places  round  Northampton,  which  itself  was 
|)ot  then  particularly  affected,  as  its  harvest  had  been 
generally  gathered  in.  But  Mr.  Edwards,  whp  was 
invited  to  preach  wherever  a  revival  appeared,  endea-* 
voured  to  guide  the  public  mind  in  novel  and  critical 
circumstances,  by  publishing  ^'  a  Narrative  of  the 
Conversion  of  many  hundred  Souls  in  Northampton  ^'^ 
*^  a  Discourse  on  the  distinguishing  Marks  of  a  real 

'  Dr:  Watts  and  Guyse,  who  had  requested  Dr.  Coleman,  of 
BotttfD,  to  procure  the  testtknonials  of  respectable  mipisters  tp  the 
▼erncity  of  the  oitrrativf,  paUishod  it  ia  England, 


STATE  OF  RELIGtOK.  01 

Work  of  the  Spirit  of  God/'  «  Thoughts  on  the  pre- 
sent  Revival  of  Religion  in  New  England/'  and  ^^  a 
Treatise  on  the  true  Nature  of  religious  Affections/* 
No  impartial  person,  after  reading  these  works,  will 
pronounce  the  event  to  which  they  refer,  an  enthu- 
siastic mania;  for  they  furnish  the  most  powerful - 
antidote  to  enthusiasm  in  religion. 

By  these  events,  the  way  was  prepared  for  the 
reception  of  Whitefield  in  America.  He  had  preached 
with  bis  usual  success  iii  some  of  the  more  northern 
colonies,  when  Dr.  Coleman  and  four  other  ministers 
invited  him  to  Boston,  without  caring  whether  they 
should  be  eclipsed  or  not,  and  anxious, only  that  his 
powerful  ministry  might  awaken  their  congregations 
from  the  insensibility  which  they  bewailed.  He 
came  to  Boston  in  September,  1740,  and  preached  his 
first  sermon  to  two  or  three  thousand  persons.  The 
attraction  of  his  manner  was  such,  that,  though  he 
preached  the  most  unwelcome  truths,  and  detected 
every  artifice  of  the  depraved  heart,  the  number  of 
his  hearers  obliged  hini  to  preach  in  the  open  ain 
The  good  ministers,  who  had  invited  him,  saw  their 
most  sanguine  hopes  exceeded  in  the  effects  of  his 
ministry  on  the  hearts  of  thousands. 

On  his  departure,  an  American  Whitefield  was 
raised  up  to  succeed  him.  Gilbert  Tennantcame  to 
Boston  and  produced  similiar  effects  by  apparently 
opposite  means.  With  no  charms  of  oratory  in  lan- 
guage, or  in  action,  but  grave  and  serious  as  death* 
he  thundered  and  lightened,  surrounding  the  con- 
sciences of  sinners  with  the  terrors  of  the  brokea 
law.  During  the  winter  of  1740,  which  he  spent  in 
Boston,  Mr.  Cooper  said  upwards  of  six  hundred 
persons  came  to  him  under  concern  for  their  salvation. 


92  HIiStORV   Of   DISSENTERS. 

and  Mr.  Webb  declared  that  more  than  a  thousan<J 
came  to  him  in  the  same  space  of  time.  William 
Tennant  also,  and  dther  ministers  itinerated  througl:^ 
diflGsrent  parts  of  New  England  with  great  success. 

The  opposition  of  the  lukewarm  and  the  worldly 
\iras  excited.  Whitefield  had  thrown  out  som^ 
reflections,  in  his  first  journal,  on  Tillotson's  writings, 
and  on  Harvard  college,  which  enraged  those  who 
were  warpi  admirers  of  the  archbishop,  or  zealous  sons 
of  the  American  alma  mater.  The  other  occasion  of 
prejudice  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Davenport,  minister 
of  Long  Island,  whose  devout  zeal  was  dishonoured 
by  a  censorious  spirit  which  assumed  a  right  to  pro- 
nounce those  unconverted  who  opposed  the  new 
methods  adopted  for  the  diffusion  of  religion.  Nothing 
was  now  waqtedbut  a  Whitefield  for  the  opposition, 
of  courage  sufficient  to  lead  the  attack,  and  of  talents 
to  detect  the  vulnerable  points.  Such  an  oqe  was  found 
in  Dr.  Chauncey,  of  Boston.  After  travelling  several 
hundred  miles  to  collect  facts,  he  published  in  1743, 
"  Seasonable  Thoughts  pn  the  State  of  Religion  in 
New  England.*^  He  retailed  every  story  of  disorder, 
enthusiasm,  or  uncharitableness,  that  he  couldiearn, 
charged  Whitefield  with  occasioning  the  mischief  out 
of  vanity  arid  love  of  popular  applause,  not  without 
allusions  to  his  fellow  feeling  for  the  orphans  in 
Georgia.  A  convention  of  ministers  held  in  Connec- 
ticut, May,  1743,  followed  his  counsels  in  a  printed 
testimony  against  errors  in  doctrine  and  disorders  in 
practice,  earnestly  advising  ministers  to  preserve  the 
churches  pure  by  guarding  against  itinerants  and  ex- 
horters.  As  large  an  assembly,  however,  sopn  after  pub- 
lished an  honourable  testimony  in  favour  of  the  late 
extragtrdinary  irevival  of  religion,  while  they  protest^ 


STATE  OF   RELIGION.  03 

against  the  errors  ivhich  sprang  up  as  tares  amidst 
the  good  seed. 

That  wild  fire  had  mingled  with  the  flame  from 
heaven,  was  not  denied  by  the  most  2sealous  friends  ; 
nor  could  the  bitterest  enemies  deny  that  very  desir« 
able  effects  were  produced.  If  some  betrayed  more* 
corporeal  agitations  than  religious  affections,  if  others 
yielded  to  visionary  impressions,  unsanctioned  by  rea<* 
son  or  Scripture,  and  many  fell  back  into  indifference, 
and  sin  ;  what  were  these  but  deductions  from  the 
general  sum  of  good  ?  By  the  same  rules,  where 
evangelical  principles  were  imparted,  rational  impres* 
sions  of  eternal  realities  produced,  the  meek  and  bene-^ 
volent  temper  of  Christ  inspired,  and  purity  of  con- 
duct maintained  to  the  end  of  life,  what  but  inveterate 
prejudice  could  deny  that  these  are  the  very  effects 
which  prove  the  divinity  of  the.  religion  of  Jesus  and 
the  heavenly  mission  of  his  apostles  ? 

On  Whitefield's  second  visit  to  New  England,he ex- 
perienced much  opposition.  Harvard  and  Yale  colleges 
denounced  him.  The  press  teemed  withhostile  pam- 
phlets, and  ministers  formed  associations  against  him. 
A  cotemporary  ecclesiastical  historian  of  America 
says,  however,  *'  Whitefield  came  with  an  extraordi- 
nary spirit  of  meekness  and  benevolence,  ingenuously 
acknowledging  the  impropriety  of  some  of  his  expres- 
sions and  censures,  but  defending  his  conduct. by  the 
highest  authority  and  examples.  As  he  was  invited 
to  preach  a  lecture  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he 
Was  constantly  attended  at  that  early  hour  by  upwards 

of  two  thousand  hearers/' 

A  law  enacted  in  Connecticut  to  prohibit  itinerant 

preachers,   kindled  the  flames  of  persecution  ;    for. 

several  were  imprisoned  for  this  new  crime,  and  Mr^ 


9i  HISTORY   09   DISSEKTKRS. 

Saimuel  Finlay,  a  minister  of  the  first  respecflibility 
and  afterwards  president  of  New  Jersey  college,  was, 
for  preaching  to  a  presbyterian  congregation  at  New- 
haven,  sent  out  of  the  colony  as  a  vagrant.  This  in- 
fringement on  the  liberties  increased  their  aversion  to 
those  ministers  who  sanctioned  the  law,  and  induced 
their  hearers  to  form  many  separate  congregations. 
The  baptist  congregations,  which  were  before  not  nu- 
merous, being  zealous  friends  to  the  doctrines  and  spirit 
now  prevalent,  received  large  accessions  from  those 
churchfes,  of  which  the  ministers  were  unfriendly  to 
the  revival.  Mr.  Davenport,  whose  conduct  in  pro- 
nouncing- the  ministers  uuregenerate,  had  fanned  the 
flame  of  dissension,  afterwards  publicly  recanted  his 
rash  judgments,  and  attributed  to  his  own  unniortified 
tempers,  what  he  had  before  ascribed  to  his  superior 
religious  discernment. 

In  Virginia,  the  seat  of  episcopacy,  a  similar  revival 
was  afforded  to  the  church.  A  principal  instrument 
in  the  work  was  Davies,  afterwards  president  of  a 
collie.  Inferior  to  Whitefield  in  the  elocution  of 
the  pulpit,  he  surpassed  him  in  originality  of  thought 
as  well  as  in  clearness  and  force  of  Reasoning.  His 
sketch.of  the  revival  of  religion  informs  us,  that  pre- 
viously to  that  happy  event,  the  form  of  godliness  was 
despised,  and  vices  of  every  kind  were  triumphant. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1740,  a  few  persons 
became,  by  reading  the  divines  of  the  preceding  cen- 
tury, exceedingly  solicitous  for  their  eternal  welfare. 
Mr.  Samuel  Morris,  of  Hanover  county,  laboured  to 
excite  the  same  solicitude  in  others,  first,  by  private 
conversation,  and  afterwards  by  reading  to  the  more 
seriously  disposed,  Luther  on  the  Galatians,  with 
some  of  the  works  of  Bunyan.    A  young  gentleman 


STATE  OF  RELIGION.  j^S 

•f  Scotland,  havipg  a  volume  of  sermoQs  taken  from 
the  lips  of  Whitefield,  at  Glasgow,  read  them  at  these 
meetings  with  such  effect,  that  many  perceived  their 
guilt  and  danger,  and  wept  aloud.  They  were  now 
obliged  to  build  a  reading  house  to  accommodate  the 
crowds  which  attended,  and  were  soon  called  upoa 
by  the  government  to  declare  to  what  denomination 
of  dissenters  they  belonged.  They  knew  not  what 
answer  to  give,  as  they  did  not  agree  with  qoakers, 
almost  the  only  sect  they  knew;  till,  recollecting  thai 
Luther's  works  had  first  impressed  them,  they  called' 
themselves  Lutherans.  As  soon  as  their  situation 
was  known  in  the  presbyterian  states,  WiUiam  Robin- 
son was  sent  to  visit  the  southern  colonies.  The  new* 
societies  were  inexpressibly  astonished  to  hear  him 
pour  forth  from  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  the  exact 
sentiments  which  they  had  derived  fcom  books,  while 
they  were  delighted  to  find  that  he  bad  in  his  own 
experience,  a  key  to  the  most  secret  emotions  of  their 
souls.  Mr.  Robinson  waa  equally  surprized  at  the 
effects  produced  on  the  original  societies,  as  well  as 
on  the  increasing  numbers  whose  curiosity  was 
attracted  by  the  general  report ;  but,  after  correcting 
some  things  in  their  worship,  and  introducing  prayer 
as  well  as  singing,  he  left  them  to  a  succession  of 
evangelical  labourers. 

Alarmed  at  the  indications  of  a  gathering  storm, 
and  apprehensive  of  being  sent  out  of  the  colony, 
they  applied,  in  1745,  to  the  synod  of  New  York  for 
advice  and  assistance.  The  assembly  sent  an  address  to 
the  governor,  by  Mr.  Tennant  and  Mr.  Finlay,  who 
were  favourably  received,  and  contributed  not  only  to 
dispel  the  threatening  cloud,  but  by  preaching  and 
administering  the  Lord's  supper  to  increase  the  im- 
pressions of  religion.    Virginia  was  at  last  visited  by 


do  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

Whitefield,  who,  though  accused  of  seeking  popularity 
in  large  towns,  was  bunting  for  sinners,  as  he  termed 
it,  in  the  woods  of  the  southern  colonies.  At  length 
Mr.  Davies,  after  preaching  among  them  for  some 
weeks,  was,  in  174S,  ordained  their  pastor.  H6  en- 
countered much  opposition  and  ridicule,  as  the  leader 
of  the  new  lights  ;  but  saw  many  of  the  opposers  first 
drawn  by  curiosity,  then  fixed  by  attachment,  till 
fift}'^  new  families  were  added  to  their  original  number. 
In  seven  years  after  his  ordination,  he  had  three  hun- 
dred communicants.  He  preached  at  seven  different 
places,  was  successful  in  the  conversion  of  many 
negroes,  and  saw  with  delight  the  same  blessings 
diffused  in  other  parts  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
and  IVlarylaad . 

So  repeated  and  powerful  were  the  displays  of  divine 
influence  accompanying  the  Gospel  in  America,  during 
this  period  of  our  history,  that  many  believed  they  saw 
the  dawn  of  the  dayof  final  glory  to  the  church  on  earth. 
A  treatise  was  written  by  president  Edwards  to  show 
what  effects  the  numerous  indications  of  divine  favour 
should  produce ;  and  meetings  for  prayer  were  held 
in  unison  with  Christian  churches  in  Great  Britain, 
to  implore  the.  continuance  of  such  prosperity  till 
the  "  earth  should  be  filled  with  the  divine  glory.** 
Upon  the  whole,  the  church  of  Christ  has  scarcely 
ever  seen  in  any  country  a  period  of  greater  prosperity 
than  America  enjoyed  at  this  time,  whether  for  extra- 
ordinary triumphs  of  religion  among  thoughtless  mul- 
titudes, for  eminence  of  talents  and  graces  in  the 
hearts  of  Christians  and  divines,  or  for  valuable  pub- 
lications in  the  first  departments  of  sacred  literature^ 

s  £dward8*8  Narrative.  Manuscript  Account  of  the  State  of  Reli«-^ 
gioQ  io  America  combianicated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Allen. 


STATE   OF  RELIOIOKr  97 

Of  the  emiBept.  men  who;  floutii^hed  in  America 
at  this  period^  Solomon  Stoddard  requires  our  first 
attentioDi  Bqrn  at  Boston,  in  1643,  .he  commenced 
his  ministry  in  thatcity,  but  remov.ed.otn  account  oi, 
his  health  to  preach  for  two  years  i^  the  island  of 
Barbadoes.  -,  On  his  return  to  Araerics^^  h^.was  chosen 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Nor,thamptpn,  f  pvpr  which  he 
watched  with  distinguished  ^al  and  supcess  for  fifty- 
six  years,  till  he  was  removed  by  dea.th.in  his. eighty-- 
sixth  year.  He^had  enjoyed  (to  use  ihisqwn  expres- 
sion) five  harvests,  when  such  efiects  atfii^nded  his 
ministry,  that  religion  became  the  predominant  con- 
cern of  the  whole  town,  and  before  he  died  he  receiv- 
ed, as  a  colleague  his  grandson  Jonathan  Edwards, 
whose  labours  were  attended  with  similar  success. 

Benjamin  Coleman,  D.  D.  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  ornaments  of  the  transatlantic  church. 
He  was  educated  at  harvard  college,  but  came  over 
to  London  in  1693,  and  having  been  ordained  there, 
returned  to  take  the  charge  of  one  of  the  churches  in 
Boston.  Having  laboured  with  equal  diligence  and 
success  to  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-three^  he 
died  in  1747,  leaving  several  publications  which  attest 
his  excellence  as  a  divine,  and  a  reputatioii  which 
will  be  dear  to  his  country  as.long  as  zeal  for  the  in- 
terests of  sacred  literature  and  the  conversion  of  the 
Indian  nations  shall  be  held  in  due  esteem^. 

William  Cooper  was,  at  the  age  of  three  and  twenty, 
ordained  co-pastor  with  Dr.  Coleman,  who  preached' 
his  funeral  sermon  and  bore  this  testimony  to  his 
worth.  ^^  He  cultivatedlearning  as  a  religious  dut}^ 
and. his  talents,  as  well  as  his  usefulness  maintained  a 
visible  progress,  till  his  graces  were  ripened  in  glory. 

i»  See  his  Life,  written  by  Mr,  Turell.  Svo.  1749* 
VOL.    lY.  H 


N 


Q9  HISTORY  OF  Dts^is^ersits. 

I  ought  to  thank  God  if  I  have  contributed  to  form 
him  for  tiis  ctnioent  services  r  thus  a  l?ofch  maybe 
lighted  at  a  farthing  candle."  His  reputailion  for 
talents  and  ptety  occasioned  his  election  to  the  pi^esf- 
dency  of  Harvard  college,  which  hi*  modesty  declin- 
ed. He  died  in  174S,  in  his  fiftieth  year- 
Thomas  •  Prince,  after  commencing  his  labours  in 
America,  prestched  several  years  in  England,  but  re- 
turned to  his  native  country  in  1717.  He  was  chose» 
colleague  with  Dr.  Sewall  as  pastor  of  the  Old  South 
Church,  m  Boston.  His  native  talents  he  improved 
by  most  laborious  study,  and  consecrated  the  exten* 
sive  literature  which  he  acquired,  to  the  service  of  the 
Redeemer,  who  honoured  him  with  eminent  success. 
He  is  most  known  as  the  author  of*'  the  Christiaii 
History/'  and  of  a  Chronological  History  of  New 
England.  Death  removed  him  from  his  labours  in 
1758,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two. 

The  name  of  Mayhew  shines  with  distinguished 
honour  in  the  annals  of  the  anglo-american  church. 
Thomas  Mayhew  was  the  first  minister  of  the  Gospel 
in   Martha^s  Vineyard :  he  began  to  preach  to  the 
Indians  in  his  neighbourhood  at  the  same  time  that 
Elliot  commenced  his  missionary  labours.      When 
called  away  by  death,  he  was  succeeded  by  his-father, 
Thomas  Mayhew,  esq.  governor  of  the  district,  who 
laboured  from  the  age  of  seventy  to  that  of  ninety- 
three,  with  more  than  the  fire  of  youth  for  the  con- 
version of  the  Indians.     He  was  followed  in  the  year 
1089,  by  his  graddson  Experience  Mayhew,  who  trode 
in  the  best  steps  of  his  ancestors.     While  he  was 
preaching  to  the  Indians  he  published  a  work,  enti- 
tled, >^  Indian  Converts,"  which  furnishes  an  animat- 
ing  display  of  the  effects  of  the  Gospel  on  that 
benighted  race  of  men* 


fPTATE  OB  RELIGION.  90 

David  Bi^inerd,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches 
as  a  laborious  and  succesaftii  herald  of  mercy  to  the 
Americaa  Indiafisf,  might  claim  a  place  here,  as  he 
died  in  1747,  but  his  memoirs^  published  by  president 
£d wards,  are  ao  generally  known,  that  the  slight 
notice  we  have  taken  of  thia  excellent  man  Will  be 
deemed  sufficient. 

The  person  who  must  now  close  our  list,  is  usually 
called  president  Edwards,  to  distinguish  him  from 
another,  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  was  principal  of 
Jesus  college,  Cambridge.  America  boasts  in  the 
president  not  only  the  first  of  moral  philosophers 
among  her  sons,  but  also  the  first  of  metaphysicians 
among  the  whole  host  of  Christian  divines.  He  wid 
descended  firom  eminent  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
through  many  generations,  for  hia  great  great  grabd- 
fether,  Richard  Edwards,  waa  a  preacher  in  Londoik 
during  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth.  His  father, 
Timothy  Edwards,  laboured  in  the  ministry  at  Wind- 
sor, in  Connecticut,  almost  sixty  yeara,  and  was 
residing  there  when  his  only  son  Jonathan  was  bom, 
on  the  fifth  of  October,  1703. 

At  about  twelve  years  of  age,  he  entered  Yale 
college,  and  took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  before  he  waa 
seventeen.  In  his  second  year  at  college  he  read 
Locke  on  the  human  Understanding,  ^^  with  more 
delight  than  the  most  greedy  miser  gathers  up  hand- 
fuls  of  gold  and  silver  out  of  some  newly-discovered 
treasure.'^  From  the  mind  which,  at  fourteen,  found 
no  difficulties  in  this  treatise,  but  devoured  it  as  an 
intellectual  feast,  what  might  not  be  expected  when 
matured  by  twenty  laborious  years  of  kindred  studies? 
With  a  respectable  proficiency  in  most  branches  of 
liberal  science,  moral  philosophy,  as  the  handmaid  of 

H  2 


100  HISTORY  OF   D|&SE'JHT]&BI^« 

theology,  was  his  favourite  sul^ecty  to  the  end  of.  Kfev 
.He  declined,  at  the  expiration  of  his  collegiate 
studies,  several  invitations  to  the  paistoral  office,  in 
order  to  remain  as  tutor  at  the  place  of  his  education^ 
but  he.  was  induced,  after  two  years,  to  become  cot* 
league  with  hk  grandfather  at  Northampton. 

Serious  impressions  accompani'fed  the  first  dai)vn  of 
reason,  and  produced,  when  be  was  quite  a  boy, 
what  may  be  called  a  childish  religion,  described  by 
hiniself  as  consisting  in  a  laborious  course  ofprayer^ 
.five  times  a  day,  vvith  great  delight  in  his  supposed 
goodness.  It  was  not,  however,  till  towards  the  close 
pf  his  preparatory  studies  for  the  ministry,  that  he  waa 
formed  for  that  work  by  a  genuine  experience  of  the 
grace  which  he  was  to  preach  to  others.  Of  this  essen- 
jtial  change,  which  to  readers  in  general  forms  but  a 
dull  history^  he  gives,  though  in  his  inelegant  style,  a 
vivid  speaking  picture,  and  clothes  with  substantial 
fprms  the  most  spiritual  operations  of  the  inmost 
soul,  waking  the  heart  of  a  Christian  to  the  purest 
pleasures,  and  his  conscience  to  the  grand  enquiry^ 
am  I  a  partaker  of  the  same  grace  *  ? 

*  About  this  time,  he  recorded  in  his  diary  seventy  resolutions^ 
many  ef  which  present  the  most  perfect  combination  ofihe  intellect 
pf  a  philosopher  with  the  devotion  of  a  saint.  The  following 
specimen  may  incite,  we  hope,  to  the  perusal  of  the  whole. , 

Resolved  ^r5/,  .that  I  will  do  whatsoever  I  think  to  be  most  to  GrOiTs 
g£)ry  and  my  own  good,  profit,  and  pleasure,  on  the  whole,  with- 
out any  consideration  of  the  time,  whether  now,  or  never  so  many 
myriads  of  ages  hence.  Secondly,  resolved  to  be '  continually 
endeavouring  to  find  some  new  contrivance  to  promote  the  fore- 
mentioned  object.  Resolved  thirdly,  never  to  do,  be,  or  suffer  any 
thing,  in  soul  or  body,  less  or  more,  but  what  tends  to  the  glory  of 
God.  Resolved  never  to  lose  one  moment  of  time,  but  to  live  with 
all  my  might  while  I  do  live.  Resolved  to  endeavour  to  my  utmost 
to  dmn)'  whatsoever  is  not  toost  agreeable  to  a  good  and  universalis 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOX.     '  Wl 

The  spirit  of  his  resolutions  inspired  his-  ministry. 
A  religious  abstinence  in  food,  relaxation,  and  sleep 
enabled  him  to  devote  thirteen  hours  in  e^ch  day  to 
theological  studies,  which,  with  his  depth  of  research, 
furnished  such  materials,  as,  when  matured  by  his 
laborious  care,  produced  sermons  that  attracted, 
almost  from  his  first  appearance  as  a  preacher,  the 
eager  attention  of  the  most  profound  divines.  Though 
be  read  his  sermons,  which  he  modestly  lamented  as 
much  inferior  to  preaching  memoriter^  and  his  feeble 
voice  formed  no  counterpoise  to  this  dead  weight ;  yet 
his  solemn  manner  of  announcingthe mighty  emotions 
of  his  own  soul,  so  completely  fixed  the  minds  of  his 
hearers,  that  they  forgot  every  thing  but  the  important 
subject*  The  effect  qf  his  preaching  soon  appeared 
in  the  event  that  induced  him  to  publish  ^^  a  faithful 
Narrative  of  the  surprising  Work  of  God  in  the  Con- 
version of  many  hundred  Souls  in  Northampton/' 
This  relation  not  only  attracted  much  notice  in 
America,  but  was  recommended  by  Dr.  Watts  and 
Guyseto  the  British  public,  and  was  widely  circulated 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  eagerness  witbi 
which  Mr.  Edwards  was  consulted  by  multitudes 
during  these  extraordinary  triumphs  of  the  Gospel, 
added  to  his^  conscientious  dread  of  confounding 
(enthusiasm  with  religion,  and  his  natural  fondness  fen: 
the  philosophy  of.  the  human  n^ind,  induced  him  to 
study  the  various  s^ppearances  of  religious  illqpoination, 
terror,  and  delight,  with  such  anxious  attention  as 

sweet  and  benevolent,  quiet,  peaceable,  conten^^»  easy,  compas- 
sionate, generous,  humble,  meek,  modest,  submissive,  obliging, 
diligent,  and  industrious,  charitable,  even,  patient,  moderate,  for- 
^ving,  sincere  temper,  and  to  do  at  all  times  what  such  a  temp^ 
^Quld  lead  me  to* 

»  3 


•  I 


109  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTEES. 

rendered  him  a  profound  master  of  this  most  delicate 
and  momentous  subject.    Yet,    after  having  been 
regarded  by  neighbouring  churches  a's  an  oracle,  and 
valued  by  his  own   flock  as  a  man  whom  heaven 
delighted  to  honour,  he  was  called  to  I9bew  that  the 
disciple  is  not  above  bis  persecuted  Lord.    To  correct 
9ome  immoralities  among  the  younger  persons  of  his 
congregation,  he  adopted  a  method  which  betrayed  a 
deficiency  in  the  prudence  taught  by  intercourse  with 
the  world,  and  roused  the  ungovernable  partiality  of 
parents  for  the  children  whose  characters  ^v ere  ex- 
posed to  censure.     In  the  mids^t  of  this  ferment,  he 
was  led  to  renounce  Mr.  Stoddard's  principle  of  the 
right  of  unbelievers  to  communion  at  the  Lolrd^s  table^ 
and  thus  let  in  a  fresh  blast  upon  the  coals  of  strife; 
so  that  the  passions  of  the  people  triumphed  over  the 
meekness  and  benevolence  of  the  pastor,  and  produced 
^.  a  final  separation^ 

After  twenty-four  years  of  useful  labours  at  North- 
ampton, he  retired  to  preach  to  the  Indians  at  Stock- 
bridge.  Here  the  adorable  providence  of  God  demon- 
strated that  the  man  who  most  ably  defended  the 
truths  against  which  the  carnal  mind  rises  with  abhor- 
rence, could  not  only  cast  himself,  in  the  decline  of 
life,  with  a  large  family,  on  the  wide  world  withput 
support,  but  could  also  devote  his  powerful  intellect 
to  teach  these  truths  in  the  howling  desert,  where 
thers  were  no  applaudiDg  multitudes  among  whom 
he  cpuid  shine,  and  no  philosophising  divines  who 
could  echo  his  praise.     The  six  years  which  he  spent  . 
among  the  Indians,  were,  however,  not  lost  to  the 
World,  but  may  be  valued  as  the  most  useful  period 
of  his  life.     In  this  retreat,  besides  his  labours  as  a 
missionary^  he  devoted  himself  to  such  studies  as  his 


STATB  OF  BXLIGIOK*  103 

fermer  eogag emeflts  had  ileariy  precluded,  aad  wrote 
his  :two  treatises  on  the  freadom  of  the  will,  and  on. 
original  sin.  His^cel^bcityt  nduknckig  wUh  his  labours* 
soon  called  bioi  {k^iu  ihe  exilawhilch  jaow  seenied  to 
hav^  accomplished  th«.  intenti<>D  of  the  mysterious 
arbiter  of  events  ieu conducting  hidi  thither.  Invited 
to  succeed  his  son-in>-hiivi^  Aafon  Burr^i  as  president 
of  Hevr  Jersey  eoilegeyfhdfiire  he  was  well  seated  on 
t^exh^ir,  he  was'spatcbedtfroonithe  sanguine  hopes  of 
the  church  by  the.ismall-pox.  This  ornament  to  the 
Chfiatian  name,  whose  intellecttnri  grandeur  was  only 
eqiialled  hy  his  cnoral  character,  was  removed  to  the 
element'  of  unbounded  knowledge  and  devotion,  on 
the  twenty*second  of  March,  17^9  in  the  fifty-fifth 
yeaar  of  his  age.  . 

If  it:  be  abid,  that,  absorbed  in  thoughts  (the  sons  of 
heaTOn)5be  too^tnoch  despised  words  asdie  daughters 
of  earth)  to  be  aildweda  place  among  ^elegant  writers; 
he  who  removes  his  worlds  from  this  class,  must  give 
them  the  precedence  in  the  still  higher  departmenti 
of  metaphysics  aod  ftheol^gy;  ;  A  periodical  critic^ 
Ihot^  decidedly  hostile  to  the  £dwardian  system  of 
divmiCyi  pronounced  bis  treatise  on  the  freedom  > of 
the  will,  *^  the  most  stupendous  monument  of  .meta^ 
physical  reasoning  which  the  human  fnind  ever 
erect^/'.  But  his  ^*  Dissertation  on  the.  Nature  of 
Vir^e  or  Holiness,^^  displays  4n  a  still  higher  degree, 
such  a  combination  of  abstract  thought  and  vast  con- 
ceptions, with  instructive  elucidation  and  holy  te^-^ 
deijicies,  that,  the  reader  feels  himself  ejstricated  from 
the  incumbrances  of  dull  matter,  to  bearkeia  (o  the 
discourses  of  etherial  spirits*  The  treatise  *'  on  tJod^s 
last  End  in  the  Creation  of  the  Wortd,'^  which  fcrms 
its  usual  companion,  has  not,  like  \\\e  farmer  the 

»4  /  : 


IOC  HISTORV  ^'  DlTASlSlf ¥E|tS. 

rare  praise  of  po^rijngfulii  day   upon  a    profoutid 
subject,  which' dlbt her  investigators  had  left  inun- 
dimimshed'darkness^^^^but  it  enables  us  to  maintaiin 
as  phtbsophers,  iw  hat/we  already  believed  as  Cims* 
tians,  or  divines.     His  defence  of  the   docttpine  of 
original  sin  is^iin  theforitier  pairt,'  conducted  so  as  to 
compel  the  adv^^sariesof  the  truth  tacontend  against 
commop  sebse  an^  acknowledgedtfact ;  while  the  lat- 
ter part  sets  at>  defiaitcei'^heJogiQal  or  metaphysicaL 
skill  which  would  i  have  < ventured  to  eontradicrboth 
our  senses  and  our  iieason.     One  of  the  mostt  useful 
of  his  treatises  is  th^t  on  religious  affections,  which, 
at  once  enables  the  Christian  to  witinow  his'own  soul, 
separating  the  precious  from  the  worthless  in  religion, 
aud  preserves  him  at  an  equal  distance  from  the  mor-. 
tal  coldness  of  philosophic'speculation,  and  the  unhal- 
lowed  fires   of  wild  enthusiasm.      The  labours  of 
Edwardshave  founded  a  theological  school,  which,  in 
America,  has  verged  to  a  metaphysical  mania;  but^ 
In  England,  has  been  a  preservative  from  socinian  and 
antinomian  extremes,  by  presenting  evangelical  truth 
in  that  point  of  view,  which  at  once  satisfies  the 
enlightened    mind,    and  captivates  the   devotional 
lieart.      :  -  • 

•  •  • 

^  His  works  are — A  sermon  predched  at  'Boston^  od  1  Cor.  u 
69,' 30. — A  sel-mon  at  Nbrthamptony  on  Mat«xvi.'17.— A  Narrative 
of  the  Work  of  God,  &c.*«^Five  discourses  at  ;Nort1iamplon«— A 
sermon  preached  at  £nfieldv<— A  sermon  at  New*HaTen»  on  1  John 
iv.  l.-x-Thoughts  on  the  RevivaU-^Religious  Affections.:— On 
Prayer  for  a  Revival.  Life  of  the  ReY«  David  Brainerd.  On 
Qualifications  for  Communion,— A  Reply  to  S.  William^s  Answer* 
-«»A  serndon  preached  at  Newark,  on  James  ii.  ig^-^On  the  Free- 
doin  of  the  Will.-'-^Qn  original  Sin.-— Eighteen  sermons  with  his 
life  prefixed.-— The  History  of  Redemption.— On  the  Nature  of 
Virtue.— God's  last  End  in  the  Creation.— Thirty-three  sermons. 
-i-Twenty  sermons.«^Mi8ceilaneous  Observations.*— Miscellaneoua 
JRemarks. 


STATE  OF  KEUGIOK. 


105 


That  part?  of  the  world  which  lies  beyond  the 
British  empire  furnishes  too  few  materials  for  eccle- 
siastical history  to  deserve  a  distinct  section.  Among 
the  protestants  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  scarcely 
any  persons  of  extraordinary  emineQ.ce  arose  in  the 
church,  >  which  experienced  little  change  and  no 
improvement ;  and  if  the  ancient  fire  of  perisecutioa 
sometimes  burst  forth  from  the  church  of  Rome, 
spreading  desolation  wherever  it  could  reach,  the 
political  powers  refused  that  aid,  without  which  reli* 
gious  bigotry  can  do  little  more  than  imitate  Vesu- 
vius, when,  wanting'  force  for  a  grand  eruption,  it 
emits  only-  a  faint  rambling  and  transient  flames* 
amidst  clouds  of  smoke.  Beyond  the  extent  of 
Christendom,' the  missions  of  which  the  commence- 
ment has  already  been  recorded,  proceeded  in  their 
labours  without  any  striking  instances  of  success; 
while  the  Christian  church  was  unhappily  not  yet 
awakened  from  its  selfish  slumbers,  to  form  new 
stations  for  the  labourers,  who  might  cultivate  the 
vast  desart  which  still  lay  entirely  neglected. 


106  HISTOl^y.  OF   PX4$^N7$I|S|i 


I. 


THIRD  PERIOD. 

t  1  >  •  »  .  t        f 

Fr0m  tie  Accession  of  George  the  Thirds  to  the  Year 
One  Thousamd  -Eight  Hundred  and  Eight. 


CHAP.  I. 

AK  ACC0)[JN;X,0F   KEMT  sects  which  .AROSiE    BUBo;. 
IKG     THIS  'jPp&ipO,     THEIi^      D1ST|N6UISHINQ 
TEKETS    AMD     THE    OUTI.INES    OF    THEIR  ttl&« 
TORY*  . 

If  it  19  paiaful  to  observe  tliat  the  diversities  of  humao 
opioioD,.  pei'petually  iacreasing  tlie  number  of  sects, 
render  it  necessary  to  devote  a  chapter  to  their  rise 
in  every  division  of  our  history ;  it  affords  some  con- 
solation to  reflect  that  we  have  now  to  notice  but  two 
new  denominations,  a  smaller  number  than  have  been 
recorded  in  either  of  the  former  periods.  The  divi- 
sion which  took  place  among  the  Wesleyan  metho* 
dists  after  the  death  of  their  founder,  has  indeed  pro- 
duced what  is  called  the  methodist  new  connexion : 
but  the  formation  of  a  separate  body  being  attended 
with  little  or  no  change  in  doctrine,  discipline,  spirit, 
pr  practice  demands  no  distinct  section.  This^ 
chapter,'  therefore,  will  only  contain  an  account  of 
the  Sandematiians  and  Swedenborgians, 


SANDEMANIAHS. 


107 


SECTION  I. 


k- 


SAND£HANIA58» 


It  has  fallen  4o  the  lot  of  the  loudest  decUimer 
against  popular  ministers,  to  acquire  so  much  popu- 
larity as  to  found  a  sect,  which  by  wearing  his  name 
perpetuates  his  ^celebrity.  But  those  congregations 
which  in  England  are  known  by  the  denomination  of 
Sandemanians,  from  Robert  Sandeman,  to  whose 
labours  they  owe  their  existence,  are  in  Scotland 
called  independents,  or  Glasites,  Joiin  Glas  having 
several  years  before  laid  the  foundation  of  the  sect  in 
the  north*  Accident,  however,  or  the  irresistible 
custom  of  society,  rather  than  the  vanity  of  the 
founders,  gave  these  personal  names  to  a  commu« 
nion,  whose  members  prefer  that  of  Christians  or 
disciples  to  any  other  denomination. 

The  difficulty  of  exhibiting  a  correct,  instructive 
statement  of  the  peculiar  sentiments  of  a  religious 
sect,  is  felt  with  peculiar  force,  when  the  Sandema« 
nians  are  to  be  held  up  to  public  view ;  for  the  dif-* 
ferences  which  separate  them  from  other  Christians 
are  in  many  instances  so  subtile  as  to  be  invisible  to 
ordinary  sight.  In  Scotland  the  Glasites  were  fit 
first  regarded,  not  without  reason,  as  a  species  of 
independents,  who  differed  from  those  in  England, 
only  in  the  date  and  country  of  their  origin,  and  in 
the  degree  of  importance  which  a  new  sect  naturally 
attaches  to  its  peculiarities.  But  when,  instefu|  of 
forming  a  federal  union  with  the  independents  in 
England,  they  erected  new  churches  among  them, 
not  only  distinct,  but  alien  from  all  oth^s,  it  became 


lOff  HISTORY   OJ*    BISSJENTERS, 

manifest  that  their  separation  from  the  Scotch  estab«v 
lishment  was  produced  by  other  causes  than'  ^  dis-? 
approbation  of  presbyterian  principles. 

They  ajre,  however,  as  well  as  the  baptists,  strictly 
independents.  The  sentiments  of  Dr.  Owen,  the 
most  celebrated  defender  of  that  denomination,  were 
adopted  by  Gias,  anij  given  in  a  new  fomi,  without 
due  acknowledgement,  in  his  ^^^  Testimony  of  the  , 
King  of  the  Martyrs.V  .h  is  remarkable,  too,^ 
that  as  the  ailicles  of  the  church  of  England  are 
quoted  by  E)ngljsh  independents,  in  defence  of  con* 
gregatipnal  churches,  so  Mr.  Glas  appeals  to  the 
Scotch  confession  of  faith  in  support  of  his  indepen- 
deiat  principles*  "  Our  reforniers  taking  their  notions 
of  Ehe  church  only  from  the  word  of  God,  acknow- 
lec^e  no  other  church  of  Christ  beside^  the  universal, 
but  congvegations ;  as  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Scotch 
confession  of  faith,  article  eighteenth,  where  we  have 
the^e  words:  "  Wheresoever  then  these  former  notes) 
see  seen,  and  of  any  time  continue  (be  the  number 
nev^r  so  few,  about  two  or  three)^  there,  without  aii 
doubts  is  the  true  chprch-of  Christ,  who  accordii>g  to 
his  pron^ise^  is  in  the  midst  of  them;  not  that 
universal,  of  which  we  have  before  spoken,  but  par- 
ticular, such  as  were  in  Corintbus,  Galatia,  Ephesus, 
and  other  places^  where  the  pain^stry  was  planted  by 
Paul,  and  were  pf  himself  named  the!  churches  of 
God}  aq'd  puch  churches  we,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
realm  of  Scotland,  professors  of  Christ  Jesus,  have  in 
our  towns  and  places  reformed".^* 

*  These  notes  arc,  1.  The  true  preaching  of  the  word  of  Grod ; 
9.  TJie  right  adininifitration  of  the  sacrainents  of  Christ  Jesus ;  9^ 
£ci?lesiastical  discipline,  uprightly  adoiinist^red  as  God's  WoniJ 
prescribes, 
"»  Glas*8  Works,  vol,  I.  p.  169, 


^J 


Maintaining  these  Sentiments  of  th^  first  cOngregd-* 
tional  churches  with  peculiar  ardour^  and  condemn- 
ing with  equal  severity  all  national  edtfiblidhmentd  of 
religion^  as  essentially  hostile  to'  the  kingdotfi  of 
Christ,  the  Gla^ites  were,  from  their  oi^gin,*  known 
by  tlie  appellation  of  Scotch  independents\ 

Upon  their  system  of  discipline  they  engrafted 
some  doctrinal  peculiarities,  which  have  rendered 
them  like  the  Ishmaelites,  men  of  war^  ^very  Wherd 
dwelling  in  the  presence  of  enemies^  their  hand 
against  every  man  and  every  mans  hand  against  them. 
It  was  not,  indeed,  by  departing  from  the  orthodox 
creed,  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity,  the  person  of 
Christ,  tlie  mode  of  acceptance  with  God,  or  the  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by  grace,  that  they  differed  from  the 
original  independents ;  for  on  all  these  points  they 
are  zealously  calvinistical.  The  abstract  liature  of 
faith,  was  the  apple  of  discord,  which  separated  them 
from  those  with  whom  they  agreed  in  the  grand  out« 
lines  of  doctrine  and  discipline.  The  wisdom  which 
inspired  the  Scriptures  had  framed  no  technical  defi- 
nition of  faith,  contented  with  giving  such  devotional 
aad  practical  statements  of  every  doctrine  and  every 
grace,  as  should  most  effectually  answer  the  purpose$ 
both  of  information  and  utility.  But  the  founders  of 
the  Sandemanian  system, conceiving  that  they  had  de- 
tected errors  in  the  prevalent  opinion,  at  once  defined 
faith  to  be  *'  a  mere  belief  of  the  truth,^^  and  pro- 
nounced all  who  supposed  it  to  include  any  approba- 
tion of  heart,  enemies  to  the  grace  of  the  Gospel.  The 
sole  requisite  to  justification,  or  acceptance  with  God, 
says  Mr.  Sandeman,  is  the  work  finished  by  Christ  in 

"  The   Encyclopedia  Bvltannica,  in  the  article  Independents^ 
con£[>ttnd8  them  with  the  Sandemanians  or  Glantes, 


lit  HISTORY  OF  DISSENTERS. 

bis  dearth,  proved  by  his  resuirection  to  be  all  sufficient 
tojustify  the  guilty*  that  the  whole  benefit  of  thi§ 
eveat  is  conveyed  to  men  only  by  the  apostolic  report 
concerning  it,  that  every  one  who  understands  this 
report  to  be  true^  or  is  persuaded  that  the  event  acta** 
ally  happened  as  testified  by  the  apostles,  is  justified, 
tnd  finds  relief  to  his  guilty  conscience,  not  by  fin(Mng 
any  tavoumble symptom  about  his  heart,  but  by  finding 
their  report  to  be  true ;  that  the  event  itself  which  is 
reported  becomes  his  relief,  so  soon  as  it  stands  true  in 
his  mind)  and  accordingly  becomes  his  faith/^ 

While  the  Sandeinanians  refuse  to  hold  communion 
with  any  who  do  not  perfectly  agree  with  them  in 
maintaining  the  sovereign  election  of  grace,  and  the 
sufficiency  of  Christ's  r%hteousness  tojustify  the  most 
guilty  who  credit  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel,  they 
are  far  from  approving  of  the  antinomian  tenet,  that 
believers  are  under  no  obligations  of  duty  or  obedience. 
0n  the  contrary,  they  are  distinguished  by  the 
sirenuouaness  with  which  they  insist  on  the  necessity 
of  keeping  the  ordinances  and  commands  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  order  to  entitle  any  one  to  the  privileges 
and  esteem  of  a  Christian.  Together  with  the  pro- 
priety of  practising  the  forbearance  enjoined  by  the 
Redeemer  in  private  offences  among  the  members  of 
a  church,  they  maintain  also  the^neoessity  of  putting 
away  at  once  those  who  fall  into  gross  sin.  An  ex- 
communicated member  may  be  restored  on  profession 
of  repentance  ;  but  should  he  again  relapse  into  sin, 
so  as  to  be  a  second  time  excommunicated,  he  would 
be  restored  no  more ;  as  they  say  that  the  Scriptures, 
the  only  guide  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  give  no  sane* 
tion  to  any  secokid  restoration,  nor  could  we  have 
better  evidence  of  repentance  than  that  whidj^  we 


SAMDSltANIAirS.  Ill 

h^  before,  and  which  proved  ftillsiciotts.  *  Iii  ail  aefil 
of  discipline,  the  wly>le  church  must  be  unanimous. 
To  decide  by  a  majority,  say  they,  supposes  in  the 
minority  a  dissatis&ction  with  the  determination  of 
the  church,  coatrary  to  charity  or  the  laW  of  the  bre- 
thren. To  the  question  which  so  naturally  arises,  how 
can  absolute  unanimity  be  always  maintained  among  a 
nuniber  of  reflecting  pemons  ?  they  answer,  "  diversity 
of  opinion  often  happens,  but  when  the  discussion  of 
the  afiair  iails  of  bringing  all  to  one  mind,  the  minority 
is  excommunicated/'  This,  of  course,  leaves  the 
majority  with  the  name  of  an  unaninfous  church.  But 
it  will  probably  occur  to  the  perspicacity  of  many  of 
our  readers,  that  th^  tioncont^nts  can  be  excommu- 
nicated only  by  the  vote  of  a  majority,  which  must  be 
admitted  as  valid  in  the  very  sentence  that  is  passed 
in  order  to  avoid  it  as  unlawful.  This  ludicrous 
predicament  in  which  they  are  placed  by  their  own 
principles,  would  strike  most  minds  as  an  unanswer- 
able proof  that  those  principles  were  not  derived  from 
the  Author  of  our  reason  ;  but  totbe  Sandemanians  it 
seems  to  create  no  difficulty  at  all. 

No  person  caii  be  admitted  into  a  Sandeinanian 
church  unless  every  one  approves ;  and  the  kiss  of 
charity  is  given  as  the  seal  of  admission.  'With  A 
member  who  has  been  excommunicated  by  any  of 
their  churches  the  Sandemanians  hold  it  unlawful  to 
eat,  or  drink,  or  maintain  any  such  intercourse  in 
civil  life,  as  might  be  perfectly  lawful  with  persons 
who  neVer  miade  a  profession  of  religion.  They  believe 
a  plurality  of  pastors,  or  elders,  to  be  essential  to  the 
perfect  order  of  a  church  ;  so  that  they  will  not  cele- 
brate the  Lord's  supper,  or  exercise  any  discipline, 
unless  two  or  more  elders  are  present.    These  officers 


il£  illSTOSY   OF   DtSjlENlERl$. 

.who ;  are  chosen  from  among  themselves,  and  artf 
usually. engaged  in  trade,  are  set  apart  or  ordained 
to  their  work  by  prayer,  with  fasting  and  impoditionr 
pf  ,the  bands  of  the  presbytery,  or  of  tbose  who  were 
elders  of  the  church  before  them.  They  hav/^  not 
only  deacons,  who.provide  for  the  temporal  wants  of 
the  church,  but  also  deaconesses,  chosen  from  among 
the  aged  widows  of  the  church.  The  direction  given 
by  the  apostle  thai:  a  bishop  should  be  the  husband  of 
of  one  wife  is  supposed^  by  the  Sandemanians,  to  sig-^ 
jiify  something  more  than  that  be  should  not  have  a 
plurality  of  wives,  as  was  common. in  the  days  of  the 
apostles  i  for  they  suffer  no  one  to  hold  the  pastoral 
office  who  is  either  a  bachelor,  or  ntarried  a  second 
time.  Yet  second  marriages,  which  disqualify  for 
pffice,  are  not  only  permitted,  but  enjoined  on  all 
those  who  possess  not  the  continence  spoken  of  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians^ 
which  is  regarded  as  the  rule  for  all  Christians  of  both 
sexes. 

^  On  the  subject  of  baptism,  they  differ  but  little^ 
if  at  all,  from  independents ;  as  they  approve  of  the 
baptism  of  the  children  of  believers,  whether  members 
of  their  churches  or  not.  While  Sand^man  has  con* 
(Jemned  those  \vho  oppose  infants-baptism  with  hi^ 
ij^haracteristic  bitterness ;  Glass  has,*  with  his  usual 
^cuteness,  pleaded  the  cause  of  children,  maintaining 
that  baptism  is  a  token  of  admission  into  the  catholic 
church,  as  the  Lord's  supper  is  a  sign  of  communion 
with  a  particulsfr  congregation. 

Their  meetings  on  the  Lord's-day  are  peculiarly 
designed  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  supper,  which  they 
think  the  most  essential  part  of  the  worship  of  the 
Sabbath*    In  the  intervals  between  the  morning  and 


SANDSMANIAKS.  Il3 

afterdoon  serVmes,  they  dine  together,  and  this  feast 
o/  love  is'  concluded  by  the  ceremony  of  kissing  each 
other,  as  tbey  believe  "  the  holy  kiss''  to  be  a  divine 
ioatilution  c^  perpetual  obligation.  Their  public 
worship  is  not  conducted  exclusively  by  the  elders  of 
the  church,  but  the  brethren  are  called  upon  by  those 
who'prisside  to-exfaort  and  to  pray  in  public.  Believing 
the  apostolic <  injunction  to  the  Gentiles,  to  abstain 
from/ blood  iand  fronol  things  strangled,  to  be  still  in 
force,  they  consider  it  unlawful  to  eat  any  thing  that 
has  been  killed:  by  wringing  the  neck.  Indeed  the 
dtsttogaishing  tenet  of  the  Sandemanians  is,  the  per- 
petttal  obligation  of  every  precept  of  the  Scriptures 
tdkea  in  the  most  literal  aense.  This  induces  them 
to  maintain  such  a  community  of  goods,  that  eveiy 
member  of  the  church  must  consider  his  property 
subject  to  the  claims  of  the,  body;  and  no  one  is 
allowed  to  accumulate  a  fortune,  which  is  termed 
laying  up  treasures  on  earth,  in  defiance  of  the 
Redeemer's  prohibition.  While  they  consider  the 
distinctions  of  civil  life  annihilated  in  the  church, 
they  would  reject  from  their  communion  all  who 
should  refuse  submission  to  the  civil  government,  or 
the  cx)nscientiou8  payment  of  customs  and  taxes. 
Cards,  dice,  lotteries,  and  every  game  of  chance  they 
condemn ;  because  the  Scriptures  have  claimed  the 
lot  as  sacred  to  God ;  but  they  are  tSar.  from  being 
rigid  with  regard  to  public  and  private  diversions ;  for 
even  the  theatre  itself,  which  most  Christians  abhor 
as  %  fatal  snare  to  the  soul,  Sandemanians  view  with 
DO  unfavoundile  eye« 

The  characteristic  distinctions  of  this  society  stre 
rather  in  their  spirit,  than  in  any  peculiarity  either  of 
doctrine  or  discipline.    Many  agree  with  them  in 

VOL.   IV.  I 


Ill  HISTOEY  OF   PISfl£N3£RS« 

their  views  of  faith,  who  are  far  enough  from  being 
disciples  of  Sandeman  ;  and  others  who  adopt  their 
discipline,  abhor  their  spin!.     Sandeman  blew.away 
with  his  northern  blast,  the  impure  mist  which  some 
bad  raised  to  obscure  the  glories  of  the  Gospel^  anti 
had  he  spoken  the  truth  in  love,  he  msght  have. been 
an  extensive  blessing.    But  if  the  law  of  kindnes^^^ 
dwelt  on  the  Redeemer's  lips,  and  hia  words  dropped 
as  honey  from  the  comb,  the  words  of  Sandeman  wer^ 
bitter  as  gall  and  sharper  than  swords;  so  that  he 
seemed  to  exercise  hi^  perspicacity  in  searching  ibr 
the  pearl  of  the  Gospel  only  to  dissolve  it  in  rancour 
and  spite.  It  must  indeed  be  admitted,  that  he  detects 
serious  errors,  and  states,  in  the  most  luminous  man« 
ner^  important  truths,  which  had  been  obscured  by 
officious  or  incautious  meddling,  of  which  his  remarks 
on  the  conversion  of  th^  thief  on  the  cross  are  a  proof ; 
but  it  is  painful  to  see  the  enemy  of  God  and  man 
perverting  these  talents  to  render  their  possessor  ^ 
firebrand,  and  to  induce  him  to  fling  aboqt  unhallowed 
ilames  even  at  the  foot  of  the  cross*    For  when  with 
the  eye  of  a  lynx,  he  detects  faults,  be  tears  them  to 
pieces  with  the  rage  of  a  tyger.    In  his  eagerness  to 
■bunt  out  errors,  he  attributes  to  men  principles  which 
they  would  abhor.     Flavel,,  Doddridge,  Boston,  and 
Watts  may  have  expressed  themselves  incautiously, 
and  would,  no  doubt,  have  corrected  some  of  their 
statements,  had  they  encountered  such  a  censor  as 
Sandeman  ;  but  to  represent  them  as  teaching  men  to 
deirive  their  hopes  from  some  change  in  themselves, 
is  gross  calumny,  unworthy  of  one  who  professes  to 
reverence  the  authority  that  said,  ^'  thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour.*^     Allowing 
indeed  the  accusation  to  be  jiist,  it  is  painful  to  see 


6AK]>SMANIANB#  115 

one,  who  is  himself  affected  by  the  fall,  and  liable  to 
error,  siieering  at  the  fatal  mistakea  of  his  fellow^ 
aieature»,  without  any  symptom  of  compassion  fo^ 
those  whom  he  regards  as  deceived  for  eternity. 

The  accusations,  which  he  brings  so  liberally 
against  others,  might  be.  easily  retorted.  The  con- 
viction of  sin,  which  he  chaj^ges  the  popular  preachers 
with  attempting  to  produce,  as  a  substitute  for  Cbristt 
or  at  least  a  recommendation  to  an  interest  in  bis 
£ivour,  he  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  necessary^ 
when  he  says,  '^  no  man. will  ever  receive  the  divine 
righteousness  till  he  is  .thoroughly  pinched  with  a 
conviction  that  he  has  no  other.'^  Thus  he  abandons 
at  once^  ail  that  ibr  which  he  had  been  contending 
with  so  much  asperity^  and  admits  the  very  principle 
for  which  he  had  branded  others  with  the  mark  of 
perdition ;  for,  in  spite  df  all  his  refinements  and 
insinoations,  those  against  whom  he  so  loudly 
declaims;  had  no  other  design,  in  endeavouring  to 
convince  men  of  sin,  than  to  lead  to  Christ,  under  a 
conviction  that  they  had  no  other  refuge  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  But  it  has  been  the  study  of  this 
communion  to  widen  the  differences  between  them 
and  others.  Maintaining  that  contention  was  the 
mark  of  the  true  church,  they  dreaded  peace,  and 
gloried  in  perpetual  hostilities.  Sandeman  professes, 
indeed,  to  expect  nothing  but  scorn  and  opposition, 
and  to  welcome  the  cross  with  all  its  opprobrium ; 
yet  the  incessant  mention  of  the  subject  betrays  at 
once  a  soreness  of  mind,  which  does  not  appear  in 
many  persecuted  men  whom  he  condemns^  an^  a 
lurking  fondness  for  applause,  or  at  least  fot  notice, 
which  would  rather  seek  it  in  the  pillory  than  not  find 
it  at  alh    While  he  sneers,  at  the  popular  mini^t^rs 

I  2     . 


110  HISTORY  OP   DISSENTERS. 

f<k  a^suihing  to  themselves  the  rights  of  ambassadors  of 
Christ,  which  he  maintains  to  be  the  peculiar  honour 
ftf  the  apostleis,  he  arrogates  to  himself  the  deference 
due  only  to  one  who  confirms  his  testimony  by  signs 
from  heaven. 

'  In  his  doctrinal  discussions,  he  is  usually  open  to 
censure,  when  he  attempts  to  state  wh^t  be  would 
substitute  for  the  popular  errors,  ais  he  calls  them. 
The  architect  only  of  ruin,  skilful  and  mtg^hty  to 
destroy,  he  no  sooner  attempts  to  erect  his  owii  system^ 
than  he  demonstrates  the  tf  Uth  of  the  commoor  obser* 
VatioTl,  that  it  is  muck  easier  to  find  fault  than  to 
mend.  His  definition  of  faith  seems  to  admit  that  it 
is  an  exercise  of  minfd,  which  is  no  more  passive  when 
it  gives  credit  to  a  truths  than  when  it  approver  that 
truth  as  lovely ;  but  perceiving  that  it  may  be  said  a 
tiian  may  value  himself'  for  the  righteous  act  of 
believing  God V  word,  as  well  as  for  the  virtue  of 
Moving  his  character^  he  abandons  his  own  definitton^ 
*and  usually  drsputes  as  if  the  testimony  itself  was  the 
*faith  by  which  we  were  justified,  and  the  mind  of  man 
wds  not  exercised  about  it  in  any  way^    He  argues 


o 


It  has  been  observed,  by  a  very  superior  divine, "  th^t  be  who 
.has  a  just  conception  of  the  character  of  God,  and  the  relation  he 
bears  to  mankind  in  general,  or  to  saints  in  particu4ar,  as  a  God  of 
i  '^TBce  mnd  of  justice,  cannot  eiiibrace  the  Sandenumian  principle^ 
jthat  pavipg;  falttrconsists  exclusively  in  a  simple  assent  to  the  divine 
:.  tf^timpny  concerning  Jesus  Christ.    The  sovereign  God,  in  the 
.  Iierson  of  the  sGrety,  bestows  the  spirit  of  faith,  without  which  there 
can  be  neitiier  a  simple  assent,  nor  any  thing  else  deserving  of  the 
ilonoacablettpjteUation  of  laith:  and  wherever  that  divine  principle 
cxisto,  tliere»lM  «riU  be  found,  9b  occasion  offers,  consent,  affiance. 
recep^on»  jov  approbation,  no  less  than.simple  assent.    This  last. 
IQ  its  highest  import,  is  only  one.^ruit  of  the  spirit  of  faith,  which  is 
not  more  of  a  saving  nature  than  other  exercises  of  the  same  divine 
*  principle*     The  dispute  agitated  by  Sandemanians  ponceming 


figaiMt  asfturanci  of  salvation,  and  inculcates  such  aa 
anxious  state  of  mind,  as  would  excite  a  suspicion 
f bat  his  principies  affoed  him  but  little  satisfaction  or  * 
repose. 

The  spirit  of  Elijah,  it  was  observed,  rested  on 
ElisJia,  and  unhappily  the  spirit  of  Sandeniaa  has. 
mfecled  his  followers*  Conceited  of  th^irknowledge 
in  which  they  seem  to  place  the  whole  of  religion^^ 
they  value  themselves  upon  what  they  call  their  clear* 
views,  F^ardless  of  the  warning  ^-  that  knowledge 
puffeth  up/'  The  selfishness  of  a  system,  which* 
made  Sandeman  avow,  without  2^  blush,  that  his  reli« 
gion  consisted  only  in  lov^e  to  that  which  first  re)jeeve(l 
him,  appears  in  their  neglect  of  the  poor,  ignorant^ 
perishing  multitude;  while  they  are  occupied  .i^ 
cavilling  at  those  who  are  moris  devoted  to  Cod  than 
themselves. 

That'  it  is  much  easier  to  our  depraved  nature  to 

fiddi  is  merdy  TsrlML  Graoliog  that  faith,  in  ttrictQe99»  is  nothing 
"more  than  simple  assent,  it  is  not  saving  to  the  exclusion  of  hope 
^od  lov^^  holy  fear  and  penitential  sorrow.  For,  though  we  are 
justified  by  faith»  jn  the  scripture  sense  exclusively^  we  are  no^ 
therefore  finally  saved  by  it,  irrespectively  of  other  graces.  If  their 
views  of  &itb  be  more  valuable  than  any  other,  it  mutt  consist'in 
the  supposed  ease  with  which  a  person  may  become  a  Christian. 
But  is  it  a  mighty  acquisition  to  become  better  versed  iq  the  mean- 
ing of  a  word?  In  this  representation  of  saving  faith,  there  seems 
to  be  a  strong,  though  subtle,  spice  of  legality,  nnder  a  pretence  of 
ease  and  simplicity.  While  the  formal  pharisee  veqnil-es  m«ch 
kboar,  in  order  to  acceptance,  the  advocates  of  €Has  and  Saod*-* 
raan  require  but  very  little,  a  little  simple  assent,  and  all  the  woric 
is  deae«  I  fear  the  difference  between  these  is  not  in  kind  but  in 
d^ree ;  not  as  work  differs  from  grace,  but  as  much  work  4iffers 
from  little  work.  For  a  simple  assent  is  a  work,  an  act,  of  the 
human  iuind,  no  lest  truly  than  trast,  veliancev  copfideiitc»  er  «sy 
ptber  bianch  of  obedience.**    Dr.  WiUis|n9«>  fittaj  on  ^qaity  4fd 

13 


i  t 


HISTORY  or  DISSBXTERS, 

make  new  discoveries  in  abstract  truth  than  to  redace 
to  holy  practice  the  principles  which  have  been  long, 
admitted,  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  the  Sande-^ 
manians ;  but  it  is  an  observation  which  demands  ibe 
most  solemn  consideration  of  all  who  are  b^inning 
to  drink  into  their  spirit.  When,  indeed,  the  miod  is 
intoxicated  with  this  new  wine^  old,  acknowledged 
principles  have  lost  their  power  to  please^  and  as  no 
others  have  force  to  sway  the  heart  and  life,  the  plea-* 
stires  of  the  world  soon  become  necessary  to  occupy 
the  vacant  mind.  Those  who  have  seen  them  in 
their  domestic  walk  say,  that  there  is  little  or  no 
appearance  of  family  religidn  among  them  ;  andthose 
vrho  can  only  judge  by  their  public  conduct,  com* 
plain  that  nothing  they  ever  do  for  mankind,  would 
femind  an  observer  of  the  description  which  God 
gives  of  his  people,  ^^  the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  in 
the  midst  of  many  people  as  dew  from  the  Lord,  as 
showers  upon  the  grass,  that  tarrieth  nlotfor  man,  nor 
waiteth  for  the  isons  of  men.'* 

This  communion  has  frequently  been  accused  of 
hostility  to  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to 
the  doctrine  of  sanctification ;  a  charge  which  it  has 
never  met  with  any  adequate  defence.  The  par- 
tiality to  mere  notions  which  Sandeman  betrays,  is 
unfavourable  to  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the 
Spirit  upon  the  heart,  and  as  holiness  virtually  con- 
siste  in  benevolence,  it  is  natural  that  they  should 
feel  no  attachment  to  it,  who  avow  that  all  thehf  reli- 
gion consists  in  love  to  that  which  first  relieved. them. 
But  where  the  doptrine  of  divine  influence  upon  the 
Bii«d  is  really  rejected^  warm  professions  of  zeal  for 
the  wotk  of  Christ  fs  merely  a  n^asked  battery,  from 
which  the  vital  interests  of  the  Gospel  may  be  most 


.  flAKO£MAKIAN«^  lit 

effieetually  attacJiecL  It  would  tben  appear  that  the 
Saodemanian  ppi#k>ik  of  the  faith  of  devils  being  the 
saQie  as  that  of  real  ChristiaDS  is  accompanied  with  a 
per$u«stop  tbat,  prol^ided  w«  be  placed  in  certain 
cixciii»staiices,  faitb  will  follow,  without  any  divine 
inQiience*  This  may  account  for  the  propensity  of  a 
Sandemanian  lo  value  himself  upon  his  clear  views, 
and  despise,  rather  than  pity,  those  whom  be  sup* 
poses  destitute  ofitel  faith  ;  for  where  the  influence 
of  divine  grace  is  denied,  it  is  in  vain  to  call  to  hujni*' 
lity  by  the  aposlolic  appeal,  ^^  who  maketh  thee  to 
diffier  ?'^  Here  also  we  discover  theicause  of  that  chill 
which  is  said  to  setae  the  devotions  of  those  who 
adopt  this  system^  When  we  cannot  sincerely  ask 
that  God  would  exert  any  real  influence  upon  tii« 
mind^  all  other  views  of  prayier  will  leave  it  tosipk 
into  a  cold  irereQiony,  Sandemap^s  contempt  of 
those  effusions  of  tlie  Spirit  and  revivals  of  religioii, 
in  whh^  odfier  Christians  exult,  niay  be  traced  to 
|he  esme  cause ;  for  a  latent  oppqsrtion  to  divine  in^ 
fluenee  iuiist  be  provoked  to  rage. by  such  facts  a» 
give  the  lie  to  his  theory.  The  inanner  in  which  he 
has  expressed  hijpaelf  concerning  Gillies'  historical 
collections,  can  hardly  be  accounted  for  mn  any  other 
hypothesis.  They  who  do  not  believe  the  doctrine 
of  the  progressive  saoctiiication  Cff  beljisvers  are  sure 
lo  hate  iU  But  what  a  deadly  influence  niust  that 
system  have  upon  the  soul  which,  instead  of  desires 
9Aei  tke  influence  of  the  spirit  of  holineMf  uppn  the 
thoughts  and  afl^tions,  substitutes  a  contemptuous 
notion  of  our  superiority  to  any  such  necessity,  and 
the  sufficiency  pf  our  clear  views  and  cerepionial 
observsmces  I  Where  this  fatal  error  has  seized  «h^ 
\kee^%  who  can  wonder  that  it  shonld  b^  said,  £(s  it 

?4 


12§  HISTCTRV   Olf   I>I8€«:trt£RS. 

has  been  of  the^Saildaiiiaaia^s,  Iheyoft^n  reproach 
others  for  being  devoutfbu-t  nonfe  e^er  reproad)  them 
for  it.?'  ■ ;  .i '  J         '•     i  /  I.-'-i  '  • 

'■  The  history  6f,  this  comfiyiftiioii^is-^i^bort)  for  'it  if( 
but  of  recent  date,'  its  memb^  bare 'not}  b^n 
nmneroiis,  and  'it  has  never  endiired  those  persecu- 
tions Avhich  fili  the  annals'Of  a  church.  John  Glas, 
the  first  founder  of  lliis  sect,  who  began.,  in  1727,'  to 
publish  his  opinions:  in  Sootlan'd;,  has  been  akeady 
noticed  in  the  section  appropriated  to  that  country. 
The  person  who  'may  be  denominated  its  second 
founder,  as  he  recommeniied  its  sentiments  most 
effectualiy  to  the  world,  iBtroduiaed  them  nnto 
England,  and  erected  here  the  chunsh  now  under 
consideration,  was  Robert  Sandeman,  ayoifn^  maik 
of  fine  taledts,  who.  had.  been  educated  ibr  the 
miaistcy  in  the.  chCirch  of  Scotiandu  From  the 
mother  chnrcb  /  of .  the  Glasitesy  at  I>ondee,'  of 
which  he  was  an  elder,  he  removed  to  Perth,  and 
afterwards  to  Edinburgh.  Here  he  published,  in 
1757,  his  Letters  on  the  Theron  and  Aspasio  of  Mr, 
Hervey,  a.  writer  at  that  time  exceedingly  popular 
among  the  lovers  of  evangelical  truth.  The'^  eulo- 
gtums  which  Sandeman  pronounces  on  the  grand 
design  of  Mr,  Harvey,  seem  intended  only  to  procure 
fevourto  his  own  sentiments  and  to  the  severe  cen- 
sures which  he  heaps  on  Aspasio's  views  of  iaith^ 
which  are  pronounced  hostile  to  the  righteousness  of 
Christ.  But  on  Flavel,  Boston,  Erskine,  and  Mar- 
shall, whom  Mr.  Hervey  had  recomniiended  as  supe- 
rior divines,  Sandeman  pours  the  full  tide  of  his 
wrath,  denouncing  these  popular  writers  as  the  vilest 
sinners  before  God,  and  the  greatest  enemies  to  the 
souls  of  men.    These  lettei^i  either  by  means  of 


I^AKDEMAKIANS.  13t 

the  popular  work  on  which  th6y  fastened,  or  by 
the  talents  which  they  ^splay,  or  their  tendency  to 
gratify  the  general  taste  for  censure  and  irony, 
attracted  more  notice  and  acquired  more  celebrity 
than  any  previous  production  of  this  community. 
Some  persons  in  London,  who  read  the  strict 
tures  on  Hervey,  supposing  that  because  he  was 
sometimes  wrong,  Sandeman  must  be  always 
right,  formed  in  1762,  a  church  not  only  founded 
on  his  principles,  but  unhappily  inspired  with  too 
much  of  his  spirit.  -  They  met  first  at  Giover^s  Hall*, 
and  afterwards,  fof  several  years,  in  the  quaker's 
meeting  house  in  Bull  and  Mouth^treet,  from  which 
they  removed,  1778,  to  PauPs-alley,  Barbican.  Se'«- 
veral  independent  ministers  joined  the  new  church^ 
among  whofai  were  Mr.  Chater,  Mr.  Prentice,  and 
Mr.  Boosey.  But  the  proselyte  who  procured  theni 
most  celebrity  was  Mr.  Pike,  a  popular  dissenting 
minister,  who  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Sandeman  on  the  first  appearance  of  his  letters. 
The  members  of  Mr.  Pike's  church  eagerly  watched 
the  progress  of  the  friendly  controversy  between  theii* 
pastor  and  the  writer  whom  they  had  just  ieamed  tO 
admire.  To  Mr.  Pike's  expostulations  concerning 
the  bitter  spirit  of  Mr.  Sandeman,  he  received  answers 
urbich  appeared  almost  satisfiactory  to  him  and  his 
friends,  and  encouraged  him  to  introduce  some  of  th6 
Sandemanian  practices  into  the  public  worship  of  the 
church.'  *        ^ 

While  the  shepherd  and  the  flock  seemed  t6 
be  amiciably  departing  together  from  their  former 
sentiments,  a  rumour  was  raised,  in  1758,  that 
Mfr.'Pike  had  abandoned  the  faith  of  the*  Gospel, 
to  which  sonde  •  reports  were  added,  sufficient  to 
excite  odium  against  his  character,   though  they 


Ifift  IIIS:iOitY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

s 

appear  to  bave1»een  des|:itute  of  truth.    Two  s6rmon$ 
which  he  preached  ip  th^  same  year,  at  Pinaer's  Hall 
lecture^  and  afterwards  published,  under  'the  title  of 
*'  free  Grace,  saving  Gracei''  increased  the  aversioq 
which  many  entertaii^  for  hi^m  and  his  seotimentsi 
mid  occasioned,  his  exclusion  ffom.  the  lecture.   Some 
pf  the  members:  of  his  churoh  becpming  dissatisfiedi 
several  meeting  w^re  called  to  consider  theproprieiy 
of  his  con twuanoe  with  themj  ^nt .  in  the.  ^midst  of 
these  discussions   appeared  a   pamphlet,    entitled, 
^^  Reflections,  on  an  epistolary  Correspondence,  by 
W.  F.^Vwbo  wfts  William  Fuller^  Esq.  a  member  of 
the  church.     To  thia  panrvphlet,  which  was  designed 
to^hew  the  dangerous  tendency  of  ^^ndemanianismi 
and  vyarn  the  cl^wch  againsA  following  Mrr  Pike,  be 
wrote  an  answer,  in  the  close  of  1759,  entitled  "'  free 
Grace  indeed,''    Shortly  after  was  published,  ^^  the 
scriptuce .  Account  of  justifying  Faith,  interspersed 
with  Reflecibions  on  some  modern  Sentiments  in  Re- 
ligiojn,  by  T,  1),'^  Tli^mas  UiBngton,,a  deaccMa  of  the 
chnrcJiy  who  strenug^isly  opposed  Mr.  Pike's  senti- 
anents.    An  answer  to  it,  entitled,  ^^  rational  Reli* 
gion  distinguished  from  that  which  is  enthusiastic/' 
was  written  by  John  Dove,  a  member  of  the  church 
(who   bad  before  defended  Mr.  Pike's  ^^  Form  of 
sound  Words"  agai«ist  Dr.  Fleming)  and  who  was 
called,  from  his  trade  and  his  learning,  tl^e  Hel^reif 
tailor. 

These  disputes  were  terminated  by  movlag^at  a 
chiurch  meeting,  held  in  April,  1760,  that  those  who 
have  not  revived  their  union  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
Mr.  Pike  be  excluded  the  membership  of  the  church. 
There  wem  seventeen  voices  on  eachside ;  but  Mn 
l^ike,  having  the  casting  vote,  his  frieads  retained  febe 


place  of  worships  in  spite  of  the  stra^les  of  thode  wha, 
adhered  to  the  original  principles  of  the  society.  These 
they  carried  with  them  to  a  meeting-iiouse  in  Littie  St# 
Helens^  where  they  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct 
church,  which  chose  Mr.  Barber,  of  Basingstoke,  to 
the  pastoral  office.  Mr.  Pike,  however,  becoming  at 
length  more  than  a  doctrinal  Sandemanian,  resigned 
his  connection  with  the  society  at  the  Three  Cranes* 
Thames-street,  and,  in  1765,  joined  the  Sandemanian 
church  at  Bull  and  Mouth-street,  St.  Martins  le 
Grand.  His  talents  soon  called -kim  to  the  office  of 
an  elder  in  this  church,  of  which  he  p«iblisbed  a 
particular  accounti..  After  officiating  here,  with  great 
acceptance  for  »^me  time,  he  was  sent  to  a  society  of 
the  same  sentiments  at  Trowbridge,  in  Wiltshirei 
where,  after  preaching  two  years,  he  died^  in  the 
spring  of  1773,  at  the  age  of 'fifty-six. 

When  Mr.  Sandeman  had  visited  London,  ani 
founded  a  church  there,  he  wasinvifted  to  America 
by  ^ome  persons  who,  having  read  his  writings^ 
wished  toseehi!^  principles  propagated  in  the  western 
world.  He  complied,  and  undertook  the  voys^  in 
1764,  accompanied  by  two  of  bis  brethren,  mie  of 
urbom  was  James  Cargil,  a  glover,  who  bad  ettmeted 
much  notice  in  Scotland,  as  the  first  underical,  un» 
learned  man,  who  dared  to  preach  and  exercise  the 
office  of  an  elder.  They  commenced  their  American 
mission  by  a  visit  to  a  society  at  Danbury,  but  aftn 
preaching  there  thirty  days,  and  perceiving  no  satisi* 
factory  fruits  of  their  ministryt  they  published  a 
striking  address  and  departed.  Mr.  Sandeman  visited 
many  other  parts  of  America,  but  met  with  most 
success  in  New  England,  where  he  planted  churches, 
^hen,  however,  the  political  disputiBS  between  Great 


104^  niSTOHV'  O*   OIMB^TERS* 

BrittiTi  arid  h^r  cdli^nies  agitated  the  public  tnind,  b6 
found  his  situation  extremely  unpieasant ;  for,  com- 
pelled by  bis  principles  to  exhort  to  obedience,  he 
io  iticei^ed  the  Americans,  that  when  he  died  in 
1771,''  they  would  ecarcely  suffer  his  body  to  he 
decently  inlierired. 

TbiS'  denomination  of  dissentev^  has  not  become 
numerous  in  England.  Besides  the  church  in  Lon-r 
don,  they  have  formed  societies  at  Nottingham, 
Liverpool,  Whit^aven,  Newcastle,  and  other  towns, 
which  however  afenot  large,  and  are  tending  to  decay 
rather  than  to  increase;  Scotland  and  Ireland  hav^, 
of  late,  ppoved  oiost  favouraUe  to  the  sentiments  of 
this  communion.  Many  of  their  proselytes  have 
since  become  baptists,  in  spite  of  the  censures  pro- 
nounced by  Saodeman  and^GIas  on  those  who  deny 
the  right  of  infants  to  the  initiate^  ordinance  of  the 
C^bristian  religion*  Controversy  arose  among  the 
£ant}emanians in  179ft, in. consequence  ofoneof  tl^eir 
l^ers  affiming,  that /by  the  work  of  faith  an4 
labour  of  love,  they  come  tp  know  they  are  of  the 
truth, -and  obtain  the> assumed  hope  of  b^i^g accepted ; 
that  this  is  the  highest  possible  ei^oyinent  of  Cbrist^s 
people  in  this- life,  and  to  tbecn  th?  utmoi^t  ev^^ence 
that  Jes.u$  is  the  Son  of  Qod,  Thi^  doctrine  ^as 
opposed  by  otheiB  as  unscriptural,  anci  contrary  to 
the  grand  article  of  expecting  solvation  o^ly  in  con- 
sequence, of  the  work  of  Christ.  The  dispute  was 
maintained  for  some  time  with  greet  bitterness,  and 
^nded  in  the  separation  jof  a  nifmberpf  churches  from 
the  rest,  in  order' to  pursue  tbiswhic^  Sandemaa 
w6uld'*have  called  "a  devout  path  ^o  hell/^ 

In  addition  to  this  division,  the  San^cmanians  are* 
separated  into  several  other  <:la^ses.  The  folloMrers  gf 


8AKP£M\N'IAN9« 


125 


Mr.  M*Lean,  of  Edinburgh  are  baptists  as  well  as 
disciple^  of  Glas.  The  same  may  now  be  said  of  the 
societies  in  connection  with  Robert  and  James  Hal- 
dane,  of  Edinburgh.  Mr;  Walker,  of  Dublin,  is  at 
the  head  of  a  society  which  diflFers  both  from  baptists 
and  paedobaptists  ;  and  Mt.^  Johnson,  of  Liverpool, 
has  formed  a  division-  denominated  Johnsonians. 
Division,  indeed,  is  the  natural  inevitable  consequence 
of  the  bigotry  >^hieh  prevails  in  this  communion,  aqd 
its  strong  propensity  to  attach  excessive  impprtaoce 
to  every  thing  in  which  they  differ  from  others.  Tl^eir 
late  efforts  for,  the  .diffusion  of  their  sentiments  will 
demand  the  notice  of  the  future  historian. 


IM  HISTORY  OP  dlSS£KTEK9. 


SECTION  11. 

TH£  SWEDENBORGIAKS,  OR  THE  CHURCH  OF   THE 

MEW  JERUSALEM. 

Jt  HIS  sect,'  like  the  preceding,  derives  its  name  fvom 
its  founder,  who  was  £manuel  Swedenborg,  a  Swedish 
baron.  His  followers,  however,  disclaim  this  per- 
sonal appellation,  preferring  the  name  of  Christian^ 
aiid  choosing  to  be  distinguished  from  others  by  the 
title  of"  the  New  Jerusalem  church  ^ 

Were  we  to  commence  with  that  which  appears  to 
ihe  eye  of  a  stranger  the  most  important  distinction 
of  this  communion,  we  should  first  describe  its 
splendid  temples,  vestments,  and  modes  of  worship  ; 
but  with  the  disciples  of  Swendenborg  these  are 
minor  objects,  which  many  of  them  sacrifice,  conti- 
nuing to  join  in  the  worship  of  other  Christians,  and 
satisfying  themselves  with  their  faith  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  new  church.  The  first  and  principal  of  these 
IS,  that  baron  Swedenborg  was  honoured  with  a  divine 
mission  to  men  ;  not,  indeed,  to  make  an  entire  new 
revelation,  but  to  give,  by  means  of  visions  and  inter- 
course with  the  world  of  spirits,  such  an  exposition 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  should  lay  the  foundation 
of  a  new  dispensation  of  religion.  Those  who  main- 
tain this  first  principle,  firmly  believe  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  to  be  written  under  the  highest 

P  Swedenborg's  **  true  Christian  Religion*  according  to  the  doc* 
trine  of  the  New  Jerusalem  church,  which  was  foretold  by ^ the 
Lord  in  Daniel  Tii.  13^  14.  and  in  Rev.  xxu  12.'* 


species  of  inspiration »  which  has  so  curiously  indited 
these  writings,  that  they  contain  three  distinct  sesses^ 
the  ceiestiEal,  the  spiritual,  and  the  imtiiraL  Four 
different  kinds  of  style  alao  are  distinguished;  the 
figurative,  which  was  that  of  the  most  ancient 
church  ;  the  historical,  suited  to  the  next  age ;  the 
proph^ical,  whinb  belonged ;  to  the  precussors  of 
Christ ;  and  the  mixed  style,  adopted  in  the  psalms 
of  David.  Each  of  the  different  senses  of  the  Scrip* 
tures  is  accommodated  to  the  angels  of  a  distinct 
heaven,  and  to  men  on  earth.  The  divine  wisdom 
and  wiiU  which  are  repesifed  in  the:  sacred  volume^ 
are  not  always  discoverable  from  .the  letter,  but  lie 
concealed  under  it  from! those  who. are  not  furnished 
with  the  key  to  the  internal  sense.  To  speak^ 
howjever,  in-  the  language  of  this  sect,  which  is  foreign 
from  that  of  ordinary  mcurtals,  the  jsense  of  the  letter 
is  the  continent,  the  basis,  or  firmamiBnt  of  its  spiritual 
s^d  celestial  senses,  being  written  according  to  the 
doctrine  of  correspondencies,  which  fumishes  the 
key  to  the  spiritual  or  internal  sense ;  so  that  they 
equally  err  who,  on  the  one  hand^  neglect  the  natural- 
sense,  or  who,  on  the  other,  rest  in  the  letter.  But 
the  bacon  must  speak  for  himself. 

^'  I  was  once,  raised  up,  as  to  my  spirit,  into  the 
angelic  heaven,  and  introduced  t&  a  particular  society 
therein,  and  immediately  some  of  the  wise  ones  of 
the  society  came  to-  me  and  said,  what  news  from 
earth  ?  I  replied,  this  is  new,  that  the  Lord  hath 
revealed  arcana,  which,  in  point  of  real  excellence, 
exceed  all  the  arcana  heretofore  revealed  since  the 
beginning  of  the  church*  They  asked  what  arcana  ? 
I  answered  the  following,  1.  That  in  all  and  every 
part  of  the  word  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  corresponding 


liM 


HISTORY  or  BISSEKTSRS. 


with  the  natural  sense,  and  'that  the  worJ'by  that 
sense  is  the  medium  of  Gonjunetion  between  mankind 
and  the  Lordy  and  also  of  consociation  with  angcJls,  antd 
that  the  sanctity  'of  the  word  resideth  in  that  sense.  2* 
That  the  cORR£spoNDEyci£s,6£  which  the  ^mtual 
sense  of  the  word  consisteth,  are  discovered;  ,  And 
the  angels  aslfed,  had  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  ha 
knowledge  heretofore  concerning  correspondencies  ^ 
I  replied,  hone  at  all,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  corres* 
pondencies  had  been  hidden  now  for  soine  thousands' 
pf  years,  t?!^.^  since  thetinie  of  Job ;  that  at  that  time, 
and  in  the  ages  before  it,  the  science  of  corresponden- 
cies was  esteen^d  the  chief  of  sciences,  being.the 
fountain  of  wisdom  to  man^  because  it  was  the  foun- 
tain of  knowledge  concerning,  spiritual  things,  relating 
t^  heaven  and  the  chufch ;  but  that  this  science,  by 
reason  of  its  being  p^verted  to  idolatrous  purposes, 
was  so  obliterated  and  destroyed  by  the  divine  pro- 
vidence of  the  Lord,  that  no  traces  of  it  were  left ;  that 
nevertheless  at  this  time,  it  was  again  revealed,  by  the 
Lord,  in  order  to  effect  a  conjunction  of  the  members, 
of  the  cbujDch  with  him,  and  their  consociation  with 
the  angejs,  which  purposes  are  effected  by  the  word 
in  which  all  and  every  thing  are  correspondencies^.'' 
*  This  doctrine  of  correspondence  between  every 
thing  in  the » natural  world,  and  its  counterpart  in 
the  spiritual,  as  also  between  the  parts  of  the 
human  body  and  soul,^  is  continually  referred  to  ia 
all  the  writings  of  this  mysts^ogue^  as  essential  to 
t;he  right  understanding  both  of  the  sacred  Scr]{tfures 
and  of  his  inspired  comments.    Thus  expounded  the 

^  Swedenborg's  true  Christian  Religion,  translated  from  the 
Latin  by  the  Rev,  T.  Hartley,  Rector  of  Winwick,  Northampton^ 

»hire*  S^c.  846. 


SWEDENBORGIANS  129 

Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  are  admitted  to  be  the 
word  of  God,  '*  th^  only  medium  of  communication 
between  God^and  man,  the  only  source  of  genuine 
truth  and  knowledge  concerning  the  divine  nature, 
kingdom,  and  operatidns,  and .  the  only  sure  guide 
to  men  in  their  spiritual  and  eternal  concerns/'  Oa 
this  reverence  for  the  Scriptures,  the  Sweden borgians 
found  their  claim  to  be  distinguished  from  enthusiasts; 
in  this  they  say  consists  the  superiority  of  the  baroa 
to  all  fanatics  and  impostors;  ''since  it  is  notorious 
that  the  latter  are  perpetually  leading  their  deluded 
disciples  to  depend  on  the  dictates  of  spirits  in  pre- 
ference to  the  precepts  of  eternal  truth  ;  while  Swe- 
denboi^  is  perpetually  pointing  out  the  gre^t  danger 
of  such  leading,  and  calling  all  bis  readers  to  be 
taught  of  God  by  and  through  the  precepts  of  his  holy 
word  intellectually  and  rationally  comprehended." 

In  the  theology  of  this  sect,  the  unity  of  God  is 
inculpated>4pgether  with  a  divme  Trinity ;  but  essen- 
tially different  trom  that  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
which  is  braqded   by   Swedenborg  with   the  most 
odious  epithets.      He    condemns-  the    use  of  the 
expression  three  persons,  as  conveying  to  the  minds 
of  all  who  use  it  a  tritheistic  idea,  which,  he  says, 
originated  in  the  first  council  of  Nice,  and  is  the 
abomination   which  maketh  desolate,  spoken  of  in 
Daniel,  and  referred  to  by  Christ.  The  divine  Trinity 
which   he  teaches,  is  not  supposed  to  have  existed 
from  eternity,  but  to  have  commenced,  if  we  under- 
stand him,  from  the  creation  ;  and  though  he  some- 
times calls  it  by  the  scriptural  expression,  Fs^tiher, 
Son,  and  Spirit,  he  more  commonly  speaks  of  the 
divine  begetting,  the  Father  ; '  the  divine  human,  the 
Son  ;  and  the  divine  proceeding,  or  Holy  Spirit.     As 

VOI4.   IV.  K 


-'  * 


130,  HISTORY   OF   DISS£NTKR$» 

body,  soul,  and  operation  are  united   In  man,  the 
Swendenborgian  Trinity  is  found  in  th6  person  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christjwho  is  therefore  the  God  of  heaven, 
and  alone  to  be  worshipped.     Hence  they  say,  that 
Jesqs  Christ  is  Jehovah  manifested  in  the  flesh  ^  that 
he  came  into  the  world  to  glorify  his  humanity  by 
making  it  one  with  the  divine  nature,  so  that  the 
humanity  is  itself  divine,  and  that  there  is  no  other 
way  of  access  to  God,  but  by  this  divine  humanity, 
in  which  dwells  the  whole  Trinity.    For  this  again 
we  have  a  visionary  revelation.    "  As  I  listened  to 
the  angels,  they  perceived  in  my  thoughts  the  com- 
mon ideas  concerning  a  Trinity  in  unity,  and  they 
said  to  me,  what  notions  are  these  which  thou  enter- 
tainest  ?    Are  they  not  the  offspring  of  natural  light 
wherewith  our  spiritual  light  hath  no  agreement  ? 
Unless,  therefore,  thou  removest  these  ideas  from  thy 
mind,  we  must  shut  heaven  against  thee,  and  take 
our  leave.     But  I  replied,  enter,  I  beseech  you,  more 
thoroughly  into  my  thoughts,  and  poiteibly  ye  will 
discover  its  agfeement  with  your  own.    They  did  so, 
and  perceived   that  by  three  persons  I  understood 
three  proceeding  divine  attributes,  which  are  creation, 
redemption,  and  regeneration  ;  and  that  these  attri- 
butes belong  to  one  God,  and  that  by  the  birth  of  the 
Son  of  God  from  eternity,  I  understood  his  birth  fore- 
seen from  eternity.    Then  said  the  angels,  it  is  well, 
and  they  desired  me  to  declare  upon  their  testimony, 
that  whosoever  doth  not  approach  the  true  God  can- 
not have  entrance  into  heaven,  and  that  God  is  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  Jehovah  Lord,  from  eternity.  Creator  ; 
in  time,  Redeemer  ;  and  to  eternity,  Regenerator.^' 

To  these  notions  of  the  Trinity  and  person  of  Christ, 
they  add  sentiments  as  peculiar  concerning  redemp-^ 


8WEDEKB0RGIAKS.  ^  131 

tioD,  which  they  bdieve  to  consist,  not  in  the  pro« 
pitiatoiy  sacrifice  of  the  Redeemer,  as  an  atonement 
to  satisfy  the  justice  of  the  divine  government;  but 
in  bringing  the  hells  into  subjection,  and  the  heavens 
into  order  and  regulation,  and  thereby  preparing  the 
fray  for  a  new  spiritual  church  ;  checking  the  over- 
groven  influence  of  wicked  spirits  over  the  minds  of 
men,  opening  a  nearer  communication  with  the  hea^ 
▼enly  powers,  and  making  salvation,  which  is  regene- 
ration, possible  for  all  who  believe  in  the  incarnate 
God,  and  keep  his  commandments.  '^  That  redemp- 
tion consisteth  in  these  things"  Swedenborg  says,  ^^  I 
can  declare  with  the  utmost  assurance ;  inasmuch  as 
the  Lord  is  at  this  day  accomplishing  a  redemption 
which  was  begun  in  the  year  1757.  And  because 
it  was  permitted  to  me  to  see  the  whole  process  of 
this  work,  I  could  describe  how  the  hells  are  subdued, 
and  the  new  heavens  were  formed,  but  the  description 
would  itself  take  up  an  entire  volume, '' 

The  baron  maintains,  that  this  redemption  could 
be  effected  only  by  an  incarnate  God„  that  without  it 
no  man  could  have  been  saved,  nor  could  angels  have 
remsuned  in  a  state  of  integrity,  that  the  passion  of 
the  cross  was  the  final  temptation  which  the  Lord 
endured,  as  the  grand  prophet,  and  the  means  of  the 
glorification  of  his  humanity  by  union  with  his  Fa- 
ther; but  that  to  believe  redemption  to  have  con« 
aisted  in  the  passion  of  the  cross  is  the  fundamental 
error  of  the  church,  which,  with  the  existence  ot  the 
three  Divine  Persons  from  eternity,  has  perverted  the 
w^hole  church,  so  that  nothing  spiritual  is  -remaining 
in  it. 

The  doctrine  of  a  divine  influx  holds  a  principal 

*  True  Christian  Religion,  p«  140. 

K  2 


13t  HI0TO&T  OF   DISSENTKRS. 

place  ill  the  Swedenboi^ian  creed.  Every  man  is 
supposed  to  receive  this  influx  from  God,  but  each 
one  according  to  his  state  ;  for  by  the  evil  natare  of 
the  wicked,  good  influxes  are  changed  into*  their 
opposites.  We  are  also  subject  to  evil  influences 
from  the  hells,  or  evil  spirits,  as  well  as  good  from  the 
Lord  and  his  angels;  and  all  angels,  whether  good  or 
bad,  were  once  men.  By  these  opposite  influences 
we  are  kept  in  equilibrio,  at  perfect  liberty  to  turn 
which  way  we  please.  If  we  submit  to  Gpd,  we 
receive  real  life  from  him ;  if  not,  we  receive  that  life 
from  belt,  which  is  called  spiritual  death.  Sweden* 
borg  assures  us,  there  is  not  only  a  heaven  and  a  hell^ 
the  natural  consequence  of  the  turn  of  our  minds, 
but  also  an  intermediate  state,  called  the  world  of 
spirits.  Few  pass  at  once  into  heaven  or  hell,  but 
the  good  are  in  the  intermediate  state  purified  from 
remaining  evil,  and  the  bad  deprived  of  their  extra- 
neous  goodness.  About  the  third  day  after  death, 
man  rises  again  in  a  substantial  body  which  was 
enclosed  in  his  material  body,  and  in  this  he  lives  as 
•a  man  to  eternity,  whether  in  heaven  or  hell. 

The  last  judgment  is  to  be  understood,  according  tp 
the  doctrine  of  correspondencies,  to  mean  the  consum- 
jnatiou  of  the  present  Christian  church,  both  among 
catholics  and  protestants  of  every  denomination,  and 
the  new  heavens  are  the  new  church  in  its  internal, 
aqd  the  new  earth,  the  Swedenborgian,  or  New  Jeru- 
salem church,  in  its  external  form.  The  essentials  of 
the  church  and  of  salvation  are  an  acknowledgmeut 
of  the  Lord's  divinity,  of  the  holiness  of  the  word, 
and  the  life,  which  is  charity.  But  to  most  readers 
enough  has  been  said  of  these  tenets. 


8WEDENB0R6IANS.  133 

The  members  of  the  new  church  are  said  to  be 
numerous  in  England,  Wales,  Ireland,  France,  Hoi- 
land,  Sweden,  Russia,  Poland,  Turkey,  and  even  the 
East  and  West  Indies  and  America.     It  is  probable, 
however,  that  their  numbers  have  been  much  exagge-^ 
rated,  and  that  they  include  many  visionary  sceptics, 
who  have  been  amused  rather  than  convinced  by  the 
revelation  of  the  Swede.     But  as  his  avowed  prose- 
lytes ^ften  remain  in  their  former  communion,  the 
ehurch  of  England,  we  are  told,  contains  many  of 
them  among  the  laity ;  beside  "  a  numerous  body  of 
clergy,  who  are  disposed  to  think  favourably  of  Swe<* 
denborg^s  testimony.^'     Of  these  some  affirm  that  it 
was  never  the  baron's  intention  to  form  a  new  sect, 
while  others  suppose  that  he  left  it  to  each  one  to 
follow  the  course  which  his  conscience  might  dictate, 
and  a  third  class  maintains  (he  absolute  necessity  of 
establishing  a  church  upon  the  principles  revealed 
from  heayen.    If,  however,  Swedenborg  left  it  to  his 
disciples^  discretion  he  must  have  contemplated  the 
possible  formation  of  a  new  sect,  and  if  conscience 
should  be  called  in  to  decide,  would  it  not  bid  them 
flee  fit>m  any  communion  which  adopts  the  Athana- 
sian   or  Nicene  creeds,  so  severely  reprobated  by , 
Swedenborg  and  the  angels  ?    As  to  the  consistency 
of  the  baron  himself,  in  thinking  highly  of  the  church 
of  England,  and  in  spending  his  days  in  the  Lutheran 
communion,  or  of  thoise  clergymen  who  receive  his 
revelations  and  yet  continue  to  adopt  thi^  common 
prayer-book  as  the  guide  of  faith  and  worship,  we 
ieave  it  to  the  judgment  of  those  whom  it  concerns, 
for  such   Swedepborgians  are  not  within  our  pro*^ 
vince. 
Numerous  members  of  the  new  cburcht  convince4 

k3 


134  JIISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS* 

that  their  peculiar  doctrines  demanded  separate  ivor* 
ship,  published  proposals  for  forming  societies  and 
contracting    marriages   upon   their  own    principles. 
Dissenting  chapels  have  been  erected  in   London, 
Bristol,  Birmingham,  and  other  parts  of  the  British 
empire'.     They  give  the  name  of  temple  to  their 
places  of  worship,  which  are  very  splendid,  as  are  the 
vestments   of  the  oflBciating  ministers.     A  liturgy 
formed  from  that  of  the  church  of  £ngland,  is  used 
in  their  worship ;  but  among  the  alterations  made  in 
order  to  render  it  perfectly  Swedenborgian,  the  part, 
called  the  gloria  patri,  is  exchanged  for  the  following 
words :  *'  To  Jesus  Christ  be  glory  and  dominion  for 
ever  and  ever.*^    To  which  the  congregation  answers, 
*^  He  is  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the 
ending,  the  first  and  the  last,  who  is,  and  was,  and 
who  is  to  come,  the  almighty  Amen.^* 

As  this  sect  maintains  no  peculiar  discipline,  we 
pass  to  its  characteristic  features.     Of  these  the  Grst 
and  chief  is  mysticism  quite  to  the  verge,  if  not  to 
the  very  vortex  of  insanity.    The  material  and  the 
spiritual  worlds,  the  internal  and  the  external  man^ 
with  their  correspondencies,  so  possess  their  minds, 
that  the  objects  of  sense  never  produce  the  same 
ideas  in  Swedenborgians  as  in  other  men.     Viewing 
every  thing  through  the  medium  of  their  system, 
they  srpeak  accordingly,  with  great  rationality,  per- 
haps, in  their  own  estimation,  though  with  strange 
incoherence,  according  to  the  established  language  of 
man.     The  distinction  which  they  make  between 
themselves  and  other  enthusiasts,  appears  extremely 

*  They  have  erected  a  magnificent  church  in  Copenhagen^  afld 
at  Baltimore^  in  North  America, 


8W£P£NB0»GIAKS.  IB$ 

futile;  for  what  is  the  advantage  of  acknowledging 
the  letter  of  the  Scripture,  instead  of  our  own  inspi« 
rations,  if  the  Scripture  is  afterwards  to  be  interpreted 
according  to  visions  and  angelic  revelations? 

The  gnosticism  which  pestered  theChristian church 
in  its  earliest  ages  is  here  revived.  The  seons  of  th« 
ancient  sect  correspond  to  the  hells  of  the  modern ; 
the  gnostic  doctrine  of  Jesus  becoming  Christ,  at  a 
certain  time,  resembles  the  Swedenborgian  deifi^ 
cation  of  the  Saviour's  humanity ;  and  the  produc-' 
Hon  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  similar  in  both  systems. 
The  Swedish  heresiarch  adopted  also  the  language 
which  excites  the  ideas  of  the  anthropomorphites. 
How  could  they  have  more  efTectually  humanized 
the  deity  than  Swedenborg  has  done,  in  the  account 
of  one  of  his  visions,  which  informs  us  ,that  through 
all  the  heavens  they  have  no  other  idea  of  God,  than 
as  of  a  divine  man,  and  that  no  other  God  could  have 
created  man  in  his  image  and  likeness?  Zealous 
sociniajQs  have  claimed  the  members  of  the  new  church 
as  unitarian  brethren ;  but  the  unity  which  these 
maintain,  aocinians  would  abhor;  as  in  the  New 
Jerusalem  ^^  arianism,  socinianism,  and  Calvinism 
according  to  its  original  principles'^  are  all  held  in 
devout  abhorrence  \ 

With  regard  to  predestination,  election,  and  free 
will)  the  disciples  of  Swedenborg  are  arminians  ;  for 
they  believe  that  their  master  saw  Calvin  in  the  other 
^  world,  holding  fast  indeed  his  sentiments,  but  doomed 
for  theo^  to  a  sort  of  hell :  it  was,  however,  hard  to 
expect  that  he  should  be  convinced  by  a  change  of 
ptate  of  which  Swedenborg  says  he  was  unconscious. 
tiMther  indeed  was  admitted  into  heaven,  but  only  ia 

<  True  Christian  Bdigioq. 


ISS  HISTORY   OF    DI$B1EKTER$. 

confiequence  of  a  posthumous  conversion.  Sweden- 
borg  was  filled  with  the  common  enmity  to  Calvinism, 
which  be  either  did  not  understand,  or  wilfully  mis- 
represented.'  But  as  there  is  more  reason  to  think 
well  of  his  honesty  thaq  of  his  intellects,  it  seems  that 
he  really  thought  the  horrible  caricature  which  he 
has  sketched  was  a  faithful  pourtrait.  How  much 
then  must  we  pity  the  man  who,  starting  with  hol^ror 
at  spectres  of  his  own  raisin'g,  frightened  others  by  his 
vociferations  against  he  knew  not  what?  This,  how- 
ever, increases  our  regret,  that  so  many  should  have 
yielded  implicit  credit  to  his  visions ;  for  who  that 
truly  understands  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity, of  election,  or  salvation  by  grace ;  can  for  a 
moment  suppose  that  heaven  favoured  a  man  with 
revelations  to  overthrow  a  certain  creed,  without 
g[iving  him  light  to  understand  it  ?  While  his  igno- 
rance is  so  palpable  his  iilumination  is  incredible. 

It  is  far  easier  to  discover  what  doctrines  Sweden- 
borg  rejects,  than  to  define  the  system  which  be 
adopts.  Their  trinity  has  been  called  "  Sabellianism, 
or  a  modification  of  deism,  the  result  of  the  dilemma 
which  arises  from  a  desire  to  conform  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  an  inability  to  make  the  requisite  submis- 
sion of  the  human  understanding — a  compromise 
between  the  reveries  of  natural  reason  and  the  dic- 
tates of  revelation  ".^^  On  the  atonement,  they  resort, 
with  some  philosophising  divines,  to  the  vulgar  arti- 
fice of  misrepresentation,  by  saying  that  redemption 
consists  not  in  the  vicarious  suffering  of  one  God  to 
satisfy  another.^'  A  denial  of  the  intrinsic  evil  of 
sin,  and  of  the  essential  holiness  of  God,  which  join 
to  prove  the.  necessity  as  well  as  excellence  of  the 

f  Christian  Observer^  June,  180§« 


SWEDEKBOftGIANS.  137 

Christian  doctrine  of  pfropitiation,  runs  through  their 
whole  system.  Hence  arises  also  their  error  concern- 
ing acceptance  with  God,  which  the  Scriptures 
say  "  is  by  faith,"  in  the  merit  of  another,  "  that  it 
might  be  by  grace,  and  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in 
the  divine  presence:"  but  the  Swedenborgians  main- 
tain that  it  is  the  joint  efiect  of  faith,  charity,  and 
good  works.  For  his  decided  hostility  to  this  amal- 
gamation of  law  and  gospel,  Calvin  was  doomed  to 
hell  by  the  founder  of  the  new  church,  nor  could 
Luther  and  Melancthon  obtain  ftom  him  adniission 
into  heaven,  till  they  had  been  purged  in  an  interme- 
diate state  from  attachment  to  justification  by  faith. 
The  success  of  the  new  church  in  proselyting 
soHie  persons  of  considerable  intellectual  power,, 
which  at  first  sight  appears  unaccountable,  may  be  ^ 
attributed  to  this  rejection  of  the  doctrines  which 
ofiend  the  carnal  mind,  aided  by  that  love  of  the 
marvellous  which  often  possesses  men  of  strong  un« 
derstandings,  and  the  gratification  afforded  by  a 
glimpse,  or  rather  a  stare,  within  the  veil  which  con- 
ceals futurity  from  the  prying  eyes  of  human  curiosity. 
A  sort  of  Mahomedan  heaven,  also,  is  presented  in 
Swedenborgian's  visions  to  the  tastes  of  those  who 
are  offended  with  the  pure  spirituality  of  the  scrip- 
tural representation  of  future  happiness*  To  become 
so  familiar  with  our  final  bliss  as  not  merely  to  see, 
but  to  touch,  to  handle  it ;  to  indulge,  in  spite  of  the 
Redeemer's  words,  the  hope  of  marrying  there,  or 
beiBg  given  in  marriage,  of  being  restored  so  com- 
pletely to  a  world  which  we  were  unwilling  to  leave, 
as  scarcely  to  be  conscious  of  any  transition,  and 
thus  to  perpetuate  the  enjoyment  of  the  beloved 
objects  of  sense,  has  been,  it  is  to  be  feared,  the  golden 


13^  HISTORY  OF   0ISS£NTERB# 

bait  which  has  iqduqed  many  to  swallow  even  the 
visions  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg. . 

When  once  thi^  fascination  has  been  effected, 
reason  and  scripture  are  set*  at  defiance.  With  a 
world  of  objects. presented  to  their  eyes,  and  ears^ 
and  touch  while  awake,  totally  distinct  from  the 
scepes  which  others  perceive,  except  when  asleep  ; 
they  often  hold  language  which  sounds  to  ordinary 
mortals  ^»  incoherent  raving,  while  the  language  of 
others  presents  to  their  itainds  ideas  which  were  never 
intended  to  be  conveyed.  To  reason  with  such  per- 
8pi)s  is  fruitless,  for  w.ant  of  that  identity  of  ideas  which 
forms  the  medium  of  rational  intercourse.  To  argue 
with  them  from  the  Scriptures  is  impossible;  because 
they  turn  from  the  evident  import  of  the  words,  to 
treat  them  as  cyphers,  of  which  only  the  visions  of 
3wedenborg  can  furnish  the  key. 

The  history  of  this  sect  is  very  little  more  than 
that  of  its  founder.  Emanuel  Swedenborg  was  bora 
at  Stockholm,  the  capital  of  Sweden,  the  twenty-qinth 
of  January,  1689.  His  father^  whose  name  was 
Joseph  Swedborg,  was  bishop  of  West  Gothia,  an4 
president  of  the  Swedish  church  in  Pensylvania  an4 
London.  As  he  was  a  man  of  celebrity  for  learning 
%\kd  piety,  he  endeavoured,  not  without  success,  to 
form  his  son  to  habits  pf  study,  and  to  tbq  love  of 
sacred  meditation.  The  young  mai^^ave  early  proofs 
of  his  ability^  and  having  acquired  an  elegant  Latin 
style,  with  copsider^ble  skill  in  mathematics  ^nd 
liatural  philosophy,  he  became  ap  author  in  his  (w^q^ 
tieth  year.  From  the  academy  of  Upsal  he  went  to 
the  universities  of  England,  Holland,  France,  and 
Germany,  and  returning  to  Stockholm,  in  1714,  was 
soon  after  appointed  to  the  lucrative  and  honourable 


SWEDfiNBORGIANft.  190 

post  of  assessor  of  the  metallic  college,  by  Charles 
the  twelfth,  who  favoured  him  with  many  marks  of 
distinguished  consideration >• 

On  the  death  of  Charles,  he  found  another  patroa 
in  his  successor^  queen  Ulrica  Eleonora,  by  whom 
having  been  ennobled,  jbe  took  his  seat  among  the 
equestrian  order  by  the  title  of  baroa  Swedenborg. 
He  was  made  fellow  of  the  royal  academy  of  sciences 
at  Stockholm,  and  of  several  foreign  societies.  In 
high  esteem  with  the  bishops  and  learned  men  of  his 
own  country,  he  maintained  also  a  correspondence 
ivith  the  most  distinguished  scholars  in  £urope,  and 
published  so  many  philosophical  works,  that  it  is 
doubted  whether  any  other  man,  except  bis  country- 
man Linna&us,  ever  gave  equal  proofd  of  industry. 
The  study  of  many  of  his  works  forms  a  principal 
branch  of  the  literature  cultivated  in  many  of  the 
universities  on  the  continent. 

*'  But  whatever  of  wofldly  honour  or  advantage,^' 
be  says,  '^  may  appear  to  be  in  the  things  before 
mentioned,  I  hold  them  but  as  matteni  of  low  estima* 
tion,  when  compared  to  the  honour  of  that  hdy 
office  to  which  the  Lord  himself  hath  called  me,  his 
unworthy  servant,  in  a  personal  appearance,  in  the 
year  1743,  to  open  in  me  a  sight  of  the  spiritual  world, 
and  to  enable  me  to  converse  with  spirits  and  angelSf 

*  He  accompanied  Charles  to  the  fatal  siege  of  Fredericshall^ 
•where  he  proved  to  the  king  that  knowledge  is  power.  The  career 
of  the  impetuous  conqueror  was  arrested,  as  he  was  unable  to  bring 
up  his  heavy  artillery,  on  aecount  of  the  badness  of  the  roadi  and 
a  great  fall  of  snow.  The  philosopher  contrived  means  to  cut 
through  tfaejnountains  which  divide  Sweden  from  Norway^  to  raise 
the  valleys  and  form  a  canal  of  two  miles  and  a  half  in  length,  on 
which  he  sent  his  master  five  large  boats  and  a  sloop  loaded  with 
tiattering  pieces. 


140  HISTORY   OF   DISSCKXERS. 

and  this  privilege  has  continued  with  me  to  this  dajr^  !!?ii 
It  was  in  London  that,  on  a  certain  night,  a  man  4 
appeared  to  me  in  the  midst  of  a  strong  shining  light 
and  said,  *  I  am  God,  the  Lordj  the  Creator,  and 
Redeemer.  I  have  chosen  thee  to  explain  to  men  ric 
tlt^  interior  and  spiritual  sense  of  the  sacred  writings. 
I  will  dictate  to  thee  vVhaf  thou  oiightest  to  write.^ 
From  this  time  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the 
work  to  which  he  supposed  himself  called,  studying^ 
the  Scriptures  and  publishing  his  discoveries  p|!  ^\ 
arcana,  as  he  termed  them''."  i 

In  his   zeal  to  propagate    the  doctrines  of  his        x^ 
missions,  Swedenborg  frequently  visited  distant  cities, 
particularly  London  and  Amslterdam,  where  all  his         ,, 
theological  works  were  printed  at  a  great  expence,  , 

Wherever  he  resided,  when  on  his  travels,  he  was  a 
mere  recluse,  almost    inaccessible,  though,   in   his  ^ 

own  country,  of  a  free  and  open  behaviour.  He 
affected  no  honour,  but  declined  it ;  pursued  no 
worldly  interest,  but  spent  his  time  in  travelling  and 
printing.  "  The  great  Swedenborg,"  says  the  ilev. 
Mr.  Hartley, "  who  employed  his  peculiar  talent^, 
Bud  the  greatest  part  of  a  long  life,  for  the  benefit  of  , 

Y  "  I  couid  be  mad^  present,"  he  says,  **  with  the  inhabitants  of  \ 

other  planets  in  our  system,  and  also  with  the  inhabitants  of  planets 
that  are  in  pther  worlds  and  rerolve  about  other  suhs.  By  virtue  of 
such  presence,  not  of  plac^,  I  have  conversed  with  apostles,  de- 
parted popes,  emperors,  and  kings,  with  the  late  reformers  of  the 
church,  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Melancthon,  and  with  others  from 
distant  countries.  After  death  a  man  is  so  little  changed,  that  he 
does  not  know  but  he  is  living  in  the  present  world  ;  he  eats  and 
drinks,  and  even  enjoys  conjugal  delights  as  in  this  world.  Th6 
resemblance  between  these  two  worlds  is  so  great,  that  in  the  spiri- 
tual world  there  are  cities  with  palaces  and  houses,  and  also  writino>3 
and  books,  employments  and  merchandises ;  there  is  gold^  an«l 
silver,  ftnd  precious  stones  there."  « 


aWEDENBORCIAKe.     .  141 

lies  brethren  ;  high  in:  honour  ahd  esteem  a»  be  was, 
li  ved  several  yeat*s  in  an  obscure  lodging  in  London,  in 
which  he  ended  his  days.  O  Lord,  how  wonderful 
are  thy  dealings  with  thy  most  favoured. servants,  to 
bring  them  into  a  conformity  with  thy  low  and. abject 
state  when  on  earth,  in  order  to  exait  them  to  that 
glory  which  thpu  haiat  prepared  ibr  them;  ^  i  saw  him 
in  thebeginningof  his  last  sickness,  and  asked  him  if 
he  was  comforted  with  the  society  of  amgeis  as  before^ 
and  he  answered,  that  he  was*." 

He  died  March  29,  1772,  and  after  lying  in  state, 
bis  remains  were  deposited  in  a  vault  in  the  Swedish 
church  near  Radcliff  .Highway.  His^  funeral  oration 
or  eulogy  was  delivered  in  the  great  hall  of  the  house 
of  nobles,  at  Stockholm,  by  Monsieur  Sandei,  super* 
iDtendant  of  the  mines^  knight  of  the  polar  star,  and 
fellow  of  the  academy  of  sciences,  the  members  of 
which  attended  this  funeral  ceremony.  Mr.  Hartley 
says,  *'  I  have  weighed  the  character  of  Swedenboig 
in  the  scale  of  my  best  judgment.  From  the  personal 
knowledge  I  had  of  him,  from  the  best  information  I 
could  procure  concerning  him,  and  from  a  diligent 
perusal  ofhis  writings,  I  have  found  him  to  be  a  sound 
divine,  the  good  man,  the  deep  philosopher,  the 
universal  scholar,  and  the  polite  gentleman.'^ 

It  is,  however,  admitted  by  the  translator  of  his 
•'  True  Christian  Theology,"  that  "  he  was  seized 
with  a  fever,  attended  with  a  delirium,  about  twenty 
years  before  he  died ;  and  men  have  gone  about  to 
pick  up  what  he  said,  and  did,  and  how  he  looked  at 
the  time,  add  have  propagated  this,  both  in  private 
and  in  print,  a  proceeding  so  contrary  to  common 
humanity,  that  one  cannot  think  of  it  without  offence, 

»  Preface  to  True  ChrittiflD  Theology,  p.  9« 


14f  HISVORY  OV   DIS^BNTERS. 

nay  even  horropJ^  ftere  is  probaUy  a  reference  to 
what  Mt.  Wesley  has  said  of  the  baron's  mission& 
commencing  at  this  season  of  madness* ;  which^ 
indeed,  is  the  kindest  and  most  reasonable  solu- 
tion of  the  mystery.  That  Swedenboig  was  a  man 
of  upright  intentions  and  eminent  abilities,  both 
natural  and  acquired,  is  indisputable ;  but  when  we 
are  referred  to  his  writings  to  decide  concerning  bis 
sanity,  what  reasonable  man  can  hesitate  to  say 
that  they  afford  sufficient  evidence  that  he  was 
insane  ?  His  was,  indeed,  no  ordinary  insanity,  but 
that  of  a  devotional  and  philosophic  mind,  which 
often  appears  greater  in  ruins  than  when  underanged. 
Availing  himself  of  former  stores  of  knowledge,  such 
a  madman  will  sometimes  reason  so  justly  on  false 
ideas,  as  to  perplex  for  a  moment  the  most  sagacious 
observer  to  determine  whether  its  effusions  are  the 
aberrations  of  diseased  intellect,  or  the  elevation  of 
genius  bordering  on  inspiration. 

The  theological  writings  of  Swedenborg  were  not 
much  noticed  during  his  life,  but  have  since  his 
death,  b^en  translated   into  German,  English,  and 

»  Though  unable  to  recollect  the  page  in  Mr.  Wesley's  writings 
which  contains  this  assertion,  we  present  to  our  readers  another 
passage  in  which  he  delivers  the-  same  opinion.  «  I  sat  down  to 
read  and  seriously  consider  some  of  the  writings  of  baron  Swedea« 
borg.  I  began  with  huge  prejudices  in  his  favour,  knowing  him  to 
be  a  pious  man,  one  of  a  strong  understanding,  of  much  learnings 
ttnd  one  who  thoroughly  believed  himself  uispired.  But  I  could 
not  hold  out  long.  Any  pne  of  his  visions  puts  his  real  ehamctcr 
out  of  doubt.  He  is  one  of  the  most  ingenious^  lively,  entertainine 
madmen  that  ever  set  pen  to  paper.  But  his  waking  dreams  are 
•o  wild,  so  far  remote  both  from  Scripture  and  common  sense,  that 
one  might  as  easily  swallow  the  stories  of  Tom  Thumb,  or  Jack 
the  giant-killer.    Wesley's  Jomrnal,  yol,  XXXII,  p.  289, 


8WEDENB0RGIAK8.  14ft 

French.  The  first  translation  into  our  language 
was  by  Mr.  Hartley,  a  clergyman,  which  attracted  so 
much  attention,  that  aU  the  baron's  works  soon 
appeared  in  an  English  dre$s,  and  passed  through 
several  editions.  It  is  asserted,  that  a  society  of 
gentlemen  in  Manchester,  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  publishing  and  circulating  them,  printed,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  upwards  of  sixteen  thousand 
copies,  as  appears  from  the  annual  reports  of  the 
society.  Some  opposition  was  excited  ;  though  many 
xvere  deterred  from  entering  the  lists  against  a  mad- 
man, by  the  persuasion  that  his  reveries  would  find 
admission  only  into  minds  as  disordered  as  his  own, 
with  whom  reason  and  argument,  though  derived 
from  Scripture,  could  find  no  admission. 

Dr.  Priestley,  however,  determined  to  try  his  pole- 
mical powers  in  the  conflict  with  visions,  angels,  in- 
fluxes, and  all  the  arcana  of  other  worlds.  He  publish- 
ed, in  1791,'*  Letters  to  the  Members  of  the  New  Je- 
rusalem Church  at  Birmingham,'^  in  which  he  labours 
with  all  his  zeal  and  address  to  overthrow  their  doctrine 
concerning  the  exclusive  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
was  instantly  answered,  at  the  request  of  the  body,  by 
Robert  Hindmarsh,  one  of  its  ministers,  who  officiated 
in  their  metropolitan  temple.  His  "  Letters  to  Dr. 
Priestly''  are  written  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  new 
church,  and  with  very  considerable  ability..  While 
he  ingeniously  repels  the  doctor's  arguments,  he 
openly  asserts  that  socinians  are  not  Christians,  and 
that  iheir  grand  peculiarity,  the  denial  of  the  deity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  is  the  unpardonable  sin  against  the 
Holy  Gitost.  Were  it  not  thab  the  subject  is  too 
serious,  involving  the  interests  of  eternity,  nothing 
could  be  more  amusing  than  this  conflict  between  the 


144  BISTOBY  OF  DISSENTERS. 

opposing  elements,  fire  and  water,  scepticism  and 
mysticism.  Nor  can  any  one  who  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  regard  the  Swedenborgians  as  visionary 
enthusiasts,  and  their  antagonist  as  an  acute  logician, 
fail  of  being  surprised  at  the  appearance  of  ease  and 
success  with  which  Mr.  Hindmarsh  combats  Dr. 
Priest  ley » 

But  the  "  Christian  Observer,"  a  periodical  pub- 
lication by  evangelical  clergy nien,  hals  been  the  most 
formidable  opponent  of  the  new  Jerusalem  church. 
"  We  certainly  do  find,''  say  the  writers  of  the  review 
in  that  work,  ^'  some  difiiculty  in  conceiving  how  a 
consistent  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England  caa 
continue  in  her  communion,  accept  her  emoluments, 
and  join  in  or  lead  her  service,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
hold  and  propagate  the  tenets  of  Emanuel  Sweden « 
borg/'  The  controversy  with  this  sect  may  be  said  to 
have  closed  with  their  able  review  of  "  A  few  plain 
Answers  to  the  Question,  why  do  you  receive  the 
Te;5timony  of  Baron  Swedenborg  ?  addressed  from  a 
Minister  to  his  Congregation,  by  the  Rev.  J.  L. 
Clowes,  M.  A.  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Man- 
chester, and  late  fellow  of  Trinity-coliege,  Cam- 
bridge'." 

As  the  zeal  for  the  erection  of  gorgeous  temples, 
which  this  sect  displayed  in  its  infancy,  has  of  late 
declined,  nothing  now  remains  to  attract  strangers  ; 
while  the  charm  of  novelty  having  vanished,  has  left 
some  of  the  proselytes,  which  it  had  acquired,  to  sink 
back  into  mere  indifference,  or  into  their  former  com- 
munions. Thus,  after  commencing  with  splendid 
expectations,  the  new  church  is  gradually  falling  into 
disrepute,  and  the  number  of  its  votaries,  never  very 

^  Christian  Observer^  June,  160& 


8WEDENBOROIAN8. 


14ff 


great,  is  now  decreasing.  This  must,  to  the  most 
liberal  and  catholic  mind,  which  has  not  been  deranged 
by  Swedenborg's  visions,  afford  pleasure ;  for  while 
almost  every  sect,  with  its  enrors  and  evils,  has  also 
its  excellencies  and  uses,  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  to  say  what  advantage  could  accrue  to 
truth,  to  religion,  or  human  society  by  the  increase 
of  this  co^imunion^ 


VOL,   IV. 


r. 


14$  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTXM. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STATE    OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY. 

» 

JLn  the  first  period  of  this  history,  religious  liberty 
was  seen  obtaining  an  establishment  in  England, 
under  the  enlightened  patronage  of  king  William  ; 
but  afterwards  trembling  for  her  very  existence,  in 
the  latter  end  of  queen  Anne's  reign.  A  more  de- 
lightful scene  was  presented  by  the  second  period ; 
religious  liberty  advancing  with  uniform  steps,  and 
taking  under  her  protection  not  only  the  original 
dissenters,  but  both  the  tribes  of  methodists,  though 
some  of  them  were  almost  unwilling  to  claim  her  aid. 
In  the  third  and  last  period,  to  which  we  now  pro* 
ceed,  the  prospect'  is  more  varied,  but  it  is  on  the 
whole  pleasing:  by  the  superintending  care  of  divine 
Providence,  the  way  has  been  safe ;  and  religious 
liberty  has  maintained  her  ground,  and  asserted  her 
rights. 

In  the  eventful  reign  of  George  the  third,  the 
-  dissenters  have  not  retained  that  high  degree  of 
favour  with  the  court  which  they  had  enjoyed  ever 
since  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Hanover.  They 
had  before  been  treated  with  the  highest  confidence, 
as  cordial  and  unshaken  friends  ;  but  they  now  began 
to  be  viewed  by  many  members  of  the  administra- 
tions with  jealousy  and  suspicion,  if  not  with  aver- 
sion and  disgust.  To  this  unfavourable  change 
various  causes  successively  contributed,  which  with 


STATE  OJT  ESLrcioUS  LIBEETY.  147 

their  infldenc^  on  the  public  mind  it  will  be  necesary 
to  detail. 

Time^  which  6ften  produces  what  reason  and  argu« 
ment  could  not  effect,  had  made  a  considerably 
alteration  in  the  clergy  of  the  establishment.  From 
the  era  of  the  accession,  the  majority  of  them  were 
disafiected  to  the  house  of  Hanover,  and  cherished 
in  their  bosoms  the  exiled  fannly  of  Stewart  as  the 
legitimate  claimants  of  the  British  throne.  But 
seeing  no  prospect  of  their  restoration,  they  began 
to  despair  of  success  in  the  attainment  of  their 
wishes;  and  a  new  generation  rising  up  to  the  priests 
hood,  of  similar  political  principle's,  but  less  strongly 
attached  to  the  particular  object  of  loyalty,  about  the 
beginning  of  this  reign  they  forsook  the  Stewarts, 
and  became  most  passionately  enamoured  of  George 
the  third,  and  the  existing  government.  So  great 
an  accession  of  strength  was  of  high  importance: 
they  were  therefore  received  with  open  arms,  and 
shared  liberally  in  the  favour  of  the  Court,  and  in  the 
dignities  and  emoluments  of  the  church. 

Into  this  new  state  of  favour  they  brought  with 
them  all  their  former  principles.  Like  their  prede- 
cessors, they  entertained  the  most  exalted  ideas  of 
the  powers  and  prerogatives  of  kings,  and  an  aversion 
to  all  who  were  without  the  pale  of  the  establish- 
ment, whom  they  designated  by  the  title  of  schisma- 
tics and  fanatics.  These  sentiments^  to  whidh  the 
moderate  dignitaries  of  the  two  former  reigns  were 
strangers,  began  to  echo  from  the  pulpits,  and  were 
insinuated  into  the  ears  of  the  court.  That  a  doc- 
trine so  palatable  should  be  received  with  plea- 
sure, and  its  advocates  cherished  as  faithful  and 
amiable    friends,    is    exceedingly    natural*-      How 

L  2 


149  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS* 

ff 

4 

few  are  therie  who  possess  power  but  wish'  fof 
more  ?  at  least  they  love  the  ghostly  prophetia  wha 
bring  them  tidings  from  heaven  that  it  is  their  right, 
and  denounce  a  curse  on  those  who  would  contract 
its  limits.  Insinuations  were  also  thrown  out  by 
these  new  favourites  agaia9t  the  dissenters  as  a  dan- 
gerous body,  disaffected  both  to  church  and  state, 
republican  in  their  principles,  enemies  to  kings  and 
thrones,  and  determined  foes  to  the  established 
clergy  and  bishops,  the  great  and  firm  pillars  of 
monarchy.  As  this  doctrine  was  bknded  with  the 
former,  it  was  more  readily  listened  to ;  and  ^  the 
dissenters  were  no  longer  needed  for  support^  they 
sunk  into  disesteem,  and  then  became  suspected  of 
evil  designs  against  the  existing  order  of  things* 
The  part  which  the  generality  of  dissenters  took,  in 
some  important  political  questions  that  divided  the  in- 
habitants of  England  during  this  reign,  seemed  to  sanc- 
tion these  opinions,  and  to  prove  the  accusations  just« 

The  first  remarkable  event  which  toot  place,  wa^ 
the  American  revolution.  To  particular  notice  in 
this  history  it  lays  claim  from  the  connection  which 
the  dissenters  had  with  the  ministers  and  people  of 
that  country y  and  the  interest  they  felt  in  the  un* 
happy  contest ;  its  influence  on  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty  throughout  the  civilized  world ;  and  the  many 
>mportatit  lessqns  which  by  placing  the  citizens  of 
America  in  a  state  respecting  religion  unknown  before, 
it  has  taught  and  is  still  teaching  mankind. 

The  dispute  with  America  was  the  first  political 
event,  since  the  access-ion  of  the  house  of  Hanover, 
which  discovered  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the 
dissenters  |and  the  government.    Like  most  family 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  149 

quarrels  it  was  injurious  to  both  parties,  and  pecu- 
liarly unfortunate  in  its  issue.  Colonies  are  in  ge- 
neral placed  in  a  very  unfavourable  situation.  The 
primary  object  of  their  existence  and  prosperity  is  to 
promote  the  benefit  of  the  parent  state ;  and  wher^ 
interests  clash,  theirs  must  always  be  sacrificed  to  its 
claims.  While  they  are  weak  and  inconsiderable, 
and,  besides,  stand  in  need  of  patronage  and  defence, 
these  disadvantages  may  be  overlooked ;  but  as  they 
advance  in  population  and  opulence,  the  grievance 
will  be  more  sensibly  felt,  and  without  great  modera<- 
tion  in  the  mother  country,  a  separation  with  violence 
will  be  the  final  result. 

The  hardships  of  the  first  settlers  in  all  the  parts  of 
America  had  been  great,  but  of  those  in  the  North 
dreadful  beyond  expression  ;  and  it  was  by  their  own 
energies  that  they  surmounted  the  numerous  diflicuU 
ties  which  frequently  threatened  them  with  destruc- 
tion. But  time,  fortitude,  and  patience  securing  to 
them  a  firm  footing  in  the  country,  their  progress 
in  population  and  in  improvements  became  rapid 
beyond  example;  and  being  cherished  by  the  fos^ 
tering  care  of  Great  Britain,  which  found  her  interest 
in  the  patronage  and  prosperity  of  her  colonies, 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  1757  they  amounted 
to  more  than  three  millions,  who  were  living 
in  a  greater  degree  of  comparative  abundapce 
and  comfort  than  any  [other  of  the  subjects  in 
the  empire.  That  war  was  terminated  in  1763,  and, 
according  to  the  sentiments  of  the  men  of  the  world, 
in  a  manner  very  glorious  to  the  British  arms ;  but 
having  involved  the  country  in  the  natural  effects  of 
this  glory,  a  considerable  increase  of  the  national 
debt,  for  which  it  was  found  difficult  to  provide^  th<} 


150  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS; 

ministers  turned  their  eye&;to  America,' and  wished 
to  impose  on  that  country  a  part  of  the  burden.  In 
1765  the  apple  of  discord  was  thrown  down  by  the 
British  parliament,  when  tiie  stamp  act  was  passed, 
to  subject  the  Americans  to  direct  contributions  for 
the  benefit  of  the  empire.  # 

No  sooner  were  these  proceedings  known  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atl&ntic,  than  the  affection  and  confix 
dence  which  had  hitherto  reigned  there,  gave  place 
to  jealousy  and  distrust.     The   Ao^ericans  were  a 
high  spirited  people ;  their  ideas  of  political  liberty 
bordered  more  on  the  republican  than  the  monarcbiai 
form.  They  lived  too  in  a  degree  of  practical  freedom 
from  restraint,  and  of  uncontrouled  management  of 
their  internal  affairs,  which  was  scarcely  known  in 
Europe,  and  which  tended  to  fill  them  with  more 
exalted  thoughts  of  their  own  personal  consequence. 
Having  no  nobility  among  them  to  decorate  society 
they  grew  up  without  the  Sentiments  of  veneration 
for  the  order  which  were,  at  that  time^  univensally 
!felt  in  Europe :  nor  were  the  few  who  wei*e  sent  *o 
them  in  the  form  of  governors  the  best  calculated  to 
inspire  it.  Feeling  nothing  analogous  to  the  influence 
of  these  restraints  which  the  various  lines  of  sub* 
ordination  create  among  us,  and  conceiving  tbemsdves 
^equal  to  any  of  the  sons  of  Adam,  tbeir  high  spirits 
were    not    to    be   terrified  with   threatenings,  nor 
soothed  with  flatteries,  nor  overawed  by  the  potzip 
and  ornaments  of  official  dignity  ;  so  that  when  their 
wishes  were  opposed,  they  were  the  most  difficult  to 
be  governed  of  perhaps  any  people  on  the  fece  of  the 
earth.     Indeed,  unless  the  measures  pursued  werte 
agreeable  to  themselves,  and  appeared  conduicive  to 
their  welfare,  no  dependence  coukl  be  plaoedon  their 
subjection  and  attachment. 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBEETY.  151 

To  manage /these  self^wiUisd  children  of  the^opda^ 
required  a  degree  of  poUtical  skill,  and  pbilosophiGal 
moderation  which  the  English  ministry  does  not 
appear  to  have  acquired.  Power  carries  with  it 
temptations  which  tend  to  corrupt  the  purest  minds  ^ 
and  when  nobility ,  is  added  to  power,  the  danger  is 
increased  more  than  twofold.  They  consider  tbem^ 
selves  as  the  legitimate  rulers  of  their  country,  and 
all  the  industrious  orders  of  society  as  made  to  be  sub-* 
ject  to  their  controul ;  and  it  seems  to  them  the  very 
summit  of  arrogance  for  such  persons  to  stand  up  as 
their  equals,  and  much  more  to  attempt  to  oppose 
their  will.  Had  there  been  puissant  princes,  dukes 
of  New  York  and  Massachusets,  or  right  reverend 
fathers  ib  God»  metropolitans  of  Philadelphia  and 
Boston,  to  negociate  in  favour  of  their  country  with 
the  English  ministry,  they  would  have  been  listened 
to  with  respect  as  equals  in  rank  apd  in  claims.  But 
the  Americans  were  a  naqieless  multitude,  unadorned 
with  one  individual  of  title,  and  were  looked  down 
upon  as  an  inferior  order  of  beings  who  ought  to  be 
coerced,  and  mad^  to  submit  without,  ceremony 
to  the  mandates  of  the  British  court.  When  the 
Americans  remonstrated  against  their  pleasures,  and 
sent  over  Dr.  Franklin  to  England  fpr  the  purpose,  the 
man  was  but  a  printer  and  postmaster ;  and  though 
he  possessed  talents  vvhicb  all  who  were  sitting  on 
the  highest  thrones  might  have  beheld  with  envy^ 
he  was  treated  with  contemptuous  harshness,  an^ 
his  remonstrances  were  disregarded  and  ridiculed. 
After  a  long  course  of  negociations  and  disputes^ 
agreen^ents  and  quarrels,  Britain  still  insisting  on  her 
rights  to  impose  taxes  on  America,  and  determining 
to  procure  submission,  though  by  force,  wliiicb  w^ 

h  4 


153  IflSTORY  OF   I>ISSEKT£RS. 

unhappily  employed,  America,  at  last,  in '  1W5, 
drew  the  sword  to  assert  her  libierty ;  declared  heiS 
independence ;  fought  for  it  during  seven  years  with 
various  success ;  and  at  last  obtained  it  by  the  treaty 
of  peace  with  Great  Britain  in  1763. 

It  .was  one  unhappy  effect  of  the  Ancferican  war, 
thait,  as  it  divided  the  people  of  Great  Britain.' into  two 
angry  parties,  which  vented  their  rage  against  each 
other  with  excessivie  violence,  it  completely  de- 
stroyed that  national  harmony  which  had  subsiste4 
before  this  mournful  event.  The  dissenters,  in  general, 
adopted  th^  cause  of  the  Americans,  and'  reprobated 
the  measures  of  the  ministry  as  impolitic  and  unjust,. 
But  these  sentiments  were  by  no  means  peculiar  to 
them ;  they  were  the  sentiments  of  the  great  body  of 
the  English  whigs,  who,  both  in  parliament  and  by 
all  other  means'.  Opposed  every  measure  in  succes- 
sion against  America,  with  an  ardour  and  keenness 
almost  unknown  before,  and  who  at  last  brought 
ttver  the  'mam  body  of  the  people  to  a  conviction  of 
the  impolicy  at  least,  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
government;  '     : 

'•  The  principles  of  liberty  appeared  to  the  dissenters 
to  b6  endangered  in  this  unnatural  contest.  The 
baughty  toneof  the  British  ministry,  and  the  unqua- 
lified submission  which,  in  the  day  of  their  success, 
they  demanded  from  the  Americans  as  the  condition 
of  reconciliation  aiid  favour^  gave  rise  to  the  strongest 
ibuspicion  that  it  was  their  design  to  forge  chains  for 
the.  vanguished' colonists,  and  to  hold  in  their  own 
bands  the  despbtVlash,  It  had  be^h  well  if  they  had 
used  milder  language,  and  uttered  sentimients  more 
Consonant  to  the  feelings  -of  that  most'  respectable 
^rtion  oi  the  English  public,  which  holds  iibertjr 


^ 


STATE  09  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  ^53 

dear  as  life  itself,  and  hears  with  detestation  every 
expression  which  savours  of  the  tyrant  or  the  slave. 

The  dissenters  were  also  attached  to  the  Americani^ 
by  the  peculiar  ties  of  religious  union,  and  the  inti- 
macy of  friendship.  Many  of  the  colonists,  in  almost 
every  stat^,  maintained  the  same  <}octrines  of  faith,  and 
the  same  system  ofchurch  government  as  thep^selves; 
9nd  in  the  northern  states  they  formed  almost  the 
mass  of  the  people.  A  constant  and  extensive'inter- 
course  was  kept  up  between  them ;  mutual  assistance 
was  given  in  whatever  related  to  the  advancem^pt  of 
the  cause  of  religion  ;  and  they  considered  themselves 
as  members  of  the  ss^me  body.  Who  will  wonder 
that  with  such  feelings  the  dissenters  were  stedfastly 
opposed  to  the  American  war ;  and  that  the  sufferings 
of  their  brethren  and  friends,  which  were  in  many 
instances  exceedingly  bitter,  excited  the  iiiost  painful 
sensations  in  their  breasts,  and  produced  ^e  most 
unfavourable  ideas  of  the  mep  by  whose  measureiei 
these  sufferings  were  inflicted  ? 
:  In  the  mean  time,  a  large  portion  of  the  English 
clergy,  and  that  part  especially  whicl^  veered  round 
from  the  house  of  Stewart,  were  fiercely  inveighing 
^against  the  rebellious  spirit  of  the  Americaris,  and 
uttering  the  bitterest  aqathenias  against  them  and  all 
^heiii  abettors  at  home  and  abroad.  Their  violence 
;was  increased  by  the  reports  of  the  episcopal  ministers 
in  America,  who,  being  in  general  hostile  to  the 
cause  of  the  people,  were  forced  to  flee  to  England, 
and  brought  with  them  the  most  doleful  tales  of  the 
oppression  and  cruelty  which  they  had  endured  for 
their  loyalty  to  their  king,  a.nd  their  attachment  to 
their  church. 

When  the  independence  of  America  was  ccHifirmed 


X 


154  HISTORY   OF   piaSfiNXERS/ 

by  peaces  speculation  on  the  consequences  filled  thu 
breast  of  every  man  in  England,  who  laid  claim  to  the 
char^ter  of  a  thinker.     As  a  friend  of  his  country^ 
each  man  lamented  that  so  large  a  portion  of  popular 
tion,  industry^  and  capital  as  the  colonies  contained^ 
should  be  cut  off  from  the  body  of  the  empire.     But 
the  lovers  of  mankind  were  consoled  by  the  appearance 
of  a  constitution  embracing  the  principles  of  liberty 
in  the  fullest  extent  in  which  they  had  ever  been 
established  in  any  country  under  heaven,  rising  in 
the  ivcstern  continent  remote  firom  the  vortex  of 
European  politics,  furnishing   within  its  extensive 
boundaries  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  every 
tyraht's  land,  ,and  providing  for  future  generations  of 
the  human  race  a  catechism  of  principles  favourable 
to  the  character  of  the  individual,  to  social  virtue  and 
happiness,  and  to  the  interests  of  pure  religion. 

Not  was  the  American  revolution  lefib  favourable 
to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty*  It  presented,  indeed^ 
a  system  uiiique  in  the  annals  of  Christendom.  An 
established  religion  was  destroyed  in  the  states'"] n 
which  it  formerly  had  existence.  Religion^  in  all  its 
forms,  ^$s  equally  prcttected ;  and  the  members  of 
each  were  eligible  to  all  the  offices  of  the  state  witb^ 
put  distinction.  Of  the  presidents,  Washington^  was 
an  episcopalian ;  and  Adapts,  the  second,  an  indev 
pendent*  An  alliance,  between  church  and  state, 
that  the  temporal  ^word  of  the  state,  with  itsstrosg 
blade  and  its  keen  edge^  might  defend  the  feeble  and 
^n warlike  ecclesiastical  body;  and  that  the  church 
with  her  spiritual  sword  dipt  in  anathemas  and  the 
|kimes  of  hell,  might  compel  the  people  to  yield 
obedience  to  the  state,  was  a  mysterious  jargon  which 
they  di4  not  understand,  f^nd  would  not   adopt. 


STATE  OF  ftELIOIOUS  LIBE^IXY.  155 

Religion  was  left  to  hej  own  energies,  and  to  the 
25eal  of  her  friends  for  her  support.  The  government 
aiming  at  the  people's  good,  felt  no  need  of  the  cant 
or  thunder  of  priests  to  secure  obedience  to  political 
institutions;  and  the  minister^  of  the  Gospel,  dis-* 
daining  the  idea  oi  being  the  tools  of  the  existirtg 
rulers,  influenced  by  thespirit  of  their  office,  taught 
thefr  hearers  to  love  God  and  their  neighbour,  to  be 
good  parents  and  children,  good  masters  and  servants, 
and  upright  and  virtuous  in  all  their  departmeilts/; 
and  by  inculcating  these  principles  made  them  good 
members  of  civil  society,  and  subject  to  every  ordi- 
nance of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake.  The  effect  of  th^ 
experiment,  after  the  lapse  of  near  thirty  years,  basi 
been  a  perfect  harmony  among  the|  different  sects : 
no  contention  about  religious  sentiments,  has  ever,  in 
the  smallest  degree,  disturbed  the  peace  of  society ; 
and  from  unquestionable  evidence,  pure  and  spiritual 
religion  has  been  in  a  progressive  state  from  the 
establishment  of  the  system  to  the  present  day. 

Besides  this  mighty  convulsion  in  this  political 
world,  several  events  took  place  within  the  Britisi) 
isles,  by  which  the  cause  of  religious  liberty  was 
affected ;  and  various  exertions  were  made  to  extend 
its  dominion  and  its  triumphs. 

The  first  attempt  was  made  from  a  quarter  which 
excited  the  astonishment  of  the  public^  and  presented 
a  phenomenon  which  never  had  its  prototype  in 
lEngland.  In  ]773<»  several  hundreds  of  the  estalt- 
lished  clergy,  supported  by  laymen  who  were  bound 
by  some  of  the  ecclesiastical  laws,  presented  a  petition 
to  parliament  prayingfor  deliverance  from  subscription 
to  the  liturgy  and  toticles  of  the  church.    In  thehr 


156  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

petition  they  express  their  sentiments  to  the  following 
purport.  "  We  apprehend  that  we  have  certain  rights 
and  privileges  which  we  hold  of  Go(}  alone,  one  of 
which  is,  theexerciseof  our  own  reason  and  judgnient; 
We  are  also  warranted  by  those  original  principles  of 
the  reformation  from  popery,  on  which  the  church  of 
England  is  founded,  to  judge  in  searching  the  Scrip<- 
tures  each  irian  for  himself,  what  may  or  may 
not  be  proved  thereby.  From  the  enjoyment  of  thi$ 
Taluabia  privilege^  we  find  ourselves  in  a  great  mea*- 
sure  precluded  by  the  laws  relative  to  subscription, 
requiring  us  to  aclcnowledge  certain  articles  and  con- 
fessions of  faith  and  doctrine  drawn  up  by  fallible  men, 
•to  be  all  andf  every  one  of  them  agreeable  to  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  We  request  to  be  freed  from  these 
impositions,  and  to  be  restored  to  oiir  iindoubted 
right  as  protestants,  of  interpreting  the  Scriptures  for 
ourselves,  without  b^ing  bound  by  any  human  expla* 
^nations,  a  submission  to  which  is  an  encroachment 
on  our  rights  both  as  men  and  as  members  of  a  pro«- 
testant  establishment.^^  What  dissenter,  in  reading 
these  noble  ideas  rwhich  form  thie  fundamental  article 
of  his  own  creed,  but  must  exclaim  with  joy  and 
admiration,  -^  Is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets  V^' 

So  novel  an  application  may  naturally  be  supposed 
to  have  had  many  enemies  in  the  British  legislature, 
and  they  did  not  fail  to  press  their  petitioners  with 
arguments  which  they  thought  to  be  of  considerable 
force.  The  more  liberal  of  them  professed  that  the 
reasoning  of  the  petitioners  would  come  with  a  goo^ 
grace  from  the  lips  of  dissenters  who  ought  undoubu 
edly  tobe  left  to  choose  their  religious  creed ;  hut 
that  an  established  church  *must  have  more  special 
regulatioqs  and  laws  for  its  government  and  direction^ 


dlATE   OF   RELIGIOUS  Lt^tRTlt,  157. 

The  poWer  to  enact  these  and  to  frame  an  ecdesias'^ 
ticdi. constitution  resides  inithe  legislature,  on  whom 
it  is  incumbent  to  frame  it  in  a  manner  the  most 
conducive  to  the  public  good.  The  clergy,  they 
said,  might  have  their  private  opinions  on  religiouff 
subjects;  but  that  being  teachers  of  religion  salarifed 
by  the  state,  they  ought  in  their  public  discourses  toS 
bring  forward  for  the  instruction  of  the  people,  no- 
thing but  what  accords  with  the  ecclesiastical  statutes 
of  the  realm ;  because  it  was  dangerous  to  agitate 
their  minds  with  theological  discussions.  They 
further  informed  the  petitioners,  that  if  they  disliked 
the  articles  and  liturgy,  they  were  under  no  necessity 
to  enter. on  the  clerical  office;  or  if  they  had  since 
changed  their  sentiments,  it  was  always  in  their  power 
to  alter  their  profession  and' bid  adieu  to  the  estab- 
lished priesthood. 

Another,  but  a  more  bitter  and  unreasonable  class 
of  opponents,  consisted  of  the  high  church  party  ia 
the  house  of  commons.  In  their  eyes  the  petition 
appeared  so  highly  to  endanger  the  safety  6f  the 
church,  as  to  threaten  its  destruction.  If  the  arti- 
cles, they  said}  be  taken  away,  the  abolition  of  the 
liturgy  may  be  expected  to  follow  ;  and  then  Where 
is  the  church  of  England,  the  glory  of  the  reforma- 
tion !  As  the  churc^  and  the  state  were  so  closely 
connected  as  to  depend  for  their  very  existence  on 
each  retaining  its  present  mode  of  being,  they  consi- 
dered a  compliance  with  the  petition  as  the  ruin  of 
both.  "  Recollect,"  said  they,  "  the  overthrow  of 
the  church  by  the  sectaries  in  the  last  century;  and 
if  you  yield  to  these  men's  wishes,  you  must  expect 
a  repetition  of  the  sahie  disastrous  scenes.^^ 

The  cause  of  the  petitioners  was  pleaded  with 


15a  HISTORY  OF  BtXSSEKTEKS. 

great  eloquence  by  sir  William  Meredith,  who  pre- 
sented the  petition  to  the  house,  and  by  several  other 
members  of  eminent  abilities,  who  argued  with  irre- 
sistible force  from  the  topics  on  which  the  dissenters 
insist  in  their  controversy  with  the  establishment ; 
but  which  were  supposed  to  be  inapplicable  to  a 
body  of  men  salaried  by  the  state  for  teaching  the 
national  creed.  After  an  animated  debate,  the  prayer 
of  the  petitioners  was  rejected  by  a*  majority  of  two 
hundred  and  seventeen  to  seventy-one. 

The  conduct  of  the  petitioners  was  exceedingly 
displeasing  to  many  of  their  brethren.  Among 
others  Mr.  Toplady  published  a  pamphlet  against 
them,  in  which  he  charges  them  with  ^^  destroying 
the  title  deeds  which  insured  the  property  to  others, 
and  then  wishing  to  keep  the  estate  as  their  own.'' 
But  why  may  not  men  complain  if  they  think  them- 
selves aggrieved,  and  endeavour,  as  the  petitioning 
clergy  did,  to  obtain  redress  by  legal  means  >  The 
church  of  England  claims  neither  infallibility  nor 
perfection;  and  her  sons  who  conceive  themselves 
injured  by  their  mother's  severity,  may  soUicit  their 
father's  interference.  The  question  of  subscription 
to  articles  of  faith,  the  hardship  and  the  inexpediency 
of  the  practice,  had  been  a  few  years  before  discussed 
with  considerable  ability  by  archdeacon  Blackburne 
in  the  "  the  Confessional ;"  and  though  a  *'  Vindica- 
tion of  the  Right  of  Protestant  Churches  to  require 
the  Clergy  to  subscribe  to  an  established  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Doctrines,"  appeared  from  the  pen  of 
professor  Rutherforth,  the  other  side  of  the  question 
had  numerous  adherents,  whose  minds  were  by  these 
means  prepared  and  influenced  to  make  the  unsuc- 
qessftil  attempt  to  obtain  relief*    They  were  blamed 


STATE  OF  RELIGIOUS  XIBXftTT.  ISP 

by  many  for  not  maturing  their  plan  with  sufficient 
wisdom,  for  acting  with  precipitation,  and  especially 
for  not  consulting  the  bishops  and  ensuring  their 
patronage.  .  But  probably  they  knew  that  they  had 
no  encouragement  to  expect  from  iSiat  quarter ;  and 
judged  it  best  to  imitate  the  conduct  of  thos^  lovers, 
who  despairing  of  the  approbation  of  their  parents, 
think  it  safer  to  marry  without  their  consent  than  in 
opposition  to  their  will. 

• 

In  the  debates  on  the  petition  of  the  dissatisfied 
clergy,  when  the  case  of  the  dissenters  in  respect  to 
subscription  was  mentioned,  some  of  the  most  stre- 
nuous opposers  declared  themselves  willing  to  relieve 
them  from  the  subscription  to  the  thirty-five  articles 
and  a  half  of  the  established  church.  As  the  clergy 
reaped  the  substantial  benefits  of  ai;t  establishment, 
it  was  but  equital^le  that  they  should  conform  to  all 
the  regulations  which  the  legislature  had  deemed 
proper  for  the  public  instruction ;  but  as  dissenters 
enjoyed  none  of  these  emoluments,  it  was  reason^ 
able  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  hold  and  to 
preach  what  sentiments  they  thought  good. 

This  display  of  liberality  gave  great  pleasure  to  the 
generality  of  the  dissenting  ministers,  few  of  whom 
were  at  this  time  in  the  habit  of  subscribing  to  the 
articles.  Some  had  embraced  a  very  difierent  system 
from  that  which  the  articles  contained,  and  could 
not  with  a  good  conscience  subscribe  what  they  did 
not  believe.  By  many,  who  still  retained  the  belief 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  nonconformists,  an  opinion 
was  entertained  that  the  civil  magistrate  has  no  right 
to  demand  a  subscription  to  any  human  creed  ;  and 
that  to  submit  to  such  a  requisiticoi,  is  to  admit  his 


160  AriSTORY  OF  DISS£NT£RS.  . 

ftiithoHty  in  matters  of  religion.  There  was  a  mor^. 
numerous  class  which  did  not  carry  their  ideas  so 
far  as  to  account  subscription  unlawful ;  but  they 
Considered  it  as  improper  and  ineligible,  .and  were 
pleased  with  the  hopes  of  being  freed  from  what  they 
did  not  approve.  All  these  cordially  united  in  their 
wishes  to  apply  to  parliament  for  relief  from  the  pre- 
sent subscription,  and  to  substitute  in  its  room  a  de-^ 
claration  of  their  belief  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  the 
rule  of  their  faith  and  practiced  The  advocates  for 
subscription  were  but  few. 

In  the  session  of  1772,  a  motion  for  the  relief  of 
protestant  dissenting  ministers  from  subscription  to 
the  articles,  was  made  by  sir  Harry  Houghton,  the 
representative  of  an  old  and  very  respectable  dissent- 
ing family  in  Lancashire,  which  being  seconded  by 
sir  George  Saville,  one  of  the  first  characters  iit 
England,  both  for  personal  and  public  virtue,  leave 
was  given  to  bring,  in  a  bill  to  that  effect.  It  was 
ushered  into  the  house  with  the  most  flattering  ex«* 
pressions  of  approbation.  But  there  is  a  certain 
mania  which  seizes  a  high  church  tory,  whenever  he 
hears  of  any  privilege  or  indulgence  to  be  granted  to 
a  dissenter ;  it  exerted  its  influence  on  the  present 
occasion,  and  it  roused  them  to  speak  against  the  bill 
with  all  their  might, 

^  One  minister,  Mr.  Fell,  an  orthodox  dissenter,  wrote  several 
fmmpbtets  to  prove  that  it  is  utterly  unlawful  to  subscribe,  as  a 
test,  aiiy  confession  or  declaration  whatever,  proposed  or  demandedf 
by  the  ctvil  magistrate.  In  answer  to  men  of  this  sentiment,  Job 
Orton: urged,  "  that  subscribing  is  not  acknowledging  the  magisn 
trate^s  right. in  sacred  matters;  but  only  submitting  to  the  condi^ 
tion  on  which  he  grants  dissenting  nainisters  an  indemnity  from 
civil  offices,  and  the  burdens  which  as  subjects  they  ought  to  bear 
in  common  with  others*"    Ortoa'a  L^ers^  voL  11.  p.  10^ 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  161 

To  free  the  dissenters  from  subscription,  they  said, 
would  fill  the  countrywith  enthusiasm,  absurdity, 
and  error.  When  the  present  wholesome  restraint 
was  removed,  arians,  soeinians,  and  even  deists  would 
deface  and  undermine  the  Christian  religion.  As  the 
application  of  the  clergy,  who  had  a  prior  claim  to 
favour,  was  refused,  certainly  the  dissenters  ought  not 
to  be  gratified  with  an  acquiescence  in  their  wishes. 
It  might  be, called  a  bill  not  for  the  relief  but  for  the 
encouragement  of  dissenters,  by  which  the  church  of 
£ngland  would  be  weakened  and  injured,  and  a 
republican  religion,  at  all  times  a  foe  to  monarchy 
and  episcopacy,  would  be  strengthened  and  cherished. 
The  act  of  toleration  was  designed  for  the  protectioQ 
of  those  who  could  subscribe  the  articles  enjoined ; 
but  those  wfio  now  came  forward  with  their  com- 
plaints, must  be  persons  of  a  different  character,  and 
therefore  not  entitled  to  its  privileges.  The  penalties 
of  the  law,  though  they  hung  over  them  in  terror, 
were  never  enforced  against  those  who  did  not  sub- 
scribe :  why  then  did  they  trouble  the  government, 
from  whose  lenity  they  enjoyed  so  many  blessings? 
To  pass  this  bill  into  a  law,  would  be  to  reward  them 
for  their  disregard  of  the  act  of  toleration. 

The  reasoning  of  the  friends  of  the  bill  easily  dis- 
pelled the  airy  sophisms  of  their  opponents ;  and  more 
effectually  to  confirm  their  arguments  in  favour  of 
religious  liberty,  they  adduced  facts.  In  neither 
ScottaQd  nor  Ireland  is  subscription  required  of  any 
of  the  sects  which  dissent  from  the  churches  estabi 
lished  in  those  countries;  and  yet  not  one  injurious 
consequence  has  arisen  from  the  enjoyment  of  their 
liberty.  The  weight  of  these  considerations  was  felt 
by  the  house,  the  bill  passed  with  a  general  concur- 

VOL.   IV.  M 


1&2  HISTORY   OF   DISSENT£R8tf 

rtfnce,  and  could  eveti  boast  of  the  approbalior),  of  al 
least  the  acquiescence  of  the  minister. 

From  the  lords  it  met  with  a  very  differeat 
reception*  The  bishops,  those  vigilant  guardians  of 
the  church,  ever  anxious  for  its  safety^ and  tremblingly 
alive  to  all  its  concerns,  thought  that  they  descried 
danger  in  the  bill,  and  summoning  up  the  powers  of 
their  eloquence,  gave  it  the  most  decided  opposition. 
That  deference,  which  the  British  nobility  may  be 
expected  to  feel  for  their  spiritual  guides  in  matters  of 
religion,  so  as  to  be  a  fair  pattern  to  their  inferiors, 
was  felt  on  this  occasion  ;  for  when  the  vote  was 
called  for,  the  bill  was  thrown  out  by  a  hundred  add 
two  against  twenty-nine. 

Not  driven  to  despair  by  the  frowns  of  the  epis- 
copal bench,  the  dissenters  determined  to  make  a 
second  attempt,  and  in  the  following  year  (1773)  the 
bill  was  again  introduced,  and  passed  the  coolmons 
with  substantial  marks  of  approbation.  But  when  it 
was  carried  to  the  lords,  the  former  opposition  was 
renewed,  and  with  equal  effect,  for  it  was.  again- 
thrown  out.  In  the  course  of  the  debate.  Dr.  Drum- 
mond,  archbishop  of  York,  feelipg  all  the  spirit  of  bis 
order,  attacked  the  dissenting  ministers  with  singular 
violence,  and  charged  them  with  being  men  of  close 
ambition.  They  had,  however,  the  happiness  to  find 
an  advocate  in  the  great  earl  of  Chatham,  who  arose 
in  reply,  and  spoke  in  the  following  terms*  ^'  Thisia 
judging  uncharitably,  and  whoever  brings  such  a 
charge  without  proof,  defames.'*  Here  he  paused  for 
a  moment,  and  then  proceeded ;  "  The  dissenting 
ministers  are  represented  as  men  of  close  ambition^ 
they  are  so,  my  lords  ;  and  their  ambition  is  to  keep 
close  to  the  college  of  fishermen,  not  of  cardinals  ; 


8TAT£   OP   RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  168 

and  to  the  doctrine  of  inspired  apostles,  not  to  the 
.decrees  of  interested  and  aspiring  bishops.  They 
contend  for  a  spiritual  creed  and  spiritual  worship ; 
we  have  a  calvinistic  creed,  a  popish  liturgy,  and 
an  arminian  clergy.  The  reformation  has  laid  open 
the  Scriptures  to  all ;  let  not  the  bishops  shut 
them  again.  Laws  in  support  of  ecclesiastical  power 
are  pleaded^  which  it  would  shock  humanity  to 
execute.  It  is  said  that  religious  sects  have  done 
great  mischief  when  they  were  not  kept  under 
restraint :  but  history  affords  no  proof  that  sects  have 
ever  been  mischievous,  when  they  were  not  oppressed 
and  persecuted  by  the  ruling  church.?' 

A  multitude  of  pamphlets  issued  from  the  press  on 
the  occasion,  and  both  the  friends  and  foes  of  sub- 
scription told  their  tale,  and  uttered  their  wishes, 
their  hopes,  and  their  complaints.  Israel  Mauduit, 
Dr.  Furneaux,  Dr.  Kippis,  Mr.  Radcliff^  and  others 
in  the  new  scheme  of  doctrines ;  Dr^  Stennett,  Dn 
Gibbons,  Mr.  Hitchin,  and  Mr.  Fell  among  the  ortho- 
dox ;  dean  Tucker,  Dr.  Butler,  and  tome  anonymous 
writers  in  the  establishment,  all  contended  in  this 
field  of  controversy  :  some  on  each  side  with  ability 
and  temper,  and  others  with  heat  equal  at  least  to 
their  lights 

Those  ministers,  whose  sentiments  were  hostile  to 

^  See  the  Case  of  the  Dissentiug  Miuisters  by  Israel  Mauduit. 
Dr»  Kippis's  YiDdication  of  the  Dissenting  Ministers.  Radcliff's 
Sermon  occasioned  by  th«  Denial  of  Relief  respecting  Subscription. 
Candid  Thoughts,  &c.  by  an  orthodox  dissenter.  Objections 
against  the  Applications  considered,  by  Thomas  Gibbons.  Remarks 
on  the  Postcript  to  Mr,  Mauduit's  Case,  &c.  by  a  firm  friend  to  , 
tratb,  &c.  A  free  and  dispassionate  Account  of  the  late  Application, 
kc»  by  Samuel  Stennett* 

M  2 


164  -    HISTORY    OF    DISSENTERS. 

\ 

0 

tlie  doctrine  of  the  articles,  were  among  the  first  to 
engage  in   the  business,  and  in  the  beginning,  the 
most  active.     Such,  indeed,  was  their  ardour,  that 
they  .were,  accused  of  acting  with   imprudent  and 
indecent  haste.     The  meeting  of  the  L#ondon  minis"^ 
ters,   it  was  said,  was  fixed  on  so  early  a  day,  that 
many  had  not  timely  notice:  and  when  they  assembled 
the  business  was  so  intemperately  hurried  on   and 
concluded,  that  some   who  came  a  little  too  late, 
found  every   thing  settled:    nor  were  the  country 
ministers  consulted,  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  nor 
their  consent  obtained.     They  were  justly  blamed 
too  for  the  strain  of  their  pamphlets,  in  which  they 
rendered  prominent  their  peculiar  notions  in  theology; 
and  instead  of  going  on  those  broad  grounds,  whicli 
were  common  to  all  as  dissenters,  they  spoke  dis* 
respectfully  of  the  ancient  nonconformists,  as  men 
groping  in  the  dark,  while  they  extolled  themselves 
?md  their  fellows  as  unspeakably  superior  in  biblic* 
knowledge,  in  clearer  views^of  truth,  and  in  improve* 
ments  without  number.     But  had  they  not  asserted 
this,  and  had  they  left  us  to  judge  from  their  dis- 
courses and  their  writings,  no  one  would  ever  have 
made  the  disciovery ;  nor  have  supposed  that  Baxter 
and  Howe,  Bates  and  Owen  were  in   the  smallest 
danger  of  being  eclipsed  by   these  panegyrists  of 
themselves. 

Greater  commendation,  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
business,  is  due  to  that  more  numerous  body  aniong 
the  ministers  who  had  no  quarrel  with  the  doctrine 
in  the  articles,  but  who  preferred  a  declaration  of 
their  belief  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  While  they 
considered  arian  andsocinian  sentiments  as  diametri* 
caliy  opposite  to  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  yet 


SXXTE   OF    RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY.  165 

because  they  were  friends  to  universal  liberty  of  con«- 
science,  and  would  not  have  truth  defended  by. per- 
secuting statutes  and  the  magistrate's  sword,  they 
were  desirous  of  lending  their  aid  to  free  the  oien  who 
had  embraced  these  errors  from  the  penalties  to  which 
they  were  exposed. 

Some  of  the  dissenting  ministers  opposed  the 
application  to  parliament,  because  the  relief  was 
desired  by  men  who  opposed  the  truth,  and  wished 
to  oppose  it  stUl  more  openly,  whom  therefore  they 
could  not  conscientiously  encourage  by  their  appro- 
bation, or  even  by  their  silence.  Whatever  praise 
may  be  due  to  the  good  intentions  of  suclrmeq  ;  oa 
the  liberal  principles  of  general  liberty  and  the  rights 
of  conscience,  their  conduct  must  be  left  to.be  vin-  , 
dicated  by  themselves  :  we  will  not  be  their  advocates. 

More  may  be  urged  in  defence  of  another  class  ai 
/''lisenting  ministers,  who  said  to  the  arians  and 
Wocinian  teachers :  "  we  feel  no  grievance  in  thp 
toleration  act.  If  you  do,  go  and  apply  for  relief; 
but  do  it  in  your  name  and  not  in  ours :  we  will 
not  oppose  you,  but  we  will  not  patronize  your  cause, 
because  we  think  your  religious  principles  dangerous 
to  the  souls  of  men/'  Such  was  the  reasoning  of 
Mr.  Hitchin's  pamphlet.  Indeed  jn  the^v^riou^ 
writings  published  on  this  subject,  this  orthodox  dia^ 
play  a  great  superiority  of  temper  and  moderation  to 
those  who  had  embraced  the  arian  and.socinian  creed. 
To  be  convinced  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  com- 
pare the  pamphlets  of  Hitchin,  Gibbons,  and.Sten- 
nett  with  those  of  Mauduit,  and  Radcliff,  and  sooie 
others  of  that  class.  ^    '• 

After  repeated  applications  for'  relief,  rendered  vain 
by  an  opposition  so  formidable  aad  sp  decidedi  the 

M  3 


166  HISTOI^Y   OF   DISSENTERS. 

cause  ^eeraed  to  be  set  for  ever  at  rest,  at  least  till  all 
tho^e  bishops  and  nobles  had  slept  with  their  preder 
cessors  an^  their  fathers.  But  the  determinations  of 
the  British  peers  are  not  like  the  laws  of  the  Medes 
and  Persians  which  cannot  be  altered.  In  the  space 
of  a  few  years,  some  things  occurred  which  made  it 
appear  diecent  and  proper  that  the  dissenting  ministers 
should  obtain  what  they  had  so  earnestly  desired^ 
and  had  been  so  peremptorily  refused.  Acordingly  in  ^ 
period  not  farther  distant  than  1779,  the  subject  was 
again  brought  forward  ;  and,  on  the  motion  of  sir 
Marry  Houghton,  a  bill  was  introduced,  and  passed 
Dot  only  {the  commons,  but  the  lords  also,  with  a^ 
opposition  so  feeble  as  not  to  be  worthy  of  being 
named.  The  daitgers  to  the  church  and  to  the  state, 
which,  six'  years  ago,  were  so  formidable  if  the  dis- 
senters did  not  subscribe  thirty-five  articles  and  a 
half,  now  all  vanished,  and  the  noncons  might  with 
perfect  safety  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  consti- 
tution of  England,  put  their  name  to  the  following 
declaration  :  "I,  A.  B.  do  solemnly  declare  in  the 
presence  of  Almighty  God  that  I  am  a  Christian  and 
A  protesfant,  and  as  such,  that  I  believe  that  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  com- 
fnonly  received  among  protestant  churches,  do  con- 
tain the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  that  I  do  receive 
the  same  as  the  rule  of  my  doctrine  and  practice." 

In  the  debates  of  the  upper  bouse,  the  very  liberal 
fentiments  of  Dr.  Shipley,  bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  the 
friend  and  disciple  of  Hoadly,  are  alone  worthy  of  a 
place  in  the  records  pf  history*  He  argued  strenu- 
ously against  the  imposition  of  every  confession  of 
ftith*,  however  brief  and  general  and  true.  *'  It  is,^' 
said  he,  *^  the  duty  of  magistrates,  at  is,  indeed,  the 


STATK   OF  RSLIGIOUS   LIBEBTY.  167 

very  end  of  magistrates  to  protect  all  men  ia  the 
enjoyment  of  their  natura)  rights,  of  which  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion  is  one  of  the  first  and  hest. 
All  history  is  full  of  the  mischiefs  occasioned  by  the 
want  of  toleration.  One  might  naturally  ask  a  mini- 
ster of  state  for  a  good  pension,  or  a  good  contract, 
or  a  place  at  court ;  but  hardly  any  one  would  think 
of  making  interest  wUh  him  for  a  place  In,  heaven/' 

In  the  history  of  religious  liberty  to  be  able  to 
record  a  victory  in  favour  of  Roman  catholics, 
must  be  peculiarly  grateful  to  every  enlightene^jl 
protestant.  Though  the  English  language  is  allowed 
to  excel  in  copiousness  and  force  of  expression,  it 
has  no  terms  to  describe  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of 
the  English  government  to  that  body  of  people,  from 
the  accession  of  qyeep  Elizabeth  (P  the  present  reign. 
Wp  have  our  book  of  martyrs,  in  wbi^ch  thieir  i^uffer- 
ings  unto  death  by  Roman  Catholics  are  partical^ly 
affectingly  detailed,  but  few  are  informed  that  Roman 
catholics  have  their  book  of  martyrs  too,  and  almost 
as  loqg  and  as  bloody,  in  which  Euj^lii^h  pro^estant? 
were  the  executioners*. 

^  It  will  draw  tears  froip  the  eyes  of  every  enlightened  professor 
of  the  reformed  religion  to  read  the  following  list;  which  is  bnt  a 
part  of  the  Romish  martyrology  in  England. 

Cuthbert  Maype  was  executed  at  lyaunpeston,  in  Comwal,  in 

1579. 

Edmund  Campion,  educated  at  Christ^s  Hospital,  and  afterwards 
at  Oxford ;  became  a  cpnvertto  the  Romish  religion  and  retired  to 
DoUay.  He  returned  tp  EnglancI  as  a  missionary,  and  w(|e 
considered  as  a  dangerous  enemy  of  the  established  church«  He 
was  executed  at  Tyburn,  December  1, 1581  • 

Alexander  Briant,  born  in  Son|erBet8hire,'8tudied  nt  Oxford,  on 
embracing  the  religion  of  Rome  he  went  to  Douay ;  came  back  tb 
England  as  i  missionaryt  was  imprisoned  in  the  towers  andi  cruelly 

M  4 


168  h;istory  of  dissenters* 

To  the  present  generation  it  was  reserved  as  an 
honour  to  decree  that  the  persecuting  statutes  againBt 
the  members  of  the  church  of  Rome,  which  would 
have  disgraced  the  code  of  Nero,  and  which  bad  so 

treated  there  by  thrusting  needles  under  the  omls  of  his  finders  to 
force  him  to  a  discovery  of  what  was  acting  abroad  in  relation  to 
the  English  government.  He  was  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered 
December  1,  1581. 

Thomas  Cottaro,  born  in  Lancashire,  studied  at  Oxford,  became 
a  convert  to  Rome,  and  went  to  Rheims.  He  was  sent  on  a  mi»* 
iion  to  England,  but  was  apprehended  soon  after  his  laadibg.  He 
vbight  have  espaped,  but  would  not  involve  his  friends  in  danger* 
While  in  prison  he  was  several  times  put  to  the  torture^  but  made 
no  confession.  He  was  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  with  several 
of  his  brethren  at  Tyburn,  May  30, 1582. 

Edmund  Jennings,  educated  at  Rheiros  under  Cardinal  Allen; 
came  to  Esigland  ^s  a  missionary ;  was  apprehended  in  the  act  of 
celebrating  mass.  He  was  executed  by  hanging,  drawing,  and 
quartering,  in  Gray's-inn-fields,  October  10,  1591. 

Roger  Filcock  and  Mark  Back  worth  were  executed  in  the  same 
Way,  and  for  the  same  cause,  at  Tyburn,  February  27,  l60l ;  and 
n^ith  them  Mrs.  Anne  Line,  for  harbouring  and  assisting  mission- 
aries, 

Dominic  Collins,  an  Irishman,  was  executed  in  the  same  way 
fpr  the  catholic  fiith,  at  Cork,  October  31,  l602. 

Edmund  Arrowsmith,  of  Lancashire,  suffered  in  the  same  way 
for  being  a  priest  and  for  making  proselytes,  August  28,  l628« 
ilmbrose  Barlow  for  his  diligence  and  activity  as  a  missionary,  at 
Lancaster,  September  10,  l641.  Thomas  Bullaker,  a  franciscan 
friar  and  missionary,  for  his  zeal  and  industry  in  his  office  as  a 
missionary,  October  15,  l642.  Thomas  Holland  by  the  puritans, 
because  he  was  a  priest,  October  22,  1642.  Henry  Heath  for 
being  a  priest».  at  London,  April  27>  1643  :  his  head  was  placed 
on  London  Bridge  and  his  quarters  on  the  city  gates,  Francis 
Bell,  October  11,  l643,  Rodolph  Corbie,  Decembei  7,  l644. 
Thomas  Coleman,  died  in  prison  fur  his  religion,  1644.  Henry 
Morse,  executed  for  the  Romish  faith,  at  London,  July  1,  l645, 
•od  many  others.  See  Grainger*8  Biographical  History  from 
pod'i  Ch.  History, 


STATC   OF   RELIGIOUS  LIBEftTY.  160 

long  been  allowed  to  form  a  part  of  ours,  were  a 
national  injustice  and  a  national  infamy;  and  to 
erase  them  from  the  volumes  of  the  English  laws. 
Who  can  read  without  horror,  that  by  act8X>f  parlia- 
ment ^'  popish  priests  and  Jesuits  found  officiating  in 
the  services  of  their  church  were  declared  guilty  of 
felony  ?  If  a  Roman  catholic  gentleman  was  edncated 
abroad,  the  estate  was  forfeited  to  the  next  protestant 
heir.  A  son  who  became  a  protestant,  might  strip 
his  father,  if  a  Roman  catholic,  of  his  estate,  smd  take 
possession  of  it  for  himself:  and  papists  were  de- 
clared incapable  of  acquiring  real  property  by  pur- 
chase." To  that  virtuous  senator  sir  George  Saville 
was  reserved  the  glory  of  proposing  to  the  house  of 
commons  a  repeal  of  these  horrid  statutes ;  and  he 
prefaced  his  proposal  in  the  following  terms.  "  I 
mean  to  vindicate  the  honour  and  assert  the  princi- 
ples of  the  protestant  religion,  to  which  all  persecu- 
tion is  foreign  and  adverse.  The  penalties  in  ques- 
tion are  disgraceful  not  only  to  religion  but  to  huma- 
nity. They  are  calculated  to  loosen  all  the  bands  of 
society,  to  dissolve  all  social,  moral,  and  religious 
obligations  and  duties,  to  poison  the  sources  of 
domestic  felicity,  and  to  annihilate  every  principle  of 
honour. '^  The  motion  received  the  unanimoujs  ap- 
probation of  the  house.  The  peers  concurred  in 
sentiments  with  the  commons ;  and  these  inhuman 
laws  were  erased  from  the  statute  book  of  England. 

Were  mankind  governed  by  reason  and  religion, 
this  act  of  parliament  for  the  relief  of  the  Roman 
catholics  from  some  of  their  heaviest  penalties,  must 
have  given  universal  satisfection.  But  inveterate 
prejudices,  which  have  in  almost  every  age  beea 
cherished  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rulers,  set  reason 


170  HISTORY  OF   DISfl|ENT£E8* 

at  defiance  and  act  in  opposition  to  her  plainest  dicr 
tates.  In  England.the  law  was  allowed  to  take  its 
course;  but  the  Scotch,  among  whom  hatred  of 
popery  was  one  of  the  leading  features  of  national 
character,  were  enraged  at  the  idea  of  any  relief  being 
granted  to  papists,  and.  any  countenance  given,  as 
they  thought,  to  popery.  Tumults  took  place  in  the 
chief  cities  of  Scotland,  Roman  catholic  chapels  were 
destroyed,  apd  the  houses  of  some  of  the  principal 
persons  in  that  communion  attacked  and  injured^ 
To  secure  the  continuance  of  these  persecuting  sta« 
tutes,  they  formed  themselves  into  a  society  called 
^*  the  Protestant  Association,^' and  chose  lord  George 
Gordon,  a  younger  son  of  the  duke  of  Gordon,  for 
their  president;  a  man  of  so  ambiguous  a  character, 
that  whether  he  was  sane  or  deranged,  whether  weak 
or  wicked,  whether  an  enthusiast  or  a  deceiver  is  stiU 
in  dispute. 

By  the  influence  of  Scotch  zealots  the  spirit  ex^ 
tended  to  England;  and  a  protestant  association, 
which  could  boast  of  very  numerous  members,  was 
formed  in  London,  with  a  view  to  procure  the  repeal 
of  the  obnoxious  act,  and  to  subject  papists  again  to 
the  iron  scourge  of  the  unrighteous  laws.  Zeal 
against  an  obnoxious  sect  is,  perhaps,  the  most  easily 
kindled,  continued,  and  diffused.  It  requires  the 
mortification  of  no  evil  disposition,  and  allows  the 
most  hateful  passions  of  the  heart  to  take  their  full 
swing  and  exert  all  their  fury;  no  wonder  that  the 
association  soon  grew  to  an  enormous  size.  It  wag 
then  determined  to  apply  for  a  repeal  of  the  act  of 
177S :  and  a  petition  to  parliament  was  prepared,  and 
signed  by  the  names  and  marks,  it  is  said,  of  an 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  p^rsonst  who  imagined 


STATE  Of*  RSUGIOUS   LIBIATY*  171 

they  were  defending  the  protestant  religion,  and  doing 
God  service.  This  petition  lord  George  Gordon  was 
requested  to  present  to  the  house  of  Commons,  of 
which  he  was  a  member ;  but  he  made  it  the  condi- 
tion of  his  compliance,  that  he  should  be  attended 
by  twenty  thousand  of  the  men  who  were  enrolled  in 
the  lists  of  the  association. 

On  the  second  day  of  June,  1780,  they  a8sem<« 
bled  in  St.  George's-fields,  to  the  number,  it  is  sup<s 
posed,  of  fifty  thousand;  Scotch  and  English  in 
distinct  bodies,  carrying  their  ensigns  of  zeal ;  and 
with  their  president  at  their  head,  they  marched  in 
regular  divisions  to  the  house  of  commons*  Their 
petition  was  presented,  and  whil^  it  was  the  subject 
bf  debate,  a  multitude  of  the  petitioners  remained 
without,  who  throwing  aside  by  degrees  the  restraints 
of  duty  began  to  insult  the  members  of  parliament 
on  the  way  to  their  respective  houses,  conipelling 
them  to  cry  ^^  no  popery ,^^  and  to  wear  blue  cockades* 
To  still  greater  excesses  they  were  stimulated  by  the 
conduct  of  their  noble  president,  who  frequently 
came  out  to  them  during  the  debate,  and  addressed 
them  in  very  intemperate  language,  and  at  last  told 
them  that  the  people  of  Scotland  obtained  no  redress 
till  they  pulled  down  the  popish  chapels.  Influenced 
most  probably  by  this  information,  they  proceeded  in 
the  same  evening  to  the  demolition  of  two  of  their 
most  celebrated  places  of  worship. 

During  almost  a  week  from  this  time  the  metro- 
polis was  the  scene  of  tumult  and  devastation,  other 
Romish  chapels  were  destroyed,  and  the  dwellings  of 
many  catholics  injured  and  stripped.  The  prison  of 
Newgate,  in  which  some  of  their  leaders  were  con,* 
fined,  was  attacked  and  burnt,  and  several  other  jails 


173  HISTORY    OF   DISSENTERS, 

s|fterivards  shared  the  same  fate.  The  hotises  of  lord 
Mansfield  and  sir  George  Saville  were  demolished ; 
the  destruction  of  many  others  followed;  and  a  furi- 
ous mob  was  extending  its  destructive  steps  far  and 
^ide,  when  to  supply  the  defects  of  exertion  by  the 
civil  magistrate,  the  entrance  of  a  military  body  put 
a  speedy  stop  to  their  ravages,  and  restored  tranquility 
to  the  terrified  inhabitants  of  London. 

The  actors  in  these  various  scenes  were  different. 
In  the  outrages  of  the  evening  after  the  petition  was 
presented,  some  of  lord  George  Gordon's  followers 
were  concerned ;  but  few,  if  any,  in  those  of  the 
following  days.  A  new  class  of  men  gradually  rose 
up  in  their  place,  till  at  last  the  refuse  of  the  metro* 
polls,  intent  only  on  plunder  and  mischief,  concluded 
the  tragic  drama. 

Of  whom  the  protestant  association  was  formed,  it 
is  natural  to  inquire.  When  even  at  the  present  time 
pei^ons  of  the  highest  rank,  both  in  church  and  state, 
are  eager  that  Roman  catholics  should  not  stand  on 
the  same  level  with  protestants,  and  account  a  differ- 
tence  of  religion  a  just  cause  of  political  degrada* 
tion,  it  cannot  be  thought  strange  that  thirty  years 
ago  plain  men  in  the  middle  and  chiefly  in  the  inferior 
classes  should  have  been  imbued  with  a  larger  por* 
tion  of  the  spirit  of  bigotry.  They  were  collected 
from  different  religious^  denominations  :  the  church 
furnished  its  full  share :  many  were  of  the  two 
tribes  of  methodists,  who  had  just  come  out  of  the 
church,  and  still  claimed  a  nearer  relation  to  it  than 
to  the  nonconformists:  the  Scotch  furnished  a  nu-? 
inerous  band:  of  regular  dissenters  there  was  the 
smallest  number.  Neither  administer,  nor  a  layman  of 
of  dote  was  to  b^  found  among  them;  nor  need  this 


STATE    OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBERT Y«  173 

appear  strange ;  for  the  doctrine  of  religious  liberty 
was  better  understood  among  them,  than  in  any 
other  body  of  Christians  in  the  country,  or  perhaps 
in  the  world.  It  had  been  the  object  of  consideration 
for  more  than  a  century,  and  was  become  a  vfixed  and 
governing  principle  in  their  minds.  To  prevent  any 
sect  of  people,  however  erroneous  their  opinions, 
from  vTjrshipping  God  according  to^  their  consci- 
ence, appeared  to  the  generality  as  unjust  as  to  rob 
them  of  their  property,  and  conclude  the  injury 
by  the  murder  of  the  proprietors.  From  these  acts 
of  violence  and  outrage  it  is  seen  how  dangerous  are 
false  principles ;  and  how  many  evils  will  be  avoided 
by  an^  enlightened  mind  acting  under  the  influence 
of  the  principles  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  midst  of  the  scenes  of  riot  in  the  metro-^ 
polis,  the  house  of  commons  was  proceeding  on  the 
appointed  day,  the  sixth  of  June,  to  consider  the 
merits  of  the  petition  ;  but  being  interrupted  in  their 
debates  by  the  noise  and  violence  of  the  mob,  they 
adjourned :  the  subject  was  never  afterwards  resum- 
ed, and  the  act  of  1778  happily  continued  in  force. 

As  the  deliverance  of  the  Roman  catholics  from 
the  operation  of  persecuting  statutes  was  but  imper- 
fect, in  1791  a  bill  was  brought  into  the  house  of 
commons  to  grant  them  relief  from  those  which  still 
remained  unrepealed.  The  benefit  was  however 
limited  to  such  of  the  body  as  could  subscribe  a  de- 
claration against  the  assumed  authority  of  the  pope 
as  to  temporals.  Mr.  Fox  pleaded  with  all  hid  force 
of  argument,  that  the  limitation  might  be  expunged, 
and  liberty  granted  on  the  broadest  basis.  He  v^as 
supported  by  Mr.  Burke,  whose  liberality  for  their 
religious  opinions,  and  eloquence  in  behalf  of  those 


174  HISTDRT  OF    DISS£NTERS. 

who  held  them,  never  forsook  him  to  the  end  of  his 
career  when  Roman  catholics  had  any  thing  to  ask 
or  to  receive.  Mr.  Pitt  argued  for  the  limitation ; 
and  *h\s  voice  prevailed.  As  many  of  the  catholics 
could  not  conscientiously  assent  td  the  declaration, 
they  were  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  the  act. 

Some  years  after  the  first  success  of  the  catholics, 
a  subject  which  had  long  preyed  on  the  minds  of  the 
dissenters  was  brought  forward  to  public  notice.  The 
corporation  and  test  acts  had,  from  the  revolution, 
been  felt  as  burdens  of  oppressive  weight,  and  a  con- 
stant desire  of  deliverance  had  been  expressed.  But 
the  spirit  of  the  times  would  not  admit  of  applica- 
tion for  relief.  In  1731  they  were  anxious,  to  lay 
their  complaints  before  parliament ;  and  the  subject 
was  agitated  by  the  body  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  ardour^  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  the  minister  of  that 
day,  while  he  expressed  binjiself  favourable  to  their 
cause,  ui^ed  with  all  his  energy  the  postponement 
of  the  petition,  as  it  would  rouse  that  spirit  of  tory- 
ism  which  then  raged  with  peculiar  fury  among  the 
clergy;  and  they  would  inflame  the  multitude  not 
only  against  the  dissenters  but  also  against  the  go- 
vernment. On  these  considerations  their  application 
to  parliament  at  that  time  was  deferred,  and  when 
afterwards  made,  in  1736  and  1739,  proved  unsuc- 
cessful. 

During  a  period  of  almost  forty  years,  which  intro- 
duced into  public  life  an  entirely  new  generation  of 
men,  the  public  mind,  as  the  dissenters  thought,  was 

'  See  Narrative  of  the  Proceiedings  of  the  Protestant  Dissentera 
relating  to  the  Repeal  of  the  Corporation  and  Test  Act*  from  1731 
IP  the  presoot  Timei  1734t 


STATE   OF  RELIGIOUS   LlBBKTY.  lU 

tindergoing  a  gradual  melioration  in  the  principles  of 
religious  liberty ;  and^  the  day  was  arrived  when 
those  fetters,  which,  for  more  than  a  century,  had  not 
only  confined,  but  degraded  them  in  the  eyes  of  their 
feilow  subjects,  would  be  completely  broken  off,  and 
thrown  away,  or  hung  up  by  them  in  triumph,  as 
memorials  of  their  deliverance.  The  success,  with 
which  their  attempt  to  obtain  freedom  from  subscrip^* 
tion  had  been  finally  crowned,  animated  them  with 
the  hopes  of  a  similar  issue  in  the  present  business. 
The  kind  dispositions  too,  which  had  been  displayed 
to  the  Roman  catholics,  in  breaking  down  a  system 
of  restrictions  which  had  subsisted  for  centuries,  still 
farther  confirmed  them  in  the  opinion,  that  an  into- 
lerant spirit  had  departed  from  all  the  intelligent  ranks 
in  society,  and  was  becoming  feeble  in  the  minds  of 
the  lowest  vulgar.  These  expectations  of  success 
were  still  more  confirmed  by  the  conversation  which 
those  of  the  dissenting  body,  who  had  waited  on  the 
premier  Mr.  Pitt,  detailed  to  their  friends.  "  He  di<) 
not,^^  they  said,^^  patronize  their  cause;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  he  discovered  no  hostility  to  the  steps 
which  they  proposed  to  take. 

With  such  flattering  prospects,  the  dissenters,  *in 
17S7,  applied  to  parliament  for  the  repeal  of  the  cor- 
poration and  test  act,  so  fs^r  as  related  to  them.  Mr. 
Beaufoy,  a  man  of  considerable  talents  and  respecta- 
bility, introduced  the  subject  to  the  house  of  com- 
mons, and  supported  his  motion  by  an  able  speech, 
in  which,  after  giving  an  historical  account  of  the  two 
acts,  and  answering  the  objections  usually  adduced 
of  the  protection  they  afford  to  church  and  state,  he 
powerfully  urged  the  claims  of  the  dissenters  to  equal 
civil  privileges  with  their  other  protesttnt  fellovt 


176  HISXOBY   OF   DI8S£NTERS. 

subjects ;  and  in  conclusion  he  argued  for  the  repeal 
from  considerations  of  a  purely  religious  nature.  The 
motion  found  an  opponent  in  lord  North,  who  painted 
in  glowing  colours  the  danger  t6  the  church  from  this 
proposed  innovation  ;  and  insisted  that  the  corporation 
and  test  acts  were  merely  political  regulations,  and 
that  the  exclusion  of  dissenters  from  offices  of  trust 
could  not  be  considered  either  as  an  injury  or  disgrace* 
"With  far  greater  ability,  the  acts  complained  of  were 
(defended  by  Mr.  Pitt  who,  while  he  expressed  the 
highest  esteem  for  the  dissenters  who  had  ever  been 
the  friends  of  constitutional  liberty,  said  he  could 
not  consent  to  the  repeal  of  the  acts  which  were 
obnoxious  to  them.  They  enjoyed,  hesaid,  every  reli- 
gious privilege  ;  but  offices  of  honour  and  trust  must 
lie  at  the  disposal  of  the  state  for  such  as  were  politi-* 
cally  qualified  to  enjoy  them.  Mr.. Fox  supported  the 
Qiotion  of  Mr.  Beaufoy,  and  though,  as  he  observed, 
the  generality  of  the  dissenters  had  been  his  opponents 
in  his  struggle  with  Mr.  Pitt,  yet  as  their  cause  was 
the  cause  of  liberty,  it  should  have  his  most  strenuous 
aid.  In  the  course  of  his  speech,  he  demonstrated 
the  impropriety  of  making  religion  a  test  in  political 
affairs ;  and  he  charged  Mr.  Pitt  with  abetting  per- 
secution in  principle,  though  he  declined  to  defend  it 
in  words*  On  a  division,  a  hundred  members  voted 
in  favour  of  Mr.  Beaufoy^s  motion,  and  a  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  against  it.. 

^  Not  discouraged  by  this  refusal,  the  dissenters 
made  a  second  attempt  in  1789,  and  Mr.  Beaufoy 
again  appeared  as  their  advocate  in  the  house  of 
commons.  Lord  JN^orth  and  Mr.  Pitt  were  again  the 
opponents  of  the  repeal ;  and  Mr.  Fox,  reasoning  on 
general  principles,  pleaded  most  powerfully  for  the 


STATE   at   E£LIGIOtJB  LIBERTY.  17t 

tromoval  of  th^se  impolitic  acts^  which  prevented  the 
country  from  profiting^by  the  talents  of  meti  of  every 
denomination  ih  her  support.    The  result  of  the  de* 
bate  was  more  favourable  to  the  dissenters  than  on  the 
former  occasion :  one  hundred  and  two  members  voted 
for  tfac^  repeal,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  for 
the  dohtinuance  of  the  acts.    This  decision  seemed  to 
the  dissenters  to  be  half  a  victory,  and  inspired  them 
with  still  livelier  hopes  of  success  on  a  future  applica^ 
tion^  which  it  was  their  determination  soon  to  maket. 
Hitherto    the  conducting    of  the    business   had 
been  left  to  the  select  friends  of  the  cause  in  the  me* 
tropolis.     The  dissenters  in  the  dountry  were  spec* 
tators  merely  of  the  proceedings  and  the  event;  and 
it  would  have  been  well  if  they  had  continued  in  that 
state  to  the  end,  for  their  interference  proved  a  seri- 
ous injury.     Let  it,  however,  be  considered,  that  it  is 
easy  even  for  a  simpleton  to  look  back  at  the  con« 
elusion  of  ah  affair  of  magnitude,  and  to  point  out 
mistakes  which  were  committed,  obstacles  which 
retarded,  and  fatal  steps  which  prevented  the  busi- 
ness from  being  brought  to  a  favourable  issue.    But 
however   sagacious  this  may   appear,  perhaps   th^, 
wisest  men  who  undertook  the  management  at  the 
beginning,    and  conducted  it  through    its  various 
stages,  were  utterly  unable  to  foresee  the  evil  con- 
sequences which  would  result  from  their  measures, 
or  binder  them  from  taking  effect. 

When  the  subject  was  brought  the  second  time 
before  the  house  of  commons,  it  was  observed  by 
some  of  the  members  that  only  a'  few  people  in 
London  came  forward  with  their  complaints;  but  that 
the  dissenters  in  the  country  did  not  interest  them* 

s  See  Debates  in  the  House  of  Commons,  &c.  1789* 
TOL,    IV.  N 


178  HISTORY   OF    DJfi8£NT£R8. 

selves  with 'the  matter,  because  they  had  not  taken 
any  steps  to  testify  their  concurrence  and  approbation, 
or  their  desire  of  a  change*     To  repel  this  objection, 
and  to  convince  parliament  that  it  was  a  subject  of 
universal  concern  with  the  dissenters,  meetings  in 
the  different  counties  were  held,   and  resolutions 
entered  into  which  were  published  in  the  vehicles  of 
the  day.     Some  of  these  were  exceedingly  defective 
in  that  temperate  language  which  is  so  important  in 
affairs  of  this  nature ;  but  the  accusation  could  not 
be  brought  against  the  general  mass  of  their  assem- 
blies.    To  make  the  public  still  more  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  their  claims,  pamphlets  were  pub- 
lished, which  stated  the  reasons  of  the  dissenters  fo^ 
desiring  the  repeal  of  these  obnoxious  acts ;  and  to 
these  as  to  their  strain  and  wisdom  and  moderation^ 
the  same  observations  are  applicable  as  to  the  reso* 
lutions^ 

.  If  in  these  things  the  dissenters  may  be  conceived 
to  have  acted  unwisely,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  it 
was  discovered  from  events  and  from  effects  which 
it  was  not  possible  to  foresee.  When  the  question 
of  freedom  from  -subscription  was  in  agitation,  the 
public  mind  betrayed  no  symptoms  of  dislike :  and 
when  the  Roman  catholics  received  their  boon,  with 
the  exception  of  some  ardent  minds  in  Limdon  ex- 
cited  by  foreign  influence,  the  mass  of  the  people 
iillowed  them  to  receive  and  to  enjoy  it  without 
tnolestatibn.  From  these  prediises  they  concluded 
that  a  spirit  of  liberality  was  diffused  through  the 

^  An  immeDse  mass  of  pamphlets  was  poared  from  the  pr.9BS  dn 
the  subject  of  the  repeal  of  the  corporation  and  test  acts,  by  S* 
Palmer,  Priest1ey»  Pearce,  Capel  Lofft,  Walker,  a  Laymaih  ^ 
iDi^ent^r,  a  ChnrcImiaD,  and  many  others. 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  17D 

various  ranks  in  the  community,  and  that  neither 
clergy  nor  laity,  neither  the  government  nor  the 
people  would  exert  themselves  to  prevent  their  at- 
tainment of  the  privilege  which  they  now  sought. 
Such  were  the  ideas  of  the  dissenters  in  general* 
But  they  were  soon  convinced  that  they  were 
wrong.  Counter  meetings  and  resolutions  and 
pamphlets,  many  of  them  with  sufficient  acrimony, 
made  them  deeply  and  painfully  sensible  that  the  old 
spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance  was  not  dead,  as  they 
supposed,  but  had  only  slept. 

In  addition  to  thes^  marks  of  opposition,  events 
had  occurred  in  the  political  world  which  rendered 
the  prospects  of  success  far  less  favourable  than  be« 
fore.  But  after  making  such  preparations  and  pledg- 
ing themselves  as  it  were  to  the  public,  the  dissenters 
conceived  their  honour  and  their  veracity  at  stake 
for  their  perseverance  in  the  attempt  to  obtain  relief. 
Under  these  discouraging  circumstances,  confiding 
in  the  goodness  of  their  cause,  in  1790,  they  brought 
their  business  a  third  time  before  the  house  of  com- 
mons. Mr.  Fox  was  now  employed  to  introduce 
their  request.  Whether,  as  he  was  the  opponent  of 
the  minister,  it  was  prudent  to  assign  him  this  office, 
has  been  questioned  by  many.  But  certainly,  as  it 
ought  to  have  been  no  party  question,  if  reason  is 
the  presiding  genius  of  the  commons  house  of  par- ' 
liament,  and  causes  are  decided  only  by  weight  of 
argument  and  strength  of  reasoning,  the  dissenters 
could  not  have  made  a  happier  choice,  Mr.  Fox*s 
unequalled  talents  were  called  forth  on  the  occasion  : 
a  firm  foundation  was  laid  by  him  on  the  principles 
of  religious  liberty,  which  he  stated  and  demonstrated 
with  peculiar  felicity  and  energy,  and  qn  them  he 

N  2 


186  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

founded  his  powerful  reasonings  for  the  repeal  of  the 
obnoxious  acts.  Sir  Harry  Houghton  seconded  the 
motion 9  and  Mr.  Beaufoy  supported  it  with  more 
than  common  ability.  Mr.  W.  Smith  and  Mr.  Tieruey 
spoke  on  the  same  side  of  the  question.  Mr.  Pitt, 
as  on  the  former  occasions,  stood  forth  the  patron  and 
the  panegyrist  of  the  acts,  and  pleaded  for  their  con- 
tinuance with  the  utmost  exertion  of  his  remarkable 
powers.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Burke,  in  a  speech 
of  singular  ingenuity  and  eloquence;  but  though  he 
was  hostile  to  the  repeal,  he  disapproved  of  the  Lord's 
supper  being  used  as  the  test,  and  mentioned  that,  he 
had  brougrhtwith  him  a  proposal  foroneof  a  different 
kind ;  ana  he  left  the  house  without  giving  his  vote. 
Sir  William  Dolben  and  Mr.  Wilberforce  closed  the 
list  of  opponents.  On  the  division  of  the  house 
there  appeared  for  the  motion  a  hundred  and  five, 
and  against  it  two  hundred  and  ninety-four'.  At 
the  former  discussions  of  the  question,  the  member^ 
were  almost  left  to  the  exercise  of  their  own  judg- 
ment ;  but  now  the  whole  power  of  the  ministry  was 
employed  against  the  dissenters,  the  burning  zeal 
also  of  the  clergy,  and  that  immense  mass  which  the 
pulpit,  that  drum  ecclesiastic  which  its  tenants  have 
been  so  skilfpl  and  so  forward  at  all  times  to  beat,  was 
roused  to  defend  the  church  which  was  asserted  to  be 
in  imminent  danger.  Against  such  powerful  bodies 
who  could  hope  for  success  ? 

The  disappointment,  while  it  sat  with  a  painful 
weight  on  the  minds  of  the  dissenters,  as  combine 
ing  in  it  both  injury  and  insult,  will,  it  is  hoped, 
teach  them  effectually  the  folly,  the  evil,  and  the 

'  See  Debates  in  Ihe  Honse  of  Cooiidom  od  the  Repeal  of  the 
Corporation  aud  Test  Acts,  Mardi  ^  1790.    Stockdale. 


STAtE   OF   S^ELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  181 

danger  of  sacrificing  a  general  principle  to  particular 
eircumstances  and  present  convenience,  or  of  doing 
evil  that  good  may  come.  Alderman  Love  and  the 
friends  of  the  dissenters  in  the  house  of  commons  in 
1673,  have  been  praised  on  account  of  their  zeal  for  the 
public  good,  in  allowing  the  test  act  to  pass  and  giving 
it  their  support,  on  purpose  that  Roman  catholics 
might  be  excluded  from  every  public  office.  Assur- 
ance was  given  that  a  bill  would  soon  be  passed  for 
the  relief  of  the  dissenters.  But  the  promise  was 
not  fulfilled ;  and  after  some  time  the  church  eagerly 
grasped  the  advantage  she  had  gained,  as  the  birth- 
right of  her  sons,  and  to  the  present  day  has  keenly 
resisted  every  application  of  the  dissenters  for  relief. 
Thus  to  the  false  reasoning  and  ill-judged  compliance 
of  men  haunted  by  that  old  and  convenient  ghost,  or 
rather  bugbear,  *?  the  fear  of  popery ,^^  do  the  dissen- 
ters owe  that  degradation  and  oppression  which  they 
to  this  day  endure.  Posterity  is  thus  taught,  that 
general  moral  principles  should  never  be  sacrificed  on 
the  altar  of  convenience  or  profit^  though  it  were  to 
shun  cje^th  of  to  gain  a  kingdom  i ^at  JustitiQ  ruaf 
coelum. 

But  there  is  one  point  of  view  in  whidh  the  sub- 
ject should  be  considered,  and  in  which  it  was  repine- 
sented  by  the  dissenters,  both  in  the  senate  and  from 
the  press,  wherein  the  failure  of  the  attempt  ought 
to  excite  the  regret  of  every  one  who  lays  claim  to 
the  character  of  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  acts 
complained  of,  requiring  a  religious  test  for  a  civil 
office,  necessarily  produce  an  unparalleled  profanation 
of  the  most  sacred  ordinance  which  the  Redeemer 
has  instituted  in  his  church  on  earth:  and  though 
tber^  were  not  a  (lissenter  in  England >  the  res^on  will 


182  HISTORY  OF    DISSENTERS. 

equally  apply  to  the  subject,  as  long  as  the  horrid  in- 
junction continues,  to  compel  every  man  who  obtains 
an  office  of  trust  under  government,  to  receive  the 
Lord's  supper  as  a;necessary  qualification  for  entrance 
and  possession. 

That  in  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper,  the 
Saviour  of  men  had  nothing  in  view  but  a  religious 
purpose,  the  improvement  and  consolation  of  his  dis- 
ciples, is  as  clear  as  if  written  with  a  sun  beam ;  and 
that  by  his  disciples  alone,  it  should  be  received  with 
this  view ;  for  it  is  an  ordinance  in  the  administration 
of  a  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  World.  How  dread- 
ful is  the  perversion,  when  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  this 
"world,  seizing  on  its  most  sacred  institution,  wrests 
it  from  its  original  design,  and  employs  it  to  answer  a 
secular  purpose.  It  is  some  consolation  to  reflect 
that  Christianity  had  been  in  the  world  more  than 
sixteen  hundred  years,  before  such  a  profanation  of 
the  sacrament  became  possible  to  those  who  professed 
to  receive  it  as  a  revelation  from  God.  What  English- 
man but  must  blush  that  his  country  alone  had  been 
polluted  by  the  odious  crime;  and  what  churchman 
but  should  weep  that  his  communion  alone  has  been 
contaminated  by  this  foulest  of  stains  !  Popery  never 
conceived  the  idea  of  any  thing  so  impious:  transub- 
stantiation  dwindles  into  a  trivial  error  when  placed 
by  the  side  of  the  sacrament  of  the  English  church, 
debased  into  a  qualification  for  an  office  in  the  excise, 
or  a  commission  in  the  army  and  navy. 

The  offence  given  to  the  God  of  holiness,  and  the 
dishonour  done  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners  by  this  pros- 
titution of  his  ordinance,  no  words  of  human  lan- 
guage can  express  :  angels  would  in  vain  attempt  to 
express  it  in  tbefrs^    The  guilt  contracted  from  year 


\ 


STATE  OF   RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  183 

to  yeir  by  multitudes  of  thoughtless  creatures,  who 
though  they  may  be  brave  soldiers  and  sailors,  or 
good  serraotsof  civil  government,  yet  never  professed 
to  deny  themselves,  take  up  their  cross,  and  follow 
Christ,  ipay  justly  draw  from  the  eyes  of  Christian^ 
tears  of  blood.  But,  for  the  more  criminal  conduct 
*of  the  clergy  who  administer  the  sacrament  to  these 
men ;  amd  perhaps  the  more  tremendous  condition 
Sit  the  tribunal  of-  God,  of  a  legislature  enjoining  the 
clergy  to  administer,  and  the  successful  candidate  for 
an  office  to  receive ;  and  a  part  of  that  legislature 
consisting  of  bishops  and  archbishops  who  claim  to 
tfaem^ves  the  highest  and  most  peculiar  functions 
in  the  kingdom  qf  Jesus  Christ-- — ^there  remains 
nothing  but,  with  fear  and  tren^bling,  in  silence  to 
look  for  the  wrath  of  heaven  in  the  severest  judgments 
on  a  land  polluted  ^^  by  crucifying  the  Lord  afresh, 
and  putting  him  to  open  shan^e/^. 

Nor  are  thes^  the  sentiments  of  dissenters  alone ; 
some  of  the  inost  respectable  sons  of  the  established 
church  have  viewed  the  subject  in  the  same  light. 
The  imiportal  Cowper,  at  once  a  Christian  and  a  poet, 
dips  his  pen  in  tears  to  describe  the  odious  practice, 
and  loudly  calls  on  his  countryipen  to  consider  and 
^bqlish  it  as  a  national  crime. 

f '  Hast  thou^  by  statute  shoved  fron^  its  design. 

The  Saviour's  feast,  his  own  blest  bread  and  wine. 

And  made  the  symbols  of  atoniqg  grace 

An  office  key^  ^  picklqck  to  a  place. 

That  infidels  may  prove  tlieir  title  goo<} 

By  an  oath  dipped  ii^  sacrament  blood  } 

A  blot  that  will  be  still  a  blot,  in  spite 

Of  all  that  grave  apologists  ipay  write; 

And  tho*  a  bishop  toil'd  to  cleanse  the  stain, 

He  wipes  ^nd  scours  the  silver  cup  in  vaqi,'^ 

n4  ' 


184?  HISTORY  OF   ]>ISS£I(XERS. 

'  .  As  venerable  a  jDlergyman  as  the  hand  of  a  bt^op 
ever  rested  oo  (and  all  who  knew  the  Rev.  John  Newr 
ton,  of  St.  M^ry,  Wpolnotb,  will  allow  the  justnesg 
of  bis  claim  to  this  exalted  title),  bears  his  indignant 
testiq[)ony  against  the  heinous  iniquity;  ^ "  I  am  fiir,** 
^ays  he,  ^'  from  supposing  that  any  of  our  laws  now  in 
force  lyere  forn^ed  witb^an  intention  of  promoting  sin. 
Bqt  some  qf  tbeiDf  through  the  prevailing  depcavatioa 
p(  morals  amongst  us,  do  it  eventually.  For  instance, 
thje  test  and  corporation  acts,  which  require  every 
person  who  has  a  post  under  government,  or  a  com- 
mission in  the  navy  or  army,  to  qualify  himself  for 
his  office  by  receiving  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  wQuld  occasion  no  sin,  if  men  w^re  generally 
]rifl|ue^e<d  by  the  fi^ar  of  God,  or  even  by  a  principle 
of  integrity.  They  wQuld  then  rather  decline  places 
,pf  hpnpqr  or  prqfit,  than  ac^rept  them  upon  such 
tm^h  ]{}\\py  W^re conscious  that  their  sentiments  or 
^pniduct  were  repugnant  to  the  design  of  their  insti^ 
tution.  But  as  the  case  stands  at  present,  while  gaia 
is  preferred^  to  godliness,  and  the  love  of  distinction 
or  lucre  is.  stronger  than  the  dictates  of  conscience, 
we  freque)9j:ly;,^see  professed  iqfideli^  apd  notorious 
Jib^i't^nes  apj)rpQGb  the  Lord's  t^ble  a^  a  ipatter  of 
course,  and  prostituting  the  niQst  solemn  ordinance 
p{  Christianity^  to  their  ambition  and  interest.  The 
great  number  and  variety  of  appointment^  civil  and 
military,  w*hicb  cannot  be  legally  possessed  without 
this  qualification,  render  the  enormity  almost  as  cqm- 
inon  as  it  is  heinous.  If  the  Lord  be  a  God  of  know- 
ledge, he  cannot  be  deceived.  If  he  be  a  God  of 
truth  and  holiness  he  will  not  be  mocked.  I  am 
a^l|^d  we  h^ye  p^en  long  guilty  of  a  contemptuous 
profanation  of  the  bpdy  and  blood  of  Christ''. 

^  Sermon  on  a  Geneml  Fast,  February  21,  if  81.  p.  17, 18. 


STATE  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBIltTT.  %%$ 

To  tlie  testimony  of  these  two  excellent  men  may 
be  added  the  suffrage  of  a  senator,  high  in  theestima* 
tion  of  multitudes,  and  who,  when  it  is  known  to  be 
Edmund  Burke,  will  not  be  suspected  of  having  in 
his  head  or  heart  one  particle  of  pfirtiality  for  the  dis-^ 
sent.  *  In  his  speech,  when  the  subject  of  the  test 
was  last  before  parliament,  are  the  following  expres-* 
sions :  *'  If  the  corporation  and  test  acts  were  repealed, 
some  other  test  ought  to  be  substituted ;  the  present 
I  always  thought  a  bad  and  an  insufflcient  test  to 
it9  end.  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  an  abuse  of  the 
sacramental  rite ;  and  the  sacramental  rite  is  ^oo 
solemn  an  act  for  prostitution.  Where  conscience 
really  exists,  it  ought  not  to  be  wounded.  By  wound- 
ing a  man^s  conscience,  we  annihilate  the  God  within 
{if  I  may  be  allowed  so  to  express  it),  smd  violate  hio) 
in  his  sanctuary  ^^^ 

The  miserable  prisoners  in  the  dungeons  of  Europe 
had  a  Howard  to  feel  for  their  distrettes ;  and  found 
in  him  an  advocate  to  obtain  an  alleviation  of  their 
sufferings.  The  groans  and  lamentiations  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Africa,  torn  from  their  homes,  and  dragged 
into  slavery  in  distant  lands,  awakened  lh«  pity  of 
a  Ciarkson  and  a  Wilberforce ;  an,d  the  unparalleled 
labours  of  the  one  and  the  eloquence  of  the  other  were 
employed  with  success,  at  last  to  put  an  end  to  the 
inhuman  traffic.  And  shall  Jesus  Christ  find  none 
to  plead  his  cause,  and  to  rescue  his  most  sacred 
ordinance  from  the  vilest  profanation  ?  Is  there  np 
disciple  of  Christ  in  the  legislature  sufficiently  en- 
lightened, and  zealous  to  endeavour  to  put  an  end  (q 
the  lamentable  perversion  of  the  sacrament,  and  restoie 

'  Debates  in  the  House  of  Commons^  &c.  March  2, 1790,  p.^ 
Stockdale. 


18^  -    9HX«aR¥  OF   DISSEVSEES. 

if.  to  its  proper  i|6^/?  Is  there  no  individual  amcugf 
the  teii  tbouss^ids;  of  the  clergy — not  one  of  all  hef 
mitred  digoitarie^jbo  stand  up  for  the  honour  of  their 
Master  in  seeking  .tP' remove  from  their  commuttion 
the  fouji  reproach  ?  .  If  in  public  stations  such  a  man 
is  not  to  he  fouinl^  is  there  no  Christian  in  private 
life  vvho  will  step  forward  and  end^avopr  to  deliver 
hiscouQtry  from  the  divine  displeasure^  for  profaning 
the  most  sacred  ordinance  of  Christ  ?  Exertions  in 
this  Clause,  even  though  not  crowned  with  success, 
would  give  honour  to  his  name  both  on  earth  and  ia 
hefiven  :  if  successful,  he  would  merit  a  niche  among 
the  bighesi:  ben^&ctors  of  his  country.  Already  has  the 
saeriun^iltal  test  dishonoured  England  for  more  than 
a  bun^if^and  thirty  years  ;.  again  and  again  dissenters 
have  cried  to  parliament  againt  the  heinous  crime, 
but  they  have  cried  in  vain  :  it  remains  for  churchmen 
ROW  to.  wipe  the  patine  and  the  chalice  ffom  their  deep 
ftains";    ■", 

If  this  (.was  not  the  era  of  gaining  triumphs  for 
religious  liberty,  it  was  at  least  the  era  of  attempts  to 
^ih  the|3pt«  ;!rbere  were  still  in  the  statute  bpok,  law9 

^  Tq  cousidei;  the  corporation  and  test  acts'as  the  grand  bulwark 
of  the  church  of  England,  and  to  display  zeal  for  them  on  that 
account  is  exceedingly  strange.  All  they  can  possibly  prove  is, 
that  the  person  who-  receives  the  sa'crsunent  as  the  qualification  for 
an  oAoe,  eitbfnr  does  not  ^eicise  his  conscience  on  tb«  subject,  and 
iooka  opofi  it  as  a  thing  of  course ;  or  that  he  does  not  look  upon 
the  thing  unlawful  in  itself:  but  that  because  he  complies  with 
yrhat  the  law'  requires,  and  kneels  at  the  altar,  therefore  he  is  of 
the  established  church,  and  loves  it,  and  will  defend  it  against  all 
1t^  foes,  is  un  inference  altogether  illegitimate.  Yet  on  this  foun- 
^llion  of  sand  rests  all  the  importance  of  these  acts,  for  the  pontiaii^ 
ance  of  which  so  much  zeal  has  been  employed. 


STATE   OF  BEIiIGIOlTV  LIBBBTT.  Vn 

inflicting  penalties  on  persons  who  absent  themselvM 
from  the  service  of  the  church  of  England,  or  who 
speak  in  derogation  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  many  others  of  a  similar  nature.  To  free  our 
vener^ible  code  from  what  he  accounted  a  disgrace  to 
the  country  and  to  the  age,  lord  Stanhope,  in  1789, 
made  a  motion  in  the  house  of  peers  for  the  intrc^ 
duction  of  a  bill  that  these  vexatious  acts  might  be 
repealed. 

The  ire  of  the  episcopal  bench  was  kindled  i^inst 
his  lordship  and  his  motion,  which  they  acoouoted  a 
profane  attempt'  to  undermine  the  foundation  of  the 
established  church.  Dr.  Moore,  the  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  assured  the  house,  that  the  bill,  if  per* 
mitted  to  pass,  would  serve  as  a  cover  to^very  species 
of  irrejigion :  and  if  people  were  allowed  withoat 
restraint  to  speak,  write,  and  publish  on  religiouisK 
subjects,  there  was  scarcely  any  mischief  to  the  chareh 
or  to  civil  society  that  imagination  could  frame,  which 
might  not  be  effected :  the  very  foundation  of  religion 
as  by  law  established  might  be  undermined. 

Nor  did  his  lordship  istand  alone  in  defence  of  the 
church,  Dr.  Warner,  bishop  of  Bangor,  Dr.  Halifax, 
of  St.  Asaph,  and  Dr.  Horsley,  of  St.  David^s,  the  last 
w^ith  his  characteristic  violence,  confirmed  by  their 
reasoning  the  assertions  and  the  fears  of  the  metropo- 
litan. The  effect  of  these  speeches  on  the  majority  of 
the  temporal  peers  may  be  j  udged  of  by  the  expressions 
of  lord  Stormont,  who  may  be  considered  as  their 
spokesman.  So  powerful  did  the  arguments  of  the 
prelates  appear,  and  so  meritorious  their  zeal,  that,  in 
raptures  of  delight,  he  exclaimed,  "  our  venerable 
fethers  in  God  have  done  themselves  infinite  credit, 
and  rendened  their  characters  sacred  in  the  public 


IftS  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

estimation.'^    It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  lord 
jBtanhope  failed  of  success  in  the  attempt. 

These  repeated  failures  did  not  produce  despair ; 
for,  in  1792,  another  effort  was  made  to  extend  the 
boundaries  of  religious  liberty.  Mr.  FoK,  who  had 
ever  displayed  a  readiness  to  advocate  the  cause» 
introduced  a  motion  for  the  repeal  of  those  penal 
statutes,  which  notwithstanding  the  toleration  act, 
still  hung  over  the  heads  of  those  who  in  any  way 
impugned  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  He  represented 
them  as  a  disgrace  to  the  statute  book  ;  adduced 
instances  in  which  arians  and  socinians  had  suffered 
by  their  operation  ;  and  expressed  an  earnest  wish 
that  not  now,  as-  formerly,  heretics  should  be  con-p 
sumedby  fire,  but  the  persecuting  acts  of  the  English 
legislature. 

As  Mr.  Pitt  had  in  the  debate  on  the  repeal  of  the 
test  act,  declared  in  the  most  unqualified  terms,  the 
right  of  the  dissenters  to  a  complete  toleration,  it  was 
expected. by  the  friends  of  the  repeal,  that  hp  ivpjuld 
give  no  opposition  ta  the  measure.  But  they  were 
mistaken  ;  for  he  argued  against  the  mot;ion  from  the 
irritated  state  of  the  public  mind,  which  would  be 
offended  by  granting  such  an  indulgence;  and  the 
security,  which  antitriBitarians  enjoyed  in  contending 
for  their  opinions  to  the  disregard  of  statutes  which 
had  fallen  into  disuse  and  oblivion.  On  a  division 
of  the  house,  Mr.  Fox's  motion  was  negatived  by  a 
majority  of  seventy-nine  votes. 

It  would  have  beeft  to  the  honour  of  the  nation  tQ 
have  granted  the  repeal,  ^nd  highly  to  the  sati^factioa 
of  all  the  enlightened  friends  of  the  important  doctrine 
pf  the  Trinity.    It  h^  so  bro^d  jin<l  so  firm  a  fo.undsif. 


STATE  OF  KBUaX^US   LIBEITT.  M9 

tion  in  the  sacred  scriptures,  tbftt  no  additional 
stability  can  be  given  to  it  by  acts  of  parliameat ; 
and  it  needs  not  their  pigmy  and  suspicions  aid.  It 
is  a  triumph  to  socinians  and  arians,  that  they  can 
say,  "  You  dare  not  allow  us  to  stand  on  equal 
ground :  you  are  compelled  to  shelter  yourselves  and 
your  doctrine  behind  persecuting  statutes,  brandish- 
ing the  sword  of  the  magistrate  for  your  defence/^ 
May  the  time  soon  come  when  the  liberality  of  the 
British  legislature  will  silence  the  keen  reproach. 

About  this  time  (1789)  an  event  occurred  in  th« 
political  world,  of  a  magnitude  unequalled  in  modem 
times,  which  excited  through  the  whole  of  civilized 
society  an  attention  and  interest  unknown  before. 
Such  was  the  French  revolution,  which  is  introduced 
in  this  work  on  account  of  its  connection  with  the 
principles  of  religious  liberty  and  with  the  character 
and  conduct  of  the  dissenters,  and  its  influeqce  on  the 
public  mind  in  England  in  relation  to  that  most 
inaportant  privilege.  To  describe-  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  downfal  of  despotism  in  France  was 
hailed  by  every  Briton  who  had  a  spark  of  genuine 
freedom  in  his  bosom,  is  beyond  the  province  of 
ecclesiastical  history:  our  task  is  to  delineate  its' 
moral  tendency,  and  to  consider  the  light  in  which 
it  was  viewed  by  Christians,  and  by  the  dissenters  in 
the  character  of  Christians. 

An  accurate  observer  of  human  nature  must  have 
remarked  two  classes  among  the  disciples  of  Christ,  j 
of  a  spirit  in  one  respect  widely  diffei^nt  from  each 
other.  Those  who  compose  the  first  class,  Regard- 
less of  events  which  are  taking  place  on  the  theatre 
of  the  world,  pursue  their  £!hristian  course  in  the 


IfiV  BiaTORY  OF  DIfi0£NT£E8. 

• 

diligent  performance  of  pergonal  and  relative  dutie'g, 
accounting  an  active  interference  in  other  things 
foreign  t^  their  spiritual  charact^  and  their  busi- 
ness in  life.    The  other  class,  while  not  inferior  in 
the  observance  of  the   same  personal  and  relative 
duties,   feeL  themselves  bound,   because   they  are 
Christians  and  citizens  of  the  great  republic  of  human 
nature,  to  take  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of  all  man- 
kind, and  promote  their  highest  happiness.  Of  persons 
of  this  disposition  a  more  considerable  number  than  in 
an  establishment  will  be  found  among  a  sect  placed 
in  the  situation  of  the  English  dissenters,  and  holding 
timr  distinguishing  sentiments  ;  because  they  depend 
for  their  prosperity,  and  indeed  for  4;heir  very  exist- 
ence on :  the  prevalence  and  dominion  of  the  princi- 
ples of  political  freedom.    Accordingly  multitudes  of 
the  dissenters  entered  with  peculiar  ardour  into  the 
'French  revolution, .  as  an  event  apparently  pregnant 
•with  happiness  to  the  people  of  France,  who  had 
been  fot  nearly  two  centuries  groaning  under  the 
iron  rod  of  despotism,  and  for  more  than  one  century 
under  the  uncontrouled  rage  of  popish  superstition, 
during  which  the  unrelenting  fury  of  the    clergy 
never  ceased  to  persecute  the  protestants,  or  to  insti- 
gate the  civil  power  to  persecution. 
.,   Of  the  j[)ropriety  of  such  a  conduct  in  a  Christian, 
/some  of  the  former  class  doubted ;  while  others  more 
decided  in  their  judgment  loudly  condemned  it  as 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel :  but  the  condem- 
nation of  their  brethren  was  dictated  by  their  igno- 
;raHce,  which  proceeded  from  their  inattention  to  the 
subject..    From  the  beginning,  an  accurate  investiga- 
tion had  taken  place  as  to  the  condition  of  indivi- 
dujalS)  tl\eir  relations,  and  their  personal  and  domestic 


STATE  OP  RELIGIOUS'  IiIB«lTY.  ijH 

duties.  Accordingly  every  Christian  has  fek^  his  ' 
concern  in  the  subject,  his  qbligatioas  to  submit  to 
the  divina  authority  in  all  things^  ^ndi  m  wery- part 
of  his  character  to  be  governed  by 'tiii^afffo  of  God* 
But  by  many  Christians,  the  sadofe  rule  wm  never 
applied  to  the  civil  government  of  nations ;  ^and  it 
never  entered  into  their  thoughts,'  that  the  laws  of 
God  applied  to  social  bodies  as  well  as  to  individuals; 
and  that  the  whole  texture  of  their  <  constitution  Ofod 
their  municipal  code,  and  the  aclmiodstratioii  cf  its 
jurisprudence  ought  to  be  equally  subject  to  the 
divine  authority,  and  equally  agreeable  to  the  divine 
will.  From  not  considering  this  infinitely  important 
truth,  the  principles  of  Christianity  were  not  applied 
to  civil  government;  a  thousand  evils  were  permitted 
to  remain  which  would  not  have  remained ;  and  a 
thousand  practical  reforms  were  not  made  whkh 
would  have  been  made,  had  Christians  applied  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel  to  the  civil  government  of 
which  they  were  members,  with  the  same  integrity 
and  perspicacity  with  which  they  applied  them  to 
their  domestic  and  personal  relations.  This  improve- 
ment was  now  happily  commencing  in  the  minds  of 
many  of  the  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  they  felt  it  to 
be  of  unspeakable  importance  that  the  principles  and 
administration  6f  civil  government isihoiild  be  agreeable 
to  the  spirit  and  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel.  Hence 
it  now  became  a  ruling  maxim  in  tbeir  system  of 
political  sentiments,  that  every  civil  constitution 
ought  to  be  fi*amed  with  a  view  to  promote  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  happiness  of  the  people,  by  the  pro- 
tection of  every  mans  person  and  property,  by  the  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge,  by  the  encouragement  of  virtue 
^d  piety,  by  the  extension  9f  the  CM»nvei|iencesi  of 


r' 


193  HIBTORY  OF   DISSENTERS^ 

life  at  widely  as  possible  ^inong  the  mass  of  the  com^ 
munity*  and  by  the  dispensing  of  justice  in  a  way. 
accessible,  to  tbe  poor  as  well  as  the  rich ;  that  these 
are  the  ends  wkleh  rulers  should  constantly  keep  in 
vi^w,  because  for  these  ends  they  were  placed  in  their 
exalted  stations. 

To  a  Christian  whose  mind  has  been  enlightened 
by  carrying  his  researches  thus  far,  the  principal 
governments  on  tbe  continent  of  Europe  presented 
a  very  painful  prospect.  The  millions  appeared  to  be 
made,  for  the  one,  and  not  the  one  for  tbe  miUions. 
The  object  of  the  ruler  seemed  to  be  to  gratify  ambi- 
tion or  caprice:  the  nobles  rioted  in  luxury:  the 
church  was  the  tool  of  the  state,  and  without  regard 
to  suitableness  of  character,  its  highest  dignities  were 
conferred  on  fovourites  and  th^  younger  sons  of  dis-* 
tinguished  families :  ignorance  and  poverty  were  the 
lot  of  the  labouring  portion  of  society :  and  whare  trade 
and  commerce  were  encouraged,  it  too  often  appeared 
to  be  to  furnish  a  revenue  for  the  court.  The  people 
had  no  power,  no  controul,  no  influence.  All  these 
they  had  formerly  possessed ;  but  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  reformation  and  the  French  revolution, 
the  rulers  had  robbed  their  subjedts,  and  scarcely  a 
vestige  of  their  former  privileges  now  remained.  The 
only  concern  which  the  people  had  with  the  govern* 
ment  was  to  pay  tastes,  and  the  only  limit  of  taxation 
was  what  could  be  wrested  from  them  without  jm^o-^ 
Yoking  insurrection  or  resistance. 

As  the  consequence  of  this  unnatural  state  of 
things,  vice  reigned  among  all  ranks  in  its  most 
hideous  forms,  and  with  absolute  sway.  The  marquisi 
de.Bouille,  a  firm  adherent  to  the  old  order  of  things, 
and  no  v^  rigid  mprali^t,  thus  describes  the  internal 


STATE    OF   RELIOIOUS    LIBERTY*  193 

State  of  France  previous  to  these  chatiges,  which  th« 
revolution  introduced..  "Whilst  the  lower  classes 
experienced  the  extreme  of  misery,  the  riqh  indulged 
themselves  in  the  most  unbounde^,^  lu;s:ury.  The 
government  was  without  energy,  the  court  despised, 
and  the  great  were  sunk  into  a  state  of  degradation. 
Irreligion  and  immorality  were  diffused  among  the 
first  orders,  restlessness  and  discontent  among  all. 
The  treasury  was  exhausted,  public  credit  ruined, 
and  all  the  ordinary  resources  at  an  end.  Louis  the 
sixteenth,  possessed  all  the  virtues  of  private  life, 
but  none  of  the  talents  necessary  for  a  man  in  a  situ« 
ation  so  difficult.'*'  Some  of  the  most  extensive 
governments  in  Germany  presented  to  tbfe  Christian's 
view  a  prospect  equally  gloomy ;  and  ia  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Portugal  the  moral  and  political  condition  of  the 
inhabitants  was  far  more  deplorable  than  in  France. 

From  this  view  of  things,  it  ought  not  to  excite 
surprize  that  the  minds  of  Christian  philanthropists 
ID  England  were  engaged  in  an  extraordinary  degree 
with  the  transactions  in  a  neighbouring  country.  The 
united  energies  of  a  great  nation  for  the  destructioi^ 
of  despotism,  and  the  establishment  of  a  free  consti- 
tution embracing  the  enjoyment  of  religious  freedom, 
communicated  the  purest  delight,  and  filled  their 
hearts  with  enthusiastic  joy.  An  era  of  melioration 
in  the  state  of  society,  of  liberty  to  extend  the  influ- 
ence of  pure  religion,  and  of  peace  among  nations, 
appeared  to  be  drawing  near  ;  and  they  thought  they 
saw  the  dawn  of  the  auspicious  day. 

Of  these  Christian  philanthropists  the  dissenters 
formed  a  numerous  and  distinguished  portion.  Those 
who  are  acquainted  with  their  history,  and  their  prin* 
ciples,  know  their  abhorrence  of  arbitrary  power  as 

VOL.   lY.  Q 


194  HISTORY  OV   DISSENTERS. 

the  foe  not  only  of  social  happiness  but  of  pure  teiu 
gion,  and  the  heaviest  curse  which  can  possibly  be&l 
the  human  race.    The  destruction  of  such  a  system 
id  France,  and  the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  peculiarly  accep- 
table, as  an  event  which  they  had  long  most  ardently 
desired.     Hence  arose  that  lively  interest  which  the 
dissenters  in  general  and  very  many  dissenting  mi- 
nisters felt  in  the  French  revolution,  and  the  nume- 
rous expressions  of  the  most  rapturous  delightin  its 
rapid  progress.    While  they  rejoiced  in  the  triumphs 
of  political  liberty,  they  looked  beyond  it  to  what 
Christians  consider  as  its  supreme  and  final  design. 
They  considered  it  as  the  handmaid  of  pure  religion, 
and  hailed  the  auspicious  season  when  the  disciples 
of  Christ  would  no  more  be  doomed  to  silence  and 
sufferings,  but   have  full  liberty  to  propagate  the 
Gospel  without  restraint,  through  the  immense  popu- 
lation of  the  French  empire.     Knowing,  too^  the  in- 
fluence which  France  possel^ed  over  the  other  king- 
doms of  the  continent,  they  were  sanguine  in  their 
expectations  that  liberty  would  also  visit  tbeiH)  and 
pure  religion  following  afteri  would  banish  the  igno- 
rance and  superstition  which  had  so  long  enveloped 
them  in  a  worse  than  Egyptian  darkness.    But  while 
these  were  the  sentiments  of  a  considerable  number 
of  dissenters,  it  is  proper  to  mention  that  some  of  them 
viewed  the  French  revolution  ^vith  indifference,  and 
others  from  th^  beginning  were  averse  to  the  change. 
Of  both  these  classes  many  were  afterwards  among  the 
most  violent  alarmists,  and  condemned  the  opinions 
and  conduct  of  their  brethren  with  no  ordinary  por- 
tion of  severity. 

Such  were  the  pleasing  dreams  of  multitudes ;  and 


STATE  OF  RELIGIOUS  UBERTY.  lOS 

their  most  cordial  wishes  were  for  the  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  the  people  of  France,  who  in  the  be«« 
ginning  of  their  career  had  the  majority  of  the  people 
c^ England  in  their  favour:  but  some  were  from  the 
beginning  opposed  to  the  change,  and  reprobated  Ihe 
whole.  From  the  magnitude  of  the  object,  it  became 
the  common  topic  of  conversation ;  and  there  was 
much  speculation  and  reasoning  as  to  the  mode  of 
government  which  the  French  appeared  inclined  to 
adopt,  as  to  the  science  of  government  in  general,  and 
as  to  the  form  which  was*  absolutely  best  and  most 
adapted  to  secure  the  happiness  of  the  commu« 
nity*  The  subject  was,  however,  usually  discussed 
with  moderation  and 'temper;  and  the  disputants 
allowed  each  other  to  maintain  their  opinions  with* 
,  out  a  breach  of  friendship  or  esteem.  For  nearly  two 
years  from  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  this 
was  the  spirit  of  the  greater  part  of  the  people  of 
England. 

But  early  in  1791  a  publication  of  long  promise 
issued  from  the  press,  entitled,  ^'  Reflections  on  the 
French  Revolution,^'  which  proved  the  source  of 
discord,  and  spread  strife  and  contention  among  the 
people  of  Great  Britain,  who  were  before  living  in 
harmony  and  peace.  The  author,  Edmund  Burke,  a 
man  always  more  celebrated  for  the  fertility  of  his 
imagination  than  the  soundness  of  his  judgment, 
was  furious  against  the  French  revolution  in  aU 
its  stages,  in  all  its  parts,  and  in  all  its  instru- 
ments. Gall  was  sweet  in  comparison  of  the  bitter- 
ness of  his  words.  He  condemned  ^\\  in  England 
who  had  spoken  or  written  in  its  favour,  and  he 
denoi/nced  against  them  the  severest  anathemas. 
In  addition  to  these  extravagances,  he  appeared  to  be 

o  2 


196  HISTORY   OF,  DISSENTERS. 

decidedly  hostile  to  the  cause  of  general  liberty,  and 
had  the  hardihood  to  stand  forth  as  the  panegyrist  of 
arbitrary,  rule.  To  account  for  such  sentiments  frora 
the  pen  of  a  man  who  had  always  spoken  and  written 
in  defefnce  of  the  liberties  of  mankind,  without  blast-« 
ing  bis  character  for  ever  as  a  man  of  integrity,  is 
possible  only  in  one  way ;  and  that  is  by  supposmg 
that  he  was  seized  with  an  insanity  quoad  hoci  and 
if  was  an  insanity  of  the  most  furious  kind.  What 
gives  probability  to  the  supposition  ts,  that  to  bis 
death,  thoitgh  he  could  speak  rationally  and  ably  on 
other  subjects,  whenever  the  French  revolution  was 
the  theme,  he  was  instantly  seized  with  the  mania  ; 
and  the  dreadfal  paroxysms  of  rage  into  which  he  was 
thrown,  and  the  ravings  of  a  distracted  fancy  too 
plainly  discovered  the  derangement  of  his  mind. 

Fronif  the  date  of  the  publication  of  Im  book,  a 
meWificholy  change  took  place  in  the  public  temper. 
The  demon  of  discord  stalked  through  every  part  of 
the  land,  and  scattered  his  firebrands  ev6ry  where. 
The  enemies  of  the  French  revolution  were  roused  ta 
the  highest  pitch  of  wrath ;  became  loud  in  their 
execration  of  it,  and  of  alt  who  were  concerned  m 
any  of  its  stpenes-,  or  wha  stood  up  in  its  defence; 
keenly  reprobated  the  sentiments  and  conduct  of  its 
friends  in  Engkmd  ;•  and  charged  them  witb  being 
a^dvocates  of  the  blackest  crimes.  Because  they 
would  not  turn  round  and  execrate  the  French  revo-' 
lution  as  many  did,  its  dhemies  appeared  to  think 
they  had  received  an  injury,  and  were  therefore  jus- 
tified in  treating  them  in  the  worst  way  they  possibly 
could,  which  in  very  many  instances  was^  suffix 
ciently  cruel  and  contumelious. 

The  friends  of  the  revolution,  on  the  other  hand. 


STATE    OF   RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY*  107 

l^QuId  not  forsake  what  they  accounted  the  cause  of 
buman  happiness;  and  while  they  allowed  and 
lamented  that  the  French  bad  don^  many  things 
rashly,  many  things  weakly,  and  ni^ny  wickedly,  $tiU 
they  hoped  that  the  struggle  would  terminate  in  ^ 
system  of  liberty.  They  therefore  would  not  rcr 
sou  nee  their  cause,  nor  be  compelled  to  abandon  the 
xlefence  of  men  who,  (bey  thoiight^  vyjtb  ^\\  their 
feults,  deserved  well  of  the  hum^n  race. 

The  advocates  of  Mr.  Burke's  system  becoming 
gradually  more  numerous  and  many  of  them  more/ 
violent,  in  addition  to  the  bitterest  cQudeninatipn  of 
those  on  the  other  side,  expressed  sentiments  savourr 
ing  po  strongly  of  despotism  and  slavery,  that  none 
had  d^red  to  profess  the  like,  since  the  downfal  of 
the  Stewarts,  and  the  accession  of  the  house  of 
Hanover  to  the  throne  of  Britain.  These  novel 
opinions ,  the  others  beard  with  astonishment  and 
terror;  and  to  counterbalance  the  effect,  werq  as 
excessive  in  expressing  their  sentiments  in  favour  of 
the  liberties  of  mankind,  and  in  commendation  oi 
men  and  measures  in  France. 

When  the  minister  declared  himself  on  the  side  of 
Mr.  Burke,  fresh  fuel  was  added  to  the  fire.  For  a 
considerable  time,  he  had  observed  a  cautious  reserve : 
but,  at  last,  entering  into  the  contest  with  all  the 
ardouc  of  his  soul,  hcs  declared  bis  hostility  to  the 
French  revolution,  and  hii^  high  disapprobation  of 
the  conduct  of  all  those  in  thia  country  who  had 
professed  themselves  its  friendls.  Unhappily  for  the 
honour  pf  Christ,  many  pf  the  clergy  carried  the  con^ 
troversy  into  the  pulpit,  stnd  cursed  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  all  those  who  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
French.  Their  interference  was  peculiarly  unfortunate^ 


198  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

as  it  drove  thousands  intoinfidelity,  who, beingstrongly 
attached  to  the  principles  of  liberty,  and  unwisely 
judging  of  the  clergyman's  religious  from  his  political 
creed,  rashly  concluded  that  both  were  bad.  Perhaps 
the  pulpit  was  never  more  profaned  by  political  disqui- 
sitions and  anathemas  than  at  this  time.  A  very  un- 
happy effect  was  also  produced  by  the  outrages  which 
took  place  at  Birmingham,  and  were  continued  for 
several  days  to  the  terror  arfd  injury  of  some  of  its 
most  respectable  inhabitants,and  to  the  disgrace  of  the 
police  and  magistrates  of  the  town.  The  riots  there, 
created  not  by  a  legitimate  English  mob, but  by  persons 
of  a  superior  class  to  those  who  were  the  apparent 
actors  in  the  disgraceful  scenes,  had  dn  unhappy 
effect  oh  the  minds  of  all  the  friends  of  general 
liberty,  who  conceived  that  they  saw  in  this  instance 
what  the  enemies  of  the  French  revolution  would  do 
if  it  was  in  their  power.  The  varioiis  measures 
resorted  to  by  the  ministry,  some  of  a  more  public 
and  others  of  a  more  private  nature,  and  the  system  of 
jgspionage  carried  on  by  persons  ostensibly  employed, 
or  at  least  patronised  by  them,  served  to  fill  up  the 
cup  of  discord  to  the  brim. 

Two  things,  in  the  conduct  and  measures  of  the 
iilarmists,  gave  inconceivable  offence,  and  created  the 
deepest  disgust.  They  accused  all  the  friends  of  the 
French  revolution  of  approving  all  the  extravagancies 
and  cruelties  which  had  taken  place  in  France,  and  of  a 
desire  to  introducesuCh  scenes  into  their  owncountry^ 
and  overturn  the  constitution  and  existing  govern- 
ment. After  this  crimination,  they  thought  them- 
aelves  warranted  to  abuse  them  in  the  grossest  manner, 
and  to  charge  them  with  the  blackest  designs  and  the 
most  odious  crimes^ 


STATE  OF   HELIGlbuS  LIBEETY.  199 

The  other  was  still  more  displeasing  as  it  was  con* 
ceived  to  be  more  hostile  to  the  happiness  of  man* 
kind.  In  almost  all  the  speeches,  papers,  pam- 
phlets, and  volumes  of  the  ministerial  partyr  iq 
which  liberty  was  not  kept  entirely  out  of  view, 
itt  was  spoken  of  in  a  way  which  would  lead  peo- 
ple to  imagine  that  they  piusjt  beware  of  it  as  a 
dangerous  inmate,  Thennad  deeds  of  the  French  ^ere 
exposed  in  colours  sufficiently  glaring,  but  instead  of 
considering  these  as  a  gross  abuse  of  liberty,  they 
were  employed  as  w<sapons  to  destroy  it,  and  an  attack 
was  by  these  means  made  against  liberty  itself,  Des«- 
potism  and  slavery  were  represented  as  h^i^iplesi?,  a^ 
almost  blessings ;  and  the  force  of  the  country  wa$ 
combined,  in  conjunction  with  th^  poweri;  oq  the 
continent,  to  restore  the  old  government  in  France. 

Had  the  rulers  and  their  adherents  adopted  a  dif* 
ferent  mode  of  conduct ;  had  they  treated  the  friends 
of  the  French  revolution  with  th^^t  generous  liberality 
which  should  always  characterise  those  who  exercise 
authority  in  a  great  natiop ;  had  they  avowed  them^ 
selves  the  patrons  of  genuine  freedom,  ready  in  every 
instance  to  support  an4  to  promote  it,  apd  enemies 
only  to  its  abuse ;  and  especially  had  they  not  shewQ 
so  marked  an  ennoity  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  France, 
while  they  cordially  coalesced  with  the  post  despotic 
monarcbs  on  the  continent  against  her»  t^e  pefice  an^ 
harmony  apd  happiness  of  the  p^ple  of  England 
would  have  been  secured  in  an  unspeakably  bi^hqr 
d^^ree.  But^  as  has  been  seen,  uphappily  a  different 
course  w^s  pursued,  ^pd  it  w^^  productive  of  \h^ 
most  serious  evils. 

The  bitterness  of  the  Recusations  brought  agpins^ 
theim,  the  friends  of  liberty  very  sensibly  felt.    Per- 


SOO  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

t  .  *  • 

1 

haps  there  might  be  individuals  among  so  large  a 
body  who  did  not  regard  the  peace  and  felicity  of 
their  Country,  but  would  delight  in  a  scramble,-  and 
the  overthrow  of  peace  and  order  ;  but  the  great  mass 
consisted  of  people  of  very  different  sentiments  and 
character.  Theiy  were  conscious  that  they  loved 
.their  country  with  as  strong  affection'  as  those  who 
^viled  them  ;  that  its  peace  land  happiness  wei^  as 
dear  in  their  estimation ;  and  th^t  *none  were  more 
devoted  enemies  to  tiimiilt  and  disorder.  The 
charges,  therefore,  which  were  brought  against  them^ 
they  felt  not  only  as  an  injury,  but  a  cruel  insult ; 
and  indignation  at  the  injustice  ^f^  the  accusationi 
tingled  in  every  vein.  ' 

But  the  attack,  which  they  conceived  was  made 
on  the  general  cause  of  liberty,  affected  thetn  more^ 
than  that  which  was  made  upon  themselves.  Ic  Was 
no  ordinary  aeason  of  the  exertion  of  the  human 
jhculties.  The  vigour,  with  which  they  fixed  on 
objects,  was  ilncommon,  and  there  had  been  nothing 
like  it  since  the  era  of  the  reformation.  There  was 
an  ehthusiasnii  of  ardour  for  the  cause  of  liberty  which 
exalted  the  mind  fa)r  abov^  its  ordinary  level,  and  gave 
that  sublimity  of  feelihg  which  those  only  who 
filtered  into  it  can  conceive.  In  such  a  temper  they 
spufned  at  the  idea  df  being  dragooned  into  the  re- 
nunciatioti  of  princi|!ilei5  which  they  believed  to  be 
good,  and  pregnant  With  happiness  to  the  human  racel 
Hearing  the  cause  of  Kb^ty  spoken  of  Rsevil,  and 
seeing  Britain  leftgoed  with  foreign  pbwers  to  re- 
establish'dissj^otism  id  France,  they  felt  themselves 
'impelled  to  conclude  that  there  was  a  conspiracy 
flgainst  the  liberties  of  mankind  ;,and  thait  th6  ministry, 
hy  tb9  l^anh  lQes9qres  vyhich  they  puilsued,  wer^ 


!• 


STATS   OF   RELIGIOUS  I«IB£ETY.  SOI 

seeking  the  destruction  of  that  which  waa  £ngland^€ 
glory  and  iti  strength. 

As  the  spirit  of  philanthropy  had  been  imbibed  in 
conjunction  with  a  zeal  for  liberty,  the  horrors  of  the 
general  wax  in  Europe,  the  rivers  of  blood  which  were 
shed,  and  the  miseries  which  were  extended  far  and 
wide  through  the  world,  excited  unutterable  anguish 
in  their  breasts,  and  increased  their  aversion  to  the 
measures  which  were  pursued.  Those  amopg"  the 
friends  of  liberty  who  were  Christians!,  were  more 
deeply  affected  than  the  rest  with  the  state  of  thingii 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  with  ^he gloomy  prospect 
before  them.  Their  minds  took  a  widei;  ^ange,  and 
they  viewed  liberty  in  its  connection  with  religion, 
and  its  influence  on  the  propagation  of  the  GospeL 
When,  therefore,  they  looked  around,  and  saw  ac;om« 
bination  against  the  cause  of  liberty,  they  viewed  it 
with  unutterable  horror,  as  a  conspiracy  against  the 
Lord  and  his  anointed,  to  spread  the  triumphs  of 
superstition  and  priestcraft,  to  bind  the  conscience 
of  mankind  in  adamantine  fetters,  to  prevent  the  pro- 
pagation of  divine  truth,  and,  in  short, — to  put  the 
great  clock  of  Europe  back  five  hundred  years. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  public  mind  during 
several  years,  and  such  the  sentiments  of  the  two  par- 
ties into  which  the  country  was  divided.  With  these 
ideas  of  each  other,  and  numberless  acts  of  provoca** 
tion  arising  out  of  them,  confidence  between  them 
died  away  ;  suspicions  of  an  intention  to  injure  arose 
in  their  breasts ;  long  and  intimate  friendships  were 
broken  off,  and  society  lost  its  epdearments  and  its 
charms. 

In  addition  to  the  common  share  of  odium  which 
was  liberally  poured  on  the  friends  of  the  French 


SOS  HISTORY    0/F   DISSENTERS. 

revolution,  the  dissenters  had  a  peculiar  portion 
thrown  upon  their  heads,  because  they  were  sepa<r 
ratists  from  the  church ;  and  no  Common  measure 
of  industry  was  employed  by  persons  from  whom  bet-p 
tear  things  might  have  been  expected,  to  blast  their 
character.  On  what  principles  they  acted  has  been 
shown,  and  they  were  principles  of  which  they  had 
DO  reason  to  be  ashamed.  Happy  it  was  for  them, 
that  the  wrath  of  their  enemies,  which  was  so  fierce, 
proved  almost  like  Priam's  spear,  imbelle  telum  sine 
ictus  In  the  riots  at  Birmingham,  their  enemies  were 
aUe  to  urge  on  the  populace  to  demolish  two  of 
their  places  of  worship,  and  to  destroy  the  houses 
of  some  respectable  individuals.  At  Woodstock  too, 
several  persons,  who  had  accompanied  their  minister 
to  open  a  house  for  worship,  were  treated  with  great 
batbarity  by  a  mob ;  but  these  were  almost  the  only 
scenes  c^  persecuting  fury.  In  the  country  in  general, 
they  suffered  no  interruption  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  religious  privileges. 

To  trace  the  effects  of  the  French  revolution  on 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  the 
discussions  to  which  it  gave  birth,  is  the  province  of 
civil  history :  our  limits  confine  us  to  those  connected 
with  religious  liberty  and  the  cause  of  dissent.  In 
this  point  of  view  there  are  two  which  merit  parti* 
cular  notice ;  they  have  continued  to  the  present 
time,  they  promise  to  be  durable,  and  they  have  been 
attended  with  benefit. 

One  of  these  effects  is  the  decay,  and  in  many 
instances  the  entire  removal  of  th^  undue  influence 
of  titles  and  office  on  the  mind.  Before  the  French 
revolutkm,  if  a  person  was  decorated  with  the  names 
and  ensigns  of  nobiiity,  whatever  his  character  and 


STATE  OF  BELI6I0US   LIBERTY*  v  SOS 

conduct  might  be,  he  was  looked  up  to  as  a  being  of 
a  superior  order.  An  office  of  dignity  had  a  similar 
charm  ;  and  however  destitute  of  talents  and  virtue 
the  man  might  be  who  filled  it,  the  splendid  robes 
concealed  every  defect,  and  he  was  supposed  to  be 
both  wise  and  upright.  Ecclesiastical  vestments  had 
a  talisman  of  equal  potency  wrought  into  their  woof. 
Though  gifts  and  graces  might  be  sought  for  under 
them  in  vain,  the  highest  honours  were  given  to  the 
wearer  because  he  was  a  priest. 

But  the  French  revolution  taught  tens  of  thousands 
to  reason  who  never  reasoned  before ;  and  though  in 
many  things,  like  young  beginners,  they  argued 
falsely,  in  others  they  judged  rightly:  and  one  in- 
stance of  this  was  in  their  concluding  that  unless  a 
man  was  wi^e  and  good,  though  the  order  of  society 
required  that  he  should  be  treated  with  external 
respect,  he  was  not  entitled  to  the  esteem  and  vene- 
ration of  the  heart.  In  consequence  of  this,  stars, 
garters,  and  coronets  lost  considerably  of  their  value. 
Ermine  could  no  longer  conceal  from  view  a  defect  of 
talents  and  virtue,  or  procure  the  homage  of  the  soul 
without  them.  The  clergyman's  gown  and  cassock, 
the  presbyterian  ministers  Geneva  cloak,  and  the 
methodist  preacher's  unpowdered  head  and  lank  hair 
lost  more  than  nine-tenths  of  their  former  worth :  the 
episcopal  mitre,  apron,  and  lawn  sleeves  suffered  an 
equal  depreciation.  But  this  furnishes  no  cause  for 
regret ;  for  to  seek  to  procure  respect  to  a  defect  of 
excellence,  by  external  ornaments,  is  an  imposition 
on  mankind.  Knowledge,  wisdom,  virtue,  piety, 
and  benevolence  can  heter  be  despised.  They  wilt 
always  procure  the  esteem  and  veneration  of  men ; 
and  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  wickedness    itself 


204  HISTORY    OF    DISSENTKHS. 

to  M^ithhold  from  them,  in  our  native  land,  that  influt 
jBnce  over,  others,  and  that  pre-eminence  in  society 
to  Mfhich  from  their  intrinsic  excellence  they  have  an 
Ijnquestionable  claim.  In  proportion  as  these,  with- 
put  respect  to  adventitious  ornament,  become  the 
pbjects  of  regard,  so  far  thqfe  is  a  progress  in  mental 
^lence,  and  an  advancement  in  illumination  and 
purity  of  mind;  and  ah  advanqement  ii^  these  is 
favourable  to  the  cause  of  virtue  and  piety,  among 
whatever  denomination  of  the  professors  of  religion 
they  may  fix  their  abode.  At  the  same  time  men  of 
title  and  office,  if  they  possess  the  qualifications 
ivhicb  ought  always  to  accompany  their  rank  and 
ste^tion,  will  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  want  of 
respect  and  esteem  :  without  these  qualifications 
they  are  guilty  of  injustice  if  they  expect  theoi. 

The  other  effect  of  the  Freqcl^  revolution  on  thet 
minds  of  vast  multitudes  of  the  pepplei  of  England, 
^s  the  diminution  or  extinction  of  bigotry  to  a  sectw 
Jn  the  mass  of  the  population  of  Europe,  the  s^rengtl^ 
of  attachment  to  the  established  religion  of  the  coun- 
try was  only  equalled  by  the  violence  of  their  preju- 
dices against  every  party  which  was  separated  from 
its  communion.  Of  thi^  spirit,  thq  people  of  this 
land  could  boast  almost  an  equ-^I  s^hare  with  aay  of 
their  neighbours.  Thp  effects  of  this  bigotry  were 
felt  by  the  dissenters  and  pietbbdists,  when  they 
opened  a  house  for  wprship  in  a  town  or  village 
wherei  there  had  beeq  none  beforie.  In  many  placea 
few  conaparatively  would  attend;  and  of  those  who 
did,  a  part  was  disposed  to  excite  disturbance  and 
^ns^lt  the  prpacher.  But  the  French  revolution  haa 
performed  wonders  in  .this  respect.  The  partialities 
fmd  pi;ejudices  especially  of  the  inferipr  Qlasses  in 


StATX  OF  .RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY.  305 

tocietyj  have  dwindled  almost  to  nothing.  It  is  now 
a  more  common  idea  among  them,  that  it  is  reason- 
able every  one  should  judge  for  himself  in  matters  of 
religion^  Where  no  prohibition  is  issued  by  the  noble-* 
man  or  the  squire,  they  now  more  readily  go  to  hear 
a  minister  of  a  different  denomination  from  their  own ; 
they  are  sensible  of  the  impropriety  of  behaving 
amiss ;  they  hear  with  greater  candour ;  and  if  they 
approve  of  the  preacher  and  his  doctrine,  they  feel 
less  reluctance  to  become  dissepters  or  methodists. 

During  this  tempestuous  season,  in  which  party 
spirit  raged  with  uncommon  fury,  beside  these  im- 
portant benefits,  the  dissenters  enjoyed  protection 
and  peace*  To  the  honour  of  the  British  govern- 
ment it  must  be  mentioned,  that  their  religious  liber-< 
ties  continued  unimpaired ;  and  the  shield  of  protect 
tion  was  steadily  held  over  their  heads  to  preserve 
them  froin  injury.  When  it  is  considered  that  during 
this  time  of  strife,  the  preaching  of  the  dissenters  wa» 
extended  to  a  itiultitude  of  places  where  they  bad 
not  made  an  attempt  before^  the  merit  of  the  conduct 
of  our  rulers  is  greatly  heightened.  In  consequence 
of  the  institution  of  the  missionary  society,  in  1795, 
whose  design  was  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen, 
multitudes  6f  ministers  and  private  Christians  became 
sensible  of  their  obligations  to  diffuse  the  knowledge 
of  Christianity  more  extensively  at  home:  more 
general  and  vigorous  exertions  were  made  through  i 
every  part  of  the  country  than  ever  had  been  made 
before  ;  and  in  hundreds  of  small  towns  and  villages, 
houses  were  opened  for  the  dissenting  mode  of  wor-* 
ship.  That  in  the  minds  of  their  enemies,  who  were 
tnen  of  the  world,  a  suspicion  should  be  excited, 
thatsome  deep  political  designwhich  might  prove  dan- 


dOB  HI8T0RV  or   DksSENXER^. 

geroiis  to  the  state,  lay  concealed  under  this  cloak  of 
aeal  for  retigton,  it  is  natural  to  suppose ;  and  that  the 
ministry  had  many  a  warning  of  the  impending  peril. 
But  the  peculiar  excellence  of  the  grand  principles 
of  the  British  constitution,  and  the  dignity  of  mind 
with  which  the  ministry  acted  on  this  occaliion,  in 
venerating  these  principles  and  adhering  to  that 
generous  conduct  which  they  prescribed,  are  both 
the  just  topic  of  gratitude  and  praise.  In  a  few  years 
they  had  the  consolation  to  ob^rve,  that  the  design 
of  the  dissenters  was  far  remote  from  every  thing  of  a 
political  nature,  and  had  religion  alone  for  its  object 
and  its  end. 

There  is  likewise  a  tribute  of  praise  due  to  the 
British  monarch  for  his  liberal  treatment  of  the  dis- 
senters belonging  to  the  royal  household,  who  have 
never  suffered  the  smallest  diminution  of  favour  on 
account  of  their  religious  tenets,  and  whom  his 
majesty  has  taken  pains  to  accommodate  that  they 
might  attend  at  their  own  places  of  worship.  The 
same  praise  for  liberality  of  conduct  to  their  domestics 
and  dependents,  and  for  paying  just  regard  to  the 
rights  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion,  is  due  to 
the  younger  branches  of  the  royal  fadbily,  and  justly 
entitles  them  to  very  high  respect".  If  some  of  the 
nobility  and  gentry  who  persecute  their  tenants  and 
dependents  on  account  of  their  religious  creed,  were 
to  follow  the  example  of  their  superiors,  they  would 
appear  to  society  in  a  far  more  dignified  point  of  view : 

^  In  1802  thfidttk^of  York,  as  commander  in  chief  of  tbeaiiny^ 
issued  a^  order,  that  no  aoldier  in  the  British  service  should  be 
compelled  to  attend  on  a  mode  of  worship  which  he  did  not  approve, 
or  be  prevented  or  hindered  from  following  that  which  he  did 
ikpprove.    Star  Newspaper,  ]yiait:h^l6, 181  !• 


STATE   OF.  RELIGIOUS   LIBBEXlT.  $fft 

bul  having  the  lesson  yet  to  learn,  they  degrade 
themselves  by  the  contemptible  bigotry  of  a  Carthu- 
sian monk. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  period,  there  waa  aa 
attempt,  by  a  motion  in  the  house  of  commons^  to 
.make  some^  alterations  in  the  toleration  act,  virith  a 
view  t()  abridge  the  religious  privileges  of  the  dissen- 
ters, but  it  did  not  succeed.  It  is  now  too  late ;  and 
were  it  carried  into  execution,  the  only  effect  would 
be  to  fill  the  jails  with  (Jissenters  and  methodists. 
Christians  conceive  it  their  duty  to  seek  the  eternal 
happiness  of  their  countrymen,  and  think  that  they 
ought  not  to  be  prevented  from  preaching  the  Gospel 
to  the  ignorant  for  that  infinitely  important  end.  If 
unrighteous  laws  be  made  to  hinder  them,  they  must 
obey  God  rather  than  man,  and  still  continue  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  If  they  be  sent  to  prison 
for  disobedience,  they  must  endure  their  confine- 
ment with  patience :  it  is  persecution  for  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus.  A  year's  continuance  of  such  a  law 
would  place  thousands  in  a  state  of  confinement ;  and 
should  the  prisons  of  England,  which  were  built  for 
malefactors,  be  filled  with  thousands  for  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  make  the  ignorant  wise  unto  salvation, 
in  what  light  the  conduct  of  such  legislators  will  be 
regarded  by  the  British  public,  it  becomes  them  be- 
forehand seriously  to  reflect.  This  they  may  be 
assured  will  be  the  certain  effect  of  such  a  law,  anil 
not  from  a  spirit  of  contention  or  opposition ;  but 
solely  from  this  Christian  principle,  that  as  God  has 
commanded  th.em  to  seek  the  salvation  of  perishing 
sinners,  no  man  has  a  right  to  forbid  them ;  and  if 


iM 


iilSlOR't  Ot    DISSEDtERi. 


they  do  forbid,  they  must  obey  God  rather  than 
/them. 

But  we  hope  that  our  gracious  sovereign,  who 
hitherto  has  always  been  the  patron  of  religious 
liberty,  will  continue  to  appear  in  this  exalted  cha- 
racter to  the  end  of  life ;  and  that  England  will  have 
to  boast  of  the  reign  of  the  three  first  monarchs  of 
the  house  of  Hanover,  as  securing  to  all  their  subjects 
the  uninterrupted  exercise  of  religious  liberty. 


CONTROVEBSIES.  209 


CHAPTER  III. 


C0KTROTERSIE8   IN   WHICH    DISSENTERS    WERE 

ENGAGED. 


SECTION  L       , 

GONTROTERSY  CONCERNING   DISSENT. 

While  the  establishment  exists  to  provoke  oppo- 
sition by  her  claims  to  exclusive  privileges,  or  attract 
censure  by  her  apparent  faults,  this  controversy  must 
be  expected  to  call  forth  the  talents  of  polemics  among 
the  various  denominations  of  dissenters  by  which  she 
is  surrounded.  The  battle,  which  decided  the  fate  of 
the  field,  was  fought,  indeed,  during  the  former 
periods  of  the  dissenting  history,  and  all  that  now 
remains  to  the  historian  is  to  record  the  continuance 
of  such  minor  skirmishes,  as  merely  served  to  show 
the  temper  of  the  combatants.  But  as  the  rise  of  the 
methodists,  under  George  the  second,  created  an 
additional  host  ofdissenters ;  in  the  present  reign,  the 
followers  of  Socinus  attacked  the  establishment  with 
diflTerent  weapons,  to  produce  new  secessions  from 
her  pale,  on  account  of  the  orthodoxy  of  her  creeds, 
confessions,  and  liturgy. 

To  the  attacks  which  she  received  from  this  quarter. 
Dr.  Priestley  led  the  way.  His  remarks  on  Dr.  Bal- 
guy's  *'  Sermon  on  Church  Authority^*  provoked  no 
reply ;  but  when  he  attacked  some  paragraphs  in  judge 

VOL.    lY.  P 


QW  HISTORY  OF   DISSEKTERS. 

Blackstone^s  Commentaries  relating  to  the  dissenters, 
that  able  and  popular  writer  returned  an  answer  in  a 
small  pamphlet,  and  Dr.  Priestley  published  a  reply. 
The  latter  says  in  his  memoirs,  ^*  1  wrote  alsO)  with 
the  encouragement  of  Dr.  Price  and  Dr.  Kippis,  an 
address  to  protestant  dissenters  as  «Uch,  and  as  an 
anonymous  respondent  thought  I  had  laid  too  much 
stress  on  the  principles  of  the  dissenters,  I  wrote  a 
defence  of  my  conduct °.*^    Dr.  Priestley,  however, 
'  drew  upon  himself  much  odium  for  his  open  attacks 
upon  the  orthodoxy  of  the  church  of  £ngland,  and 
upon  the  principle  of  all  ecclesiastical  establishments. 
The  vigorous  attempt  which  was  made  in  1772»  to 
obtain   relief  from  subscription  to  the  thirly-nine 
articles,  being  considered  as  a  reflection  on  the  doc-* 
trines  .of  the  establishment,  roused  Dr.  Tucker,  dean 
of  Gloucester,  to  publish  "  an  Apology  for  the  Church 
of  England.^'    This  able  and  moderate  defence  was 
answered,  with  at  least  equal  talents  and  candour,  by 
Dr.   Kippis,  in  his  "  Vindication  of  the  Protestant 
Dissenting  Ministers."    Theophilus  Lindsey,  having 
rtobly  resigned  the  vicarage  of  Catterick,  in  Yorkshire, 
in  consequence  of  his  adoption  of  heterodox  senti- 
ments, published,  in  1773, "  an  Apology  for  his  Con* 
duct,''  which  may  be  considered  as  a  socinian's  rea- 
sons for  dissent.     This  was  followed,  about  five  years 
after,  l>y  similar  conduct  in  another  clergyman,  Gilbert 
Wakefield,  formerly  fellow  of  Jesus'  college,  Cam- 
bridge ^  In  his  memoirs,  which  are  designed  to  answer 
the  same  purpose  as  Lindsey's  apology,  he  says,  '^  my 
objections  to  the  creed  of  my  forefathers  were  daily 

•  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Priestly,  p.  59. 

f  Gilbert  Wakefield^n  Memoirt  of  bit  own  Life,  vol.  I.  p.    184. 
I^ond  edition.  , 


CONTROVERSIEf.  311 

multiplying,  and  my  determination  was  already  made 
to  quit  the  churchV  The  spirit,  with  which  these 
new  -dissenters  attacked  the  church,  may  be  learned 

I      from  the  reflections  which  he  makes  upon  the  im- 
moral conduct  of  a  clergyman  of  Liverpool^  who  had 

I  been  a  dissenting  minister.  "  My  inference  i^as  fol- 
lows :  it  is  scarcely  possible,'in  my  opinion,  that  any 
man  who  has  been  educated  in  the  true  principles  of 
dissent  from  the  establishment,  can  afterwards  con- 
form with  a  good  conscience.  By  the  true  principles 
of  dissent,  I  understand  an  abjuration  of  all  human 
authority  in  propounding  and  enforcing  articles  of 
feith,  collected  by  men,  as  the  doctrines  of  Scripture, 
in  their  own  terms,  and  according  to  their  own  inter- 
pretation ;  because  a  compliance  with  such  authority 
is  a  literal  abjuration  of  the  supremacy  of  Christ  in 
his  own  kingdom,  against  the  most  explicit  commands 
of  Christ  himself.  The  foundation,  on  which  sensible 
nonconformists  build  their  opposition,  is,  that  which  I 
have  laid,  and  I  must  own  a  very  strong  presumption 
would  be  raised  in  my  mind  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  moral  character  of  an  apostate  from  this  principle 

^  To  these  departures  from  the  national  churchy  Cowper  alludes 
i       ia  his  Task. 

The  veil  is  rent,  rent  too  by  priestly  hands. 

That  hides  divinity  from  mortal  eyes ; 
I  And  all  the  mysteries  to  faith  proposed* 

{  Insulted  and  traduced,  are  cast  aside 

As  useless,  to  the  moles  and  to  the  bats. 

They  now  are  deemed  the  faithfiil,  and  are  praised. 

Who,  constant  only  in  rejecting  thee. 

Deny  thy  Godhead  with  a  martyr's  zeal, 

And  quit  their  office  for  their  error's  sake. 
I  Blind  and  in  love  with  darkness  I  yet  ev'n  these. 

Worthy,  compared  with  sycophants  who  kneel 

Thy  name  adoring,  and  then  preach  thee  man.    Task,  book  ^. 


213  filSTORY   OF    DISSEHtERS. 

In  spite  of  every  propensity  to  a  charitable  judgment, 
I  could  not  but  regard  him  in  the  beautifully  allusive 
language  of  lord  Bacon,  as  offering  to  the  author  of 
truth  the  unclean  sacrifice  of  a  lie'/^  He  goes  on  to 
prove  his  position  by  alluding  to  some  parts  df  the 
conduct  of  a  very  successful  apostate  from  the  cause 
of  dissent,  archbishop  Seeker,  and  proves  that  the^ 
proselyte  from  the  church  had  thoroughly  learned 
the  principles,  if  be  had  not  imbibed  the  spirit  of 
Towgood.  In  mitigation,  however,  of  the  severe 
censures  on  the  moral  character  of  alLwho  desert  the 
cause  of  the  dissenters,  it  may  be  observed,  that  dis«« 
senteirs  are  not  so  diligent,  as  may  be  supposed^  in 
inculcating  their  peculiar  principles;  so  that  many 
who  are  educated  among  them,  never  learn  the  rea« 
sons  of  their  separation  from  the  established  religion 
of  the  country.  The  same  recent  convert  from  the 
establishment  appeared  again  in  1790,  as  the  advocate 
of  the  dissepters.  He  was  called  forth  by  the  pub- 
lication of"  an  Apology  for  the  Liturgy  and  Clergy 
of  the  Church  of  England,"  ascribed  by  some  to  Dr. 
Horsley,  bishop  of  St,  David^s,  but  by  others  to 
bishop  Halifax.  Whoever  the  author  was,  he  had 
rudely  attacked  a  publication,  entitled^"  Hints 
submitted  to  the  serious  Attention  of  the  Clergy, 
Nobility,  and  Laity  newly  associated,"  by  a  layman, 
whom  fame  reported  to  be  the  duke  of  Grafton,  a  zea^- 
lous  and  able  supporter  of  the  new  socinian  species  of 
dissenters.  The  spirit,  with  which  Gilbert  Wakefield 
defended  the  temporal  against  the  spiritual  Lord,  was 
unhappily  more  like  the  unhallowed  passion  of  the 
bishop,  than  the  mild  and  reasonable  temper  of  the 
duke. 
While  many  were  pointing  out  the  fa^ults  of  the 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  1.  p*  905. 


€ONTROy£ftSI£S.  218 

church  of  England,  one.  writer  attempted,  \n  1792, 
to  expo9e  the  evil  of  all  national  establishments  of 
religion.    The  attempt  was   not,    indeed,  entirely 
new;   for  many  had  glanced  at  the  fallacy  of  the 
principle  on  which  these  monopolies  are  founded, 
and  had  hinted  at  the  evil  consequences  which  they 
produce;   but  Mr.  Graham,  a  Scotch  seceding  mi-^ 
nister,  of  Newcastle,  has  the  honour  of  making  the 
first  grand  systematic  attack,  in  his  ^^  Review  of  the 
Ecclesiastical    Establishments  of  Europe.**      With 
much  comprehension  of  view  he  surveys  the  exten« 
sive  subject,  with  deep  reflection  he  forms  his  esti* 
mate  of  the  good  or  evil  consequences  of  an  alliance  ' 
between  church  and  state,  and  with  unhesitating  con* 
fiction  he  announces  the  conclusion,  that  this  long 
established  connection  is  contrary  to  the  dictates  of 
the  Soriptures,  opposed  to  the  genius  of  Christianity^ 
fetal  to  the  interests  of  religion,  arid  dangerous  to  the 
eivil  state.    The  book,  failing  at  first  to  excite  the 
attention  it  deserved,  provoked  no  immediate  contro** 
vensy ;  but  as  its  merit  was  gradually  discovered,  its 
influence  on  the  public  mind  was  proved  by  an  in- 
creased opposition  to  all  exclusive  establishments  in 
religion,  while  the  clergy  of  the  state  were  roused  to 
defend  their  monopoly,  and  thus  a  tone  ws^s  given  to 
the  controversy  with  the  establishment  which  conti* 
nues  to  this  day.     The  periodical  publication  enti-^ 
tied  "  the  Chris^tian  Observer,*'  may  be  pronounced 
the  most  able  antagonist  of  Mr.  Graham's  system, 
which  is  still  capable  of  more  complete  elucidation; 
and  the  attack,  as  well  as  the  defence  of  national 
churches,  is  yet  likely  to  call  forth  greater  numbers^ 
and    powers  than    have    hitherto   engaged  ii^   th^ 
contest.  '  ' 


/ 


S14  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

The  \lrar  of  posts  which  has  beeti  carried  on  during 
this  reign,  t^hanged  its  appearance  towards  the  latter 
part  of  it;  for  after  that  socinianism  had  vexed  the 
church  by  attacks  i:pon  her  athanasian  creed  and 
trinharian  worship,  she  was  more  seriously  alarmed 
by  the  encroachments  ofthemethodists  and  the  ortho- 
dox dissenters.     Such  zeal  was  displayed,  especially 
after  the  rise  of  the  missionary  society,  for  the  diffusion 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  rural  parts  of  the  kingdom,  by 
village  preaching  and  sunday  schools,  that  it  roused 
the  jealousy  of  those  who  would  neither  teach  the 
poor  themselves,  nor  suffer  others  to  ^'  supply  their 
lack  of  service/'    These  efforts  became  the  theme 
of  bishops  in  their  charges,  and  of  the  clergy  in  their 
visitation  sermons.    Oxford,  as  might  be  expected^ 
was  among  the  first  to  proclaim  the  church  in  danger. 
Dr.  Tatham  preached  a  sermon  to  the  university, 
which  he  published  in  1792,  reflecting  severely  on 
methodists  and  dissenters,  for  the  ignorance  of  their 
teachers,  whose  want  of  apostolic  call  to  the  sacred 
office,  also,  exposed  their  unhappy  follower^  to  the 
danger  of  dying  without  those  sacraments  to  which 
nothing  but  episcopacy  could  give  validity.     Mr. 
Benson,  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  preachers,  wrote."  a 
Defence  of  the  Methodists,**  which  drew  from  Mr. 
Russel,  curate  of  Pershore,  some  broad  and  not  very 
friendly  *^  Hints  to  Methodists  and  Dissenters,'^  to 
which  Mr.  Benson  again  replied,  in  his  "  further 
Defence  of  the  Methodists."    As  this  antagonist  of 
high  church  claims,  had  himself  entered  the  univer- 
sity to  perfect  his  education,  and  been  disappointed 
of  the  advantages  which  he  hoped  to  have  gained 
there,  he  hesitated  not  to  retort  upon  many  of  the 
iclergy,  the  accusations  of  ignorance,  which  Dr.  Tat* 


^ONTROYEKSIES.  315 

ham  had  so  liberally  heaped  upon  the  methodists. 
Another  attack  was  made,  1794,  by  Samuel  Clapham, 
M.  A.  in  a  sermon  preached  at  the  visitation  of  the 
bishop  of  Chester,  and  ]^ublished  by  his  command. 
The  preacher  professed  to  consider  ^'  how  fai»  inetho- 
dism  conduces  to  the  interests  of  Christianity  and 
the  welfare  of  society/'  but  he  merely  repeats  the 
TUlgar  charges  of  ignorance,  enthusiasm,  and  un- 
authorised intrusion  into  the  work  of  the.  ministry, 
Mr.  Foley,  a  clergyman  of  Worcestershire,  published 
a  volume  of  discourses,  entitled  ^^  a  Defence  of  the 
Church  of  England/^  As  this  defence  consisted,  in 
great  part,  of  evidence  in  favour  of  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  which. the  preacher  said  ^^  the  dissenters  of 
his  day  almost  universally  rejected,'^  Mr.  Best,  of 
Cradley,  wrote  '^  a  true  Statement  of  the  Case,  or  a 
Vindication  of  the  orthodox  Dissenters/'  He  de- 
fended dissenters  as  a  body  from  the  charge  of  unita- 
rianism,  and  asserted  in  contradiction  to  Mr.  Foley, 
that  even  the  presbyterians  of  that  part,  who  had 
been  particularly  accused  of  heresy,  had  by  iio  means 
universally  ^len  into  socinianism. 

A  local  controversy  of  minor  importance  scarcely 
des^ves  historical  notice,  except  as  it  serves  to  afford  a 
specimen  of  the  spirit  which  prevailed  at  the  tiiiie.  Dr. 
Mant,  rector  of  All  Saints,  Southampton,  in  a  sermon 
preached  at  the  consecration  of  his  parochial  edifice* 
by  the  bishop  of  Exeter,  attacked  the  dissenters,  for 
offering  up  their  public  prayers  without  a  liturgy^ 
preferring  rather,  as  the  preacher  said,  '^  to  pour  out 

*  This  was  not  built  upon  a  new  scite  as  might  be  supposed^  but 
the  new  edifice  covering  rather  more  ground  than  the  old  onet 
took  in  some  that  had  never  been  made  holy,  which  rendered  it 
necessary  to  ci^ll  in  episcopal  powers  to  consecrate  the  building. 


dl6  HI'STORY  OF    DISS£)}T£RSi 

their  eittemporaneous  effusions  in  entbusiasticatnoti- 
sense/'    William  Kingsbury,  M.  A.  minister  of  the 
independent  congregation  in  Southampton,  addressed 
to  him>a  sensible  dispassionate  letter,  entitled,  **  the 
Manner  in  which  protestant  Dissenters  perform  Prayer 
in  public  Worship,  represented  and  vindicated/^  Dr. 
Mant  replied  by  the  publication  of  his  sermon,  in 
order  to  shew  that  it  was  no  virulent  attack,  and 
called  for  no  serious  defence.    The  same  conciliating  ^ 
advocate  for  the  dissenters  wrote  "  an  Apology  for  Vil- 
lage Preachers,^^  who  were  supposed  to  be  reflected 
upon  by  Dr.  Douglas,  bishop  of  Sarum^  in  his  charge 
to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese.     The  bishop,  indeed,  had 
done  nothing  more  than  became  him,  in  warning  his 
clergy  of  the  increase  of  dissenting  places  of  worship 
within  the  diocese  of  Sarum,  and  rousing  them  to 
zeal  in  watching  over  their  flocks,  lest  they  should 
be  led  astray.    But  Mr.  Clift,  a  dissenting  minister  of 
Marlborough,  having  published  ^'an  incidental  Letter'^ 
to  his  lordship  on  the  subject ;  a  controversy  was 
kindled,  which  for  a  short  time,  and  within  a  narrow 
sphere,  was  maintained  with  considerable  spirit.    A 
clergyman  of  the  name  of  Malham,  made  up  what  he 
called  *'  a  Broom  for  the  Conventicle,^^  and  an  anony- 
mous ^^  Appeal,^'  was  addressed  to  the  people,  in 
behalf  of  the  clergy :  these  were  answered  by  dissen- 
ters in  the  neighbourhood  of  Salisbury^. 

The  singularity  of  this  contest  was  the  appearance 
of  a  clergyman  as  the  most  strenuous  defender  of  the 
dissenters.  In  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  ^'  the  Scourge," 
by  Clero  Mastix,  he  boldly  avowed  that  the  peasantry 
of  the  kingdom  were  so  neglected  by  the  regular 
clergy,  as  to  render  the  interposition  pf  lay  preachers 
idbsolutely  necessary  to  snatch  the  souls  of  men  from 


COKXROVERSlfiS.  S17 

r<  ignorance  and  vice.  In  reply  to  the  complaint,  that 
!it  tradesmen  went  forth  on  Sabbath  mornings,  well 
d  mounted  to  the  village  conventicle,  and  were  often 
le  met  by  the  country  curate,  who  was  trudging  to  his 
e:  hallowed  steeple  on  foot ;  this  clergyman  nobly  de- 
)f  dared,  that  if  on  enquiry  he  fouiid  that  the  lay 
!!  preacher  was  a  serious  man,  devoted  to  the  genuine 
1  interests  of  the  Gospel,  while  the  curate  was  a 
I  drunken  preacher  of  salvation  by  good  works ;  he 
should  rejoice  ta  find,  that  Christ  was  so  much 
kinder  to  his  servants  than .  the  devil  was  to  his. 
:.    This  was  the  keenest  and  most  provoking  defence 

0  of  the  village  evangelists  that  appeared  during  this 
)  controversy,  for  the  heat  and  bitterness  of  it  may  be 
;    iairly  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  high  church  party. 

[      At  the  head  of  this  party  appeared  a  champion  of 

1  no  inferior  powers  and  of  no  small  confidence  in  his 
\  own  prowess.  Dr.  Horsley,  bishop  of  Rochester.    In 

his  charge  to  the  clergy,  in  1800,  he  first  inveighed 
against  the  French  revolution,  and  then  with  more 
than  the  classical  callida  juncturoy  against  methodists 
and  dissenters*  sunday  iKshools  and  village  preaching. 
After  complimenting  the  eldest  son  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  pronouncing  the  catholic  nation  of  France 
^^  one  of  the  most  distinguished  nations  of  Christen- 
dom, the  most  distinguished  as  a  Christian  nation,'' 
his  lordship  maintains  that  the  revolution  was  not 
the  effect  of  any  real  grievance  of  the  people,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  rapacity  and  ambition  of  the  clergy, 
but  of  a  plot  of  infidels  originating  in  mere  malice.'' 
Thus  a  few  infidels  overturned  kn  establishment  of  a 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  priests,  who,  because 
they  were  established  clergy,  are  pronounced  innocent 
of  any  thing  which  could  have  led  to  the  fatal  catas- 


.1 


S18  HISTORY  OF   DISftSKTE&S. 

trophe.  The  bishop  then  proceeds  to  warn  the  clergy 
and  the  public  that  a  similar  conspiracy  was  carrying 
on  in  this  country,  to  overturn  the  throi^  and  the 
altar.  Glancing  at  the  isocinians  among  dissenters, 
who  are  represented  by  his  lordship  as  atheists,  whom 
he  has  unmasked,  and  defeated  in  their  first  attempt; 
be  says,  **  the  operations  of  the  enemy  are  still  going 
on.  Still  going  on  by  stratagem.  The  strats^m  still 
a  pretence  of  reformation.  But  the  reformation,  the 
very  reverse  of  what  was  before  attempted.  Instead 
of  divesting  religion  of  its  mysteries,  the  plan  is  now 
to  affisct  a  great  "zeal  for  orthodoxy ;  new  conventicles 
have  been  opened  in  great  numbers ;  the  pastor  is 
often,  in  appearance  at  least,  an  illiterate  peasant  or 
mechanic.  Sunday  schools  are  opened  in  conuec* 
tion  with  these  conventicles,  and*  there  is  much  reason 
to  fear  that  the  expences  of  these  schools  and  con* 
venticles  are  tlefrayed  by  associations.'^  The  increase 
of  these  efforts,  since  the  suppression  of  jacobinism 
in  his  country,  is  considered  by  his  lordship  a  8uf« 
cient  indication  that  the  jacobins  are  now  making 
use  of  the  methodists,  as  the  tools  for  the  accomplish^* 
ment  of  their  original  scheme.  The  best  answer  to 
this  prelate  was  given  in  the  Evangelical  Magazine. 
The  reviewer  of  his  charge  there  asks,  whether  the 
discomfited  socinians,  the  concealed  atheists,  have 
now  made  a  league  with  the  evangelical  sects? 
*^  Has.  the  patriarch  of  the  sect  been  preaching  at 
the  Tabernacle,  or  the  Foundry?  Or  have  the 
oratprs  and  oracles  of  Birmingham  and  Essex-Street 
been  itinerating  in  the  villages  ?  It  is  said  now  to 
be  the  plan  of  the  jaqobins  *  ti>  aSect  great  zeal  for 
orthodoxy;'  but  will  the  bishop,  who  is  strictly 
orthodoxi  say  that  this  is  likely  to  jacobinise  the 


'   CONTROTERSIKft^  SW 

w<Hid  }  Among  the  sectaries  it  is  said,  the  pastor  of 
tBe  newly-formed  village  congregation '  is  often,  in 
appewance  at  leasts  an  illiterate  peasant  or  mechanic/ 
As  if  they  were  more  than  they  appear  to  be<—men 
of  letters,  magistrates,  nobles,  ministers  of  state,  sove* 
re^n  princes ;  like  the  apostles  of  jacobinism  on  the 
continent  of  Europe.  ^  Surely  my  lord  is  wise  ac» 
cording  to  the  wisdom  of  an  angel  of  God,'  for  no 
man  living  ever  before  suspected  these  men  to  be  one 
whit  more  important  or  learned  than  they  appear  to  be. 
That  atheism  and  sedition  are  taught  in  the  dissent- 
ing or  methodist  suhday schools  is  incredible;  for  the 
schools  are  always  open,  and  children  are  not  remark* 
able  for  keeping  secrets.  Surely  infidels  were  never 
&mous  for  devoting  their  time  and  talents  to  the 
gratif itous  instruction  of  the  poor,  and  if  they  wanted 
a  covert  for  carrying  on  their  pernicious  design,  they 
would  be  more  likely  to  seek  it  in  the  bosom  of  a 
wealthy  establishment  than  in  a  sectarian  bam.  In 
France,  they  filled  the  superior  olSices  of  the  church, 
and  there  is  not  an  atheistical  apostle  upon  earth  but 
would  prefer  a  snug  stall  in  a  cathedral,  or  a  warm 
living  in  the  church  to  the  hard  fare  and  harder  labours 
of  a  methodist/'  That  the  bishop  provoked  no  con- 
troversy, was  much  to  the  praise  of  those  whom  he 
attacked  ;  for  there  was  so  much  of  madness  or  ia« 
toxication  in  his  rage,  that  one  is  induced  to  conclude 
that  he  had  stepped  over  the  fine  boundary  which 
separates  genius  from  insanity,  or  had  written  and 
preached,  as  Burke,  another  alarmist  in  the  i^te,  is 
said  to  have  declaimed,  under  the  stimulating  fumes 
oi  hot  water,  as  a  l^iriiop  cannot  be  supposed  to  be 
given  to  wine. 

But  when  bishops  lead  the  way,  there  will  not  be 


HSm  HISTORY   Ot   DISSENTERS. 

ivanting  inferior  clergy  to  follow  in  the  attack  upoK 
dissentel's*  Francis  Wollaston,  rector  of  Chisiehurstp 
Kent,  wrote  "  a  country  Parson's  Address  to  bis 
Flock,  to  caution  them  against  being  mided  by  the 
Wolf  in  sheep's  cloathing,  or  receiving  jacobin  Teach-* 
ers  of  Sedition,  who  intrude  themselves  tinder  the 
specious  Pretence  of  instructing  Youth  and  preachr 
ing  Christianity/'  This  teacher  of  forbearance  was 
not  ashamed  to  |:ell  the  world,  that  he  wished  he  had 
'^  the  power  of  proceeding  in~a  summary  way  against 
such  as  intrude  unasked  into  the  fold  committed  to 
his  care/'  His  accusations  of  treason  and  sedition 
were  thrown  out  so  incautiously,  that  some  of  them 
fell  upon  respectable  individuals  connectedl  with  the 
government.  The  charge  underwent  full  investiga- 
tion by  the  highest  authorities,  the  injured  characteni 
were  honourably  vindicated,  and  a  severe  reproof  was 
given  to  the  reverend  calumniator.  He  republished 
bis  address,  however,  in  a  cheap  edition,  omitting 
only  some  of  the  grossest  calumnies.  He  was  an- 
swered by  "  a  Letter  to  a  country  Parson.'* 

This  charge  of  democratic  scheming  was  echoed 
by  Mr.  Atkinson,  a  clergyman  of  Bradford,  in  York* 
shire^  whose  three  letters  we^e  answered  by  Mr.  Par^ 
sons,  of  Leeds,  in  his  ^^  Vindication  of  the  Dissenters/^ 
In  Wales,  two  anonymous  publications  of  the  same 
high  church  defamatory  cast,  drew  forth  a  tract  entitled^ 
«*  the  Welch  Methodists  vindicated.'^  One  of  the 
attacks,  denominated  ^'  Hints  to  Heads  of  Families,'*- 
gravely  advised  all  good  churchmen  not  to  buy  ox 
sell,  or  maintain  any.  intercourse  of  civil  life,  with 
those  who  separated  from  the  church.  It  must  be 
presumed,  that  the  writer  was  not  aware  that  th^ 
divine  mind,  which  inspired  the  Revelation,  had  pre- 


CpNTROVSRSIESJ  831 

dieted  that  the  time  would  come^  wiieti  none  should 
be  allowed  to  buy  or  sell,  who  had  not  the  mark  of  the 
beast  in  their  right  hand  or  on  their  foreheads  He 
was  pridbably  also  as  little  aware,  that,  if  all  those 
whom  he  would  treat  as  outlaws,  and  banish  from  the 
market,  were  to  form  a  commercial  community,  they 
would  have  a  very  brisk  trade  among  themselves,  and 
that,  if  they  were  exempted  from  supporting  the 
clergy  and  the  poor  of  the  established  church,  many 
of  her  zealous  sons  would  be  glad  to  join  with  them, 
for  the  sake  of  sharing  the  profits  of  their  gainful 
exclusion.  It  is,  however,  painful  to  hear  these 
Welch  methodists  complain  that  they  were  punished 
for  the  pertinacity  with  which  they  clung  to  the 
establishment,  and  refused  to  put  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  the  toleration  act,  by  the  loss  of  one 
hundred  pounds  in  one  year.  ' 

The  controversial  pamphlets  last  noticed  were  pro* 
duced  by  the  zeal  of  modern  times ;  but  an  octavo 
volume  of  nearly  five  hundred  pages  must  now  be 
announced,  which  seems  to  throw  us  back  to  the  age 
of  Dodwell  and  the  nonjurors,  if  not  to  that  of  king 
John,  when  priests  sealed  up  the  gates  of  heaven 
against  whole  nations.  "  A  Guide  to  the  Church,^^ 
by  Rev.  Charles  Daubeny,  placed  all  the  dissenters 
tinder  the  ban  of  the  Redeemer's  empire.  This 
bruium  Jiiimen  was  brought  upon  the  dissenters  hy 
no  fault  of  theirs,  and  indeed  is  to  be  traced  to  a 
cause  which  no  one  would  have  expected  to  produce 
such  an  effect.  Mn  Wilberforce^s  "  practical  View 
pf  Christianity*^  alarmed  JVIr,  Daubepy,  who  saw,  or 
thought  he  saw,  in  it  principles  dangerous  to  the 
chii.roh  and  to  the  souls  of  men.    "The  Guide  tQ 

*  Rev.  xiii.  l6,  J7. 


tSS  ^    HISTORY  OF  DISSENTERS, 

the  Church/'  therefore,  repeated  the  old  alarm  of 
schism,  and  informed  the  world  that  communion  Ivith 
the  church  of  England  was  worth  as  much  as  their 
hopes  <Jf  heaven.  "  From  the  general  tenourof  Scrip- 
ture/* says  Mr.  Daubeny,"  it  is  to  be  concluded  that 
none  but  those  who  are  members  of  the  church,  can 
be  partakers  of  the  spirit  by  which  it  is  accompanied. 
Without,  therefore,  presuming  to  determine  upon  the 
condition  of  those  who  are  out  of  the  church,  we  are 
at  least  justified  iil  saying  that  their  hope  of  salvation 
must  be  built  upon  some  -general  idea  of  the  divine 
mercy,  to  which  the  member  of  the  church  has  a 
covenanted  claim/'  This  ridiculous  attempt,  to 
throw  the  dissenters  upon  the  uncovenanted  mercy 
of  God,  with  a  few  little  tracts  in  the  same  strain, 
seemed  designed  to  prove  that  if  stout  protestants 
think  popery  is  always  the  same,  the  semi-popery  of 
high  churchmen  is  always  the  same.  As  the  dissenters 
were  not  weak  enough  to  h^  alarmed  at  this  papistical 
thunder,  nor  wicked  enough  to  have  elicited  these 
unhallowed  flashes ;  though  not  necessary,  it  was  but 
equitable  that  they  should  be  defended  from  another 
quarter.  A  member  of  the  more  sane  part  of  the 
church  of  England,  sir  Richard  Hill,  pleaded  their 
cause,  in  his  *'  Apology  for  brotherly  Love,  and  for 
the  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.*'  To  Mr. 
Dauberiy*s  definition  of  a  church,  which  was,  that  it 
is  a  society  under  governors  appointed  by  Christ,  the 
baronet  opposed  that  of  the  articles,  that '^  it  is  a 
society  of  faithful  men  where  the  word  of  God  is 
preached ;"  which  gives  him  an  opportunity  of  re- 
torting the  charge  of  schism  upon  Mr.  Daubeny  him- 
self, whose  heretical  words  are  quoted,  to  prove  that 
he  turns  his  own  parochial  temple  into  a  conventicle, 


C0NTK0TXRSIB8, 

and  his  pulpit  into  the  tub  of  a  schismalic.  Mr. 
Daubeny  denies  the  validity  of  auy  sacrament  not 
administered  through  episcopal  ordinatiou.  Yet  two 
metropolitans  TUIotson  and  Seeker,  four  heads  of 
the  church,  James  first,  William  the  third,  and  the  two 
first  Georges,  were  not  episcopally  baptised.  We 
have  bisliops  appointed  by  unbaptised  heads  of  the 
church,  and  consecrated  by  prelates  excommunicated 
at  Rome,  the  mother  from  whom  the  church  of 
England  inherits  all  her  powers. 

Against  the  repeated  accusations  of  schism,  the 
dissenters  re-published  two  tracts,  one  by  Matthew 
Henry  on  schism,  and  the  other  by  Dr.  Gill  on  the 
true  grounds  of  dissent.  A  few  charges  attracted 
notice,  though  the  episcopal  preachers  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  directly  attacked  the  dissenters.  Dr. 
Porteus,  bishop  of  London,  ascribed  their  increase  to 
the  indolence  and  neglects  of  his  own  clergy ;  Dr. 
Prettyman,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  was  chiefly  intent 
upon  combating  Calvinism,  whether  in  or  out  of  the 
establishment,  and  the  bishop  of  Norwich  condemns 
only  the  methodistical  separatists,  while  he  says  of 
the  regular  dissenters :  ^'  as  they  have  laid  aside  their 
passionate  invective,  it  is  incumbent  on  us  to  feel  for 
them,  however  differing  in  the  form  of  religious  wor«* 
ship,  all  that  good  will  which  they  seem  disposed  to 
shew  to  us/'  But  Dr.  Harrington,  bishop  of  Durham, 
descended  from  dissentei*s,  published  a  charge  to  the 
clergy  in  1807,  entitled,  '^  the  Grounds  on  which  the 
Church  of  England  separated  from  the' Church  of 
Rome,"  on  which  he  exhorts  his  clergy  to  watch 
against  papists  and  dissenters,  saying  to  them,  ^*  the 
errors  of  the  calvinist  and  the  anabaptist  demand  your 
vigilance,  as  far  as  they  are  repugnant  to  Christian 


dSti  HISTORY   OP   DISSENTERS. 

verity,  aad  to  our  civil  establisfament/'  "  The  Causes 
of  the  increase  of  Methodism  and  Dissention,  and  of 
the  Popularity  of  what  is  called  evangelical  Preach- 
ing,'^ was  the  title  of  a  visitation  sermon  by  Aclom 
Ingram,  B.  D.  '  Though  it  recommends  the  refusal  of 
liqences  to  dissenters,  it  rather  opposes  evangelical 
doctrines,  than  dissenting  principles.  While  their 
work  prospered  in  their  hands,  the  dissenters  wisely 
refused  to  turn  aside  from  it  to  dispute  with  their 
numerous  accusers. 


GONTROyERSI£S.  225 


\, 


SECTION  II. 

THE    ARMINIAN    CONTROVERSY. 

JL  HE  question  in  dispute  between  calvinists  and  ar- 
minians,  which  forms  thegordian  knot  in  theology,  oc- 
cupied the  talents  of  dissenters  during  this  period.  The 
eagerness,  which  some  have  shown  to  condemn  the 
gospel,  on  account  of  the  controversies  which  alienate 
men  from  each  other,  has  only  betrayed  their  own 
ignorance  or  prejudice  ;  for,  if  the  dispute  which  we 
have  now  to  record,  has  formed  Christians  into  hostile 
sects,  did  it  not  also  divide  heathens  into  different 
schools  of  philosophy  ?  and  if  the  controversy  has  been 
more  eagerly  agitated  in  modern  than  in  ancient  times^ 
it  only  indicates  that  Christianity  has  rendered  the 
heart  of  man  more  sensible  to  the  importance  of  his 
relation  to  a  moral  governor,  and  invigorated  his 
intellect  to  perceive  all  the  difficulties  which  attend 
the  investigation  of  the  subject. 

To  borrow  an  apostolic  simile,  the  first  Christians, 
"like  new-born  babes,^^  had  few  differences;  for  a 
grateful  sense  of  recent  deliverance  from  ruin  attached 
them  to  their  great  deliverer,  and  to  all  who  were 
fellow  heirs  of  the  same  grace ;  so  that  "  the  multi- 
tudes of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
soul/*  But  when  arianism  had  kindled  the  6re  of  con- 
troversy, pelagianism  soon  followed  to  feed  the  flames. 
Those  who  now  adopt  a  modification  of  thi8  latter 
system,  suppose  it  to  be  that  of  the  Scriptures,  and, 
of  course,  of  the  first  Christians  ;  but  it  is  undeniable, 

VOL.    IV.  Q, 


226  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

that  Augustine,  who  took  the  calvinistic  side  against 
Pelagius,  was  hailed  as  the  champion  of  the  ancient, 
faith  ;  though  it  must  be  admitted,  that  he  introduced 
a  more  rigorous  statement  of  the  doctrines  of  grace 
than  had  ever  before  prevailed.     For  as  controversy 
gives  us  a  clearer  perception   of  our  own  system, 
which  is  sometimes  understood  not  before^  but  be^- 
cause  we  have  written  in  its  defence,  so  it  enflames 
our  attachment  to  a  cause  in  which  we  have  spent 
our  power,  if  not  spilt  our  blood,  excites  a  horror  of 
that  against  which  we  are  studying  to  say  strong 
things,  and  a  fondness  for  the  object  of  our  patronage 
which  we  are  desirous  of  presenting  to  the  world  ia 
the  most  amiable  and  defensible  form.     Augustini- 
anism  was,  from  the  time  of  the  celebrated  father,  the 
creed  of  the  church  ;  but  like  the  catholic  doctrine  of 
^  the  Trinity,  it  gained  such  a  triumph  as  extinguished 
the  dispute,  and  left  us  much  in  the  dark  conceraiag 
tbe  sentiments  of  subsequent  ages.     That  the  thick 
night,  which  enveloped  the  Christian  world 'during 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  obscured  the  doctrines 
of  grace  is  manifest  by  the  martyrdom  of  Godeschalcus 
for  maintaining  the  sentiments  of  Augustine  ;  though 
the  cause  of  the  condemned  monk  was  afterwards 
espoused  by  an  assembly  of  bishops,  and  his  eulogiuna 
pronounced  by  fourteen  provinces. 

The  Waldenses  and  Wickliffites  were  chained  by 
the  papistical  party  with  holding  the  doctrines  which 
were  afterwards  termed  calvinistical ;  but  the  refor- 
mation so  directed  the  general  attention  to  other 
objects  that  this  controversy  was  for  a  time  abandoned. 
Luther,  whose  hostility  to  'Calvin  has  been  ex- 
aggerated, first  among  reformers  maintained  "the 
leading  sentiments  of  the  pastor  of  Geneva^  in  a  book 


CONTROVERSIES.  227 , 

entitled,  "  de  Servo  Arbitrio,"  written  in  answer  to 
Erasmus,  who  had  maintained  the  Romish  doctrine 
of  freewill.  While,  however,  it  would  be  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  find  any  thing  more  calvinistic 
than  these  pages  of  Luther,  it  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
Calvin  to  embody _the  system,  and  stamp  it  with  his 
name.  His  Christian  institutes  have  entered  so  fully 
into  this  most  awfully  profound  department  of  theo- 
logy, that  they  are  considered  as  the  standard  of  these 
sentiments ;  though  many  who  firmly  maintain  their 
general  truth,  consider  them  capable  of  a  more  defen- 
sible statement.  Calvin  saw  his  system  received  as 
the  creed  of^rotestants,;  for  the  doctrines  which 
bear  his  name  were  adopted,  not  only  in  Greneva,  but 
in  Switzerland,  France,  Holland,  England,  and  Scot- 
land. That  the  articles  of  the  church  of  England  are 
calvinistic  can  only  be  disputed  by  the  same  perverse 
logic  as  would  make  the  apostle  Paul  an  arminian ; 
'  for  as  the  objections  of  pelagians  confirm  the  doctrines 
against-  which  they  are  levelled,  because  the  apostle 
anticipates  the  same  replies,  so  the  seventeenth  article 
shows  what  kind  of  election  it  was  intended  to  teach 
by  the  objections  which  its  compilers  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  confute. 

The  first  grand  attack  upon  Calvinism  by  a  pro* 
testant,  was  in  answer  to  Beza  on  predestination. 
James  Arminius,  having  been  requested  to  defend 
the  successor  of  Calvin,  chose  rather  to  become  his 
antagonist.  .  To  extinguish  the  controversy  thus 
kindled,  the  synod  of  Dort  was  held,  and  as  the 
arminians  demonstrated  against  its  sentence  of  con- 
demnation, they  received  the  denomination  of  remon- 
strants. The  persecutions  which  followed,  and  in 
which  the  celebrated  Grotius  felt  the  consequences 

Q  2 


2i8  ttlSTORY  OP    blSSENtEAS. 

of  taking  the  unpopular  side,  did  more  injury  to  th» 
calvinistic  cause  than  all  the  arguments  of  the  re-* 
monsti^ant  brethren*  Artninianism,  having  been 
introduced  into  England  by  archbishop  Laud,  took 
care  to  repay  the  cruelties  which  it  had  suffered  in 
Holland,  but  as  his  semi'-popery  soon  rendered  his 
theology  odious^  Calvinism  regained  the  ascendant  in 
the  time  of  the  commonwealth.  John  Goodwin  must 
be  mentioned  as  a  solitary,  but  brilliant  exception  to 
,  the  general  character  of  those  times  ;  for  he,  though  a 
zealous  republican  and  independent,  maintained  the 
doctrines  of  the  arminians  with  as  much  ardour  and 
ability  as  were  ever  displayed  on  that  side  of  the 
question.  Dr.  Owen,  who  had  been  brought  into 
notice  and  raised  to  the  highest  posts  of  literary 
honour  by  his  attack  on  arminanism^  triumphantly 
confuted  Goodwin's  "  Redemption  redeemed,'*  in  a 
treatise  "  on  the  Perseverance  of  the  Saints.''  Richa^rd 
Baxter  attempted  to  strike  out  a  middle  way,  but 
though  he  has  been  considered  as  the  founder  of  a 
school  of  theologians,  who  avoid  the  difficulties  of 
both  the  opposing  systems,  he  has  said  such  things 
as  seem  to  involve  the  admission  of  the  calvinistic 
doctrine  to  all  its  extent.  The  boasted  unity  of 
the  church  of  Rome  was  invaded  by  this  con- 
troversy. The  jesuitSj  who  were  rising  to  unbound-^ 
cd  power  and  influence,  were  as  deteri(nined  armi- 
nians as  they  were  devoted  papists;  while  the 
jansenists,  the  only  remaining  vital  spark  in  "  the 
body  of  death,"  espoused  the  opposite  system,  which 
they  called  by  the  name  of  Augustin,  a  revered 
father,  rather  than  by  that  of  Calvin,  a  reputed  heretic. 
The  letters  of  Pascal  have  given  the  caWinistic 
catholics  the  palm  of  honour,  but  the  authority  of 


CONTROVERSIES,  329 

the  pope  was  the  tool  which  the  craft  and  power  of 

the  Jesuits  eipployed  to  crush  their  adversaries,  and 

render  pehgianism  triumphant  within  the  pale  of  the 

catholic  church. 
*  *' 

The  restoration  of  royalty  in  England  was  that  of 

^rminianism.     Hammond  had  endeavoured  to  tntike 
the  New   Testament    speak    the  language  of  this 
system  ;  and  Whitby,  in  the  next  century,  attempted 
to  enlist  on  the  same  side  the  ancient  fathers,  in  his 
book  on  the  five  points,  by  which  are  meant  election, 
particular  redemption,  efficacious  grace,  free  will,  and 
final  perseverance.     He  was  opposed  by  Dr,  Gill,  in 
his  **  Cause  of  God  and  Truth.^'    The  first  part  of 
this  work,  consisting  of  an  examination  of  the  texti 
of  Scripture  urged  by  arminians,  is  not  so  good  as 
might  be  wished,  but  is  quite  sufficient  for  an  answer 
to  Whitby ;  the  second  adduces  abundant  proofs  from 
Scripture  in  support  of  the  five  points ;  the  third 
defends  them  ^y  the  arms  of  reason,  shewing,  that  if 
calvjnii^ts  are  accused  of  agreeing  with  Hobbs  and  the 
^toics,  the  stoics  were  the  best  among  the  heathens, 
for  whose  ss^lyation  arn^inians  are  accystomed  to  con- 
tend, and  that  the  worst  tenets  of  the  obnoxious 
philosophers,  tha^  we  get  virtue  for  ourselves,  is  the 
doctrine  pf  arminianism.      The  fourth  part  of  the 
"  Cause  of  God  and  Truth,''  aihews  that  Whitby  had 
po  rea^ii  to  boast  pf  the  fathers,  whose  language  is 
largely  qqot^d  in  defence  of  calvinistic  ^race. 

But  the  heat  of  the  battle  in  this  country  was 
excited  by  the  separation  between  the  calvinistic  and 
arminian  methodists.  The  breach  of  the  peace 
between  the  two  brother^  in  zeal,  Whitefield  and 
Wesley,  has  been  deemed  so  serious  an  evil^  that 
each  has  thrown  the  blame  on  the  other.    To  us 


9iW  HISTORY   OF    DlSSEKTERSl. 

the  difference  bet\Yeen  them  appears  so  wide,  that 
to  withdraw  from  a  hollow  union,  and  honestly  avour 
all  his  sentiments,  was  no  disgrace  to  either.     As, 
however,  Mr.  Wesley's  sermon  on  free  grace  was  the 
ipi^t  publication  in  this  controversy,  it  fastens  upon 
him  whatever  blame  attached  to  the  rupture ;  for  it 
is  as  decided  a  declaration  of  war  as  was  ever  made 
])y  a  herald.    Whit^field  might  well  say,  "  I  find  it 
has  had  expected  success,  it  has  set  the  nation  a  dis- 
puting."   The  pleonastic  title  of  ^re^J  grace,  seems 
ilesigned  to  steal  a  march  upon  the  calvinists,  and  to 
$natch  from  them  a  popular  expression  which  they 
claimed  as  exclusively  their  own.     But  if  the  text 
which  Mr.  Wesley  chose,  be  taken  as  the  criterion  of 
the  meaning  of  that  term,  it  decides  for  the  right  of 
^he  calvinists.     ^'  He  that  spared  not  his  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with 
him  also  freely  give  us  all  things'?     By  the  style  of 
the  sermon  it  seems  intended  for  popular  effect,  to 

rei;ider  his  adversary'$  system  odious*.     But  as  Mr. 

•  Rom,  viii.  32. 

*  The  following  extract  from  tlie  sermoil  may  afford  a  sufficient 
{proof  of  its  spirit.    **  O  how  would  the  enemy  of  God  and  man 
r«joice  to  hear  these  things  were  so !    How  wpuld  he  cry  aloud  and 
•pare  not !      How  would]  he  \\ft  up  his  voice  and  say,  *  to  your 
tents,  O   Israel !'     Flee  from  the  face  of  this  God,  or  ye  shall 
utterly  perish.     But  whither  will  ye  flee  ?    Into  heaven  ?     He  is 
there,     Down  to  hell  ?    He  is  there  also.    Ye  cannot  flee  from 
an  omnipresent  almighty  tyrant.    And  whether  ye  flee,  or  stay, 
I  call  heaven,  his  throne,  and  earth,  his  footstool,  to  witness  against 
you :  ye  shall  perish,  ye  shall  die  eternally.     Sing,  O  hell,  and 
rejoice  ye  that  are  under  the  earth.-    For  God,  even  the  mighty 

'  God,  hath  spoken  and  doomed  to  death  thousands  of  sduls,  from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof.     H^re,  O  death, 
10  thy  sting.     They  shall  not,  cannot  e$ca|^e.     For  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  hath  spoken.    Here^  O  grave,  is  thy  victory.    Nations 


CONTROYEESISS.  1281 

Wesley  admitted  the  divine  prescience,  and  bis  ioU 
lowers  say  of  it,  as  calvinists  of  the  divine  sovereignty, 
that  without  it  there  can  be  no  deity;  how  easy 
would  it  be  to  give  a  horrible  carricature  of  armini- 
aQijBm  by  parodying  its  creed,  in  imitation  of  Mr. 
Wesley's  conduct  towards  his  opponents  ? 

Though  Mr.  Wesley's  sermol)  on  free  grace  com- 
menced the  controversy ;  in  the  complete  edition  of 
his  works  the  first  polemical  piece  is  a  ^'  Preservative 
against  unsettled  Notions  in  Religion,  containing  the 
Scripture  Doctrine  of  Predestination,  Election,  and 
Reprobation ".*'  "  A  Dialogue  between  a  Predesti- 
narian  and  his  Friend'^  was  Wesley's  next  publica- 
tion, which  puts  as  weak  arguments  as  possible  into 
the  mouth  of  a  calvinist,  who  is  thus  made  an  easy 

yet  unborn,  or  ever  they  have  done  good  or  evil,  are  doomed  never  ^ 
80  see  the  light  of  life,  but  thou  shalt  gnaw  upon  them  for  ever 
and  ever.  Let  all  those  morning  stars  sing  together  who  fell  with 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning.  Let  all  the  sons  of  bell  shout  for 
joy.  For  the  decree  is  past  and  who  shall  disannul  it^  ?"  This 
passage  is  inserted  by  one  of  Mr,  Wesley^s  admirers,  in  what  are 
called  the  ^  Beauties  of  Wesley,*'  But  if  such  are  his  beautiesj 
what  must  be  his  deformity  ? 

♦  Sermon  on  Free  Grace,  preached  at  Bristol.  Wesley*s  Works, 
vol.  XX.  p.  74. 

°  He  maintains  tliat  election  is  called  eternal,  or  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world,  because  it  was  foreseen  from  eternity,  as  Christ 
is  said  to  be  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  It 
may  be  asked,  whether  Mr.  Wesley's  biblical  criticism  did  not 
extend  so  far  as  to  know  that  the  passage  is  quoted  as  a  proof  of 
eternal  election,  by  reading  it  thus,  **  they  who  are  written  in  th^ 
book  of  the  slain  Lamb,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  That 
this  is  the  true  construction  appears  from  Hev.  xVii.  8.  <*  whose 
names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world,"  And  what  reason  can  be  assigned  why  election  alone 
}s  thus  represented  as  eternal,  rather  than  justification  and  sanctifi^ 
cation,  which  wQre  equally  foreseen  fron^  the  foundal;^on  'of  the 
world  ? 

Q  4  . 


832  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

convert  to  arminianism.  In  the  midst  of  the  contro- 
versy, the  same  writer  reprinted  "  Extracts  from  a 
late  Author,  entitled  serious  Considerations  concern- 
ing  the  Doctrines  of   Election,  Reprobation,  and 

absolute  Reprobation/^  He  also  gave  to  the  world 
his   own  "  Thoughts  on   the  Perseverance   of  the 

Saints,'^  in  which  he  opposes  that  doctrine  with  far 
less  ability  than  was  displayed  by  Goodwin,  who  was 
so  completely  answered  by  Dr.  Owen.  The  next 
publication  of  Mr.  Wesley  was  entitled,  "  Predesti- 
nation calmly  considered,^'  which  is  his  most  laboured 
Apiece,  but  which  indicates  any  thing  rather  than 
calmness  or  consideration.  Against  Mr.  Toplady  he 
wrpte  a  tract  entitled,  "  the  Consequence  proved,*^ 
and  then,  leaving  that  gentleman  to  be  answered  by 
Thomas  Olivers,  he  entirely  abandoned  the  contro- 
versy to  other  disputants. 

Whitefield,  at  the  commencement  of  the  dispute, 
had  addressed  to  the  friendship  of  his  former  brother, 
a  letter  on  election ;  but  he  had  mistaken  the  charac- 
ter of  John  Wesley,  who  sought  victory  by  appealing 
to  the  tribunal  of  vulgar  prejudice  ;  so  that  the  caU 
vinistic  leader,  disgusted  with  the  passions  of  the 
theological  arena,  imitated  his  antagonist  aiid  left  the' 
contest  to  be  maintained  by  his  friends.  The  only 
mighty  polemic  who  appeared  on  the  side  of  cal.- 
vinism,  was  president  Edwards,  of  New  England, 
whose  book  on  the  **  Freedom  of  the  Will,'^  had  it 
been  attended  to  as  it  deserved,  might  have  settled 
the  dispute.  Dr.  Gill,  who  appeared  at  an  earlier 
period,  Edwards,  who  interposed  in  the  midst  of  the 
controversy,  and  Dr^^  Williams,  who  came  up  at  the 
close,  were  the  only  dissenters  who  became  allies  to 
the  cal vinistic  methodists ;  but  they  have  the  honour 


CONTROVERSIES.  933 

of  bringing  into  the  field  the  mildest  tempers  and  the 
ihightiest  arguments.  Edwards,  absorbed  in  the  pro- 
found discussion,  lost  sight  of  every  thing  but  the 
abstract  question,  which  he  pursued  to  such  lengths^ 
that  not  ihariy  cdqld  follow  him.  He  proved,  witK 
tvhat  may*b6  called  a  p^ddig:ality  of  evidence,  that 
from  the  nature  of  the  hiim^m  mind  a  necessity  of 
consequence  must  exist  in  human  affairs,  and  not  only 
i^onfirmed  this,  both  by  the  general  teniour  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  a  multitude  of  particular  texts,  but  drove 
the  contrary  notion  off  the  field  by  a  rediicfiq  ad 
absurdum  so  complete,'  thdt  nothing  like  an  answer 
could  ever  be  given.  The  calvinists,  however,  de- 
lighted with  so  able  a  champion^  depirived  themselves 
of  his  efficient  co-operation  by  vaunting  his  prowess 
in  an  injudicious  manner.  Toplady  either  did  not 
understand  him,  or  was  induced  by  polemical  zeal  to 
represent  him  opposed  as  much  as  possible  to  the 
arminians ;  so  that  he  was  announced  to  the  world  a 
mere  necessarian,  like  Priestley  or  Hartley.  The 
opposite  party  presuming  that  Edwards  was  not  mis- 
represented by  those  who  gloried  in  him  as  their 
champion,  either  shut  their  eyes,  or  steeled  their 
hearts  against  his  arguments ;  concluding  a  priori 
that  they  could  not  be  true ;  because  they  contra- 
dicted at  once  the  feelings  of  nature,  the  testimony  of 
conscience,  and  the  language  of  Scripture,  which  all 
concurred  to  prove,  that  we  are  moral  agents  and  not 
mere  machines.  Hence  Fletcher,  the  ablest  of  the 
arminian  writers,  admits  one  species  of  necessity,  and 
contends  earnestly  for  it,  in  opposition  to  Edwards, 
ivho,  strange  to  tell,  wrote  his  book  to  establish  the 
same  kind  of  necessity.  Once,  indeed,  the  vicar  of 
Madeley  seems  fairly  to  face  the  American,  whea 


234  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS* 

Edwards  contends  that  every  kind  of  necessity  is  not 
incompatible  with  that  freedom  of  the  wiU,  which  10 
essential  to  moral  agency,  praise  atid  blame;  becaiifte 
God  is  necessarily  holy^  devils  are  necessarily  or  irre«- 
claimably  evil ;  yet  neither,  the  best  nor  the  worst 
beings  stct  by  compulsion ;  the  one  deserves  praise 
and  the.  other  blame.  The  manner  in  which  Fletcher 
attempts  to  answer  this,  would  be  amusing,  were  it 
not  a  melancholy  spectacle,  to  see  such  a  man  attempt 
to  defend  himself  and  others  from  the  force  of  truth* 

Augustus  Toplady,  vicar  of  Broad  Hembury,  whonGi 
Mr.  Wesley  calls  "  a  bold  young  man,"  entered  the 
field  tirith  such  weapons  as  were  admirably  calcu^ 
lated  to  repay  the  unfair  attacks  of  the  arminians. 
This  clergy  man^s  "Historic  Proof  of  the  Calvinism  of 
the  Church  of  England,'^  lies  not  within  our  province: 
it  was  answered,  if  not  confuted,  by  Mr.  Sellon,  who 
was  also  a  minister  of  the  establishment.  Another 
piece  by  the  vicar  of  Broad  Hembury  was  entitled, 
"  More  Work  for  John  Wesley,^'  offending  suffici- 
ently by  the  title  alone  against  the  decencies  of  lei. 
ters,  a^d  the  meekness  and  benevolence  of  Christians. 
*'  The  Scheme  of  Christian  and  philosophical  Neces-- 
sity  asserted,^^  by  the  same  author,  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Wesley's  tract  on  that  subject,  too  often  disgusts 
by  the  coarse  unhallowed  wit  which  it  employs. 

But  the  attention  of  the  public  was  called  to  a 
combatant  of  very  different  talents  and  spirit  from 
either  of  the  former.  John  Fletcher,  a  Swiss  by 
birth,  had  beep  ordained  in  the  church  of  England ; 
and  was  chosen  to  preside  in  lady  Huntingdon's  new 
college  at  Trevecca.  But  when  the  honourable  and 
reverend  Mr.  Shirley,  who  wj^s  attached  to  calvinistic 
metbodisp,  sent  to  lady  Huntingdon  the  minutes  of 


CONXBOVERSIES*  935 

Mr.  Wesley's  conference,  1770,  she  doomed  them  to 
the  flames^  and  declared  that  whoever  did  not  disavow 
them  must  quit  her  college.    Mr.  Fletcher,  however, 
defended  them,  and  when  Mr.  Shirley  invited,  by  -a 
circular  letter,  the  clergy  of  all  denominations,  to 
assemble  at  Bristol,  and  oppose  the  heresies  contained 
in  the  minutes,  Mr.  Fletcher  determined  to  stand 
forth  in  their  defence,  and  wrote  what  he  called  bis 
first  check  to  antinomianism.     The  second  check 
attempts  to  shew  that  the  Christian  church  then 
«tood  as  much  in  need  of  reformation  from  antinomic* 
anism,  as  our  ancestors  of  deliverance  from  popish 
errors.     He  was  answered  by  five  letters  from  the 
author  of  "  Pietas  Oxoniensis,^*  sir  Richard  Hill ;  on 
m^ns  faithfulness,  on  working  for  life,  on  God's  con- 
duct to  the  heathen,  and  on  the  sins  of  believers. 
Fletcher's  third  checks  was  in  answer  to  these  letters, 
and  by  seizing  upon  their  inaccuracies,  he  maintains 
a  shew  of  argument,  bordering  on  victory*    To  this 
were  opposed  six  letters  from  sir  Richard  Hill,  and 
some  friendly  remsurks  of  his  brother  Rev.  Rowland 
Hill,  which  drew  forth  Mr.  Fletcher's  "  Logica  Gene* 
venais,  or  a  fourth  Check  to  Antinomianism."    This 
contained  some  bitter  passages,  which  betrayed  a  mind 
wounded,  if  not  foiled,  in  the  conflict,  and  was  answer- 
ed by  sir  Richard  Hill's  ^'  finishing  Stroke."  Fletcher's 
*'  fifth  Check,  or  the  second  Part  of  Logica  Gene- 
vensis,"  aimed  a  blow  at  John  Berridge,  vicar  of 
£verton,  author  of  "  the  Christian  World  unmaslfed," 
who  had  entered  tti^  field  against  the  armiuians*    Sir 
Richard  Hill  answered  again,  by  ^^  a  Creed 'fioTiArmi- 
nians  and  Perfectionists,"  which  is  drawn  up  with 
considerable  ability ;  and  though  it  was  opposed  with 
equal  ingenuity  by  Mr*  Fletcher's  ^^  fictitious  and 
genuine  Creed,"  it  left  a  deep  impression. 


^36  HISTORY   OF   PISSENTKRS. 

Amidst  the  heat  of  this  controversy,  appeared  fi 
pamphlet,  entitled,  "  arminian  Methodism  turned 
out  rank  Popery  at  last  f^  and  another,  entitled,  "  a 
Check  liponChecks,^^  Mr*  Fletcher  having  paused, 
returned  to  the  combat  with  new  vigour  and  a  better 
spirit.  He  published  an  answer  to  Mr.  Toplady^s 
f*  more  Work  for  John  Wesley,^-*  and  a  reply  to  the 
principal  arguments  by  which  the  calvinists  and  fa- 
talists support  the  doctrine  of  absolute  necessity. 
These  were  soon  followed  by  "  the  Doctrines  of 
Grace  and  Justice  equally  essential  to  the  pure 
Gospel.'^  The  controversy  was  closed  by  Mr. 
Fletcher,  with  the  *'  Reconciliation/^  or  an  easy 
method  to  unite  the  professing  people  of  God,  by 
placing  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  justice  in  such  a 
light,  as  to  make  the  candid  arminians  bible-caJvinists, 
and  the  candid  calvinists  bible-arminians.  An  ex- 
hortation to  peace  and  love  is  given  in  such  a  style 
and  spirit,  as  will  confer  more  honour  on  Mr.  Fletcher 
than  he  will  derive  from  all  his  polemical  theology. 

This  controversy  has  lately  been  reviewed  with 
great  ability  by  Dr.  Williams,  of  Rotherham,  in  his 
"  Essay  on  Equity  and  Sovereignty,^'  aft^r  that  he 
had  defended  predestination  to  lite,  in  a  masterly 
sermon.  With  a  mind  of  sufficient  compass  to  grajspi 
the  whole  extent  of  the  subject,  and  powers  compe- 
tent to  grapple  with  its  mighty  difficulties,  he  has 
evinced  a  heart  superior  to  the  passions  which  con- 
vulsed the  other  disputants,  and  alive  to  the  necessity 
of  the  most  accurate  distinctions,  as  well  as  to  the 
impofrtatit  tendencies  of  each  moral  systeni.  Of  in- 
tellectual force,  or  holy  temper  we  have  scarcely  any 
thing  further  to  expect*  or  wish,  but  we  regret  that 
some  of  those  embellishments  which  Fletcher  gave. 


\ 

« 


CONTROVERSIES.  987 

to  his  polemics,  though  too  often  at  the  expense 
of  truth,  are  wanting  to  allure  readers  to  examine  the 
pages  of  Dr.  Williams,  who  will  now  instruct  only 
those  who  are  least  in  need  of  the  information  which 
he  affords. 

On  looking  back  to  the  heat  of  the  controversy,  it 
is  painful  to  reflect  that  scarcely  ever  was  so  impor* 
tant  a  subject  discussed  with  so  bad  success.  Both 
sides  discovered  towards  certain  truths  feelings  which 
did  them  honour;  the  one  being  jealous  for  divine 
sovereignty  and  grace,  with  human  dependence ;  the 
other  for  infinite  justice  and  holin.ess,  with  the  moral 
agency  of  man.  But  they  seem  to  have  reserved  their 
religion  for  their,  friends,  and  to  have  thought  that 
any  thing  was  lawful  to  an  enemy.  Forgetting  that 
from  erring  man,  the  errors,  as  well  as  sins,  of  his 
brother  demand  sorrow  rather  than  anger;  they  let 
loose  all  the  furies  against  their  opponent's  opinion* 
With  whomsoever  the  victory  might  be  supposed  to 
rest,  acquired  by  such  weapons,  it  could  confer  no 
glory. 

Where  both  ptirties  deserve  so  much  censure,  with 
regard  to  their  tempers,  the  comparative  estimate  of 
their  delinquency  is  difficult,  and  the  condemnation 
of  the  one  implies  no  praise  to  the  other*  The  caU 
vinists,  however,  were  the  more  guilty;  for  Mr« 
Toptady  bore  away  the  palm  of  contempt  and  bitter- 
ness, evil  surmises  and  provoking  speeehes.  To  Mr. 
Wesley,  indeed,  must  be  attributed  the  guilt  of  letting 
loose  the  dogs  of  war ;  for  his  horrid  afilpeal  to  all 
the  devils  in  hell  gave  a  sort  of  infernal  tone  to  the 
controversy.  In  point  of  temper,  Fletcher  was  of  all 
the  disputants,  at  once  the  best  and  the  worst.  Too 
much  under  the  iQipression  of  the  approaching  judg- 


3M  HISTOBT  OP  DISSEKtERS. 

men t  to  indulge  himself  in  the  ribaldry,  sneers,  and 
contempt  in  which  others  seemed  to  glory,  he  dis- 
covered all  the  seriousness  of  l^aul  of  Tarsus,  in  his 
opposition  to  the  Gospel,  and,  transported  by  that 
zeal  which  is  not  according  to  knowledge,  he  is  often 
very  devoutly  wicked,  and  almost  blasphemes  from  a 
sense  of  duty.  In  argument,  however,  he  stood  alone 
on  the  arminian  side ;  for  though  Wesley  was  shrewd 
and  perspicuous,  excelling  in  that  luminous  simplicity 
of  language  which  controversy  demands,  he  sooti 
turned  from  disputing  with  enemies,  to  ruling  his 
votaries  ;  and  left  Fletcher  to  dazzle  with  eloquence 
instead  of  reasoning,  and  substitute  tropes  for  argu* 
ments.  If  the  corruscations  of  passion  and  ephemeral 
wit  should  go  down  to  them,'posterity  will  pronounce 
him  too  loquacious  for  a  deep  reasoner,  and  too  em- 
pmssioned  to  investigate  duly  the  most  profound  and 
awful  themes  which  can  occupy  the  human  under- 
standing. 

It  is  as  painful  as  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  true  point 
on  which  the  whole  controversy  turns  was  never 
brought  into  view.  Thi^  could  not  be  expected  from 
the  arminians,  whose  cause  it  would  have  injured. 
But  the  calvinists  by  this  neglect,  betrayed  a  want  of 
insight  into  their  own  system.  The  contest,  concerning 
what  God  designed  from  eternity,  must  at  last  be 
decided  by  what  he  effects  in  time;  for  his  actions 
are  the  annunciation  of  his  decrees.  As  Mr.  Wesley 
professed  to  admit  that  God  was  the  author  of  con« 
irersion,  that  he  gave  the  will  its  right  direction,  and 
sustamed  the  religion  which  he  first  produced ;  when 
this  admission  is  pursued  to  all  its  consequences,  it 
proves  all  that  Calvinism  requires.  Instead,  however, 
of  discussing  this  interesting  question  which  lay 


J 


CONTROVERSIES*  399 

within  their  reach,  and  tended  to  edification  as  it  led 
them  to  look  into  their  own  hearts,  the  combatants 
pushed  each  other  back  into  the  ages  of  eternity,  to 
speculate  upon  the  order  of  the  thoughts  which 
passed  in  the  infinite  mind, 

,  Another  singularity  of  this  contest  was  the  differ- 
ence of  the- tribunals  to  which  the  litigants  appealed. 
The  arminians  seem  to  have  felt  as  gladiators  ex- 
hibiting before  the  world,  which  must  have  been 
much  confirmed  in  its  native  enmity  to  divine  sove- 
reignty and  grace,  by  the  misrepresentations  of  Wes- 
ley and  Fletcher.  The  church  of  Christ  was  the 
theatre  in  which  the  calvinists  sought  applause ;  but 
they  seemed  not  sufficiently  solicitous  whether  that 
applause  proceeded  from  the  best  or  the  worst  part  of 
the  professors  of  religion.  The  arminians  gloried  in 
the  patronage  of  the  Monthly  Review,  and  Mr, 
Fletcher  reproached  Mr.  Hill  for  appealing  to  the 
children  of  God.  That  was  indeed  more  likely  to  be 
true  which  commended  itself  to  those  **  who  had 
tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,^'  than  that  which 
suits  the  taste  of**  the  carnal  mind,  which  is  enmity 
against  God  ;"  but  in  appealing  to  the  people  of  God, 
we  should  not  forget  that  those  who  lay  claim  to  this 
title  without  right,  are  often  the-worstjudges  of  truth 
and  holiness. 

The  effect  of  the  controversy  was  most  pernicious. 
Without  eliciting  truth,  or  illustrating  difficult  texts, 
the  combatants  enflamed  the  spirit  of  party,  and  ren- 
dered the  two  bodies  of  methodists  more  hostile  to 
each  other  than  almost  any  other  differing  sects. 
Though  Wesley  and  Whitefield  appeared  reconciled^ 
they  were  either  not  very  hearty,  or  their  influence 
ivas  greater  to  enflame  than  to  cool  the  passions  of 


S40  BISXORY  OF    DISSENTERS. 

their  followers.  Both  parties  were  driven  to  extreimes; 
The  calvinists  not  only  shocked  their  opponents  by 
saying  things  as  strong,  rathier  than  las  true  as  possible, 
against  arminians  ;  but  they  actually  went  to  lengths 
which  some  of  them  afterwards  condemned  as  the 
perversion  of  Calvinism :  though  others  unhappily 
gloried  in  these  extravagancies  as  the  perfection  of  the 
Gospel ;  so  that  real  antinomianism  became  the  pest 
of  many  churches,  and  the  scarecrow  of  the^arminians. 
These,  in  their  turn,  fled  from  Calvinism'  with  such 
haste,  that  they  almost  rushed  into  the  arms  of  a 
mystical  deism  ;  for  though  Fletcher,  as  be  advanced 
towards  the  close  of  the  controversy,  felt  as  a  Christian 
on  the  verge  of  eternity,  and  dropped  some  healing 
antidotes  to  the  controversial  venom  ;  Wesley  seemed 
only  intent  on  following  up  his  position,  that  ^'  we 
are  gone  too  far  towards  calvinism/^  To  such  lengths 
have  they  gone  in  their  retreat,  that  unless  the  eiBca- 
cious  grace,  against  which  they  contend,  shouli 
interpose  in  their  Behalf,  many  of  this  communion 
will  repeat  the  experiment  of  the  general  baptists  and 
English  presbyterians,  with  whom  arminian  led  to 
arian  sentiments,  which  have  at  length  conducted  to 
socinianism« 


COKTROYERSIES.  d4t 


SECTION  III. 

THE   SOCINIAN    C0NTEOVER3Y. 

If  disssenters  engaged  in  the  preceding  controversy, 
of  this  a  dissenting  minister  was  the  author.  The 
title,  which  we  have  given  to  it,  may  appear  to  some 
to  convey  an  invidious  reflection  ;  but  as  the  epithet 
unitarian,  for  wiiich  these  persons  contend,  appears  to 
others  an  equally  invidious  assumption  that  the 
believers  in  Christ's  deity  deny  the  divine  unity,  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  we  should  entitle  this 
the  unitarian  controversy.  The  latter  epithet  would 
also  fail  of  conveying  any  information,  whether  it  was 
the  socinian,  sabellian,  or  swedenborgian  idea  of  the 
dibin^  unity  and  the  person  of  Christ  which  wad 
maintained  by  those  who  opposed  the  orthodox  doc- 
trine; nor  would  it  give  a  hint  of  the  dispute  con- 
cerning the  atonement  and  merits  of  Christ,  or  the 
"dtvine  influences,  which  were  all  contested  at  the 
same  time.  To  us,  therefore,  truth  and  reason  re- 
commended a  term  which  was  most  comprehensive, 
least  likely  to  suggest  false  ideas,  and  which  could 
convey  no  more  uncandid  reflection  than  the  term 
calviiiistic,  as  it  merely  designates  a  system  main- 
tained by  a  celebrated  writer. 

If  we  have  too  often  seen  Christians  dispute  about 
nothing,  here  we  behold  them  contend  for  every 
thin^'.  For  as  the  person  of  Christ  is,  to  the  believers 
in  hfs  Deity,  the  golden  hinge  on  which  turns  all 
that  is  valuable  in  his  religion,  so  they  who  iktiuid 

VOL,  iv;  ^ 


443  HISTORY    OF    DISSENTERS. 

his  divine  glory,  opposed  also  his  mediatorial  perform* 
ances,  his  atonement,  justification  by  his  righteous- 
ness, his  presence  with  his  church  now,  and  the  hope 
of  being  present  with  him  immediately  after  death. 

The  followers  of  Socinus,  maintaining  that  thei«rsare 
the  sentimeTits  of  the  Scriptures,  suppose,  of  course, 
that  they  were  those  of  the  first  Christians.     But  as 
they  evidently  are  not  discernible  in  the  first  ages  of 
what  is  usually   termed  by  ecclesiastical  historians 
the  orthodox  church,  their  admirers  claim  the  Ebio- 
nites  as  thfe  first  witnesses  for  the  truth.     It  would 
be  endless  to  relate  all  the  opinions  which  have  been 
fortned  of  this  early  sect,  who  ai'e  represented  by  the 
ancients  as  divided  into  two  parties,   as  they  are 
regarded  by  the  moderns  in  two  opposite  points  of 
view ;  some  honouring  them  as  the  genuine  Chris- 
tians, whil6  others  reprobate  them  as  the  earliest 
Jewish  corrupters  of  the  Gospel.  Arius  was,  however, 
the  first  celebrated  opponent  of  the  equality  of  the 
Son  with  the  Father ;  but  notwithstanding  the  ten- 
dency which  his  system  now  betrays  towards  soci- 
nianism,  the  favourers  of  his  creed  would  formerly 
have  rejected  with  horror  the  thought  of  degrading 
Christ  to  a  level  with  ourselves.     The  Paulinists,  or 
Samosatenians,   though   denominated  by  some  'the 
fathers  of  the  modern  socinians,  were  indeed  erro- 
neous concerning  the  person  of  Christ ;  but  they  were 
too  much  inclined  to  the  gnostic  doctrine  of  a  derived 
and  temporary  deity,  to  rank  properly  with  those 
who  consider  Jesus  Christ  as  a  mere  man. 
*   Loelius  Socinus,  or  Sozzini,  who  has  given  a  name 
to  the  opponents  of  Christ^s  deity  and  atonement, 
was  born  at  Sienna,  in  Tuscany,  in  1525,  and  bred 
to  the  profession  of  the  law.     Having  disco  veered 


CONTROVERSIES.  243 

many  thiogs  in  the  religion  of  his  country  contrary  to 
thk  Scriptures,  he  abandoned  other  pursuits  to  study 
the  sacred  writings  in  their  original  tongues,  and  after 
having  travelled  among  the  protestants,  he  settled  at 
Zurich.  He  soon  communicated  his  doubts  con- 
cerning the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  other  important 
doctrines  of  the  reformed  church  to  his  new  connec- 
tions and  to  some  of  his  relations,  who  still  remained 
at  the  place  of  his  nativity.  These  doubts  produced  in 
the  mind  of  his  nephew  FaustusSociousa  persuasion 
of  the  falshood  of  the  common  creed  of  catholics  and 
protestants ;  so  that  when  the  uncle  died,  in  1562, 
he  took  possession  of  his  manuscripts,  and  compiled 
from  them  his  book  entitled  "  de  Jesus  Christo  Sejr- 
vatore.^'     He  then  retired  into  Poland. 

Among  other  adversaries  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  who  arose  at  this  time,  Michael  Servetus,  a 
Spanish  physician,  has  acquired  an  unfortunate  cele- 
brity by  the  circumstances  of  his  death.  He  publish- 
ed a  work  on  the  errors  which  prevailed  concerning  the 
Trinity ,and  having  travelled  into  France,  and  settled  as 
a  physician  at  Vienne,  in  Dauphiny,  he  printed  secret- 
ly, in  1653,  his  "  Christianity  restored."  That  kind  of 
genius,  which  plans  a  new  system  of  religion,  was  in 
him  accompanied  with  ardent  zeal  for  its  establish- 
ment ;  but  the  hopes,  which  he  had  indulged  in  con- 
sequence of  the  extensive  and  powerful  connections 
which  he  had  formed,  were  blasted  by  the  storm  of 
persecution.  He  was  seized  and  thrown  into  prison, 
and  when  he  escaped  and  fled  to  Geneva,  he  was 
there  condemned  as  a  heretic  and  burnt  alive. 

Mosheim,  who  rejects  as  a  fable  the  history  which 
socinians  have  given  of  their  denomination*,  says, 

*  Hist.  saec.  l6.  sec,  3.  part.  2.  rap.  4  sec.  7. 

•R  2 


244  HlSTOllV   OF    DISSENTERS* 

that  at  the  reformation  many  rushed  itito  extremes, 
and  formed  sects  which  papists,  lutherans;  and  caU 
vinists  equally  joined  to  condemn.  Those  who 
denied  the  Trinity  and  divinity  of  Christy  fled  into 
Poland,  where  for  many  years  they  lived  peaceably  in 
communioJI  with  the  protestants,  and  assisted  in  their 
ecclesiastical  Councils.  But  when  the  avowal  of 
their  sentiments  kindled  dissention,  the  diet,  in  1565, 
obliged  them  to  separate  and  form  a  distinct  commu- 
nion. The  palatine  of  Podolia,  having  built  the  city 
of  Racow,  permitted  them  to  settle  there,  where  they 
printed  the  Racovian  catechism,  a  new  version  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  other  works  in  defence  of  their  prin- 
ciples ^ 

The  name  of  anabaptists,  by  which  they  were  called, 
they*  wished  to  exchange  for  that  of  unitarians,  but 
they  were  by  no  means  in  unity  of  sentiment.  Though 
all  maintained  that  Christ  was  a  mere  man,  they 
were  divided  concerning  his  miraculous  conception, 
and  the  propriety  of  paying  to  him  religious  worship^ 
for  which  Faustus  Socinus  was  the  inconsistent  but 
strenuous  advocate.  When  Francis  Davides  super*- 
intendant  of  the  socinian  churches  in  Transylvania, 
opposed  this  as  idolatry,  he  was  resisted  by  Socinus 
and  the  heads  of  the  communion  with  so  much  vio- 
lence, that  the  prince  of  Transylvania  threw  him  inte 

prison,  where  he  died  in  1759\ 

%  - 

y  Their  principal  publication,  which  comprises  the  works  of  all 
their  most  eminent  writers,  is  entitled"  Bibliotheca  Fratrum  Polo- 
norum,"  in  six  volumes  folio,  of  which  the  two  first  contain  all  the 
writing  of  Faustus  Socinus. 

'  This  act  of  persecution  is  passed  over  silently  by  those  who 
keep  up  a  constant  deafening  outcry  against  the  murderous;  Calvin, 
for  his  conduct  towards  Servetus.  ]f  it  be  alledged  that  Socinus 
left  Davides  to  the  civil  power,  tb^  same  excuse  may  be  made  for 


coNT?ioy|:|is|£$.       ^  245 

The  spcinians,  having  been  driven  from  Poland 
vi^ith  such  sufferings  a$  rendered  their  persecutors 
infamous,  sent  put  emissaries  to  seek  an  asylum  ; 
but  no  European  nation  (says  Mosheim,)  could 
be  persuaded  to  grant  a  public  settlement  to  a  sect 
V^hich  dqpied  the  divinity  of  Christ.  In  England, 
indeed,  socinian  sentiments  had  made  their  appear- 
ance soon  after  the  reformation ;  but  John  Biddie  was 

Calvin.  When  it  is  asserted  that  this  reformer  ruled  in  Geneva, 
so  that  the  acts  of  the  government  were  his  own,  it  ipaybe 
replied,  that  the;  governmeiit  once  bani8he4  Calvin  himself,  who 
declared,  before  Servetus  came  to  Geneva,  that  it  would  not  be  in 
his  poMrer  to  save  him ;  so  that  his  influence  was  little  more  than 
that  of  the  Socinians  in  Transylvania,  who  had  acquired  such  an 
ascendant  that  the  man  whom  th^y  persecuted  wauB  sent  to  die  in  a 
jail.  Calvin  laboured  to  dissuade  ^  stranger,  who  was  viewed  witK 
borror>  from  coniing  t^  a  place  where  the  laws,  which  had  been 
enacted  long  before  by  the  emperor,  would  consign  him  to  the 
flames''*' ;  but  the  socinians  saw  their  brother,  the  superintendant  of 
their  churches,  hurled  from  his  honours  to  a  dungeon,  and  what 
e£brts  did  they  make  to  save  him  ?  The  death  of  Servetus,  which 
was  cruel  indeed,  was  inflicted  for  what  all  the  reforrpers,  as  well  as 
Calvin,  deemed  damnable  heresies,  ^^orthy  of  deaths  the  blasphemy: 
of  degrading  the  incarnate  God  to  an  ordinary  man,^  his  death  to 
mere  martyrdom,  and  his  worship  to  idolatry.  But  the  socinians, 
who  are  supposed  to  outstrip  all  others  in  liberal  principles,  hunted 
Davides  to  prison  from  political  motives,  lest  the  odium  under 
which  they  laboured  should  be  auginented.  Socinus  publicly 
stigmatised  the  adherents  of  Davides  as  semi-jews,  and  urgeid  the 
unfortunate  man  to  renounce  his  error ;  but  pHvately  He  acknow- 
ledged (as  in  all  reason  and  consistency  he  was  compelled  to  do) 
that  it  was  a  mere  nothing,  nay  no  error  at  all,  but  a  proof  of 
stronger  faith ;  so  that  Davides  was  made  a  sacrifice  not  to  honest 
bigotry,  but  to  mere  finesse.  The  aggravated  guilt  of  Socinus  is^ 
indeed,  no  excuse  for  that  of  Calvin ;  but  it  may  sufiice  to  expose 
the  conduct  of  his  followers,  who  adduce  the  crime  of  the  latter,  as 
a  proof  of  the  blackness  of  his  character  and  of  the  intolerant  ten* 
dency  of  bis  doctrines.  ' '       f 

*  Mosheim  ubi  supra.  , 

»  3 


246  HISTORY    OF    DISSENTERS. 

the  first  pf  our  countrymen  who  openly  recommended 
them  to  the  world.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  the  first, 
he  was  tor  his  principles  immured  in  prison,  where 
he  published  "  Twelve  Arguments  against  the  Deity 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  which  were  answered  by  Mr. 
Pool.  The  year  after,  he  sent  forth  "  Seven  Articles 
against  the  Deity  of  Christ,*^  with  testimonies  from 
the  fathers,  for  which  some  of  the  Westminster 
assembly  of  divines  moved  that  he  might  be  put  to 
death,  instead  of  which  he  was,  in  1751,  set  at  liberty. 
He  now  published  his  catechisms,  which  maintain 
that  God  is  confined  to  a  certain  place,  has  passions 
and  a  bodily  shape,  is  neither  omnipotent  nor  un- 
changeable, and  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  a  priest 
upon  earth,  and  did  not  itiake  atonement  for  sin.  For 
this  the  long  parliament  committed  him  to  the  Gate- 
house, but  Oliver  Cromwell  afterwards  liberated  him, 
and  when  considerable  disturbance  was  excited  by  a 
challenge  for  a  disputation  betvi^een  him  and  Mr^ 
Griffin,  a  baptist  minister,  the  protector  sent  him  to 
Scilly,  with  an  annual  pension  of  a  hundred  crowns. 
His  catechisms  were  answered  by  Dr.  Owen,  in  the 
learned  treatise  entitled,  "  Vindiciae.  Evangelicae.'* 
Mr.  Biddle,  having  returned  to  London  at  the  restora- 
tion, and  established  a  society  there,  was  thrown  into 
prison,  where  he  died,  September,  1662,  leaving  a 
high  character  for  talents,  morals,  and  learning. 

Dr.  Owen  maintained  the  war  against  socinianism 
through  many  of  his  works;  but  especially  his  *' Expo- 
sition of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,^' in  which  he  con- 
siders the  arguments  of  the  most  celebrated  socinian 
writers,  and  shows  how  completely  they  are  confuted 
by  the  apostolic  writings.  The  next  attack  on  these 
sentiments  was  unhappily  of  a  very  different  kind— 


CONTROVERSIES.  847 

the  ^ct  of  William  and  Mary  against  heresy  and 
blasphemy. 

Soon  after  the  revolution,  arianism  occupied  the 
public  attention ;  but  tbqugh  it  seemed  to  step  ip 
between  the  orthodox  and  Socinus',  it  still  secretly 
prepared  the  way  for  socinianism.  Mr.  Eiqlyq,  who 
was  persecuted  as  an  arian,  seems,  before  his  death, 
to  have  become  a  socinian ;  but  Mr.  Cardale,  a  dis« 
senting  minister  of  Evesham,  in  Worcestershire,  is 
considered  as  the  avant  courier  of  the  controversy. 
He  published  a  piece,  entitled,  '*  the  true  Doctrine 
of  the  New  Testament  concerning  Jesus  Christ  con- 
sidered; wheirein  the  Misrepresentations  that  have 
been  made  of  it,  on  the  arian  If  ypothesis,  aqd  on  all 
Trinitarian  and  Athanasian  Principles,  are  exposed, 
and  the  Honour  pf  our  Saviour's  divine  Character  and 
Mission  is  maintained.'^  The  last  ps^rt  of  this  title 
seems  designed  as  a  bait  to  catch  readers ;  for  who 
would  not  suppose  that  a  book  written  to  niaintaiQ 
the  honour  of  our  Saviour's  divine  character,  against 
arians  and  trinitarians  was  the  work  of  a  sabellian,  or 
of  some  one  who  maiatained,  like  the  Swedenbor- 
gians,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  only  divine  person  ? 
Mr.  Cardale  published  a  supplement  to  this  work,  in 
the  form  of  a  comment  on  Christ's  last  prayer,  and 
a  treatise  on  the  application  of  certain  terms  apd 
epithets  to  Je^us  Christ.  To  this  writer  is  ascribed, 
by  the  admirers  of  his  system,  the  praise  of  leading 
the  way  to  just  and  clear  sentiments  in  religion ;  bu^ 
those  who  oppose  his  creed,  would  rather  ponsider 
him  as  having  only  outstripped  others  in  the  career  of 

*  Dr.  Priestlejy  in  his  Histoiy  of  Corraptioin,  laments,  bnt  witK 
little  reason,  the  obstacle  which  arianism  opposed  to  the  progress  of 
socinianism* 

f  1 


C48  HISTOHY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

unbelief  and  ingratitude  towards  Christ,   to  which 
human  depravity  so  powerfully  impells. 

Dr.  Lardner,  who  is  considered  to  have  run  the 
usual  race  of  heresy,  from  thinking  Christ  to  be  less 
than  God,  to  regarding  him  as  no  more  than  a  man, 
may  be  said  to  have  given  the  new  turn  to  the  dispute. 
His  polemical  works  were  not  numerous,  and  we  have 
only  to  mention  his  "  Enquiry  whether  the  Logos 
supplied  the  place  of  a  human  soul  in  Jesus  Christ  ;** 
and  "  two  Schemes  of  a  Trinity  considered,  and  the 
divine  Unity  asserted.**  Cool,  temperate  discnssion 
characterizes  all  the  works  of  this  emineiit  writer^ 
who  was  more  formed  for  research  than  for  disputa« 
tion,  Mr.  Hopkins,  a  clergyman  of  Essex,  attempted 
to  recommend  arianism  to  the  members  of  the  church 
of  England,  He  received  an  answer  to  his  "  AppeaP* 
from  Dv.  McDonnell,  and  from  two  or  three  other 
1;vriters.  Dr,  Clayton,  bishop  of  Clogher,  rekindled 
the  fires  by  his  "  Essay  oh  Spirit,**  which  was  an- 
swered by  several  trinitarians ;  but  especially  by 
William  Jones  and  Dr.  Randolph.  Mr.  Hopkins 
vindicated  him  in  a  *'  Sequel  to  the  Essay  on  Spirit, 
and  the  bishop  published  a  "  Defence  of  the  Essay, 
as  well  as  ^^a  plain  and  proper  Answer  to  the  Ques- 
tion, why  does  not  the  bishop  of  Clogher  refeign  bi» 
Preferments.**  The  arian  hypothesis  was  most  ably 
supported  by  Mr.  Henry  Taylor,  in  his  "  Apology  of 
Benjamin  Ben  Mordecai  to  his  Friends,  for  embracing 
Christianity,**  and  by  Dr.  Price,  in  his  *'  Sermons  on 
the  Christian  Doctrine.** 

Dr.  Priestley  came  forth  the  champion  of  socinian- 
ism«  and  provoked  a  contest  which  is  not  yet  terminate 
ed«  He  had  been  educated  in  orthodoxy,  but  when  the 
works  of  Lardner  bad  contributed  to  alter  bis  view^^ 


C0NTR0V,ERS1ES.  S49 

he  shewed  to  that  celebrated  writer  some  mantiscript 
observations,  which  he  had  prepared  to  prove  that 
the  sacred  writers  sometimes  reason  in  a  false  and 
inconclusive  manner.  Though  Lardner  disapproved, 
he  afterwards  published  these  remarks,  which  form 
the  clue  to  all  his  subsequent  aberrations  from  evan- 
gelical principles.  Priestley^s  attacks  on  the  trinity 
and  deity  of  Christ,  were  entitled"  an  Appeal  to  tKe 
serious  and  candid  Professors  of  Christianity  ;'^  "  a 
familiar  Illustration  of  certain  Passages  of  Scripture;'* 
"  a  general  View  of  the  Arguments  for  the  Unky  of 
God,  and  against  the  Divinity  and  Pre-existence  of 
Christ,  from  Reason,  from  the  Scriptures,  and  fromi 
History .^^  His  "  Institutes  of  natural  and  rievealed 
Religion^'  may  be  considered  as  a  socinian  body  of 
divinity;  though  it  is  professedly  not  polemical.  It 
controvert^,  however,  the  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  separate  state  of  the  soul,  and  the  eternity 
of  future  punishments  ;  and  as  the  former  part  is  a 
mere  speculation  upon  what  the  light  of  nature  might 
teach  of  religion,  which  the  Dr.  confesses  to  be  very 
little;  in  the  latter,  the  same  speculative  turn  pre- 
vails concerning  the  contents  of  Scripture.  '  Of  this 
most  able  and  best  written  work  of  the  socinian  cory- 
phceus  it  may  be  said,  that  what  is  good  is  borrowed, 
and  what  is  original  is  good  for  nothing.  The  con- 
troversial supplement  to  the  institutes,  is  Dr.  Priest- 
ley^s  celebrated  "  History  of  the  Corruptions  of 
Christianity."  Viewed  as  a  historial  defence  of  soci- 
nianism,  or  rather  as  a  death  stroke  to  the  deity  and 
atonement  of  Christ,  which  had  been  promised  with 
some  parade,  it  must  strike  every  intelligent  reader 
as  the  ridiculous  birth  of  a  mountain  in  labour.  One 
short .  section  of  a  work  that  extends  through  two 


/ 


25d  HISTORY   OF    DI&SENIERS. 

\ 
I 

thick  volumed,  contains  all  th^  polemical  hiftory^ 
which  was  to  prove  the  earliest  Christians  to  have 
been  socinians ;  but  which  only  proves  that  Dr. 
Priestley,  unable  to  find  historic  documents,  coul4 
substitute  for  them  mere  suppositions,  or  the  modes^ 
assumption  that  primitive  Christians  must  have  be* 
lieved  what  the  Dr.  thinks  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures. 
He  must  have  had  a  monstrous  faith  in  the  credulity 
of  his  adherents,  if  he  thought  that  such  a  work  woiil4 
be  taken  for  a  proof  that  their  principles  prevailed  ia 
the  earliest  ages  i  and  if  bi^.  supposed  that  such  ai) 
attack  would  induce  his  opponents  to  abandon  their, 
faith,  he  must  have  imagined  that  they  held  it  by  a 
hair.  The  history  was  attacked  by  an  able  writer  ia 
the  "  Monthly  Review  for  June,  1783,^^  against  whona 
Dr.  Priestley  published  a  reply.  Dr.  Horsley,  suc- 
cessively archdeacon  of  St.  Albans,  bishop  of  Roches- 
ter  and  of  St.  Davids,  was  one  of  the  most  mighty 
antagonists  of  Priestley ;  his  three  publications  on 
this  question  are  collected  into  a  valume,  entitled, 
**  Tracts  in  Controversy  with  Dr.  Priestley ,^^  upon 
the  historical  question  of  the  belief  of  the  first  ages  in 
our  Lord^s  divinity,  with  a  large  addition  of  notes  and 
supplemental  disquisitions.^^  This  episcopal  cham« 
pioa  for  the  oithodox  creed,  who  was  singly  a  host, 
unhappily  enlisted  in  the  cause  his  passions  and  his 
pride,  which  disgraced  bis  learning,  and  gave  his 
adversaries  an  opportunity  of  attacking  him  in  a  weak 
place.  Dr.  Priestley's  letters  to  the  archdeacon  of 
St.  Albans,  and  hi^  remarks  on  the  Monthly  Review 
of  the  letters  to  Dr.  Horsley,  evince  the  unbroken 
spirit  of  the  combatant  r  indeed  it  has  been  observed, 
that  Priestley  followed  up  the  reviewers  with  so 
much  prowess  and  policy,  that  ^^  finding  their  coun? 


CONTROVERSIES.  351 

try  Wds  nourished  by  the  king's,  they  desired  peace, 
and  have  ever  since  paid  the  socinians  faithful  ser-* 
vice/*  "A  Historyofearly  Opinions  concerning  Jesus 
Christ/'  and  ^^  Defences  of  Unitarianism  for  the  year 
1786,  and  three  following  years,*'  may  be  said  to  have 
completed  Dr.  Priestley^s  controversial  works;  but 
he  made  all  his  theological  writings  the  vehicle  of 
his  antitrinitarian  sentiments. 

Dr.  Home,  afterwards  bishop  of  Norwich,  publish- 
ed, with  a  view  to  this  controversy,  "  a  Sermon  on 
contending  for  the  Faith,**  and  a  letter  by  an  under 
graduate  of  Oxford.  Parkhurst,  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  lexicographer,  wrote  "  a  Demonstration  froai 
Scripture  of  the  Divinity  and  Pre-existenoe  of  our 
Saviour,**  and  Mr.  Whitaker  published  four  dialogues 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Dr.  Geddes,  a  Roman 
catholic  divine,  turned  the  tables  upon  Dr.  Priestley, 
by  '^  a  historical  Argument  to  prove  that  some  hun- 
dreds of  Pastors  in  the  Council  of  Nice  could  not 
have  introduced  such  a  Doctrine  as  Chri8t*s  Divinity 
and  the  Trinity  in  the  Divine  Nature.^^  As  Dr. 
Priestley  owns  that  we  cannot  discover  when  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  deity  was  introduced,  and  it  is 
admitted  that  the  Nicene  fathers,  convened  from  dif» 
ferent  parts  of  the  world,  acknowledged  Christ  to  be 
God,  Dr.  Geddes  contends  that  this  must  have  been 
the  original  Christian  doctrine.  It  is  certain  that  an 
attempt  to  reduce  him  to  the  condition  of  a  mere 
man  now  provokes  the  warmest  controversy,  and  can 
we  suppose  that  an  attempt  to  elevate  a  man  to  the 
throne  of  deity  would  have  excited  none  ? 

As  Mr.  Lindsey,  a  very  respectable  clergyman, 
resigned  the  vicarage  of  Catterick,  in  consequence  of 
his  objections  to  the  trinitarianism  of  the  church  of 


352  HISTOILY   OF   PISS^NTERS. 

England,  he  published  an  apology  for  that  step,  apc( 
a  sequel  to  the  apology ;  both  which  are  argumenta* 
tive  efforts  to  overthrow  the  doctrines  of  the  trinitv 
and  deity  of  Christ.  His  attempt  to  explain  iaway 
the  texts  on  which  those  doctrines  are  founded  is  ex* 
ceedingly  futile,  and  most  readers  Would  conclude  that 
his  quotations  from  the  fathers  were  either  designed  to 
prove  that  these  early  \yriters  decide  nothing,  or  that 
they  were  believers  in  Christ's  divinity.  Mr.  Lind« 
sey's  "  Catechist,^'  *'  historical  View  of  the  Unitarian 
Doctrine,"  his  "  Addresses  to  the  Students  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,"  his  "  Examination  of  Mr.  Robin- 
son's Plea  for  the  Divinity  of  Christ,"  and  "  Conver-- 
sations  on  Christian  Idolatry,"  were  answered  by 
Mr.  Bingham's  "  Vindication  of  the  Doctrine  and 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  pf  England,"  Dr.  Randolph'^ 
"  Vindication  of  the  Worship  of  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Gbost,V  *'  an  Enquiry  into  the  Belief  of  the 
Christians  of  the  three  first  Centuries,"  by  William 
Burgh,  esq.  and  Dr.  Hawker's  "  Sermons  on  the 
Divinity  of  Christ." 

Mr.  Fletcher,  who  made  such  a  distinguished  figure 
in  the  artninian  controversy,  wrote  a  very  spirited 
piece,  entitled,  "  Socinianism  unscriptural,"  whicU 
will  effect  more  to  attach  ordinary  readers  of  the  Bible 
to  Christ's  divinity,  than  all  the  writings  of  Dn 
Priestley  or  his  coadjutors  could  counteract.  The 
Swedenborgians  and  the  Jews,  who  had  been  drawn 
into  the  controversy  by  Dr.  Priestley,  retorted  upon 
the  socinians  with  great  spirit,  denying  that  they 
could  with  any  propriety  be  called  Christians. 

Gilbert  Wakefield,  another  clergynjan  who  bad 
abandoned  the  establishment,  on  account  of  its  trini^' 
tarianism,  published^m  "Enquiry  intp  the  Opinions 


CONTAdVERdlES;  253 

of  the  Christian  Writers  of  the  three  first  Centuries, 
concerning  the  Person  of  Christr^^  lii  the  ^^  Memoirs 
of  his  own  Life''  also,  he  laboured  to  diffuse  his  tbeo* 
logical  sentiments.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  talents^ 
considerable  learning,  and  stern  integrity;  but  his 
religion  seems  to  have  been  the  offspring  of  his  pas- 
sions and  his  pride.  While  he  acknowledges  that 
the  hypothesis  of  two  natures  in  Christ  agrees  best 
with  the  letter  of  Scripture,  he  contends  that  here 
also^  "  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life.^^ 
Had  a  trinitarian  made  such  a  confession,  would  not 
this  precipitate  writer  have  gloried  in  it  as  a  relin- 
quishment of  ihe  point  in  dispute,  asking  where  we 
were  to  learn  the  spirit  of  Scripture  but  from  the 
letter  > 

This  controversy  was  warmly  maintained  in  the 
pulpit,  as  well  as  in  the  press,  and  was  after  a  time ' 
revived  by  a  publication  from  Mr.  Wilberforce,  mem«* 
ber  of  parliament,  on  the  difference  between  the  spirit 
of  Christianity,  and  that  of  most  who  professed  to  be 
Christians.  This  writer  having  affirmed  that  socini- 
anism  was  the  halfway-house  to  Deism,  was  vehe- 
mently attacked  by  Mr.  Belsham,  Dr.  Priestley's 
successor  in  the  pastoral  office  at  Hackney.  The 
death  of  Dr.  Priestley  drew  forth  funeral  sermons, 
which,  containing  eulogiums  on  his  sentiments  and 
reflections  on  those  of  his  antagonists,  were  calculated 
to  provoke  replies.  Mr.  Belsham^s  sermon  was 
answered  by  some  able  letters  from  Dr.  John  Pye 
Smith,  of  Homerton.  Gilbert  Wakefield's  translation 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  has  a  strong  tinge  of 
racovian  theology,  has  been  followed  by  what  the 
fiocinians  call  "  an  improved  Version  of  the  New 
Testament,'^  accompanied   with   notes  designed   to 


S44  HJ^^STORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

'prove  that  the  sacred  writers  are  antitriaitarians.  This 
has  been  animadverted  upon  by  Mr.  Nares,  a  clergy- 
man, in  "  an  Appeal  to  Christians/^ 

Neither  the  calvinists  nor  the  socinians  discovered 
any  extraordinary  abilities  in  this  contest.  Dr. 
Priestley  and  his  associates  fell  below  the  Polish  de- 
fenders of  the  same  cause ;  nor  were  any  of  the  trini- 
tarian  writers  equal  to  Dr.  Owen.  No  new  light  was 
thrown  upon  the  subject,  and  no  advantage  was 
derived  from  the  discussion  ;  except  that  each  party 
appeared  before  the  world  in  its  own  colours.  The 
affectation  of  liberal  thinking,  which  the  socinians 
employ  as  an  engine  to  overthrow  the  orthodox  creed, 
lost  its  effect  by  the  horror  which  their  attempt  to 
sweep  away  every  important  tenet  of  the  ancient 
iaith,  excited  in  the  public  mind. 

The  amiable  temper  of  Dr.  Priestley  neutralised 
the  polemical  gall,  but  hatred  to  Calvinism  sometimes 
burst  forth  in  bitter  words.  His  style,  lucid  and  dis- 
passionate, was  calculated  to  make  impression  rather 
on  his  admirers  than  his  antagonists.  When  pressed 
with  unanswerable  arguments  from  Scripture,  he 
would  with  philosophic  indifference  reply,  that  it  was 
all  nothing  to  the  rational  considerations  which  lead 
to  other  conclusions ;  but  when  general  considerations 
were  shown  to  favour  the  evangelical  system,  its 
opponents  would  urge  texts  of  Scripture.  As,  how- 
ever, the  socinians  modestlv  called  themselves  the 
rational  dissenters,  they  preferred  general  reasoning 
to  any  other  mode  of  managing  the  dispute.  Dr. 
Priestley,  with  amazing  coolness,  frames  his  system 
from  what  he  deems  philosophical  considerations,  and 
then  bids  the  Scriptures  comply.  In  opposing  cal- 
vinists, however,  he  ought  to  have  known  that  they 


CONTBOYERSIES.  *  B55 

deny  his  first  principles ;  for  selfishness,  which  they 
deem  the  essence  of  sin,  is  the  soul  of  his  dysCem. 
Instead  of  taking  it  for  granted  that  the  universe  was 
made  for  us,  and  that  the  happiness  of  the  creature  is 
the  ultimate  aim  of  the  Deity,  which  to  evangelical 
divines  appears  an  impious  effort  to  seat  the  crea- 
tures in  their  Maker's  throne;  he  should  have  at« 
tempted  to  confute  such  works  as  Edwards'  "  Disser- 
tation on  the  Nature  of  Virtue,''  and  ''  on  (God's  last 
End  in  the  Creation  of  the  World."  This,  however^ 
would,  like  Sampson,  puU  down  the  whole  edifice, 
and  bury  themselves  in  the  ruins  of  revelation  ;  for  it 
would  prove  to  be  false  the  philosophy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, of  which  this  is  the  fundamental  axiom,  ^'  that 
the  Deity  is  the  alpha  and  omega,  the  end  as  well  as 
author  of  creation  ;  that  of  him,  and  through  him,  and 
to  him  are  all  things,  and  to  him  should  be  all  glory  for 
ever."  In  conseq  uence  of  this  essential  opposition  iti 
their  first  principles,  the  writings  of  socinians  in  this 
controversy  seemed  designed  to  wage  war  with  the 
Scriptures.  He  that  passes  from  the  one  to  the  other 
feels  that  he  breathes  a  different  atmosphere,  and 
exists  in  another  world.  The  tone  of  scepticism, 
with  which  the  allies  of  Priestley  speak  of  every  thing 
in  theology  (except  Calvinism,  which  always  inspires 
them  With  confident  dogmatism),  seems  designed  to 
expose  the  certainty  which  the  sacred  writers  incul- 
cate wherever  God  has  revealed  his  mind.  Exalted 
esteem  and  ardent  affection  for  Christ,  inspired  by  the 
scriptural  representation  of  his  person  and  redemp- 
tion, and  declared  to  be  the  vital  flame  which  per- 
vades the  living  church,  is  by  the  socinian  writers 
exchanged  for  a  cold  measured  expression  of  respect, 
extorted  by  the  ardour  of  prophets  and  apostles,  iti 


256  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

defiance  of  the  frigid  tendency  of  their  own  system* 
For  if^esus  Christ  is  originally  a  being  of  no  higher 
order  than  ourselves,  but  in  consequence  of  the  office 
to  which  he  was  promoted,  was  made  Lord  and 
Judge  of  the  rest  of  his  species,  and  rewarded  for  a 
few  years  of  trial  with  a  resurrection  to  some  thou- 
sands of  years  of  life  and  btiss^  while  the  rest  of  the 
pious  dead  are  mere  non-entities,  or  at  best  uncon- 
scions  dust,  it  was  such  an  honour  and  advantage  to 
him  that  almost  any  man  of  aspiring  energy  would  be 
glad  to  enjoy  the  same  privilege  by  which  be  would 
attract  envy  Vather  than  merit  gratitude.  The 
language,  which  the  socinians  held  in  this  controversy 
concerning  virtue,  reminds  us  only  of  heathen  philo- 
sophers :  the  energy  of  the  human  mind,  by  which 
alone  they  suppose  it  to  be  produced,  proves  it  to  be 
any  thing  but  that  "  true  holiness^*  which  apostles 
declare  to  be  the  effect  of  the  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  the  merit  attached  to  it,  as  the  price  of 
heaven^  proclaims  defiance  to  those  who  assert  that 
^'  eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  that  it  is  not  of 
works  lest  any  man  should  boast/^  So  palpable,  indeed, 
is  the  discrepancy  of  the  two  systems,  that  the  more 
perspicacious  and  finished  polemics  on  the  socinian 
side  wisely  avoid  provoking  a  comparison  by  a 
direct  quotation  from  the  sacred  volume,  or  by 
any  resemblance  of  diction;  except  when  the  huma- 
nity of  Christ  draws  them  out  to  show  that  they 
ate  gladvto  avail  themselves  of  Scripture  when  they 
can,  and  by  which  they  prove  just  as  much  against 
his  Deity,  as  they  would  against  his  priesthood  by 
adducing  texts  which  declare  him  to  be  a  king. 
The  writers  on  this  side  could  not  agree  among 
themselves  what  idea  should  be  attached  to  the  Holv 


I  I 

I  I 

I  ^ 


CONTROVERSIES.  257 

Spirit*,  or  what  interpretation  should  be  given  to  the 
introduction  to  the  Gospel  of  John  ;  this,  together 
with  their  denial  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  divine  influences  on  the  human  mind,  the  mira- 
culous conception  of  Christ,  his  impeccability,  his 
atonement,  his  intercession,  the  existence  of  a  soul  in 
man,  and  the  eternity  of  future  punishment,  served 
as  an  antidote  to  the  poison  of  antitrinitarianism, 
which  their  talents  and  boldness  would  otherwise 
have  more  widely  diffused.  By  continual  progress  in 
the  same  road,  one  rejecting  tbree  out  of  the  four 
Gospels  as  fabulous ;  another  despising  prayer  as 
nugatory;  a  third  branding  public  worship  with  the 
name  of  hypocrisy  ;  a  fourth  opposing  the  morality 
of  the  sabbath,  and  even  recommending  without  a' 
blush  the  pious  pleasures  of  the  play-house  on  a  Sun- 
day; and,  at  length,  a  disciple  of  the  same  school 
denying  the  resurrection  and  the  general  judgment^ 
which  the  others  had  pronounced  the  only  discoveries 
of  rational  Christianity,  they  have  strengthened  the 
antidote,  at  least  as  much  as  the  poison  ;  for  it  is  thus 
rendered  manifest,  that  the  new  species  of  Christian 
philosophy  is  only  infidelity  baptized  with  a  Chris- 
tian name. 

^  Gilbert  Wakefield  in  his  memoirs  maintains  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  Scripture  means  only  God  himself.  Now  as  he  is  one  of 
those  who  believe  that  the  Father  alone  is  God ;  what  ideas  are  ¥fe 
to  attach  to  the  Redeemer's  word ;  **  the  Comforter  who  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whom  the  Father  shall  send  in  my  name  ?"  Are  we  to  para- 
phrase it  thus  ?  The  Holy  Spirit  who  is  the  Father  himself,  whom 
the  Father  shall  send  in  my  name  ?  "  Baptize  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  who  alone  is  God,  and  of  the  Sou,  and  of  tlie  I;Joly  Spirit^ 
who  is  God  himself? 

*  Fellows'  Body  of  Divinity, 

VOL,    lY.  S 


258  HISTOKY   OF   DISS£NT£RSi 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SEMINARIES   FOR   THE    MINISTRY    AMONG  THE 

DISSENTER^. 


SECTION    L 

ENUMERATION    OF    THE   DIFFERENT    SEMINARIES  AND 

TUTORS. 

S^EVERAL  of  the  institutions  for  the  education  of 
dissenting  ministers  which  flourished  under  the  for- 
mer periods  have  now  ceased  to  exist,  but  so  many 
new  ones  have  been  formed  during  the  present  reigi>^ 
that  this,  section  will  unavoidably  extend  to  consi- 
derable length. 

The  most  ancient,  and  not  the  least  respectable 
and  useful  of  the  dissenting  colleges,  is  that  which 
is  established  at  Homerton,  near  London.  It  was 
removed  from  Mile  End,  in  the  year  1772.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  George  the 
third,  Drs.  Walker,  Conder,  and  Gibbons  were 
the  tutors  in  this  institution.  John  Walker  is 
mentioned  with  high  respect  as  eminently  qualified, 
by  extensive  and  accurate  learnings  for  his  office  of 
classical  tutor,  which  he  discharged  with  diligence 
till  he  was  removed  by  death  November  1&^  1770'*. 

^  A  letter  written  by  the  late  "Rev.  J.  Thorowgood,  of  Bocking, 
to  his  parents,  gives  an  account  of  the  last  moments  of  this  eminent 
man. 


SEMINARIES  AMONG  THE   DISSENTERS.      d59 

l)n  John  Conder  had  been  fifteen  years  pastor  of  a 
dissenting  congregation  at  Cambridge,  when  he  was 
invited  to  fill  the  theological  ch^ir  at  this  seminary. 
He  was  soon  after  chosen  by  a  church  in  Moorfields 
to  the  pastoral  office,  which  he  combined  with  his 
academical  duties  till  the  year  1781,  when  he  died  in 
the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  The  third  profes- 
sorship, which  was  filled  by  Dr.  Thomas  Gibbons, 
was  that  of  rhetoric  and  the  belles  lettres,  for  which 
his  biography  of  Dr.  Watts  and  some  other  publica- 
tions would  not  prove  him  eminently  qualified.  He 
was  educated  under  Dr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  Eames,  and 
was  forty  years  pastor  of  a  congregation  at  Haber- 
dasher's-hall,  London.     Death  having  removed  him 

«  Honoured  parents,  Homerton,  Nor.  19, 1770. 

*^  This  afternoon  died,  after  a  tedious  illness,  our  dear  tutor^ 
t)r.  Walker,  who  as  his  whole  heart  was  iiked  on  the  students,  so 
^xed  as  even  when  he  was  deprived  of  his  reason  all  his  rambling 
discourse  was.  of  and  with  them,  advising  th^m  and  praying  for 
them,  so  he  was  greatly  beloved  by  them  and  by  all  that  knew 
liim.  With  the  greatest  honour  and  reputation  did  be  fill  up  his 
post  and  station  in  life,  and  did  abundant  service  to  the  church  of 
God«  And  in  his  private  life  ever  preserved  a  character  of 
integrity,  uprightness,  and  the  greatest  regard  to  duty  towards 
God  and  man  unblemished.  As  a  Christian  he  was  not  indeed  so 
eminent  as  some  are,  for  talking  of  religion,  but  in  real  heart-holiness, 
in  internal  sanctification,  he  perhaps  went  greater  lengths  than  mo6t» 
His  excellencies  were  not  generally  known ;  his  friends,  his  inti- 
mates alone  knew  the  (to  the  world)  hidden  parts  of  his  character. 
He  died  with  the  strongest  expressions  of  his  confidence,  whilst 
reason  remained :  *  Jesus  has  died,  has  conquered  for  me,  and  I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.  It  has  pleased  God  now  to 
liumble  me,  but  1  shall  shortly  be  exalted.  I  fear  not  the  conse- 
quences of  death,  'tis  only  a  painful  dissolution  I  fear.  O  may  I 
be  enabled  to  bear  my  testimony  even  in  the  hour  of  death,  to  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  honour  of  him  who  has  upheld  and 
preserv^  me,'  &c.  &c* 

Your  dutiful  son,  J.  Thorowgooo.*' 

S   2 


260  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

ia  1785,  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Henry  Mayo,  a 
more  able  man,  pastor  of  a  dhurch  in  Nightingale- 
lane.     He  filled  the  rhetorical  chair  till  he  died,  in 
1791,  when  the  office  was  discontinued.    Dr.  Daniel 
Fisher,  minister  of  a  congregation  at  Warminster, 
who  had  succeeded  to  the  office  of  classical  tutor  was, 
on  Dr.  Conder's  death,  raised  to  the  divinity  chair. 
Extremely  unpopular  as  a  preacher,'  he  was  invited 
to  no  pastoral  charge,  and  on  the  decline  of  life  he 
relinquished  his  academical  duties  and  retired  to  pri- 
vate life,  in  which  he  died,  1708,  aged  seventy-six» 
He  had  been  succeeded  as  classical  tutor  by  Dr. 
Davies,  of  Abergavenny,  who  was  elected  pastor  of 
the  independent  congregation  in  Fetter-lane.     Ill 
health  compelled  this  valuable  'man  to    retire    to 
Reading,   where  he  is   still  exercising  the  passive 
graces  of  a  Christian,  and  occasionally  discharging 
the  duties  of  the  ministry.     He  was  followed  at 
Homerton  by  John  Fell,  who  has  been  described  as 
"  rising  by  native  talents,  from  an  obscure  station,  to 
become  one  of  the  first  scholars  of  the  age.  Thaxted, 
in  Essex,  was  the  scene  of  his  pastoral  care,  when  he 
was  invited  to  become  resident  tutor,  and  which, 
together  with  the  duty  of  teaching  the  languages,  in-* 
volved  the  domestic  management  of  the  students. 
This,  which  is  frequently  an  invidious  office,  became 
peculiarly  painful  to  Mr.  Fell,  who  was  so  tormented 
with   the  insubordination  which  prevailed,  and    so 
affected  with  his  expulsion  from  the  office,  that  he 
sunk  under  it  Sept.  6,  1797. 

The  Rev.  John  Bqrry,  who  had  been  fourteen  years 
pastor  at  Romsey,  and  was  then  at  West  Bromwicb, 
was  chosen  to  Succeed  Mr.  Fell ;  but  he  resigned  the 
chair  in  about  four  years,  and  retired  to  Camberwell, 


SEMINARIES    AMONG  THE    DISSENTERS.      261 

in  the  environs  of  London,  where  he  continues  to 
preach  the  Gospel.     His  successor  was  John  Pye 
Smith,  who  was  called,  1801,  from  the  forms  of  the 
academy  at  Rotheram,  in  Yorkshire,  to  fill  the  chair 
at  Homerton,  for  which,  notwithstanding  his  youth 
and  inexperience,  \yisdom  and  learning  fully  qualified 
him.    He  has  since  received  a  diploma  of  D.  D.    Dr. 
Fisher,  having  resignecl  the  office  of  theological  tutor, 
it  was  for  a  few  months  filled  by  James  Knight  pastor 
of  a  church  in  Southwark ;  but  when  he  quitted  it,  Dr. 
Smith  was  placed  in  that  chair,  and  Thomas  Hill, 
who  was  also  called  from  his  studies  in  the  academy 
at  Rotherham,  was  chosen  to  succeed  Dr.  Smith  as 
teacher  of  the  classics  and  niathematics.  An  eminent 
professor  of  elocution  gives  lectures  at  this  seminary, 
which  contains  near  twenty  students,  and  its  funds 
have  received  a  considerable  addition  by  the  will  of 
the  late  William  Fuller,  banker,  of  Londort,  who  be- 
queathed to  it  the  interest  of  five  thousand  pounds. 
This,  which  is  the  dissenting  Oxford,  is  considered 
to  be  now  in  a  more  flourishing  state  than  it  has  beeq 
for  many  years.     Increased  attention  has  been  pafd 
to  the  personal  religion  of  the  students,  and  the  learpr 
ing  of  the  tutors,  which  is  of  the  highest  estimation, 
has  been  ardently  devoted  to  the  formation  of  useful 
ministers,  in  which  they  have  so  happily  succeeded, 
that  the  disenting  churches  have^  lately  received  some 
of  their  most  valuable  pastors  from  this  ancien^  col- 
lege. 

The  other  academy  which  was  early  established  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  London,  and  connected  in  some 
way  with  the  preceding,  was  at  the  commencement 
of  this  period  under  the  care  of  Dr.  David  Jennings, 

who   presided  as  theological  tutor   eighteei^  years^ 

s  3  •••-,«• 


262  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

and  was  removed  by  death  in  1762,  when  he  wag 
seventy-one  years  old.  Dr.  Samuel  Morton  Savage 
was  classical  and  mathematical  tutor,  and  the  lectures 
were  delivered  in  his  house  in  Well-close-square, 
London  :  the  student^  boarded  in  private  families.' 
But  >vhen  Dr.  Jennings  died,  a  situation  was  procured 
for  the  seminary  at  Hoxton,  and  Dr.  Savage  removed 
from  the  classical  to  the  theological  chair.  Dr.  An- 
drew Kippis  and  Dr.  Abraham  Rees,  gentlemen  of 
literary  eminence,  but  of  theological  sentiments 
widely  different  from  those  of  the  former  tutors,  were 
chosen  to  fill  the  other  departments  in  this  academy. 
This  heterogeneous  association?  could  neither  be  ex- 
pected nor  wished  to  continue  long.  Dr.  Kippis 
withdrew  from  the  institution  in  1784,  and  the  two 
other  tutors  followed  his  example,  the  next  year; 
when  the  seminary  which  had  furnished  many  valii- 
l^ble  ministers  was  dissolved. 

Dr.  Savage  was  born  in  London,  July  19,  1721, 
and  though  descended  from  dissenting  parents*  was 
strangely  destined  for  the  national  church;  in  hopes 
that  he  might  rise  to  eminence  under  the  patronage 
of  his  relative  the  lord  primate  of  Ireland.  Consci- 
ence, which  has  blasted  many  a  worldly  scheme,  in- 
terposed and  made  young  Savage  a  nonconformist. 
Having  introduced  himself,  by  a  letter,  to  Dr.  Walts, 
he  was  encouraged  £^nd  placed  under  the  care  of  Mr* 
Eames.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  as  a  student, 
th^t  Dr.  Jennings  refused  to  accept  the  theological 
chair  until  he  qopsented  to  lecture  on  mathematics 

^  ^  was  a  direct  lineal  4e^fndaDt  of  John  Savage,  jfir^  ei|rl  of 
Jlivere.  Life  of  Dr.  Savage,  prefixed  to  his  sermooa  by  Dr.  Toul-i 
cqiu.  If  ho  is  by  the  mother's  side  descended  from  him.    Wilsop, 


^EMINARIXS   AMONG  THE   DISSENTERS.      263 

and  natural  philosophy.     He  was  chosen,  also,  first 
to  assist,  and  then  to  succeed  Mr.  Price  in  the  pas- 
toral office  which  Dr.  Watts  had  long  filled.     He 
resigned  this  charge  at  the  end  of  the  year  1787,  after 
having  laborioMsly,  but  not  successfully  discharged 
^ts  duties  forty  years.     He  was  afternoon  preacher, 
seven  years  to  Dr.  Earle's  congregation,  in  Hanover«» 
street,  and  lecturer  at  Little  St.  Helens.     His  thep- 
logical  diploma  he  received  from  Aberdeen,  in  1707. 
Midnight  studies  in  early  life,  injured  his  constitu- 
tion and  in  advapced  years  be  was  attacked  by  a 
disease  of  the  oesophagus,  which  rendered  it  so  diffi^ 
cult  to  take  food,  that  after  having  beep  r<educed  to  a 
skeleton,  he  was  literally  starved  tp  d^iath.    With  con-* 
summate  patience  he  endured  an  affliction  so  tremens 
dous  to  nature,  and  after  eKpressing  his  composure  ia 
the  prospect  of  death,  be  fell  asleep  February  21, 
1791,  in  the  seventieth  ye^r  of  his  age.    His  talents 
were  the  fruit  of  labour,  unaided  by  what  is  called, 
genius,  for  while  his  sermons  attested  his  extensive 
reading  and  accurate  Learning,  they  were  not  illumi- 
pated  by  those  corruscations  of  sentiment,  ioiagina-^ 
tion,  or  passion,  which  strike  and  charm^ 

The  academy  th^t  now  exists  at  Hoxton,  was  first 
established  at  Mile  End.  Several  friends  of  evan- 
gelical truth,  lamenting  the  heterodoxy  or  cold- 
ness of  the  seminary  which  we  have  last  mentioned,; 
associated  to  provide  for  the  churches  pastors  of  a 
different  spirit.  They  engaged  some  ministers  of 
established  reputation  for  piety  and  orthodox  senti-* 
mepts  to  give  lectures  at  their  own  houses,  to  such 
young  men  as  were  selected  irom  the  churches  in 
London  and  its  vicinity.  This  mode,  however,  soon 
proved  so  inconvenient,  that  they  were  compelled  tq 

^  4 


964  HISTORY  OF    DISSJ5NTER8. 

provide^  in  1783,  a  building  at  Mile  End,  to  which 
they  invited  Stephen  Addington,  minister  of  Madcet 
Harborough,  as  tutot*  of  what  Was  now  called  the 
Eyangelical  Academy.    The  friends  of  the  institution 
procured  him  the  diploma  of  D*  D.     But  as  be  had 
lately  relinquished  a  similar  charge  under  the  impres- 
sion of  declining  vigour,  he  had  scarcely  begun  to 
*'  gird  up  the  loins  of  his  mind''  to  the  duties  of  his 
new  office,  with  the  hope  of  extensive  usefulness, 
before  he  was  attacked  by  a  severe  indisposition  .which 
laid  him  aside  for  some  time.     Though  he  recovered 
beyond  expectation,  and  resumed  his  labours  with 
Hew  ardour,  he  was  again  disabled  by  affliction,  and 
at  length  compelled,  in  1798,  to  resign  his  office.    As 
he  had  been  chosen  pastor  of  the  congregation  in 
Miles*  Lane  at  the  close,  of  1781,  he  continued  to 
labour  there  under  the  pressure  of  infirmities;  but 
encouraged  by.  the  generous  attachment  of  his  flock, 
four  years  after  he  resigtied  his  academical  charge* 
In  February,  1796,  he  was  called  away  from  his 
labours  and  sorrows  by  death  in  his  sixty-seventh 
year.     He  was  an  amiable  man,  of  correct  ^deportment, 
ardent  piety,. and  zeal  for  usefulness;  his  learning, 
which  was  extensive  rather  than  profound,  projected 
more  works  than  he  found  time  to  execute,  and  his 
dread  of  living  in  vain,  induced  him  to  grasp  at 
objects  to  which  his  strength  was  inadequate.     As 
a  preacher,  he  was  more  esteemed  than  admired,  for 
his  elocution  was  defective,  thougl>  earnest ;  and  his 
thoughts,  always  good,  were  seldom  great.     His  trea« 
tise  in  defence  of  'infant  .baptism,  and  his  ^^  Li(p  ^ 
the  apostle  Paul^^  are  the  best  known  among  his  pub- 
lications, of  which  our  limits  will  not  allow  vs  to 
givie  a  full  list. 


SEMINARIES  AMOJNG  TBB  DISSENTERS.     fHK 

The  academy  over  which  he  presided  was,  in  1791, 
removed  to  Hoxton,  to  the  hpuse  occupied  by  th^ 
former  seminary,  and  placed  under  the  care  of  Robert 
Simpson,  M.  A.  who  was  called  fr<mi  the  charge  of  a 
congregation  at  Bolton,  in  Lancashire.  As  this  gen- 
tleman, who  is  a  native  of  Scotland,  is  still  presiding 
over  the  institution,  in  the  office  of  resident  divinity 
tutor,  we  are  forbidden  to  indulge  our  feelings  in 
giving  an  estimate  of  his  qualifications  for  the  im* 
portant  post.  The  classical  tutors,  who  have  suc- 
cessively assisted  in  the  labours  of  this  seminary,  are, 
Mr.  CoUison,  now  at, the  head  of  another  academy^ 
which  will  occur  to  our  notice ;  Mr.  Atkinson,  who 
was  afterwards  elected  head  master  of  the  dissenting 
grammar  school  at  Mill  Hill,  near  London  ;  and  Mr. 
Hooper,  who  now  combines,  with  his  labours  at  Hox« 
ton,  the  pastoral  care  of  a  church  in  Old  Gravel-lane, 
Wapping.  Henry  Foster  Burder,  A.M,  has  lately  beeii 
chosen  lecturer  in  logic,  rhetorici,  and  mathematics^ 
From  its  treasurer,  Thomas  Wilson,  this  institution 
receives  the  most  active  and  generous  services.  The 
building,  in  which  the  academy  is  held,  has  lately 
been  enlarged  by  the  erection  of  studies  for  thirty 
students,  which  is  their  present  number ;  add  the 
plan  of  education,  which  was  at  first  rather  superfictal, 
has  been  much  extended  and  improved.  Nearly  a 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  have  been  introduced  into 
the  ministry  by  this  seminary ;  several  have  gone  from 
thence  to  the  university  of  Glasgow ;  one  is  now 
labouring  as  a  missionary  among  the  heathen ;  and 
others  are  preaching  with  acceptance  and  success  in 
our  own  country. 

Hackney,  in  the  vicinity  of  London,  was  tke  seat 
of  another  academy,  of  different  principles  and  spirit. 


90Q  HISTORY  OP   BISSENTER8. 

Those  who  were  called  the  wide  dissenters,  resolving^ 
to  establish  an  institution  for  the  education  of  minisn 
ters  on  their  own  principles,  formed,  in  178©^  what 
was  called  the  New  College,  which  never  lived  tQ  l>e 
an  old  one.  Dr.  Kippis,  who  has  been  noticed  as 
tutor  at  the  academy  which  formerly  existed  in  Hox- 
ton,  Thomas  Belsham,  and  Gilbert  Wakefield,  for- 
merly fellow  of  Jesus  college,  Cambridge,  were  called 
to  instruct  the  youths  destined  to  be  pastors  of  the 
arian  and  socinian  churches.  As  the  institution, 
with  all  its  high  promises,  expired  within  ten  years 
after  its  establishment,  but  lijttle  can  be  said  of  its 
character,  and  only  one  of  its  tutors  demands  a  bio* 
graphical  memoir.  Andrew  Kippis,  D.  D.  F.  R, 
and  A.  S.  was  born  at  Nottingham,  in  1725.  Hq 
was  descended  from  ejected  ministers,  and  received 
his  education  at  the  grammar  school  of  Sleaford,  in 
Lincolnshire,  but  derived  such  advantages  in  literature 
from  the  kind  attentions  of  Mr.  Merivale,  as  he  said 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  express.  After  studying 
for  the  ministry  under  Dr.  Doddridge,  he  preached 
to  several  congregations  before  he  was  chosen  to  suc- 
ceed Dr.  Hughes,  in  Princes-street,  Westminster. 
At  the  recommendation  of  professor  Robertson,  the 
university  of  Edinburgh,  in  1767,  presented  him  with 
the  diploma  of  D,  D.  and  he  was  afterwards  chosen 
member  of  the  society  of  antiquaries!,  and  fellow  of 
the  royal  society.  He  died  in  1795,  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age.  Gilbert  Wakefield  pronounces  hina 
^*  a  gentleman  of  unlimited  benevolence,  eminent 
literary  accomplishments,  from  whom  no  one  could 
withhold  respect  who  was  himself  respectabIe^'*  As 
a  preacher,  his  stores  of  knowledge,  felicity  of  style, 

f  Mjemoirs,  yoU  L  p.  338. 


SEMINARIES  AMOKG  fHE  DISSENTERS^      ^7 

and  energy  of  elocution,  must  have  rendered  hin^ 
iascinating  to  those  who  approved  his  sentiments* 
But  his  labours  as  an  author  form  the  surest  basis  of 
his  fame.  In  the  historical  and  philological  depart- 
ment of  the  Monthly  Review,  he  instructed  the  pub- 
lic^ and  in  the  prefece  to  the  New  Annual  Register 
he  gave  a  very  valuable  history  of  knowledge,  learning, 
and  taste  in  Great  Britain.  His  improved  edition  of 
Dr.  Doddridge's  Lectures  attests  his  reading  and  can* 
dour,  but  the  new  edition  of  the  ^^  Biographia  Brits^n- 
nica,*^  will  deliver  his  name  to  posterity  among  th^ 
first  writers  of  our  language. 

A  recent  establishment  at  Hackney  seems  designed 
to  form  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  preceding.  A  costly 
and  finished  education  was  there  intended  to  form 
preachers  of  socinianism  to  the  rich  ;  here  a  slight  and 
economical  cpurse  of  instruction  is  designed  to  pre- 
pare itinerants  to  publish  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ  to  the  poor,  where  congregations  were  not  yet 
gathered.  Its  founder  was  John  Eyre,  A.  M.  who 
was  first  a  preacher  in  the  countess  of  Huntingdon's 
connection,  then  a  curate  in  the  establishment,  and 
finally  minister  of  an  episcopal  chapel  at  Homerton, 
where  he  laboured  with  distinguished  zeal  and  success. 
A  society  formed  by  this  devoted  servant  of  Christ 
among  the  affluent  members  of  his  own  congregation, 
called  the  village  itinerancy,  for  the  propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  dark  villages  of  England  and  Wales, 
led  to  the  establishment  of  a  seminary.  For  it  was 
soon  found  that  the  necessities  of  the  churches  left 
the  regular  academies  no  opportunity  to  furnish  the 
society  with  itinerants  :  they  therefore  formed  a  plan 
to  give  serious  young  men  a  more  rapid  course  of 
instruction,  to  exclude  the  dead  languages,  except  so 


99B.  HISTORY  OF  j>is|ie;kt|:ii$. 

far  as  was.  necessary  tot  furnish  ap  introduction  to  the 
original  tongues  of  the  Scripture,  and  to  give  a  short 
course  of  lectures, on  biblical  and  general  science,  and 
the  duties  of  a  preacher.  Two  of  Mr.  Eyre's  friends^ 
Mr.  Hanson  and  Mr.  Charles  Townsend,  warmly 
patronised  the  new  seminary,  and  the  latter  ba^  de- 
served well  of  the  church  of  Christ  by  a  contribution 
of  five  hundred  .pounds  annually,  during  his  life, 
and  at  his  death,  a  bequest  of  ten  thousand  pounds. 
The  seminary  was  fixed  in  Well-street,  Hackney,  in 
1803,  and  George  CoIItson,  A.  M.  who  had  been 
classical  tutor  at  Hoxton,  was  chosen  to  superintend 
the  studies  of  the  young  men,  whose  numbers  have 
Qover  b^en  great :  their  labours  have  introduced  the 
Gospel,  and  formed  churches  in  some  dark  parts  of 
our  island. 

The  academy  over  which  Dr.  Doddridge  presided, 
-was,  at  his  death  removed  to  Daventry,  as  Dr.  Caleb 
Ashworth,  who  was  chosen  to  the  office  of  tutor, 
ref^sed  to  quit  his  pastoral  charge  at  that  place.  He 
entered  into  his  academical  labours  in  1752,  and  was 
removed  by  death.  On  the  eighteenth  of  July,  1775, 
in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age.  Some  of  his  pupils 
still,  occupy  important  statipns  in  the  dissenting 
churches,  and  they  unite  in  representing  him  as  a 
man  who  fully  justified  the  high  expectations  formed 
of  him  by  Dr.  Doddridge.  His  great  abilities  and 
learning  were  combined  with  consummate  prudence, 
an4  unaffected  modesty,  and  devoted  with  unremitted 
diiligence  to.  the  improvement  of  the  students ;  for 
whose  use  he  drew  up  the  rudiments  of  the  Hebrew 
.language,  which  were  published  without  his  name, 
and  have  been  very  extensively  used.  Moderate 
Calvinism  is  the  name  given  to  his  religipus  senti- 


SEMINARIES   AMONG  THE   BI881INTER8.     9&9 

ments^but  as  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  who  Mras  one  of 
his  pupils,  praises  the  liberality  with  which  he  left 
the  young  men  toth^ir  own  views^  and  the  names  of 
Belsbam,  Kenrick,  and  Kentish,  are  found  in  the  list 
of  his  students,  many  will  conclude  t^at  his  cal?]ni&^m 
must  have  been  moderate  indeed. 

Thomas  Robins  succeeded  Dr.  Ashworth.  He 
was  born  in  the  vicinity  of  Bedford,  where  he  attended 
the  ministry  of  the  laborious  and  successful  Mr. 
Saunderson*  After  finishing  the  studies  which  w^e 
interrupted  by  Dr.  Doddridge's  death,  under  bis  sue* 
sessor,  he  settled  as  a  minister  at  Stretton,  in  War^ 
wickshire,  and  afterwards  removed  to  West  Bromwich, 
near    Birmingham.      With   modest  reluctance,  he 

s  Dr.  Priestley  saj^,  '<  In  my  time  the  academy  was  id  a  state 
peculiarly  favorable  to  the  serioas  pursuit  of  truth,  as  the  students 
were  about  equally  divided  upon  every  question  of  muchimportancey 
sach  as  liberty  and  necessity,  the  sleep  of  the  soul,  and  all  the 
articles  of  theological  orthodoxy  and  heresy ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  all  these  topics  were  the  subject  of  continual  discutsioo. 
Our  tutors  also  were  of  different  opinions.  Dr.  Ashworth  taking  the 
orthodox  side  of  every  question,  and  Mr«  Clark,  the  sub-tutorj  that 
of  heresy,  though  always  with  the  greatest  m'odesty, 

*'  Both  of  our  tutors  being  young,  at  least  as  tutors,  and  some  of 
the  senior  students  excelling  more  than  they  could  pretend  to  do, 
in  several  branches  of  study,  they  indulged  us  in  the  .greatest 
freedoms.  The  general  plan  of  our  studies,  which  may  be  seen  in 
Dr.  Doddridge's  published  lectures,  was  exceedingly  favourable  to 
ftee  inquiry,  as  we  were  referred  to  authors  on  both  sides  of  every 
question.  In  this  situation,  I  saw  reason  to  embrace  what  is  gene- 
rally called  the  heterodox  side  of  almost  every  question.  But  not* 
withstanding  this,  and  though  Dr.  Ashworth  was  earnestly  desirous 
to  make  me  as  orthodox  as  possible,  yet  as  my  behaviour  was  unex« 
ceptionable,  and  as  I  generally  took  his  part  in  some  little  things, 
by  which  he  often  drew  upon  himself  the  ill-will  of  many  of  \he 
student!?,  I  was  upon  the  whole  a  favourite  with  him."  Priestley's 
Memoirs,  p.  17>  20. 


iKfO  ttldlORY  OF   DldSE^rERS^ 

yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  Mr.  Coward's  truateeSf 
to  take  upon  him  the  care  of  the  academy  at  Dayen- 
try,  where  he  was  also  chosen  to  the  charge  of  Dr« 
Ashworth's  congregation.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  these  offices  for  some  years  with  general  reputation, 
but  the  loss  of  his  voice,  in  1781,  obliged  him  to 
withdraw  into  retirement. 

The  assistant  tutor  at  Daventry  wasi  Thomas  Bel- 
sham,  A.  M.  who  afterwards  succeeded  Mr.  Rbbins 
in  the  theological  chair.  This  gentleman,  who  is 
the  avowed  opponent  of  Calvinism,  was  educated  in 
those  sentiments  by  his  father,  who  was.  a  respectable 
minister  at  Newport  Pagnel,  Bucks.  After  having 
studied  at  Daventry,  he  took  the  charge  of  a  congrega- 
tion at  Worcester ;  but,  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Ashworth 
he  returned  to  take  the  office  of  second  tutor  in  the 
academy.  As  the  institution  is  supported  by  Mr. 
,Coward's  fund  bequeathed  with  the  express  condition 
that  the  students  shall  be  educated  in  the  principles 
of  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  when  Mr.  Belsham 
abandoned  those  principles  for  the  socinian  creed,  he 
^ith  great  propriety,  relinquished  the  theological 
chair,  for  which  he  is  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  those 
who  are  most  hostile  to  his  present  system. 

Mr.  Belsham  (being  succeeded  by  John  Horsey, 
mimister  of  a  congregation  in  Northampton,  the  aca- 
demy was  again  fixed  in  that  town.  The  value  of 
that  honesty,  integrity,  and  decision  of  character 
which  the  former  tutor  bad  displayed,  was  soon  mani- 
fested by  the  painful  suspicions  which  were  enter- 
tained concerning  his  successor;  for  as  most  of  the 
[phpils  were  found  to  be  socinians,  it  was  concluded 
that  the  theological  tutor  could  not  be  faithfully  ex- 
ecuting the  will  of  the  founder.    The  state  of  things, 


SEMINARIES    AMONG  THE  BIS9ENTEBS.     S7l 

^hich  is  said  to  have  been  worse  than  we  could  wish 
to  believe,  or  should  choose  to  publish,  being  reported 
to  the  trustees,  the^  determined  to  strike  at  the  root 
of  the  evil  by  dissolving  the  academy. 

In  the  foHowing  year,  1799,  the  institution  \Vas 
revived,  and  William  Parry,  M.  A.  of  Little  Baddow, 
Essex,  was  chosen  tutor.  A  building  wa»  purchased 
for  the  academy  at  Wy mondley,  a  village  neat  Hitchin, 
in  Hertfordshire,  where  it  now  flourishes.  Mr.  Bur- 
der  was  for  a  short  time  assistant  tutor  with  Mr* 
Parry.  The  seminary  is  supported  by  ample  funds, 
and  since  the  library  has  been  increased  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  books  which  were  in  that  belonging  to 
Dr.  Savage's  academy,  at  Hoxton,  it  is  thought  to  be 
the  most  valuable  among  the  dissenters. 

The  dissenting  academy  in  the  west  of  Englaiid 
being  dissolved  at  the  departure  of  Dr.  Amory  to 
London,  several  persons  resolved  shortly  after  to 
establish  a  seminary,  not  for  the  ministry  ^one,.but 
also  for  the  other  learned  professions  and  for  civil  life. 
William  Mackworth  Praed,  esq.  gave  a  house  at 
Exeter  for  the  seminary,  into  which  was  removed 
the  library  of  the  Taunton  academy,  much  enriched 
by  the  books  of  Dr.  Hodge  of  London, .  who  had 
bequeathed  them  to  the  new  institution.  It  was 
opened,  in  1760,  under  Samuel  Merivale  as  its  super* 
intendant,  who  was  assisted  by  the  celebrated  Micaiah 
Towgood.  The  former  was  removed  by  death  1771, 
He  had  been  educated  under  Dr.  Doddridge  at  North- 
ampton, where  he  was  born,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
liis  studies  had  taken  the  charge  of  a  congregation  at 
Sleaford,  in  Lincolnshire,  but  removed  to  Exeter,  on 
the  commencement  of  the  academy,  and  was  chosen 
one  of  the  ministers  of  the  ariaa  congregatiota  in  that 


S73  HISTORY  OF   DIS9ENT£R9» 

city,  as  ireH  as  tutor  to  the  setninaiy.  For  exten- 
sive learning  and  refined  taste,  he  has  been  praised 
by  the  first  scholars,  and  by  his  pupils  for  the  mild 
dignity  of  his  character,  and  the  fairness  and  perspi* 
cuity  with  which  be  treated  the  disputed  points  in 
theology,  as  well  as  the  zeal  which  he  displayed  in 
the  cause  of  truth  and  piety. 

Mr.  Towgood  died,  in  1792,  in  his  ninety-second 
year :  the  infirmities  of  age  had  compelled  |iim  to  re- 
linquish his  public  labours  ten  years  before.  Axrnin- 
ster  has  the  honour  of  being  the  birth-place  of  this 
champion  of  dissent.  Under  Mr.  Grove  he  received 
his  education,  after  which  he  preached  fifteen  years  at 
Moreton  Hampstead,  and  twelve  at  Crediton.  He 
removed,  in  1749,  to  Exeter,  wl^ere,  besides  bis  la- 
bours iji  the  pulpit,  he  gave  lectures  in  the  academy 
on  biblical  criticism,  for  which  his  learning  and  judg- 
ment, though  not  his  orthodoxy,  eminently  qualified 
him..  Kind  and  friendly  in  his  disposition,  his  vrva- 
city  and  wit  produced  those  sallies  which  gave  inte- 
rest to  his  lectures,  and  fixed  them  in  the  minds  of  his 
students.  The  pre-eminent  polemical  talents  which 
he  displayed  in  his  letters  to  Mr.  White  have  been 
noticed  in  another  place.  Here  we  can  only  regret 
that  his  superior  powers  were  wasted  in  vain  attempts 
to  give  warmth  and  animation  to  a  theological  system, 
which  is  essentially  cold  as  death  ;  presenting  a  me- 
lancholy warning  to  ministers,  that  the  cause  of  dis- 
sent may  find  in  them  ardent  champions,  while  their 
own  souls  and  their  flocks  may  be  fatally  injured  for 
wdnt  of  the  vital  flame  of  redeeming  love. 

The  other  tutors  in  this  academy  were  men  of 
taletits  and  erudition.  Mr.  John  Turner,  who  studied 
under  Dr.  Joinings,  read  lectures  at  Exeter  on  ma* 


SEMINARIES   AMONG  THE    DISSENTERS.      1^73 

Ihematics  and  natural  philosophy. .  He  died  in  1770^ 
and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Jervls,  who  afterwards 
removed  to  Londori.  John  Hogg,  another  pupil  of 
Dr.  Jennings,  succeeded  Mr.  Merivale,  in  1772 ;  he 
had  in  the  preceding  year  removed  from  Sidmouth, 
where  he  had  been  minister  since  the  year  176&,  to 
preach  at  the  Mint  meeting  in  Exeter.  Some  years 
after,  he  abandoned  the  pulpit,  for  the  table  of  the 
money  changers,  becoming  a  partner  in  a  banking 
house.  When  it  had  existed  thirty  years,  the  academy 
was  dissolved  for  want  of  pecuniary  support. 

But  Thonias  Kenrick,  who  had  been  first  a  student 
and  then  a  tutor  at  Daventry,  having  succeeded  Mr. 
Towgood  in  the  pulpit  at  Exeter,  was  impelled  by 
his  grief  Yor  the  decline  of  seminaries  on  what  he 
termed  free  principles,  to  open  his  own  house  for  such 
an  institution.  Subscriptions  were  procured  by  his 
influence,  and  a  prospect  of  success  was  opening, 
when  he  was  removed  by  a  sudden  death,  as  he  was 
walking  in  the  fields,  near  Wrexham,  in  August,  1804, 
in  his  forty-sixth  year.  The  progress  of  this  gentle- 
man*s  mind  shows  the  tendency  of  what  are  called 
moderate  principles  to  arianism,  and  thence  to  soci* 
nianism  on  the  utmost  verge  of  deism. 

The  friends  of  evangelical  doctrine  among  the  dis- 
senters cduld  not  be  unconcerned  spectators  of  the 
progress  of  arianism,  which  first  diseased  and  then 
destroyed  the  academies  of  Taunton  and  Exeter.  The 
congr^ational  fund  board  in  London,  determined  to 
establish  a  seminary  on  orthodox  principles  in  the 
west  of  England,  and  selected  for  the  tutor  John 
Lavii^on,  jnn.  minister  of  St.  Mary  Ottery,  Devon. 
They  commenced  the  institution  by  sending  down 
four  young  men  who  had  received  a  classical  education 

VOL*   IT.  X 


274;  HISTORY  qv  DISSENTEBS. 

at  their  academy  in  London.  As  the  rules,  by  which 
the  employment  o^'time  in  the  seminary  was  regulated, 
are  dated  1752,  this  was,  perhaps,  the  year  in  which 
it  was  opened,  and  as  they  are  signed  by  twenty-threa 
names,  Mr.  Lavington  probably  educated  that  num^ 
her  for  the  ministry.  This  good  man  was  renxoved 
from  his  labours  by  death,  in  consequence  of  a  morti* 
fication  which  follpwed  the  operation  of  bleeding  in 
December,  1764.  *'  He  was,'^  says  his  successor, 
*'  a  itaan  of  excellent  natural  temper,  extensive  learn<- 
ing,  distinguished  piety,  and  great  prudence.  Well 
furnished  for  his  work,  he  applied  closely  to  it,  and 
his  mode  of  communicating  knowledge  was  so  easy, 
that  though  he  kept  up  strict  discipline  in  his  house, 
and  narrowly  watched  the  moral  and  religious  conduct 
of  his  pupils,  they  all  loved  him  as  a  father/^  From 
the  pulpit,  Micaiah  Towgood  lamented  his  death  in 
the  following  eulogium  ;  "  he  was  more  pious,  more 
learned,  and  more  useful  than  us  all^.'^ 

After  Mn  Wheeler,  of  Axminster,  had  resisted  the 
solicitations  of  the  London  board,  James  Rooker,  of 
Bridport,  consented  to  succeed  Mr.  Lavington  in  the 
office  of  tutor.  The  King's-head  society  in  London 
for  some  time  allowed  an  exhibition  for  the  classical 
education  of  the  young  men  under  Mr.  Samuel  Bun- 
combe, Mr.  Lavington's  successor  in  the  pastoral 
office,  previously  to  their  going  to  attend  the  lectures 
at  Bridport.  A  paralytic  stroke  incapacitated  Mr. 
Rooker  for  the  duties  of  his  office  in  1779,  and  in  the 
following  year,  which  was  the  fiftieth  of  bis  age,  he 
died,  leaving  a  high  reputation  for  superior  learning 

^  Manuscript  information.  He  published  an  Enquiry  into  the 
Nature  of  the  Gospel  Oifer,  and  a  few  sernaons.  After  his  death 
a  voluoie  of  his  discourses  oa  desertion  and  a£9iction  was  printed. 


SEMINARIEd  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS.       275 

and  ardent  attachment  to  evangelical  truth,  which 
exposed  him  to  much  reproach  from  those  who  were 
fierce  for  moderatiojn.     Thomas  Reader,  minister  of 
Taunton,  succeeded  to  the  vacant  chair  of  this  aca- 
demy, in  1780.     For  the  fourteen  years  during  which 
he  presided,  only  eighteen  students  were  admitted  ; 
so  that  the  reputation,  or  at  least  the  extensive  useful- 
ness of  the  academy,  declined  under  this  tutor.     Both 
Mr.  Reader  and  Mr,  Buncombe,  who  may  be  called  thet 
classical  tutor,  died  in  1794.     The  latter  had  been 
educated  in  the  academy  under  Mr.  Lavington,  and 
was  most  ardently  attached  to  the  deity  and  atonement 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  aflforded  him  peculiar  satis- 
faction in  his  last  moments.     Mr.  Reader  was  one  of 
three  pious  ministers,  the  sons  of  eminently  devout 
parents,  who  lived  at  Bedv^orth,  in  Warwickshire. 
He  fijrst  went  from  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  to, 
•settle  at  Weymouth,  whence  he  removed  to  Newbury, 
and  at  last  to  preach  to  the  extensive  congregation  at 
Paul's    meeting,  Taunton.      Early  devoted   to  the 
Redeemer,  he  used  to  pray  "  that  his  head  might  be 
filled  with  schemes  for  the  divine  glory,  his  heart  with 
the  love,  and  his   hands  with  the   work  of  God;'* 
Though  exceedingly  earpest  as  a  preacher,  he  was 
not  eminently  successful ;  for  he  was  excessively  fond 
of  expounding  the  prophecies  and  the  Revelation,  an 
exercise  not  the  most  calculated  to  edify  a  promis- 
cuous audience.     Diligence  and  piety,  rather  than 
eminent  talents,  distinguished  his  conduct  as  a  tutor, 
and  impressed  their  character  upon  his  students. 

Mr.  Reader  was  followed  by  the  present  tutor,  James 
Small,  minister  of  Axminster,of  whose  qualifications 
for  the  work  we,  of  course,  cannot  give  a  testimony.' 
Under  the  patronage  of  the  London  board,  he  com- 

T  2 


2^6  HiSTORV   61^    IJilSSfeNttllS. 

rhenced  his  labours  in  1706,  and  when  that  suppdtt 
was  about  to  be  withdrawn,  thfe  De'voiishire  assbcia-i 
tion  procured  itscJohtinuanceby  exertions  to  procure 
additional  subscriptions  in  the  county.  John  Saltern, 
minister  of  Bridport,  is  the  treasurer  add  valuable^ 
friend  of  the  institution.  The  aVefage  number  of 
students  here  at  a  time  is  eight,  who  are  admitted 
lipon  a  profession  of  evangelical  sentiments  and  exi 
perience,  and  after  having  received  classical  instruc* 
tioii,  are  admitted  to  a  theological  cours(e  of  fouf 
years.  The  fund  board,  the  KingVhead  society,  and 
subscribers  in  the  west  6f  England  are  the  supporter^ 
of  this  institution. 

Looking  towards  the  north  of  the  kingdom,  wfe 
observe  the  ancient  seminaries  extinct,  and  new  ones 
rising  up  in  their  place.  Iti  Yorkshire,  the  academy 
which  flourished  under  Mr.  JoHie  may  be  said  to  be 
now  succeeded  by  that  which  is  established  at  Ro- 
therhani,  about  five  miles  from  Sheffield.  This  insti- 
tution arose  from  the  pious  zeal  of  a  few  ministers 
and  public  spirited  Christians  in  London,  who,  at  the 
close  of  the  former  period,  consulted  together  on  the 
necessity  and  '^  the  means  of  dispelling  the  cloud  of 
of  socinian  darkness,  then  spreading  over  the  northern 
counties  of  England.'^  They  formed  themselves  into 
a  society  for  educating  young  men  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry  in  the  west  riding  of  Yorkshire,  and,  in 
May,  1756,  resolved  to  support  an  academy  in  those 
parts,  and  chose  James  Scott,  minister  of  Heckmond- 
wicke,  to  superintend  the  studies  of  the  young  men. 
Justly  concluding  that  unregenerate  ministers  had 
been  the  cause  of  the  evil  which  they  wished  to  coun- 
teract, they  determined  to  admit  no  one  into  their 


SEMINARIES  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS.       g77 

/seminary  who  did  not  give  a  satisfactory  account  of 
his  ^xperi^nce  of  the  vital  change,  ai$  well  ^s  a  decla<- 
ration  of  evangelica}  sentiments.  The  young  men 
wer^  ^Iso  received  on  probation  fpr  three  months, 
that  opportunity  inight  be  afforded  of  judging  whether 
jtheir  conduct  accorded  with  tl^eir  prpfessions.  Thp 
labours  of  IVJr.  Scott  repaid  the  (JevQUt  solicitude  of 
J:he  foqpders^  who  deeply  regretted  the  stroke  of 
death  which  deprived  the  church  of  Qo^  of  hj^  ser- 
vices in  January,  J783.  He  was  a  native  of  ScQtland, 
and  had  studied  i^  one  of  the  universities  of  that 
couritry.  His  memory  is  yet  ^e^t  to  such  as  ^uly 
appreciate  the  value  of  superior  talents  apjd  Ijteraturq, 
consecrated  by  holy  zeal  to  th^  glory  of  the  Redeemer, 
^nd  the  best  interest9  of  meq.  He  educated  aboi^t 
sixty  ministers,  who  laboured  in  the  po|:thern  poun- 
ties,  and  of  whom  several  ar^  the  living  ornaments  of 
|;he .  qhurches  ^nd  the  ipo^j:  eminent  ministers  of 
Christ ;  "but  sqme  are  fallen  asleep.'? 

fligf  successor  was  Samuel  Walker,  who  served  a^^ 
9  foil  to  his  superior  worth  ;  for  it  soon  appeared  that 
jhe  important  post  was  not  filled  equally  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  benevolent  patron?.  Thp  institution 
had  been  r^mpvpd  to  Mr.  Walker's  residence  at 
Northouram,  nejar.  Halifax,  wheje  upwards  of  thirty 
persons  wefe  edqpated  }n  twelve  years..  At  thja 
expiration  of  this  period,  which  was  in  Juiie,  1794,  \% 
was  found,  at  a  general  meeting  of  the  friends  of 
the  institutjoi),  that  dissatislactiqn  virith  its  present 
state  had  induced  many  of  the  subscribers  to  with* 
draw  their  aid.  William  Fuller,  banker,  of  Londop, 
who  had  been  the  munificent  patrop  pf  th?  institution, 
and  had  advanced  to  it  five  hundred  pounds,  informed 
its  supporters  inYorkshire,  that  they  must  now  take,  it 


S78  HISTORY   OF    DISSEI^TERS. 

into  their  own  hands,  at  the  same  time,  assuring  them 
that  there  were  those  in  London  who  would  aid  them 
in  the  good  work, 

It  was  determined,  as  a  provisional  arrahgemeAt,  to 
transfer  the  students  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Vint,  of  Idle, 
who  will  again  occur  to  notice  at  the  head  of  an 
academy.  After  several  unsuccessful  applications, 
they  prevailed  oh  Dr.  Williams,  then  pastor  of  a  con- 
gregation in  Birmingham,  to  accept  the  office  of  tutor. 
As  he  yielded  at  the  same  time  to  an  invitation  from 
the  church  at  Masbrough,  near  Rotherham,  the  latter 
place  was  fixed  upon  as  the  scite  of  the  academy.  Three 
gentlemen  of  Rotherham,  Joshua,  Joseph,  and  Thomas 
Walker,  deserve  honourable  mention  for  their  munifi- 
cent donations  to  the  institution:  the  former,  in  the 
.  office  of  treasurer,  has  rendered  it  the  most  distin- 
guished services.  With  the  liberal  aids  of  these  and 
other  friends,  the  premises  wer6  enlarged,  the  library 
of  the  forme?  academy  was  purchased  and  much 
increased,  and  a  philosophical  apparatus  was  procured, 
of  which  indeed  the  liberality  of  the  females  laid  the 
foundation.  Maurice  Philips,  of  Brigstock,  was  chosen 
second  tutor,  and  from  the  students  of  this  Academy, 
Homerton  has  received  both  its  tutors.  Dr.  John  Pye 
Smith  and  Thomas  Hill,  whose  election  to  such 
stations  forms  no  faint  eulogium  on  the  education 
-which  is  received  at  Rotherham. 

But  many  of  the  churches  in  the  West  Riding  of 
Yorkshire  soon  felt  serious  inconveniencies  from  the 
distance  to  which  the  seminary  was  now  removed  ; 
for  the  surrounding  congregations  derive  the  most 
important  advantages  from  the  occasional  labours  of 
the  young  men  who  are  educating  for  the  ministry. 
Feeling,  therefore,  for  the  wants  of  his  native  district. 


I)£MINARIE9   AMONG  THE    DISSENTERS.        279 

Edward  Hanson,  es^.  then  resident  in  London,  offered 
sixty  pounds  annually  for  the  education  of  two  stu- 
dents, near  the  formef  scite  of  the  acaden^y.  William 
Vint,  of  Idle,  the  minister  just  mentioned,  as  the 
teiQporary  tutor  of  the  former  academy,  was  chosen 
to  superintend  this,  to  which  Mr.  Hanson  bequeath- 
ed, ^t  his  death  in  January,  1802,  an  annual  income 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  Contributions  from 
the  neighbouring  churches  increased  the  number  of 
students  to  eight  or  nine.  Their  course  of  studies 
occupies  between  four  and  five  years',  and  their 
occasional  preaching,  which  is  very  frequent,  dif- 
fuses the  knowledge  of  divine  truth  to  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

Of  more  private  seriiinaries  there  were  several 
established  during  this  period.  William  Bull,  the 
venerable  minister  of  Newport  Pagnel,  superintends 
one,  of  which  the  history  is  rather  singular.  About 
the  year  1772,  he  educated  a  young  baptist  minister, 
who  died  shortly  after  his  ordination  to  a  pastoral 
pharge.  He  was  succeeded  by  John  Goode,  now  the 
fespectable  minister  of  one  of  the  largest  dissenting 
congregations  in  London ;  who  was  again  followed 
by  a  relation  of  Mr.  Bull,  a  gentleman  of  the  same 
name,  who  afterwards  went  to  Oxford,  and  is  still 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  establishment.  There 
Were  hitherto  no  funds  to  support  the  seniinary,  but, 
in  1782,  John  Newton,  a  justly  celebrated  minister 
of  the  church  of  England,  formed  a  scheme  for  the 
establishment  of  a  catholic  academy,  of  which  the 
students  were^  at  the  close  of  their  studies,  to  labour 
in  the  estq,blishment  or  an^ong  any  clasfs  of  dissenters  . 
as  they  chose.  Mf-  Newton  expressed  his  ideas  in  a 
pamphlet,  entitled,  "  a  Plan  of  Academic  Preparatioa 

T  4 


280  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

for  the  Ministry,"  which  was  sent  to  Mr.  Bull  by  the 
poet  Cowper,  with  this  sentence,  *^  behold  the  plan, 
of  your  future  operations,  which  as  I  have  told  Mr. 
Newton,  the  man  being  found  who  is  able  to  carry  it 
into  execution,  ought  no  longer  to  be  called  Utopian/^ 
By  Mr.  Newton's  exertions  and  influence,  subscrip- 
tions were  procured,  and  Mr.  Bull  entered  on  his 
office  ia  January,  1783,  but  four  years  after  John 
Thornton^  esq.  of  Claphain,  took  the  expense  upon 
himself.  After  supporting  the  students  and  remune- 
rating the  tutor  and  assistants,  till  his  death,  Mr* 
Thornton  bequeathed  two  hundred  pounds  a  year, 
for  the  support  of  the  institution  duhng  Mr.  Bull's 
life.  Samuel  Greatheed,  who  had  studied  in  the 
academy,  was  for  a  few  years  assistant  tutors  and 
upon  his  resignatiQU  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Bull's 
son,  who  still  labours  in  that  office,  as  well  as  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel. 

George  Welch,  banker,  of  London,  merits  the 
grateful  remembrance  of  Christians,  for  his  liberality 
and  zeal  in  supporting  seminaries  for  the  ministry. 
Cornelius  Winter,  a  venerable  minister 'of  the  Gos- 
pel, at  Painswick,  in  Gloucestershire,  was  enabled 
by  the  munificence  of  Mr.  Welch  to  employ  his  ex- 
cellent talents  in  the  useful  work  of  tuition.  He  bad 
previously  laboured  in  that  good  work,  when  he  had 
nothing  but  his  own  superior  confidence  in  the  kind 
providence  of  God  to  encourage  him  to  incur  the 
heavy  expense;  but  the  liberality  of  his  patron 
enabled  him  afterwards  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  his 
operations.  Mr.  Thornton,  also,  contributed  to  the 
expenses  of  this  private  seminary,  and  enabled  Mr. 
Winter  to  educate  one  in  whose  usefulness  he  enjoyed 
great  pleasure*      The  success  which  attended    th^ 


SEMINARIES    AMONG  Tl^E   DXSSBKTERS^       381 

instructions  of  this  eminently  good  man,  is  Buffici-* 
ently  attested  by  the  excellence  of  his  pupils ;  among 
whom  might  be  mentioned  twO  of  the  most  valuable 
ministers  of  the  present  day ;  while  liis  worth  as  a 
Christian  and  a  minister  has  by  one  of  them  been 
exhibited  to  the  world,  in  a  memoir  so  well  known, 
as  to  leave  us  little  occasion  to  attempt  any  addition 
to  bis  praise'.     He  died  in  January,  1808, 

The  same  liberal  friend  to  religion  founded  an 
academy  for  the  South  of  England,  by  placing  students 
under  David  Bogue,  at  Gosportl  This  seminary  was 
opened  in  the  year  1789.  The  course  of  studies 
occupies  three  years,  and  the  funds  provided  by  MK 
Welch  were  for  the  support  of  three  students,  but 
the  subs'  riptions  of  other  individuals  increased  the 
number.  On  the  death  of  its  founder,  it  appeared 
thnt  be  had  made  no  provision  for  the  continuance 
ot  the  academies  which  he  had  established,  but  the 
liberality  of  several  friends  supported  the  seminary  at 
Gosport,  till  the  year  1800 ;  when  Mr,  Robert  Hal- 
daiie,  of  Edinburgh,  was  the  means  of  adding  ten 
c vre  students  to  the  original  number.  He  offered 
fo:  this  purpose  a  hundred  pounds  annually  for  three 
J :  ^is,  on  condition  that  the  friends  of  religion  in 
Hampshire  would  contribute  the  remaining  sum  re* 
qiriite  for  the  education  of  ten  additional  young 
nien.  This  was  accepted,  and  at  the  termination  of 
their  studies,  the  courity  association,  aided  by  friends 
in  other  parts  of  England,  became  the  patron  of  the 
academy,  which  they  continue  on  a  smaller  scale  to  the 
present  time.  The  missionary  society,  1800,  having 
resolved  to  prepare  thefr  missionaries  for  their  future 

*  Memoirs  of  the  Rev,  Cornelius  Winter,  by  the  Rev.  W,  Jay, 
of  Bath, 


/ 


282  ^  HISTORY   OF    BISSENXERl^. 

labours,  by  a  course  of  instruction,  placed  them  bndes 
Mr*  Bogue,  who  now  gives  to  one  class  lectures  suited 
to  form  them  for  foreign  missions^  and  to  another 
education  for  the  ministry  at  home.  The  latter  class, 
according  16  the  wish  of  the  original  founder  of  the 
seminary,  attend  principally  to  theiplogy.  Of  the' 
three  years  to  which  the  course  of  instruction  is 
limited,  the  two  first  are  occupied  with  lectures  on 
the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  the  last  with 
lectures  on  the  sacred  books.  During  the  whole 
time  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  are  studied,  and  in- 
structions are  given  in  geography  and  astronomy,  on 
language  and  composition,  on  Jewish  antiquities, 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  the  pastoral  office.  Two 
French  students  have  been  educated  at  this  academy, 
and  six  more,  who  are  the  fruit  of  their  labours^  are 
now  preparing  to  preach  the  Grospel  in  French. 

Warrington,  in  Lancashire  is  well  known  a^  the 
former  seat  of  dn  acadeniy,  which  maybe  said  to  have 
been  established  in  1757.  Previously  to  that  period 
however,  some  respectable  ministers  had  been  edu- 
cated in  this  town>  under  Dr.  Charles  Owen,  among 
whom  are  mentioned  the  celebrated  Hugh  Farmer, 
of  Walthamstow  and  Job  Orton.  Put  the  first  tutors 
of  the  academy,  which  was  established  at  Warrington 
in  this  period,  were  Dr.  Taylor,  of  Norwich,  Dr. 
Aikin,  of  Kibworth,  and  John  Hiot,  of  Lancaster. 
This  was  a  mighty  triumvirate,  but  some  differences 
among  its  members,  on  the  important  subject  of  pre- 
cedence and  authority  in  the  institution,  as  well  as  a 
serious  dispute  on  a  question  of  morals,  kindled  a 
flame  which  jendangered  the  existence  of  the  academy 
at  its  very  commencement.  Dr.  Taylpr,  who  had 
purchased  the  honour  of  his  appointment  at  the  ex* 


SEMINARIES  AMONG  THE   DISSENTERS.        tS3 

penseofhis  peace^  i;(ras  so  much  wounded  by  some 
reflections,  that  he  had  determined  to  relinquish  the 
chair,  when  be  was  called  away  by  death^  in  March, 
1761,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  His  Hebrew  Con- 
cordance will  secure  his  reputation  for  learning  and 
diligence,  and  may  remind  the  student  of  the  rare 
phenomenon  of  a  Hebrew  scholar,  who  abandoned 
the  doctrine  of  Christ^s  deity  and  atonement,  for  the 
cheerless  system  of  Socinus.  His  publications  in 
defence  of  the  Racovian  theology  were  opposed  by  Dr. 
Watts  and  Dr.  Jennings,  but  most  powerfully  by 
president  Edwards.  It  was  unfortunate  for  the  credit 
of  Dr.  Taylor,  as  an  able  theologian  or  acute  logician, 
that  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  latter,  where  he 
looks  little  and  feeble  almost .  to  contempt.  Dr. 
Priestley  also  concurs  in  forming,  though  for  very 
diflPerent  reasons,  a  mean  estimate  of  pr.  TaylorV 
polemical  powers''. 

John  Seddon  supplied  Dr.  Taylor^s  place  as  resi- 
dent  classical  tutor  at  the  academy,  till  death  removed 
him  in  1769.  He  was  equally  distinguished  for 
talents  and  for  departure  from  the  principles  of  the 
first  dissenters;  for  he  was  zealous  not  only  for 
heterodoxy,  but  for  the  introduction  pf  a  liturgy  into 
the  dissenting  worship. 

Dr.  Aikin  first  taught  the  languages  in  this  academy 
and  afterwards  held  the  chair  of  theology  and  moral 
philosophy,  till  the  year- 1780,  when  he  died.  His 
talents,  acquirements,  and  morals  were  eminent ;  but 
he  is  perhaps  more  celebrated  as  the  father  of  an 
eminent  physician  and  writer,  and  of  Mrs.  Barbauld, 
who  is  equally  distinguished  in  verse  and  prose. 

Dr,  Joseph  Priestley  was  invited,  in  1761,  to  sue* 

^  His  Memoirs^  p.  33. 


S84  HidTonv  07  piss^ikter^. 

ceed  Dr.  Aikin  as  classical  tutor.  Uniting  to  th^ 
duties  of  this  office  lectures  on  general  gramn[iar, 
logic,  Qnd  elocution,  with  instructions  jn  Hebrew,  he 
contfnqedin  the  academic  chair  for  six  year^.  D.r« 
Heinhold  Forster,  who  afterwards  accompanied  cap- 
tain Cook  on  his  second  voyage,  as  naturalist,  was^ 
for  a  short  tin^e  a  tutor  in  this  seminary.  But  Dn 
William  Enfield  held  the  office  of  superintendent  and 
classical  tutor  herp,  from  the  year  1770  till  th^ 
ficadeniy  was  dissolved  in  17S3*  Two  years  after 
this  event,  herepcioy^d  to  Norwich,  where  he  finished 
his  course  Nov,  3»  1797,  in  his  fifty*third  year.  He 
was  born  at  Sudbury,  and  educated  ypder  Dr.  Ash- 
worth.  He  tocjk,  in  1763,  t\\e  qharge  of  ?i  copgrega- 
tion  in  Liverpool,  where  he  published,  two  volumes 
of  sermons,  which  were  well  received.  He  was  a 
very  superior  ^cholaf,  though  not  a  man  of  genius, ' 
and  is  well  known  to  the  public  as  author  of  several 
compjlatiohs,  particularly  the  "  Speaker,"  and  the 
^*  Abridgment  of  Brucker's  History  of  Philosophy.? 
In  conjunction  Ivith  Dr,  Aikin,  and  otljer  literary 
uieUy  he  compiled  the  general  biographical  dictionary, 
a  work  of  so  much  merit,  as  every  one  must  wish  to 

$ee  completed* 

The  dissolution  of  the  academy  at  Warrington,  wa$ 
a  fatal  blow  to  the  wide  dissenters,  of  whom  it  was 
the  pride  and  boast..  Its  tutors  were,  indeed,  worthy 
tobe  entrusted  with  the  education  of  youth,  if  talents 
and  learning  and  respectable  character  were  all  the 
qualifications  required  in  a  tutor ;  but  those  who 
wish  to  hear  ministers  declare,  with  the^apostle,  "  I 
am  determined  to  know  nothing  among  you  bu,t 
Jesus ; Christ  and  him  crucified,^*  will  not  regret  tc 
see  such  tutors  quit  the  academic  chair. 


Seminaries  among  the  dissenters.     5^85 

Ad  those  dissenters  who  had  departed  from  the 
Undent  faith  of  the  nonconformists  were  now  desti« 
tute  of  a  seminary  for  the  education  of  ministers,  on 
their  own  principles,  they  established  one  at  Man- 
chester, in  the  year  1786,  over  which  Dr.  Thomas 
Barnes,  minister  of  the  presbyterian  congregation  in 
that  town  was  called  to  preside.  To  this  institution 
the  library  and  philosophical  apparatus  of  Warrington 
academy  were  transferred.  Mr.  Ralph  Harrison,  Dr. 
Barnes's  assistant  in  the  pastoral  care,  was  also  his 
colleague  in  the  duties  of  the  seminary.  But  the 
same  cause  which  contributed  to  the  dissolution  of 
the  former  institution  occasioned  the  removal  of  the 
academy  from  Manchester ;  for  Dr.  Barnes,  finding 
himself  unable  to  maintain  proper  discipline,  resigned 
the  chair  in  1798,  after  having  filled  it  with  much 
reputation.  '  He  was  born  at  Warrington,  and  edu- 
cated there  under  Dr.  Aikin  and  Dr.  Priestley. 
Leaving  the  academy  in  1768,  he  took  the  charge  of 
a  congregation  at  Cockey  Moor,  near  Bolton,  where 
he  is  said  to  have  seen  his  flock  doubled  in  twelve 
years.  He  removed  to  Manchester  in  1780,  and  two 
years  after  established  an  evening  lecture,  to  which 
his  popular  talents  drew  crowds  of  genteel  hearers. 
His  diploma  of  D.  D.  he  received  from  Edinburgh  in 
1784.  To  him  belongs  the  honour  of  having  been 
one  of  the  first  promoters  of  the  Manchester  literary 
and  philosophical  society,  of  the  academy  over  which 
he  presided,  and  of  the  auxiliary  bible  society.  He 
died  deeply  regretted  by  his  friends,  in  1810,  in  the 
sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty-second  of^ 
his  ministry.  Dr.  Barnes,  who  had  been  professor  of 
theology,  metapbysicis«  ethics,  and  Hebrew,  was  suc-^ 
ceeded,  in  September,   1798,  by  George  Walker,  pf 


^i86  fitSTOEY   OF  DISSE^TTEES. 

Nottiogham,  F.R»  S«  Advancing  years  an^l  ill  health 
compelled  hinx  to  resign,  in  June,  1803.  Mr.  Harri- 
son  also  was  induced  by  the  state  of  his  health,  ia 
1789,  to  relinquish  the  office  of  classical  tutor,  in 
which  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Loyd,  till  the 
year  1792,  when  he  quitted  it,  and  is  said  to  be  now 
a  banker  in  London.  Charles  Saunders,  B.  A.  of 
Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  was  then  appointed 
classical  tutor,  but  in  1799,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Williaoi  Johns,  minister  of  Totness,  who  held  the 
office  only  one  year. 

In  the  mathematical  department,  Mr.  Davis  was 
succeeded  in  1789,  by  Mr.  Nicholls,  who  after  four 
years  resigned  his  office .  to  Mr.  John.  Dalton,  since 
celebrated  for  his  discoveries  in  chemistry.  When  he 
resigned,  in  1800,  Mr.  Walker  took  upon  himself  the 
whole  business  of  the  institution,  for  three  yeaes. 
The  number  of  students  under  this  succession  of 
tutors,  was  usually  from  twenty  to  thirty^  but  they 
were  not  all  intended  for  the  ministry. 

Mr.  Walker  resigned  in  1803,  when  the  N€?w  Col- 
lege, as  it  was  called,  was  removed  from  Manchester, 
and  |)laced  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Charles  Wellbe- 
iloved,X)f  York.  In  the  following  year,  Hugh  Kerr, 
M.  A.^df  the  university,  of  Glasgow,  was  appointed 
classical  and  mathematical  tutor.  He  was  succeeded, 
in  1808,  by  Theophiius  Brown,  of  Peterhouse,  Cam- 
bridge, who,  on  being  chosen  minister  of  the  Octagon 
chapel,  Norwich,  was  followed  in  the  academic  office 
Jxy  William  Turner  jun.  A. M.  John  Kenrick,  A.  M. 
has  been  chosen  to  teach  the  classics  and  the  belles 
lettres.  Since  the  removal  of  the  institution  to  York, 
the  number  of  the  students  has  never  exceeded 
twenty.    The  seminary  is  chiefly  supported  by  the 


SEMINARIES  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS.       387 

contributions  of  dissenters  in  the  viciqity  of  Man* 
Chester,  but  donations  and  subscriptioi)9  have  lately 
been  received  from  other  parts,  as  it  is  now  the  only 
institution  for  the  education  of  what  are  called  pres- 
byterians,  in  the  modern  and  improper  application  of 
that  term". 

The  academical  institution  which  we  have  traced 
froai  Gloucestershire)  where  it  was  superintended  by 
Mr»  Jones,  to  Carmarthen,  continued  under  the  care 
of  Dr.  Jenkin  Jenkins  till  he  removed  to  London  in 
177d.     Robert  Gentleman  succeeded  him  in  1780« 
but  the  orthodoxy  of  the  institution  becoming  sus- 
pected, the  independently^  who  had  joined  with  the 
presbyterians  in  its  suppbrt,  instituted  an  enquiry 
which  induced  them  to  withdraw  their  aids,  lest  they 
|ihould  contribute  to  propagate  arminian  and  arian 
Sentiments.    Mr.  Gentleman  soon  after  removed  from 
/  Carmarthen  to  take  the  charge  of  a  congregation  at 
*     Kidderminster,  formed  by  the  separation  fron^  Mr, 
Baxter's  former  flock.     He  died  in  1795.     The  inde* 
peadents  formed  another  academy  at  Abergavenny^ 
in  Monmouthshire,  of  which  Dr.  Beojamin  Daviess 
was  appointed  tutoi*. 

Several  ministers,  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdomf 

'      educated  one  or  two  young  men  for  the  ministry ; 

but  as  they  were  not  constantly  employed  in  tuition 

for  any  considerable  time,  they  are  not  mentioned  in 

,      this  account  of  academies. 

During  the  reign  of  George  the  third  the  baptists 

**  Private  mformation,  kindly  communicated  by  B<r.  Charity 

Wellbebvedjr  "v^bo  uow  presid^»  over  this  college. 


^ 


S8d  BISXORY   OF   DISSENTERS* 


paid  increased  attention  to  the  education  of  their 
ininisters.  The  general  association,  at  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  a^|id  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
strongly  recon(imended  raising  of  funds  for  instruct- 
ing young  men  in  the  learned  languages  with  a 
view  to  the  ministry.  Such  funds  were  obtained, 
and  young  men  received,  at  Bristol,  instruction  for  a 
number  of  years.  Edward  Terril  and  Caleb  Jope 
en^ged  in  this  sei^vice.  But  an  academy  for  theo- 
logical and  philosophical  studies  for  the  ministry, 
did  not  exist  in  England  till  the  reign  of  George  the 
second.  The  classical  instruction  was  then  accom- 
panied with  the  theological  and  other  studies,  which 
had  always  made  a  part  of  ministerial  education  in 
dissenting  seminaries.  Mr.  Foskett,  under  whom  it 
is  probable  it  gradually  began,  was  assisted  by  Hugh 
Evans. 

Mr.  Foskett  was  the  son  of  a  gentleman  of  fortune 
in  Buckinghamshire,  and  was  born  near  Wooburn,  in 
Bedfordshire,  March  10, 1685.  After  receiving  a  libe- 
ral  education  he  studied  mediciue,  but  soon  quitted 
that  profession  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  in  which 
he  first  laboured  at  Henley  Arden.  He'  laboured 
nearly  forty  years  at  Bristol,  and  died  with  hopes 
full  of  immortality,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  The  companion  of  his  labours,  during  twenty- 
four  years,  pronounced  him"  a  man  of  fine  talents, 
matured  by  constant  and  severe  studies,  consecrated 
by  ardent  piety  to  the  service  of  the  church,  and 
adorned  by  extensive  charity  and  amiable  unspotted 
conduct.'^ 

Hugh  Evans,  A.  M.  who  succeeded  Mr.  Foskett 
in  the  academic  chair,  had  been  also  formed  by 
him  for  this  important  station.    He  was  honourably 


Uf 


SEMIXARIES  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS,       S80 

descended,  for  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Evatis,  passed 
his  examination  for  the  ministry  before  the  triers  in 
the  time  of  the  commonwealth,  and  received  a  dona- 
tion to  assist  him  in  the  work,  for  which  they  pro- 
nounced him  well  qualified.  He  laboured  in  Wales, 
his  native  country,  where  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son  Caleb  Evans,  who  was  thefather  of  the  tutor 
now  under  our  notice.  Hugh  Evans,  after  studying 
under  Mr.  Foskett  at  Bristol,  was  called  in  1733,  to 
assist  him  in  his  labours.  In  what  manner  he  filled 
the  pulpit  at  Broadmead,  and  presided  in  the  academy 
during  forty  years,  his  son,  Dr.  Caleb  Evans,  has 
informed  the  world.  He  peculiarly  excelled  in  the 
valuable  gift  of  prayer.  With  copiousness,  dig- 
nity, and  ardour  of  devotion,  he  poured  out  his 
heart  to  God  on  all  occasions,  and  though  he  prayed 
without  ceasing,  he  maintained  such  variety  that  he 
was  scarcely  ever  heard  to  repeat  the  same  expressions. 
He  was  an  able  eloquent  preacher,  and  as  his  students 
enjoyed  his  friendship,  as  well  as  instruction,  during 
life,  in  the  approach  of  death  he  said,  "  I  am  happy 
to  see  these  young  men  rising  up,  I  hope,  for  great 
and  eminent  usefulnesss  in  the  church  of  God,  when 
I  and  many  others  shall  be  here  no  more.^ 

Caleb  Evans,  D.  D.  who  had  for  some  time  assisted 
his  father,  succeeded  to  his  vacant  chair.  He  had 
been  educated  in  the  Homerton  academy  under  Dr. 
Walker,  Dr.  Conder,  and  Dr.  Gibbons,  and  was 
received  into  communion  with  the  church  in  Lon- 
don, of  which  Dr.  Stennett  was  pastor.  Called  to 
assist  his  father  in  J759,  both  the  church  and  the 
academy  felt  the  advantage  of  his  talents  and  influence. 
With  him  originated  the  Bristol  Education  Society, 
formed, "  not  only  for  the  more  effectual  supply  ^f 

VOL.    IV.  H 


S90  HISTORY  OF   DISSEKIEES^ 

ministers  to  the  churches  at  home,  but  also  for  the 
education  of  missionaries  to  be  sent  to  those  places 
where  there  is  an  opening  for  the  Gospel/' 

As  the  academy  was  now  to  be  conducted  on  a 
more  extended  scale,  Jamea^  Newton,  A.  M.  minister 
of  the  other  baptist  congregation  at  Bristol,  was 
invited  to  assist  in  the  education  of  the  students. 
Eminently  qualified  for  the  professor's  chair  by  clas- 
sical and  Hebrew  erudition,  as  well  as  for  the  pulpit 
by  pure  religion  and  theological  knowledge,  he  was 
too  diffident  to  be  popular;  but  while  his  discerning 
friends  hoped  for  the  long  continuance  of  his  usefuU 
ness,  he  was  called  away  from  earth,  April  8, 1780,  in 
the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  Evans,  the 
companion  of  his  labours,  followed  him  to  the  place 
of  rest  in  August,  1701,  when  he  had  attained  only 
his  fifty*fourth  year.  Many  who  are  still  living  bear 
testimony  to  the  superiority  of  his  mind,  the  extent 
of  his  learning,  the  ardour  of  his  zeal,  and  the  holiness 
of  his  character.  A  handsome  style  aided  the  natural 
grace  and  energy  of  his  elocution,  which  allured  great 
numbers  to  the  pulpit,  where  he  preached  "  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ/'  On  the  bed  of  death, 
he  said,  '^  as  for  those  who  deny  the  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment, I  cannot  tell  how  it  may  be  with  them  in  th« 
near  prospect  of  death ;  for  my  own  part,  I  have 
nothing  to  rest  my  soul  upon  but  Christ  and  him 
cruci6ed,  and  I  am  now  unspeakably  happy  to  think 
of  my  feeble  effort  to  vindicate  that  glorious  doctrine 
in  my  four  sermons  on  it/' 

After  looking  around,  for  some  time,  in  quest  of  a 
successor,  the  society  happily  fixed  upon  Dr.  John 
Ryland,  who  still  presides  over  the  academy,  Robert 
Hall,  M.  A.  afterwards  of  Cambridge^  and  Joseg^ 


SEMIKARIES  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS.       391 

Hughes,  M.  A.  now  of  3dttersea,  near  London,  for  a 
time  assisted  in  the  instruction  of  the  students.  The . 
present  assistants  are  the  Rev.  Henry  Page  and  Mr. 
Isaac  James.  In  addition  to  the  pastors,  which  the 
churches  in  this  country  have  received  from  the 
academy  at  Bristol,  it  has  the  honour  of  having  sent 
forth  some  valuable  missionaries  to  the  heathen*  For 
the  accommodation  of  the  increasing  numbers  of  the. 
students,  an  extensive  edifice  is  now  erecting,  with  a 
hall  for  the  reception  of  the  museum,  first  bequeathed 
by  Dr.  Gifibrd,  and  since  increased  by  valuable 
curiosities,  particularly  of  Hindoo  mythology,  which 
have  been  sent  by  the  baptist  missionaries  in  India. 

A  similar  institution  has  been  recently  formed  for 
the  education  of  baptist  ministers  in  Yorkshire,  which 
bears  the  title  of  the  Northern  Education  Society.  It 
took  its  rise  at  an  association  held  in  May,  1804,  at 
the  meeting  house  of  Mr.  Fawcett,  at  Hebden  Bridge, 
near  Halifax.  One  individual  then  present  nobly 
subscribed  five  hundred  pounds  towards  the  object, 
which  was  also  promoted  by  considerable  contribu- 
tions firom  others.  Generous  friends  in  London  and 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  have  so  far  aided  the 
funds  of  the  institution,  that  it  has  now  a  capital  of 
two  thousand  pounds  and  annual  subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  two  hundred,  which,  together  with  annual 
collections  in  the  churches,  enable  the  society  to 
educate  sixteen  young  men.  The  scite  of  the  aca- 
demy, which  commenced  its  operations  in  October, 
1805,  is  Little  Horton,  a  village  about  half  a  mile 
from  Bradford,  and  the  choice  of  William  Steadman, 
minister  of  the  latter  place,  to  be  the  tutor,  inspires  the 
most  confident  hopes  of  its  subserviency  to  the  Re- 
deemer's glory,  and  the  dearest  interests  of  mankind. 

IS  2 


292  HISTORY    OF   DISSENTERS. 

Four  years  are  occupied  with  the  course  of  instpucticm, 
of  which  the  first  three  months  are  considered  as  proba- 
tionary. A  law  of  the  institution  forbade  thestudpnts 
to  preach  during  their  first  year,  but  the  necessities 
of  the  churches  in  the  vicinity  conipel  this  academy, 
as  well  as  most  others,  frequently  to  violate  this  rule. 
A  library  and  philosophical  apparatus  have  been  pro- 
vided by  the  friends  of  the  seminary,  who  meet  once 
a  year  to  adjust  its  affairs,  and  to  judge  by  the  exer- 
cises, through  which  the  students  then  pass,  of  the 
progress  they  have  made  in  their  studies. 
•  The  Rev.  Mr.  Sutcliff,  minister  at  Olney,  Bucking- 
hamshire, is  engaged  in  preparing  young  men  for  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel  among  the  baptists;  and  an 
academy  upon  a  small  scale  was  established  about  four 
years  ago  at  Abergavenny,  in  Monmouthshire.  These, 
together  with  one  which  is  now  forming  at  Stepney, 
near  London,  may  be  more  distinctly  noticed  by  the 
future  historian  of  the  church. 

William  Clarke,  M.  A.  educated  several  persons 
for  the  ministry,  while  he  was  pastor  of  a  baptist 
church  in  Southwark,  and  afterwards  when  he  had 
taken  the  charge  of  a  congregation  at  Exeter.  Under 
him  were  educated  Mr.  Button,  of  London,  Henry 
Coxe  Mason,  who  afterwards  studied  at  Oxford,  and 
became  a  minister  in  the  establishment,  and  Peter 
Edwards,  who  wrote  "  Candid  Reasons  for  renouncing' 
the  Principles  of  Antipaddobaptism.**  Mr.  Clarke  was^ 
born  in  London  in  J 732,  and  by  his  own  testimony^ 
his  heart  was  savingly  changed  when  he  was  about 
ten  years  of  age,  under  the  preaching  of  the  cele- 
brated Mr.  Whitefield*  He  studied  for  the  ministry 
under  Dr.  Llewelyn  and  Dr.  Samuel  Stennett,  anc^^ 
in  1761,  succeed  Mr.  Josiah  Thompson  as  pastor  a£ 


SEMINARIES  AMONG  TH£  DIS8]$]f7TER8.       298 

the  baptist  church  in  Unicori^-ya'rd,  Tooley-streeta 
where  he  laboured  with  S0  much  success  for  twenty 
yeai:9  that  the  congregattion  was  greatly  enlarged.  Bu( 
when. bis  usefulness  seemed  to,decli|iei  he  removed 
tiO  Exetor,  .where  he  died  in  1796,  in  bis  sixty-fourtli 
year.  He  was  judged  eminently  qualified  by  classical 
^nd  biblical  literature  for. the  duties  of  a  tutor,  and  in 
the  pulpit  he  wa/s  90  devoted  to  the  R<edeemer's  glory 
and  the  wel^sire  qf'bjs  bearers^  as  to  n^aintain  that 
simplicity  which  adorns  rather  than  conceals  genuine 
leruditi.on ;  while  his  purity  of  life  and  catholic  liberality 
of  spirit  e^ifie^ed  bin)  %q  Cbri^ti^U^  gf  all  denon^jnar 
tioflp, 

■ 

The  general  baptists,  though  of  considerable  anti>- 
quity  as  a  religious  body,  and  including  within  their 
pale  many  respectable  peraonsi  appei^r  to  have  re- 
maiped,  till  late  in  this  period^  destitute  of  a  seminary 
for  the  education. pf  their  ministers,,  As  the  wbola 
denomination  formerly  contented  itself  either  with 
self-taught  ministers,  or  with  educating  its  students  at 
the  academies  established  by  other  bodies  of  dissen- 
ters;  so  that  large  division,,  which  has  advanced  from 
artninian  to  arian  and  socinian  sentiments,  stiU  de- 
pends in  some  measure  \ipon  fortuitous  supplies  to 
fill  their  vacant  pulpits*  What  is  called  the  Geperfil 
Baptist  Education  , Society,  was  formed  in  15(94j 
by  the  general  baptist  assembly  which  meets  an n  pally 
in  Worship-street,  London,  From  fi^fteen  to.  twenty 
ministers,  chiefly  from  Kent  and  Susspx,  .'assemble 
to  hear  a  sermon  and  regulate  ihe  afiPairs  of  (ho 
churches.  Rev.  John  Evans,  of  London,  is  the 
tutor  of  the  academy,  which  is  held  at  bis  residence 
9t  Islington,  and  is  supported  by  annual  si^bscription^ 

¥  3 


d94  HISTORT    OF    DISSENTERS. 

a  few  legacies,  and  occasional  ccUection^  at  the  gene- 
ral baptist  churches.     It  ie  on  a  smali  scale,  never 
having  more  than  three  or  four  students  at  one  time". 
That  which  is  denominated  the  evangelical  part  of 
the  general  baptists  formed,  in  the  year  1797,  a  plan 
for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary.    At  their  annual 
dissociation,  the  subject  was  seriously  considered,  a 
subscription  wasi  opened^  and  a  letter  written  by  Dan 
Taylor,  a  venerable  minister  of  London,  was  addressed 
to   the  general  baptist  churches.     After  declaring 
that  they  did  not  pretend  to  iliake  ministers,  which 
they  considered  the  work  of  God,  the  writer  asks, 
••  Have  not  the  wisest  and  best  of  men  in  all  ages, 
since  the  cessation  of  miracles,  encouraged  instruc- 
tion for  the  ministry  ?     Have  not  all  denominations 
except  the  general  baptists  (unless  we  also  except  the 
people  called  quakers)  institutlbns  for  this  purpose''*. 
In  the  following  year,  1798,  the  institution  deno- 
minated the  General  Baptists'  Evangelical  Academy, 
was  opened,  and  placed  under  the  care  of  Dan  Taylor. 
It  has  never  contained  more  than  four  fitudents,  and 
the  whole  number  received  under  its  patronage  has 
been  nineteen.     The  period  was  at  first  too  short  to 
Admit  of  much  improvement;   but  three  years  are 
now  allowed  to  introduce  the  students  to  the  elements 
of  the  original  languages  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of 
other  species  of  knowledge  requisite  for  a  minister. 
Advanced  beyond  threescore  years  and  ten,  the  tutor 
bas  proposed  to  resign  his  office,  and  in  a  judicious 
discourse    delivered   at   Loughborough,  before  the 
governors  of  the  academy  in  1807,  he  sketched  the 

^  Private  iDformatlon  kindly  afforded  by  Rev.  John  Evans  the 
tutor. 

^  Lett^  to  the  General  Baptist  Chnrches,  p.  7. 


8EMINAEIE8  AMONG  THE  DISSENTERS*       iS95 

^sharacter  to  be  required  in  bis  successor ;  but  no  bUch 
person  having  been  yet  procured,  he  still  labours  to 
form  others  for  the  work  in  which  he  has  spent  his 
days. 

The  countess  of  Huntingdon  established  a  college^ 
in  1768,  at  Trevecka,  near  Talgarth,  in  South  Wales. 
Here  Mr.  Flecher,  the  advocate  of  arminianism,  was 
tutor,  till  the  controversy  on  that  subject  separated 
the  methodists  into  two  bodies.  Before  lady  Hun- 
tingdon's death,  her  friends,  aware  that  she  would, 
not  be  able  to  endow  her  institution,  formed  a  sub- 
scription for  its  support.  The  academy  was  remov- 
ed, in  1792,  to  Cheshunt^  in  Hertfordshire,  where 
Rev.  Isaac  Nicholson,  a  clergyman  from  the  establish- 
pient,  superintended  the  education  of  the  students* 
He  quitted  the  chair  to  take  the  charge  of  a  congre- 
gation in  London,  and  after  Mr«  Horde  had  for  a  time 
succeeded  him  at  Cheshunt,  Dr.  Draper,  a  clergy- 
man of  London,  presided  in  the  college  for  a  few 
months.  The  present  tutor  is  Mr.  Richards,  a  dis<* 
seuting  minister. 

This  section  will  close  with  an  account  of  semina- 
ries in  Wales,  The  institution  which  has  been  traced 
from  Tewkesbury  to  Carmarthen,  had  been  support- 
ed by. the  united  funds  of  the  presbyterians  and  in- 
dependents, but  when  Samuel  Thomas,  the  tutor, 
embraced  arminian  sentiments,  the  independents 
withdrew  their  aid,  and  formed  an  academy  at  Aber- 
gavenny. On  the  death  of  Mr,  Thomas,  in  1766,  the 
whole  care  of  the  academy  at  Carmarthen  devolved 
on  his  assistant.  Dr.  Jenkins,  who  removed,  in  1775, 
to  London,  where  he  shortly  after  terminated  hi* 
useful  life.  Robert  Gentleman  left  Shrewsbury  in 
1779  to  take  tlie  charge  of  the  Qongre^ation  and 

V  4 


306  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

academy  at  Carmarthen,  from  which  he  removed  itt. 
1784,  to  preach  at  Kidderminster.  He«died  in  179& 
Solomon  Harries,  minister  of  Swansea,  being  choseii 
tutor,  the  academy  was  removed  to  that  place.  He 
was  removed  by  death  .in  1785,  ^^nd  was  succeeded 
in  the  following  year  by  William  Howell,  of  Cbil- 
wood,  near  Bristql.  On  thp  death  of  Thomas  Loyd, 
thQ.assistant  tutpr,  David  Peter;,  c^e  of  the  students^ 
took  his  office,  which  he  afterwards  resigned  to  seVtIe 
at  Carmarthen.  John  Jones  suqceeded  him,  but 
$ome  differences  now  arose  in  the  academy,  and  it 
was  dissolved.  In  the  following  year,  1795,  it  was 
however  established  again  at  Carmarthen,  where.  Mr. 
Peter,  minister  of  the. place,  and  Mr,  Davies,  minister 
pf  Lanybre,  were  appointed  tutors,  which  office  they 
still  hold.  The  number  of  students  at  this  seminary, 
which  is  rising  in  reputation  and  usefulness,  is  twelve, 
and  none  are  admitted  on  the  funds  of  the  institution 
who  are  not  well  recommended  for  p.iety  and  taiepts. 
The  fours  years  to  which  their  studies  are  limited, 
are  occupied  with  languages,  matheooatics,  and  theo* 

logy. 

When  the  independents  withdrew  their  aid  from 
the  former  seminary,  they  placed  the  new  one  which 
they  formed,  under  Mr.  Jardine,  at  Abergavenny.  Dr, 
Davies,  who  was  afterwards  tutor  at  Homerton,  re- 
moved from  the  academy  at  Carmarthen,  and  assisted 
Mr.  Jardine,  on  whose  death  he  became  the  principal 
tutor,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  independents  in 
Wales.  The  removal  of  this  valuable  minister  to 
London,  was  followed,  in  1782,  by  the  removal  of 
the  seminary  to  Oswestry,  where  it  enjoyed  the 
tuition  of  Dr.  Williams,  the  present  tutor  at  Rother- 
ham.    When  b^  resigned  the  chair  in  1795|  th.e  insti- 


SEMINAEIS8   AMONG  THE   DISSBKTSRd.       807 

tution  was  fixed  at  Wrexham,  where  it  is  now  under 
the  care  of  Jefikin  Lewis.  The  congregational  fund 
board  here  supports  nine  students,  who  being  usually 
Datives  of  Wales,  have  to  employ  a  part  of  their  four 
years  of  study  in  the  acquisition  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. This,  institution,  which  has  been  a  great 
blessing  to  the  surrounding  country,  deserves  more 
support  than  it  has  received. 


^ 


SM  BISTORT  OF.  DISaBNTERS* 


SECTION  II. 

EEYJEW   OF   THE   PHESENX    STATE   OF    E0UCATId!f 
'  VtiK  THE   MINISTRY   AMONG   DISSENTERS. 

xSLn  enlightened  and  comprehensive  view  of  this 
subject,  producing  a  just  and  complete  estimate  of 
the  real  state  of  the  dissenting  academies,  their  excel* 
l^ncies  and  defects,  would  be  of  the  utmost  value  to 
the  interests  of  religion ;  for  the  prospects  of  the- 
churches  may  with  considerable  certainty  be  learned 
from  the  condition  of  the  seminaries.  But  as  the 
theme  of  investigation  is  too  extensive  and  various  to 
admit  a  hope  of  perfection,  all  that  is  pretended  is  to 
give  such  an  outline  as  every  one  acquainted  with 
the  subject,  may  acknowledge  to  have  an  useful  por* 
tion  of  information,  though  individuals  may  in  some 
j[>arts  be  able  to  supply  deficiencies. 

The  alteration  that  has  taken  place  in  the  dissent* 
Jng  academies  during  the  present  reign^  first  invites 
attention,  A  few  eminent  long  established  colleges 
existed  at  this  close  of  the  former  period  ;  but  these, 
with  the  exception  of  Homerton,having  been  infected 
^ith  heresy,  were  gradually  abandoned  to  desolation. 
To  supply  the  place  of  the  larger  institutions,  many 
smaller  seoiinaries  arose  during  the  present  period^ 
The  orthodox  who  laboured  to  provide  for  the  edu- 
cation of  ministers,  either  acted  without  any  genera^ 
system,  so  that  the  friends  of  the  Gospel,  like  the 
^pns  of  Noah,  separated,  after  the  flood  of  error,  to 
cultivate  that  portion  of  tl^e  wai^te  v^l^ich  happeQed 


SEMINARIES   AMONG  THB   DISSENTERS.       209 

tp  attract  attention;  or  els^,  fearing  that  there  wai 
something  in  large  and  eminent  establishments  fatal 
to  the  simplicity  of  truth,  they  designedly  formed 
many  small  academies  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

The  wide  dissenters  pursued  a  contrary  course; 
Not  having  been  able  to  retain  possession  of  the  aca^ 
demies  in  the  center  and  the  west  of  our  island,  where 
their  sentiments  bad  by  stealth  acquired  the  ascendant* 
contrary  to  the  intention  of  the  founders,  they  made 
several  efforts  to  provide  new  seminaries  for  the  edu- 
cation of  ministers  on  their  own  principles.  These 
were  all  designed  to  be  splendid  establishments.  Hack- 
ney, Exeter,  and  Warrington  colleges  were  for  a  time 
imposing  names,  and  the  projectors  of  these  institu- 
tions supposed,  that  unless  they  enjoyed  considerable 
patronage,  and  acquired  distinguished  celebrity,  they 
would  not  further  the  interests  of  literature  oi*  the 
dissent.  But  as  all  the  former  academies  have  been 
annihilated,  those  who  call  themselves  unitarian ^dis« 
senters  have  now  no  seminary  but  that  which  was 
removed  from  Manchester  to  York.  This,  though 
reduced  to  a  smaller  scale,  is  more  splendid  in  its  aims 
and  professions,  than  many  of  those  which  are  devoted 
to  the  orthodox  faith. 

While  one  party  was  thus  struggling  to  afford  a 
more  costly  and  finished  education  to  its  ministers 
than  is,  perhaps,  practicable  for  dissenters  under  their 
present  disadvantages,  many  of  the  ftiends  of  evan- 
gelical truth  verged  to  the  contrary  extreme,  by  giving 
what  by  some  has  been  called  a  half  education.  It 
had  been  seen  with  bitter  regret,  that  the  elegant 
classic,  the  profound  metaphysician,  often  lost  the 
spirit  of  the  man  of  God  in  the  taste  of  the  man  of 
fetters,  and  studied  to  recommend  himself  to  the 


great  by  fatsijiterature,  rather « than  to  the  good  bjF 
his  usefulness ;  white  not  a  few  of  those  who  had 
j^cended .  the  pulpit  uheducated,  had,  by  the  purity 
of  their  ^imiaed  the.ftpdour  of  their  seal,  won  from  tlw 
finished  9cholac,>  thej^p^Im  of  wisdom  which  heaven 
a/wards  to  him  "  that  winneth  sdUls/'  Many  liberal 
frieiiids  of  pure  religion  were  induced,  therefore,  to 
project  the  foriuatiion  of  seminaries  in  which  the  time 
of  education  shQ^ld  be  shorter,^  and  the  objects  of 
attention  should  be  only  those  which- were,  e^ential 
to  the  formation  of  .the  plain  useful  pastor.  As  the 
jnodern  €fFoi:ts  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel 
increased  the  nu.mbf^r  of  congregations  in  villages  and 
smaller  coutiti;y>  towfis,  the  slighter  species  of  educa- 
tion given  by  calvinistic  methodists,  and  by  some  of 
the. evangelical  dissenters,  became  absolutely  qecea-- 
aary  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  chupches*,  It 
lowered,  .indeed,  the  standard  of  general  knowledge 
among  dissenters,  so  that  to  the  superior  informatioii 
of  the  old  dissenting  congregations,  which  were  often 
assemblies  of  divirv^s,  succeeded  >  the ,  comparative 
ignorance  of  thi^  methodistic  societies^  In  too  many 
instances,  the  student  never  contraf7ted  enough  of  the 
habit,  to  acquire  the  love  of  study,  nor  gained  suffi- 
ci^fit:  information  to  enable  him  to  spend  his  future 
.time, to  advantage,  Where  this  was  the  case,  the 
ohjiuches  were  injured,  and  tihey  pot  only  soon  grevir 
weary  of  tha^ameness  of  ignorance^  but  were  some- 
times woua4ed  by  the  discovery  that  the  natural 
effect  of.  an  incapacity  for  study  was  indolence, 
whicti  expo^^  ^ministers  to  dangerous  temptatioi)^^ 

Serious  asvwas  this  deduction  from  the  benefit,  the 
less  finished  species  of  education  was  productive  of 
immense  good*    Many  c9me  out  of  the  new  acad^ 


SBMIKARIES   AMONG  THE    DISSEKIERS.       901 

tfiies  with  so  much  attachment  to  divine  truth,  and 
such  solicitude  for  the  salvation  of  men,  that  they 
proved  far  greater  blessings  to  the  churches  than  the 
arianised  or  latitudinarian  divines,  who  issued  from 
some  of  the  seats  of  learning.  Though  truth  was 
worth  the  sacrifice,  it  was  still  an  evil  to  be  obliged  to 
forego  the  advantages  of  learning.  The  first  race  of 
dissenting  ministers  who,  to  the  eruditiori  of  the  uni-' 
versities,  added  the  piety  of  minds  puWfied  from  its 
dross  in  the  fire  of  persecution,  were  as  far  beyond 
many  of  the  preachers  of  modern  days,  as  these  are 
superior  to  the  mere  philosophic  divines  who  had 
just  learning  enough  *'  to  corrupt  them  from  the  sim- 
plicity that  is  in  Christ.*^ 

As  the  good  intentions  of  those  who  formed  the 
academies  for  theological  studies,  rather  than  for  clas- 
sical or  philosophical  learning,  have  succeeded  \tx 
supplying  the  churches  with  some  such  pastors  as 
will  shine  among  those  who  have  turned  many  to 
f-ighteousness,  while  many  a  scholar  has  proved  "  a 
wandering  star,  to  whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of 
darkness  for  ever;*'  so  they  have  also  brought  for- 
ward some  distinguished  minds,  which  received  suf- 
ficent  aids  at  the  seminary  to  be  able  to  learn  while 
teaching,  and  at  last,  without  losing  the  honours  of 
usefulness,  to  share  in  those  of  science  and  letters. 
The  institutions  themselves,  also,  like  many  of  their 
sons,  have  proved  that  they  possessed  so  much  lite- 
rary wealth  as  will  secure  the  desire  and  the  acquisition 
of  more.  Hoxton,  which  was  placed  by  its  original 
projectors  on  that  part  of  the  ascent  of  science,  which 
is  with  difficulty  distinguished  from  the  vast  flat  by 
which  it  is  surrounded,  has  been  constantly  rising  to 
a  respectable  eminence,  and  will  probably  settle  on 


303^  HISTORT  OF  DISSENlEBIi. 

a  summit,  far  beyond  the  wishes  as  well  as  the  views 
of  its  ^arly  friends.    The  Yorkshire  seminary,  now 
at  Rotherham,    has  also  been  gradually  acquiring 
a  more  elevated   character.     Nor  should  this  be 
regretted  as  an  infelicity  ;  for  if  it  be  admitted  that 
the  necessities  of  the  churches  render  it  proper  ta 
thrust  out  plain  unlettered  pastors,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  the  demand  will  produce  a  supply  of 
institutions,  which,  like  their  predecessors,  may  rise 
to  higher  objects,  leaving  room  for  the  formation  of 
other  institutions  to  succeed  them  in  the  humbler 
departments  of  education.    This  prepress  of  acade- 
mies, as  well  as  of  individuals,  is  favourable  both  to 
learning  and  religion. 

That  the  number  of  seminaries  fo    the  education 
of  dissenting  ministers  is  increased,  may  be  seen  by 
the  preceding  section,  which  aimed  only  to  give  the 
most  brief  enumeration  of  each  distinct  establishment* 
Presbyterian  academies,  indeed,  are  less  numerous 
than  formerly ;  but  the  independents,  never  educated 
so  great  numbers  as  at  present.      The  calvicistic 
methodists    have    produced    two    colleges,    which 
often    supply    pastors    for    independent    churches* 
Among  the  baptists,  seminaries  being  viewed  with 
less  jealousy  than  formerly,  are  now  multiplying,  as 
they  are  not  yet  sufficiently  numerous  to  answer  the 
demands  of  their  churches.    The  Wesleyan  metho^ 
dists  have  no  academy,  unless  the  school  at  Kings- 
wood  may  be  deemed  one.   Their  increase  of  preach- 
ers, however,  is  great,  though  they  are  of  a  ruder 
cast,  and  are  therefore  doomed  to  struggle  with  greater 
difficulties  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.    The 
more  enlightened  among  their  ministers  are  anxious 
tp  supply  this  defect ;  but  those  who  are  so  totally 


^EHINARIES  AMONG  XH£   DISSEKTERS.       903 

devoid  of  learning  as  to  be  incapable  of  appreciating^ 
its  worth,  oppose  the  project,  as  an  useless  and  dan* 
gerous  innovation.  Upon  the  whole,  it  may  be  said» 
that  the  number  of  persons  now  educating  for  the 
ministry,  among  the  different  denominations  of  dis«* 
senters,  is  far  greater  than  at  any  former  period. 

It  is,  therefore,  of  the  utmost  importance  that  theit 
system  of  education  should  be  calculated  to  secure 
in  the  most  effectual  manner  the  Redeemer's  glory, 
by  sending  forth  into  the  churches  ^'  pastors  after  his 
own  heart.''    Different  academies  may  be  chargeable 
with  different  defects,  but  some  general  causes  of 
regret  may  be  seen  in  all.     A  want  of  classical  know^ 
ledge  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  defects  of  the  se« 
minaries,  but  to  the  system  which  demands  a  previous 
Christian  character,  and  therefore  forbids  to  educate 
boys  for  the  ministry  at  grammar  schools  ;  for  it  is  well 
known  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  owe  their  classic* 
cal  celebrity  to  Eton  and  Westminster,  Winchester 
and  other  preparatory  institutions.      In  the  regret 
which  Gilbert  Wakefield  expressed  at  the  inferior 
attention  paid  to  this  object  in  dissenting  academies^ 
those  who  take  a  more  serious  and  enlarged  view 
will  not  participate.     Unless   the  time  devoted  to 
education  for  the  ministry  were  enormously  extended^ 
the  delicacies   of  classical  literature  could  not  be 
acquired,  but   by  the  sacrifice  of  more  important 
objects.     If  this  acknowledged  inferiority  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  in  a  capacity  for  enjoying  the  higher 
classics,  lead  to  the  neglect  of  languages  in  general, 
and  of  those  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  written  in 
particular,  it  would  be  a  very  serious  evil.     But  the 
Greek  testament  and  the  Septuagint  may  be  well  ueh 
d^stood  by  those  who  are  unequal  to  Pindar  or  the 


304  HISTORY   OF   DISSEKTEA5. 

Greek  tragedians;  nor  does  the  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  bible,  or  even  of  the  Chaldee  Targums,  the 
Syriac,  or  other  oriental  versions,  depend  upon  ex- 
quisite classical  skilL  It  must,  however,  be  regretted 
that  some  have  so  far  lost  sight  of  the  value  and  impor* 
tance  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Scriptures,  as  to 
remain  willingly  ignorant  of  them. 

In  the  attention  paid  to  the  religion  of  the  students, 
lies  the  prime  excellence  of  the  dissenting  academies. 
Formerly  these  institutions  were  not  so  exclusively 
devoted  to  education  for  the  ministry,  as  they  have 
been  during  this  period  ;  and  when  it  was  not  deter- 
mined what  profession  th^  youth  should  pursue,  it 
was  not  deemed  requisite  to  enter  so  deeply  into  his 
religious  character  ;  nor  did  even  those  who  avowed 
their  wish  to  enter  the  ministry,  pass  that  severe  test 
which  was  necessary,  but  were  admitted  on  the  re- 
<^ommendation  of  their  friends,  or  of  the  churches  to 
which  they  belonged.  While  persecution  raged,  it 
prevented  men  of  the  world  from  becoming  dissent- 
ing ministers ;  but  when  halcyon  days  returned,  the 
want  of  stricter  examination  into  the  religion  of  the 
candidates  was  severely  felt.  It  cannot  be  expected 
that  the  wide  dissenters  would  seek  a  remedy  for  this 
evil ;  for,  not  believing  the  necessity  of  regeneration, 
nor  of  the  reception  of  certain  vital  truths,  to  consti- 
tute a  man  a  Christian,  they  still  admit  students 
.  without  inquiry  into  these  points,  and  still  allow  their 
seminaries  to  educate  for  civil  professions.  But  as 
the  patrons  of  the  orthodox  academies  now  univer- 
sally feel  the  necessity  of  ascertaining  the  experi- 
mental religion. of  those  whom  they  admits  and  of 
devoting  their  resources  solely  to  the  education  of 
ministers^  another  change  has  been  produced.    In« 


SEMINARIES   AMONG  THE   DISSENTERS.      SOS 

Stead  of  being  youths  from  school,  as  formerly,  agreat 
part  of  the  students  have  been  engaged  in  secular 
callings,  till  their  own  change  of  heart,  and  conse* 
quent  desire  for  the  ministry,  induced  them  to  seek 
emancipation  from  business,  in  order  to  enter  the 
Study  and  the  pulpit.  Unfavourable  as  this  in  many 
instances  certainly  is  to  the  hope  of  literary  eminence^ 
it  affords  the  best  prospect  of  sacred  jdecision  of 
character,  which  usually  distinguishes  those  who  are 
not  following  a  profession  chosen  for  them  by  their 
parents,  but  have  been  induced  by  the  influence  of 
religion  to  change  all  their  pursuits  in  life.  Instead 
of  the  prepossessions  of  friends,  or  the  caprice  of 
children,  the  choice  of  God  now  supplies  the  churches 
with  pastors.  To  this  new  turn  which  affairs  have 
taken  in  the  academies,  may  be  attributed  much  of 
the  prosperity  which  the.  churches  have  of  late  en* 
joyed,  and  which  would  naturally  be  expected  from 
thence,  by  all  who  believe,  ths^t  *'^  pajstors  and  teachers 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  are  the  gift  of  him  who 
ascended  up  on  high  that  he  might  fill  all  things/^ 

Theology  may  be  pronounced  i\xq  forte  of  dissent*^ 
ing  students.  To  the  lectures  constantly  given  by 
the  professors,  they  bring  that  experimental  knovr-* 
ledge  of  the  ^  subject,  and  preference  for  the  study^ 
which  will  usually  be  found  in  men  introduced  to  the 
work  in  the  manner  already  described.  Aware,  also, 
that  they  will  be  expected  to' preach  frequently, 
without  the  assistance  of  notes,  they  feel  the  neces- 
sity of  accumulating  those  stores  of  tbieological  know- 
ledge, which  alone  can  enable  them  to  fill  the  pulptC 
with  pleasure  to  themselves  or  benefit  to  their  audi<f 
ence.  One  who  was  himself  educated  at  Oxford, 
which   boasts  of  being  the  first  university  in   the 

VOL.   IV.  X 


$0d  HISTORY   OF   DTSSENTER9. 

worldj  siaiys  of  the  studerrts^  iir  lady  Hunticrg(!on'!s 
college  at  Cheshunt :  "  I  may  speak,  as  a  witness  of 
the  fact :  the  first  student,  in  the  preceding  year,  was 
ten  tithes  a  better  biblical  scholar  than  usually  goes 
from^our  universities;  besides  his  theological  acquire- 
xnents,  which  to  compare  with  the  run  of  students  in 
our  tiniversities,  would  be  like  comparing  Dr.  Parr 
to  a  school-boy';^'  It  is  not  merely  a  solitary  indi- 
vidual who  has  acknowledged  the  theological  supe- 
riority of  dissenting  students  over  those  of  the  univer- 
sities, but  many  competent  judges  have  joined  in  the 
isame  confession.  '  Some  portion  of  the  gift  of  teach- 
ing is  required  in  those  who  are  admitted  into'  the 
seminaries  for  the  ministry.  Conceiving  that  the 
divine  will  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  ascertained, 
the  candidate  for  the  work  is^  usually  brought  forward 
in  the  social  exercises  of  the  church  to  which  he  be- 
longs, in  order  to  judge  whether  or  not  he  possesses 
the  gifts  which  the  Redeemer  bestows  on  all  whom 
lie  calls  into  the  field  of  labour.  The  talent  is,  bow- 
ever,  cultivated  afterwards  in  the  academy  with  that 
laborious  diligence  which  would  be  intolerable  to 
many  who  ridicule  what  they  call  exteoiporarjr 
preaching,  as  the  effect  of  indolence  and  presumption 
in  the  speaker,  meeting  with  ignorance  and  enthu* 
siasm  in  the  hearers. 

To  the  instructions  necessary  for  the  due  exercise 
of  the  pastoral  care,  a  laudable  attention  is  bestowed, 
Doddridge's  lectures  on  the  subject,  which  are  before 
the  world,  furnish  a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  tutors  address  those  who  are  going  forth  to  feed  the 
church  of  Christ.  This  is  a  species  of  instruction 
not  to  be  expected  in  the  universities,  where  the 

*  Dr.  Haweisj  £vaii«  Mag.  for  2796^  p.  154. 


SEMINARIES   AMONG   THE   DISSENTERS.      S09 

teachers  of  youth  are  often  mere  scholars,  who  have 
spent  their  days  within  the  enclosure  of  the  college, 
and  have  never  experienced  the  nature  and  difficultly 
of  the  pastoral  office.  The  grand  advantage,  indeed, 
of  the  dissenting  academies  lies  in  the  direct  tendency 
of  all  their  studies  to  solid  ufefulness,  and  as  those 
who  fill  tlieir  professorships  are  themselves  elder 
pastors,  who  have  gone  before  in  the  work,  they  are 
able  to  prepare  their  pupils  for  its  duties  and  dangers. 
In  the  dissenting  seminaries  they  study  no  difficiles 
iHttgce^  have  no  prize  essays,  which,  like  the  ornamental 
work  of  a  ladies'  boarding  school,  turns  to  no  account 
in  future  life.  But  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  either 
in  their  original  tongues,  or  in  the  form  of  systematic 
theology,  the  knowledge  of  the  best  divines  or  eccle- 
siastical historians,  the  art  of  preaching  or  of  spending 
time  in  the  study  to  the  greatest  advantage,  form  the 
incessant  objects  of  laborious  attention. 

The  dissenters  have,  however,  something  yet  to 
acquire  in  order  to  perfect  their  system  of  education 
for  the  niinistry.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these 
desiderata  they  have  already  begun  to  supply-*-gram- 
mar  schools  for  the  early  initiation  of  their  youths  into 
classical  knowledge.  For  when  these  institutions 
become  more  common,  it  may  be  expected  that  a 
greater  proportion  of  those  who  enter  the  ministry 
will  have  had  an  introduction  to  the  learned  languages, 
which  will  render  their  future  studies  more  easy,  and 
their  attainments  more  considerable. 

Whether  it  arises  from  the  earlier  initiation  or 
longer  course  of  study  enjoyed  by  the  clergy,  so  that 
they  have  had  time  to  wear  away  their  youthful  affec- 
tation, or  whether  they  have  been  brought  to  their 
level  by  intercourse  with  a  larger  circle  of  superior 

X  2 


SOS  .     HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

minds,  ofto  whatever  other  cause  it  may  be  attributecl, 
it  is  a  fact  that  serious  young  clergymen  frequently 
excel  in  that  modest  concealment  of  learning  and 
simple  mode  of  instruction,  which  indicate  at  once 
the  great  and  good  man.  In  these  respects  they  fur- 
nish an  example  which  the  students  from  the  dissent- 
ing academies  ought  to  imitate  with  unwearied  atten- 
tion ;  for  they  are  excellencies  in  which  they  are  too 
frequently  defective. 

The  establishment  of  an  university,  to  which 
students  from  the  seminaries  of  the  various  denomi- 
nations may  resort,  to  perfect  their  education,  has 
occupied  the  attention  of  dissenters.  As  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  at  which  the  nonconformists  were  edu- 
cated, have  been  shut  by  illiberal  statutes  to  all  but 
members  of  the  church  of  £ngland,  dissenting  minis- 
te^rs  who  sought  a  superior  education,  formerly  went 
to  the  universities  of  Holland  and  Germany;  but  in 
the  present  stateof  the  Continent  of  Europe,  the  only 
resource  is  in  Scotland,  which,  with  the  liberality 
worthy  of  science  and  letters,  opens  her  colleges  to 
.  all  communions.  If  the  advocates  for  the  monkish 
system  of  exclusion,  which  obtains  at  the  English 
universities,  plead  that  the  founders  of  the  colleges 
intended  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  established 
church  ;  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  only  church  they 
intended  to  serve  was  the  Roman  catholic,  and  rather 
,  than  found  seminaries  for  heretics,  excommunicated 
at  Rome,  they  would  have  cast  their  money  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea.  Were  enlightened  and  candid 
reason  to  speak,  it  would  declare  that  the  universi^ 
ties  were  national  property,  consecrated  to  the  pre- 
servation of  sound  learning  in  the  kingdom,  and  that 
to  this  purpose  they  ought  to  be  devoted,  without  uny 


8EMI17A1tIKS  AMOKO  THE   DISSBNTBRS.     909 

sectarian  distinctions.  As  long  as  the  majority  of 
the  English  are  attached  to  the  established  churchy 
she  will  have  a  majority  of  her  sons  enjoying  the 
benefits  of  these  institutions,  and  reaping  alone  the 
harvest  of  tithes  in  the  gift  of  the  colleges.  But  the 
dissenters  of  every  name  are,  in  all  reason,  entitled 
to  such  a  share  of  the  literary  advantages  of  the 
universities  as  is  equivalent  to  their  portion  of  the 
population  and  wealth  of  the  country,  and  th^  share 
they  contribute  to  the  exigencies  of  the  state. 

As,  however,  a  thorn  hedge  of  oaths  and  subscrip- 
tions and  regulations  is  raised  for  their  exclusion,  it 
becomes  them  to  provide  for  themselves  an  institu- 
tion which  shall  possess  all  the  real  advantages  of  the 
universities.    ^The  dissenting  academies  allow  only  a 
certain  number  of  years  for  education,  in  most  of 
them  but  three  or  four,  and  when  a  student  has  arriv^^ 
ed  at  the  close  of  his  term,  he  must  retire  to  make 
room  for  others,  though  he  may  have  only  just  learned 
to  aspire  after  higher  acquisitions.    The  lectures  of 
the  tutors  are  very  properly  adapted  to  the  great 
majority,  and  not  to  the  superior  minds  which  are 
constantly  found  in  the  seminaries.     It  is  true  the 
universities  of  Scotland  are  accessible,  and  a  few 
English  dissenters  are  usually  found  attending  the 
lectures  of  the  northern  professors  ;  but  the  distance 
is  great,  and  to  those  who  have  no  connections  beyond 
the  Tweed,  appears  formidable ;  while  other  coiisi- 
derations  also  operate  to  prevent  niany  from  resorting 
f  o  those  seats  of  learning.    Were  an  institution  estab- 
lished in  a  central  part  of  England,  upon  a  liberal 
plan,  open  to  all  denominations.  Christians  pr  Jews^ 
and  were  the  incomes  of  the  professors  to  arise,  like 
^bose  of  Scotland,  in  great  measure  from  the  atu^ents)^ 

X  a- 


whom  tfaeir  .t;elebrity  would  aUract,.it  would  find 
sufficient  support.  A  lecturer  on  humapity  would 
give  information  on  the  higher  Greek  and  J^atin 
classics.  By  a  professor  of;  oriental  languages,  supe- 
rior information  might  be  given  in  Hebrew  and  Chal- 
dee,  Syriac,  Samaritan,  and  Arabic,  or  perhaps  in 
all  the  languages  of  the  best  Polyglots.  This  would 
powerfully  serve  the  cause  of  missions.  Matheqiatics 
and  natural  philosophy  i^bould  have  their  professor, 
and  lectures  should  be  delivered  on  logic,  metaphy- 
sics, moral  philosophy,  rhetoric,  elocution,  and  history 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 

It  should,  however^  be  mentioned  that  while  the 
most  laudable  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  education 
of  ministers  during  this  perigd,  an  unpsuai  number  of 
excellent  men  have  entered  on  the  work  without  any 
prevjous.academical  prepar^l^oQ.  Qfthese,  ;some  have 
become  distinguished  blessings  to  the  churches,  and 
a  few  have  risen  to  very,  considerable  eminence  by 
the  diligent  improvement  of  the  hours  of  s(i/dy,  as 
well  as  by  the  faithful  ardent  employment  of  their 
|>owers  in  preaching  the  Gospel. 


ii 


iOu^yr ARP .  sjFAf £  f>f  P^B^VfERs.        9l|hf 


« 


CHAPTER  VI.  i 


r  ( 


M7TWAE9  S74TK  or  9iM9NX|t$S,  ,(f 


HUIil^fiA  AH9   BANK   O^   piISS^IlT^Ri^ 


,   ...  >p 

•#     'i* 

Ml, 


JLhe  opinio^  of  hjshiop  Buraet^  tl^tt  nonco^formifiQis 
^ould  be  res  unius  cei^tis  (a  thing  of  one  agie)  ,1^ 
})eea  already  prpved  cl^titute  of  tmtk*  Its  It^islpfy 
during  l)ii$  peiiod  Will  mpre  ^blindc^ntly  confute  tbe 
episcopal  prediction*  It  cap  now  boaat  ap  existence 
of  a  hundred  and  .fifty  years^  and  betrays  no  syn)pto9l^ 
of  senility  or  decay ;  but  stil)  retaius  aU  this  marks  of 
yo:uthful  vigour^ 

V^riouQ  things  were  &vourab|e  to  the  dissentiuf  ' 
cause.  The  spirit  of  religious!  liberty  continued, tp 
diffusfB  itself  oaore  widely  among  the  people,  and  was 
gradMally  acquiring  ^  niore  pow0rful  influence  pver 
.the  public  mind.  Nonconformity  was  not  now  ja 
stranger  which  bad  just  appe^fed  iq  the  British  i^le ; 
but  WM  ap  old  inhabitant,  ack,now}edged  by  ^\l  tp.hs  . 
pf  Epglish  birtby  w^  rie^ived  and  tpsfited  wit^h  grater 
respect,  anc)  ip  mjOj^t  places  escaped  thoa<e  reproaches 
which  it  had  been  aqpustomed.  to ihe^r,  $md  forced)^ 
bean    It  was  pn  this  account  easier  to  be  a  dj^s^ntef 

thau  iu  fprmer  tii^jes.  '  r 

Th^rie  ;had,  been  likewise,  duriug.  two  generations, 
a  full  display  of  the  nature  of 'thelir'ivipcipl^,  in  tj^e 
condjuct  9^d  cbRracter  of  thoil^wi*  iV^fms^.  %M^ 

3^  i  . 


fits  ^        ilfStOKir  Of   DI86CNTERS. 

dissent  from  the  establishment.    It  had  been  formerly . 
noised  abroad,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press, 
that  they  were  sons  of  Belial,  the  abettors  of  rebel- 
lion, murderers  of  kings,  full  of'  etamity  to  bishops 
and  clergy,  and  had  done  a  thousand  evil  things. 
Bat  by  looking  narrowly  at  them  for  ftill  fourscore 
years,  their  enemies  could  discover  none  of  these 
wicked  practices,  and  were  constrained  to  own  that 
they  demeaned  themselves  like  peaceable  and  useful 
members  of  society,  and  were  as  'much  attached  to 
the  constitution  and  government  of  the  country  as 
my  of  their  fellow  subjects.'    AH  those  who  required 
dktiy   argnments   in  order   to  produce  conviction, 
Were  led  to  a  iar  more  favourable  opinion  both  of 
Che  principles  and  characters*  of  the  dissenters.    As 
this  tended  greatly    to  lessen  the  bigotty'  of  their 
fUlversaries,  it  conduced  to  increase  the  number  of 
therr  converts. 

But  the  grand  means  ofaugmenting  the  di^etiting 
body,  was  the  faithful  and  zealous  preaching  of  the 
Ooispel  by  its  ministers.  The  k^ligious  prmciples  of 
the  old  nonconformists  had  an  inconceivable  weight 
and  power  on  the  hearts  of  their  hearers  ;  and  where 
their  successors  sttll  continued -to  display  them  with 
ability,  affection,  and  zeal^  their  influence  was  seen 
to  be  unimpairedi  From  the  commencement  of  this 
']^riod  the  number  of  evangeltcdl  preacliers  was  in- 
ereasing,  and  has  continued  to  iifcrease  with  progres- 
sive rapidity  t^  the  present  time.  - 

That  the  fervour  of  address  s^hich  bad  distinguished 
the  nonconformists  was  greatly  impaired  during  the 
iiecond  period' haui  been  already  observed.  But  it  was 
BOW  happily  t^vived,  and  the  warmth'  of  affection 
and  imlour  of  Sseal  Which  had  formerly  performed  such 


OUTWAttD  STATE  OP  DIS8SNT1SR8.  ttl^ 

wonders,  were  again  displayed.    To  the  diligent  pe- 
rusal of  the  writings  of  the  nonconformists  and  puri«' 
tans  which  were  now  eagerly  sought  after  and  read, 
this  happy  <^hange  may  be  in  part  ascribed.    It  was' 
owing  also  to  the  influence  of  the  Calvinistic  metho- 
dists.     Mr.  Wesley^s  mode  of  preaching  in  its  effects 
as  a  pattern,  was  confined  chiefly  within  the  limits  of 
his.  own  sect  which  he  was  continually  labouring  to 
augment.  Though  the  body  which  was  attached  to  his 
fellowship,  was  not  very  numerous, and  he  did  notseeni 
very  anxious  to  increase  it,  Mr.  Whitefieid  was  a  man 
of  most  extensive  and  beneficial  influence ;  for  his 
mode  of  preaching  has  been  in  some  degree  adopted 
by  most  of  the  calvinists  in  England;  to  whatever 
denomination  they  belonged,  but  especially  by  the 
evangelical  clergy  and  the  independents.    The  dry; 
stiff  method  which  too  much  prevailed  under  the 
former  period,  gave  place  to  that  plain,  serious,  aff^c<^ 
tionate,  and  zealous  manner  which  had  so  eminently 
distinguished  a  Baxter,  a  Flavel,  and  th^ir  fellow  la« 
boulters';  and  of  which  Mr.  Whitefieid   furnished 
so  splendid    an  example.     From  hence  orignated 
that  home,  straight  forward,  and  pointed  address  to 
the  consciences  of  men,  and  those  continual  exhorta- 
tions **  to  impenitent  sinners  to  seek  the  salvation  of 
their  souls,*'  which  were  so  powerful  in  their  effects, 
both^n  attracting  hearers  to  the  dissenting  places  of 
worship,  and  in  fixing  them  there,  by  ftxing  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel  in  their  hearts.    This,  let  it 
bt  remembered,  is.  the  grand  cause  of  the  increase  of 
the  dissenting  body  during  this  period.    A  devoted 
affectionate,  active,  and  zealous  minister,  unless  in 
situation's  and  circtTmstanqes  peculiarly  unfavourable, 
is  uniformly  found  to  prosper; 'and  the  church  and 


,3^4  HISTORY  OF   Q](6^SKTfiR8. 

congregation  uudber  bis  csire^to  be  enlarged  in  num^ 
b^rs,  and  to  grow  in  grac:?.  This  oaay  be  con9}fl^re4 
as  the  mainspnngofthedisseptiog  cause,  on  which 
the. n^Qtion  of  the  whole. machin^'dependa. 
,  To  village  pr^aphing  also  the  dissenters  are  i^* 
4#btfd  (Qt  an  iacrefgise  of  the  nupibers  of  their  com* 
im]ni9n.  It  was  practised  from  the.  beginping  of 
QQiiQonformity,  and  h^  never  wfapUy  fallen  ioto  dis- 
use. But  in  the  Is^tter  part  espepially  of  this  period, 
it.  became  more  general  than  i|;  had  ever  been  before. 
The  consequence  was,  that  people  who  were  be^ 
ore  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  attached  themselves 
to  the  ministi^y  of  the.  men  who  brought  to  them  t^e 
glad  tidiiigs  of  $$i]  v^tjon,  and  fqrmed .  in  many  places 
no  inconsiderable  addition  to  the  congregation.  But 
in  a  greft  variety  .of,  ii|st^nce§,  from4;he  distance,  and 
from. the  nujnberof  those  who  attended  on  the  village 
preaching,  a.  new  spciety.was  formed,  which  gradu* 
^tly  improved  .both  in.  the  piety  and  number  of  it^ 
members..  To  this  cau^e  the  dissenters  may  justly 
attribute  much  of  their  prosperity  ;  and  it  is  a  prosr 
perity  greatly  to  their  honour.;  for  it  arose  from  rescu- 
ing the  people  from  all  the  gjrossness  of  ignorance,  and 
all  the  debasement  of  vice,  and  by  conveying  to  jheip 
minds  the  kno\vlec|ge.  of  the  Gospel,  ^nd,  to  their 
hearts  the  power  of  Uie  truth.  ;,  ,,     ; .. 

To  the  preaching  of  the  ni.eth^o()ist?i,  i)Qth  qalvinistic 
and  arminian,  the.  dissent^r^  ow^ :  a^  .q,onsiderab|e 
increase  both  in  the  nnn^b^r  of ,  <:ongregatiQns  and 
of  h^arei:s,  As  the  disseptefg  did  ..not  pr^en4  to  be 
votaries  of  the  established  cburcb*.  those  who  were 
very  strongly,  attaph^d  to „bejr  communion  refused  to 
liear  them  ;  but  the.  methodists  in  general  P?ofes?ing 
to  belong  t9  the  qburch^f  fifl^l^fld,  tliey  vyi?re^9|iiL  ,l;hi^ 


OUTWARD  STATB  OF    DISSEk^VERS*  315 

account  received  as  brethren  by  many  of  the  people, 
who  listened  to  their  preaching,  and  by.  this  means 
became  accustomed  to  hear  sermons  out  of  their 
parish  church,  and  to  join,  without  knowing  it,  in  the 
dissenting  mode  of  worship.  By  the  impressions 
there  made  upon  their  hearts,  a  more  e£fectual.  and 
powerful  alteration  took  place.  The  preaching,  of 
the  clergyman  now  began  to  appear  flat  and  dead  ;.and 
something  (as  they  more  powerfully  felt  from  week* 
to  week)  was  wanting  which  they  deemed  essential 
to  their  edification  and  comfort*  As  in  many  places 
the  visits  of  the  methodists  were  but  temporary  ami 
occasional,  the  people  who  had  been  awakened  by^ 
them  had  no  other  refuge  biit  the  dissenting  meetings 
house ;  and  in  many  instances,  after  some,  time -df  at- 
tendance they  gave  it  the  {^reference,  and  becaaie:dis« 
senters  by  choice.  Though  the  arminian  methodists, 
from  Mr.  Wesley  downwai*ds,  endeavoured  by  eireiy 
means  in  their  power  to  prevent  this  change,  and 
eagerly  recommended  their  hearers  to  keep  to  their 
parish  church,  when  deprived  of  Wesleyan  preachers^ 
they  could  never  prevent  some  from  quitting  thear 
standard  in  consequence  of  having  imbibed  an  attach'' 
ment  to  the  principles  and  preaching  of  the  evao^li^^al 
dissenters.  /< 

But  the  obligations  of  the  dissenters  to  the  me-* 
thodista  are  not  limited  to  the  gift  of  individual 
members :  to  the  calvinistic  branch  they  are  indebted 
for  whole  congregations,  and  in  no  inconsidei^abUi 
number.  By  the  labours  of  some  good  man  in.con* 
nection  with  Mr.  Whitefield,  more  emiment  for  piety 
and  zeal  than  for  literature  and  theological  knowledge^ 
a  small  body  of  people  was  collected,  wliich  gradualijr 
increased  both  in  numbers  and  in  piety.  Bule?  w^e 
^en  found  necessary  for  the  government  of  the 


316  HISTORir   OF   OISSENTEM. 

societyt  and  methods  for  preserving  the  purity  of  their 
communion.  In  the  adoption  of  these,  they  gradually 
stepped  into  the  discipline  of  the  independents  which 
18  the  natural  state  of  acongregation  left  to  act  for  itself* 
and  havingiio other'  object  in  view  but  the  advance- 
ment of  religion'.  Though  at  first,  some  of  the  elder 
ministers  of  that  conununion  w^re  reluctant  to 
acknowledge  their  legitimacy,  in  a  course  oif  years^ 
the  prejudices  subsided,  and  they  ranked  among^ 
the  regular  independent  churches. 

By  many  of  the  members  of  the  establishment,  it 
lias  been  supposed  that  to  the  bad  lives  of  some  of  the 
clergy,  the  dissenters  are  indebted  tor  a  considerable 
part  of  their  success.  In  this,  however,  they  are 
greatly  mistaken  ;  for  it  can  only  be  reckoned  among 
the  minor  causes  of  their  increase.  Indeed  it  not  un« 
frequently  happens,  that  in  a  place  where  there  is  an 
ioimoral  clergyman,  the  people  arc  so  much  corrupted 
by  bis  example  and  influence,  that  they  will  pay 
little  attention  to  a  more  pure  instructor;  and  in 
numerous  instances,  the  parson ^s  vices  conduce  but 
little  to  cure  the  people's  bigotry.  It  is  a  clergyman's 
neglecting  the  souls  of  his  people  which  introduces 
the  dissenters  into  his  parish:  his  maqner  of  life, 
whether  j'egular  or  irregular,  has  comparatively  no 
considerable  influence  in  promoting  or  impeding  their 
Success.  .♦ 

That  the  dissenters  are  indebted  for  an  increase  of 
their  numbers  to  the  good  clergy  as  well  as  to  the 
bad  may  be  tliought  paradoxical,  but  it  isa  fact.  Where 
afaithful  minister  has  been  labouring  in  a  parish  froip 
yeakr  f o  year,  he  collects  around  him  a  company  of 
tiiily  ^devoted  Christians.  They  love  the  Gospel  and 
its  ordinances ;  and  they  venerate  their  pastor,  under 

>  '    s  See  Jay%  l^emoirs  of  the  Rev.  J.  Clark. 


OUTWARD  STATE  OF    DISSENTERS.       >    317 

whose  care  they  are  training  up  for  a  state  of  eternal 
blessedness.     But  if  he  is  a  curate,  he  is  removed 
by  the  rector  or  promoted  to  a  living ;  or  whatever 
may  be  his  rank,  he  is  called  away  by  death  to 
rest  from  his  labours.  His  successor  is  often  a  man 
of  a  different  spirit.  Attachment  to  the  establishment 
chains  the  people  to  his  ministry  for  a  season ;  but 
they  no  longer  hear  the  same  doctrijne  as  before. 
As    they    would    fain  be    pleased,    they    eagerly 
grasp  at  any  thing    which  sounds  at  all  like  the 
truth,  and  hope  that  the  preacher  will  improve.    A 
few  months  attendance,  however,  opens  their  eyes^ 
and  throws  them  into  despair^    They  cannot  bear  the 
idea  of  quitting  the  church,  and  leaving  the  place 
where  the  Gospel  was  so  purely   preached.    But 
where  the  love  of  the  truth  has  established  itself  ia 
the  heart,  they  are  constrained  to  seek  it,  and  to  foU 
low  it  wherever  it  may  be  found.    The  dissenting 
meeting  is  often  its  only  sanctuary  ;  and  though,  ac 
first,  their  prejudices  against  the  place  may  be  strong, 
they  are  gradually  overcome,  and  the  once  zealous 
votaries  of  the  church  with   their  families  become 
members   of  a  dissenting  congregation.      In  some 
instances,  where  the  converts  of  an  evangelical  clergy-* 
man  are   numerous,  they    secede  from  the  parish 
church  in  a  body,  and  form  themselves  into  a  society: 
retaining  the  use  of  the  liturgy  and  the  forms  of  the 
church  in  their  worship;  but  they  become  virtually 
dissenters  protected  by  the  toleration  act,  and  cor« 
dially  uniting  with  dissedters  both  in  ministerial  and 
Christian  communion.  In  a  course  of  years  they  are 
brought  to  esteem  every  thing  external  in  religion, 
only  as  it  is  conducive  to  the  spiritual  edification  of 
Christians. 


31S  HISTORY   OF   DISSEKTEHS. 

WKilc  the  dissenters  view  with  delight  these  causes 
of  their  increase,  they  are  constrained  to  behold 
with  pain  the  causes  of  decrease,  which  were  ope-  ^ 
rating  at  the  same  time,  and  producing  an  opposite 
effect.  A  person  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  river  of 
the  establishment,  who  saw  a  variety  of  streams 
separated  from  its  channel,  and  running  in  a  direction 
remote  from  its  course,  might  conceive  that  they 
were  for  ever  lost  to  its  waters ;  but  on  descending 
by  its  side  he  would  observe  tio  small  part  of  them 
returning  again,  and  reuniting  themselves  to  the 
parent  flood.  By  what  means  this  change  hasr  been 
produced,  is  an  important  subject  of  enquiry. 

Error  was  the  grand  cause  of  decrease  in  the  pres- 
byterian  congregations.  Arianism  and  socinianism 
4o  which  the  former  period  gave  birth,  were  still  in 
existence,  and  still  brought  forth  their  poisonous 
fruit :  their  progress  was  now  becoming  far  more  rapid 
than  at  first.  In  this  period  arianism  grew  bolder 
and  more  open  in  the  declaration  of  her  sentiments  ; 
and  socinianism  followed  her  example.  To  Dr. 
Priestley  the  Christian  world  is  indebted  for  this 
alteration  of  behaviour :  and  both  for  his  conduct  and 
his  counsel  he  deserves  applause.  Scorning  the 
crafty  concealment  and  cunning  equivocation  of  his 
predecessors,  he  frankly  told  the  world  his  creed,  and 
warmly  exhorted  every  other  socinian,  if  he  would  be 
an  honest  man,  to  follow  his  example.  To  his 
counsels  both  socinians  and  arians  listened  with 
seVerence  ;  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  old  adepts 
in  the  art  of  concealing  their  sentiments,  who  wished 
to  live  and  die  in  quiet,  the  rest  preached  what  they 
believed,  and  the  people  saw  what  their  preachers 
were.    The  effect  of  the  discovery  was  beyond  cal- 


OVT\fAm>   STATE   dP   DISSEITTERS.  819 

culdtion  both  powerful  and  rapid/  Those  who  had 
any  regard  for  evangelical  truth,  were  filled  with  hor- 
ror at  the  sight  of  the  heretic  in  his  native  form,  and 
bid  hida  and  his  adhi^rents  an  eternal  adieu*  Others, 
though  not  disgusted' at  the  opinioiis  of  their  teacher, 
growing  weary  of  dissent,  found  it  more  agreeable  to 
stay  at  home :  or  when  at  any  time  they  Went  to 
publid  worship,  to  join  in  that  which  was  established! 
by  the  state.  Many  who  drank  the'  cup  of  arian- 
ism-  first,  and  then  of  socinianismf  to  the  very  dregs, 
ceased  to  be  ihembci^  of  the  dissenting  congregation; 
and  with  a  perfect  hatred  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  of  England,  pusilfanimously  and  disingenu- 
ously bore  a  part  in  her  very  explicit  Trinitarian  Woiv 
ship.  By  the  operation  of  these  causes  niahy  a  prts- 
by teriim  congregation  dwindlied  ffbrri  a  giant*  iiito  a 
dwarf.  Aged  people,  who  remethber  their  respectabfe 
condition  in  the  metropolis  at  the  commencement  of 
this  period,  must  be  convinced  that  heresy  has  acted 
like  an  enchantress  in  silent!}',  by  her  fatal  spells, 
accomplishing  their  destruction.  They  are  in  general 
now  but  the  shadow  of  what  they  formerly  were,  and 
many  of  them  have  ceased  to  exist.  Devonshire,  the 
cradle  of  arianism,  has  been  the  grave  of  the  arian  dis- 
senters ;  and  there  is  not  left  in  that  populous  county 
a  twentieth  part  of  thepre^sbyterians  which  were  to  be 
found  at  the  time  of  her  birth.  More  than  twenty 
of  their  meeting-houses,  it  is  said,  have  been  shut  up; 
and  in  these  which  remain  open,  there  are  to  be  seen 
the  skeletons  only  of  congregations  Which  were  full 
and  flourishing  before  error  had  banished  prosperity. 
In  the  other  counties  of  England  where  these  sen- 
timents  prevailed,  the  effects  have  been  the  same. 
Like  the  devouring  pestilence,  arianism  and  soci- 


930  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS, 

nianism  have  with  few  exceptions^  carried  desolation 
with  them  into  every  congregation  where  they  have 
obtained  an  entrance ;  and  some  scores  more  of  their 
meeting-houses   would   have    been    shut    up,  but 
for  the  pious  benevolence  of  persons  of  a  different 
creedin  the  former  generation.  By  their  endowments, 
many  of  the  present  presbyterian  ministers  have  been 
enabled  to  retain  their  office,  and  to  preach  to  what 
deserves  not  the  name  of  a  congregation,  but  is 
better  described  by  the  prophet's  account  of  what 
remains  after  the  s^king  of  the  olive  tree :  '^  two  or 
three  berries  on  the  top  of  the  uppermost  bough,  four 
or  five  on  the  outmost  fruitful  branches  thereof/'    So 
great  is  the  change  which   these  sentiments  have 
produced,  that  perhaps  there  are  not  now  in  England 
twelve  of  their  congregations  which  can  boast  an 
attendance  of  five  hundred  people ;  whereas  before 
the  introduction  of  arianinism,  they  could  in  more 
than  two  hundred  places  count  five  hundred  hearers, 
and  in  several  more  than  double  the  number.     To 
account  for  the  decrease,  let  it  be  remembered  that 
shoals  of  converts,  if  they  deserve  the  name,  or  of 
people  weary  of  dissent,  passed  over  from  the  presby* 
terians  into  the  bosom  of  the  established  church* 

Indifference  has  been  another  enemy  to  the  increase 
of  the  dissenting  cause.  In  a  second  generation  it 
is  impossible  to  secure  the  ardour  of  zeal  which 
influenced  the  parents  to  dissent.  While  some  of 
their  posterity  imbibe  their  principles  and  possess 
their  piety,  others  resist  all  their  endeavours  to  con- 
vey impressions  of  religion,  and  grow  up  with  cold 
indifference  to  the  doctrines  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 
In  this  state  of  mind  they  are  prepared  for  a  removal 
into  the   establishment.     Marriage   into  episcopal 


OUTWARD   STATE   OF   DISSENTERS.  321 

families  drains  a  part  of  the  young  people  away.  In 
the  course  of  life  something  occurs  which  creates 
disgust  with  the  meeting-house,  and  serves  as  a  pre- 
text for  going  over  to  the  church.  The  discourses 
of  the  socinians  have  nothing  to  banish  indifference, 
but  much  to  render  it  more  cold,  and  thus  facilitate 
the  passage  to  the  parish  house  of  worship.  In  an 
evangelical  congregation,  to  a  person  of  indifference 
the  preaching  must  often  be  peculiarly  irksome,  while 
it  strives  to  rouse  from  his  slumbers  one  who  wishes 
to  sleep  at  his  ease.  Unfrequent  attendance  too, 
which  indifference  generates,  is  a  thing  of  bad  report 
with  them;  and  who  wishes  to  lieunder  infamy? 
He  bids  adieu  therefore  to  the  conventicle,  and  seeks 
refuge  in  the  church,  where  he  may  slumber  without 
disturbance,  and  attend  as  seldom  as  he  pleases  with- 
out being  pointed  at  for  a  neglect  of  duty. 

Tl)e  spirit  of  the  world  has  furnished  a  third  har- 
vest from  among  the  dissenters  to  increase  the  mem- 
bers of  the  established  church.  In  the  plan  of  life 
which  many  form  on  arriving  at  maturity,  and  others 
in  later  years,  one  great  object  is  to  stand  well  with 
the  world,  and  , enjoy  its  good  opinion.  But  they 
find  that  it  is  not  fashionable,  to  be  a  dissenter,  and, 
that  it  is  considered  a  blemish  in  the .  character  of 
a  person  who  aspires  at  distinction,  and  who  wishes 
to  join  in  all  the  amusements  of  the  age.  He  begins 
to  be  ashamed  of  his  religious  connecti(9ns ;  and  if 
he  be  himself  re;lu.ctant  to  give  them  up,  the  solici- 
tations of  his  wife  and  the  influence  of  his  children 
overcome  his  repugnance,  and  away  they  all  march 
to  the  established  church,  and  seem  to  feel  them- 
selves relieved  from  their  plebeian  degradation. 

Riches  may  be  justly  mentioned  as  another  powef-% 

YpL.    IV.  Y, 


833  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTBHS. 

ful  cause  of  the  decrease  of  diss^ters.    When  a  per- 
son has  attained  to  affluence,  a  multitude  of  new 
passions  rises  in  bis  breast.    He  pants  for  distinction, 
for  intercourse  with  the  great,  and  for  honours  for 
himself  and  for  his  children.     But  among  dissenters 
these  are  difficult  to  be'  obtained :  the  members  of 
their  body  seldom  rise  above  the  middle  class  of 
society ;  and  their  ministers  are  plain  men,  who  make 
BO  figure  among  the  gay  and  the  great.     In  the 
establishment,  among  both  the  clergy  and  laity  he 
will  find  genteel  and  elegant  company  and  acquaint- 
ances :   to  associate  with  them  is  the  way  to  rise 
to  that  distinction  to  which  he  conceives  himself 
intitled  by  his  fortune  and  manner  of  living.    As  the 
power  of  religious  principles  too  often  decays  in  the 
minds  of  men  as  they  increase  in  wealth,  the  love  of 
this  wicked  world  with  its  pomps  and  vanities  gains 
a  mightier  ascendancy  over  the  heart.    When  a  rich 
dissenter,  who  perhaps  unites  in  his  treasures  the 
sober  industry  of  two  preceding  generations,  has  sunk 
into  these  sentiments  and  feelings,  his  only  remaining 
difficulty  is  how  to  quit  his  old  connections  with  a 
tolerable  grace.     A  quarrel  with  the  minister,  or  with 
some  leading  persons  in  the  congregation,  if  it  can.by 
any  means  be  procured,  serves  admirably  to  furnish 
a  reason  for  the  change.'    If  that,  unhappily,  cannot 
be  obtained,  he  is  obliged  to  be  satisfied  with  one  less 
substantial,  which,  however  flimsy,  suffices  to  accom- 
plish his  escape,  and  to  place  him  in  the  social  and 
Sunday's  intercourse  with  many  as  rich,  and  with 
many  still  richer  and  greater  than  himself.     Hje  can 
now  from  his  pew  in  the  parish  church  cast  his  eyes 
on  persons  of  affluence  and  rank,  ahd  receive  as  he 
retires,  the  smiles  of  a  baronet  or  a  lord ;  and  his  wifi^ 


OUTWARD   9TAT£   OF   0ISSSKXERS.         .  923 

and  daughters  be  honoured  with  the  same  attentions 
from  the  ladies.  These  are  more  regarded  by  them 
than  the  smiles  of  the  Saviour  and  the  honour  which 
Cometh  from  God.  The  family  now  obtains  admiN 
lance  with  a  grace  to  the  card  table,  the  assembly 
room,  and  the  theatre ;  and  nothing  remains  to  com-^ 
plete  their  felicity,  but  that  their  former  dissent 
could  be  buried  in  eternal  oblivion. 

The  diminution  of  bigotry  has  of  late  rendered 
such  changes  more  easy  than  they  once  were ;  and 
persons  who  formerly  could  scarcely  find  courage  to 
break  up  the  religious  connections  of  their  ancestors 
and  of  their  own  early  years,  now  perform  the  task 
with  comparative  facility. 

Such  have  been  the  causes  of  decrease  during  this 
period  among  dissenters,  and  they  have  operated  to 
the  restoration  of  tens  of  thousands  to  the  estab- 
lished church.  Let  those  who  are  afraid  that  she 
will  fall,  behold  the  pillars  which  in  addition  to 
those  in  the  original  fabric,  the  dissenters  are  nume« 
rically  furnishing  for  her  support.  And  let  it  be 
remembered  by  these  timid  friends  of  the  hierarchy, 
that  those  who  return  from  the  conventicle  to  their 
communion,  cannot  adopt  the  words  of  Naomi,  '^  I 
went  out  full,  and  the  Lord  hath  brought  me  home 
again  empty.**  On  the  contrary,  whatever  may  be 
the  case  as  to  spiritual  things,  in  worldly  concerns 
many  of  them  went  out  empty  and  they  are  brought 
back  full :  when  they  left  it  they  were  minnows,  and 
they  are  returned  whales. 

The  departure  of  these  classes  of  people  from  the 
dissenting  body,  when'  considered  in  a  religious  point 
oHview,  is.by  no  means  to  be  looked  at  with  regret. 
The  secession  of  socinians  and  arians  is  an  absolute 

Y  2 


9^24  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTERS. 

benefit:  their  sentiments  have  been  a  eurse  to  the 
the  cause  by  their  contaminating  influence,  and  a)sa 
"  the  abomination  which  maketh  desolate/^  Aar 
for  those  who  had  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
while  it  is  to  .be  lamented  that  they  have  with*- 
draiwn  from  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  which 
might  .have  proved  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  them  and  to  their  children;  and  while  their 
affluence  was  beneficial  for  promoting  religion  in  the 
congregation,  in  their  country,  and  through  the 
world,  still  their  departure  has  been  a  blessing  to  the 
general  cause.  It  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the 
p;-osperity  of  the  dissenting  body,  that  they  should 
be  a  religious  body  of  people  ^.  Their  political  impor« 
tance,  as  it  is  a  thirig  of  very  inferior  consideration, 
lies  beyond  the  limits  of  the  design  of  thi$  history* 
In  the  second  period,  attachment  to  the. dissent 
from  education  and  connections,  detained  msLnyw^o. 
were  destitute  of  piety  and  amused  themselves  with/ 
spcK^ulations  till  they  fell  into  dangerous  heresies, 
and  others  who,  without  paying  attention  to  religious 
principles,  sank  into  the  spirit,  of  the  world,  and 
joined  in  all  its  fashionable  amusement^  and  follies. 
The  influence  of  such  persons  on  the  rest  of  the  con* 
gregation,  was  exceedingly  injuriojus,  and  had  the 
most  unhappy  effects  on  the  rising  generation.    .The 

departure  of  such  men  therefore  was  a  real  good ;  and 

» 

,  ^  A  nobl^oaan,  who  was  profane  in  his  conversatioo,  having 
hinted  to  Mr.  Howe,  that  it  would  be  of  importance  to  the  dissen* 
ters  to  have  a  patron  at  court,  and  that  he  would  have  no  objection 
to  the  office,  Mr,  Howe  answered,  that  the  dissenters  were  a  reli- 
gious body,  and  that  if  they  had  a  patron,  it  was  necessary  hi  shouW  ' 
h^  a  person  whom  they  would  not  be  asiiamed  of^  and  who  wottld ' 
not  be  ashamed  of  them. 


OUTWARD    STATE  OF  DISSENTERS.  325 

what  was  lost  in  opulence,  was  more  than  compeitsated 
in  principle  and  strength.  Religion  is  the  bond  of  the 
dissenters ;  it  is  their  safeguard  and  defence,  and  the 
only  sure  foundation  of  their  prosperity.  Where 
religion  loses  ground  they  will  decline ;  where  reli- 
gion flourishes  they  will  increase  and  multiply. 

One  cause  of  the  decrease  of  dissenters  may  be 
conceived  by  some  to  have  been  omitted ;  for  they 
think  that  where  an  evangelical  clergyman  comes  to 
a  place,  he  will  not  only  put  a  stop  to  their  farther 
progress,  but  diminish  their  numbers,  and  ruin  their 
cause.  But  no  such  consequences  have  been  found 
to  ensue.  Where  a  dissenting  congregation  has  been 
previously  established,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in 
the  church  has  in  general  had  no  effect  to  injure  its 
prosperity ;  for  that  very  preaching  has,  in  ordinary 
cases,  given  it  as  many  hearers  as  it  has  taken  away. 
From  the  diversity  of  tastes  among  mankind,  the 
simplicity  of  the  dissenting  worship  will  be  more 
agreeable  to  many  pious  people  than  the  pomp 
and  splendor  of  thjB  episcopal  ritijal,  and  the  suitable- 
ness and  variety  of  extemporary  prayer  than  the  con- 
stant repetition  of  liturgic  forms.  Purity  of  commu- 
nion will  be  considered  by  many  a  privilege  of  so 
high  importance,  that  they  will  prefer  a  society  where 
it  is  a  fundanaeptal  principle,  to  the  church  whjch 
allows  thp  mixed  crowd  to  kneel  at  her  altars  without 
impediment  or  distinction.  The  private  nieatis  oF 
improvement  in  a  dissenting  congregation,  which  the 
rigid  laws  of  the  church  neither  provide  nor  admit, 
will  always  attach  soove  to  the  conventicle.  The 
personal  consequence  of  every  individual  in  a  volun* 
tary  society  acting  on  the  principles  of  independency, 
from  his  concern  and  influence  in  the  affairs  pf  th^ 

V  3 


836  HISTORY   OF   DI8SENT£RS« 

body,  will  have  charms  to  not  a  few  above  a  more 
splendid  ecclesiastical  constitution,  where  men  are 
only  cyphers.  These  will  always  be,  in  the  eyes 
of  multitudes,-  benefits  and  privileges  to  which 
the  established  church  can  throw  nothing  into  the 
balapc^  of  equal  weight. 

Having  enumerated  the  causes  of  increase  and 
decay  among  the  dissenters  during  this  period,  it  is 
left  to  the  Christian  reader  to  decide  whether  the 
reasons  which  made  and  kept  some  men  dissenters, 
or  those  which  influenced  others  to  depart  from  their 
communion  and  return  to  the  establishment,  have  the 
greater  weight.  What  the  operation  of  these  two 
classes  of  causes  has  been,  will  be  perceived  from  the 
following  list  pf  the  dissenting  congregations  in 
England  and  Wales  at  the  present  time.  From  the 
changes  which  arc  continually  taking  place,  and  from 
^he  diversity  of  judgment  \yhether  some  smaller 
societies  should  be  considered  as  congregatiops,  or 
only  as  branches  of  congregations,  no  two  persons 
would  perhaps  agree  in  the  preciise  number.  The 
account  subjoined,  which  has  been  furnished  by 
the  kindness  of  friends  in  different  parts  of  tbo 
kingdom,  will  be  found  to  possess  su^ciept  accu- 
racy to  enable  the  reader  to  form  a  view  of  the  number 
pf  the  dissenting  congregations  pp  which  be  may 
cjlepepd. 


OUTWARD   STATE  OF   DISSENTERS.  337 


Bedfordshire 

Berkshire 

Buckinghamshire 

Cambridgeshire 

Cheshire 

Cornwal 

Cumberland 

Derbyshire 

Devonshire 

Dorsetshire 

Durham 

Essex 

Gloucestershire    « 

Hampshire 
Herefordshire 
Hertfordshire 
Huntingdonshire 

Kent 

Lancashire 

Leicestershire 

Lincolnshire 

Middlesex 

Norfolk 
Nortfiamptonshire 

Northumberland 

Nottinghamshire 

Oxfordshire 

Rutlandshire 

Shropshire 

Somersetshire 

Staffordshire 

Suffolk 
Surrey 


iBdepeadett*. 

Bapcistt. 

Tond. 

0 

4 

16 

20 

1 

12 

8 

31 

3 

14 

17 

34 

0 

24 

20 

44 

12 

30 

5 

37 

0 

28 

7 

35 

15 

7 

5 

27 

10 

20 

11 

41 

19 

30 

16 

65 

5 

23 

4 

3!7 

14 

3 

6 

29 

1 

47 

17 

65 

3 

17 

16 

36 

2 

26 

17 

45 

3 

• 

3 

4 

9 

1 

1 

13 

10 

24 

0 

5 

14 

19 

7 

28 

24 

59 

33 

57 

97 

117 

4 

It 

17 

33 

3 

,21 

23 

46 

SO 

53 

33 

106 

3 

10 

20 

33 

0 

18 

16 

34 

37 

7 

5 

49 

1 

7 

9 

17 

3 

8 

6 

17 

0 

2 

2 

4 

3 

80 

11 

34 

6 

29 

15 

50 

4 

22 

6 

33 

5 

26 

16 

47 

1 

20 

15 

36 

Carr*.  forw'.      318         635  437        1290 


328 


HISTORY    OF   DISSENTERS; 


t « 


.  Presbyterians. 

Independents. 

BtfAm. 

ToMl. 

B^o^  forw*. 

218 

635 

437 

1290 

Sussex 

2 

.     T 

16 

25 

Warwickshire 

5 

16    ' 

8 

29 

Westmoreland 

2 

^    4 

S 

9 

Wiltshire 

2 

38 

IT 

57 

Worcestershire 

3 

4 

9 

16 

Yorkshire 

20 

95 

42 

157 

•t 

252 

799 

532 

1583 

SOUTH  WALES, 

' 

1 

Brecknockshire 

0 

14 

13 

27 

Cardiganshire 

9 

16 

11    . 

36 

Carmarthenshire 

2 

46 

36 

84 

Glamorganshire 

7 

36 

,     28 

71 

Pembrokeshire 

0 

25 

19 

44 

Radnorshire 

0 

4 

5 

9 

Monmouthshire 

0 

9 

15 

24 

l!^ORTH    WALES 

1. ' 

t 

Anglesey 

0 

10 

11 

21 

Carnarvon 

0 

13 

13 

26 

Denbighshire 

0 

13 

12 

25 

Flintshire 

0 

8 

1 

9 

Merionethshire 

0 

16 

3 

19 

Montgomeryshire 

mm 

0 

15 

9 

24 

18 

225 

176 

419 

England 

252 

799   ' 

532 

1583 

Total     '270         1024         '708         2002 
In  the  islands  of  Guernsey  and  i  j 
Jersey,  6  Freqch,  1  English  -  3 

'  Most  of  the  presbyterians  ia  the  ilorthera  counties,  and  some 
ie  London,  consider  themselves  as  u^  the  order  of  the  church  of 
Scotland,  and  there  are  upwards  of  twenty  of  their  congregations 
Scotch  seceders.  Six  of  the  London'  presbyterian  congregations 
are  Scotch. 

*  Nearly  a  hundred  of  the  congregations  of  this  denomination 
are  general  baptists,  and  twenty  Sandemanians, 
'  1  here  are  at  least  a  hundred  congregations  of  a  non-desctipt 
character,  which  as  they  do  not  come  under  any  one  of  the  three 
denomi  natiooB,  have  not  beeti  inserted  in  the  list.  • 


/ 
OUTWARD    STATE    OF    DISSENTERS.  329 

From  this  list  it  will  be  seen  that  during  the  reign 
of  George  the  Third,  the  dissenters  have  not  been 
idle;  but  that  as  it  has  been  a  busvand  active  season 
in  the  political,  it  has  been  no  less  so  in  the  religious 
world.  The  increase  is  the  more  pleasing,  as  the 
great  object  has  been  to  make  the  people  Christians  : 
their  being  made  dissenters  was  a  consequence  of 
this,  and  generally  arose  from  the  spiritual  benefit 
which  they  received  from  the  labours  of  the  dissenting 
ministers.  This  was  the  first  bond  of  attachment, 
and  afterwards  the  many  religious  advantages  result- 
ing from  the  institution  of  a  voluntary  society,  were 
the  chains  which  fastened  and  detained  in  their  dis- 
sfent  multitudes  of  converts  from  the  church  and  from 
the  world.  By  impartial  men  of  every  denomination, 
it  will  certainly  be  thought  not  to  their  dishonour, 
that  practical  benefit  formed  the  first  tie  of  attachment, 
and  with  many  almost  the  only  one.  An  examination 
of  the  reasons  of  dissent,  which  afterwards  took  place 
in  the  minds  of  the  more  inquisitive,  confirmed  them 
in  a  conviction  of  the  propriety  of  their  conduct,  by 
pointing  out  to  them  the  strength  of  the  fortress  into 
which  they  had  entered. 

During  the  whole  of  this  period,  the  presbyterian 
congregations  have  been  falling  into  decay,  and  many 
of  them  into  ruip.  At  the  end  of  queen  Anne's  reign, 
they  formed  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  whole  dissenting 
body;  at  present,  they  pefbaps  do  not  exceed  a 
twentieth  part  of  the  three  denominations.  Though 
their  congregations,  as  stated  in  the  list,  bear  a  much 
larger  proportion,  they  are  in  general  so  small,  that 
with  a  few  exceptions,  it  would  require  five  or  six  of 
them  to  compose  one  of  a  moderate  size.  But  for  the 


33Q  HISTORY   OF   DI^EMTEEiS* 

endowments  of  pious  calvinists  of  old,  some  scores 
more  of  them  must  have  been  shut  up,  and  the  ariaa 
and  socinian  preacher  fairly  starved  out'.  If  some 
pious  London  presbyterian,  who  died  in  the  year  1714, 
were  now  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  be  carried  round 
to  their  meeting-houses  in  the  time  of  service,  he 
would  be  filled  with  amazement  and  horror.  "  Where,^* 
he  would  say,''  are  the  numerous  bodies  of  people 
which  used  to  worship  here  ?**  On  finding  so  few 
congregations,  he  would  naturally  inquire, ''  what  is 
become  of  the  rest."  He  would  be  told  that  they  were 
first  shut  up,  and  then  applied  to  other  purposes,  or 
occupied,  by  other  denominations.  If  the  cause  was 
unknown  to  him,  he  might  be  told  that  arianism 
imd  socinianism  had  driven  them  away. 

During  the  whole  of  this  period,  the  independents 
have  continued  steadily  to  increase,  and  at  the  present 
time  they  have  a  greater  number  of  congregations  than 
either  of  the  two  other  denominations,  and  more  of 
them  are  large.  Their  original  principles  both  in  doc- 
trine and  discipline  they  still  retain ;  and  it  may  be 
confidently  asserted, ^that  no  one  class  of  ministers  in 
any  ecclesiastical  body  of  protestants  in  the  world,  are 
more  united  in  their  religious  sentiments.  They 
now  form  the  largest  body  among  English  dissenters^ 
and  what  redounds  to  their  honour  in  the  highest  de« 
gree,  no  one  denomination  of  Christians  on  the  face 
of  the  earth  can  boast  of  so  great  a  number  of  minis- 
ters  who  preach  the  Gospel  in  purity  as  the  English 
\        independents  ;  and  as  a  body  none  in  a  more  judicious 

*  The  presbyterian  congregations  in  the  four  northern  counties 
^re  iiot  cqpiprehended  in  this  aescription  :  they  are  in  general  con* 
pected  with  the  Scotch,  and  have,  with  aome  exceptions,  been  pre* 
.served  froin  those  errors  into  which  their  southern  brethren  fell* 


OUTWARD  STATE   OF   PISSENTERS*  331 

manner.  Men  of  very  profound  learning  among 
them  are  not  numerous.  They  have  no  sinecures  by 
means  of  which  scholars  can  spend  their  years  in  un- 
interrupted literary  pursuits.  They  are  all  men  of 
action,  and  their  studies  are.blended  with  the  labours 
of  the  puipit,  and  the  care  of  a  congregation.  At  the  * 
same  time  there  are  fewer  of  them  ignorant  of  theo- 
logy than  in  any  other  body.  The  generality  possess 
that  portion  of  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  sacred 
scripture,  and  of  those  things  which  may  be  called 
the  peculiair  science  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  whicb 
qualifies  them  for  the  duties  of  their  office.  To  the 
honour  of  the  younger  ministers  it  may  be  mentioned, 
that  there  never  was  a  greater  spirit  of  improvement, 
nor  a  more  eager  desire  to  acquire  that  knowledge 
which  is  most  important  to  the  service  of  the  sanc^ 
tuary.  If  the  consideration  of  this  distinction  lead 
every  independent  minister,  both  old  and  young,  to 
endeavour  by  laborious  study,  by  active  exertions, 
and  by  fervent  piety  to  maintain  it,  and  rise  to  greater 
eminence,  it  will  redound  greatly  to  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind.  With  great  earnest- 
ness it  is  wished,  that  the  idle  may  receive  reproof, 
become  ashamed  of  their  ignorance,  and  from  this 
hour  not  be  satisfied  till  they  have  acquired  an  inti^ 
mate  and  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  ia  whomare  hid  all  the  trea« 
sures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge*. 

'  If  that  portion  of  the  ministersy  who,  like  too  mapy  of  the  last 
generation,  still  remain  insalated,  sptisfyipg  themselves  with  the 
matine  of  service  in  their  own  congregations,  shoold  persevere, 
in  ihar  refnsal  to  unite  with  their  brethren  In  spreading  the  Gospel 
through  the  towns  and  villages  of  their  county,  and  will  not  be  prer 
^iled  on  to  join  with  their  whole  soul  in  sending  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  to  the  heathen,  they  must  be  considered  as  a  blot  and  a  dis- 


834  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS* 

heeik  exceedingly  perilous  to  the  virtue  of  the  q^iakers. 
That  seclusion  which  their  system  demands  from 
what  they  account  the  vanities  of  the  world,  presents 
no  ordinary  trial  of  principles  to  their  sons  and  daugli« 
ters ;  and  we  are  not  to  wonder,  if^  in  very  many 
instances,  the  spirit  of  the  world  has  gained  the  vic- 
tory. From  this  unreputable  cause,  there  has  been 
a  decrease  in  numbers,  which  perhaps  has  not  been 
balanced  by  the  converts  who  have  been  brought  out 
of  the  world  to  join  their  standard.  The  whole  num-i* 
ber  of  the  English  quakers  is  said  not  to  amount  to 
twenty  thousand :  and  vital  piety  not  to  be  on  the 
decline  within  the  last  forty  years.  The  love  of 
money  is  an  evil  with  which  this  respectable  caQi<* 
munity  has  been  often  charged  as  their  besetting  sin ; 
l;^ut  something  might  be  adduced  by  way  of  apology, 
even  though  the  charge  should  not  be  altogether  des-: 
titute  of  truth.  The  system  of  most  other  sects  allows 
a  wider  range  of  concupiscence.  The  pleasures  of  life 
are  open  to  their  embraces,  and  the  honours  of  the 
world  are  deemed  lawful  objects  of  pursuit.  By  these 
Qieans,  a  greater  variety  of  passions  are  indulged,  and 
the  force  of  the  soul  which,  if  confined  to  one,  would 
rage  with  violence,  is  weakened  by  being  divided 
among  many.  A  quaker,  therefore,  who  loves  money 
something  more  than  these  followers  of  divers  lusts 
and  pleasures,  may  not  be  inferior  tp  them  in  virtue 
or  principle*  Let  not  the  friends,  however,  take  jre« 
fuge  behind  this  rampart,  but  aim  to  be  free  from  the 
vice  of  which  they  are  accused,  and  present  to  the 
world  the  pattern  of  every  excellence. 

Besides   the  original   dissenters,  during  the  last 
period,  other  denominations  ^arqsci  which  in  a  course 


/ 


• 


OUTWARD   STATE  OF   DI&SEMTERS.  93J 


t)f  years  have  very  considerably  increased.    The  cal- 
vinistic  methodists  who  glory  in  Mr.  Whitefield  as 
their  founder,  form  a  respectabte,  though  not  a  very 
numerous  body.     Few  ministers  ever  discovered  a 
more  truly  catholic  spirit  than  that  extraordinary  man. 
His  great  aim  was  to  promote  religion,  not  to  raise  a 
sect ;  and  when  any  were  converted  to  Christ,  hel^ad 
obtained  his  end,  and  left  them  to  unite  with  what- 
ever body  of  Christians  they  thought  fit.     The  two 
tabernacles  which  he  built  in  London,  remain  nearly 
on  his  original  plan,  and  contain  the  largest  congrega- 
tions which  assemble  for  the  hearing  of  the  Gospelp 
perhaps  in  the  whole  Christian  world  ;  and  it  may  be 
questioned  if  any  two  places  of  worship  can  count  a 
greater  number  of  true  disciples  of  Christ.     In  one 
part  of  their  institution,  they  have  admitted  an  altera^ 
tion.    Open  communion  was  practised  by  them  at  first; 
and,  like  the  church  of  England,  they  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  supper  any  person  who  chose  to  come ;  but  they 
have,  in  the  course  of  this  period,  adopted  the  grand 
independent  principle  of  purity  of  communion,  and 
consider  regeneration  and  faith  necessary  to  qualify 
a  member  for  a  place  at  the  Lord's  table.     So  impor* 
tant  does  this  principle  now  appear  in  their  eyes,  that 
when  a  few  years  ago,  an  association  was  formed  in  con- 
junction with  other  large  and  respectable  societies  in 
the  metropolis  and  its  vicinity,  by  the  name  of  thecal  vi« 
nistic  methodist  union,  it  was  a  fundamental  article^ 
that  none  should  be  admitted  into  their  body  who  had 
not  adopted  purity  of  communion.     The  value  of  a 
good  principle  is  here  displayed.    When  first  brought 
forward  by  some  adept  in  the  study  of  truth,  it  may 
be  disregarded  and  derided ;  but  the  due  consideration 
of  its  excellence  will  in  time  procure  it  acceptance 


396  mSTOAV   OF   DISSENTERS. 

r 

from  those  who  appeared  the  most  uniikely  to 
embrace  it.  How  eatertaining  is  it  to  see  the  minis- 
ters of  the  calvinistic  methodist  union  sitting  at  the 
feet  of  Dr.  Owen  !  Let  the  friends  of  mankind  not 
be  discouraged  at  want  of  success,  but  continue  to 
press  home  those  great  truths  which  conduce  to 
human  happiness:  they  will  not  be  lost,  but  in 
due  time  find  a  more  extensive  reception  than  the 
fondest  hopes  of  philanthropists  could  ever  antici- 
pate. 

The  religious  body  to  which  lady  Huntingdon 
gave  a  name,  has  in  its  fornxs  and  practices  kept 
nearest  to  the  church  of  England,  and  is  that  to  the 
English,  which  the  burghers  are  to  the  Scotch  estab- 
lishment. Dissenters,  most  of  them  refuse  to  be 
palled :  some  have  allowed  the  name  of  seceders ; 
but  they  in  general  say,  that  they  are  of  the  establish- 
ed church.  How  thi$  alliance  can  be  properly 
claimed  by  thos&  whose  ministers,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  two  or  three  clergymen  who  oflSciat.e  in  their 
chapels,  have  notreceived  ordination  from  a  diocesan, 
and  are  not,  according  to  the  economy  of  the  establish- 
ment, qualified  to  perform  any  one  part  of  the  clerical 
office,  it  is  their  business  to  explain.  If  they  should 
allorw  that  they  are  without  the  pale  of  the  church 
of  England,  but  plead  that  they  are  episcopa- 
lians, it  might  be  asked,  *^  Where  are  the  bishops 
fmong  you,  who  confirm  and  ordain  ?'^  Their  col- 
lege, which  has  existed  almost  htilf  a  century,  hgs 
been  frequently  under  the  superintendence!  of  a  cler- 
gyman ;  but  the  necessities  of  the  country  have  too 
often  called  away  their  students  at  an  early  period  of 
their  course,  to  supply  tneir  destitute  congregations. 


btJTWARI>   AT  ATE  O!?    DtSSBl^rERS.  337 

bf Xty  i^ifierate  among  the  ignorant  and  pi^ofane.  The 
iacrease ofthis  denominationiias  not  been  CQnatdef* 
able  of  late  years;  .and  they  h\3Lre  sustained  a  very 
i^rious  injury  frotn  a  tetidency  to  supralapsarianisiii, 
which  has  made  s^me  of  their  preachers  afraid  e( 
calling  sinners  to  tepent  and  believe  t^e  Gospel^  lett 
they  should  offer  violence  to  the  sovereignty  of  thfe 
grace  of  God.  Their  congregations  in  London^  and 
«ome  of  the  great  towns,  are  liafge  aijd  respectable. 
The  whole  number  of  their  places  of  worship  in 
England  and  Wales  will  scarcely  amount  to  fifty* 

The  Moravians  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  an 
increasing  body ;  nor  can  it  be  said  that  of  late  they 
have  eagerly  sought  to  augment  their  nunvbers*  On 
this  account  they  merit  reprehension,  *  If  they  con- 
ceive, as  they  certainly  do,  that  their  religious*  prin- 
ciples, and  their  peculiarities  of  discipline  are  more 
conducive  to  the  interests  of  true  piety  than  any 
other,  they  are  greatly  to  be  blamed  for  not  endea- 
vouring to  propagate  their  system  to  the  utmost  of 
their,  power.  There  areTew  denoitai nations  whose 
increase  would  be  heard  of  with  greater  pleasure.  Their 
congregations  in  Great  Britain  amotint  to  sixteen. 

Against  the  Wesleyan  methodists  a  charge  of  want 
of  zeal  for  the  increase  of  their  body  vvill  not  readily 
be  adduced,  or  if  adduced,  be  credited.  Next  to 
the  regular  dissenters,  they  constitute  the  most  con- 
siderable portion  of  those  who  have  separated  from 
the  established  church.  Their  separation  some  of 
them  have  stoutly  denied.  But  can  those  who  have 
different  places  of  worship,  different  ministers  did*- 

YOL.  iv.  z 


USB  niBTO^H  0W  m88KNm9#    , 

pensing  ali  the  ordinaaces  of  religion,  and  .dWefeQt 
fules  of  diseiptiae ;  who  acknowledge  no  jumdic** 
tioB  of  the  ecclesiastical  rulers;  whe  allow  no  in-' 
terference  of  the  stMe  "with  their  proceedings ;  who^ 
would  scorn  the  tliought  of  the  clergyman  of  the 
parish  exercising  any  authority  oyer  thera,'-^with 
the.  slightest  shadow  either  of  propriety  or  truth  call 
themselves  members  of  the  estabiisbed  dsiurch  }  This 
sect  was  happy  in  a  leader  who  possessed  the  skill  of 
•governing  a  rel^ious  body,  beyond  any  protestant  in 
modern. times;  and  his  long  life  enabled  him  to  nur-* 
ture  it  to  maturity  and  strength.  Whatever  effects 
his  death  produced,  it  did  not  lessen  the  ardour  of 
their  zeal,  nor  prevent  their  increase ;  for  they  have 
continued  to  multiply  with  accelerating  rapidity  to 
the;  present  time.  In  England  and  Wales  the  num« 
ber  of  their  chapels  we  cannot  ascertain.  Their 
travelling  preachers,  who  are  the  regular  ministers 
of  the  body,  amount  to  six  hundred  and  thirty-nine* 
The  local  preachers,  usually  persons  in  business,  who 
officiate  as  assistants,  are  much  more  numerous.  The 
members  in  society,  consisting  of  those  who  profess^ to 
be  desirous  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  by  the  com* 
putation  of  the  last  conference^  were  numbered  at  one 
hundred  and  forty  thousand,  five  hundred  and  fifty. 

In  Wales,  during  this  period,  the  cause  of  dissect 
continued  to  prosper.  Ministers  laboured  with  io^ 
creasing  zeal,  and  were  rewarded  with  adequate  sue* 
cese.  When  it  is  observed  that  from  one  hundred 
and  sixty  congregations,  the  number  has  risen  to 
four  hundred  and  nineteen  in  the  course  of  the 
present  reign,  the  English  dissenting  ministers  must 
be  constrained  to  yield  the  palm  of  victory  and  glory 


OUTWARD  STATE  OF   DISSfilTTERS. 

R>'tiieir  Cambrian  brethren*  In  the  rapid  augmenta* 
tion  may  be  seei;^  also  the  existence,  extension,  and 
influence  of  evangelical  doctrine,  whUe  the  ariana 
and  socinians  were  hiding  their  heads,  and  departing 
from  the  enlightened  land. 

'  But  in  addition  to  the  auspicious  labours  of  the 
eld  dissenting  denominations,  much  has  been  dona 
for  the  advancement  of  religion  by  a  new  sect  which 
sprang  up  during  this  period,  the  members  of  which 
have   lately  taken   to  themselves  the  name  of  the 
"  Welch  Calvinistic  Methodists/^     Thonras  Charles^ 
of  Bala,  in  Merionethshire,  an  unbeneficed  clergyman 
of  considerable  learning,  eminent  piety,  and  ardent 
persevering  zeal,  may  be  consijiered  as  the  founder* 
This  truly  apostolic  man  has  exerted  himself  in  the 
cause  of  Christ  with  extraordinary  success.    Aided 
by  the  zealous  exertions  of  David  Jones  of  Llangant 
and  one  or  two  other  clei^ymen  in  South  Wales,  he 
has   been  the    instrument  not   only    of  awakening 
multitudes  to  a  concern  for  their  eternal  happiness, 
but  of  stirring  up  many  faithful  men  to  assist  him  iii 
preaching  the  truth.     Their  chapels  and  preaching 
places,  where  worship  is  regularly  maintained,  amount 
to  three  hundred  ;  and  there  are  about  two  hundred 
preachers  in  the  connection.    In  their  different  so- 
cieties they  compute  that  there  are  upwards  of  thirty 
thousand  members  • 

Hitherto  the  work  has  been  carried  on  by  them  oa 
tlie  itinerant  plan.  Their  discipline  partakes  ihore  of 
the  presbyterian  fortn  than  of  any  other.     Till  of  late 

^  Besides  their  societies  Id  Wales,  they  have  two  chapels  at 
Liverpool,  one  at  Manchester,  one  at  Chester,  one  at  Shrewsbury, 
6ne  at  Bristol,  and  twp  in  London,  in  all  of  which  the  worship  ii 
epnducted  in  the.  Welch,  tongue..  j 

z  2 


340  HISTORY  OF   DISSEKTERS* 

tke  Lord'g  isupper  only  was  dispensed  in  their  chapels 
by  the  cleigymea  in  the  connection,  but  now  both 
sacraments  are  to  be  administered ;  and  eight  of  the 
preachy  in  North,  and  as  many  in  South  Wales  have 
been  appointed  and  set  apart  to  administer  baptism 
and  the  Lord's- supper,  in  conjunction  with  the  few 
clergymen  who  are  connected  with  them.  This  ap- 
pointment, which  may  appear  an  innovation,  makes 
no  change,  they  say,  in  the  general  constitution, 
government,  and  discipline  of  the  body,  but  is  only 
an  addition  to  the  privileges  on  the  former  plan. 
The  exertions  of  Mr.  Charles  and  the  preachers  of 
his  denomination  in  the  establishment  of  Sunday 
schools,  and  his  labours  in  composing,  translating, 
and  publishing  a  great  variety  of  useful  treatises  in 
the  Welch  tongue,  at  a  printing  press  under  his  own 
inspection,  solely  for  the  diffusion  of  divine  truth 
among  his  countrymen,  deserve  the  highest  praise» 
There  are  indeed  few,  if  aqy,  in  the  British  isle  who 
b^ve  been  more  laborious,  and  more  successful  in 
advancing  the  kingdom  of  oQr  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

From  the  view  which  has  been  taken  of  th^  out- 
ward state  of  these  religious  bodies  which  hav^  for- 
saken the  worshiipOi»f  the  established  church,  it  is 
evident  not  only  that  there  has  been. a  considerable 
increase  during  this  period  among  the  old  dissenters, 
but  that  the  various  bodies  of  separatists  usually,  with 
the  exception  of  the  moravians,  comprized  under  the 
name  of  methodists,  which  had  their  birth  under  the 
former  period,  have  grown  to  an  unexpected  degree 
both  of  size  and  strength.  So  powerful  have  been 
the  effects  of  the  labours  of  the  ministers  and  private 
Cbristiansr  in  these  denojBinations  which  all  agree 


OtJTVARD   STATE  OF   DISSENTERS.  841 

in  their  dissent  or  separation  from  the  hierarchy,  that 
$ome  consideration  at  least  is  due  to  the  asaertion 
which  has  been  made,  that  there  afe  more  professors 
of  religion  out  of  the  established  church  than  within 
its  pale".  It  is  to  be  remembered  in  the  calculation 
of  increase,  that  the  population  has  considerably  riseii 
during  the  present  reign,  and  that  though  the  dis*- 
senters  are  more  numerous  than  formerly,  they  might 
bear  only  the  same  relatri'e  proportion  to  the  whole 
mass  of  the  people ;  but  it  will  be  necessary  to  allow 
them  a  still  greater  augmentation  of  their  numbers. 
We  cannot  however  refrain  from  expressing  it  as  our 
firm  opinion,  that  both  by  the  frietids  and  by  the 
eneipies  of  the  dissenters  and  methodists,  the  in<^ ' 
crease  has  been  exaggerated  beyond  the  reality* 

But  whatever  the  increase  may  have  been,  the  feata 
of  danger  or  injury  tq  the  established  church  are 
destitute  of  foundsTtion.  Whoever  will  impartially 
feckon  the  whole  number  of  separatists,  and  compate 
them  with  the  general  mass  of  the  people  of  England, 
will  be  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  is  not  the 
smallest  cause  of  alarm.  If  they  even  wished 'to 
overthrow  e:8;isting  institutions,  it  is 'unspeakably 
beyond  their  power :  it  would  be  a  hopeless  cont^t. 
But  these  persons  do  not  under^fMid  the  principles^ 
of  dissenters,  who  suppose  that  it  is  ponsisteort  with 
them  either  to  produce,  or  to  profit  by  such^a  dis- 
aster. The  laity  among  the  dissenters  wish*^  their 
ministers  to  be  men  of  labour,  with  moderate 'in« 

■  By  a  professor  of  religion  (a  term  which  has  gained  admittance 
into  th^  language  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  religious  world,  and 
^hich  we  adopt  for  its  brevity)  is  meant  one  who  has  the  worship  of 
God  in  his  family,  who  sanctifies  the  Lord's-day,  and  who  is  per- 
suaded of  the  necessity  of  oonversiou  in  order  to  the  salvation  of 
the  souU 

?3 


Sid 


HISTORY  OF   BISSENTERS. 


cOmes,  which  they  shall  receive  from  their  congrega- 
tions as  the  reward  of  their  services;  and  not  masters, 
independent  of  their  people,  vested  with  authority 
by  the  state,  demanding  tithes  by  law,  and  living  i^n 
affluence  and  splendour.     Such  is  the  universal  sen* 
trment  of  the  dissenting  laity ;  so  that  if  the  ministers 
wished  for  tithes  and  dignities,  they  would  have  their 
own  flocks  to  oppose  them,  as  well  as  ail  the  mem- 
bers of  the  established  church  ;  but  tiie  ideas  of  the 
ministers  in  general  are  in  utiison  with  those  of  the 
people.     The  writers  of  this  history  profess  that  they 
should  account  the  possession    of  the  tithes   and 
estates  of  the  hierarchy,  the  most  serious  calamity 
which  could    possibly  befal   the    dissenting    body, 
Tbougli  multitudes  of  the  ministers  are  very  slen- 
derly supported,  and  have  considerable  difficulties  to 
encounter  in  this  respect;  yet  considering  the  dis- 
senters as  a  religious  body,  and* the  object  of  their 
dissent  to  be  the  advancement  of  pure  religion  in 
the  country,  we  tremble  at  the  idea  of  dissenting 
ministers  possessing  the  independence  and  revenues 
of  the  established  church,  and  should  regard  it  as  one 
of  tbs  heaviest  curses  which  God  could  inflict  upon 
them.    If  any  of  those  bodies  of  separatists   ivho 
claim  kindred  to  the  establishment,  entertain  a  difie- 
rent  sentiment,  their  numbers  are  not  so  consider* 
able  as  to  render  it  any  thing  more  than  an  amusing 
speculation  to  themselves;    for  they  can  no  more 
affect  the  public  tranquillity,  than  a  fly  lighting  04 
Ibe  >vh«el  of  a  chariot,  can  drag  it  from  its  coura?. 


OUTWARD  STATE  OF  DISBEKtERS.  $4^ 


3- 


SECTION  11. 

LABOURS  OF  MINISTERS   AK|»   THEIR  SUPPORT. 

JUL  AD  ecclesiastical  history  more  fully  recorded  the' 
lives  and  labours  of  theclergy^  it  would  have  been  a 
more  useful  branch  of  study ;   for  the  sloth  of  the 
lazy  would  have  made  the  drones  of  every  succeeding 
age  ashamed,  and  the  activity  of  the  zealous  would 
have  furnished  a  stimulus  tp  their  successors  to  emu- 
late their  pious  assiduity,  and  if  possible  to  excel 
thenXf     He  who  narrates  tht  events  of  ages  long  past, 
is  i^nable  to  recover  the  general  tone  of  the  mind  and 
manner  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  day,  add  must  be 
satisfied  with  specifying  the  institutions  formed  for 
the  regulation  of  their  conduct  ai^d  labours;  but  he 
cannot  tell  with  what  punctualitiy  and  spirit  those 
institutions  were  observed.      By  the  writer  of  the' 
history  of  his  own  age,  a  considerable  advantage  i^* 
enjoyed,  for  he  has  every  thing  before  his  eyes  ;  and, 
provided  his.  information  be  sufficiently  accurate  and 
extensive,  he  is  qualified  to  give  an  interesting  detail, 
which,  though  not  attractive  to  those  of  his  c^wq^  walk 
in  society,  because  daily  seen,  will  aSbrd  enieitain- 
mentand  .instruction  to  those  who  nlove  in  diffeceaC 
i^ircles,  and  be  useful  to  succeeding  generations. '        t 
j^s  to  thequantity  of  labour  performed  by  dissentkig 
ministers  of  evangelical  principles  (therefigious'prin-^ 
ciplesoftbeold  no^iqonformis^,  they  need  not  bluslv 
at  a  comparison  with  those  of  the  preceding  period. 
To  th.e  two  public  services  of  former  timesi^  a  tbiii} 

^  4 


*  * 


"*»     '"^    >> 


344  HisToitfir  QF  Di$S£Nir$:ii«.    . 

has  no>v  beei;i  generally  added,  and  evening  l^cturei^ 
are  beco^ie  in  most  congregatipns  the  stated  practice. 
In  the  course  of  the  week  too,  there  is  a  public  season 
for  worship  in  one  of  the  evienjnffi,  so  that  the  minis- 
ter has  to  preach  four  times  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath. 
In  country  towns  tbii^  is  th^^Qqiuppnrroutine  of  duty. 
How  ministers  can  perform  so  frequent  servicea 
^ith  any  tolerable  degi^ee  of  propriety,  may  excite, 
^quiries  in  the  n>inds  of  many.  *  That  som,e  have 
performed  theno  in  a  slovenly  mannermust  be  allowed. 
Others  and  especially  the  young  have  not  impro«' 
perly  repeated  on  a  week  evening  the  discourses  of 
the  preceding  LordVday;  but  many  have  not  re* 
course  to  this  for  ease.  To  account  for,  what  must 
appear  almost  im^possible  to  persons  who  are  strangers^ 
to  such  intense  application,  let  it  be  remembered  tha^ 
those  who  are  accustomed  to  hard  labour  of  mind  can 
do  fbur  times  as  much,  as  they  who  ar«  not;  and  that 
the  extensive  study  of  theology  at  the  seminary, 
enlarged  by  habitual  application  from  day  to  day  ta 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  aqd  the  best  divines, 
gives  a  fulness  of  ideas  to  the  mind,  and  a  facility  ini 
preparing  for  the  pulpit,  of  whrch  those  who  have  mot 
4  body,  of  divinity  in  their  liead  and  heart,  can  foro^ 
liotdea, 

*  .      ■     ' 

/ 

As  new  sects  are  generally  fond  of  modes  of 
tbeir  own,  the  cajvinistic  methodists,  differ  from 
the  old  dissenters  in  their  seasons  of  wor8hip4 
The  afternoon  is  with  theni  generally  a  season 
oif  leisure,  and  they  confine  their  services  to  the 
itH>rnin^  and  evening.  The  reason  at  first  most 
probably  was,  that  they  might  not  interfere  with  the 
oanonical  hours  of  the  church,  and  thereby  more 


OUTWJlBD   state  6^  BISkSNf^RS.  84| 

jfavqurably  attract  the  attention  of  th^  people,  ;  By 
some  independent  congregations  recently  formed^ 
they  have  been  iniitated  in  this  practice;  but  it  i^ 
devoutly  to  be  wished  that  it  may  not  gain  ground: 
To  the  greater  part  of  a  congregation,  especially  toj 
mothers  of  families,  to  the  Isibouring  classes^  and  to 
the  poor,  the  afternoon  isf  the  most  convenient  time  of 
the  day  :  and  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  then  th0 
greatest  number  of  the  hearers  who  belong  to  th0 
society.  Should  there  be  no  worship  at  that  season, 
many  must  be  deprived  of  the  only  opportunity  of 
instruction  which  they  could  enjoy  in  the  wholQ 
course  of  the  day.  The  long  interval  between  the 
services  is  also  a  serious  inconvenience,  and  exposesf 
the  people  to  great  temptations  to  mispend  the  sacred 
hours  by  visits,  by  walking  abroad,  or  by  sitting  l6ng 
at  tfable.  A  judicious  Christian  can  improve  the  timei 
to  advantage,  but  who  can  say  that  offe  third  part  of 
bis  congregation  has  a  claim  to  this  character?  <rhd 
mass  will  deceive  unspeakably  greater  benefit  from 
public  worship  than  ip  any  other  way. 

The  objection  frequently  adduced,  that  the  after- 
noon is  unfavourable  for  speaking  and  hearing,  is  of 
modern  invention,  and  reminds  us  of  some  poets  who 
have  intimated  that  they  felt  their  inspiration  onlj^  in 
the  spring.  Biit  if  instead  of  indulging  such  iancies,  if 
poets  and  other  literary  men  will  buckle  to  (as  one 
expresses  it),  and  exert' their  faculties' with  vigour^ 
their  conceptions  will  be  powerful  at  any  season,  arid 
the  Spring  willcontinuethroughthe  whole  year.  Thd 
dissenters  of  former  generations  were  unconscious  of 
this  afternoon  infirmity,  and  it  never  entered  into 
their  minds  that  they  could  not  hear  with  as  much, 
attention  and  benefit  then,  as  in  other  parts  of  the 


S4<l  :>     HISTORY  OF   PII[S£N!tBRa« 

day.  If  people  think  ppw  that  they  have  different 
feeUogs,  the  fancy  (for  such,  except  with  invalids,  it 
is)  should  not  meet  with  one  grain  of  indulgence,  but 
by  evecy  means  be  resisted  as  contrary  both  to  duty 
and  happiness.  The  man  who  harbours  the  imagina- 
tion that  he  cannot  e^ert  the  faculties  of  his  soul  ia 
soma  particular  hour  of  the  day,  is  unwittingly  annihi<n 
lating  a  profitable  and  important  part  of  his  e^^istepce. 
Let  those  who  speak  faVoqrably  of  this  practice,  an4 
wish  to  adopt  it,  consider  the  serious  evils  which 
flow  from  so  long  an  interval  of  worship,  and  the  mas% 
of  instri4C^on  which  is  lost. 

^mong  the  evaiigelical  dissenting  ministers,,  the 
reading  of  their  sermons  in  the  pulpit  has  almost  gone 
out  of  fashion.  lYhere  it  is  retained,  instead  of  pro- 
curing, as  in  the  former  period,  comflfxendation  for  a 
display  of  dissenting  regularity,  it  is  now  generally 
considered  as  the  staflf  of  the  feeble,  and  the  crutch  of 
the  lame.  A  considerable  alteration  has  also  takea 
place  as  to  the  naode  of  preaching,  by  what  may  be 
called  an  amalgamation  of  methodisi;a  with  dissent. 
Instead  of  the  marked  differeqce  which  fornaerly  pre- 
vailed  though  both  professed  the  same  theological 
sentiments,  there  is  now  in  general  an  agreement 
in  something  between  the  two.  The  disseiiter  haa 
"^adopted  the  more  natural  address  and  easy  conversa- 
tion style  of  the  n^ethodist ;  and  th^  methodist  has 
taken  to  the  more  regular  divisions  and  orderly  method 
of  the  dissenter;  and  in  proportion  as  methodism  of 
dissent  predominate  in  the  mind,  the  preaching  par^ 
takes  more  liberally  of  the  spirit  of  the  more  favoi^re4 
sect.  Where  the^  mixture  is  in  a  due  proportion, 
the  effects  are  salutary ;  for  the  well  arranged  ideas  of 


OUTWARD  STATE   OF  DISSICNTEES.  447 

the  dissenter  will  be  delivered  in  the  natural  language 
and  with  the  fire  of  the  methodist.  But  in  general 
the  labour  of  the  dissenter  has  been  harder  to  attain 
than  some  sparks  of  the  methodist's  fire,  and  the  ease 
of  preaching  without  much  previous  study  has  given 
a  leanness  to  discourses,  which  has  proved  unfavour* 
able  to  the  growth  both  of  knowledge  and  of  piety. 

In  consequence  of  this  mode  of  preaching,  the  taste 
of  the  religious  public  is  considerably  changed.  Me* 
thodists  would  not  now  tolerate  the  rambling  dis- 
courses of  the  ordinary  class  of  their  first  ministers; 
nor  would  dissenters  now  endure  the  colder  comp6« 
fiitions  and  the  slavish  reading  of  sermons,  which  for- 
merly prevailed  among  them.  Should  the  carelessness 
of  the  methodist  be  banished,  ^nd  to  his  natural  lan- 
guage and  his  ardour  be  added  the  labour,  the  method, 
and  the  ideas  of  the  dissenting  student,  the  mode  of 
preaching  resulting  from  the  union  will  be  in  the 
highest  degree  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  pure  religion, 
and  most  effectually  promote  its  two  grand  purposes, 
the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edification  of 
Christian)^, 

*  1 

/ 

The  arian  and  socinian  dissenting  ministers  con- 
tinue in  general  to  read  their  discourses ;  and  if  there 
is  any  difference  in  their  mode  of  preaching,  it  consists 
in  its  being  more  destitute  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Christian  system.  The  minds  of  the  first  generation 
of  these  men  retained  some  savour  of  those  doctrines 
which  they  had  studied  in  their  youth,  and  which, 
when  they  did  not  contradict  their  new  opinions, 
formed  part  of  their  public  instructions ;  but  the  rising 
generation,  being  taught  heresy  in  their  schools  of 
theology,  or  despising  the  truth  which  they  heard^ 


^8  JHL^STpRy   OF    PIS,S£NX£KS» 

never  had  tlje^ir  minds  imbued  with  evangelical  prin^ 
piples,  and  scarcely  proceeded  beyond  the  bounc^ariesk 
pf  natural  religion,  of  which  they  make  Jeisus  the  pro*^ 
phet,  and  his  resurrection  the  evidence.  The  sacred 
Scriptures  were  treated  by  them  with  growing  dis- 
regard ;  and  perhaps  during  the  whole  existence  of 
Christianity  upon  earth,  so  ipany  disrespectful  thingSt 
b^ye  ^ever  been  said  of  the  inspired  volume,  as  by 
the  arian  and  especially  socinian  dissenters  in  th^ 
pourse  of  this  period. 

Veneration  for  the  sacred  Scriptures  may  certainly 
be  considered  as  a  test  of  the  general  purity  of  religioua 
sentiments.     Whether  any  will  be  found  to  equal 
palvinists  in  this  respect,  shall  be  left  to  the  judgment 
of  those  readers  who  have  made  extensive  observations 
on  the  subject.     Perhaps  it  cannot  be  contradicted, 
that  in  proportion  as  any  sect  recedes  from  Calvinism, 
their  veneration   for  the   scriptures  is  diminished. 
The  Bible  is  the  calvinist's  creed ;    whatever  God 
has  spoken,  he  feels  himself  bound  to  receive  and 
believe,    however    mysterious    the    doctrine    may 
be.      Arminians,  in   general,  will  not  be  found  to 
be  equal  to  them  in  this  respect  and  many  of  that 
creed  lay  down  their  ideas  of  the  moral  perfections  of 
the  Deity  as  the  foundation,  and  explain  every  part  of 
Scripture  in  consonance  with  them  ;  though  in  order 
'  io  accomplish  this,  no  small  degree  of  force  must  be 
employed.    The  arian  venerates  the,  Scriptures  still 
less  thsin  the  arminian ;  his  ideas  of  inspiration  ar^ 
lower ;  his  canons  of  criticism  less  honourable  to  the 
sacred  writers;  human  reason  is  exalted  to  a  higher 
office,  and  what  is  not  comprehensible  by  its  grasp,  13 
liot  readily  received.    The  mind  of  the  socinian  feels 
still  less  veneration  for  the^word  of  God ;  for,  according 


SEMli^AftlES  AMOKG  THE   MSSBKTEKS*     340 

to  hid  sentiments,  some  parts  bf  it  are  not  inspiired; 
mistakes  occur  in  the  reasoning  of  the  apostles;  not  a 
few  passages  are  unauthentic^  and  what  remains  id 
interpreted  with  a  latitude  as  to  the  expressions  and 
language  of  Scripture^  which  would  pot  be  toler^ited 
in  expounding  the  sense  of  any  other  wfiten 

Of  the  theological  publications  by  the  dissenting 
ministers  of  this  period,  the  number  is  considerable^ 
and  thq  merit  various.  Perhaps  they  have  not  heea 
in  proportion  to  tho]5e  in  tbe.formei:  periods,  or  to  the 
multitude  of  the  pastors;  but  the  reason  is  not  to 
their  discredit.  The  frequency  of  tbe  public  $ervice»^ 
and  the  active  dqties  Of  their  office  prevent  them  froni 
eiyoying  that  leisure  which  aCithorship  necessarily 

•  "  In  jMooportion  to  the  veneration  will  be  the  degree  of  atteatioa 
to  the  pemsal  and  study  pf  the  sacred,  volume;  and  for  this  thci 
calvinists  may  claim  the  pre-eminence.  By  no  one  sect  has  the 
book  of  Qod  been  more  careft^lly  studied^  and  with  deeper  reve« 
rence;  and  wrought  into  the'  very  essence. of  their  writings*'  Fewr 
arminians  have  so  attentively  studied  the  word  of  God.  Their 
"Writers  usually  present  more  of  general  reasontog;  and  those  hidden! 
treasures  of  wisdom  for  which  the  calvinists  dig  so  deep,  the  armi« 
nian  does  not  seek  after,  because  he  conceives  that  they  are  not  to 
be  found.  To  the  arian  and  socinian  the  Scriptures  afford  still  lestf 
inducement  for  study,  because  their  veneration  is  In  au  inferior 
degree* 

That  these  remarks  are  not  linfouiiided,  ^ill  appieair  from  the  pur<» 
»uits  of  th^  presbyterian  and  many  of  the  general  baptist  .ministersi 
during  this  period,  who  had  embraced  the  arian  and  especially  the- 
f  ocinian  creed.  Scarcely  one  man  of  note  among  them  confined 
himself  to  theological  studies.  The  evidences  of  Christianity  de«^ 
lained  a  few ;  but  the  greater  part  of  them  gave  themselves  up  ta 
history,  to  criticism,  to  fiolite  literature,  to  philosophy,  to  civil  jurist 
prudence,  and  to  ethics.  The  Scriptures  occupied  no  considerable 
portion  of  their  time.  From  this  list  it  is  uncertain  whether  evea 
the  name  of  Dr.  Priestley '  should  be  erased.  Why  indeed  should  it 
be  supposed,  that  persons  of  those  sentiments  should  pay  a  particukr 
attentioq  tQ  a  book  for  which  tht^y  eiptertained  so  little  e^ecm? 


099  RISTOftY   OF   mSSEKTSRS. 

tequiires:  and  it  is  no  dishonour  to  a  mat)  that  he 
(loes  not  publish  books,  if  he  is  zealously  employed 
in  communicating  instruction  with  the  living  voice* 
A  specimen  of  the  manner  of  preaching  among  the 
independents  may  be  found  in  the  sermons  of  Richard 
Winter,  Stafford,  Lavington,  Lambert,  Lowell,  and 
Jay.  Dr.  Stennett,  Robinson,  Beddome,  Martin, 
and  Fuller  exhibit  the  sentiments  and  mode  of 
preaching  among  the  ablest  of  the  particular  baptists. 
An  orthodox  presbyterian  among  the  writers  of  this 
period,  it  will  be  difficult  to  find.  Examples  of  the 
method  of  teaching  by  those  of  a  different  creed»  will 
be  found  in  the  discourses  of  Price,  Prie3tley,  Kippis, 
and  Rees.  The  general  baptis^ts  number  Bulkley^ 
Evans,  and  Dan  Taylor  among  their  writers  ofsermons* 
Whitefield  and  Cennick  will  furnish  specimens  of 
preaching  among  the  calvinistic  methodists;  while 
Pawson,  but  especially  Wesley's  numerous  sermons^ 
will  display  a  sample  of  the  instruction  which  the 
arminian  methodists  received  from  their  bead.  Aa 
innumerable  multitude  of  occasional  sermons  by 
ministers  of  all  denominations  will  give  a  still  juster, 
because  a  more  extensive  view  of  the  measure  of 
talent,  theological  knowledge,  literature,  and  profes«> 
sional  skill  which  they  possess. 
•  If  a  comparison  be  made  between  them  and  their 
predecessors  of  the  two  former  periods,  in  the  great 
qualification  of  a  Christian  minister  conveying  in- 
struction to  his  flock,  in  respect  to  the  weight-  of 
doctrine,  and  the  fire- and  spirit  with  which  it  has 
been  delivered,  they  will  not  he  able  to  stand  in  com- 
petition with  the  higher  order  of  nonconformists ;  nor 
can  they  boast  of  a  VV^atts  or  a  Doddridge,  who  were 
the  glory  of  the  second  period.     But  with  these 


OUTWARD   STATE   OF   DISSENTERS*  351 

Exceptions,  the  min  listers  of  the  present  period  need 
mot  be  afraid  of  entering  the  lists  with  those  who 
preceded  thecn;  and  whoever  reads  with  impartiality 
the  volumes  and  occasional  sermons  of  the  present 
period,  will  be  convinced  that  they  are  not  inferior 
to  those  which  were  published  in  the  two  preceding 
reigns. 

Whether  equal  attention  has  in  the  present  period 
been  given  to  the  private  duties  of  the  mini^ter^s 
office,  in  visiting  the  families  of  the^  congregation 
with  a  pastoral  design  and  effect,  may  be  a  matter  of 
doubt.  The  less  frequent  public  services  gave  more 
leisure  for  private  inspection,  which  was  considered 
as  an  essential  part  of  duty ;  and  the  old  congregationd , 
viewing  it  as  a  privilege,  felt  themselves  bound  to  at-* 
tend  to  it,  while  those  newly  raised  by  converts  from 
the  world  have  been  frequently  less  sensible  of  its  im- 
portance. The  benefits  resulting  from  it  are  so  many  * 
and  so  great,  that  it  is  most  earnestly  to  be  wished  it 
were  attended  to  with  the  same  seriousness  and 
punctuality  as  in  former  times.  The  visiting  of  ther 
isick,  as  it  ever  has  been,  is  still  considered  a  neces« 
sary  part  of  a  minister's  duty,  which  must  not  he 
neglected.  The  instruction  of  the  rising  generation 
has  of  late  become  more  general  than  it  ever  was 
before ;  and  Sunday  schools  have  diffused  catechising 
so  extensively,  that  the  children  of  the  poor  find  in 
these  admirable  institutions,  teachers  who  pay  greater 
attention  to  their  improvement  than  ministers  amidst 
the  multiplicity  of  their  duties  possibly  could.  If 
firom  the  manners  of  the  age,  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  rich  do  not  receive  pastoral  instruction  in 
^w  early  years«  the  pargnta  are  under  the  greater 


81^  ]ftiSTciftir  6b  i>tsskNVKBi^i 

6bligatioils  t6  tedcbthem;  and  if  they  do  not,  ill 
lidditiou^  to  other  consequences  resulting  from  the 
lieglect,  will  have  the  mortificat ion  to  see  tbetxi  out* 
stripped  in  the  noblJsst  of  all  kindi^  of  knowledge  by 
the  children  of  the  poor;  .  r 

In  the  cdiirse  of  this  period^  congregational  prayer- 
tneetingd  have  gradually  increased,  till  they  are  now 
become  universal  among  evangelica^  dissenters,  tn 
the  earliier  times  of  the  dissent,  meetings  for  prayer 
were  common,  butiuhder  a  different  form  :  ibey  then 
iDonsisted  of  a  select  company  of  Christians  by  whom 
free  access  to  others- was  not  allowed^  l^he  inde- 
pendents had  their  stated  meetings  of  the  churchy 
in  which  the  minister  and  deacons,  or  elder  brethren 
iemiployed  the  time  in  prayer  to  God ;  but  the  assem- 
bly was  confined  to  the  memb^srs;  At^the  congrega- 
tional pmyer-meetings  now  established  all  are  per- 
mitted to  attend,  and  the  service  is  conducted  by  thei 
minister  aiid  the  brethren  of  the  church  (by  wbom^ 
in  the  phraseology  x>f  the  dissenters,  are  meant  men 
Avho  receive  the  Lord's-supper),  and  the  time  is  spent 
in  prayer  and  ^nging  of  hyinns.  One  evening  in  th^ 
week  is  by  almost  all  congregations  allotted  to  this 
tervice.  We  ne^d  scarcely  add,  that  it  has  been  found 
Unspeakably  beneficial  in  promoting  the  spirit  of  reK- 
j^ion,  while  it  has  had  the  happiest  effects  in  improv- 
ing the  gifts  of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Among 
Brians  and  socinians  such  services  are  rarely  to  be 
foundi^ 

Of  late  years  a  new  species  of  congregations  has 
arisen,  which  blends  together  the  worship  of  tlie  dis- 
senters and  the  church.    The  liturgy  is  used,  and  to 


OUTWAltD  fiWATX   OW   9I99fUfT£RS.  $$$ 

k  ia  superadded  the  didsenting  serfice.  This  practice 
origiBaled  perhaps  in  the  taheraaclesi  and  in  the 
chapels  under  the  patronage  of  the  countess  of  Hun^ 
tJDgdoQ.  Others  unconnected  with  either,  have  sinct 
i^dopted  this  mode.  The  reader  of  the  liturgy  is 
sometimes  a  clei^yman,  sometimes  a  layman  who 
loves  the  book  of  common  prayer,  and  has  learnt  to 
read  it  wejl ;  and  sometimes  the. stated  minister  of 
the  place,  who  preaches  once  in  the  day,  or  a  cer* 
tain  i^rt  of  the  year,  who  is  in  only  pretended  holy 
orders.  The  vacant  part  of  the  day,  or  of  the  year, 
is  supplied  by  dissenting  ministers,  \¥ho  are  chiefly 
from  among  the  independents.  In'sooie  chapels  they 
have  no  fixed  prieacher,  but  depend  entirely  on  one 
of  these  occasional  labourers,  who  succeed  each  other 
after  officiating  for  a  month  or  six  weeks. 

Formerly,  whSn  the  bishops  held  the  reins  of  go« 
vemment  with  a  looser  hand,  the  tabernacles  and 
lady  Huntingdon's  chapels  were  supplied  by  clergy* 
men,  who  at  stated  seasons  left  their  parochial  cures 
to  officiate  for  a  season  in  places  which  were  opened 
under  the  sanction  of  the  toleration  act.  The  libe- 
rality of  these  men  certainly  intitles  them  to  honour 
^od.  pmise.  But  as  this  period  advanced,  these  were 
roBioved  by  death ;  the  same  taste  did  not  prevail 
among  the  rising  generation  of  the  clergy ;  and  ^ 
stricter  system  of  episcopal  jurisdiction  has  brought 
the  practice  nearly  tp  a  close:  one  or  two  only  re- 
main, at  whose  death  it  must  entirely  cease,  arlid 
their  places  must  be  supplied  by  ministers  out  of  the 
pale  of  the  church. 

So  novel  a  system  naturally  excites  observation, 
and  according  to  men's  different  ideas,some  will  praise 
and  others  blame.    The  introduction  of  the  liturgy 

VOL.  IV.  A  a 


854  liistORY  OP   DI8gRKT£BS. 

Into  (inconsecratect  places,  rigid  churchmen  cottskler 
as  a  degradation  of  that  solemn  ritual ;  while  by  strict 
dissenters  this  mixture  of  services,  and  the  preach-* 
ing  of  their  ministers  in  chapels  where  the  liturgy  of 
the  establishment  is  read,  has  the  appearance  of  sym* 
bolizing  with  the  church.  But  if  the  system  be 
impartially  examined,  perhaps  it  may  be  found  that 
there  will  not  be  the  evil  consequences  resulting  from 
It  of  which  some  are  afraid. 

The  mass  of  the  members  of  such  congregaitiODs 
consists  of  people  from  the  estaUishment ;  and  they 
have  the  partiality  for  its  forms,  which  persons  natu« 
rally  contract  for  that  mode  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed  frotti  their  earliest  years.  If  the  liturgy 
were  not  used,  they  would  not  attend :  it  is  the  load- 
stone which  attracts  them.  By  their  attendance  they 
have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel  preached 
in  its  purity,  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have 
enjoyed.  To  the  dissenting  ministers  who  occasi* 
onally  officiate  there,  a  field  is  presented  of  niore 
extensive  usefulness,  by  preaching  to  a  multitude  of 
people,  very  few  of  whom  would  ever  have  entered 
a  dissenting  place  of  worship.  Two  of  the  Dealest 
objects  are  thus  attained  ;  people  are  brought  to  bear 
the  word  of  God,  who  would  not  otherwise  have 
lieard  it;  and  ministers  are  brought  to  preach  the 
Gospel  in  places  where  it  otherwise  would  not  have 
been  preached.  By  some  it  has  been  urged,  that 
ministers  who  officiate  in  such  places,  give  up  the 
principles  of  dissent.  But  the  objection  is  consi- 
dered by  others  as  destitute  of  force ;  because  hearing 
the  liturgy  read,  and  occasionally  joining  in  it,  can 
by  no  meams  be  construed  into  an  approbation  of  the 
l^ystem  of  government  of  the  church  of  England.    So 


i 


OUXWAnS   STAl*!:   OF   DISSENTERS.  S8^ 

piain'iy  do  the  readers  in  such  chapels  declare  this, 
that  they  omit  or  alter  passages  in  the  common 
prayer^  which  appear  not  to  accord  with  the  gen^eral 
ideas  o£<Christiand*  The  fears  which  have  been  ex- 
pressed  by  some,  that  the  practice  will  prove  injuri* 
ous  to  the  dissenting  cause,  are  conceived  by  those 
who  are  friendly  to  the  system  to  be  without  founda* 
tioo»  Strict  dissenters^  like  strenuous  churchmen^ 
they  say,  will  seldom  attend  statedly  in  such  places, 
because  the  repetition  of  forms  of  prayer  is  unsuit- 
able to  their  taiste,-  so  that  it  will  not  affect  that  class 
at  all ;  and  for  one  person  who  begins  to  dislike 
extemporary  prayer  and  grows  fond  of  a  form,  there 
are  ten  who  grow  weary:  of  the  liturgy,  and  give  the 
preference  to  extemporary  prayer.  They  further 
argue,  that  the  influence  of  this  system  tends  to  break 
the  shackles  of  inordinate  attachment  to  party,  to 
produce  conciliation  to  dissenting  ministers  an/i  their 
worship,  and  to  increase  the  body  of  liberal  professors 
of  religion  who  are  forward  to  ev^ry  good  work. 

The  presbyterrans  who  had  adopted  forma  of  prayer 
under  the  preceding  period,  continued  to  use  them: 
and  when  any  congregation  drank  of  the  cup  of  soci«- 
niaoism,  a  liturgy  became  a  desirable  help  to  the 
people,  or  at  least  to  their  minister  ;  for  by  a  certain 
operation'  of  sentiment,  socinianism  and  extemporary 
prayer  do  not  well  'accord.  Among  the  r^st  the 
mode  of  worship  remains  the  same  as  in  the  formeir 
period. 

«  • 

.  For  their  temporal  support  the  dissenting  ministers 
still  depended  oh  the  contributions  of  the  congrega- 
tion, furnished  according  to  their  ability  under  the^ 

A  a  3 


SUP  iUSTORY  OF  DI8»ENT£RS« 

iqfluenceofthe  equity  6f  thcnDaxiin,  ^^  that  ttiose  who 
impart  to  them  spiritual  good  thiogs,  should  receive 
pf  their  temporal  good  things/'  To  flesh  and  blood 
l;bi^  method  of  p^Q vision  does  not  appear  so  desir* 
able  as  the  salary  of  the  state,  or  tht  tithe  of  the 
flock^  and  of  the  ,berd,  and  of  the  prodiLice  of  the  field : 
but  with  all  its  disadvantages  nothing  has  yet  ap^ 
peared  to  alter  the  opinloo^  that  as  it  was  the  fifstt 
it  is  the  best,  best  for  the  minister,  best  for  the  people, 
and  best  for  the  cause  of  religion.  Endowments  on 
Kome  particular  cpdgreg^tions,  made  by.  opulent 
Christiaps,  have  an  inviting  appearance,  and  perhaps 
there  are  few  ministers  who  would  not  wish  to  enjoy 
th^m  ;  but. experience  has  proved,  that  where  they 
axe  large,  in  nine  instances  out  of  tea  they  are  injuri- 
ous to  the  minister,  to  the  congregation,  to  the  dissent* 
}ng  interest,  and  to  true  piety.  Independence  begets 
pride,  an4  pride  generates  indifferenee  or  error,  and 
sometimes  both.  Considerable  »utns  of  mo&ey  lefb  to 
train  up  young  men  for  the  ministry  in  the  prtnciples 
of  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  have  been  employed 
(0  give  an  academical  education  ta.the  disciples  of 
the  racovian  school.  Valuable  bequests  for.  the  be- 
nefit of  ministers  who  were  preaching  the  word  of  life 
to.  the  poor  who  crowded  the  .place,  ..now  support 
teachers  of  very  different  sentiments,  who  deliver 
their  cold  lectures  to  the  pews  and  to  the  walls.  An 
important  legson  is  thus  taught  by  the  voice  of  God 
in  his  providence,  which  may  be  said  to  establish  it 
as  a  general  principle,^' that  to  make  provision  by 
stable  funds  for  the  advancement  of  religion  in  future 
ages  is  beyond  our  capacity :  it  is  but  to  scatter  on 
the  ground  pearls  which  may  be  trodden  under  foot 
of  swine :  that  what  can  be  done  by  mea  during  their 


OUTWARD   STAT£  OF   DISSSNTERS*  997 

]{fe  they  should  do ;  and  that  what  is  left  by  will 
should  be  expended  for  the  cause  of  religion  beifore 
the  ordinary  time  of  the  decease  of  those  iiito  whos^ 
hands  it  is  entrusted  by  th0  donor.  If  thjere  be.  exw 
ceptions  from  this  general  rule,  they  by  no  means 
destroy  the  propriety  of  its  adoption. , 

The  funds  established  in  the  former  period  by  the 
dissenters  of  the  three  denominations  in  London, 
still  continue  to  exist,  and  they  have  furnished  very- 
seasonable  relief  to  many  poor  congregations  in  the 
country.  Their  contributions  were  gradi^ally  aided 
by  legacies,  which  created  a  durable  capital.  Thc^ 
independents  and  baptists  give  only  to  those  of  theit 
own  denomination.  The  presbyterians,  more  liberal^ 
have  dispensed  of  their  boanty  in  numerous  instances 
to  both  the  others. 

In  the  course  of  this  period  many  benefactors^ 
though  not  of  considerable  note  for  the  amount  of 
their  gifts,  communicated  of  their  substance  for  the 
assistance  of  the  ministers  of  poor  congregations,  and 
the  relief  of  their  widows.  The  most  eminent  of  these 
was  William  Fuller,  a  banker  in  London.  Frugality 
was  necessary  to  him  in  youth,  and  the  habit  followed 
bim  when  affluence  had  poured  upon  bin)  her  most 
abundant  streams,  and  seemed  to  demand  a  moro 
liberal  mode  of  living.  His  peculiarities  were  not 
honourable  to  himself,  for  they  brought  reproaches 
on  his  character,  but  they  were  beneficial  to  others. 
He  would  take  suth  pains  to  save  a  sixpence  as  tQ 
appear  narrow  in  the  extreme ;  but  he  had  always 
his  guineas  ready  for  every  application  in  behalf  of 
the  interests  of  religion.  .  H^  WQuW  bPSgl^  for  a 

A  a  a 


d&S  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

shilling,  but  he  would  cheerfully  give  away  a  hun- 
4red  pounds  for  an  object  of  Christian  benevolence. 
With  all  his  oddities,  he  was  a  pious  and  sensible 
man,  well  informed  on  reiigious  subjects,  and  zealous 
for  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  His  patronage  of 
%he  Heckmondwicke  academy  was  an  inestimable 
blessing  to  Yorkshire,  which  enjoys  extensively  the 
salutary  fruiti^  to  the  present  time.  His  b'enefections 
to  the  orthodox  dissenters  in  various  forms,  were  far 
teyond  those  of  any^  other  person  since  the  com- 
IDencement  of  the  second  period.  He  will  deserve 
also  the  praisQ  of  liberality  to  other  denominations 
besides  his  own,  when  it  is  mentioned,  that  he  left  a 
handsome  sum  to  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
clergy^  We  have  been  informed,  that  an  independ- 
ent minister,  who  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
]him,  declared,  that  in  the  course  of  Mr.  Fuller's  life, 
and  at  his  death,  he  gave  to  the  support  of  the  cause 
of  religion  in  diflFerent  ways,  to  the  amount  of  sixty 
thousand  pounds.  With  the  exception  of  lady  Hew- 
ley,  of  York,  who  died  in  the  end  of  queen  Anne's 
reign,  the  dissenters  have  not  had  a  greater  bene? 
factor  to  their  cause  than  William  Fuller. 

V  With  all  these  aids  to  the  contributions  of  the 
people,  the  salaries  of  the  dissenting  ministers  are 
exceedingly  moderate.  The  immense  rise  i-n  the  price 
of  every  article  of  living,  has  been  felt  by  none  more 
painfully  than  by  them.  Though  the  salaries  of  many 
of  them  have  been  increased,  they  have  in  general  by 
no  means  kept  pace  with  the  augmented  rate  of  every 
Ibing  necessary  to  subsistence^    When  the  relative 

>  Whether  blame  be  due  to  any  on  this  account  it  may  be  proper 
tft  m^n'in^    Th%  UboiiriD|(  olasa  d^ves  119  cenaiire;  tfaey  m 


'-?^ 


PITTWASD  STATE   OF   DISSENTERS. 


350 


proportion  between  the  depreciation  of  money  and 
the  expense  of  living  is  considered,  we  may  cenfi- 
identiy  assert,  that  there  is  tiot  to  be  found  within 
the  limits  of  Christendom,  a  body  of  men  so  well  in- 
structed in  the  duties  of  their  office,  who  p^rfori^  so 
much  service  for  such  moderate  salaries,  and  who 
receive  so  little  money  for  saving  so  many  souls. 

general  give  according  to  tti^irmeans.  In  many  places  the  middle 
rank  might  and  ought  to  do  more.  A  load  of  censure  will  fall  upon 
the  rich,  few  of  whom  contribnte  their  due  proportion.  Splendid 
exceptions  are  to  \^e  found,  of  persons  whose  liberality  is  entitled 
to  the  highest  praise ;  but  by  far  the  greater  part  of  them  do  net 
pei'form  their  duty,  by  giving  for  the  support  of  religion,  in  th^' 
Qongregation  to  which  they  belong,  the  proportion  w.hicUthe  Gospel 
demands.  To  plead  for  wealth  is  not  ouir  aim.  Wealth  has  seldojon 
done  churchmen  good.  By  the  possession  of  it  they  liever  became 
either  wiser  or  better  men.  Riches  too  often  generate  pride  and 
indolence,  for  the  connection  between  these  is  much  more  close ' 
and  frequent  than  superficial  observers  may  be  disposed  to  allow. 
All  we  plead^  for  is,  that  where  a  eongrfiga^on  i^  fkhlfs,  tbey  sho^lfl 
^^wthie^ipi^ 


'  »« 


/ 


A  a  4 


«9Q^  BUTOftY  OF  DISSENTERS. 


Section  hi. 

fVnjjJC    SERVICES    AND     ASSOCIATIONS!     OF. 

.DISSENTERS. 

^MONG  public  services,  ordination  first  occursf. 
That  the  person,  who  undertakes  the  Christian  oii*- 
nistry,  should  enter  on  his  arduous  office  with  solem- 
nity, wiif  be  allowed  by  all  who  have  just  conceptions 
of  its  nature  and  design.  This  important  purpose,  the 
ordination  service  among  the  dissenters  accomplishes 
with  peculiar  propriety  and  effect.  Some  indeed 
have  asserted  the  inutility  of  ordination,  which  they 
say  savours  of  priestcraft,  and  nourishes  pride.  But 
^hen  it  is  considered,  that  they  were  menof  the  new 
Dotions  in  theology,  who  had  thrown  away  most  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  th^ir  rejection  of  this  ser- 
yice  will  excite  the  less  surprise.  If  any  of  the  olrtho- 
dox  thought  with  them,  they  were  those  peculiar 
individuals  who  have  an  unbounded  rage  for  specu- 
lation, who  imagine  that  a  practice  is  bad  because  it 
is  old,  and  that  the  introduction  of  something  new  is 
excellent,  because  it  was  never  practised  before  ^ 

Ordination  is  a  service  which  recommends  itself  by 
its  suitableness,  and  its  good  effects,  to  the  reason,  the 
conscience,  and  the  heart  of  a  Christian.  The  person 
who,  in  this  age,  would  speak  of  any  virtue  in  the 
laying  on  of  Hands,  or  suppose  that  any  dissenter 
^bought  thcire  was,  is  far  beyond  the^reach  of  argu- 
m^nt:  his  disease  must  be  removed  by  other  means. 
So  powerfully  adapted  are  the  various  parts  of  this 

'  See  Protflttaqt  DisMQters*  Magazinev 


OUTWARD   S9ATE  OF  PlgSENTfilRS.  861 

service  to  make  a  deep  impression  op  the  minds  of 
jail  who  have  one  spark  of  true  piety,  that  few  wfU 
depart  from  it  without  receiving  benefit.     During  tho 
present  period,  it  has  received  some  improvements; 
and  when  properly  conducted,  an  ordination  arnong 
evangelical  dissenters  is  the  most  edifying  service  of 
the  kind  which  has  ever  been  in  any  age  of  the  Chris- 
tian church;  and  no  denomination,  ieither  in  anci- 
ent or  modern  times,  pan  exhibit  a  mode  equally 
appropriate  and    instructive.      The    first  question 
now  usually  asked  of  the  person  to  be  ordained  ]s» 
**  what  reason  have  you  to  conclude  that  you  have 
been  converted  to  God,  and  are  a  trues  disciple  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?'■     This  is  an  addition  of  the  present  period, 
and  an  addition  which  is  an  high  improvement ;  for' 
the  answer  is  often  peculiarly  instructive  and  affecting 
to  the  whole  auditory,  and  gives  new  interest  to  all' 
the  succeeding  parts  of  the  service.      The  sermorf 
now  commonly  succeeds  the  charge,  and  it  is  much 
more   appropriate.      Formerly    it    was    often   of  a 
genera]  nature,  and  remotely  applicable  to  the  occa- 
sion ;  but  of  late  years  it  is  become  as  explicit  an 
address  to  the  congregation  respecting  their  duties, 
as  the  chaise  to  the  minister  is  on  the  obligations  of 
his  office.     For  this,  much  commendation  is  due,  as 
It  contributes  greatly  to  the  edification  of  the  people, 
by  making  them  acquainted  with  what  they  owe  to 
their  pastor,  and  fixing  a  sense  of  duty  more  deeply  on 
the  understanding  and  the  conscience.     The  place  in 
the  service  which  the  sermon  formerly  occupied;  is 
now  supplied  by  a  discourse  on  the  nature  of  a  Chris- 
tian church,  its  institution,  head,  offices,  n^embers, 
design,  and  end.     Such  is  the  method  of  ordination 
^ommonly  practised  among  the  independents :  it  is 


369  HISIORX  OF  DISSENI^EItS* 

adopted  also  by  the  particular  baptists,  except  that 
many  of  tbem  omit  the  layiqg  oa  of  hapds,  The  chief 
-pBtt^  of  this  service  are  also  observed  by  the  calvinistic 
methodists  of  the  tabernacle,  Indeed  where  volun- 
tary societies  are  guided,  not  by  modes  formerly  estab« 
lished,  but  by  the  reason  of  the  thing,  they  will 
naturally  fell  into  the  various  parts  of  the  ordination 
service,  which  i^  practised  by  tb?  ipdependep^ 
churches, 

Associations,  which,  during  the  former  period,  had, 
ij9  many  parts  of  the  country,  fallen  into  disuse,  began 
uow  to  be  revived;  and  with  such  vigour  has  th^ 
principle  of  union  for  the  advancement  of  religion 
exerted  itself,  that  in  the  southern  part  of  England 
scarcely  a  county  can  be  found  in  which  the  different 
4enominations  of  evangelical  dissenters  have  not  theic 
cegular  meetings.  In  this  line  of  conduct,  the  inde- 
pendants,  who  were  formerly  the  most  tardy,  are  now 
tbe  most  strenuous  and  active.  Some  of  these  asso-* 
ciations  meet  once  aye^r,  but  the  greater  part  twice; 
and  much  of  the  time  is  spent  in  public  worship.  .  In 
addition  to  the  ordinary  service,  it  has  of  late  becomq 
the  practice  to  dispense  the  Lord's  supper,  in  which 
as  many  of  the  ministers  as  can  be  en^pioyed,  take  a 
part,  and  which  the  pastors  and  private  Christians 
from  the  associated  churches  unite  in  receiving  as  a 
token  of  their  love  to  their  Saviour,  and  affection  to 
each  other.  Most  justly  may  this  be  numbered  among 
the  improvements  of  the  present  period,  as  it  is  pecu- 
liarly calculated  to  bind  them  all  together  in  the  boqd^ 
of  Christian  love,  and  to  inflame  their  zeal  for  thq 
Bedeempir's  cause.  If  this  practice  has  not  es(;ape<l 
censure  from  some  good  men^we  pan  only  ej^presi^ 


OUTWARD   STATE  OF    DISSENTERS.  368 

0ur  wonder  and  regret  th?it  a  thing  so  reasonable  so 
beneficial,  so  agreeable  to  the  example  at  Jerusalem 
of  the  apostles  and  elders  and  brethren,  and  bearing 
so  near  a  resemblance  to  the  heavenly  state,  should 
be  disapproved  by  any  of  the  disciples  of  Christ. 

The  benefit,  derived  from  uniting  in  worship  and 
conversation,  and  the  augmented  zeal  with  which 
every  minister  and  private  Christian  returns  home  to 
the  scene  of  his  ordinary  labours,  furnish  arguments 
in  favour  of  associations  sufficiently  strong,  Bjiit  in 
addition  to  them,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  one 
part  of  their  business  and  design  is  to  form  and  execute 
plans  for  the  advancement  of  religion  in  the  county, 
by  the  more  extensive  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
by  such  private  methods  as  are  best  adapted  to  pro- 
mote the  diffusion  of  sacred  truth.  In  this  depart- 
Hient  of  Christian  benevolence,  the  exertions  of  many 
of  the  associations  are  entitled  to  the  highest  praise  ; 
they  ha VGJ  received  their  reward  in  part,  for.  their 
labours  have  in  many  places  been  crowned  with  emi*^ 
nent  success :  and  they  enjoy  the  pleasing  prospect 
of  the  more  extensive  propagation  of  the  Gospel 
through  the  land,  and  a  great  accession  of  subjects. to 
the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  To  accomplish  these 
glorious  objects,  many  associations  employ  6ne,  some 
two,  and  a  few  have  even  three  or  more  itinerant 
preachers,  .  The  only  limit  of  their  exertions  id  the 
scantiness  of  their  funds.  It  is  to  the  independents, 
that  the  praise  of  county  associations  and  of  the  vigo- 
rous efforts  to  do  good  by  these  means,  is  due  in  the 
highest  degree.  Other  denominations  have  been 
stimulated  to  follow  their  example  ;  even  the  arians 
and  socinians  have  not  been  able  to  withstand  its 
fcrcQ*    Whether  pew  congregations  of  these  preed^ 


S64  HISTOEV   OF   DISSENTERS. 

shall  be  the  consequence  bf  their  union,  tithe  will 
jdeclare. 

By  many  of  the  members  of  the  establishment, 
(especially  by  the  clergy,  it  is  supposed  that  the  great 
^ud  only  aim  of  the  dissenters  is  to  increase  their  sect. 
But  the  supposition  arises  from  want  of  knowledge 
of  their  principles  and  spirit;  for  the  dissenters  can 
affirm,  that  their  grand*  aim'is  to  bring  the  ignorant 
and  impenitent  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners  for  mercy 
and  salvation*  Their  being  m^de  dissenters  is  a 
secondary  thing,  but  the  natural  consequence  of  the 
Other  ;  for  as  there  must  be  some  order  in  the  new 
societies  which  are  formed,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  con- 
clude that  they  should  adopt  that  which  is  their  own, 
and  which,  from  their  having  chosen  it  in  preference 
to  every  other,  they  must  conceive  to  be  the  best. 

As  to  the  eligibility  of  associations,  they  may  be 
left  to  be  decided  on  both  by  their  causes  and  effects. 
In  all  those  counties  where  religion  is  in  the  most 
flourishing  state,  apd  the  ministers  are  most  zealous 
and  active  in  the  Redeemer's  service,  they  are  found 
invariably  to  exist.  Cpunties,  in  which  there  are  no 
associations,  will  on  examination  exhibit  a  less  pros- 
perous; state  of  vital  piety ;  and  either  sloth  or  discord 
prove  to  be  the  mournful  cause  of  their  remaining  in 
an  insulated  state.  For  the  honour  of  the  Gospel  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  that  unassociated  evangelical  n^inisters 
and  congregations  will  not  have  a  niuch  longer  exist- 
ence. It  is  only  for  ia  few  of  the  most  zealous  of  the 
pastors  and  private  Christians  to  b^gin  the  work: 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  but  that  their  success 
will  far  exceed  their  expectations;  and  that  the 
result  will  be  an  increase  of  religion  in  their  souls,  in 
their  congregations,  and  in  the  county  iii  which  the 


OUTWARD  STATJS  OF   DISBEHXERS.  SOS 

great  Head  of  the  church  has  fixed  their  abode,  that 
they  might  improve  its  spiritual  state.  Let  not  the 
chaise  of  singularity  deter  them.  To  be  singular,  in 
what  is  good  is  godlike ;  but  to  be  singular  in  sloth, 
or  as  the  victims  of  discord  and  strife,  is  dishonour^* 
able  and  odious  beyond  the  power  of  words  to  express. 

In  this  period,  as  during  the  former  ones,  the  dis-» 
senters  still  continued  to  approach  the  sovereign, 
and  on  every  proper  occasion  to  testify  their  respectful 
homage  by  a  suitable  address.  The  two  which  follow 
will  serve  as  a  specimen  of  theif  sentiments  and  ian<« 
guage.  The  former  was  presented  in  November^ 
1760,  by  the  London  ministers  on  his  present  majesty'il 
accession  to  the  throne  of  his  grandfather. 

"  Most  gracious  Sovereign, 

"  We,  your  majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  sub- 
jects, the  protestant  dissenting  ministers,  in  and 
about  the  citi^  of  London  and  Westminster,  most 
humbly  beg  leave  to  approach  your  majesty^s  throne, 
and  to  express  our  deep  sense  of  the  greatJoss  your 
majesty,  your  kingdoms,  and  Europe  in  general,  have 
sustained  by  the  death  of  his  late  majesty,  your  royal 
grandfather ;  and  with  hearts  full  of  affection  and  joy, 
to  congratulate  your  majesty's  happy  and  peaceable 
succession  to  the  imperial  crown  of  these  realms. 

"  The  numerous  blessings  these  nations  enjoyed^ 
for  along  series  of  years,  under  his  late  majesty's  aus* 
picious  government,  and  the  great  events  that  were 
depehding  in  Europe,  made  the  preservation  of  your 
royal  grandfather's  important  life,  the  common  desire 
and  earnest  prayer  of  all  good  men  in  these  nations ; 
and  their  conceru  for  his  sudden  removal,  would  have 


866  HISTORY  OF  BKSSENtfiRS. 

been  olore  painful  and  durable,  ha4  not  the  know* 
ledge  of  your  majesty's  virtues,  and  great  abilitijBs  tor 
government,  alleviated  our  anxieties,  and  dissipated 
our  fear9,  and  filled  us  with  the  most  pleasing  prospects 
of  the  sure  continuance  of  our  prosperity. 

^'  Illustrious  and  ancient  descent,  princely  educa-* 
tion,  prime  of  life,  dignity  of  person,  early  piety  and 
virtue,  love  of  probity  and  truth,  regard  to  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  conscience,  and  your  kijiown  affection  to 
^his  your  native  country,  peculiarly  endear  your  ma- 
jesty tQ  all  your  subjects,  and  promise  them  every 
thing  their  hearts  can  wish  from  the  best  of  kings. 

^'  Your  msyesty  ascends  the  throne  in  a  time  of  dif- 
ficulty, and.  amidst  all  the  great  expences  and  uncer* 
tainties  of  vvar.  We  adore  the  good  providence  of 
God,  for  the  distinguishing  successes  that  have 
attended  it;  and  we  trust,  that  by  his  constant  bles- 
sing on  your  majesty's  counsel  and  arms,  your  ma« 
jesty  will  soon  become  the  glorious  and  happy  instru- 
ment of  establishing  such  a  peace  in  Europe,  as.shall 
effectually  support  the  pfotestant  religion  and  liberties^ 
and  secure  the  prosperity  of  these  kingdoms  upon 
solid  and  immoveable  foundations. 

"  We  recollect,  with  joy  and  unfeigned  gratitude, 
that  glorious  era,  which  settled  the  successipn  to  the 
throne  of  Great  Britain,  in  your  majesty's  royal  house, 
and  perpetuated  to  these  nations,  under  God,  the  free 
and  undisturbed  enjoytfient  of  all  their  civil  and 
religious  liberties.  And  we  humbly  beg  leave  to 
assure  you,  most  gracious  sovereign,  that  entirely 
confiding  in  your  majesty's  government,  we  shall  not 
fail,  from  dictates  of  conscience  and  gratitude,  to  be 
examples  ourselves  of  loyalty  and  duty^  and  to  incul^ 
cate  on  all  who  attend  on  our  ministry,  that  subnpussipa 


OUTWAEB    STAT1E   OF   biSSENTERS.  Sfif 

and   obedience,  to   your    majesty^s   authority   and 
government, 

"  Nor  shall  We  ceftae  to  offer  up  Our  most  ardenlt 
supplications  to  almighty  Goi]|,  that  he  would  render 
your  majesty^s  prosperity  so  distinguished,  as  that 
when  Great  Britain,  in  fntnre  agies,  wishes  well  to 
any  of  her  most  beloved  kings,  the  descendants  of 
your  royal  house  and  family?  your  fejiicity,  most 
illustrious  prince !  may  bound  all  her  desires,  and  she 
may  with  joy  and  triumph,  say — May. their  reigns  be 
as  long,  as  glorious,  and  happy  asyourmdajesty^s  P* 

To  which  address  hrs  majesty  was  pteased  to  giv6 
this  most  gracious  answer. 

*'  I  thank  you  for  this  loyal  affectionate  address; 
You  may  be  assured  of  my  protection  and  of  my  care 
and  attention  to  support  the  protestant  interest,  and 

XO  MAINTAIN  IHE  fOLERATlON  INVIOLABLE.'^ 

I  I 

•  «  ■  « 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  the  French  revo* 
lution,  in  1802,  they  congratulated  his  majesty  ott 
the  restoration  of  peace  in  the  following  address^ 
which  was  presented  by»  Dr.  Abraham  Rees. 

"  Most  gracious  Sovereign, 

•*  We,  your  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects^ 
the  protestan>t  dissenting  ministers  in  and  about  the 
cities  of  London  and  Westminster,  approach  your 
royal  presence  with  profound  respect,  to  testify  the 
gratitude  and  satisfaction  whic^  we  feel  on  the  termi- 
natilon  of  the  calamities  of  war,  and  on  the  restoration 
of  peace  not  only  to  your  majesty's  dominions,  but 
to  Europe  in. general. 

**  We  participate  the  joy  which  your  maj^esty  must 


$68  HISTORY  OF   ]>|SSENT£Rd. 

^ave  experienced  oil  the  present  happy  occasion^  and 
i¥e  are  thankful  for  the  result  of  those  operations  and 
counsels  which  have  produced  effects  so  interesting 
to  our  country  and  the  world. 

*^  We  beg  leave  to  express  our  cordial  wishes,  that 
the  blessings  of  peate  may  be  uninterrupted,  and 
that  it  may  conduce  to  the  stability  of  your  majesty's 
throne,  to  the  permanence  of  the  British  constitution^ 
and  to  the  increasing  prosperity  of  every  part  of  thq 
British  empire. 

**  May  your  majesty  long  enjoy  the  satifaction  of 
witnessing  the  union  and  welfare  of  the  dominions 
ov^r  which  you  preside,  and  the  prevalence  of  truel 
religion  and  social  order,  under  the  influence  of  your 
salutary  counsels^  through  the  various  nations  of  the 
globe. 

^  ^*  It  is  our  earnest  wish,  that  the  blessings  which 
we  possess  under  your  majesty's  administration,  may 
be  preserved  by  your  protection  to  a  distant  period^ 
and  transmitted  with  every  security  and  increase  of 
iB^hich  they  are  capable,  to  future  generations;  while 
it  shall  be  our  unremitting  endeavour  to  extend  the 
influence  of  the  gospel  of  peace  and  charity,  both  by 
our  instruction  and  example,  and  thus  to  maintain 
the  attachment  of  those  of  your  majesty ^s  subjects, 
jvith  whom  we  are  immediately  connected,  to  your 
majesty's  person,  family,  and  government ;  it  will  be 
our  unfeigned  and  fervent  prayer  that  your  valuable 
life  may  be  long  continued,  that  when  Providence 
removes  you  hence  ydli  may  exchange  an  earthly  for 
a  celestial  crown,  and  that  the  blessings  which  you 
have  perpetuated,  may  descetid  in  the  illustrious  line, 
of  your  family  to  the  remotest  posterity .^^ 


STATE  OF  RELIGIOK.  3919 


CHAPTER  VI. 

INWARD  STATE   OF  RELIGtON  AMONG   DISSEKT£|LS« 

Xt  was  not  without  reason   that    the   exhortation 
to  self  knowledge  was  thought  by  philosophers  to 
have  descended  from  heaven.     That  it  would  con^ 
tribute  to  conduct  us  thither,  Christians  may  infer 
from  the  earnestness  with  which  the  sacred  writings 
inculcate  the  necessity  of  knowing  ourselves.     To 
assist  our  readers  in  the  attainment  of  this  important 
science,  is  the  object  of  the  present  section.     For  if^ 
under  the  first  and  second  periods,  the  view  of  the 
inward  state  of  religion  presented  only  an  instructive 
historical  picture,  the  following  pages  are  designed  to 
hold  up  to  dissenters  a  mirror  in  which  they  may  see 
themselves,  while  tbey  are  incited  to  the  contempla* 
tion  of  the  object  by  the  consideration  that  here  the 
world   will  see  them  too.     Those  who  are  happily 
accustomed  to  self-examination,  while  they  will  be 
best  able  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  such  a  view 
of  the  present  character  of  dissenters,  will-  be  most 
alive  to  the  difficulty  of  forming  an  estimate  suffici<« 
ently  comprehensive,  accurate,  and  faithful,  and  least 
sanguine  in  their  expectations  of  procuring  for  it  a 
candid  reception. 

Only  the  more  aged  readen^Thowever,  will  survey 
their  own  pircture  in  the  former  half  of  the  section, 
for  George  the  third  has  seen  the  active  generation, 
over  which  he  first  stretched  the  sceptre,  retire,  the 
greater  part  to  the  shades  of  death,  the  rest  to  tho^e 

y.OL.  IV.  B  b 


379  HidTOllV   6lf  i>ISJiEKT^RS« 

of  privacy ;  while  a  new  race  has  risen  up  to  ocf^ 
cupy  the  stage  of  human  affairs:  It  will  be  necessary; 
therefore,  to  take  a  distinct  view  of  the  stdte  of  religiori 
in  the  former  and  the  latter  half  of  the  present  reign. 
The  estimate  of  religion  during  the  whole  period 
may  hdve  been  already  anticipated  from  what  hai 
been  said  of  the  external  condition  of  dissenters  ;  for 
though  a  churcb,  tirhich  is  in  alliance  with  the  state, 
may,  by  means  of  its  sword,  extend  her  territorieiS 
and  her  influence  while  her  piety  declines  ;^  those! 
who,  like  the  dissenters  and  the  primitive  Christians; 
depend  on  principles  alone,  will  not  triumph  abroad^ 
but  as  rdigion  prospers  at  home. 

When  George  the  third  ascended  the  throne,  the 
effects  of  the  arian  controversy,  which  spread  from! 
the  west  throtfgh  the  kingdom,  were  secretly,  but 
powerfully  felt  among  the  presbyterian  churches. 
Many,  who  were  not  aware  of  the  tendency  of  error, 
swallowed  the  fatal  poison  because  it  was  gilded  with 
the  specious  professions  of  frde  inquiry,  candour,  and 
liberality.  Arian  presichefs  were  tolerated  in  con- 
gregations which  Were  not  yet  positively  heretical, 
and  the  urbanity  of  their  private  manners  often 
charmed  the  families  which  rejected  their  creeds- 
Christians  were  thus  kept  from  hearing  in  the  church,- 
that  which  should  nourish  their  faith,  and  from  con- 
versing in  the  parlour  on  those  themes  which  sfhould 
inflame  their  devotion.  The  heterodox  them^elves^ 
having  been  educated  in  Calvinism,  retained  the? 
ancient  air  of  serioireness,  forms  of  devotion,  and 
modes  of  expression  which  concesiiled  the  naked 
•deformity  of  their  system,  and  prevented  it  from 
^exciting  the  horror  and  alarm  which  "are  iKow  pro- 
duced b^  its  superior  hoUesty  and  decision.    That 


STATE   OF   AELIGIOK.  371 

lieresy  thus  stole  upon  the  church  by  means  of  the 
serious  garb  derived  from  truth,  may  be  learned  from 
the  testimony  of  Dr.  Priestley,  whose  memoirs 
deserve  the  more  attention  as  they  were  written  by 
himself;  and  while  his  admirers  applaud  his  honesty^ 
his  candour,  his  extensive  information,  and  philoso- 
phical mind,  those  who  wish  to  oppose  his  system, 
may  find  its  antidote  in  his  auto-biography. 

It  was  manifest,  however,  that  if  the  external  form 
of  piety  w^s  generally  preserved,  from  many  the  ani- 
mating spirit  had  fled.     The  influence  of  habit,  the 
sense  of  du^y,  or  the  hope  of  merit,  for  spme  time 
seemed  to  supply  that  incentive  to  the  exercises  of. 
the  closet,  which  was  formerly  furnished  by  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  inspiring  a  pure  delight  in  secret  commu- 
nion with  God;    In  the  family  also,  morning  and 
evehihg  prayer  were  often  practised;  because  they 
had  been  so  identified  with  the  forms  of  a  dissenter's 
house,  that  breakfast  or  supper  could  scarcely  be  eaten 
without  the  accustomed  sacrifice ;  while  the  general 
use  of  a  form,  and  the  coldness  with  which  it  was 
read,  led  the  sagacious  observer  to  remark,  that  the 
fire  was  going  out,  and  the  altar  itself  would  soon  be 
overturned.     Where  visits  or  amusements  were  not 
tolerated  on  the  Lord's  day,  it  was  often,  not  because, 
like  their  forefathers,  they  were  too  full  of  more 
sacred  and  delightful  employment  to  need  or  to  relish 
them ;   but  because  they  had  not  yet  cast  off  the 
ancient  reverence  for  the  day,  which  could  embitter 
the  pleasures  of  the  world,  though  it  could  not  im- 
part sweetness  to  the  exercises  of  religion.    The  pub- 
lic assemblies  of  the  presbyterians  often  presented  a 
melancholy  contrast  to  the  awful  seriousness,  the 
ardent  devotion,  the  preference  for  the  most  impor- 

B  b2 


372  HISTORY   OF   DISSKNX£RS« 

tant  truths,  which  distinguished  the  6rst  dissenting 
churches.  That  indifference  to  orthodox  sentiments 
and  experiaiental  religion  in  the  admission  of  mem« 
bers,  which  destroyed  the  distinction  between  the 
church  and  the  world,  prevailed  in  the  general  bap- 
tist as  well  as  the  presbyterian  congregations^ 
where  the  ministers,  who  were  often  the  first  to 
abandon  the  truth,  kept  the  keys,  and  employed 
them  to,  fill  the  churches  with  those  who  were  like 
themselves. 

The  state  of  the  academies  painfully  manifested 
the  irreligion  of  the  rising  generation.  A  great  pro-, 
portion  of  the  students,  who  filled  the  presbyterian 
seminaries  during  the  former  part  of  this  period,  were 
most  Tamentably  destitute  of  the  apostolic  spirit  of  the 
puritans  and  nonconformists.  Instead  of  aspiring  ta 
resemblance  to  the  father  of  believers,  who  was 
*'  strong  in  faith  giving  glory  to  God,'^  they  seemed 
ambitious  only  of  proving  how  cordially  they  adopted 
Voltaire's  maxim,  that  '^  incredulity  is  the  foundation 
of  all  wisdom  ;^'  so  that  these  destined  preachers  of 
the  Christian  faith,  far  from  entering  the  seminaries 
because  they  wished  to  acquire  the  utmost  skill  in 
diffusing  sentiments  to  which  they  were  ardently 
attached,  went  only  to  determine  whether  they  should 
belike  any  thing  or  nothing.  Hence,  instead  of  the 
fellowship  of  Christians  in  edifying  conversation  and 
jnutual  prayer  for  the  cultivation  of  their  own  reli-r 
gion,  that  they  might  be  fit  examples  to  their  flocks; 
they  employed  themselves  only  in  what  they  called 
free  inquiry,  converting  the  academy  into  a  gymna- 
sium to  try  the  strength  of  their  speculative  powers 
in  disputatious  contests.  The  complaints  which 
<|rere  made  of  the  disorderly  state  ot  the  academies^ 


STATS   OF   RELIGION.  373 

by  the  more  serious  dissenters,  too  often  were  levelled 
against  the  conduct,  as  well  as  the  principles  of  the 
young  men,  which  loudly  proclaimed  that  those  whd 
were  preparing  to  teach  religion  to  others,  had  yet  ta 
l^arn  it  themselv^. 

This  false  candour  was  the  crying  sin  of  pres^ 
byterian  dissenters  in  the  early  part  of  George  the 
third's  reign,  and  it  polluted  their  churches  by  sending 
forth  arians  ai)d  socipians  to  preach  in  the  pulpits  of 
the  nonconformists,  at  a  tiipe  when  racovian  theology 
had  no  academy  of  its  own.  The  indifference  to  sen^ 
timent  and  to  vital  experimental  religion  which 'thid 
manifests,  was  dishonourable  to  many  who  still  pro*' 
fessed  orthodox  principles ;  for  who  that  considers 
how  many  preachers  they  educated  to  oppose  theit 
own  creed,  can  acquit  them  of  culpable  neglect  ?  Thd 
open  apostacy,  which  was  thus  introduced,  has  justly 
punished  the  indifference  that  opened  the  door  for  it$ 
^admission  ;  for  the  strenuous  advocates  for  what  they 
term  unitarianism,  now  pronounce  evangelical  doc* 
trines  no  ipnocent  errors,  but  pour  their  anathemas 
on  them  as  forming  a  pernicious  compound  of  idolatry 
(ind  blasphemy* 

The  decided  heterodoxy  of  some,  the  latitudinaria* 
tiism  of  many,  and  the  formal  coldness  of  more,  began, 
to  render  the  presbyterians,  who  had  been  "the  salt 
of  the  earth,,"  despicable  as  "  salt  which  had  lost  its 
savour."  But  the  strenuous  independents,  who  have 
ever  been  the  glory,  of  the  dissenters,^  were  now  their 
life.  The  pure  decided  sentiments  expressed  in  such 
works  as  Dr.  Guyse's  commentary,  were  maintained 
in  the  pulpits  of  the  independent  churches,  which 
vere  composed  of  members  admitted  by  the  vote  of  the 

Rbd 


\' 


%  »-v 


37^  HISTORY   OF   blSSENTERS^    ' 

body,  upon   a  declaration  of  their  faith  and  .their 

regeneration.     The  sentiments  of  the  pastors  and  the  . 

progress  of  religion  were  here  watched  with  a  jealous^ 

eye.     Meetings.  f9r  prayer  and  religious  con^ferencey 

both  in  the  places  of  worship  and  at  private^  housesy 

fanned  the  flame  of  religion  where  it  existed,  and 

kept  alive  a  zeal  for  its  diffi^ion  in  the  wopld.     ln< 

many  of  thesechurches,  the  pure  and  faithful  preaching 

pf  the  unsearchable-  riches  of  Christ   was  attended 

with  suqh  displays  of  the  divina  power  and  blessings 

as  constantly  increased  their  numbers  and  their  reli« 

gion.     Those  of  their  members  who  are  still  living,- 

acknowledge,  indeed,  with  gratitude,  that  the  present 

zeal  of  theehurches  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel 

U  far  superior  to  any  thing  they  ever  witnessed  m 

early  life;   but  still  they  look  back  with  regret  at 

former  days,  when  they  saw  the  success  of  the  Gos-^ 

pel  by  the  labours  of  those  whom  they  first  heard 

with  edification  and  delight. 

.  In  London,  not  a  few  churches  were  then  increasing 

is  rapidly  as  they  have  since  decayed.  It  would  be  e^sy 

to  mention  tbe  names  of  ministers  which  are  still  dear 

to  the  hearts  of  those  who  duly  appreciate  fidelity  and 

lisefulness  in  the  church  of  Christ*     Nor  would  it  be» 

difficult  to  point  to  those  churches  in  the  country,* 

where  very  considerable  revivals  attested  the  divine 

approbation  on  the  labours  of  the  pastor.     The  late 

publication  of  some  volumes  of  sermons  by  Mr.  La-r 

vington,  'of  Bideford,  furnishes  a  specimen  of  the 

Icind  of  preaching  which  many  dissenting  churches 

enjoyed  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign,* 

and   tbpse  who  have  watched  the  effects  of  senti^ 

ments,  will  acknowledge  that .  the  hearers  of  such 

s.ermons  were  likjely  to  have  been  worthy  successors 

tg  the,  first  puritanp^t  


.  .  •  i  .  ,■  % 


I 


STATE   Oy   RELIGION.  375 

Many  letters  written  by  Christians  at  the^qpm- 
inencement  of  the  present  reign,  though  not  publish-; 
i^d,  contain  so  inucl>  instruction  and  deyotion^  as  to 
£11  the  n^ind  witji  ^  high  esteem  for  tlie  generation 
which  is  just  gone  down  to  the  dust.     In  these,  in- 
cjeed,  as  w^ll  as  in  the  sermons  of  the  sanje  periocj, 
there  is  a  more  rigid  attention  to  form  and  method 
than  would  suit  the  present  fashion  of  the  churches. 
But  if  they  were  tardy  in  yielding  to  the  taste  o( 
Others,  it  was  often  because  they  had  thought  more 
for  themsejlyes.  Their  closets  were  kept  warmer  thaa 
those  qf  many  modern  Christians.     In  these  §ecret 
tptir^ments,  the  eldef  gpnpration  read  the  Scriptures, 
ipedjtated,  and  prayeji  with  such  effect,  that  they 
^ere  entitled  to  retain  wi^h  some  firmness  \yhat  they* 
had  acquired  wilji  90  mqch  ^'^'g^pc^r    Th?y  had 
not  so  frequent  social  meetings  \i\  the  chprcb  ^s  at 
present ;  but  they  had  more  religion  at  honie,  ^bere, 
(heir  superior  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and  of 
theology  enable^  them  to  conduct  devotional  ser- 
yices  to  greater  ^d vantage.     If^  in  public  worship, 
the  performances  \yere  l^ss  anijiiatecl  ^han  those  of 
modern  preachers,  there  was  more  \o^  \Qfpl^    the 
judgment  and  preserve  the.  mind  frop  the  aberrations 
of  falsehood,  or  enthusiasm,  which,  too  often  produce.. 
a  motion  like  that  of  the  *^  trpubled  sea  whose  waters 
cast  up  mire  and  dirt/^  Jt  would  be  difficult  to  bring 
Christians  now  to  listen  to  those  enlarged  and  correct 
s,tatements  of  thpological  tru1;h,  which  ministers  were, 
then  encouraged    to    give;,  nor   would   the  exact, 
laboured  expositions  of  the  Scriptures  which,  were 
cpmmon  at  the  cpm^jeijcement  be  endured  at  the 
o)ose  of  this  period.     It  is  at  present  necessary  to, 
vary,  to  einbellish,  to  enliven  public  instruction,  in^^ 

Bb  4  " 


i576  HISTORY  OP   DISSENTER9* 

•trery  way,  in  order  to  suit  the  more  volatile  turn  of 
the  public  mind. 

If,  however,  there  be  some  portion  of  juvenile  con- 
ceit in  the  contempt  that  is  now  poured  upon  ttie 
cold  regularity  of  our  fathers,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  they  were  not  without  their  share  of  senile 
obstinacy,  whiqh  often  adhered  to  practices  because 
they  were  old,  and  condemned  too  indiscriminately 
the  rising  spirit  which  they  should  sometimes  have 
Welcomed.  A  dread  of  methodistic  practices  and 
spirit  was  the  hydrophobia  of  maujr  excellent  men, 
whose  usefulness  was  thereby  considerably  impeded. 

The  particular  were  to  the  general  baptists,  what 
the  independents  were  to  the  presby terians :  they 
Jield  fast  their  principles,  and  proved  their  efficacy  in 
many  flourishing  churches.  The  character  giveu  of 
the  independents  would,  indeed,  exactly  apply  to  the 
Calvinistic  baptists,  with  these  exceptions,  that  the 
latter  had  a  greater  number  of  uneducated  preacht^rs, 
and  a  stronger  tendency  to  the  high  Calvinism  of  Dr. 
Gill,  whose  writings  were  rising  to  great  repute  with 
his  own  denomination.  Among  the  genera]  baptists 
a  less  evangelical  arminianism  than  that  which  forms 
the  system  of  Wesley  an  metfaodists  was  leading  its 
votaries  into  arian  coldness  and  socinian  indifference, 
though  there  were  some  happy  instances  in  which 
the  ancient  sentiments  and  spirit  of  this  body  weie 
preserved*  The  quakers  were  in  the  Brst  half  of  this 
period  nearly  in  the  same  state  as  during  the  whole 
of  the  former,  except  that  the  wealth  for  which  they 
hiive  become  almost  proverbial,  I'apidly  increased, 
while  the  number  of  their  speakers,  and  of  course 
the  life  and  efficiency  of  the  public  worships  proper 
tJQQabl^r  diminished. 


«TATE   OP  RELIGIOK*  377 

<x  » 

At  thecommenceraent  of  the  presentreignapeculiar 
class  of  dissenters  had  so  much' influence  on  the  state 
of  religion  as  to  deserve  special  notice.     These  were 
converts  from  the  world,  by  means  of  dissenting  or 
tnethodistic   preacliing,  who  imperceptibly  adopted 
dissenting    principles    and    practices,    while    their 
spirrt  was  that  of  calvinistic  methodists.     Among 
these  may  be  reckoned  also,  some  who  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  Gospel  by  ineans  of  evangelicaf 
clergymen.     Many  ministers  who  left  lady  Hunting- 
don's connection,  increased  this  species  of  dissenters. 
With  the  fire  and  freshness  of  their  former  commu- 
nion,  they  brought  with  them  also  a  la^idable  prefer- 
ence tor  that  style  of  preaching  which  gave  promi- 
nence to  the  truths  most  likely  to  awaken  the  care- 
less and  increase  the  church  from  the  world.     Ott 
the  other  hantK  some  of  them  were  at  first  deficient 
in  those  effects  of  good  education,  a  correct  deport- 
ment, eminent  family  religion,   theological  wealth, 
and  accurate  sentiments,  in  which  the  more  regular' 
dissenters  excelled.     They  were  irregular  troops,  but 
they  often  brought  home  more  captives  than  the  dis- 
ciplined squadrons.     That  they  were  upon  the  whole 
eminently  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  real  religioft 
among  the  dissenters,  cannot  be  denied.     In  many- 
instances,  they  seemed  to  pour  young  blood  into  ai 
body  exhausted  with  age.     Among  them  were  bred 
several  of  the  more  useful  dissenters  of  the  present 
day,  who  rose  up  with  growing  attacbftient  to  dis- 
senting principles,  and  with  such  zeal  tor  the  interests 
of  religion,  as  was  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  Re- 
deetner,  and  useful  to  the  communion  to  which  they 
belonged.     This  class  deserves  high  praise  for  having 
warmly  patronized  the  modem  schein^es  for  the  dif*^^ 
fusion  of  divine  truth* 


$78  HI&XORV    OF    DISSENTERS. 


»       • 


That  new  class  of  separatists  from  the  establish- 
pient,  avowed  methodists,  who  are  now  grown  intq 
^o  much  importance,  mintainqd,  during  the  formec 
part  of  this  period,  the  original  neutrality  b^tweeii 
church  and  meeting.  (!!opfined  principally  to  thq 
poorer  classes  of  society,  they  went  on  silently  doing 
much  good  and  suffering  much  evil.  The  calvinistic 
methodists,  though  depriveiql  of  Whitefield,  about  the? 
middle  of  the  present  reign,  enjoyed  the  Isd^ours  of 
other  men  of  apostolic  spirit,  who,  with  great  simpli- 
city arid  selfrdehial,  laboured  incessantly  to  exalt  the 
Saviour  and  recommend  him  to  the  hearts  of  men; 
while  the  divine  influence  crowned  their  efforts,  and 
rendered  them  eminent  blessings  to  tl}e  world,  in 
which  they  were  unknown  or  despisedU  But  the 
pendency  to  hyper-calvinism,  which  was  the  bitter, 
fruit  of  their  controversy  with  the  arminians,  too 
frequently  appeared  in  their  preaching,  and  threw 
suspicions  upon  al(  addresses  to  sinners  and  exhor- 
tations to  moral  duties.  The  desultory  style  of 
public  instruction,  the  absence  of  expositions  of  the 
Scriptures,  the  frequent  neglect  of  family  worship 
and  of  pastoral  inspection,  all  contributed  to  render 
the  calvinistic  methodists  a  more  easy  prey  to  the 
bastard  species  of  Calvinism.  A  pure  attachment, 
however,  to  the  genuine  honours  of  divine  grace, 
nourished  bV  the  works  of  the  puritans  and  eminent 
dissenters,  which  were  in  high  repute  with  this  com- 
munioo,  powerfully  checked  their  faults  and  increas- 
ed their  evangelical  virtues.  ' 

The  Wesleyah  methodists  were  at  this  period,  so, 
intirely  under  the  influence  of  the  founder  of  the 
sect,  that  they  suffered  no  change  of  their,  original, 
character.     Mr»  Wesley,  who  was  the  animating  soul 


STATE   OF   RELIGION.  ^9 

pf  the  society,  kept  alive  their  attachment  to  the 
mother  church  and  suspicions  of  the  dissenters,  as 
well  as  presjerved  their  purity  of  moral  character  and 
simplicity  of  appearance ;  while  he  was  himself  out- 
stripped in  the  career  of  propagation  by  some  of  h\^ 
preachers,  who  s^prang  up  in  humble  life,  and  to  whom' 
he  could  not  impart  his  own  literary  or  intellectual 
advantages.    .    •       •  -  '   *    , 

•  The  first  half  of  the  reign  of  George  the  third  pre* 
sents  a  chequered  scene,  of  which  it  is  difficult  to 
say,  whether  the  dark  or  the  bright  spots  predomi- 
nate. The  tendency  to  departure  from  the  truth 
^mong  the  original  dissenters,  had  not  yet  been 
opposed  with  sufficient  talent  and  earnestness ;  nor 
had  the  solicitude  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
which  has  distinguished  dissenters  in  the'  present 
day,  been  duly  manifested.  The  sin  of  this  period 
was  denounced  by  the  prophet,  when  he  said,  *'  cursed 
be  he  that  doeth  the  work  of  the  Lord  deceitfully,  or 
negligently.'*  Too  many  ministers  and  other  public 
persons  resembled  musical  instruments,  the  strings  of 
which  were  never  strained  to  the  proper  pitch,  so 
that  all  th^ir  performances  filled  the  mind  with  a  con- 
viction, that  they  had  riot  thought  it  worth  while  to 
do  their  best.  There  were,  however,  some  happy 
intimations  of  the  rising  spirit  of  benevolence  and 
energy  which  has  rendered  the  close  of  this  period  59 
auspicious  to  the  best  in telrests  of  mankind.  / 

I-  •  •-  at*  ».r» 

,The  unlawful  truce  with  error,  which  wafe  too  long 
the  sin  of  many  dissenters,  slnd  which  did  more  mis- 
chief than  any  form  of  warfare,  was  broken  about  the 
middle  of  the  present  reign.  To  Dr.  Priestley  must* 
be  attributed,  in  a  great  degree,  the  violation  of  the< 


I  f 


fJSO  HISTORY  OF   DISSXNTERS. 

unholy  league;  for  if  the  orthodox  owe  him  n« 
thanks  or  praise  for  any  intentional  services,  many  of 
ihem  learned  from  him  that  decisive  declaration  of 
sentiments  and  solicitude  for  their  diflFusion,  which 
ihey  ought  to  have  learned  from  a  different  teacher^ 
"Vrith  a  very  just  and  inviolable  attachment  to  liberty 
pf  opinion,  unfettered  by  interference  of  the  civil 
power,  he  displayed  in  advancing  life  a  zeal  foi^ 
his  peculiar  principles  which  broke  all  terms  wit^^ 
those  who  opposed  his  creed. 

Socinianism  having  now  dropped  the  mask  of  can* 
dour,  and  avowed  its  hostility  to  almost  all  that  was. 
dear  to  thousands,  they  startled  at  the  horrore  of  her 
visage,  and  fled  from  temporising  commerce  to  avowed 
hostility,  Arians,  holding  the  pre-existence  of  Christ, 
and  ascribing  to  him  a  sort  of  divinity,  had  employed 
language  which  often  deceived  the  orthodox ;  but 
the  open  degradation  of  Christ  to  the  rank  of  a  mere 
man,  the  denial  of  his  miraculous  conception,  atone- 
ment, and  even  infallible  wisdom,  shocked  and  alarmed 
all  who  had  sincerely  joined  with  Thomas  to  say  to. 
him, "  my  Lord  and  my  God/'  When,  to  support  these 
errors,  whole  sections  of  the  Scriptures  were  swep^ 
away  with  contemptuous  rejection,  those  who  be-, 
lieved  that  **  all  Scripture  was  given  by  inspiration 
of  God,"  could  see  in  unitarianism  nothing  but 
deism  baptised  with  the  Christian  name,  in  ordei* 
to  carry  the  ancient  war  into  the  heart  of  the 
church. 

As  the  death  of  Christ  was  admitted  by  arians  to. 
be  of  some  importance  to  a  Christian's  hopes  of  for-, 
giveness,  it  was  not  always  e^sy  to  percei  ve  that  they 
did  not  admit  ai  proper  atonement  for  sin ;  so  that 
they  who  built  their  hopes  of  acceptance  on  his  obedi<^ 


STATE   OF   RELIGION. 


dsf 


ence  unto  death,  flattered  themselves  that  those  witli 
whom  they  held  communion  were  partakers  of  the 
same  grace.  But  the  honest  avowal  of  Dr.  Priestley 
and  his  followers,  that  their  own  virtues  were  the 
foundation  of  their  eternal  Jiopes,  drove  from  them  all 
who  felt  that,  having  "  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God,  they  must  be  justified  freely  by  his  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.^* 
The  denial  of  divine  influences  on  the  mind,  natu« 
rally  led  to  such  form3  of  devotion  as  could  not  suit 
those  who  came  to  the  throne  of  grace  to  ask  not 
only  mercy,  but  "  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need.'^ 

While  each  party  was  thus  driven  from  the  other^ 
and  the  two  camps  were  ranged  at  due  distance^, 
under  their  proper  colours,  Dr.  Priestley's  zeal 
exposed  the  folly  of  the  orthodox  in  being  inducecl 
by  the  sounds  of  charity,  candour,  and  forbearance  to 
tolerate  fatal  errors  ^  for  they  saw  him  charitably  pro- 
nounce believers  in  the  Trinity  and  deity  of  Christ 
tritheists  and  idolators,  candidly  avow  that  unitarianif 
were  the  only  rational  dissentefs,  and  with  much  for* 
bearance  express  his  pity  for  the  ignorance  andbigotry 
of  those  who  adhered  to  the  horrible  doctrines  of  Cal- 
vinism. From  this  time  dissenters  ceased  to  seek  an 
equivocal  middle  course ;  for  they  saw  that  there  waa 
no  neutral  ground  for  any  one  to  stand  upon*  Arian^ 
were  no  longer  invited  to  preach  to  calvinists,  nor 
cal vinists  to  arians ;  the  adherents  of  one  system  were 
not  found  in  communion  with  those  of  another,  nor 
did  the  county  associations  present  a  heterogeneous 
mixture  of  creeds  and .  principles  and  characters.. 
Now  if  the  two  parties  met  on  pu?>lic  occasions  to 
petition  the  legislature  for  the  repeal  of  the  test  laws, 
gr  the  abplition  of  the  slave  tj-ade,  it  was  witb  the^ 


^82  HISTORY' OF   DISSENTERS. 

....  •  ,  » 

Explicit  avowal  that,  on  the  same  principles  they 
could  Unite  with  Roman  catholics,  to  seek  their  com- 
mon  rights  as  citizens  of  the  state,  or  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  great  family  of  man. 

This  decided  change  was  highly  advantageous  t6 
the  cause  of  evangelical  religion.  Its  friends,  disen- 
tangled from  those  with  whom  they  could  tiever 
cordially  co-operate,  and  who  hung  upon  them  as  a 
dead  weight,  began  now  to  contend  strenuously  for 
truth,  which  becoming  more  dear  to  them  by  the 
contest,  they  sought  tnbre  earnestly  to  diffuse  through 
the  world.  Energy  and  warmth,  which  had  too  long 
been  warning,  were  now  imparted  to  their  public 
services.  They  laboured  to  defend  Calvinism  ih  the 
most  effectual  way,  by  a  display  Of  the  true  condition 
of  man,  which  renders  the  stupendous  work  of  re- 
demption essential  to  the  hope  of  salvation. 

To  this  decision  of  tnind  in  the  friends  of  evan« 
gelical  truth;  the  character  of  its  eneniies  powerfully 
Contributed.  The  tendencies  of  the  tiew  system  be- 
t^rhe  every  day  more  painfully  manifest  in  the 
sceptical  coldness  of  its  disciples,  and  their  entire 
confortiiity  to  the  spirit  and  manners  of  the  world. 
For  with  the  faith,  they  shook  off  the  practices  of 
the  first  founders  of  the  dissent.  The  morality  of  the 
Sabbath  was  denied,  and  visiting  on  that  day  grew 
into  fashion  among  wide  dissenters.  Theatres  were 
represented  asinnocentscenesof  amusement,  and  the 
card  table,  warmly  recommended  by  Dr.  Priestley's 
own  example,  was  the  constant  resort  of  those  who 
were  withdrawn  frpm  the  closet  and  from  meetings 
for  prayer  by  the  denial  of  divine  influences,  which 
alone  can  render  prayer  a  reasonable  service.  The 
Complete  amalgamation  with  the  world,  which  pre* 


§TATE   OF   RELIGION. 

vailed  among  the  presby terians,  formed  a  disgraceful 
fexceptioq  to  the  general  truth  of  the  remark,  that  th6 
dissenters  are  a  religious  body.  But  every  day  ren- 
dered this  deduction  from'  their  oWginal  excellence  of 
character  smaller ;  for  while  the  other  denoniinations 
were  rapidly  increasing  the  desolating  effect  of  error^ 
which  has  already  been  noticed,  reduced  the  presby- 
terians  to  a  very  small  proportion  of  th6*  whole.  The 
departure  of  the  Gospel  annihilated  maijy  congrega- 
tions, and  left  the  high  churchman  to  insult  over  theft 
ruined  walls,  or  write  upon  their  closed  doors,  ^'  a 
meeting-house  to  let;'^  while  the  orthodox  dissenter 
would  inscribe, "  Ichabod,  the  glory  is  departed.'^ 

The  state  of  religion  among  the  independents,  iit 
the  latter  part  of  this  period,  has  beten  eminently 
prosperous.  The  zeal  for  truth,  which  was  awakened 
by  the  heresy  and  consequent  ruin  of  the  presby  teriansy 
was,  at  first,  attended  with  a  considerable  portion  of 
polemical  asperity  ;  but  the  flame  dftei'wards  burned 
with  greater  purity,  stnd  impelled  thena  hot  merely  ttf 
l^egain  from  the  world  more  than  had  been  lost  to  dis- 
herit by  the  apostacy  of  the  erroneous,  but  to  diffuse 
v/ithout  regard  to  sect,  the  ktiowledge  of  Christ  to 
the  endd  of  the  earth.  Thi(i  public  spirit,  which  haa( 
elevated  the  character  of  the  independent  churches  of 
<>uv  day,  is  so  intimately  Connected  with  the  formatiori 
of  the  missioiiary  iSociety,  that  it  becomes  necessary 
now  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  this 
auspicious  event  which  has  created  a  new  era  in  the 
religious  world. 

Elliot,  the  American  apostle  to  the  Indians,  had 
long  ago  furnished  an  encouraging  example  of  the 
success  of  the  Gospel  when  preached  to  the  most 


884  HtfttORY    OF    DISS£MT£ftS» 

benighted  heathens,  and  the  Danish  mission  to  the 
east  had  given  additional  stimulus  to  exertion  in  the 
extensive  field.    The  Moravians  also  more  recently 
displayed  a  most  apostolic  spirit,  which  breathes  in 
"  Cradtz's  History  of   the  IVIission  established   by 
the  United  Brethren,  in  Greenland,*'  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  improving  works    in    ecclesiastical 
literature.     In  their  steps  followed  the  Baptists,  who 
sent  out  two  valuable  men  to  Bengal,  where  they 
established  a  mission,  which  is  still  exhibiting  to  the 
world  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  triumph  over  the 
mightiest  superstitions.      But  the  formation  of  the 
missionary  society,  by  the  union  of  Christians  in  dif- 
ferent comtn unions,  was  the  grandest  effort  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  which  the  church  of  Christ 
has  seen  since  the  apostles  went  forth  to  evangelise 
the  world.     An  independent  minister  first  called  the 
Uttention  of  the  churches  to  the  object,  by  an  address 
which  was  published  in  the  Evangelical  Magazine. 
The  churches   and  their  pastors  entered  into  the 
design  with  great  ardour,  and  were  joined  not  only 
by  several  Scotch  presbyterians,  who  had  retained  the 
ancient  faith,  but  by  the  calvinistic  methodists  as  a 
body,  and  by  many  evangelical  clergymen.     It  was 
agreed  to  wiave  the  distinguishing  tenets  of  either  of 
these  denominations,  and  to  send  forth  missionaciea 
into  the  world,  to  diffuse  the  grand  principles  of  the 
Gospel  in   which  they  were  all  united.     They  sent 
out  at  first  uneducated  men,  but  a  missionary  semi- 
nary is  now  established  at  Gosport,  where  those  who 
devote   themselves  to    the  service   of  the '  heathen^ 
receive  preparatory  instructions. 

To  describe  the  influence  of  the  society  on  the  pub- 
lic mind,  would  be  dijfficult^  tor  it  drew  together  by  the. 


STA7E   OF    RELIOIOK.  385 

mo9t  benign  and  powerful  attraction,  Christians  of 
different  communions :  it  joused  multitudes  to  the 
noblisst  zeal  and  the  mightiest  exertions,  and  thus 
gave  ris0  to  other  societies  both  among  dissenters 
and  in  the  bosom  of  the  establishment,  by  which 
the  mo^t  important  blessings  have  been  conferred  on 
the  church  and  on  the  world. 

To;  the  annual  meetings  of  the  missionary  society 
in  London,  immense  niimibers  of  Christians  and  mi- 
nisters resorted  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  .pro- 
ducing a  striking  scene,  which  powerfully  attracted 
attention  to  the  most  improving  themes^  expanded  the 
minid,  enlarged  its  views,  invigorated  the  character, 
and  warmed  the  heart.  The  spirit  of  prayer,  whjch 
js  the  harbinger  of  revival  in  the  church,  was  excited* 
not  merely  by  t^iei^  greater  assemblies,  but  by  the 
appointment  of  a  nionthly  nieeting  in  all  the  congre- 
gations^ where  Christ  laps  improved  their  own  reli- 
gipn,  while  they  interceded  for  the  salvation  of  the 
heatb00.  With  these  sublime  views,  the  minds  of 
ministers  were  often  elevated  to  the  highest  pitch, 
and  while  they  were  expanded  and  invigorated  by 
these  occasional,  servicf^s,  they  learned  the  possibility 
and  sacred  duty  of  rising  above  the  tame  mediocrity^ 
with  which  they  had  usually  been  contented.  At- 
temp^iiig  to  excite  their  flocks  to  new  zeal  and  exer- 
tions in  the  grand  cause,  some  were  consoled  by  dis- 
covering that  the  attempt  had  been  the  means  of 
reviving  a  drooping  church,  while  others  were  agree- 
ably.  sur.prised  to  find  that  their  hearers  anticipated 
t^ir  wishes,  and  surpassed  their  hopes.  ., 

To  the  other  good  effects  produced  by  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  missions,  must  be  added  the  spirit  of  libe- 
ra^lity  which  was  excited,  and  which  has  the  happiest 

iroL.  ly.  c  c 


386  HISTORY  OF   BISCTEI^TERS. 

Influence  on  the  Christian  character.  Voluntary 
churches  have  ever  been  benefited  by  the  appeals 
made  to  their  Christian  principle.^  and  affections  for 
the  support  of  their  pastors  and  the  relief  of  their  poor 
members;  but  the  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  gave  tenfold  force  to  their  liberality,  by  the 
greater  demands  made  upon  their  substance.  It  was 
^manifestly  impossible  to  establish  missions  in  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  world,  and  to  goon  sending 
forth  evangelists  from  year  to  year  without  immense 
funds.  These  were  furnished  with  delightful  prcnnp- 
tilude  and  liberality,  not  only  from  the  superfluities 
«of  the  rich,  but  also  from  the  scanty  savings  of  the 
labouring  poor.  The  sums  which  Were  thus  contr- 
ibuted, must,  after  the  deductions  of  the  coldest  calca* 
lator,  leave  many  thousands  offered  from  the  purest 
motives  of  zeal  for  the  divine  glory,  gratitude  for 
redeeming  mercy,  compassion  f6r  the  perishing  hea« 
then,  and  benevolent  solicitude  for  the  holiness'  and 
happiness  of  man.  If  such  offerings  are  twice  blessed, 
conferring  on  the  giver  also  those  advantages  which 
he  intended  only  for  the  receiver,  how  powerful  and 
auspicious  must  such  contributions  have  been  to  the 
cause  of  pure  religion  at  home!  When,  also,  these 
calls  upon  Christian  benevolence  were  more  than 
doubled  by  the  additional  schemed  of  usefulness  which 
were  formed  and  executed,  the  happiest  method  was 
devised  to  rescue  the  disciples  of  Christ  from  that 
indulgenceof  pride  and  luxury  in  the  expenditui'e, 
or  of  covetousness  in  the  accumulation  of  propertyv 
which  are  so  destructive  to  the  religion  of  the  heart, 
and  so  pernicious  to  the  children  of  Christians.  It 
would  be  difiicult  to  enumerate  all  the  benevolent 
plan  sformed  about  this  timq^  by  those  who  worship 


STATE   OP   RELIGION.  387 

apart  from  the  establishtnent,  and  which  furnish  the 
criterion  of  the  state  of  religion  in  their  hearts  and  in 
their  churches.    The  institution  of  the  tract  society^ 
which  was  one  of  the  consequence9t>f  the  missionary 
society,  has  produced  some  millions  of  little  popalar 
addresses    on   sacred   subjects,    the  distribution  of 
which  has  called  the  zeal  of  Christians  into  incessant 
action.     At  the  annual  meetings  of  this  society,  such 
scesea  are  presented,  and  such  reports  are  delivered 
as  would   inflame  all  but  those  who  are  ^  twice 
dead.^' 

Village  preaching  was  the  consequence  of  an  ob« 
jection  made  to  the  numerous  missions  to  the  heathen ; 
for  when  it  was  said  '^  we  have  heathens  enough  at 
home,  seek  first  to  evangelise  the  multitudes  in  our 
own  coantry  who  are  destitute  of  the  Gospel,  before 
you  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;'^  some  of  the  friends 
of  missions  replied,  ^^  go  you  to  these  heathens  at 
home,  as  you  will  do  nothing  for  those  abroad,''  by 
which  a  few  were  stung  to  action  ;  while  the  more 
general  reply  was,  "  we  have  indeed  been  too  long 
indifierent  to  the  perishing  state  of  our  countrymen 
around  us,  and  now  feel  that  we  ^  are  debtors  both  to 
the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians.' ''  Thus  the  objec- 
tions of  lukewarmness  blew  up  the  flames  of  zeaL 
Sunday  schools,  also,  which  had  been  long  patronised 
by  the  public,  were  now  fostered  by  dissenters  as 
nurseries  of  religion.  The  new  mode  of  instruction, 
which  Mr.  Ijancaster  and  Dr.  Bell  have  introduced, 
.  tended  much  to  improve  these  institutions,  and  to 
accelerate  the  progress  of  knowledge  among  the  hum* 
bier  classes  of  society.  Fuller  scope  was  thus  given 
for  religious  instruptipn,  and  elementary  books  were 
90  improved  $tnd  multiplied,  that  the  ohilckeaof  the 

cc  2 


38S  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS.      ^ 

poor,  and  ignorant,  and  vicious  received  advantaged 
which  were  before  scarcely  attainable  by  the  offspring 
of  the  rich,  the  wise,  and  the  pious  '.    . 

Many  efforts  were  now  made  to  render  the  press^ 
which  had  been  prostituted  to  the  service  of  the  world 
and  sin,  subservient  to  the  interests  of  truth  and  reli* 
gion.  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  journals  of  criti-^ 
cism  had,  since  the  controversy  between  Dr.  Priestley 
and  the  Monthly  Review,  been  devoted  almost  wholly 
to  socinianism  or  infidelity ;  but  other  works  were  at 
this  era  of  zeal  established  to  give  to  the  public  a  di& 
ferent  estimate  of  religious  books.  Indeed,  if  the  first 
happy  moment  of  existence  is  that  when,  like  Paul, 
we  give  up  ourselves  willing  captives  to  victorious 
grace,  presenting  a  carie  blanche  to  the  conqueror^ 
and  only  asking,  *^  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do  ;"  the  felicity  of  this  moment  and  the  ardour  of 
this  inquiry  seemed  now  to  be  perpetuated  among 
Christians.  The  only  study  of  the  churches  appeared 
to  be  to  know  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  what  yet 
possibly  could  be  effected  for  the  interest  of  religion 
in  the  world.  Like  Caesar,  they  esteemed  nothing 
done,  while  any  thing  yet  remained  to  do.  The  zea- 
lous exertions  of  dissenters  received  the  highest  eulo* 
gium.from  the  complaints  of  their  enemies,  who 
publicly  deplored  the  dangers  threatened  to  the  world, 

'  The  saccess  of  these  efforts  has  in  most  instances  amply  re« 
warded  the  pious  exertions  of  theyoting  persons^  who  have  kindly 
laboured  in  the  instruction  of  the  rising  generation ;  and  oneexam-^ 
f»le  seems  to  deserve  pecifliar  notice.  In  a  Sunday  school  in  tlM 
north  of  England,  one  class  of  fourteen  boys  so  rewarded  the 
labours  of  its  teaclier,  that  every  one  of  them  became  decidedly 
pious,  was  received  itito  conimuuioiv  with  a  Christian  church,  and 
'^▼ery  one  is  now  either  preaching  the  Grospel  at  home^  or  labouring 
lis  a  missionaty  abroad* 


STATE   OF  RJSLIGIOK.  389 

by  the  efforts  of  men  who  set  every  thing  in  heaven 
and  earth  in  motion  for  the  diffusion  of  evangelical 
religion. 

As  the  independent  churches  and  pastors  form  the 
great  body  of  those  who  are  engaged  ,in  these  bene- 
volent exertions,  their  zeal  is  a  sufficient  indication 
of  religious  prosperity.  This  indeed  has  caused  them 
to  throw  off  the  stiffness  which  once  hindered  their 
usefulness,  and  to  inquire  how  they  might  become 
the  greatest  blessings  to  the  world.  What  has  been; 
already  said  of  the  labours  of  the  ministers,  prov^' 
that  they  are  diligent  in  public  ;  and  the  spirit  which 
|>reathes  in  thepulpit,  leads  to  the  pleasing  conclusion 
(hat  many  of  them  are  much  devoted  to  God  in  secret. 
The  numbers  that  sittend  on  the  meetipgs  for  prayer, 
and  the'  spirit  of  devotion  which  prevails  there, 
raspire  an  equal  confidence  in  the  personal  religion  of 
many  of  the  members  of  the  churches.  These  are  in: 
some  places  twice,  and  in  others  three  or  four  times 
as  numerous  as  they  were  in  the  former  part  of  thi9 
period,  so  that  it  may  be  confidently '  asserted,  that 
tlie  increase  of  religion  has  E>een  far  greater  than  thQ 
augmentation  of  numbers  among  the  independents. 

It  has  been  feared,  however,  that  family  religion 
has  not  proportionably  advanced.  Some  accuse  the 
pulpit  of  encroaching  on  the  closet,  and  charge  the 
evening  lectures  with  producing  the  neglect  of  family 
instruction.  But  the  intervals  of  public  worship 
leave  sufficient  time,  if  well  improved,  for  personal 
find  domestic  exercises,  and  if  any  are  drawn  off  from 
the  prtvslt^  excellencies  of  the  ancient  dissenters,  the 
greater  quantity  of  popular  preaching  is  rather  the 
occasion  of  the  pretext  than  the  cause«  It  is,,  how- 
ever, to  be  regretted,  that  in  the  larger  towns  a  roving 


S09  HISTORY  OF   PI8SENTERS. 

spirit  has  infected  some  of  the  members  of  churches, 
which  is  equally  at  war  with  their  own  edification 
find  the  welfare  of  the  societies  to  which  they  belong. 
Nor  should  it  be  unnoticed  or  unlamented  that  there 
are  churches  which,  by  a  disgraceful  coldnesis,  are 
prevented  from  co-'Operating  with  the  rest  in  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel,  or  sharing  with  them  in  their 
prosperity  and  increase. 

The  state  of  religion  among  the  particular  baptists 
^Iso  has  been  prosperous  during  the  last  half  of  this 
period*  ^  In  this  denomination  have  been  raised  up 
some  m^n  of  distinguished  talents  and  usefulness, 
who  have  raised  its  character  by  the  most  laudable! 
pieans.  The  teal  whjch  Established  the  baptist  mis* 
sion  in  Bengal,  the  theological  publications  which' 
arrested  the  progress  of  socinian  and  anlinomian  sen- 
j^iments,  the  solicitude  for  the  supply  of  suitable  pas- 
tors which  has  multiplied  their  seminaries,  aad  the 
iseeal  for  the  diffusion  of  truth  which  has  increased 
fheir  congregations,  all  speak  in  praise  of  their  religion* 
Put  while  the  writings  of  tome  nOw  living  have 
(diffused  the  sentiments  of  the  Edwardian  school  of 
theology  in  opposition  to  the  supralapsarian  spirit  of 
Dr.  Gill's  writings,  the  latter  have  concurred,  with 
fnany  uneducated  ministers,  and  the  hasty  admissioil 
of  members  into  this  communion,  to  produce  so  much 
tntinomianism,  that  the  churches  in  various  places 
are  suffering  severely  by  this  noisome  pestilence. 

The  general  baptists,  who  have  accompanied  th^ 
presbyterians  in  their  departure  from  evangelical  sett* 
finients,  are  with  them  losing  the  spirit  of  piety.  But 
(he  new  connection,which  has  been  formed  upon  more 
evangelical  principles,  enjoys  greater  religious  pros*' 
perity, 


STATE   OF  RELIGION.  391 

Of  the  quakefs  it  is  difficult  to  speak  ;  for  while  they 
have  high  and  universal  praise  for  their  philanthrophy, 
which  entitled  them  to  a  large  share  of  the  praise  due 
to  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade;  the  interior  of 
their .  religion  is  hidden  from  all  but  themselves. 
Socinianism  has  of  late  years  appeared  among  them, 
aad  produced  controversy  and  schism,  but  it  has 
been  decidedly  protested  against  by  the  majority ;  and 
upon  the  whole  it  is  said,  that  religion  has  increased' 
among  them  during  the  latter  part  of/this  reign. 

Of  the  methodists,  the  calvinistic  part  first  claims 
attention.  The  state  of  religion  among  them,  if  we 
were  to  judge  from  the  distinguished  share  which  they 
have  taken  in  the  exertions  for  the  best  interests  of 
mankind^  would  be  pronounced  highly  prosperous^ 
The  additional  seminary,  which  has  been  established 
by  one  portion  of  those  who  bear  this  name,  hag 
been  j)roduced  by  two  pleasing  causes,  an  increase  of 
congregations  and  a  solicitude  to  supply  them  with 
preachers  not  entirely  uneducated.  With  all  the 
vivacity  of  a  youthful,  communion,  the  calvinisti<; 
methodists  want  the  accurate  extensive  knowledge  c^ 
theology,  and  the  eminent  family  religion  which  dis-» 
tinguisbed  the  old  dissenters.  Like  the  baptists^ 
they  have  suffered  severely  from  the  inroads  of  anti- 
nomianism,  but  the  taste  for  good  preaching  has  in^* 
creased,  and  is  we  hope  counteracting  this  evil. 

The  Wesleyan  methodists  have  not  suffered  by  Ihe^ 
death  of  their  founder^  but  have  perhaps  iucreased  in 
religious  excellence  as  well  as  in  numbers  and  in  in^ 
fLuence  during  the  latter  part  of  this  period.  They  have 
among  them  ^ble  men  who  aim  ^t  the  noblest  objects, 
find  see  their  recompence  in  a  number  of  pious  peoplp 
who  are  the  salt  of  the  communion.    Though. mucii, 

c  c  4 


892  HISTORY  OP   DISSENTERS. 

deduction  be  allowed  for  the  sectarian  ^^aV  which 
prevaits  among  them,  great  praise  is  still  due  to  their 
persevering  efforts  to  call  srnners  to  repentance* 
But  the  want  of  competent  knowledge  in  the  great 
body  of  their  preachers,  has  nourished  error  and 
enthusiasm  among  the  people,  and  too  fully  justified 
the  heavy  censure  which  has  been  passed  upon  this 
communion,  as  containing  a  greater  sum  of  ignorance 
of  the  Scriptures  than  was  ever  found  in  any  body  of 
protestants  since  the  reformation. 

Antjnomianism  has  made,  during  the  latter  part  of 
this  period,  so  much  progress  in  many  dissenting  con- 
gregations, as  to  demand  some  attention.  Where  the 
operation  of  principles  is  left  uncontrouled,  the  pro- 
gress of  erroi:  will  be  strongly  and  distinctly  marked. 
Hence  some  pernicious  principle  has  always  been 
9een  to  struggle,  among  dissenters,  against  the  truth, 
which  in  the  end  is  invigorated  by  the  contest  and 
diffused  by  the  victory.  The  hyper-calvinisn^,  which 
had  long  lurked  as  a  cocatrice  egg  in  th^  sand«  during 
this  period,,  broke  out  into  the  fiery  flying  serpen^  of 
antjnomianism.  If  some  have  attempted  to  trace 
spcinian  principles  from  Dr.  Priestley  up  to  the  'can« 
dour  of  Dr.  Doddridge,  and  to  what  they  call  the 
Baxterian  medium  of  Dr.  Williams,  we  may  with 
much  more  evidence  contend,  that  Dr.  Crisp  was  ope 
of  the  first  patrons  of  calvinism  run  mad,  which  has 
of  late  polluted  and  tormented  the  churches.  Soci- 
nianism  having  too  completely  thrown  off  the  mask 
to  have  much  more  influence  with  the  multitude, 
and  being  evidently  on  the  decline,  except  among 
the  rich,  thet  father  of  lies  introduced,  as  the  popular 
poison,  a  bastard  zeal  for  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
^r^ce.    Glorying  in  the  name  of  Calvin,  whose  works 


STATE   OF   RELIGION.  093 

they  never  read,  or  they  would  have  branded  hiin 
with  the  epithet  of  an  arminian,  these  zealots  pror 
claimed  the  sovereignty  of  God,  not  in  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  or  his  apostles,  with  humble  awful  adoration^ 
but  with  the  temper  of  fiends  who  wished  to  render 
it  odious  and  repulsive.  The  terms  believer,  disciple, 
saint,  and  other  more  ordinary  appellations,  which 
the  Scriptures  give  to  Christians,  were  abandoned  for 
the  less  common  name  of  the  elect,  who  were 
addressed,  not  in  the  language  of  inspiration  ''  put 
ye  on  as  the  elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels 
of  mercies,  kindness,  humbleness  of  mind,  meekness^ 
long-suffering*;'^  but  -as  if  the  words  were  intended 
to  be  parodied,  and  the  elect  taught  to  insult  over 
others  as  reprobates,  in  whose  damnation  they  de- 
lighted. -  Eternal  j  ustification  and  sanctification  were 
made  to  supercede  repentance  fpr  sin,  and  pursfuU  of 
holiness ;  the  very  word  duty  wa^  abhorred ;  the  law 
of  God  vilified ;  and,  while  the  most  ridiculously 
allegorical  interpretations  of  Scripture  were  applaud- 
ed as  proofs  of  inspiration,  all  addressee  to  sinners 
were  anathematised  as  rank  arminianism. 

Such  erroneous  notions  produced  the  bitterest 
fruits.  Conceit,  asperity,  and  all  the  evils  enumerated 
by  the  apostle  among  the  works  of  the  flesh,  were 
canonised  by  these  pretended  calvinists  for  cardinal 
virtues:  so  that  they  valued  themselves  upon  de« 
spising  every  tei^cher  who  would  not  foster  their  pride 
and  their  lusts.  In  too  many  who  are  possessed  of 
this  Unclean  spirit,  open  profaneness  has  published 
their  shame  to  the  world ;  while  they  have  been  so 
completely  besotted,  as  to  suppose  that  drunkeiiness 
nvaa  consistent  with  seriousness,  apd  lewdness  with 

*  C0I088.  iiir  i3t 


304  HISTORY  OF   DISS£XT£RS« 

spirituality.  Wherever  this  disease  is  caught,  it  seems 
incurable,  and  wherever  those  who  are  infected  with 
it  go,  they  fling  firebrands  into  the  churches,  which 
have  in  some  instances  been  consumed  by  the  unhal- 
lowed flames.  Among  all  but  Mr.Wesley^s  followers 
this  is  the  most  prevailing  evil  of  the  day.  Th^ 
erection  of  antinomian  chapels  too  frequently  pro* 
claims  its  triumph.  The  essential  rectitude  of  t;he 
divine  nature,  government,  and  law,  which  rendered 
the  redemption  of  Christ  necessary  to  our  salvation, 
is  here  blasphemed  by  prostituting  the  Gospel  to  the 
purpose  of  abrogating  the  law  and  giving  license  to 
'sin.  It  is  this  perversion  of  calvinisni  which  has  har- 
dened both  socinians  and  arminians  in  their  hatred 
to  some  of  the  most  important  truths,^  and  furnished 
them  with  arms  to  maintain  their  warfare.  It  should 
however  be  noticed  that  this  poison  has  been  swal* 
lowed  by  evangelical  churchmen,  and  even  by  some 
of  the  clergy,  as  well  as  by  dissenters. 

An  antidote  to  the  poison  was  furnished  by  the 
works  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of  the 
past  and  preceding  ages,  which  now  rose  greatly  in 
estimation  and  request.  Besides  the  republication 
pf  many  single  pieces,  new  editions  of  the  whole  or 
the  larger  work^  of  Howe  and  Owen,  Baxter  and 
Flavel,  Watts  and  Doddridge,  Henry  and  Edwards, 
atti^sted  the  demand,  and  honoured  the  taste  of  those 
who  succeeded  to  the  privileges  procured  by  the 
labours  of  these  eminent  men.  Such,  indeed,  is  the 
disposition  for  the  most  instructive  and  edifying  pro^ 
Ructions,  that  it  is  manifest,  the  religious  magazines 
find  other  epheptieral  works  have  rather  increased, 
|;han  diminished  a  taste  for  the  ponderous  folios  (^^ 
yalqable  theology  published  by  the  old  divines. 


STATE  OF  RELICrlON.  995 

-'  The  exact  estimate  of  the  religion  of  any  indivi-* 
dual,  who  but  t^e  Searcher  of  hearts  can  supply? 
How  much  more  difficult  then  to  say  what  is  the 
clear  sum  of  truth  and  holiness  among  a  whole  body^ 
composed  of  such  different  members  as  are  ranked 
under  the  name  of  dissenters  !  Without,  however, 
pretending  to  any  thing  further  than  a  rough  esti- 
mate, «uch  a  judgment  may  be  formed  as  may 
answer  inquiries,- suggest  instruction,  and  afford  de- 
light. That  there  is  now  more  religion  among  dis* 
senti^rs  from  the  establishment  than  at  any  former 
period,'  may  be  confidently  asserted.  It  would  be 
easy  to  give  a  long  list  of  churches,  formed  of  genuine 
Christians,  called  out  of  the  world,  where  it  cannot 
be  discovered  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  eveir  be- 
fore preached.  To  this  might  be  added  another  list, 
still  longer,'  of  churches  which  contain  not  only  a 
greater  number  of  devout  persons,  but  some  of  them 
many  times  more  than  ever  composed  the  societies 
from  their  earliest  commencement.  If  many  con- 
gregations have  been  annihilated  by  error,  their  de- 
serted places  are  now  re-opening,  and  prove  again 
that  the  preaching  of  the  cross  is  "  the  power  of  God 
to  salvation/^  The  zeal  for  the  formation  of  new 
congregations,  and  for  the  erection  and  enlargement 
of  places  of  worship,  is  not,  indeed,  confined  to  those 
in  whose  success  every  liberal  Christian  would  re- 
joiee,  but  extends  to  those  who  are  actuated  by 
errors  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  men,  or  passions  disho- 
nourable to  the  name  of  Christian.  But  still  the 
good  principle  so  decidedly  predominates,  that  the 
number  of  real  Christians  must  be  greatly  increased. 
Jn  this  respect,  also,  the  religion  of  individuals  is 
improved ;  for  zeal  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  divine 


1 


ao6 


HI8TORV   OF    DISSENTERS, 


truth»  and  to  make  the  most  costly  sacrifices  to  win 
the  souls  of  men  from  death,  tends  to  nourish  and 
improve  all  the  other  graces  of  the  Christian  charac« 
ter.  To  borrow  a  simile  from  the  Scriptures,  the 
present  religion  of  dissenters  compared  with  former 
periods,  may  be  pronounced  ''  like  to  a  tree  planted 
by  the  river  of  waters,'^  which  increases  in  height 
rather  than  in  girth;  while  it  throws  out  more  nume- 
rous and  extensive,  but  not  more  vigorous  branches, 
and  bears  fruit  in  greater  quantity  as  well  as  of  more 
inviting  bloom,  though  in  many  ipstances  of  less 
e:(quisite  flavour,  and  in  some  reduced  by  a  b|ight  to 
mere  apples  of  Sodom ;  nor  is  the  growth  of  the  root^ 
though  considerable,  equal  to  the  extent  of  the  tree 
and  the  appearance  of  the  fruit ;  so  that,  upon  the 
whole,  there  is  much  to  excite  grs^titude  and  hop^ 
and  sometbiipg  to  demand  sorrow  and  fear. 


LIVBS  OF   EMINEKl^  ]>188BN!f£RS.  807 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

LIVES  OF  EMINENT   DISSlBNTERS* 

JL  HE  chapter  devoted  to  biography  under  this  period 
wii],  probably,  disappoint  mahy,.who  will  expect  to 
find  a  distinct  memoir  of  every  faithful  minister  who 
may  be  still  fresh  in  their  remembrance  and  dear  to 
^eir  hearts.  But>our  limits  willsuffer  us  to  give  no 
more  than  a  selection  of  such  as  willftjmish  by  their 
excellencies,  or  their  faults^  tome  special  instructioa 
to  the  world.  The  presby  terians^  as.  they  are  of  the 
oldest  denomination,  claim  the  pirecedence,  and  it 
,will  be  seen  by  the  following  memoirs  thatthey  have 
not  ceased  to  be  distinguished  by  eminent  men. 


GEORGE  BENSON,  D.  D. 

His  parents,  who  lived  at  Great  Salkeld,  la 
Cumberland,  were  eminently  pious,  and  had  the 
pleasure  to  see  several  of  their  children  walk  ia 
their  steps.  George  was  born  in  1699;  and  disco* 
vering  early  a  serious  spirit  and^  a  love  of  learn^ 
ing,  was  designed  for  the  ministry.  After  attending 
the  grammar  school,  in  1716  he  went  for  a  year  to  an 
academy  kept  by  Dr.  Dixon,  at  Whitehaven,  and 
from  thence  to  the  university  of  Glasgow,  where  he  , 
prosecuted  his  studies  till  1721.  Determining  toexer* 
cise  his  ministry  among  the  dissenters  in  England, 
and  being  approved  by  some  of  the  ttiost  eminent 


908  HISTORY  OF  DI8SXNTCR8. 

presbyterians  there,  he  began  to  preach  in  that  cook- 
munion.     Dr.  Calamy,  in  whose  Jiouse  he  resided 
for  a  time,  recommended  him  to  a  congregation  at 
Abington;  he  was.  invited. to  become  their  pastor, 
and  he  continued  with  them  seven  years.     Here  he 
began  to  swerve  from  the  orthodox  doctrine  which  he 
had  till  this  time  professed,  and  being  on  this  account 
less  agreeable  to  the  people,  in  1739  he  accepted  a 
call  to  a  society  of  dissenters  in  St.  John's«-court9 
Southwark*    From  this  situation  he  removed  in  1740, 
in  consequence  of  an  invitation  from  the  congrega* 
tion  in  Crutched-friars,  to  succeed  Dr.  Harris  as  their 
pastor^  and  to  be  colleague  tq  Dr.  Lardner  ;  and  this 
wt^  the  last  field  of  his  labours.    The  infirmities  of 
age  having,  in  1751,  compelled  Dr.  Lardner  to  relin-. 
quish  his  ofiice,  the  whole  of  the  service  devolved  on 
Dr.  Benson,  who  continued  to  officiate  till  his  con- 
stitution, impaired  by  his  studies  and  by  years,  could 
no  longer  endure  the  labour,  and  he  was  obliged, 
though  reluctantly,  to  retire  from  his  public  station. 
Soon  afterwpirds  his  remaining  health  rapidly  declined, 
and  he  was  removed  by  death  on  the  sixth  of  April, 
1762,  in  the  sixty*third  year  of  his  age.  He  was 
twice  married  but  had  no  children. 

In  the  first  years  of  his  ministry,  he  was  acalvinist, 
and  while  at  Abington  published  three  practical  dis- 
courses to  youth  on  orthodox  principles:  these  dis- 
courses he  afterwards  suppressed.  Dr.  Priestley  is 
reported  to  have  said,  that  there  is  no  safe  dwelling 
place  between  the  house  of  Calvin  and  that  of  So« 
€10 us.  The  observation  was  verified  in  the  case  of 
Dr.  Benson ;  for  after  leaving  Geneva  he  could  find 
no  rest  for  the  sole  of  his  foot,  in  the  internnediate 
stations  through  which  he  ppsaedi  till  he  camis  i  n  to 


.J 


LIVES  OF   SMTKENT   9I8imT£RS«  909 

^he  abode  of  the  fratres  polam ;  and  'he  htfd  reached 
Ibem  maay  years  before  his  death. 

The  biographer  of  Dr.  Benson  designs  to  give 
htm  a  high  degree  of  praise  when  he  says,  that  he 
exercised  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  thought 
for  himself:  it  is  indeed  represented  as  the  appr^ 
priate  excellence  of  the  dissenting  ministers  of  this 
age,  who  departed  from  the  faith  of  the  noncon* 
formists.     The  judgment  is,  no  doubt,  intended  to 
perform  that  office  to  the  mind  which  the  eyes  do  to 
the  body ;  and  it  is  as  natural  and  proper  that  a  per* 
ison  should  be  guided  by  his  own  judgment,  as  that 
he  should  see  with  his  own  eyes.     If  a  man  leaves 
the  road  and  wanders  into  a  morass,  where  he  sinks 
in  mire  up  to  the  neck,  we  think  it  no  proof  of  his 
wisdom  and  goodness  that  he  ttas  guided  by  his  owif 
eyes :  but  why  should  greater  praise  be  given  to  the 
person  who  fails  into  heresy  and  error,  because  it  was 
by  the  judgment  of  his  own  mind?     Besides,  to  in- 
stance in  the  ministers  of  this  society.  Dr.  Harris 
continued  ail   his  days  a  calvinist,   Dr.   Price,  an 
assistant,  was  an  arian,  and   Dr.   Lardner  and  Df« 
Benson  became  soeinians  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence 
to  satisfy  any  rational  man,  that  the  first  did  not  think 
for  himself,  and  without  regard  to  human  authority 
derive  his  sentilments  from  the  sacred  Scriptures  as 
truly  and  sincerely  as  the  others.     Persons  may  be 
as  much  biassed  by  human  opinions  in  arian   and 
.socinian  writers,  as  in  those  of  calvinists :  Dr.  Priest-* 
ley  boasts  that  the  mind  of  Mr.  Robinson,  of  Caiio^ 
bridge,  was  greatly  enlightened  by  his  writings,  and 
that   they  seemed  to  have  conduced  much  to  hid 
adaption  of  the  socinian  creed. 

In  study  Dr,  Benson  was  indefatigable ;  and  coii- 


4M  0I8TOAT  OP  bl8SSNTERS4 

eeiviDg  ^  wodd  would  receive  benefit  fiCodi  kk 
researches,  he  became  a  voluminous  author.  Beiog 
fond  of  criticism  he  thought  be  could  illustrate  the 
the  New  Testament,  and  became  the  continuator  of 
the  commentaries  of  Locke  and  Pierce  on  the  epistles* 
In  learning  he  was  not  deficient,  of  pains  to  excel  there 
was  no  want,  all  that  toil  could  do  was  done ;  but  he 
had  not  the  talents  of  his  predecessors :  he  was  aa 
impenetrably  dull  man.  He  wrote  also  a  history  of 
the  apostolical  church,  a  treatise  on  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,  a  collection  of  sermons,  and  a  large 
volume  on  the  life  6£  Christ.  Some  German  di- 
vines having  imbibed  the  same  sentiments,  highly 
commended  the  doctor's  works.  He  sent  copies  of 
his  books  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  seve- 
ral of  the  bishops.  Those  who  wear  mitres,  and  fire- 
quent  king's  houses,  are  all  polite  men,  and  thua 
returned  the  civillest  notes  of  commendation.  By 
his  biographer.  Dr.  Amory,  these  are  all  introduced 
at  full  length,  as  evidences  of  superior  merit^ 

In  the  composition  of  his  sermons  the  doctor  took 
great  pains.  As  soon  as  he  returned  home  from  the 
afternoon's  service^  he  sat  down  to  prepare  for  the 
following  Lord's-day.     His  manner  was  first  criti- 

^  Among  Dr.  Benson's  miseellaQcous  pieces  is  an  acoouat  of 
Calvin's  concern  in  the  burning  of  Servetus^  written  c<m  amare. 
It  is  remarkable  that  a  French  sceptic,  if  not  infidel,  should  have 
investigated  the  subject  with  impartiality  and  candour,  while  bj 
EngVuih  arians  and  socinians  it  is  usually  treated  with  malignant 
bitterness.  To  Bayle*s  dictionary  on  the  article  Calvin,  those  are 
referred  who  wish  to  examine  the  matter  without  prejudice;  and 
the  conduct  of  Calvin  will  there  appear,  as  it  really  was,  widely 
different  from  the  represeotatiou  given  of  it  by  Dr.  Benson  and  hia 
associates.  These  gentlemen,  as  if  blind  of  one  eye,  never  see 
Socinus's  treatment  of  Francb  Davides^  which  was  more  repre*. 
hensible  than  the  otben 


LIVES  OF  EMIKEKT  DISSSNTOSRS.  401 

eally  to  explain  the  text,  and  then  to  illustrate  points 
of  doctrine,  and  enforce  rules  of  duty.  In  the  critical 
part  he  sometimes  gave  quotations  of  Greek  and 
Hebrew  of  two*  or  three  minutes  length,  which  must 
have  contributed  greatly  to  the  admiration  if  not  the 
edification  of  the  city  dames. 

It  is  instructive  though  painful  to  remark,  that 
while  he  and  Dr.  Lardner  were  writing  very  learned 
books,  and  gaining  extensive  fame,  the  congregation 
was  gradually  diminishing,  till  it  scarcely  was  in  ti- 
tled to  the  name ;  and  having  received  the  deadly 
poison  from  their  lips,  after  a  precarious  existence  of 
twelve  years,  under  Dr,  Price,  Mr.  Radcliff,  and  Dr* 
Calder^  it  became  extinct.     The  meeting-house  was 
s6metime  afterwards  opened  by  William  AUdridge, 
a  calvinistic  m^thodist,  from  lady  Huntingdon's  col- 
lege at  Trevecca.     The  faith  of  the  ancient  noncon- 
formists, which  had  sounded  so  clearly  and  so  power- 
fully from  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Cruso  fourscore  years 
before,  and  which  had  not -been  heard  within  the 
walls  since  the  decease  of  Dr.  Harris,  was  now  Heard 
again  ;  and  the  place  was  filled  anew  with  attentive 
and  serious  hearers.     ''  Let  him  that  readeth  under- 
stand.'-    As  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
were  required  for  the  service  of  the  temple,  the, writ- 
ings  of  Lardner,    Benson,  and  their  fellows  were 
useful  for  similar  purposes;  and  for  their  ingenuity 
and  learning  let  them  have  great  praise,  for  it  is  due; 
but  to  officiate  as  ministers  in  the  sanctuary,  and  lead 
the  people  to  the  holiest  of  all,  by  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
in  that  new  and  living  way  which  he  has  consecrated 
through  the  veil  of  his  flesh,  they  knew  not  how :  it 
was  beyond  their  powers 

«  See  life  of  B^p^n,  by  Dr.  Amorv,  prefixed  to  h»  life  of  Chil^ 


402  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

JOHN  MASON,  A.  M- 

This  useful  writer,  Who  is  well  known  by  his 
deservedly  popular  treatise  on  self-knowledge,  was 
most  honourably  descended.  His  father  was  minister 
at  Daventry,  afterwards  at  Dun  mow,  in  Essex,  and 
at  length  in  the  town  ofSpaldwick,  in  Lincolnshire, 
where  he  died  in  1723.  His  grandfather  was  the 
excellent  man  whose  '^  Select  Remains''  form  the 
golden  volume,  which  Dr.  Watts  so  warmly  recom- 
mended to  the  publi^.  The  subject  of  this  memoir 
was  born  at  Dunmow,  in  1705,  and,  after  study- 
ing for  the  ministry  under  Mr.  Jennings,  at  Kib- 
worth,  became  chaplain  and  private  tutor  in  the 
family  of  governor  Feaks,  at  his  seat  near  Hatfield. 
He  was  soon  called  from  thence  to  take  the  pastoral 
change  of  a  congregation  at  Dorking,  in  Surry. 
Having  published,  though  without  his  name,  '*  a 
plain  and  modest  Plea  for  Christianity,  or  a  sober  and 
rational  Appeal  to  Infidels,"  he  received,  by  means 
of  Dr.  Walker,  of  Homerton,  the  unsought  honour 
of  a  diploma  of  master  of  arts,  from  Edinburgh.  But 
the  highest  and  most  deserved  reputation  was  derived 
from  the  publication  of  his  "  Treatise  on  Self-know- 
ledge,*^ which  appeared  in  1745,  and  has,  to  the 
honour  of  the  public  discernment^  passed  through 
nearly  twenty  editions. 

After  a  residence  of  seventeen  years  at  Dorking, 
he  removed,  in  1746,  to  Cheshunt,  in  Hertfordshire, 
where  he  preached  to  a  considerable  congregatioD. 
Amidst  his  constant  labours  for  the  pulpit  and  the 
press,  he  devoted  a  part  of  his  time  to  the  education 
cof  several  young  persons  for  the  ministry.    Abouft 


IV£S   OF    EMINENT    DISSENTERS.  403 

the  time  of  George  the  second's  death,  he  published 
two  volumes  on  Christian  morals ;  and  at  the  close 
of  this  work  added  a  sermon  on  the  recent  death  of 
the  kingj  in  which  Tie  noticed  the  temper  of  the 
times  ;  observing,  that  the  **  tories  who  had  laboured 
to  restore  the  Stuarts,  were  most  clamofous  for  non- 
resistence  under  the  worst  government,  and  most  for- 
ward to  resist  the  best/' 

Mr.  Mason  died  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-eight,  in  the  year  1763.  His  diligence 
is  attested  by  his  labours  as  a  pastor,  tutor,  and  author. 
In  the  pulpit,  he  pleased  by  a  grave  simplicity,  but 
never  rose  to  the  higher  excellencies  of  a  preacher* 
His  "  Lord's-day  Evening  Entertainment,  or  fifty- 
two  Sermons  on  the  most  serious  and  important 
Subjects  in  Divinity ,'*  in  four  volumes,  was  the 
result  of  his  solicitude  to  promote  family  religion 
among  the  people  of  his  charge.  For  the  instruction 
of  his  students,  be  composed  '^  the  Student  and 
Pastor,^'  a  work  fit  to  be  the  companion  of  Baxter, 
Burnet,  Mather,  and  Watts  on  the  pastoral  care. 
With  a  view  to  the  improvement  of  his  pupils  in  the 
oratorical  art,  he  published,  also,  ^'  Essays  on  Elocu- 
tion, and  on  tbe  power  and  harmony  of  poetical  and 
prosaic  Numbers,'^  in  which  be  displays  great  good 
sense,  and  knowledge  of  his  subject.  As  an  author, 
however,  good  intentions  are  more  conspicuous  than 
superior  talents ;  for  his  thoughts  are  not  distin* 
guisbed  by  novelty  or  vigour,  nor  has  his  style  any 
other  recommendation  than  that  of  perspicuous  sim- 
plicity \ 

*  He  left  a  daughter,  who  was  married  to  Peter  Good,  a  dissent^ 
Ing  minister,  who  lived  some  time  at  Romsey,  his  native  town,  but 
lifterwards  at  Havant,  in  Hampshire,  and  ^t  lengtJi  died  ucar 


194  HI8T0I|Y  OF   DISSSMTEBS'. 

SAMUEL  CHANDLER,  D.  D.  F.  R.  S.  and  A.  S« 

The  man  decorated  with  all  tiiese  marks  of  literary 
honour^  was,  as  may  be  supposed,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  among  the  presbyterian  ministers  of  his  day. 
He  derived  bis  descent  from  ancestors  reqiarkable  for 
piety  and  zeal.  His  grandfather,  who  carried  on 
business  at  Taunton,  was  one  of  the  noble  army  of 
confessors  who  suffered  in  the  cause  of  nonconfor- 
ipity.  Henry  Chandler,  his  father,  was  a  dissenting 
Qiinister  first  at  Marlborough,  then  at  Hungerford, 
afterwards  at  Bath  ;  and  was  always  deservedly  held 
in  high  estimation  by  the  body:  the  few  pieces  which 
he  published,  discover  him  to  have  been  a  man  of 
talents.  His  son  Samuel,  the  subject  of  this  article, 
iiras  born  at  Hungerford  in  1693;  and  after  having 
squired  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics,  he  engaged  in  a  course  of  theological 
study  first  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Moore,  at  Bridg- 
water, and  afterwards  with  Mr.  Jones,  at  Gloucester, 

In  1716,  he  was  called  to  the  pastoral  office  by  a 
congregation  of  presbyterians  at  Peckham.  Wbil^ 
he  was  in  this  place,  like  many  others,  hastening  to 
be  rich,  he  engaged  in  the  South  Sea  scheme,  and 
lost  the  fortune  which  a  little  before  he  had  gained 
by  marriage.  ^  To  support  his  family,  which  was  re-^ 
duced  to  straitened  circumstances,  he  for  some 
years  kept  a  bookseller's  shop  in  London.  In  1726 
he  was  chosen  assistant  at  the  Old  Jewry,  which  was 
then  one  of  the  most  respectable  dissenting  congre- 
gations in  England ;    and  on  the  removal  of  Mr« 

Taunton.  From  t\\is  gentleman,  by  his  first  wife,  the  daughter  of 
Sir.  Mason,  is  descended  John  Mil9oa  Good^  a  distinguished  mit«r 
$f  the  present  day* 


L1YI»  OF  EMINENT  ])IS8£NTEJl»t  $M 

X^eavesley  their  pastor^  he  was  appointed  his  suc-^ 
cessor.  In  this  situation,  he  continued  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life  for  almost  forty  years,  preaching 
with  great  ability  and  acceptance,  respected- by  hi^ 
people,  and  retaining  a  fuU  audience  to  the  last. 
Some  of  the  Scotch  nobility  and  gentry,  who  at  that 
time  had  more  zeal  for  the  principles  of  their  church 
than,  with  very  few  exceptions,  they  manifest  at  the 
present  day,  formed  a  part  of  his  congregation. 

Dr.  Chandler  was  a  hard  student  all  his  days  ;  and 
it  was  no  difficult  thing  to  find  him  in  the  midst  of 
his  books.  In  the  earlier  part  of  life  he  experienced 
several  attacks  of  fever,  which  threatened  a  termina* 
tion  to  his  literary  pursuits;  but  by  betaking' himself 
to  a  vegetable  diet,  the  seeds  of  the  disease  were 
intirely  eradicated ;  and  though  aftejr  twelve  years  he 
returned  to  his  former  way  of  living,  his  health  conti^ 
nued  vigorous  till  the  year  before  his  death,  when  a 
direful  scourge  of  studious  men  robbed  him  of  bis 
^ase  and  rest,  and  warned  him  of  his  approaching 
end.  He  finished  his  course  on  the  eighth  of  May, 
1766,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  and  receiv^i 
ed  the  funeral  honours  of  Bunhill  Fields,  with  the 
general  respect  of  his  denomination. 

With  abilities  naturally  great,  a  deep  and  strong 
foundation  of  classical  and  philosophical  knowledge 
laid  at  the  school  and  the  academy,  and  a  solid  super<» 
structure  of  biblical  and  theological  learning,  reared 
by  the  assiduous  labours  of  more  than  half  a  century^ 
it  is  no  presumption  to  assert,  that  he  is  intitled  to 
a  place  among  scholars  of  the  first  class.  As  a 
pres^cber  he  presented  to  his  audience,  on  every  suby 
ject,  much  good  sense  and  solid  reasoning,  expressed 
in  language  wore  remarkable  for  strength  thw  wm« 

pd3 


40(S  HISTORY  Olf  DISSENTERS. 

plicity  and  elegance ;  and  in  his  delivery  he  displayed 
much  en^gy,  but  was   deficient  in  grace.     As  a 
writer  his  works  are  both  numerous,  and  on  a  diver- 
sity of  subjects.     The  deistical  controversy  engaged 
bis  attention  froni  first  to  last,  and  he  v^rote  many 
volumes  on  the  subject ;  on  miracles;  on  the  history 
of  Joseph  ;  on  the  prophecies  of  Daniel ;  on  the  life 
of  David  in  two  volumes,  a  very  considerable  work; 
and  several  others.     He  published  some  pieces  in 
favour  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  for  which  he  was 
a  strenuous  advocate.     He  was  the  author  also  of  a 
multitude  of  sermons,  printed  singly  on  particular 
occasions;  and  four  volumes  of  his  discourses  were 
published    from   his  manuscripts    after    his   death. 
Applying  his  critical  skill  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  he 
wrote  a  commentary  on  Joel ;  and  intended  to  have 
given  another  on  Isaiah,  but  did  not  accomplish  it. 
Some  years  after  his  decease,  a  quarto  volume  appear- 
ed, containing  his  nptqs  on  the  epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  Ephesians,  and  Thessaloniaiis. 

That  such  a  man  should  have  offers  of  preferment 
in  the  church  if  he  would  conform,  need  not  excite 
surprize.  That  he  did  not  accept  them  is  ^  thing  of 
course.  Such  virtue,  in  a  man  elevated  as  Dr. 
Chandler  was,  and  indeed  in  any  dissenting  minister 
of  principle,  is  not  to  be  ranked  high,  and  discovers 
no  traits  of  heroism.  An  obscure  or  unsuccessful 
individual  among  dissenting  teachers  may  conform, 
fincf  benefit  by  the  change ;  but  should  a  minister  of 
«ny  note  turn  to  the  establishment,  no  preferment 
which  he  could  receive,  M'ould  be  sufficient  to  pur- 
chase a  veil  thick  enough  to  hide  his  blushes,  or  to 
enable  him  to  hold  up  his  head  in  society,  md  look 
^a  of  uprightneiss  in  the  face. 


.4, 


LIVES  OF  EMINEATT   PIS9ENT£RS«  407 

Of  the  doctor's  religious  sentiments,  it  is  not 
easy  te  speak  with  certainty.  In  a  sermpn  preached 
in  1752,  to  the  society  for  promoting  religious  knaw-^ 
ledge  among  the  poor,  '^  on  the  Excellence  of  the 
Knowledge  of  Christ/'  be  speaks  the  language  of 
Calvin,  and  in  very  striking  terms%  and  it  was  at  a 

*  **  The  doctrine  of  election  hath  beeii  made  a  very  thorny  and 
difficult  point ;  and  yet  there  is  no  man  of  common  sense,  but  jn« 
jBtantly  perceives  upon  tlie  first  mention  of  it,  that  as  eternal  life 
must^be  the  gift  of  God,  it  is  impossible  he  can  ever  obtain  it, 
unless  Go4  is  determined  to  ^ve  it  him^  t.  le.  unless  God  elect  or 
choQise  hinci  tQ  the  possession  of  it,  Many  dispiites  have  arisen  aboi^t 
the  Ciprruption  of  humap  nature,  and  yet  nothings  is  more  evident 
than  that  it  must  be  introduced  by  the  first  offender,  hath  passed 
from  him  through  all  the  various  successions  of  his  posterity,  and 
levery  man,  I  imagine,  finds  somewhat  of  it  in  himself;  and  if  he  l>e 
a  wise  man^  will  be  much  more  concerned  how  to  cure  it* thaii*  busy 
and  solicitous  tp  kpow  how  he  came  by  it.  Large  volumes  hav« 
been  wrote,  |  wish  I  could  say,  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  justifica^ 
tion ;  aud  yet  'tis  what  every  man  knows,  that  an  offender,  who  hath 
forfeited  his  life,  can  be  restored  to  life  and  fortune  only  by  the 
undeserved  favour  of  his  prince ;  and  'tis  a  principle  of  natural  reli- 
gion, that  an  offender  against  Qod  cap  have  no  claipa  to  forgiveness^ 
but  from  the  unmerited  grape  of  God }  and  that  therefore  the  justi-r 
fication  of  sinners,  i.  e.  the  forgiveness  of  their  past  sins,  their  full 
restoration  to  the  divine  acceptance,  atid  an  interest  in  the  promise 
of  eternal  life,  can,  as  to  such,  in  no  sense  be  the  claim  of  past 
iforks,  or  due  in  justice  to  ^ny  former  piety  or  virtue ;  for  if  that 
were  the  case,  and  they  could  usually  urge  such  a  claim,  they  would 
have  no  need  of  the  Gospel  justification,  which  supposes  men  sin* 
ners,  destitute  of  the  claim  to  life  and  happiness,  and  restored  to 
both  only  by  the  unmerited  grace  of  God,  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ*  The  doctrine  of. imputed  righteousness,  i.  e.  of 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  sp  reckoned  to  our  account,  as  that  we 
by  reason  of  it  are  entitled  to  pardon,  favour,  acceptance  with 
God,  and  the  blessing  of  et^rn^l  life,  is  too  strong  for  the  digestiori 
6f  weak  and  delicate  stomachs*  And  yet  what  more'  true  in 
theory,  what  more  frequently  confirmed  by  a  fact,  what  more 
f^niversally  allowed  and  acknowledged^  than  th^  two  prii^cipleii 

p44 


468  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS* 

tfiine  of  life  when  men  have  comdQonly  made  up  tbeir 
siind,  for  he  was  in  bis  sixtieth  year:  but  the  usual 
pfaraseology  in  his  writings  bears  a  greater  analogy  to 
the  arminian  system.  Like  many  of  his  denomination, 
be  does  not  appear  to  hav^  been  sensible  of  tbo 
Ml portanqe  of  bringing  forward  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel  into  full  and  constant  view.  It  used  to  bq 
said  of  him,  that  after  any  illness  he  always  preached 
in  a  more  evangelical  strain ^ 

Dr.  Chandler  was  a  man  of  a  public  spirit,  greatly 
concerned  for  the  prosperity  of  the  dissenting  cause, 
and  on  every  occasion,  employed  all  his  talents  and 
influence  for  its  support^  To  him  the  dissenters  are 
indebted  for  the  fund  which  has  relieved  the  necessi- 
ties of  so  many  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  tbei^r 
ministers.  The  design  originated  with  him,  he  pre« 
vailed  with  many  of  his  opulent  friends  to  contribute 
to  its  establishment,  and  he  continued  to  cherish  it 
as  long  as  he  lived. 

In  the  year  previous  to  his  death,  when  he  was 
frequently  attacked  by  a  painful  disorder,  he  felt  that 
^here  was  something  better  than  learning,  and  which 

CO  which  this  dispated  article  depends :  vis*  that  the  good 
effects  of  one  person's  merit  may  reach  far  beyond  himself, 
aud  be  very  extensively  beneficial  to  others ;  and  that  these  very 
beneficial  .effects  may  reflect  back,  and  contribute  greatly  to  the 
reward,  honour,  and  happiness  of  the  person  to  whose  merits  they 
•re  owing.  Thus  a  father's  merits  are  often  imputed  to,  t.  e*  placed 
to  the  account  of,  and  derive  hereditary  honours  to  his  family,  and 
he  himself  is  rewarded  in  the  revelrsionary  privileges  conferred  upon 
his  posterity,"    Page  27,  28.      ' 

^  This  gav^  occasion  to  an  anecdote  which  is  told  of  him :  a  gen- 
-tleman  who  occasionally  heard  him^  said  to  one  of  his  constant 
auditors,  as  they  were  coming  out  of  the  place  of  worship,  pray  has 
not  the  doctor  been  ill  lat(gly?  Why  do  you  think  so,  was  th^ 
•DBwer.  Because  the  sermon  was  more  evangelical  than  those  he; 
lim^lly  preacher  when  he  i«  in  full  health. 


1   I 


LIVi;S   OF  BMIKEKT   DISSENTERS^.  4O0 

affords  more  solid  pleasure.  Religion  was  his  support; 
he  became  iriore  disengaged  from  tempoYal  things,  and 
spoke  like  a  man  who  expected  soon  to  leave  thid 
world,  and  enter  into  a  happier  state.  He  frequeivtly 
declared,  "  thaft  to  secure  the  divine  felicity  promised 
by  Christ,  was  the  principal  and  almost  the  only  thing 
that  made  life  desirable :  that  to  attain  to  this,  he 
would  gladly  die,  submitting  himself  intirely  to  God 
as  to  the  time  and  manner  of  death,  whose  will  was 
most  righteous  and  good ;  and  being  persuaded  that 
ail  was  well  which  ended  well  for  eternity,^* 


NATHANIEL  LARDNER,  D.  D. 

Thiseminent  writer  was  born  thesixth  of  June,  1684^ 
at  Hawkhurst,  in  Kent.  His  father,  Richard  Lardner^ 
a  valuable  nonconformist  minister,  sent  him  lirst  to  a 
grammar  school,  and  then  to  study  for  the  ministry 
under  Mr.  Oldiield,  at  Hoxton,  near  London.  At  the 
end  of  1699,  when  he  was  in  his  sixteenth  year,  he  went 
to  the  university  of  Utretcht,  and  from  thence  to  Ley- 
den.  He  returned  to  England  in  1703,  but  he  waited 
till  he  was  five  and  twenty,  before  he  preached  at 
Stoke  Newingtou,  his  first  sermon  on  Rom.  i.  16.  "  I 
am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  to  every  one  that  believeth.'^  He 
still,  however,  remained  a  private  member  of  the 
church,  over  which  Matthew  Clark  presided,  and  in 
1713,  went  to  reiside  with  the  widow  of  the  lord  chief 

• 

justice  Treby,  as  domestic  chaplain,  and  tutor  to  heir 
youngest  son,  with  whom  he  made  the  tour  of  France^ 
Holland,  and  the  Netherlands.  On  the  death  of  lady 
I'reby,  in  J721,  he  writes,  ^'  I  am  ^et  At  a  los9  to  dis<« 


4141  HISTORY  OF   DISSENXERSf. 

pose  of  myself.  I  can  say  I  ^m  desirous  of  beidg 
fiseful  in  the  world,  without  this,  no  externs^  advan- 
tages could  make  me  happy.  Yet  I  have  no  prospect 
of  being  serviceable  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
having  preached  many  years  without  being  favoured 
with  the  approbation  and  choice  of  one  congregation/' 

Jt  is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Kippis  should  9ay, 
"  this  reflectied  no  honour  on  the  dissenters ;''  but  it 
would  be  no  difficult  task  to  defend  their  conduct. 
Lsurdner  had  not  yet  accjuired  celebrity  by  his  writings, 
and  those  who  now  read  them  feel  that  his  style 
wants  the  animation  and  vigour,  which  are  essential 
to  render  public  instruction  interesting.  A  very 
defective  elocutioa  contributed  also  to  render  him 
unpopular  in  the  pulpit,  even  after  he  had  established 
hisf  reputation  as  an  author.  He  engaged^  however, 
in  1723,  in  a  course  of  lectures  with  several  other 
ministers  on  Tuesday  evenings,  at  the  Old  Jpwry, 
^he  subject,  which  was  allotted  tQ  Dr.  Lardner,  was 
the  proof  of  the  credibility  of  the  Gospel  history,  and 
from  this  time,  fie  applied  to  his  great  work,,  which 
bears  that  title.  For  some  time  his  excessive  modesty 
refused  to  publish,  but  in  1727,  the  first  part  appeared 
in  print.  An  occasional  sermon,  which  he  preached 
at  Crutched  Friars,  procured  him  his  first  settlement 
among  dissenters,  as  ^assistant  to  Dr.  Harris. 

In  1740,  he  lost  his  colleague,  but  resigijipg  to  Djr. 
Bensqn  the  pflSce  of  pastpr  which  w^s  offered  him, 
he  continued  to  preach  once  a  day  till  the  year  1751, 
when  he  quitted  t|ie  pulpit,  partly  on  account  of  hi§ 
deafness  and  the  decrease  of  his  hearers,  and  partly 
for  the  sake  of  redeeming  time  for  the  publication  of 
his  work  on  the  "  Credibility  of  the  (jospel  History.*^ 
l|e  published  in  1759,  without  his  nanie,  ?i  iet|ef 


LIVES  OF  EMINENT   PISSENTERS.  4ttt 

written  nearly  thirty  years  before,  od  the  question, 
whether  the  Logos  supplied  the  place  of  a  human 
^oul  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  nature  of  the  work  may 
be  learned  from'  this  circumstance,  that  it  has  the 
honour  of  having  made  Dr.  Priestley  a  socinian. 
Lardner  opposed  the  arian  scheme,  to  which  he  had 
formerly  been  attached,  as  completely  unreasonable, 
and  laboured  to  prove  Jesus  Christ  a  mere  man. 

His  diploma  of  D.  D.  was  conferred  in  1745,  by 
Marischal  college,  Aberdeen.  He  was  seized  with  a 
declinei  in  the  summer  of  1768,  and  a  few  weel^s  after 
was  removed  from  the  world  in  his  eighty-fifth  yeiir. 

His  works  in  defepce  of  revelation,  which  have 
deservedly  obtained  the  praise  of  the  learned  in  nil 
denominations  of  Christians,  were  so  badly  received 
at  first,  that  he  was  glad  to  sell  the  copyright  and  the 
remaining  copies  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  .His 
inodest  diffidence,  amiable  disposition,  and  strict 
integrity  secured  the  esteein  of  all  who  knew  him. 


WILLIAM  LANGFORD,  D.  p.         . 

This  divine  merits  a  place  in  these  biographical 
sketches  for  his  respectability  of  character,  and  also 
for  the  purity  of  his  principles,  becs^use  at  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  he  is  said  to  have  be^n  the  only  English 
presbyterian  minister  in  London,  who  retained  the 
faith  of  the  nonconformists.  He  was  born  near  Bat- 
tel, in  Sussex,  the  twenty-ninth  of  September^  1704» 
and  had  the  honour  to  be  descended  from  pious  pa« 
rents.  His  father  dying  while  he  was  yet  a  child,  his 
mother  removed  to  Tenterden,  in  Kent,  where  he  re- 
ceived  a  classical  education.    In  172I9  he  was  sent  tq 


419  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

the  university  of  Glasajow  with  a  view  to  his  enterinjg 
on  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel*.  There,  in  the  midst 
of  his  literary  pursuits,  his  papers  present  a  display  of 
his  piety  in  a  solemn  dedication  of  himself  to  God. 
Nothing  is  more  important  and  more  pleasing  than  to 
observe  that  while  ardour  for  the  acquisition  of  learn- 
ing keeps  every  power  of  the  soul  in  vigorous  action, 
the  spirit  of  religion  sutFers  no  abatement,  and  loses 
none  of  its  power  and  influence  in  the  government  of 
the  heart  and  temper. 

After  taking  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  in  1727 
he  returned  to  England,  and  settled  as  pastor  of  the 
dissenting  congregation  at  Gravesend.  At  the  end  of 
seven  years>  he  removed  to  London  in  1734,  to  be 
co-pastor  with  Mr.  Bures,  at  Silver-street ;  and  as  he 
was  employed  but  one  part  of  the  day,  he  was  invited 
in  1736,  to  be  assistant  to  Mr.  Wood,  at  the  Weigh- 
house  meeting,  in  Eastcheap.  He  continued  tQ 
labour  in  both  these  places  till  1742,  when,  on  Mr, 
Wood's  decease,  he  received  a  call  from  his  congrega- 
tion to  the  pastoral  office,  which  he  accepted,  relin- 
quishing his  connection  with  Silver-Street.  In  this 
situation  he  continued  for  thirty-three ye^rs,  when  the 
relation  was  dissolved  by  his  death.  During  the 
greater  part  of  the  time,  he  performed  the  whole  of 
the  service  himself;  in  bis  latter  years  he  had  several 
young  ministers  in  succession  a9  his  assistants.     In 

%  On  his  journey  to  the  north,  just  after  entering  Scotland,  at  aii 
inn  he  saw  g  plate  of  confinement^  the  use  of  which  he  did  not 
understand.  On  making  inquiry,  the  landlady  told  him  it  was  tq 
weepjb^g  in.  This  excited  ne^  reflections  in  his  mind,  and  not 
smu^l  turpnse  that  a  class  of  people  ^ho,  in  {England,  were  left  a^ 
large,  and  injured  none  so  much  as  themselves,  should  be  so  harshly- 
treated  in  the  north.  When  he  was  more  accustomed  to  the  Scotch 
pronunciation,  he  found  it  was  a  coop  forfowk^ 


LIVES   OF   EMIXEXT   DISSEXtEHS^  41^ 

1760,  Aberdeen  that  quick-sighted  observer  and  liberal' 
r^warder  of  merit  by  the  abundance  of  its  degrees, 
conferred  on  Dr.  Langford  the  title  of  D.  D.  and  he 
brought  no  stain  on  their  discernment,  for  he  was  a 
wise  and  a  good  man,  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  the^ 
duties  of  his  office,  universally  esteemed  andbeloved, 
and  he  had/a  sufficiency  of  learning  to  support  with, 
propriety  his  academical  honours.  .He  published  ooly: 
some  occasional  sermons  and  a  charge. 

It  has  been  remarked  of  some  eminent  ministers^ 
that  as  they  approached  the  close  of  life,  they  seemed 
to  breathe  the  air  of  heaven.  This  was  the  delightful 
frame  of  Dr.  Langford's  soul,  and  in  public  it  particu« 
larly  displayed  itself  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's* 
Qupper.  He  was  now  in  his  seventy-first  year;  bis 
health  had  been  declining  for  some  time ;  and  to  other 
infirmities  was  added  a  hoarseness,  which  rendered  it 
difficult  for  him  to  speak  in  the  congregation*  A 
friend  in  the  spring  of  1775,  invited  him  to  his  country^ 
seat  in  hopes  of  his  receiving  benefit  from  a  change 
of  air;  but  in  the  night  after  hisarrivill  he  was  seized 
by  the  hand  of  death,  and  after  a  struggle  of  a  few 
hours,  expired  on  the  LordVday  morning,  the  twenty- 
second  of  April,  and  went  to  join  the  worship  of  the 
church  of  the  first-born  in  heaven.  He  was  buried  in 
Bunhill-fields,  that  first  of  repositories  of  the  dead  in 
Christ,  which  will,  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just, 
give  up  so  many  bodies  of  the  saints  to  be  made  like* 
to  the  glorious  body  of  the  Redeemer. 

In  this  man,  who,  like  Abdiel,  stood  alone  ii^  adhe- 
rence to  the  truth,  may  be  seen  the  happy  ^nd  im-^ 
portant  effects  of  soundness  in  the  faith.  While  many 
of  ithe  congregations  of'the  arian  and  socinian  presby- 
t^rians  have  been,  v^  ith  few  exccptiQns,  reduced  to  a 


414  HISTORY   OP   DISSENTERS. 

ihere  skeleton  of  their  former  size,  and  many  more  of 
them  are  annihilated.  Dr.  Langford'a  faithful  preach- 
ing of  the  truth  preserved  the  flock.  At  his  death  they 
chose  an  evangelical  minister  as  his  successor ;  and 
under  Mr.  Clayton,  who  followed  him,  the  congrega- 
tion retains  the  ancient  faith  of  the  nonconform! i^s, 
and  is  one  of  tlie  most  flourishing  in  London  both  for 
numbers  and  piety. 


PHILIP  FURNEAUX,  D.  D- 

He  was  bom  ^at  Totness,  in  Devon^  and  after 
spending  his  early  years  in  his  native  place,  about  the 
year  1742,  he  came  to  London,  and  entered  on  a 
course  of  theological  studies  under  Dr.  Jennings.^ 
When  he  had  completed  the  usual  course,  he  became 
assistant  to  Mr.  Henry  Read,  at  St.  Thomas^  Souths 
wark ;  and  afterwards  was  chosen  successor  to  Mr« 
Lowman,  at  Clapham.  In  this  congregation  he  ofi«- 
ciated  with  great  reputation,  and  for  many  years 
preached  a  Sunday  evening's  lecture  at  Salter's-hall, 
alternately  with  Dr.  Prior.  His  services  the^e  were 
highly  valued  and  well  attended. 

Dr.  Furneaux's  character  among  the  presbyterians 
stood  very  high.  From  his  sermons  to  the  number 
of  six,  on  particular  occasions^  which  were  published, 
he  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  a  man  of  supe- 
rior talents.  His  composition  was  truly  elegant,  but 
his  delivery  by  poring  on  his  notes  and  a  whine  which 
would  have  disgraced  a  Scotch  seceder,  was  most 
disagreeable.  Ardent  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  he  waa 
one  of  the  most  zealous  patrons  of  the  application  to 
parliament  for  relief  from  subscription  to  th^  doctrinal 


IIVE^  0]p   ESilNENT   DIfliSENTftRS.  4lS 

^^rticle^  of  the  church ;  dnd  he  wrote  an  able  pampM^ 
on  the  subject.  His  letters  to  judge  Blackstone  on 
his  exposition  of  the  act  of  toleration,  and  some  posi- 
tions relative  to  religious  liberty  in  his  celebrated 
commentaries  on  the  laws  of  England,  display  the 
hand  of  a  master.  When  the  cause  of  the  city  of  Lon- 
don against  Evans,  so  interesting  to  dissenters,  wai» 
tried,  the  amazing  strength  of  Dr.  Furneau3^*s  memory 
was  seen  in  committing  to  paper,  after  he  returned 
home,  lord  Mansfield^s  speech  on  the  occasion,  with 
such  accuracy,  that  when  his  lordship  perused  it,  he 
found  but  two  or  three  trifling  errors  to  correct. 

Like  many  of  his  brethren,  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  fully  sensible  of  the  importance  of  evan« 
gelical  doctrine,  and  did  not  bring  it  forward  with  the 
frequency  and  fulness  which  the  Gospel  demands. 
On  his  return  from  occasionally  visiting  his  friends 
in  Devonshire,  some  of  his  hearers  thought  that  he 
used  for  a  time  to  preach  in  a  more  orthodox  manner 
than  usual.  Good  company  to  a  minister  is  a  great 
blessing,  while  to  associate  with  such  as  are  erroneous 
and  evil  has  proved  to  thousands  a  heavy  curse. 

After  having  for  more  than  thirty  years  supported 
his  public  character  with  great  respectability.  Dr. 
Furneaux  was  laid  aside  from  every  service  by  a* 
visitation  of  providence  the  most  awful  and  humili- 
iating  which  human  nature  can  feel.  Insanity  seized 
him,  and  the  man  who  had  appeared  With  so  much, 
applause  in  the  pulpit  and  from  the  press,  was  confined 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  a  private  madhduse^ 
where  the  benevolence  of  friends  procured  him  sup- 
port. One  of  the  biographers  of  Mr.  Cowper  the 
poet,  can  hardly  allow  that  his  disease  should  be 
(bought  insanity ;  as  if  so  great  and  good  a  man  ought 


4ftfi  alSTORV   OF   D26SENTER8. 

f^  be  exempted  fiom  so  distressing  a  malady.  Bat 
poets  need  to  be  taught  humility  as  much  as  any  men 
on  earth ;  and  God  made  Cowper  their  instructor. 
Ministers  of  Christ  too  require  to  have  a  lesson  givea 
them  that  their  powers  are  fiom  God,  and  that  the 
use  and  continuance  of  them,  and  of  the  exercise  of 
reason  which  is  the  foundation  of  all,  are  his.  gifts. 
Dr.  Furneaux  did  not  suffer  in  rain,  if  every  minister 
who  reads  bis  mournful  history,  is  influenced  to  lift 
up  his  heart  with  lively  gratitude  to  God  for  the  exer- 
cise of  reason,  feels  a  deeper  sense  of  his  dependence 
for  this  and  every  blessiBg,'and  endeavours  to  improve 
it  to  the  utmost  through  the  whole  of  life  for  the 
honour  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of  man* 


JOB  ORTON, 

'  He  was  bom  at  Shrewsbury,  in  1717,  deriving  bi^ 
descent  from  a  line  of  pious  ancestors,  and  on  tbe 
mother^s  side  from  the  family  of  the  great  Mr.  Per- 
kins, the  puritan,  of  Cambridge.  To  his  parents  wha 
were  the  patrons  of  piety  and  good  men,  he  was 
indebted  for  early  instruction  in  the  Christian  faitb, 
and  he  imbibed  from  them  the  principles  of  pure 
religion\  At  the  free  grammar  school  in  his  native 
town,  he  acquired  a  considerable  portion  of  classical 

■»  In  a  memorial  of  the  family  which  Mr.  Orton  drew  np  for  the 
benefit  of  his  nephewa,  he  thus  expresses  himself,  ^  yoa  will  find 
Ho  lords,  or  knights,  or  persons  of  rank,  wealth,  or  station  among 
jrour  progenitors ;  but  as  far  as  I  am  capable  of  judging  from  tbe 
best  information,  there  is  no  one,  either  male  or  female,  in  the  line 
of  your  ancestors  for  many  generations,  but  has  been  serious,  pious^ 
and  good,  and  filled  up  some  useful  station  io  society  with, 
honour.** 


LIVES  OF  EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  41f 

• 

learning.    In  his  sixteenth  year  he  was  put  under 

the  ttiitron  of  Dr.  Charles  Owen,  of  Warrington,  who 

had  usually  with  hini  a  few  young  men  designed  for 

the  work  of  the  ministry.    The  year  following  he 

was  sent  to  Dr.  Doddridge^s  academy  at  Northampton ; 

and  afiter  going  through  the  o^dinary  course  of  studies, 

he  wa8,]u  1730,  appointed  assistant  to  the  doctor  in 

his  academical  labours,  and  discharged  the  duties  of 

hisi^ae  with  siag'ular  ability,  prudence,  and  success. 

In  1741,  he  was  drawn  from  this  situation  to  his 

aatiWtown'  by  the  united  voices  of  the  presbyterian 

and  independent  congregations,  which  joined  to  re«- 

ceiveihim  as  iheir  pastor.     On  Dr.  Doddridge's  de« 

cease,  he  was  pressingly  invited  to  succeed  him  ia 

the  academy  and  congregation  ;  but  this,  as  well  as  a 

call  to  succeed  Dr.  Hughes,  in  London,  (a  place 

which  he  never  saw)  he  declined,  and  continued  his 

labours  at  Shrewsbury.     Ill  health,  under  which  he 

laboured  for  a  time,  led  him  to  seek  for  help  which, 

during  the  greatest  part  of  his  ministry,  he  had  from 

Mr.  Fownes,  who  was  first  his  assistant,  then  ,co« 

pastor,  and  at  last  his  successor  with  a  part  of  the 

charge '•      Few  men  were  more  diligent  than  Mr. 

Orton,  or  more  conscientious  in  performing  the  vari« 

ous  duties  of  his  office.     He  spoke  the  language  of 

his  heart,  when  he  directed  the  ministers  who  were 

to  preach  his  funeral  sermon,  in  the  following  words  : 

*^  let  them  assure  my  hearers  that  serving  them  in  all 

their  interests,  especially  their  best,  was  the  delightful 

business  of  my  life,  and  that  all  my  time  and  studies 

were  directed  this  way.^^     Before  old  age  arrived,  the 

nervous  complaints  with  which  he  was  frequently 

^  Mr.'  Fownes  published  a  ▼olume  on  toleration  which  procured 
bim  a  considerable  name  for  acute  and  masterly  reasouiog. 
VOL.   IT.  K  e 


/ 


4J9  HiSZ'ORY  or   DXSSBKTEEft* 

troubled,  made  him  conceive  himself  unable  to  com^ 
^inue  longer  in  the  .pastoral  offi<^ ;  ^nd  in  1765,  while 
he.  wa3  but  in  his  forty^etghth  yea^,  he  resigned  hit 
charge.  In  the  following  year,  he  went  to  reside  at 
Kidderminster  that  he  might  be  near  a  physician  ia 
whom  he  had  great  faith ;  and  there  he  liwd  for 
e^hteen  long  and  solitary  years.  His  infirmities 
gre^ually  increased,  and  his  sufferiags  becoming  at 
last  esc^ceedingly  acute^  terminated  ia  death,  in:  July, 
1783,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age.^.  .n  .  .  / 
.,  In  the  life  of  Pr«  Johnson  it  is  mentiom^d^  that  h^ 
asse^^nted  to  the  observation  of  a^  friend^  '^  that  smaU 
certainties  have  been  the  bane  (tf  literary  metu^? 

•         .  .  .  •      -> 

^  His  Dcrvous  complaiiits.  were  heightened  by  his  ceNb&cy,  aod 
from  these  he  became  a  ynau  of  hours  and.  miniit^  X\\^  )i,jclp»qk^ 
The  children  of  the  street  he  lived  in,  when  they  saw  higa.returnin^ 
home,  ran  in  with  eagerness,  crying,  <<  mother,  is  dinner  ready,  it  is 
twelve  o^clock,  for  here  is  the  taH' parson  coming/*  Froni  indulging 
HI' such  peculiarities,  his  hours  b^»m^  incantreHient  to  those  who 
UNKi^tat^  witl^  \Am.  If>  a  friend  who  bad  sv^ped  3witb*him# 
made  no  sign  of  going  away  when  the  clock  struck  nine, he  gttjf 
uneasy ;  and  by  way  of  hint  would  say,  **  wont  you  lake  another 
glass  of  wine,  sir,  before  you  go  ?'*  Regularity  is  go*d,  but  parti- 
cularity to  a  moment  is  bondage.  No  man  ever  ranked  highamon^ 
the  benefactors  of  mankind,,  who  was  the  slajveofa  uiuutt;  |le 
that  would  do  extensive  good,  must  disrc^sMrd  hours  for  mejedls  ^nd 
sleep,  and  give  up  his  time  by  day  and  night  to  accomplish  business 
which  requires  immediate  attention.  There  is  also  an  injury  as 
well  as  a  littleness  in  a  person  accustoming  himself  to  such  hours^ 
that  he  cannot  enjoy'  social  intercourse  with  his  friends  in  their 
bouses,  but  must  mope  at  h<>me  as  a  solitary  recluse.  The  mind  is 
ipjured  by  such  a  system  of  life,  and  the  person  is  deprived  of  op* 
port  unities  of  communicating  and  receiving  both  plea^ure  and 
benefit.  If  Job  Orton  had  had  a  good  cheerful  wife,  and  two  or 
three  romping  children  around  him,  they  would  have  rubbed  off  hiff 
rough  corners,  dispelled  his  low  spiritSi  and mude  himii  jnuchoiorQ' 
useful  and  a  happier  man*  «        .     . 


With  aqtial  trut^h  the  remark  majf  be  bppli6d:to*tti^ 

chureh  as  to  the-woridw.   Ani  radepende^t  fi>i7tuneiifm 

Mldom been benefldaAto a ministenof  Cbf iMi ;  aQd  £ir 

inore  harm  than'  good  has  ^n  genenal  /res^Uod  from 

it;     Had.  Job  Orton  l^een* unable  toHferwitfaiout  tbe 

contfiitjutioos  of  his  people,  ik  ^wouild  peveir  bav^ 

entered*  into  his  mind  at  tbe  age  pf  feriy-^ight{  thjat 

he  was 'unable  to  preach;  and.imtmAnhi  findiag  it 

necessary  tO' retire  intopfivate  Ufi^  fori^igbtfen^yeav^ 

he 'Would  haveifouiid<  nodiflletilty'iniietaimng  bif 

easy  co^pastoral  station  at  Sbrewsbfuny/  tiU  the  diose 

of  life :  and<  it  wouldhave  been  wiifhim^re/enjoyment 

to  himself  as  well  as  benefit  to  others. 

:    To  the  chflTacter  of  a  devout  and  lubprious  minister^ 

Mr.  Orton  is  well; entitled.     He^pasfsess^d  a  mor^ 

tban  common  seriousness  of  mind,  and  assiduousljr 

cherished  it  by leading,  meditation,  and  prayers    ld(ia 

diligence  in  preparing  for  the  pulpit  ,was  exemplar^yk 

and  hissermons  were  evidently  designed  to.  edify,  nq^ 

to  amude  his  hearers.  In  visiting  his  flock  as  a  Chris* 

tian  pastor,  he  wds  truly  a  pattern  ;  and  be  took  mor^ 

than  ordinary  pains  in  the  instruction  of  the  rising  gie« 

neration*  So  siensible  was  he  of  the  importance  of  tbesf» 

things,  and  so  tender  was  his  conscience,  that  long 

after  his  removal-  from  Shrewsbury,  be  expresses  th^ 

most  painful  fears  that  he  had  not  discharged  th^ 

duties  of  the  ministry  with  becoming  zeaK.    To  thq 

end  of  life  his  heart  was. set  on  doing  good,  and  wheq 

'  In  the  strictness  of  his  life,  in  the  Bimplicity  of  his  maoQerBy  ii| 
the  plainness  of  his  dress,  id  his  house,  his  furniture,  and  mode  of 
living  he  sought  to  iniitRte,'and  he  certainly  did  resemble  th^  old 
puritans;  but  the  resemblance  did  not  hold  io  that  which  was  the 
jnain  spring  of  all  their  excelience*^he  did  not  possess  thdr  orth«* 
'^ox  seDtiioeDti^  aor  their  viewi  of  evangelical  truth* 

ice  3 


4S0  -      HISTORV   OV  DISSKKTBftS. 

lie  had  cedsed  to  preach,  convenation,  letters,  plasa 
<»f  sermons  were  sent  to  his  friends,  and  every  private 
method  in  his  power  was  resorted  to.  With  the  same 
^iew  he  published  books— Kliacourses  on. eternity, 
on  29eal,  on  Christian  worship,  meditations  for  the 
Memment,  and  severtl  volumes  of  sermoas.  His  life 
of  Dr.  Doddtidge,  which  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
1>ooks  to  a  student  and  a  minister,  had  been  published 
l>efore.  The  preacher  who  has  not  read  it,  has  much 
pleasure  to  enjoy,  and  much  benefit  to  receive.  The 
reader  of  bis  works  will  every  where  find  good  sense, 
perspicuity,  simplicity,  seriousness,  and  a  desire  of 
utility". 

<  Amidst  all  his  labours  he  complains  bitterly  of  Avant 
of  success,  and  not  without  reason,  for  one  thing  was 
lacking.  Tfie  inefiicacy  of  socinian  sentiments  he 
|>lainly  saw  ;  but  calvinists  as  such  had  none  of  his 
lov(6  and  praise,  and'  independents  shared  'little  of  hia 
favour.  He  is  strenuous  in  asserting  the  necessity  of 
preaching  evangelical  doctrine  ;  but  that  doctrine  he 
neither  fully  understood  nor  preached.  He  appears 
to  have  early  imbibed  some  notions  relative  to  the 
person  of  Christ  which  were  exceedingly  injurious  in 
their  influence  on  himself  and  on  bis  preaching,  and 
he  had  not  received  those  enlarged  views  of  the  power 
and  grace  of  the  Redeemer  which  the  New  Testament 
displays'".    So  that  however  serious  he  was,  and  bow- 

"  After  his  death,  Mr.  Gentleman,  his  successor  to  a  part  of  the 
congregation,  published  the  exposition  which  Mr.  Orton  had 
written  on  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  the  form  of  a  paraphrase  with 
reflections,  in  six  octavo  volumes. 

»  When  Mr.  Orton  was  expounding  Isa.  ix.  6.  his  more  orthodcpt 
hearers,  who  had  doubts  concerning  his  belief  of  the  divinit)-  of 
Christ,  were  all  attention  in  hopesi  of  hearing  their  pastorV  senti* 
menu^  but  they  were  crudljdiiappQiat^j  fojrwheu  be  came  u>,ihe 


LITJW  OV  EMIITBIIT  DIlMWrERS.  48) 

ever  desirous  to  do  good,  the  weapons  of  his  warfiiro 
wanted  the  due  temper,  edge,  tod  weight.  In  order 
to  convert  and  save  souls,  it  is  not  only  necessary 
that  a  minister  be  pious  and  zealous,  but  he  must, 
preach  the  truth  in  its  purity  and  fulness.  His 
instrument  must  be  adapted  tp  the  work,  or  there 
will  be  no  success.  Job  Orton'  attempted  to  cut 
down  the  largest  oak  in  the  forest  with  his  penknife. 
As  to  the  natural  result  of  his  sentiments  and  modeNof 
preaching,  not  a  few  of  his  hearers  were  from  year  to 
year  verging  nearer  and  nearer  to  socinianism  ;  and 
though  his  gift  in  prayer  was  uncommon  for  suitable- 
ness, variety,  and  fervour,  they  were  sighing  for  a 
Liverpool  liturgy.  Qn  bis  resignation  of  the  chargCi^ 
a  division  immediately  .took  place. 


RICHARD  PRICE)  D.  D.  L.  L.  D.  F-  R.  S. 

He  was  the  son  of  a  dissenting  minister  at  Bridge 
end,  in  Glamorganshire,  and  was  born  the  twenty- 
•econd  of  February,  1733*  After  acq  uiring  a  classical 
education  under  two  different  masters,  at  the  ajce  of 
sixteen  be  was  sent  to  the  academy  of  Mr.  Griffiths, 
at  Talgarth,  in  Brecnockshire.  His  father  died  the  same 
year,  and  his  mother  in  the  year  following,  leaving 
him  an  orphan  at  a  very  critical  time  of  life.  On  his 
mother's  death  he  went  to  London  to  his  uncle,  a 
very  excellent  man,  who  was  co-pastor  with  Dr. 
Watts  for  more  than  forty  years.  Cherished  by  his 
patronage,  he  pursued  his  theological  studies  for  four 
years,  under  the  tuition  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Jbidmes; 

words,  <*  the  mighty  God,**  all  he  said,  was,  *<  the  meaning  of  this  I 
mmot  tell,  aqd  how  •houldl,  when  hi»  name  it  called  wonderfnU** 

le  3 


When  be  had  completed  his  cotrrae,  he  went  to're^e 
^ith  Mr.  Streatfield,  of  Stoke  Newington,  as  his 
domestic  chaplain,  and  continued  in  the  family  for 
thirteen  years  ;'  but  during  the  greater  part  of  that 
time  he  assisted  Dr."  Chandler  at  the  Old  Jewry. 

•Soon  after  Mr.  Streatfield's  death,  he  was  chosen 
tninister  of  a  congregation  at  Newington-gre«n  ;  and 
while  he  officiated  there  in  the  morning,  he  was  fo? 
some  years  afternoon  preacher  at  Jewry-street.  Thfs 
last  service  he  resigned  on  being  chosen  pastor  of  the 
congregation  of  the  Gravel  Pits  Meeting,  at  Hackney, 
where  he  afterwards  preached  in  the  morning,  and  at 
Newington-green  in  the  afternoon.  These  two  sta^i 
tions  he  continued  to  fill  till  February,  1791,  when 
taking  leave  of  both  societies  in  a  farewell  discourse^ 
he  resigned  his  charge.  Soon  afterwards,  he  suffered 
the  attack  of  a  nervous  fever,  which  was  succeeded 
by  other  complaints  that  brought  him  down  to  the 
grave  in  the  following  summer,  in  the  sixty-ninth 
year  of  his  age. 

That  Dr.  Price  was  a  man  of  superior  talents,  and 
that  they  were  carefully  improved  by  persevering 
study,  ail  will  acknowledge.  Like  most  of  the  pres* 
byterian  ministers  of  his  day,  he  did  not  confine  his 
pursuits  to  theology  and  the  sacred  Scripture.  Fcwr 
profound  skill  in  mathematical  calculations,  he  had 
perhaps  not  his  equal  in  the  kingdom;  and  this  skill 
he  generously  employed  in  promoting  the  benefit  not 
only  of  individuals  but  of  the  nation.  By  exposing 
the  fallacy  of  the  numerous  scheihes  which  at  that 
time  Here  formed  for  the  insurance  of  lives  and  the 
benefit  of  survivorship,  he  put  an  end  to  the  delustve 
hopes  of  many,  but  he  taught  them  and  others  to 
4uild  Oft  a  solid  foundatian.    Tbtt  widew»'  fund  (n 


'  ^  i 


lite  clergy  of  tbe  church  of  Scotland,  which  has  jM^oved 
a  blessing  to  teas  of  thousands,  was  formed  under 
his  direction ;  and  to  him  the  nation  is  said  to  be 
indebted  for  the  idea  of  the  sinking  fund,  which  sincQ 
hs  adoption  has  been  found  so  beneficial  to  the  comi^ 
munity.  On  'thes^  subjects  he  published  various 
treatises  of  singular  ingenuity  and  accuracy. 

He  wrote  also  on  civil  liberty,  and  with  the  fire 
ted  energy  of  Brutus.  Looking  around  him  in  the 
world,  he  beheld,  despotism  swaying  an  iron  sceptre 
stained  with  blood,  over  almost  the  whole  earth.  He 
heard  the  groans  of  misery  from  the  oppressed,  he  felt 
their  woes,  and  with  the  voice  of  thunder  he  claimed 
their  release.  With  multitudes  <^f  mankind  in  every 
age,  and  especially  of  those  who  make  the  most  con-^ 
epicuous  figure  in  society,  civil  liberty  has  be6n  no 
favourite:  next  to  pure  religion  she  has  met  with  the 
tnost  uncourteous  reception :  what  welcome  his  pub* 
lic^tions  on  this  subject  found  fram  his  countryment 
may  naturally  be  su pposed. 

But  with  Dr.  Price  as  a  mathematician  eHod  writet 
on  political  subjects  we  have  little  concern,  it  ia 
beyond  our  limits:  he  has  a  place  in  this  list  as  a 
minister  and  a  divine.  Early  in  life  he  appears  to 
have  imbibed  the  arian  opinions.  His  father  was  of 
the  faith  of  the  honconformists-<«*a  calvinist;  and  per* 
auaded  of  the  truth  and  importance  of  these  senti^ 
ments,  he  endeavoured  to  instil  them  into  his  son, 
who  did  not  relish  his  father's  creed,  and  bad  been 
taught  the  i^eW  opinions  by  Mr..  Jones,  one  of  the 
schoolmasters  under  whom  he  studied  the  classics* 
Being  eagerly  employed  one  day  in  reading  a  volume 
of  Dr.  Clarke's  sermons,  his  father  caught  him  and 
was  so  mui^h  displeased  that  h^  snatched  it  from  him 

se4 


424  HisTORT  ov  Disssyxtas* 

and  threw  it  into  the  fire.  Dr.  Pricefs  biographer, 
while  he  exposes  the  unwise  and  intemperate  beat  of 
the  father,  does  not  consult  the  hbnour  of  the  son 
when  he  adds,  ^'  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
this  orthodox  bigotry  contributed  more  than  any  other 
circumstance  to  lay  the  foundation  of  his  son's 
arianism. 

Dr.  Price's  publications  on  religious  subjects  are 
not  numerous.  His  sermons  contain  much  good 
sense.  His  essays  on  Providence  and  prayer  display 
great  talents ;  and  his  ^*  Questions  on  Morals''  are 
considered  as  the  ablest  defence  of  the  system  of  Cud*- 
worth  and  Clarke,  In  the  controversy  with  Dr.  Priest- 
ley on  materialism,  both  have  been  highly  praised 
for  the  temper  with  which  it  was  carried  on.  They 
certainly  appear  more  like  men  fencing  with  foils  for 
a  shew  of  skill,  than  fighting  with  swords  for  their  life» 
When  Dr.  Price  reasons  against  the  enemies  of  civil 
liberty,  he  burns  with  indignation  against  them  as 
the  enemies  of  human  happiness.  But  is  not  religious 
truth  more  important  than  political  verities,  and  are 
not  its  adversaries  greater  foes  to  mankind  than  poli- 
tical heretics?  In  order  to  maintain  ^consistency  of 
conduct,  ought  not  Dr.  Price  to  have  displayed,  here 
an  equal  degree  at  least  of  energy  and  zeal  ? 

T)ie  doctor  is  highly  commended  for  his  amiable 
deportment  in  private  life.  There  was  a  simplicity 
and  a  naweti  in  his  character,  very  remarkable  in  a 
man  who  bad  mingled  so  much  with  the  world.  His 
b}()grapher  speaks  also  in  the  highest  terms  of  his 
pitfty,  and  his  ardept  devotion  in  family  prayer. 

Of  literary  honours  he  enjoyed  great  abundancej 
About  the  year  1763  be  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  the 
royal  society,  and  tp  th<^  transactions  of  that  learned 


tirmn  ow  kmikevt  DisiBirfBM.        4i$ 

body  he  liberally  contributed.  The  univeisity  of 
Aberdeen,  in  1769,  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  divinity ;  and  in  1788,  from  Yale  College, 
in  America,  he  received  the  title  of  doctor  of  laws* 
His  correspondents  included  many  of  the  most 
eminent  characters  in  England,  in  America,  and  in 
France. 


I  f 


JAMES  FORDYCE,  D.  D. 

His  father  was  a  merchant  of  great  respectabilitjT 
in  Aberdeen.  James  was  bom  there,  and  pursued 
his  studies  in  the  university  of  his  native  city.  Being 
early  licensed  as  a  preacher,  according  to  the  forms  of 
the  Scotch  church,  he  was  first  settled  as  one  of  the 
ministers  of  what  is  called  the  collegiate  charge  at 
Brechin.  Some  years  afterwards  he  received  a  pre- 
sentation to  the  parish  of  Alloa,  near  Stirling.  The 
people,  having  a  partiality  for  another  minister,  re- 
ceived the  doctor  with  great  coldness,  and  some  with 
great  aversion.  But  by  the  able  and  affectionate 
manner  in  which  he  conducted  the  public  services ; 
and  by  the  kind  condescension,  seriousness,  and 
punctuality  in  the  private  duties  of  his  office,  he 
overcame  every  prejudice,  was  highly  esteemed  and 
beloved,  and  when  he  left  them  his  removal  excited  a 
general  regret.  Here  it  is  probable  the  doctor  spent 
his  best  and  most  useful  days*  While  he  was  in  this 
place,  some  occasional  sermons  which  he  published, 
especially  one  before  the  general  assembly  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  "  on  the  Folly,  Infamy,  and  Mi- 
sery of  unlawful  Pleasures,"  raised  his  character  very 
high  for  talents  and  eloquence.  About  this  time,  and 


perfaapftoti  this  actoudt,  he  reoeivedfrom  theuniter^ 
tity  of  Glasgow  the /degree  of  doctor  of. divinity. 

Having  bad  occa^on  to  preach  in  London,  while 
pa  a  visit  to  bis  friends,  in  1760,  be  received  ah 
unaninKMJs  invitation  from  Dr.  Lawrence's  congrega- 
tion in  MonkwelUstreet,  to  be  co-pastor  with  their 
aged  minister,  and  afterwards  his  successor.  The  in- 
vitation he  accepted,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
public  life  in  the  metropolis  of  the  British  empire. 
Dr.  Lawrence  did  not  long  survive  his  coming,  and 
the  whole  of  the  pastoral  care  devolved  on  him.  The 
congregation  very  rapidly  increased,  and  by  his  man* 
ner  of  preaching  he  drew  around  him  a  multitude  of 
jgenteel  admirers. 

The  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  was  the  doctor's  dar« 
ling  study  and  pursuit,  and  whatever  could  give  it 
i^ffect,  both  in  sentiment  and  composition,  he  care- 
fully sought:  nor  was  he  less  attentive  to  the  charms 
of  elocution ;  and  whatever  the  voice  or  action  could 
contribute  to  produce,  he  sought  to  give. 

Dr.  Fordyce  was  a  man  of  unfeigned  piety,  and 
some  ministers  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with 
bimr  said  that  his  conversation  was  eminently  devout^ 
and  that  he  appeared  in  the  parloux  to  be  the  warm« 
hearted,  evangelical  Christian. 

In  his  public  services,  though  he  was  for  years  greatly, 
admired  and  followed,  he  was  by  no  meaps  one  of 
the  most  successful  preachers.  The  radical  defi^t 
consisted  in  his  not  bringing  forward,  habitually  and 
abundantly,  the  peculiar  principles  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  In  order  to  success,  which  consists  in  brings 
iiQg  souls  to  the  possession  of  the  heavenly  blessedi^ 
ness,  these  must  be  prominent  in  the  discourses  of 
the  Christian  pratgr.     Without  these,,  the  effept  of 


fine  eentiments^  elegant  language,  a  melodioufit  yoke, 
and  the  most  powerful  action,  is  feebleness  itself.      ^ 

Dr  Fordyce  saw  himself  surrounded  by  multitudei^ 
of  genteel  people,  and  especially  of  young  gentlemeir 
and  young  ladies  of  the  first  respectaliility  in; the 
city.  To  them  he  considered  it  his  business  to  preachy 
and  he  framed  his  sermons  in  a  manner  which  he  con- 
ceived to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  their  circumstances^ 
Specimens  of  them  we  have  in  "  his  Discourses  t9 
younij-  Women,"  and  in  his  "  Addresses  to  young 
Men/'  Such  distinctions  as  arise  from  wealtbf 
elegance,  refinement,  and  literary  attainments,  Christ 
ba*^  not  taught  his  ministers  to  make.  They  are  til 
consider  their  hearers  as  saints  or  sinners ;  and  to 
those  who  are  sinners  they  are  to  say,  ^^  except  a  man 
be  born, again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God/^ 
To  the  genteel  fathers  and  mothers,  and  the  elegant 
young  men  and  women  of  his  congregatio^J,  Dr*  For-^ 
dyce  did  not  speak  in  this  way,  but  seeoqed  to  lo6k 
on  them  in  general  as  having  some  portion  of  goodness^ 
which  needed  only  to  be  cherished  and  improved. 
To  those  who  had  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  planted 
in  their  hearts,  his  moral  maxims  might  be  exceed^ 
ingly  useful;  though  even  in  this  department  hi^^ 
views  of  life  were  in  some  things  too  romantic  fo|s^ 
ordinary  use. 

To  the  elegance  of  his  compositions  mu^fa  praise  19 
to  be  given.  His  elocution  was  all  that  h^  coukl 
make  it  by  intense  study  and  labour.  In  a  simple^' 
natural  delivery  he  did  not  excel :  some  thought  there 
wad  too  much  the  appearance  of  affectation  and  art# 
He  was  more  allied  to  Cicero  than  Deniosthenes^ 
Sometimes,  however,  he  would  i^ttempt  all  the-  vehe-: 
mence  of  the  Grecian  orator,  but  frequently  he  di(^ 


4flll  HISTORY  OF   DISSEKTSfttf. 

bM  succeed :  some  of  His  hearers  laughed  when  he 
was  labouring  to  make  them  cry,  and  sat  unaffected 
while  he  hoped  to  make  their  hair  stand  on  end. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  ministry  the  congregation 
declined.  A  dispute  with  Mr.  Toller,  the  morning 
preacher,  injured  it.  Men  who  are  borne  high  on  the 
wings  of  popular  applause,  are  in  danger  of  m^iking 
unreasonable  claims  for  themselves,  and  of  forgetting 
what  is  due  to  others.  But  the  main  reason  of  the 
decay  wfes  a  deficiency  of  evangelical  truth;*  for 
whatever  ornaments,  or  beauties,  or  excellence  an 
orator's  preaching  may  have,  if  he  has  not  Christ  in 
it,  people  grow  tired  of  it  at  last.  In  1782,  listening 
to  his  own  feelings  and  the  advice  of  medical  friends, 
he  bid  adieu  to  the  pulpit,  and  retired  into  the  bosom 
frf  private  life.  His  public  labours  were  closed  with 
a-eharge  to  his  successor.  Dr.  Lindsay :  it  is  the  best 
of  his  publications,  and  contains  principles  so  excel- 
lent, counsels  so  wise  and  good,  and  views  of  divine 
truth  so  truly  scriptural,  that  if  his  own  ministry  had 
been  conducted  by  them  in  all  their  extent,  he  would 
have  never  had  reason  to  complain  of  the  decay  of 
his  congregation,  or  of  want  of  success. 

After  quitting  his  public  station,  he  spent  several 
years  in  a  retreat  near  Christchurch,  in  Hampshire, 
where  he  enjoyed  the  intimacy  of  lord  Bute,  who 
was  bis  neighbour,  and  who  had  bid  adieu  to  the 
busy  world  like  himself;  and  he  had  free  access  to 
his  valuable  library.  Here  he  published  bis  '^  Ad- 
dresses to  the  Deity.'^  The  doctor  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Bath j  and  died  there  suddenly  on  the  first 
of  October,  1796,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his 
age;  "  with  the  peace  of  God  in  his  heart  (says  Dr. 
Liqdsay  ia  hia  funeral  sermon),  and  the  triumpbapl 


Li:VSa  bF  EMINSNT  DSS^BIITFRS.  Mft 

Jiopeof  Chrisjtianity  to  HI uminate  his  future  prospeet^' 
•ttud  dispel  the  tenrors  of  impeodiiig  dissolution/^ 


JOSEPH  PRIESTLEY,  L.  L.  D.  R  R.  S. 

.  ■  • 

This  celebrated,  philosopher  and  polemical  divine, 
Vbo  has  instructed  the  world  by  his  diseoveries,  as 
much  as  he  has  iagitated  the  church  by  controversy^ 
was  born  at  Fieldhead,  near  Heokmondwicke,  the 
thirteenth  of  March,  1733.  His  parents  were  ^pioii^ 
orthodox  dissenters ;  but  he  waa  brought  up  by  an 
aunt,  who  spared  no  cost  to  giveihim  such  an  eika<St^ 
tion  as  shoiild.qualify  him  for  the  ministry.  Aftw 
acquiring  a  considerable  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebcew,  he  studied  under  Dr.  Ashwortb,  Bt 
Daventry.  FondnegiS  for  books  was,  jEiccordiag  to 
bis  own  account,. the  motive  which  induced  ihisi  to 
enter  the  ministry  ;  and  as  '^  the.nio^t  heretj<ial  mini* 
stersjn  the  neighbourhood  were  frequently  hisaont^a 
guests,'^  he  seems  to  have  acquired,  before  he  went 
to  the  academy,  a  predilection  for  their  heresieB* 
Having  experienced  "  great  horror  of  mind,'^  from  a 
conviction  that  he  had  never  been  regenerated,  and 
having,  been  denied  communion  with  the  chnrch 
where  bis  aunt  attended,  on  account  of  bis  rejection 
of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin;  it  should  excite  no 
surprise  to  hedr.him  say,  ^*  I  was,  before  I  went  to 
the  academy,  an  arminian,  and  when  there,  saw 
reason  to  embrace  the  heterodox  side  of  almost  all  the 
questions  which  were  continually  debated,  though  I 
was  not  yet  more  than  an  arlan  \^- 

He  first  settled  at  Needham  Mf^rket,  in  Suffolk  s 

*  Memoirs  of  hu  owa  life. 


HUSOET  Of  mSf  KKTBJI8* 

|Mit  as  he  hetrqrcd  his  arian  sentimeiits,  his  **  hearertf 
feir  off  apace'/'  Here  also  he  says,  ^'  I  became  per- 
suaded of  the  falsity  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonementy 
6f  the  inspiration  of  the  authors  of  the  books  of  Scrip- 
ture as  writers,  and  of  all  the  ideas  of  supernatural 
influence,  except  for  the  purpose  of  miracles^/' 

He  settled,  in  1758,  at  Nantwich,  in  Cheshire, 
where  his  whole  time  was  occupied  with  the  labours 
of  a  school,  and  with  experiments  in  natural  philo- 
sophy, to  which  he  now  began  to  apply  himself  with 
Ifpsat  diligence*  He- removed  to  Warrington,  in  17e2» 
ta  become  tutor  to  the  academy,  which  was  establish- 
ed there  under  the  auspices  of  the  heterodox  dissen- 
ters. Here  he  married  and  resided  six  years. 
^.  Till  this  time,  he  says,  he  had  *^  no  particular  fond* 
Jiess  for  the  studies  relating  to  his  profession  as  a 
ininister  ;'^  and  no  one  who  reads  the  memoirs  of  his 
subsequent  life,  could  perceive  in  them  any  increas* 
ed  attachment ;  for  now  the  foundation  of  his  future^ 
feme  was  laid  by  application  to  the  study  of  chemistry* 
Meeting  with  Dr.  Franklin  in  London,  and  engaging^ 
at  his  suggestion,  to  write  the  history  of  electricity^ 
his  attentiont'  was  forcibly  directed  to  a  subject  in 
which  he  wi»  destined  to  excel.  Having  published 
his  *^  Chart  of  Biography,^*  Dr.  Percival,  of  Man-* 
Chester,  then  a  student  at  Edinburgh,  procured  for 
hitn  a  diploma  of  L.  L.  D.  and  he  was  admitted  ta 
the  royal  society,  in  consequence  of  his  new  expe«- 
viments  in  electricity. 

After  he!  had  attained  to  these  honours,  he  accepted 
in*  1767^  an  invitation  to  become  minister  of  Millbill 
chapel,  Leeds.  Here  he  ^'  became  what  is  called  a 
iocinian.'^    When  he  says,  **  I  always  considered  the 


% 

nffice  of  a  Christian  mi  listerias,  the  mostAioncMiiaUe 
Md  any  upon  dartH,  and  in  the  studies  proper  to:it'I 
^ways  took  the/g«eatest  delight/'  it  must  be  left  to 
ikhe  reader  !ko  detercniine  how  this  declaration  can  1;^ 
^reconciled'  to  a  foDiner  avowal  and  to  the  chief  pur^ 
suits  of  hi$ life.     At  Leeds  he  eouMnencedhis  disco^ 
treries  in  air  and  in  chemistry  in  general,  on  which -faK( 
p^ibUshedin  1772.   Bnl'he  soon  exchanged  the  office 
f>i  a. Christian  minister  f<^  that  of 'tibrairian  to  the  earl 
of Shelburne,  afterwards  marquis  of  Lansdowne^  which 
induced  him  to  quit  Leeds,  m  orderito  r^^de  near 
tbetearh  ^  He  travelled  with  his  ndble^ patron  on  tb6 
continent  of  J^urope,  in*  1774;'  but  songie  diffei«nc* 
afterwards  arising  between  them;  be- Mmoved  to. take 
change:  of  a  congregation  in.  6ir(niDghainiv     Her^ 
hie. 'Published  hifr"Histo«>y  of  the^  Gorpuptions  dC 
Ghristianity,ViVhich  dtew  'him  into^the  controversy 
already  reviewed*    tfee  application'^  of  the  dissenter* 
£ai:«th6.  repeal  of  the  t^st  act,  involved  him  also  in  d 
contest  with,  the  established  clergy  of  Birmingham^ 
But  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  «>f  the  Frencii 
jrevolution,  July  14v  1794,  becanje^tiie  occasion  o^bhi 
quktmg  the  kingdom;  for  though  he  had  donisno^ 
thing  to  deserve  it,  the  mob  was  excited  by  some 'who, 
had  malice  to  devise  what  they  <liad  not  courage  to 
execute,  to  burn  his .  meeting-'bouse  and  dwelling^, 
^bere  they  demolished  his  library,  apparatus,  and 
every  thing  belonging  to  him  on  which  they  could  lay 
their  violent  hands.  .  ' 

Dr.  Priestley  fled  to  London,  where  the  congi;ega^ 
tion.  of  the  late  Dr.  Price,  with  much.magnanimitygf, 
irhose  him  to  succeed  their  former  pastor.  Feeling^, 
hpwever,  thathe  was  an  object  of  abhorrence  tQ*many= 
af  his  couatrymen,  his  own  attachipeqt  to  his  native. 


4JS  HI8T0ST  OW  DI8SBK¥SE8» 

kad  was  weakened,  and  in  1704,  he  migrated  to 
America,  where  he  received  the  kind  treatment^and 
assured  protection  f which  he  ought  to  have  en- 
joyed in  Britain.  He  settled  at  Northumberland,  in 
Pensylvania.  '^  Though  he  was,'^  says  his  son, 
^*  uniformly  treated  with  kindness  and  respect  by  the 
people  of  the  place,  yet  their  sentiments  in  religion 
were  so  different  fix>m  his  own,  and  the  nature  and 
tendency  of  his  opinions  were  so  little  understood, 
that  the  establishment  of  a  place^of  unitarian  worship, 
perfectly  free  from  any  calvinistic  or  arian  tenet,  was 
next  to  impossible.  All  therefore  that  be  could  do 
in  that,  was,  for  the  two  or  three  first  years,  to  read  a 
service  either  at  his  own  or  my  house,  at  which  a  few 
{perhaps  a  dozen)  English  persons  were  usually  pre- 
sent. In  time  as  their  numbers  increased,  he  made 
use  of  a  school-room,  near  his  house,  where  from 
twenty  to  thirty  regularly  attended'." 

About  the,  beginning  of  the  year  1804,  he  was 
alarmed  by  the  increase  of  a  complaint  which  he  sus« 
pected  to  be  a  stoppage  of  the  aesophagus.  He  was 
St  one  time  incapable  of  swallowing  any  thing  for 
nearly  thirty  hours.  "  He  dwelt,''  says  his  son, 
*'  with  satisfaction  on  having  led  a  useful  as  well 
as  a  happy  life,  and  on  the  advantages  he  had  derived 
irom  reading  the  Scriptures  daily.  Desiring  me  to 
reach  to  bim  a  pamphlet,  which  was  at  his  bedV  head, 

•  Simpson  on  the  Duration  of  future  Punishment;' 

*  it  will  be  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  you  to  read  that 
pamphlet,'  said  he,  giving  it  to  me.  ^  It  contains  my 
sentiments,  and  a  belief  of  them  will  be  a  support  to 
you  in  tl^e  most  trying  circumstances,  as  it  has  beea 
to  me.     We  shall  all  meet  finally  ;  we  only  require 

f  !Meftioir»,  p.  IQU 


LIVES   OF   EMINENT    DISSENTERS.  433 

different  degrees  of  discipline  suited  to  our  different 
tempers,  to  prepare   us  for  our  final  happiness'/^* 
To  his  grand  children  he  said,  as  they  were  retiring 
to  bed, "  I  am  going  to  sleep  as  well  as  you,  for  death 
is  only  a  good  long  sound  sleep  in  the  grave,  and  we 
shall  meet  again  ^'*     Thus   he  departed,   February 
the  sixth,  1804,  in  the  close  of  his  seventy-first  year* 
His  character  as  a  chemist  and  natural  philosopher, 
which  is  the  only  firm  basis  of  his  fame,  is  foreign  to 
this  history.     As  a  man,  the  mildness  of  his  disposi- 
tion, the  urbanity  of  his  manners,  and  the  uniform 
integrity  of  his  conduct  demand  respect ;  while  in 
the  relation  of  a  member  of  civil  society,  his  peace- 
able demeanour  and  valuable  discoveries  deserved 
treatment  far  different  from  that  which  he  received. 
Impartial  truth  must  affix  the  brand  of  ingratitude,  as 
•well  as  of  injustice  on  the  conduct  of  his  native 
country  towards  him  ;  for  his  political  principles  were 
in  favour  of  the  British  constitution,  and  if  ever  he 
was  a  republican,  it  was  not  till  after  his  experience 
of  its  practical  effects  had  weaned  him  from  our  sys- 
tem of  government,  and  his  hospitable  reception  in 
in  America  had  made  him,  from  gratitude,  a  convert 
to  her  politics.     Previously  to  that  period,  he  is  said 
to  have  declared  that  he  was  in  theology,  an  unitarian  ; 
but  approving  of  king,  lords,  and  commons,  he  was  a 
trinitarian  in  government.  Whatever,  indeed,  was  his 
opinion,  it  furnished  no  excuse  to  his  persecutors ; 
for  he  never  violated  the  genuine  laws  of  our  consti- 
tution in  his  writings  which  were  addressed  to  the 
judgment  of  the  discerning,  not  to  the  passions  of  the 
mob,  and  were  rather  tame  than  intemperate. 

As  to  his  theological  creed,  it  could  not  justify  the 

•  Memoirs,  p.  21  ?•  *  Memoirs,  p.  21$. 

VOL.    IV.  F  f 


434  HISTORY  OF   OISSClNTERS. 

usage  be  received j  for  though  he  led  the  way  taaii 
open  determiDed  avowal  of  socinianism,  no  patron  of 
liberty  of  conscience  will  impute  this  to  him  as  a 
civil  crime ;  nor  should  the  friends  of  the  orthodox 
creed  dondemn  him  for  the  frankness  which  rendered 
him  the  real,  though  unintentional  iriend  of  the  truth, 
which  has  triumphed  ever  since  Priestley  tore  the 
mask  of  concealment  from  error,  and  bade  it  be 
j^onest.  The  reflections  which  he  poured  upon  evan- 
gelical sentiments,  were  often  bitter  enough,  indeed; 
but  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  charges  brought 
s^ainst  him  and  his  creed ;  and  it  was  Horseley  rather 
than  Priestley,  who  enlisted  the  depraved  passions 
of  men,  and  the  cruel  prejudices  of  party  politics,  to 
contend  in  the  arena,  which  should  have  been  occu« 
pied  solely  by  the  authority  of  revelation,  and  the 
evidence  of  uuimpassioned  argument,  if  ^^  the  here^ 
siarch^'  ever  enjoyed  a  triumph,  he  owed  it  not  to  his 
own  prowess,  but  to  his  enemies'  violence ;  and  if  he 
may  exult  over  the  ruins  at  Birmingham,  orthodoxy 
must  weep  to  think  that  her  name  was  usurped  by 
those  who  rushed  into  the  field  and  lost  her  cause. 

When,  however,  we  look'  into  the  memoirs  of 
Priestley  for  the  Christian  and  divine,  what  language 
can  express  sufficient  regret  for  the  disappointment 
which  we  experience  ?  Induced  by  the  love  of  books 
to  enter  the  ministry,  into  which  zeal  ibr  the  glory 
of  Christ  and  compassion  for  the  souls  of  men  should 
have  led  him,  the  consequences  to  himself  and  the 
church  weye  just  such  as  every  discerning  Christian 
would  have  anticipated  with  anguish  and  alaroi.  To 
rid  himself  of  the  dread  which  he  had  felt  Jrom  a  con- 
sciousness of  being  unregenerate,  he  adopted  the 
compendious  but  hazardous  method  of  denying  the 


LIVES   OP   EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  ^435 

lieceslsity  of  regeneration.  Hencfe  all  his  future  aber- 
rations from  the  truth ;  for  to  the  carnal  mind,  light 
appears  darktiess  and  darkness  light,  evil  good  and 
good  evil,  bitter  is  put  for  sweet  and  s^eef  for  bitter. 
Hence  also  the  mere  toan  everywhere  shews  himself, 
instead  of  the  Christian.  The  student,  the  author,' 
the  chemist,  the  philosopher  meets  us  in  every  pagef 
of  his  aiito-biography  ;'feut' if,  for  a  moment,  we 
conceive  we  have  caught  a  glimpse  bf  the  Christian 
divine,  on  a  closer  inspection,  we  find  it  was  only  his 
libade.  His  diary  seems  to  have  bfeen  preserved  to 
convince  the  world,  that  though  true  religion  is  the 
divine  spark,  the  ethereal  soul,  breathed  into  us  by 
the  lips  of  the  eternal,  false  religion  is  at  best  the 
mere  carcase,  formed  from  the  dust  whence  the  beasts 
were  taken.  The  best  specimen  of  mere  human 
nature  is,  indeed, .here  set  off  against  Christ  and  the 
grace  of  the  Gospel : — mildness,  prudence,  science, 
literature,  morals,  and  public  spirit  appear  in  the 
doctor's  memoirs.  Yet  what  a  display  of  a  fallen 
creature !  What  an  illustration  of  the  truth,  that  mere 
man  at  his  best  estate  is  altogether  vanity  !  Self  is  the 
animating  soul  of  his  S3rstem,  it  beats  in  every  vein, 
and  though  it  is  modest  and  retiring,  in  consequence 
of  literary  culture,  it  is  self  still.  If,  on  any  occasion, 
Priestley  thinks  of  others,  it  is  not  God,  but  the 
creature.  Through  life  and  on  the  verge  of  death, 
he  exults  either  that  he  has  lived  a  happy  life,  res- 
pected by  the  respectable,  or  that  he  has  been  useful 
to  the  world.  When  his  young  friends  at  Birming-^ 
ham  expressed  their  regard  for  him  after  the  riots,  he 
exults  not  in  the  evidence  this  afforded  of  his  having 
been  a  blessing  to  them,  but  in  the  thought  that  he 
had  done  his  duty  to  them.     All  this  had  not  been 

F  f  2 


436  HJSXORY   OF   0I81SENTKR9. 

evil,  if  it  had  notbjeeo  every  thing. .  But  we  ask  whal 
has  become  of  the  Deity  ?  Where  is  the  pure  vital 
flame  of  regar.d  for  his  glory  ?  Has  heaven  revoked 
the.  precept,  which  was  to  prQphets^  apostles,  aud 
ancient  saints,  thecompendiumof  all  religion,  ^^  whe- 
ther therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatever  ye  do,  do 
a|l  to  the  glory  of.  God." 

.  For  a  profound  theologian,  fit  to  explode  errors 
and  elicit  truth,  Pr.  Priestley  was  by  far  too. careless, 
and  precipitate..    He  never  afforded  time  enough  to 
mature  his  own  sentiments,  much  less  to  correct  tl^ose 
of  a  world.    He  ,was  perpetually  removing  from  place, 
to  place ;  in  one  part  of  his  life  a  laborious  school- 
master, in  another,  travelling  companion  or  librarian^-* 
to  a  nobleman  ;  spending  much  of  his  time  in  walking . 
or  other  exercises,  more  in  philosophical  experipients. 
or  preparing  for  the  press;  and  though  a  philosopher, 
and  a  minister  of  religion,  not  only  reading  novels  and. 
plays,  but, "  for  many  years  of  his  life,  giving  never* 
less  than  two  or  three  hours  a  day  to  games  of  amuse- 
ment, ascardsandbackgammonV^  He  seems  to  have, 
imagined,  that  discoveries  for  eternity  were  to  be 
made  by  the  same  mechanical  process  as  experiments, 
in  physical  science,  and  that  nothing  further   was 
necessary  fur  the  attainment  of  truth   than  such  a 
sceptical  indifference  as  shall  hold  the  mind  in  equUU 
brio^  and  a  few  hours  study.     Almost  all  his  works 
bear  the  marks  of  this  haste  and  rashness.     Unhap- 
pily for  him,  to  precipitancy  in  adopting  error,  he 
added  pertinacity  in  adhering  to  it.    He  could  always 
advance  in  the  road  of  heterodoxy,  but  never  recede. 
As  he  found  himself  before  he  died,  the  last  stubborn 
defender  of  the  phlogistic  theory,  and  was  considered 

^  Memoiri. 


UVBS   OF    EMil^ENT    DISStiNtERS.  437 

by  other  chemists  as  a  good  exp^ri'mentalrst,  but'  a 
bad  6y8tematiser ;  so  he  was  regarded  by  profound 
divines  as  obstinately  adhering,  in  spite  of  evidence, 
to  doctrines  which  he  had  espoused  upon  the  most 
8upeI^ficial  and  inadequate  research. 

His  death  completed  the  scene  exhibited  through 
life.  The  eternal  fate  of  the  individual  must  be  left 
to  his  judge,  who  alone  can  say  what  passed  after  he 
ceased  to  hold  intercourse  with  those  who  watched 
his  dying  moments*.  But  a«  the  cause  of  socinianisni 
lived  in  this  champion,  it  died  in  hisdeatii.  When 
he  bid^  his  family  good  night,  and  speaks  of  death  as 
**  a  good  long  sleep/^  we  almost  fancy  ourselves  tran-^ 

i^orted'to  Paris  at  the  era  of  the  infidel  and  revolu- 
tionary fury;  for,  alas!  Priestley  speaks  only  of 
sleeping  in  the  grave,  and  not  like  Paul,  of"  sleeping 
in  Jesus,"  Nor  is  this  the  worst ;  for  when  we  see 
the  dying  philosopher  pointing  to  a  book  on  the  ter-^ 
ininatian  of  hell  torments,  declaring  that  it  had  been 
his  support  in  trying  moments,  and  recommending  it 
to  his  child  as  a  source  of  consolation,  can  the  bene- 
volence of  the  Christian  refrain  from  pouring  over  the 
afflictive  scene  the  te»r^  of  bitter  regret  ?  Are  these 
thy  consolations,  O  Socinus?    Could  the  amiable, 

*  His  brother  Timothy  Priestley,  of  London,  preached  a  funeral 
sernDOD  for  him,  in  which  he  says,  **  Cqriosity  has  brought  numbers 
to  heav  what  1  say  of  his  eternal  sta^e.  This  I  say,  not  one  in  hear 
ven*  nor  ou  the  road  to  that  happy  ^orld,  will  be  more  glad  to  find 
him  there  than  myself.  When  I  cpnsider  that  the  praise  and  glory 
of  free  grace  is  that  which  God  principally  designs,  and  that  we 
fiiid  in  divine  revelation  some  of  the  chiefest  offenders  have  been 
singled  out,  and  made  monuments'' of  mercy,  such  as  Manasseh, 
Pai\l,  and  others,?  and  also  that  he  <  who  can  create  the  world  in  a 
moment,  and  raise  the  dead  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  can  make  ^ 
change  in  any  man  in  one  moment,  here  and  here  alone  are  founded 
nay  hopes,? 

jrf3 


*8S  HISTOmT   OF  DI8SBNTSRS* 

the  upright,  the  scientific  Priestley  turn  from  hw 
family  with  no  better  alleviation  to  the  parting  pangs 
than  this  consideration, "  we  shall  all  meet  finally, 
we  only  require  different  degrees  of  discipline  (the 
discipline  of  hell !)  to  prepare  us  for  final  happiness/* 
It  the  creed  of  this  distinguished  man  were  true,  the 
veriest  wretch   that  died  unpardoned,   unbelieving, 
imrepenting,  might  say  as  much  as  Priestley, "  we 
shall  all  meet  finally,  for  we  only  require  different 
degrees,  of  discipline/'    And  what  turned  the  eyes  of 
the  philosopher  downwards  to  the  state  of  punish-^ 
ment?    Was  it  because  he  could  not,  with  Stephen^ 
^^  loi>k  upward,  see  Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
and   iqvoke  him,  saying.   Lord  Jesus,  receive   my 
spit  it  ?*'     But  from  such  a  scene  of  clouds  and  dark- 
ness, of  s^Bap  before  the  resurrection,  and  punishment 
forages  after,  we  turn  away  with  the  anguish  of  deep 
commiseration,  only  repeating  again,  that  the  death- 
bed of  Dr.  Priestley  should  be  regarded  as  pronounc- 
)Qj}  tl^e  damnation  of  the  socihian  creedi 


JOHN  GUYSE,  D.  D. 

Onr  list  of  independent  ministers  begins  with  this 
eminent  man,  who  derived  his  descent  from  pious 
parents,  and  was  born  at  Hertford  in  1680.  Highly 
favoured  of  heaven,  he  early  ftelt  the  renewing  influ- 
ence of  divine  grace,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years 
was  admitted  to  communion  with  thedissenting  church 
in  his  native  town.  Having  the  work  of  the  ministry 
in  his^  heart  while  a  youth,  he  applied  himself  with 
great  diligence  to  classical  learning,  and  afterwards 
pursued  a  course  of  academical  studies  under  the 


J 


LIVES   OF   EMINENT   DISSENTERS*  430 

tuition  of  Mr.  Payne,  at  Saffron  Walden.    In  his 
twentieth  year  he  began  to  preach,  and  was  chosen 
;issistant  to  Mr.  Haworth,  the  ejected  minister  from 
St.  Peter's  church  at  St.  Albans,  who  had  now  been 
for  twenty  years  pastor  of  the  congregation  at  Hert- 
ford.    Not  long  after  Mr.  Haworth  rested  from  his 
labours,  Dr.  Guyse  was  unanimously  invited  to  sue* 
ceed  him ;  but  so  diffident  was  'he  of  his  fitness  for 
the  office,  that  a  considerable  time  elapsed,  before 
their  earnest  intreaties  could  prevail  on  him  to  un* 
dertake  the  pastoral  charge.     Here  he  continued  to 
labour  for  many  years  with  great  acceptance  and  suc- 
cess ;  and  though  he  had  invitations  to  more  advan- 
tageous situations,  a  sense  of  duty  detained  him  in 
the  first   field   of  his  ministry.     The  arian    heresy, 
which  spread  through  the  land,  and  infected  indivi- 
duals  in  most  congregations,  reached  Hertford,  and 
threatened  the  ruin  of  the  flock.     Dr.  Guy«e  aware 
of  the  danger,  like  a  good  shepherd,  would  not  quit 
them  at  a  season  so  perilous,  but  boldly  stood  tbr« 
ward  in  defence  of  the  truth.     That  his  discourses 
might  have  a  more  lasting  and  extensive  effect,  he 
published,  in  1719,  a  small  vol4]me  on  the  divinity 
and  person  of  Christ,  and  another  in  1721f  on  the 
divinity  of  tUe  Holy  Spirit.     Some  years  after  this 
dreadful  curse  had  been  averted  from  the  congrega- 
tion, his  health  became  impaired,  and  the  services  of 
the  Lord's-day  so  much  oppressed  his  frame,  tl^at  he 
was  scarcely  recovered  before  the  arrivitl  of  the  next ; 
so  that  there  appeared  a  danger  of  his  being  wholly 
laid  aside  from  active  labour.     A  change  of  situation 
and  a  diminution  of  public  services  being  represented 
as  absolutely  necessary  to  his  continuance  in   tbe 
ministry,  in  1727  he  listened  to  a  call  from  London 

rf  4 


440  HISTORY   OF   DISSENTERS. 

by  a  part  of  Matthew  Clarke's  congregation  which 
had  separated  from  his  successor;  and  he  became 
their  minister  at  a  meeting-house  in  New  Broad- 
street  ^  There  his  talents,  matured  by  assiduous 
reading  and  reflection  in  the  retirement  of  the  country, 
found  a  proper  field  for  their  exercise,  were  called 
forth  in  the  public  services  of  the  metropolis,  and  had 
their  weight,  influence,  and  utility  in  all  their  deli« 
berations. 

In  1732,  the  university  of  Aberdeen  conferred  ou 
him  the  degree  of  D.  D.  It  is  said  to  have  beea 
without  his  knowledge,  and  the  diploma  was  con- 
veyed to  him  ill  the  most  respectful  manner.  Some- 
times a  university  struck  with  uncommon  merits,  or' 
wishing  to  bestow  a  peculiar  favour  on  a  friend,  con- 
fers her  honours  free  and  unsolicited  ;  but  those  who 
are  behind  the  scenes,  know  that  in  most  cases  some 
kind  friend  secretly  makes  application  to  the  learned 
body,  pays  the  fees  (which  is  a  more  important  con- 
sideration than  many  imagine),  and  the  diploma  comes 
as  it  were  by  magic  to  the  happy  man,  who  is  asto- 
nished to  find  himself  so  extensivelv  known  and  so 
highly  honoured.  But  in  whatever  way  the  degree 
came,  it  was  richly  merited.  If  profound  and  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  theology  and  biblical  criticism  gives 
a  claim  to  the  literary  honours  conferred  on  a  divine, 
John  Guyse  could  prefer  that  claim ;  and  the  univer- 

f  A  ventiment  suggested  to  him  by  Mr.  Bragge  is  supposed  to 
have  had  considerabie  iuHocnce  in  determiniog  his  mind  on  the 
occasion :  **  there  are  various  reasons  for  a  minister's  lawfully  leav« 
in<(  his  people,  and  one  certainly  is,  when  upon  a  full  trial  his 
labours  are  too  great  for  his  health.  Christ  tlops  not  call  upon  his 
•erviintM  to  kiH  themselves  in  liis  service :  he  is  too  good  ai  master  to 
rei^uire  it,  and  too  great  a  one  to  need  it." 


LIVES  OF   EMINENT   DISSENTERS.    •         441 

I 

'  sity  which  bestowed  it  upon  him,  did  honour  to 
itself. 

For  a  long  course  of  years  Dr.  Guyse  continued 
his  labours  among  his  people,  and  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  he  was  assisted  by  his  only  son,  who 
died  two  years  before  his. father.  In  the  latter  part 
of  life  he  was  afflicted  with  a  painful  lameness  in  hid: 
leg,  and  a  decay  of  sight  which  ended  in  blindness. 
He  however  determined  still  to  continue  to  preach  ; 
and  after  the  morning  service  of  the  first  day,  an  old 
lady  of  his  congregation,  it  is  said,  enraptured  with 
the  discourse,  went  into  the  vestry,  and  in  the  fulness 
of  her  heart  exclaimed,  "  doctor,  I  wish  yon  bad 
been  blind  these  twenty  years,  for  you  never  preached 
so  good,  a  sermon  in  your  life  as  you  have  done'  to^' 
day/^  That  the  good  woman^s  remark  was  not  wholly 
void  of  foundation,  is  more  than  probable.  He  had 
been  accustomed  to  write  all  his  sermons,  and  to  read 
them  according  to  tiie  evil  practice  of  the  age.  The 
language  was  more  studied,  sentences  more  stiff,  the 
delivery  more  formal,  and  the  tones  more  monotonous 
and  cold.  But  wheu,  after  his  blindness,  his  well- 
furnished  mind  framed  a  discourse  in  the  thoughts, 
every  thing  was  more  suited  to  a  popular  audience  :• 
the  language  became  that  of  conversation,  more  free 
and  perspicuous:  the  illustrations  were  by  a  man 
preaching  in  the  pulpit,  not  studying  in  his  library? 
there  was  a  greater  simplicity  and  edge  in  the  ideas, 
and  the  delivery  was  more  animated  as  well  as  more 
natural.  We  wish  no  man  blind  that  he  may. be  a 
better  preacher;  but  we  wish  all  to  preach  in  a 
natural,  simple,  instructive,  animated,  and  affec- 
tionate  manner,  while  they  have  eyes  to  see. 

It  would  be  doing  injustice  to  Dr.  Guyse  tacon^ 


440  HISTORY  OF   DiaSENTEM. 

aider  him  as  an  ordinary  man  in  his  day :  he  was 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  chief  of  the  independent 
ministers,  and  became  so  by  no  illegitimate  means. 
He  attained  his  eminence  and  his  influence  by  his 
talents,  his  wisdom,  his  piety,  his  zeal,  and  his  public 
spirit.  Students  found  him  an  affectionate  father, 
and  a  faithful  counsellor ;  and  younger  ministers  had 
recourse  to  him  in  their  difficulties,  for  they  could 
confide  in  his  prudence  and  his  ft'iendship.  For  his 
indigent  brethren  (and  this  has  alwaj's  been  a  nume* 
rous  class  among  the  dissenters)  he  deeply  felt,  and 
was  always  ready  to  give  every  assistance  in  his 
power.  In  promoting  the  interests  of  the  KingV 
head  Society,  an  institution  to  which  the  highest 
praise  is  due,  he  was  ardent,  persevering,  and 
active. 

As  a  champion  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel, 
Dr.ljruyse  stood  forth  in  the  first  rank  of  the  army  of 
Christ,  and  braved  the  reproach  of  want  of  candour, 
charity,  the  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  thinking  for  him- 
self, and  all  the  cant  of  the  wide  dissenters  of  that 
day:  from  none  of  them  had  he  a  single  line  of  praise^ 
In  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties  he  wa^ 
eminently  exemplary ;  and  during  the  whole  course 
of  his  ministry,  his  church  continued  harmonious  and 
flourishing.  Viewed  in  his  domestic  relations^  hq 
was  peculiarly  amiable  ;  and  those  who  dwelt  in  his 
house,  perceived  the  pure  and  beneficent  influence 
of  evangelical  principles  on  his  heart,  his  temper, 
and  his  cpqduqt.  Some  of  his  contemporaries  accused 
him  pf  cpvetoii^ness ;  but  when  his  death  brought 
the  true  state  of  his  affairs  to  light,  they  acknow- 
ledged that  the  charge  was  without  foundation.  For 
a  man  in  business  to  be  thought  richer  than  he  is. 


tlV^B  OF  EMINENT   ]>IS8£|7TERS.  44^ 

may  prove  a  benefit;  but  it  is  always  disadvantageout 
to  a  minister,  for  both  his  character  and  circumstanced 
arfe  injured  by  the  mistake. 

His  works  were  numerous.  In  addition  to  the  two 
which  have  been  mentioned,  he  published,  **  the 
standing  Use  of  the  Scriptures,'^  ^^  Youth's  Monitor, 
in  several  discourses,^'  a  volume  of  occasional  ser* 
mons,  some  preached  at  Coward's  lecture,  and  a 
sixth  part  of  the  Berry-street  sermons:  these  dis- 
courses, all  of  which  were  first  delivered  from  the 
pulpit,  the  reader  will  find  judicious,  weighty,  sen* 
ous,  evangelical,  and  instructive.  For  want  of  exer- 
cise of  the  understanding  no  one  wilt  have  cause  td 
blame  him ;  but  the  heart,  the  affections,  and  the 
imagination  might  have  been  more  vigorously  ex- 
erted :  and  he  was  not  so  free  from  dulness  and  cold* 

« 

ness  (the  indwelling  sin  of  the  independents  of  that 
day)  as  we  wish  him  to  have  been.  In  the  contro- 
versy with  Dr.  Chandler  "  on  preaching  Christ,'^  he 
had  evidently  the  advantage  both  in  argument  and 
temper ;  and  his  opponent  never  appeared  to  so  little 
advantage  as  in  that  dispute.  But  Dr.  Guyse's  great 
work  was  hife  "  Paraphrase  on  the  New  Testament," 
first  published  in  three  quarto,  and  since  in  six  octavo 
volumes.  It  displays  a  sound  judgment,  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  original,  considerable  critical 
ac  untyen.  with  much  seriousness  and  zeal  for  trutl). 
Great  fault  has  been  found  with  hith  for  not  giving 
what  he  conceived  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  sacred 
writers,  but  collecting  together  the  various  senses  put 
on  the  text  by  orthodox  divines.  Amidst  theincon- 
veniencies  of  this  mode,  one  singular  advantage  will 
result  to  students  in  divinity  and  young  ministersi 
that  there  is  scarcely  a  book  wherein  they  will  fih4 


444  HISTORY   OP   DISSCKTSM. 

in  80  narrow  a  compass  so  great  a  variety  of  excellent 
ideas  on  almost  every  text. 

At  last,  worn  out  with  years,  when  the  time  drew 
nigh  that  he  should  bid  adieu  to  life,  he  displayed 
the  spirit  of  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  His 
serenity  of  mind,  and  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality 
were  beheld  by  his  friends  with  delight.  ^^  Thanks 
be  to  God/*  said  he,  "  I  have  no  doubt ;  no  difficulty 
in  my  mind  as  to  my  eternal  state ;  if  I  had,  I  could 
not  bear  what  I  now  feel.  I  know  in  whom  I  have 
believed ;  here  my  faith  rests.  The  peculiar  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel,  which  I  have  long  preached,  are 
now  the  support  of  my  soul :  I  live  upoq  them  every 
day,  ariKl  thence  I  derive  never  failing  comfort.'^ — 
**  How  gracious  is  my  God  to  me :  how  often  has  he 
jhade  good  to  me  that  promise, '  as  thy  day  so  shall 
thy  strength  he.' — I  am  not  afraid  of  death :  1  am 
afraid  lest  I  should  err  on  the  other  side  in  being  too 
desirous  of  it/*  He  entered  into  rest  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  November,  1761,  in  the  eighty-first  year 
of  his  age. 


SAMUEL  WILTON,  P.  D. 

His  father  was  a  man  of  business,  ia  circumstancea 
of  great  respectability  in  London  ;  and  his  mother 
was  a  descendant  of  Timothy  Cruso :  he  was  born  in 
1744.  During  his  earliest  years  he  was  placed  under 
the  care  of  a  maiden  aunt,  whose  pious  instructions, 
united  with  those  of  his  parents,. were  the  meaqs  of 
producing  those  deep  impressions  of  religion  which  he 
e,ver  afterwards  displayed  ^     For  acquiring  a  classical 

.  *  Her  name  was  £lizabeth  Wilton,  who,  in  copjanction  wkk 


LIVES   Of   KMINE!?^  DISSENTERS.  44^ 

tducation  he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  graifamar 
school  of  Christchurch  hospital,  in  the  viFcinity  of 
which  was  his  father^s  house.  He  began  his  acade- 
mical studies  for  the  ministry  under  Dr.  Jennings, 
and  completed  them  under  Dr.  Savage  and  Dr.  Rees^ 
Samuel  Wilton  had  the  true  spirit  of  a  student:  the 
ardour  of  his  mind  urged  him  on  to  a  constant  pur** 
suit  of  knowledge,  and  produced  an  eager  arid  perse- 
vering desire  of  improvement.  To  the  benefit  derived 
from  rieading  he  united  the  advantages  of  conver-- 
sation  with  fellow  students  whom  he  invited  for 
that  purpose  to  his  house,  and  with  ministers  who 
frequently  visited  there  as  his  father's  friends. 

He  entered  on  the  office  of  the  ministry  at  Tooth- 
ing, in  Surry,  as  successor  to  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Henry  Miles,  F.  R.  S.  and  was  ordained  in  1766. 
The  congregation,  which  was  very  small,  soon  began 
to  increase  both  in  numbers  and  in  piety ;  nor  will 
this  appear  strange  if  we  consider  the  means  which 
he  employed,  means  which  are  seldom  employed 
without  success.  To  the  ordinary  services  of  the 
LordVday,  which  he  performed  with  affection  and 
fervour,  he  added  an  evening-lecture  in  the  week, 
and  thus  arrested  impressions  which  were  ready  to 
depart,  and  revived  thd  ardour  which  the  preceding 
Sabbath  had  created,  and  which  before  another  would 
have  died  away.  He  catechised  the  children,  visited 
the  flock,  conversed  with  the  poor,  and  was  peculiarly 
attentive  to  the  afflicted.     He  exerted  himself  also 

Mrs.  Rachel  King,  sister  of  Dr.  King,  minister  at  Hare-court,  for 
many  ytari  kept  a  boarding  school  of  young  ladies,  at  Hackney. 
For  the  eoiinent  services  they,  rendered  to  the  cause  of  religion,  in 
their  important  and  honourable  employment,  as  well  as  foi;  theic 
personal  piety  they  deserve  to  be  mentioned  in  a  history  of  dissen- 
ters  with  the  highest  respect. 


446  filSTORT  QF  BISaSNTEM^ 

tfi  establish,  io  coanection  with  hte  brethren,  eveniog 
lectures  in  the  neighbouring  towns  and  villages,  that 
the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  might  be  more  exten- 
sively  spread  abroad.  His  heart  was  in  his  work, 
9Ad.  his  fervent  mind  could  not  rest  satisfied  unless 
h^  did  all  for  the  cause  of  religion,  which  it  was  in 
bis  power  to  do. 

In  the  application  to  parliament  in  1772,  for  relief 
from  subscription,  he  took  a  very  active  part.  Ardent 
tQ  enthusiasm  for  civil  and  especially  religious  liberty, 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  members  of  the  committee 
for  /conducting  the  business.  Some  of  the  London 
ministers  having  opposed  the  measure,  he  addressed 
to  them  an  apology  for  renewing  the  application ;  and 
in  1774  he  published  a  ^^  Review  of  some  of  the  Airti- 
c]ies  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  which  a  Subscrip- 
tion is  required  of  Protestant  Dissenting  Ministers :'' 
both  were  received  by  those  of  his  side  of  the  ques- 
tion with  more  than  common  approbation. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Langford,  he  waschosen  hissuc* 
cessor.  The  congregation  at  the  Weighhouse  was  then 
small ;  but  under  Dr.  Wilton  it  gradually  increased. 
It  pleased,  however,  the  Head  of  the  church  soon 
to  call  him  away  from  his  labours.  His  last  sermon 
was  preached  in  an  evening  lecture  at  Hackney,  the 
twenty-ninth  of  March,  1778,  from  Psalm  cxix.  125. 
Jle  was  on  the  following  Lord's-day  to  have  delivered 
a  funeral  discourse,  and  spent  in  preparing  for  the 
service  a  great  part  of  the  Saturday  night.  On  re- 
tiring to  rest,  be  found  himself  attacked  by  a  violent 
fever,  which  being  neglected  at  first,  in  a  few  days 
put  an  end  to  his  valuable  life.  Though  surprised,  as 
It  were,  by  a  mortal  disease  in  the  midst  of  his  days, 
he  expressed  ho  regret  at  his  sudden  departure ;  but 


Lives   OP   EMINENT    DtSSENtERS.      ^      44^ 

welcomed  death  with  firnoiness,  ot  father  with  cheer-* 
fulness  and  joy.  On  the  day  in  which  he  died,  he 
said  to  a  friend  who  oame  from  the  city  to  visit  him, 
*'  you  now  see  me  in  the  near  view  of  death,  and  I 
rejoice  in  the  prospect.  It  has  been  my  delight  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  to  promote  his 
glory.  I  am  not  afraid  to  die,  for  I  know  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  be  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him  against 
that  day.'^  He  then  added,  "  you  will  go  to  prayer 
with  me :  let  us  offer  a  few  more  petitions  to  God 
before  we  enterthe  world  of  praise,  from  which  I  am 
at  no  great  distance.'^  To  another  firiend  he  lamented 
his  imperfections,  but  at  the  same  time  expressed  his 
confidence  in  God  :  "  I  have  had  my  doubts,  but  my 
hope  is  well  founded.  I  have  had  such  manifestations 
of  the  love  of  God,  that  I  do  not  and  cannot  doubt. ^ 
Such  was  the  frame  of  his  soul  when  the  delirium  of 
the  fever  returned,  which  speedily  waisted  his  re<- 
maining  strength,  and  at  midnight  of  the  third  of 
April,  1778,  he  expired. 

Dr.  Wilton  was  a  man  of  more  than  common* 
powers,  of  solid  judgment,  a  lively  imagination,  and 
a  strength  of  memory  equalled  by  few.  He  possessed 
a  wonderful  ease  in  composition,  as  well  as  fluency 
of  expression.  In  his  preaching  there  was  a  remark- 
able savour  and  fervency,  and  in  prayer  an  eminent 
degree  of  devotion,  copiousness,  and  variety.  But 
his  style  was  not  simple,  he  spoke  too  fast,  had  a 
monotonous  delivery,  looked  down  on  his  Bible  as  if 
he  had  been  reading  his  notes,  and  was  very  long  itn 
his  servicea:  these  were  a  considerable  bar  to  his 
popularity.  What  a  pity  that  a  man  who  laboured 
SO  hard  to  acquire  knowledge,  should  have  beep  at  so 


418  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

little  pains  with  his  composition  and  delivery,  in 
order  to  render  it  agreeable  to  his  audience.  It  is  not 
to  be  considered  as  a  harmless  imperfection,  but  a 
fiiult  of  considerable  magnitude :  it  was  one  of  the 
sins  of  the  dissenters  in  the  age  in  which  Dr« 
Wilton  lived. 

But  while  these  faults  are  noticed,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  he  was  a  superior  man  and  an  excellent 
minister  of  Christ.  A  fire  was  constantly  burning  in 
his  breast,  the  fire  of  zeal  for  his  Master's  cause ;  be 
exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  and  he  had  this  addi- 
tional excellence,  that  he  made  others  exert  them- 
selves too.  There  is  a  class  of  worthy  men  in  the 
church  of  Christ  who  wish  to  do  good ;  but  they  need 
a  person  of  energy  to  set  them  on,  and  to  keep  them  in 
motion  from  year  to  year.  Dr.  Wilton  possessed  this 
valuable  talent,  and  he  did  not  hide  it  in  a  napkin. 
His  death  at  so  early  a  period  is  justly  to  be  deplored 
as  a  loss  to  the  cause  of  religion.  He  left  a  widow 
and  four  children  ;  may  his  sons  inherit  his  spirit,  and 
imitate  his  example. 


THOMAS  STRANGE. 

His  father  was  a  humble  pious  farmer  at  Evenley,in 
Northamptonshire,  who,  though  he  died  when  his 
son  was  only  six  years  of  age,  perceived  in  him  such 
a  spirit  of  seriousness  and  study,  as  made  him  desirous 
that  he  should  he  devoted  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
By  a  step- fat  her  of  the  same  character  and  employ- 
ment, Thomas  Strange  was  some  time  afterwards 
called  to  agricultural  labour:  with  the  prophet  Elisha 
he  followed  his  father^s  oxen  in  the  plough,  and  with 


LIV£S  OF   EMINENT    DISS£N;rEE8.  440 

king  David  fed  the  flock  upon  the  hilb.  In  such 
serviceSi  vigour  of  constitution  is  often  acquired,  the 
benefit  of  which  is  felt  in  all  the  labours  of  the  study 
and  the  pulpit  .during  the  whole  of  life.  But  the 
mind  of  the  shepherd's  boy  was  improved  as  well  ad 
the  body:  be  read  whatever  he  could  procure,  an4 
his  eagerness  for  new  books  can  be  conceived  only  br 
those  who,  with  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  know- 
ledge, have  no  money  to  purchase  them.  His  choice, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  well  directed;  for 
before  his  sixteenth  year  he  was  truly  devoted  to 
God,  and  in  the  absence  of  bis  step-father  conducted 
the  worship  of  the  family  with  unusual  propriety. 

The  providence  of  God  having  removed  the  abode 
of  the  family  to  some  distance,  he  bad  an  opportunity 
of  hearing  Mr.  Hay  ward,  of^  Potterspery,  a  maa 
highly  celebrated  in  the  neighbourhood  for  his  popular 
preaching  and  his  zeal ;  was  so  charmed  with 
his  gifts,  that  in  company  with  another  youth  of 
similar  dispositions,  he  used  to  walk  ten  miles  every 
Sunday  to  attend  on  his  ministry;  and  afterwards 
Joined  in  communion  with  his  church.  Let  not  these 
youthful  ardours  be  discouraged  or  condemned ;  they 
often  kindle  in  the  bosom  a  fire  of  piety  and  benevo* 
lence  which  burns  during  the  remainder  of  life. 

All  this  time  his  heart  was  eagerly  fixed  on  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel,  and  he  used  to  say,  "  I  would 
be  willing  to  live  on  bread  and  water,  if  I  might  be 
but  a  faithful  and  useful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ  :*' 
it  was  however  the  language  of  a  hopeless  wish ;  but 
the  Head  of  the  church  had  work  for  him  to  do,  and 
he  gave  him  the  desire  of  his  heart.  Mrs.  Strange 
having  mentioned  the  desire  of  her  son  and  his  com- 
panion to  Mr.  Hayward,  he  represented  the  case  to 

YOU  XT.  G  g 


450  HISTORY   or   DISSENTERS. 

Dr.  Doddridge,  who,  with  the  amiable  benevolence 
and  fervent  zeal  which  shone  so  conspicuously  in  his 
character,  invited  the  young  men  to  participate  of 
the  advantages  of  his  seminary  at  Northampton. 
After  a  day  of  prayer  spent  by  some  ministers  and 
Christian  friends,  in  whic^h  he  was  peculiarly  recom<« 
mended  to  the  grace  of  God,  he  set  off  with  eager 
expectation  to  commence  his  studies  in  1745,  and  he 
continued  to  pursue  them  for  six  years  with  exem- 
plary diligence  and  assiduity. 

At  the  close  of  his  academical  course,  he  was 
invited  to  the  pastoral  office  by  a  congregation  at 
Kilsby  in  his  native  county,  the  members  of  which 
dwelt  partly  there,  and  partly  in  three  neighbouring 
villages.  They  were  collected  by  the  labours  of  two 
nonconformists,  but  had  not  till  now  been  numerous 
enough  to  call  a  minister.  T^hough  the  situation  was 
destitute  of  every  worldly  recommendation,  he  ac- 
cepted the  invitation.  Every  Lord's-day,  he  preached 
twice  at  Kilsby,  once  at  Creek,  and  generally  once 
at  one  of  his  two  other  villages ;  and  in  this  course 
he  [](ersevered  to  the  end  of  life.  His  assiduity  in  the 
private  offices  of  the  ministry  was  not  less  worthy  of 
praise.  The  attention  he  paid  to  the  catechising  of 
the  children  of  the  congregation  was  unwearied  ; 
neither  time  nor  pains  were  spared.  His  visits  to  the 
house  of  sorrow  and  pain  wene  frequent  and  edifying ; 
atid  that  he  might  convey  instruction  tq  the  families  of 
iiis  charge  ill  health  as  well  as  in  sickness^  four  even- 
ings in  the  week,  were,  during  the  winter,  devoted  to 
the  important  service.  So  desirous  was  be  of  doing 
good  at  all  times,  that  when  he  was  employed  in  his 
garden,  he  used  t6  have  one  of  bis  children  or  scholars 
present,  with  whom  be  conversed  on  bome  improving 
subject. 


LIVES  O^   EMINENT   DISSEMl^RS.  451 

It  too  frequently  happens  that  when  a  minister  has 
laboured  for  some  years  in  a  place,  especially  if  the 
people  are  poor,  he  begins  to  think  that  he  would  be 
more  comfortable  in  some  other  situation,  for  which  he 
begins  to  look  around  with  eagerness.    He  now  does 
every  thing  with  discontent ;  his  heartis  taken  off  from 
bis  people,  and  he  is  unconcerned  about  their  welfare. 
Satan  has  not  a  fiery  dart  to  cast  into  the  soul,  more 
injurious  both  to  the  minister  and  to  the  cause  of 
Christ;  and  the  effect  has  often  been  felt  to   their 
anguish  and  dishonour  during  the  rest  of  life*     From 
this  evil,  Mr.  Strange  was  happily  preserved ;  he  per- 
severed in  the  love  of  his  people  and  of  his  situatioa 
to  the  end ;  and  the  consequence  was,  as  might  be 
expected,  honourable  to    himself  and  advantageous 
to  his  flock.     Their  number  gradually  increased,  and 
after  exhausting  their  skill  in  finding  room  for  every 
addition  they  could  make,  a  larger  place  of  worship 
became    indispensibly   necessary.      It  was  a  bold 
attempt,  but  he  was  a  man  of  energy ;  and  he  suc- 
ceeded  in   erecting  a  commodious  and  substantial 
meeting-house,  and  providing  funds  to  discharge  the 
cost.     In  one  of  his  other  villages,  a  new  place  was 
also  built ;  and  in  a  third,  a  cottage  was  purchased  and 
fitted  up  for  worship.  Let  not  the  rich  and  great  look 
down  with  contempt  on  these  pious  efforts  to  accom* 
modate  the  hearers  of  the  Gospel  among  the  poor. 

Although  he  commonly  preached  four  times  and 
walked  eight  miles  on  the  Lord's-day,  it  was  his 
practice  to  rise  on  the  Monday  morning  an  hour  or 
two  before  his  family,  to  choose  subjects  of  discourse 
for  the  following  Sabbath,  and  to  draw  out  the  plans, 
that  he  might  have  respect  to  them  in  his  thoughts, 
his  conversatioD,  and  his  reading  in  the  course  of  th« 

eg  2 


45ft  HISTORY  OF   DIS8EXTER8. 

week.  This  was  taking  time  by  the  forelock  ;  snd 
how  much  more  beneficial  must  it  have  been  to  the 
congr^ation  to  receive  the  mature  fruits  of  their 
pastor's  meditation  and  study,  than  where  the  mini- 
ster does  not  think  of  the  services  of  the  Sunday  till 
the  preceding  evening,  or  the  morning  of  the  day 
itself.  If  such  sluggards  were  cast  out  of  the  vine- 
yard,  it  would  be  making  room  for  better  men. 

The  habitation  and  doHiestic  economy  accorded 
with  the  simple  character  of  a  chorepUcopus^  with 
bis  small  salary  and  bumble  congregation.  His  par- 
4Bonage  was  a  cottage,  with  a  rude  orchard  adjoining 
to  it.  Though  the  house  retained  its  old  walls  and  its 
thatch, one  internal  improvement  after  another  made  it 
A  decent  and  commodious  abode.  The  orchard  by 
ithe  labour  of  his  hands  became  a  delightful  garden, 
producing  fruits,  flowers,  and  wholesome  vegetables 
in  abundance;  and  his  bees  filled  their  hives  with 
honey.  Unable  with  a  salary  of  forty  pounds  a  year 
4o  procure  the  laid  of  a  servant,  his  wife,  well  fitted 
for  her  station,  and  afterwards  his  daughters  when 
they  grew  up,  managed  all  the  domestic  concerns 
with  his  aid;  and  they  lived  in  ancient  simplicity, 
having  every  office  performed  by  the  hand  of  love, 
.without  an  attempt  at  shew,  but  free  from  want, 
contented  and  grateful. 

For  independence  of  mind  Mr.  Strange  has  a  claim 
to  high  praise.  Sometimes  in  a  similar  situation, 
men  have  bejirayed  the  spirit  of  a  beggar :  always  ex« 
pecting,  always  asking,  what  they  have  received  care- 
lessly spending;  and  when  they  die,  their  family 
Jooks  to  the  religious  public  for  relief.  Superior  to 
•this  way  of  living,  he  pursued  a  nobler  course :  he 
lessened  his  wants,  he  diminished  his  expeaditure^ 


LIVES  OF  EMINENT   DISSENTEES.  453 

be  increased  his  exertions,  he  saved  what  the  others 
would  waste*  In  consequence  of  this,  he  made 
additions  annually  to  a  small  sum  which  he  received 
in  marriage;  and  at  his  death  left  some  hundred 
pounds  for  the  support  of  his  widow  and,  four  chilr 
dren.  How  much  more  dignified  was  this  than  to 
have  depended  on  a  collection  throughout  the 
country. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  this  was  the  fruit  of 
nigc^ardly  penury :  the  roan  was  liberal,  and^had  the 
spirit  of  a  prince.  At  his  first  settlement,  perceiving 
the  need  of  a  village  school,  he  undertook  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  children,  and  devoted  the  profits  to  prious 
and  charitable  uses.  For  some  part  of  his  time  he 
had  a  few  boarders  at  twelve  guineas  a  year  ;  but  h^ 
was  forward  to  every  good  work.  ''  Economy  and 
exertion  (says  his  biographer)  constitute  the  barrel 
and  the  cruse,  out  of  which  most  tiamilies  of  every 
rank  and  profession  might  freely  take  for  themselves 
and  their  family,  without  danger  of  exhausting  them/' 

Mr.  Strange's  delivery  was  exceedingly  disagree* 
able  both  in  tones  and  gesture.  If  the,defect  was 
not  natural,  it  would  have  been  worth  the  labour  of 
years  to  conquer  the  vicious  habits :  but  his  own 
people  did  not  perceive  any  thing  aniUs.  A  defect 
of  sight,  which  increased  with  his  years,  prevented 
him  from  reading  so  much  as  he' desired  ;  but  per^f- 
haps  this  inconvenience  was  mor^^th^n  compensated 
by  greater  degrees  of  thought  land  reflecjtion:  whifih 
matured  his  views,  and  made  binnf  m<^t0  fully  m^stef 
of  the  subject  before  him,  t>  .  f  :   o 

As  he  was  the  first  dissenting  t^ntstet  at  Rfistiy; 
the  villagers,  as  is  natural  from  th^>pi^tliises'^of 
those  who  never  saw  ahy  resident  miffrisferi  af^Mg 

Gg  3 


454  HISTOSiY.OF   DISSENTERS*      . 

them  but  tbeir  owfi,  felt  the  strongest  aversion  to  a  • 
noQcoDformist,  and  regarded  him  with  a  .vei'y  evil 
eye,  which  tendered  even  civility  to  him  a  difficult 
task.  But  by  the  wisdom,  the  isanctity,  and  the  meek* 
Dess  of  his  d^portoient,  he. overcame  these  unreason- 
able sentiments^  and  was  very  highly  esteemed  by 
al).  Such  too  was  the  influence  of  his  life  and 
doctrine,  that  when  one  of  his  congregation .  married 
fi  member  of  the  established  church,  it  was  observed 
he  generally  gained  a  proselyte :.  and  they  made  no 
b£|d  choice  who  preferred  hini  ^s  their  teacher. 

After  pevsevering  in  a  course  of  fhithfql  labour  in 
bis  villages  for  mpre  than'^thirty  ye^rs,  he  began  to 
feel  infirmities,  which  seemed  to  him  to  indicate  the 
approach  of  death.  To  his  youngest  son,  who  was 
with  him  for  som^  weeks,  he  frequently  intimated 
(hese  expectations.  "  I  shall  not  be  with  you  long: 
yeek,  my  son,  another  father,  and  dont  delay  prepa*^ 
ration  for  eternity.'^  In  the  summer  of  1784,  attend- 
ance at  an  ordinatiop,  at  Bicester,  appears  greatly  to 
have  injured  his  health,  which  from  that  time  gradu- 
ally declined. 

.  The  sentiments  of  sqch  a  man  in  the  views  of 
death,  will  be  read  with  no  common  feeling.  In  a 
conversation  with  three  of  his  brethren,  who  met 
accidentally  at  bis, hoifs^9  he  said,  ^^  i  have  lalwaya 
valued  iand  prekchc;^  the  doctrines  of  grace,  biifc 
nothing  gives , roe  so  imich  copq^rti  in  the  review  of 
ihy  miftistryias,  that. I  have,  ppt  more  insisted  on  and 
pressisd  the  fwite jof  gtace.*^  P^rt  Qf  th^  la^t. fortnight 
of  his  life  was  spent  at  Kettering  with  htaeldest  son, 
jvhefe  being'fr^q.Mi^ntly  asked  by  his  Chrt^tiai)  friel^ds 
*his^«entl9ient$;  tind  views  in  the  near  project  of 
itmlhi*  bia.aMvcr  W£(«;^*  I  wish  ti^.dif  a  broken-i 


.  • 


JLIYES  OF  EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  455 

tiearted  sinner,  renouncing  every  thing  of  my  own^ 
and  depending  entirely  for  future  happiness  on  the^ 
free  grace  of  G^d»  through  the  atonement  and  righte-> 
ousnessof  Christ/^  Finding  all  medical  aid  vain,  be 
desired  to  go  home  and  die  at  Kilsby,  the  scene  of  his 
labours  and  success ;  and  a  few  days  after  his  return 
he  calmly  yielded  up  the  ghost,  on  the  fifth  of  S^* 
tember,  1784.  His  last  words  to  his  surrouqdii^g, 
friends  were :  "  farewell  till  the  day  of  our  Lord^ 
Jesus  Christ:,  the  Lord  ,  have  mercy,  spiritual  and 
everlasting  mercy,  on  every  one  of  you,  upon  this 
congregation,  and  upon  the  whole  Israel  of  God.  The. 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lonl  hath  a  right  to  take  away^ 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord/'  .  The  tears  and 
groaijb  of  his  flock  attested  the  greatness  of  their  loss: 
it  would  be  indeed  a  less  difficult. task,  to  find  a. suit- 

•  •  *  ,  *  • 

a^ble  successor  to  the  see  pf  Canterbury,  thaq  to  the 
village  of  iiiUby.  •       •   .  :. 


t 


SAHUEI.  BREWER,  B.  D, 


•    > 


This  excellent  man  was  born  at..Reiidham,  in 
Suffolk,  and  educated  for-the  ministry  among  the 
dissenters  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Hubbard.  No^ 
Jong  after  the  completing  of  his  studies,  his  tutor 
f})ed  ;  land  he  became  his  successor  in  the  cpngrega- 
tiqn' at  Stepney,  where  formerly  Matthew  Mead  had 
exercised  the  office  of  the  ministry  for  piore  than  fiftj^ 

yew*;  ...  .-::  •■  ,;..,'  -- 

Tb^  OMiftber  of  his,  hearers  wheti^h^  accepted  th^ 
pastoral  care,  was  small.  His  predecessor,  thougb 
a  very  able  and  very  pious  man,  possessed,  on ly  in  a 
moderate  dfigri?e  tiMi»<>st. important, jjuality  whic]^ 

G  g  4 


inn 


RISTPRY  OF   DISSENT£E«« 


the  apostle  Paul  comprises  in  the  words,  **  apt  to^ 
teach/'  In  this  quality  Mr.  Brewer  excelled,  and  the 
consequence  was,  that  the  congregation  immediately 
increased,  and  became  the  largest  among  the  dissen* 
ters  in  London.  His  intellectual  powers  were  not  of 
a  superior  order ;  but  the  knowledge  which  he  hac) 
acquired,  be  laid  up  in  a  warm  heart ;  and  when  he 
brought  it  forth,  it  was  not  in  a  cold,  dry,  scholastic 
form  (for  he  was  not  Moulin  ratsonmtU^  a  reasoning 
mill,  as  Voltaire  calls  D/.  Clarke),  but  with  a  holy 
fervour,  addressed  to  the  hearts  and  affections  of  his 
hearers;  and  though  the  light  of  divine  truth  might 
|iot  be  peculiarly  strong,  itHSiad  life  and  heat  in  it^ 
and  diffused  its  vivid  influence  through  the  whole 
liout 

The  popularity  which  he  gained  at  his  first  entrance 
into  the  pulpit,  he  retained  to  the  close  of  life :  nor 
need  we  wonder  that  be  did.  The  ardour  of  his 
preaching  was  not  an  ebullition  of  the  fire  of  youth^ 
but  the  expression  of  an  unquenchable  zeal  for  the 
glpry  of  God,  and  the  tenderest  compassion  for  the 
souls  of  men*  Hence  flowed  the  continuance  of  his 
Animated  discoiirseiB  and  of  bis  popularity  to  the  end. 
And  during  the  whole  of 'this  time  he  was  giving  addir 
iional  force  to  his  preaching  by  the  sanctity  of  his 
life,  by  a  blameless  and  inoffensive  conduct,  by  a 
^lisplay  of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  an4 
by  a  conscientious  and  diligent  perf<irmance  of  the 
duties  of  his  office. 

The  permanence  of  popularity  with  a  minister  19 
^y  no  means  universal  nor  general :  and  scarcely  any 
Vhingia  tnore  mortifying  to  a  person  who  hsrs  eiijoye(| 
It,  th^n  to  see  that  he  has  lost  it.  Self-love  inckfed 
^t;i^Ui€h  ta.  hib  itid*  and  tbrowfi  the  blaiae  pn  jthe  ^ebi^*' 


LIYSS  OF  SMIITBNt  DISSEXTEfiS^  45t 

ta€6s  of  the  people ;  but  the^  minister  who  makes  thu 
study  of  the  saered  Scriptures  his  daily  employment^ 
that  he  may  bring  forth  out  of  his  treasure  ne# 
things  and  old ;  who  prepares  with  diligence  and 
with  prayer  for  the  services  of  the  sanctuary;  who 
brings  with  him  to  the  congregatioa  a  rich  mass  of 
evangelical  truth;  who  endeavours  to  render  thai 
{truth  so  plain  that  none  can  misapprehend  It,  and 
kindles  it  into  a  flame  by  pourijf)g  it  forth  from  a  soul 
burning  with  love,  into  the  hearts  and  affections  of 
his  people ;  and  who  crowns  all  these  with  a  hol^ 
life,  and  habitual  exhortations  and  prayers  in  th^ 
houses  of  his  hearers,  and  in  the  apartments '  of  thk 
afflicted,  need  not  fear  the  dispersion  of  his  flock. 
It  will  seldom  be  heard  that  such  a  minister  is  be- 
coming unpopular,  and  his  audience  dwindling  away^ 
for  if  some  who  are  fond  of  novelty  take  their  flight, 
an  equal  or  superior  number  of  more  valuable  personsi 
will  fill  their  place. 

Mr.  Brewer's  life  was  spent  in  the  cared  and  dutiei 
of  the  pastoral  office ;  for  these  he  considered  as  ttii 
grand  business  of  his  existence.  No  learned  volumes 
came  from  his  pen ;  but  sinners  were  from  year  t6 
year  converted  by  his  ministry,  and  he  was  training 
up  a  multitude  of  immortal  souls  for  eternal  gIory» 
These  are  the  first  and  the  highest  ends  of  the  ser- 
vant of  Christy  and  demand  the  first  attention  atid 
the  prime  energy  of  the  soul.  The  composition  pf 
books  is  but  a  secondary  thing,  and  he  who  cannot 
do  both,  must  omit  the  latter. 

Mr.  Brewer  was  remarkable  for  great  partioularitj(^ 
in  prayer.  Some  good  people  used  to  say,  that  Whert 
it  was  his  turn  to  preach  the  Tuesday  lecture  a| 
Proad-street  (which  before  had  been  for  a  ceiiturjrtit 


45i  HISTORY   O?   BlfiS&NTERSk 

Pinner Vhall),  they  learnt  from  his  prayers  all  the 
religious  news  of  the  city  and  neighbourhood.  In 
his  own  cqngregation  he  also  took  particqla^.potice 
of  every  event.  Having  raany  seafaring  peopl?  amppg 
his  hearers,  when  a  merchant  ship  ^as  going  to  .saiU 
he  specified  the  captain,  the,  mate,  the  carjpienter,  the 
boiU;swain,.and  all  the  saiiprswith  great  afieption ; 
and  it  js  said  that  impressed  with  a  belief  of  .the  be-- 
nefii .  of  his  prayers,  they  fr^uentiy  brought  hitu 
home,  as  a  token  of  grjititude,  something  of  the  pro* 
duce  of  the  country  to  which  they  went.  To  the 
episcopalian  of  the  English  establishment,  and  the 
presbyterian  of  the  Scotch,  and  those  who  secede 
from  it,  such  .particularity  sonnds  oddly,  and  is  dis« 
agreeable  :  they  dwell  more  in  generals.  But  among 
the  English  independents  and  baptists  it  has  long 
been  customary,  and  they  are  greater  adapts.  The 
skill  of  some  in  mentioning  the  particular  cases  of 
persons  is  singularly  felicitous^;  it  is  also  peculiarly 
interesting,  and  is,ca}cui(ated  to  impress  on  the  minds 
pf  individualp  adeeper  attention  to  the  subject. 
.  Few  mpn  preserved  through  life  a  more  uniform 
display  of  piety,  prudence,  and  of  an  inoffensive  and 
peaceable  deportment;  and  an  offer  from  the  par- 
tiality of  kindness  which  promised  great  pecAiniary 
advantages  to  himseU  and  his  fapjily,  wa3  dircicted Jlpy 
hin^  in  such  a  manner  as  tpin^pcess.  all,/wi*th  (k^ 
highest  ideas  of  his  integrity  and  disjoterest^d^j^ss.  ' 
I  When  he  adv^o^ed  ip ,  years,  he  felt  the  need  of 
help,  and  Mr.  lord  was  appointe,^  lji$..fel|^^.  la** 
^our^r,  lie  jppiitinued  however  to  do  what  he  cqvild, 
^nd  te  pre^checj  at  the  lecture  in  Brpad-^treet  on 
the  tli^scjay  preceding  Jiis  death,  fronj  2  Tim,  i.  12. 
,Th<a.frani^  ot  his  heart  in  the  prpfig^^t  of  departure^ 


LIYES^Of   EMINENT   DJSSEMXJIRS.  4S9 

was  that  of  anr  eminent  Christian.  Submission  to 
,thp  .divine  will,  reliance  on  the  power  and  grace  of 
the  Redeemer,  and  the  hope  of  the  heavenly  glory^ 
ali  shone  forth  with  conspicuous  lustre.  .  His  lai^t 
words  were  those  of  the  psalmist,  "  thou  shalt  guide 
me  with  thy  counsel,*  and  afterwards  receive  me.ta 
glory.  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and  there 
is  none  upon  earth  that  1  desire  beside  theei  my 
jflesh  and  my  heart  faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of 
jny  heart  and  my  portion. forever.'^  He  expired  on 
Saturday  the  eleventh  of  June,  1796,  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  his  age,  .  i  .  .  • 
..  Were  there  a  score  of  Samuel  Brewers  to  fill  thef 
London  pulpits  as  they  become  vacant,  and  h^  db6 
members  wisdom  given  them, to  choose  such -men,  ifc 
would  be  the  greatest  blessing  which .  God  could 
bestow  upon  the  independent  congregations  ia  tM 
inetropolis,       :            ^                   .             .  ?.      . 


ISAAG  TOMS. 

* 
•  .   .  •  »         - 

•  5He  wto  born  in 'London  on  the  twenty-second  of 
August,  niOy  and  had  the  happiness  to  descend  from* 
a  J iue  of  ancestors  eminent  for  their  piety  ar^d  their 
sufferings  in  the  cause  of  Ghrist.  The  first  pkrt  o£ 
Itis  ciassiciEil  education  he  received  at  DiUdcenfield^- 
^ear  Manchester ;  and  at  the  same  time,  what  was 
infinitely  better,,  deep  impressions  of  reii^on.  which 
continued  to  his  dying  day.  In  his  thirteenth' year 
be  returned  to  Londi^n,  and  was , four  years  !at> St, 

Paul's  school,  !  )  'm:  . 

.  His.  father. djesigned  him  for  trade,  jbnt  ther;SQn-ft 
in<:l)»&tipn  led  bim  to  study.    In  his^  s^yepteeatk: 


HBO  BI8T01IY   &V  DI8SEKTERS. 

year,  liis  fisrvent  piety  and  skill  in  the  learned  lan«* 
guages  reicommended  him|to  the  office  of  chaplain  and 
private  tutor  in  the  family  of  Sir  Daniel  Dolins,  at 
Hackney*  It  was  here  a  considerable  part  of  hi* 
employment  to  promote  the  improvement  of  his  son, 
whose  organs  of  vision  were  so  defective  that  it 
depended  on  Mr.  Toms'  reading  and  conversation^ 
Much  time  was  daily  spent  in  these  exercises,  and 
directed  to  the  most  important  subjects  ;  for  he  was 
anxious  to  make  Mr.  Dolins,  who  was  an  amiable  and 
pious  youth,  intimately  acquainted  with  the  princi- 
ples and  evidences  of  natural  and  revealed  religion| 
that  he  might  be  fortified  against  the  snares  of  infi- 
delity, to  which,  from^his  exalted  station  he  might  be 
exposed  in  future  life.  These  studies,  while  they 
improved  the  pupil,  were  no  less  beneficial  to  th4 

Soon  after  Mr.  Toms  came  into  this  situation,  hi 
entered  on  a  course  of  theological  studies  under  the 
tuition  of  Dr.  Ridgley  and  Mr.  Eames  ;  and  he  after-- 
wards  preached  in  the  congregations  of  the  metropolis 
and  its  vicinity  with  acceptance. 

At  this  period  of  his  life  Mr.  Totns  may  be  justly 
hailed  with  veneration  as  the  precursor  of  the  Tract 
Society,  for  he  composed  and  printed  a  variety  of 
useful ;  tracts,  which  he  endeavoured  to  distribute. 
Five  of  them  were  afterwards  adopted  by  the  society 
for  propagating  religious  knowledge  among  the  poor ; 
fibd  many  thousand^  of  these  disfler^ed  through  th§ 
world. 

< 

In  this  situation  he  continued  neady  sixteen  years^ 
The  office  of  chaplain  was  then  by  no  means  uncom« 
inon  among  the  most  opulent  dissenters,  and  students 
fmd  younger  ministers  were  usually  called  to  fill  ifi 


LIVES  OF   EUIKEKX   DISSENTERS.  461^ 

Whether  it  was  faVonrable  to  their  future  chsMracter 
as  pastors  of  congregations,  may  be  doubted.     They 
saw  the  great  world,  but  it  was  a  world  with  which 
in  their  future  connection  they  were  to  have  little 
intercourse  or  concern.    If  it  improved  their  manners, 
there  was  no  small  danger  that  more  than  was  gained 
by  the  gentleman,  was  lost  by  the  minister.     If  a 
fondness  for  high  living  and  genteel  company  became 
a  fixed  hajbit  in  consequence  of  their  residence  with 
the  great,  it  proved  injurious  to  the  future  pastor  of 
a  dissenting  congregation,  who,  if  he  would  be  faithful 
and  successful,  must  mingle  chiefly  with  humbler 
classes  of  mankind.     Ministers  of  the  present  day 
have   lost  nothing  by  the  office  of  chaplain  falling 
into  disuse,  whatever  the  families  themselves  may 
Jose.  But  if  some  have  sustained  injury  in  such  situa- 
tions, Mr.  Toms  appears  to  have  escaped  unhurt* 
Possessing  the  spirit  of  a  zealous  disciple  of  Christf 
he  was  anxious  to  be  employed  in  a  more  extensive 
sphere  of  usefulness.     A  valuable  living  was  pressed 
on  him  by  a  man  of  rank,  with  whom  he  became 
acquainted  at  sir  Daniel's  table ;  but  we  give  no  great 
praise  to  virtue  in  refusing  the  offer,  fot  it  is  what 
every  man  of  integrity  with  his  principles  would  do. 
The  plea  which  has  been  alleged  of  a  more  extensive 
field  of  usefulness  is  not  valid ;  for  every  dissenting 
minister,  if  he  finds  his  field  of  labour  too  confined^ 
may  extend  its  boundaries :  of  this  Mr.  Toins'  future 
exertions  furnish  a  fair  example. 

An  invitation  from  a  congregation  at  Hadleigh,  in 
Suffolk,  inet  with  his  acceptance,  though  the  salary 
was  but)  thirty  pounds  a jrear;  and  he  settled  there 
in  1743.  He  was  now  the  country  minister,  intent 
on  doing  good  in  every  way  that  his  situation  would 


400  HISTORY  OF  DISS£»ftER9. 

allow,  or  his  heart  could  devise*  Besides  the  servicer 
ip  his  own  place  of  worship,  he  established  lectures 
ID  the  neighbouring  villages,  and  schools  in  which  the 
children  of  the  poor  were  taught  to  read  ;  and  they 
were  catechised  by  him  at  stated  seasons.  His 
affection  for  the  young  was  exceedingly  great,  and  he 
was  peculiarly  concerned  for  their  salvation.  In  dis« 
pensing  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  he  showed  the  ten* 
derest  regard  for  the  child,  and  his  whole  heart  flowed 
forth  in  his  earnest  exhortation  to  the  parents  to  train 
it  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  He 
is  said  never  to  have  engaged  in  the  service  without 
previously  devoting  some  time  in  prayer  both  for  the. 
parents  and  the  child.  In  the  choice  of  subjects  for 
the  pulpit,  it  was  his  invariable  practice  to  ask  coun- 
sel from  God ;  and  when  remarkable  events  occurred, 
he  constantly  endeavoured  to  convey  by  them  instruct 
tion  to  his  flock. 

To  exemplary  activity  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
Mr.  Toms  united  the  most  amiable  conduct  in  pri-« 
vate  life.  The  natural  irritability  of  his  temper  he 
subdued  by  imposing  silence  on  himself  in  seasons  of 
provocation,  till  he  had  read  over  the  passages  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  relating  to  the  i^ubject, 
which  he  kept  always  by  him  for  the  purpose,  in  the 
original  tongues.  In  the  discharge  of  domestic  duties 
he  was  truly  a  pattern,  and  scarcely  could  more  per- 
fect harmony  and  tender  affection  subsist  than  be- 
tween him  and  Mrs.  Toms,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Say,  of  Westminster,  and  was  the 
partner  of  his  days  from  the  time  of  his  settlement  at 
Hadleigh,  till  the  year  preceding  his  death. 

For  two  and  forty  years  he  laboured  as  a  good 
-minister  of  Christ;  but,  in  17bd,  he  felt  old  a^ 


LIVES   6f  EMINENT   DISSEKXERS.  46^ 

fereeping  upon  him,  and  inability  to  perform  thd 
whole  service  6f  the  Sabbath.  From  that  time  till 
1798,  resigning  the  morning  service  to  another,  he 
preached  regularly  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  at  the  close 
of  that  yeai",  he  was  constrained  to  bid  adieu  to  the 
pulpit,  a  station  so  dear  to  his  soul,  and  from  which 
he  had  so  long  proclaimed  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
Still  he  was  carried  to  the  house  of  God  to  join  with 
his  flock  as  a  private  worshipper  ;  and  when  he  could 
say  no  more,  he  used  to  dismiss  the  assembly  with 
the  apostolical  benediction.  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.'^  Increasing  infirmities 
obliged  him  on  ,the  second  of  November,  1800,  tabid 
his  last  farewell  to  the  place  of  public  worship ;  andl 
from  that  time  he  was  confined  to  his  house. 

Soon  after  he  felt  himself  unable  to  go  up  stairs  to 
his  study.  Of  that  hallowed  retreat,  where  he  had 
for  more  than  fifty  years  enjoyed  communion  with 
God  in  prayer,  and  laid  up  treasures  of  divine  know- 
ledge in  the  mind  with  so  much  pleasure  as  a  student^ 
a  minister,  and  a  Christian,  he  is  Jnow  compelled  to 
take'  a  final  leave.  In  the  pain  of  such  a  separatioOi 
those  who  love  their  studies  as  they  ought,  can  sym- 
pathise. Obliged  at  last  to  leave  the  parlpur  too^ 
and  confine  himself  to  his  apartment,  he  said,  "  I 
perceive  that  I  am  gently  slipping  into  eternity  ;^^  and 
tinder  the  pressure  of  weakness  which  wAs  daily  be- 
coming greater,  he  used  to  express  himself  thus; 
♦'  O  to  be  humble,  to  be  patient,  to  be  thankful,  to  be 
increasing  in  grace,  to  be  fitting  for  glory,  to  prize 
the  great  salvation  more  and  more."  Being  visited  by 
a  neighbouring  minister,  who  spoke  to  him  of  the 
great  reward  laid  up  for  him  in  heaven,  he  replied, 
**  sir,  if  ever  1  arrive  at  the  world  of  blessedness,  I 
shall  shout,  grace,  grace  !"'  So  long  as  he  was.  capable 


46i  HISTORY  OF  DISSEXTERS. 

of  speakingf  he  repeatedjthe  words  of  the  publican^ 
••  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  ;'*  and  when  he 
jcoald  speak  no  more,  his  looks  expressed  the  devotion 
of  his  soul. 

This  truly  apostolic  man  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  the 
second  of  January,  1801,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of 
ibis  age,  having  lived  just  to  see  the  commencement 
of  the  new  century. 


JOHN  GILL,  D.  D- 

* 

^  This  eminent  writer  forms  an  honourable  com* 
jnencement  to  our  list  of  baptist  ministers.  He 
was  born  November  23,  1697,  at  Kettering,  in 
Northamptonshire,  where  his  father  was  deacon  of 
the  baptist  church.  He  made  rapid  advances  in 
classical  learning  at  a  neighbouring  grammar  school^ 
in  which  he  was  placed  while  very^ young,  and  even 
then  he  resorted  so  frequently  to  a  bookseller's  for 
the  purpose  of  reading,  that  it  become  proverbial  to 
9ay,  that  a  thing  was  as  certain  as  that  John  Gill  was 
in  the  bookseller's  shop.  Being  driven  from  the 
grammar  school  by  the  bigotry  of  the  clergyman  who 
presided  over  it,  his  friends  endeavoured  to  procure 
him  admission  into  a  seminary  for  the  ministry,  by 
Bending  specimens  of  his  advancement  in  different 
branches  of  literature.  These,  however,  defeated 
their  object ;  for  they  produced  the  following  strange 
answer:  "  he  is  too  young,  and  should  he  continue 
•s  it  might  be  expected  he  would,  to  make  such  rapid 
advances,  he  would  go  through  the  common  circle 
before  he  would  be  capable  of  taking  care  of  himself, 
©r  of  being  employed  in  any  public  service."  It  is 
to  be  hoped,  that  this  frozen  reply  was  accompanied 


tlVES   OF   EMINENT   illSSSKTERS.  ^6i 

yifhh  some  explaqatioa  which  made  it  appear  more, 
jqsti^able  tb,ap  in  it^  present  detaphed  state ;  or  w^ 
should  suspect  ths^t  th^  guardians  of  this  seminary 
&It  but  |it(|q  Implicit ude  to  spe  ^he  fin^t  talpnt^  couf 
Becrated  to  the  noblest  of  cai^sea. 
.  Not  disp^riaged  by  thisf  repulse,  yo^ng  Gill  pm*** 
sued  his  studies  with  sp  much  ardqur  th^.t  before  ho 
W^  niqietei^p^  \ie  h^d  read  the  principal  Qreiek  apil) 
\j^t}n  claj9$if;9,  h^d  gpne  (hroiigl:)  a  course  qf  logiC| 
rhetoric,  natiiir^l  £^pd  moral  philosophy,  and  acquired  ^ 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  jtongpp.  Put  i( 
is  supremely  gratifying  to  find  that  religion  was  still 
dearer  to  him  than  learning ;  for  instead  of  resembling 
those  sciolists  who  suppose  it  is  a  proof  of  genius  to 
disdain  the  study  of  t^eir  Maker's  will,  he  imitate^ 
him  wlio  }fk  early  youth  resorted  to  the  temple  ^s  hifl| 
i^ther's  hpi^e,  and  there  employed  in  sacred  ret 
searches  that  understanding  at  which  all  were  asto« 
fiished.  The  baptist  church  in  his  native  town  firs^ 
Tec^ived  this  extraordinary  youth  as  a  niember,  an4 
then  called  him  forth  into  the  ministry.  For  thi$ 
work  he  went  to  study  under  Mr.  Davies,  at  Higham 
Ferrers ;  but  was  soon  invited  to  preach  to  the  bap* 
tist  congregation  in  Hors.ely-down,  near  London^ 
over  which  he  was  ordained  in  1719,  when  he  was  ia 
his  twenty-second  year. 

He  now  applied  with  intense  ardourto  oriental  lite* 
rature^and  having  contracted  an  acquaintance  with  one 
of  the  most  learned  of  the  Jewish  rabbies,  he  read  the 
Targums,  the  Talmud,  and  every  book  of  rabbinical 
lore  which  he  could  procure.  In  this  line,  it  is  said, 
that  he  had  but  few  equals,  and  that  he  was  not  ex-- 
celled  by  any  one  whose  name  is  recorded  in  the 
jinnals  of  literature.     Having  published  in  1748,'^^  9k 

JQi.  IT,  ^h 


46ff  HiSlOltY  OF   0ISS£NTE11^. 

Commentary  on  the  New  Testament,"  in  three  f^ia 
volumes,  the  rmmense  reading  and  learmng  which  it* 
displayed,  rndaced  the  university  of  Aberdeen  to  send 
hrm  the  dipioma  of  D.  D.  with  the  folloiving  com«r 
pliment.  "  On  account  of  his  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, of  the  oriental  languages,^  and  of  Jewish  anti« 
qaities,of  his  learned  defence  of  the  Scriptures  against 
deists  and  infidels,  and  the  reputation  gained  by  his 
other  works,  the  tmiversity  had,  withotfl'his  privity^ 
unanimously  agreed  to  confer  on  him  the  degree  €)f 
doctor  in  divinity/* 

He  published  also  *'  a  Commentary  on  the  Old 
Testaipent,"  which,  together  with  that  on  the  New, 
forms  aivimmense  mass  of  nine  folio  volumes.  At  the 
close. of  this  herculean  labour,  he  was  so  far  from  silting 
down  to  rest,  that  he  said,  ^^  I  considered  with  myse:(f 
what  would  be  next  best  to  engage  in  for  the  further 
instruction  of  the  people  under  my  care,  and  my 
thoughts  led  me  to  enter  upon  ascheme  of  doctrinal  aod 
practical  divinity .''  This  he  executed  in  three  quarto 
volumes.  Amidst  these  labours  of  the  study,  added 
to  those  of  the  pulpit,  be  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  and 
departed  to  his  rest  in  the  year  1771,  when.he  was  far 
advanced  in  his  seventy-fourth  year.  He  was  mar* 
ried  and  had  a  numerous  family,  but  his  wife  died 
«ev^n  years  before  him,  and  he  waa  survived  by  only 
two  of  his  children. 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned,  he  maintained 
the  five  points  of  calvinism  in  his  "  Cause  of  God 
end  Truth,^*  with  much  temper,  argument,  and 
learning.  He  published  also  **a  Dissertation  on  the 
Hebrew  Language,"  discourses  on  the  Canticles,  to 
which  considerable  objections  have  been  made,  and 
4Qdny  sermons,  as  weli  as  smaller  controversial  pietes^ 


I.IVES   OP   EMINENT    DISSENTERS.*  467 

His  private  character  was  so  excellent,  that  it  lias 
been  said,  **  his  learning  and  labours  wereexceeded 
only  by  the  invariable  sanctity  of  his  life  and  coaver-^ 
sation.     From  his  childhood  to  his  entrance  on  the 

• 

ministry,  and  from  his  entrance  on  the  ministry  to 
the  moment  of  his  dissolution,  not  one  of  his  most 
inveterate  opposers  was  ever  able  to  change  him  with 
the  least  shadow  of  immorality.  Himself,  no  liess 
than  his  writings,  demonstrate  that  the  doctrines  of 
grace  do  not  lead  to  licentiousness.  Those  who  had 
the  honour  and  happiness  of  being  admitted  into  the 
number  of  his  friends,  can  go  still  farther  in  their 
testimony,  they  know  that  his  moral  demeanour  warf 
from  first  to  last  more 'than  blameless,  it  was  ex- 
emplary.^* 

As  a  divine,  he  was  a  supralapsarian  calvinist ;  but 
in  his  body  of  divinity,  he  is  so  far  from  condemning 
sublapsarian  sentiments  as  heretical,  or  arndinianised^ 
that  he  attempts  to  show  how  the  two  systems  coal- 
esce*.   He  discovers,  however,  an  anxiety  to  support 
his  high  scheme  at  every  opportunity,  and  often  be- 
trays its  weakness  by  catching  at  the  shadows  of 
arguments  fo;r  its  defence.     He  seems  to  inquire  how 
much,  rather  than  how  well  he  could  write  on  every 
subject;  and  while  he  displays  vast  reading,  he  nei- 
ther discovers  much  reflection  himself,  nor  excites  it 
in  others.  Indeed  he  possessed  knowledge  rather  thaa 
wisdom ;  for  his  learning  was  not  inspired  by  genius; 
^nd  while  his  works  impress   the  judicious  reader 
with  esteem  for  the  parity  of  his  intentions,  and  ad- 
miration for  the  magnitude  of  his  labours,  they  excite 
regret  that  they  had  not  been  prepared  with  greater 
^elicacy  of  taste,  and  revised  with   more  accurate 

f  Soiiy  of  Djvinity,-  boak  II.  chap.  ii.  p.  303. 

»  h  2 


468  tflSTO&V   PF   DISSXNX^HB. 

judgment,  ft  is  above  all  to  be  latneoted,  that  they 
have  diffused  a  taste  for  extravagaut  Calvinism,  which 
has  induced  many  who  were  devoid  of  his  sanctity  to 
profane  his  name  in  order  to  sanction  their  errocs  oir 
their  iusts. 


ROBERT  ROBINSON. 

On  the  eighth  of  January,  1735,  he  was  bom  at 
Swaffbam,  in  Norfolk,  in  circumstances  by  no  means 
propitious  ,to  future  eminence.  He  was,  however,  sent 
fox  some  years  to  a  grammar  school,  and  made  rapid 
progress  io  the  knowledge  of  the  French  and  Latin 
tongues.  But  the  death  of  his  father  and  some  of  his 
mother's  friends,  obliged  her  to  take  him  away  at  the 
age  of  twelve ;  and  we  find  him  in  a  situation,  where 
most  probably  necessity  compelled  her  to  place  him 
—apprentice  to  John  Anderson,  a  hair-dresser,  in 
Crutched-friars,  London. 

Religion  appears  to  have  been  with  him  the  sub- 
ject of  early  investigation,  for  during  his  apprentice- 
ship. Dr.  Gill,  Dr.  Guyse,  and  Mr.  Romaine  were 
his  favourite  preachers ;  but  Mr.  Whitefield  in  his 
esteem  excelled  them  all.  He  began  a  diary  in  the 
manner  of  that  celebrated  man ;  and  before  he  had 
completed  his  nineteenth  year,  he  seems  to  have  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  becoming  a  preacher.  Previous  to 
the  termination  of  his  apprenticeship,  his  master 
perceiving  that  he  paid  more  attention  to  the  reading 
of  religious  books,  and  the  hearing  of  sermons  from 
popular  ministers,  than  to  shaving  and  dressing  his 
customers,  gave  up  his  indentures,  and  left  him  to 
follow  his  own  plans  \ 

^  A  penoo»  zealoua  for  the  diguity  of  Che  diwentiog  mioistiy. 


LIVES  OF  EMINENT  DISSSNllERS.        ,      4Q9 

It  is  probable  that  he  immediately  began  to  preachw^ 
His  first  sertaon  was  delivered  to  a  few  poor  people 
At  Mildenball»  in  Suffolk;  and  be  soon  received  aa 
invitation  to  officiate  in  the  tabernacle  at  Norwich. 
After  be  bad  preached  there  for  some  time,  he  quitted 
the  caivinistic  methodists,  and  formed  an  independent 
ehurch  (^  thirteen  persons  wh6  had  iihbibed  his  seo^t 
timents.  Of  this  church  .he  became  the  pastor, 
baptising  infants  and  perf(M*ming  all  the  other  offices 
of  an  independent  minister.    In  a  short  time  hck 

feeling  great  iodigttatioa  at  the  refill ctiom  thrown  fof  a  hfgh-teiadedl 
churchman  on  Robert  Robinson  for  the  meatinesii  of  (lis  darlgr  ena^ 
ploymenty  thas  vindicates  his  favourite  preacher  ;-«• 

**  Surely  his  having  been  apprenticed  to  a  barber  is  no  proof  noi 
rational  presumption  of  deficiency  in  either  natural  or  acquired 
abilities ;  if  it  were,  I  could  furnish  abundant  instances  of  4  shnillit 
kiod  in  the  estabiishn&ent*  I  could  tcU  this  geatteman  of  ooa 
bishop  who  was  apprentice  to  a  pastry-cook;  another,a  wool-coint^f 
la  rector  of  a  city  parish,  who  in  early  life  was  a  gold-wire  drawer; 
^f  a  lecturer  of  St.  Andrews,  who  had  bJeen  a  stay-maker ;  of 
dLnother  lecturer  of  a  church  in  East  Cheap,  London,  who  had  beea 
a  baker  ;  of  a  rector  of  a  large  parish  just  out  of  the  city,  who  had 
been  an  Opholsterer,  and  after  that  a  lawyer ;  of  another  who  had 
been  a  linen-draper ;  of  another  now  living,  who  was  an  ironmopgeiy 
All  these  last  had  been  not  only  apprenticed,  but  actually  in  busi- 
ness; and  shocking,  dreadfully  shocking  as  it  may  be  to  ecclesias* 
tical  aristocracy^  some  of  them  had  been  even  journeymen  !  Many 
more  instances  of  a  similar  kind  might  be  easity  found,  but  tbedt 
lure  sufficient  to  show  the  dissenters  are  not^  atid  even  poor  Roberl 
Robmson  was  not  in  this  respect  below  par."  ^Monthly  M^gazinoi 
for  August,  1809,  p.  6.  ^ 

But  this  is  performing  a  needless  task ;  nan  taUauxilio^  noh  defen^ 
99HiAU  istU  ChriHn^  eget. 

Where  men  are  under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  the  worlds 
such  reasoning  may  apply  ;  but  it  is  inapplicable  to  the  kiagdoi% 
\he  disciples,  and  the  ministers  of  Christ.     Here, 

^<  Worth  makes  the  man,  the  want  of  it  the  fellow ; 

The  reft  ii  all  Ntleaiher  o^  ^inmeUai**'   ^'    '  ■  '  •    ^ 


47#  •       HISTORY  OF  BIS8BKTERS. 

.changed  again,  and  became  a  baptist.  AH  these 
changes  must  have  taken  place  in  the  space  of  a  few 
years ;  for,  in  1759,  when  be  was  only  twentywfour 
years  of  age,  he  was  invited  to  the  pastoral  charge  of 
the  baptist  church  at  Cambridge,  and  after  a  trial  of 
two  years,  was  settled  there  in  1761.  He  was  then 
iDdrricd,  and  bad  his  mother  to  support ;  but  it 
appears  that  neither  the  church  nor  he  had  spent 
much  time  in  considering  how  his  family  were  to 
live,  for  the  first  half  year's  salary,  which  they  brought 
him,  amounted  only  to  three  pounds,  twelve  shiU 
lings^  and  five  pence.  It,  however,  gradually  in- 
creased, till  in  1770,  his  annual  income  amounted 
to  more  than  ninety  pounds.  So  acceptable  were 
Mr.  Robinson's  services,  that  in  a  few  years,  the 
place  pf  worship  could  not  contain  the  flourishing 
congregation.  The  old  meeting-house  was  pulled 
down,  and  a  commodious  building  erected  at  their 
own  expense;  "  an  example  (says  his  biographer^ 
Mr.  Dyer,)  which  it  were  to  be  wished  dissenters  in 
general  would  attend  to,  and  not  indulge  themselves^ 
to  they  frequently  do,  with  houses  for  worship  un» 
necessarily  large  and  improperly  .elegant,  by  laying  a 
severe  tax  upon  distant  societies,  and  especially  those 
of  the  metropolis/*  In  1773,  Mr.  Robinson  removed 
Irom  an  obscure  village  in  the  neighbourhood,  where 
be  had  hitherto  lived,  to  Chesterton,  with  a  family  of 
nine  children,  commenced  farmer,  some  years  after-r 
wards  merchant,  and  dealt  in  coals  and  corn.  Some  of 
his  brethren  strongly  expressed  their  fears  that  hisen^ 
gagements  in  business  would  injure  his  spirit  as  a 
minister ;  ^'  but  he  was  iiot  pleased  at  theif  interference, 
and  the  only  notice  which  such  imputations  received 
m  him,  was  smiles  at  their  impertinefice.    Godly 


LtTSS   OF   EMINENir   DISSE^TERSU         ^    i7\ 

hoobies^  he  would  say,  too  idle  many  of  them  to  work, 
too  ignorant  to  give  instruction,  and  top  conceited  tp 
«tudy,  spending  all  their  time  in  tattling  and  mischief* 
^-^Atc  these  the  men  to  direct  my.conduct,  to  censure 
wy  industry^*' 

The  rapidity  of  the  changes  in  shifting  from  ono 
denomination  to  another  in  his  youth,  was  unhappily 
followed  by  a  versatility   in  matdrer  years,  which 
betrayed  itself  in  regard  to  subjects  of  unspeakably 
greater  importance.      After  being  twenty  years  i 
minister,  it  became  evident  (sayjs  Mr.  Dyer.)  that  Mr. 
Robinson  by  no  means  adliered  to  the  systems  which 
have  obtained  the  name  of  orthodox.     The  discovery 
produced  a  coldness  in  many  of  his  former  friends 
a^d  admirers,  and  by  many  of  them  he  was  entirely- 
deserted.     In  consequence  of  this,  he  threw  himself 
into  other  apd  very  different  connections.     His  owa 
account  of  the  matter  is  :  "I  have  been  seven  weeks 
jn  London  ;  my  own  party  treated  me  with  neglect, 
end  even  preached  against  me  in  my  presence  about 
mental  errors,  which  ita  diz  me  amenta  not  one  of  them 
understands.     1  preached,  however,  for  the  generaj 
baptists,  and  for  Dr.  Rees,  Kippis,  Price,  Worthington, 
&c.  80  that  now  the  slandering  orthodox  name  me 
an  arian  and  socinian  with  apparent  grace.'^  His  own 
congregation  is  said  to  have  been  more  steady  in  its 
attachment:    "  he  was  (they  said)  the  man  of  our 
cboice„and  is  still  of  our  esteem  ;^^  and  if  some  grew 
cold,  by  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  society  he  was 
^npiired  to  the  last. 

^His  oopstitutipn  appears  to  hav^  decayed  at  rather 
ftn  early  period,  and  for  some  time  before  his  death 
he  labou^i^ed  under  a  dejection  and  languor  of  mind.. 
Tp  reinove  the  coioplaint,  "  his  friend^  hoped  that  % 

H  b  4 


4fi  ^     HISTORlr  or  DISSENTERS. 

|oiirney  to  Birmingham,  and  an  interview  with  Dr, 
Priestley  which  he  had  long  desired,  would  prove  be-? 
neficial  to  him/'  He  set  out,  and  ti^avelling  slowly 
Arrived  there  on  Saturday,  the  fifth  of  June,  1790.' 
The  next  day  he  preached  twice,;  in  the  new  meetr 
ing  in  the  morning,  atid  in  the  evening  at  th^  old. 
Dr.  Priestley  was  charmed  with  his  conversation,  bu^ 
much  disappointed  in  his  preaching :  ^*  his  discourse 
(he  said)  was  unconnected  and  desultory,  and  his 
hianner  of  treating  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  favoured 
tnbre  of  burlesque  than  serious  reasoning.  The 
impression  left  on  Dr.  Priestley*s  mind  by  his  con- 
versation and  preaching,  was,  that  ^^  he  (Mr.  Robin* 
ton)  was  of  the  unitarian  faith,  and  had  I'eceived  con- 
niderable  Ijght  from  his  theological  writings.'*  On 
the  Tuesday  everting  following  he  retired  in  good 
health,  and  on  the  Wednesday  morning  was  Ibund 
flead  in  his  bed,  with  th6  clothes  not  in  the  smallest 
(degree  discomposed.  He  is  said  to  have  often  ex- 
pressed a  wish,  that  he  might  die  softly,  suddenly, 
^nd  alone ;  and  he  obtained  it.  He  was  in  the  fifty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age, 

Mt.  Robinson's  vi^orks  were  numferotis,  ind  man^! 
of  them  shew  the  author  to  have  beet)  a  iban  of  un- 
^omn)f)n  talents:  thiey  all  make  it  evident  that  he 
^as  the  more  than  ordinarily  strenuous,  ^nd  some* 
times  almost  the  furious  advocate  of  civil  and  religi^ 
dus  iiberty.'  His  **  Plea  fbt  the  DWiiiiiy  of  Christ'* 
is  very  able.  The  translation,  with  notes,  of '^Claude's 
£ssay  on  the  Composition  of  a  Sermon,^*  though  it 
resembles  an  oUapodrida^  is  a  very  nseful  book.  His 
tiansiations  of  Saurin^s  sermons  have  b^n  tawth 
read :  but  Sanrin  and  Robinson  were  tjast  hi  two  of 
th^  God  ofk  nature^i  most  different  moulds ;  so  tbit 


"•< 


y 


LIVES  Of  EMIHfiSrr  BISSEKTfiKS.  91^ 

the  bold  nervous  spirit  of  the  latter,  wias  not  thfe  most 
proper  organ  for  conveying  the  ielegant  expression^ 
and  delicate  turns  of  the  former.  The  voliiitae  of 
"Village  Sermons,"  marks  him  out  as  a  very  grtal 
man,  and  extraordinarily  qualified  for  the'officfebfa 
religious  instructor.  If  they  had  been  iVrilteri  ielifeft 
evangelical  sentiments  had  a  stronger  hold  of  hU 
blind,  they  would  have  been  almost  unequalledi 
Had  he  possessed  the  patience  of  investigation,  thi 
calmness  of  research,  and  impartiality  in  narrating 
the  result,  which  Lardner  so  eminently  displayed^ 
bis  •*  History  of  Baptism,**  and  "  Ecclesiastical  Re* 
^searches'*  would  have  been  in  greater  repute. 

The  indulgence  of  eccentricity,  and  a  fondtieiSs  Ibt 
"novelty,  were  strong  features  in  his  character.'  Fofr 
some  time,  in  order  to  follow  nature,  he  woiiM  onljr 
eat  when  he  was  hungry,  and  go  to  bed  when  he  wiak 
overpowered  with  sleep,  66  that  day  was  turned  itit6 
"night,  atid  night  into  day.  How  absurd  and'  irrcon^ 
Venient  these. fancies  must  have  been  in  the  head  d^ 
ft  large  family,  may  be  easily  conceived.  Eccehtri"- 
city,  it  has  been  often  said,  is  one  of  the  attributes  tjf 
genius,  but  nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  truth :  ft  ift 
the  pretext  of  men  V^ho  could  lay  claim  to  genius  oh  ti6 
other  account.  True  genius  will  prove  the  correctoi* 
of  eccentricity.  Who  ^er  heard  of  the  eccentrrcitrek 
i^f  Gtotius,  of  sir  Isaac  Newton,  of  Locke,  of  Baxter, 
of  Howe,  of  O^en,  or  of  Bates  ?  If  there  was  any 
difference  between  them  and  other  mep,  their  gertius 
dictated  a  greater  propriety  of  conduct.  That  spm^ 
meti  of  genius  have  been  eccentric  is  JicknowledgedJ; 
but  men  9till  mor^  eccentric  can  be  produced  in  un^ 
fepeakably  greater  proportion,  from  whose  souls  onfe 
^park  of  genius  never  appeared.    The  eccentricity  *f 


ti4  BISTORY  OF  OISSSNTIR8. 

iKHBe  caen  of  genius  is  to  be  considered  as  a  painfal 
proof  that  their  genius  was  not  complete,  that  thero^ 
was  a  weak  part  in  the  soul  to  which  it  did  no^  ex- 
tend and  which  was  the  cause  of  the  eccentricity.  If 
this  will  not  satisfy,  then  it  may  be  asserted,  that 
aome  men  to  whom  genius  has  been  given,  not  having 
it  under  the  guidance  of  wisdom,  become  odd  and 
eccentric,  and  sink  beneath  the  dignity  of  that  rank  in 
the  intellectual  and  moral  worlds  io  which  they  were 
lentitled  to  stand. 

Mr.  Robinson's  talents  as  a  public  teacher,  were  of 
.the  highest  order.  He  knew  how  to  draw  every  ear 
to  attention,  and  his  dominion  over  his  audience  waf 
absolute.  Had  he  retained  the  piety  which  he  ap- 
peared  to  have,  the  humility,  the  zeal,  and  the  evan* 
Ipelical  principles  of  his  younger  years,  there  would 
^ave  been  few  more  useful,  as  there  were  few  more  able 
^inistiers  in  England.  His  inQuence  over  a  multitude 
pf  well-educated  apd  well-principled  youth  among 
the  dissenters  was  powerful  and  extensive.  If  the 
effect  of  his  instructions  had  been  to  make  them  do- 
die,  humble,  lovers  of  the  pure  Gospel  of  Christ,  and 
devoted  to  God,  thousands  of  parents  would  have 
risen  up  to  bless  him.  But  if  the  usual  result  was, 
that  they  despised  their  former  creed  and  teachers, 
became  proud  of  their  own  understanding,  specula- 
tive, sceptical,  and  undevout,  praise  must  be  with^ 
hfsld,  and  blessings  not  ppured  upon  hijs  name. 
.  That  Mr.  Robinson  should  q4iit  the  camp  of  the 
orthpdox,  will  not  excite  surprise  in  those  who  have 
observed  his  spirit  in  the  course  of  the  preceding 
narrative.  That  unbounded  self-conceit  and  more 
than  sovereign  ^  contempt  of  otbprs,  which  he  fre- 
Ijupptly  betrayed,  expose  »  heart  already,  removed 


hirZB  OF   £MIN£KT   DISSENTERS.  '  475 

from  under  the  influence  of  evangelical  truth,  and 
fully  prepared  to  drink  the  cup  of  sociuianism  to 
the  very  dregs. 


JOHN  RYLAND,  A.  M. 

This  eccentric  man  was  born  in  1723,  and  before 
be  became  solicitous  for  his  eternal  weltare,  shewed 
the  characteristic  ardour  of  his  miiid  in  the  eager 
pursuit  of  worldly  follies.  But  in  the  spring  of  174]^ 
he  was  one  among  forty  persons  who  were  ail,  about 
the  same  time,  gathered  into  the  church  under  the 
ministry  of  Benjamin  Beddome,  at  Bourton-on-the« 
water,  in  Gloucestershire.  Mr.  Beddome  perceiving 
something  extraordinary  in  this  youth,  introduced 
him  to  the  academy  at  Bristol,  under  Mr.  Bernard 
Foskett,  wh^re  his  intense  application  to  learning 
was  impeded  by  the  mental  conflicts  he  endured% 
•-  His  first  pastoral  charge  was  at  Warwick,  in  which 
town  he  was  ordained  over  the  baptist  church  in 
1750;  but  removed,  after  nine  years,  to  Northamp- 
ton. Here  his  labours  were  eminently  successful; 
for  the  church,  which  consisted  of  no  more  than  thirty 
members  when  he  took  the  charge  of  it,  received^ 
under  him,  an  addition  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
persons.     But  some  pecuniary  embarrassments  occa- 

^  Perplexed  with  doubts  concerniag  the  existence  of  God  and 
tiis  own  eternal  safety,  he  wrote  the  following  resolution,  which 
tidtnirably  displays  his  pe<niliarity  of  mind :  **  June  25,  1744*  set. 
twenty  years.  If  there  is  ever  a  God  in  heaven  or  earth,  I  vow  and 
protest  in  his  strength,  or  that  God  permitting  me,  1*11  find  him 
but,  and  1*11  know  whether  he  loves  or  hates  me,  or  Til  die  and 
perish,  soul  and  body,  in  the  pursuit  and  iearclk  Witnesa  Jobii^ 
iSollett  Rylarid;» 


470  BISTORT  OF   DISSENTERS. 

Sioned  his  removal,  in  the  year  1786,  to  Enfiel^ 
where  he  had  a  flourishing  school  and  preached 
only  occasionally.  He  was  removed,  however,  to  k 
heavenly  mansion  July  24,  1792,  in  his  sixly-ninth 
yeajp.  His  body  was  interred  at  Northampton,  the 
scene  of  his  most  successful  labours,  where  his  son, 
Dn  Rylaind  afterwards  preached,  till  he  was  called  to 
tnke  charge  of  Ihfe  baptist  academy  at  Bristol. 

The  eccentricities  of  his  mind  and  manner,  have 
dften  been  the  theme  of  anecdotes^  which  his  surviv- 
ing relatives  say  were  not  always  true.  The  warmth 
df  his  dispositioti  appeared  indeed  principally  in  a 
lioble  ardour  for  the  divine  glory  and  the  difibsion  of 
evangelical  truth  ;  but  it  sometimes  produced  effectar 
over  which  he  mourned.  In  his  personal  religion^ 
He  christianised  the  heathien's  maxim  by  beginning 

*  When  lie  was  dangerously  ill,  the  people  of  the  town,  as  they 
passed  by  the  cohier  of  his  hoiise  would  exclaim,  *'  God  send  that 
man  tfMf  Hve ;  if  there  lA  $l  good  man  in  the  town,  he  is  one.*'     At 
tflit  general  ebncern  for  bis  c^povery,  oqe  poor  prdfaoe  creiitttre 
ivas  80  piovokedk  that  hearing  t|ie  ejiiculations  of  others  for  hit 
liafety^  he  wished  on  the  conti-ary  that  he  inightdie  and  bedamned. 
He  uttered  this  imprecation  as  he  passed  through  the  church-yard^ 
l^hich  was  n^mr  the  parsonagerhouse  where  M r«  Roland  then  li?ed; 
But  he  recovered,  and  was  the  iustropfient  pf  that  mad's  conrerf 
^inn,  who  was  perhaps  the  only  person  in  the  town  who  bad  wished 
tor  his  death,     For^  some  time  afterward)  this  Qian  courted  a  youn^ 
wongian  who  attended  at  the  baptist  meeting,  apd  expressed  bis 
<leterminii6on  to  obtain  heir  in  marriage,  though  he  vbwedhe  wouM 
f  ut  off  b^r  legs  but  he  would  prevent  her  going  to  meeting.    He 
^sedy  therefore,  U>  wait  for  her  on  the  back  hills  near  the  meeting 
iiouse>  and  then  go  home  with  her.     Bpt  one  eveping^  after  stand* 
^g  about  the  door  pretty  early,  he  felt  himself  inclined  to  go  iO|t 
^  ^nd  look  at  the  place,  when  others  following  him  into  the  gallery,^ 
|>e{bre  he  y^as  aware,  he  found  it  difficult  to  make  his  retreat;  he 
^ras  oblig^  therefore^  contrary  to  his  intention,  to  stay  and  hear 
jfche  sermon  :^e*heard  it|  was  pi^rc^i  tp  the  hearty  and  was  aft^ 
wards  added  to  the  church. 


LIVES  Of   EMINENT    DISSENTERS.  471 

Vith  God,  who^e  w^rd  be  studied  early  every  mornr 
)ng,  and  in  the  puipit  be  was  always  lively,  generally 
striking,  frequently  eccentric^  and  sometimes  sgibiim^ 
fnd  impressive  beyond  description. 


.       SAMUEL  STENNETT,  P.  D, 

To  be  not  only  a  minister  of  superior  talents  and  vir^ 
tUies,  hut  the  son  of  a  minister  of  superior  endowmentst; 
^nd  be  too  tbe  son  of  a  minister  of  superior  eminence^ 
is  aa  honour  wbich. falls  to  tbe  lot  gf  few:  it  was 
bovt^jever  a  distinction  which  Dr.  Stenoett  enjoyecL 
Jie  was  born  at  Exetex,,  where  his  father  Dr..  JosepJi 
3tennett  officiated  for  many  years  as  pastpr :  of  the 
baptist  church  in  that  city ;  a^d  who  afterwards  re» 
moved  to  London  to  take  charge  of  tbe  congregatioa 
lat  Wild-s);reet,  Lincoln's-inn-fie]d$*  Samuel  was  his 
younger  son»  and  having  early  discovered  a  pious 
disposition,  be  was  admitted  a  member  of  bis  fatbec'i 
church.  The  work  of  the  ministry  was  bi^  choice^ 
and  be  received  an  academical  education  under  Mn 
Hubbard,  at  Stepney.  Most  pf.  the  eiQinent  baptist 
jministers  of  that  period  were  educated  at  the  semin^* 
ries  of  the  independents.  . 
>  His  talents  as  a  preacher  meeting  the  approbati(^ 
of  tbe  church  to  which  he  belonged,  he  was  appointed 
assistant  to  his  father,  at  whose  death  he  was  chosea 
(be  successor,  and  was  ordained  ip  tbe  year  1758«. 
f'rom  that  time  he  continued  to  labour  there: all  bis 
d^ys,  dispensing  the  ordinances  of  r^Hgion  with  great 
fi^cceptance,  with  success,  aqd  wUh  an  eminent;  degree 
c^  .mutual  affection.  In  1!ZQ3  he  received  unso- 
Jl^cited,  his  biographer  says,  the  degree  <tf  ,D«  I>«. 


I 


479  HI8T0BY  OP   DISSENTERS* 

from  Aberdeen,  which  he  asserts  did  not  make  hitet 
proud;  and  we  can  easily  give  full  credit  to  hid 
testimony. 

,Dr.  Stennett's  natural  talents  were  good,  ancf 
highly  improved  by  assiduous  and  extensive  study. 
He  possessed  a  respectable  portion  of  classical  know- 
ledge, and  he  paid  considerable  attention  to  modern 
literature.  As  a  preacher  he  greatly  excelled.  The 
pure  principles  of  the  Gospel  be  exhibited  with 
great  clearness  and  precision,  so  as  to  attract  the 
attention  and  engage  the  mind  to  receive  the  truth 
with  pleasure*  In  elocution  he  was  superior  to 
most  of  his  denomination,  and  possessed  the  enviable 
art  of  addressing  the  heart  and  carrying  it  along  with 
him  in  a  stream  of  warm  affections.  His  eloquence 
was  not  of  the  ardent  and  vehement  kind— -he  was 
no  Demosthenes ;  but  in  a  soft,  tender,  insinuating 
persuasion  and  influence  he  was  a  master.  In  the 
private  duties  of  the  pastoral  office  he  exhibited  a 
becoming  example  of  diligence  and  zeaL 

Such  a  man,  it  may  naturally  be  supposed,  made 
a  conspicuous  figure  among  the  dissenters.  In  what- 
ever related  to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty,  he  felt 
himself  deeply  interested,  and  ever  afforded  his  most 
vigorous  exertions.  To  his  own  denomination  he 
was  a  most  active  and  zealous  friend.  He  was  per-* 
haps  the  last  of  the  dissenting  ministers  who  culti- 
vated social  intercourse  with  the  great;  a  practice 
common  in  the  former  generation,  and  conceived  to 
be  beneficial  to  the  body.  In  private  life  Dr.  Sten- 
tiett  was  remarkably  amiable  and  engaging,  and  in 
the  performance  of  relative  duties  highly  exemplary; 
As  a  minister,  a  Christian,  and  a  man,  Dr.  Stennett 
was  very  highly  esteemed,  and  the  pleasing  lustr^ 


LIt£S  OF   EMINENT   pfSftSKll^ERS.  47^ 

which  politenciss  gave  to  his  excellence,  procured  an 
additional  degree  of  respect  and  affection. 

As  an  author  too  the  doctor  appeared  bighlj^  t€^ 
spectable.  He  publisbedt  at  volume  on  the  baptist 
controversy ;  and  on  a  subject  where  it  was  difficult 
to  say  any  thing  new,  he  has  the  praise  of  saying  what 
he  had  to  say,  with  a  better  temper  than  most  of  his 
predecessors.  His  two  volumes  •*  on  personal  Rein 
gion,*'  were  well  received  by  the  public :  had  they 
contained  more  principles  and  less  reasoning,  they 
would  have  been  more  useful.  His  sermons  ow 
relative  duties  are  vetv  valuable,  and  hiii  book  on  the 
Scriptures  may  be  read  with  much  profit.  Thait  dis« 
play  of  genius  which  consists  in  originality  of  thought 
and  profoundness  of  reasoning,  he  did  not  possess  in 
a  high  degree  ;  but  the  reader  is  ever  Aute  of  finding 
good  sense,  instructive  matter,  and  always  to  the  pur* 
pose. ,.  His  style  is  very  pleasing,  and  if  some  will 
not  allow  the  praise  of  elegance  which  is  given  by 
many  of  his  friends,  they  must  acknowledge  that  it  i» 
at  least  exceedingly  neat. 

The  praise  of  exemplary  piety,  which  is  the  highest 
honour  of  man,  none  will  deny  to  Dr.  Stetinett. 
Under  its  influence  he  lived  from  the  days  of  his 
youth  ;  and  he  felt  its  benign  and  cheering  power  in 
old  age.  A  few  months  before  his  death,  he  lost 
his  wife,  a  very  pious  and  amiable  woman,  with 
whom  he  had  lived  in  great  domestic  felicity  for  more 
than  forty  years :  one  feature  of  her  character  we 
wiah  all  her  countrywomen  possessed-— >she  wa& 
never  heard  to  speak  evil  of  any  one.  The  decay  oC 
his  own  health  rapidly  succeeded.  The  frame  ofhia 
mind  happily  accorded  with  the  infirmities  of  his 
body,  and  ke  considered  himself  as  one  just  about  ta , 


480  &I8TMY  OV  BISSlNtJCU. 

depart  td  another  state  of  existence.  When  his 
complaints  increased  so  as  to  place  death  full  in  his 
view,  he  said  to  those  around  him,  ^^  the. sufferings 
9f  Christ  are  my  support  i  what  should  I  do  now  if  I 
had  only  such  opinions  of  him  as  Dr.  Priestley  > 
Christ  is  ahleto  support  to  the  uttermost  them  that 
cqme  unto  God  through  him.^^  *^  He  is  able  to  keep 
thar  which  I  have  committed  to  him  against  that  day." 
Msny  other  devout  expressions  dropped  from  his  lips, 
which  displayed  the  Christian  raised  above  the  fear 
^<leath«  and  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 
He  died  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  1795,  in 
the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


SAMUEL  PEARCE,  M.  A* 

The  excellencies  of  this  young  minister,  wh6  wag 
little  more  than  shewn  to  .the  church,  have  been 
honourably  recorded  by  a  living  writer.  If  this  short 
memoir,  which  is  all  that  our  limits  will  allow, 
should  send  any  one  who  is  entering  on  the  care  of 
souls  to  the  perusal  of  his  biography,  he  will  see  a 
model  worthy  of  diligent  study  and  laithful  imita* 
lion ;  and  if  he  should  catch  the  same  spirit,  thou-* 
aands  will  have  to  bless  God  for  it  to  eternity. 

Plymouth  was  the  birth-place  of  Samuel  Pearce< 
Boro  in  the  year  1766, .  he  was  early  inspired  with 
die  love  of  evangelical. truths  under  the  ministry  of 
Mr«  Birt,  pastor  of  the  baptist  church  in  his  native 
town.  V  To  his  eminent  and  ardent  religion  it.  soon 
appeared  supremely  desirable  to  devote  his  life  .to  the 
service  of  Christ  and  his  church.  He  studied  for  the 
Biinistry  undec  Dr«  iiylaad»  at  Bristolj  aad  tiom  th« 


LIVES   OF    EMINENT   DISSENTERS.  4S1 

Academy  removed  to  take  charge  of  a  baptist  church 
at  Birmingham.  Here  his  judicious,  fervent,  and 
incessant  labours  rapidly  increased  the  congregation 
and  the  church,  while  his  affectionate  and  devout 
deportment  endeared  him  not  only  to  his  own  flock, 
but  to  all  who  had  wisdom  to  perceive,  or  virtue  to 
approve  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  a  mistaken  confidence  in  the  firmness  of  his 
constitution,  which  is  the  frequent  error  of  the 
noblest  minds,  early  deprived  his  communion  of  one 
of  its  brightest  ornaments.  Prodigal  of  his  strength 
and  health,  he  not. only  preached  very  frequendyi 
but  took  many  journies,  which  exposed  him  to  cold; 
and,  unable  to  arrest  for  a  moment  his  rapid  course; 
he  preached  while  his  lungs  were  dangerously  affected,* 
so  that  at  jength  he  sunk  under  a  consumption. 
When  his  eyes  were  open  to  his  case,  he  observed, 
"  I  always  felt  a  peculiar  aversion  to  the  idea  of  dying 
by  a  consumption,  but  I  have  now  been  reconciled  to 
it  by  reading  the  words  of  the  evangelist,  *  this  spake 
Jesus  to  Peter,  signifying  by  what  death  he  should 
glorify  God/  I  am  pleased  to  die  by  whatever  death 
I  may  most  glorify  God."  He  was  removed  from  the 
world  which  he  improved,  in  October,  1799,  when 
he  was  only  thirty- thre^  years  of  age. 

With  an  elegant  mind,  and  cultivated  taste,  he  was 
never  "corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is  in 
Christ;^*  and  while  his  benevolent  heart  burned  with 
unquenchable  ardour  for  the  salvation  of  Britons  and 
Hindoos,  he  displayed  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
meekness  and  gentleness  of  the  Saviour.  If  he 
preached,  the  most  careless  were  attentive,  the  most 
prejudiced  became  favourable,  and  the  coldest  felt 
that  in  spite  of  themselves  they  began  to  kindle  ;  but; 

voju.  IV,  I  i 


482  HISTORY  OF   DI88EKTSRS# 

when  he  poured  out  the  devotions  of  his  heart  in 
prayer,  the  most  devout  were  so  elevated  beyond 
their  former  heights,  that  they  said, "  we  scarcely  ever 
seemed  to  pray  before.'^  While  he  thus  stood  on  the 
threshold  of  heaven,  he  conceived  the  design  of  de- 
voting himself  to  the  baptist  mission  in  Bengal,  to 
the  establishmentof  which  he  powerfully  contributed ; 
but  a  council  of  his  friends  forbad,  aqd  he  who  said, 
*'  it  was  well  that  it  was  in  thine  heart,^^  called  him 
to  worship  with  the  spirits  of  the  just  gathered  from 
every  land*  Let  young  ministers  learn  from  his 
example  to  work  while  it  is  day,  and  to  remember 
that  the  bloom  of  youth,  and  the  splendour  of  talents, 
never  appear  so  lovely  aa  when  ardently  consecrated 
to  the  Saviour  of  men. 


8TAXB   OF   RELIGION.  483 


CHAP.  IX. 

StATE   OF   RELIGION    IN    THE  WORLD* 
STATE   OF   RELIGION   IN   ENGLAND* 

S>iNCE  the  restoration,  the  qhurch  of  England  has 
not  enjoyed  a  course  of  greater  quiet  and  prosperity 
than  during  the  present  reign.  In  1766  Dr.  Com- 
wallid  succeeded  Dr.  Seeker  in  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury;  and  in  1783  gave  place  to  Dr.  Moore,  w^o 
possessed  his  honours  during  a  very  stormy  period, 
and  lately  resigned  them  to  Dr.  Sutton,  the  present 
metropolitan.  At  the  beginning  of  this  period  the 
exercise  of  episcopal  authority  was  exceedingly 
gentle,  some  would  say  lax,  but  the  reins  have  been 
gradually  tightened,  so  as  now  to  gall  the  mouths  of 
some  and  make  them  complain  of  harshness.  By  a 
clause  in  an  act  of  parliament  for  another  purpose, 
the  constitution  of  the  church  of  England  has  been 
rendered  more  despotic,  for  the  bishops  have  been 
invested  with  new  authority  over  the  inferior  clergy, 
but  especially  over  the  curates  who  are  now  entirely 
subjected  to  their  absolute  disposal*. 

That  thereare  great  and  numerous  fanlts,both  in  the 
constitution  of  the  church,  and  the  mode  of  its  admi- 
nistration by  the  state,  may  naturally  be  supposed  to 
be  our  opinion  ;  or  why  should  we  dissent  ?  But  at 
the  same  time  we  entertain  the  highest  respect  for 

*  See  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Reflections  on  the  recent  £xtea«i 
sion  of  the  Powere  of  their  Lordships  the  Bishops." 

rt-2 


484  HISTORY  OF    DISSENTERS. 

every  good  minister  in  her  communion ;  and  record, 
with  unfeigned  pleasure,  the  advancement  of  true 
religion  within  her  pale,  during  this  period,  by  the 
faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel   in    all  its  native 
purity.     The  deplorable  state  of  the  church  iti  the 
former  period,  and  the  pleasing  change  which  was  tak- 
ing place,  are  thus  described  by  one  of  her  most  vene- 
rable sons,  in  a  letter  written  in  J797.    "  The  times  are 
dark,  but  perhaps  they  were  darker  in  England  sixty 
yeAvs  ago,  when,  though  we  had  peace  and  plenty, 
the  bulk  of  the  kingdom  lay  under  the  judgment  of 
an  unregenerate  ministry,  and  the  people  were  perish- 
ing for  lack  of  knowledge.     In  this  respect  the  times 
are  better  than  they  were.     The  Gospel  is  preached 
in  many  parts;  we  have  it  plentifully  in  London; 
and  many  of  our  great  towns,  which  were  once  sit- 
ting in  darkness,  have  now  the  true  light.     Some  of 
these  places  were  as  a  wilderness  in  my  remembrance, 
and  now  they  are  as  gardens  of  the  Lord.     And 
every  year  the  Gospel  is  planted  in  new  places—- 
ministers  are  still  rising  up — the  work  is  still  spread- 
ing.    I  am  not  sure  that  in  the  year  1740,  there 
was  a  single  parochial  minister  who  was  publicly 
known  as  a  Gospel  minister  in  the  whole  kingdom. 
Now  we  have;  I  know  not  how  many,  but  I  think 
not  less  than  four  hundred  V     In  another  letter  in 
1801,  he  delivers  his  sentiments  on  the  state  of  reli- 
gion  in  the  church  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century :  "  I  am  told  there  are  ten  thousand 
parishes  in  England  ;  I  believe  more  than  nine  thou- 
sand of  these  are  destitute  of  the  Gospel^"    Accord- 

'  See  LeUers  and  conversatiooal  Remarks,  by  the  Jate  Hev^ 
John  Newton,  rector  of  St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  published  iu  1909v 

%  Ditto,  p.  146. 


STATE   OF   RELIGIOK.  485 

ing  to  Mr.  Newton's  calculation  a  portion  only  bf 
the  tenth  thousand  preaches  the  Gospel  in  purity : 
their  number  is  said  to  be  increasing  every  year;  they 
profess  to  believe  and  to  publish  the  doctrines  con- 
tained in  the  articles;  and  they  are  known  in  the 
religious  world  by  the  name  of  the  evangelical  clergy. 
At  th«  head  of  the  list  may  be  placed  the  Rev. 
William  Romaine,  rector  of  Blackfriars,  who  as  he 
was  the  first  who  stood  forward,  had  the  still  greater 
honour  to  be  perhaps  the  most  successful  parish 
minister  in  England,  in  the  conversion  of  sinners  to 
God.  The  labours  of  Mr.  Venn,  at  Huddersfield, 
were  crowned  with  uncommon  success ;  Dr.  Conyers 
at  Helmsley,  and  afterwards  at  Deptford  ;  Mr.  Cado- 
gan,  at  Reading ;  Mr.  Milner,  at  Hull ;  and  Mr. 
Newton,  at  Olney,  and  in  London,  were  eminently 
usigful.  To  Mr.  Grimshaw,  of  Haworth,  Mr.  Ber- 
ridge  of  Everton,  and  Mr.  Jones,  of  Llangan,  must  be 
awarded  the  praise  of  a  still  more  successful  ministry; 
but  to  the  care  of  their  parish,  they  add^d  very  ex- 
tensive itinerant  preaching.  These  were  all  truly 
apostolical  men,  justly  revered  for  their  sanctity  and 
zeal,  and  entitled  to  the  highest  veneration  of- all  tho 
disciples  of  Christ,  in  every  denomination.  Indeed 
of  the  evangelical  clergy  as  a  body,  it  is  but  justice  to 
say,  that  they  are  truly  pious  and  exemplary,  and 
labour  for  the  salvation  of  their  hearers  as  those  who 
must  give  account  to  the  great  Shepherd  and  Bishop 
of  Souls.  Nor  have  they  laboured  in  vain  ;  for  by 
their  means  a  spirit  of  piety  has  been  diffused  among 
considerable  numbers  of  every  rank  in  society ;  and 
from  the  attention  to  the  subject  which  has  been 
excited  in  the  higher  walks  of  life,  religion  has  in*  a 
manner  been  brought  home  to  every  mans  door.  *  Th^ 

U  3  •'         * 


480  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTERS. 

seal  of  these  good  ministers  of  Christ  has  lately  been 
directed  also  to  the  heathen  world,  aqd  a  society  in- 
stituted for  spreading  the  Gospel  in  Africa  and  the 
East. 

Among  the  clergy  it  has  been  more  warmly  dis- 
puted diiring  this  period  than  ever  before,  whether 
the  articles  of  the  church  of  England  are  calvinistic 
or  arminian.  IVJr.  Toplad^y  first,  and  many  year^ 
pfter  him  Mr,  Overton  strenuously  contend  that  they 
plainly  speak  the  language,  and  contain  the  senti- 
ments of  Calvin:  but  they  have  been  furiously 
assailed  by  a  multitude  of  their  brethren,  and  lately 
by  a  father  in  God  (bishop  Tomline)  who  think  they 
can  prove  the  articles  to  be  arminiap.  Most  of  the 
clergy,  and  especially  of  the  dignitaries,  have  ranged 
themselves  on  this  side;  and  the  arminianism  of  the 
articles  is  conceived  to  be  fuliy  demonstrated* 
Among  the  evangelical  clergy  now  (for  the  oldest  of 
this  body  were  to  a  man,  calvinists),  the  sense  of  the 
ftrticles  is  likewise  a  subject  on  which  the  same  dif- 
ference of  opinion  subsists. 

The  sentiments  of  the  clergy  towards  the  dissen-? 
ters  are  scarcely  so  pacific  as  they  were  fifty  years) 
8go.  By  many  of  the  priesthood  they  are  still  con- 
sidered as  senseless  fanatics :  others  feel  jealousy  and 
fear  of  their  incre^e,  which  forms  a  ground  for  strong 
Inversion :  some  view  them  asf  entirely  beneath  their 
liotice :  but  there  is  c^  class,  though  it  may  not  be 
nunaerpus,  which  regards  them  with  fraternal  aiFec** 
$ion^  Among  the  mass  of  the  laity  in  the  establish- 
mefit,  the  very  strong  prejudices  which  formerly 
exi8te4  against  pfesbyterians  and  methodists  (as  dis- 
fenters  were  succes6ivel3r  called)  have  certainly  suf-r 
fered  a  considerable  diminutipn ;  but  many  s^ill  retail^ 
th^m  |n  all  thejf  forqe^^ 


STATE   OF   RELIGION.  487 

The  people  lo  general  profess  to  be  willing  that 
every  one  should  think  for  himself  in  matters  of  reli- 
gion, and  make  a  public  profession  of  his  faith ; 
but  still  there  is  room  for  a  great  increase  of  Chris- 
tian affection.  Among  all  denominations  there  is 
more  of  the  appearance  of  catholic  love  than  of  the 
reality.  Multitudes  are  very  liberal  in  their  declara- 
tions, and  imagine  themselves  sincere;  but  when 
another  sect  interferes  with  their  objecjts  and  pur- 
suits, catholic  love  takes  her  flight,  and  party  spirit 
perches  on  the  stand.  All  have  yet  much  to  learn, 
and  when  they  examine  the  frame  of  their  heart  in 
circumstances  which,  they  conceive,  affect  their  use- 
fulness or  comfort,  they  will  find  that  if  catholic 
charity  were  to  set  up  school,  they  have  need  to 
become  her  scholars.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be 
remarked  with  pleasure,  that  in  matters  which  in- 
trench not  on  their  distinguishing  peculiarities,  per- 
sons of  different  denominations  can  act  together 
without  discord,  in  associations  for  general  good ;  and 
this  is  an  evidence  of  progress  in  Christian  feelings. 


V 


STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN  SCOTLAND. 

A  few  years  before  the  accession  of  George  the 
third,  a  new  system  of  ecclesiastical  politics  was 
framed  under  the  auspices  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  WiU 
)iam  Robertson,  principal  of  the  college  of  Edinburgh  ; 
a  system  stern  and  rigorous  in  its  principles,  repug- 
pant  to  the  popular  spirit  of  the  constitution  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  and  hostile  at  once  to  the  sacred 
privileges  of  the  laity  and  the  advancement  of  true 
religion.    To  resign  the  choice  of  their  minister,  and 

J  i  4 


488  HISTORY  OF   DISSENTEBS. 

submit  to  a  man  presented  by  the  patron,  the  peoplq 
loudly  refused,  and  used  every  possible  exertion  to 
resist  the  imposition  ;  but  resistance  was  vain  :  their^ 
adversary  had  the  gigantic  arm  of  the  law  on  his  side, 
and  of  its  force  he  was  not  unwilling  to  avail  himself. 
Military  aid  was  in  some  instances  employed  to 
preserve  an  ordination  from  tumults ;  and  the  glittering 
bayonets  of  the  soldiery  were  unsheathed  to  overawe 
the  Christian  people,  while  the  clergy  were  laying 
their  hands  upon  their  brother,  and  committing  to 
him,  with  all  solemnity  of  form,  the  awful  charge  of 
immortal  souls.  But  every  violent  settlement,  though 
it  was  a  victory  to  Dr.  Robertson  and  his  party, 
proved  a  severe  defeat  to  the  church  of  Scotland;  for 
it  drove  from  her  communion  the  most  pious  of  the 
people,  and  in  many  instances  left  none  but  the  care- 
less and  the  irreligious  behind. 

Iif  the  foresight,  as  it  were,  of  such  enormities, 
heaven  had  graciously  provided  the  seceders  to  take 
the  charge  of  the  scattered  flocks.  Burgher  and  anti- 
burgher  congregations  arose  in  succession,  from  year 
to  year  in  the  towns  and  villages  which  had  been 
ihus  insulted.  The  presbytery  of  relief  gave  its 
friendly  aid  also  in  the  same  benevolent  service. 
Thus  were  the  people  whom  Robertson  and  his  party 
thought  to  coerce  into  abject  submission,  supplied 
with  teachers;  and  they  carried  with  them  not  only 
unrii paired  but  invigorated,  the  invaluable  principleof 
religious  liberty,  that  a  pastor  should  be  elected  to  his 
office  by  the  people  to  whom  he  is  to  minister.  Their 
reward  was  ample,  for  they  found  faithful  guides  who 
preached  to  them  the  Gospel  in  its  purity.  To  drive 
guch  perfeons  from  the  communion  of  a  church  seems 
i  compound  of  fatuity  and  impiety  ;  it  is  to  rob  it  o( 
its  glory  and  its  strengths 


STATE  OF   RELIGIOK.  480 


Such  were  the  laurels  which  adormsd  Robertson's 
)brow.  Ea('h  successive  minister^^j&^tate  gave  him 
all  the  aid  of  office  and  influence  to  carry  on  his 
ecclesiastical  warfere,  from  which  he  retired  in  1780. 
Successors  in  a  service  which  had  all  the  power  and 
fashion  of  the  world  on  its  side,  it  was  not  difficult  to 
find.  Honour*  and  emoluments  were  the  certain 
reward;  apd  the  work  was  become  comparatively 
easy.  By  them  and  their  numerous  adherents  has 
the  system  been  triumphantly  supported  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  That,  by  their  proceedings,  they  have 
driven  more  than  a  third  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  thei 
country,  and  more  than  one  half  of  the  pious  people 
to  quit  the  communion  of  the  establishment,  so  that 
there  is  more  true  religion  without  than  within  her 
pale,  will  excite  astonishment  and  grief  in  the  hearts 
of  Christians  in  England.  In  the  minds  ot  those  by 
whom  the  deed  has  been  done,  it  is  not  likely  to  pro* 
duce  much  effect ;  for  in  the  decision  of  their  eccle--^ 
siastical  courts  which  operated  the  change,  less  regard 
has  been  shown  to  the  spirit  and  even  the  appearance 
of  vital  godliness,  than  perhaps  by  any  church  on 
earth,  without  excepting  that  of  Rome  in  the  daya 
of  her  grossest  corruptions. 

To  these  odious  proceedings,  opposition  had  always 
been  made,  though  without  effect,  by  a  portion  of  the 
Scotch  clergy  who,  retaining  the  ancient  orthodoxy, 
devotedness,  and  zeal,  have  struggled  with  unwearied 
perseverance  to  restore  their  church  to  its  ancient 
purity.  Possessed  of  the  learning  of  a  divine  in  a 
superior  degree;  evangelical  and  judicious  in  their 
preaching ;  faithful  and  assiduous  in  the  private  duties 
of  their  office ;  highly  exemplary  in  their  life  and  con- 
versation;  and  animated  in  all  their  services  by  a 

fc    .  •  ■  •  •  '  ■  * 


490  HISTORY  OF   DI8SENTEES* 

spirit  of  fervent  piety,  they  give  themselves  wholly 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  are  eminently  useful 
in  their  stations.  Among  this  class,  Mr.  Robert  WaU 
fcer.  Dr.  John  Erskine,  and  professor  Hunter  claim  a 
conspicuous  place.  The  only  cause  of  regret  is  the 
smallness  of  their  number,  for  they  do  not  amount  to 
a  fifth  part  of  the  clerical  body :  but  it  is  said  that 
they  increase.  Happy  will  it  be  if  they  should  become 
the  majority,  thai  the  detestable  system  which  has 
been  deluging  their  highly  favoured  country  with 
ignorance  and  irreligion,  may  be  totally  and  finally 
overthrown. 

It  is  impossible  liot  to  be  struck  with  a  very  disho- 
nourable peculiarity  in  thepresbyteriansofthe  Scotch 
e8tablishment,-^a  want  of  zeal  for  the  doctrine  and 
worship  of  thjoir  own  church.  That  numerous  regi- 
ments of  Scotch  should  be  destitute  of  chaplains  of 
their  own  faith,  and  left  to  the  constant  use  of  a  ser- 
vice which  they  neither  understand  ner  relish,  is  not 
to  the  praise  of  their  clergy.  That  no  effort  should 
be  made  to  establish  presbyterian  congregations  in 
the  great  towns  of  our  colonies  and  foreign  posses* 
eions,  for  the  accomodation  of  the  multitude  of  North 
Britons  who  are  settled  there,  argues  a  very  culpable 
fieglect  of  the  best  interests  of  their  countrymen.  So 
important  a  subject;  it  is  hoped,  will  speedily  and 
successfully  engage  the  attention  of  the  friends  of 
religion  in  the  North. 

The  seceders  were,  during  the  whole  of  this  period, 
continuing  to  increase  in  numbers,  but  not  perhaps  in 
piety  to  ah  equal  degree.  The  second  generation 
f^ill  seldom  equa)  that  which  separated  from  a  cor- 
rupt church  for  conscience'  sake.  Indeed,  the  only 
fhing  which  can  pfeserve  them  from  sinking  into 


STATE  OF   RELIGION*  4^1 

formality,  is  the  adoption  of  the  independent  principlQ^ 
to  admit  none  into  their  theological  seminaries,  but 
such  as  can  give  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  are 
born  of  God.  The  evils  arising  from  the  want  of  it, 
the  burghers,  it  is  said,  already  feeh  The  seceding 
poqgregations  aniount  to  nearly  three  bupdred,  and  the 
presbytery  of  relief  to  about  seventy.  The  followers 
of  Glass  and  Sandeman  have  considerably  diminished ; 
but  a  new  body  of  independents  has  arisen,  which 
more  than  fills  their  room.  The  baptists  are  more 
numerous  thaq  ever  before.  The  episcopalians  IjLeep 
their  ground.  The  immense  mass  of  religious  prin- 
ciple in  Scotland  has  displayed  its  influence  in  the 
xnost  active  exertions  and  liberal  contribntions  tQ 
propagate  the  Qospel  among  tlie  heathen. 


STATE  QF  RELIGION  IN  IRELAND, 

In  the  Hibernian  isle,  so  justly  famed  for  its  natural 
advantages,  pure  religion  still  remained  at  the  com-* 
mencement  of  this,  period,  in  a  confined  and  langui4 
state.  The  zeal  of  the  Roman  catholic  clergy  was 
effectual,  not  only  for  the  preservation  of  their  flocks 
from  the  influence  of  the  protestants,  but  likewise  for 
(drawing  many  from  the  protestant  communion  into 
their  own ;  so  that  they  are  more  numerous  in  proi» 
portion  to  the  other  inhabitants,  than  for  the  last 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  From  the  degraded  state  in 
which  they  lay  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  reign 
they  have  been  gradually  raised  ;  and  they  are  now 
applying  for  an  equality  of  civil  and  political  privir 
leges  with  the|r  protestant  fellow  subjects.  Every 
enlightened  Christian  must  unite  in  cordial  wishes 


493  HtSTORY  OF    DISSENTERS* 

/ 

for  their  success  ;  both  as  it  is  their  undoubted  rights 

» 

and  as  it  will  most  effectually  conduce  to  the  propa- 
gation of  pure  religion  in  that  country. 

In  the  protestant  establishment,  the  inattention  of 
the  clergy  to  the  people  has  continued  to  be  sueh, 
that  to  seek  a  parallel  in  any  other  church  in  Europe, 
of  whatever  name  it  may  be,  would  be  a  vain  attempt. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  protestants  were  far  more 
Ignorant  of  their  distinguishing  principles  than  the 
Roman  catholics,  who  took  advantage  of  it  to  lead 
thousands  of  them  into  their  own  fold.  Towards  the 
close  of  this  period,  there  arose  that  valuable  and 
useful  class  of  men  whom  Mr.  Newton  distinguishes 
in  England  by  the  appellation  of  the  awakened  clergy. 
They  in  general  conceive  that  the  articles  of  their 
church  speak  the  language  of  Calvin.  They  are 
pious,  laborious,  and  zealous  men  ;  and  their  minis-* 
trations  have  been  crowned  with  considerable  success, 
If  Ireland  ever  become  protestant,  it  is  by  men  of 
their  spirit  that  the  work  must  be  accomplished.  Of 
late  they  have  been  rigorously  opposed  and  grievously 
harassed  by  some  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the 
church,  who,  by  such  proceedings,  must  gratify  those 
who  seek  her  degradation  or  her  ruin. 

The  spiritual  state  of  the  presbyterians  by  no  means 
presents  so  pleasing  a  prospect  as  in  the  second,  but 
especially  in  the  first  period  of  this  history.  Error 
continued  to  spread,  and  with  it  all  the  evil  conse- 
quences which  have  been  described.  In  1782,  they 
obtained  from  parliament  a  repeal  of  the  test  act.  A 
more  ample  allowance  has  been  made  by  it  for  the 
support  of  the  ministers,  who,  divided  into  three 
classes,  enjoy  pensions  of  a  hundred,  seventy-five, 
or  fifty  pounds  a  year.     Though  their  congregational 


ISTAT£   OF   BBLI'OlOKv  493 

In  the  North  scarcely  amount  to  two  hundred,  and 
those  in  the  South  are  few,  they  claim  to  thenaselvea 
a  population  of  nearly  half  ai  million. 

The  sepedipg  ministers,  who  came  over  from  Scot- 
land in  the  former  period,  continued  to  diffuse  their 
sentiments  with  great  success.  The  burgher  eongrega* 
tions  amount  to  sixty,  and  the  anti^burghers  to  thirty. 
Their  ministers  have  likewise  salaries  from  government 
but  inferior  to  those  of  the  old  presbyterians.  By  boti> 
these  denominations  the  Gospel  is  preached  in  purity. 

Of  late  the  independents  have  erected  their  standard, 
but  hitherto  not  with  distinguished  success.  The 
baptists  still  continue  to  exist,  and  more-than  exist- 
tence  it  can  scarcely  be  called.  The  Wesleyan  me*i 
thodists  have  continued  their  exertions  through  this 
period,  and  considerably  extended  their  stations.  The 
number  of  travelling  preachers  amounts  to  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five,  and  the  members  in  society  ara 
twenty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-four. 
The  Hibernian  society,  instituted  a  few  years  ago,  is 
exerting  itself  both  in  the  establishment  of  schools 
and  the  patronage  of  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  Their 
pious  labours  it  is  hoped,  will  be  crowned  with  an 
enfiinent  blessing. 


STATE  OF  RELIGION  BEYOND  THE  BRITISH 

EMPIRE. 

The  United  States  of  America  still  continue  to  enjoy 
those  revivals  of  religion  which  have  been  noticed 
under  the  former  periods.  Though  the  revolution, 
which  separated  the  colonies  from  the  mother  country, 
diyerted  the  minds  of  the  Americans  from  religion  to 
th|3  politics  of  this  world,  no  sooner  was  their  inde- 


404  HISTOEY  OF  DiSSfiNTEftS. 

pendency  secured  than  a  new  effusion  of  the  divine 
influence  attending  the  Gospel,  began  to  rescue  the 
country  from  the  serious  injuries  which  it  had  suf* 
feredby  the  spirit  of  war  and  the  presence  of  hostile 
armies.  It  has  been  asserted,  indeed,  that  there 
scarcely  ever  was  a  body  of  men  collected  for  war  so 
humane  and  mora],  and  who  returned  to  their  farms 
so  little  corrupted,  as  those  who  composed  the  Ame- 
rican army ;  and  the  religious  liberty  which  the  new 
republic  established,  was  so  complete,  that  the  dearest 
rights  and  interests  of  men  were  eminently  promoted 
by  the  revolution. 

The  increase  of  population  having  created  new  states 
in  that  immense  tract  of  country  which  lies  on  the 
south-west  of  the  original  colonies,  religion  has  lately 
displayed  there  some  of  its  most  extraordinary 
triumphs,  where  indeed  they  were  most  needed.  To 
many  the  relation  of  the  effects  attending  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  in  the  western  woods  may  appear 
incredible ;  but  the  utmost  investigation  tends  only 
to  prove  the  reality  and  excellence  of  the  work  and 
excite  the  most  ardent  gratitude  to  the  author.  The 
american  colleges  also,  shared  in  the  benefits  of  these 
revivals,  and  some  of  the  students,  participating 
in  the  zeal  for  missions  which  America  now  dis- 
plays, have  devoted  themselves  to  the  welfare  of  the 
heathen* 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  French  revolution 
irresistibly  attracts  attention.  Among  the  causes 
which  produced  it,  has  been  reckoned  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  protestants  by  the  old  government,  which 
was  more  fiercely  instigated  to  cruelty  by  the  catholic 
clergy  during  the  reign  of  George  the  third  than 


STATE  OF   RELIGION*  405 

.many  could  imagine.  The  total  overthrow  of  the 
catholic  church  has  hitherto  done  little  more  than 
leave  an  open  field  for  the  exertion  of  the  protes- 
tants.  The  Roman  pontics  have  of  late  become  in 
the  balance  of  human  affairs  trifles  light  as  air.  He 
who  now  fills  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  is  not  permitted 
to  D^side  at  Rome,  but  is  dragging  on  his  life  in  an 
obscure  imprisonment.  After  abolishing,  during  this 
period,  the  order  of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  made  Europe 
tremble,  the  papacy  its^f  seems  likely  to  sink  into 
annihilation.  The  house  of  Austria,  which  is  now 
allied  to  the  new  dynasty  of  France,  had  vaccilated 
between  its  ancient  persecuting  bigotry  and  a  pleas- 
ing indication  of  more  tolevant  principled,  till  the 
French  revolution  absorbed  its  attention  and  almost 
annihilated  its  influence. 

Upon  the  whole,  religious  liberty  has  gained  by  the 
tremendous  changes  in  the  state  of  Europe,  which 
yet  waits  to  receive  the  men  who  will  rise  up  to 
cultivate  the  immense  field  that  now  lies  open  to  the 
Christian  labourers. 


496  UISIORT  OF  DISSENTERS. 


CHAP.  X. 

ItiE   INFLUENCE   OF    DISSENTERS. 

JL  H  AT  the  principles  of  dissent  have  operated  power- 
fully in  the  world,  will  not  be  doubted  by  any  one 
who  reflects  on  the  influence  which  they  l^ad  in 
creating  a  new  empire  on  the  American  continent, 
which  has  already  contributed  to  the  most  mighty 
revolution  in  the  state  of  Europe,  and  promises  to  be- 
come one  of  the  most  extensive  and  powerful  on  the 
globe.  It  may  then  be  expected,  that  the  existence 
of  dissenters  has^ deeply  affected  the  state  of  our  own 
nation ;  and  as  this  is  to  our  countrymen  an  interesting 
and  instructive  inquiry,  though  but  little  attended  to, 
the  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  the  influence  of 
the  dissenting  communions  on  true  religion,  on  sacred 
literature,  on  public  morals,  on  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  on  the  national  prosperity  of  Britain. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  DISSENTERS  IN  PROMOTING 

TRUE  RELIGION. 

To  form  a  satisfactory  estimate  of  the  effects  of  any 
communion  in  this  most  important  department,  is 
manifestly  a  task  of  peculiar  difficulty;  because  each 
one  will  naturally  honour  his  own  with  the  name  of 
true  religion  which  will  therefore  be  considered  to 
prosper  in  proportion  as  his  party  is  advanced.  The 
sacred  Scriptures  are,  indeed,  the   true  standard  of 


INFLUENCE    OF    DISSTENTERS.  ^7 

religion,  but  as  air  profess  to  bow  to  this  authority, 
we  shall  attempt  to  combine  truth  and  candour  by- 
taking  the  sentiments  and  spirit  of  the  most  devoted 
clergymen  of  the  est^lished  church,  as  the  cri,terion 
by  'which  to  judge  of  the  influence  of  dissenters  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  true  godliness. 

It  may  then  be  affirmed,  without  fear  of  contradict 
,tion,  that  the  dissenters  have  most  powerfully  pro- 
moted this  grand  object,  for  which  some  hundreds  of 
the  established  clergy  are  spending  their  lives.  From 
the  restoration  to  the  rise  of  methodism,  dissenters 
stood  up  alone  in  defence  of  the  best  of  causes.  They 
alone  maintained  the  depravity  of  human  nature, 
which  no  baptismal  waters  could  wash  away ;  they 
preached  the  doctrines  of  justification  by  faith  alone, 
and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  these  were 
ridiculed  as  the  dogmas  of  fanaticism  ;  and  ithey  singly 
dared  to  protest  against  the  fashionable  vices  of  the 
nation,  at  the  hazard  of  being  treated  as  outlaws  from 
society  and  traitors  to  the  state.  Of  them  it  may- be 
said  in  sacred  language,  that  "  except  the  Lord  of 
hosts  had  left  us  that  remnant,  our  country  had  been 
as  Sodom  or  Gomorrah.^'  The  apostacy  of  th^  nation 
from  the  sentiments  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel  had  been 
total,  but  for  the  dissenters:  by  their  means  a  vital 
spark  was  preserved,  and  the  nation  is  now  warmed 
with  the  spreading  flames. 

To  have  been,  for  almost  a  century,  the  witnesses 
for  G6d  in  the  land,  though  prophesying  in  sackcloth, 
was  a  high  honour.  A  thousand  dissenting  churches 
were  during  all  that  time,  receiving  into  their  com- 
munion those  who  were  converted  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  among  them,  while  no  such  effects 
\Vere   looked  for  by  the  established  ministers.     To 

VOL.    IV.  K  k 


49B  HISTORY   Of   DISSENtSRS. 

form  an  adequate  estimate  of  all  the  benefits 
and  indirect^  which  must  have  been  produced  in  our 
cities,  towns,  and  villages  from  such  a  practical  testi« 
mbny  borne  to  the  most  important  of,  all  truths,  is 
beyond  the  power  of  a  finite  mind.  But  he  who  exults 
in  the  prosperity  which  now  attends  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  in  various  communions,  'must  look  back  with 
veneration  to  the  people  who  once  professed  alone 
what  now  forms  the  glory  of  our  land« 

Though  the  numbers  of  the  dissenters  are  more 
than  doubled,  and  their  activity  is  much  increased, 
it  i$  become  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  calculate 
the  influence  which  they  have  at  present  on  true  reli- 
gion ;  because  they  share  it  in  common  with  new 
aectSf  and  with  a  new  party  in  the  establishment  But 
as  their  ministers  form  more  than  twice  the  number  of 
the  evangelical  clergy,  it  is  sufficiently  manifest,  that 
so  many  labourers  added  to  those  who  preach  the 
Gospel  within  the  established  church,  must  produce 
the  happiest  effects  in  diffusing  religion  through 
the  land.  Nor  should  it  be  foi^otten,  that  many  of 
the  dissenting  churches  are  of  as  much  importance  as 
ever  they  were,  since  they  are  placed  in  situations 
where  all  around  them  is  still  as  dark  as  before  the 
rise  of  the  methodists,  or  the  revival  of  religion  within 
the  bosom  of  the  establishment. 

The  fire  which  was  secretly  cherished  by  the  dis- 
aeqtera,  has,  however,  at  length  communicated  its 
heat  to  many  who  avoid  their  name.  Those  clergy, 
men  who  were  the  fathers  of  the  methodists,  might 
never  have  been  heard  of  beyond  the  boundaries  of  a 
single  parish,  had  not  the  dissenters  opened  for  them 
the  way,  and  taught  them  that  the  whole  kingdom  is 
(he  parish  of  him  who  has^a  heart  to  take  so  extensive 


IMFLUEKCE  OF  .DIS9ENTER8.  490 

a  cure.  The  social  religion  which  is  cherished  by  dis- 
sienters  as  the  life  of  the  Christian  church,  has  not  only 
produced  the  happiest  effects  aoiong  themselves,  but 
ha^  also  been  imparted  in  a  considerable  degree 
to  the  friends  of  evangelical  truth  in  the  establish- 
ment. Many  who  remain  under  episcopal  government 
are  induced  also  to  imitate  the  dissenters  in  the 
thoice  of  their  own  ministers*  Thus  several  parishes 
in  Loudon  have  obtained  the  benefit  of  afternoon 
lecturers  of  evangelical  principles,  and  not  a  few 
livings  have  been  procured  for  those  who  preach  the 
creed  to  which  they  have  sworn.  In  another  way,  the 
example  of  dissenters  has  bad  the  most  mighty  and 
beneficial  influence;  for,  observing  that  the  dissenting 
seminaries  for  the  ministry  are  supported  by  vo)un« 
tary  contributions,  the  zealous  friends  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  articles  Have  established  a  similar  fund  to  sup-' 
port  serious  young  men  while  preparing  at  the  uni* 
versities  for  the  ministry  of  the  church  of  Englaild. 
The  missionary  society,  formed  among  various  classes 
of  dissenters,  has  given  rise  to  another  which  is  con- 
fined to  churchmen ;  and  some  new  proofs  are  con- 
tinually exhibited  of  the  happy  effects  of  the  dissent 
on  the  cause  of  true  religion  even  beyond  the  circle  of 
dissenting  churches. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  DISSENTERS  ON  SACRED 

LITERATURE. 

As  liberty  is  the  patron  of  science  and  the  muses, 
to  the  liberal  spirit  which  dissenters  have  cherisrhed, 
our  country  owes  much  of  its  eminence,  even  in  those 
branches  of  literature,  in  which  they  have  not  them- 

Kk2 


50(1  HISTORY  OF   0ISSENTER§. 

selves  acquired  distinction.  The  press  has  always  been 
more  under  the  influence  of  dissenters  than  many 
would  suspector  would  wish  to  believe.  From  the  time 
that  EKzabeth  compelled  the  puritans  to  establmh  pri- 
vate circulating  presses,  to  the  last  of  the  Stuarts, 
who  subjected  the  nonconformists  to  the  tyranny  of 
a  licenser,  they  struggled  to  avail  themselves  of  this 
means  of  appealing  to  the  tribunal  of  the  public.  But 
when  the  revolution  threw  the  press  open  to  all  par- 
ties, it  became  more  manifest  that  dissenters  had 
availed  themselves  of  this  powerful  ally.  To  the 
periodical  papers,  such  as  the  "  Spectator ,^^  and  other* 
which  followed  in  its  popular  track,  by  which  the 
public  mind  was  powerfully  influenced  uoder  the 
reign  of  Anne  and  the  first  Georges,  dissenters  largely 
contributed.  It  was  a  dissenter  also  who  introduced 
those  compendiums  of  science.  Encyclopaedias, 
which  still  diffuse  so  much  general  knowledge. 
*•  Chambers'  Cyclopaedia,^'  which  was  the  first,  is,  \n 
the  edition  published  by  Dr.  Rees,  a  dissenting  mi- 
nister, esteemed  by  many  as  still  the  best  of  the  works 
which  profess  to  give  the  whole  circle  of  sciences. 
**  The  Abridgment  ofthe  philosophical  Transactions 
of  the  Royal  Society''  attests  the  high  rank  which 
Mr.  Eames,  a  dissenting  tutor,  held  among  the  literatr 
of  his  day.  Not  to  mention  the  Magazines  and 
Reviews  which  are  avowedly  conducted  by  dissenters, 
it  is  well  known  to  many,  that  se?veral  ofthe  others 
are  in  a  great  measure  the  production  of  writers  who 
disapprove  ofthe  established  church. 
.  It  may  indeed  be  safely  affirmed,  that  all  the  most 
popular  productions  ofthe  British  press  were  writtenr 
by  dissenters.  To  mention  Milton^s  *^  Paradise  lost'^ 
might  provoke  contradiction;    though  he  was  un- 


INFLUENCE   OF    PISSENTEJ^S.  AOl 

questi<^ably  a  separatist  from  the  church  established 
by  law,  for  which  he  has  been  severely  treated  by 
those  who  ought  to  have  shown  towards  the  British 
Homer  a  more  liberal  mind.  It  will  not,  however, 
be  disputed  that  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress^'  was  ^thq 
work  of  a  baptist  minister,  or  that  it  has  had  a  largeif 
circulation  than  any  other  book,  perhaps,  except  the 
Bible.  Next,  among  works  of  imagination,  must  be^ 
ranked  De  Foe's  *^  Robinson  'Crusoe,^'  which,,  in 
addition  to  its  immense  indigenous  sale,  was  at  one 
time  raised  by  the  whims  of  Rousseau  to  the  highest 
celebrity  in  France.  The  "  Divine  Songs,"  which 
Watts  wrote  for  the  use  of  children,  have  been  so  cor- 
dially adopted  by  all  parties,  that  they  now  belong  to 
none.  For  his  catechisms  might  be  claimed  the 
praise  of  teaching  the  art  of  Christian  instruction  ; 
while  his  *^  Improvement  of  the  Mind"  and  his 
^*  Logic,"  which^  till  lately,  taught  the  universities 
the  method  of  reasoning,  have  contributed  more  than 
any  other  works  to  the  formation  of  an  intellectual 
character  in  the  British  youth.  To  his  *^  Psalms  and 
Hymns"  for  public  worship  the  nation  owes  that 
ftuperior  taste  in  devotion,  which  is  rapidly  producing 
^  general  disgust  for  such  monkish  rhymes  as  those  of 
Sternhold  and  Hopkins^  or  even  of  Tate  and  Brady. 
,  It  is,  however,  to  the  honour  of  dissenters,  that 
their  laurels  are  principally  gathered  on  Mount 
Zion  ;  and  their  literary  labours  like  those  of  the  He- 
brew sages,  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  temple 
of  God.  Ainsworth,  the  rabbi  of  the  independents, 
gave  the  first  specimen  of  just  expositions  of  the 
Scripture,  and  struck  out  the  path  in  which  Lowth 
and  Horsely  have  since  made  so  honourable  advances. 
Among  popular  commentaries  on  ihe  whole  of  tha 


502  History  of  dissenters. 

sacred  \o1ume,  adapted  to  the  bulk  of  the  Christiai| 
world,  none  can  for  a  moment  vie  with  that  of  Mat- 
thew Henry**.  No  work  on  a  single  book  of  Scripture 
is  equal  to  Dr.  Owen's  "  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  tq 
the  Hebrews/^  which  is  valuable  on  many  accounts, 
but  chiefly  for  diligent  research  into  the  mind  of  the 
spirit  in  the  Scriptures.  Doddridge  and  Guyse  are 
almost  the  only  commentators  on  the  New  Testament, 
who  have  acquired  celebrity  ;  but  if  Scotch  presby- 
terians  were  to  be  mentioned  among  dissenters. 
Brown,  Mackni^ht,  and  Campbell  would  deserve 
honourable  mention  as  valuable  writers  on  the  Chris^^ 
tian  Scriptures.  The  Hebrew  concordance  of  Dr. 
Taylor  has  afforded  great  assistance  in  the  study  of 
the  Old  Testament ;  and  the  Hebrew  grammar  which 
has  been  most  generally  used,  was  the  work  of  Dr. 
Ashworth,  another  dissenting  tutor.  Almost  all  the 
bodies  of  divinity  in  the  English  languafge  are  the 
productions  of  dissenters.  Baxter,  Lawson,  Ridgley, 
and  Gill  have  each  of  them  laboured  to  give  such 
systems  of  theology,  which  have  beeii  objeeted  to,^ 
indeed,  as  distorting  the  parts,  but  must  be  valued  as' 
giving  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  whole.  In  the 
philosoJ3hy  of  theology,  our  language  contains  no 
works  which  can  rival  those  of  president  Edwards  and 
Dr.  Williams,  his  editor  and*  commentator.  The 
Established  church  would  have  carried  off  the  palm 
of  merit  in  defending  the  outworks  pf  Christianity, 
had  not  Lardner  written  his  "  Credibility  of  the  Gos- 
pel,'^ which  is  as  much  to  be  prized  for  the  assistance 

^  The  labours  of  Mr.  Scott,  an  evangelical  clergyman,  deserve 
to  be  nientioned  with  high  praise,  ]>articalarly  for  the  valuable 
eollection  of  liiarginal  references ;  by  which  be  has  surpasaed 
Brotvn,  on  whbie  ib^aldera  however  he  had  the  advantage  vi 
atyndin^. 


INFLU£NC£  OF   DISSENTERS.  503 

which  it  has  afforded  to  other  advocates  of  the  Chris- 
tian Reye^atioii,  as  for  its  own  intrinsic  merits.  Of 
detached  theological  publications,  the  far  greater  part 
liave  been  written  by  dissenters,  especially  if  we 
take  into  the  account  the  ponderous  folios  of  Owen^ 
Howe,  Baxter,  Flavel,  and  Bates,  with  wany  others 
of  scarcely  ioferior  worth.  That  the  most  popular 
sermons  which  are  published,  should  have  beep  those 
which  were  preached  by  dissenters,  n^ighthave  been 
expected,  since  preaching  is  deemed  of  more  impor- 
tance  among  them  than  in  the  establi^hoient,  wh^ro' 
the  liturgy  <)ftjep  takes  its  place^ 


INFLUENCE  OF  DISSENTERS  ON  PUBLIC  MORALS, 

While  the  devout  Christian  regards  the  prayers  of 
the  faithful  as  an  immense  blessing  to  their  country, 
the  mere  politician  values  religion  only  for  the  sake 
of  the  superior  morals  which  it  inculcates  apd  inspires. 
Industry,  essential  as  it  is  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  as  well  as  to  the  progress  of  arts,  manufactures, 
and  commerce,  will  seldom  be  carried  to  the  utmost 
degree,  but  by  the  influence  of  the  religious  principle. 
The  temperance  and  frugality  which  husband  the 
produce  of  labour,  an(}  leave  to  the  individual  a  sur^ 
plus  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  state,  must  proceed 
from  the  prevalence  of  the  mental  over  the  sensual 
part  of  our  nature:  and  the  good  order  which  leaves 
a  government  pothing  to  fear  from  the  open  insurrecT 
tion  of  the  many,  or  the  secret  crimes  of  the  few,  is 
most  effectually  secured  By  the  fear  of  that  supreme 
Ruler  who  can  equally  detect  secret  villany,  and 
punish  prosperous  violence.       . 

l^H4 


904  .    HISTORY  OF   0I8S^KT£RS. 

That  dissenters  are  not,  as  a  body,  chargeable  witiit 
9pen  vice,  is  virtually  acknowledged  even  by  their 
enemies,  whp  are  accustomed*  to  accuse  thepi  of 
hypocrisy  which  conceals  Qdi9^as  tampers^  under.  -^ 
decent.exterior.  But  as  the  national  cbjarcb  avowedly. 
embraces  the  wholf  population  of  U^e  f  ouotry,Mt'must 
have  whatever  cbacacter  belongs  ,to  th^  nation ;  so 
that  derlamatioDs  against  the  vices  of  our  land,. 
yltimately  fall  upon  the  church  which  claimp  the 
aggregate  body,  of  Englishmen  as  her  children.  When 
excdmmunication  was  practiced,  its  thunders  fell 
not  on  notorious  sinners  against  morality^  but  oa 
rebels  against  ecclesiastical  authority;  and  now  that 
its  thunders  are  silent,  lest  they  should  be  derided, 
ail  who  are  not  avowed  dissenters  are  considered  as 
members  of  the  established  church,  from  the  splendid 
debauchees  whose  divorce  bills  continually  Occupy 
the  attention  of  the  legislature,  to  the  culprits  re- 
corded in  the  calendar  of  Newg^te.  While  this, 
scandal -cleaves  to  national  churches,  it  prevents  them 
from  practically  promoting  the  cause  of  morality,  by 
excluding  from  their  communion  those  who  grossly 
violate  the  pure  code  of  morals  which  they  may  pub* 
lish  from  their  pulpits. 

But  the  dissenting  churches  can  follow  up  the 
moral  doctrine  which  all  parties  profess  to  inculcate, 
by  the  strictest  disci pline.  As  excommunication 
among  them  involves  no  injury  to  civil  rightfg,  it  is* 
practiced  whenever  the.  vices  of  a  member  are  cqii« 
sidered  as  a  disgrace  to  the  body.  Knowing  that 
they  are  objects  of  notice  and  of  censure,  dissenters 
are  unwilling  to  be  identified  with  the  loose  aad 
immoral ;  and  within  the  limits  of  a  single  congrega- 
tion the  character  of  an  individual  cannot  be  long 


INFLI7SKGE  OF    DISSB^TERS.  SOS 

unknown.  The  independent  chorcbes,  irt  efeneral, 
feel  themselves  hound  by  the  authority  of  Scripture, 
to  •'  put  away  from  amonp  them  a  wicked  person  ;'^ 
and  evjBD  ^he  lesf*  honourable  motive  of  zeal  f<«#«the^ 
pairty  would  induce  any  sect  to  watch  for  its  moral 
reputation,  as  essential  to  the  accession  of  proselytes 
auad  even  to  the  preservation  of  its  own  members ; 
since  the  jrrossly  profligate  will  cease  to  trouble 
themselves  with  any  profession,  or  sink  into  theeasieK 
and  more  fashionable  religion  of  the  state.  While 
on  the  one  hand,  therefore,  some  are  deterred  {from 
vice  hy  the  fear  of  exclusion  from  a  society  com- 
posed of  their  most  intimate  acquaintances,  friends, 
or  lelations  ,  on  the  other,  those  who  are  lost  to  feaf 
or  shame,  usually  abandon  the  dissent  altogether,  and 
tran«i^r  their  character  and  their  influence  to  the 
national  church.  ^ 

if,  on  these  accounts,  the  interest  of  morality  is 
more  powerfully  promoted  by  dissenters  than  by  the 
establishmt^nt,  to  this  cause  must  be  attributed  much 
ot  the  odium  attached  to  dissent.  For  while  the  reli- 
gious condemn  and  abhor  every  species  of  vice,  the 
vi-:  ious  will  not  fail  to  retaliate  by  the  ridicule  or  \be 
calumny  which  they  pour  upon  the  stricter  profession 
of  religion.  Hence  the  national  rage  against  the  non- 
conformists at  the  restoration.  Had  they  been  con- 
tent to  join  the  revels  of  the  debauched  monarch, 
their  dissent  from  the  religion  which  he  established, 
would  have  been  considered  a  venial  crime;  for 
while  he  was  reconciled  to  the  church  of  Home,  he 
was  in  perfect  good  humour  with  the  church  of 
England.  But  they  wounded  at  once  ^is  pride  and 
his  conscience,  by  moral  conduct  too  far  beyond  his 
own.     For  the  same  reason,  dissenters  are  frequently 


MO 


HISTOET  OF  DISiENTERS. 


i^opopular  at  the  present  day,  especially  in  villages 
9nd  smaller  towns,  where  men  are  better  acquainted 
with  each  other's  QhamcteFs  than  in  great  cities.  The 
Bupporters  of  the  village  alehouse  or  playhouse  are 
jthe  greatest  enemies  to  those  who  attend  the  meeting- 
bouse,  who  are  frequently  reminded  as  they  pass  the 
Sunday  pricket-players  or  tiplers,  how  hateful  their 
superior  strictness  is  to  those  who  are  ^Movers  of 
pleasure  mpre  than  lovers  of  God.'* 

Good  example,  however,  has  a  most  beneficial 
influence,  even  when  most  hated.  The  societies  for 
reformation  which  sprang  up  immediately  after  the 
revolution,  were  the  first  fruits  of  the  superior  moral 
sense  which  the  dissenters  had  preserved  in  the 
fcountry,  apd  the  strict  manners  of  the  methodists, 
lyho  emanated  from  these  societies,  may  be  traced  up 
to  the  ancient  puritans.  The  modern  associations 
£p^r  the  suppression  of  vice,  and  for  the  observance  of 
the  Lord'srday,  find  their  most  zealous  members  and 
patrons  among  dissenters,  who  have  by  these  and 
other  means  elevated  the  standard  of  public  morals. 

In  another  w^y  they  have  improved  the  morality 
of  the  country,  for  as  the  reformation  compelled  the 
clergy  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  adopt  a  more  correct 
conduct,  the  influence  and  increase  of  dissenters  often 
obliges  the  established  ministers  to  regulate  their 
conduct  so  ^s  to  avoid  odious  comparisons-  Even 
this  constrained  morality  is  advantageous  to  the  parish  i 
for  though  it  will  not  render  the  parson  or  his  hearers^  ^ 
real  Christians,  it  precludes  the  triumphs  of  vice 
)¥hi^h  would  otherwise  be  sanctioned  as  by  law* 


> 


INFLUENCE   OF    DISSENTERS.  507 


INFLUENCE  OF  DISSENTERS  ON  CIVIL  AND  RE, 
'  •  LIGIOUS  LIBERTY, 

*  «  ■ 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Hume,  that  the  English 
owe'  their  free  constitution  to  the  struggles  of  the 
puritans.  Whatever  exceptions  may  be  taken  to 
their  conduct  in  the  time  of  the  commonwealth 
and  of  the  revolution,  by  which  our  country  ob- 
tained its  present  liberties,  it  will  not  be  denied  that 
dissenters  have  the  same  right  as  others  to  give  tl)eir 
vote  to  such  legislators  as  will  express  their  mind  in 
the  debates  of  the  senate.  This  right  they  have 
almost  invariably  exercised  in  favour  of  civil  liberty^ 
and  by  their  means  not  only  a  Hartopp  and  an 
Abney,  but  many  a  more  modern  senator,  has  beeii 
enabled  to  plead  in  the  parliament  the  cause  of  man- 
kind. If,  as  Fuller  facetiously  observed,  in  •*  all 
political  changes  the  pulpits  of  the  established  church 
are  made  of  the  same  wood  as  the  council  board,^*  it 
is  well  for  the  liberties  of  the  country  to  have  other 
pulpits,  where  no  panegyrics  will  be  pronounced  oa 
despotic  measures.  For  though  the  dissenting 
preacher  may  wisely  abstain  from  political  discus- 
sions, his  silence  may  be  sufficiently  expressive, 
when  all  around  are  applauding  the  councils  which 
lead  to  slavery  and  ruin. 

Mr.  Howe;  whose  penetrating  eye  had  seen  much 
of  the  interior  of  courts,  declared  that  the  grand 
cause  of  the  hostility  of  governments  to  dissenters; 
was  their  known  abhorrence  of  arbitrary  rule.  The 
despotic  house  of  Stuart  reproached  the  dissetiters  as 
an  unyielding  race,  who  could  not  be  won  by  any 
price  to  sacrifice  their  country's  liberties;  and  the 


506  HISTORY   OF    DISSENTffiS. 

• 

tories  who  favoured  the  exiled  dynasty  have  ever 
been  implacable  foes  to  the  cause  of  dissent.  But 
those  princes  who  have  been  least  unfriendly  to  the 
people's  liberties,  have  been  also  most  desirous  of 
extending  the  toleration,  and  of  abolishing  the  odious 
restrictions  of  the  test  laws ;  and  the  most  zealous 
lyhigs  have  usually  deemed  it  essential  to  the  appear*- 
ance  of  consistency  to  advocate  <  the  cause  of  dissen* 
ters.  These  opposite  tendencies  of  the  two  parties  into 
which  the  governing  powers  of  our  country  have  been 
divided,  are  perfectly  natural  and  reasonable.  For, 
as  the  very  existence  of  chqrches  dissenting  from  the 
^religion  of  the  state,  is  an  avowal  of  the  duty  of 
thinking  for  ourselves,  and  of  the  right  of  differing^ 
jFrom  our  rulers^  the  patriot  prince  or  minister  alone 
pan  view  this  indication  of  a  free  spirit  with  a  fa- 
vourable eye,  while  the  lovers  of  passive  submission 
must  regard  it  with  abhorrence. 

If  the  mere  political  reformer  should  deny  the 
obligations  ef  our  country  to  the  influence  of  dissen- 
ters in  the  civil  state,  the  Christian  patriot  must 
own  that  religious  liberty,  the  glory  of  our  island,  isf 
the  offspring  of  the  dissent.  The  puritans  and  nour 
conformists  pleaded  only  for  the  right  of  enjoying 
their  own  sentiments  because  they  were  true ;  but 
the  dissenters,  their  successors,  have  added  to  the 
ardour  which  this  selfish  feeling  inspires,  the  benevo- 
lence  that  contends  for  the  liberty  of  every  man  to 
profess  whatever  he  thinks  to  be  requisite  to  his  own 
eternal  safety. 

Even  withih  the  pale  of  the  establishment,  dissen- 
ters have  diffused  a  portion  of  religious  liberty.  So 
completely  has  the  increase  of  separatists  lowered 
the  tiaugfhty  tone  of  the  hierarchy,  that  it  now  piques 


INFLUENCE   OP   DISSENTERS.  50I> 

itself  on  its  liberality,  and  pleads  for  its  own  existence 
on  the  ground  of  its  being  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  religious  liberty  In  the  kingdom,  as  if  only  the  years 
and  experience  of  the  elder  could  keep  the  younger 
and  more  ardent  communions  from  persecuting  each 
other.  While  we  sinile  al  this  plea,  so  different  froni 
her  former  style,  it  is  highly  consoling  to  observe  the 
influence  of  dissenters  in  inducing  the  establishment 
toadopt  a  more  gentle  rule  towards  her  own  sons.  It  is 
nownearly  half  a  century  since  the  rise  of  the  evange- 
lical clergy,  who  have  increased  till  they  have  formed, 
what  is  lamented  by  the  drgnitaries,  as  a  formidable 
schism  in  the  body.  But  instead  of  the  stern  inquisito- 
rial measures  which  cut  off  the  nonconformists,  the 
ecclesiastical  governors  have  contented  themselves 
with  such  timid  palliatives  as  have  only  left  the  evil  to 
become  incurable;  for,  whatever  disposition  they 
show  to  expel  the  evangelical  party,  they  dare  not 
give  the  dissenters  the  majority,  by  adding  such  for- 
midable hosts  to  their  numbers. 

INFLUENCE  OF  DISSENTERS  ON  NATIONAL 

PROSPERITY. 

Nations  have  been  too  generally  supposed  to  pros- 
per in  proportion  as  they  extend  their  conquests. 
But  as  more  wealth  is  produced  by  the  cultivation  of 
a  small  estate,  than  by  the  mere  possession  of  a 
larger,  it  is  not  the  extent  of  its  territory,  but  the 
numbers  of  its  subjects,  their  industrious  habits,  their 
correct  morals,  their  superior  comforts  and  their  in- 
tellectual eminence  which  form  the  prosperity  of  a 
nation.  The  voice  of  history  attests  that  these  impor- 
tant objects  have  been  promoted  in  proportion   as 


610  HIStORY.  0#  DISSENTERS^ 

feligion  has  prevailed.    But  nations  cannot  expeGt 
the  advantages  of  religion  unless  they  afford  it  the 
liberty  which  it  at   once  demands,  deserves,  and 
repays.     While  Spain,  which  most  completely  suc- 
ceeded in  extinguishing  the  iree  spirit  of  the  refor- 
inatioii,  sunk,  in  spite  of  its  immense  advantages, 
into  a  poor  decrepid  state,  Holland  rose  by  its  more 
liberal  policy  to  a  rank  far  beyond  that  which  its  ter- 
ritory could  have  claimed.     That  spirit  of  religious 
liberty  which  dissenters  have  cherished,  has  enabled 
our  diminutive  island  to  contend  with  France  for 
the  etnpire  of  the  world.     The  mental  vigour  pro- 
duced by  ftee  discussion  of  the  most  important  of  all 
subjects — religion,  is  not  only  favourable  to  intellec- 
tual eminence  in  every  other  department,  but  is  also 
k  stimulus  to  physical  exertion,  by  which  the  produc- 
tions of  the  soil  are  multiplied,- while  the  temperance 
^bich  religious  sects  confessedly  possess,  husbands 
capital^  the  germ  of  wealth.    The  full  effects  pro- 
duced by  the  spirit  of  dissenters  may  be  seen  in  the 
United   States  of  America,    tha^  most   surprising 
example  of  at  rising  empire.    There  the  men  who 
were  driven  fronii  this  country  by  the  persecuting 
spirit  of  a  hierarchy,  have  grown   into  a  mighty 
empire,  which  regards  religious  liberty  as  its  palla- 
dium, suffering  no  exclusive  establishment  to  impede 
agriculture  by  tithes,  or  exclude  talents  by  religious^ 
tests. 

Besides  exciting  a  disposition  for  physical  and 
mental  exertion,  the  dissenters  have  contributed  to 
national  prosperity  by  the  free  spirit  which  has  com- 
pelled the  government  to  pay  some  attention  to 
pt.blic  opinion,  for  this  has  frequently  prevented 
despotic  measures  at  home  as  well  as  destructive 


-■r- 


tNFLUEKCE   OF  DISSEl^TEftS.  511 

schemes  abroad.  The  persecutor  who  decreed  the 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  signed  the  death 
warrant  of  his  descendant  Louis  the  sixteenth  ^f  for^ 
ceasing  to  respect  the  sentiments  of  the  people,*  the 
dynasty  of  the  Capets  advanced  without  a  check  in 
that  course  which  ended  in  the  revolution  that  blew 
up  their  throne.  Had  not  the  efforts  of  the  Stuarts 
to  crush  the  dissenters  been  blasted  by  the  revolu- 
tion which  gave  birth  to  the  toleration,  England 
might  now  have  been  trembling  at  the  ominous  calm 
which  precedes,  or  bleeding  under  the  horrors  which 
follow  a  violent  convulsion  of  the  state.  But  while 
the  other  nations  of  Europe  have  fallen  an  easy  prey 
to  revolutionary  France,  because  their  inhabitants 
were  benumbed  by  the  torpedo  of  despotism,  and 
felt  no  attachment  to  governments  which  had  shewn 
no  respect  for  their  rights  or  interests,  England  stood 
the  shock ;  because  her  sons  have  felt  that  if  they  have 
much  to  endure,  they  have  something  to  lose.  The 
religious  liberty  which  France  has  established  in  her 
own  and  the  conquered  territories,  could  be  no  lure 
to  those  who  reflected,  that  on  the  continent  it  de- 
pends on  the  will  of  a  ruler,  while  in  Britain  it  rests 
on  the  broad  basis  of  public  sentiment. 

Aitiidst  many  sources  of  national  prosperity  it  is 
Qs  difficult  to  determine  how  much  we  owe  to  any 
one  of  them,  as  to  ascertain  what  proportion  of  the 
light  is  admitted  into  an  apartment  by  one  of  its 
windows  while  several  others  remain  open.  If,  un- 
happily for  France,  her  bigotted  princes  discovered 
that  the  protestants  were  more  valuable  to  the  state 
than  they  had  been  willing  to  believe,  we  have  to 
bless  the  Governor  of  the  world,  that  the  British 
empire  has  not  been  left  to  learn  how  much  more 


512  HTSTORY    OF    DI8SENTEIV8. 

pernicious  <vould  be  the  repeal  of  the  toleration,  than 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz.  The  dissenirng^ 
congregations  consisting  almost  entirely  of  those  to 
whom  religion  has  given  abundance,  and  taught  be* 
nevolence,  or  of  such  as  feel  it  their  duty  to  work 
with  their  hands,  that  they  may  eat  their  own  bread 
and  have  to  give  to  him  that  needeth,  they  reflect 
with  satisfaction  on  contributing  not  to  swell  the 
multitude  of  those  who  are  supported  by  the  paro- 
chial  rates,  hut  to  feed  the  poor  of  another  commu- 
nion. Nor  is  it  less  grateful  to  their  b^nevolencef 
and  patriotism  to  know,  that  their  industry,  their 
eapital,  their  mental  energy,  and  their  public  spirit 
give  far  greater  circulation  to  wealth  and  accession  to 
manufactures,commerce,and  revenue,  than  is  derived 
from  an  equal  number  in  the  established  church. 
The  influence  which  these  considerations  should 
have  on  the  members  of  the  dominant  communion,  it 
may  seem  superfluous  to  specify  ;  for  can  they  need  to 
be  told,  that  they  should  learn  from  hence  to  feel  to- 
wards those  who  dissent  from  them,  that  spirit  of 
charity  which  neither  envies  their  liberties,  nor  re- 
pines at  their  prosperity  ?  While  dissenters  them* 
selves  should  learn  to  improve  to  the  utmost  the 
advantageous  distinction  which  they  enjoy,  deter- 
mined never  to  forfeit  the  character  of  public  bene- 
factdrs,  whatever  treatment  they  inay  receive  from 
the  ttess  enlightened  part  of  their  countrymen ; 
remembering  that  the  God  whom  they  serve,  has  de- 
creed,\bat  his  people  shall  be  "  among  the  nations  as 
a  dew  Ikom  the  Lord,  as  showers  upon  the  grass, 
which  taririeth  not  for  man,  nor  waiteth  for  the  sons 
©fmen.'*      ; 

FINIS. 

f  Printed  by  8*  Jacksottf  Romtey^J 


^