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THE
WELSH FREEHOLDER'S
VINDICATION
O F
His LETTER
T O T HE
RIGHT REVEREND
SAMUEL,LoRDBiSHOPof St. David's.
Price IS. 6d.
THE
WELSH FREEHOLDER'S
VINDICATION
0 F
His LETTER
T O T H E
RIGHT REVEREND
SAMUEL, Lord Bishop of St. David's,
1 N
REPLY TO A LETTER
FROM
A CLERGYMAN OF THAT DIOCESE;
TOGETHER WITH
STRICTURES on the faid LETTER.
" After the way which they call herefy, fo worfliip I the God of
" my Fathers." ■ Paul.
" If TRUTH, with her awful prefence, fhoiild fpread confternatica
" through the fdn£tuary of fuperftition, and cart the Idol-Deity to the
" ground; fome PRIEST, more wakeful than his fellows, will rijc u^
" early on the mritroiv, and with officious hand, will lift up the poor
" helplefs proftrate DAGON, and reflorehim to his f lace.''''
Wakefield on Baptifm, p. 3.
Aa?,o (ji rot t^iui, Qv o' ivt ^^£3-/ jSiAXso C-^iTiv^
Iliad lib. xvi. 1. 852-
printto ror j. johnson, n . 73, st. pauls cm c r c h- y a r »,
London; and j. ross, caermarthek.
M DCC XCi.
t
THE
PREFACE
THE moft refpeclable of the Englifh
Clergy, thofe who enter moft fully
into the true fphit of their facred profeflion,
feel many a pang from circumftances that
little afFe6l their ambitious and mercenary
brethren. Ecclefiaflical preferment-hunters,
and thofe who ru(h into the fan6luary of God
merely for the fake of a living, to v/hich they
are encouraged to look, are unacquainted
with thofe reftraints which give the mofi:
exquifite pain to the man of true honour,
and manly fentiment.
How affli(5live it is to prevaricate with con-
fcience, and to trifle with the moil folemn
engagements, is only known to thofe who are
Chriftians upon enquiry, and who are in the
habit of cherifhing a regard for truth. The
embarrafsments of thefe pcrfons make little
impreflion on the higher orders alfo of the
Clergy. The company which they keep, and
the affairs in which they are principally en-
gaged, have a tendency to make them think
A 3 lightly
vi PREFACE.
lightly of the difficulties, and to turn a
deaf ear to the fuppUcations, of their infe-
rior brethren.
Indeed, were our Prelates and Dignitaries
ever fo well difpofed to relieve the diftreffes of
thefe worthy chara6lers, yet (o unenlightened,
fo uninformed, are the great bulk of the peo-
ple, and fo ftrong their prejudices in favour
of the Common Prayer, in its prefent form,
that all the power and influence (great as we
have lately feen them to be) of thefe elevated
perfonages, would be fcarcely fufficient to
effe(5luate a reform of our public fervice. —
The fear of any diflurbance being occafioned
by fuch a meafure, and a fufpicion that im-
provements in the doSfrines might open the
eyes of the public to difcover thofe that are
wanted- in the chil conjlitiitiGn of the Church,
arc fufficient, amply fufficient, yea and more
than fufficient, to deter a body of men, above
all others ambitious for temporal honours
and emoluments, from taking a fingle flep
for the relief of thefe opprefild perfons. Let
the people of Britain be once made fenfible
of the propriety and expediency of farther
refor-
PREFACE.
vu
reformation in religion, and the point will
foon be carried.
To fecond the wifhes of thefe venerable
men, by exciting a fpirit of enquiry into
religious fubje6ls, by endeavouring to incline
his readers to a change in our forms of pub-
lic worfhip, by attempting to remove their
attachment to fcholaftic jargon, and their
diflike to a fcriptural liturgy, and a fcriptural
creed, the JVelJJj Freeholder regards as by no
means unworthy of a good citizen, and a
good Chriflian.
Perfuaded as he is that Truth is the only
foundation of religion, virtue, and happinefs,
he declares himfelf an enemy to all do»5lrines,
profeifed by Churchmen or DifTenters, which
wife and enlightened men hsivc proved to be
contradictory to reafon. Convinced as he is
that to bring the mind to fubmit to a long
andabfurd creed, is an attempt as impracti-
cable as it would be ufelefsj regarding alfo
that which contains the feweft articles, if
firmly believed and pra6tifed, as abundantly
fufficient for every purpofeof piety and virtue;
he
viii PREFACE.
he thinks it his duty, on every opportunity,
to declare hoftilities againft thofe dogmas
which confound the human underftanding,
to try how far his humble efforts can
recommend to the world the unadulterated
do6lrines of Chriflianity, and to appear
among the friends, though the lowed in
rank, of that caufe, which has at different
times feverally engaged the labours of an
Erafmus, a Grotius, a Newton, a Locke, a
le Clerc, an Emlyn, a Clarke, and a Lardner.
Regarding this caufe with perhaps too
fanguine expectations of its fuccefs, it is with
joy and pleafure the Welfli Freeholder has
juft received intelligence, that a new Unitarian
Society y for promoting religious knowledge and
virtuey by the dijlribution of booksy is about to
be eftabliflied in London on the mod refpe6t-
able footing ; — an inftitution whence the
greateft benefits may be expefted to arife to
the interefts of true Chriflianity.
THE
THE
WELSH FREEHOLDER'S VINDICATION.
Reverend Sir,
AS you profefs yourfelf a Clergyman, and I
have no reafon to queftion your claim to that
title, I beg leave to addrefs you as fuch, and hum-
bly to prefent you, or rather the public through
you, with a few obfervations on the notice with
which you have been pleafed to honour my Letter
to the Bifhop of St. David's.
In the Preface to a fecond edition of that Letter,
which has been printed in compliance with the
loud demands of the public, is contained a brief
defence of thofe parts of it, againft which cavils
had been raifed.
As the Bifhop had indulged himfelf in the libe-
ral ufe of the moft contemptuous language with
refped: to a perfon whofe writings I mod highly
value, and from which I have derived the grcatefl
benefits; (and in this declaration there are numbers,
I am confident, of the firft refpeftability, who will
join me ;) — as he had, in a manner as grofs as it was
unjuftifiable, called his learning in quefiion, and
dared to depreciate thofe difcoveries which have
rendered
[ 10 ]
rendered the name of Priestley illuftrious in
every civilized country, and will tranfmit it with
undiminifhed luftre to far diftant ages of the world ;
I did not expecl that he or his friends would rave
lb furioufly, as from the fpecimen you have given
us they feem to do, at a few free ftridlures on his
fcientific and literary ferviccs; more efpecially, as
the Bilhop muft know they might have been made
to appear, confidently with juftice, ftill lefs advan-
tageous, had particulars been exhibited, and the
hiftory of his literary proceedings been rigoroufly
fcrutinized.
But, Sir, what and if the Bifhop was mifrepre-
fented, whv not clear him? If men of no merit
were extolled, why not expofe their pretenfions?
This would have been more politic than to fubjed:
yourfelf to the fufpicion, that you were confcious
the Letter you fo ftudioufly affedt to vilify, con-
tained home truths, which made you fmart, and
which you could not anfwer; that it threw difficul-
ties in your way which you were not able to obviate;
and that therefore you were determined to make
out by abufe and obloquy, what you could not
accomplifli by fair argument and calm rcafoning.
In no other way can I account for your repre-
fenting the Welflj Freeholder's Letter as a moft
offenlive and monftrous objedl. Though the pic-
ture you draw of it be ugly, and fuch as may make
our neighbours difcontniue to fondle and dandle it
as a pbything, yet there is no apparent reafon why
they
[ «' ]
they fhould not flill approve of it, view and examine
it on every fide; for really the heterogeneous and
oppofite qualities you have dcfcribed it as uniting
in itfelf, muft render it an objed: of public curiofity.
Pray, Sir, examine carefully your glajfes, and fee
whether they convey to you a true phanfq/m ; it
may be they have the property of reprefenting ob*
jedls the very reverfe of what they aclually arc, and
fliould only be worn when you are endeavouring to
difcover the Chriftian fpirit and fuperlative excel-
lences of a famed prelate.
But to be ferious, for you feem to hint, rather
broadly, that 1 am very aukward at raillery : I will
try whether I can command more of your refped:,
and give you Icfs offence, in the grave (lile of wri-
ting. I fear. Sir, you were much hurried by palfion,
and thus thrown greatly off your guard, when you
penned the effufions with which I have juft been
amufing myfelf. I am apprehenfive you have not
that command of temper, fo effcntialiy requifitc in
a bufinefs of this kind, or you would not have
raked together fuch a quantity of filth. to throw at
your opponent.
Left you fhould think I am not doing you juftice,
let us now engage in the difagrceable employment
of furveying what you had colleded together, thofe
fcurrilities in every page of your book, in flinging
which at me you muft have tired yourfelf. — You
fo belabour your antagonift, that you allow him
not a moment to breathe and look about him. —
From.
[ 12 ]
From reading your book, one would conclude, that
you were writing purpofely for thofe with whom
groundlefs defamation would fupply the want of
argument, and confident aflertions be taken for a
complete refutation.
You tell your readers, that my Letter is " vague,
*' flimfy, and illufory, — a fhadow, — offering nothing
** to the underftanding and to the touch," — as
** giving to the fenfe the impreflion of undefiled
** uglinefs, and of inoffenlive hoftility," — ^as " an
** apartment connected with a lumber-room of
" notes," — " filled with diforderly rubbifli," — ■
" conceived in the diocefe of St. David's" — " the
" homely vmnufa^ure of Wales" — defiled by ** the
" dirtinefs of infmuation," and " rendered ghafily
*' by the poverty of a fneer," &c. &c. Whatever
the original may be, I will venture to fay, a greater
curiofity than the piclure never appeared in this
diocefe, or in any other.
O'i myjelfy the objccfl: of your virulent invecftivc,
you fay, that 1 am poiTefTed of " a heart of turbu-
" lence, with a hand of imbecility" — as prefenting
" a mortifying exhibition of our corrupt and weak
** nature." You perceive. Sir, how unhappily you
loft your temper, before you got through the firft
page; we need not wonder then to find you quite
outrageous, ere you reach the conclufion of your
work. I proceed in the talk of bringing together
your fcattered beauties ; in fearch of which you feem
to have racked your brain, and to have ranfacked
the
I 13 ]
the Englifli language. The variety and plenty in
which we meet them, do you credit as an inhabi-
tant of Cambria; and if you be furniflied with fuch
a profufion of terms for every other ftile, as for the
ftile of abufe, you mull be polTefTed of a wonderful
copia. But perhaps this is your fort.
To go on ; you reprefent me as " the conventicle
" and field-preacher's champion" — "more flrongly
" attached to party than to truth," — " dealing in
" varnifli that docs not brighten, and daub that
" does not fully;" — a panegyrifl whofe "enmity
" and mifchief" may hurt " my party" — "of very
" limited intercourfe with my fpecies"* — " fport-
" ing profeffions of thankfulnefs" — " pofTefling fkill
" in conferring immortality on ?. profitable calum-
" ny" — "a party zealot," — " having my expreflions
" honoured by your ufing them," (a way in which
it is my intention to honour you) — "bringing for-
" ward tranfa^5lions in a Ihape to deceive," — join-
ing with others in fhedding " a pitilefs Ihower of
" abufe and defamation" — " exerciling my bad
" paflions." They are fo thick, that I am quite
tired with picking them up. I leave you to finilli
the catalogue. I aik you, Sir, does this view of your
icurrilities pleafe you? You have no mean hand
at fabricating them. Believe mc, they would not
have difgraced the Warburtonian fchool,. when in
the zenith of its fway.
This ftring may divert my readers, as it has
diverted myfelf. You, Sir, ought to be affected by
• vide note A. a vieW
[ H ]
a view of it in a different manner. You have
afTumed the charadlcr of a Clergyman, and I have
no doubt that you are one,- of a minifter of the
gofpel of peace; of the fervant of a mailer whofe
precept it was, " love you enemies; blejs them that
** curjeyou; do good to them that hate you" Would
it not have been more becoming, to have tried the
effects of fakitary admonition and inftrudlion, in-
ftead of thus ftorming, and raving, and praying,
like the revengeful difciples, that fire might defcend
from heaven to confume your adverfary. This,
though it ought not to be, is in charadler, as to the
generality of the afpiring part of your profeflion.
To teach and inftrud: the people, is a part of the
Clergyman's duty that is almoft grown obfolete and
unfaffiionable. A plan of gaining preferment more
fure and compendious is now adopted. To preach
and write down the fpirit of enquiry, to truckle to
their lay and ecclefiaftical fuperiors, and to be active
at elediions, are methods far more fuccefsful.
Will you be pleafed to inform me, Sir, in what
fenfe you def.gncd that the expreffions we have
been confidering fhould be regarded ? Did you mean
them as figures wherewith to adorn your ccmpofi-
tion? or are they fo many axioms and poftulates,
which you muff be allowed to take for granted,
before you can m.ike good what your work is in-
tv^nded ro prove? But a curious paffage fuggeftx
to mc, that you ufcd them ^sfoggols. This, paffage
1 (liall quote.
In
[ '5 ]
" In the Unitarian Calendar, it (hall not be my
** fault if you are not diftinguifhed as a faint, or
*' perhaps as a martyr." Thefe elegant phrafes
with which you ply your adverfary, would feem to
be defigned for the auto defe you are now preparing.
Having bound your vidim to the ftake, having
drelTed him in a habit ornamented with the pidures
of all the devils in hell, and having pradi fed every
artifice to enflame the paflions of the fpedators,
your faggots* are made to fly brifkly; when your
ftock is cxhaufted, you kindle the fire, the fiame
fpreads around him, and the mifcrcant is confumed
in the blaze of the Bifliop's virtues. Your holy
vengeance ftops not here; it proceeds inhumanly
to infult his aflies, and on his fad remains to ftamp
eternal infamy. Not once tempting the wretch to
recant by the offer of a pardon, you outfirip in
fervent zeal all your predecelTors, who burned the
bodies to fave the fouls of men.
Plea fantry apart; I fuppofe you intended by thefe
abufive terms, to wound youradverfary's fenfibility.
But alas! fir, you have unhappily mifcarried. — You
dealt them in fuch quantities, and with fo unfparing
a hand, that no one can doubt they came from one
determined to caft as much dirt as he was able, in
hopes that fome of it would adhere; but they are
like ftucco mixed up by fome unfkilled artifi^,
which, though it fiicks clofely together, adheres
not to the wall, Vvith which it was intended it lliould
• Vide note B.
unite.
[ i6 ]
unite, feparates in one entire mafs, and falls to the
ground, to the great difgrace of the artificer.
Your adverfary, without making pretenfions to
much philofophy, can bear to be cenfured in com-
pany with the members of the Royal Society, with
" the Vulcano-men, the cullers of fimples, and
" their circumnavigating prefident," thofe men
** who have exiled fcience from the precinfts of
" the Royal Society.*"
Lucklefs damfel 1 thus exiled, why not betake
thyfelf to the philofophic vale of Abergwily, and
carry with thee eternal renown to thy Cambrian
votaries, attended and cheriflied by whofe filial
care, thou wilt again recover thy faded beauty ? — •
Let the tranfadlions that ifiue from a new fociety,
of which let our Prelate be prefident, and our
Clergyman be fecretary, overflow with recondite
lore ; while the tranfadions of the Royal Society in
London are filled with ftupid details of the experi-
ments of fuch artificers as Priefi:ley, Cavendifli,
Kirwan, Ingcnhoufz, Watfon, Watt, Withering,
and Milner ; or the trifling electrical phaenomena
obfervcd by a Lane, a Nicholfon, and a Cavallo ;
the low computations of a Waring, a Mafi'ielyne, a
Morfian, and a Lc Roy; and the reveries of a
HerfchcU. Believe me. Sir, had I been permitted
to choofe the perfons with whom to fiiare abufe, 1
fliould have wiflied for no others than thofe whom
you have fclcctcd.
• Vids note C. -. r
lOU
[ ^7 ]
You fay, that it is paying your brother Clergy no
very extraordinary compHmenr, to fct them down
as judges of merit, equally competent with the
members of the Royal Society. Pray, Sir, conlidcr
what you have fliid. You are not acquainted with
the dcfcription of perfons who conltitute this So-
ciety. Scarcely Would you have made a declaration
fo prefumptuous and unqualified, had you known,
that among them are to be reckoned fome of the
principal of your Clergy, particularly Cambridge-
men, of the ableft among the DifTenting Minifters,
and of the greatelt among the lay ornaments of your
Church. Partial as I acknowledge myfelf to be to
the Principality, I am not quite fo blinded as to
believe, that there can be a defcription of men, fitu-
ated at fo great a diflance from literary and fcien-
tific communications, (no, fir, not even the Clergy,
a great proportion of whom have not enjoyed the
benefit of an Univerfity education,) who deferve to
be fet in competition with the moft enlightened
body of men, in this or any other country; with a
fociety, the reputation of which is fuch, in many
places abroad, as to entitle it to peculiar privileges.
You know that in this changeable world we are
fubjed: to reverfes ; but there is no fituation fo bad,
that a worfe cannot be imagined. That you mull:
allow to be my cafe. I congratulate myfelf, under
my prefent heavy load of detraction, that I find
myfelf in the company of " dictionary makers^"
" venders of periodical criticifm," and " ajtificers
B *' of
[ i8 ]
" of experiments," and the fevcral non-defcripts
included between Prieftley and Wakefield.
You who have difplayed fo much critical fkill
and ability in the Letter before me, can perhaps
fay, how much higher, in the temple of fame, the
ftatue of a writer of notes lliould Itand, than the
ftatue of "a diQionary-maker;" of one who writes
anfwers with a view to preferment, than that of
"a vender of periodical criticifm;" and which
fhould have the moft elevated lituation, the ftatue
of an " artificer of experiments," or the ftatue
of an artificer of no experiments.
The defamation of a man fo lofl to all fenfe of
decency, as in the lump to vilify the members of
the firft philofophical fociety in the world, with its
prefident at their head ; authors of eftablifned repu-
tation, whofe labours have acquired immortality to
themfelves, and rendered lafting fervices to the
world; philofophers, naturalifts, and fcholars ; falls
little fhort of direct praife. Your lance, by this
bad management, went not with fufficient force to
ftickitfelf inyouradverfary's fliield, that he might
have the pleafure of extradling it; it falls of itfelf;
and fo flight is the impreffion it made, that the
point on w hich it ftruck is not to be difcovered.
Infatiable of cenfures, my Lords of Oxford, Ban-
gor, Ely, &c. mult not cfcape without their fhare.
You muft, however, permit me to regard thofe
quondam Bifhops of St. David's, whom you treat
fo freely, as confulting better than he who now fills
that
[ J9 J
that fee, the welfare and fecurity of your church,
notwithftanding all his bullle and meddling.
Having, I trufl, fatisficd you as to the effect of
your abufe of me^ I fhall next confider your treat-
ment of my publication. You fay, that as a com-
pofition, " the worth of this kind which it poifeffed,
" was infuPiicient to procure it admiffion into a
** provincial newfpaper." This, lir, is falfc. —
" This," to honour one of your expreilions, " is to
" march to affertion through the breach of truth."
What you afcribed to want of compofition, you
Ihould have looked for, and you would have found
Jt, in the bigotry of your own party. You repre-
fcnt it as fo humble as to be placed, beneath criticifm,
and charge it with a general abfence of literary
merit. Pleafe, iir, to remember, that it was defigned
for a newfpaper, and that it only made its way to
the prefs, as a feparate publication, on the moll
urgent folicitations of one who poffeffes a higher
claim to candour and moral worth, than the utmoft
flretch of charity would lead me to conclude falls to
your fliare. Say v/hat you pleafe of its literary
merit, and you will not affeft its author. Literary
merit was not his obje(fi:. Humble as he is very
willing to allow his powers to be, he refpecfls them
too much, to exert them to the utmoft when wri-
ting for a newfpaper. He has too ftrong a fenfe of
propriety, to lavifli the time and ftudy which he
has ever found finiflied compofitions to require, on
the creature of a day. He profeffed and apologifed
B 2 for
[ 20 ]
for his predilection for plainnefs and homelinefs of
garb, and felt no apprehenfion of falling under the
cenfure of any of the defcription to which you
belong. A neat elegant ftyle, in oppofition to one
fo inflated and ftiff as your's, I would not be thought
to undervalue, though I do not think myfelf bound,
on every occalion, even to endeavour to be perfed:
in this way.
To him who knows the value of time, cafes may
occur, wherein it is very warrantable not to regard
fine w'riting; and the obje6l may limply be, to be
underftood. And truly, fir, this was the object
that I propofcd to myfelf. If you and your friends
have derived any entertainment from your criti-
cifms upon it, enjoy it and welcome; a province
which however hardly became you, till yourfelf had
acquired a more correct and chafte ftyle of writing,
than that which you have in the prefent inftance
chofen to adopt. Though I may have fuffered in
literary reputation, if I have fuccceded in exciting
the attention of any of my fellow citizens to im-
portant truths, and to the late difculTions they
have undergone, my end is completely anfwered.
I did not fet up as the inflructor of mv country-
men in any point; had I aifumedthat charaBer,
I ought to have appeared in a drefslefs loofe;
but as I afpired at no other than the humble
poft of directing to works already publillicd,
to indulge in a negligence, confiftent with the
inferior nature of my employment, appeared to
me
[ 2' ]
jne as in no wife improper. If I have been the
means of bringing any among my countrymen
acquainted with fuch books as the following, viz.
Lindfey's Apology, and Sequel; his Addrefs to the
Young Men of the two Univerlities, in two parts ;
Dr. Prieftley's Inilitutes, his Letter to aPhilofophi-
cal Unbeliever, his Hiftory of the Corruptions of
Chriftianity, and Tracts in controverfy with Bifliop
Horfley, and his fmaller Theological Trads ; the
Theological Repofitory; Wakefield's Enquiry; the
Hints to a new AfTociation; and the Confident
Proteftant, &c.; could I induce them to furnifli
themfelves with the improved verfions of the Scrip-
tures, that will fpeedily be prefented to the public,
I have no doubt they would deem my obje6l to have
been a worthy one, and would confider themfelves
as under greater obligations to me, who have
brought thefe books to their knowledge, than to
you who would wreft them out of their hands, and
make a marlyr of me w-ho have introduced them to
their notice. To have been the means of giving
rife to effedls of this fort, would afford me a com-
placency far out of the reach of your petulance and
fpleen to difturb; my mind would be tranfportcd
with the idea of having been the inftrument of acce-
lerating the downfall of that fyftem of error and
fuperftition, which you are fo defirous to prop up.
It was alfo my defign to convince the Bifhop,
that there were in his diocefe, thofe who were in-
dignant at his unwarrantable treatment of men,
B ^ who
I
[ " ]
who are an ornament to the Chriflian name and
profelhon; that there were thofe who had fpirit to
refent the infults, which his oftentatious zeal had
hurried him to throw out under feveral forms.
You have now all the afliftance I can give you
towards learning " the eflimate and characler" of
my publication. You indeed, fir, have made but
a poor ufe for the public^ whatever you may have
done for your/elf y of this affair of mine, of this
" thing of challenge and of infult." Your readers
have little reafon to be obliged to you for this *• for-
" ward zeal," which you fo much blame in me, but
which you are fo careful to imitate, and which im-
pelled you to array yourfelf fo formidably with
buckler, and fliield, and lance, to attack " a thing
•* which offers nothing to the underftanding and to
" the fenfe," " a thing of inoffenfive hoftility," "of
" undefined uglinefs," and of courfe what could
do no harm; fo that taking your own account of it
for the true one, you feem to have been typified in
a remarkable manner, by the redoubtable knight
Don Quixote, when once on a time he made his
formidable attack on a windmill. Had you made
the beft poflible ufe of this Letter of mine, which
you fo violently condemn, finding that a leading
defignofit was to recommend certain books which
you deemed prejudicial, and which you would
therefore endeavour to exclude from the country,
you fliould have undertaken to point out their evil
tendency, and the fources whence the prejudice
would
[ 23 ]
would arife. You might have accounted on your
own principles for the growing numbers of Unita-
rians. You might have dated what had been
attempted by Mr. Lind fey, and Dr. PrielJJiey, and
fliewn their want of fuccefs. Here you would, no
doubt, have introduced with advantage the exploits
of your admired hero, the great champion of the
Church. You might have ihewn, that his vidlo-
ries had not only been trumpeted by interefted
priefls, echoing his ow?i alTuming vaunts, and
rewarded at the inftigation of dilfipated courtiers,
uninformed in thefe matters, but that he had been
graced by the fame which the approbation of the
impartial and the judicious confer. From this
manner of proceeding, your readers would have
derived information, and 1 fliould have flood a bet-
ter chance of being fet right, or have had a fairer
opportunity of convincing you of your error; and
you would have gained more credit to yourfelf, than
refults from the abufe, you fo plentifully deal out
to one party, and the panegyric which you heap
on the other; " varnifh," fir, " that docs not
" brighten, and daub that does not fully." The
men from whom you detract, ftill hold up their
heads in fociety, and receive the homage and refpett
of the worthy and the wife, notwithftanding the
attempts of your fturdy champion to overwhelm
their credit and reputation. The heart to con-
ceive, and the hand to execute, are, as you obferve^
different things.
On
[ 24 ]
On the merits of the Diflenters, as a part of the
body politic, let a quotation from Mr. Hume put
you to fhame; on our turbulence let this be a com-
ment; fays this hiftorian, certainly no ways partial
to us^ " fo abfolutc" (fpeaking of the arbitrary con-
du6t of Elizabeth) " was the authority of the crown,
" that the precious fpark of liberty had been kind-
" led and was preferved by the puritans alone; and
«' it was to this feft, whofe principles appear fo
** frivolous, and habits fo ridiculous, that the
'* Englifh owe the whole freedom of their confti-
** tution." Hume's Hid. vol. v. p. 189. A fen-
lible writer, quoting this palTage, thus comments
on it: * Whilft every enlarged and liberal mind
* rejoices in the confideration, that the caufe of
* civil and religious liberty is, in this age, better
* underftood, and more generally patronized, than
* in former times, the Proteftant DilTenters are
' peculiarly entitled to triumph in the recolledion,
* that thefe two moft invaluable blefhngs have been
' preferved and handed down to their fellow-fub-
' jecSls, inconfequence of the firm adherence of their
* forefathers to the caufe of liberty and truth, both
* civil and religious.'
The fondnefs of a father, it is probable, led you
to refcue from oblivion the Letter of rannius. In
this turgid epiftle I can difcover nothing, this pre-
diledion excepted, that could thus have entitled it
to diftindlion. It only informs us that the Bifhop's
Letter was a private and not a circular one; which
only
I 25 ]
only impeaches the cowardice of the writer, while
it neither removes nor palliates the indecency of the
a6t. Why the fpiritual father Ihould be warranted
in taking fuch a liberty with one of his fons, and
not with all, you, fir, muft explain. Befides, the
language appeared well to become a public edid,
while it was ill adapted for a private letter. Here
allow me, fir, to advert to our conduct with regard
to Mr. Fox; let this great man explain it, and not
** a party zealot like yourfelf." Our late applica-
tion to him, he confefTed, flattered him greatly, as it
contained an unqueftionable proof, that a very re-
fpeclable body of men, who had differed from hinri
moil widely in fome political opinions, gave him
full credit for honefty of principle, and goodnefs of
intentions ; or they never would have entrufled him
with the management of their caufe. For their
defertion of him the DilTenters feel no fliame; they
were hurt at his coalition with a man, whofeadmi-
niftration they, together with Mr. Fox, had regarded
with the deepeft averfion. They confidered the
India-Bill as fetting up a new power in the State,
and they took part with the monarch; they difap-
proved of his principle, and therefore withdrew
from him their fupport. The Dilfenters, unlike
you and your " brethren of the gown," are attached
not to men, but to meafures. They are not to be
J)ut upon* countenancing what they difapprove; and
hence they are very contented to lie under your
* Vide note D.
charge^
[ 26 1
charge, of unfleadinefs of attachment, while they
fee not how it can be removed, without facrificing
their integrity. From Mr. Fox they have fince very
generally differed on the queftionof the Regency;
but (till, with the moft enlightened and beft-in-
formed of their fellow-fubjeds, they admire his
open and manly condmft; and would go, in fupport-
ing him, to the utmoft limit that is confiilent with
their principle of a fteady veneration for the public
good. They fancy, and they rejoice in it, that they
fee in him a mind that is gradually opening to the
beft and molt extenfive political views, which he
adopts, not on the authority of any man or fet of
men, but which, by the difcernment that fo emi-
nently diftinguifhes him, he traces to their true
principles, while his tranfcendent genius with eafe
furveys all their probable operations. What has
been tranfadted on the continent and in America,
mult, on a mind like his, have had this effed ;
while the long oppofition, in which he has been and
Itill is engaged at home, mull form him to that
political wifdom, which will make his country one
day look up to him as its greatelt blelTing, under
the charadler of a truly wife and patriotic minilter ;
who, overlooking his eafe and his interelt, will fet
himfelf in earnelt to improve the condition of his
fellow-fubjedts, by bringing about the reformation
of our decayed conllitution.
From this pleafingfubjed:, I again return to your
complaints. I cannot fee why we fhould be blamed
for
[ 27 ]
for joining with you, againft what was deemed a
common enemy. Let thofe DifTenters, who profefs
" friendfhip" to your Church, make good their
characflers to confiftency : with a defence ofthefe I
have no concern. It is a crime of which I refolve
never to be guilty, while the Church continues to
be as corrupt as it now is. Individuals in your
Church, in the Church of Rom.e, and in every
'other Church, however badly conftituted, that are
honefl: and well-intentioned, I fliall refped:; and
Ihould be forry to be outdone by them in candour
and good offices. Such, fir, is my dullnefs, that I
cannot for my life find out the caufe why our adhe-
rence to the houfe of Brunfwick fliould be lefs
meritorious, becaufe, like other fubjecfls, we fhould
have fuffered, had the Pretender prevailed, any
more than I can underftand why the difloyalty and
open rebellion of many members of your Church
lliould be thought lefs heinous, becaufe they were
fo difinterefted as to fupport the caufe of one,
known to be hoftile both to their religion and to
their liberty. Here, in order to be even with you,
I ought to recount the fcrvices which the cftabliilied
Clergy have rendered to their country, by their
zeal in preaching up pafllve obedience anci non-
refidance, the divine right of kings, and the duty
offubjedts to yield implicit fubmiliion. Good peo-
ple! it is for no fault of theirs, it is from no want
Qf their concurrent aid, that we have not a govern-
ment as arbitrary as that of Turkey ; always loyal
when
[ 28 ]
%hen there is no pretender in the cafe; courageous
when there is no danger; and decided when there
is no interefl: at flake. I do not inckide all Church-
men under this defcription, but thofe blelTed high
ones, a double portion of whofe fpirit feems to have
been transfufed into you and Bifhop Horfley; nor
do I mean to fay, that the Church has always aded
this part, but that this has been its general bent.
But I forbear : the prefent age may, and pofterity
will read all this, and much more, in the impar-
tial page of hiflory.
Next comes our " literary induftry," which you
choofe to call " fpirit of attack." What does this
fpirit of attack indicate? A confcioufnefs of the
goodnefs of our caufe. Not, I grant you, that we
think it impoffible we lliould be wrong, but that
we think ourfelves to be right: if we thought other-
wife, and a6led as we do, we mufl: be made up of
materials different from thofe which enter into the
compofition of men in general. It argues then, at
leaft, that we ferioufly believe our caufe to be good.
What, I would afk, can recommend it ^to us, but
an opinion of its fuperior excellence? You have
other and different ties, to bind you down to certain
articles of faith, and forms of worfhip, which would
palliate your devotednefs, did you not carry your-
ielves with fuch overbearing infoicnce towards thofe,
who, having not the fame reafons, treat them as
they defer ve.
You
[ 29 ]
You feeranot to be pleafed with thofe among
us, who are ** didlionary compilers/' " venders of
** periodical criticifm," and ** artificers of experi-
** ments." Our offence, as to thefe matters, Hes,
I prefume, in yourcftecm, notfo much in our en-
gaging " the attention of Europe;" as in this, that
our dictionaries, our articles of periodical criticifm^
and the details of our experiments, have diminifhed
that profound reverence with which the people
have been wont to regard their Clergy; that they
make them indifpofed to admit three to be no more
than one, and one to be equal to three; lefs inclined
to adopt the idea, that He, who is the Creator of
the univerfe, compared with which our globe is not
a perceptible atom, fhould become an infant, be
fubjed: to every human infirmity, and at length be
put to death by his creatures. Having Ceen pointed
out by thefe experiments, fo many traces of the
divine benevolence, they are apt to become averfe
to afyflem, which reprefents the Deity as refolved
upon revenge, which can only be appcafed by the
eternal mifery of the whole human race, or the
fufferings and death of a being of equal rank and
dignity with himfelf. From this obnoxious tenden-
cy, works of that kind, I apprehend, are not to be
exculpated ; and hence to priefts they are objects of
confident hate. It is this that galls you. Hmc
ill^e lachrynite!
You next charge us Unitarians with the ** venom
*■ of herefy and irreligion." I muft again remind
you.
[ 30 ]
you, fir, that hard names do but ill fupply the want
of argument. Chriftianity itfelf Mas once, you
know, a herefy, as was alfo your immaculate Church;
and you, fir, puffed up as you are with the pride of
orthodoxy, and perhaps pampered by its emolu-
ments, wouldatthis day be deemedin Spain as aban-
doned a heretic as myfclf. According to what is
called herefy, we. Unitarians, worfliip the God of
our fathers. The queftion remains to be decided,
whether it be in reality a herefy, or the true doc-
trine of Chrift; and whether the tenets, to the
truth of which you have /a-or;;, be fcriptural, or, like
your rites and your ceremonies, the mere devices
and inventions of men. Irreligion is a fcrious
reproach, and it became you to have invefligated,
before you had fixed it on any body of men. Re-
port fpeaks not true, or Unitarians in general are as
much diftinguifhed by the amiablenefs of their
virtues, as by their fuperior information and libera-
lity. You ought to have known from fact, as well
as from reafoning, that between a long abftrufe
creed, and piety and good morals, there is no con-
nection whatever. While the perfccflions of God,
and the accountablenefs of man are held, all is fafe
that enlivens devotion, and that warms the heart to
the love of goodnefs. A little attention would
have fhewn you, that the reafon w hy men have fo
generally fuppofed, that good condud: can only
confift with the notions which they feverally hold,
is
[ 3' ]
is to be refolved into the alTociation of ideas; and
though you may be perfuaded ever fo ftrongly to
the contrary, there appears to me to be no more
connection between the belief of the Trinity, and
the practice of virtue, than there is between the
fight of a trunk and good dancing; though I am
fenfible fome perfons would be lefs virtuous, were
they to dilbelieve it ; juftas Mr. Locke tells us that
a young gentleman, who had learnt to dance exceed-
ingly well in a room in which there was an old
trunk, could never perform except there was a
trunk placed in the room where the dance was held.
Opinions in themfclves Ihould never be condemned
as criminal, when fairly acquired and honeftly pro-
feffed; though the debafing influence of thofethat
are wrong, ought moft fludioufly to be avoided. —
The iniquity lies in enjoining upon one man the
opinions of another, and tempting him, by honours
and emoluments, to profefs them outwardly, while
in his heart he holds the very reverfe. For being
the caufe of much of this fort of double dealing and
infmcerity, your Church has a great deal to anfwer;
and if it perfeveres in keeping up the prefent rigid
terms of admifTion, its guilt of this kind will go on
to accumulate in anincreafing progrellion.
You would have obliged the Unitarians, no
doubt, had you made good againft them the charge
of herefy. Though, fir, they pay not implicit
deference to the propofitions contained in the Ni-
cene creed ; which, had they been more confonant
to
[ 32 1
to the Chriftian verity than they in reality are,
ouo-ht never to have been fet up as ilandards of
faith to the Chriftian world, as being fanctioned by
a meeting, the proceedings of which every man of
learning knows to have been notorioufly irregular
and difgraceful; — though they rejed withcontempt,
the arrant nonfenfe and unchriftian bigotry of the
Pfeudo-Athanafius; yet they alTent, as fully as
you do, to that creed, which in your fervice book,
is called the Apoftles ; — they believe all which you,
in your difputes with unbelievers, chofe to bring
forward as the Chriftian dodlrinc,- viz. that there
is one God, and one Mediator betvveeu God and
man, the man Chrift Jefus ; — that the Deity is of
himfelf, and not induced by any thing out of him-
felf, ever ready to difpenfe pardon to all thofe who
by repentance and amendment render themfelves
meet for its reception; — that his clemency extends
to all but thofe who would abufe it ; — that falvation
is within the reach of all, and that none are by
unalterable decrees deprived of its benefits. Why
thefe fimple, beautiful tenets, which compofed the
creed of the firfi: Chriftians, and of the great body
of them in the time even of Tertullian, (though
the original iimplicity of the Gofpel had been much
corrupted by the philofophifing Bifliops;) which
was again revived by the moft learned among the
reformers from Popery ; which has derived luftie
from the friendlinefs difcovered towards it by
Grotius, from the open avowal of it by Locke,
Newton,
r 33 ]
Newton, Le Clerc, Haynes, Lardner, &c. in times
pafl:, not to mention the great names that adorn the
profeflion of it in our own ; why thefe fhould be
branded with the name of herefyy you, fir, fhould
have fliewn, before you ventured fo confidently on
the ufe of the term : having not done this, you can
only be regarded as a malicious petulant maligner^
who, by ill-founding names, ftrives to excite pre-
judices in his readers againfl what he diflikes.
Yea, fir, it would have been an employment worthy
of your mighty abilities, to have fhewn us how fuch
tenets as the following, which you once believed,
or you have forfworn yourfelf, namely, that God has
irreveriibly decreed the falvation of fome, and as
certainly appointed the eternal damnation of others;
that God is unrelenting, and forgives not the
offences of his penitent offspring; that before he
pardons contrite tranfgreffors, he requires, forfatis-
fadion, the fufferings of innocence; demanding,
before he confents to fave even a few of the human
race, a vidim of equal rank with himfelf; alfo,
that the fin of one man has involved in guilt the
whole human race, and w^as fufficient to have
damned it to eternal torments ; and that man of
himfelf is unable to perform one fingle good adl; —
how tenets fo derogatory to the charadler of the
Deity, that reflect fuch difhonour on his govern-
ment, that tend ;fo much to debafe our natures,
and that fap the foundations of morality, fhould be
cxclufively dignified with the name of orthodoxy.
C I take
[ 34 ]
I take no picafure in holding out to you this horrid
pidlure, nor in ftating the difhonour it reflects on
your lituation; but the truth mufl not be concealed ;
and I wifli it could be uttered with a voice that
would penetrate every corner of the nation, and
that would roufe the people of Britain to rife as one
man, to require that the public fervice of religion
be cleanfed from thefe pollutions, which prefs hard
on the confciences of the moft worthy among the
Clergy, which drive many to infidelity, which
render others indifferent to all religion, and which
keep from the Church numbers, whofe talents and
whofe weight of character would render it eminent
fervice.
" The friends of religion and order," you inform
us, •* ftill conftitute the nation." In the cant of
perfons of your defcription, religion means rhofe
articles of faith, and that form of worfliip, which
are eftabliflied by law. That the bulk of the peo-
ple are attached to this, no one will difpute. But
this attachment of the majority is no proof that a
religion is true; for you know, fir, that the majority
are not always in the right. If the fuffrrges of the
many are to decide, idolatry, far furpafiingall other
religions in the number of its adherents, mufl: be
the true one; but if the intrinfic merits of a religion
are to make good its claims, this tefl: will hardly
prove more favourable than the above to that to
which you are attached. Indeed how in reafon can
it be expeded, that a Church, fet on foot by one of
our
[ 35 ]
our monarchs who was a difgrace to the name of
a king ; foftered, during the minority of his fuc-
ceflbr, by a perfon, who, whatever other merits
he might poflefs, and though an Archbifhop of
Canterbury, was guilty of two adls that have
tranfmitted him to pofterity as a perfecutor and a
coward ; and brought well nigh into the ftate under
which it exifts at prefent, by a woman, whofe in-
terference in ecclefiaftical matters was moft arbi-*
trary and indecent; who, in retaining feveral of
the Romifh ceremonies, confulted a paflion natu-
ral enough, but not confined to her fex, namely,
a love of fhew and pomp; and who, it is notorious,
made religion, in many inftances, bend to policy :
— that a Church, in the conftrudlion of which fuch
a quantity of fufpicious materials (Popifh tenets,
ufages, and maxims) was ufed with no very difcri-
minating hand ; a Church, reared up under the
management of builders every way fo ill-qualified,
as were Harry the Eighth, Cranmer, and Queen
Befs, (which it were eafy to ihew at large) and
adluated, as it is well known they were, by motives
the moft foreign to thofe which ought to have in-
fluenced the votaries of true religion; — that a
Church, fo circumftanced in its origin and fubfequent
advance, (hould labour under the greatefl: blemifhes
and defeds, is what might have been looked for,
and what has actually taken place. Your boafted
Church-ertabliftiment is perhaps, of all thofe which
at this time exift in Europe, the moft diftinguifhed
C2 by
[ 36 ]
by prieflly pride and clerical negligence, the moft
hoftile to free enquiry and the progrefs of know-
ledge. At no period was faith in abfurdities more
infilled on, and the voice of calumny raifed higher
againft thofe w ho rejed its dogmas. Whether this
belief in them by your leaders be only a feeming
profeflion, a thing of politics, taken up to fupport
the crazy edifice, now that feveral pillars on which
it was wont once firmly to rely, are either tottering
or fallen, is a fubjecT: upon which, perhaps, it would
be indecent publicly to indulge conjedlures. Were
I lefs a friend to your efbablifhment than you take
me to be, I fliould wifli no more harm to befal it,
than would arife from perfeverance in fuch conduct;
from having all its Bifhops fuch as Horflcy, and
all its Clergy fuch as yourfelf.
With regard to national churches, we fee America
fiourifli very well without any ; and whether one
may be ^o conliituted, as not to infringe on the
natural rights of men, fo as to offer no fnares to
their integrity, fo as to be no hindrance to the pre-
valence of truth and virtue, is a quefi:ion, concern-
ing which the mofi enlightened among the friends
of liberty, civil and religious, are not agreed. As-
to the effects of all paft inftitutions of this fort, no
doubt can be entertained. The hiftory of efi:ablifii-
cd Churches, calling themfelves Chrifi:ian, from
their commencement to the prefent time, is the
hiflory of corporate bodies ftriving to enflave the
minds of men, to debafe them by fuperfi:itious
practices.
[ 37 ]
practices, to fence them againft the entrance of
light by every poffible artifice, and ever moft bufr
and adive in defeating the fchemes, and plotting
againft the happinefs and tranquility, of thofe who
would make the world more wife. That here and
there a few priefts may have been exemplary in the
difcharge of their paftoral functions, and that fome
may have had their virtue improved under the
influence of devotednefs to fuch as poiTeffed little
of it themfelves, are benefits for which we cannot
acknowledge ourfelves indebted to religious efta-
blifhments, but which are rather owing to the
excellent principles of what you call our weak and
corrupt nature i yet which really in itfelf it not weak
and corrupt, but is rendered fo by the grofs and
pernicious corruptions and defects of moft exifting
conftitutions, civil and ecclefiafi:ical.
The queftion relating to the expediency and law-
fulnefs of religious eftablifhments, is comparatively
of late date among us. Our principal writer in
thefe matters, the venerable Micaiah Towgood, has
contented himfelf with defcanting on the merits of
your fingle eftablilhment, without adverting to the
general queftion. The deepeft wound which the
caufe of eftablifiiments has ever received, was in-
fli6led by one of the fons of your Church. Arch-
deacon Blackburne was the man " that difpatched
" the fhaft to the feat of life." If you wilh to be
acquainted with the benefits that refult to the world
from eftablidimcnts, perufe, fir, the Confejfional^ a
C 3 book
[ 38 ]
book in which, if any where, " your eyes will be
** opened to your own ignorance ;" the author of
which, polTeirmg acutenefs and penetration that fel-
dom have been equalled, employed them moft
happily on this performance, which, to the difgrace
of your Clergy, has yet received no anfwer that is
in any repute ; and to fill up the breach w hich it
has made in the ramparts of the fanftuary, is an
undertaking that will not, I prefume, be courted
by the great repairer of our Welfh Churches, or by
his humble imitator. Never were the advocates of
any caufe reduced to fuch wretched fliifrs. The
defences of your eftablilliment, which have of late
been made by its fons, are a fcandal to all ferious
Chriftians. They have been conducted on princi-
ples, which would equally juftify idolatry in China,
Mahomedifm in Turkey, Popery in Spain, and
even Prefbyterianifm (to you, 1 fuppofe, the moft
obnoxious of all) in Scotland and Holland.* This
blelTed ground, w^hich was, I believe, firft ftarted by
Hobh..^, unlefs it be that Hooker lefs openly availed
himfelf of it, has of late without fcruple been taken
up by your Clergy; but, unhappy people ! fuch in
regard to argument and reafon is their pitiable
ftate, that even this fails them; the cafe of Ireland,
where the Prefbyterians are twice, and the Roman
Catholicks three or four times as numerous as the
members of your Church, renders this ground dif-
graceful^ as it is untenable.
* Vide note E.
The
r 39 ]
The note which perhaps has given you moft of-k
fence, though you only hint at it, is that in which
I propofed the abolition of the Church eflablifh-
ment in Wales. Judging from the fads there
mentioned, it ftruck me very forcibly, that in the
principality the expence of it might be faved. Be-
ing, fir, one of thofe who in every concern are
advocates for fair dealing, and who like to fee that
for every penny laid out a pennyworth be given, it
appeared to me fomewhat incongruous that this
poor country fhould be drained of fo many thou-
fands, while fo little benefit accrued to the inhabi-
tants, in the way of religious inftrudlion.
You contemptuoufly reprefent me as the " con-
" venticle and field-preachers' champion." Of
this character, fir, I am not afliamed. Of the
eccentricities ofthefc men of good intentions I am
not the advocate; but as difFufing good principles,
and promoting good morals, among a clafs of peo-
ple who rnuch ftand in need of this attention, thefe
dcfpifcd men appear in my eye far more refpecftable,
as being more ufeful, than the indolent haughty
corps to which you belong, confifiing in general of
individuals uninformed in their profefiional duties,
and of others, who, though they may be acquainted
with them, are too proud to fioop to difcharge
them. On this difagreeable topic I mean to give
you a little refpite, intending, however, to refume it
in another point of view before we part, and refer-
ring my readers for more intelligence in thefe
matters
[ 40 ]
matters to the Confeffional, and to Dr. Prieftley's
familiar Letters to the inhabitants of Birmingham,
and to his Letters to Mr. Burke.
" To the weak argument againft the Trinity,
" drawn from its incomprehenfibihty, or in other
" words from the incapacity of the mind to form
" any reprefentation or phantafm of it," we have
it confirmed by all the weight of your authority,
" that nothing ftronger can be oppofed than the
" equal incomprehenfibility of the Unity."* By
the pompous words reprefentation and phantafm ^ I
take it you mean the fame thing that I fliould ex-
prefs by the term idea. If you allow, as you feem
to do, the incapacity of the mind to form an idea
of the Trinity, the doftrine as an objecl; of faith
is gone for ever. On this hinge let the queflion
hang, and there can be no doubt as to the fide to
which the judgment of the impartial will incline.
The thinking part of mankind have now, for a long
time, I believe, been in the habit of acquiefcingin
Mr. Locke's pofition, that where we want ideas,
we want knowledge of all kinds; therefore to give
affent to, or to believe a propofition, of which we
have no ideas, or (which is the fame thing) of
which we have no knowledge, muft be lef: to fuch
profound theologues as yourfelf, and will not, I
imagine, be attempted by perfons of ordinary under-
ftandings. But perhaps this philofopher's mecha-
nical way of appreciating degrees of aflent, you
• Vide no:c F.
may
[ 4« ]
may defpife. Having, like your Prelate, founded
the profundities of Platonifm, having been illumi-
ned by the contemplations of the fage himfclf, and
farther inftrudled by l\i& Jober difquijitiotis of his
followers, you may teach us how faith may be
exercifed without any knowledge of its object, — a
piece of fervicemuch needed, and which yourlide
of the queftion, on the pnint before us, feems to
require, in order ro be defended. For a dilTertation
on this fubject, your admirable knack at clear rea-
foning, and perfpicuous writing, eminently qua-
lify you; I therefore recommend to you the
undertaking.
Though it be allowed on all hands that the divine
nature is incomprehenfible, dill vvc flrenuoufly con-
tend for the power of examining your reprcfenta-
tions of it, and the proportions you maintain
refpe6ling it; for the right of determining each for
himfelf whether they be con^lfTent or contradicloiy,
whether your arguments m fupport of them be fair
and w'ell-founded, or fallacious and fophiftical : we
lik'ewife claim the privilege of comparing your
notions on the fubjed:, with thofe that are held by
others. If with one breath you tell us, that there
is one God, and with the next, that the Father, one
diftind: perfon, is God; that the Son, another dif-
tin6t perfon, is God ; and fuperadd a third diftind:
perfon, who alfo is God, and that thcfe three are
equal; but that by an ineffable union they are one,
in the ftrid fenfe of the word, we regard you as
dealers
[ 42 ]
dealers in jargon, as vending a commodity which,
in barbarous times, would have procured you
refpe^t and admiration, but which, in an enhght-
ened age, only expofes you to ridicule and con-
tempt. While the whole tenor of the Old and New
Teftament is in fupport of the divine Unity, we
will not be awed, by your clamour and hard appel-
lations, to a furrender of our reafon, nor induced
to acknowledge, befides the one God and Father of
all, two other ob)e6ts of religious adoration.
Unitarians are often reprefcnted as being influ-
enced in their rejedlion of the Trinity by the pride
of reafon, and a contempt for revelation ; whereas
the facl is, that we rejccf this do6lrinebecaufe we
think Vv'e can demonftrate it to be as hofiile to
Scripture* as it is to reafon. This goodly doclrine
we believe to have been fabricated by thofe who
had been educated in the fchools, to which we owe
the notions of occult qualities and intcllicfible forms,
and introduced into the Chriftian Church, together
with a torrent of other abfurdities, in a degenerate
age, when a rage for deitying prevailed; when not
only the Saviour of mankind was raifed to the rank
of a God, but his Mother, his Apofiles, and a legion
of Siiintsand Martyrs, were converted into objects
of religious worlhip; — v.hen theological doctors
openly maintained ignorance to be the parent of
devotion, and gloried in believing things bccaufe
they were impolTible; — at a time when truth was
* Vide note G.
judged
[ 43 ]
judged not to have force fufficient to make its way
in the world, but was thought to require the
friendly aid of pains and penalties, and privation of
goods T — when St. Auguftin, to whom we owe the
do6:iiesorpredefl:ination and original fin, in the
fhocking forms under which your Church maintains
them ; yes, fir, when your admire:- St. Augufi:in,
as good a Platonift as the Biihop or yourfelf, and
who confcfied that he underftood not the Trinity
till he had ftudied it in the fchool of Plato, openly
maintained the lawful nefs offiripping heretics of
their temporal pofleflions. If you would go fi:ill
farther back, to trace the origin of this dodrine to
its remoter fources, they will be found in the Ori-
ental philofophy, whence Plato derived his wifdom ;
a philofophy which held the divine nature to be
prolific ; that believed in two principles, the one
good and the other evil ; that maintained the incar-
nation of divinities, the pre-exifl:ence and tranfmi-
gration of fouls, and all the opprobria of modern
fyftems of divinity, which onceexercifed fo dire a
fway over the human underfi:anding, and which in
part remain, as a caufe of fcandal and offence to
our holy religion. While you maintain that this
and fuch like tenets confi:itute orthodoxy, m'c mufi:
remain fubjedl to the charge of herefy, under no
apprehenfion that the obloquy of the term will
prevent our numbers from increafing, among thofe
who think and enquire.
The prefcnt purfuits of philofophers feem to be
not a little offenfive to you ; and not without reafon
{ 44 ]
truly; for thefe purfuits, while they are mofl favour-
able to true religion, make a dreadful havock
within the confines of every fyftem of corrupt reli-
gion. When this world was believed to be the
center of the univerfe, and the fun, moon, pla-
nets, and fixed ftars, daily to turn round it, and
the race of man was deemed the only tribe of
rational beings, except the inhabitants of the em-
pyreal Heaven ; then it would far lefs fhock the
mind to believe that the Creator fhould become
man, that he fnould live and die for the benefit of
his creatures. Even philofophers, if any in this
ftate of things could deferve the name, with notions
fo high of the importance of man, with views fo
Jow and unworthy of God, might with lefs diffi-
culty admit this account ; like the wifeft inhabitants
of fome folitary ifland, who, knowing of no other
human beings befides themfclves, might eafily be
brought to credit the tale, that the fun and moon,
which rofe and fet only to fupply them with light
and warmth, did upon a time pay a vifit to their an-
ceftors, and render them eminent fervices: — a talc
this infinitely more credible than that which the
orthodox Chrifiian believes. But modern phyfics
place the mind on an elevation, which makes the
abfurdity of the method of thus refcuing man from
mifcry appear enormous, and the end propofed,
though weighty, infinitely lefs momentous. To me
it is often matter of the grcatefi wonder, and fecms
to require the greatcfi poffihle fkctch of candour, to
believe
[ 45 ]
believe thofe fincere, who, having been made ac-
quainted with the fyftems upon fyftems of worlds
which modern difcoveries have brought to light,
can for a moment harbour in their minds the fen-
timent, that He, who makes and governs thcfe,
Ihould become an inhabitant of this world for above
thirty years, exercife an ordinary trade, fubjedt
himfelf to much fuffering from his creatures, and
at length fuffer them to put him to an ignominious
death. But this is a tenet, the abfurdity of which
muftftrikeas forcibly the natural good fenfe of every
unbialTed and unprejudiced mind, as it will that of
the wifeft and moft accomplifhed. Let the inqui-
fitive among'the inhabitants of this diocefe, examine
impartially, and give in their dcciiion, unawed by
the frowns of Priefts or Bifliops, regardlefs of their
threats, and unmoved by their fneersj and were
they to be followed by the other inhabitants of Bri-
tain, orthodoxy then would have caufe to tremble ;
prevalent would be the dilTatisfadlion with our pre-
fent forms, and loud would be the demands for
alterations in oureftabliihed creeds and confeflions.
You fee I had well nigh totally forgot the Bifhop.
Indeed, lir, thefubjefls which your work hai, given
me occafion to confider, might well put him out
of my mind ; to me they appear of far greater im-
portance than any Bifhop, or even a whole bench
of Bilhops. But as you make him the moft confpi-
cuous figure on the canvafs, it were not handfome
topafs him over without fome particular attentions-
more
t 46 J
more efpecially as I owe to his Lordftiip the plea-
fure of my acquaintance with you. I mufi: be
permitted once more to make free with him, while
I nightly defcant on thofe fervices, on which are
founded his claims to ** the applaufe of Europe,"
and which, I grant you, we fliall never fucceed in
drawing from him, it being an abfolute impolli-
bility.
If I have faid or infinuated any thing againft his
Lordfhip's^fr/o;/j/charad:er, it has been undefign-
edly; it was with his public condudl that I was
concerned; and I am not confcious of having
ftepped out of my province ; and as you bring for-
wards no particulars, and my recollection furnifhes
me with none, I am at liberty to confider this
fufpicion of yours, for it is fuch rather than a
charge, as having no real foundation, but to be the
mere effect of an exceflive fondnefs for his Lord-
fhip. With your account of the fentiments which
his Clergy entertain of his Lordlhip I am not per-
fectly fatisfied; I do not however expect to hear of
their making a public difavowal of it. Though
his merits in the difcharge of his pafloral duties be
as great as you would make them, ftill, fir, for the
man who has made the bafis of his tranfient celebrity
the detraction of diftinguifhed worth ; who has
raifed himfclf by attempts to dcprefs fuperior emi-
nence ; w ho has acquired a character for great
abilities by maintaining doCtrines that infult reafon ;
w ho has in every inftance of his interference fet his
face
[ 47 ]
face againft all that is liberal, againft all improve-
ments in our civil and in our ecclefiaftical confti-
tution, you will attempt in vain to excite, in the
generous bofom, fentiments of efteem and refpedl.
Your reputation would not, perhaps, fuffer by
lavifhing praifes on a controverfialift, who, inftead
of difcufling M'ith the perfon on whom he made his
attack the grand points in debate, ftudioufly fought
ro divertthe attention to lefTer matters; who, inftead
even of attempting to anfwer his arguments, fet
himfelf on magnifying a few trivial miftakesj who,
inflead of overthrowing his pofitions, ftrove by the
confidence of histone, and the loudnefs of his voci-
feration, to cry down his opponent as incompetent;
M'ho, to defend the dodlrines of which he fet him-
felf up the champion, was conflrained to have
recourfe to a juftly exploded fyftem of metaphyfics ;
who, ro counterbalance the credit Vvhich his adver-
fary had by 2Lfew lucky experiments acquired, gave it
out that he underftood what men who have given
proofs of profound erudition have pronounced un-
intelligible, and rcprefented himfelf as converfant
with the reveries of fpeculatifls, whofe argumen-
tation, when in any degree intelligible, is a burlefque
upon reafoning.*
But in Plato's fchool the Bifliop is a mere novice,
a very tyro ; the trandator of Plotinus, the modern
advocate for the ancient Polytheijm^ mufi: regard
him as a boafting fmatterer, plum.ing himfelf on an
* Vide note H.
acquaintance
t 48 ]
acquaintance with the divine philofophy which he
profefles, while in reaUty he is the votary of a
modern barbarifm.
Auguftine, Petrarch, and Bifliop Horfley, fludy-
ing in this fchool, have been confirmed in the
Trinitarian dodrine; they learnt here to conceive
more readily of there being three divine perfons,
each of whom is God. Mr. Taylor, a harder ftudent
in the fame fchool, has found out that there are
divine perfons, or Gods, to the number of feveral
thoufands. He is fhocked at the unworthy ideas
of the Deity entertained by the Bifliop and thofe of
his perfuafion, who make the godhead fo barren,
as to have produced only two divinities; while on
his fvftcm the glorious perfeclion of being prolific
is rendered illuftrious, by the produ6lion of anum-
berlefs race of divinities. In this fchool, this man
has learnt, not only the doclrine of many gods, but
the pre-exiftence and tranfmigration of fouls, to
afpire after the converfc of genii, and of other
fuperior beings, to difcern the truth of the Ptole-
maic fyflem, and like you the folly and inutility of
experimental philofophy, which Lord Bacon took
fb much pains to recommend. Hence, when na-
tural philofophy is calumniated as unfriendly to
right fentiments in religion, let it be remembered
that the philofophy, the ftudy of which Dr. Horfley
has fet himfelf fo mduflrioufly to recommend, has
led one, who has iludied it with the mofl: diligence,
into the profeflion of idolatry, fuch as was efla-
blifhed
[ 49 ]
bliflied in antient Greece, to acknowledge the
divinity of Jupiter, Juno, Sjc. Whenever the phi-
lofophy which arrives at general principles by in-
dudlion from particulars, is accufed of favouring
herefy, let it be remembered that the boafted
fcience of univerfals, the fcience of fuperior minds,
which opens men's eyes to their own ignorance,
and difpofes them to be orthodox, leads to paga^
nijyn^ and hasadually made (fhocking to tell!) one
of the moll: famed of its modern votaries an avowed
idolater. It would feem then that we cannot be
Trinitarians on Bilhop Horfley's principles, but at
the extreme hazard of being pagans.
I admire the daring policy apparent in our Pre-
late's attempts to render fafliionable the Platonic
philofophy; while I am confident, that, by the
good fenfe of this age, they will be treated with the
fcorn and contempt they deferve. For were a rage
for Platonifm to revive, the world would again be
filled with fprighrs and ghofts; noxious caverns
•jvould again be inhabited by dasmons; fountains,
and rivers, and groves, would have their prefiding
divinities; and the empire of the priefls would
return.
I w ould obferve one thing more as to the Bifhop,
and 1 have done v, ith him. Being the enemy of in-
tellectual freedom, it became him to ftand up as the
advocate of civil oppreflion. To treat the rights
of two millions of his fellow-fubjecls with unfeeling
levity, to mention their hardlhips with malignant
D fatis-
[ 50 1
fatisfaClion, was confident with his charaaer iot
political wifdom, and the wonted generofity of his
mind. Really, fir, the Review of the Dijfenters'
Cafe outdoes, in taunt and infult, all the former pro-
dudtions of his pen. Report fays, that for this he
is foon to be called to an account, by one who will
not trifle with him. If you, fir, are poifelTed of
that generofity which you profefs, recommend this
publication to thofe of your neighbourhood, whofc
minds have been foured by the Biftiop's fophiftical
and bigotted declamation.
May you, lir, enjoy all the fatisfa(5lion which
your attachment to this ghodly father of your's is
calculated to afford ; continue to be his enraptured
admirer; may you be his lefs humble imitator and
his more ftout defender, than you have fhewn
yourfelfto be in the letter before us; and all thC)
plealing reflections, which the greateft fuccefs in
this way can give, you will enjoy unenvied by your
prefcnt correfpondent. My lot it has been to direcft
my veneration to a perfon of a very different cha-
radler ; to be infirumental, in the mofl: inconfider-
able degree, in promoting whofe defigns, of ridding
the world of fuperfl:ition and error, is the greateft
happinefs after which I afpire. For this reafon,
and not on account of any apprehenfion I feel, that
the reflexions, which have been fo induftrioufly
thrown out againft this illuftrious perfon, can in
the Icaft hurt him, it is that I am folic itous my
readers (hould know how unfounded they are, and
the
[ 5' ]
the motives whence they have originated ; that they
may not be influenced by them, to negledt deriving
from his works the light and improvement, which
thev are in fo fuperior a degree calculated to com-
municate. For the benefit therefore of perfons,
who in this matter may have been mifinformed, I
fliall beg leave to fubjoin a quotation from a very
able writer of the prefent age, who, fpeaking of
Dr. Prieftlcy, thus expreffes himfelf: —
" It is with pleafure I embrace this opportunity
" of doing juilice to the charader of a man who
** deferves well of his country. I am pcrfuaded,
" though he has been treated as an herefiarch, and
" an innovating, refllefs fecflary, there is not a
" body of learned men in the world, except one,
" who would not cheerfully acknowledge him for
** a brother and a companion."
" So far from confining his views to the narrow
" line of polemical divinity, there is fcarce any
" branch of literature which he hath not fuccefs-
•* fully cultivated and improved."
" He is one of thofe few men who do not advance
** new dodlrines with a view to furprife the igno-
" rant, or to acquire a character of uncommon
** penetration. The inveftigation of real and ufe-
*' ful knowledge and truth, is his favourite object,
" and the difcovery of them his reward."
" He thinks freely, and fpeaks and writes as
*• freely as he thinks ; following no authority, a flave
D 2 "to
[ 52 ]
to no fyflem, he ranges uncontrouled by preju-
dice, fear, or intereft."
" Though he has had many difficulties and ene-
mies to ftruggle with, he was as fteady in main-
taining his principles when his fubftance was
precarious, as lince the encouragement of the
public, and the patronage of a noble Lord, whofe
difcernment of merit will not be difputed, have
made him independent. Cicero thought it his
duty to fhew the people the abfurdities of the
pagan religion; and Dr. Prieftley has refcued
Chriftianity from thofe grofs errors and myfte-
rious abfurdities by which it has been long
obfcured and difgraced, and reconciled it to fenfe
and reafon, and thofe hxed principles, in which
the liberal and intelligent part of mankind muft
always agree."
" It is with him an invariable maxim, that truth,
happinefs, and virtue, always mutually aflifl: and
fupport each other; and that ignorance, folly,
fuperftition, and vice, are infeparably connected
together. He looks upon it as the greateft fole-
cifm, that Heaven fliould have given us mental
faculties only to be fuppreifed, or that any bene-
fit can arife to fociety from limiting them by
fecular laws and ordinances. He is the enemy
of all pious frauds and religious errors, however
dignified by authority, or rendered facred by
antiquity, being pcrfuaded that mankind will be
virtuous in proportion to the enlargement of their
*' ideas.
r 53 J
" ideas, and the redlitude of their judgment; therc-
" fore he is not felicitous, in his purfuit of truth,
" what prejudices he may (hock, what fyftem he
" may overturn, or whofe territories he may in-
" vade. He may, perhaps, exprefs his mind more
" openly than timorous and dehcate men would
" chufej but as long as there are the fame means
*' of defending, as there are to attack, it would be
" an ill compliment to any dodrines of reafon and
** religion, to fuppofe they could fuffer by honefty
" and plain dealing."
" He has paid the tax of cenfure, which is gene-
" rally levied upon thofe who dare to think for
" themfelves ; but though he has met with more
" infult and abufe than molt men in the prefent
*^ day, I am pcrfuaded he would not difarm his
" enemiies even of the liberty of afperfing him. While
" his moral character remains unimpeached, he is
" content with every other reproach, and he thinks
" the approbation of the candid and deferving an
" ample recompence; — with them one genuine
" virtue of the heart will atone for a thoufand mif-
" takes of judgment. But bigots have no tender-
" nefs, no fceUng; the want of faith is never to be
** redeemed ; a fcruple, a doubt fixes upon the moll
" blamelefs life irretrievable reprobation. If the
" Dodior has called in queftion popular opinions
" without grounds, he will be the more eafily
" refuted. But, let him not be filenced whether
" right or wrong ; there can be no policy in reftrain-
D 3 « ing
[ 54 ]
" ing the progrefs of knowledge, unlefs it can be'
** proved, that we have arrived at the fummit of
** perfedlion, and that all farther improvements
" are to be defpaired of/' Vide two Letters to
the Prelates, printed for Johnfon, A. D. 1773.
So far is he from being " the great propagator
'■* of anarchy" and confufion, as you reprefent him,
that no man has difcourfed with happier fuccefs
on government and order, and fhewn, in a clearer
light, the impolicy of civil and ecclefiaftical oppref-
lion. Indeed, fir, whatever be the fubjed upon
which he treats, he is moft careful of treading on
the ground of fure principles and indubitable fads.
Hence it is, that in the numerous contefis, into
which, by his intrepid love of truth, he has been
drawn, his vidlories have been fo fignal. But his
fuperior talents raife him lefs in the opinion of his'
friends, than his a6live virtues and amiable man-
ners. He, to the fatisfadion of having rendered
unparalelled fervices to the caufe of fcience, and
of having raifed higher the condition of his fellow-
creatures by deftroying their prejudices, ^nd
teaching them to follow, in their moft important
concerns, the deductions of reafon, adds that of
difcharging the duties of his private ftation in a
manner truly exemplary, and with a degree of fuc-
cefs worthy of his exertions. Much as I admire
him, honourable as I think it to bear openly my
teftimony to his merits, yet, fir, if you conclude that
I think myfclf obliged to adopt all his opinions, or
that
[ S5 ]
that I do adtually a^ree with him in every particular,
you will do me injuftice. The mofl: able and fuc-
cefsful authors I regard only as guides; and the
greateft among them I confider as entitled to the
praife, not of being perfedt, but to that of being
lefs fallible than his brethren.
" You are likely," you tell us, " to tranfmit
" your faith and your Church unimpaired to your
" children." If you mean that it will go down
unaltered to your immediate defcendants, no one
will, I believe, care to difpute the point with you.
But you D0uft mean more than this, for you take
care to afTure us, " that this is the only age in which
" we can be heard;" and if that be the cafe, the
Church will go down unimpaired, not only to your
children, but to your lateft pofterity. You would
have done well to have informed us, what there is
in this Church to exempt it from the fate of other
human inftitutions. The public mind, I appre-
hend, (lands in need of information of this nature.
An opinion very different from that which you
entertain is gaining ground. All cannot bring their
minds to admit the (lability of a Church, the heads
of which have their time and attention taken up in
the lay-adminiftration of the kingdom, to the utter
negledl ©f their fpiritual charge; mofl: of the dig-
nified and many of the beneficed Clergy of which
are equally chargeable with profefTional delin-
quency; while in the major part of its officiating
miuilWri, there is a notorious negled of duty or an
incapacity
[ 56 ]
incapacity for its difcharge. It appears to me
highly unreafonable to prefume on the permanency
of a Church, the dodtrincs of which are the cre-
denda of an unenlightened age, jufl emerging from
Popery; a feafon of all others the moft unfit for
conftruding articles, to determine the faith of all
future ages, even if this bufinefs were allowable
for fallible man, in any fituation, to undertake; of
a Church which in its offices the Deity, and
damns all men who rejecflits dogmas;* a Church
which holds up four objedts of religious worfliip;
which abfolves the moft profligate of all their fins,
in the hour of ficknefs, though there be no fpace
for repentance; which returns thanks to Almighty
God, for having taken thofe to himfelf, who on
earth were admitted into no good fociety ; which
difpenfes,by its Prelates, the HolyGhoft to all who
receive holy orders, though many of them are at
the time known to be extremely vicious and dilTo-
lute; and which transfufes, through the fingers of
thefe ghoftly fathers, what in an inftant makes good
Chriftians of the vileft of the community. To
believe that a Church, the adminiftration of which
is thus corrupt, the doftrines and rites of which are
thus abfurd and irrational, and moreover fo immo-
ral in their tendency, is fecure of lafting continu-
ance, would require a faith of the fame nature with
that which you poflefs. The attacks of enthufiafm
on one fide, and of reafon on the other; the grow-
ing infidelity among the higher ranks of the com-
* Vide note I.
munity j
[ 57 ]
munky ; the changes to which, the incrcafeofcor^
ruptionand of our national debt, muft at fomc future
period give rife; the examples of correcting abufes
given us by our neighbours; the zeal and diligence
of its enemies, their abilities, and above all the
fuperior goodnefs of their caufe; certainly wear the
afpedl of danger, and muft alarm the confiderate
friends of the Church. You, however, feem confi-
fident. Your confidence, if feigned, is politic; but
it may be real; inftances of it, equally unreafonable,
are not unfrequently to be met with. Though the
advancement of natural fciencehad made it highly-
fit, and therefore extremely probable, that our
Pharmacopeia fhould undergo a revifion, yet I dare
engage that many a country apothecary might have
been found, fome years back, w ho believed it to be
as little fufceptible of improvement, and as little
likely to undergo any alteration, as you may deem
our forms of public worfhip. Equally confident,
I doubt not, were the zealots of the Romifh religion,
in the days of Leo the tenth, that the pov.'er and
authority of their Church would be tranfmitted
down undiminifhed to the lateft times. And a very
little time back, the Clergy of France were as free
from apprehenfions as to the fecurity of their reve-
nues, as their brethren of Britain and Ireland are at
this day with refpedl to theirs. But human affairs
we fee are unftable; they ever change from
worfe to better, or from better to worfe; though
ultimately every change is for the better. With
this
[ S8 )
this view of things, I Ihall indulge, in my dream,
that we are advancing towards the abolition of all
fiavilh hierarchies and ufurping eftablifhments ;
flowly it may be, but furely and inevitably. How
near, or how remote the period is, in which this
will happen, I pretend not to predi^; nor, as a
friend to truth, do I hope for its too fpeedy arrival,
though the fufferings of confcientious individuals
would didate a different wifh. Regarded in a pub-
lic view, thedownfal of a reigning fuperftition may
happen too foon, before the public are ripe for fuch
an event; and by reafon of this unpreparednefs,
another fuperftition may be fet up, though one
fomewhat lefs obnoxious, and thereby our condi-
tion be little improved; whereas no danger can
attend its happening late, provided that in the mean
time the friends of truth and free-enquiry are not
remifs ; the longer it is before this is brought about,
the more folid and extenfive the benefits that may
beexpefted.
I cannot be brought to believe, that the advan-
tages we enjoy, in being able to contemplate reli-
gion free from the prejudices which a Popifli
education muft have formed ; to examine the Scrip-
tures by the rules of an improved criticifm, and in
the light which a more accurate knowledge of the
countries in which took place the tranfadlions they
relate, and of the cuftoms and manners to which
they allude, reflect on the facred volume; nor yet
$hait- the aids we derive from the labours of thofe
learned
t 59 ]
learned perfons, who have been at immenfe pains
to trace the additions which Chriftianity received
from Platonifm, from the fubtilties of the Ariftote-
han philofophy, and from the extravagancies of
the Oriental wifdom, whether borrowed from their
original fources, or taken up after they had been
incorporated with the ancient herefies; I cannot be
brought to believe that thefe advantages will always
anfwer no other end, than to benefit a few curious
minds, and have no beneficial effedl upon the pub-
lic profeflion of religion. Yea, fir, I cannot help
abiding in this perfuafion, while I remain convinced
that truth is of more value than error; that man-
kind have an irrefiftiblc propenfity to prefer the
one, and to fliun the other; that the former elevates
the mind, while the latter debafes our noblell
powers. The expedlation is rendered more flrong,
when it is confidered, that there are and ever will
be men of enlarged views, who can foar above the
allurements ofeafe, the charms of worldly greatnefs,
and the infipid applaufes of the great and low
vulgar; who will a(5l with diligence and vigour, in
promoting the interefts of truth, and in expofmg
all that is not found, animated by the confciouf-
nefs, that in fo doing they adt in concurrence, mofl
effe(5lually and eminently, with the benignant Au-
thor of their being, and cheered by [the hope that
at fome time or other, the caufe they have moft at
heart will have a glorious and fplendid triumph. —
The perfedions of the Deity, the author and guar-
dian
[ 6o ]
dian of truth, juftify the hope, and warrant the
expedration. The fpirit of enquiry is abroad in the
■world : vain and ridiculous will be every attempt
to fupprefs its career: to this no flop can be put
till its lad demands are fatisfied. Truth, when
once fhe has been made anobjed of attention, pof-
fefTes advantages, which, in fpite of all the difficul-
ties with which fhe may have to ftruggle, and of
the ties and holds by which error would retain her
dominion, muft render her finally vidorious, and
draw after her univerfal preference.
Thefe fpeculations are, I think, founded in the
principles of human nature, agreeable to the ufual
courfe of things, and greatly corroborated by pre-
fent appearances. To indulge in them affords a
fatisfaction and a delight whrch it is impoflible to
enjoy with your notions ; and nothing that you have
written has fhaken in the leafl my confidence in
them. Indeed the writings and the converfation of
the ablefl: of your party, only ferve to imprefs my
mind more ftrongly with the excellence of the
caufe which you attack, and ofthebadnefs of that
which you are obliged to defend.
Immoderate as is the fize into which this letter has
fvvoln, under my hands, I cannot difmifs, without
farther notice, an extraordinary pafTage in your Let-
ter. It has been already quoted. It is that in which
you inform us, " this is the only age in which we can
be heard." This f>ofition proves your regard for truth
to be very fiiinr, your head to be very weak, or "your
" intercourfe
[ 6i ]
'* intercourfe with your fpecies to be very limited."
Had you favoured us with the reafons on which
you built this conclufion, which you fport fo con-
fidently, you probably would have afforded us
entertainment. How came you, fir, to think that
enquiry would foon be at an end ; that every pafTion
of this kind would fliortly be for ever ftifled; that
the undiflurbed and univerfal empire of fuperftition
was about to commence ; and that the maxims of
intolerance would be fpeedily revived ; that the bulk
of the people of Britain will foon, to a man, unite
in regarding the thirty-nine articles as of equal
authority with holy writ, as indifputable as the
axioms of Euclid, or the Newtonian laws ofphilo-
fophifing ; that the prejudice againft the Athanaiian
Creed will foon be done away, and that this cele-
brated formula will be cordially fubfcribed by all
the faithful? If you chcrifh expedations fuch as
thefe, and are anxious not to be deprived of the
fatisfacflion they yield, I would advife you by all
means againfl: extending your intercourfe with your
fpecieSy and to fence yourfelf carefully within your
Utile fields left you lliould difcover how matters
really ftand, and the illulion fliould entirely vanifh.
Leaving ycu to purfue thefe reflections, having
no defire you fhould be thrown into that ftate into
which you fancied your Letter had reduced me ;
and, judging myfelf inexcufable, (hould 1 not, when
I have it in my power, relieve you from the pain,
to which your idea of my lituation, muft expofe
a
[ 62 ]
a perfon of your tender feelings, I will, fir,
honeftly thank you for a confiderable degree of
amufement, for being fet on a train of refledlions
that I confider as very ufefui and pleafing, and, I
would truft, for fomething of more confequence,
for an opportunity of exciting, in fome of my coun-
trymen, a love of enquiry, and a thirft after ajuft
and rational knowledge of religion, the moft mo-
mentous of all concerns, and that in which, of all
others, it is mod important that we lliould be fet
right.
Now, fir, if it mult be fOf farewell " forever!"
'3ind is then your refolution abfolutely fixed? Yes,
unalterably fixed. " My arm is too weak," you fay.
But what if my mufcles fliould acquire hardnefs
by art and exercife? for art and exercife, you know,
can do wonders. What if I fiiould polifii my wea-
pon, and I flioiild be induced once more to appear
in the arnphithcatie, may I not hope that you will
acrain fufier yourfelf tobe turned out againfi: me, to
put my fi^ill and courage to the proof? No, you are
refolvcd to refufe. Really, fir, you ad wifely. A
greater proof of your wifdom it would, have been,
perhaps, never to have appeared in the field at all.
Adieu then, fir, finally ! Neither your talents, your
acquirements, or your temper, will caufe any to
regret your' declining any farther conteft. Your
reafons are evident. You calculate, I doubt not,
rio"htly, that at no feafon can you retire more
honourably than at the prefent. Should you, how-
ever.
[ 63 J
ever, be by any means led to change your refolu*
rion, remember that I am in no wife obliged to
notice you. My objedt is anfwered. I have hinted
at the fubjeds to which I wilhed to dired the atten-
tion of my countrymen; arhd I have referred to the
writers by whom they are amply difcufTed. I flat-
ter myfelf, likewife, that owing to my interference,
feeble as it may have been, the voice of detraction
in thefe parts againfl: Unitarianifm will be rendered
lefs loud, and mifreprefentations lefs current; that
the impartial and well-difpofed will hefitate before
they give their aiTent to them, and forbear to cen-
fure till they have examined.
I am.
Reverend Sir.
Your very humble Servant,
A WELSH FREEHOLDER.
[ 64 ]
POSTSCRIPT.
THE VVelJo Freeholder is confident, that his
readers will not be difpleafed with the infer-
tion of the following fhrewd Letter, which he has
received from an anonymous correfpondent. He
feels the utmofl; fatisfa^flion, in having his conduct
and views approved and fanctioned by {o able and
learned a perfon, as he conceives the writer of the
Letter before him to be. On its merits it would
hardly be proper in him to enlarge; of thcfe, after
a fair pcrufal, let the reader judge.
» Sir,
" AS a friend to free enquiry and rational reli-
** gion, I mufl: beg the favour of being permitted
** to exprefs my gratitude, for your feafonable
" exertion to ftem the torrent of abfurdity and
** eccleiiallical power with which we are threatened.
*' Piteoufly worfted in the unequal cpnflidl with
** Dr. P , his Lordfhip probably rejoiced in
" the thought, that the Wchli Biflioprick, the
** reward of his diftinguiflied prowefs, would
" aiTord him an undifturbed retreat; where he
" fliould recover from his wounds, and have (till
" an opportunity of employing the remainder of
" his ftrength, in attacking (like Aiag Mug-tyocpo^og)
" the feeble and unr> filling Dilfenters of Wales.
*' Eafy he might think would be the conquell.
*♦ Herein you muft have convinced him of his
" miftake.
t 49 J
" miftake. You, fir, have abundantly proved that
" there are among us, who can detecft plaufibic
" pretences to fuperior erudition, who can anfwer
" impofing fophifms with fubltantial argument,
" who can treat ' great fwelHng words of vanity*
" with fuccefsful ridicule, who can fmile at the
" folly of ecclefiafiical hauteur.
" It is a debt, fir, you may jufily exped: to be
** paid by your diffenting countrymen, to acknow^-
*' ledge their obligations for your interference. —
." The manner in which you have made this oppo-
" fition difcovers to mc, that your fentiments
" concerning this Prelate are in unifon with my
" own, and with thofe of many among my acquain*
" tance. The man who, in a theological contro-
** verfy with one of the greateft charadters of the
" age, avows his determination * to fi:rike at his
" adverfary without remorfe ;' — who unblufliingly
" profefles to dcftroy his opponent's * credit, and
" the authority of his name,' by depreciating his
•* character as a philofopher, and affeding to cha-
" racterife, as merely * certain lucky difcoveries,*
" thofe improvements in fcicnce which for thefe
" lafl: twenty years have attracted to this country the
" attention of all learned bodies in Europe ^ — who,
*^ becaufe a plain paffage in hifi:ory is irreconcile-
" able with his paradoxical alfertions, does not
•' fcruple to confider an illuftrious ornament of an-
** tiquity as capable of * wilful falfehood' and pcr-
" jury, nor to reprefent a fimilar ornament of mo-
E " dern
[ so ]
" dern times, who undertook to defend the venerable
" Origen, in the fame defamatory language; — who
" can ftain his charadler as a minifter of * the pure
** and undefiled religion' of the gofpel, by dabbling
" in the turbid waters of election politics ; — the
" man, I fay, who anfwers to this defcription, what
" perfon of honour and generolity can contemplate
*' without indignation F But when this man is
" viewed in a different light, as betraying the
" extreme of incompetence, where he difcovers
** the extreme of confidence, — as pompoufly ana-
" lyling the opinions of an author, (viz. Zuicker)
** whom probably he had never read, and which .
" opinions the author is found not to contain, — as
** gravely maintaining, that a Father may beget a
" Son by the contemplation of his own powers, —
" as attempting to filence the cavils of fcepticifm,
" by the obltinacy and violence of his afTevera-
" tions, — and as rendering thefe and other abfur-
" dities confpicuous by the eminence of his fitua-
" tion, — our indignation will be foftened into a
" fmile-y and the complex emotion excited by the
** whole of his character will be rather pleafurable
" than painful.
" Such, lir, feems to have been the emotion,
" under the influence of which you wrote the Let-
" ter of the JVelJh Freeholder. You have indeed
" treated me and my friends with confiderable
" entertainment. And why fhould we not thus
" divert ourfelves ? Our cheerfulnefs certainly is
" innocent.
[ 5t ]
" innocent. The Bifhop's friends however tell us
" — * that you difcoveranunchriftian fpirit.' But
" furely it is not inconfiftent with Chriflianity to
" ridicule afFedation, intolerance, and abfurdity ;
" and this is all that you have done. Let them
" triumph, that their * religion lifts up its mitred
" head in Courts and Parliaments.' Let them
** content themfelves with the enjoyment of thofe
** honours and emoluments, civil and ecclefiaftical,
*' from which we are injurioufly excluded. But,
" oil! let them not deprive us of our laft confolation
•' in this ftate of hopelefs deprcflion ! Let them not
" infift upon it, that, like the captive Hebrews,
at the waters of Babylon, we hang our harps upon
" the willows, lit down and weep! Let them not
" deny us that amufement, which has long folaced
" us under oppreflion, and in fome meafure recon-
*' ciled us to it, viz. laughing at the follies of our
*' opprelfors!
" Without doubt, fir, you have read the Letter of
" the indignant Clergyman. To allude to a curi-
" ous expreffion of his own, his objedl feems to be,
" to drozvn you with the vapour of his mouth ;' but
" take comfort, it cannot ' taint the atmojphere in
" "jchich you breathe.' If you honour this Rhapfo-
" did with a reply, he has drefled himfelf ready
" for your entertainment in his conical cap and
** feather, and his coat of many colours. Some
" ftriclures upon his pamphlet may counteradl the
" effcds of his bold declamatory manner. Though
E 2 ''it
[ 52 ]
it may be faid juflly of him, and likewife of his
*' diocefan l^icoTTjg f/,6v ev (piXoa-o<potg, yet the other
" part of the fentence may be equally appUcable,
*' (piXo(ro<po? ^e bv loiujoiig.
" Allow me, (ir, to requeft you would go on in
" your laudable attempts to enlighten the minds of
" your countrymen. Your perfcverance, joined
** with the indifcretion, intolerance and zeal of the
** Bifhop of St. David's, may, under the blelling
" of Providence, be the means of exciting a fpirit
" of enquiry among us, and confequently of acce-
" lerating our defedlion from this antichriftian
" eftablirtiment, which is gradually falling into
" difrepute.
" Hoping you will excufe the liberty I have
" taken, in thus exprefling noy fentiments,
" I am,
« Sir,
" With unfeigned efteem,
" Your obliged Countryman,
*' Feb. 3d, 1 79 1. X. Y. Z."
NOT'E S.
[ 53 ]
NOTES,
(A) Surely our Clergyman mull: be an animal
magnetift, and when he wrote this muft have been
thrown into the luminous crifis.
(B) fasvitque animis ignobile vulgus;
Jamque faces ct faxa volant; furor arma miniftrat.
Does it not feem, from the temper of this
pious man, that there are Clergy in our times, and
in our own country, to whom it would not be dif-
agreeable to have the fame games played with
heretics, as in former days ? But perhaps I may be
doing our Clergyman wrong, and that, like many
a harmlefs fcold, all his malice finds vent at his
tongue, and he would not, with his hand, hurt a
fingle hair of your head.
(C) Our Clergyman cannot here allude to the
late rejedion of Mr. Cooper by the fociety, for he
is an " artificer of experiments," an improver of
fuch low things as our manufactures, and therefore
he could not be difpleafed with that meafure. — He
muft then either refer to the offence taken by a very
eminent mathematician againft the Royal Society,
in which he was juftified by many of his affbciates
in the fame ftudies, but in which affair, from Dr.
E 3 Kippis's
[ 54 ]
Kippis's account, which has never yet publickly
been called in queftion, it appears the fociety was
not chargeable with blame. Or he muft have in
view the revolution which of late years has taken
place in the ftudies of philofophers ; a revolution
that may be difpleafing to pedants, but in which
every enlightened perfon muft rejoice; as having
already been produdlive, and likely to become fbill
more fo, of the moft important benefits to man-
kind. The philofophy which analyfes the air we
breathe, the materials of which our bodies are
formed, thofe by which they are fupported, by
which our diforders are healed ; which explains the
innumerable proceftes that nature is every moment
conducting before our eyes, and in which we are
very materially interefted; the philofophy, in which
have laboured the Bacons, Boyle, Hales, Bergman,
Prieftley, and Cavendifli, is of more immediate
and general importance, than the fublime re-
fearches (though thefe are invaluable, and never
fufficiently to be prized) which engaged the atten-
tion of the philofophers who flourilhed in the laft,
and in the beginning of the prefent century.
(D) How the Clergy are fometimes put upon, we
learn from a good ftory told by Dr. Prieftley, in
his Letters to Mr. Burke : —
" When the DifTenting Minifters waited, by
** appointment, upon an Archbifhop (Cornwallis)
" in order to get his vote and intereft for relief in
'* the
[ S5 ]
" the matter of fubfcription, which was then under
" confideration in parliament, after both himfelf
" and his brethren had voted againft us on a former
" occafion, he alTured them, that though their
" bench had concurred in rejeding their appHca-
" tion before, it was no meafure of their Sy but
" that they had been/)?// upon it. On their expref-
" fing fome degree of furprife at this, he put his
" hand upon his breaft, and faid again, * upon
" my honour, we were put upon it.' This he
" evidently thought a fufficient apology for his own
"*' conduct, and that of his brethren. So vahd did
" this excufe appear to him, that he had no feeling
" of the difhonour which fuch condudl reflcdle4
" upon the whole bench, and what a defpicable
" idea he was giving of himfelf, and of his bre-
" thren, to us Diflenters, who are ufed to think and
" a6l for ourfelves, and are not to be ptit upon by
" others. Can fuch condudl as this, which the
" fituation of your dignified Clergy neceiTarily leads
" them into, infpire perfons of high rank, or of
" any rank, with fentiments of refpeft? I will
" venture to fay, it is impofiible. Pretend what
" you will, you muft, and you do hold them in
" contempt, as much as we do ourfelves. It is the
" feeling of indignant honour. It is the natural
" fentiment of man towards his degraded fellow-
" creature, which in fome meafure refle6ls difho-
" nour upon himfelf, as being of the fame fpecies."
Vide Letter ix. p. 92, &c.
(E) Here
[ 56 ]
(E) Here it may not be improper to introduce,
from the works of the late learned, virtuous, and
amiable Dodtor Jebb, a pleafant quotation, which
is worthy to be read as much on account of the
juflice of its remarks, as its exquilite humour.
** Dr. Tucker, in the poftulata on which he
" founds his " Apology for the Church of Eng-
" land," has puzzled me to fome purpofe. He
" aflerts, that all focieties muft have fome com-
" mon * center of union ;' and that thofe perfons,
" who propofe themfelves to be candidates for
" offices and honourable diftin6lions, in any foci-
*' ety, muft be fuppofed to approve of its * center
" of union,' in the main. " Center of union!" —
*' What can be meant by a center of union? — I am
" puzzled, beyond meafure, by this fame center
*' of union.
" I have looked into the thirty-nine articles,
" into the Athanafian creed, but find no * center of
" union' there; I have looked into the Canons of
** the Church, where I find many hard names,
" and many hard things, but no * center of union'
** there. After much enquiry, I think I fee fome-
** thing that throws light upon the matter, in the
** fifth definition of the firfi: book of Sir Ifaac
" Newton's Principia.
" I will therefore give the definition itfelf, and
" make fuch remarks upon it as fecm pertinent to
** the cafe in hand.
" Philo-
[ 57 ]
" Philofophiae Naturalis Principia Maihcmatica.
" Lib. i- definitio v.
*' Vis centripeta efl vis, qua corpora verfus punc-
" turn aliquod, tanquam ad * centrum,' undique tra-
" huntur, impelluntur, vel utcunque tendunt :" /. <r.
" The centripetal force is that force, whereby
" bodies are from every quarter drawn, impelled,
" or do any how tend to a point as to a * center.'
" It is well known to philofophers, and to fuch
" I addrefs myfelf, that the principle of gravita-
" tion is that principle which binds together the
" various bodies which compofe the folar fyflem;
" and that the point to which thefe bodies tend,
" and in which, were the projedtile force to be
" deftroyed, they would be all united, is placed
" in or near the fun.
" The fun is, therefore, juftly efleemed ' the
** center of union' in the folar fyftem.
" Let us now confider the Eccleliaftical Syflem,
" i. e. the fyftem of the modern Clergy, and fee
** how far the comparifon will hold.
" The Court is the common * center of union,'
** or of gravitation to this fyftem.
" The vis centripeta, or centripetal force, is the
" power of conferring Dr. Tucker's 'offices and
" honourable diftindions.'
" The Biftiops are the larger bodies in this
" fyftem ; fome at greater, fome at lefler.diftances,
" per-
[ 58 ]
" perpetually revolving round their fun, rejoicing,
" as they roll, in the heat and radiance of the
" royal favour.
" The moons or fatellites, in this fvftem, are
" their Lordlliips' chaplains and dependants.
" The Archbifhops of Canterbury and York, like
** Jupiter and Saturn, mightily influence their
" inferior brethren. -
" Mercury reprefents the Bilhop of Pcterbo-
" rough; Mars, my Lord of Gloucefler; and the
" heavy, dull, phlegmatic Billiop of is
" reprefented by the earth.
" The comet of 1680 (let the Cambridge men
" beware of it) is the univerfity of Oxford; a few
*' years ago in its aphelion, but now, with rapidity,
" defcending to the fun.
" The words * undique trahuntur,' i. e. * are
" drawn from all parts,' imply, that atheifts and
" infidels, arminians, Jacobites, and papifts, are
" lured by Dr. Tucker's * offices and honourable
" diflindlions,' to enter into the Church.
** The word * impelluntur,' i. e. * are driven,'
" imports, that men are driven to fubfcribe the
'' thirty-nine articles by their parents or guardians,
" by their expedtations of preferment, by their
" apprcbenfions of ftarving, &c. fometimes, forely
" againft their will, and, nine times in ten, in dired:
" oppofition to the repulfive power of their con-
" fcience.
" And
[ 59 ]
" And laftly, the word * utcunque tendunt/
" i. e. * any way tend,' fignify, that it is confi-
" dered as a matter of very little confequence, in
** this univerfal gravitation towards Dr. Tucker's
" offices and honourable diftindlions,' what mea-
** fures a man takes to get his preferment, pro-
" vided he fucceeds at laft.
" I think I have now difcovered the ' center of
" union,' which, according to Dr. Tucker, the
" fubfcribing members of the Church of England
" approve of in the main.
** ACADEMICUS."
Vide Jebb's Works, vol. iii. p. 104, 108.
(F) The complacency with which our author
alleges this argument of our modern champion,
reminds one of a requeft made by that zealous
Clergyman Shenkyn ap Rees to Dr. Waterland, at
honeil Whiflon's trial.
See Cordial for Low Spirits, vol. iii.
(G) For a proof of this, I would refer my
readers to Lardner's Letter on the Logos \ his four
fermons; — to Dr. Prieftley's familiar Illuflration of
feveral paffages of Scripture; — and to Mr. Lindfey's
anfwer to Robinfon. But a work I would recom-
mend as moft full and decifive on this fubjed, is
** The Scripture account of the Attributes and
" Worfhip of God, and of the charadler and office
" of Jefus Chrift, by Hopton Haynes, efq;" lately
republifhed.
N. B. All
[ 6o ]
N. B. All thefe may be had of J. Johnfon, No.
72, St. Paul's Church-yard.
H) From this cenfure even the admired Plato
is not to be exempted. The bewitching charms
of his ftyle will ever attrad the attention of fcholars
and men of tafte, to his works, as models of elegant
compofition. But to confult him on any point that
requires folid reafoning, would argue the want of
a found mind ; for in his difquifitions, inftead of
being guided by a cool and wary judgment, he
commits himfclf to the government of an imagi-
nation that knew no reftraint. If to trace effects
to their true caufes denominate the Philofopher,
he had no pretenlions to the name; but he was, it
cannot be difputed, the mofl pleafant and fkilful
contriver of marvellous and fublime fidlion that
ever lived.
(I) It is much to be lamented, that the fpirit
which our Clergyman difcovered in his Letter has
not rendered the following animated language of
the venerable Dr. Jebb, lefs proper for him to read.
" Go now, prefumptuous Prieff, go, preach the
" dodtrine of the Articles ; a do6lrinc, in almoft
*' every inflance, oppoiite to the dodlrine thou haft
" read." [viz. thatof the Gofpel.] " The daring
** fpirit of infidelity fhall accompany thy progrefs;
" mitred corruption fhall fit enthroned befide thee ;
** and every vice, which deforms our nature, fhall
" be found in thy retinue. Yet go on fearlefs in
" thy
[ 6i ]
•* thy courfe. Inflated with pride, mifled by paf-
" fion, with hypocrify for thy guide, in imitation
" of the worft of popifh faints; in oppolition to
" the voice of reafon and the gofpel, and in defiance
" of thy own convidions, denounce damnation,
" and fulminate the everlafting terrors of avenging
" heaven, againft all who Ihall dare to differ from
" the eftablifhed creed. Be the god of confcience ;
" penetrate the heart; be the advocate of intole-
" ranee, theadverfary of every fcheme of reforma-
" tion. Be the patron of each vice, the fcourge of
" virtue, the enemy of thy country, the enemy of
" man. The wife man fhall defpife thee, the
" friend of human nature fhall deteft thee, but
" adminiftration fhall promote thee to great ho-
" nour, and the epifcopal bench fhall hail, with
" fongs of gratulation, thyfuccefs."
Vide Jebb's Works, vol. iii. p. 210.
Shortly will be publiJJied,
REASONS
IN FAVOR OF
UNIT ARI ANISM;
OR THE
TRUE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE,
ADDRESSED TO
THE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION
OP
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