■&',miimi a. < 3 3 w w td < ^ 3 CO c< • D) ?r o w r+ (D tJ- c» H- r+ 3 to O O >* 13 tr H* W h-^ CO o ^ llSi. O Hh cr» H^ H-h n- 1 ^^ tr 1-^ rr (D OD (D to CO Of) ^ 2 W3 CD X CD ►1 (^ EVANS'S SKETCH VARIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD. .ONDON PUBLISHED BY SIMPKIN MARSHALL .VCOAUC THE OTHER PKQPRIETOHS EVANS'S SKETCH THE VARIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD, AND OF ATHEISM, DEISM, MAHOMETANISM, &( €f)e mqfiUentf) muiort, VEHY CAREFLLLY CORRECTED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL NEW SECTS. BY THE REV. JAMES HEWS BRANSBY. M hen the Spirit is poured down from on high, it will effectuallv teach us that Ood IS love, and that we never please him more than when we emhrace with open arms, without distinction of sect or party, all who bear his image. "—Robebt Hah. LONDON : -ONGMAN & CO.; BALD\\1N & CRADOCK; WHITTAKER & CO. DUNCAN & MALCOLM; SHERWOOD &C0.; AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. LONDON ; BRABBURY AND EVANS, PRINTEHS TO THE WEEK, WBITBFRIARI. PHIITG.JETOIf ^ PREFACE. The first appearance of Dr. Evans's " Sketch of the different Denominations of Christians " was cor- dially welcomed by the public. The want of such a manual had long been felt ; and had the volume possessed inferior merit, the utility of its plan would have made up for considerable deficiencies. It is hardly necessary to observe, that few produc- tions in the same class have enjoyed, for a series of years, a larger, or even an equal, share of popularity. This has been owing, perhaps, in some degree to the Author's style, which never becomes heavy and wearisome. Far from veiling bis facts under a cloud of gaudy metaphor, he took care to express himself not only so as to be understood, but so as to make it impossible not to be understood. VI I'UEl'ACE. In every [»af,'(; lie oviriccti an earncHt Holicitude 1' corrirniiriicate all ilie iufonriatiou tliat Ih; liarl Ix.ct al>l«; to ;_fatlier. lie Iwiew too well the nature of CliriHtian charity, and liad too lii^li a valiie for tlie right of ])rivat' judgment, to tre.it .1 ly liurnan being with ridicuh or contempt, ou acc-unt of liin opinions, honoHtly entertained. It is, inoreov(;r, t]i(; higli, tli(; j)roiid dintinction of the book, tliat it is n(>t written in th(! Hpirit or for the purpoye.4 of party ; and lience it liaH naturally won the (;onfidenc(5 and good-will of itH rcad(!rH, in every reli;^ioiiH erjrnniunity and in uvcry rank of life. The (jxcellent Author, Dr. IOv.'uih, was (sndowed with gr(;at activity of mind ; and aronnd hiw own family-hearth, ;i,nd within the circle of j)rivate' friendhhip, 1m; wan an obj(!ct of more than ordinary airection. The most Htrictly original of his many publieatioMH is " An Att(!mj)t to account for the Infidelity of (iihhon." It entitles him to jjccidiar j)raiHo. I'UKFACi:. Vll Tlio Editor ran urge no claim to tliat indefinite and spurious lil>orality wliich puts all opinions in religion and all systems of ecclesiastical polity upon a level ; but, " amidst the rich confusion," ho has at least endeavoured to l)e impartial; and he hopes that he has never forgotten the respect which is due to the humble and serious intion. " Good is everything which tends to the preserva- tion or the perfection of man. " Evil is every thing which tends to destroy or deteriorate him. 12 THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. " Fourth Inscription. " Children, honour your fathers and mothers. Obey them with affection. Comfort their old age. " Fathers and mothers, instruct your children. " Fifth Inscription. "Wives, regard in your husbands the chiefs of your houses. "Husbands, love your wives, and render your- selves reciprocally haj)py. " The assembly sits to hear lessons or discourses on morality, principles of religion, of benevolence, and of universal salvation, principles equally remote from the severity of Stoicism and Epicurean indo- lence. These lectures and discourses are diversified by hymns. Their assemblies are holden on the first day of the week, and on the decades." The Christian reader will admire the practical tendency of this new species of Deism, while he laments the defects by which it is characterised. It wants the broad basis of revelation, the glorious discovery of immortality. At one period there was a gleam of hope that the profession of this system in France would prepare the way for the reception of pure Christianity. LOVERS OF TRUTH. About the year 1831, there was formed at Kiel, in Holstein, under the name of " Lovers of Truth," a religious society, which demands absolute liberty in JUDAISM. 13 religious matters, and which professes what is called pure Deism. This society is governed by" a spiritual president or head, and two elders, who are assisted by a committee of ten members. The supreme power belongs to the community. They have a temple without ornaments and without images. Their worship consists of a prayer, which is offered by the president, and of some hymns which are sung by all the members. It is performed every seventh day of the week, and on certain holidays. These holidays are, that of conscience, or of penitence, new year's day, the festivals of nature at the com- mencement of the four seasons, the anniversary of the foundation of the society, and the political holi- days ordered by the state. The society further con- secrates, by particular rites, certain events occurring in private life, as the giving of a name to a newly- born infant, admittance into the community, mar- riage, divorce, burial, and the oath of allegiance to the state. JUDAISM. Judaism comprehends the religious truths and rites of the Jews, the descendants of Abraham, who was a person of eminence, chosen by God, soon after the flood, to preserve the doctrine of the Divine Unity among the idolatrous nations of the earth. A complete system of Judaism is contained in the five books of Moses, their great lawgiver, raised up to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, and to 14 JUDAISM. conduct them to the possession of Canaan, the pro- mised land. The Jewish economy is so marked by the sanctions of temporal rewards and punishments, that it has been questioned whether the Jews had any knowledge of a future state. The opinion that they had not this knowledge was maintained with great acuteness by Warburton, in his " Divine Lega- tion of Moses ; " but his arguments were controverted by Dr. Sykes,and other authors of high respectability. The principal sects among the Jews, in the time of our Saviour, were the Pharisees, who placed religion in external ceremony; the Sadducees, who were re- markable for their incredulity ; and the Essenes, who were distinguished by an austere sanctity. Some account of these sects will be found in the last vo- lume of Prideaux's " Connection," in Harwood's " Introduction to the Study of the New Testament," and in the late Bishop Marsh's improved edition of " Michaelis." There is an ingenious and learned volume on this subject, " Ecclesiastical Researches, by John Jones, LL.D." The author contends that Josephus and Philo were Christians. He introduces striking passages from their writings, tending to confirm the truth and illustrate the genius of primi- tive Christianity. The Pharisees and Sadducees are frequently men- tioned in the New Testament ; and an acquaintance with their principles and practices serves to explain many passages in the sacred history. At present, the Jews have two sects, — the Caraites, who admit no rule of religion but the law of Moses ; and the JUDAISM. 25 Rabbinists, who add to the laws the tradition of the Talmud. The dispersion of the Jews took place upon the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman emperor, a.d. 70. The expectation of a Messiah is still the distinguishing feature of their religious system. The word Messiah signifies the anointed, one installed into an office by unction. The Jews used to anoint their kings, high- priests, and sometimes prophets, on their entering upon office. Thus Saul, David, Solomon, and Joash, kings of Judah, received the royal unction. Thus also Aaron and his sons received the sacerdotal, and Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, the prophetic unction. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Mes- siah, in whom the Jewish prophecies are accomplished. The Jews, entertaining the idea that a temporal Mes- siah is yet to subdue the world, wait for his coming with patience. According to Buxtorf, who was a pro- fessor of Hebrew, and celebrated for rabbinical learn- ing, some of the modern rabbins believe that the Messiah is already come, but that he will not mani- festhimself on account of the sins of the Jews. Others have had recourse to the hypothesis of two Messiahs, who are to succeed each other — one to be in a state of humiliation and suffering — the other in a state of glory, magnificence, and power. Let us, however, remem- ber that in the New Testament Jesus Christ declares, in the most explicit terms, that he is the Messiah. In John iv. 25, the Samaritan woman says to Jesus, " I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ : when he is come he will tell us all things. Jesus 16 JUDAISM. saitli unto her, I that speak to thee am he." Jesus Christ predicted that several impostors would assume the title of Messiah, and accordingly such persons have appeared. A liistory of False Messiahs has been written by a Dutchman. Barcochab was the first ; he appeared in the time of Adrian ; the second, in 1666, was Sabatai Sevi ; he afterwards became a Mahometan ; and the last was Rabbi Mordecai : he was talked of in 1682. The Talmud is a collection of the doctrines and moral precepts of the Jews. They have two works that bear this name : the one is called the Talmud of Jerusalem, and the other the Talmud of Babylon. The former is shorter and more obscure than that of Babylon, but of an older date. The Jews prefer the Talmud compiled at Babylon to that of Jerusalem, as it is clearer and more extensive. The Jewish economy was certainly typical of the Christian dispensation in many important respects ; but these types and antitypes have been wretchedly abused. A curious instance of this kind occurred about the time of the Reformation. Le Clerc has recorded it, and it may well create a smile. The story is this : Two eminent Protestants, a Lutheran and a Calvinist, had been wrangling a considerable time about the presidency of their patriarchs, with- out any seeming advantage ; when the one took it into his head to make Luther the antitype of Aaron, seeing he was tlie first who had set up and liglited the grand candlestick of the reformation in the, taber- nacle. The other, not being able to disprove the JUDAISM. 17 fact, had recourse to the same typical reasoning, and affirmed that if Luther was Aaron's antitype, upon that score Calvin was much more so, since it is mani- fest that, if he had not taken the snuffers in his hand and snuffed the lamps, the candlestick would have given so dim a light, that few people would have been the better for it ! The most remarkable periods in the history of the Jews are, the call of Abraham, the giving of the law by Moses, their establishment in Canaan under Jo- shua, the building of the temple by Solomon, the division of the tribes, their captivity in Babylon, their return under Zerubbabel, and the destruction of their city and temple by the emperor Titus. Their books of the Old Testament are the most ancient and au- thentic records extant. See the writings of Josephus, their famous historian, of which there are several translations in our language — Dr. Jennings's two volumes of " Jewish Antiquities," Dr. Shaw's " Philosophy of Judaism," David Levi's " Ceremo- nies of the Jewish Religion," and Dr. Adam Clarke's " Fleury on the Manners of the Ancient Jews/' together with Jones's " Researches," already men- tioned. Maimonides, an illustrious rabbi, drew up for the Jews, in the eleventh century, a confession of faith, which all Jews admit. It is curious, and will gra- tify the reader. L " I believe with a true and perfect faith, that God is the Creator (blessed be his name !) — the go- vernor and the maker of all creatures, and that lie c 18 JUDAISM. wrought all things, that he worketh, and shall work for ever. 2. " I believe with perfect faith that the Creator (whose name be blessed !) is one^ and that such an unity as is in him can be found in none , other, and that he alone hath been our God, is, and for ever shall be. 3. " I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator (blessed be his name !) is not corporeal, nor to be comprehended with any bodily property, and that there is no bodily essence that can be likened unto him. 4. " I believe with a perfect faith the Creator (blessed be his name !) to be the first and the last, that nothing was before him, and that he shall abide the last for ever. 5. " I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator (blessed be his name !) is to be worshipped and none else. 6. " I believe with a perfect faitli that all the words of the prophets are true. 7. " I believe with a perfect faith the prophecies of Moses, our master, (may he rest in peace !) that he was the father and chief of all wise men that lived before him, or ever shall live after him. 8. " I believe with a perfect faith that all the law which at this day is found in our hands was deli- vered by God himself to our master, Moses. God's peace be with him ! 9. " I believe with a perfect faith that the same law is never to be changed, nor any other to be given us of God, whose name be blessed. JUDAISM. 19 10. "I believe, &c. that God (blessed be his name !) imderstandeth all the works and thoughts of men, as it is written in the prophets — He fashioneth their hearts alike ; he understandeth all their works. 11. "I believe, &c. that God will recompense good to them that keep his commandments, and will punish them who transgress them. 12. " I believe, &c. that the Messiah is yet to come, and although he retard his coming, yet I will wait for him till he come. 13. "I believe, &c. that the dead shall be re- stored to life, when it shall seem fit unto God the Creator, whose name be blessed and memory cele- brated, world without end. Amen.'' Doddridge, Gill, Edwards, Bicheno, Winchester, and Wrangham, are of opinion that the Jews shall be restored to the land of Palestine. Winchester suggests that the large rivers in America were placed by the Creator on the eastern side, that the Jews may waft themselves down to the Atlantic, and then across that vast ocean to the Holy Land ; and Archdeacon Wrangham has these spirited lines on the subject : — And see they come ! survey yon sweeping bands, Countless as Persian bowmen, who beset Freedom exulting on her attic rock, When Asia roused her millions to the war, And sunk in all her pomp before the foe. With ranks as full, But with more prcsp'rous fates and purer joys Than swell the warrior's breast, their destined march The Hebrews bend from where Hydaspes rolls His storied tide, or cleaves with holy prow c2 '20 JUDAISM. Th' Atlantic main, whose conscious surge reveres Its buoyant load Now call'd by God, or from the western stream Of Plata, or where Ganges pours his urn, In love-knit league they throng ! With guardian hand Messiah, erst their nation's deadliest hate, Guides the returning host ! * Moore, in reference to the glorious millennian day, elegantly says, '' Then Judah ! thou no more shalt mourn Beneath the heathen's chain, Thy days of splendour shall return And all be new again. The fount of life shall then be quaff 'd In peace by all who come. And every wind that blows shall waft Some long-lost exile home." Lightfoot and Lardner think that their call shall lead them to change not their place, but their condi- tion. So various are the sentiments of divines on this subject. A Jews' hospital, called the Charity Workhouse, has been erected in London at Mile End, " for the reception and support of aged men and women, as well as for the education and industrious employment of youth of both sexes." This institution is liberally and nobly supported by the very opulent family of the Goldsmids. An asylum for converted Jews has been raised at Bethnal-green. The late Duke of Kent, the father of her present Majesty, laid the foundation * See a Map of Palestine, or the Holy Land, just published by Leigh in the Strand, an elegant and accurate production, with vignettes beautifully illustrative of the events of Sacred History. JUDAISM. 21 stone, and it is under the patronage of the church of England."^ It is a little remarkable with respect to the ex- hibition of the Jewish character on the stage, that Shakspeare's Jew is represented as cruel and rapa- cious, whilst Cumberland's Jew is, though charac- teristic in his manners, full of benevolence and humanity. "The history of this people," says a modern writer, " certainly forms a striking evidence of the truth of divine revelation. They are a living and perpetual miracle, continuing to subsist as a distinct and peculiar race for upwards of three thousand years, and even in the midst of other nations, flow- ing forward in a full and continued stream, like the waters of the Rhone, without mixing with the waves of the expansive lake through which the passage lies, to the ocean of eternity !" In a tract published at Paris, a few years ago by M. Bail, the following calculation is given of the number of Jews in the different quarters of the globe. Poland, before partition, 1772 Russia .... Germany United Netherlands Sweden and Denmark France .... England, London 12,000 Italy and States 1,000,000 200,000 .500,000 80,000 5,000 50,000 50,000 200,000 Carried forward 2,085,000 * See the publications of the Rev. Lewis Way, on the Con. version of the Jews to Christianity. 22 JUDAISM. Brought forward 2,085,000 Spain and Portugal .... 10,000 United States 3,000 Mahometan States, in Asia, Europe, and \ Africa 5 Rest of Asia, China, and India . . 500,000 4,000,000 Total . 6,598,000 This article shall be closed with the recommen- dation of " Modern Judaism, or a Brief Account of the Opinions, Traditions, Eites, and Ceremonies of the Jews in Modern Times, by John Allen,'' who thus expresses himself on the subject: — "Whatever contempt or abhorrence the author feels for errors or frauds, which appear to him contemptible or detestable, he neither feels, nor ever felt such senti- ments towards the Jewish people. He has the satisfaction of remembering that he has always dis- approved and condemned the insults and injuries committed against them by multitudes wearing the Christian name ! Blest with a parent, whose pru- dence and piety raised him above this vulgar error, the author's earliest impressions respecting this people, were those of benevolence, pity, and venera- tion, — benevolence due to all the descendants of our common Father, — pity excited by their moral degra- dation, — veneration inspired by the miracles of their ancient history, and the prophetic visions of their future glory !" 23 MAHOMETANISM. Ma-HOMETANISM is the religion of Mahomet, who was born in 571, at Mecca, a city of Arabia, and died at Medina in 631. Though Mahomet was descended from an honourable tribe and from the noblest family of that tribe, his original lot was poverty. Ui^on his father s death, five camels and an Etliio- pian female constituted the entire property left for the support of the mother and her infant son. Under his uncle Abu-Taleb he was employed in commercial pursuits, and became acquainted with Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. He afterwards mar- ried a rich widow, and rose to an equality with the most opulent citizens of Mecca. Fifteen years of his life w^ere passed in the obscurest retirement, in a lonely cave, where he devised that scheme of a new religion which he afterwards so ably carried into effect. His system is a compound of Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity ; and the Koran, which is the Bible of his followers, is held in great rever- ence. It is supposed to have been written by a Jew, and is replete with absurd representations. The most eloquent passage is thought to be the following, where the Almighty is introduced, bidding the waters of the deluge to cease : — " Earth, swallow up the waters ; heaven, draw up those which thou hast poured out : immediately the waters retreated, the command of God was obeyed, the ark rested on the mountains, and these words were heard — ' Woe to the wicked !'" 24 MAHOMETANISM. Lust, ambition, and cruelty, are the most promi- nent traits in JMahomet's conduct. Yoltaire has written a fine tragedy on this subject. The great doctrine of the Koran is the unity of God, which, together with the mission of Christ, is strongly insisted upon by the prophet. " There is no God but he the living, the self-subsisting ; neither slum- ber nor sleep seizeth him ; to him belongeth what- soever is in heaven and on earth." Indeed Mahomet persuaded his followers that he was the Paraclete, or comforter promised by Christ to his disciples. It is remarkable that the Koran, or Alcoran, was dealt out slowly, piece by piece, during the long period of twenty-three years ! It was communicated, says Mahomet, by the ministration of the angel Gabriel, who, according to his account of the matter, ap- pears to have been liberal to him on these occasions. His angel of deaths whose province it is at the hour of dissolution to free the departing spirit from its prison of flesh, and his vast ideal balance^ in which at the last day the actions of all men shall be weighed, hai^e in them a sort of romantic sublimity calculated to impress the fervid imagination of the Eastern nations; and his future sensual paradise must, in their opinion, have imparted to it the highest degree of perfection. The meanest in paradise will have seventy-two wives, besides the wives he had in this world : he shall have a tent also assigned him " of pearls, hyacinths, and emeralds !" Dean Prideaux maintains in his Letter to Deists, that there are seven distinctive marks of imp osture ; that MAHOMETANISM. 25 these all belong to Maliometanism, and that not one of them can be charged on Christianity. See Sale's " Koran," Prideaux's " Life of Mahomet," White's " Sermons at the Bampton Lecture," and Toulmin's " Dissertations on the Internal Evidence of Chris- tianity," and on " The Character of Christ com- pared with that of other Founders of Religion or Philosophy." Mr. Gibbon, in his Roman History, gives the following curious specimen of Mahometan divinity — for the prophet propagated his religion by force of arms : — " The sword," says Mahomet, " is the key of heaven and of hell ; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, or a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven at the day of judgment ; his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk ; the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubims !" In a Catechism said to have been lately printed at Constantinople, the following is represented to be the young Mussulman's Creed : — " I believe in the books which have been delivered from Heaven and the pro- phets. In this manner was the Koran given to Mahomet, the Pentateuch to Moses, the Psalter to David, and the Gospel to Jesus. I believe in the prophets, and the miracles they have performed. Adam was the first prophet, and Mahomet was the last. I believe that for the space of fifty thousand years the righteous shall repose under the shade of the terrestrial paradise, and the wicked shall be ex- 2d MAHOMETANISM. posed naked to the burning rays of the sun. I be- lieve in the bridge Sirat, which passes over the bottomless pit of hell ! It is as fine as a hair, and as sharp as a sabre. All must pass over it, and the wricked shall be thrown off. I believe in the water- pools of paradise. Each of the prophets has in pa- radise a bason for his own use ; the water is whiter than milk, and sweeter than honey. On the ridges of the pools are vessels to drink out of, and they are bordered with stars. I believe in Heaven and in Hell. The inhabitants of the former know no want, and the houris who attend them are never afflicted with sickness. The floor of paradise is musk, the stones are silver, and the cement gold. The damned are, on the contrary, tormented with fire and by voracious and poisonous animals." Mahometanism distributes itself into two general partSj Faith and Practice; the former containing six branches — belief in God, in his angels, in his scriptures, in his prophets, in the resurrection and final judgment, in the divine decrees : — the latter relating to prayer, with washings, alms, fastings, pil- grimages to Mecca, and circumcision. Indeed the system of Mahomet has no symmetry or beauty of parts ; it is a heterogeneous compound of the various religions then existing, and artfully accommodated to the prejudices and passions of the regions of the East. Dr. White thus concludes one of his Discourses on Mahometanism : — " What raises Christ and his reli- gion far above all the fictions of Mahomet, is, that MAHOMETANISM. 27 awful alternative of hopes and fears — that lookino-- for of judgment, which our Christian faith sets before us. At that day, when time, the great arbiter of truth and falsehood, shall bring to pass the accom- plishment of the ages, and the Son of God shall make his enemies his footstool — then shall the de- luded followers of the great Impostor, disappointed of the expected intercession of the prophet, stand trembling and dismayed at the approach of the glo- rified Messiah. Then sliall they say, ' Yonder Cometh in the clouds that Jesus whose religion we laboured to destroy — whose temples we profaned — whose servants and followers we cruelly oppressed ! Behold, he cometh, but no longer the humble son of Mary — no longer a mere mortal prophet, the equal of Abraham and of Moses, as that deceiver taught us, but the everlasting Son of the everlasting Father — the Judge of mankind — the Sovereign of angels — the Lord of all things, both in earth and in heaven ! " If we suppose, according to the usual estimate, that the inhabitants of the world amount in number to eight hundred millions, the whole may be thus divided : — Jews, two millions and a half ; Pagans, four hundred and eighty-two millions ; Christians, one hundred and seventy-five millions and a half, and Mahometans one hundred and forty millions. The Christians again may be thus distributed, into Greek and Eastern churches, thirty millions ; Roman Ca- tholics, eighty millions ; and Protestants, sixty-five millions and a half. Or thus, in round figures, 28 CHRISTIANITY. which may make a more permanent impression on the minds of the young :— Jews 2,500,000 Pagans .... 482,000,000 Christians .... 175,000,000 Mahometans . . 140,000,000 Inhabitants of the world . .800,000,000 Suhdimsiotis of Chynstians. Greek and Eastern Churches . 30,000,000 Roman Catholics . . . 80,000,000 Protestants . . . 65,000,000 Total number of Christians . 175,000,000 CHRISTIANITY. A Christian is the highest style of man; And is there who the cross wipes off. As a foul blot from his dishonour'd brow? If angels tremble — 'tis at such a sight. — Youkg. Christianity, to which Judaism was introductory, is the last and most entire dispensation of revealed re- ligion with which the Father of mercies has favoured the human race. It was instituted by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who made his appearance in Judea nearly two thousand years ago. He was born at Bethlehem, brought up at Nazareth, and crucified at Jerusalem. His lineage, birth, life, sufferings, and death, were minutely predicted by a succession of the Jewish prophets, and his religion is now spread over a considerable portion of the globe. The evi- dences of the Christian religion are comprised under CHRISTIANITY. 29 historical testimony, prophecies, miracles, the internal evidence of its doctrines and precepts, and the rapid- ity of its first propagation among Jews and Gentiles. Though thinking Christians have in every age differed widely from each other as to some of the doctrines of this religion, yet they are fully agreed in acknow- ledging the divinity of its origin, and the benevolence of its spirit. The believers in this religion, who had been de- nominated by the Jews Nazarenes^ or Galileans^ and by each other, disciples^ Irethren^ or saints^ were first called Christians at Antioch, a. d. 43. Witsius thinks it a circumstance of remarkable wisdom that this celebrated name should originate in Antioch, a cliurch consisting of a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, rather than in Jerusalem, a city dignified in so many other respects ; and that it was a kind of victory gained over Satan, who from Antioch had, some ages before, raised so many cruel persecutors of the church of God. And Doddridge remarks — " With pleasure let us reflect upon this honourable name which the disciples of Jesus wore at Antioch, and would to God that no other, no dividing name, had ever pre- vailed among them : as for such distinguishing titles, though they were taken from Apollos, or Cephas, or Paul, let us endeavour to exclude them out of the church as fast as we can, and while they continue in it let us take care that they do not make us forget our most ancient and most glorious title ! Let us take heed that we do not so remember our difference from each other in smaller matters as to forget 30 CHRISTIANITY. our mutual agreemetit in embracing the gospel of Christ." As to the progress of Christianity, it suffered dur- ing the first three centuries some grievous perse- cutions, under which, however, it flourished in a wonderful manner, till the conversion of Constantine, A. D. 314, when it became the established religion of the Roman empire. The principal persecutions were the following : — under Nero, a. d. 64 ; Domi- tian, 93 ; Trajan, 104 ; Hadrian, 125 ; M. Aurelius, 131 ; Severus, 197; Maximin, 235; Decius, 250; Valerian, 257 ; Aurelian, 272 ; Numerian, 283 ; Dioclesian, and Maximian, and Licinius, 303 — 313. It was in reference to these persecutions that an ec- clesiastical historian observed, that the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church ! From the 6th to the 16th century, ecclesiastical history pre- sents little else than one black record of ignorance, superstition, and tyranny. The Roman pontiff, by his monstrous usurpations over conscience, disposed of the property and the lives of men. It would be as useless as it is impossible, to refer the reader to all the principal treatises which have been written at different periods in defence of the Christian religion. A few ought, however, to be mentioned, injustice to the subject, and those of them alone shall be specified which are most easy of access. The student may consult Lardner's " Credibility," Watson's " Theological Tracts," Priestley's " Insti- tutes of Natural and Revealed Religion," Butler's " Analogy," Chalmers's " Internal Evidence," and CHRISTIANITY. 31 Paley's "View of the Evidences of Christianity." Private Christians may read with advantage Dod- dridge's " Three Sermons on the Evidences of the Christian Religion, and Plain Reasons for being a Christian." " An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures," by Thomas Hartwell Home, a.m., is a highly valuable work, and a Sermon on the Internal Evidences of Christianity, by Dr. Channing, is at once beautiful and convincing. EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. Upon the immoveable pillars of testimony borne by well -accredited witnesses, rests the simple but divine fabric of Christianity. " "We have not fol- lowed cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excel- lent glory, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;' and this voice which cam6 from heaven we heard when we were with him on the holy mount." Two qualifications attach themselves to witnesses whose assertions are entitled to belief — competency and honesty. By competency is understood the possession of common sense, exercised upon objects which have been brought before the mind. For individuals to have seen and heard what they relate is indispensably 32 CHRISTIANITY. necessary on such occasions. Thus seeing and hear- ing the subjects of their testimony, they have it in their power to communicate a knowledge of such subjects to others. Indeed, without this no sufficient evidence could be yielded, at least to a degree sufficient to produce a rational and permanent conviction. By honesty is meant an uprightness of character — on which due reliance might be placed. Hence we look for an individual whose motives are above suspicion : who is under no temptation to employ his information for a sinister purpose. The human mind is capable of being impelled by considerations of a varied and even opposite description. Vanity, interest, and ambition, exercise a powerful influence on human affairs. In receiving the truth from others, it behoves us rigorously to scrutinise the habitual conduct of our fellow-creatures. Thus alone shall we avoid becoming the dupes of imposition. The qualifications of competency and honesty will be found to distinguish the original witnesses of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence this circumstance has been dwelt upon by the intelligent defenders of Christianity. The religion of the New Testament disdains the aid of implicit faith. It makes it the duty of individuals of every rank to " search the Scriptures ; to judge even of themselves what is right ;" it calls on them, after they have made every proper inquiry into this most important of all subjects — to render unto others " a reason of the hope that is in them," neither rashly nor dog- matically, but " with meekness and fear." CHRISTIANITY. 33 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were compe- tent witnesses, because they were not only the contem- poraries, but the associates of Jesus Christ. Mat- thew was found " sitting at the receipt of customs," holding an office of respectability under the govern- ment of his country. Luke, "the beloved physi- cian," must have possessed some degree of education, as he was engaged in one of the liberal professions. Mark and John were men of intelligent minds. All the original propagators of the Christian religion saw and heard what they testified. They were com- petent to form an accurate judgment. As Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were com- petent, so they were likewise honest witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. Viewing them in every possible situation, we have no reason to suspect their inte- grity. Jesus was the reputed sou of a carpenter, and born in Nazareth, out of which obscure, as well as despised place, no good was expected. His fol- lowers were fishermen, men possessing neither rank nor consequence in society. In quitting their respective situations, they did not improve their worldly circumstances : they were insulted and reviled — they were consigned to the darkness of a dungeon — and some of them perished by a death of ignominy. The end for which Jesus Christ came into the world must also be considered. He was employed in inculcating repentance — in promulgating a mes- sage from on high — in proclaiming the pardon of forsaken sin— as well as in giving the assur- 34 CHRISTIANITY. ance of a future state, an assurance confirmed by his resurrection from the dead, and by his ascension into heaven, and accompanied by the solemn decla- ration that he " would come a second time without sin unto salvation !" Cunning and fraud would never have conspired to introduce such a system. No ; it is the cause of God and of truth. Righteous- ness alone can have suggested, sanctioned, and esta- blished the reign of Jesus Christ. " Him hath God exalted (Acts v. 31, «i2,) with his right hand, to be a Prince and Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Spirit whom God had given to them that obey him." After these preliminary remarks, it seems desir- able to present the reader with a brief summary of the leading facts of the New Testament. This sum- mary will be drawn from the four Gospels, and from the Acts of the Apostles, which may be regarded as explanatory of these gospels. " It hath been my care," remarks Dr. Paley, "to preserve the separa- tion between the Evidences and Doctrines as in- violable as I could ; to remove from the primary question all considerations which have been unne- cessarily joined with it, and to offer a defence of Christianity which every Christian might read with- out seeino- the tenets in which he had been brouofht up attacked or denied. And it always afforded a satisfaction to my mind to observe that this was practicable — that few or none of our many contro- versies with one another affect or relate to the proofs CHRISTIANITY. 35 of our religion — that the rent never descends to the foundation." Facts of the New Testament, These facts of the New Testament may be intro- duced by remarking, that, at the period of our Sa- viour's appearance, an expectation of the event pre- vailed throughout the Jewish nation. This arose from that long series of prophecies which had been delivered by divine messengers at various times and on various occasions. The august era of prophecy com- menced immediately after the fall of our first parents, when, distracted by remorse, and covered with shame, they received an assurance, (Gen. iii. 15,) that " the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head!" Then followed intimations of the person, character, death, and sufi'erings of the Messiah, in whom all " the nations of the earth should be blessed." Hence the expectation of such a personage prevailed. In his person and ministry all the luminous prophecies of the Old Testament centred, and in his advent they had their accomplishment and consummation. The Hebrew appellation Messiah^ or Anointed, alludes to a custom of the Jews, by which their kings, their high-priests, and sometimes their pro- phets, were anointed and set apart to their several offices. The term is used twice respecting Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Both passages occur in the Gospel of John, and the term is also used twice by Daniel in the Old Testament. In Daniel ix. 25, 26, are these remarkable expressions : D 2 36 CHRISTIANITY. '"'- Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks ; and threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the Prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood ; and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined." In John i. 41, it is stated, " We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ;" in John iv. 25, 26, " The woman (of Samaria) saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ ; when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He." Baptism of Christ by John. The baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist, his forerunner, is thus recorded : — " In those days came John the Baptist (Matt. iii. 1, 11, 12.) preach- ing in the "Wilderness, saying. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. — I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire ; whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his flour, and gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable lire." To this account is annexed the CHRISTIANITY. 37 baptism of Jesus by John : — " Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteous- ness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water : and, lo ! the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending (or hovering, wy/— May God take pity on her!" Efibrts have been made to join the Greek to the Reformed church ; but this object has not hitherto been accomplished. Several years ago the Rev. Dr. John King published an account of the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Greek church in Russia. Many particulars w^ill be found in the " Russian Catechism," composed by the Czar, an edition of which was published in London, 172.5, in Robin- son's " Ecclesiastical Researches ; " and in a work 102 GREEK CHURCH. entitled "Secret Memoirs of the Court of Peters- burg." The administration of baptism by the Greek church is curious. According to Dr. King they baptize by immersion, and they use the trine immersion, or form of dipping the child in water three times ; but pre- viously to baptism, the child, though not two months old, is solemnly initiated into the church as a Cate- chumen, through the medium of its sponsors. When the child is baptized, the priest immediately anoints it with the holy chrism ; for this, though regarded as a distinct mystery, is inseparable from baptism. Before baptism the child is anointed with oil, which is likewise used in the consecration of the baptismal water ; but the chrism is different from this : it con- sists of various oils, and of other precious ingredients, which, in various proportions, are all boiled together, and afterwards solemnly consecrated by a bishop. It can be prepared by a bishop only, and at no time except on Maundy-Thursday, that is, on Thursday in Passion week. This anointing the Greeks call "the seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost," which words the priest repeats while he applies the chrism to the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet of the child. Immediately after, or some days after, as may be ordered, the child is again brought to the church, when the priest, after praying for it, unties its girdle and loosens its linen clothes, and taking a new sponge, moistened with clear water, washes its face and breast, and other anointed parts of its body, saying, " Thou hast been GREEK CHURCH. 103 baptized, enlightened, anointed, sanctified, and washed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages : Amen!" Dr. King assures us that the more learned of the Russian clergy " would willingly allow no picture or representation of God the Father — for the figure of the Ancient of Days, from Daniel, ' whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool,' is by them interpreted to be the second person in the Trinity, who so appeared to the pro- phet : yet it must be confessed, that the common practice is so contrary to their opinions, that in a great number of churches, as well ancient as modern, this figure and Jesus and the Dove are painted togetlier to signify the Trinity. Nay, there is now in the church of St. Nicholas at Petersburg, a picture of an old man holding a globe, and surrounded with angels, on which God the Father is inscribed ! " It is, however, added, that during the reign of Peter the Great, the holy synod censured the use of such pic- tures, and Peter would have had them taken down, if he had not been fearful of an insurrection of the people. In Russia persons of all nations have the free exercise of their religion ; and it is worthy of remem- brance, that Peter the Great achieved much for the ecclesiastical, as well as the civil government of that partially-civilized country. 104 PROTESTANTS. Under the appellation of Protestants, are generally- included all who dissent from Popery, in whatever country they reside, or into whatever sects they have since been distributed. Abroad they are di- vided into two sorts — the Lutherans^ who adhere to the tenets of Luther ; and the Reformed^ who follow the discipline of Geneva. They were called Pro- testants because, in 1529, they protested against a decree of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and de- clared that tliey would appeal to a general council. At present this great class is composed of those whom the Roman Catholics used contemptuously to style " Hugonots" in France ; the Refugees in Hol- land, who iled thither upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, 1683 ; the Episcopalians and Non- conformists in England ; the Presbyterians in Scot- land : together with a numerous body of Christians in America. As the Protestants originated at the Reformation, it will be proper to advert to this important period of Ecclesiastical History. The Reformation in Germany. For the first three centuries Christianity was uncon- nected with civil government ; it spread itself rapidly among both Jews and Gentiles, and those who em- braced it suffered severe persecutions from the Roman emperors. At the commencement of the fourth cen- tury, Constantine became a convert to Christianity, PROTESTANTS. 105 and incorporated it with the state. " It was not till the fifth, or near the sixth, century, that the Bishop of Rome arrogantly assumed an illegal supremacy over his fellow-pastors, and in process of time aimed at a secular government of princes as well as sub- jects. Though several emperors embraced and de- fended Christianity, yet the gradual decay of the Roman empire was a serious impediment to the rising preachers of the newly-established religion. Those accomplishments which adorned the conquests of the Romans, and the perfection of science which had dignified their state to such an extent, were gradually swept away by the barbarous nations which defeated them, and the close of the sixth cen- tury could not trace a vestige of that exalted nation's government, or its laws. Between four and five hundred years was the glorious luminary of the gospel eclipsed by the dismal return of ignorance and of superstition." The Crusades^ commonly called the Holi/ Wm^s^ were expeditions undertaken by the Catholics to drive the Turks from Palestine, or the land of Judea, and thus to rescue the holy sepulchre out of the hands of Infidels. There were eight of these crusades : the first in the year 1096 ; the last, sanctioned by prince Edward, afterwards Edward I., king of England, in 1270. The number of lives lost in these expeditions is incredible. See Mill's " History of the Crusades," Robertson's "Charles the Fifth," and Hume's "His- tory of England." Tasso's celebrated poem, " Jeru- salem Delivered." is founded on the crusades. The 106 PROTESTANTS. reader will find much to interest and amuse him in "The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, 1188," by Giraldus, The object which the good archbishop had in view, when he traversed the Principality, was to enlist young persons for the crusades. According to this account miracles were wrought not seldom in favour of his grace — particu- larly when he wanted a pulpit : the ground kindly rose underneath him, and gave him a commanding view of his auditors, whom he charmed with his eloquence. The Inquisition was a tribunal erected by the popes for the examination and punishment of here- tics. It was founded in the twelfth century, by Father Dominic and his followers, who were sent by Pope Innocent the Third to inquire into the number and quality of heretics, and to send an account of them to Rome. Hence they were termed inquisitors, and their court was called the " Inquisition.'' Its cru- elties are indescribable. See Dr. Chandler's " His- tory of the Inquisition." Mr. Butler, the Catholic writer, when announcing to his readers the abolition of the Inquisition in Spain, added, in the true spirit of Christianity, " So perish every mode of religious persecution^ by whom, or against whomsoever raised ! " To the dark ages, as they are appropriately termed, are to be attributed indulgences, partial ab- solution, transubstantiation, the worship of saints, purgatory, and monastic seclusion. So deplorable was the intellectual state of the country, that persons PROTESTANTS. 1 07 most eminent in point of rank could neither write nor read. The clergy themselves, who engrossed what little knowledge was left, could scarcely trans- late the liturgy; when they were ordained, they were obliged to affirm that they could read the Gos- pels and Epistles, and explain them. The corrupt state of the church previously to the Reformation, is acknowledged by an author who was able to form a correct opinion on the subject, and who would not be over-forward to avow it. " For some years (says Bellarmine) before the Lutheran and Calvinistic heresies were published, there was not, as contemporary authors testify, any severity in ecclesiastical judicatories, any discipline with regard to morals, any knowledge of sacred literature, and reverence for divine things ; there was not almost any religion remaining." A curious symbolical representation of the Re- formation was exhibited before Charles Y. and his brother Ferdinand, at Augsburg, in 1530, when the Lutherans laid their Confession of Faith before that assembly. As the princes were at table, a com- pany of persons offered to act a comedy for their entertainment. The performers were desired to begin ; and first entered a man in the dress of a doctor, who brought a large quantity of small wood, of straight and crooked billets, and placing it in the middle of the hearth, retired. On his back was written " Reuchlin." When he withdrew, another in similar apparel came on, and attempted to make fagots of the wood, and to fit the crooked to the 108 PROTESTANTS. straight ; but liaving laboured long to no purpose, he went away out of humour, and shaking his head. On his back was written the name " Erasmus." A third, dressed hke an Augustinian monk, and having the word " Luther " on his frock, came in with a chafing-dish full of fire, gathered up the crooked wood, and placing it on the fire, blew it till he made it burn ; he then went away. A fourth entered in the robes of an emperor, and seeing the crooked wood in a blaze, appeared in much trouble, and in order to put out the fire, drew his sword and poked the burning wood, which only increased the flame. On his back was written Charles V. At last a fifth entered, in a pontifical habit, and with a triple crown. On seeing the crooked billets all on fire, he in coun- tenance and attitude betrayed excessive grief. After looking about on every side for water to extinguish the flame, he cast his eyes on two bottles in a corner of the room, one of which was full of oil and the other of water, and in his hurry he inadvertently seized the oil, and poured it on the fire, which, sad to relate, made it blaze with such violence that he was obliged to walk ofi"! — on his back was written LeoX. No reader who is acquainted with the history of that memorable period, can fail to perceive the appli- cation. Mosheim, speaking of the Reformation, observes, " the true nature, genius, and design of the Christian Religion^ which even the most learned and pious doctors of antiquity had but imperfectly compre- PROTESTANTS. 109 hended, were now unfolded with evidence and pre- cision, and drawn like truth from an abyss in which they had hitherto lain concealed. It is true the influence of error was far from being totally sup- pressed, and many false and absurd doctrines are still maintained and propagated in the Christian world. But it may nevertheless be affirmed that the Christian societies, whose errors at this day are the most numerous and extravagant, have much less absurd and perverse notions of the nature and design of the Gospel^ and the duties and obligations of its votaries, than were entertained by those doctors of antiquity, who ruled the church with an absolute authority, and were considered as the chief oracles of theology. The Reformation also contributed much to soften and civilize the manners of many nations, who, before that happy period, were sunk in the most savage stupidity, and carried the most rude and unsocial aspect. It must indeed be con- fessed, that a variety of circumstances, not immedi- ately connected with religion, combined to produce that lenity of character and that milder temperature of manners, maxims, and actions, that gradually ap- peared in the greatest part of the Europeans after that period, which was signalized by the reforming exertions of Luther ! It is, nevertheless, evident, beyond all contradiction, that the disputes concerning religion, and the accurate and rational inquiries into the doctrines and duties of Christianity^ to which those disputes gave rise, had a great tendency to eradicate from the minds of men the ferocity that 110 LUTHERANS. had been so long nourished by the barbarous sugges- tions of unmanly superstition. It is also certain that at the very dawn of this happy revolution in the state of Christianity^ and even before its salutary effects were manifested in all their extent, pure reli- gion had many sincere and fervent votaries, though they were concealed from public view by the multi- tude of fanatics with which tliey were surrounded." It may not be improper here to furnish the reader with some account of the Lutherans. It has already been said that the Protestants were at first divided into the Lutherans., who adhere to Luther's tenets, and the Reformed., who follow the doctrine and dis- cipline of Geneva. In other words, Luther was at the head of one party ; Calvin, whose tenets have already been described, was the chief of the other. LUTHERANS. The Lutherans., of all Protestants, are those who differ least from the Romish church, as they affirm that the body and blood of Christ are materially present in the Lord's Supper, though in an incom- prehensible manner; they likewise represent some Romish rites and institutions — as the use of images in churches, the vestments of the clergy, the private confession of sins, the use of wafers in the adminis- tration of the Lord's Supper, the form of exorcism in the celebration of baptism, and some similar ceremo- nies, as admissible. They maintain that the salva- tion or misery of men is fore-ordained, in consequence LUTHERANS. Ill of the Almighty's previous knowledge of their charac- ters, and not that it is founded on an arbitrary, irre- versible decree, which is the doctrine of the Calvinists. Towards the close of the last century, the Lutherans began here and there to entertain more enlarged views of religious liberty, though in some places they persevered in acting upon a principle of intolerance for a greater length of time than other Protestant churches. Their public teachers now are perfectly at liberty to dissent from what w^ere once deemed almost infallible rules of faith and practice, and of declaring their dissent in the manner which they may deem most expedient. Mosheim attributes this change to the maxim which they generally adopted, that '' Christians are accountable to God alone for their religious opinions ; and that no individuals can be justly punished by the magistrate for their errors, while they conduct themselves like good subjects, and make no attempt to disturb the peace of civil society. Luther's works, collected after his decease, were published at Wittemberg, in seven folio volumes. Luther's doctrine in reference to the Lord's Sup- per, is termed Consuhstantiation ; he supposed that communicants receive with the bread and wine, the real body and blood of Christ. " This," says Dr. Mosheim, who was himself an eminent Lutheran divine, " they believed to be a mystery, which they did not pretend to explain." But his translator, Dr. Maclaine, remarks, " that Luther w^as not so modest as Dr. Mosheim here represents him to have been." He undertook to explain this doctrine of the real 112 HUGONOTS. presence. " As in a red-hot iron" said he, " two dis- tinct substances, namely iron and Jire., are united, so is the body of Christ joined with the bread in the eucharist." " I mention this miserable comparison," says Dr. Maclaine, " to show into what absurdities the towering pride of system will often betray men of deep sense and true genius." Luther differed considerably from Calvin respect- ing election and reprobation ; and as to the principle, that Ckrisilans are accountable to God alone for their religious opinions^ it is a sentiment worthy of a great and elevated mind. It is the stone on which the Reformation was raised. It is the true foundation of religious improvement ; and wherever the senti- ment is cordially received, it will check uncharitable- ness and persecution, and help forward the blessed reign of love and charity amongst the professors of Christianity. Hume, in his History, imputes to Luther " selfish and ignoble motives." Dr. Maclaine, in one of his valuable notes to Mosheim's " Ecclesiastical History," pronounces the charge to be a calumny invented by the enemies of the Reformation. HUGONOTS. The appellation Hiigonotsw^'i given to the French Protestants in 1561. The term is supposed by some writers to be derived from a gate in Tours, called Hugon.^ where the French Protestants first assembled. According to others, the name is taken from the first HUGONOTS. 113 words of their original protest, or confession of faith, which begins thus : — Hue 7ios xenimus. During the reign of Charles IX., in 1372, on Bartholomew-day, the 24th of August, 70,000 Protestants in France were butchered amidst circumstances of aggravated cruelty. The massacre was begun in Paris during the night by secret orders from Charles the IX., at the instigation of his mother, the queen-dowager, Catherine de Medicis. Details of this inhuman deed may be seen in Sully's Memoirs, and a fine description is given of it in the second canto of Voltaire's " Henriade." In 1598, Henry lY. passed the famous Edict of Nantes, which secured to his old friends the Protest- ants the free exercise of their relioion. This edict o was revoked by Louis XIV. The churches of the Protestants were then razed to the ground ; their per - sons were insulted by the soldiery ; and, after the loss of innumerable lives, no few^er than 500,000 valuable members of society were driven from their country. Retiring to Holland, they built several places of wor- ship. Among the exiles were Superville, Duniont, Dubosc, and the eloquent Saurin. In one of Saurin s sermons is the following fine apostrophe to their des- potic persecutor, Louis XIV.; it breathes the pure and noble spirit of Christianity : — " And thou, dreadful Prince, whom I once honoured as my king, and whom I yet respect as a scourge in the hand of Almighty God, thou also shalthavea part in my good wishes ! These Provinces, which thou threatenest, but which the arm of the Lord protects ; this country, which tliou fiilest with refugees, but who are fugitives warm 114 HUGONOTS. with love ; these walls, which contain a thousand martyrs of thy making, but whom religion renders victorious, all these yet pour forth benedictions in thy favour. God grant that the fatal bandage which hides the truth from thy eyes may fall off ! May God forget the rivers of blood with which thou hast deluged the earth, and which thy reign hath caused to be shed ! May God blot out of his book the in- juries which thou hast done us, and while he rewards the sufferers, may he pardon those who exposed us to suffer ! may God, who hath made thee to us, and to the whole church, a minister of his judg- ments, make thee a dispenser of his favours, and an administrator of his mercy ! " About the time of the Revolution, 1688, there were many controversies between the Protestant and the Catholic divines. Tillotson and Burnet, two eminent clergymen of the church of England, ren- dered Protestantism essential service by their wTit- ings ; and were on that account elevated to the bench by King William. There are also two vo- lumes of Sermons against Popery, preached in the early part of the last century, by Dissenting Ministers, at Salter's Hall. In this collection is a Discourse by Dr. Samuel Chandler, " On the Notes or Marks of the Church of Rome." Competent judges have pro- nounced it to be a masterly production. Burnet's " History of the Reformation," and the " History of his Own Times," published after his death by his son, throw light on the state of religion at the period to which w^e refer, among Catholics, Church- CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 115 men, and Dissenters. The great merit of these pub- lications, particularly of tlie latter, is attested by Dr. Kippis, under the article Burnet, in the " Biographia Britannica." To these may be added, a " Defence of Protestantism," by Dr. Sturges, in answer to Dr. Milner, the Catholic bishop, who had taken occasion, in his History of Winchester, to cast severe re- proaches upon Protestants. EPISCOPALI.\NS; OR, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. The Episcopalians, in the modern acceptation of the term, belong more especially to the Church of England, and derive their name from Episcopus^ the Latin word for bishop ; or, if it be referred to its Greek origin, from eTrt over, and o-KOTreo) to look : implying the care and diligence with which bishops are expected to preside over those committed to their care. The Episcopalians claim a divine origin for their bishops, and insist on the alliance between church and state. Respecting these subjects, how- ever, the learned amongst them entertain differ- ent opinions, and they are not agreed in their interpretation of the Thirty-nine Articles, which were settled in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These arti- cles are to be found in most editions of the Common Prayer; the Episcopal church in America has re- duced their number to twenty. By some divines, these articles are made to speak the language of Cal- vinism, and by others they are understood to favour 116 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Arminianism. Within a few years the controversy has been revived, and the publications of Overton, Kipling, and Daubeny, should be consulted on the subject. Eusebius positively asserts, that Christianity was first introduced into South Britian by the apostles and their disciples ; and it is supposed that the Apostle Paul, whose zeal and fortitude were so con- spicuous, visited this country. It is also said, that numbers of persons professed the Christian faith here about the year 150 ; and, according to Usher, there was in Britain, as early as the year 182, a school of learning for the purpose of providing the British churches with proper teachers. On the subject of the first introduction of Christianity into this island, the reader is referred to the first volume of Henry's " History of Great Britain," and to Richards's " Cambro-British Biography." John Wicklifpe, educated at Oxford in the reign of Edward the Third, was the first person in England who publicly questioned, and boldly attacked, the doctrines of Popery. He left behind him many fol- lowers, who were called Wickliffites and Lollards ; the latter being a term of reproach taken from the Flemish tongue. In the council of Constance, in 1415, the memory and opinions of Wickliffe, who died at Lutterworth, in 1384, were taken into consideration, and soon afterwards his bones were dug up and burnt, and the ashes thrown into a brook. This impotent rage served only to promote the cause of reform which Wicklifi'e had espoused. " Thus," says Fuller, " this brook conveyed his ashes CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 117 into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean : and thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblems of his doctrine, vv^iich now is dispersed all the world over," Some remains of the old pulpit, in which he first proclaimed his doctrine, are still to be seen at Lutterworth, and are beheld by strangers with veneration. The early efforts of this eminent Reformer, WicK- LTFFE, usually denominated the morning star of the Reformation, were not in vain. The Church of England broke off from the Romish church in the time of Henry the Eighth, vv'hen Luther had begun the Reformation in Ger- many. Henry, during the earlier part of his reign, was a bigoted Roman Catholic, burnt WiUiam Tyndal, the earliest English translator of the New Testament, and wrote fiercely against Luther, in vindication of the seven sacraments, for which service the Pope honoured him with the title of " Defender of the Faith." This title is retained by the sove- reigns of England even to the present day. Henry, falling out with the Pope, took the government of ecclesiastical affairs into his own hands ; and having reformed many enormous abuses, entitled himself " Supreme Head of the Church." When the Reformation in England first took place, efforts were made to promote the reading of the Scriptures among the common people. The follow- ing is one of the extraordinary devices adopted for the purpose : — Bonner, Bishop of London, caused six Bibles to be chained to certain convenient places in 118 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. St. Paul's church, for all that were so well inclined as to resort thither ; together with a certain admonition to the readers, fastened upon the pillars to which the Bibles were chained, to this effect : — " That whoso- ever came to read, should prepare himself to be edified, and made the better thereby ; that he bring with him discretion, honest intent, charity, reverence, and quiet behaviour ; that there should be no such number met together there as to make a multitude ; that no such exposition be made thereupon but what is declared in the book itself; that it be not read with noise in time of divine service, and that no dis- putation or contention be used about it ; that in case they continued their former misbehaviour, and re- fused to comply with these directions, the king would be forced against his will to remove the occa- sion, and take the Bible out of the church." — See Lewis's "Historical Account of the several English Translations of the Bible." The Church of England is governed by the Sove- reign, who is the supreme head ; by two archbishops, and by twenty-four bishops. The benefices of the bishops were converted by William the Conqueror into temporal baronies ; so that every prelate has a seat and vote inothe House of Peers. Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, however, in a sermon preached from this text, " My kingdom is not of this world,'' insisted that the clergy had no pretensions to temporal juris- diction ; which gave rise to various publications, termed, by way of eminence, " the Bangorian Con- troversy," as Hoadly was then bishop of Bangor. CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 119 His writings, in three large folio volumes, constitute a vast mass of religious information, com Qiunicated in a spirit that shows his ardent love both of civil and religious liberty. The bishop of Sodor and Man has no seat in the House of Peers. The established Church of Ireland is similar to the Church of Enoland, and at the union of England and Ireland tlie two became one united church. It is governed by four archbishops and eighteen bishops. Since the union, four only of these spiritual lords sit in the House of Lords, assembled at "Westminster. The Irish established church is in proportion far more liberally endowed than the Church of England. In the course of the last century disputes arose among the English clergy as to the propriety of sub- scription to any human formulary of religious senti- ments. In 1772, an appeal was made to Parliament on the subject, by a number of the clergy, whose petition led to very interesting debates in the House of Commons. It was negatived by 219 against 73 ; a large majority. The " Confessional," an able work by Archdeacon Blackburn, entered fully into the question, and deeply impressed the public mind. It was published two or three years before the cle- rical petition was presented. It seemed to put an end to the controversy. Mr. George Dyer wrote a pow^erful treatise against Subscription some years after. Several respectable clergymen, who could not conscientiously give their assent to merely hu- man " Articles of Faith," resigned their livings, 120 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. and published reasons for the step which they had taken. Among these the names of Robertson, Jebb, Maty, Lindsey, and Disney, will long be remembered. Others, indeed, resigned their preferments for similar reasons, without giving such reasons to the public, such as Mr. Tyrw hitt and JMr. Wakefield ; and it is said that net a few clergymen reluctantly continue in the established church, struggling between their convic- tions on the one hand, and their inability, from various causes, to extricate themselves, on the other ; though they are resolved never to renew their subscriptions. The Rev. Theophilus Lindsey withdrew from the church, because he objected to the doctrine of the Trinity, and w^as convinced from a diligent study of the Holy Scriptures,- that religious worship should be offered to the Father only, as the one true God. See " The Book of Common Prayer Reformed." The Articles of the Church of England, originally forty-two in number, were drawn up by Cranmer, assisted by Bishop Ridley. In 1562, ten years after they had been framed, they were revised and reduced to thirty-nine, their present number. The articles omit- ted referred to the resurrection of the dead^ the imper- ishcdtle nature of the soul, the Millennar'ian heretics^ and universal salvation. The articles were at first written in both Latin and English. The original ma- nuscript may be seen in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It is a curious fact, that whilst the church requires subscription to these articles on the part of all who are admitted members of any of the universities, and of all who are admitted to holy CHURCil or ENGLAND. 121 orders or to ecclesiastical benefices, it is not neces- sary in Ireland, on receiving ordination, or on being- instituted, or on taking degrees, to subscribe the thirty-nine articles, or any of them. It is also worthy of remark, that the 20th article is generally acknow- ledged to be a forgery. Burnet allows, that " the words ' the church hath power to decree rites and ceremonies,' &c., are not in the original of the articles that were signed by both Houses of Convocation, and that are yet extant." And the celebrated Anthony Collins has proved them to be an interpolation. See his " Historical and Critical Essay on the Articles. 1724." A few years ago, there was in this country a warm controversy on the question, whether the thirty-nine articles are Calvinistic or Arminian. For the Calvinistic sense Mr. Overton strenuously con- tended, in his " True Churchman ascertained ;" whilst Dr. Kipling, Dean of Peterborough, in his " Arti- cles of the Church of England proved not to be Calvinistic," and Mr. Daubeny, in his " Yindici^ Ecclesias Anglicance," maintained their Arminian in- terpretation. Bishop Tomline adopted a middle course. " Our church," said he, " is not Lutheran^ it is not Calvinistic^ it is not Arminian ; it is scrip- tural : it is built upon the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself beins: the chief corner-stone." Burnet and Waterland seem to have thought it more natural to believe, that as the reformers were in- clined, some to Calvinism and others to Arminian- ism, the articles are framed with comprehensive latitude; that neither Calvinism nor Arminianism 122 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. was meant to be exclusively established. See Shep- herd's " Elucidation," and Wheatley's " Illustrations of the Liturgy and Prayers of the Church of Eng- land." Attempts have from time to time been made to amend the Articles and the Liturgy, and so to effect some improvement in the internal government of the Church of England. In the year 1781, Bishop Watson wrote a " Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury," in which he argues for the propriety of a more equal distribution of salary among the different orders of the clergy. This project, together with a plan for reform, recommended by the authors of the " Free and Candid Disquisitions," and of the *' Appeal to Reason and Candour," has been suffered to sink into oblivion. The church of England has produced a succession of eminent men. Among its ornaments are to be reckoned Usher, Jewell, Hall, Jeremy Taylor, Stillingfleet, Cudworth, Wilkins, Tillotson, Cumber- land, Barrow, Burnet, Pearson, Hammond, Whitby, Clarke, Hoadly, Jortin, Seeker, Butler, Warburton, Home, Lowth, Hurd, Porteus, and Parr. In the appendix to Mosheim's History will be found a cir- cumstantial account of the correspondence carried on in the year 1718, between Dr. William Wake, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and certain doctors of the Sorbonne of Paris, relative to a project of union between the English and the Galilean churches. " Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity," " Pearson on the Creed," " Burnet on the Thirty-nine Articles," CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 123 and Tomline's " Elements of Theology," are the best defences of Episcopacy. In Scotland, and other parts of the empire, soon after the Revolntion in 1688, there existed a species of Episcopalians denominated Nonjurors. They were so called because, being inflexibly attached to the Stuarts, who were then driven from the throne, they refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Brunswick family. They were the remains of the ancient Episcopal Church of Scotland, which having been subjected to various fluctuations, was abolished at the Revolution. Bishop Skinner, in his " Primi- tive Truth and Order," observes : " As the conse- quence of this abolition, which was followed the year after by the establishment of the Presbyterian form of church government, the bishops were deprived of everything connected with their office which the civil power could take from them. They lost their revenues andtemporal jurisdiction : buttlieir spiritual authority still remained, and that 'gift of God,' which they had received by the imposition of Episcopal hands, they considered themselves, bound to exercise for promoting that Episcopal work in the church of God, which had been committed to them." On the decease of the Pretender, whom the Non- jurors styled Prince Charles, and who died at Rome, 1788, they complied with the requirements of govern- ment, and the distinction is at an end. Their tender of loyalty, it is said, was graciously received ; and in 1792, those penal laws which had been enacted against them at various periods, but especially after 124 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, were repealed. At Laurencekirk, in the county of Kincardine, in 1804, their bishops and clergy declared on oath their belief in the Articles of the United Church of England and Ireland ; they then became a branch of that church, being acknowledged as such by the English and Irisli prelates: some English clergy have joined their com- munion. " Her clergy," says Mr. Adam, " sub- scribe the Articles, I believe to a man, in the Anti- calvinistic sense ; so that whatever weight their opinion may be allowed to have in the scale, it is added to that of the Anti-calvinists in England." Tlie Scotch Episcopal church is governed by eight bishops, one of whom is always Primate, being a kind of Archbishop, under the title of Primus or Maximus Scotice Episcopus, Their dioceses are those of Aber- deen, Ross, Glasgow, Moray, Edinburgh, Dunkeld, and Brechin. Their places of worship are generally well attended. See Skinner's " Ecclesiastical History," and a work by his son, the late Bishop Skinner, entitled "■ Primitive Truth and Order vindicated from modern Misinterpretation, with a Defence of Episco- pacy, particularly that of Scotland. 1803." These Scotch Episcopalians having themselves abjured the House of Stuart, complain that the other Episcopalians in North Britain will not put themselves under their jurisdiction. See Archdeacon Daubeny's " Letter to a Scotch Nobleman on the Subject of Ecclesiastical Unity," subjoined to " A Layman's Account of liis Faith and Practice, as a Member of the Episcopal Church in Scotland." For CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 125 tiie purpose of increasing the income of their clergy, a considerable fund has been formed by subscriptions in England and Scotland. Dr. Horslcy and Dr. Home were favourable to this branch of the Episcopal church ; the latter even declared, that "■ If the great Apostle of the Gentiles were upon earth, and it were put to his choice with w-hat denomination of Chris- tians he would communicate, the preference would probably be given to the Episcopalians of Scotland ! '' The good bishop must have forgotten the course pursued by this pure and apostolical church from the time of the Restoration to that of the Revolution. Its rulers were most cruel persecutors ; the excellent Archbishop Leighton resigned his office rather than countenance such unchristian measures. The Reformation in England, which began under the auspices of Henry the Eighth, was checked by Mary, who was furious in her zeal to re-establish the Catholic religion. Her reign was disgraced by the burning of one archbishop, four bishops, twenty-one divines, eight private gentlemen, one hundred and eighty-four artificers, and one hundred husbandmen, servants, and labourers ; twenty-six wives, twenty widows, and nine young women, two boys, and two infants ! Bishop Burnet says, that two hundred and eighty-four perished in the flames ; but Archbishop Grindal, who lived at the time, declares that eight hundred were burnt, whilst many died in the dun- geon's gloom. On the death of Mary, in 1558, Elizabeth ascended the throne, and repealed the laws which had been established in favour of the Catholic 126 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. religion. Such was her success, that of 9,400 beneficed clergymen no more than about 120 refused to comply with the Reformation. Protestantism in England underwent fluctuations, till the glorious Revolution under William, in 1688, placed it on asolid foundation. The Archbishop of Canterbury is metropolitan or " Primate of all England," whilst the Archbishop of York is styled " Primate of England." The bishops take precedence of all temporal barons, and the bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, take precedence of the other bishops, who rank after them according to their seniority of consecration. The English bishops visit their dioceses once in three years ; the Irish prelates every year — as there are no archidiaconal visitations in that country. Besides visiting their dioceses, bishops are engaged, as occa- sions arise, in the consecration of other prelates, for which three are required, in ordaining priests and deacons, in consecrating churches and burying- grounds, and in administering the rite of confirma" tion to young persons. A candidate for the ministry in the established church, must be twenty-three years of age before he is ordained deacon^ the deacon must be twenty- four years of age before he is ordained priest^ and thus authorised to administer the Lord's Supper ; the priest must be thirty years of age before he can be raised to the mitre ; priests must be ordained by a bishop, with the laying on of hands on the part of other priests, though this is simply a mark of assent and is not essential to due ordination. By an act of parliament, made in the case of the famous Home CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 127 Tooke, a person in holy orders is ineligible to a seat in parliament. The clergy are supported by tithes, which often occasion bitter altercations between them and their parishioners, so as materially to lessen the efficacy of their spiritual labours. An act lately passed for encouraging a commutation of tithes, is likely to be followed by the best results. The Discipline of the church of England may be seen in a work entitled " Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical, treated upon by the Bishop of London, President of the Convocation, and agreed upon, with the King's Majesty's licence, in their Synod begun at London, 1603." These constitutions are founded on the canons of ancient councils, and being autho- rised by the king's commission, according to the form of the statute of the 25th of Henry YIIL, they were warranted by act of parliament, and became part of the law of the land. The inhabitants of England amount to 11,500,000; one-fifth or more are said to dissent from the Estab- lished church. The number of parishes is 10,000, and of all ranks and orders 18,000 clergy. — Church livings of all descriptions about 11,755, viz. recto- ries, 5098 ; vicarages, 3687 ; livings of other descrip- tions, 2970. These are in the gift of the sovereign, the bishops, the two universities, the cathedrals, the nobility and gentry. The revenues of the church, including the universities, amount to 3,000,000/. per annum. Of these livings 1000 are in the gift of the sovereign, to 780 of which, under the value of 20/. in " the king's book," the lord chancellor presents, and 128 PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. ministers of state have the disposal of the rest ; 1600 are in i\w gift of bishops, 600 in that of the universi- ties, 1000 in that of cathedrals and clerical insti- tutions, and 5700 in that of private individuals. Livings of 10/. and '20L in " the king's book," have, since 1714, been augmented by Queen Anne's bounty, which is about 13,000/. per annum, taken from the first-fruits andtenths of church livings above a certain value, which used to go to the Pope, before the Re- formation. The " Book of the Church," by Mr. Southey, obtained soon after it was published a large circula- tion. It is an epitome of ecclesiastical history, bear- ing hard alike on the Puritans and the Roman Catholics. He seems to have taken pleasure in de- preciating the former and in holding up the latter to abhorrence. He is the panegyrist of Laud ! The book has been attacked in various ways, and its author has vindicated it with his usual talent. Sad to say, the controversy has not been conducted either with temper or with charity. PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. Dissenters from the church of England made their appearance in Queen Elizabeth's time, when, on account of the extraordinary purity which they proposed in religious worship, in mind and in conduct, they were reproached with the name of Puritans. Their number was increased by the Act of Uniformity which passed on Bartholomew-day, 1662, in the PRaTESTA>'T DISSENTERS. 129 reign of Charles the Second. By this act upwards of 2000 ministers were obliged to quit the Established Church, because they would not conform to certain stipulations, and from this circumstance they were called Nonconformists. Penal laws were made against them in Elizabeth's time, and confirmed in the subsequent reigns. One statute subjected them to hanishtnent^ and another inflicted a fine upon every one not cominof to church. The followinof Acts were also passed : 1. The Corporation Act, in 1661, in- capacitated the Dissenters from serving their country in the lowest ofi&ces of trust. 2. The Act of Uni- formity, in the year 1662, silenced all the Noncon- formist ministers throughout England, and deprived them of their maintenance. 3. The Conventicle Act, in 1663, prohibited all persons from going to any separate meeting or place of religious worship, when more ih^njlve were present besides the family of the house in which the meeting took place. The offenders were subjected to severe fines, to be levied by seizure of goods, or to so many months' imprison- ment, the term being fixed, not by a jury, but by a justice of the peace. 4. The Oxford Act, 1665, banished Nonconformist ministers to a distance of five miles from every corporation that sent members to parliament. And, 5. The Test Act of the same date, made them incapable of holding any place of profit under government. The Puritans objected tothe order of bishops, the liturgy, the clerical dress, and the sign of the cross in baptism, and refused to comply with some other observances. Dr. Edwards, a 130 PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. clergyman of the Established Church, in his cele- brated work, " The Preacher," observes — " If we would but open our eyes, we should see that we are beholden to the dissenters for the continuance of a great part of our theological principles ; for if the high churchmen had no checks, they would have brought in popery before this time by their over- ruling pomp and ceremony in divine worship ; so that, if there had been no dissenters, the church of England had been long since ruined !" David Hume, the apologist for the tyranny of the Stuarts, acknowledges, in speaking of the Puritans, that it was by their firm and persevering conduct that " the precious spark of liberty was kindled and preserved." An account of their lives and literature is to be found in Brooks's " History of the Puritans." Their de- scendants are known by the name of Protestant Dissenters, and rank under the three denominations of Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists. An account of the Welch Nonconformists will be found in the " Cambro-British Biography," by the Rev. William Richards, of Lynn. Of the origin and progress of the Dissenters, a full account is contained in " Neal's History of the Puritans." An improved edition of this work, with notes, in five volumes, was published by Dr. Toulmin. The historian traces, step by step, the differences which occasioned the separation, and gives a pathetic narrative of the sufferings which the Puritans under- went in the cause of religious liberty. There is an abridgment of this valuable work by the Rev. T. Parsons. PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. 131 Dr. Toiilmin published, a few years before his death, " An Historical View of the state of the Pro- testant Dissenters in England, and of the Progress of Free Inquiry and Religious Liberty, from the Revolution to the Accession of Queen Anne." " The Revolution under William III.," he remarks, 'Wntro- duced a new order of things in the ecclesiastical state of this country, and a new era in the history of the dissenters from our establishment. The affairs of this large body of Protestants have since that time worn a new aspect. New questions in theology have been brought into discussion. New sects have sprung up. And, under the different succeeding reigns, new attempts have been made to extend the blessings of religious liberty, and to establish it on a firmer basis. These events are interesting to dissenters, and are also connected with the history of the human mind, of the change of opinions, of the progress of religious truth, and national felicity." A brief history of the Puritans was also published in 1772, by the Rev, J. Cornish, of Colyton. The principles on which the dissenters separate from the Church of England are much the same as those on which she separates her- self from the church of Rome: — 1. The right of private judgment. 2. Liberty of conscience. 3. The sufficiency of Scripture as a Christian's rule of faith and practice. The dissenter believes that these principles are violated by the Church of England, and by the Church of Rome. The rights of "toleration," a word, indeed, to which the enlightened friends of religious liberty object, 132 PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. were not allowed till the Revolution of 1688, when the Act of Toleration passed. This act provided that the statutes of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. concerning the discipline of the church, should not extend to Protestant Dissenters, or that Protestant Dissenters should thenceforth be exempted from the penalties which the law had inflicted, and be per- mitted, on certain conditions, to which they in general consented, to worship God according to their own consciences. The conditions by which the act was limited were, that all dissenting ministers were re- quired, not only to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and to make a declaration against popery, but also to subscribe the doctrinal articles of the Church of England. Their places of worship were to be registered, and the doors to be kept unlocked during the time of worship. A fine of 201. was in- curred by any one who should interrupt their devo- tions. It was by a statute of AYilliam and Mary, that the free exercise of their religion was thus secured. Attempts were made under the subsequent sovereigns to abridge these liberties in two instances. Towards the latter end of Queen Anne's reign, the Jacobite party had influence to procure the passing of an Act of Parliament, called " The Occasional Conformity Bill," which forbade every person holding any office under government, to enter a meeting-house. Another bill, denominated " The Schism Bill," had obtained the royal assent. It required that the children of dissenters should be educated by conformists, and forbade all tutors and schoolmasters to be present at PROTESTANT DISSENTERS, 133 any dissenting place of worship. Providentially the Queen died August 11, 1714, the very day on which this unjust act was to have been carried into execu- tion. George the First, a firm friend to civil and religious liberty, was raised to the throne, and in the fifth year of his reign the schism bill was repealed. In the hands of his illustrious race, the brunsavick FAMILY, the sceptre has since continued, and our legal rights have been preserved and augmented. May our Sovereigns, to the latest posterity, account it their first duty and their highest honour to pursue the same course, and to reign in the affections of a free and a happy people ! The Test Act excluded dissenters from filling public offices, unless they partook of the Lord's- supper in the Established Church. Loud complaints were raised respecting this exclusion, since, as mem- bers of the civil community, they are entitled to all the common privileges of that community. The Test Act was originally framed to restrain the Roman Ca- tholics. For a series of years the dissenters made several unsuccessful applications for its repeal. The question was warmly agitated in the House of Com- mons in 1787, and on each side numerous publica- tions issued from the press. The chief argument urged for the continuance of the act was, the safety of the Established Church. The principal arguments alleged for its repeal w^ere, that it was a prostitution of the Lord's-supjyer^ and that to withhold civil rights on account of religious opinions^ is a species of persecution. To the former circumstance Cowper, 134 PROTESTANT DISSEIS'TERS. the poet, a devout member of the Church of England, alludes, when he exclaims — " Hast thou by statute shoved from its design The Saviour's feast, his own blest bread and wine, And made the symbols of atoning grace An office-key, a picklock to a place, That infidels may prove their title good, By an oath dipt in sacramental blood ? A blot that will be still a blot, in spite Of all that grave apologists may write ; And though a Bishop toil'd to cleanse the stain, He wipes and scours the silver cup in vain." Though in the year 1771 the dissenters made an unsuccessful application for relief, in 1779 an Act of Parliament was passed, " whereby the benefits of the Toleration Act were granted to Protestant dissent- ing ministers and schoolmasters, upon condition of their taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, making the declaration against popery, and declaring their belief of the Holy Scriptures as containing a divine revelation." Before this period, all dissenters who kept public schools, or taught youth in any pri- vate house, were liable, beside the forfeiture of their schools, to a fine of 40/., and to three months' im- prisonment. No person could be legally qualified to keep a school, or to instruct youth, without a licence from the bishop, and a declaration on his own part of absolute conformity to the Church of England. At length, in the year 1828, both the Corporation Act and the Test Act were repealed, to the joy of every one who can understand and value the rights of the heaven -born mind. PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. 135 In the year 1836, the legislature gave a pledge of its solicitude for the progress of just and liberal views of government, by passing the Marriage and Registration Acts, by which dissenters are empov\-ered to solemnize marriages in their own places of worship. Indeed, this measure fully recognises the principle of marriage being a civil contract ; for while it conti- nues the old way of celebrating marriages for those who still desire to use the rubric service, it autho- rises marriages to be celebrated in any place of wor- ship registered for the purpose ; or, if that be objected to, in the office of the superintendent- registrar. In this case, the parties may adopt any form they please ; the clergyman of the Church of England has nothing to do with the performance of the ceremony or the registration of the marriage, and is entitled to no fee. The Registration Act provides for the regis- tration of birtlis, deaths, and marriages. The dis- senters are thus relieved from the difficulties and grievances under which they had long laboured, as arising out of the connexion of registration in general, and of the celebration of marriage in particular, w^ith ecclesiastical rites and functionaries. The dissenters, as a body, have not been desti- tute of great and learned men. Among their orna- ments are to be ranked Baxter, Bates, Howe, Owen, Williams, Neal, Henry, Stennet, Evans, Gale, Foster, Leland, Grosvenor, Watts, Lardner, Benson, Peirce, Hallet, Abernethy, Doddridge, Grove, Chandler, Lowman, Gill, Orton, Furneaux, Farmer, Towgood, Robinson, Kippis, Price, Priestley, Cappe, Kenrick, 136 PROTESTANT DISSEMTERS. Toulmin, Rees, Belsham, Hall, Carpenter, &c. Among dissenters, sufficient enconragement has not been given to men of talents, yet it must be con- fessed that a dissenting minister may, unawed by a conclave of cardinals or a bench of bishops, exercise, in its fullest extent, the right of private judgment, — the pride and the joy of the human mind. In Peirce's " Vindication of the Dissenters," Towgood's " Letters to White," and Palmer's " Protestant Dis- senters' Catechism," are stated the grounds of dissent from the Established Church. This Catechism de- clares, that there are seven principal things in the Church of England which demand and justify dis- sent : — J . Its general frame and constitution as na- tional and established. 2. The character and autho- rity of certain officers appointed in it. 3. The imposi- tion of a stated form of prayer called tlie Liturgy, and many exceptionable prayers and confessions contained therein. 4. The pretended right of enjoining unscrip- tural ceremonies. 5. The terms on which ministers are admitted into their office. 6. The want of liberty in tlie people to choose their own ministers ; and, 7. The corrupt state of its discipline. The author says, that Bishop Horsley declared of this Catechism, that it inculcates " no one principle of the Christian religion, or of any religion under the sun." Mr. Palmer replies, that " it strongly inculcates, among other principles of Christianity, peaceableness, loyalty to the sovereign, subjection to government, obedience to the laws, and charity." It is with principles and not with persons, that Christians are concerned in KIRK OF SCOTLAND. 137 religions matters ; and who will deny that dissent may exist in union with the most unbounded libe- rality of spirit ! See Worsley's " Lectures on Non- conformity," "Brooks's History of Religious Li- berty," and Dr. Robert Winter's " Letters to a Young Person on Nonconformity." We must not omit to state, that Uiiitarian dissenters have been relieved from certain penalties that w^ere attached to persons impugning the doctrine of the Trinity. Some individuals have suifered grievously on account of their Unitarian sentiments. These statutes are abolished ; and it is hoped, for the honour of religion, of the country, and of human nature, that all penal statutes of every kind in matters of religion will soon be annihilated. The measure met with the approbation, not only of the bench of bishops, but also of every churchman of good sense and sincere piety. Many protestant dissenters, who are far indeed from adopting Unitarian sentiments, rejoice in this instance of a progressive advance towards entire religious liberty. KIRK OF SCOTLAND. The word Kir^k^ signifying church, is of Saxon origin, though some persons consider it to be a contraction of two Greek words, Kvpiov oIkos., the House of the Lord : it is still used in Scotland. The members of the Kirk of Scotland were originally, in strict propriety of language, the only Preshi/terians in Great Britian. Their mode of ecclesiastical go- 138 KIRK OF SCOTLAND. vernmciit was brought from Geneva by John Knox, the celebrated Scotch Reformer, who has been styled the Apostle of Scotland, as Luther, for the same rea- son, was called the Apostle of Germany. The Presbyterians maintain that the church should be governed by Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assemblies. The title Presbyterian comes from the Greek word Trpeo-fBvTepos, which signifies senior or elder»^ In the Kirk of Scotland there are fifteen synods and sixty-nine presbyteries. Their General Assembly is held annually in the Scotch iiietropolis. Their articles are Calvinistic. In 1581, the Presby- tery of Edinburgh was established : this was the first in Scotland. Courts called Presbyteries were not generally agreed to by the king lill 1586, nor ratified by act of parliament till 1592, when Presby- terianism became the established form of religion in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament, in 1649, ratified the Westminster Confession of Faith as the standard of national belief. It ordained that " no person be admitted or continue hereafter to be a minister or preacher w^ithin this church, unless that he subscribe to this Confession of Faith, declaring the same to be the confession of his faith." And by the act of Union, 1707, the same is required of all " pro- fessors, principals, regents, masters, and others bear- ing oflice" in any of the four universities of Scotland. In the Church of Scotland there are two parties, the one in favour of confirming and extending the rights of patronage, the other, of extending the influence and securing the consent of the people in the settlement KIRK OF SCOTLAND. 139 of ministers. The former party had, for a long period, Dr. William Robertson, the celebrated histo- rian, at their head ; they designated themselves the moderate men, strenuously opposing what they called the " wildness of orthodoxy, the madness of fanati- cism, and the frenzy of the people." Dr. Wither- spoon was at that time the leader of the other party. He keenly satirises his opponents in a work, entitled " Ecclesiastical Characteristics, or the Arcana of Church Policy, being an humble attempt to open the Mystery of Moderation, wherein is shown a plain and easy Way of attaining to the Character of a Moderate Man, at present in repute in the Church of Scotland." The Kirk has no liturgy, no altar, no instruments of music. The law directs that the Lord's-supper should be administered four times every year, but it is seldom administered more than twice. This interesting service is conducted with great solemnity. The people are prepared for the ordinance by a fast on some day in the week preceding, and by a sermon on Saturday, whilst they meet on Mon- day morning, the day after they have partaken of the ordinance, for public thanksgiving. Logan's "Sermons" will furnish the reader with the form which accompanies the administration. It is a sin- gular circumstance that this church has no kind of ceremony at the interment of the dead ; the friends accompany the corpse to the grave, in which it is laid without a single word being pronounced over it ! The version of the Psalms long used by the Scotch Presbyterians in public worship, is utterly void of 140 KIRK OF SCOTLAND. elegance ; but some years since, under the title of "Translations and Paraphrases,'' compositions of a better kind were introduced by permission of the General Assembly. Dr. Beattie was anxious for the amendment of their Psalmody. His fine taste would have produced great improvement. As to discipline, it is not particularly severe, excepting the stool of repentance, on which fornicators are obliged to sit for three successive Sundays, in the presence of the whole church. This punishment is disused in the towns, but still enforced in many of the country parishes. The gradation of ecclesias- tical government is this : — Kirk Session, which con- sists of the minister, and elders, who are respectable laymen, somewhat like churchwardens in England, though having a spiritual jurisdiction ; then Presby- tery, then Provincial Synod, then, lastly, the General Assembly, which consists of 361 members, in the following proportion : — 200 ministers, representing Presbyteries, 89 elders, representing Presbyteries, 67 elders, representing royal burghs, and five ministers, or elders, representing universities. They are chosen annually, and meet in the month of May. The General Assembly has a president to represent the sovereign, in the person of a nobleman, who is deno- minated the Lord High Commissioner, with a salary of 1500/. per annum. He has no voice in their deli- berations. Their clergy, with nearly 900 parishes; amount to about 1000, with their salaries from 100/. to 500/, free from taxes. They maintain a highly re- spectable character for talents, learning, and piety. KIRK OP SCOTLAND. 141 Dreadful scenes were exhibited in Scotland previ- ously to the establishment of Presbyterianism in its present form. This took place at the Revolution, and was confirmed in 1706, by the Act of Union between the two kingdoms. During the Common- wealth, Presbyterianism was the religion of the state, but, on the Restoration, Episcopacy was introduced. So adverse, however, were the Scotch to the Episco- palians, and so harsh were the measures of the Episcopalian party, that the whole country was thrown into confusion. Leighton, the most pious and moderate prelate amongst them, disgusted with the proceedings of his brethren, gave up his arch- bishopric of Glasgow, and told the king that " he would not have a hand in such oppressive measures, were he sure to plant the Christian religion in an infidel country by them ; much less when they tended only to alter the form of church government." On the other hand, Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrew's, who had deserted the Presbyterians, adopted violent measures, which terminated in his death. In 1679, nine zealots stopped his coach near St. Andrew's, assassinated him, and left his body covered with thirty-two wounds. On the monument of this unfortunate prelate, in one of the churches of St. Andrew's, is sculptured an exact representation of this tragical event. See Cruikshank's "• History of the State and Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution, with an In- troduction, containing the most remarkable occur- 142 KIRK OF SCOTLAND. rences relating to that Church from the Reformation." The ear is made to tingle, and the heart is agonised, by the recital of the dreadful scenes which presented themselves during this period of Scottish history. Two poor women, condemned to die for their religion, were fastened down to a stake in the river when the tide was at its lowest ebbb ; the waves gradually returned and stifled their piercing cries. Those who had the power gravely determined, it is said, on this mode of capital punishment, because burning at the stake was adopted by the Papists ; and they abhorred the most distant approach towards the practices of Popery ! It was in the year 1638 that tlie Presbyterians entered into their famous "solemn Leao;ue and Covenant," by which they bound themselves to effect the extirpation of Episcopacy. Whatever the effect may have been, assuredly the measure was not dic- tated by the spirit of true religion. The Scotch church is now improved in liberality, whilst some of their clergy stand foremost in the several depart- ments of literature. Robertson, Henry, Leechman, Blacklock, Gerard, Campbell, Blair, Macknight, Erskiue, Hunter, Ogilvie, Wellwood, and Thom- son, are among its ornaments. In "The Scotch Preacher," will be found a pleasing specimen of the pulpit compositions of the Scotch clergy, delivered on particular occasions, with an introductory Dis- course by Mr. Bonar, which explains " the nature and tendency of the Ecclesiastical Constitution SECEDERS. 143 in Scotland." Dr. M'Crie's " Memoirs of John Knox," and of *■' Andrew Melvill," as well as Dr. Cook's " Account of the Scotch Church," are able works illustrative of the history of the Kirk of Scotland. SECEDERS. Dissenters from the Kirk or Church of Scotland, call themselves Seceders ; for, as the term dissentei^ comes from the Latin word dissentto, to differ in opinion, so the appellation Seceder is derived from another Latin word, secedo^ to separate or to with- draw from. The secession arose from circumstances which were conceived to be great deviations on the part of its leading members from the essential prin- ciples of the Established Church of Scotland. The Seceders are ricrid Calvinists, severe both in their manners and in their discipline. Owing to a differ- ence as to civil matters, they are divided into Burghers and Anti-burghers. Of these two classes the latter are the more unyielding in their sentiments, and therefore associate less with other bodies of Chris- tians. The Seceders originated under two brothers, Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, of Stirling, about the year 1730. Mr. Whitfield, in one of his visits to Scotland, was solemnly denounced by the Seceders, because he refused to confine his itinerant labours to them. The reason assigned by them for this monopoly was, that they were exclusively God's people. Mr. Whitfield replied that, " if so, they had 144 SECEDERS. the less need of liis services, for his aim was to turn sinners from the error of their ways by preach- ing among them glad tidings of great joy ! " The Burgess oath, concerning which the Seceders differed, is administered in several of the royal boroughs of Scotland, and runs thus : " I protest before God and your lordships, that I profess and allow w^ith my heart the true religion presently pro- fessed within this realm, and authorised by the law^s thereof; I shall abide thereat and defend the same to my life's end, renouncing the Roman religion called Papistry." The Erskines and others maintained there was no inconsistency in Seceders taking this oath, because the established religion was still the true religion in spite of the faults attaching to it. Hence they and their followers were called Burghers. Others thought that swearing to the religion, as pro- fessed and authorised, was approving of its corrup- tions ; and that the oath w^as on that account inconsistent and ought not to be taken — This gave occasion to their being called Anti-hurgliers. As both parties maintain that the Kirk of Scotland still perseveres in a course of defection from her avowed principles, the secession continues, and is increasing to the present day. See an " Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Secession," by the Rev. John Brown, of Haddington. The Seceders are strict Presbyterians, having their respective Associate Synods, and are to be found not only in Scotland, but also in Ireland and in the United States of America, Each class has had in it ministers of learning and REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. 145 piety. Much to their honour, the Burghers and Anti-burghers have, within these few years, dropped their invidious distinctions, and are united. There is a species of dissenters from the Church of Scotland called the Relief. Their only difference from the Kirk is, the choosing of their own pastors. They had their origin in 1752, and are respectable as to numbers and learning. See " a Compendious View of the Religious System maintained by the Synod of Relief," by P. Hutchinson; and also '' Historical Sketches of the Relief Church," &c. by J. Smith. The Relief are Calvinists as well as Presbyterians, but liberal in their views, admitting to their communions pious Christians of every deno- mination. REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. The Reformation in Scotland, like that in England and that in Germany, struggled for a long time with difficulties and was at length triumphant. Dr. M'Crie, who was a Scotch Seceder, in his interesting " Life of John Knox " has illustrated the character of this eminent reformer, and thrown much light on the rise and progress of the Reformation in Scotland. " Knox," says he, " bore a striking resemblance to Luther in personal intrepidity and in popular elo- quence. He approached nearest to Calvin in his religious sentiments, in the severity of his manners, and in a certain impressive air of melancholy which pervaded his character. And he resembled Zuinglius 146 REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND. in his ardent attachment to the principles of civil liberty, and in combining his exertions for the refor- mation of the church with uniform endeavours to improve the political state of the people. Not that I v^^ould place our reformer on a level with this illustrious triumvirate. There is a splendour which surrounds the great German reformer, partly arising from the intrinsic heroism of his character, and partly reflected from the interesting situation in which his long and doubtful struggle with the court of Rome placed him in the eyes of Europe, which removes him at a distance from all who started in the same glorious career. The Genevan reformer surpassed Knox in the extent of his theological learning, and in the unrivalled solidity and clearness of his judgment. And the reformer of Switzerland, though inferior to him in masculine elocution and in darinof couraofe, excelled him in self-command, in prudence, and in that species of eloquence which steals into the heart, which persuades without irritating, and governs without assuming the tone of authority. But, though he attained not to ' the first three,' I know not among all the eminent men who appeared at that period any name which is so well entitled to be placed next to theirs as that of Knox, whether we consider the talents with which he was endowed, or the important services which he performed." 147 ENGLISH PRESBYTERIANS. The name " Presbyterian " is in England appro- priated to a large class of dissenters, who are as little attached to the mode of church government adopted in Scotland as they are to episcopacy, and on that account the term in its original sense is improperly applied to them. This has occasioned much misap- prehension. English Presbyterians, as they are called, adopt nearly the same mode of church government as that of the Independents. They differ from the Independents chiefly in religious doctrine, and their mode of admitting members into communion is not the same as that commonly practised among the Presbyterians. Dr. Doddridge in his Lectures observes, "Those who liold every pastor to be as a bishop or overseer of his own congregation, so that no other person or body of men have, by divine institution, a power to exercise any superior or pastoral office in it, may, properly speaking, be called (so far at least) con- gregational ; and it is by a vulgar mistake that any such are called Presbyterians : for the Presbyterian discipline is exercised by synods and assemblies, subordinate to each other, and all of them subject to the authority of what is commonly called a General Assemhli/." Kippis, Price, Priestley, and Rees, names well known in the literary and scientific world, belonged to this portion of the religious community. i2 148 IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. This denomination of Christians is strictly Presby- terian. Their worship, discipline, and church govern- ment are similar to tliose of the Church of Scotland. They are indeed a part of that church, separated by emigration. They established themselves in the north of Ireland as early as the reign of James the First. This monarch, when he ascended the throne, found Ireland in a state of wretched distraction. The* province of Ulster, in particular, had been nearly laid waste by the repeated rebellions of its rival chieftains, and had almost entirely reverted by for- feiture to the crown. Here King James wisely determined to plant Protestant colonies from Britain, that miglit not only strengthen his authority, but also exten*^ the reformed faith through that unsettled country. From the proximity of Scotland to Ulster, most of the colonists were of that nation. The ministers who accompanied the emigrants, though Presbyterian, were admitted to an equality with the Prelatical clergy. They enjoyed the tithes and glebes of their respective parishes, met the bishop at his visitations, and occasionally sat in convocation at Dublin. They lived within the bosom of the Establishment in peace and security ; presenting a rare picture of the influence of Christian charity, and giving proof how practicable it is for churches in whicli that divine spirit prevails, to live in unbroken harmony. The intolerant and unfortunate Strafford was ap- IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. 149 pointed to the government of Ireland. Incited by- Laud he was restless, and urged the northern pre- lates to force their clergy into exact compliance witli the ceremonies of the church. For this purpose the English articles and canons were adopted by the Irish Convocation in 1634, in opposition to the wishes of the mild and forbearing Primate Usher. The bishops, armed with these canons, and supported by the tre- mendous powers of a High Commission Court at Dublin, quickly deposed, and vigorously persecuted, the Presbyterian ministers. Some died amidst their troubles, a few fled to Scotland, and others embarked to New England, at that time the asylum of all persecuted Protestants. The severities of Strafford and his partisans were not confined to the ministers. The nonconforming laity also suffered by fines, im- prisonments, and confiscations. They were especi- ally urged to take an oath, which went to bind them to pay unlimited obedience to all the royal com- mands. On refusing, and this was the case with the vast majority of the people, they were subjected to heavy penalties. These intolerant measures, incon- sistent equally with Christian charity and with sound policy, proved the means of contributing to the ulti- mate security of the Presbyterians in Ulster, who betook themselves in great numbers to Scotland dur- ing the year immediately preceding the dreadful rebellion of 1641. They were thus saved from un- heard-of horrors, and lived to return after the storm had spent its rage, and to re-establish their church on still firmer foundations than before. 150 IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. In 1642, many of the ministers accompanied the Scotch army which was at that time sent over to Ireland for the purpose of quelling the rebellion. These ministers established the regular discipline of the Presbytery both in the army and in the country, and diligently employed every effort to advance the interests of religion in the province, which was deserted by its bishops, and had few of its clergy remaining. Their efforts were crowned w4th suc- cess ; and from this period we may date the com- mencement of that system of religious instruction which has elevated Ulster so far above the other provinces of the sister kingdom ; — which has made it the seat of manufactures, the abode of peace, indus- try, and social improvement. During the civil war, so long the bane of Britain, and through all the fluctuation of parties that characterized that period, the Presbyterians of Ireland preserved the same steady and consistent course as their brethren in England — hostile to the abuses, but firmly attached to the interests, of a limited monarchy. They were opposed and persecuted both by the royalist and by the republican party, which for some time succes- sively bore the sway in Ulster. "With one party they could not join, because that party wished to proclaim Charles without any restrictions as to reli- gion ; to the other they had made themselves ob- noxious, because they condemned the murder of the king, and reprobated the abolition of the House of Lords. During the sway of the parliamentary party in the north, from 1650 till the Restoration, they IRISH PRESBYTERIAiSS. 131 submitted to many trials. They lost their benefices and their legal support, the tithes and glebes havino- been otherwise applied by commissioners under the authority of parliament ; they were frequently im- prisoned, and many were banished to Scotland, on account of the firmness and intrepidity with which they espoused the cause of the exiled king. The restoration of Charles, however, which they contributed to promote, and to which they had anxiously looked forward as the season of their deli - verance, brought them no relief. On the contrary, a sharper persecution ensued than any which they had hitherto experienced. They were again deposed from the ministry by the bishops, though the king himself, on wliora two of their number waited in person at Whitehall, had promised that they should be protected. In one day, Jeremy Taylor declared nearly forty churches vacant in his diocese of Down and Connor. About one hundred ministers having refused the terms of conformity, once more took their lot amidst poverty, reproach, and persecution. Some of the bishops were unusually severe. Leslie, bishop of Raphoe, kept some ministers in confine- ment for nearly six years, on no other charge than that of nonconformity. They were now obliged to seek shelter in the deepest retirement of the country, to hold their meetings either in private houses or in woods and glens ; although they often peti- tioned government, and stated their undisputed claims to its protection, they were for some time unable to procure any mitigation of their severities. 152 IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. Through the interposition of Sir Arthur Forbes, Earl of Granard, Sir John Clotworthy, Lord ]Massareene, and other indulgent friends, they at length succeeded in drawing the attention of government to their si- tuation. The harshness of the bishops and of their courts was repressed ; the Presbyterians were per- mitted to erect places of worship, and received from government an annual salary in consideration of their former losses. Under the short and unhappy reign of James the Second, this protection and support w^ere withdrawn, so that wlien the prospect of a de- liverance from his tyrannical sway presented itself in the person of the Prince of Orange, the Presbyte- rians hailed it with ardent joy, and supported his cause in Ireland with intrepid untiring zeal. By William the Third, accordingly, they were amply protected. He doubled the sum which they had formerly received from Charles, and secured to them the fullest toleration. His successor, Queen Anne, was by no means so favourable to the Presby- terian interest. In the beginning of her reign the Test Act, though it had long been in force in Eng- land, was first imposed in Ireland, and it was the occasion of severe suffering to the Presbyterians in the north. The operation of this intolerant act in the city of Londonderry was peculiarly harsh, and its deplorable effects w^ere felt throughout the country. Ten Presbyterian aldermen and twelve burgesses were forced to resign their corporate honours and emoluments ; although many of these very 'men had siofnalised themselves in the noble stand which IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. lo3 the city of Londonderry made against the despotic arms of James, and although they had borne innu- merable privations for the sake of establishing that government which thus , so ungratefully repaid them. During the whole of this reign they were harassed by the ecclesiastical courts. They con- tinued, notwithstanding, to prosper as a church, and their congregations increased in number and in respectability. At an early period they declared for the Hanove- rian succession, anticipating from that event the enlargement of their religious liberty. The result has gone far to realise their expectations. By the first of that family their privileges were placed on the broadest foundation. By George the Second their right of celebrating marriage — a right which had been exercised by their ministers from their first settlement in the kingdom — was solemnly recognised by the legislature. Under the long-continued pater- nal sway of George the Third, they continued to receive additional privileges. Among these we may especially notice the total repeal of the Test Act, and the liberal endowment of their congregations with an annual grant of 13,000^., secured on such terms that government shall not in any way interfere with the discipline or constitution of the church. It is proper to observe that some Protestant dissenters, objecting to all union of religion with the state, have chosen to withdraw from this body of Christians, rather than accept of such patronage. George the Fourth, when in Dublin, received a deputation from 154 IRISH PRESBYTEllIANS. the Presbyterians with marked attention. The con- cluding paragraph of his answer to their address is worthy of being preserved: — " I have the fullest confidence in your faithful and firm attachment to my person and throne, and you may be assured of my constant protection of those civil and religious liberties which are the birthright of my people." The Presbyterian Church has now existed in Ulster above two centuries ; throughout all its vicis- situdes it has preserved the worship, discipline, and government peculiar to this denomination of Chris- tians. In former times indeed, every minister, when he entered upon his office, was obliged, as is the case with the Presbyterians in Scotland, to subscribe the Westminster Confession of Faith ; but subscription to this and to every other Confession has long fallen into disuse among the great majority of congrega- tions of which the Synod of Ulster is composed. Although the rule of Synod, which requires sub- scription, has never been formally repealed, a recent code of discipline adopted by the Synod, leaves the question of subscription to the discretion of the several Presbyteries. This serves to show the gra- dual progress of enlarged and liberal views. In the Irish Presbyterian church, candidates for the sacred office are subjected to the same routine of examination and trial as in Scotland. Its church courts are constituted in a similar manner ; with this exception, that in place of a general assembly of de- legates, its supreme court is a Synod which meets IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. 155 annually in June, and consists of all the ministers, with an elder from each cono^regation. Its ministers, above two hundred in number, are chosen by the people, not presented to their charges by patrons, as in Scotland ; tliey are associated in fifteen Presby- teries, which meet quarterly ; and its congregations have their respective elderships or sessions, and are situated principally in Ulster, though a few are in some parts of Leinster and Connaught. The body is universally acknowledged to be in the highest degree respectable, both in numbers and in character, consisting of the various classes of society, and in- cluding in it a large portion of the agricultural, com- mercial, and manufacturing wealth of the country. The Presbyterians of Ulster have long been prover- bial for their probity and industry, their intelligence, enterprise, and independence ; and as to general religious knowledge and moral conduct, they may vie with any other denomination of Christians. Though they have been sometimes taunted by ignorant and prejudiced persons with disloyalty and republican- ism, their whole history, even in the worst of times, evinces an unshaken attachment to the prin- ciples of the constitution. Both ministers and people are the stanch friends of civil and religious liberty, and on the great question of Catholic emancipation they very generally gave it their support. Till within these few years candidates for the sacred office among them were almost exclusively educated in Scotland, and were required to take the degree of Master of Arts at some of the Universities 156 IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. there before they could be admitted as students of divinity. But they are now generally educated at Belfast, where a college has been erected by the inhabitants of that enterprising town. The college has been adopted by the Presbyterian church for the education of its young men. Here lectures are delivered in the usual branches of a college educa- tion, and the same discipline is maintained as in the Scotch colleges. Its chairs are filled by able pro- fessors, and the number of its students is annually increasing. Besides the general synod of Ulster, there are two other small bodies of Presbyterians in Ireland enjoying the same privileges with that assembly. One is the Presbytery of Antrim, consisting of eight congregations in Belfast and its vicinity. It origin- ally formed a part of the Synod, but is now a dis- tinct body. It separated about a century ago, on the principle of non-subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and its ministers are now con- sidered as holding for the most part Arian senti- ments. The other body is the Synod, or rather Presbytery, of Munster, consisting of ten congrega- tions situated in Dublin and the principal towns of the south. They coincide more nearly with the Presbytery of Antrim than with the general Synod of Ulster in their views of doctrine and discipline. All these bodies, however, though thus differing in religious sentiments, cordially co-operate with one another in everything that concerns the general interests of the Presbyterian Church. They have IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. 157 numbered anioiig their ministers not a few who, amidst the disadvantages of provincial situation, and the incessant labours of parochial duty, have distinguished themselves as eminent writers in the religious world. Abernethy, who wrote on the At- tributes of God ; Boyse, the author of many valuable sermons and controversial pieces ; Duchal, who WTote on the presumptive evidences of Christianity ; Le- land, the famed antagonist of the Deistical writers of the last century ; and Neilson, the author of several valuable w^orks connected with tlie Greek and Irish languages, are the more celebrated of their authors. Dr. Daniel Williams, founder of the Red 'Cross- street Library, in London, was for many years a minister of this church, as was also Mr. Emlyn, till his unjust persecution in the Court of King's Bench in Dublin for Arianism drove him to England. They have had among them many other able writers ; but through the remoteness of their situation, and the difficulty and expense of publication, their works have never been sufficiently known in the republic of letters. It may be necessary to add further, that a branch of the Seceding, or Associate Church of Scotland, is established in Ulster. Its members maintain the Presbyterian worship and government. They were formerly divided into Burghers and Anti-burghers, but like their brethren in Scotland, they have lately united ; and since their union they have assumed, notwithstanding its manifest inappropriateness, the title of the Presbyterian Synod of Ireland. Its 158 INDEPENDENTS. ministers are also educated at the Belfast College, and its congregations are endowed by government. Tliose who are desirous of further information with respect to the Irish Presbyterians are referred to a new edition of " Palmer's Protestant Dissenters' Catechism," published at Belfast, which contains an outline of tlie history of the Irish Presbyterians, drawn up by the Rev. James Smeaton Reid, Presby- terian minister at Carrickfergus. INDEPENDENTS. The Independents, or Congregationalists, who, as well as the Baptists, are an increasing body in this country, deny all dependency on other assemblies. Every congregation, they say, lias in itself what is necessary for its own government, and is not subject to other churches, or to the deputies of other churches. This indeed is the mode of church otq- o vernment adopted by the dissenters in general. The Independents, who are uniformly Calvinists, have been improperly confounded with the Brownists ; for, notwithstanding they may have originally sprung from them, they excel them in the moderation of their religious sentiments, and in the order of their disci- pline. Tlie first Independent or Congregational Church in England was established by Mr. Jacob, in the year 1616 ; though a Mr. Robinson appears to have been the founder of this sect. " Those who first maintained this opinion," says the Rev. S. Palmer, INDEPEMDENTS. 159 himself an Independent, " were called Congregation- alists^ or Independents. This is the grand principle by which the Protestant Dissenters are distinguished, and in which they are all united. And this, indeed, is the only principle upon which their liberties can be maintained in their full extent; for, if every Christian society have not the right above-mentioned, a door will be opened to human governors in affairs of religion. And it is no great matter whether they be members of the legislature, of a convocation, or an assembly, the authority of each being void of foundation in Scripture, and inconsistent with the natural rights of mankind." To this Independent or Congregational denomination, belonged Dr. John Owen, Dr. Isaac Watts, Dr. Philip Doddridge, and the Rev. Job Orton, those ornaments of the Christian w^orld. The Broicnisfs, just mentioned, were the followers of Bohert B7'02Cfi^ a clergyman of the church of England, who lived about 1600. He inveighed against the ceremonies and discipline of the Church, separated himself from her communion, and after- wards returned into her bosom. He appears to have been a persecuted man, of violent passions. He died in Northampton jail, 1630, after boasting that he had been committed to thirty-two prisons, in some of which he could not see his hand at noon-day. Such persecutions are disgraceful to human nature. 160 BAPTISTS. GENERAL AND PAKTICULAH. The Baptists are distinguished from other deno- minations respecting the mode and the subject of Baptism. They contend that this ordinance should be administered by immersion alone. They also assert, that it should be administered to those only who profess their belief in the Christian religion, and avow their determination to regulate their lives by its precepts. The Baptists are first mentioned in English history in the reign of Henry VIII., when they were a persecuted body. A warm and acri- monious controversy respecting infant baptism and the mode of baptism was carried on at intervals, in various printed treatises and in public disputations from 1649 to 1675. There are two classes of this denomination : — the General Baptists who are Arminians, and the Par- ticular Baptists who are Calvinists. Some in both divisions allow of mixed communion \ that is, persons who have not been baptized by immersion, on the personal profession of their faith, are permitted to sit down at the Lord's table with those who have been so baptized. In reference to this part of the subject there has been much controversy. In their days, Mr. Killing worth and Mr. Abraham Booth wrote against free communion. John Bunyan", Dr. James Foster, * The celebrated author of the " Pilgrim's Progress " was at the RestoratioD a member, aiid afterwards the pastor, of a Baptist con- gregation at Bedford. He was thrown into Bedford jail, where he BAPTISTS. 161 and Mr. Robinson of Cambridge, were its strenuous advocates. The Rev. Robert Hall and the Rev. Joseph Kinghorne have more recently distinguished themselves on the subject. The former wrote several pamphlets in favour of free communion*, and the latter against it. Mr. Hall epitomized his arguments in a treatise entitled, " Reasons for Christian, not Party Communion : " The Rev. Joseph Ivimey lost no time in replying. The practice of free communion appears to be gaining ground in Rhode Island, and in other parts of the United States of America. In some of the churclies of the General Baptists, three distinct orders are separately ordained — 1. Messengers; 2. Elders ; 3. Deacons. Their General Assembly, at which there are religious services, is held annually in London, at Whitsuntide. These meetings have regularly taken place for upwards of a hundred years. Dr. John Gale, a learned General Baptist, had a memorable controversy on infant baptism with Dr. Wall, vicar of Shoreham. The pamphlets on both sides are regarded, even at the present day, as of remained, with .in occasional relaxation of the severity of his im- prisonment, twelve years. Bunyan was much censured by many of his Baptist brethren for admitting of mixed communion. ^" " Christian societies," says Mr. Hall, "regarding each other with the jealousies of rival empires, eacli aiming to raise itself on tie ruin of all others, making extravagant boasts of superior purity, generally in exact proportion to their departure from it, and scarcely deigning to acknowledge the probability of obtaining salva- tion out of their pale, form the odious and disgusting spectacle which modern Christianity presents." Hall's Works, vol. iii.]^. 8. 6(1.1839, 162 BAPTISTS. great authority. They are scarcely superseded by any more modern publications. A portion of the General Baptists formed them- selves into a distinct society, " General Baptist New Connexion," in 1770. Being believers in ge- neral redemption, they are not in church-fellowship with the Particular Baptists ; while, on the other hand, they hold no communion with the Anti- Trini- tarian Baptist Churches. Their leading ministers, when they first established themselves, were the Revds. Dan Taylor, Samuel Deacon, John Brittain, Francis Smith, and William Thompson. Their annual meeting is held at different places in rotation. They founded a seminary in 1798, under the name of " The General Baptist Evangelical Academy,'' and placed it under the superintendence of the Rev. Dan Taylor. They have several congregations, principally in the midland counties. They also esta- blished a society in 1800, called the " General Bap- tist Missionary Society." A detailed account of the " New Connexion of General Baptists" may be seen in '' Memoirs of the Rev. Dan Taylor, by his Ne- phew Adam Taylor," and in the same writer's " History of the General Baptists." Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, published an elaborate work, " The History of Baptism," illustrated with plates of the ancient fonts. He closes his preface with these words : — " I feel happy, on reflection, that I did not set about this work on any motives below the dignity of a Christian, nor am I aware that I have prostituted my pen to serve a party, or once dipped BAPTISTS. 163 it in gall. Errors, undoubtedly, there are many ; but when did any individual of my species produce a work of absolute perfection ? Such as it is, I com- mend it to the candid perusal of my brethren." The great Milton, in his theological work disco- vered some years ago, avows himself, in these memo- rable words, to be a Baptist : — " Under the Gospel, the first of the sacraments, commonly so called, is Baptism, w^ierein the bodies of believers who engage themselves to pureness of life are immersed in run- ning water, to signify their regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and their union with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection." Dr. Sumner, the translator, has this note on the passage : " In prqfluentein aquam ; By the admission of this word into the definition, it is evident that Milton attributed some importance to this circumstance ; probably considering that the superior purity of running "svater was peculiarly typical of the thing signified. Hence it appears that the same epithet, employed in ' Paradise Lost,' in a passage very similar to the present, is not merely a poetical ornament : — * Them who shall believe, Baptizing in the profluent stream — the sign Of washing them from guilt of sin to life, Pure and in mind prepared, — if so befall, — For death like that which the Redeemer died.' Book xii. 441. Tertnllian concludes differently, arguing that ' any water which can be conveniently procured is suffi- cient for the spirit of the ordinance.' 31any minis- ters in "Wales prefer, with Milton, the running water, m2 164 BAPTISTS. and therefore baptize in the rivers of the Principa- lity. Milton admitted the perpetuity of baptisra ; he used, however, these remarkable words : — ' In- deed, I should be disposed to consider baptism as necessary for proselytes, and not for those born in the church, had not the apostle taught that baptism is not merely an initiatory rite, but a figurative repre- sentation of our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ.' Milton examines the passages generally adduced in favour of infant baptism. He was not satisfied with their pertinency. The question has long been in dispute, and the controversy has too often been conducted in a bitter, uncharitable spirit." The propriety of exclusively applying the term Baptists to those who baptize adults hy immersion^ has been questioned. Hence they are styled by many Anti-pcedohaptists, merely as opposing the validity of infant baptism. Anabaptist is a term of reproach. The use of it indicates a want both of in- formation and of liberality. There is a candid statement of the arguments for and against Infant Baptism, in the second volume of Dr. Doddridge's " Lectures." In defence of adult baptism, the reader may be referred to " P^edobap- tism Examined," by Abraham Booth, and " The Baptist Vindicated," by Isaiah Birt. Among the numerous works on the other side, may be mentioned, " Anti-pcedobaptism Examined," by Dr. Edward "Williams ; and " A Pica for Infant Baptism," by the Rev. Thomas Belsham. BAPTISTS. 165 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. In the Church of England, a controversy has been carried on for the last twenty years, with great vehe- mence, and often in bitter language, as to the effect of baptism, or as to what is called " Baptismal Re- generation." The doctrine contended for by Bishop JMant, by Dr. Bethell, the present Bishop of Bangor, and by other divines of the same theological school, is thus stated by Bishop Tomline, in his Refutation of Calvinism : — " Those who are baptized, are imme- diately translated from the curse of Adam to the grace of Christ; the original guilt which they brought into the world is mystically washed away ; and they receive forgiveness of the actual sins which they may themselves have committed ; they become reconciled to God, partakers of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of eternal happiness." The opponents of this doctrine, — among the fore- most of whom have been Mr. Simeon, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Biddulph, — represent it as having a tendency to abuse the consciences of men and to blind them with the confidence of a false security ; or, in other words, as undermining the practical reasons for any kind of exertion towards a Christian life. UNDER THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION, There is a people few in number and little known, who hold many sentiments different from those en- tertained by the generality of Baptists. They have a church in Comus-street, Liverpool ; at Millington, 166 BAPTISTS. near "Warrington ; at Butt's Green, near Halifax ; at Newark ; at Wisbeach ; at Norwich, and at Towces- ter ; standing in close connexion with each other : each church, however, being' independent in itself. They conceive of unity of judgment in the truth of the Gospel as most important to the building up of the Christian church ; and that no modification of the ordinances of the Gospel can be permitted. For which reason they do not hold fellowship with any other denomination of Baptists. They believe that iniPxiersion in water is the only ordinance taught in the Scriptures, by which a be- liever can make his first profession of faith in Christ ; consequently, they do not recognise any unbaptized person as a member of Christ's body. They receive individuals after baptism, as members, into the church by the ordinance of laying on of hands with prayer, in faith of the gift of the promised Spirit. By the latter ordinance, also, ministers and officers of the church are inducted into ofiice. Their view of the doctrine concerning the one true and living God, is not in agreement with the Trinita- rian scheme, as generally held. They are of opinion that the characters by which God has revealed him- self are, as in relation to us, — that the Father is God, the invisible and incomprehensible Jehovah ; that the Son is this glorious being in manifestation in our nature, as " the Word made flesh ;" that the Holy Spirit is the same God in his spiritual operations — " the Lord is that Spirit;" 2 Cor. iii. 17 ; and that the character of Christ Jesus, as the Son of God, is BAPTISTS. 167 not a cliaracter independent of the human nature in which he was " God manifest in the flesh." They reject the doctrine of original sin as com- monly understood ; while they admit that children aie born into the world destitute of the original per- fection of human nature. But they deny that the sin of Adam brings guilt upon the conscience, or infuses a moral pravity, which necessarily leads them to acts of personal transgression ; believing that the final condemnation of the wicked will be the effect of their own personal sin, altogether independently of the sin of Adam. They believe that the threatening of death to Adam in the event of his violation of the divine command had respect to his whole person; that the whole human race would have remained under the power of death had not God interposed by his promise of the seed of the woman to bruise the serpent's head — that by Christ, the second Adam, the free gift might come upon all men unto justification of life ; that the everlasting existence of the human race is through the resurrection of Christ, and, con- sequently, that the soul of man is not naturally immortal. They believe in particular unconditional election ; that God chose his people in Christ before the foun- dation of the world, irrespective of sin, or other con- tingency, and that God would have manifested himself in the human natute had sin never had a beinor ; but, in consequence of the introduction of sin, Christ appeared in a suffering state, and gave 168 BAPTISTS. liimseif for tlie redemption of the church, and also " a ransom for all." Therefore, salvation is proclaimed to the whole human race, in the most comprehensive acceptation of these words. To the same extent thejr believe that God wills the salvation of all men, and tliat the Gospel is to be " preached to every creature which is under heaven," Col. i. 23, by which preaching all men are called to repent and believe the Gospel. They believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith; but that the grace of God in the soul is inseparable from holiness of life and conversa- tion. That the gospel gives, unto tliem which receive it in truth, the full assurance of hope in eternal salvation ; that every believer knows he is a child of God, and that therefore doubt is inconsistent with such assurance. (1 John v. 20.) They believe that the heavens and the eartli which now are, will be destroyed by fire and then made anew ; when all the saints, in a state of resurrection from the dead, will reign with Christ upon the new earth a thousand years ; and that after the thousand years are expired, the resurrection of the wicked and the final judgment of the world will take place. They believe that it is the bounden duty of all the followers of Christ to be subject to the reigning powers, without regard to any particular line of politics, and to refrain from joining v/ith any to overturn existino- establishments. 1G9 "THE THREE DENOMINATIONS." For upwards of a century the English Presby- terians constituted one of the " three denominations"* into which the Protestant Dissenters of this country were divided. The English Presbyterians hold it to be a sacred right of conscience, that no man shall, without his own consent, be answerable to another for his honest judgment on the sense of the Holy Scriptures. This is the principle wliich chiefly dis- tinguishes them, it has always been their principle ; and, indeed, it has always been and must always be the principle of all sincere and consistent Protestant Dissenters, impelling them not merely to set a value upon that v/hicli they have embraced as the truth, but to leave the way open for the admission of any other truth which God, in the course of his gracious providence, may see fit to discover to their minds. " He who would force the soul, tilts with a straw Against a champion cased in adamant." Wordsworth. This, it is well knovvu, was the ground upon which our forefathers dissented originally from the Church of Rome, and upon wdiich, in later times, so many excellent individuals dissented from the " Act of Uniformity," and other similar Acts of a most infamous reign — that, in reality, though not * The Presbyterian denomination, the Independent or Congre- gational denomination, and the Baptist denomination. They formed unitedly what it was usual to term " the Protestant Dissenting Body ; " and it was for their protection that the Tolera- tion Act was framed, and became part of the law of the land. 170 DR. Williams's library. in words, asserted the worst principles of Popery, and were secretly contrived to rivet again the galling fetters of ecclesiastical domination. For having thus obeyed the voice of their consciences, which was to them the voice of God and duty, the English Presbyterians, as their printed statements inform us, were, about six or seven years ago, assailed with reproaches and menaces, " by certain persons of the two other denominations," who had devised plans and raised subscriptions, " for making an attack upon their chapels and institutions." " They found," they say, " that a system of exclusion was also acted upon by the parties before alluded to, even in the Dis- senting Charities, and in meetings held for the purpose of upholding the civil rights of Dissenters." The consequence is that the English Presbyterians have withdrawn themselves from the two other deno- minations. On her present Majesty's happy accession, and on other occasions that have since arisen, the English Presbyterian ministers residing in and near the metropolis, enjoyed the privilege of presenting in a body their addresses of congratulation to the throne. This privilege they have in common with the London clergy, the two Universities, and the two other denominations. DR. WILLIAMS'S LIBRARY. It may be proper here to give a short account of Dr. Daniel Williams, who has already been men- tioned, and whose name and character are so justly DR. Williams's library. 171 dear to Protestant Dissenters. He was born at Wrexham, about the year 1644. Having been admitted as a preacher among the Presbyterians, he became first the chaplain of the Countess of Meath, in Ireland, and afterwards tlie pastor of a highly respectable congregation in Wood Street, Dublin. In 1687, he removed to England, and settled in London. Three years after, he married a lady of an honourable family, with whom he had a large estate. He died on the 26th of January, 1715-6, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was remarkable, not " for splendour of birth, or brilliancy of genius, or any of those qualities or deeds which dazzle a vain imagination,'' but for the unflinching intrepidity with which, on all occasions, he avowed and defended what he conceived to be important truth, and for his candour towards those who differed from him. Though he possessed an ample fortune, he exercised great frugality in his personal expenses, that he might, both living and dying, devote his worldly substance, upon a wise and liberal plan, to the instruction of ignorance, the diffusion of knowledge, and the advancement of all the most important interests of his fellow-men. By his last will, besides considerable benefactions to various institutions in London and Dublin, he provided for the support of an itinerant preacher to the native Irish, of two persons to preach to the Indians in North America, and of several charity schools in England and Wales.* He directed that a * At the present time (1841) there are seven of these schools in Wales, and one at Chelmsford. 172 DR. Williams's library. certain fixed sum from the income of his estates should be applied to the assistance of poor ministers, of the widows of poor ministers, and of students for the ministry. He also left estates to the Univer- sity of Glasgovv^, which furnish handsome exhibi- tions to students for the ministry among Protestant Dissenters in South Britain, who are to be nomi- nated, from time to time, by his trustees. The last munificent bequest in his v/ill was for the establish- ment of a Library in London, for the benefit of the public. Having formed this design, he purchased Dr. Bates's curious collection of books, which he added to his own ; and he directed his trustees to provide a suitable building for their reception. Such an edifice they erected in Red-Cross Street, Cripple- gate, where the Library was opened in 1 729. Since it was first established, accessions have been made to it by legacies, as well as by gifts of money and books, and it now contains about eighteen thousand volumes, many of them very rare and valuable, in the different departments of literature and science. The " Library " is vested in trustees of tlie Eng- lish Presbyterian denomination ; — thirteen ministers and ten laymen. The trustees were accustomed, from time immemo- rial, to allow the three denominations the use of tlie Library rooms, by annual vote. "When the schism took place, they were liberal enough to offer the same privilege to each denomination separately, but DR. Williams's library. 173 they refused to acknowledge the " Three Denomi- nations," as now constituted *. After the objects defined by the testator are pro- vided for, the surplus of the estate is expended in grants to dissenting ministers, and the widows of dis- senting ministers generally, and to dissenting minis- ters in North and South Wales ; in apprentice fees to boys educated in Welsh schools ; in books for the poor English and Welsh ; and in scholarships to advanced students for the ministry among dissenters. The Presbyterian Board has, by an annual vote, the privilege of meeting at the Library. A hundred pounds per annum is allowed out of the founder's estate, by the Court of Chancery, for the purchase of books ; and the trustees are thankful to authors who deposit their works in the library. Some of the most interesting of its treasures are : — 1. A fine collection of portraits, chiefly of non-conformist divines. Among the portraits is an original Milton. 2. A fine bust, by Chantrey, of Dr. James Lindsay, placed near to the spot where he fell f. 3. A collection of valuable manuscripts : Baxter's, Neal's, Josiah Thompson's, &c. * A very small number of ministers belonging to the Secession Church in Scotlaud — not more, it is believed, than three or four — arc now associated with the Two Denominations. f On the 14 th of February 1821, Dr. Lindsay attended a nume- rous meeting of Protestant dissenting ministers at Dr. Williams's Library, assembled to deliberate on the provisions of a bill to be brought before Parliament, for the education of the children of the 174 SIGN COLLEGE. Tlie use of the library is granted by tlie trustees individually ; the use of the manuscripts, by the trustees collectively. A receiver is appointed, and the accounts are re- gularly audited, by order of the Court of Chancery. Mr. Richard Cogan is librarian ; Samuel Cotton, Esq., Basinghall Street, secretary and solicitor ; R. W. Jupp, Esq., Carpenter's Hall, London Wall, re- ceiver. Mr. Kenrick, Wynn Hall, Ruabon, is an ao-ent in Wales. SION COLLEGE. Near to Redcross Street Library, stands Sion- College, in London Wall, where the London clergy meet to transact business. It was founded by Dr. Thomas White, formerly vicar of St. Dunstan in the West, who, among other charities, left £3000 to purchase land and build a college for the use of the clergy, with alms-houses for ten men and ten women, lie also gave £160 a-year for ever to the college and alms-houses. A charter was procured in the reign of Charles L, for incorporating the clergy of London, poor. After ho had spoken ou the subject, with his usual anima- tion, his head sunk upon his bosom, and he instantly expired. A few years before he had delivered at the Library a most beautiful oration on the centennary of the founder's death ; and it is a touch- ing circumstance that he should have breathed his last on the very spot which his genius had thus consecrated. The powers of his energetic and accomplished mind were habitually devoted to the best of causes — to the advancement of knowledge, freedom, and virtue ; and as few men have been distinguished in an equal degree by candour, kindness, and generosity, so few have gone down to the grave equally honoured, and beloved, and mourned. DISSENTING ACADEMIES. 175 by which all the rectors, vicars, lecturers, and curates, are constituted fellows of the college. The Rev. J. Simpson, rector of St. Olave's, Hart Street, one of Dr. White's executors, enlarged the institution, by building, at his own expense, over the alms- houses, a library, in which there is a large collection of books. The edifice was destroyed by the great fire of London. The present building is of plain brick, and has a Latin inscription over its entrance. DISSENTING ACADEMIES. The Protestant Dissenters have their own semi- naries, in which young men designed for the Chris- tian ministry receive their education. Into several of these institutions, lay students are also admitted. The principal college belonging to the English Pres- byterian body, after having for several years been conducted with great ability at York, by the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, has lately been removed to Manchester, where it was first established. At Car- marthen is an academy which receives a portion of its funds from Dr. Williams's trustees, and which has long supplied many of the Dissenting congrega- tions in Wales with ministers. There are also eight exhibitions or bursaries, arising from Dr. Williams's estate, and given in conformity with his will, to defray the expense of educating, at the university of Glasgow, candidates for the Christian ministry among the English Presbyterians. To the Independent or Congregational denomination belong Coward College, 176 DISSE^TING ACADEMIES. at Wymondley House, near Hitcliin*''', and Ilomerton College, superintended by the Rev. John Pye Smith, D.D. The Independents have also academies at Highbury, Exeter, Rotheram, Newport Pagnel t, Blackburn, Airedale near Bradford, Axminster, and Newtown in Montgomeryshire. Connected with the Baptists, are the Education Society at Bristol X ', Stepney College ; the Northern Baptist Academy at Horton near Bradford; the General Baptist§ Academy at Loughborough ; and the South Wales Academy at Pontypool. At Cheshunt, is an academy belong- ing to the connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon; and the Wesleyan Methodists have a Theological Institution in London, founded in 1834, for the edu- cation of their preachers. * This academy was originally at Northampton, under the super- intendence of the excellent Dr. Doddridge. Soon after his death, which took place at Lisbon, in 1751, it was removed to Daventry, where, as well as at Northampton, it had the honour of training not a few young men, who became eminent as Dissenting ministers. Some of them have distinguished themselves in the literary world. -f- Denominated " The Newport Pagnel Evangelical Institution," for many years under the care of the Rev, William Bull, the judi- cious and amiable friend of Cowper. It is now conducted by Mr, Bull's son. See Souther's edition of Cowper's Works, vol. iv., p. 278. X The Rev. Robert Hall was once an assistant-tutor in this academy. It was for several years under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Ryland. The present building cost ten thousand pounds. It has an extensive library, and an interesting museum. § Of the New Connexion. 177 QUAKERS. The members of this class of Christians call them- selves " Friends," or, " The Society of Friends ;" but whenever they present addresses to the Sovereign, and, indeed, in their ordinary intercourse with the world, they designate themselves " the people called Quakers;" and " Quakers " is the name by which they are generally known. They had their origin about the year 1640. Ac- cording to their own statement, in the middle of the seventeenth century, a number of persons, dissatis- fied with the existing forms of religious worship, withdrew themselves from every visible church, to "seek the Lord" in retirement. The individual most conspicuous among them, " their honourable leader,'' was George Fox. " Being quickened by the immediate touches of divine love, he could not fulfil what he apprehended to be his duty to God, without directing the people where to find the like consolation and instruction." He was cast into prison at Not- tingham, in 1649, for having publicly opposed a preacher on a point of doctrine. In the following year he was brought into a court-house in Derby- shire, when one of the magistrates on the bench. Justice Bennet, scoffed at him, because he had bidden him and those about him " tremble " at the word of the Lord. From this circumstance George Fox and his companions received the appellation of "Quakers." George Fox thought that he was especially for- bidden by Divine illumination, or "the inward 178 QUAKERS. light," to pull off his hat to any human being, whether high or low, — to bend his knee to any magistrate, — to call any one master, — or to address any one, unless by the pronoun thou or thee, in the singular number. Interpreting our Lord's precepts literally, he refused to give or to accept of titles of honour; and for their strict and uncompromising perseverance in this determination, the early Friends were exposed to the most unjust and shameful suffer- ings. In the time of Charles the Second, a very severe act of parliament was passed against them for the purpose of compelling them to take oaths, but they were relieved at the Revolution ; and since that period their affirmation, except in criminal cases, has been received as equivalent to an oath. A quaker's false affirmation is subject to the same punishment as perjury. The quakers regularly assemble in their places of worship on the Lord's-day, and for the most part once in the week besides, though sometimes without either vocal prayer or any religious exhortation. They deem the only acceptable worship that which is offered by the inward and immediate moving of the Spirit. " It does not follow," says Mr. Clark- son, " that because nothing is said, there is not wor- ship." Neither instrumental music, nor even the singing of psalms and hymns in their worship of God, is permitted. They do not plead for entirely silent meetings ; but they urge a retired waiting for the divine aid, which alone they think can qualify to pray or to preach. They regard it as a sacred QUAKERS. 179 duty to be diligent in assembling themselves together for the worship of God ; when such as are adequatel}'' prepared, by being " gathered into a composed, awful frame of mind," are enabled, under the in- fluence of divine grace, to worship in solemn silence ; or, if moved thereto, to pray or preach as the Spirit giveth them utterance. They regard " water baptism " and the Lord's Supper a« mere types and shadows representing, in a figurative manner, certain great particulars of Christian truth. The former they conceive to be the baptism of the Spirit ; and, in their opinion, the latter is not of perpetual obligation, but was designed, like the disciples' washing of each other's feet, to be an emblem and a manifestation of humility. They believe that war is utterly inconsistent with the spirit and precepts of the gospel, and they have ever been the steady, uncompromising opponents of the infamous traffic in slaves. They refuse to pay tithes : conceiving the demand to be anti-christian, they suffer the loss of their goods and of their liberty rather than comply with it. Many of them have on this account endured long imprisonment. In disputes between individuals, it is the judgment of the society, that its members should not sue each other at law. It enjoins all to end their differences by speedy and impartial arbitration, agreeably to rules which are laid down. To effect the salutary purposes of discipline, they hold monthly meetings, which are usually composed of several particular congregations, situated within a n2 180 QUAKERS. convenient distance from each otiier. Its business is to provide for the subsistence of the poor * ; to judge of the sincerity and fitness of persons appear- ing to have embraced the rehgious principles of the society, and desiring to be admitted into member- ship ; to excite proper attention to the discharge of religious and moral duty ; and to deal with disorderly members. They have also quarterly meetings, at which are produced written answers from the monthly meetings to certain questions respecting the conduct of their members. Appeals from the monthly meeting are brought before the quarterly meeting. There are yearly meetings, 1. in London, attended by representatives from different parts of Great Britain and Ireland; 2. in New England; 3. in New York ; 4. in Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; 5. in Maryland; 6. in Virginia; 7. in the Carolinas; 8. in Ohio ; 9. in Indiana. The yearly meeting has a general superintendence of the whole Society in the country in which such meeting is held. A brotherly correspondence, by epistles, is maintained with meet- ings in all parts of the world. They believe that women may be rightly called to the work of the ministry ; and that to women appro- priately belongs a share in the support of Christian discipline. To the monthly meetings belongs the allowing of marriages; for the Quakers have always hesitated to admit the exclusive authority of the parties, in the * Their poor never require parochial relief. QUAKERS. 181 solemnization of marriages. Those who intend to marry appear together, and state their intention to the monthlymeeting ; and they are either attended by their parents or guardians, or they produce a written certificate of their consent, signed in the presence of witnesses. The form of marriage is this — At the conclusion of a week-day meeting for worship, the parties are to stand up, and, taking each other by the hand, to declare in an audible and solemn man- ner, to the following effect, the man first : " Friends, I take this, my friend C. D. to be my wife, pro- mising, through Divine assistance, to be unto her a loving and faithful husband, until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us ;" and then the woman, in like manner : " Friends, I take this, my friend A. B. to be my husband," &c. Mosheim and others attribute to the early Friends, but without sufficient authority, a denial of the doc- trines of a resurrection and a final judgment. In truth, it is no very easy task to collect the acknowledged sentiments of the Society from the language of their own writers. To satisfy us of this, a single ex- ample may be taken. " If," says "Wilkinson, in his " Quakerism Examined," p. 131, " a hundred persons, unacquainted with the real views of Friends, were asked the meaning of George Fox's expression, ' This Jesus, who was the foundation of the holy prophets and apostles, is our foundation ' — probably ninety-nine of them would answer : ' They wish it to be understood that they build on the foundation of the prophets, and apostles ; ' whereas the real 182 QUAKERS. meaning is that, independently of prophets and apostles, Friends consider themselves as building on Christ by immediate revelation." Sewell, in his " History " of the society, expresses himself as a decided believer in a resurrection, but v^ithout saying anything as to the mode in which Infinite Wisdom may preserve a consciousness of identity in another stage of our existence. Barclay, in his " Confession" and " Catechism,'' satisfied himself with using the words of Scripture on the subject, without stating in what precise sense he understood them. The same remarks apply to his account of the Divinity of Christ, though it is evident, from the tenth chapter of his " Catechism," and from the seven- teenth article of his " Confession of Faith," concerning worship, that he held worship, strictly speaking, to be due to the Father only. He does not quote, in either of the selections, any of the texts which are supposed to authorise the ofi'ering up of prayers to Christ, and he is wholly silent in his " Apology '' respecting the doctrine of the Trinity. That William Penn was more explicit is plain from the very title of one of his books : " The Sandy Foundation Shaken, or those so generally believed and applauded doctrines, of one God subsisting in three distinct and separate persons ; the impossibility of God's pardon- ing sin without a plenary satisfaction ; the qualifica- tion of impure persons by an imputative righteous- ness ; refuted from the authority of Scripture testimo- nies and right reason." It appears that Penn having in this work repro- QUAKERS. 183 bated the leading doctrines of Calvinism, a violent outcry was raised against him. He vindicated him- self in a pamphlet, called " Innocency with her open Face ;" in which he says — " As for my being a Socinian, I must confess I have read of one Socinus, of (what they call) a noble family in Sene, Italy, who, about the year 1574, being a young man, vo- luntarily did abandon the glories, pleasures, and honours of the Great Duke of Tuscany's court at Florence, that noted place for all worldly delicacies, and became a perpetual exile for his conscience, whose parts, wisdom, gravity, and just behaviour, made him the most famous with the Polonian and Transylvanian churches; but I was never baptized into his name, and therefore deny that reproachful epithet ; and if in anything I acknowledge the verity of his doctrine, it is for the truth's sake, of which in many things he had a clearer prospect than most of his contemporaries; but not therefore a Socinian any more than a son of the English church, whilst esteemed a Quaker, because I justify many of her principles since tlie Reformation against the Romish Church." But we will add another paragraph, where Penn's principles are epitomised. " And to shut up my apology for religious matters, that all may see the simplicity, scripture doctrine, and phrase of my faith, in the most important matters of eternal life, I shall here subjoin a short confession : — " I sincerely own and unfeignedly believe (by virtue of the sound knowledge and experience received from the gift of that holy unction and divine grace 184 QUAKERS. inspired from on high) in one holy, just, merciful, almighty, and eternal God, who is the father of all things, that appeared to the holy patriarchs and prophets of old, at sundry times and in divers man- ners ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting Wisdom, divine power, true light, only saviour, and preserver of all ; the same one, holy, just, merciful, almighty, and eternal God, who, in the fulness of time, took and was manifest in the flesh, at which time he preached, and his disciples after him, the everlasting gospel of repentance, and promise of re- mission of sins and eternal life to all that heard and obeyed, who said, he that is with you, in the flesh, shall be in you, by the spirit ; and though he left them, as to the flesh, yet not comfortless, for he would come to them again, in the spirit : for a little while, and they should not see him, as to the flesh ; again, a little while and they should see him, in the spirit ; for the Lord Jesus Christ is that spirit, a manifestation whereof is given to every one to profit withal ; in which Holy Spirit I believe, as the same almighty and eternal God, who, as in those times, he ended all shadows, and became the infallible guide to them that walked therein, by which they were adopted heirs and co-heirs of glory ; so am I a living witness, that the same holy, just, merciful, almighty, and eternal God is now and then (after the tedious night of idolatry, superstition, and human inven- tions, that hath overspread the world) gloriously manifested to discover and save from all iniquity, and to conduct unto the holy land of pure and end- QUAKERS. 185 less peace ; in a word, to tabernacle in men. And I also firmly believe, that without repenting and forsak- ing of past sins, and walking in obedience to the heavenly voice, which would guide into all truth, and establish there remission and eternal life can never be obtained, but unto them that fear his name and keep his commandments, they, and only they, shall have a right to the tree of life; for whose name's sake I have been made willing to relinquish and forsake all the vain fashions, enticing pleasures, alluring honours, and glittering glories of this tran- sitory world, and readily to accept the portion of a fool from tliis deriding generation, and become a man of sorrow, and a perpetual reproach to my familiars ; yea, and with the greatest cheerfulness, obsignate and confirm, with no less zeal than the loss of whatsoever this doating world accounts dear, this faithful con- fession ; having my eyes fixed upon a more enduring substance and lasting inheritance, and being most infallibly assured, that when time shall be no more, I shall, if faithful hereunto, possess the mansions of eternal life, and be received into everlasting habita- tions of rest and glory." This is an explicit declaration of the principles of Quakerism, taken from the works of William Penn. It may be said of him, that among all their writers, he is in general the most perspicuous, and his per- sonal character is far above reproach. In Clarkson's " Life of Penn," his principles are detailed with great clearness and impartiality.* * In his " Sonnet to Clarkson," on the final passing of the Bill 186 QUAKERS. As an instance of the diversity of opinions existing among them, we may refer to the proceedings of the society in the case of Hannah Barnard, a celebrated speaker from Hudson, in North America. For her avowed sentiments respecting the Jewish wars, the doctrine of the miraculous conception of Christ, and the miracles recorded in the New Testament, she was silenced in this country, and afterwards dis- owned in America. All the circumstances connected with this intrepid woman are detailed in various publications, which cannot fail to interest the reader. The principal among them are the following : — In behalf of Hannah Barnard, " An Appeal to the Society of Friends on the Primitive Simplicity of their Christian Principles and Church Discipline," &c., in three parts, with a "Sequel ;" "A Vindication of Scriptural Unitarianism and some other Primitive Christian Doctrines," &c. in reply to ' Yindex ; ' and " Christian Unitarianism Vindicated," in reply to John Bevan, Jun., by Verax (Thomas Foster). On the other side of the question appeared, " Some tracts relating to the Controversy between Hannah Barnard and the Society," written under the for the '' Abolition of the Slave Trade," Wordsworth beautifully . says : — " O true yoke-fellow of Time, With unabating effort, see, the palm Is won, and by all nations shall be worn. The bloody writing is for ever torn, And thou henceforth shalt have a good man's calm, A great man's happiness ; thy zeal shall find Repose at length, firm friend of humankind.'' QUAKERS. 187 signature of ' Christiana ; ' " An Examination of the First Part of an Appeal," by Vindex ; and " A Defence of Christian Doctrine of the Society of Friends, against the Charge of Socinianism, and its Church Discipline Vindicated," in answer to Verax, by John Bevan, Jun. Mr. Foster was disowned because, having been " questioned on some important points of doctrine, he decidedly refused to answer;" and because his questioners alleged that " they had strong ground to believe his opinions to be at variance with those of the society." In order that his readers might be able to form their own judgment, he published, " A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Society called Quakers, within the Quarterly Meeting for London and Middlesex, against Thomas Foster, for openly professing their Primitive Doctrines concerning the Unity of God." The Friends feel it to be their solemn duty to abstain altogether " from profuse and extravagant entertainments — from the unnecessary frequenting of taverns and public-houses — from excess in eating and drinking — from public diversions — from the reading of useless, frivolous, and pernicious books — from gaming of every description, and from vain and injurious sports (as hunting and shooting for diver- sion) — from unnecessary display in funerals, furni- ture, and style of living — from unprofitable, seduc- tive, and dangerous amusements (among which are ranked dancing and music) — and generally from all such occupations of time and mind as plainly tend to 188 METHODISTS. levity, vanity, and forgetfulness of oiir God and Saviour.* " The reader may consult Sewell's " History of the Quakers," — Gough's " History of the Quakers," — Clarkson's "Portraiture of Quakerism," — "Summary of the History, Doctrine, and Discipline of Friends," 1790, — " The Principles of Religion as professed by the Society of Christians usually called Quakers," by Henry Tuke, — The various writings of Joseph John Gurney. METHODISTS. THE WESLEYAN METHODISTS. The members of this sect are followers of the Rev. John Wesley, than whom a more extraordinary man, a man whose influence on society has been more extensive, or is likely to be more permanent, has seldom appeared. He was born at Ep worth in Lincolnshire, on the 21st of June, 1703. His father was vicar of the parish, t In the year * Gurney on the " Peculiarities of Friends," p. 279. t When he was about six years old, the parsonage at Epworth accidentally took fire, and was burnt to the ground. His escape on this occasion was most extraordinary. In an early print of him is the representation of a house in flames, vnth a motto, '^ Is not this a brand plucked out of the burning ! " There is extant a letter from his mother to a clergyman in the neighbourhood, containing a minute account of all the circumstances. It cannot be read without interest. It is dated August 24th, 1709. " On Wednesday night, February the 9th," says she, ** between the hours of eleven and twelve, some sparks fell from the roof of our house, upon one of the children's (Hetty's) feet. She immediately ran to our chamber, and called us. Mr. Wesley, hearing a cry of fire in the METHODISTS. 189 1729, whilst Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, he established private meetings in connexion with his brother Charles, and one or two other under-gra- duates. In the course of a short time they were street, started up, (as I was very ill he lay in a separate room from me,) and opening his door, found the fire was in his own bouse. He immediately came to my room, and bid me and my two eldest daughters rise quickly and shift for ourselves. Then he ran and burst open the nursery-door, and called to the maid to bring out the children. The two little ones lay in the bed with her ; the three others iu another bed. She snatched up the youngest, and bid the rest follow, which the three elder did. AVhen we were got into the hall, and were surrounded with flames, Mr. Wesley found he had left the keys of the doors above stairs. He ran up and recovered them a minute before the staircase took fire. When he opened the street-door, the strong north-east wind drove the flames in with such violence, that none could stand against them. But some of our children got through the windows, and the rest through a little door into the garden. I was not in a condition to climb up to the windows ; neither could I get to the garden-door. I endeavoured three times to force my passage through the street-door, but was as often beaten back by the fury of the flames. In this distress I besought our blessed Saviour for help, and then waded through the fire, naked as I was, which did me no farther harm, than a little scorching my hands and my face." When Mr. Wesley had seen the other children safe, he heard the child in the nursery cry. He attempted to go up the stairs, but they were all on fire, and would not bear his weight. " Finding it impossible to aff^ord any help, he kneeled down in the hall, and recommended the soul of the child to God." This child was John Wesley. The other particulars will be best given in his own words. '^I believe it was just at that time I waked, for I did not cry, as they imagined, unless it was afterwards. I remember all the circumstances as distinctly as though it were but yesterday. Seeing the room was very light, I called to the maid to take me up. But none answering I put my head out of the curtains, and saw streaks of fire on the top of the room. I got up and ran to the door, but could get no farther, all the floor 190 METHODISTS. joined by some other members of the University, among whom were the Reverend James Hervey, author of " Meditations among the Tombs ; " and the celebrated George Whitfield. These persons em- ployed themselves in the diligent cultivation of personal religion, in visiting the abodes of poverty and sickness, and in carrying relief and comfort to the cell of the prisoner; and they became remark- able for the moral strictness of their lives. It was from this latter circumstance that they obtained the name of Methodists : some one having said of them, — in allusion to the ancient body of physicians who bore that name, because they had endeavoured to' reduce the science of medicine to some regular order, — *' Here is a new sect of Methodists sprung up ! " In the year 1735, John Wesley, accompanied by his brother Charles and two other gentlemen, em- barked for Georgia, in order to preach the gospel to beyond it being in a blaze. I then climbed up on a chest, which stood near the window : one in the yard saw me, and proposed running to fetch a ladder. Another answered, ' There will not be time, but I have thought of another expedient. Here I will fix myself against the wall ; lift a light man, and set him on my shoulders.' They did so, and he took me out of the window. Just then the whole roof fell in ; it fell inward, or we had all been crushed at once. When they brought me into the house, where my father was, he cried out, ^ Come neighbours! let us kneel down ! let us give thanks to God ! he has given me all my eight children : let the house go, I am rich enough ! ' " The next day, as he was walking in the garden, and surveying the ruins of the house, he picked up part of a leaf of his Polyglot Bible, ou which just these words were legible ; Vade ! vende omnia quce hahes ; et attolle crucem, et sequere me. "Go' sell all that thou hast ; and take up thy cross, and follow me ! " METHODISTS. 191 tlie Indians. He returned to England in 1738. Having become acquainted with certain Moravians, who were settled in Georgia, he afterwards con- nected himself more intimately with members of that class of Christians both in England and in Germany. These Moravians were instrumental in producing a change in his religious opinions, and to this change his future course may in a great measure be ascribed. It consisted mainly in the reception of the doctrine, that the simple exercise of faith in Jesus Christ, as distinguished from a regard to the moral precepts of the gospel, is that by which the spiritual enjoyment of the blessings of Christianity is, in the first instance, obtained ; and that the experience of a state of salva- tion is immediately consequent upon that exercise. On account of his preaching this doctrine, the pulpits of many churches, in whicli he would otherwise have officiated, were closed against him ; but being then determined, as he was through life, to spread abroad at all hazards, the power of what he believed to be religious truth, he seized every opportunity which presented itself of proclaiming his opinions, whether in places of worship or in the open air. In this work he was assisted by the Rev. Charles Wesley, the Rev. George Whitfield, and others ; and their success con- stitutes an era in the religious history of this country. The necessity of the case obliged Mr. Wesley to unite his followers together in church fellowship ; and societies were established by him in almost every part of England, and in numerous towns and villages both in Scotland and in Ireland. He was 1 92 METHODISTS. thus the instrument of effecting a mighty revolution in whole populations that had been sunk in depths of more than barbarian ignorance and depravity. He raised, for example, the colliers of Kingswood, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, and the miners of Corn- wall, to a state of moral elevation ; and infused a spirit of zeal into many dissenting congregations, as well as into not a few churches of the establishment : " Change wide and deep, and silently perform'd, This land has witnessed." And as days roll on, the effect becomes more and more perceptible. In the prosecution of his sacred object, Mr. Wesley spent a long life of unw^earied and almost unexampled labour. He submitted without a murmur to obloquy and persecution of the severest kind ; and in meeting the difficulties with which he had to struggle — as the head of so large and so peculiarly circum- stanced a body — he was distinguished, no less by the wisdom than by the energy that he displayed. He could " act and comprehend : " and he pursued his course " in cheerful godliness." From an early period of his public life, Mr. Wesley employed laymen to assist him in the work of the ministry. These preachers itinerated — it is his own word — through his societies and under his direction. At his death, in 1791, he left, in the British dominions, 313 preachers, and 76,918 members; and in the United States, 198 preachers, and 57,621 members. The doctrines of the Wesleyan Methodists are, on METHODISTS. 193 all the points of the Trinitarian controversy, what is called "Orthodox;" with regard to the five Calvinistic points — " Arminian ;" — and as to the two doctrinal parties into which the Church of England is at present divided — " Evangelical." There are, however, two doctrines, by holding which the Wesleyan Methodists are distinguished from most other religious denominations. The one is, that an immediate and sensible evidence of a believer's justification with God is imparted by the Holy Spirit ; and that this all Christians should expect, as among their most important and dearest privileges. — The other is, that freedom from all sin, commonly called " Christian perfection," may be en- joyed in the present life, and is to be obtained by the simple exercise of the same kind of faith with which justification is connected. These doctrines were much more confidently and frequently insisted upon in past periods of the history of Wesleyanism than they are at the present day. A gradual softening down of these peculiarities has for some time been taking place. Four volumes of Mr. Wesley's sermons, and his Notes on the New Testament, are generally referred to as containing the creed of the Wesley ans ; but perhaps the clearest account of their belief, and that which is now most commonly adhered to by themselves, is to be found in the late Rev. Richard Watson s " Theo- logical Institutes." The discipline of the Wesleyan Methodists pos- sesses many peculiarities. During Mr. Wesley's life 194 METHODISTS. his sway was without control, both preachers and people being absolutely ruled by him. The chief authority of the Connexion is now exercised by the Conference of preachers, a body legally^ — that is to say, according to Mr. Wesley's rules, — consisting of a hundred members ; but now actually embracing all the itinerants who have travelled fourteen years. Under the direction of this Conference, the Connexion is divided into numerous circuits; each including various chapels and societies. To these circuits the Conference every year appoints the itinerant ministry. The members of "society" are formed into classes for the purpose of religious instruction, under certain lay officers, who are called "Leaders," and who assem- ble in separate meetings for the transaction of their own business. As the itinerants are unable to supply all the places of worship, there is a body of ministers in every circuit under the name of Local Preachers, who are much more numerous than the itinerants, and upon whom the chief part of the preaching throughout the Connexion depends. They, also, have their separate meetings. A general meeting of the officers of each circuit, called the Quarterly Meeting, is held once every three months, for the purpose of transacting the business which belongs to the whole circuit. The scheme of doctrine and discipline which has just been described, is, for the most part, common to all the Arminian Methodist bodies. The grand peculiarity of Wesleyan church go- METHODISTS. 195 vernment, consists in the relation which the Con- ference, and the itinerant ministry emanating from it, sustain toward the other authorities of the Con- nexion. After Mr. "Wesley's death, the Conference assumed iftie same absolute authority which he had himself possessed. This assumption, as he had declared would be the case, w^as resisted by the people; and in the years 1795 and 1797, the power of the Conference underwent essential modifica- tions in favour of popular rights. It was generally conceived, indeed, that the independence of the local authorities of the Connexion, as to matters which belonged to their jurisdiction, was established by the rules passed in those years. It is said, however, that this independence has been destroyed, and that a sway, little less than absolute, has been resumed by the itinerant preachers in various instances in which, of late years, they have come into collision with the people. At the meeting of Conference in 1835, as appears from the minutes, the supreme rule of that body and its agents was firmly fixed. Accord- ing to those minutes, the itinerants are declared to possess, either directly or indirectly, the whole legis- lative and executive power of the Connexion ; the other authorities of the community being placed in a situation of entire subserviency to them. The situation in which Wesleyan Methodism stands as to the Church of England is somewhat peculiar. The Wesleyans do not acknowledge them- selves to be dissenters, and they have, of late, on more than one occasion, made themselves prominently o2 196 METHODISTS. conspicuous iii their support of the Establishment. The Conference has even announced its determination to put down in the members of the Wesleyan body, every species of open opposition to that system. In this respect, the Wesleyan community may be looked upon as sustaining an important political character. The most striking characteristics of the system adopted by them as a denomination of professing Christians, are the following : — Class Meetings, Band Meetings, Love Feasts, and Watch Nights. From twelve to twenty persons, or more, form a " Class Meeting," and one among them is called " the leader." They assemble once a week, when the leader gives out a hymn, which they all join in singing. The leader, after offering up a short prayer, converses with aU the members in rotation on their Christian experience, gives such advice as each case may seem to demand, and then concludes with sing- ing and prayer. The Band Meetings consist of four or five mem- bers, all of the same sex, and of nearly the same age, and the same worldly circumstances. They meet together once a week, for the purpose of opening their minds to each other, as respects their religious experience, more freely and more confidentially than would be agree- able at a class meeting. Band meetings were insti- tuted by Mr. Wesley in 1742. They were suggested to him by James v. 16 : " Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." The four following questions are pro- posed to each member at every weekly meeting : — METHODISTS. 197 1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting ? 2. What temptations have you met with ? 3. How were you delivered ? 4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not ? Three directions are laid down for the manage- ment of the Bands. 1. Let nothing spoken in this society be spoken again. 2. Every member agrees to submit to his minister in all indifferent things. 3. Every member will bring once a week all he can spare to a common stock. Ail the mem- bers, too, are upon a footing of perfect equality. In 1821, the following w^as one of the Minutes of Con- ference : — "We again exhort all our people, who have opportunity, to meet in Bands, as an old esta- blished usage in our Connexion, and an important means of improvement in personal religion ; and the preachers are directed to hold general meetings of the bands in every Society where it is practicable." The Love Feasts are occasional meetings of the members of the Band Societies ; and no persons are admitted to them, who cannot produce either a ticket to show that they are members, or an admission- note from the superintendant of the circuit, or from one of his colleagues. No persons who are not de- sirous of joining the Society can be admitted more than once. The meeting begins with singing and prayers. Small pieces of bread, or of plain cake, and some water are afterwards distributed, and all pre- sent eat and drink together, in token of their Chris- 1 98 METHODISTS. tian love to one another. If any persons have any communications to make, as to the manner in which they were first brought to the acknowledgment of the truth, or respecting their Christian experience, they are permitted to make it. When a few of them have spoken, a collection is made for the poor, and the meeting is concluded with singing and prayer. No love-feast is allowed to last more than an hour- and-a-half. These meetings are held in conformity with the primitive practice referred to in Jude, 12 ; 2 Peter ii. 13. They are not considered to have any kind of relation to the Lord's Supper. The "Watch Nights, which bear some resemblance to the vigils of the ancients, are held once a year, and are generally attended by a vast concourse of people. The service begins between eight and nine o'clock in the evening, and three or four preachers officiate. One preaches, and the others pray and ex- hort, giving out at intervals suitable hymns, which the congregation join in singing. At a few minutes after twelve o'clock the service is concluded. The watch-night on new-year s eve is peculiarly solemn : it is an object of earnest solicitude with the Wesleyan Methodists to " begin and end the year with God." They sometimes hold a general fast in all their so- cieties ; and they have frequent meetings for social prayer. Mr. Wesley lived to see, at the last Conference which he attended, 1790, that there were no fewer than 108 circuits, 295 preachers, and 71,668 members in the United Kincfdom : at the same time there were. METHODISTS. 199 in the United States of America, 97 circuits, 198 preachers, and 43,265 members. Mr. Wesley's first Conference was held in London in 1744, and con- sisted of only six persons, five of whom were clergy- men of the Established Church. From 1749 to 1765, no extracts from the minutes of the annual Conferences were published ; but, in the manuscript copy of the earlier minutes, lists of circuits occa- sionally appear. In the minutes of 1746, the follow- ing question and answer are recorded : — How many circuits are there? Answer; Seven. 1. London, including Surrey and Kent. 2. Bristol, including Somersetshire, Portland, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire. 3. Cornwall. 4. Evesham, in- cluding Shrewsbury, Leominster, Hereford, Stroud, and Wednesbury. 5. York, including Yorkshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire. 6. Newcastle. 7. Wales. The largest proportionate increase of the Connex- ion, appears to have been between the years 1803 and 1813. The greatest proportionate increase in America w^as also in the same period, the numbers having been more than doubled. In Ireland little progress has been made by the Wesleyans for the last 35 years. In Scotland the increase has been on a regular advance, but that entire kingdom does not number more societies than either Leeds or Man- chester contains. In America a considerable division among the Wesleyan Methodists took place in 1829, on the principle of having a representative assembly for the 200 METHODISTS. government of the church. On the 2d. of November, 1830, a convention of ministers and laymen favour- able to this plan assembled in Baltimore, and drew up, for their government, " The Constitution and Discipline of the Methodist Protestant Church." The number of attendants, or hearers, upon the ministry of the Wesleyan Methodists, generally amounts to about two-thirds more than the members. In the Minutes of the Conference of 1840, the state of the Society is thus reported : — Number of members in Great Britain, . 323,178 in Ireland, . . 27,047 '* in Foreign Stations, . 78,504 Under the care of American Conferences in 1838, 692,341 In Upper Canada, 1840, . . . 16,354 1,137,424 THE NUMBER OF PREACHERS EMPLOYED. In Great Britain — Regular Preachers 942 Supernumerary and Superannuated 136- -1078 In Ireland — Regular Preachers in the Circuits . 100 Missionaries .... 23 Supernumerary and Superannuated 36- - 159 In Foreign Stations 345 In Upper Canada 127 In America, in 1838 . 3322 Total throughout the world . 5031 The life of Mr. Wesley has been written by Dr. Whitehead, Mr. Moore, Mr. Hampson, Dr. Southey, and Mr. Richard Watson. Publications illustrating the general character of the Wesleyan system are very numerous. The Minutes of the Conference are METHODISTS. 201 published annually. There are also a Magazine, and a Newspaper (" The Watchman"), chiefly devoted to the interests of this Connexion. THE METHODIST NEAV CONNEXION. The modifications of ministerial authority agreed to by the "Wesleyan Conference, in the years 1795 and 1797, though they apparently gave satisfaction to the mass of the Societies, were rejected by a num- ber of the people on these two grounds : — that they did not concede the rights of the laity to a just extent, and that they did not provide security for the preservation of those rights which were actually granted. The Rev. Alexander Kilham, one of the itinerant preachers, was the main assertor of popular claims, in opposition to his brethren. In the year 1796 he was expelled from the Wesleyan commu- nity, on account of the difference between him and the Conference respecting church government. In conjunction Avith others, he established the Metho- dist New Connexion. The most striking difference between that and the Wesleyan body is, in the com- position of the Conference. The New Connexion Conference is composed of an equal number of iti- nerant preachers, and of laymen — both being subject to the choice of the people — the latter entirely so ; whereas the Wesleyan Conference is composed of preachers alone ; with regard to whom the people exercise no choice whatever. The representative principle, upon which the former arrangement is based, pervades the whole of the ecclesiastical system 202 METHODISTS. of the New Connexion ; so that neither the legisla- tive nor the executive power of the body is, in any instance, possessed exclusively by the preachers. The will of the people is brought to bear upon all the proceedings of the community, whether local or general. It reflects credit both on the consistency and on the liberality of the New Connexion, that the regulations passed from time to time by its authorities, have tended to the establishment and extension of the popular principles on which it professes to be founded. At the commencement of its course, this denomination numbered about five thousand members. Many circumstances contri- buted to restrain its progress, and pre-eminently among these causes was the strenuous, unremitting, opposition with which it met from so large and so compact a body as the Wesleyan Connexion. It has, however, been gradually overcoming that oppo- sition. Of late years it has received various acces- sions from the Wesleyans ; and the general tendency of public events in favour of religious liberty has created a sympathy with its principles, and conduced much to its success. The members of this body profess to be dissenters from the Established Church. Their numbers are estimated at upwards of 20,000. "Mr. Kilham's Life," "The Methodist Monitor," " The New Connexion Magazine," Mr. Allin's " Ex- position of Principles of Church Government," and " The General Rules of the Methodists of the New Connexion," may be mentioned as among the prin- cipal works in which the reader will find an account METHODISTS. 203 of the history and character of this community. Mr. Kilham died in 1798. He published a pamphlet in 1796, on "The Progress of Liberty," which was extremely obnoxious to the Wesleyan Conference. THE WESLEYAN PROTESTANT METHODISTS. Other separations, besides that which has just been mentioned, were made from the Wesleyans, on the ground of church government. For a reason hereafter to be stated they may, perhaps, without impropriety, be classed imder one general head. In the year 1828, a division to a considerable extent occurred at Leeds ; arising from the enforce- ment of the decision of the Wesleyan Conference relative to an organ which had been erected in one of the Wesleyan chapels in that towm, under the sanc- tion of the local authorities of the circuit. A special meeting of itinerant preachers, who were afterwards encouraged by the Conference, determined to over- rule those authorities. The dissentients amounted to about a thousand persons. In connexion with other individuals in various parts of the kingdom, they formed themselves into a separate body, under the name of the " Wesleyan Protestant Methodists." In the year 1835 they were about 5000 in number. A still larger and more important secession has since taken place. The conference of 1834 excluded the Rev. Jos. Stephens, a preacher of popular talent, for his public advocacy of the separation of the Church from the State. Mr. Stephens formed a church at Ashton-under-Lyne, on independent principles. But 204 METHODISTS. this was not all ; the offence which his exclusion gave spread itself through the Wesleyan community so as to prepare the way for the separation, on what they termed connexional principles, which soon afterwards took place. Another preacher, the Rev. John Gordon, retired from the Wesleyan ministry, on account of the proceedings in Mr. Stephens's case ; and con- nected with Mr. Gordon, a great number of persons in the neighbourhood of Dudley and Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, arrayed themselves against the polity of the Conference. On this account they were cut off from church communion. They afterwards joined the New Connexion. Mr. Gordon has since that time left the Methodists altooether, and become a minister amono^ the Protestant Dissenters of the Presbyterian denomination.* The Rev. Dr. Warren, a preacher of considerable standing in the body, was, in October 1834, summoned to trial for the publica- tion of a pamphlet against a Theological Seminary which the Conference had established. Having refused to defend himself, he was suspended from the work of the ministry, and became the centre of an agitation, which commencing at Manchester and Liverpool, diffused itself through a considerable number of the Wesleyan circuits. Many persons were, for taking part in this agitation, formally ex- pelled from the Wesleyan body. Dr. Warren t him- * He is now (1841) the much respected pastor of the Presby- terian congregation, in High Street, Coventry. + Since that period he has conformed to the Established Church, and received Episcopal ordination. METHODISTS. 205 self was expelled at the Conference of 1835. These dissentients having been joined by " the Protestant Methodists," formed themselves into a separate com- munity, under the name of " The Wesleyan Associ- ation," and their number is stated to be considerably more than 20,000. Their system of church govern- ment is very similar to that of the New Connexion, though some of their societies have manifested a leaning towards Independency. The nature of these latter divisions will perhaps be more clearly explained by the following law of the Wesleyan body, the enforcement of which was the cause of most of the expulsions which have taken place. " Let no man, nor any number of men, in our Con- nexion, on any account or occasion, circulate letters, call meetings, or attempt to do anything neic^ till it has been first appointed by the Conference." A union between the Wesleyan Associatmi and the Methodist New Connexion has been contemplated. Embracing, as it is likely to embrace, some other minor sections of the Methodist body, it will in all probability include more than 50,000 persons. It is anticipated that if such a union takes place, it will have no inconsiderable influence upon the future cha- racter and relations of Wesleyan Methodism. THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS. This name is taken by a very numerous body, which had its origin in the neighbourhood of the Staffordshire Potteries. It is the body commonly known by the name of " Ranters." Some persons 206 METHODISTS. connected with the AYesleyan Societies, having created no slight commotion by holding what are called camp meetings, and such meetings being disapproved of by the Wesleyan authorities, a col- lision took place, the consequence of which was that several individuals were excluded from the old Connexion, and became the founders of the sect now under consideration. This exclusion began as early as the year 1808, and separate societies were formed a short time after its commencement ; but it was not till the year 1820 that the body assumed the com- pactness of form in which it now appears. The camp meetings arose from certain religious views, which characterise the whole system of this commu- nity, and by which its members were held together for some years, without a regular system of church government. Hence its extraordinary success. Re- ligion, according to these notions, is mainly dependent upon sudden and powerful excitement, to be produced by external causes. The means of excitement usually employed are singing, frequent public prayer- meetings, loud exclamations, the preaching of fe- males, long- continued religious services, congrega- tions assembled in the open air, and the separation of worshippers into different smaller communities, according to their professed religious condition. A camp meeting itself is an attempt to employ all these means at once, and in the highest state of energy. It is held out of doors ; prayer and preach- ing succeed each other with scarcely any interrup- tion for a whole day. Those who show themselves METHODISTS. 207 to be desirous of salvation are divided into classes, and dealt with apart from the rest, by means of prayer and exhortation, until they are supposed then and there to receive the blessings which they want. Quick and animating tunes are sung through- out all these proceedings ; mingled vociferations, of almost all kinds, create indescribable clamour and confusion ; and the people are generally wrought up to the utmost pitch of enthusiasm. Such meetings are held more frequently, and conducted with still greater excitement, among the Methodists of America, than even among the Ranters of this country. As may be expected, Mr. Wesley's doctrines of the •' Witness of the Spirit," and " Christian Perfection," are held and applied by these people, in their most unguarded and excessive forms; and the least defensible practices of the first Methodists are followed as a matter of principle. On these accounts they call themselves *' Primitive Methodists." The rudest of the lower classes are well prepared for a system of religion of this nature ; and among them it has spread itself very extensively, though to them it is entirely confined. At the same time, no one can reasonably doubt, that upon this portion of the community it has had a beneficial influence which belongs to no other system The Primitive Methodist scheme of church government is, where it difiers from the Wesley an, of a very loose and democratic character. The ministry constitutes, perhaps, the most subservient description of its officers ; and tlie peculiarities of what is called its church government 208 METHODISTS. can scarcely be reduced to any definite principle. The consequence is, that the preachers are very deficient both in talent and in education, and the body is subject to constant fluctuations. It 1836 it had, according to the Report of Conference, 62,306 members. The history of this sect has been written by Hugh Bourne, who is regarded as its principal founder. This book, and " The Primitive Methodist Magazine," contain the most authentic accounts of its character and progress. It would be tedious to describe some other smaller bodies which have broken off from " Wesleyan Me- thodism," — such as the " Independent Methodists," the " Bible Christians," the " Arminian Method- ists," the " Bryanites," &c. ; and it would also be useless to enter into detail, as they differ but little from some one or other of the divisions already no- ticed, tlie principal part of them approaching most nearly to the Primitive Methodists. It may, how- ever, be observed, that there is in Ireland a body of Church Methodists, who consider themselves to be, in all respects, merely auxiliary to the Establish- ment ; and that attempts have been made, with very little success, to form a similar body in England. CALVINISTIC METHODISTS. The most distinguished of Mr. Wesley's coadju- tors in the establishing of Methodism, was the Rev. George Whitfield. His father kept the Bell-Inn at Gloucester, and there he was born in 1714. In his own account of himself, he states that his childhood METHODISTS. 209 was marked by every petty crime, and that there was ''nothing about him but a fitness to be damned ;" yet he says, even then he had " certain gleams of grace," which were tokens of what he was after- wards to become. In the 18th year of his age, he was entered a servitor at Pembroke College, Oxford, where, joining himself to other young men who were under the influence of religious impressions, he soon displayed that warm enthusiasm of spirit by which his preaching was afterwards so eminently charac- terised. He describes himself as " lying whole days and weeks prostrate on the ground, in silent or vocal prayer, leaving off the eating of fruits, choosing the worst sort of food ; thinking it unbecoming a penitent to have his hair powdered, wearing woollen gloves, a patched gown, and dirty shoes, to acquire a habit of humility." He was ordained by Dr. Benson, Bishop of Gloucester, in 1731. Such was his style of preaching, that after his first sermon at Gloucester, a complaint was made to the Bishop of his having driven fifteen people mad ; on which the prelate observed that he hoped the madness would not be forgotten before the next Sunday. The topics upon which he constantly dwelt, were of the kind calculated to work upon the minds of the common people ; he roused the careless by alarming represen- tations of " the terrors of the Lord," and consoled sinners who were awake to their danger, by setting before them the doctrines of regeneration and justifi- cation by faith. Soon after he began his ministerial career, he was in the habit of preaching in the open 210 METHODISTS. fields to the colliers at Kingswood, near Bristol. His uncommon and striking mode of address collected o around him vast multitudes of these people, on whom his discourses produced a most extraordinary effect. " The first discovery of their being touched," he observes, " was to see the white gutters made by their tears, which fell plentifully down their black cheeks, as they came from their coal-pits." Eventually his religious influence, both in this country and in America, was almost equal to that of Mr. Wesley himself. His intellectual qualities were well suited to the task wdiich he undertook. His learning was inconsiderable ; and " he was a writer only for his own sect." His peculiar characteristic was a powerful awakening eloquence, and this secured to him a popularity beyond example. He was inferior to Mr. Wesley in the talents which enable the man who possesses them to be the ruler of a com- munity. All his time and attention ^vere devoted to preaching. A separation took place between liim and Mr. Wesley in the year 1741, occasioned by a difference of sentiment respecting the points of the Calvinistic controversy : Mr. Whitfield holding the doctrine of imconditional predestination and its necessary conse- quences. He encountered Mr. Wesley literally on his own ground, by building near his chapel in Moor- fields a shed, which received the name of " the Taber- nacle," and which afterwards became a spacious edifice ; he also renewed his field preaching, with w^onderful success, in different parts of the country. METHODISTS. 211 In the spring of J 741, his zeal led him into a singular contest witli the holiday folks in Moorfields, where, at that time, it was the custom to erect booths for every species of amusement. On Whit-J\Ionday, attended by a large congregation of praying people, he made an inroad upon the puppet-showmen and mountebanks, endeavouring " to pray them down ; " whilst, on their parts, in self-defence, they gave all possible disturbance to the preacher. The result, he says, was so far to his advantage, that he received a thousand notes from persons under conviction ; and soon after upwards of three hundred were admitted into the society in one day. On being excluded from the pulpits of the estab- lished church, Mr. Whitfield preached, not only in chapels licensed under the Toleration Act, but in places that were not licensed, and often in the open air. As a preacher, his celebrity was greater than that of JNIr. Wesley^ In all parts of Great Britain, in Ireland, in America, and wherever he preached, hundreds and thousands flocked to him, and stood as on enchanted ground, listenlno- with mute and breath- less delisfht to his discourses. "When he was in o Scotland, the Seceders urged him with much impor- tunity, but in vain, to confine his preaching to them. " Why should I preach only for you?" said Mr. Whitfield. " Because," replied Mr. Ralph Erskine, " we are the Lord's people." " But," said Mr. Whit- field, " has the Lord no other people than yourselves ? And supposing that all others were the devil's people, have not they so much the more need to be preached p2 212 METHODISTS. to— and shall I say nothing to them?" Having thus failed in their attempt, the Seceders forthwith represented Mr. Whitfield, as " the agent of the devil *." In his arduous work Mr. Whitfield was assisted by ministers, both from among the established clergy and from among the dissenters ; and in addition to this, like Mr. Wesley, he employed a ministry chosen from his own societies. He died of asthma, at New- bury-port, near Boston, in New England, September 30, 1770, having nearly completed his 56th year. Though considering themselves as one body, his followers have not the same " union and interchange," as those of Mr. Wesley. Many of the societies founded by him have become independent churches. It is seldom that the character of an extraordinary individual has been so differently estimated as that of Mr. Whitfield. During his life he had warm eulogists and bitter enemies ; and in our own times, while some go so far as to say that he was a hypo- crite, acting under a mask, and that the love of power was the passion which usurped and absorbed him, we are told by others that he was moved by a holy impulse, that he enjoyed the special protection of the Most High, and tliat miracles were wrought in his favour. If we are obliged to acknowledge that he was too intent upon obtaining a sway over the minds of his hearers, and that he seemed, on many occasions, to be turning every inward and every outward ♦See SirH. Moncrieff Wellwood's "Life of Dr. Erskine," p. 96. METHODISTS. 213 resource to the accomplishment of this purpose, we must not forget that he was much respected by per- sons whose names are never mentioned but with veneration, and whose good opinion was praise. Mr. "Whitfield was himself sensible that he had carried his peculiar doctrines to an extravagant length; and who can avoid admiring the manly, the noble ingenuousness with which he confessed his mistake ? The following extract is from one of his letters, dated June 24, 1748. " Yesterday, I made an end of revising all my journals. Alas ! alas ! in how many things have I judged and acted wrong. I have been too rash and hasty in giving characters, both of places and persons. Being fond of Scripture language, I have often used a style too apostolical ; and, at the same time, I have been too bitter in my zeal. Wildfire has been mixed with it ; and I find that I frequently wrote and spoke in my own spirit, when I thought I was writing and speaking by the assistance of the Spirit of God. I have likewise too much made inward im- pression my rule of acting ; and too soon, and too explicitly published what had been better kept in longer, or told after my death. By these things I have hurt the blessed cause I would defend, and also stirred up much needless opposition. This has humbled me much, and made me think of a saying of Mr. Henry's, ' Joseph had more honesty than policy, or he never would have told his dreams ! ' At the same time, I cannot but praise God, who filled me with so much of his holy fire, and carried me, a 214 METHODISTS. poor weak youth, through such a torrent both of popularity and contempt, and set so many seals to my unworthy ministrations. I bless him for ripen- ing my judgment a little more, for giving me to see, and to confess; and I hope, in some degree, to correct and amend some of my errors." Whitfield published, at intervals, Sermons, Tracts, and Letters, which were collected after his death, and printed in 6 vols. 8vo. LADY Huntingdon's connexion. Mr. Whitfield was chaplain to Sellna, the Countess Dowager of Huntingdon, a lady of ardent religious feelings, who erected chapels in different' parts of the country, and vested them in trustees. She also built a college at Trevecca, near Talgarth, in Brecknock- shire, with the view of educating pious young men for the ministry. Her ladyship died in 1791. For some time after her death the " Connexion" was carried on upon nearly the same principle as before ; that is, as an itinerancy, by ministers ordained among themselves, acting under the Countess's representatives. Of late, however, a permanent ministry has been thought to be more desirable, in order to save the expense attending a frequent change of ministers, and to remedy the in- conveniences arising from the unsettled state of the congregations in which such a practice prevails. Two very important regulations have been adopted : (1.) That if any minister leaves the Connexion, to which he has no tie but choice, he is admitted into MEinODISTS. 215 it no more, although the trustees cordially rejoice in his usefulness in any other denomination of Christians. (2.) That if any minister departs from the Caivinistic articles of the Church of England, or incurs reproach by any accusation of immoral conduct, he is sum- moned before the trustees ; and if the charge be proved, he is dismissed, without the possibility of being ever again permitted to officiate in any of their congregations. At first, these congregations mani- fested an attachment to the Established Cliurch ; but the feeling is now^ much weaker than it was, both among ministers and people. The Liturgy of the Church of England, with some few modifications, is used in most of the principal chapels, but not so as to prevent the use of extemporary prayer. On Lady Huntingdon's death, the seminary at Trevecca was transferred to Cheshunt, in Hertford- shire, where it exists at present under the sole, exclu- sive superintending care of trustees appointed for the purpose. The students are admitted into this college usually between twenty and thirty years of age, and the allotted term of study is four years. There is an annual examination, in the presence of the trustees, the assistant committee, and other friends ; and dis- courses are delivered publicly in the college, twice a year, by the senior students. " The object of this institution," says one of tlie Reports, " is not to serve the interests of a party, but to promote the extension of the kingdom of Emmanuel, by the publication of his glorious Gospel, and the doctrines of his grace ; and the young men '216 METHODISTS. who are educated at Cheshunt College are left entirely free in their choice of the denomination of Christians among whom they may prefer to exercise their ministry." Fifteen articles were drawn up for the Connexion at large, and for this institution in particular. To these articles every trustee, president, and student, must give his hearty assent and consent, and on departing from them, " he is removable, and to be removed." The articles relate to the following sub- jects: — I.God; 2. The Scriptures; 3. Creation; 4. The Fall of Man from Original Righteousness ; 5. Original Sin ; 6. Predestination and Election ; 7. Christ the Mediator; 8. The Holy Ghost; 9. Free- Will ; 10. Justification ; 11. Sanctification and Good Works; 12. Works before Justification; 13. The Church; 14. Baptism; 15. The Lord's Supper. There are not more than fifty places of worship belonging to this connexion, in England and Wales, nor is there a single one in Ireland. The largest of them in London is Spafields Chapel. The following passage, in a letter addressed by Lady Huntingdon to Dr. Doddridge, March 15, 1747, strikingly exhibits the character of her enthu- siastic mind : — " I often look to that bed which promises me a refuge from an evil world, and from a yet more evil heart ; but how does it bound, as the roe or hind over the mountains, when that all-trans- porting view presents itself; presents — glorious ! — an eternity of joy, to follow this glad release from time ; — everlasting triumphs sounding throughout METHODISTS. 217 the angelic thrones, to welcome my arrival. Such love and pity dwell in heaven, and only there, for misery and poverty like mine. What liberty to delight in that which is most excellent ! How en- larged those faculties which can take in celestial purity, and, by sweet attraction, engage and eter- nally maintain a union with it ! Thus do I look on Death. He is called a monster — a king of terrors ; but as a Gabriel's salutation shall my soul meet him. He can brino- no other messaofe to the redeemed in Christ but, ' Hail! thou who art highly favoured of the Lord;' and though, it is true, so great a stranger may surprise for a little, yet his smiles of victory will clear even the ignorance of flesh and blood, and make the grave appear a consecrated dormitory for sweet repose. ! glorious Emmanuel ! how, how do I long for that immortal voice to praise thee with ; and till then that mortal one, which may sound through earth thy love to man * !" WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODISTS. In Wales, the Calvinistic Methodists are by far the most numerous, the most compact, and the most powerful body among the dissenters. This class of Christians had its beginning somewhat more than a hundred years ago. Howel Harris, Esq., a gentleman who resided at Trevecca, in Brecknockshire, intending to take holy orders, entered himself as a student in one of the * Doddridge's Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 530. 218 METHODISTS. colleges at Oxford. The conduct, however, of many of the young men in that celebrated seat of learning was so much at variance with the requirements of the Gospel, and so utterly inconsistent with a pre- paration for the Christian ministry, that being soon disgusted at what he was compelled to witness, he returned to his friends in the Principality. He had not been at home long before he ventured to go from house to house, and from one sick chamber to another, in his native village, exhorting and warning sinners, and administering to those who stood in need of them, the rich consolations of the religion of Christ. By degrees, he extended the sphere of his activity to the surrounding parishes. His fame spread itself over the whole country, and hundreds and thousands attended on his preaching. After a few months, an altar to the living God was set up in several houses in which the voice of prayer had never before been heard. In 1736, at the request of many individuals, he established a school at Trevecca, and devoted to it much of his time and attention. This school he shortly afterwards removed to the parish church, whither many young persons flocked to him, " that they might be instructed in the things which con- cerned their souls." Through his indefatigable zeal, not a few were " convinced of their sinfulness." This encouraged him to establish regular meetings for religious conversation in other places. Such was the commencement of those private societies which have ever since so peculiarly distinguished the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists from every other denomina- METHODISTS. 219 tion of professing Christians. In 1727, Mr. Harris was invited by a wealthy gentleman in Radnorshire to preach in his house ; and many persons of the highest respectability in the neighbourhood went to hear him. The fervour and deep solemnity of his appeals could not fail to interest them, and they treated him with great kindness. Up to this period he had continued to superintend the school, although he preached, not only on Sundays and on holidays, but almost every evening of the week. An outcry was, after a short time, raised against him ; and he was forbidden to interfere with the school at the parish church. This prohibition " turned out for good," as he could now go from home, and "lift up his voice for the truth," wherever he found an open- ing. It was no uncommon thing for him to preach three, four, and even five times in a day. In proportion to his success was the violence with which he was opposed. The magistrates threatened to punish him ; the clergy preached against him ; and the rabble was generally prepared to disturb him with hideous noises, and to pelt him. At this time he was not accustomed to preach from any text: he " merely delivered to the people what the Lord at the instant gave him to say," and he generally delivered it " in a thundering and convincing manner." The cause which he had at heart so greatly flourished, that by 1739, three or four years after the commencement of liis public labours, he had established about three liundred societies in Soutli 220 METHODISTS. Wales. Such is said to have been the statement which he made to Mr. Whitfield, when he met that laborious preacher at Cardiff, on the 8th of March, in the same year. Though these celebrated men were acquainted with each other by report, and by epistolary correspondence, they had never seen each other before. This interview was the means of greatly enlivening and rejoicing the spirits of both. The first minister of the established church who ventured beyond her precincts, to co-operate with Mr. Harris, was the Rev. Daniel Rowlands, of Llangeitho, in Cardiganshire. So captivating was his eloquence, and such his popularity, that persons have been known to travel the distance of one hundred miles to hear him preach, " on the Sabbath of his administering the Lord's Supper." Several other clergymen soon afterwards left the communion of the established church, and attached themselves to the Methodists. Among them were the Rev. William Williams and the Rev. Peter Williams, in Carmar- thenshire, and the Rev. Howel Davies, in Pem- brokeshire. Mr. William Williams is said to have been the first of the clergy who altogether seceded fromthe communion of the Church of England, during this revival. He had been three years in deacon's orders, and the bishop refused to ordain him priest, on account of his disorderly preaching in unconsecrated places. These zealous men became itinerants through the whole country ; and many others came forward to exhort the people. Some of them possessed extra- ordinary strength of mind, and were unwearied in METHODISTS. 221 their labours; others preached now and then as favourable opportunities presented themselves. Thus " the country was greatly moved." Tliis awakening proved the means, not only of establishing a new class of Christian professors in Wales, but of re- animating the old sects; for although there were ministers of distinguished piety and usefulness in the Principality, yet a torpor and listlessness in spiritual concerns had, to a great degree, crept over every denomination. In the year 1742, ten ministers of the Church of England had enrolled themselves as auxiliaries in this revival. The first chapel of the Welsh Calvinistic Metho- dists, was erected in 1747, at Builth, in Radnorshire. In the course of the following year, two others were erected in Carmarthenshire. The cause advanced with rapidity in all directions throughout South Wales ; but in North Wales the progress of Methodism was for several years very much impeded by the persecu- tion that was raised against the earnest and spirit- stirring ministry of the irregular preachers. In 1783, however, the Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bala, who had been a diligent clergyman of the established church for seven years, united himself to the Methodists. There was no object about which he was more zealousthan theeducation of his countrymen. It has been said that when he began his labours, not one in twenty of the common people could read the Holy Scriptures. He established schools, in which the Welsh language was taught, over a widely ex- tended district around his own residence, he having 222 METHODISTS. previously instructed the teachers. These teachers were transferred from one place to another, till at length there was found a sufficient number of persons competent to the superintendence of Sunday-schools in all parts of the country. Mr. Charles procured a printing press, and had a printing office at Bala, for the purpose of supplying his schools with elementary books, and the people in general with treatises on religious subjects. From his proposal to form a society for distributing the sacred volume more generally throughout Wales, the British and Foreign Bible Society dates its origin. Indeed it may be truly said of Mr. Charles, that he was, in his life-time, the highly honoured instrument of reforming many from a thoughtless and stupid life, to a life of serious consideration and earnestness in duty ; from worldly- mindedness to a solemn interest about the concerns of eternity; and from grossly sinful dispositions and habits to those of Christian piety and goodness. To his zeal, so fervent and so untiring, the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Connexion may attribute much of the harmonious union, and much of the prosperity by which it is now distinguished. A very large meeting was held at Bala, June 9th, 1790, when rules were adopted for conducting the quarterly meetings of the " preachers and leaders " constituting the North AYales Association; and on these rules the church government of the denomina- tion is founded. In 1801, Rheolau Dysgyblaethol, — The Rules of Discipline — were first published ; and in 1811, regulations to the following effect, drawn METHODISTS. 223 up by a committee, in which Mr. Charles presided, were unanimously sanctioned by the whole Con- nexion. "The number of clergymen of the established church, who minister in our Connexion, being in- sufficient to administer the ordinances and sacraments in our several churches, which are now so rapidly multiplying — the great inconvenience which is being felt among the Welsh churches, which exists in some towns in England, by not having any to administer the sacraments to them, and other reasons which we might mention, render it proper and necessary, — " 1. That a certain number of preachers, in the several churches, be ordained to assist the clergy who now officiate in the Connexion, in the adminis- tration of the ordinances. " 2. That we judge it proper that the elder preachers of the Connexion be first chosen to the work, who have given satisfactory proofs of faithful- ness, sobriety, sincerity, piety, and suitableness to the work. " 3. That as the apostle exhorts Timothy to lay hands suddenly on no man, no person ought to be selected for the purpose already mentioned, without the Connexion having had proof of his ministry and conduct for at least five years." 4. Directs that those who have received this appointment consult together once a year, at a monthly meeting, whether it be necessary to make an addition to their number. 5. Directs that the choice of the committee be 224 METHODISTS. reported and approved of by the general committee of the body at their quarterly meeting. " 6. That no preacher, who shall be chosen and set apart by the body, view himself as belonging to one branch of it more than to another ; but that all, according to the present mode, administering the ordinances to every branch, as opportunity occurs, or as a call may be made for their services." 7th. Directs that the number be increased in pro- portion to the increase of the body. 8. Directs that they be set apart in a solemn manner, though the laying on of hands is not to be deemed essential. 9. Directs that the Lord's Supper be administered " without imposing any strict rules regarding doubt- ful and controversial matters." " 10. That those who are ordained be at liberty to administer the two ordinances, Baptism and the Lord's Supper." These regulations having been adopted in South as well as in North Wales, were soon carried into effect. On June 19th, 1811, eight brethren were ordained at Bala to administer the ordinances. In the month of August following, thirteen others were ordained at Llandilo-fawr, in Carmarthenshire, to assist the clergy who had united themselves to the body in South Wales. The Calvinistic Methodists had existed in Wales, as a separate religious body, upwards of eighty years, before they found it necessary either to put forth a detailed Confession of Faith, or to frame what may METHODISTS. 225 be termed a regular and well-considered system of church government. At the associations held at Bala and Aberystwith, in 1823, it was unani- mously agreed that a Confession of Faith should be adopted and published. This Confession is so full and so circumstantial, that we may regard it as being in itself a digest or body of divinity. It comprehends the following articles, each of them supported and illustrated by a large number of Scripture references. 1. Of the Being of God. 2. Of the Holy Scriptures. 3. Of the Attributes of God. 4. Of the Persons of the Trinity. 5. Of the Decrees of God. 6. Of the Creation. 7. Of the Providence of God. 8. Of Man in his original State of Innocence. 9. Of the Covenant of Works. 10. Of the Fall of Man and Original Sin. 11. Of the State of J\Ian by Nature. 12. Of the Election by Grace. 13. Of the Eternal Covenant of Grace. 14. Of the Power of the Father, and the work which is attributed to him in the Plan of Salvation. 15. Of the Person of Christ the Mediator. 16. Of the Offices of the Mediator. 17. Of the Humilia- tion and Exaltation of Christ. 18. Of Redemption. 19. Of the Intercession of Christ. 20. Of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. 21. Of the Necessity of the Holy Spirit's work in applying Salvation. 22. Of the Calling of the Gospel. 23. Of Union with Christ. 24. Of Justification. 25. Of Adoption. 26. Of Regeneration. 27. Of Sanctification. 28. Of Saving Faith and its Effects. 29. Of Repent- ance unto Life. 30. Of the Moral Law. 31. Of 226 METHODISTS. Good Works. 32. Of Peace of Conscience. 33. Of Assurance of Hope. 34. Of Perseverance in Grace. 35. Of the Church. 36. Of Church Com- munion. 37. Of the Ordinances of the Gospel. 38. Of Baptism. 39. Of the Lord's Supper. 40. Of Obedience to the Civil Government. 41. Of Death and the State of Man after Death. 42. Of the Resurrection. 43. Of the General Judgment. 44. Of the Eternal State of the Righteous and the Unrighteous. No preachers can he more rigid and uncompromis- ing than those of the Calvinistic Methodists in their adherence to all the peculiar doctrines of the Genevan reformer ; at the same time they never fail to enforce the indispensable necessity of personal religion. They dwell with much earnestness on the difficulty of restraining the desires, appetites, and passions, that lay waste and destroy the intellectual and moral nature. They warn the Christian professor that he will have his battles to fight with the love of self, and the love of a sinful world, imploring him not to let his reso- lution faint or his spirit rest, until the throne of God, the ascendancy of holy principles, is established within him. Having secured this point, they are fond of setting before the true believer his privileges, and of fixing his contemplations on that crown of glory which is his certain inheritance, and which will never fade away. The preachers are chosen from among the most exemplary and the most approved members. A serious, devotional spirit is the chief recommenda- METHODISTS. 227 tion ; in addition to this they must be able to speak so as to edify their hearers. After a long term of trial as preachers, those in each county who are thought to possess the best qualifications, are set apart to baptise the children of their communicants, and to administer the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. They are not permanently settled with any particu- lar congregation, but change the scene of their labours every Lord's Day ; and when the public services are over, they receive a small remuneration, about enough to pay their travelling expenses. It is difficult to form an estimate of the numerical strength of this denomination of Christians, as they have themselves taken no trouble to ascertain it. The following statement is the result of careful inquiry: — Ministers, 110; Preachers, 300; Cha- pels about 600; Members about 72,000; Sunday- scholars and attendants, about 130,000 — making in all, 202,410. Besides their societies in Wales, they have two chapels in Liverpool, one in Manchester, one in Chester, one in Shrewsbury, one in Bristol, and two in London. In all these the services are conducted in the Welsh language. Among professing Christians in Wales, the Cal- vinistic Methodists are the most strenuous advocates of total abstinence from intoxicating drink. Their zeal on this point has already ejQfected an extraordi- nary change from one end of the Principality to the other. They had not existed as a distinct community q2 2'2S METHODISTS. above eight or ten years, before the singular practice of jumping at the time of religious worship and instruction began to steal in among them, especially in the western parts of the country. This extrava- gance has never been recognised in their articles of faith, nor has it been enjoined, or specifically encou- raged by their leaders. In fact it is not confined to the Calvinistic Methodists ; but it has been so pre- valent among them, that the name of " Jumpers " has in consequence, without much regard to pre- cise verbal accuracy, been given to the body. The truth is, that some of the most zealous and energetic of the preachers occasionally rouse in their hearers a kind of physical affection, which is at once peculiar and contagious, and which is believed by such as experience it to be the supernatural work of God. The persons in whom it first shows itself are those who, from natural temperament, or from extraordi- nary circumstances, are most easily alarmed, the young, the illiterate, and the timid. The necessity of a total and immediate change of character is urg-ed upon them ; the terrors of an offended God are por- trayed in glowing language; and the certainty of everlasting condemnation is denounced against all who do not awake from their vain trust in any acquired goodness of their own. The whisperings of conscience are in harmony with the warnings of the preacher. The result is what might be ex- pected. This state of mind continues but for a short time when, as it were at once, a ray of heavenly hope darts into the soul, and ere long, cries and METHODISTS. 229 groans are exchanged for shouts of exultation, and songs of praise. It was no uncommon thing, some few years ago, for individuals who were thus excited to vociferate, again and again, " Gogoniant ! Gogo- niant !" — that is, Glory ! Glory ! — and to jump till their strength was quite worn out, and they fell upon the earth. The example of David is quoted as a Scripture precedent, 2 Sam. vi. 16, " The king of Israel danced and leaped before the Lord." In vin- dication of the practice, we are also referred to Job xxxviii. 7, Ezra iii. 11, Luke xii. 37, 39; and in Luke, vi. 23, our Lord himself uses the words, " Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy." It ought in justice to be observed, that the more enlightened and judicious of the Connexion disap- prove of such proceedings. They see reason to fear that " strange fire " is sometimes mingled with the holy flame which has been kindled on the altar of the heart, and through their influence these excesses are upon the decline. The zeal of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists in religious duties, as well as in the religious instruction of their children, entitles them to great respect. The following letter may explain more fully some of their habits as a body of Christian professors. Carnarvon, September 13, 1833. My dear Sir, On Tuesday, "Wednesday, and Thursday, par- ticularly on Thursday, in this week, the streets of Carnarvon were, at intervals, completely throgned with men and women of respectable appearance, who 230 METHODISTS. visited the town from all quarters, and many of them from a distance of ten, twenty, thirty and forty miles, to be present at the Annual Association of Calvinistic Methodists, by far the largest and most flourishing sect in the northern counties of Wales. For several days before, the wind had been boisterous, and the rain had come down in torrents ; but during Wednes- day and Thursday, the sky was cloudless and serene : and this circumstance must have contributed not a little to the pleasure of those who attended the meet- ing. In the afternoon of Wednesday, and throughout the whole of Thursday, with short intermissions, there were religious services in a spacious field, on a beautiful acclivity, at the foot of Twthill *. Nearly all the ministers in the Connexion were present. It was easy to discern among them their aged but still laborious " father in the gospel," the Rev. John Elias, This worthy man, possessing great natural strength of mind, has made himself familiarly acquainted with the windings and intricacies of the human heart, and is able to exhibit what he conceives to be the doctrines and requirements of religion with a clearness and an energy that are all his own. Who- ever has once seen him in the pulpit, though he may not have comprehended the meaning of a single word that fell from his lips, will not soon forget him. His manner is distinguished by a rare union of artlessness, dignity, and grace ; and his addresses are always heard with an anxiety as deep and as untiring as if he spoke * A commauding eminence at the north-eastern approach to Carnarvon. METHODISTS. 231 under the influence of a prophet's or an apostle's in- spiration. So popular is he throughout AY ales, that were it announced in any considerable town, even at midnight, that he was about to preach, he would, within half an hour, have a thousand hearers. It is no uncommon thing, when he preaches on a week- day, whether in the morning, at noon or in the even- ing, for the shutters and doors of shops to be closed, the masters, and their wives, children and servants, having all left their ordinary occupations, and betaken themselves to chapel. Mr. Elias's w^hole soul is in his work ; and he is said to have been the honoured in- strument of " turning many to righteousness." But I must remember that I sat down to furnish you with brief notices of a public meeting, and not to sketch the character of an individual. The congregations in the open air, on AYednesday and Thursday, frequently consisted of from twelve to thirteen thousand persons, all conducting themselves with perfect decorum, and apparently joining in the worship, and listening to the discourses of the several preachers with the most solemn interest. The pulpit, if such it must be called, was a caravan, having a raised covering of sail-cloth and an opening in front, where a quarto Bible and a hymn-book were placed upon a neat little desk. Its situation was such, to- wards the low^er side of the field, that the speaker was distinctly visible from nearly every point. A sabbath stillness pervaded the amazing crowd ; for all seemed to feel that they had a personal concern in the occasion which had brouorht them too^ether. Here and there 232 METHODISTS. might be observed an attentive auditor, more technical and precise perhaps, but not more earnest, than those around him, with a small Bible in his hand, the leaves of which he occasionally turned over, to search out and verify the qiuotations of the minister. The natural scenery that presents itself from the field embraces the mighty Snowdonian range of mountains, "so sha- dowy, so sublime;" and there was in this and in almost every other concomitant a charm that gave to all parts of the solemnity, and to the psalmody above all the rest, an indescribable effect. On such a spot, verse after verse, as sung out by such a multitude of voices, now soft and plaintive, now louder and louder yet, and at last dying away in distant echoes, — " The strain returning, and still, still returning, Oh, it was sad as sweet, and, ere it closed, Came like a dirge*." No man, I think, who is not lost to the nobler emotions of the heart, could stand amidst the vast assembly, and contemplate what was passing, without a religious awe. Even to minds ignorant of the language in which the service was conducted, the thrilling truths could not fail to occur, that in a few short years every one present, the best, the happiest, the youngest, will have vanished from the earth, and that " as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Indeed, there is nothing in language that can convey to those who were not eye-witnesses of the spectacle an adequate conception of its grandeur. At night, there were crowded meetings for prayer * Rose IS 's Italy. METHODISTS. 233 and exhortation, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, at the houses of the leading members of the society in different parts of the town. Many, there cannot be a doubt, returned from this anniversary to their respective homes with improved resolutions and with brighter hopes ; and oh ! that the day may be drawing near when the God of love shall show them, whatever be their age or their worldly condition, all the glorious wonders of his name, and open their believing hearts to the full influences of the pure truth as it is in Jesus ! The following is the order of the public services. It may well surprise the reader who has never visited the Principality, especially when he is told that not a single discourse occupied less than an hour, and that the length of the prayers was in proportion. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, FOUR O'CLOCK. Prayer. — Rev. D. Davies, Tregolwyn. Sermons. — Revs. J. Jones, Ruthin, Heb. x. 12. D. Roberts, Swansea, Ezek. xi. 19, 20. THURSDAY MORNING, SIX o'cLOCK. Prayer. — Rev. F. Evans, Machynlleth. Sermons. — Revs. D. Williams, Trevecca, Isa. liii. 10. D. Hughes, Nantgaredig, Acts xxvi. 20. TEN o'clock. Prayer. — Rev. R. Humphreys, DyfFryn. Sermons, — Revs. E. Richard, Tregaron, Isa. xxviii. 16. J. Elias, Llangefni, James i. 21. AFTERNOON, TWO o'cLOCK. Prayer. — Rev. J. Edwards, Berthengron. Sermons. — Revs. Harris, Brecon, Isa. xl. 6 — 8. W. Morris, South Wales, Ps. cvii. 7. 234 METHODISTS. SIX o'clock. Prayer. — Rev. E. Richards, Tregaron. Sermons. — Revs. R. Havard, Brecon, Eph. i. 5. R. Jones, Bala, 2 Sam. iii. 24. FRIDAY MORNING, SIX o'CLOCK. Prayer.— Rqv. E. Price, Oswestry. Sermons. — Revs. E. Griffitli, Montgomery, Luke xiii. 6. R. Roberts, Denbigh, Acts iii. 19. Private meetings were holden in the spacious Pen-yr-allt chapel, on Wednesday, at ten o'clock in the morning, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, and on Thursday at nine o'clock in the morning. These meetings were numerously attended by minis- ters and elders. Several topics of great importance to the Society were brought under consideration, and treated it is said withability, and in a truly Christian spirit. All who were present received comfort and edification, and it was their fervent prayer that the same happy influence might diffuse itself through all the churches in the Connexion. I received an obliging note from one of the elders, of course a Welshman, whom I had requested to favour me with a list of the preachers. It contains a paragraph which I shall transcribe word for word, and which is extremely national and charac- teristic : — " The inhabitants of Carnarvon, the different de- nominations of Christians without exception, have been kind indeed on this momentous and interesting occasion. The public-houses were conducted with such consistency and regularity that a stranger could UNIVERSALISTS. 235 not distinguish them from private ones, except because they had signs. Setting aside religious considerations, it adds much to the character of our countrymen, that when such dense multitudes of them meet together, they behave themselves with such order and propriety. May the gospel of a truth be the power of God with them ! " I shall only add that the attendants are said to have been more in number than on any previous occasion of the kind. Believe me to be, my dear Sir, Your ever affectionate friend, James Hews Bransby. UNIVERSALISTS. The UniversalistSy properly so called, are those who believe that, as Christ died for all, so, before he shall have delivered up his mediatorial kingdom to the Father, all shall be brought to a participation in the benefits of his death, and be restored to holi- ness and felicity. Their scheme is thought to be a reconciliation of the tenets of Calvinism and Armi- nianism. It unites the leading doctrines of both, as far as they are found in the Scriptures. From this union, some of its advocates assert, the sentiment of universal restoration naturally follows, in opposition to the almost universally received doctrine of the eterniti/ of hell torments. They reason thus: — "TheArminian proves from 236 UiSI VERBALISTS. Scripture, that God is love ; that he is good to all ; that his tender mercy is over all his works ; that he gave his Son for the world ; that Christ died for the world — even for the whole world ; and that God will have all men to be saved. " The Calvinist proves also from Scripture, that God is without variableness or shadow of turning ; that his love, like himself, alters not ; that the death of Christ will be efficacious towards all for whom it was intended ; that God will perform all his pleasure, and that his counsel shall stand. The union of these scriptural principles is the final restoration of all men. "Taking the principles of the Calvinists and Arminians separately, we find the former teaching, or at least inferring, that God doth not love all ; but that lie made the greater part of men to be endless monuments of his wrath : — the latter declaring the love of God to all, but admitting his final failure of restoring the greater part. The God of the former is great in power and wisdom, but deficient in good- ness, and capricious in his conduct — who that views the character can sincerely love it ? The God of the latter is exceedingly good, but deficient in power and wisdom — who can trust such a being? If, there- fore, both Calvinists and Arminians love and trust the Deity, it is not under the character which their several systems ascribe to him, but they are con- strained to hide the imperfections which their views cast upon him, and boast of a God, whose highest glory their several schemes will not admit," The Universalists teach the doctrine of election, UNIVERSALTSTS. 237 but not in the exclusive Calvinistic sense of it : they suppose that God has chosen some for the good of all ; and that his final purpose towards all, is intimated by his calling his elect the first born and the first fruits of his creatures, " which,'' say they, " implies that there are other branches of his family, and that there will be a future in-gathering of the harvest of mankind." They teach also, that the righteous shall have part in the first resurrection, shall be blessed and happy, made priests and kings to God and to Christ in the millennial kingdom, and that over them the second death shall have no power ; that the wicked will receive a punishment proportioned to their crimes ; that punishment itself is a remedial work, and founded upon mercy ; consequently, that it is a means of humbling, subduing, and, finally, reconciling the sinner to God. They add, that the words rendered everlastings eterncU^for ever^ and /or ever and ever, in the Scrip- tures, are frequently used to express the duration of things that have ended, or must end ; and if it be contended that these words are sometimes used to express pro^Mr eternity, they answer, that then the subject with which the words are connected, must determine the sense of them ; and as there is nothing in the nature of future punishment which can indi- cate that it must necessarily be endless, they infer that the above words ought always to be taken in a limited sense, when connected with the infliction of misery. 238 UNIVERSALISTS. The Universalists have to contend, on the one hand, with such as hold the eternity of future misery, and on the other, with those who teach that destruc- tion or extinction of being will be the final lot of the wicked. In answer to the latter, they say, " that before we admit that God is under the necessity of striking any of his rational creatures out of being, we ought to pause and inquire — " Whether such an act is consistent with the scriptural character of the Deity, as possessed of all possible wisdom, goodness, and power ? " Whether it would not contradict many parts of Scripture ; such, for instance, as speak of the resti- tution of all things— the gathering together of all things in Christ — the reconciliation of all things to the Father, by the blood of the cross — the destruc- tion of death," &c. These texts, they think, are opposed equally to endless misery, and to final destruction. Be it asked also, " Whether those who will be finally destroyed are not in a worse state, through the mediation of Christ, than they would have been w^ithout it? This question is founded on a position of the friends of destruction, viz., that extinction of being, without a resurrection, would have been the only punishment of sin, if Christ had not become the resurrection and the life to men. Consequently, the resurrection and future punishment spring from the system of mediation : but, they ask, is the justification to life, which came upon all men in Christ Jesu?, nothing more than a resurrection to endless death to millions ? UNIVERSALISTS. '2S9 " Whether the word destruction will warrant such a conclusion ? It is evident that destruction is often used in Scripture to signify a cessation of present existence only, without any contradiction of the pro- mises that relate to a future universal resurrection. They think, therefore, that they ought to admit a universal restoration of men, notwithstanding the future destruction which is threatened to sinners * : because, say they, the Scripture teaches both." They think that the doctrine of destruction, in the above acceptation of it, includes two considerable difficulties. The Scriptures uniformly teach degrees of punishment, according to transgression ; but does extinction of being admit of this ? Can the greatest of sinners be more effectually destroyed than the least ? Again, we are taught that however inscrut- able any part of the divine conduct may appear in the present state, yet justice will be clear and decisive in its operations hereafter ; but the doctrine of de- struction, in their judgment, does not admit of this, — for what is the surprising difference between the moral character of the worst good man, and that of the best bad man, that the portion of the one should be endless life, and that of the other endless death ? " They suppose the universalist doctrine to be most consonant to the perfections of the Deity — most worthy of the character of Christ, as the mediator ; and that the Scriptures cannot be made consistent * See Vidler's " Notes on Winchester's Dialogues on the Restoration," 4tli edition, p. 176. 240 UNIVERSALISTS. with themselves upon any other plan. They teach that ardent love to God, peace, meekness, candour, and universal love to men, are the natural result of their views." This doctrine is not of modern date. Origen, a Christian father, who lived in the third century, wrote in favour of it. St. Augustin, of Hippo, mentions some divines in his day who held it, and whom he calls the merciful doctors. It was main- tained by the German Baptists, even before the Reformation. The people called Tunkers, in America, descended from the German Baptists, mostly profess it. The Mennonites, in Holland, have long held it. About the latter end of the seventeenth century. Dr. llust, Bishop of Dromore, in Ireland, published " A Letter of Resolutions concernins: Orisen, and the chief of his Opinions," in which he favoured the universal doctrine, as held by Origen ; and Mr. Jeremiah "White wrote a work in favour of the same sentiments soon afterwards. The Chevalier Ramsay? in his elaborate treatise on the " Philosophical Prin- ciples of Natural and Revealed Religion," espouses it. Arclibishop Tillotson, in one of his sermons, supposes future punishment to be of limited duration; as does Dr. Burnet, master of the Charter-house, in his book on the state of the dead. But the writers of late years, who have defended the subject most fully, are Dr. Newton, Bishop of Bristol, in his " Dissertations ;" IMr. Stonehouse, Rector of Islington ; Dr. Chauncy, of Boston, in America ; Dr. Hartley, in his profound work " on UNI VERS ALISTS. 241 Man;" Mr. Purvis, of Edinburgh ; Mr. Elhanan Winchester, in his " Dialogues on Universal Resto- ration." Further information may be found in a critical work, entitled, " An Essay on the Duration of a Future State of Punishment and Rewards," by the late Rev. John Simpson, of Bath, who wrote several practical works in illustration of Christianity. Dr. Estlin published some "Discourses on Universal Restoration," founded on the Apostle's declaration, God is love. It has been observed that Dr. Williams in his Notes to Dr. Doddridge's Lectures, although he is an advocate for the doctrine of eternal punishment, gives up all the texts usually brought forward in support of that opinion, having in them the terms " eternal, everlasting, for ever," because, as these words bear various meanings, they are not to be considered as proving the doctrine ! The amiable Dr. Watts thus expresses himself: — " If the blessed God should at any time, in consistence with his glorious and incom- prehensible perfections, release those wretched crea- tures suffering future punishment, from their acute pains and long imprisonment, I think I ought cheer- fully to accept this appointment of God for the good of millions of my fellow- creatures, and add my joys and praises to all the songs and triumph of the heavenly world, in the day of such a divine and glorious release of these prisoners. This will indeed be such a new, such an astonishing and universal jubilee, both for evil spirits and wicked men, a 242 DESTRUCTIONISTS. must fill heaven, earth, and even hell, with joy and hallelujahs !" The doctrine of Final Restitution is defended with much ability in a work entitled, " Illustrations of the Divine Government, tending to show that every- thing is under the direction of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, and will terminate in the production of Universal Purity and Happiness." By T. South- wood Smith, M.D. The reader is also referred to a most interesting volume, published anonymously, by a Scotch gentle- man, — "Letters on the Nature and Duration of Future Punishment; with an Introduction and Notes." Longman, 1835. " If," said a friend, " the doctrine maintained in these pages were false, Oh, God would not be what this bright And glorious universe of his, The world of beauty, goodness, light, And endless love proclaims he is." DESTRUCTIONISTS. Between the system of restoration and the system of endless misery, there is a middle hypothesis. The Final Destruction of the wicked after tliey shall have suffered the punishment due to their crimes, is the doctrine which some theologians have adopted. They say that it is unequivocally taught in the sacred volume that the nature of future punishment, which the New Testament terras death, settles the meaning DESTRUCTIONISTS. 243 of the words " everlasting, eternal, for ever," as denot- ing endless duration, because no law ever did inflict or ever can inflict the punishment of death for a limited period ; that the punishment cannot be corrective, because no man was ever put to death, either to convince his judgment or to reform his conduct ; that if the wicked receive a punishment proportioned to their crimes, their deliverance is to be attributed neither to the mercy of God, nor to the mediation of Jesus Christ, but is an act of absolute justice; and finally, that the mediatorial kingdom of Jesus Christ will never be delivered up, since the Scripture asserts, that of " his kingdom there shall be no end." Those who maintain these sentiments respecting the destruction of the wicked, are charged with espousing the doctrine of annihilation ; but they deny that such is the fact, alleging that, philosophi- cally speaking, there can be no annihilation, and that " destruction" is the express phrase used in the New- Testament. The Rev. Samuel Bourne of Norwich ; the Rev. John Palmer, of Broad-street, London ; Mr. Marson, also of London, and the Rev. John Rowe of Bristol, were among tlie most strenuous supporters of this scheme. r2 244 SABBATARIANS. The Sabbatarians are a body of Christians who keep the seventh day as the Sabbath, and are to be found principally, if not wholly, among the Baptists. The common reasons which lead Christians to observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath, are, that on this day Christ rose from the dead ; that on this day the apostles assembled, preached, and administered the Lord's Supper ; and that this day has been kept by the church for several ages, if not from the time when Christianity was originally pro- mulgated. The Sabbatarians, however, think these reasons unsatisfactory, and assert that the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the w^eek ; was effected by Constantine, upon his conver- sion to the Christian religion. The following proj)ositions contain a summary of their views : 1st, That God hath required the observance of the seventh, or last day in every week, to be kept by mankind universally as the weekly sabbath ; 2ndly, That this command of God is bind- ing on man till time shall be no more ; 3rdly, That this sacred rest of the seventh -day Sabbath is not, by divine authority, changed from the seventh and last to the first day of the week, or that the Scripture nowhere requires the observance of any other day of the week for the weekly sabbath, but the seventh day only. There are two congregations of Sabbatarians in London ; one General Baptists, meeting in Mill- yard, Goodmans-Fields ; the other. SABBATARIANS. 245 Particular Baptists, meeting in Eldon- street, Fins- bury. Mr. Morse informs us that there are many Sab- batarians in America. " Some," says he, " in Rhode Island observe the Jewish, or Saturday Sabbath, from a persuasion that it was one of the ten com- mandments, which they plead are all in their nature moral, and were never abrogated in the New Testa- ment ; though, on the contrary, others of them believe it originated at the time of the Creation, in the command given to Adam by the Creator him- self." See Genesis, chap. ii. 3. "At New Jersey there are three congregations of the Seventh Day Baptists ; and at Ephrata, in Pennsylvania, there is one conorreoration of them called Tunkers. There are likewise a few Baptists who keep the seventh day as holy time, who are the remains of the Keithean, or Quaker Baptists." This tenet has given rise to controversies, and writers of ability have appeared on both sides of the question. Mr. Cornthwaite, a minister among them, about the year 1740, published several tracts, which ought to be consulted by those who wish to obtain satisfaction on the subject. We may also refer to Dr. Chandler's two " Dis- courses on the Sabbath," Mr. Amner's " Dissertation on the Weekly Festival of the Christian Church," Dr. Kennicott's " Sermon and Dialogue on the Sabbath," Mr. S. Palmer's treatise on the " Nature and Obligation of the Cj^ristian Sabbath," and Dr. An Apology for the Sabbath," 246 MORAVIANS. The Moravians are supposed to have arisen under Nicholas Lewis, Count of Ziuzendorf, a German nobleman, who died 1760. They were also denomi- nated Herrnhutters^ from Herrnhut, the village where they were first settled. The followers of Count Zinzendorf are called Moravians, because the first converts to his system were some Moravian families: the society themselves, however, assert that they are descended from the old Moravian and Bohemian Brethren, w^ho existed as a distinct sect sixty years before the Reformation. They also style themselves Unitas Fratrum, or the United Bi'ethren ; and, in general, profess to adhere to the Augsburgh Confession of Faith. When the first Reformers were assembled at Augsburgh, in Germany, the Protestant princes employed Melancthon, a divine of great learning and moderation, to draw up a confession of their faith, expressed in terms as little offensive to the Roman Catholics as a regard to truth would permit. And this creed, from the place in which it was presented, is called the " Confession of Augsburgh." It is not easy to state precisely the tenets of the Moravians. Opinions and practices have been attributed to them which they disavow. They are anxious, on all occasions, to testify their reverence of Jesus Christ. They are much attached to instrumental, as well as vocal music ; some of theij religious services consist entirely of singing. It is their practice to form MORAVIANS. 247 themselves into classes, according to sex, age, and character. Tv/o texts of Scripture are appointed for each day, to furnish subjects of meditation throughout the year. The services for ordination and the mode of celebrating the Lord's Supper are peculiarly solemn. In their chapels they have no reading-desk or pulpit ; instead of pews, they have moveable benches. The women sit on one side of the chapel, and the men on the other. The minister wears neither gown nor band, and the congregation sits in singing. Their burying-grounds are generally divided into two portions by a neat walk ; the ofraves of the men are on one side and those of the women on the other, each grave being designated by a flat square stone. There are several private schools in different parts of the kingdom conducted by Moravians. In these seminaries many children are educated whose parents do not belong to this very respectable community. Their founder not only manifested his zeal by travelling in person over Europe, but took especial care to send religious teachers into almost every part of the world. To animate their devotion they celebrate agajpce^ or love-feasts, and the casting of lots is used amongst them, to ascertain the will of the Lord. The sole right of contracting marriage lies with the elders. In Mr. Latrobe's edition of " Spangenburgh's Exposition of Christian Doctrine," the principles of the ^Moravians are detailed at length. There is a large community of them at a village near Leeds, 248 MORAVIANS. which excites the curiosity of the traveller, and they have places of worship in various parts of the kingdom. Mr. Rimius published his candid narra- tive of this people, to which Bishop Lavington, who wrote also against the Methodists, replied, in 1755, in his " Moravians Compared and Detected." Mr. Weld, in his " Travels through the United States," { o-ives a curious account of a settlement of Moravians o at Bethlehem, highly honourable to their piety and virtue. The reader may also consult an " Essay on Fanaticism," addressed to the people of his own persuasion, by John Stinstra, translated by Isaac Subremont, of Dublin, 1774. The Moravians have been distinguished for their Missionary efforts: they have been careful to send the arts of life into the uncivilised regions of the earth, and their success in distant lands has been greater than that of most other religious sects. See a " History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America," in three parts, by George Henry Laskiel, translated from the German, by Christian Ignatius Latrobe, 1794. Periodical accounts of their missions are published by the Brethren's Society for the furtherance of the Gospel. Dr. Paley, in his " Evidences of Cliristianity," has this remark : — " After men became Christians, much of their time was spent in prayer and devotion, in religious meetings, in celebrating the eucharist, in conferences, in exhortations, in preaching, in an affectionate intercourse with one another, and corre- spondence with other societies. Perhaps their mode SANDEMANIANS OR GLASSITES. 249 of life, in its form and habit, was not very nnlike tliat of the Unitas Fratrum^ or modern Methodists." The Rev. Mr, Latrohe's " Tour to the Cape of Good Hope and its Vicinity," furnishes a very interesting account of the Moravian mission in that distant land. SANDEMANIANS OR GLASSITES. Sandemanians constitute a modern sect that had its origin in Scotland, about the year 1728, where it is, at this time, distinguished by the name of Glassites, after its founder, Mr. John Glass, a minister of the established church in that kingdom. Mr. Glass was charged with a design of subverting the national covenant, and of sapping the foundation of all national establishments, by maintaining that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world. In consequence he was expelled by the synod from the church of Scotland. His sentiments are fully explained in a tract entitled, " The Testimony of the King of Martyrs." On Mr. Glass's expulsion, his adherents formed themselves into churches that were conformable, in their institu- tion and discipline, to what they believed to be the plan of the first churches recorded in the New^ Testa- ment. Soon after the year 1755, Mr. Robert Sande- man, an elder in one of these churches in Scotland, published " A Series of Letters," to Mr. Hervey, occasioned by his " Theron and Aspasia." In these letters he endeavours to show^, that Mr. Hervey's notion of faith was contradictory to the Scriptures, 250 SANDEMANIANS OR GLASSITES. and could only serve to lead men, professedly holding Calvinistic doctrines, to establish their own righteous- ness upon their frames, feelings, and acts of faith. Mr. Sandeman endeavours to prove that faith is neither more nor less than a simple assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus Christ, who was delivered for the offences of men, and raised again for their justification, as recorded in the New Testament. He also maintains that the word faith, or belief, is constantly used by the apostles to signify what is denoted by it in common discourse, namely, a per- suasion of the truth of any proposition, and that there is no difference between believing any common testimony and believing the apostolic testimony, except that which results from the testimony itself, and the divine authority on which it rests. This led the way to a controversy as to the nature of justifying faith ; and in the end the Sandemanians formed themselves into church order, in strict fellow- ship with the churches of Scotland, but holding no kind of communion with other churches. Mr. Sande- man died in 1772, in America. He was a writer of ability, but a caustic spirit pervades his writings. The chief opinions and practices in which this sect differs from other Christians, are their weekly ad- ministration of the Lord's Supper ; their love -feasts, of which every member is not only allowed, but required to partake, and which consist of their dining together at each other's houses in the interval between the morning and afternoon services ; their " kiss of charity" used on this occasion, at the admis- SANDEMANIANS OR GLASSITES. 251 sion of a new member, and at other times when they deem it necessary and proper; their weekly collec- tion before the Lord's Supper, for supporting the poor, and for defraying otlier expenses; mutual exhortation : abstinence from blood and things strangled ; washing each other's feet, " when, as a deed of mercy, it might be an expression of love;" community of goods, so far as that every one is to consider all that he has in his possession and in his power liable to the calls of the poor and the church ; and the unlawfulness of laying up treasures upon earth, by setting them apart for any distant, future, or uncertain use. They allow of public and private diversions, so far as they are not really sinful ; but apprehending a lot to be sacred, they disapprove of lotteries, playing at cards, and games of chance. They maintain a plurality of elders, pastors, or bishops, in each church, and the necessity of the presence of two elders in every act of discipline, and at the administration of the Lord's Supper. In the choice of these elders, neither want of learning nor employment in worldly business is a sufficient objec- tion, if the individuals be qualified according to the instructions given to Timothy and Titus : second marriages, however, disqualify for the office. The elders are ordained by prayer, fasting, imposition of hands, and giving the right hand of fellowship. In their discipline they are extremely rigorous, and think themselves obliged to separate from the communion and worship of all such religious societies as appear to them not to profess the simple truth as 252 HUTCHINSONIANS. their only ground of hope, and who do not walk in obedience to it. In every transaction they esteem unanimity to be absolutely necessary. See "Letters on Sandemanianism," by the Rev. Andrew Fuller. The Scotch Baptists, in many respects, bear a resemblance to the Sandemanians. The difference between them is accurately drawn by Mr. William Jones, in his " Memoirs of Archibald M'Lean." HUTCHINSONIANS. HuTCHiNSONiANS are the followers of John Hut- chinson, who was born in Yorkshire, 1674, and who, in the eacly part of his life, served the Duke of Somerset in the capacity of steward. He maintained that the Hebrew Scriptures comprise a perfect sys- tem of natural philosophy, theology, and religion. In opposition to Dr. Woodward's " Natural History of the Earth," Mr. Hutchinson, in 1724, published the first part of his curious book, called " Moses Principia." Its second part was presented to the public in 1727. It contains, as he apprehended, the principles of the Scripture philosophy, which are " a plenum and the air." So high an opinion did he entertain of the Hebrew language, that he thought the Almighty must have employed it for the purpose of communicating every species of knowledge, and that accordingly every species of knowledge is to be found in the Old Testament. Of his mode of philo- sophising, the following is a specimen : — " The air HUTcniNsoxiAxs. 233 exists in three conditions, — fire, light, and spirit : the two latter are the finer and grosser parts of the air in motion ; from the earth to the sun, the air is finer and finer till it becomes pure light near the confines of the sun, and fire in the orb of the sun, or solar focus. From the earth towards the circum- ference of this system," in which he includes the fixed stars, " the air becomes grosser and grosser till it becomes stagnant, in which condition it is at the utmost verge of this system, from which the expres- sion of outer darkness^ and hlackness of darkness^ used in the New Testament, seems to be taken." Many distinguished men have been the advocates of Mr. Hutchinson's system of philosophy. Among them may be mentioned the Rev. W. Romaine ; Mr. Parkhurst, the lexicographer ; Mr. Spearman, author of "Letters on the Septuagint ; " Mr. Ramsay, author of " Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion ; " Mr. Pike, author of " Cosmographia Sacra ; " Dr. Hodges, provost of Oriel College, Ox- ford ; Dr. Wetherell, master of University College, Oxford ; Bishop Home ; and the Rev. W. Jones of Nayland. Duncan Forbes, Esq. of Culloden, after- wards lord president of the Court of Session in Scotland, was one of the ablest illustrators of Hut- chinsonianism. Lord Woodliouselee remarks of him, that " he was in all respects one of the most eminent men of his time *." The Hutchinsonians have never formed themselves into any distinct church or society. * Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Kaiaies. 254 SHAKERS. A CLASS of Christian professors, bearing this deno- mination, is found in the United States of America. Their tenets are described at great length in a closely- printed volume of six hundred and sixty-six pages, entitled, " The Testimony of Christ's Second Appear- ing, containing a General Statement of all Things pertaining to the Faith and Practice of the Church of God in this latter Day. Published by order of the Ministry in union with the Church. Second edition, corrected and improved. Printed at Albany, 1810." The Preface is dated, "Lebanon, Miami Country, State of Ohio." The work is carefully written, but is pervaded by a spirit of mystical obscurity. "As the unlearned," it is observed, " cannot comprehend the learning of the learned, unless they are taught by those that are learned, so neither can the learned or unlearned comprehend the work of God, unless they are taught by those who are in it," Their history of Antichrist is intel- ligible enough, drawn from Mosheim, Lardner, and Robinson's " Ecclesiastical Researches," which they pronounce "a very valuable production." They abhor every kind of persecution. They reject mar- riage, alleoina;, that " in the resurrection there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage ;" that is, as they explain themselves, on tlieir conversion, or spiritual resurrection, they observe the strictest celi- bacy. Tlieir "shaking" is founded on the Pro- phecies of Ezekiel and Isaiah, where the coming of SHAKERS. 255 the ]\Iessiali is to be accompanied by the shakmg of the nations. They are a compound of almost all the other reli- gious sects. They are a kind of spiritual Eclectics^ — with this truly Christian feature, that they are enemies to every species of coercion in matters of religion. They have chosen what appeared to them to be good out of every denomination. The Shakers agree with the Quakers in an entire submission to the Spirit, and in a rejection of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper ; with the Calvinists and Arminians, in insisting on the doctrine of conversion ; with the Arminians, in reject- ing election and reprobation, as well as the imputa- tion of Adam's guilt to his posterity; with the Unitarians, in denying the doctrines of the Trinity, and the satisfaction of Christ ; with the Roman Catholics, in contending for the continuation of miracles in the Church ; with the Sandemanians, in having a kind of community of goods, and in requir- ing no persons to be regularly educated for the ministry ; with the followers of Joanna Southcott, in believing that a woman will be the instrument to bring on the glory of the latter day ; with the Mora- vians, in pre-eminently encouraging missionary under- takings ; with the Swedenborgians, in denying the resurrection of the body, and asserting that the day of judgment is past ; with TTelsh enthusiasts, in jumping and shouting amidst divine worship ; and lastly, with the Universalists, in renouncing the eternity of hell torments ! 256 DUNKERS, OR TUNKERS. The Dunkers derive tbeir name from a German word, which implies their baptising by immersion. Conrad Peysal, a German Baptist, was the founder of the Dunkers about 1724. Being weary of the world, he retired to an agreeable solitude, within fifty miles of Philadelphia, that he might the better give himself up to contemplation. Curiosity brought several of his countrymen to visit his retreat, and by degrees his pious, simple, and peaceable manners induced not a few to settle near him. They formed a little colony of German Baptists, and called it Euphrata^ ov Euphrates^ in allusion to the Hebrews, who used to sing psalms on the border of that river. This little city is in the shape of a triangle, tlie outsides of w^iich are bordered with mulberry and apple trees, planted with great regularity. In the middle is a very large orchard, and between the orchard and these ranges of trees are houses built of wood, three stories high, where every Dunker is left to enjoy the pleasure of his meditations without disturbance. Their number in 1777 did not exceed five hundred, but since that period they have increased. They do not renounce marriage, but when married they detach themselves from the rest, and retire into another part of the country. The Dunkers lament the fall of Adam, but deny the imputation of his sin to his posterity. They use trine immersion, dipping three times, in baptism, and BUNKERS, OR TUNKERS. 257 use laying on of hands when the baptised are received into the church. They dress like Dominican friars, shaving neither head nor beard. They live chiefly on simple roots and vegetables, but at their love- feast they eat mutton. The men live in one set of apartments, and the women in another. Except in case of sickness, they have in their separate cells only a bench to lie upon, and a block of wood for their pillow. They deny the eternity of future punishment — believe that the dead have the Gospel preached to them by our Saviour, and that the souls of the just are employed to preach the Gospel to those who have had no revelation in this life. Their leading tenet is, that future happiness is to be obtained only by penance and outward mortifica- tion ; and that as Jesus Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became the Redeemer of mankind in gene- ral, so each individual of the human race, by a life of abstinence and restraint, may " work out his own salvation." Nay, it is said that they admit of works of supererogation. They use the same form of govern- ment, and the same discipline, as the English Bap- tists, except that every person is allowed to speak in the congregation ; their best speaker is usually ordained to be minister. In addition to their deacons, they have deaconesses, who are chosen from among their ancient widows, who may use their gifts, and exhort at stated times. Mr. Winchester, in his " Dialogues on Restora- tion," gives these religious professors a high character His friend, the Rev. Morgan Edwards, formerly 258 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. minister of the Baptist church at Philadelphia, once said to him, respecting the Dunkers, and he knew them well, " God always will have a visible people on earth, and these are his people at present above any other in the world ! " And in his history of the " Pennsylvanian Baptists," Mr. Morgan observes of them, — " General redemption they certainly hold, and withal general salvation, which tenets, though wrong, are consistent." On account of their meek- ness, and hatred of war and slavery, together with a renunciation of all sorts of violence, they have received the name of " The harmless Dunkers." How happy ought any professors of Christianity to esteem themselves, if they indeed merited such an epithet ! THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. AN AMERICAN SECT. Many persons who a few years ago migrated from Wales to America, adopted the following articles as their religious constitution : 1. The convention shall be called the Christian Church. 2. It shall never be called by any other name, or be distinguished by the particular tenets of any man, or sects of men. 3. Jesus Christ is the only head — believers in him the only members— and the New Testament the only rule of the fraternity. 4. In mental matters, each member shall enjoy his THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 259 own sentiments, and freely discuss every subject ; but in discipline, a strict conformity with the precepts of Christ is required. 5. Every distinct society belonging to this associa- tion shall have the same power of admitting its mem- bers, electing its officers, and in case of mal-conduct, of impeaching them. 6. Delegates from the different congregations shall meet from time to time, at an appointed place, to consult the welfare and advancement of the general interest. 7. At every meeting for religious worship, collec- tions shall be made for the poor, and the promulga- tion of the gospel among the Heathen. This plan originated chiefly with the late Rev. M. J. Rliees, who was a native of Wales, and who dis- tinguished himself in America by his indefatigable activity. He died in the prime of life, December 1804, at Somerset, in Pennsylvania, deeply regretted by his numerous friends and connexions. It was not in religion only that this good man meditated im- provement. On the 4th of July, 1793, the year after his arrival in the United States, he delivered an Oration, at Greenville, Head-quarters of the "Western Army, north-west of the Ohio, with the following animated and truly philanthropic conclusion : — '' The little stone w^hich Nebuchadnezzar saw, smote the image on its feet, ground it to powder, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. So be it speedily ! May the perfect law of liberty sway its sceptre 6f love from the rising to the setting sun — 260 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCn. from the centre of the globe, to the extremities of the Poles ! Citizens and soldiers of America, sons of liberty, it is you that I address ! Banish from your land the remains of slavery. Be consistent with your congressional declaration of rights, and you will be happy. Remember, there never was, and never will be, a period when justice should not be done. Do what is just, and leave the event with God. Justice is the pillar that upholds the whole fabric of human society, and Mercy is the genial ray which cheers and warms the habitations of men. The per- fection of our social character consists in properly tempering the two witli one another — in holding that middle course which admits of our being just, without being rigid, and allows us to be generous, without being unjust. May all the citizens of Ame- rica be found in the performance of such social duties, as will secure them peace and happiness in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Mr. Rhees,on his arrival in America, was patronised by the late Dr. William Rogers, of Philadelphia, with his usual benevolence and amenity. He w&,s also noticed by tlie President Jefferson, who discerned his talents and approved of his zeal. Thougli more particularly connected with a people at Beulah, in the vicinity of tlie Allegany mountains, he travelled as a minister through the United States. Some account of him is given in Benedict's " History of the American Baptists," and in Evans's " Memoirs of Dr. Richards." Had he lived, he would in all MYSTICS. 261 probability have distinguished himself among his Transatlantic brethren, and rendered signal service to his newly- adopted country. But Providence deter- mined otherwise : the fairest prospects were overcast by his sudden and early removal to a better world. MYSTICS. Of this description was Madame Guyon, a French lady of talents, w^ho in her day attracted great attention from all the religious world. Fenelon, the amiable archbishop of Cambray, favoured the senti- ments of this female devotee, and was reprimanded for it by the Pope. To these animadversions he yielded his assent. It is not uncommon for the Mystics to allegorise certain passages of Scripture, while they do not deny the literal sense. They represent these passages to have an allusion to the inw^ard experience of believers. According to them, for example, the word "Jerusalem," which is the name of the capital of Judea, signifies allegorically the church militant ; morally, a believer ; mysteriously, heaven. That fine passage, also, in Genesis, " Let there be light, and there was light," — according to the letter, material light, — signifies, allegorically, beatitude, or the light of glory. Mysticism is not confined to any particular class of Christian pro- fessors, but is to be understood as generally appli- cable to those who dwell upon the inward operations of the mind, laying little or no stress on the outward forms of relidon. 262 MYSTICS. The kind-]\earted Cowper thus expresses himself in a letter to the Rev. William Uiiwin, dated Olney, August 3, 1782. "Mr. Bull, a dissenting minister of Newport Pagnel, a learned, ingenious, good-natured, pious friend of ours, who sometimes visits us, and whom w^e visited last week, has put into my hands three volumes of French poetry, composed by Madame Guyon ; — a quietist, say you, and a fanatic — I will have nothing to do with her. " It is very well — you are welcome to have nothing to do with her ; but in the mean time her verse is the only French verse I ever read that I found agreeable ; there is a neatness in it equal to that which we applaud with so much reason in the compositions of Prior. I have translated several of them, and shall proceed in my translations till I have filled a Lilliputian paper-book I happen to have by me, which when filled I shall present to Mr. Bull. He is her passionate admirer, rode twenty miles to see her picture in the house of a stranger, which stranger politely insisted on his acceptance of it, and it now hangs over his parlour chimney. It is 'a striking portrait, too characteristic not to be a strong resemblance ; and were it encompassed with a glory, instead of being dressed in a nun's hood, might pass for the face of an angel." — Cowper's Works, vol. iv. p. 231, Southey's edit. 263 SWEDENBORGIANS. The Sicedenhorgians are the followers of Baron Emanuel Swedenborg, a - learned Swede, who was born at Stockholm in 1688, and who died in London in 1772. He called himself the founder, under the Lord, of the New Jerusalem Church ; alluding to the New Jerusalem spoken of in the Book of the Revelation of St. John. His tenets, although peculiarly distinct from every other system of divinity in Christendom, are professedly drawn from the Holy Scriptures, and supported by quota- tions from them. He asserts that, " in the year 1743, the Lord manifested himself to him in a personal appearance, and at the same time opened his spiritual eyes, so that he was enabled constantly to see and converse with saints and angels." He shortly afterwards began to print and publish what he says was revealed to him, in reference to heaven and hell, the state of men after death, the worship of God, the spiritual sense of the Scriptures, the various earths in the universe and their inha- bitants, with many other extraordinary particulars, the knowledge of which was, perhaps, never pre- tended to by any other writer before or since his time. He makes the following declaration : " As often as I conversed with angels face to face, it was in their habitations, which are like to our houses on earth, but far more beautiful and magnificent, having rooms, chambers, and apartments in great variety, as 264 SWEDENBOKGIAKS. also spacious courts belonging to them, together with gardens, parterres of flowers, fields, &c., where the angels are formed into societies. They dwell in contiguous habitations, disposed after the manner of our cities, in streets, walks, and squares. I have had the privilege to walk through them, to examine all around about me, and to enter their houses, and this when I was fully awake, having my inward eyes opened." A similar description is given of heaven itself, but the reader may consult the treatise from which this curious extract is made. He denies a trinity of persons in the Godhead, but contends for a divine trinity, in the person of Jesus Christ alone, consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, just like the human trinity in every individual man, of soul, body, and proceeding operation; and he asserts, that, as the latter trinity constitutes one man, so the former trinity constitutes one Jehovah God, who is at once the Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator. On this and other subjects of the same description. Dr. Priestley addressed letters to the members of the New Jerusalem Church, to which there were several replies. Baron Swedenborg believed that the Sacred Scrip- ture contains three direct senses, called by him, celestial^ spiritual^ and natural^ which are united by correspondencies ; and that in each sense it is divine truth, accommodated respectively to the angels of the three heavens, and also to men on earth. This science of correspondencies, it is said, had been lost for some thousands of years, that is, ever since the SWEDENBORGIANS. 265 time of Job, but is now revived by Emanuel Swedenborg, who uses it as a key to the spiritual or internal sense of the Sacred Scripture, every page of which is written by correspondencies, or by such things in the natural world as correspond unto and signify things in the spiritual world. He denies the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice, together with the doctrines of predestination, unconditional election, justification by faith alone, and the resurrection of the material body. In opposition to these doctrines, he holds, that man possesses free-will in spiritual things, that salvation is not attainable without repentance ; in other words, without abstaining from evils, because they are sins against God, and living a life of charity and faith, according to the com- mandments ; that man, immediately on his decease, rises again in a spiritual body, which was inclosed in his material body; and that in this spiritual body he lives as a man to eternity, either in heaven or hell, according to the course of his past life. It is further maintained by Baron Swedenborg and his followers, that all those passages in the Sacred Scripture which are supposed to signify the destruction of the world by fire, must be understood according to the above-mentioned science of corre- spondencies, which teaches that, by the end of the world, or consummation of the age, is not signified the destruction of the world, but the destruction, or end, of the present Christian church, both among Eoman Catholics and Protestants of every description or denomination ; and that the last judgment actu- 266 SWEDENBORGIANS. ally took place in the spiritual world in the year 1757, from which era is dated the second advent of the Lord, and the commencement of a new Christian church, which is the meaning of the new heaven and new earth in the Revelation, and the New Jeru- salem thence descending. Such are the outlines of Baron Swedenborg's principal doctrines, collected from his voluminous writings. His followers use a liturgy in their worship, which, except being much shorter, ap- proaches as nearly to that of the church of England as the difference of doctrines will admit. They likewise introduce a great deal of vocal music, ac- companied by the organ, and the minister's dress is exactly similar to that of the established church. One of the most zealous among the supporters of these doctrines was the late Rev. J. Clowes, Rector of St. John's Church, Manchester. He published an " Affectionate Address," recommending the serious study of Swedenborg's works to his brethren in the ministry. He also formed a society among his friends in Manchester, for the purpose of circulating treatises in defence of the opinions which he had himself embraced. Mr. Clowes continued to preach these doctrines in his own pulpit, until his death, which took place in 1831. A general conference is held annually, to which each congregation sends one, two, or three lay delegates, according to its number ; and of this con- ference all the ministers are members. In Lanca- shire, where the opinions of Baron Swedenborg are THE HALDANITES. 267 most prevalent, the number of recognised members is estimated at between ten and twelve thousand. Three Swedenborgian places of worship are now opened in London : Fryar-street chapel, Blackfriars; the New Jerusalem church, in Dudley-court, Crown- street, Soho ; and Hanover-street chapel, Long Acre. Chapels are likewise established at Bir- mingham, Hull, Manchester, and several other places in the country. In the United States of America, there are about five thousand who belong to this denomination. THE HALDANITES. New sects in religion have been always and every- where spoken against, and tlie name of their leader has been contemptuously fixed upon them. What was at first reproachful, often continues after reproach has ceased, and is found convenient as a term of dis- tinction, though perhaps there never was a man who more disliked such names than the person to whom the term " Haldanite" refers. It is not, however, known that this sect has any other distinguishing appellation. About the year 1797, Robert Haldane, Esq., then of Aithrie, near Stirling, and his brother, Mr. James Haldane, both received serious impressions as to the importance of religion, and soon after resolved upon going to the East Indies in order to plant a Christian colony. With this view Mr. Robert Haldane, the 268 THE HALDANITES. elder brother, sold his beautiful family estate of Aithrie, and procured the consent of the Rev. Greville Ewing, one of the ministers of Lady Glenorchy's chapel at Edinburgh ; of the Rev. William Innes, one of the ministers of Stirling ; and of the Rev, David Bogue, of Gosport, to accompany him. Mr. Ewincr and Mr. Innes had both resio;ned their offices in the Establislied Church, and all necessary arrange- ments were made for their departure, but the East India Company refused permission. Being prevented from carrying his first design into execution, Mr. Haldane now turned his attention towards home, erected a large building for religious worship in Edin- burgh, called the Tabernacle., capable of containing three thousand people, purchased a place built for a circus in Glasgow of nearly the same size, which he converted to the same purpose, and erected a Tabernacle in Dundee of nearly the same dimen- sions. Both he and his brother had already become preachers, but he was himself obliged to desist on account of having burst a blood-vessel. Mr. James Haldane was stationed at Edinburgh, Mr. Ewing at Glasgow, and Mr. Innes at Dundee. Hitherto they considered themselves on terms of communion with the Established Church, but all connexion of this kind was soon broken off". Churches were formed at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee, after the model of the English Independents, and a number of young men were collected and placed under the tuition of Mr. Ewing and Mr. Innes, to be educated for the ministry. THE HALDANITES. 269 These were sent out — places of worship were built in many towns and villages of Scotland — and missionaries were despatched from England, at the sole expense of Mr. Haldane. The new sect had already made a progress somewhat resembling that of the Methodists in England, but it was more rapid than lasting. All the new-formed churches soon began to approximate to the faith and discipline of the Scotch Independents, known as David Dale's people — to the Scotch Baptists, commonly called M'Lean s people, and to the Glassites. These three denomina- tions are, in faith and discipline, very similar. Their creed is Calvinism, somewhat refined indeed, for they have long been accused of heresy by their Calvinistic brethren on both sides of the Tweed. They deny that Scripture is a dead letter ; that Jesus is the eternal Son of God; that there are any mysteries, in the popular acceptation of the word, or mystical senses, or diverse meanings, in the text of Scripture. They assert that faith is merely credence, which is produced by evidence, and that the Holy Spirit never operates, except by means of the written word. They pay much attention to the Scriptures, but little regard to human theological compositions. They believe that the New Testament contains a perfect plan of church government ; that every church ought to have a plurality of elders chosen out of itself ; that the Lord's Supper is to be observed every first day of the week ; that the brethren ought to sit down together on the same day to the love- feast, and salute one another with a holy kiss, according to 270 THE HALDANITES. apostolic commandment ; that contribution is to be made for the poor brethren, all of whom are to be liberally provided for ; that none shall be admitted into their fellowship but by the consent of the whole body ; and that offenders, whether against a brother, or against the faith, or against morality, shall be dealt with first privately, and then publicly, that they may come to repentance, but being obstinate must be put away. This scheme of church order has never been popular in Scotland, though it seemed rather to be gaining ground. The Haldanes soon fell in with it, especially with respect to a plurality of elders, and the duty of the brethren to exhort one another. Everything clerical was considered objectionable ; as the term reverend^ or even minister ; the wearing of black in preference to any other colour ; a connected, well- composed sermon in preference to a plain exhortation to duty, or exposition of Scripture, by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. All this rendered them abundantly unpopular ; besides which, they became Baptists, and it is well known that many people have great aversion to baptism in the form of immersion. Those called Haldanites having passed through many changes, cannot at the present time be distinguished from the old Scotch Baptists, the faith and worship of whom may be seen in a book, entitled " The Commission of Jesus Christ," &c., by Archibald M'Lean. Most of the buildings erected by Mr. Haldane are now appropriated to different purposes, or occupied by other worshippers. FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. 271 Mr. Ewing, Dr. Wardlaw of Glasgow, and Mr. Aikin of Edinburgh, continue on the plan of the English Independents, and are attended by numerous congregations. FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. HoAVEYER singular the principles and practices of any body of men may be, however calculated to alarm the prejudiced, or even to astonish the dispas- sionate, it is the object of this work to represent men and opinions as they are. The title of " Freethinking Christians " has been applied to a society which has regularly assembled together in the heart of the city of London, since the year 1799, as a church of God, and as the disciples of Jesus, acknowledo-inof no other laws for their government as a church, and no other doctrines as matters of the Christian faith, than those which they apprehend to have been promulgated and taught by Jesus and his apostles, of which they consider the writings of the New Testament the only authentic records. The first members of this church had been pre- viously members of the church which then met at Parliament -court Chapel, Bishopsgate-street, and held the doctrine of Universalists. It happened that an individual of that church became convinced of the truth of the doctrine of the divine unity — this conviction extended to others. These men hav- 272 FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. ing embraced what appeared to them an important truth, felt it their duty to submit it to their brethren, and to press its evidences on every suitable occasion upon their attention. It will easily be imagined that, as the church was Trinitarian — as the congregation was Trinitarian, and consequently the pastor Trini- tarian — the pastor would be the first to oppose the growing heresy. They therefore felt it to be their duty to withdraw from a church so constituted ; for as soon as they found themselves wrong on a point of so much im- portance as that of the unity of God, it occurred to them that there might still be many truths which they had yet to learn, and many errors which they had yet to abandon. Accordingly, on November 18^ 1798, the members dissenting from the church of Parliament- court assembled together at the house of ope of the Friends, and drew up a declaration, setting forth the grounds and reasons of their separation from that church. This declaration contains, generally, the motives and reasons of their conduct, and concludes in these words : — "Thus having, in the integrity of our souls, set forth our reasons, we trust we can appeal to the Searcher of hearts, that we separate from our breth- ren in Parliament-court in love ; and we earnestly pray, that the Father of all goodness, and the God of all grace, will be pleased to lead both them and us into the perfect knowledge of his will, and enable us cheerfully to do it, that we may at last meet joy- fully and acceptably in the kingdom of Jesus, and have part therein." FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. 273 The first business of the separatists was to exa- mine the writings of the New Testament, and to trace out the directions given by the servants of Jesus to the primitive associations of his followers, in order to ascertain the nature, the constitution, and the laws of the Christian Church, that they might assimilate themselves thereto. This work formed the labour of the first year of their existence as a distinct body, and was published in a small pamphlet in 1800 *. It contains what were then the views of the society on church discipline and organization ; but their opinions on many doctrinal and ceremonial parts of Christianity, are now by no means the same as they were at that period. They consider the Church of God to be an assem- bly of men, believing the truth of Christianity, and united in the bonds of fellowship, under the authority of Jesus as their sovereign and their head, by the appointment of God. They consider that Christians are not called upon to legislate for themselves, but that Jesus gave laws, and laid down principles, either himself, or by his apostles, for the government of his kingdom ; that the apostles were fully instructed in all things per- taining thereto, and that their directions to the first assemblies should be the rule of their discipline as a body, in all cases where they were not manifestly local and limited by circumstances. * " The True Design of the Church of God, and the Govern- ment thereof." Printed for the Church meeting at No. 38, Old 'Change. T 274 FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. They consider that the unity of the Church is one of its principal characteristics, and that the design of Jesus was to unite his followers in one vast family ; so that however scattered its members might be over the earth — however separated by worldly pursuits — however divided by mountains and seas, they should be all one in him, by acknow- ledging the same authority, by being subjects of the same laws, and by maintaining a mutual connexion and reciprocal communication with each other. They consider the equality of the members of the Christian Church to be the feature which distin- guishes the kingdom of Jesus from all the kingdoms of the earth, and as the true ground and security of their Christian liberty. As a consequence of this principle, all dominion rests in the church ; all who bear sway and hold particular offices in the church exist by its appointment, and are subject to its control. Their officers are, — First, an elder whose business is to preside at their public assemblies, to regulate their private meetings, to preserve order, to attend especially to the wants and spiritual concerns of the church. The elder is elected by ballot, and the better to secure the liberties of the church, and to guard against the effects of power, he is elected only for three months, and remains ineligible to office till after the expiration of three months. Secondly, two deacons, to assist the elder in the execution of the laws, in the despatch of business, in providing for the convenience and attending to the FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. 275 civil concerns of the church : the deacons are subject to the same laws of appointment to office with the elder. With the right of electing to office, the liberty and privilege of teaching belongs alike to all, and is considered to flow from the equality of all. In this church, then, there is no hired, no especial teacher ; every man, if he feels that he has the ability, knows he has the right of giving a word of exhortation to his brethren, as in the primitive assemblies, when all might teach, one by one, that all might learn, and all mio-lit be comforted *. o The ground of fellowship with this church is the acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus as a divine teacher, and of his resurrection, as establishing the truth of his mission ; — this acknowledged, virtue, and not opinion, is the bond of union. No other sentiment is required in persons proposing themselves for membership than that which gives them the name and the character of Christians. Since the first meeting of this society as a distinct body, their sentiments have undergone a considerable alteration on many matters of vital importance con- nected with the doctrines of Christianity. They con- tend that it was the natural consequence of free inquiry, and that men who had been heretofore the slaves of error, could not but advance in the attain- ment of truth, when united in a system which left thought unrestrained and conscience free. All their opinions have been the result of examination, of investigation, and of unfettered discussion. They * 1 Cor. xiv. 3 1 . t2 276 FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. say, that they owe what they esteem to be their enlightened views of Christianity to the free spirit of their constitution, without which they would still have been but children in the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord. ISlot that they would declare themselves, in the language of bigoted confidence, totally free from error. They assert only, that their wish is to be so ; that their principle of union is cal- culated to make them so ; and that they will readily renounce any opinion which they may call their own whenever it shall appear to them to be false. They have long since rejected the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the last and most im- portant practice which they have given up is public social worship. In their assemblies they have neither singing nor prayer ; they conceive that the worship of the Christian should be the worship of the heart, and his prayers the prayers of the closet, agreeably to the express directions of Jesus to his disciples, and to the pure and retiring spirit of his religion. The effect of their inquiries has been to make them decided advocates of the unity of God, and the simple humanity of Jesus ; but the doctrines of the atone- ment, of original sin, of election, and reprobation, of the eternal punishment of the wicked, of the exist- ence of bad or good angels, of the immateriality and immortality of the soul, they generally reject. The inspiration of the Bible, as a book, they likewise reject, though the origin of revelation, as attested by miracles, and the genuineness and authenticity of the FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. 277 several writings composing the Bible, and developing the history of tlie communication of God to his creature man, they believe to be established beyond rational doubt. Their view of the Christian religion is briefly this : that it consists in the worship and reverence of one God, eternal, just, and good, and in an obedience to the commands of Jesus, his messenger on earth, who exhorted the wicked to repent of the error of their ways, since God is ever ready to receive them : that forms and ordinances, parade and show, were no parts of his system ; and that virtue and purity of heart can alone prepare man for a blissful existence beyond the grave. For some years this society existed almost un- noticed and unknown ; they corresponded to several churches, but, happily, as they esteem it, for their own improvement, they united themselves with none. They had now examined, as they apprehended, every important subject connected with Christianity ; they admired the beauty and simplicity of the Christian religion ; they felt grateful to the Father of mercies, that they had come to the perfect knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, and they were anxious to extend their advantages to others. Accordingly they ad- vertised in one of the Sunday papers, their intention of publicly inquiring into the existence of a being called " the Devil," and by way of drawing attention to their advertisement, they designated themselves " Freetliinking Christians," and numbers flocked to their meeting. 278 FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. Doctrinal, moral, and scriptural subjects are chosen by them for public instruction ; there are the utmost simplicity and familiarity in their form and manner. The elder opens the business by stating the subject, and at his call several speakers, the one after the other, address the church and the audience assembled. It is no unusual thing to hear among them a differ- ence of opinion, which they express without the least hesitation, considering that truth is elicited by the comparison of sentiment, and that no sensible mind can be otherwise than pleased by every attempt to correct what another may esteem its error. This exercise generally occupies about an hour and a half, and the business is concluded by the elder. The speakers in their discourses take frequent occasion to controvert the current opinions of the Christian world in general, and to show their ground of dissent from all sects and parties ; and they are not sparing of their censures on the priesthood, which, under all its modifications and refinements, they consider to be opposed, both in theory and application, to the best principles of the Christian church, inimical to the purity of the gospel, inconsistent witli the advance- ment of mind, and unfriendly to the interests of truth. The number of the Freethinking Christians so much increased that, in 1810, they were enabled to build a respectable meeting-house in tlie Crescent, Jewin-street, Aldersgate- street, where they regularly assemble. Their present meetings are on the Sunday mornings only. 279 JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. Joanna Southcott was born in April 1750, the daughter of a small farmer in Devonshire. For many years she gained her livelihood as a servant in Exeter and the neighbourhood ; and her character in private life was free from reproach. From her early years she delighted in the study of the Scriptures, and was accustomed, as she declared, on all in- teresting occasions, to apply to Heaven for advice. She believed that sooner or later an answer was always returned — by outward signs or inward feelings. " Her mission commenced in the year 1792, and the number of people who joined with her, as believing her to be divinely inspired, was consider- able. They thought her to be the instrument, under the direction of Christ, to announce the establish- ment of his kingdom on earth, as a fulfilment of all the promises in the Scriptures, and of that prayer which he himself gave to his followers ; and more particularly of the promise made to the woman in the fall, through which the human race is to be redeemed from all the effects of it in the end. She thought that the seven days of the creation were types of the two periods in which the reign of Satan and of Christ are to be proved and contrasted. According to her, Satan was conditionally to have his reign tried for six thousand years, shadowed out by the six days in which the Lord worked, as his Spirit has striven with man while under the powers of 280 JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. darkness; but Satan's reign is to be shortened, for the sake of the elect, as declared in the gos|Del ; and Satan is to have a further trial at the expiration of the thousand years, for a time equal to the number of the days shortened. At the close of the seven thousand years the day of judgment is to take place, and then the whole human race will collec- tively bring forward the testimony of the evil they suffered under the reign of Satan, and of the good they enjoyed under the spiritual reign of Christ ! These two testimonies will be evidence before the whole creation of God, that the pride of Satan was the cause of his rebellion in heaven, and that he was the root of evil upon earth ; and consequently when those two great proofs have been brought forward, that part of the human race that has fallen under his power, to be tormented by being in the society of Satan and his angels, will revolt from him in that great day — will mourn that they have been deluded — will repent — and the Saviour of all will hold out his hand to them in mercy — and will then provide a new earth for them to work righteousness, and prepare them ultimately to join his saints, who have fought the good fight in this world, while under the reign of Satan." " The mission of Joanna," said one of her followers, " is to be accomplished by a perfect obedience to the spirit that directs her, and so to be made to claim the promise of ' bruising the head of the serpent ; * which promise was made to the woman on her casting the blame upon Satan, whom she unwittingly JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 281 obeyed, and thus man became dead to the knowledge of the good ; and so he blamed his Creator for giving him the woman, who was pronounced his helpmate for good. To fulfil the attribute of justice, Christ took upon himself that blame, and assumed his humanity to suffer on the cross for it, that he might justly bring the cross upon Satan, and rid him from the earth, and then complete the creation of man, so as to be after his own image. It is declared, that ' the seed of the woman ' are those who in faith shall join with her in claiming the promise made in the fall ; and they are to subscribe with their hands unto the Lord that they do thus join with her, praying for the destruction of the powers of darkness, and for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ ! Those who thus come forward in this spiritual w^ar, are to have the seal of the Lord's protection ; and if they remain faithful soldiers, death and hell shall not have power over them ; and these are to make up the sealed number of one hundred and forty -four thousand to stand with the Lamb on Mount Sion ! The fall of Satan's kingdom will be a second deluge over the earth ; so that from his having brought the human race under his power, a great part of them will fall with him, for the Lord will pluck out of his kingdom all that offend and do wickedly. The voice which announces the coming of the Messiah is accompanied with judgments, and the nations must be shaken and brought low before they will lay these things to heart. When all these things are accomplished, then the Desire of nations will 282 JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. come in glory, so that ' every eye sliall see him,' and he will give his kingdom to his saints ! " It is represented, that in the Bible is recorded every event by which the Deity will w^ork the ultimate happiness of the human race ; but that the great plan is for the most part represented by types and shadows, and otherwise so wrapt up in mysteries, as to be inscrutable to human wisdom. As the Lord pronounced that man should become dead to know- ledge if he ate the forbidden fruit, so the Lord must prove his words true. He therefore selected a peculiar people as depositaries of the records of that know- ledge ; and he appeared among them, and they proved themselves dead to every knowledge of him, by crucifying him. He will, in like manner, put the wild olive to the same test ; and the result will be, that he will be now crucified in the Spirit ! " When the mission of Joanna began, she had prophecies given her, showing how the whole was to be accomplished. Among other things, the Lord said he should visit the surrounding nations with various calamities for fifteen years, as a warding to this land ; and that then he should bring about events here which should more clearly manifest the truth of her mission, by judgment and otherwise : so that this should be the happy nation to be the first redeemed from its troubles, and be the instrument for awakening the rest of the world to a sense of what is coming upon all, and for destroying the Beast^ and those who worship his image !" Some time after the above sentences were written. JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 283 Joanna Southcott died of a protracted illness. It was given out that she was to be the mother of a Second Shiloh. Presents were accordingly made her for the Bahe^ especially a superb cradle, with a poetical inscription in Hebrevf. A stone placed over her remains in the New Burial Ground, Mary-le-bone, has this singular inscription : — IN MEMORY OF JOANNA SOUTHCOTT, Who departed this life, December 27th, 1814, Aged 60 years. While througli all thy wondrous days Heaven and earth enraptured gaze, While vain sages think they know Secrets thou alone canst show, Thine alone will tell what hour Thoult appear in greater power ! This epitaph was probably her own composition. An undoubted specimen of her poetical powers may gratify the reader's curiosity. ''March 12, 1800. "The following words were spoken to me, in answer to the ministers mocking my writings : — " If they go on as they've begun, The nations all may weep ; Out of MY mouth the word is gone. And T shall it fulfil. Unless the priests they do awake, Your nation I shall chill With sore distress, to wound your breast, When harvest doth appear, 284 JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. By sun or rain to hurt your grain, And bring a famine near, By scarcity you all will see ; But if they do awake. And now repent, like Nineveh, Their cause I'll undertake." Bold as were her claims, it was thus that she gene- rally contrived to elude us in an impenetrable cloud. It was her practice to distribute among those who embraced her opinions, sealed papers, which were called her " seals," and were supposed to possess the virtue of charms. Thousands applied for them. The faith of her disciples was not extinguished by her death. The dead body was kept warm for four days, according to her own previous directions, in expectation of a revival, and the birth of the promised child ; and it was not consigned to the dissector till putrefaction had rendered it extremely oflPensive. Hopes were cherished for years and years, that although she had been withdrawn for a season, she would return with her son, and fulfil the pro- mises, the accomplishment of which had been delayed on account of the wickedness of the world. She lived on the bounty of her disciples and the sale of her writings: but the statement that her seals were sold, is a malicious calumny. One of her believers left her an estate of £250 per annum ; and an unmarried lady, who was born and educated in fashionable life, forsook her family and friends, and shared her fortune with the prophetess. It is by no means true, as it has sometimes been represented, that the sect was confined to the lowest JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 285 and most ignorant persons. It was at no time, how- ever, very numerous. Two reasons have been assigned for this circumstance : the one, that the followers of Joanna were never persecuted ; the other, that the sect never produced any preacher of indefatigable activity or of overpowering eloquence. . The life, prophecies*, and doctrines of Joanna Southcott, are contained in the numerous pamphlets which were published during her ministry, either by herself, or by her zealous disciples, Mr. William Sharpe, Dr. Richard Reece, and the Rev. Thomas P. Foley, or by her two female companions. Miss Jane Townley and Ann Underwood. " Upon the whole," says an able writer in the Edinburgh Review, " the mission of Joanna South- cott is an extremely curious article in the history of human credulity. But, while we laugh at the sim- plicity of her disciples, w^e may all of us do well to look homeward, — and to consider whether our own belief is not, on various occasions, determined by our feelings more than by evidence, — whether we are not sometimes duped by respected names or bold pretenders, — and sometimes by our own fancies, fears, or wishes." * Joanna's predictions usually issued from the press of Mr. T. Brice, an ingenious printer, at Exeter ; and in one of his bills, about the year 1800, as the editor well remembers, was this whimsical item i — " For correcting the spelling and grammar of the Prophe- cies, 2s. 6d." 286 MUGGLETONIANS, FIFTH MONARCHY MEN, AND THE FOLLOWERS OF RICHARD BROTHERS. LuDoviCK MuGGLETON, a journeyman tailor, appeared as a prophet in the time of Cromwell. He with a companion of the name of Reeves absolved and condemned at their pleasure, saying, they were the two last witnesses spoken of in the Revelation, who were to appear previously to the destruction of the world. He was buried in Spinning- wheel- Alley, Moorfields, having died March 14, 1697, in the 83th year of his age. The inscription over his remains may serve as a companion to Joanna Southcott's epitaph. "Whilst mausoleums and large inscriptions give Might, splendour, — and past death makes potents live, It is enough briefly to write thy name — Succeeding times by that will read thy fame - Thy deeds — thy acts — around the world resound, No foreign soil where Muggleton's not found ! There was also a sect denominated " Fifth Monarchy Men" in the days of Cromwell. The Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, were the four great monarchies; and these enthu- siasts, believing that the spiritual kingdom of Christ made the Jifth, received the name by which they were distinguished. They aimed at the subversion of all human governments. The Muggletonians and Fifth Monarchy Men exist now only in the record of days that are past and gone. They are casually mentioned in the History of England. Within a few yards of Joanna Southcott's grave is IRVINGITES. 287 the grave of Richard Brothers, the political prophet, who excited much attention and had many disciples at the beginning of the French revolutionary war, and whose cause was pleaded in the House of Commons by Mr. Halhed, an eminent Oriental scholar. On a large plain stone is the following inscription : This ground was bought by Mr. John Finlayson, of Upper Baker-street, to deposit under this stone the mortal remains of Mr. Richard Brothers, who resided and died in Mr. Finlayson's house, on the 25th January, 1824. A writer in the Times newspaper says, " I saw Mr. Brothers a few days before his death ; he was respectably dressed, very pale, very thin — a mere skeleton, very weak, could hardly walk, and died of a consumption. It is extraordinary that the minister died of a broken heart, and that the doctor, under whose care he was confined for eleven years in a private madhouse at Islington, laid violent hands on himself/' Lord Erskine, much to his honour, when he was Lord Chancellor, liberated the poor maniac, and restored him to society. IRVINGITES. This sect traces its origin to meetings held by several gentlemen of universally acknowledged re- spectability, at Albury Park, the elegant seat of Henry Drummond, Esq. The object of these meet- ings, in the first instance, was to inquire into the 288 IRVINGITES. precise meaning of the prophecies which relate to the coming of our Lord. It was Mr. Lewis Way who suggested to Mr. Drummond the desirableness of holding such meet- ings. He said that the religious world generally- disbelieved that the Jews were to be restored to their own land, and that the Lord Jesus Christ was again to descend from heaven in a flood of glory, to erect his immortal throne and to establish his empire of truth, holiness and love upon earth, " in the regenera- tion." He called upon all who felt an interest in realities so momentous, to study the prophetic writ- ings of the Old and of the New Testament, particularly of the Apocalypse, and to compare them with the signs of the times, assured as he felt himself that the day of final redemption was at hand, and that ere long Christ would fulfil " the sure word*." " O Spring ! O glorious harvest of glad lighf, Sweet day, whose beauty never fades in night ! The palm blooms in each hand, the garland on each brow, The raiment glitters in its undimm'd snow ! The regions of unfading Peace ye see, And the meek brightness of the Lamb — how dififerent from me 1 1" The following are the names of the individuals Avho assembled week after week at Mr. Drummond's, anxious to investigate the causes of the prevailing infidelity, and to be " rapt into future times :" — Rev. G. Beckett, Rev. W. Bryan, Rev. Dr. H. T. Burder, Rev. T. W. Cole, Rev. W. Dodswark, Rev. W, Dow, Rev. C. Hawtray, Rev. J. Hawtray, * 2 Peter i. 19. f Crashaw, 1652. IRVINGITES. 289 Rev. E. Irving, Rev. H. B. Maclean, Rev. H. M'Neile, Rev. W. Marsh, Rev. Dr. Okely, Rev. H. J. Owen, Rev. G. W. Phillips, Rev. Pro- byn, Rev. J. Simons, Rev. R. Storey, Rev. G. H. Stewart, Rev. J. Stratten, Rev. E. Vaughan, Rev. J. Wolfe, Rev. R. AVolfe, Rev. R. Wolfe, jun., Lord Mancleville, Hon. J. J. Strutt, Mr. J. Bayford, Mr. T. Borthwick, Mr. W. Cunningham, Mr. T. W. Chevalier, Mr. H. Driimmond, Mr. J. H. Frere, Captain G. Gambier, Mr. A. Haldane, Mr. W. Leach, Lieutenant Maiden, Mr. S. Perceval, JMr. E. Simon, Mr. Staples, Mr. R. Sumner, Mr. J. Tudor, Rev. J. White, and Rev. D. Wildson. These meetings began in November 1826, and continued for some months in uninterrupted har- mony, and with much spiritual benefit to all parties. After no long time, however, theological points, altogether unconnected with prophecy, were brought under consideration ; doctrines were advanced which gave great pain to some of the members of the union, and these gentlemen withdrew in alarm about the probable result, as far as it might affect the general interests of what they conceived to be the all-important peculiarities of the Gospel. It was at Albury Park that Mr. Irving and Mr. Vaughan broached that heretical opinion — the pec- cability of the human nature of Christ — which was so repulsive to the feelings of most of the individuals who were engaged in the investigation of the pro- phecies. Several of the gentlemen whose names have been already mentioned are still avowed mil- 290 IRVINGITES. lenarians, in the modern sense of the term ; but a very small number of them can be considered as the genuine disciples of Mr. Irving. Mr. Irving was not satisfied, like the majority of millenarians, with believing that Our Lord will per- sonally appear and reign over the children of men, and that either Rome or Jerusalem will be the scene of his triumphs and his glory — the chosen spot from which rivers of oladness will fiow and water all the o earth ; but he strenuously maintained that if the Church of Christ would come out of Babylon, there would be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in rich abundance ; that true believers would be enabled to speak in unknown tongues, and that to some would be communicated the gifts of healing, and to others the gifts of understanding and interpreting mysteries. Soon after he had prepared his followers for ex- pecting these manifestations of divine power, some among them actually conceived themselves to possess the gift of tongues, and even that of prophecy, and the attention of the public was raised in an extra- ordinary degree. These gifts were principally exer- cised at the early prayer- meetings ; and week after week, in the depth of winter, it was usual for the spacious chapel in Regent-square, where Mr. Irving officiated, to be crowded to such an excess that the attendance of the police was required to prevent mischief. On these occasions, " the tongue burst out " from the inspired person, " with an astonish- ing and terrible crash." On the 5th of October, 1831, one of Mr. Irving's IRVINGITES. 291 disciples^ after speaking under what was thought to be the influence of the miraculous gift, concluded with these words : — " O Britain ! thou anointed of the Lord ! thy destruction is at hand ! Fear not, ye people of God ! " Mr. Irving returned thanks to the Almighty for having raised up a prophet in the church, and proceeded to comment and enlarge on the prophecy. The contagion spread ; other persons became subjects of "the power;" and occasionally some of them spoke for two or three hours and upwards, w4th very little intermission. " The tongue " again and again denounced the Church of England as " Babylon, full of corruption and un- sound doctrine," and declared that " all men should come out of the apostate congregation." These proceedings had Mr. Irving's unqualified sanction ; they were in perfect accordance with the feelings of his ardent, enthusiastic mind. In former days his preaching had produced a wonderful effect on a great concourse of hearers. They hailed him with pride and satisfaction as the eloquent advocate of divine truth. If persons of the most sober minds were now and then startled by his wild assertions, they were often struck witli the originality of his thoughts, and sometimes hurried away by the force and energy of his language. He fancied that, in the stillness of his closet, he heard, from time to time, " many new voices of God's conscious Spirit ;" and he was fearless in performing what he thought to be his duty. At last his heretical opinions were brought under u2 292 IRVINGITES. the notice of the judicatories of the Scottish Church ; and in March 1833 he was tried by the Presbytery of Annan, and suspended from his office as a minis- ter of the national church. In pursuance of this sentence, he was shut out of the church in Regent- square. A new and elegant chapel, capable of holding from seven to eight hundred persons, was subsequently built and consecrated in Newman- street, Oxford-street. At the further end of the chapel is an arch, under which was placed a lofty tribunal, with six thrones for the elders, and seats for the subordinate dignitaries of the church. Mr. Irving was cited to appear before the General Assembly; and, in obedience to the summons, he hastened to Scotland. Instead, however, of waiting to hear the sentence that was about to be passed upon him for his heresies, he stood up, and, address- ing his judges in a tone of great solemnity, declared that the awful judgments of God would assuredly overtake them. While he was still at Glasgow, sickness came unexpectedly upon him ; and his death — an event which speaks with touching eloquence to the heart — took place on the 7th of December, 1834. He was in the forty-second year of his age. Not many minutes before he expired, he recited the twenty- third Psalm in Hebrew ; and the last words that fell from his lips were, — " In life and in death I am the Lord's." With all his errors and absurdities, he possessed extraordinary talents. His nature appears to have SAUDS. 293 been singularly ingenuous and kind, and no one can for a moment doubt the sincerity of his devotedness to what he believed to be his Maker s will. Although " the wood, hay, stubble," w^hich he built upon the true foundation shall be burnt up, we may humbly hope that " he himself will be saved *." — I Cor. iii. 12, 15. Besides the principal chapel in Newman- street, the followers of Mr. Irving have six others in Lon- don and its neighbourhood, " named after the seven churches of Asia," with " their apostles and pillars of apostles, prophets and pillars of prophets, angels and pillars of angels, elders, evangelists, and divines." SAUDS. A LATELY-DISCOVERED INDIAN SECT. " In March 1816, (says the reporter of the Cal- cutta committee of the Church Missionary Society,) I went with two gentleman from Futtehgurh, on the invitation of the principal persons of the Saud sect, to witness an assemblage of them for the pur- pose of religious worship, in the city of Furrukhabad, the general meeting of the sect being that year in that city. The assembly took place in the court-yard of a large house : the number of men, women, and children was considerable. We were received with great attention, and chairs were placed for us in the * It is a curious fact, that " the gift of tongues " was among the miraculous endowments claimed by the French Prophets. 294 SAUDS, front of the hall. After some time, when the place was quite full of people, the worship commenced. It consisted solely in the chaunting of a hymn, this being the only mode of public worship used by the Sauds ! At subsequent periods I made particular inquiries relative to the religious opinions and prac- tices of this sect, and was frequently visited by Bhuwanee Dos, the principal person of the sect in the city of Furrukhabad. The following is the sub- stance of the account given by Bhuwanee Dos of the origin of this sect : — " About the Sumbat year 1600, or 177 years ago, a person named Beerbhan, an inhabitant of Beej - basur, near Narraul, in the province of Delhi, received a miraculous communication from Ooda Dos, teaching him the particulars of the religion now professed by the Sauds. Ooda Dos at the same time gave to Beerbhan marks by which he might know him on his re-appearance ; — 1. That whatever he foretold should happen^ 2. That no shadow should be cast from his figure ; 3. That he would tell him his thoughts; 4. That he would be sus- pended between heaven and earth ; 5. That he would bring the dead to life! Bhuwanee Dos presented me with a copy of the Pot-hee, or religious books of the Sauds, written in a kind of verse, in the tenth Hindee dialect ; and he fully explained to me the leading points of their religion. '' The Sauds utterly reject and abhor all kinds of idolatry, and the Ganges is considered by them with no greater veneration than by Ciiristians, although SAUDS. 295 the converts are made chiefly, if not entirely, from among the Hindoos, whom they resemble in outward appearance. Their name for God is Stiitgur ; and Saud, the appellation of the sect, means /Servant of God! They are pure Deists, and their form of worship is most simple, as I have already stated. They resemble the Quakers in their customs in a remarkable degree. Ornaments, and gay apparel of every kind, are strictly prohibited. Their dress is always white. They never make any obeisance or salam. They will not take an oath, and they are exempted in a court of justice ; their asseveration, as that of the Quakers, being considered equivalent. The Sauds profess to abstain from all luxuries, such as tobacco, paun, opium, and wine. They never have nauches, or dancing ! All attack on man or beast is forbidden, but in self-defence resistance is allowable. Industry is strongly enjoined. The Sauds, like the Quakers, take great care of their poor and infirm people. To receive assistance out of the Puntar tribe would be reckoned disgraceful, and render the offender liable to excommunication ! All parade of worship is forbidden ; secret prayer is recommended; alms should be unostentatious — they are not to be done that they should be seen of men. The due regulation of the tongue is a principal duty. The chief seats of the Saud sect are Delhi, Agra, Jypoor, and Furrukhabad ; but there are several of the sect scattered over the country. An annual meeting takes place at one or other of the cities abovementioned, at which the concerns of the sect are settled. 296 JERKERS AND BARKERS. " The magistrate of Fiirrukhabad informed mettiat he found the Sauds an orderly and well-conducted people. They are chiefly engaged in trade. Bhu- wanee Dos was anxious to become acquainted with the Christian religion, and I gave him some copies of the New Testament in Persian and Hindoostanee, which he said he had read and shown to his people, and much approved. I had no copy of the Old Testament in any language which he understood well ; but as he expressed a strong desire to know the account of the creation as given in it, I explained it to him from an Arabic version, of which he knew a little. I promised to procure him a Persian or Hindoostanee Old Testament, if possible. I am of opinion that the Sauds are a very interesting people, and that an intelligent and zealous missionary would find great facility in communicating with them !" This is indeed a Heathen sect ; but its members so surpass many who call themselves Christians, in mildness of temper and in purity of life, that a place could not be refused to it in this work. JERKERS AND BARKERS. The following account is extracted from an inter- esting American work, entitled, " A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and other parts of the World," by David Benedict, A.M , pastor of the Baptist Church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. JERKERS AND BARKERS. 297 " From 1799 to 1803, there were in most parts of the United States remarkable outpourings of the divine Spirit among different denominations ; multi- tudes became the subjects of religious concern, and were made to rejoice in the salvation of God. The revival among the Baptists in the southern and western States has already been frequently referred to, and accounts of the astonishing additions to their churches have been given. This great revival in Kentucky began in Boone county on the Ohio river, and in its progress extended up the Ohio, Licking, and Kentucky rivers, branching out into the settlements adjoining them. It spread fast in different direc- tions, and in a short time almost every part of the state was affected by its influence. It was computed that about ten thousand were baptized and added to the Baptist churches in the course of two or three years. This great work advanced among the Bap- tists in a much more regular manner than people abroad have generally supposed. They were indeed zealously affected and much engaged. Many of their ministers baptized, in a number of neighbouring churches, from two to four hundred each. And two of them baptized about five hundred a-piece in the course of the work. But throughout the whole they preserved a good degree of decorum and order. Those camp-meetings, those great parades and sacra- mental seasons, those extraordinary exercises of falling down, rolling, shouting, jerking, dancing, barking, &c., were but little known among the Baptists in Kentucky, or encouraged by them. They, it is 298 JERKERS AND BARKERS. true, prevailed among some of tliem in the Green River country ; but, generally speaking, they were among the Presbyterians and Methodists, and in tlie end by a seceding party from them both, which denominated themsalves Christians, but which were generally distinguished by their opposers by the name of New Lights and Schismatics ! " These strange expressions of zeal, which have made so much noise abroad, came in at the close of the revival, and were, in the judgment of many, the chaff of the work. There was a precious ingathering of souls among the Presbyterians and Methodists, at which they rejoiced ; but when the work arose to an enthusiastic height, many different opinions were expressed respecting it. The Methodists had no scruples of its being genuine ; but among the Pres- byterians, some doubted — some opposed — but a con- siderable number overleaped all the bounds of formality, fanned the flame as fire from heaven, bid up camp-meetings, and sacramental seasons, and finally ran religious frenzy into its wildest shapes. Soon a number of these ministers separated from the rest, formed a new presbytery, called the Springfield^ upon New- Light principles, soon dissolved that, and five or six of them in a few years became Shaking Quakers." 299 J^ MILLEN^RIANS. The !MilIenariaiis are those who believe that Christ will reign personally on earth for a thousand years ; and their name, taken from the Latin, mille, a thou- sand, and annus ^ a year, has a direct allusion to the duration of the spiritual empire. " The doctrine of the Millennium, or a future paradisiacal state of the earth, (says an able writer,) is not of Christian, but of Jewish origin. The tradition is attributed to Elijah, which fixes the duration of the world, in its present imperfect condition, to six thousand years, and announces the approach of a sabbath of a thou- sand years of universal peace and plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah ! This idea may be traced in the epistle of Barnabas, and in the opinions of Papias, who knew of no writ- ten testimony in its behalf. It was adopted by the author of the Revelation, by Justin Martyr, by Ireneeus, and by a long succession of the fathers. As the theory is animating and consolatory, and, when divested of cabalistic numbers and allegorical decorations, prohahle even in the eye of philosophy^ it will no doubt always retain a number of adhe- rents." It is remarkable that Druidism, the religion of the first inhabitants of this island, had a reference to the progressive melioration of the human species, as is amply shown in an " Essay on Druidism," pre- fixed to Richards's "Welsh Nonconformist Me- morial, or Cambro-British Biography." 300 MILLENARIANS. The doctrine of the Millenninm -has for several years past attracted the attention of the public. Joseph Mede, Dr. Gill, Bishop Newton, Mr. Winchester, and many others, contend for the pei^sonal reign of Christ on earth. Bishop Newton observes, in his " Dissertations on the Prophecies," — " When these great events shall come to pass, — the reality of which we cannot doubt, this is to be the proper order : the Protestant witnesses shall be greatly exalted, and the 1260 years of their prophesying in sackcloth, and of the tyranny of the beast, shall end together ; the conversion and restoration of the Jews succeed ; then follows the ruin of the Othman em- pire; and then the total destruction of Rome and of Antichrist : — when these great events, I say, shall come to pass, then shall the kingdom of Christ com- mence, or the reign of the saints upon earth. So Daniel expressly informs us, that the kingdom of Christ and the saints will be raised upon the ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist, vii. 26, 27. ' But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end : and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him/ So likewise St. John saith, that upon the final destruction of the beast and the false prophet. Rev. xx., ' Satan is bound for a thousand years ; and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given MILLENARIANS. 301 unto them ; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ and for the word of God ; which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image; neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands : and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection/ " It is, I conceive, to these great events, the fall of Antichrist, the re-establishment of the Jews, and the beginning of the glorious Millennium, that the three different dates in Daniel of 1260 years, 1290 years, and 1335 years, are to be referred. — And as Daniel saith, xii. 12, ' Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 years ;' so St. John saith, xx. 6, ' Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrec- tion.' Blessed and happy indeed will be this period; and it is very observable, that the martyrs and con- fessors of Jesus, in Papist as well as Pagan times, will be raised to partake of this felicity. Then shall all those gracious promises in the Old Testament be fulfilled — of the amplitude and extent^ of the peace and prosperity, of the glory and happiness of the church in the latter days. ' Then,' in the full sense of the words. Rev. xi. 15, * shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever/ "According to tradition*, these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints will be the seventh Millenary of the world: for as God created * See Burnt t's Theory. 302 MILLENARIANS. the world in siw days, and rested on the seventh ; so the v/orld, it is argued, will continue six thousand years, and the seventh thousand will be the great Salbatism^ or holy rest to the people of God. ' One day (2 Pet. iii. 8.) being with the Lord as a thou- sand years, and a thousand years as one day.' Ac- cording to tradition, too, these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints are the great day of judgment, in the morning or beginning whereof shall be the coming of Christ in flaming fire, and the par- ticular judgment of Antichrist and the first resurrec- tion ; and in the evening or conclusion whereof shall be the general resii7'rectio7i of the dead, small and great ; ' and they shall be judged, every man, accord- ing to their works !' " This is a just representation of the I^Iillennium, ac- cording to the common opinion entertained of it, that Christ will reign personally on earth during the period of one thousand years. But Dr. Whitby, in a dissertation on the subject, opposes the literal inter- pretation of the Millennium, both as to its nature and as to its duration. Mr. Winchester, in his " Lectures on the Pro- phecies," freely indulges his imagination on this curious subject. He suggests, that the large rivers in America are all on the eastern side, that the Jews may waft themselves the more easily down to the Atlantic, and then cross that vast ocean to the Holy Land ; that Christ will appear at the equinox, either in IVIarch or in September, when the days and nights are equal all over the globe; and finally, that the MILLEXARIANS. 303 body of Christ will be luminous, and being suspended in the air over the equator for twenty-four hours, will be seen with circumstances of peculiar glory, fiom pole to pole, by all the inhabitants of the world. Dr. Priestley, entertaining an exalted idea of the advantages to w^iicli our nature may be destined, treated the limitation of the duration of the world to seven thousand years as a Rabbinical fable, and maintains, in his " Institutes," that the thousand years should be interpreted prophetically : then every day would signify a year, and the Millennium would last for three hundred and sixty-five thousand years ! He supposed also that there will be no resurrection of any individuals till the general resurrection, and that the Millennium only implies the revival of religion. Later in life he was a believer in the personal reign of Christ upon earth. See his "Fare- well Sermon," preached at Hackney, previously to his emigration to America. The late Dr. Bogue of Gosport published a " Series of Discourses" on the Millennium, which will re- ward the reader's attention. The Reverend Edward Irving published two small volumes on prophecy, in which he contended for a Millennium and for the personal reign of Christ on earth. The learned Joseph Mede thus expresses himself : " The presence of Christ in his kingdom shall no doubt be glorious, yet I dare not so much as imagine (what some of the ancients seem to have thought) 304 MILLENARIANS. that it will be a visible converse upon earth ; for the kinfrdom of Christ ever hath been and shall be Regnum Coeloruin^ a kingdom whose throne and kingly presence is in heaven." — Mede's Works^ vol. ii. p. 729. Dr. Burnet says, " That Christ should leave the right hand of his Father to come and pass a thousand years here below, living upon earth in a heavenly body, is a thing I never could digest." Sir H. Taylor's " Thoughts on the Grand Apo- stacy," Pt. i. p. 205. The principal anti-millenarian writers are Bishop Hall, Baxter, Whitby, Lowman, Allix, and Scott, the author of a Commentary on the New Testament. Mr. Irving fixed the time of the commencement of the millennium to be 1866 ; Mede dated it from 1716 ; Bishop Newton removed it to 1987 ; Sir Isaac Newton, to 2036. However the millenarians may differ among them- selves respecting the nature of this solemn event, they agree in believing that under the mild and gentle sceptre of the Messiah, there will be an infinite pro- gression in all that is holy and good, and that happi- ness will be universal and everlasting. '' Oh scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, Scenes of accoraplish'd bliss ; which who can see, Though but in distant prospect, and not feel His soul refresh'd with foretaste of the joy ? " 305 THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN. This may be regarded as yet an infant denomi- nation. It is indebted for its origin to the state of feeling on religious subjects which has been pro- duced by the long-continued and active ministry of the late Dr. Hawker, Vicar of Charles, Plymouth. " The Brethren" hold doctrinal opinions which have been described as semi-antinoraian. They decry church establishments and church creeds and covenants. According to their own re- presentation, they form themselves into a religious society upon " the most liberal grounds," deeming that alone to be essential to Christian fellowship which is essential to Christian character. It is more than insinuated, however, by some who have joined their ranks for a time, that their professions and their practice, as a religious body, are at variance. Far from ever stepping out of their own inclosure, they pronounce it to be sinful in the extreme to hold com- munion with any other class of Christians whatever, or to join with any other class of professors in acts of Christian worship. Thus, while they call them- selves the most catholic of Christians, they are charged with being, in reality, the most sectarian. They are not all precisely of one opinion as to the nature and operation of the " gifts" mentioned by the great "Apostle of the Gentiles," in the 12th and the 14th chapters of his First Epistles to the Corinth- ians. Some of them admit that " the gifts of miracles, and of diversity of tongues," are at the 306 THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN. present day wanting in the Church ; but they almost all of them contend, that " the word of wisdom," and, to borrow their own expression, " a little bit of the gifts of teaching and prophecy," are still pos- sessed, — and possessed among them. They also affirm that, in consequence of this, the rules laid down by the Apostle, with respect to the exercise of the gifts that existed in primitive times, are all applicable now, and that these gifts, and these alone, are sufficient to meet the exigencies of the Church. Hence " the Brethren" pronounce the usual mode of meeting for religious worship and instruc- tion — academies for the education of ministers — pul- pits — and ceremonies of every kind — to be not merely useless, but absolutely sinful. They withhold themselves from all efforts to pro- mote the welfare of civil society. They refuse to concur in any petition to the Legislature for instruct- ing the ignorant, for protecting property, for obtain- ing relief from any burden or any acknowledged grievance, or for emancipating slaves. They regard all such exertions as inconsistent with a Christian's heavenly calling. According to them, no Christian is justified in being a magistrate, or in holding any office that gives him authority. " The Brethren" have made converts of several noble families ; and in some places they have invaded " evangelical circles " in numbers and to an extent which have excited considerable alarm. 307 rUSEYITES, OR ABETTORS OF THE " OXFORD DIVINITY." This school of theology, which is occupying much of public attention both in England and abroad, had its rise at Oxford about the year 1833. It ap- peared to some distinguished members of the Uni- versity, that irreligious principles and false doctrines had been admitted into the measures of the govern- ment of the country on a large scale ; and they were particularly concerned that the Irish sees had been suppressed by the state against the church's wishes, and tliat while many were acquiescing in it in utter apathy and despair, all attempts at remonstrance were treated with coldness and disapprobation. They thought the Church of England to be in an alarming position, and therefore determined, by appeals from the press, to do what they could towards checking the further progress of the opinions and practices of the day, as connected with religion. With this view, they published a series of pamphlets — " Tracts for the Times" — on a wide range of sub- jects, such as the following : — the constitution of the church ; the authority of its ministers ; the ordin- ances and especially the sacraments of the church ; refutations of the errors of Romanism and directions how to oppose it ; translations of interesting portions of early church history ; and collections of passages in confirmation of their tenets, from the great standard English divines. It is in reference to the controversy which has x2 308 PUSEYITES. been excited by these publications, that the Bishop of Chester observes, in an address to his clergy : — " We may regard it as a compensation for urgent and laborious duties, that the business of a diocese, like that of which we are members, leaves no time for fables and endless genealogies, and questions which are not of godly edifying. We have too much to do with realities to be drawn aside by shadows*." The Puseyites are strenuous asserters of what is called "the Apostolical succession ;" in other words, they maintain that the clergy derive their power from the apostles, through episcopal ordination. They say that, in addition to the scriptural character of this doctrine, the succession has been handed down from the earliest times — that, at the Reformation, it was rigidly preserved by the Church of England, and suspended by Luther and even by Calvin with allowed reluctance, and only under the pressure of necessity — that it has been shown to be an unanswer- able argument for the truth of Christianity — that it has been forgotten by churchmen themselves only within the last fifty years — that it is the only ground on which Romanism and Dissent are to be met, the one with equal, the other with superior claims to ministerial authority — and that it has been regarded as the great pillar of the church, by the most learned and the most eminent of her clergy. The next question to which they have applied themselves relates to the polity of the church. They assert that it is an empire and a government of its * Charge, 1838, p. 3. PDSEYITES. 309 own— a goyernment appointed by God— and that its laws, as they are to be found in the Book of Common Prayer, ought to be scrupulously and implicitly obeyed. They deprecate the neglect of the daily service, the desecration of festivals, the " scanty administration" of the Eucharist, insubordination permitted in all ranks of the church, orders and offices imperfectly developed, the want of societies for particular religious objects, and similar deficiencies, that lead the feverish mind, desirous of a vent for its feelings, and a stricter rule of life, to " prayer meet- ings and Bible meetings," and to ill-advised institu- tions and societies on the one hand — on the other, to the solemn and captivating services by which Popery gains its proselytes. They believe that nothing but neglected doctrines, faithfully preached, will repress the extension of Popery, and impose a check on the ever multiplying divisions of the religious world. Hence the tracts on the daily service, on the office of bishops, on the administration of the Eucharist, on the celebration of Saints' days, on the observance of fasting as enjoined in the rubric, and on the rela- tion of the Church to the State. Intimately connected with these, are two subjects to which the attention of the Oxford divines has been directed — the doctrine of the sacraments, and the authority of the church in doctrinal matters. Speaking of the former, Dr. Pusey says, " They are not subjects for discussion, for speculation, for display of recently acquired knowledge; they are high, mysterious, awful Christian privileges, to be 310 PUSEYITES. felt, reverenced, embraced, realized, acted. Let men not speak of them until they have practised them, but rather pray God to deepen their own sense of them. They will then speak of them, if they speak at all, more chastenedly and in the ear — not in mixed society or in the market-place, and, we may trust, not so as to injure themselves or others, or make the mysteries of God a common thing." With respect to the authority of the church, the doctrine, as shortly stated by the Puseyites, is, that human tradition has no place in revelation — that neither the opinions of an individual on the interpretation of the Bible, nor the assertions of a single church, or any portions of a church, can be admitted to mix with the pure word of inspiration — that no individuals, since the apostles, are by them- selves expositors of the will of Christ — that the unanimous tcitness of Christendom as to the teaching of the apostles^ is the only^ and the fully sufficient^ and the really existing guarantee of the whole revealed faith — and that we do possess, historically, such a guarantee in the proceedings and remains of the primitive church. Of this doctrine they conceive that it involves the whole test of truth — that the whole fabric of Christianity is virtually connected with it — that the roots both of Popery and of dis- sent lie in wrong views of it — that it forms the only chance of uniting Christians in one common belief, hy fixing for their interpretation of Scripture a standard extirnal to themselves — and that wherever it has been lost, either in Romanism or in the ultra- PUSEYITES. 311 Protestant sects, there the consequences have been most perilous — " the overthrow of the Church and of the Gospel of Christ has followed also"^." The Puseyites inculcate the necessity of dispens- ing religious truth with caution and reverence, not throwing it promiscuously before minds ill-suited to receive it, nor makino- the most solemn doctrines of Christianity mere instruments to excite the feehngs. They know that this warning requires to be given with the greatest caution, lest it should seem to border on a recommendation of a suppression of the truth. A characteristic feature of the Oxford School of Theology is its opposition to what is called the popular religionism of the day ; and we must not omit to mention, that one of its leading writers speaks of Locke, not very grammatically indeed, as " the man who, of all others, has done most to cor- rupt our ethics, unsettle our politics, and debase our metaphysics t." The masters of this theological school grieve that " men are sent from the seat of their education with the belief that they are to think, not read; judge, rather than learn ; look to their own opinions for truth, instead of some permanent external standard." At the head of this new sect, for such it may be called, is Dr. Pusey, Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Canon of Christ Church; the Rev. J. Keble, Professor of Poetry ; the Rev. J. H. Newman, Fel- * Palmer's Treatise on the Church, vol. ii. p. 49. f See Quarterly Review, vol. Ixiii. p. 534. 312 PUSEYITES. low of Oriel, and Yicar of St. Mary's; the Rev. I. Williams, Fellow of Trinity College ; and the Rev. W. Sewell, Professor of Moral Philosophy. In a late charge, the bishop of the diocese observes, referring to this party : — " I rejoice in their attempt to secure a stricter attention to the rubrical directions in the Book of Common Prayer ; and I heartily approve the spirit which would restore a due ob- servance of the fasts and festivals of the Church. But I would implore them, by the purity of their intentions, to be cautious both in their writings and actions ; to take heed lest their good be evil spoken of — lest in their exertions to re-establish unity they unhappily create fresl> schism — lest, in their admira- tion of antiquity, they revert to practices which, heretofore, have ended in superstition." A member of the Established Church, animad- verting upon the publications of the Oxford School of Theology, says, that " in narrowness and bigotry they might vie with any production of the dark ages, their chief aim being to retain the great bulk of mankind 'in abject intellectual prostration, and blind subjection to_a domineering priesthood. Could they attain such strength as to render them rash enough to attempt to reduce their opinions to prac- tice, the result would be most awful ; for a collision would ensue which might endanger our most sacred and valuable institutions ; and our national Church, in particular, would be sure to fall in the struggle*." Indeed the leaders of this class of theologians are * See Christian Observer for Feb. 1841, p. 92. ADDITIONS. 313 condemned and ridiculed, not by heretics and schis- matics only, but by men of unquestionable talent and of great personal worth belonging to their own religious communion, and entertaining their own political views; and who that calmly and dispas- sionately examines their system will hesitate to acknowledge that it is hostile alike to civil liberty and to that yet more exalted and more ennobling liberty with which Christ hath made us free ? Consult. — Tracts for the Times, 4 vols. 8vo. Remains of the late Rev. Richard Hurrel Froude, 2 vols. 8vo. Primitive Tradition recognised in Holy Scripture, a Sermon, by the Rev. W. Dealtry, D.D. Parochial Sermons, by J. H. Newman, M.A. Lectures on the Prophetical Offices of the Church, by J. H. Newman, B.D. Patience and Confidence the Strength of the Church, a Sermon, by the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. Sermons preached at Whitehall, by F. Oakeley, M.A. Quarterly Rev. v. Ixiii. n. cxxvi. Such are the various opinions which characterise the larger and more prominent divisions of the religious world. It was the author's study to delineate them with correctness and brevity. Each system boasts of admirers, and professes to be supported by arguments peculiar to itself. To a thoughtful mind they exhibit a melancholy picture of the human understanding, often misguided by passion, and 314 ADDITIONS. warped by prejudice. In drawing out the motley catalogue, several reflections arose in the authors mind. A few only, such as may tend to promote a spirit of religious moderation, shall be submitted to the reader's attention. It is hoped that bigotry is losing much of its rancour among all parties, and that the professed disciples of Jesus are becoming more intent on tlie great essentials of Christianity. The state of trial in which we are placed powerfully calls on us to pursue such a conduct. The pious Richard Baxter finely observes, in the " History of his own Times," — " While we wrangle here in the dark, we are dying and passing to that world which will decide all our controversies; and the safest passage thither is by peaceable holiness." Hence jarring sectaries may learn Their real interest to discern, That brother should not war with brother, And worry and devour each other ; Shunning division here below, That each in charity may grow, Till, join'd in Christian fellowship and love, The Church on earth shall meet the Church above ! COWPER. It is an animating consideration, that, notwith- standing the struggles and contentions of parties for their respective opinions and modes of worship, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, undebased by the prejudices, and uncontrolled by the passions of frail humanity, continues to operate, like the great laws of nature, with a silent irresistible energy for the renovation of ADDITIONS. 315 mankind. Pure religion disdains the aid of sophistry, however splendid, and misrepresentation, however ingenious. Her temple admits none but the graceful decorations of Christian charity, and can be sup- ported only by the pillars of truth — No meretricious graces to beguile, No clustering ornaments to clog the pile ; From ostentation as from weakness free, It stands like the cerulean arch you see, Majestic in its own simplicity ! May the God of peace allay the animosities and soften the temper of the Christian world ! Thus will the wretched remains of bigotry, still to be found in some unhappy individuals of every party, be lessened and finally destroyed. The glorious Gospel of the blessed God wants not any adventitious aid to extend its empire over the human heart. It is of itself able, under the blessing of Heaven, to purify our affections and prepare us for our certain and speedy removal into an awful and an untried eternity. REFLECTIONS, OR A PERSUASIVE TO CHRISTIAN MODERATION. " There is nothing in the world more wholesome or more necessary for us to learn than this gracious lesson of modera- tion, without which, in very truth, a man is so far from being a Christian, that he is not himself ! This is the centre wherein all both divine and moral philosophy meet — the rule of life — the governess of manners — the sillien string that runs throixgh the pearl chain of all virtues — the very ecliptic line under which reason and religion move without any deviation, and therefore most worthy our best thoughts — of our most careful observance." — Bishop Hall. 1. Since the best and wisest of mankind thus differ on the speculative tenets of religion, let us try to form a just estimate of the extent of the human faculties. A modest estimate of the human faculties is an inducement to moderation. After laborious inves- tigations, probably with equal degrees of knowledge and integrity, men arrive at opposite conclusions. This is a necessary consequence of imperfection. Human reason soars with feeble, and often with ineffectual wing, into the regions of speculation. Let none affirm that this mode of argument leads to indifference with respect to the acquisition of religious truth. To declare that all tenets are alike, is an REFLECTIONS. 317 affront to the understanding. The chilling hesitation of scepticism, the forbidding sternness of bigotry, and the delirious fever of enthusiasm, are equally abhorrent from the genius of true Christianity. Truth being the conformity of our conceptions to the nature of things, we should be careful lest our con- ceptions be tinctured with error. Philosophers sup- pose that the senses convey the most determinate species of information ; yet these senses are not endued with an instinctive infallibility. How much greater cause have we to mistrust the exercise of our rational powers, which from early infancy are beset with prejudices ! Our reason proves of essential use to us in ascer- taining the nature of truth, and the degrees of evi- dence with which different positions are attended. This induces a modesty of temper, the ground- work of charity. Richard Baxter, revered for his good sense as well as his fervent piety, has these remark- able expressions on the subject : " I am not so foolish as to pretend my certainty to be greater than it is, merely because it is dishonour to be less certain : nor will I by shame be kept from confessing the infirmities which those have as much as I, who hypocritically reproach me with them. My certainty that I am a man is before my certainty that there is a God ; my certainty that there is a God is greater than my certainty that he requireth love and holiness of his creatures : my certainty of this is greater than my certainty of the life of reward and punishment hereafter ; my certainty of that is greater than my 318 REFLECTIONS. certainty of the endless duration of it, and the im- mortality of individual souls ; ray certainty of the Deity is p;reater than my certainty of the Christian faith ; my certainty of the Christian faith in its essentials is greater than my certainty of the perfec- tion and infallibility of all the Holy Scriptures ; my certainty of that is greater than my certainty of the meaning of many particular texts, and so of the truth of many particular doctrines, or of the cano- nicalness of some certain books. So that you see by what gradations my understanding doth pro- ceed, as also that my certainty differeth as the evi- dence differs ! And they that have attained to a greater perfection and a higher degree of certainty than I, should pity me, and produce their evidence to help me." This paragraph should be written in letters of gold. Like the Roman laws of old, it ought to be hung up in public, and every means should be taken to direct towards it the attention of the professors of Christianity. This accurate state- ment of the nature and degrees of belief, duly im- pressed on the mind, would be an effectual safe-guard from bigotry. Reason, though imperfect, is the noblest gift of God, and upon no pretence must it be decried. It distinguishes man from the beasts of the field, gives him a relationship to the skies, elevates him to the superiority which he possesses over this lower crea- tion. By Deists it is extolled to the prejudice of revelation ; and by Enthusiasts it is depreciated, in order that they may advance their absurd systems. REFLECTIONS. 319 Yet, strange inconsistency ! even enthusiasts conde- scend to employ this calumniated faculty in pointing out the conformity of their tenets to Scripture, and in fabricating evidence to support them. But beware of speaking lightly of reason, which is denominated the eye of the soul ! Every opprobrious epithet with whicli the thoughtless or the designing dare to stigmatise it vilifies the Creator. From the preceding pages it will be seen how prone men are to extremes in the important affairs of religion. The evil arises from the neglect of reason, which is termed by an inspired writer the " candle of the Lord," and which must be the best guide in the interpretation of the New Testament. The epithet carnal^ with which professors are too apt to stigma- tise it, is never once applied to it in the Holy Scrip- tures. The epithet is there attached not to reason, but to the ceremonial commandments and ordinances of the former dispensation. Mr. Locke remarks, " Yery few make any other use of their half-employed and undervalued reason but to bandy against it. For when, by the influence of some prevailing head, they all lean one way, truth is sure to be borne down, and there is nothing so dangerous as to make any inquiry after her ; and to own her for her own sake is a most unpardonable crime." Thus it appears that the neglect of reason in matters of religion is a long standing evil, and will never be altogether eradi- cated in the present imperfect condition of humanity. But far from fettering the human mind, Christianity allows it free and vigorous exercise. By coming in 320 REFLECTIONS. contact with sacred subjects, it is refined and invi- gorated. It will be carried to perfection in a better world. Circumscribed, indeed, are the operations of reason, and "fallible are its decisions. That it is incompetent to investigate certain subjects which our curiosity may long to penetrate, is acknowledged. Its exten- sion beyond its assigned boundaries has proved an ample source of error. Thus Mr. Colliber, an ingenious writer, often referred to by Dr. Doddridge in his Lectures, imagines, in his treatise entitled " The Knowledge of God," that the Deity must have some form, and intimates it may probably be spherical! Indeed, the abuse of reason has led to endless para- doxes, and given birth to those monstrous systems of metaphysical theology, which are " the plague of wise men, and the idol of fools." Upon many religious topics, which have tortured our understandings, the sacred writers are respectfully silent. Where they cease to inform us we should drop our inquiries ; unless we claim superior degrees of information, and deem ourselves more competent to decide on these intricate subjects. " The modesty of Christians," says Archbishop Tillotson, " is contented, in divine mysteries, to know what God has thought fit to reveal concerning them, and hath no curiosity to be wise above that which is written. It is enough to believe what God says concerning these matters ; and if any man will venture to say more — every other man surely is at liberty to believe as he sees reason." REFLECTIONS. 321 The primitive Christians, in some of their coun- cils, elevated the New Testament on a throne : inti- mating their desire that by that volume alone their disputes should be settled. The President De Thou remarks, " that the sword of the word of God ought to be the sole weapon — and those who are no longer to be compelled should be quietly attracted by moderate considerations and amicable discussions." And Burke, who knew well human nature, says that " In all persuasions, the bigots are persecutors ; the men of a cool and reasonable piety are favourers of toleration, because bigots, not taking the pains to be acquainted with the grounds of their adversaries' tenets, conceive them to be so absurd and monstrous, that no man of sense can give into them in good earnest. For which reason they are convinced that some oblique bad motive induces them to pretend to the belief of such doctrines, and to the maintaining them with obstinacy. This is a very general prin- ciple in all religious differences, and it is the corner- stone of all persecution." 2. The diversity of religious opinions implies no reflection upon the sufliciency of Scripture to instruct us in matters of faith and practice, and should not be made a pretence for uncharitableness. Controversies are agitated concernino- words rather than things. This is to be ascribed to the ambiguity of language, which has been tlie cause of ecclesiastical animosities. But there is not in the world such a multitude of opinions as superficial observers may imagine. A common gazer at the starry firmament 322 REFLECTIONS. conceives the stars to be innumerable ; but the astro- nomer knows their number to be limited — nay, to be much smaller than a vulgar eye would appre- hend. On the subject of religion, ma.ny men dream rather than think, — imagine rather than believe. Were the intellect of every individual awake, and preserved in due exercise, there would be less con- trariety of sentiment. But mankind will not think ; and hence thinking has been deemed " one of the least exerted privileges of cultivated humanity." It happens that the idle flights indulged by enthusiasts, the burdensome ceremonies revered by the supersti- tious, and the corrupt maxims adopted by worldly- minded professors, are charged on the Scriptures of truth. Whereas the inspired volume is fraught with intelligible doctrines, just precepts, and immaculate rules of conduct. Fanciful accommodations, distorted passages, false translations, and forced analogies, have been the means employed to debase the Christian doctrine. An impartial investigation of the Word of God raises in our minds conceptions worthy of the perfections of the Most High, suitable to the cir- cumstances of mankind, and adapted to purify our nature — Heligion's lustre is, by native innocence, Divinely pure and simple from all arts ; You daub and dress her like a common mistress — The harlot of your fancies ! and by adding False beauties, which she wants not, make the world Suspect her angel face is foul beneath, And will not bear all lights. . The Catholics withhold the sacred volume from REFLECTIONS. 323 their laity, and deny its sufficiency. The same reason also was assigned to vindicate the necessity of an infallible head to dictate in religious matters. Notwithstanding these devices to produce unanimity of sentiment, they were not more in possession of it than the Protestants. The sects which at different periods sprang up in the bosom, and disturbed the tranquillity, of the Catholic Church, are proofs that they failed to attain the desired object. Pretences, however specious, should be rejected, if they tend to invalidate the sufficiency or disparage the excellence of Holy Writ. Least of all should diversity of senti- ment be alleged as an evil arising from the use of the Scriptures ; for it has its origin in the imbecility of the understanding, in the pride of passion, and in the inveteracy of prejudice. Deists, nevertheless, who are expert in observing what may be construed into an objection against revealed religion, declaim loudly on this topic. On account of the diversity of sentiment which obtains, they charge the Bible with being defective in a species of intelligence which it never pretended to communicate. Unencumbered with human addi- tions, and uncontaminated with foreign mixtures, it furnishes the believer with that information which illuminates the understanding, softens the temper, invigorates the moral feelings, and improves the heart. " All Scripture given by inspiration, is pro- fitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all goad 324 REFLECTIONS. works." " Heaven and hell are not more distant," says Lord Lyttelton, " than the benevolent spirit of the Gospel, and the malignant spirit of party. The most impious wars ever made were called holy wars. He who hates another man for not being a Chris- tian, is himself not a Christian ! Christianity breathes love, and peace, and good -will to men." And .the Emperor Charles Y. also, we are told, retired at the close of life to a monastery, and there, observes Dr. Robertson, " he was particularly curious with regard to the construction of clocks and watches ; and having found, after repeated trials, that he could not bring any two of them to go exactly alike, he reflected, it is said, with a feeling of surprise as well as regret, on his own folly, in having bestowed so much time and labour in the more vain attempt of bring- ing mankind to a precise uniformity of sentiment concerning the intricate and mysterious doctrines of religion ! " 3. Let not any one presume to exempt himself from an attention to religion, because some of its tenets seem involved in obscurity. Upon articles which promote the comfort and secure the salvation of mankind, the Scripture is decisive. The curiosity of the inquisitive, and the restlessness of the ingenious, have perplexed many a theological question. Dr. Paley, speaking of the disputes which distract the religious world, happily remarks, " that the rent has not reached the founda- tion." Incontrovertible are the facts upon which the fabric of natural and revealed religion is reared ; REFLECTIONS. 325 and " the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ! " He who searches the Scriptures must confess, that they teach in explicit terms that God rules over all — that the great Messiah shed his blood for the sal- vation of sinful men — and that, in a future state, rewards await the righteous, and punishments will be inflicted on the wicked. From the preceding sketch of the different opi- nions of Christians, it appears that controversies have been agitated concerning the person of Christ, the extent of divine favour, and the mode of church government. But what was the specific matter of disputation ? Not whether Christ has actually- appeared on earth to introduce a new dispensation ; not whether God is disposed to show grace or favour towards his disobedient children'; not whether the professors of religion ought to submit themselves to certain regulations, or church government, for mutual benefit. These are truths revered by every denomina- tion, and the only point of contention has been, what particular views are to be entertained on these inte- resting facts. The Trinitarian, the Arian, and the Unitarian, equally acknowledge the divinity of Christ's mission, or that he was the Messiah pre- dicted by the ancient prophets ; and the chief point of dispute is, whether this Messiah be one of the human race highly inspired, or one of the angelic order, or a being possessed of the attributes of God. The Calvinist, the Arminian, and the Baxterian also, each of them- firmly believes that the grace of God hath appeared, and differ only respecting its 326 REFLECTIONS. extent, and the mode of its communication. Similar remarks might be transferred to the subject of church government, and the administration of rites. But enough has been said to show that the differences subsisting among Christians do not affect the truth of Christianity, or hazard the salvation of mankind. Some well-meaning Christians have been offended at this position, but in our contention with Deists and with Catholics, to this we must come, or our reasonings must fall to the ground. Faint, indeed, is the light thrown by revelation on certain subjects. Yet no lover of righteousness should distress himself as to whether he can be mis- taken in leading a life of virtue and piety. Practical religion lies within a narrow compass. The sayings of Christ embrace almost every part of human conduct, though his disciples have been lamentably deficient in paying them a proper attention. Jesus Christ assures us, that " to love the Lord our God with all our heart, is the first and great command- ment;" and that "the second is like unto it — to love our neighbour as ourselves." Those persons entertain mistaken views of the glorious Gospel who think it opposed to the prosperity of the human race. It descends from a God of love, and is pre- sented to us by his only begotten Son — and every mind should have been opened to receive it. Wrang- ling should have been prevented by the clearness of its fundamental doctrines ; hesitation about obedience precluded by the justness of its precepts ; and the beauty of its examples should have captivated the most indifferent hearts. REFLECTIONS. 327 The perplexity in which some religious tenets are involved, instead of alienating us from the practice of righteousness, should quicken our inquiries after truth. Indeed, upon a serious and intelligent indivi- dual, it produces this effect. Having in his eye the Scripture as the only standard, he is the more alive to free inquiry when he contemplates the diversity of religious systems, and more accurately scrutinizes their nature, examines their foundations, and labours to ascertain their tendencies. This mode of arriving at truth is attended w^th advantages. Our know- ledge is enlarged, our candour exercised, and our belief founded on the basis- of conviction. Such a believer reflects an honour upon the denomination with which he connects himself. For, feeling the difficulties of religious inquiry, he presumes not to charge with heresy those of his fellow-Christians who differ from him ; nor is he such a stranger to the perfections of the Almighty and to the benign spirit of the Gospel, as to consign them over to the regions of future misery. Of Mr. Gouge, an eminent non-conformist minister, it is thus honourably recorded by Arch- bishop Tillotson : — " He allowed others to differ from him even in opinions that were very dear to him ; and provided men did but fear God, and work righteous- ness, he loved them heartily, how distant soever from him in judgment about things less necessary ; in all which he is very worthy to be a pattern to men of all persuasions." " Were one religion onl}'' to exist in a country," says the late Dr. Lettsom, "probably the people 328 REFLECTIONS. would soon become either indifferent about its tenets, or superstitious in supporting them ; and from the history of mankind, were two systems only of religion to prQvail, zeal would be perpetually exercised to the destruction of each other ; but variety, which divides attention, tends to lessen bigotry and arrest persecu- tion, and hence seems best calculated to promote zeal without intolerance, virtue void of hypocrisy, and the general happiness of the community." 4. Let us reflect with pleasure in how many im- portant articles of belief all Christians are agreed. Respecting the origin of evil, the nature of the human soul, the existence of an intermediate state, and the duration of future punishment, together with points of a similar kind, opinions have been, and in this imperfect state will ever continue to be, different. But on articles of faith, far more interesting in them- selves, and far more conducive to our welfare, are not all Christians united in opinion ? We all believe in the perfections and government of one God, in the degradation of human nature tlirough sin, in the unspeakable efficacy of the life, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ, in the assurance of the divine aid, in the necessity of exercising repentance and of cultivating holiness, in a resurrection from the dead, and in a future state of rewards and punishment. Cheerfully would I enter into a minute illustration of this part of the subject ; but the devout and intel- ligent Dr. Price has discussed it in his first sermon on the Christian doctrine, to which discourse I refer the reader, recommending it to his repeated perusal. REFLECTIONS. 329 Many Christians are more anxious to know in what their brethren differ from them, than the points on which they are agreed. This betrays a propensity to division, and has an unfavourable aspect on mutual forbearance, one of the richest ornaments of the Christian character. An enlightened zeal is compatible w^ith religious moderation, which is op- posed to the furious spirit of uncharitableness, the gangrene of genuine Christianity ! From the shy and distant deportment of men of different persua- sions towards each other, a stranger w^ould with difficulty be brought to believe that they looked up to the same God, confided in the same Saviour, and were bending their steps towards the same state of future happiness. The Christian world has the appearance of a subdued country, cantoned out into innumerable districts, through the pride and ambition of its conquerors, and each district occupied in retard- ing the prosperity of its neighbours. Alas ! what would the Prince of Peace say, were he to descend and sojourn among us ? Would he not reprove our unhallowed warmth, upbraid us with our divisions, chide our unsocial tempers, and exhort to amity and concord ? " This antipathy to your fellow- Chris- tians," he would say, " is not the effect of my religion, but proceeds from the want of it. My doctrines, precepts, and example, have an opposite tendency. Had you learned of Me, you would have never uttered against your brethren terms of reproach, nor lifted up the arm of persecution. The new commandment that I gave unto you was — That you love one another" 330 REFLECTIONS. Were the professors of the Gospel once fully sen- sible how entirely they coincide on the fundamental facts of natural and revealed religion, they would maintain with each other a more friendly intercourse, and unite more cordially to promote religion both at home and abroad, while a superior degree of success would crown their combined exertions for the pur- pose. Much is it regretted that disputes have been agitated concerning unessential points, and with an acrimony inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That controversy is in itself injurious to truth, no intelligent individual will assert. When conducted with ability and candour, light has been struck out, errors have been rectified, and information on important subjects has been communicated to the public. But alas ! controversy has been perverted. To many who have engaged in theological discussion, victory, not truth, has been the object of pursuit. Influenced by unworthy motives, they have departed from the line of conduct prescribed by an apostle, and have contended boisterously, rather than earn- estly, for the faith once delivered to the saints. Fiery controversialists, hurried away by impetuosity of temper, or exasperated by the opposition of an acute adversary, have disgraced what they have written by ungenerous insinuations. Thus are unbelievers furnished with an additional objection to revealed relioion — the investioation of interesting^ truth ter- minates in mutual reproaches; and Christians of different sentiments are driven still further from each REFLECTIONS. 331 other, are less fitted to become associates in the mansions of tlie blest. To such a pernicious mode of agitating disputes there are, however, exceptions; and delightful in- stances might be adduced. In the defence of Chris- tianity, and in the support of its particular doctrines, writers have stood forth, who breathe the genuine spirit of the Christian religion. Doddridge's " Let- ters to the Author of Christianity not founded in Argument," Bishop Watson's " Apologies," and Campbell's " Answ^er to Hume on Miracles," are examples of the candour with which religious con- troversies should be conducted. In an enlightened age like the present, this conciliating spirit might be expected ; and we indulge the pleasing hope, that times still more auspicious to truth are approaching, when the amicable discussion of every doctrine shall obtain an universal prevalence : — Seize upon truth where'er 'tis found. Among your friends — among your foes, On Christian or on Heathen ground ; The flower's divine where'er it grows ; Neglect the prickles and assume the rose. Watts. " No way whatsoever," says the immortal Locke, " that I shall walk in against the dictates of my conscience, will ever bring me to the mansions of the blessed. I may grow rich by an art that I take no delight in — I may be cured of some disease by remedies I have no faith in ; but I cannot be saved by a religion I distrust and a worship that I abhor. It is in vain for an unbeliever to take up the out- S32 REFLECTIONS. ward shadow of another man's profession ; faith only and sincerity are the things that procure acceptance with God." Truth, indeed, moral and divine, flourishes only in the soil of freedom. There it shoots up and sheds its fruit for the healing of the nations ! Civil and religious liberty are among the greatest earthly blessings which Heaven can bestow on man. Thrice happy are the people who experience the benefits of good government unsullied by oppression, and who enjoy liberty undebased by licentiousness ! William Penn has, in a letter to Archbishop Tillotson, these memorable words — " I abhor two principles in reli- gion, and pity them that own them — The first is obedience upon authority, without conviction ; and the other, destroying them that difi^er from me, for God's sake. Such a religion is without judgment, though not without teeth. Union is best, if rio-ht — else charity." 5. We should allow to others the same right of private judgment in religious matters which we claim and exercise ourselves. It is replied — " We forbid not the sober use of this privilege." But who can estimate the sobriety of another man's speculations ? And by reprobating the opinions which a serious brother may happen to entertain in consequence of free examination, we tacitly condemn that exercise of his mind which led him to embrace such tenets. This is the spirit of Popery in disguise. Cautiously exercising his reason, and devoutly studying the sacred records, " let every REFLECTIONS. 383 man be fully persuaded in his own raind." This was the advice of Paul to the primitive Christians, and no adequate reason has been, or ever will be, given for its being abandoned. For a Protestant, who demands and exercises the right of private judgment, to deny this right to his brother is an unpardonable inconsistency. It is also an act of injustice, contrary to the dictates of the mind, condemned by revela- tion, and prejudicial to the best interests of mankind. He who insults your person, steals your property, or injures your reputation, subjects himself to the punishment which the law denounces. AYhat, then, can we think of him who attempts to rob you of the right of private judgment — a jewel of inestimable price— a blessing. of the first magnitude ! Were we once to 'relinquish thinking for ourselves, and indo- lently to acquiesce in the representations of others, our understandings might soon groan beneath the absurdities of other men's creeds, and our attention be distracted by the perplexed nature of our religious services. Hitherto persons have never been wanting unreasonable enough to impose on their brethren articles of faith. Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, an avowed foe to ecclesiastical tyranny, has traced its sources with his usual acuteness, and pronounces them to be power, law, patronage, office, the abuse of learning, and mistaken piety ! These pretences for domination over conscience are plausible ; and by their speciousness millions have been deceived. But point out to a man of common sense the ground of religious liberty, and the infatuation ceases. He 334 REFLECTIONS. must perceive that the Father of Spirits has autho- rised no man to dictate to another what he is to believe, much less to impose his dogmas under pain of eternal punishment. Dr. Prideaux, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, in his " Life of Mahomet," speaking of the dissensions of the sixth century, remarks : — " Christians having drawn the abstrusest niceties into controversy, did thereby so destroy peace, love, and charity among themselves, that they lost the whole substance of religion, and in a manner drove Christianity quite out of the world ; so tliat the Saracens, taking advantage of the weakness of power and distractions of councils which those divisions had caused, soon overran with terrible devastation all the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire; turned everywhere their churches into mosques, and forced on them the abominable imposture of Maho- metanism ! " " Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" was the language in which Christ reproached the Pharisees ; and " Prove all things," was Paul's exhortation to the Church at Thessalonica. These passages alone show, beyond the possibility of dis- pute, that both Christ and his apostles were encou- ragers of free inquiry. Free inquiry, in its fullest extent, has been found serviceable to the interests of religion. Hereby error ceases to be perpetuated, and truth emerges from those shades of darkness with which she has been enveloped. Survey the page of ecclesiastical history — mark the intervals of REFLECTIONS. 335 languor when the right of private judgment lay dor- mant — then was the Church of Christ debilitated and encumbered with a heterogeneous mass of errors. Excellently has it been said, "No man can write down truth. Inquiry is to truth what friction is to the diamond. It proves its hardness, adds to its lustre, and excites new admiration." The ablest advocates of revelation declare that by the attacks of its enemies, as they have provoked examination, Christianity has been benefited. To deistical writers we are indebted for Butler's profound "Analogy," Law's " Theory of Natural and Revealed Religion," Campbell's "Dissertation on Miracles," Newton's work on the Prophecies, Watson's Apolo- gies, and other works, which reflect so much honour on the names of their respective authors. " Every species of intolerance," says Archdeacon Paley, " which enjoins suppression and silence, and every species of persecution which enforces such injunctions, is averse to the progress of truth, forasmuch as it causes that to be fixed by one set of men at one time, which is much better, and with much more proba- bility of success, left to the independent and pro- gressive inquiries of separate individuals. Truth results from discussion and from controversy, is in- vestigated by the labour and researches of private persons ; whatever therefore prohibits these obstructs that industry and that liberty which it is the com- mon interest of mankind to promote." 6. Let us be careful to treat with kindness all who entertain opinions different from our own. 336 REFLECTIONS. If we think those who differ from us to be in error, we should feel that they have a claim on our compassion. And as an additional incentive to a lenient conduct, it should be remembered, that we differ from them just as much as they do from us. By either party no anathema should be hurled, and from both a proneness to persecution should be era- dicated. The Quakers, in their address to James the Second, on his accession, told him that they under- stood he was no more of the established religion thjin themselves: "We therefore hope," say they, "that thou wilt allow us that liberty which thou takest thyself." The terms schism and heresy are on the lips of many, and it is not uncommon to find that those who use them most least understand their real import. Dr. Campbell thus concludes a learned dis- sertation on the subject : — " No person who in the spirit of candour and charity adheres to that which to the best of his judgment is right, though in this opinion he should be mistaken, is, in the scriptural sense, either schismatic or heretic : and he, on the contrary, whatever sect he belongs to, is most entitled to those odious appellations v,-ho is most apt to throw the imputation upon others." "Would to God that the spirit of this observation breathed in every place of worship, and in the heart of every individual throughout Christendom ! Upon the advantages arising from Christian mo- deration we might expatiate ; and to detail the evils which have flowed from an unenlightened zeal, would be to stain these pages with blood. Bishop Hall, in REFLECTIONS. 337 the seventeenth century, wrote on Moderation, and discussed the subject with that ability which is pecu- h'ar to his writings. But this great and good man, towards the close of the same treatise, forgetting the principles which he had been inculcating, devotes one solitary page to the cause of intolerance. This page concludes with these remarkable expressions : — " Master Calvin did well approve himself to God's church, in bringing Servetus to the stake at Geneva !' Blessed Jesus ! how art thou wounded in the house of thy friends ! After so deplorable an instance of human inconsistency, should not the most eminent of the followers of Christ beware lest by indulging, even in the slightest degree, a spirit of intolerance, they be insensibly led either to adopt or to applaud practices, which, under the specious mask of a holy zeal, outrage the first principle of humanity ? To love our own party only, is, to use the words of Dr. Doddridge, nothing else than " self-love reflected." Mr. Jay, of Bath, an exemplary minister, remarks, in one of his sermons, that " the readiest way in the world to thin heaven and replenish the regions of hell, is, to call in the spirit of bigotry. This will imme- diately arraign, and condemn, and execute, all that do not bow down and worship the image of our idolatry. Possessing exclusive prerogatives, it rejects every other claim — ' Stand by, I am sounder than thou. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we ! ' How many of the dead has this intolerance sentenced to eternal misery, who will shine like stars in the kingdom of 338 REFLECTIONS. our Father ! — how many living characters does it not reprobate as enemies to the cross of Christ, who are placing in it all their glory ! No wonder if, under the influence of this consuming zeal, we form lessening views of the number of the saved. ' I only am left' — yes, they are few indeed, if none belong to them who do not belong to your party — that do not see with your eyes — that do not believe election w^ith you, or universal redemption with you — that do not worship under a steeple with you, or in a meeting with you — that are not dipped with you, or sprinkled with you ! But hereafter we shall find that the righteous were not so circumscribed ; when we shall see ' many coming from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven !' " Were these truly evangelical sentiments more prevalent among professors of every descrip- tion, the ravages of infidelity would cease — Christians themselves would become more united, and rapid advances would be made towards the improvement of the world. Christians, indeed, of almost every denomination, appear at times to have forgotten that harshness foments the dissensions which diversity of senti- ment has too often occasioned. Coercive measures reach not the mind, and the issuing of edicts to extort assent to speculative tenets, is the bombast of civil authority. Truth rests on evidence. But what has evidence to do with exertions of power, imple- ments of torture, and scenes of devastation ? REFLECTIONS. 339 From the commencement of the fourth century down to the bright era of the Reformation, unmolested was the empire of ignorance over the human mind. At Rome, for a series of ages, the chair of infalli- bility was filled by a succession of intolerant and domineering pontiffs. Systems of cruelty were prac - tised for the support of their " most holy faith." Out of that once unrivalled capital of the world, the demon of persecution rushed forth, brandishing his torch, and deluging the Church of Christ with the blood of her martyrs ! Impatient for the destruction of the human race, he flew into different regions of the earth, framed racks, fixed stakes, erected gibbets, and, like a pestilence, scattered around him conster- nation and death ! Shall the evangelical genius of Protestantism countenance a temper which incites to such mournful deeds, and which, at the same time, dares to enrol the names of the perpetrators in the calendar of saints ? In this twilight state of being, to expostulate is our province — to inveigh and per- secute are forbidden. The glorious gospel of the blessed God prohibits rash accusations, cruel sur- mises, and malignant anathemas. Had a regard been paid to the golden rule, " Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you," intolerance would never have reared its ensanguined crest to affright the children of men. " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of," was our Saviour's reprimand to the disciples who, in the plenitude of their zeal, would have called down fire from heaven to consume the deluded Samaritans. Too often does a portion z 2 340 REFLECTIONS. of this accursed spirit reign in the breasts of Pro- testants. Hence censures are poured forth, hatreds are engendered, and a preparation for heaven is retarded. Far from usurping the seat of judgment which the Almighty has reserved to himself, and of aiming to become the dispensers of the divine venge- ance, let us wait the issue of all things in reveren- tial silence. A wise and merciful God will solemnly decide the business, when "he judges the world in righteousness !" 7. Let us not complain because perfect unanimity of religious sentiment is unattainable in this present state. A repining spirit is the source of ill temper towards those who dissent from us ; but it seems to be the intention of the Divine Being, that we should think differently concerning certain points of faith and practice. Variety marks the works of God. It is impressed throughout the circumference of the natural, the animal, and the intellectual world. Above us, we behold the dazzling brightness of the sun, the pale splendour of the moon, the mild twink- ling of the stars, and the variegated colours which adorn the firmament of heaven ! Around us, the surface of the earth is diversified into a thousand beautiful forms ; and in the animal, the vegetable, and the fossil kingdoms, no two individual produc- tions are perfectly alike ! Within us, upon the slightest examination, we discern our minds stamped with peculiarity. From senseless idiotism, up to the sagacity of Newton, how numerous are the grada- REFLECTIONS. 341 tions of intellect ! The capacities, habits, and views of different minds are never in strict conformity with each other. In some degree diversity of opinion flows from the structure of our understanding. To fall out with this branch of the dispensations of God is to arraio^n his wisdom. Doubtless he mio;ht have shed upon us such a degree of light, that we should have seen as with one eye, and have been altogether of one mind. But the Supreme Being has otherwise ordered it, and with becoming resigna- tion let us acquiesce in the appointment. Lord Mansfield, that ornament of the law, declares that " There is nothing certainly more unreasonable, more inconsistent with the rights of human nature, more contrary to the spirit and precepts of the Christian religion, more iniquitous and unjust, more impolitic, than ijei^secution ! It is against natural religion, revealed religion, and sound policy !" The biographer of Bishop Burnet tells us, that, when making his tour on the Continent, this great and good prelate " there became acquainted with the leading men of the different persuasions tolerated in Holland, particularly Calvinists, Arminians, Lutherans, Baptists, Brownists, Papists, and Uni- tarians, amongst each of which, he used frequently to declare, he met with men of such unfeigned piety and virtue, that he became fixed in a strong principle of universal charity." Unavailing have been the attempts made in the successive ages of the church to produce unanimity. For this purpose legislatures have decreed acts, 342 REFLECTIONS. poured forth torrents of blood, and perpetrated deeds at which humanity sickens, shudders, and turns away with disgust. Francis I., king of France, used to declare, " that if he thought the blood in his arm was tainted with the Lutheran heresy, he would have it cut off; and that he would not spare even his own children, if they entertained sentiments contrary to the Catholic Churcli." Pride in one person, passion in a second, prejudice in a third, and in a fourth, investigation, lead to difference of opinion. Should diversity be deemed an evil, it is incumbent on rational beinos, and congenial with our Christian profession, to improve it to valuable ends. It is a fact, that different denominations have, in every age of the church, kept a jealous eye over each other ; and hereby the Scriptures, the common standard to which they appealed for the truth of their respective tenetS;, have been preserved in greater purity. It may also be added, that diversity of opinion quickens our inquiries after truth, and gives scope for the exercise of our charity, which in one passage of the sacred writings is pronounced " greater than faith and hope," and in another is termed " the bond of perfectness." Much improvement have good men extracted from the common evils of life ; what we call evil has given rise to graces and virtues which otherwise would have had no existence, or, at least, w^ould have been faintly called into exercise. To perceive the justness of this observation, it is not necessary that we be profound investigators of the affairs of the world. REFLECTIONS. 343 Under the accumulated difficulties of faith and practice, by which we are embarrassed in this state of imperfection, we should reflect on the doctrine of a Providence, which administers the richest consola- tion. The dominion exercised by the Supreme Being over the works of his hand is not partial as to its objects, or narrow in its extent, or transitory in its duration. Unlike earthly monarchs, who expire in their turn, and who are successively borne to the tombs of their ancestors, " The King of Saints liveth and reigneth for ever and ever ! " Evils, indeed, have entered the world, and still continue to distress it. But these evils have not crept into the system without the knowledge of its great author, and the attributes of God ensure their extirpation. Our rejoicing is, " The Lord God omnipotent reigneth!" Glorious must be the termination of the divine dis- pensations. The august period is predicted in the sacred page. Distant may be the day of its arrival, but its blessings once realised will compensate the exercise of our faith, and the trial of our patience. One part, one little part, we dimly scan, Through the dark medium of life's feverish dream, Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan. If but that little part incongruous seem : Nor is that part, perhaps, what mortals deem : Oft from apparent ills our blessings rise — Oh ! then renounce that impious self-esteem, That aims to trace the secrets of the skies, For thou art but of dust — be humble and be wise. Beattie. Finally — penetrated with a sense of the imperfec- 344 REFLECTIONS. tion of this present life, let us be cautious how we form our religious sentiments, let us watch unremit- tingly over our tempers and conduct, and aspire to that better world, where pure and unadulterated truth shall be disclosed to our view ! Of all the subjects presented to the human mind, religion claims our first attention. A God, a Provi- dence, a Saviour, and a future State of Retribution, ought to be pressing upon our minds, and presiding over our conduct. To familiarise ourselves with the evidence of these great truths, to lay open our souls to their energy, and promote, by every honourable method, their diffusion among mankind, should be our desire and our study. Zeal is an elevated passion. It is repeatedly enjoined in the sacred wi^itings. It forms the leading feature of excellence in the most enlightened minds. Indeed, an individual can scarcely be pronounced truly good, if he possesses no portion of this celestial fire. Zeal, confined within the limits prescribed by reason and scripture, is attended with blessed conse- quences. Loosened from these restraints, like the devouring conflagration, it involves in one undis- tinguished ruin the victims of its fury, and triumphs in the desolation which it has effected. How different ' is the Christian influenced by a zeal purely evangelical, from the monster who either is swollen with the venom of uncharitableness, or delights in persecution for conscience sake ! " Mistake me not," says good Richard Baxter ; " I do not slight orthodoxy, nor jeer at the name : but only disclose the pretences of REFLECTIONS. 345 devilish zeal in pious or seemingly pious men. The slanders of some of these, and the bitter oppro- brious speeches of others, have more effectually done the devil's service, under the name of orthodoxy and zeal for truth, than the malignant scorners of godli- ness." Thus also the pious Matthew Henry declares, that of all the Christian graces, zeal is most apt to turn sour ! Dr. Doddridge, in his Family Expositor, has this remark : — " Wisely did Christ silence the suspicious praises of an unclean spirit ! and vain is all the hope which men build merely on those orthodox professions of the most important truths, in which Satan himself could vie with them." To use the words of Gilbert West, an elegant scholar and towards the close of life a conscientious Christian and member of the Church of England — " ' Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God' — An appellation infinitely more honourable than that of pastor, bishop, archbishop, patriarch, cardinal, or pope ; and attended with a recompense infinitely surpassing the richest revenues of the highest ecclesiastical dignity!" Indeed, the light and darkness now blended to- gether, instead of producing a spirit of scepticism, or precipitating us into acts of violence, should impel us to look for the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. " What ye know not now, ye shall know hereafter" — was our Saviour's declaration to his disciples, respecting an event which occurred whilst he continued to sojourn amongst them. It is reasonable to believe that we 346 REFLECTIONS. shall not remain ignorant of matters of superior im- portance, when the period of communicating higher degrees of information arrives. We may be assured that the Spirit of God guides all good men into neces- sary truth. This is a sentiment in which the wisest of mankind concur ; and upon which learned divines, after their most unwearied researches, are obliged to rest. A Christian father pronounced the greatest heresy to be, " a wicked life !" This was also the sentiment of Wickliffe. Devoutly is it to be wished that those who are clamorous about speculative tenets, would level their artillery more against the violation of the preceptive part of our religion. The eloquent Saurin exclaims — " Why are not ecclesiastical bodies as rigid and severe against heresies of practice as they are against heresies of speculation ? Certainly there are heresies in morality as w^ell as in theology. Councils and synods reduce the doctrines of faith to certain propositional points, and thunder anathemas against all who refuse to subscribe them. They say, cursed be he who doth not believe the divinity of Christ ; cursed be he who doth not believe hypostatical union, and the mystery of the cross ; cursed be he who denies the inward operations of grace, and the irresistible efficacy of the Spirit. I wish they would make a few canons against moral heresies. How many are there of this kind among our people ! " These observations referring to the refugee Protestants in Holland, are applicable to the Protestants in our times. Alas I anathemas are directed more against error tlian REFLECTIONS. 347 against unrighteousness ; whereas evil passions are far more formidable enemies to the welfare of man- kind. To the word of God, therefore, let us have recourse, and thence derive the doctrine which is according to godliness, pure as the light of heaven, and refreshing as the dew of the morning ! The Gospel of Jesus Christ cordially believed, and rightly- understood, enlightens the mind, calms the troubled conscience, rectifies depraved propensities, and intro- duces us into the habitation of the spirits of just men made perfect. " Men who profess themselves," says the amiable Cowper, " adepts in mathematical know- ledge, in astronomy, or in jurisprudence, are generally as well qualified as they w^ould appear. The reason may be, that they are always liable to detection, should they attempt to impose on mankind — and therefore take care to be w^hat they pretend. In religion alone a profession is often slightly taken up and slovenly carried on, because forsooth candour and charity require us to hope the best and to judge favourably of our neighbour ; and because it is easy to deceive the ignorant, who are a great majority, upon this subject. Let a man attach himself to a particular party, contend furiously for what are pro- perly called evangelical doctrines, and enlist himself under the banner of some popular preacher, and the business is done : Behold a Christian, a Saint, a Phoenix ! In the mean time, perhaps his heart and his temper, and even his conduct, are unsanctified — possibly less exemplary than some avowed Infidels ! ! No matter — he can talk — he has the shibboleth of 348 REFLECTIONS. the true church — the Bible in his pocket, and — a head well stored with notions. But the quiet, humble, modest, and peaceable person, who is in his practice what the other is only in his profession ; who hates noise, and therefore makes none ; who, knowing the snares that are in the world, keeps himself as much out of it as he can, and never enters it but when duty calls, and even then with fear and trembling, — is the Christian that will always stand highest in the estimation of those who bring all characters to the test of true wisdom, and judge of the tree by its fruit." But, alas ! mankind, instead of ascertaining what is truth, and how it can best exert its influence over the several departments of conduct, are occupied in schemes of interested ambition, or sunk into criminal indifference. Upon death they seldom bestow a thought. Though awful in its nature, frequent in its visits, and alarming in its consequences, it leaves no impression. Without emotion they behold their fellow-creatures snatched from off the busy stage of action, and driven one after another, either by disease or accident, into the house appointed for all living ! Upon the decease, indeed, of relations and friends, they heave a sigh, utter an exclamation, shed a tear ; but when they have clothed themselves in the gar- ments of sorrow, the tragedy is quickly over. Re- suming their former views, and laying their minds open afresh to the dominion of their passions, they return with avidity to the occupations and amuse- ments of life. Thus proceeds the tenor of their exist- REFLECTIONS. 349 ence on earth, till they also are swept away into the receptacles of the dead. Pilgrims and sojourners on earth, we are hastening to an eternal world, and a few" more fleeting years will place even the yonngest of us before the tribunal of Heaven. Whether we can abide the scrutiny which shall be instituted at the last great day, " for which all other days were made," is a question of infinite importance, and deeply concerns rational and accountable creatures. Amidst the din of controversy and the jarrings of adverse parties, the opinions of the head are often substituted for the virtues of the heart, and thus is practical religion neglected. Avoiding those disputes which damp our devotion, and contract our benevolence, let us A^alue above all the means by which our faith may be invigorated, our hope enlivened, our charity confirmed, and our affections elevated to the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God ! The veil now thrown over this preliminary state, and hiding from our sight celestial objects, shall be removed. Then bidding an adieu to prejudices which darken the understanding, irritate the temper, and deform the spirit, w^e shall embrace each other with perfect love, and shall be astonished at ourselves for having been on earth so addicted to unprofitable dis- putations, and so backward in the exercise of brotherly kindness and Christian charity. Almighty God ! look down on thine erring crea- tures. Pity their darkness and imperfection. Direct 850 REFLECTIONS. them into the truth as it is in Jesus. Banish from their hearts the bitterness of censure. Cherish in their minds a spirit of love and moderation towards their fellow Christians. To their zeal add knowledge, and to their knowledge charity. Make them humble under the difficulties which adhere to their faith, and patient under the perplexities which accompany their practice. Guide them by thy counsel ; and through the mediation of thy Son Jesus Christ, receive them into thy kingdom and glory ! — Amen. And behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. — Rev. xxii. 12, 13, 14. BRIEF TABLE OF EVENTS IN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, From the Birth of Christ down to the present times ; the importance of which can be ascertained only by study- ing the history of the Christian Church. A.D. 1 Jesus Christ born in Judea, now called the Holy Land, the world being four thousand years old. 26 John the Baptist enters on his ministry. 9 Christ is baptised by John the Baptist in the river Jordan, preparatory to his entering on his ministry. 33 He is crucified under Pontius Pilate, rises from the dead on the third day, and six weeks after ascends up into heaven, with the solemn assurance of his appearing a second time at the end of the world. 35 The miraculous conversion of the Apostle Paul. 39 St. Matthew writes his gospel. 44 St. Mark writes his gospel. 52 Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem. 62 St. Paul sent in bonds to Rome. 64 The first persecution against the Christians. 66 The Jewish war begins. 67 St. Peter and St. Paul put to death. 70 Jerusalem utterly destroyed by the Romans. 95 The second persecution against the Christians. 99 St. John dies in the 102d year of his age. 102 Pliny the Younger sends Trajan his celebrated account of the Christians. 107 The third persecution against the Christians. 352 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A.D, 118 The fourth persecution against the Christians. 130 Adrian rebuilds Jerusalem. 135 Conclusion of the Jewish war. 202 The fifth persecution against the Christians. 235 The sixth persecution against the Christians. 250 The seventh persecution against the Christians. 257 The eighth persecution against the Christians. 272 The ninth persecution against the Christians. 303 The tenth persecution against the Christians. After this series of persecutions, Christianity becomes the established religion of the Roman empire, for 311 Constantine was converted to the religion of Christ, and Heathenism is everywhere abolished. 325 The first general council at Nice. 343 Persecution of the Christians in Persia. 449 The Saxons arrive in Britain. 476 The Western Empire flourishes. 480 Ten horns, or kingdoms, founded out of the Romish empire, and subject to the Pope. 496 Clovis baptised, and Christianity embraced in France. 516 The computing of time by the Christian era introduced by Dionysius. 597 Augustin the monk arrives in England. 606 Bishop of Rome constituted universal head of the Church. 622 Mahomet establishes his religion. 637 Jerusalem taken by the Saracens. 698 The Picts in England embrace Christianity. 748 Middle Ages, or the Night of Time. 756 The Popes became civil lords in Italy, whence they gra- dually claimed dominion over all the earth. 800 The German empire founded by Charlemagne. 878 Alfred founds the University of Oxford. 915 The University of Cambridge founded. 1065 Jerusalem taken by the Turks from the Saracens. 1066 The conquest of England, under William, Duke of Nor- mandy. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 353 A.D. 1096 The first crusade to Palestine begun under several Christian princes, to drive the infidels, or unbelievers, from the Holy Land. 1110 Learning revived at the University of Cambridge. 1147 The second crusade. 1177 Saladin repulsed before Jerusalem. 1178 The Albigenses and Waldenses take their rise. 1189 The kings of England and France go to the Holy Land. 1192 Richard Coeur-de-Lion defeats Saladin at Ascalon. 1215 Magna Charta signed by King John. 1233 The Inquisition entrusted to the Dominicans. 1283 Wales conquered by Edward I. 1369 John WicklifFe began to teach in England 1414 The Council of Constance. 1415 John Huss and Jerome of Prague seized, tried, and burnt for their opinions. 150.9 John Calvin born. 1517 Martin Luther writes against indulgences in Germany, which was the origin of the Reformation. 1519 Zuinglius began the Reformation in Switzerland. 1529 A diet at Spires, in Germany ; the protesting against which gave rise to the appellation of Protestant. 1533 Henry VIII. withdraws his allegiance from the Pope, and proclaims himself supreme head of the Church of England. 1545 The Council of Trent begins. 1553 Michael Servetus burnt, by the instigation of Calvin, at Geneva, for the denial of the Trinity. 1572 The massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris, when upwards of 70,000 Protestants perished. 1582 Pope Gregory introduces the new style. 1588 The destruction of the Spanish Armada, whose object was to re-establish Popery throughout England. 1598 Henry IV. passes the edict of Nantes in favour of the Protestants. 1618 The synod of Dort begins. 354 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, A.D. 1621 The civil war with the Hugonots in France. 1649 King Charles beheaded. 1659 Oliver Cromwell died. 1660 The restoration of Charles II. 1662 Bartholomew Act, or Act of Uniformity, passed, by which 2000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England. 1685 The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by which the exercise of the Protestant religion was prohibited in France, 1688 The revolution of King William, when the family of the Stuai'ts were banished, for attempting to introduce Popery and arbitrary power into England. 1091 The battle of theBoyne in Ireland, when King William defeated James II., and established the Protestant religion there. 1709 Dr. Sacheverel tried and suspended for High Chnrchism. 1715. Suppression of a rebellion in Scotland, when the Pre- tender attempted to recover the throne of these king- doms, 1722 Bishop Atterbury banished for supporting the Pretender. Yong Tching, Emperor of China, banished the Jesuits and other Popish missionaries, and imprisoned those of his subjects that refused to renounce Christianity. 1733 The Jesuits expelled from Paraguay, in South America, 1 746 Suppression of the rebellion in Scotland, the object of which was, by the return of the Stuart family, to re- store arbitrary power and Papacy in these kingdoms. 1757 Damiens, a fanatic, attempts to assassinate the French king. 1763 The Jesuits expelled France, for their intrigues against the state. 1 766 The Jesuits expelled from Bohemia and Denmark. 1767 The Jesuits expelled from Spain, Venice, and Genoa. 1 768 The Jesuits expelled from Naples, Malta, and Parma. 1773 The society of the Jesuits suppressed by the Pope. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 355 A.D. 1775 American war commences with Great Britain. 1779 The Protestant Dissenters in England relieved from certain grievances under which they laboured. 1780 Riots in London, occasioned by the extension of civil rights to the Roman Catholics. 1783 The termination of the American war, by which the United States became independent of Great Britain. 1789 French Revolution commences, by which both church &nd state in France were overturned and annihilated. 1791 Riots at Birmingham, in which the houses and property of many Dissenters were destroyed. 1793 Louis XVL, king of France, beheaded. 1794 Missions established by the Calvinists, both of the Church of England and amongst the Dissenters, with the view of converting the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, and other remote parts of the earth. 1798 Pope Pius VL dethroned by the French at Rome. 1806 Bonaparte assembles the Jews at Paris for civil purposes, though at the time it was thought by some that he meant to restore them to the Promised Land. 1813 Statute against Unitarians for denying the Trinity re- pealed, by means of William Smith's (M. P. for Nor- wich) Bill for that purpose. 1814 March 31. The allied armies, with the Emperors of Russia and Austria, together with the King of Prussia at their head, enter Paris, dethrone Bonaparte, libe- rate the Pope, proclaim the restoration of the Bour- bons, in unison with the French people, avow civil and religious freedom, and announce peace and harmony to the whole world. June 20. Peace proclaimed in London with its usual formalities, amidst the acclamations of an immense multitude. 1820 Jan. 29. George IIL died in the 82nd year of his age, and in the 60th year of his reign — a reign distinguished aa2 356 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A.D. by the abolition of the slave trade, the education of the poor, and the extension of religious liberty. 1830 June 26. George IV. died in the 68th year of his age. His reign is rendered for ever memorable by the pro- gress made in it towards religious liberty — especially by the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, and by Catholic Emancipation. 1837 June 20. William IV. died, after a few weeks' illness, in the 72nd year of his age. His reign was distinguished by the passing of the Reform Bill, and by the Marriage Act. The longest reign in the British annals does not exhibit so many triumphs of liberty and such im- portant improvements in our ecclesiastical and civil institutions. 1837 June 20. Queen Victoria began to reign. All glorious let her journey be Through her own heaven of peace and power ; Her guardian angel, — Liberty ! A nation's happiness, — her dower. " What a wonderful century was that which we have left immediately behind us ! How boundless its provisions, if only guided by the spirit of the gospel, for the future triumphs of humanity ! A philanthropy that has ceased to recognise any distinction of race or colour, and that burns to carrj' the motives and the consolations of religion into the bosom of the slave and the savage of every shore— a productive industry, adequate, if well directed, to feed and clothe and surround with the comforts of a home, the entire population of the globe— art vanquishing all obstacles— science carried by the perfection of its instruments and its calculations into the deepest secrets of the material universe- civilization no longer regarded as the accidental privilege of a nation or a class, but embracing in its aims and its tendencies the collective interests of the race .' As we_^pause and look into the slowly unfolding scenes of futurity, we can only indulge a cautious and devout anticipa- tion."— Rev. J. J. Tayler. INDEX Academies, Dissentiug, 175 Ages, the dark, 106 Amendments in Liturgy, 122 Antiburghers, 143 Antinomians, 89 Apostolical Succession, 308 Arminians, 82 Articles, the Thirty-nine, 115, 123 Ascension of Christ, 44 Aspland, Rev. Rob., quoted, 70 Athanasian Creed, 53 Atheists, 2 Augsburgh Confession, 246 Authority, Church, 311 Bacon, Lord, on the causes of Atheism, 3 Baptismal Regeneration, 165 Baptists, General and Particular, 160 Distinct Denominations of, 165 Barkers, 296 Barnard, Hannah, 172 Baxter, Rev. R., his extraordinary character, 87 His manuscripts, 173, quoted, 314, 317, 344 Baxterians, 86 Beattie, Dr., his opinion of Scotch Psalmody, 140 Belsham, Rev. T., on Dr. Watts, 61 His Plea for Infant Baptism, 164 His Reply to Dr. Pye Smith, 37 Berrington's account of the Roman Catholics, 92 Bevan's Vindication of Quakerism, 186 Bible Christians, 208 Bible Society, its origin, 222 Blackburne's Confessional, 119 Board, Presbyterian, 173 Bogue, Rev. Dr., 268, 303 Bonner, Bp., 117 358 INDEX. Bossuet's Life by Butler, 97 Brothers, Richard, 286 Broughton on the Trinity, 55 Brown of Haddington, 144 Bryanites, 208 Builth, First Welsh Methodist chapel at, 221 Bull, Rev. W., 176, 262 Bunyan a Baptist, 166 Burgess Oath, 144 Burghers, 143,157 Burnet's, Bishop, liberality, 341 Butler's Analogy, 41 Butler's Lives of Fenelon and Bossuet, 97 Calvin, his Institutes, 81 His persecution of Servetus, 71, 337 Calvinists, 7G Calvinistic Methodists, 208 ; Welsh, 217 Campbell, Dr., quoted, 336 Candour, examples of, 331 Catholics, Roman, 92; not all agreed in opinion, 323 Chalmers, Dr., his Discourses on Astronomy, 4' Chandler, Dr. Samuel, on the marks of the'Church of Rome, 114 Charity Workhouse, Jewish, 20 Charles, Rev. T. 221, establishes schools and a printing-press, 222 ; the originator of the Bible Society, 222 Chauncy, Dr., a Universalist, 240 Cheshunt College, 176 Chester, Bp. of, his charge, 308 Christ, opinions as to his person, 51 Christian Church in America, 258 Christianity, 28 ; Evidences of, 31 ; first introduction of into- Britain, 116 Christians all agreed on many points, 328 Churchof England, 117 Church Government, 91 Clarke, Dr. S., on Deists, 5 Clarkson, T., his Portraiture of Quakerism, 178 ; Sonnet on, 185 Clowes, Rev. J., a Swedenborgian, 266 College, Sion, 174 Collins, A., on the Articles, 121 Conference, Wesleyan, 195 Confession, Augsburgh, 246 Confessional, by Blackburne, 119 Congregationalists, 159 Connection, General Baptists', 162 INDEX. 359 Consubstantiation, a Lutheran doctrine, 181 Conventicle Act, 129 Cornish, Rev. J., 131 Corporation Act, 129 Cowper, W., quoted, 176, 304, 347: his opinion of Madame Guyon, 262 Craumer, 120 Crusades, 105 Cumberland's " Jew," 21 Dark ages, the, 106 Denominations, the Three, 169 Destructionists, 242 Discipline of the Church of England, 127 Dissenting Academies, 175 Dissenters, Protestant, 128 Doddridge, Dr., quoted, 29, 176, 345 ; on Baxterianism, 87 ; bis Lectures, 147 ; on Supralapsa,rians, 80 Dort, Synod of, 77, 84 Drummond, H. Esq., an Irvingite, 287 Dunkers, 256 Dyer, Geo., on Subscription, 119 Ecclesiastical History, events in, 351 Eclectics, Spiritual, 255 Edict of Nantes, 113 Elect cannot fall from God, 89 Emlyn, T., 66 ; persecuted, 157 Episcopalians, English, 115 •, Scotch, 124 Erskine, Rev. Dr., 143 Erskine, Ralph, 211 Euphrata, a colony of German Baptists, 216 Events in Ecclesiastical History, 3-51 Evidences of Christianity, 31 Fawcett, Rev. B., on the Trinity, 6 1 Feasts, Love, 197 Fenelon, his Life, by Butler, 97 Fifth Monarchy men, 286 Fletcher's Checks, 90 Foley, Rev. T. P., a disciple of Johanna Southcott, 235 Foster, Mr., disowned by the Quakers, 187 Fox, George, 177 Francis I. of France, his bigotry, 342 Freethinking Christians, 271 Friends, socie'y of, 177 360 INDEX. Gale, Dr. John, a General Baptist, 161 Ganganelli, his sweetness of temper, 97 Geddes, Dr., a Roman Catholic, 96 General Baptists, 160, 240 George the Third, 123 Germany, Reformation in, 104 Glassites, 249 Gordon, Rev, John, 205 Gouge, Mr., honourably mentioned bv Archbishop TiUotson, 327 Greek Church, 99 ; its Ceremonies, 100 Grotius, sentenced to imprisonment, 85 Guyou, Madame, a mystic, 261 ; her poetry translated bv Cowper, 262 Haldanites, 267 Hales, John, of Eton, 85 Hall, Bishop, quoted, 336 Hall, Rev. Robert, 161, 167 Hammond, Dr., his account of an instance of bigotry, 86 Harris, Howel, Esq., a Welsh Methodist, 217 Hawker, Dr., of Plymouth, 305 Henry, Matthew, quoted, 345 Herbert, Lord, of Cherbury, a Deist, 9 Herrnhutters or Moravians', 246 History, Ecclesiastical, 351 Home, Bp,, a Hutchinsonian, 253 Home, Rev. T. H., on the Athanasian creed, 54 Hugonots, 104, 112 Huntingdon, Lady, 214 ; her letter to Dr. Doddridge, 217 Huntington, ^Y., 90 Hutchinsonians, 252 Independents, 158 Inquiry, free, recommended, 335 Inquisition, 106 Irish Presbyterians, 148 Irving, Rev. Edward, 287 Itinerants, Wesleyan, 192 Jay, Rev. W., quoted, 337 Jennings' Jewish Antiquities, 17 Jerkers, 296 Jews' Confession of Faith, 17 Judaism, 12 ; modern, 22 Judgment, final, 40 Jumping, in Wales, 228 Justification, immediate and sensible, a Wesleyan doctrine, 192 INDEX. 361 KiLHAMiTES, or Methodist New Connexion, 201 Kinghorn, Rev. J., a Particular Baptist, 161 King's Account of the Greek Church, 101 Kingswood Colliers, 211 Kippis, Dr., on Doddi-idge's Lectures, 73 ; quoted 147 Kirk of Scotland, 137 Kirk Session, 140 Knox, John, 143 Lardner, Dr., his character, 48 Latrobe's Exposition of Christian Doctrine, 247 Lavington, Bp., his " Moravians compared and detected," 248 League and Covenant, 142 Leland's " View of Deistical Writers," 49 Lettsom, Dr., quoted 328 Library, Dr. Williams's, 171 Lindsay, Dr. James, his bust, 173 His character, 173, note Lindsey, Rev. T., of Essex Street, 120 Local Preachers, 194 Locke, quoted 319, 331 ; censured by the Pusevites, 311 Lollards, 116 Love Feasts, Wesleyan, 197 Lutherans, 110 Lyttelton, Lord, quoted, 324 Maclaine, Dr., quoted 112 M'Crie, a Scotch seceder, his Life of Knox, 145 M'Lean's People, 269 Magee, Dr. on the Atonement, 77 Mahometanism, 23 Mansfield, Lord, quoted 341 Marriage Act, 135 Marriages, Quakers', 181 Marsom, Mr. J., a destructionist, 243 Measure of God's favour, 75 Mede, Joseph, 300, 303 Meetings, Band, 196 ; Class, 196 Methodists, Calvinistic, 208 New Connexion, 201 ; Primitive, 205; Wesleyan, 188 ; Wesleyan Protestant, 203; Welsh Calvinistic, 217 Mill's History of the Crusades, 105 Millenarians, 299 Millennium, Dr. Whitby on the, 302 Milner, Dr., the Roman Catholic Bishop, 98, 115 Milton, his work on the Christian doctrine, 66; a Baptist, 163 S6'2 INDEX. Moderation, Christian, recommended, 316 Moore, T. quoted, 20 Moorfields' holiday folks, 211 Moravians, 246 Mordecai, Ben, his Apology, 64 Mosheim's History, translated hy Dr. Maclaire, 80 Mosheim on Sabellianism, 60 Muggletonians, 287 Mussel mans' creed, 25 , Mystics, 261 Nantes, Edict of, 113 Neal's Manuscripts, 1 73 New Connexion, Methodist, 201 New JerusaleQi Church, 2C3 Newman Street Chapel, 293 Newton, Bishop, a Universalist, 240 His Dissertation on Prophecies, 300 Nights, Watch, Wcsleyan, 198 Nonconformists, 128 Opinions, mere, not hazardous to salvation, 326 Orton, Job, 159 Oxford, Bishop of, his charge, 312 Oxford Divinity, or Puseyism, 307 Paley, Dr., quoted 9, 248, 335 ; on the Being of a God, 5 Palmer, Rev. John, 243 Parkhurst, the lexicographer, a Hutchinsonian, 253 Peccability of the human Nature of Christ, 289 Peirce's Vindication of the Dissenters, 137 Penn, William, quoted 332 ; his*' Innocencv with her open Face 183 ; Life of, by Clarkson, 185 ' Perfection, Christian, a Wesleyan doctrine, 193 Pitt, AVilliam, his questions to the Catholics, 95 Plymouth Antinomians, 91 Plymouth Brethren, 305 Poetry, Joanna Southcott's, 283 Polity of the Church, 309 Porson's Letters to Travis, 56 Presbyterian Board, 1 73 Presbyterian Church Government, 138 Presbyterians, English, 147 Presbyterians, Irish, 148 Price,' Dr., 147 ; on Christian doctrine 67, 328 Prideaux, Dr., his Life of Mahomet, 334 INDEX. 363 Priestley, Dr., on the Millennium, 303 ; quoted 147 Piimitive Methodists, 205 Protestants, 104 Protestant, Wesleyan Methodists, 203 Puritans, NeaVs History of the, 130 Puseyites, 307 Quakers, society of, 1 77 Quakers' Marriages, 181 Racovian Catechism, 71 Radcliff, E., his eulogy on Dr. Lardner, 40 Ranters, 205 Rees, Dr. T., his Racovian Catechism, 71 Reformation in England, 125 ; in Germany, 104 ; in Scotland, 145 ; Mosheim's account of, 108 Regeneration, Baptismal, 165 Registration Act, 135 Relief Church in Scotland, 145 Remonstrants, 85 Rhees, Rev. M. J. , the founder of a sect in America, 25 I Robinson, Rev. Robert, quoted 333 His History of Baptism, 162 Rogers, Dr. William, 266 Romaine, Rev. W., a Hutchinsonian, 253 Rowe, Rev. John, a Destructionist, 243 Rowlands, Rev. D., a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist, 220 Russian or Greek Church, 103 Rutt, John Towill, his edition of Dr. Priestley's Works, 74 Sabbatarians, 244 Sabellians, 59 Sandemanians, 249 Sauds, an Indian sect, 293 Saurin's opinion of heresy, 346 Scotland, Kirk of, 137 Scripture, suiBciency of, 321 Seceders, Scotch, 143 Sermon on the Mount, 41 Sers'etus persecuted by Calvin, 71 Seventh-day Christians, 244 ; numerous in America, 225 Sewell's History of the Quakers, 182 Shakers, 254 Shakspeare's Jew, 21 Sherlock, Bishop, on the causes of Atheism, 5 Shiloh, second, 283 364 INDEX. Simpson, Rev. J., on the duration of Future Punishment, 240 Sion College, 174 Smith, Dr. John Pye, quoted 58 ; on Calvinism, 79 Smith, Dr. T. S., on Final Restitution, 242 Socinian Controversy, 71 Socinians, none in England, 70 Solifidians, 89 Southcott, Joanna, 279 Southey's Book of the Church, 128 Stephens, Rev. John, 203 Strafford, Lord, 149 Sturges, Dr., his defence of Protestantism, 115 Sublapsarians, 80 Subscription, Dyer on, 119 Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, 141 Sumner, Bishop, on Milton's Christian Doctrine, 66 Supralapsarians, 80 Swedenborgians, 263 Symbol of the Reformation, 107 Synod of Ulster, 156 Talmud, 16 Taylor, Jeremy, 151 Taylor, Dr. John, his Key to tlie Romans, 84 Taylor, H., Ben Mordecai's Apology, G5 Test Act, 129, 133 Theophilanthropists, 10 Three Denominations, 169 Toleration Act, 134 Tomline, Bishop, on Baptismal Regeneration, 165; Refutation of Calvinism, 84 Tongue, a miraculous gift, 291 Toulmin, Dr., his Life of Socinus, 74 Tracts for the Times, 307 Translation of the Bible, 119 Trevecca, College at, 214 ' Trinitarians, 52 Truth, Lovers of, a sect in Holstein, 12 Tunkers, 256 Types and Antitypes, 1 6 Ulster, Synod of, 149 Unanimity, perfect, unattainable, 340 Uniformity, Act of, 129 Unitarian Christians, 65 Unitas Fratrum, or ^Joravians, 246 INDEX. 365 Universalists, 235 Usher, Archbishop, 149 Vanini, Lucilis, an Atheist, 3 Viret's account of Deists, 9 Voltaire, 9 "VVardlaw, Rev. Dr., 271 AVarren, Rev. Dr., 204 Watch Nights, 198 Water Baptism, 1/9 Watson's Theological Institutes, 1 9'd Watts, Dr., quoted 58, 159, 331 Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, 217 Wesley, Rev. Charles, 191 Wesley, Rev. Jolin, his extraordinary escape from fire, 188; his zeal and, success, 192 Wesleyan Methodists, 188 West, Gilbert, quoted 345 Whitby, Dr., his Commentary, 84 ; on the Millennium, 302 White's Bampton Lectures, 27 Whitfield, Rev. George, ordained, 209 ; his po^verful style of preaching, 210 ; his visit to Scotland, 143 ; his character, 212 Wicliff, 116 William the Third, 152 Williams, Dr. Daniel, his Library, 171 ; his character, 171 Williams, Rev. Peter, 220 Williams, Rev. William, 220 Williams, Dr., of Rotherham, on Future Punishment, 241 Winchester, Rev. E., 312 ; his favourable opinion of the Dunkers, 257 W^oodhouselee, Lord, quoted 253 Wordsworth, quoted 192 ; his Sonnet to Clarkson, 186 Wright, Rev. Richard, his Life of Servetus, 72 ZlNZENDORF, CoUDt, 246 THE END. ERRATA. Page 68, line 16, for rewarded, read rewarded or punished. 75, a, for Cardali, read Cardale. — 8, for Cappi, read Cappe. 90, 29, for Huntingdon, read Huntington. 243, 22, for Marson, read Marsom. To the account of Mr. "WTiitfield, page 212, the following particulars might have been added : — Never perhaps was a ministry more awakening or more laborious than that of Mr. Whitfield. '• The more we do," he exclaims, " the more we may do for Jesus ! I sleep and eat but little, and am constantly employed from morning to midnight, and yet my strength is daily renewed. I long to do something for my Saviour. Had I a thousand lives, he should have them all." This appeared to be the spirit that pervaded him even in death. When he was seized with fatal siclmess, and his physician Avas at hisside, he suddenly cried out, "Doctot, my pains are suspended ; by the help of God I will go and preach, and then come home and die." He went. " I preached," he says, " as a dying man. The invisible realities of another world lay open to my view. Expecting to stretch into eternity, and to be with my Master before the morning, I spoke with peculiar energy. Such effects followed the word, that it was worth dying for a thousand times." LONDON: nRAOmiRV A.VD EVANS. FBINTERS, WHITEFRfARS. ^-^^ **b ^f'-PMrfff' Date Due ^^si®*'^ m ■ .,.. fiiWii^[Si«^(£iJiiii^i|H Ip^ljMIIIMnHOP . i ^ t illiiipiilii BW2442.E92 1841 Sketch of the various denominations of Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00064 2134