X. ,i *t mmu,unt . #' '"%,. PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. Ag;iciv Coll. on Baptism, No. •^^2^ -opy UOUV i A HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN AND GENERAL BAPTIST CHURCHES IN THE mm of C^nglanti ; WITH MEMOIRS OF SOME OF THEIR PASTORS. BY JEROM MURCH, MINISTER OF TRIM STREET CHAPEL, BATH. LONDON : R. HUNTER, 72, ST. PAULS CHURCHYARD. J 835. PRINTED BY G. 6MALLFIELD, HACKNEY. .#***'^^ PREFACE. Various circumstances induced me, some years since, to form a plan of a history of the Presbyte- rian and General Baptist Churches in the West of England. No work of the kind existed. There were histo- ries of the Puritans — of their successors, the ori- ginal Nonconformists — and of a third class, still more friendly to liberty of conscience — the Unita- rians of the sixteenth and two following centuries. But, with the exception of Mr. Wilson's History of the London Dissenting Churches, there was no series of records of our congregations, no collection of memoirs of their pastors, and consequently no adequate means of tracing the growth and opera- tion of the principles for which Puritans, Noncon- formists, and Unitarians were all, more or less, dis- tinguished. Many Dissenters were anxious that this deside- ratum in our literature should be supplied. From a2 IV PREFACE. time to time interesting accounts of ancient societies were drawn up by their ministers, and published in the periodical works of the day. Other ministers collected information which remained imperfect, and therefore unpublished, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining a general knowledge of the requisite facts. Fourteen years ago, the Rev. Edmund Butcher, of Sidmouth, sent an interesting communication to the Monthly Repository, in which were the following remarks: "What Mr. Wilson has done for the London churches, I wish some other friend to the noble cause of conscientious Nonconformity would do for the kingdom at large, at least for England and Wales; and, in order to furnish materials for such a work, I propose, what might very easily be accomplished, that every Dis- senting minister should draw up, and send to the Repository, a concise account of the church of which he is minister, ascertaining, where it can be done, the earliest date to which the existence of the society can be traced, the names they have borne at different periods, where any change has taken place, a list of their ministers, how long they occu- pied their respective places, where they removed to, if they did not continue their services in any one congregation for the residue of their lives — with an account of the literary productions of such of them PREFACE. . V as appeared before the public as authors, and any well-authenticated and important particulars con- cerning them or the churches to which they be- longed."* This proposal did not meet with the response which it deserved. If Mr. Butcher had been longer spared, he would probably have employed other means of interesting his brethren on its be- half. He died in the following year ; and his plan "of preserving the names and labours of many ex- cellent individuals from total oblivion/' was never carried into effect. A few years afterwards, some attention was excited by an anonymous book, en- titled " The Manchester Socinian Controversy," with an appendix containing a list of Unitarian Chapels. The Editors professed to state the origin and other particulars of many of the societies ; but the information was scanty and inaccurate, seldom obtained from the proper sources, and obviously de- signed to answer a sectarian purpose. Yet the account was widely circulated ; it was reprinted in America, and conveyed to many in that country their present ideas of the history of the churches in ques- tion, •]- whilst in England it tended largely to produce * Monthly Repository, Vol. xvi. p. 525. t See the Christian Examiner, published at Boston, N. E., Vol. iii. p. 430. VI PREFACE. an impression peculiarly injurious to the interests of Truth. Its publication was speedily followed by those legal proceedings, still continued, the object of which appears to be not only to deprive a few gentlemen of an important trust, which they and their ancestors have executed with the strictest fidelity upwards of a century, but also to prepare the members of the same denomination throughout the country, for the assertion by " the orthodox" of a general claim upon their endowments and places of worship. Into the particulars of this question I must not be tempted to enter. My object is simply to shew the necessity of diffusing information con- cerning the history of the Presbyterian and General Baptist Churches. With high opinions of the importance of the task, I entertained others, by no means inferior, as to the requisite qualifications of the labourer. And I may say with perfect sincerity, that I felt I should be chargeable with an undue degree of presumption, in undertaking an office for which many others were far better prepared. I knew that there were authors of established reputation, not only inti- mately acquainted with the subject, but possess- ing an influence which might facilitate their re- searches, and an experience which might inspire confidence in their judgment. I was also aware PREFACE. Vll that there was at least one, among these gentlemen, who could have pursued the task, not at intervals, " few and far between," of the labours of the Chris- tian ministry, — labours unrivalled in urgency and importance, — but day after day and week after week, with the advantages of almost unbroken ap- plication. Nor did I forget that such a work would unquestionably secure greater attention if written without that attachment to the faith of the churches, and that strong desire for their prosperity, which, I confess, I deem it my duty to cherish. There was, however, no probability that the work would be un- dertaken by others; for this reason I ventured to engage in it ; my removal to Bath, about two years since, enabled me to collect materials with com- paratively little difficulty; and in proportion as my brethren in the ministry became acquainted with my design, their friendly communications afforded me an encouragement greater than I had presumed to anticipate. It will be perceived that I have contented myself, in many cases, with recording the most important events. I have, of course, invariably aimed at the strictest accuracy ; but it will, probably, be discover- ed that in some instances I have been mistaken. The candid reader will remember that the volume contains many hundreds of dates and names ob- Vni PREFACE. tained from widely different sources ; and that efforts, however persevering, to supply deficient, and recon- cile conflicting statements must sometimes prove unsuccessful. On subjects of minor importance I have often refrained from entering into minute par- ticulars ; the similarity in the histories of the con- gregations was so great as to render it difficult to afford sufficient information and yet avoid wearying the attention of the reader. Whilst, therefore, I have enlarged occasionally upon general historical facts, and noticed, at some length, the peculiar cir- cumstances of several societies, I have passed as lightly as possible over the characteristics which are common to all. A similar remark applies to the memoirs of the ministers. Here, perhaps, an apology is necessary to the authors whose contribu- tions I have abridged. I believe it will be found, that the facts omitted were either noticed elsewhere, or would have prevented the introduction of others more interesting. In making selections for the biographical department, I have been guided by a desire to convey a correct general impression as to the talents and characters of the Western Pastors. And although I have not unfrequently noticed the failings incidental to human nature, I may venture to anticipate both for ministers and people a verdict corresponding to that of the immortal Milton, in PREFACE. IX reference to an earlier race : — " It cannot be denied that the authors, or late revivers of these sects, were learned, w^orthy, zealous, and religious men, as appears by their lives ; and the same of their many eminent and learned follovrers, perfect and powerful in the Scriptures, holy and unblameable in their lives."* My plan originally included two introductory chapters on the Origin and Early Progress of the Presbyterian denomination. These I have omitted in consequence of the accumulation of other materi- als, and the recent appearance of two excellent pamphlets. -j* But I cannot satisfy myself without offering a few observations on the title I have chosen, and particularly on the use of the term Presbyterian. It has been remarked that few, if any, congregations in the West of England are now commonly called Presbyterian, and that several, of recent origin, have been always denominated Unita- rian. These are well known facts ; nor have I the slightest wish to promote, either the general resump- tion of a term which does not now indicate our belief in certain important doctrines, or the aban- * Milton on Heresy and Schism. t " An Historical Defence of the Trustees of Lady Hewley's Founda- tions, by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F. S. A." ; and " The History, Opinions, and Present Legal Position of the English Presbyterians, published under the direction of the English Presbyterian Association." X PREFACE. donment of another which unquestionably answers this purpose. It must be remembered, however, that a large majority of the congregations noticed in these pages are of Presbyterian origin, that this was their usual appellation for upwards of a century, that the same is still frequently given to them and their chapels in legal documents, and that they are as fairly entitled to it now, as were their venerable founders and more recent benefactors. For upwards of a century and half, the term English Presbyte- rian has not signified — the Christian who, in religi- ous matters, is governed by a Synod and believes the doctrines of the Trinity, the Atonement, and Original Sin; — it is true that customs have been voluntarily retained in our churches, with regard to the allotment of certain offices to Presbyters or Elders ; — ^but the title was chiefly gloried in by our fathers, because it indicated their union with a body of Protestant Dissenters, bound by no fetters with regard to church fellowship, and left, by their trust deeds, at perfect liberty to search for truth wherever it could be found. The constitution of the societies which have recently arisen in the West of England, and have consequently been always called Unitarian, is distinguished by the same characteristics ; — their faith is also the same as that of the older congregations; it was both PREFACE. XI natural and proper that the zeal which led them to secede from Trinitarian worship, should also lead them to adopt the appellation most decidedly ex- pressive of the grounds of their secession ; all, how- ever, who hold their leading doctrines, whether called Presbyterian, Unitarian, or General Baptist, associate with perfect harmony, and may be con- sidered as forming but one branch of the Christian church. The following pages will scarcely be perused by many who are unacquainted with the doctrines alluded to. Some reader, however, may repeat the exclamation made a few years since, by a venera- ble Lord Chancellor, " I should be glad to be in- formed what a Unitarian is !"* I shall therefore state the leading articles of our faith, — concluding with the words of Dr. Taylor — one of the brightest ornaments of the Presbyterian denomination. We believe that it is life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. We believe that God is the Merciful and Impartial Parent of mankind, and ever ready to give good things to those who ask for them. We believe that He is the One Supreme Being, whom we are com- manded to worship in spirit and in truth, and that in offering our adorations to Him alone, we humbly * Speech of the Earl of Eldon, in the House of Lords. Xll PREFACE. follow the example and obey the instructions of Christ himself. We believe in the Holy Spirit — meaning thereby those miraculous endowments and inspirations which dwelt without measure in Jesus, and in different measures in the Apostles, also those various degrees of power and wisdom which good men of all ages have derived from their ordinary communion with God. We believe that to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and our neighbour as ourselves, is of the highest im- portance ; that although faith and hope are un- speakably valuable, charity is greater still; and that we ought to aim constantly at being one with Christ, and with our fellow-disciples in the same manner as Christ was one with the Father. "What the Scriptures reveal" (says Dr. Taylor*) "concern- ing the Son of God, we acknowledge and believe. We own him in all his offices of prophet, priest, and king, as the one Mediator between God and man, our Advocate and Intercessor, the surety of a better covenant, the Captain and Author of our Salvation, the only name under heaven by which we can be saved, and who can save to the utter- most. We are assured of his incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven, where he is at the * Defence of the Common Rights of Christians, first published in 1737, and republished by the British and Foreign Unitarian Association in 1829. PREFACE. Xlll right hand of God, exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, and from whence he will come at the great day to judge both the living and the dead. We believe all that he hath himself reported, whether by his own mouth or the mouth of his holy apos- tles, concerning his person, nature, perfections, his offices and works. We take him as he is described in revelation; we change nothing of the gospel; designedly and knowingly we add nothing, we diminish nothing, but leave every thing to stand just as it is in the word of God." I have already confessed that I desire the welfare of the churches maintaining these doctrines. Whe- ther I have allowed this circumstance to influence unduly the following narratives, it is not for me to determine. One thing is certain ; — if I had hoped to convey a favourable idea of the energy of our body, or of its numerical strength, I must soon have laid down my pen in despair. I readily admit that although there has been a general improvement in our congregations within the last few years, a faith- ful review of their history, in point of numbers, is far from gratifying. It appeared to me that this fact was not sufficiently borne in mind by Unita- tarians themselves, — that they peculiarly required to be acquainted with the history of these societies — with the causes of their original prosperity and XIV PREFACE. their subsequent decline — with the means wliich have been employed where a revival has been pro- duced, or where a depression continues. Setting aside the general value of such records, I could not avoid hoping that a calm review of the changes which have occurred during a period of one hundred and fifty years, would excite many useful reflections in the minds of those who have the care of the present congregations, and who are desirous of wit- nessing— not the progress of sectarian opinions, not the increase of party zeal and party influence, but the advancement of truth, freedom, knowledge, virtue, charity, holiness, — all that can elevate the human character and increase the sum of human happiness. It was no question with me, which was preferable — quietness or anxiety — satisfaction with what we are, or seriousness as to what we ought to be — forgetfulness of our actual condition, or the risk of incurring new reproaches respecting it from those who are too liable to forget the difl[iculties we have had to encounter. Surely the members of our societies should often have their better feelings awakened, their noblest energies called into exer- cise, by being reminded that they have espoused principles of the highest value — principles which aff'ect their consciences, their religious improvement, their usefulness in this world, and their salvation in PREFACE. XV the next — principles for the sake of which their forefathers gladly remained in the humblest sta- tions,—nay, often submitted to fines, imprisonment, exile, and death. Especially should the younger branches of our communities be furnished with an impulse to the consistent imitation of the examples of their ancestors ; — Dissent is not illegal, but it is unfashionable; — Unitarianism cannot be put down by the Civil Magistrate, but it often is by the arm of Prejudice; — a steady adherence to virtue does not subject a man to ridicule as a Puritan or a Roundhead, but it frequently prevents his elevation to a sphere of honour and usefulness ; — what, there- fore, can be more necessary than to inspire those on whom the future welfare of our churches must depend, with that holy firmness which would prove them to be worthy of their descent and of the cause committed to their care ! It is not necessary to shew how compatible this course of acting is with perfect charity towards those who differ from us. My readers will be ready to admit, that there is much in the proceedings of our fellow-christians of other denominations, particularly in their earnest attempts to promote a knowledge of the Gospel, which deserves our warmest admi- ration. The memoirs in this volume amply testify to the learning, the fortitude, the active benevolence. XVI PREFACE. the comprehensive chanty, and the never-failing piety, of many pastors whose faith v^e regard as very different from that first delivered to the saints. It is not improbable that on some subjects, (I allude more especially to the tyranny of the High- Church party, and the sufferings of the Dissenters during the reigns of the Stuarts,) my language has been strong ; but I may confidently ask the candid reader — was there not a cause ? Is it possible for one who believes that all established churches are unscriptural, — that no government is authorized to assume the power of Christ and declare in its own words what the national belief shall be, — that even in the present day, hypocrisy, and worldly ambition, and unchristian jealousy, are continually promoted by the exclusive patronage of one sect and the virtual punishment of all the rest; — is it possible for one who believes all this, to write calmly of the daring spiritual usurpations of the seventeenth century ? Who does not know that many members of the Church of England itself now look back upon those usurpations with indig- nant feelings ? Who does not know that one of the clearest manifestations of the recent unparalleled progress of the human mind, is the increase among all parties of genuine Christian liberality? Man- kind are rapidly discovering that in religious PREFACE. XVll matters each must judge for himself, and be judged only by his Maker, and that it is the part of duty to admire knowledge and genius, truth and virtue, wherever they may be found. The truly enlight- ened Christian does not rejoice in the possession of a mere sectarian literature ; he bends with delight over the page of wisdom, whether in the works of Channing, or Robert Hall, or Doddridge, or Fene- lon, or Jeremy Taylor. And although even among those Episcopalians and Nonconformists, Trinita- rians and Unitarians, who have drank most largely of the spirit of their common Master, there are yet great diversities of opinion, they still, in their re- spective spheres, reverence more and more the inalienable rights of conscience, and accelerate the period when all men will stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free. I have now to express my acknowledgments to the friends who have so kindly assisted me. My warmest thanks are due to Walter Wilson, Esq., of this city, the author of the History of the London Dissenting Churches. I am also largely indebted for the loan of some valuable papers to my relative, the Rev. W. H. Murch, Theological Tutor of the Baptist College, Stepney. I have peculiar pleasure in thus stating, that a large and valuable part of the original information in these pages was afforded b XVni PREFACE. me through the kindness of two gentlemen of " or- thodox" denominations. The reader will perceive how much aid I have derived from the Monthly Repository, the Christian Reformer, and the Unita- rian Chronicle ; to each of the respected Editors I am under many obligations. I have frequently referred to the contributions of my friends in the West of England ; but I shall be pardoned for again mentioning the Rev. M. L. Yeates, as the corre- spondent on whose time I have most frequently trespassed. Nor must I omit to state that the re- quests for information which I have addressed to chapel -wardens, congregational committees, and ministers in distant parts of the kingdom, have been replied to with great advantage to the work. If, under the Divine blessing, this attempt should appear serviceable to the cause of truth, and meet with a sufficiently favourable reception, I shall indulge the hope of employing, at some future time, the materials I have collected for histories of con- gregations in other parts of the kingdom. Portland Place, Bath, Nov. 10, 1835. CONTENTS. ©loucestcrsDue. Histories of Congregations : — Gloucester, Cheltenham, Ciren- cester, Marshfield, Frenchay. Memoirs of Pastors : — Dr. Mather, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Theophilus Browne, Mr. Greoory, Mr. Parry, Mr. Crabb, Mr. Holt, Dr. Hort, Mr. Hazlitt Page 1—52 Histories : — Calne, Bradford, Trowbridge, Warminster. Memoirs : — Mr. Bourn, Dr. Flexman, Mr. Twining, Mr. Daniel Jones, Mr. Gisburne, Mr. Buckler, Mr. Compton South, Mr. Andrews Page 52—94 Histories: — Bristol, Bath, Ashwick, Shepton Mallet, Bridg- water, Taunton, Yeovil, Ilminster, Crewkerne. Memoirs: — Dr. Estlin, Mr. Rowe, Mr. Christopher Taylor, Dr. Coleman, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Jardine, Mr. Billingsley, Mr. Stogdon, Mr. Gumming, Mr. IMatthew Towgood, Dr. Sherman, Mr. Jillard, Mr. Simon Browne, Mr. Norman, Mr. Moore, Mr. Matthew Towgood, Jun., Mr. Watson, Mr. Wliinnel, Mr. JefTries, Mr. Harrison, Dr. Toulmin, Mr. David, Dr. Amory, Mr. Bartlett, Dr. Lobl), Dr. Milner, Mr. Ward, IVIr. D. Hughes, Mr. Batson, Mr. Strong, Mr. Blake, Mr. Blake, Jun Page 94—248 CONTENTS. Borsetsfjire. Histories : — Bridport, Dorchester, Wareham, Poole. Memoirs : — Mr. Howe, Mr. Wavvne, JMr. Benn, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Wesley Page 248—298 Wtbom\)kt. Histories : — CoUumpton, Honiton, Colyton, Sidmouth, Lymp- stone and GuUiford, Topsham, Exeter, Ci'editon, Moreton- Hampstead, Tavistock, Plymouth, Devonport. Memoirs : — Mr. Crompton, Mr. Morgan, Mr. John Davis, Mr. Alaynard, Mr. Adams, Mr. Webb, Mr. J. Hughes, Mr. Anstis, Mr. Cornish, Mr. Butcher, ftlr. Tapper, Mr. T. JeiTis, Mr. J. Jervis, Mr. Stuckley, Mr. Atkins, Mr. Hallet, Mr. Trosse, Mr. Peirce, Mr. Micaijah Towgood, Mr. Kenrick, Mr. Bretland, Mr. Manning, IMr. Reynell (Crediton), Mr. Woolcombe, Mr. Foot, Mr. Collier, INIr. Rowland, Mr. Isaac, Mr. Sandercock, Mr. Merivale, Mr. Theophilus Edwards, Mr. G. Hughes, Mr. N. Jacob, Mr. N. Harding, Mr. H. Moore (Liskeard), Mr. Reynell (Ply- mouth), Dr.. J. Jones, Mr. J. Jones Page 298 — 532 Cornwall. Histories: — Falmouth and Flushing. Memoir : — Sir Hany Trelawny Page 533 — 546 Appendix: — Sketches of the History of the Exeter Assembly of Ministers, and of the Western Unitarian Society .... 54/ Index 6/1 ERRATA. Page 158, for " Pieict," read Peirce. 170 and 171, for " William Peard Jillard," read Peard Jillard. 194, for "till the 1797," read till the year 1797. 215, for "John Glass," vQ&ARohei-t Glass. 220, for "Rohert Bartlett," read Edward Bartlett. 368, last line, for " in the neighbouring town of Totness," read in Totness, the next town on otir list. 524, for " to which is subjoined," read to which are subjoined. GLOUCESTER. CHELTENHAM. CIRENCESTER. MARSHFIELD. FRENCHAY. **4 - -^^ ' ^^,(? (Rlonu$ttv$ffivt* >*f GLOUCESTER. This respectable city is situated in the Vale of Gloucester, on a gentle eminence, rising on the east side from the river Severn. The honour of founding it is due to the Britons, who named it Caer Gloew, the appellation by which it is yet distinguished in Wales ; and Alfred of Beverley mentions it as one of the twenty-eight cities erected by them previous to the Roman Invasion. Caer Gloew signifies the Fortress of Gloew. Henry the Eighth by letters patent, dated September the third, 1541, and afterwards confirmed by act of parliament, erected the city of Gloucester, the county of that city, and aU the county of Gloucester, into a bishopric, with a dean and chapter, by the name of the diocese of Gloucester. The church appointed for the cathedral of the new see was that belonging to the Abbey, founded by Wolphere, first Christian king of Mercia, and EtheLred, his brother and successor, between the years 680 and 682. This magnificent structure combines many interesting specimens of Saxon, Norman, and English architec- ture ; and particularly of the latter. In the city and suburbs of Gloucester were formerly eleven parochial churches, but those only of St. Michael, St. Mary de Crypt, St. Nicholas, St. Mary de Lode, St. John's, and St. Aldate are now stand- ing ; the remainder having been either destroyed at the siege in 1643, or since taken down. — Brayley and Britton. Population in 1811,-8181; in 1821,-9744; in 1831,-11,933. b2 BARTON STREET CHAPEL. The city of Gloucester is distinguished in the annals of Unitarianism, as one of the first places in which its doctrines were revived. Here lived the celebrated John Bidle, and here, nearly two cen- turies ago, " he perceived (says his biographer) that the common doctrine concerning the Holy Trinity was not grounded in Revelation, much less in Rea- son."* In the year 1644, while filling the honour- able office of master of the Crypt Grammar School, he was accused of heresy before the magistrates of the city, — ^which accusation he answered by exhibit- ing in writing a confession of his faith in " One In- finite and Almighty Essence, called God," and in our Saviour Jesus Christ as " truly God," in conse- quence of his union w^ith him. As he professed his belief in only one person in the Godhead, many suspicions of his orthodoxy were still entertained, and eighteen months afterwards he was committed to * See a short account of the " life of John Bidle, M.A., sometime of Magdalen Hall, Oxon.," prefixed to one of his works. This interesting memoir appears in a small quarto volume, now rarely met with, containing a few valuable treatises on the doctrines of Unitarianism, one of which was published so early as the year 1648. See, also, Toulmin's Life of Bidle. This author has not mentioned his reason for changing the ortho- graphy of the name. In the original life it is invariably Bidle. GLOUCESTER. 0 the common prison on the charge of having denied, both in writing and conversation, the Deity of the Holy Spirit. From this time John Bidle became more earnest in his inquiries after truth, and more fearless in his avowal of the results. He was released, however, after a confinement of six months, on giving security for his appearance before the Parliament in London. Thither he was summoned, by that body, in April, 1647; and notwithstanding their denunciations against the spiritual tyranny of the Church of En- gland, they treated this dissenter from their own doctrines with more than episcopal rigour.* But before his departure for London, and probably du- ring the whole of his future life, his exertions and sufferings, which were increased in importance by his great learning and unblemished character, pro- duced a considerable effect in Gloucester. We are told-f that while he was under bail for his appear- * While the Presbyterians were in power, they were certainly not the friends of true religious liberty. It w as not until they had suffered many years ft-om the deprivation of the rights of conscience, that they contended for toleration. The treatment of Bidle fully bears out the account given by Hume, of the tendency to act upon persecuting principles in the pre- ceding year. " Nothing was attended with more universal scandal than the propensity of many in the parliament towards a toleration of the pro- testant sectaries. The Presbyterians exclaimed that this indulgence made the church of Christ resemble Noah's ark, and rendered it a receptacle for all unclean beasts. They insisted that the least of C^hrist's truths was superior to all political considerations. They maintained the eternal obli- gation imposed by the covenant to extirpate heresy and schism. And they menaced all their opponents with the same rigid persecution under which they themselves had groaned, when held in subjection by the hie- rarchy."— Hume's History of England, Vol. vii. p. 71. + Wood's Athens Oxoniensis, Vol. ii. p. MM), and Lindsey's Histoiical View of the Statc-of the Unitariaii Doctrine and Worship, ]>. 12f). b GLOUCESTER. ance before the Parliament, Archbishop Usher, who happened to be travelling through Gloucester in his way to London, " having before heard of him, spoke to and used him with all fairness and pity, as well as with strength of argument, to convince him of his dangerous error." The historian, however, adds an observation which conveys an idea of coarse ill- nature and determined prejudice rather than of " fairness and strength of argument" — " telling him (he says) that either he (Bidle) was in a damnable error, or else that the whole Church of Christ, who had in all ages worshiped the Holy Ghost, had been guilty of idolatry." Although this noble-minded man widely diffused sentiments unfavourable to established customs and opinions, the Barton Street congregation cannot be said to owe its origin to him. It was formed, by a singular coincidence, in the year of his death, 1662, and was identified from the first with that greater and more glorious cause of Nonconfor- mity, of whose birth he lived just long enough to hear. As he languished within the walls of his dungeon, he was gladdened by the tidings that, in every part of the kingdom, hundreds of pious and learned ministers were preparing to suffer in conse- quence of the Act of Uniformity ! Great was his encouragement to close his troubled pilgrimage Avith the prayer of the aged Simeon upon his lips ; for it was impossible that such a man could avoid perceiving that the principles he had advocated, " amid evil days and evil tongues," would be ulti- GLOUCESTER. 7 mately forwarded by the events of the ever-memo- rable Bartholomew Day. The cause of Nonconformity at Gloucester was founded by two ministers who originally belonged to the Church of England.* One was Dr. Increase Mather, a native of Dorchester in New England, but connected by education and relationship with this country and Ireland. He came to Gloucester, from the island of Guernsey, at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Forbes, w^ho w^as a preacher at the Cathedral ; and thither he returned again a short time before the Restoration. The usurpations which followed that event obliged him to go back to his native land, where he resisted successfully the measures of the infatuated Stewarts, and spent the remainder of his life in honourable ministerial labours. Short as was the time of his residence at Gloucester, he pro- bably proved himself efficient in fostering that love of liberty, both civil and religious, which the inha- bitants of the city manifested on several trying oc- casions during the struggles of that period. Their bold and successful resistance of the Royal army, in the year 1642, indicates that they were attached to Presbyterianism even then ; there being few in- stances of such resistance, in which the preference of the leaders of the Parliamentary forces for this form of church government was not heartily shared by those who enlisted under their banners. * Nonconformists' Memorial, Vol. i. p. 540, edition of 1775. To thi3 edition all my subsequent references will be made. 8 GLOUCESTER. The other minister was Mr. James Forbes, who was ejected from the Cathedral by the Act of Uni- formity. The church to which he had preached con- sisted chiefly of his own converts, made during a ministry of six years. At first he laboured privately after his ejectment; but as all attempts to induce him to conform entirely failed, he was soon interrupted by harassing and expensive persecutions. On one oc- casion he was committed to Chepstow Castle, where he was long confined in a strait and dark room ; and while pursuing his pastoral labours after his dis- charge, he was subject to several imprisonments. The penalty of one act on which he was indicted was imprisonment for a year ; of another, the pay- ment of twenty pounds a month; and of another, perpetual banishment from his country or death. He was at length excommunicated, and the writ de capiendo was out against him. At the time of the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion he retired to Enfield, but was afterwards recalled and allowed to labour once more among his own people. The present chapel in Barton Street was erected for his use, in the year 1699 ; he continued to preach in it until the year 1712, when he died, having been connect- ed with the congregation fifty-eight years. His remains were interred in a vault in the chapel, at the foot of the pulpit, and under a black slab, which is concealed by the platform on which the commu- nion table stands. On this slab is the following inscription : — GLOUCESTER. 9 Jacobus Forbesius, a.m., in hac civitate annos circiter 68 FiDELis Christi Minister, et Testis Veritatis et Pacis Evangelic^ jeqve studiosus. Obiit 31 Maii, Anno MDCCXII. ^tatis LXXXIII.* Mr. Forbes had several assistants towards the latter end of his life. One was Mr. John Reynolds^ who was at Gloucester from 1706 to 1708^ when he removed to Shrewsbury. He was succeeded by Mr. Denham, who became the pastor on the death of Mr. Forbes, and was ordained at Gloucester in 1713, Nine years afterwards, Mr. Denham removed to London, and the congregation elected Mr. Jeremiah Tidcombe ,who also removed to London, after filling the office the same length of time. Mr. Denham officiated, for some time after his removal, as min- ister of the Presbyterian congregation then meeting in Gravel Lane, Houndsditch ; f and Mr. Tidcombe was pastor of a congregation at Radclilfe Cross, and afternoon preacher at Salters' Hall.;]: The next minister was Mr. Richard Addey, from Kingswood, Wilts., who continued with the congregation till his death, in 1739. They were then destitute twelve months, and at length chose Dr. Hodge, who was educated at Taunton under Mr. Henry Grove. Before he settled at Gloucester he was the minister of a congregation at Deal, in Kent ; in 1749 he ac- * Communicated, with other particulars, by the Rev. G. B. Brock. t Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches in London, Vol. i. p. 397. — My plan docs not include, for obvious reasons, distinct mci.ioirs of all the ministers. Of those concerning whom full particulars are not given, thet c will he short notices in the historical parts of the work. I Wilson's Hist., Vol. ii. p. 39. 10 GLOUCESTER. cepted an invitation to succeed Dr. Grosvenor at Crosby Square, London.* At the commencement of his ministry at Gloucester, the register of bap- tisms belonging to the chapel was begun ; and from this source we learn that he was followed, in the year 1751, by Mr. Dickenson ; the congregation having been supplied in the interval by various ministers, particularly by Mr. Evans, of Bridge- north, and Mr. Parry, of Cirencester. Mr. Dicken- son's name appears in the register until the close of the year 1784, when he became infirm, and the con- gregation elected as his assistant Mr. Tremlett, who removed before the death of the pastor, which oc- curred in 1796. The subsequent ministers have been — Mr. Aubrey, now of Swansea, who remained at Gloucester seventeen years ; Mr. Browne, late of Bath, who was the minister nine years ; Mr. Astley, now of Shrewsbury, who left at the end of five years ; and Mr. Brock, who settled here on his finishing his course of education under the Rev. H. Acton, of Exeter. Between the retirement of Mr. Browne and the election of Mr. Astley, the chapel was closed for two years, considerable repairs being necessary, and the funds being required to accom- plish them. The numbers of the society have varied conside- rably at different periods. In the time of Mr. * Dr. Hodg,e bequeathed his valuable library of books to the Taunton Academy. They were afterwards removed to Exeter. — Wilson's Hist. Vol. i. p. 354, where the reader may find a list of the works of Dr. Hodge, and a description of him as " a learned and respectable man, of moderate sentiments, and an cxrcllcnl preacher." GLOUCESTER. 11 Forbes and Mr. Denham they were large, there being no other Dissenting place of worship in the city. The Independent chapel was built soon after the choice of Mr. Denham, on which occasion a separation took place. Mr. John Alexander was the first minister of the new society. The worship- ers in the old chapel had a considerable majority ; in 1715, Mr. Denham had 400 hearers, and Mr. Alexander 250.* At the time of the division, the seceders secretly removed a valuable theological library, bequeathed by Mr. Forbes for the use of his successors at the Presbyterian chapel. Both the late and the present Independent ministers have fully recognised the right of their brethren in Bar- ton Street to this important legacy ; and an attempt has been made, though without success, to recover it, and fulfil the liberal intentions of the donor by making it of general utility. -j- At the same time four silver cups, bequeathed by Mr. Forbes for the use of the chapel, in the administration of the Lord s Supper, were carried off also ; these were in use until lately at the Independent chapel ; an applica- tion was made for their restoration, but no reply was given. The minister's house, which forms the eastern boundary of the place of worship in Barton Street, did not happen to be moveable, and therefore * Mr. Wilson's MSS. t After providing especially for the use of the books by his successors at Barton Street, Mr. Forbes empowered the Trustees " to lend one book at a time to any of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers living in the county of Gloucester, or to any of the Protestant Dissenting congregation in the city of Gloucester." 12 GLOUCESTER. remained in the possession of the original congre- gation. This building has an antique appearance, and was probably built soon after the chapel. There is a small endowment, the trust-deed of which, as well as of the chapel, is drawn in the most liberal terms. No creed is imposed upon the parties assembling in this house of prayer; they are merely required to be "his Majesty's Protestant subjects dissenting from the Church of England." The cause of the secession does not appear. Mr. Denham was probably more liberal than the sece- ders wished him to be. Dr. Hodge was an Arian ; of the opinions of his predecessors we have no in- formation ; after his death the congregation gradu- ally became Unitarian. I have stated that the chapel was built in 1699. liike many others of that period, it is situated seve- ral yards from the street. With the exception of a part of the roof it is concealed by a brick wall, in which is the outer entrance gate, and which is parallel Avith the houses of the street. The exterior of the building is very plain and presents no pre- possessing appearance, having a vestry standing on one side in front, and projecting forward like a solitary wing. It is in contemplation to erect ano- ther vestry or school-room to correspond with it ; and afterwards to throw down the outer wall, place palisades in its stead, and thus render the chapel more conspicuous. The interior possesses an air of antiquity ; galleries occupy three sides, and the pulpit, crowned with a massive sounding board. GLOUCESTER. 13 stands against the fourth. At the foot of the pulpit is a reading desk, and below this a handsome communion table with a marble slab. In the gallery, opposite the entrance, is a small organ. The devotional services are aided by the Reformed Liturgy, and a selection of hymns printed for the congregation, under the superintendance of Mr. Astley. In the winter months lectures are de- livered, which are well attended, and have been the means of exciting a spirit of inquiry in Gloucester and the neighbourhood. The congregation now consists of about a hundred persons, among whom are the descendants of some of the most ancient families in the city, — the original supporters of Pro- testant dissent and the firm friends of religious truth. At the back of the chapel is a small burial- ground. The resting places of many are indicated by gravestones and raised tombs, with suitable inscriptions. i^mfsters. James Forbes, M.A 1662—1712. John Reynolds 1706 — 1708. John Denham 1 709 — 1 722. Jeremiah Tidcombe 1722 — 1731. Richard Addey 1731— 173J). John Hodge, D.D 1740—1749. John Dickenson 175! — 1796. John Tremlett 1784 — 179.5. Richard Aubrey 1797 — 1814. Theophilus Browne, M.A 1815—1824. Richard Astley 1826—1831. George Browne Brock 1831. 14 GLOUCESTER, Increase Mather, D.D. — Dr. Mathers connexion with Gloucester requires the insertion of a few particulars of his useful and eventful life. He was the youngest son of Richard Mather, who went to New England in 1635, when he could no longer exercise his ministry conscientiously in his native country. Increase was placed, for his academical education, first at Harvard College, and afterwards at Trinity College, Dublin, in which city his eldest brother was a minister. His first settlement was at Great Torrington, in Devonshire, the parish of the learned and excel- lent John Howe : here he was near another brother, Nathaniel Mather, then minister at Barnstaple. On Mr. Howe's return to Torrington in 1659, after Richard Cromwell quitted the Pro- tectorship, the subject of this memoir accepted an invitation from Colonel Bingham, Governor of Guernsey, to preach in that island. He remained there some time before he removed to Gloucester, and there he was again stationed several years af- terwards, when General Monk carried round a paper to be signed, declaring that " the times then were and would be happy." This paper Mather would not sign; and on the ap- pointment of another governor, finding it necessary to conform or lose his place, he came to England, to be exposed to fresh temptations, and to resist them with equal steadiness. Here, though he was offered a living of some hundreds a year, if he would forsake his principles, he chose rather to trust to God's providence ; he therefore sailed for New England to join his aged father, and was soon settled in the New Chiu'ch, in the north part of Boston.* Mr. Mather often distinguished himself in America as a warm friend of Liberty. In 1683, Charles the Second required from the inhabitants of New England, a full submission of their charter to his pleasm-e. On this the freemen of Boston met ; the pastor of the New Church was present ; he publicly declared against their having " a hand in their own ruin," and persuaded * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 540. GLOUCESTER. 15 them rather to leave themselves in the hands of God, and sub- mit to his pleasure in a faithful discharge of their duty. The question was carried in the negative, unanimously ; and this decision had considerable influence on the country at large. When James the Second published his declaration for liberty of conscience, Mather was sent to England with addresses of thanks to him from several congregations. Remaining in this country until after the revolution, he was of great use in obtain- ing the appointment of a suitable governor, and the grant of a new charter with additional privileges for his fellow- citizens. Soon after his return there was a meeting of the general assem- bly of the province, and the speaker of the house of representa- tives publicly returned him thanks, for his faithful and indefati- gable services. He now returned to the care of his church, and of the college of which he was president. About this time he was created Doctor in Divinity. In 1701 he resigned his office in the college, because the general assembly required the president to reside at Cambridge. He continued preaching to his beloved people at Boston, and reached the age of eighty before his intel- lectual faculties appeared to lose their vigour. He died in 1723, in the arms of his eldest son, and was honoured by his church with a greater funeral than had ever been seen in those parts. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Foxcroft ; and the ministers of Boston condoled with his church, in his own pulpit, for nine or ten weeks successively. The Nonconformists' Memorial has a list of eighty-five works, chiefly pamphlets, published by this celebrated man. Besides the usual subjects of a minister's publications, we find discourses on Comets — Earthquakes — The Stormy Winds — The Troubles of New England — and " Whether a man may marry two sisters." The names of his descendants are well known, to all who feel an interest in the religion of the New World as those of men who have filled prominent and useful offices in her colleges and churches. 16 GLOUCESTER. James Forbks, iVl.A. — This gentleman was a member of an honourable Scotch family. After taking his degree of Master of Arts at Edinbm"gh, he spent some time at Oxford. Full of piety, he was earnestly desirous that God would choose for him a useful station, and bless his ministry to the conversion of souls. N'ot being satisfied with a parish which was offered to him, he was sent to the cathedral at Gloucester, where he laboured with great success, and with so much zeal that he was in danger of shortening his life. After his ejectment, and while he continued to minister privately among his people, Dr. Frampton, first Dean and afterwards Bishop of Gloucester, made overtures to him to conform. The powers that were, finding temptations ineffectual, resorted to the perseeutiona mentioned in the account of the congregation. These also failed to subdue his attachment to liberty. He steadily per- severed in his determination to maintain a conscience void of offence. During the latter part of his life, after the establish- ment of Toleration, Mr. Forbes lived in peace and comfort at Gloucester, chiefly on his own property. He was a pious, benevolent, and learned man ; deeply wounded at the last by some decays among ministers and other professors ; and anxious that the rising generation of ministers should adorn their doctrine by a holy conversation. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Isaac Noble, of Bristol. He published a few works on subjects relating to his pulpit and pastoral duties.* The Rev. Theophilus Browne, M.A., was born in the city of Derby. x\t the usual age he entered as a student in Christ Church College, Cambridge. Here he was distinguished for talent, application and extensive attainments. After taking the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, he was admitted Fellow of Peterhouse, July 1 5th, 1785. This appointment * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 546. i GLOUCESTER. 17 he continned to hold until December 1793, when he had a presentation to the vicarage of Hinton, in the county of Cam- bridge. While performing the quiet duties of a parish priest, he found time for a more careful and diligent study of the Scrip- tures than he had previously been able to engage in. Inti- mately acquainted with the original languages, well skilled in the art of criticism, and ardently devoted to the pursuit of truth, he soon saw reason to believe that the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, and other doctrines of the Church of England were unscriptural. As soon as his conversion to Unitarian Christi- anity was settled, he perceived that there was but one course for him to pursue ; he resolved to give up his preferment, re- linquish his connexion with the Establishment, and unite himself with a body of Christians in whose service he could enjoy perfect freedom. Yet to carry this resolution into effect probably cost him a severe struggle ; his lot in life was linked with that of a lady who was or had been, like himself, a consci- entious member of the Church ; and a man of his abilities and acquirements might have fairly calculated on attaining a higher rank in the Establishment than that of vicar of a country parish. Nothing, however, led Mr. Browne to waver in his righteous determination. The circumstance being known, about the latter end of the year 1800 he received an invitation from the Unitarian society at Warminster. This he accepted, and con- tinued to officiate as their minister seven years. He then went to York to fill the office of classical tutor at the Manches- ter College. His next situation was in the Octagon Chapel, Norwich, where he remained about two years. He afterwards officiated successively at Congleton, Chester and Gloucester; at the two former places his ministrations were short; at the latter he remained eight years from 1815 to 1823. From this time Mr. Browne resided in Bath as a private individual, only preaching when his services were sought for by ministers in the neighbourhood. But the close of his life was far from beiug marked by inactivity ; his means of usefulness, C 18 GLOUCESTER. which, he retained to the last, he diligently employed ; he was particularly attentive to the poor, and earnestly desirous of re- lie>Tiig both their temporal and spiritual wants. At the time of his death he was president of the Bath Mechanics" Institution, in which society he had been an occasional lecturer, and in connexion with which he formed several classes of young persons, to whom he communicated biblical as well as general knowledge. Mr. Browne was the author of " Selections from the Old and New Testament," and a Sermon on the Necessity of an Improved Version of the Scriptures. He compiled a Liturgy and edited " Russell" s Devotional Addresses" ; "a Volume of Posthumous Sermons by Dr. Toulmin," and " Select parts of MeLmoth's Great Concern of a Religious Life.'" His last illness was of short duration ; he preached at the Bath Unitarian chapel, in the absence of the pastor, about a fortnight before his death, which occurred May 20, 1835, in the 72nd year of his age. His remains were interred at Lvncomb, near Bath, in the same vault with those of his wife, carried thidier but a few months previously.* * Christian Reformer, N.S., VoL iL p. 508. CHELTENHAM. This fashionable town is supposed to hare derired its name firom the rirer Giilt, which flows past it on the south side. The Spring, or Spa as it is called by way of distinction, was first noticed to possess medicinal properties in the year 1716. Since that time the bnilding'S hare progressively improved, both in appearance and number. The first Master of the Ceremonies in this place was appointed in 17S0. The situation of Cheltenham is extremely pleasant ; on the south and west it is open to the vale, but on the north-east it is sheltered by the immense amphitheatre formed by the Cotswold Hills. Population in 1811,-8325; in 1821,-13,396; in 1831,-22,942. c2 ALBION STREET CHAPEL. The origin of this congregation is recent; — it has, however, assumed a permanent appearance, which requires a short account of it to be given in this work. A few years since, Mr. Furher, an intelligent tradesman, of the Unitarian denomination, removed from Bath to Cheltenham. Deeply feeling the want of the advantages he had been accustomed to enjoy, as a member of a congregation of worshipers of one God the Father, he resolved to do what he could to supply the deficiency. His first attempt was made in the month of August 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Furber, their eldest son, and two other persons then assembled in an upper room to commence public worship on Unita- rian principles. They had, for some time, only a morning service, but as their proceedings became known their number increased, and they were soon encouraged to occupy a much larger room on the ground floor and to conduct two services. The duty of officiating devolved on Mr. Furber. He regularly read to the little flock such discourses as were most suitable to their circumstances. In CHELTENHAM. 21 order to strengthen their own faith and inform the minds of candid inquirers, he frequently select- ed the sermons of Dr. Priestley, Dr. Channing, Mr. Belsham, Mr. Aspland, Mr. Fox, and other eminent ministers. Again the hearers increased ; several highly intelligent individuals, permanently residing in Cheltenham, became members of the society ; and a few influential visitors occasionally came and worshiped, and made useful presents of money and books. In the autumn of the year 1834, they were joined by a gentleman who had previously resided in Wales, and there rendered valuable literary aid to the cause of Unitarianism. They then deemed it advisable to engage, if possible, some large public room, and at length succeeded in securing for their use on the Lord's day, a room in Albion Street, occupied in the week by the members of the Mechanics' Institution. This is a modern building ; the situation is central and the entrance good ; there is an air of neatness and cheerfulness in the room which renders it unusually attractive. It was opened on Sunday March 22nd, 1835, by the Rev. G. B. Brock, of Gloucester.* Mr. Furber still officiates, and still has the pleasure of seeing himself rewarded for the efforts and sacrifices he has made by an increasing attendance. That he has made sacrifices will be easily believed when it is remem- bered that he is a tradesman, and that there are few places in which the advocacy of what are called * Christian Reformer, N.S. Vol. ii. p. 284. 22 CHELTENHAM. Evangelical sentiments and the opposition to the progress of Unitarianism are more strenuous than at Cheltenham. The present number of worshipers (August, 1835/ is, on the average, about fifty. One pleasing promise of stability and earnestness is the formation of a Sunday-school. Several Unitarian ministers of the district have occasionally assisted Mr. Fur- bur, and a plan has been proposed for rendering him their aid more frequently. It has been sug- gested that six or eight ministers might undertake to preach at Cheltenham, tw^o Sundays each, during the season, and, by inviting the attention of the public on one part of the day to their view^s of divine truth, excite yet greater interest in the wel- fare of the congregation. In reply to this sugges- tion, Mr. Furber wrote to the friend who offered it, "your plan for affording us a certain supply of efficient ministers is highly desirable, and from the promises which have been made to us, as well as the past liberality of the supporters of what we deem Gospel truth in this place, I have no doubt we should succeed in providing the necessary funds for defraying the expenses." Should this plan be acted upon it will probably prepare the way for the erection of a chapel, and the settlement of a stated minister. CIRENCESTER. "Cirencester is distant thirty-six miles eastward from Bristol, and thirty-three from Bath; thirty-four westward from Oxford, and seventeen south-east from Gloucester." " It stands on the river Cori, or Cart, or Corin, which we now call the Churn, and takes its name from that river." " Tliere is a great deal of travelling through Cirencester from the northern to the western parts of England, and from Bath and Bristol to London, through Oxford and Abingdon." "This is called an ancient city, and, according to the opinion of some persons, of so high antiquity as to have been built by the Britons before the Roman invasion." "The beautiful Roman pavements, the square stones with Pont. Max., and other inscriptions upon them, the Roman coins, rings, and intaglios which have been found here in such abundance, all bear testimony to the ancient grandeur of this place." "There have been three parish churches in Cirencester; one dedicated to St. Cecilia, which was entirely down in Leland's time ; the church of St. Lawrence is stUl standing, but now converted into small tene- ments. The third is the present parish church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. It is a large and beautiful building, consisting of the nave, two large aisles, and five chapels." — Rudder. PopiUatiou in 1811,— 4540; in 1821,— 4987; 1831,-5420. OLD DISSENTING CHAPEL. This congregation was formed by Mr. Alexander Gregory, who was ejected from the living of Ciren- cester by the Act of Uniformity. He had a deep sense of the practical value of the principles for which he suffered; and, deeming it right to obey God rather than man, he continued preaching to his adherents after his ejectment. But at length the Five-Mile act drove him away ; and the people to whom he had ministered, were left to maintain their consistency without the aid of a pastor. It was not long, however, before they were again gathered together under a minister of their choice. There are traces of the existence of a Dissenting place of worship, with a stated ministry, at the earli- est period allowed by law. Tradition informs us that the Presbyterians were in possession of a house of prayer in 1688, when most of the inhabitants of the town were partizans of the Stuarts. We are further told, that, during a conflict which took place here, at this period, several persons with drawn swords were stationed near the meeting-house to prevent its demolition, and that two of the swords CIRENCESTER. 25 are now in possession of a member of the society.* It is certain that the Dissenters at Cirencester were exposed to considerable danger at the time of the Revohition. By the influence of the Duke of Beau- fort a vehement opposition was got up against the Prince of Orange ; Lord Lovelace, then on his way to join the Prince, was attacked by a party of the county militia, made prisoner, and carried to Gloucester goal ; blood was also shed, the captain of the troop and his son being killed on the spot. The successor of Mr. Gregory in the pastoral office Avas Mr. Beeby. All that I can learn con- cerning him is, that he spent here the few last years of his life. The next minister was Mr. Stephen Worth, the son of a minister who was ejected from Kilsby, in Northamptonshire. -j* Mr. Worth was settled at Cirencester at the time of his father's death, which probably occurred at the close of the seventeenth century. He was succeeded by Mr. Keeling, who removed hither from Salisbury. In his time the congregation amounted to six hun- dred. He died in 1724. J The congregation then elected Mr. Skinner Smith, w^ho, after remaining three years, removed to Abingdon, and was followed at Cirencester by Mr. John Evans. To the latter, the society is indebted for the first regular entry of baptisms, which he commenced in 1730, There is one entry, as early as the year 1727, made by Mr. Tidcombe, who probably visited the congregation * Communicated by a native of Cirencester. t Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 230. X Mr. Wilson' MSS. 26 CIRENCESTER. from Gloucester, during the interval of Mr. Ree- ling's removal and Mr. Smith's election. From this register v^e are enabled to infer the dates of the election and removal of the other min- isters, with tolerable accuracy.* Mr. Evans, con- cerning whom I have not been able to obtain any further information, remained here till 1742, when he died, and was succeeded by Mr. Parry. Of this gentleman and his successor, Mr. Crabb, short memoirs will be given. During their ministry, and particularly that of Mr. Parry, the congregation was numerous ; and among its members were several influential persons. On the removal of Mr. Crabb they were ministered to for a short time by Mr. Cogan, well known as the conductor for many years of a large classical school at Waithamstow, and the minister of the Presbyterian congregation in that place. Mr. Cogan removed in 1789. The next minister was Mr. Kings, who resigned the pastoral office about the year 1803, and died in 1809, after a long and painful illness. He was interred in the burial-ground; the inscription over his grave is highly honourable to his memory. Mr. Kings was succeeded by Mr. Fry, who removed to Kidderminster in 1807, and still lives there ; Mr. Holt, the particulars of whose life will appear among our biographical notices ; Mr. Read and Mr. Dixon, who each remained only one year ; and, lastly, Mr. F. Horsfield, who was chosen in 1820. * I have here to acknowledge the kindness of Mi . William Search, of Cirencester. CIRENCESTER. 27 The present number of worshipers, though smaller than it was many years since, is not dis- couraging. I have no means of ascertaining how long Unitarian sentiments have been entertained by this society. All the ministers of whose writings or opinions we have any knowledge were Antitrini- tarians. The chapel is an ancient structure, large and commodious. The earliest date in the burial- ground is 1750. Among the monumental inscrip- tions of interest are those on the tombs of John Smith, Esq., formerly of Aylesbury, Bucks., and Thomas Smith, Esq., of Easton Grey, Wilts., both Justices of the Peace. The inscription on Mr. Kings' gravestone is as follows : Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Kings, for many years a respected minister OF THIS Congregation ; He held a distinguished rank among his brethren FOR his extensive LEARNING AND EXCELLENT UNDERSTANDING. He WAS POSSESSED OF AN ACCURATE JUDGMENT, THE PUREST principles of integrity, a heart warmed by genuine piety, the most conciliatory and amiable manners. After a long and painful illness he died, most beloved AND lamented BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST, On February 4, 1809, IN THE 51st YEAR OF HIS AGE. On the opposite side of the stone is the following : Also in memory of Hannah, the wife and relict of the Rev. John Kings ; WHO died THE 25th day or February, 1820, in an humble hope of a joyful resurrection at THE LAST DAY. 28 CIRENCESTER. i^tnfstets. Alexander Gregory 1662 — 1665 Beeby Stephen Worth John Keeling — 1726. Skinner Smith 1727 — 1730. John Evans 1730 — 1742. Joshua Parry 1742 — 1776. Habakkuk Crabb 1776 — 1787. Eliezer Cogan 1788 — 1 789. John Kings 1790—1803. Richard Fry 1803— 1807. James Holt 1808—1817. John Read 1817—1818. Anthony Dixon 1819—1820. Frederick Horsfield 1820. The Rev. ALEXANDER GREGORY was one of those ministers called the Country Triers. Wlien the king's aruij besieged Cirencester, a cannon-ball fell upon the house where he lived, while he was at prayer. The house was much injured, but he was wonderfully preserved. When the town could hold out no longer, he, in company with a friend, tried to make an escape. One of the king's soldiers pursued them, and quickly killed liis companion ; but though the soldier ran at him several times he avoided him, and received no harm. He was forced from his people, when the town was taken by the king's army, and when the war was at an end, settled at another place at some distance. On the earnest solicitation of his old friends at Ciren- cester, he returned to them, and continued till the coming out of the Act of Uniformity, though his benefice there was of conside- rably less value than the other. He was much solicited to con- CIRENCESTER, 29 form, by a person at that time in power, who signified to him that his so doing would be very acceptable to his majesty, who was inclined to prefer him, and would resent his non-compliance. But Mr. Gregory could not satisfy his conscience, and drew up a paper, containing the reasons of his nonconformity, which he sent to the person who solicited him. In his last sermon in public he told his flock, that though he should be deprived of his benefice, which was all that he and his family had to subsist on, he would yet continue to minister to them as long as the govern- ment would suffer him. But at last the Five-Mile act forced him away, and he removed to Minchin-hampton, where he finished his course not long after. On taking leave of his friends, he told some with whom he was most intimate that he should see their faces no more ; and it happened accordingly. He was a very humble, serious, and affectionate preacher. His unwea- ried labours had great success. He kept up a weekly lecture every Tuesday ; and on Thmrsdays in the afternoon he catechized in his own house, taking great care not to discourage such as were bashful or had bad memories ; for whom he was so much concerned, that he would often follow them to their own houses, even the meanest in his parish, to give them private instruc- tion in a plain and familiar way. * The Rev. JOSHUA Parry. — Scanty as my materials are, 1 cannot refrain from giving a distinct memoir of Mr. Parry. He was so highly esteemed for his talents and character, and so long connected with the congregation at Cirencester, that even a short account of him 'mil be acceptable to my readers. I have not been able to find his name among the various lists of students in Dissenting academies, nor can I ascertain whether he was settled as minister in any place prior to his invitation to Cirencester. Here he remained thirty-four years. The last entry of baptisms made by him was in the year 1776; and in the same year his remains were deposited in the burial-ground * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 532. 30 CIRENCESTER. belonging to the congregation of which he had been the faithful and beloved minister. There is neither a tomb nor an inscrip- tion, but the spot is indicated by a plain rough stone, which is well known to be the protector of " Mr. Parry's grave." He himself, however, left a lasting memorial of his liberal sentiments and his usefulness as a preacher, in seventeen sermons which were published after his death. They are described in the Monthly Review for J 783* as "very sensible and animated sermons, breathing a warm and aifectionate spirit of rational piety and Christian benevolence." "Their original aim (says the author of the preface) was principally to impress the heart, in a warm and forcible manner, with truths of acknowledged practical importance," * * * "and it is sincerely hoped that they will not be perused in vain, although they must necessarily lose much of their energy, from being unaccompanied by that ner- vous oratory with which they were originally pronounced." Mr, Parry's society was highly valued by many who did not belong to his communion ; he was honoured, more particularly, for many years, with the friendship of Earl Bathurst, of Oakley Park, near Cirencester. He left two sons, one of whom Dr. C. H. Parry, was well known as an eminent physician at Bath, and long connected with the Presbyterian congregation in that city ; also a daughter, married to Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, Bart., both members for many years of the same society. Dr. Parry was named after Caleb Hillier, Esq., a zealous and liberal benefactor to the Dissenting interest at Cirencester. The present Sir Edward Parry, the arctic navigator, and Dr. Charles Parry, of Bath, are grandsons of the subject of this memoir. The Rev. Habakkuk Crabb was born at Wattisfield, in Suffolk, in the year 1750. Eminently pious and respectable was the character of his parents. His father was bred to no business, and lived on Ids paternal fortune till he had seven * Vol. l,\ix. p. 444. CIRENCESTER. 31 children, with the prospect of a still increasing family. Then, judging it his duty to provide, by some other means, for his numerous offspring, he farmed one of his own -estates, and made malt for the London market. The family subsequently increased to fifteen, of whom the subject of this memoir was the youngest but one. He received his grammar learning under Mr. Walker, then minister of Framlingham, and was removed in 1766 to Daventry, where he pursued, under Dr. Ashworth, a complete course of studies for the Christian ministry. In such a seminary, and under such an instructor, a man of Mr. Crabb's disposition and habits could not fail to make considerable improvement. So jealous was he of the least abuse of time, or irregularity of disposition, while he was a student, that he kept a memoran- dum-book, in which he noted down how each hour of the day was spent, and what effect either company, prayers, or sermons had on his temper. Indeed, he carried his diligence to excess. Having read with great delight the Life of Dr. Doddridge, he was ambitious of imitating that divine in liis application to study ; not considering that a degree of exertion which in one case may be safe, shall in another prove pernicious. For months together, Mr. Crabb rose at four in the morning, and, without ever going abroad for exercise, pursued his studies till midnight. This brought on such nervous disorders, and so entirely shook the fabric of his constitution, that he not only became very ill for a season, but was more or less an invalid to the end of life.* In 1771, Mr. Crabb, having finished the usual course at Daventry, was invited to settle at Stowmarket. This invitation he afterwards accepted ; when it was first offered he could not embrace it, being under a prior engagement to accompany his friend and fellow -student, Thomas Fuller, Esq., on his travels into Scotland. That gentleman honovu-ed Mr. Crabb with par- * See a memoir prefixed to a volume of Mr. Crabb's sermons, by the Rev. Hugh Worthington, Jun., for the benefit of the family of Mr. Crabb. The unusually long list of subscribers, not only for copies of the work but to sums of a considerable amount, is an honourable testimony to the worth both of Mr. Crabb and his friends. 32 CIRENCESTER. ticular marks of favour to the day of his death, and continued his generosity to one of his children. After fulfilling the pas- toral charge at Stowmarket four years, various circumstances induced him to remove to Cirencester. When he had been there two years, he married Miss Norman, a member of his former congregation. As the cares of a family soon devolved upon him, he was persuaded to undertake the board and educa- tion of two young gentlemen of considerable fortune ; but, what is no uncommon case, by this step he rather lessened than aug- mented his income. In 1787, with a view of better providing for his children, Mr. Crabb accepted the proposal of his brother- in-law, Mr. Fenner, to assist him in his school and pulpit at Devizes. But his residence there was also short ; in January 1789 he had a call from Wattisfield, the place of his nativity, which had recently become vacant by the death of the venera- ble Mr. Harmer. Here Mr. Crabb's expectations were again disappointed. Though he was highly esteemed by many mem- bers of the society, yet, to others, he could not give satisfaction because he preferred scriptural language to human phrases, on points peculiar to revelation. He therefore prudently retired, and found among a serious, enlightened, and affectionate con- gregation at Royston, an asylum adapted to his wishes, where he continued till his death. He first preached as a probationer among them, July 4th, 1790. But in little more than four years the end of his labours approached. He died on the 25th of December 1794. During his short illness, as long as the state of his intellects admitted, he discovered a mind imbued with piety, gratitude and resignation. He left behind him seven orphans — the yoimgest but two years of age ; at the birth of this child he lost his beloved wife. The bereavement of such a parUier, and concern for his motherless children, weighed heavily on his spirits, and accelerated his end. As a Christian, Mr. Crabb remarkably verified the description of true religion by the Apostle James, — " The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to b(> entreated, full of mercy and good CIRENCESTER. 33 fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." As a pastor, he equally respected all the conditions of his flock ; though his manners and tastes fitted him for the genteelest circles, yet he never neglected the poor and afflicted ; youth and age, prosperity and adversity, regularly shared his visits and services. As a preacher, without pretending to eloquence, he universally gained the attention of his hearers ; his prayers and discourses had a perspicuous neatness, as remote from vulgarity on the one hand as from artificial labour on the other. In the churchyard at Royston, on a gravestone erected to his memory by the congregation, are inscribed the following lines : "Hush'd is the storm of life's tempestuous day. Thy heart no more by mortal anguish torn. Serene reposes with its kindred clay, Till, wak'd from death, thou hail'st the eternal morn," The Rev. James Holt was born at Stepney, in the year 1756. His parents were in humble life, but he had a notion that he was of the same family as Lord Chief Justice Holt. In 1773, he was apprenticed to an engraver, and made such pro- ficiency, that he earned six guineas per week before the expira- tion of his apprenticeship. Part of his earnings being his own, he found himself, at this period, in the possession of sixty gui- neas. He had been brought up in the Church of England, but was now converted to Calvuiistic Methodism. Yet though he attended the various popular preachers of this class, he after- wards became more sober in his views, and united himself with the Independent Church in Hare Court, Aldersgate Street. By the advice of his pastor, his attention was turned towards the ministry, and under his patronage he entered, in 1780, the Academy at Homerton, with the savings of his industry in his pocket. He continued here seven years under the tuition of Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Daniel Fisher, Dr. Henry Mayo, and Mr, (afterwards Dr.) Benjamin Davies. On leaving the Academy, which he did with very satisfactory testimonials, he preached D 34 CIRENCESTER. for a short lime at Bere, iu Dorsetshire. He was then for a few months at Bury Street, St. Mary Axe, London, where Dr. Savage, and before him Dr. Watts, had been minister. In 1789, he was at Weymouth, as an assistant to Mr. Wilkins ; and after short intervals we find him at Martock, in Somersetshire ; Crea- ton, in Northamptonshire ; and Daventry. His perceptible change of opinions might be one cause of these frequent remo- vals. After leaving Daventry he sojourned with Presbyterian congregations at Plymouth Dock and Dartmouth. At Dart- mouth he continued five years on a salary of thirty-five pounds per annum, out of which, so economical were his habits, he con- trived to save sometliiug. About the year 1799, he removed to take charge of the congregation at Crediton, where also he re- mained five years. Within tliis period he married Miss Burton^ of Dartmouth, who, dying suddenly, in 1806, left him property equal to his wants for the remainder of his life. After this event he resided for some time near London, but was soon induced to accept the pastorship of the congregation at Cirencester. In this, his last ministerial connexion, he continued ten years ; at the expiration of which he retired on account of his infirmities to Hackney, where he closed his life Jan. 30th, 1828, aged 72. He desired it to be recorded on his tombstone, in the Gravel- Pit burial-ground, Hackney, that " After ten years' earnest, incessant inquiry, he became A DECIDED Unitarian, and continued so invariably until death." Under these words are the following : — "His Executors consider it due to his piously-charitable MIND TO record ALSO, THAT HE HAS BEQUEATHED THE RESIDUE OF A MODERATE ESTATE FOR THE EDUCATION OF StUDENTS FOB THE Unitarian Ministry."* • Christ. Ref., O. S., Vol. xiv. p. 123. MARSHFIELD. "This parish constitutes the upper division of the hundred of Thornbury. It lies seven miles north-eastward from Bath, seven south-eastward from Chipping-Sodbury, twelve and a half east from Bristol, thirty-five south from Gloucester, and one hundred and three west from London. It is situated on high ground, with a fine healthy air, and bounded on the south by a brook which divides it from Somer- setshire. " The town of Marshfield stands near the middle of the parish, and consists chiefly of one street, near a mile long, through which a turn- pike road leads from London to Bristol. The business of making malt to supply the cities of Bath and Bristol was formerly very great here for which the town is conveniently situated in a corn country ; and though it has been for some time declining, yet it is still pretty consi- derable."— Rudder. 15 2 OLD MEETING HOUSE. About the year 1680, Mr. George Seal, who had been ejected from a parish in South Wales, and who had also been a schoolmaster at Cardiff, became pastor of a congregation at Marshfield. * In 1699 the society is said to have been denominated Inde- pendent, and to have received a certificate, by that name, permitting them to worship God in the house of Charles Rudder, -j* The trust-deeds of later dates describe the congregation as Independent or Pres- byterian; the great object, for many years, being to keep up a distinction between Conformists and Non- conformists, rather than between two classes of Dissenters. Mr. Seal's ministry was long and successful. He was at Marshfield in 1715, with three hundred hearers. J Whether Mr. Rudder's house, converted into a place of worship, was that in which they con- tinued to meet, or whether they erected another, does not appear. The society was sufiiciently nu- merous to have two ministers during the early part of the last century ; the names of Paterson, Load, * Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 682. f Mr. Wilson's MSS. X Manchester Socinian Controversy, p. 130. MARSHFIELD. 37 and Hort, are found in connexion with Mr. Seal's. Mr. Hort conformed and became Archbishop of Tiiam. We have also the name of Angel Shapland, who died at Marshfield, in 1748, aged 57 ; a stone was raised to his memory in the parish churchyard. The next minister was Mr. Evan Thomas, whose sentiments appear to have been heterodox.* During his ministry, the present meeting-house was built by subscription ; but not on the site of the old one. The following is the inscription on the foundation stone.f Marshfield, October 16, 1752. May the blessing of God AND His everlasting protection descend and rest on this foundation stone ! And may it herein share but the common fate OF THE whole SUPERSTRUCTURE, designed to be RAISED THEREON ! A SUPERSTRUCTURE INTENDED, NOT FOR SCHISMATICAL OR HERETICAL SEPARATION, NOT AS A SOURCE OF BIGOTRY AND SUPERSTITION, BUT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRINCIPLES QUITE THE REVERSE : A SUPERSTRUCTURE BUILT FOR THE UPHOLDING OF NO UNCHRISTIAN FACTION, IN OPPOSITION TO NO CHRISTIAN COMMAND, IN DEFIANCE OF NO PrOTESTANT ROYAL AUTHORITY, BUT FOR PROMOTING PURE RELIGION, THE GLORY OF GoD, AND THE HAPPINESS OF MANKIND ; AND ALSO, AS A WORTHY EFFECT * English Presbyterian, p. 51. t Christian Reformer, O. S., Vol. xiii. p. 172. 38 MARSHFIELI). OF THAT GLORIOUS NATIONAL CONSTITUTION BY WHICH WE ENJOY oiR Christian Freedom and Liberty of Conscienck. For these, and only for these substantial reasons, rest here ! o auspicious stone i kirm as the rock from whence thou wast taken, till time shall be no more ! Built in the reign of our GRACIOUS Sovereign George II.. and in the year of our Lord. 1752. W. OLAXD. The spirit of this inscription indicates that this place of worship was erected by persons whose sen- timents were those of the Unitarians^ rather than the Trinitarians, of the present day. However anxious the latter are for the promotion of Civil and Religious Liberty, they are more anxious to diffuse what they deem the peculiar doctrines of the gospel. If the founders of this "superstructure" had been of the same way of thinking as the modern Independents, they would undoubtedly have prefer- red recording their devotion, not merely to pure religion, the glory of God, and the happiness of mankind, but to the doctrines of the Fall, the Atonement, and the Trinity. I say thus much, as the right of the present possessors of the chapel at Marshfield has been often publicly questioned on MARSHFIELD. 39 the supposition that the design of its founders %va5 ■widely different from that of the present possessors.* All the successors of Mr. Thomas have been Unita- rians ; some may have believed in the pre-existence of Christ, but certainly none paid their adorations to the Trinity. These are historical facts ; and they ought to have all the weight to which they are entitled. Towards the close of the last century the congre- gation declined. At the death of Mr. David Evans, in 1817, it was greatly reduced. Since that period no minister has remained longer than three or four years. The next minister was Mr. John Evans of Bristol, author of "The Ponderer," ''A Historv of Bristol," and other works. He united the duties of a schoolmaster with those of a minister ; but was, I believe, engaged at no other place than Marshfield in the latter capacity. Mr. John Evans was succeed- ed by ]\Ir. G. P. Hinton, from Crediton, who after- wards devoted himself to the legal profession, of which he is now a member, at Bristol. t The so- ciety was greatly revived in 1825, soon after the formation of a Unitarian Missionary Association for Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire. One of the first objects of the committee was to provide regular religious services at Marshfield, and accordingly Mr. Henry Hawkes, a Glasgow student, was engaged to supply during his recess. :|: He was * See a paper in the Evangelical Magazine, Vol. xli. p. 447. t Much of the iiifomiarion in this sketch was furnished by Mr. Hinton. : C. R., O. S., Vol. xii. p. 33. 40 MARSHFIELD. succeeded by Mr. Samuel Martin, who had been labouring with much zeal and success in the coun- ties of Devon and Cornwall, The efforts of these ministers, under the Divine blessing, restored the congregation to health and vigour ; its numbers were much greater than they had been for many years, and several useful institutions were formed with encouraging prospects. But Mr. Martin was called to a larger sphere ; the congregation again became destitute of a settled minister, and, though zealous laymen supplied them for several years, the flock wandered to other folds, one by one, until very few remained. The present minister is Mr. Thomas Adams ; he is obliged to live at Bristol, but preaches at Marshfield every Lord's-day ; his attempts to re- vive the society have been in some degree suc- cessful. Connected with the chapel is an interesting burial ground; the following inscriptions are found on monuments in the interior of the building. Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Evan Thoxmas, Minister of the Gospel in this place; Who both in preaching and practice WAS A steady friend and real ornament to the cause of liberty and rational religion. Having endured a tedious and severe illness WITH A resignation AND FORTITUDE WHICH ChRISTIANTY ALONE COULD INSPIRE, AND INTEGRITY ALONE EXERT, HE OBTAINED HIS RELEASE JuNE 14th, 1/62, AGED 55 YEARS. MARSHFIELD. 41 In memory of The Rev. David Evans, Minister of this place upwards of forty years : His life was spent in the acquisition of liberal and useful knowledge, and in the duties of religion. He was A FIRM BELIEVER IN CHRISTIANITY FROM CONVICTION, AND IN HIM CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY LOST A MOST ZEALOUS AND ENLIGHTENED ADVOCATE. He DEPARTED THIS LIFE JuNE 14th, 1817, IN THE 67th YEAR OF HIS AGE. iHJlmfstcrs. George Seal 1680 — Paterson, Load, and Hort . . . Angel Shapland — 1748. Evan Thomas 1748—1762. Richard Davis 1762— 176.'5. William Hazlitt, M.x\ 1765 — 1770. David Evans 1770 — 1791. William Jillard Hort 1791 — 1796. David Evans (returned) 1796 — 1815. John Evans 1816 — 1820. George Pullin Hinton 1820—1824. Samuel Martin 1826—1827. Thomas Adams 1833. The Rev. John Hort, D.D., was probably descended from Nonconformist parents ; he was educated in a Dissenting aca- demy, in London, between the years 1690 and 1695, under the direction of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, at that time minister of 42 MARSHFIELD. the Independeut congregation at Haberdashers' Hall.* One of his fellow- students was Dr. Isaac Watts, who said of him that he was the first genius in the academy, and another was Mr. Samuel Saj, also well known in the religious and literary world. After his academical studies were finished, he resided some time as Chaplain with John Hampden, Esq., Member of Parlia- ment for Bucks ; and afterwards settled as a Dissenting minister, at Marshfield. The time of his conformity to the Church of England is not ascertained, though it is evident, that he was a minister of it so early as 1708, for in that year he published a sermon preached at the Archdeacon's visitation at Aylesbury. In the preceding year, he had printed a Thanksgiving Sermon on our Successes, from Ps. cxlix. 6 — 8. There is a tradition in the family, that he had so greatly recommended himself to the court by his zeal and services in support of the Hanover succession, that as he scrupled re-ordination it was dispensed with, and the first preferment bestowed on him was that of a bishopric in Ireland. He went into that kingdom as chaplain to the Lord Lieutcnnnt. He was consecrated bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, in 1 721, was translated to Kilmore and Ardagh, in 1727, and prefen-ed to the archie}iiscopal see of Tuam, in 1742, with the united bishopric of Enaghdoen, and like- wise with liberty to retain his other bishopric at Ardagh. He died in 1751, at a very advanced age. He published in 1758, at Dublin, a volume of sermons, in 8vo. These were reprinted, in London, in 1757, with the addition of the Visitation Sermon mentioned before. In this volume is a sermon preached in the Castle of Dublin, before the Duke of Bolton, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, after the suppression of the Preston rebellion. He also published " Instructions to the Clergy of the Diocese of Tuam, at the Primary Visitation, July 8th, 1742." This, after his death, was reprinted in London, with the approbation and consent of Dr. Hort, Canon of Windsor. In the preface to the volume of sermons, we learn that for many years previous * Southey's Life of Watts, prefixed to a neat edition of the Lyric Poems, forming the ninth volume of the Sacred Classics, 1831. 1 MARSHFIELD. 43 to its appearance from the press, the author had been disabled from preaching by an over-strain of the voice in the pulpit, at a time when he had a cold, with a hoarseness, upon him. The providence of God, he says, having taken from him the power of discharging that part of his episcopal office which consisted in preaching, he thought it incumbent upon him to convey his thoughts and instructions from the press. The solemn promise that he made at his consecration, " to exercise himself in the Holy Scriptures, so as to be able by them to teach and exhort by wholesome doctrines," was no small motive to the under- taking. It appears, that he kept up mi epistolary correspondence with his "old friend," as he called him, and fellow-student, Dr. Watts, to the closing period of the life of each. Dr. Gibbons, in the life of the latter, has preserved a letter of the Archbishop of Tuanl to him, dated Dublin, December 15, J 743, which ac- companied the charge to his clergy. The strain of the letter is cheerful and pious, expressive of vivacity of mind, and a devo- tional temper. A quotation from it may afford a specimen of the disposition and character of the writer. " I bless God, I enjoy good health, which enables me to go through much busi- ness ; but I have for many years been going down the hill, and if the doctrine of gravitation takes place in the life of man, the motion must accelerate as I come nearer the bottom. Your case is the same, though more aggravated by distempers. God grant we may be useful while we live, and may run clear and with unclouded minds till we come to the very dregs." * The Rev. William Hazlitt, M.A., was born at Shauu Hill, near Tipperary, 1737. At about the age of 19 he went to Glasgow University — remained there five years and obtained the degree of Master of Arts. Though brought up in orthodox principles, at the time of his quitting the University he was an Unitarian. His first settlement was with the Presbyterian con- * Monthly MagazinCj Vol. xv. p. 144. 44 MARSHFIELD. gregation at Wisbeach, in 1764, where he remained two years. Here he was married to Miss Loftus of that town, hy whom he had seven children, three of whom with their mother survived him. From Wisbeach he removed to Marshfield, and thence to Maidstone, where he remained nearly ten years, during which time he enjoyed the acquaintance of several eminent men, and frequently met Dr. Franklin. From Maidstone he removed, in J 780, to the charge of a congregation at Bandon, in the county of Cork, where he continued tliree years. In this place he ex- erted himself in behalf of the American prisoners confined at Kinsale, and his manly exposure, in the public priuts, of the cruelties exercised towards them by the soldiery, considerably improved their condition. On the close of the war with America, he removed from Bandon, to New York, with his wife and family, where he arrived in May, ] 783, and soon proceeded to Philadelphia. On his way to that city, the Assembly of the States General for New Jersey, then sitting at Burlington, sent a deputation to invite him to preach before them, which he did. At Philadelphia he stayed fifteen months, and besides preaching occasionally at various places of worship there, he delivered, diu-ing the winter, in the college, a course of lectures on the Evidences of Christianity, which were exceedingly well received. From Philadelphia he went, by invitation, to preach to a con- gregation at Boston ; but a report of his heterodox principles arriving before him prevented a settlement among them. Mr. Hazlitt's visit to this town was not however in vain ; for in a short time he was chiefly instrumental in forming the first Uni- tarian Church at Boston. Here the University offered to confer on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, which he declined. He also published various tracts in support of Unitarian princi- ples ; and having remained here four years, preparing the way for the subsequent exertions of Dr. Priestley, whose acquiant- ance he enjoyed, he returned with his family to England, and became pastor of the Presbyterian congregation at Wem, in Shropshire. In this place he resided upwards of twenty-six years, and published three volumes of sermons, which had a I MARSHFIELD. 45 rapid and extensive sale. In I8l-i he retired from the ministry ; and lived some time at Addlestone, in Surrj, afterwards at Bath, and finally at Creditoii, where, after a residence of ten months, he died. His remains were interred in the parish burial ground of the latter place, and on the following Sunday, the event was improved in the Unitarian chapel by the Rev. G. P. Hinton. The memoir in the Monthly Repository, from which these par- ticulars are taken, concludes with the following extract from the Political Essays of William Hazlitt, the highly gifted son of the venerable minister ; in which it is supposed the father was par- ticularly alluded to : " We have known some such in happier days, who had been brought up and lived from youth to age in the one constant belief of God and of his Christ, and who thought all other things but dross, compared with the glory hereafter to be revealed. Their youthful hopes and vanity had been mortified in them, even in their boyish days, by the neglect and supercilious regards of the world ; and they turned to look into their own minds for something else to build their hopes and confidence upon. They were true priests. They set up an image in their own minds, it was truth : they worshiped an idol there, it was justice. They looked on man as their brother, and only bowed the knee to the Highest. Separate from the world, they walked humbly with their God, and lived, in thought, with those who had borne testimony of a good conscience — with the spirits of just men in all ages. They saw Moses when he slew the Egyptian, and the prophets who overturned the brazen images, and those who were stoned and sawn asunder. They were with Daniel in the lions' den, and with the three children who passed through the fiery furnace — Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. They did not crucify Christ twice over, or deny him in their hearts, with St. Peter : the Book of Martyrs was open to them ; they read the story of William Tell, of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and the old one-eyed Zisca ; they had Neal's History of the Puritans by heart, and Calamy's account of the Two Thousand Ejected Ministers, and gave it to their children to 46 MARSHFIELl). read, with the pictures ot" the polemical Baxter, the silver- tongued Bancroft, the mild-looking Calamy, and old honest Howe. They believed in Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History ; they were deep read in the works of the Fratres Poloni, Pripscovius, Crellius, Craeovins, who sought out truth in texts of scripture, and grew blind over Hebrew points ; their aspiration after liberty was a sigh uttered from the towers, ' time-rent,' of the Holy Inquisition — and their zeal for religious toleration was kindled at the fires of Smithfield. Their sym- pathy was not with the oppressors, but the oppressed. They cherished in their thoughts — and wished to transmit to their posterity — those rights and privileges, for asserting which their ancestors had bled on scaffolds, or had pined in dungeons, or in foreign climes. Their creed, too, was glory to God, peace on earth, good will to man. This creed, since profaned and ren- dered vile, they kept fast through good report and evil report. This belief they had that looks at something out of itself, fixed as the stars, deep as the firmament ; that makes of its own heart an altar to truth, a place of worship for what is right, at which it does reverence with praise and prayer like a holy thing, apart and content — that feels that the greatest Being in the universe is always near it, and that all things work together for the good of his creatures, under his guiding hand. This covenant they kept as the stars keep their courses — this principle they stuck by, as it sticks by them to the last. It grew with their growth, it does not wither in their decay. It lives when the almond tree flourishes, and is not bowed down with the tottering knees. It glimmers with the last feeble eyesight, smiles in the faded cheek like infancy, and lights a path before them to the grave." FRENCHAY. Frenchay (or more properly Froomshaw) is a pretty village, where many families have good houses with gardens and plantations. It is situated about four miles from Bristol in the parish of Winter- bourn, which is bounded on the south by the river Froom. FRENCHAY. The chapel at Frenchay is a small square build- ing, fronting the common on the skirts of which the village is situated. It has the unusual yet pic- turesque appendage of a bell, which, for many years, has regularly summoned the worshipers to the morning and evening sacrifice. A pretty burial ground surrounds this humble house of prayer, on three sides, and contains a great number of graves. There are several monuments ; some of the inscrip- tions have been erased by time, but others remain to awaken respect for the memories of the dead and anxiety for the improvement of the living. " Their names, their years spelt by the unlettered muse, The place of fame and elegy supply : And many a holy text around she strews. That teach the rustic moralist to die." The origin and exact age of the society at Fren- chay are involved in uncertainty. My earliest in- formation is obtained from the deed by which the land, occupied by the meeting-house and burial ground, was conveyed to the congregation. This document was drawn up in the year 1691 and con- tains the names of several of the most considerable FRENCHAY. 49 merchants of Bristol, as trustees. The meeting- house was probably built about this time ; but I cannot find the name of a minister connected with an earlier date than 1715, when the Rev. Joseph Tyler is said to have been at Frenchay with two hundred hearers. From a subsequent deed it appears that this gentleman was pastor of the con- gregation, and associated as a trustee with the minister of the Lewin's Mead Chapeb and several Bristol merchants, in the year 1721. Tradition represents him as having continued in the pastoral office many years afterwards, highly respected and beloved; some persons have a strong impression that he filled it a very long time ; nor is it improba- ble that he was here from the time of the erection of the chapel till 1741, in connexion with which year another name appears. * Mr. Tyler appears to have been succeeded by Mr. Joshua Griffith, who was, by all accounts, at Frenchay from 1741 till his death in 1760. The next minister was Mr. David Lewis, who removed from Ashwick, some memoranda say in the latter year, and others two or three years earlier. He is mentioned, by a correspondent in the Monthly Re- pository for June 1810, -j* as having died at Frenchay thirty-eight years previously, which shews that he was there till the year 1772. This circumstance is noticed (and it is the only one I have met with in * For much of the information in this sketch I am indebted to the friendly researches of Mr. Thomas Bowring, of Bristol, t Vol. v., p. 401. E 50 FRENCHAY. reference to Mr. Lewis, except that of his removal from Ashwick) in connexion with an amusing but unimportant anecdote, related by him, of Mr. Samuel Jones and a pupil of that gentleman, — Mr., afterwards Archbishop, Seeker. On the death of Mr. Lewis, the congregation made choice of Mr. Samuel Thomas, from Dulverton, a minister who still lives in the remembrance of the elder hearers. He is described as a fine specimen of the ancient Presbyterian school — a dignified, yet earnest and affectionate preacher — a true pastor of his flock — a zealous asserter of Christian liberty — pious, learned, and indefatigable. In his religious sentiments he was probably an Arian. For many years Mr. Thomas kept a large and respectable school at Hambrook, a small village near Frenchay, where he had the care of two sons of Dr. Priestley, probably, at the time of that great and good man's residence at Bowood. There are some living who have a recollection of the Doctor's preaching once or twice at Frenchay. Mr. Thomas died among his people, in 1803, full of years and honour. The subsequent ministers have all remained a much shorter period, and, with the exception of the present pastor, removed to other places. After a short interval, Mr. Thomas was succeeded by Mr. Jillard Hort, who, in the year 1815, accepted an invitation to Cork, where he is still the minister of a large congregation. For the next nine years the little flock at Frenchay were faithfully served by Mr. Michael Maurice; of whom, as of Mr. Hort, FRENCHAY. 51 and the other pastors of more recent times, distant be the day when more may be said ! In 1824, on Mr. Maurice's resignation, Mr. Henry Clarke suc- ceeded him, and remained till the beginning of 1827, when he resumed his more active duties as an Unitarian missionary, which he is now discharging in connexion with his office of minister of a pros- perous congregation at Dundee. Next came Mr. Henry Howse, of Bath. This gentleman had re- ceived part of his education at York, as a lay-student ; when he went to Frenchay he was Secretary to the Somerset, Gloucester, and Wilts Unitarian Associa- tion. In this situation he devoted himself, about eighteen months, to pulpit and pastoral labours, solely for the purpose of promoting the chief object of that Association — ^the revival of drooping congre- gations. Mr. Howse Was followed by Mr. John Forsbrey, — also one of those who, though not edu- cated for the ministry, are desirous of devoting their talents to the promotion of truth. In the year 1830, the society elected Mr. Tingcombe, who had for many years been the minister of the Unitarian con- gregation at Bridgwater. The state of the congregation at different periods of its history cannot be exactly ascertained. During the greater part of the last century the number of hearers probably varied from two to three hundred. The society has always included several highly re- spectable families connected by trade with the city of Bristol, and residing near the village of Frenchay. E 2 52 FRENCHAY. Until within a comparatively recent period there was no other place of worship in the neighbourhood. The first that appeared in addition was a Friends' meeting-house; and still more lately a handsome church has been built immediately opposite. In the morning of the Lord's Day the sound of the ancient bell is nearly drowned by the authoritative tone of its modern neighbour, but in the evening it is heard alone through the peaceful village. The erection of the church doubtless tended to reduce the already much-diminished number of the original society, but there are still several circumstances which inspire a hope of its revival. Humble as is the structure in which the worshipers of One God the Father here meet, they have yet many reasons for associating it with their own most precious recollections, and devoutly trusting that it will be to many as it has been to them and their fathers — the house of God and the gate of Heaven ! il^mistns. Joseph Tyler 1601—1741. Joshua Griffith 1741 — 1760. David Lewis 1 760 — 1772. Samuel Thomas 1772 — 1803. JiLLARD HORT 1804—1815. Michael Maurice 1815 — 1824. Henry Clarke 1824—1827. Henry Edm'Ard Howse 1 827 — 1828. John Forsbrey 1828—1829. John Tingcombe 1829. imnmm. CALNE. BRADFORD. TROWBRIDGE. WARMINSTER. CALNE. " Calne is a market and borough-town of great antiquity, situated near the centre of the hundred to which it gives name, at the distance of eighty-seven miles west by south from London, and thirty miles north-north-east from Salisbury." " Calne within the last twenty years has been greatly improved in the appearance of its houses, and the cleanliness of its streets. It is watered by the small river Marian, which runs through the centre of the town, and drives several fulling and grist mills. The market- house and to^vn-hall is a commodious building, as is also the free- school." — Beauties of England and Wales. Population in 1811,-3581 ; in 1821,-4612; in 1831,-4876. CALNE. This parish is in the list of those which h)st their ministers on the passing of the Act of Uni- formity. The sufferer here was Mr. Thomas Jones, who may be regarded as the founder of the Presby- terian congregation, though we have no particulars of his subsequent life and labours. That a society of Nonconformists existed at Calne at an early period, is evident from the biographi- cal notices by Dr. Calamy and Mr. Palmer. Mr. Kobert Rowswell, ejected from the parish of Martin, in Wiltshire, and Mr. Nathaniel Webb, who lost his living at Yatesbury, in the same county, are both said to have preached here occasionally. The first settled minister of whom we have any account is Mr. Samuel Bourn, the father of an emi- nent minister of the same name at Birmingham and Cosely. He was sent down to Calne in the year 1679, by the influence of Dr. Annesley, the ejected vicar of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, and the maternal grandfather of Mr. John Wesley. He laboured here, with much diligence and success, sixteen years, during which he declined invitations to Bath, CALNE. 57 Durham, and Lincoln ; at the end of that period he removed to Bolton to succeed his uncle, the Rev. Mr. Seddon, who recommended him to his flock in his last moments.* It v^as probably soon after Mr. Bourn's removal that the present chapel was erected. No document of any kind remains by wdiich the circumstances connected with this event can be traced, nor have we any means of ascertaining the precise time when the congregation appointed a successor to the highly-valued pastor who had at length been in- duced to leave them. They appear to have been some time destitute. We are told that, "on hearing Mr. Bourn had received unhandsome treatment in his new situation, they invited him to return to them, with respectful offers of an enlarged maintenance. But he waived the proposal and chose to continue at Bolton, where by his great integrity and inoffen- sive behaviour he conciliated the esteem and respect of all; and when he died had not one enemy." j* The next name on my list of the pastors of the Presbyterian church at Calne, is John Melhuish. He was there in 1715, with two hundred and fifty hearers ; and as we do not find that he was connected with any other congregation, we may infer that he remained there a long time. But we have no other name until the year 1772, an inter- val, it may be presumed, rather too long for Mr. Melhuish's powers, especially as there is reason to suppose he was settled at Calne prior to the year * Toulmin'a Life of Bourn, p. 3. t Ibid. p. 4. 58 CALNE. 1715. In 1772 Mr. Williams was the pastor; his religious opinions were liberal. He removed to the congregation at Bradford in 1776. The people here next elected Mr. John Davis, of Ilfracombe: he was educated at Carmarthen ; his sentiments were decidedly Unitarian, and he was the respected pastor of the church till his death — the long period of fifty-two years. Both Mr. Williams and Mr. Davis had the privilege of enjoying the society and assistance of Dr. Priestley ; whose engagement with the Earl of Shelburne commenced in 1773 and ter- minated in 1780. He frequently preached in the Presbyterian meeting-house at Calne, and, by his pulpit services and private conversations, did much to confirm the sentiments then entertained both by ministers and people.* * One of the most prominent traits in the character of Dr. Priestley was his devotion to reUgious pursuits. Many circumstances illustrate this, besides his identifying himself so closely with the humble Dissenting so- ciety at Calne. Alluding to the company into which he was thrown, while staying with Lord Shelburne at Paris, he says — " As I chose on all occa- sions to appear as a Christian, I was told by some of them that I was the only person they had ever met with, of whose understanding they had any opinion, who professed to believe Christianity. But on interrogating them on the subject, I soon found that they had given no proper attention to it, and did not really know what Christianity was. This was also the case with a great part of the company that I saw at Lord Shelburne's. But I hope that my always avowing myself to be a Christian, and holding myself ready on all occasions to defend the genuine principles of it, was not without its use. Having conversed so much with unbelievers, at home and abroad, I thought I should be able to combat their prejudices with some advantage ; and with this view I wrote, while I was with Lord Shel- burne, the first part of my " Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever," in proof of the doctrines of a God and a Providence, and to this I have added, during my residence at Birmingham, a second part, in defence of the Evi- dences of Christianity. The first part being replied to by a person who called himself Mr. Hammon, I wrote a reply to his piece which has hitherto remained unanswered. I am happy to find that this work of mine has CALNE. 59 Towards the close of Mr. Davis's life, the congre- gregation declined considerably. He had never been a popular preacher, and other circumstances now combined to lessen the number of his hearers. Perhaps the poorer and more uneducated part were drawn away by the stirring appeals of ministers of other denominations, who about this period settled in the town. And after the death of Mr. Davis, the society of which he had been the pastor became still smaller in consequence of the want of a settled minister for several years. Lately they have pos- sessed the services of Mr. Taylor, who was educated for the ministry among the Calvinistic Baptists, under Dr. Ryland, at Bristol, but subsequently became an Unitarian. He labours amidst many discouragements ; the salary is very small, there being only one endowment of about three pounds per annum, bequeathed a few years since ; and the prospect of an increase in the congregation is ex- ceedingly faint,* done some good, and I hope that in due time it will do more. I can truly say that the greatest satisfaction I receive from the success of my philosophical pursuits, arises from the weight it may give to my attempts to defend Christianity, and to free it from those corruptions which prevent its reception with philosophical and thinking persons, whose influence with the vulgar and the unthinking is very great." — Priestley's Works; Rutt's Edition. Vol. i. Part, i., p. 199. * In Dr. Priestley's time the society was small. Writing to Dr. Toul- min in 1776, he says, "We have lost our minister, Mr. Williams. I have sent an invitation to Mr. Jervis's brother, but I do not think him likely to accept it. Can you in that case-recommend any one to us ? There are two places to serve, at the distance of seven miles, and together they raise £45, exclusive of assistance from the funds." — Rutt's Priestley, Vol. i. Part i., p. 296. 60 CALNE. There is a small piece of land adjoining the chapel which might have been converted into a cemetery. Two members of the congregation have been lately interred within the building. iilintstfrs. Thomas Jonks 1662 — Nathaniel Webb Robert Rowswell Samuel Bourn J67J)— 1695. John Melhuish 1715 — Edward Williams 1772 — 1776. John Davis 1777—1829. Taylor 1831. ]Mr. Bourn was descended from ancestors who distinguished themselves by their ingenious and public-spirited plans. His grandfather and great grandfather were clothiers in Derby, and expended considerable sums of money to convey water into that town. An uncle, Mr. Robert Seddon, an eminent minister, who in 1662 was ejected from the rectory of Langley, in Derby- shire, took him early under his patronage, and sent him to Emanuel College, Cambridge, where he remained till 1672. He left the university without taking any degree, not being satis- fied with the oaths and declarations then required. Mr. Boima, on leaving Cambridge, returned to Derby, and employed himself for some time in a school. He then became chaplain to Lady Hatton. His next removal was to London, where he was ordained, and lived some time with an aunt. From London he removed to Calne, and thence to Bolton, where he died in 1710, in the seventy-second year of his age. CALNE. 61 His son thus described the consistency and excellence of his character. " Though he shone in the pidpit, he did not shine only there ; nor was he like those physicians who prescribe large or unpalatable doses of physic to their patients, but take none themselves. He lived the truths he preached ; and did not stand as a Mercury on the highway, that shews travellers the road, but keeps its place while they pass on. He did not press on you humility and lowliness of mind, with a proud heart of his own. He did not recommend temperance, and go into excesses himself. He did not rally against oppression, and in the mean time bear hard on the poor. He did not beg charity to the distressed, to the lecture, for building houses of worship, and withhold his own. He did not preach up the heavenly world to you, and all the time pursue only this world. He did not put you on diligence in your proper callings, and neglect his own callings ; for to this work, the work of the ministry, he gave up all his strength. He Adsibly wore away in his work, and did not rust away." His charity was eminent. He spared neither his pains nor his purse. Many good works commenced with him and were encouraged by him. He was free of his own, and had an ex- cellent talent of soliciting the charity of others. With him originated a small school for teaching twenty poor children; and for several years he entirely supported it. At his death he left- a legacy of twenty pounds to maintain the weekly lecture at Bolton. Yet his income was by no means large ; and though his people were abundantly able to increase his salary, he never appeared uneasy at its amount. His sentiments on doctrinal points were consonant to those of Calvin and the reformed churches: but his humility, candour, and affectionate temper would not allow him to be censorious or uneasy with any of his brethren. After his death, his son published a volume of his sermons, apprehending that "a specimen of his father's way of preaching might be instructive to young ministers, and contribute to pre- serve them from degenerating into loose and empty harangues, 62 CALNE. that want spirit and life. They are entitled, I. The transform- ing vision of Christ in the future state. II. The believer's hope of this transforming vision, the reason and the real motive of real holiness in the present state." To these discourses is sub- joined the funeral sermon for the author, with a delineation of his character and memoirs of his life, by Mr. William Tong, an eminent minister of that day. * * Toiilmin's Life of Bourn. BRADFORD. "Bradford or Bradenford is a considerable market and manu- facturing town, situated on the banks of the Avon, at the distance of about thirty miles north-west from Salisbury, and one hundred miles south-west from London. The natural features of the country are bold and romantic : an abrupt hill rises immediately on the north side of the river ; and on the brow and sloping declivity of this eminence most of the buildings are placed. It derived its name, according to Camden, from its local position close to a broad ford on the river; Braden in Saxon signifying broad. "The Kennet and Avon Canal passes by Bradford, and opens a communication, by water carriage, with the cities of Bath, Bristol and London, and with the towns of Trowbridge, Devizes, Hungerford, Reading, &c. This canal, in its way towards Bathford, follows the course of the Avon, which it crosses at different points on aqueduct bridges, one of which is near Bradford. The banks of this river, below the town, exhibit many beautiful and picturesque scenes. The sides of the hills are covered with a profusion of trees, and in some places rise with great boldness from the margin of the river." — Beauties of England and Wales. Population in 1811,-2989; in 1821,-3760; and in 1831,-3642. GROVE MEETING. This is an old Presbyterian place of worship. Of its origin and earliest history I can discover no traces. A Mr. Dangerfield was its minister towards the close of the seventeenth century.* In 1715, Mr. Thomas Barker filled that office, and continued to do so till 1729, when he removed. He was suc- ceeded by Mr. Read, a friend of the unhappy Mr. Simon Browne, of Shepton Mallet. After Mr. Read came Dr. Roger Flexman, who officiated from 1739 to 1747, and then accepted an invitation to be pastor of a society at Rotherhithe. In 1748, the congregation at Bradford chose Mr. Samuel Bil- lingsley, probably a member of the excellent family at Ashwick, in Somersetshire ; ten years afterwards he removed to Peckham. There is now an interval of some years, with regard to which I cannot write with certainty. Mr. James Foot, who came from Chard, was here in 1763, and it is probable that he was the immediate successor of Mr. Billingsley. He was a pupil of Dr. Doddridge ; the exact year of his death cannot be ascertained, but it appears to have been about 1777. He was succeeded by * Communicated, with other particulars, by Mr. Wilson. BRADFORD. 65 Mr. Williams, concerning whom I am only able to state that he removed from Calne ; that, having a family and a small income, he engaged in some secular employment; and that he died in the year 1810. Since this time there has been much irregularity in the proceedings of the society at Bradford. For a long time previously its number had been small ; and circumstances now occurred which rendered the task of reviving it exceedingly difficult. Like many others of the same denomination, it had gra- dually adopted Unitarian views of the Gospel. So early as the year 1793, forms of prayer, avowedly reprinted from an edition '^"used in the Unitarian Chapel at Manchester," were used in the Grove Meeting. But, after the death of Mr. Williams, a Mr. Combe preached some time in this place of worship, and, not being acceptable to the congre- gation, probably on account of his orthodox sen- timents, a new chapel was erected for him in the same town. Mr. John Evans, of Bristol, then sup- plied the Unitarians for a short period; but, not meeting with sufficient encouragement, he relin- quished the office, and the meeting-house was lent to a body of Trinitarian Dissenters for many years. In 1822, Mr. Richard Wright, the Unitarian Mis- sionary, having settled with the General Baptist congregation at Trowbridge, a neighbouring town, obtained permission to re-open the Grove Meeting for the worship of One God the Father. This he did, and continued to officiate there every Sunday F G6 IJRADFORD, morning during the five years he remained in Wiltshire; by which means a small congregation was re-established.* In 1827, Mr. Samuel Martin succeeded Mr. Wright as pastor of the church at Trowbridge, and also for sometime regularly carried on the morning service at Bradford, adding an evening service in the course of the week ; but the claims on his time and attention at length obliged him to render his visits less frequent. For those visits he has never received any remuneration; on the contrary, he has made pecuniary sacrifices, the congregation being very small, and the endowment scarcely sufiicient to answer its purpose of keeping the building in repair. Dangerfield ] 6 — Thomas Barker 1715—1729. - — Read 1729—1739. Roger Flexman, D.D 1739 — 1747. Samuel Billingsley 1748 — 1758. James Foot 1759 — 1776. Edward Williams 1777 — 1810. Richard Wright 1822 — 1827. Samuel Martin 1827. * Christian Reformer, Vol. xv. p. 122. BRADFORD. 67 Roger Flexman was born iu 1707-8, at Great Torrington, in Devonshire, where his father was a respectable manufacturer. At fifteen years of age, he was admitted into the Academy at Tiverton, under the care of the Rev. John Moor. His im- provement and general conduct during five years gave such satisfaction to Mr. Moor, that he solicited his assistance as a tutor. His views, however, were directed to the public exer- cise of his profession. In 1730, he was ordained at Modbury, but did not contiaue long there. Having officiated at Crediton five years,* and at Chard four years, he settled at Bradford at the end of 1739. In 1747, he removed to Rotherhithe, and married the daughter of Mr. Yerbury, a respectable member of the society at Bradford. In his new situation his labours were acceptable and useful. But after some time, the congrega- tion suffered much by the death of some members and the re- moval of others. The precarious state of Dr. Flexman's health rendered it necessary for him to withdraw from frequent service, and to reside in a part of the town where he could enjoy the benefit of the advice of a medical friend. All these cu'cum- stances induced him in 1783 to resign his charge at Rother- hithe ; and in consequence of that event the society dissolved. He continued, however, to officiate as morning lecturer at St. Helen's, an office to which he was chosen in 1754 ; and he preached occasionally at other places as long as his health allowed. He died June 14, 1795, in his 88th year. The following particulars are taken from Dr. A. Rees's funeral sermon. Dr. Flexman's mental abilities and literary acquirements were considerable. He was particularly noted for his extensive and accurate acquaintance with the history of England. So retentive was his memory that it superseded the necessity of recurring to written authorities, and served him for the recital of the most obscure dates and facts. This rendered him capable of communicating important information upon a * Mr. Wilson's statement. That author does not mention Mr. Flex- man's settlement at Bow. See Eng. Presb., p. 165. f2 68 BRADFORD. variety of occasions ; and he was often consulted by men of the first rank and character. In political discussions, as well as in researches of a literary kind, his knowledge was of great service. It gave him access to many members of both houses of parliament, who availed themselves of hints and references with which he supplied them ; and it led him to form an ac- quaintance with several eminent scholars and writers. The only pecuniary advantage of any moment which he derived from connexions of this kind, arose from his appointment to be one of the compilers of the General Index to the Joiu-nals of the House of Commons. Volumes viii., ix., x., and xi., com- prehending the parliamentary proceedings from 16G0 to 1C97, were assigned to him. This elaborate work was begun in 1776, and completed in 1780. But such pursuits did not prevent his application to subjects immediately connected with his sacred profession. The study of the Scriptures, and particularly of the New Testament, in the original languages, was an employment to which he devoted much time, and in which he took peculiar pleasure. His sentiments on theological subjects chiefly coin- cided with those of Dr. Amory and Dr. Samuel Clarke. Dr. Flexman was also distinguished for his integrity. He was in- timately acquainted with several dignified clergymen ; and we are assured that a considerable preferment was actually offered him. But he continued to exercise his ministry among the Dissenters, notwithstanding many difficulties and discourage- ments. Highly esteeming many members of the Establishment, and equally respected by them, he maintained his own profes- sion without wavering. On many occasions he approved himself an enlightened and strenuous advocate for civil and religious liberty. His abilities and various attainments justly entitled him to a degree of D. D., which was conferred upon him in 1770, by the Marisehal College of Aberdeen.* * Wilson's Hist. Vol. iv. p. .361 ; and Dr. A. Rees's Funeral Sermon. TROWBRIDGE " Camden says that its proper name is Trubridge, which means a firm and trusty bridge. Leland writes it Thoroughbridge ; and Gough, as well as the author of Magna Britannia, Trolbridge. The reason alleged for the last name is, that ' beside the natural melting of i into «, there is a tithing in the liberty and parish called Troll, and a large common near it of the same name.' " "Like the generality of manufacturing towns, Trowbridge is very irregularly built. None of the streets seem to have been formed ac- cording to any predetermined plan, but to have been arranged, con- structed, and altered according as private interest, caprice, or conve- nience might suggest. Hence, though there are several handsome houses in the town, they appear to great disadvantage from the narro^vness of the passage in front, and the intermixture of old and shabby-looking buildings." The woollen manufacture, in which a large number of the inhabit- ants are engaged, was first established here in the early part of the reign of Henry VHI., under the auspices of the Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, to whom the town, as belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster, had been granted by the crown. The cloths now principally manufactured in this town are broad cloths and kersey- meres.— Beauties of England and IVales. Population in 1811,-6075; in 1821,-9545; in 1831,-10,863. CONIGRE MEETING. GENERAL BAPTIST. At the beginning of the last century there were many General Baptist churches in the county of Wiltshire. In the histories of their denomination frequent mention is made of the district meetings which they were accustomed to hold for purposes of religious fellowship. As new sects sprung up, the zeal of many of the brethren on behalf of baptism was weakened ; some congregations, par- ticularly in the smaller towns, became quite extinct; and others gradually adopted the tenets and assumed the name of Particular or Calvinistic Baptists. The society at Trowbridge is one of the oldest in the kingdom. There is a tradition that it was formed some years before the passing of the Act of Uniformity. But the church-book was not com- menced till 1714 ; nor are there any traces of more ancient records. It is evident, however, from the number of names subjoined to the first memoran- dum, that the congregation had existed many years. The memorandum is as follows; "We, the church of Christ, baptized on the personal pro- fession of our own faith, usually meeting in TROWBRIDGE. 71 Trowbridge and Soiithwick^ whose names are here- after subscribed, do agree that this be our church book, or our book to register the proceedings of our church meetings, and to be kept by one of our pastors for that purpose, July 30, 1714." Signed by two pastors, three ministers, four deacons, and two hundred and twenty-four members. The church met for a long time at the two places here mentioned. They are three miles apart ; a meeting-house had been built in each, there being distinct congregations though a community of pastors, ministers, and deacons. The first pastors on record are Mr. John Lawes and Mr. John Davisson, who were probably free from all secular employments, and devoted entirely to the duties of preaching, administering the ordinances, and visit- ing. The ministers were Mr. James Edwards, Mr. Thomas Lucas, and Mr. Edward Evans ; they appear to have been engaged in business, and to have been selected from the general body of members on account of their superior attainments and other qualifications for assisting in the work of public instruction. It was customary among the General Baptist churches of this period to select a new pastor, in the event of the removal of an old one, from the ministers ; and there are instances of the gradual promotion of deacons, first to the office of minister and then to that of pastor, they being also originally chosen on account of their knowledge of the Scriptures, the steadfastness of their faith, and the purity of their lives. 72 TROWBRIDGE. The meeting-house at Trowbridge^ in which one section of this flourishing church met at the time of the commencement of their register, is still standing. It is built in a style which indicates that the wor- shipers were opulent as well as numerous. The roof consists of several arches, curiously constructed and supported by two large pillars. There are three galleries, a baptistery, and a vestry. Beneath the pews are several vaults, in which, as well as in the cemetery adjoining, are the remains of many of the most influential and intelligent families of the town. The walls are ornamented by tablets to the memory of Messrs. Lucas, D, Jones, and W. Wal- dron, ministers of the congregation ; also by a monument with the names of all the other minis- ters, erected at the expense of Mr. Martin. Soon after this indefatigable man became the pastor of the church the sounding board was removed, and he caused to be inscribed over the pulpit in gold letters, " Jesus Christ came into the world TO SAVE sinners." The appropriateness of this inscription is recognized by all who are acquainted with the style of Mr. Martin's preaching and the circumstances in which he exercises his ministry. Mr. Lawes, whose name appears first on our list of pastors, is said to have died in the year 1714, and his colleague, Mr. Davisson, in 1721. The latter was the author of two works, entitled " De Ordinatione Dissertatio Historica," and "A Vindi- cation of the Protestant Dissenters Mission, a sermon preached at Taunton, June 7, 1720." He TROWBRIDGE. 73 also superintended an academy for the education of young men for the ministry. Mr. Davisson was succeeded both in the pastoral charge and in the office of tutor by Mr. Thomas Lucas, one of the ministers.* He was the author of an excellent sermon " On Compulsion in Matters of Conscience," some extracts from which, advocating the principles contended for in the present day in the same pulpit, may be found in the Christian Reformer.-j" There is a Latin inscription on a monument in the chapel, pointing out the spot where his remains were in- terred, and commemorating his high mental and moral qualifications for setting forth " pure and un- defiled religion ;" he died after a short illness in 174L Mr. Lucas was followed by Mr. W. Wal- dron, a native of Southmolton, in Devonshire. He went to Trowbridge for his education, became a good classical scholar, and an eloquent and dignified preacher. Having a family, he deemed it prudent to engage in the clothing trade, which he carried on with great success. He was pastor of the church upwards of fifty years, and died in 1794. It appears that he was assisted for some time in the ministry by a Mr. Cure. The following entry is found in the register of burials; "The Rev. John Cure was buried in a vault near the pillar in the south aisle, Nov. 17, 1762, aged 27 years." * To this academy were voted, in the year 1737, certain books belong- ing to the General Baptist church, Paul's Alley, Barbican. — Wilson, Vol. iii. p. 231. t O. S., Vol. ix. p. 235. 74 tROWBRlDGE. Mr. Waldron's successor was Mr. Thomas Twi- ning, of whose life I shall give a short sketch elsewhere. I am also enabled to furnish a distinct memoir of the next minister, Mr. Daniel Jones. But it may be desirable to introduce here a few particulars of the state of the congregation during his ministry.* He found at Trowbridge a small but peaceable society, and resumed those exertions to revive the General Baptist cause which he had made in other places. In this work he was suc- cessful ; his hearers soon increased, and many were united to the church. Nor were his labours confined to this spot. In conjunction with a few of his brethren of the General Baptist persuasion, he formed district quarterly meetings in the counties of Wilts, Somerset, and Dorset. I have not been able to ascertain how long these meetings were continued, but they are said by Mr. David, the biographer of Mr. Jones, to have " contributed to promote the knowledge of rational religion, awaken attention to free inquiry, and cherish just and libe- ral sentiments." '' In sentiment," continues Mr. David, " Mr. Jones was a General Unitarian Bap- tist, and an advocate for free communion. His public discourses were plain and practical, but enforced by motives drawn from the Christian re- velation, and delivered generally extempore, with a pleasing degree of animation. The devotional parts of worship he conducted in a free, unrestrained * Mon. Rep. Vol. V. \>. 201. TROWBRIDGE. 75 spirit of piety, equally removed from formality and affectation." For some years the Trowbridge congregation had been approaching the sentiments defended by Mr. Jones. Several of his predecessors had distin- guished themselves by the candour and earnestness with which they sought for truth and advocated the rights of conscience. There was nothing in the constitution of the society to discourage them. It is true that in one respect the early discipline of the church was rigid; from 1714 to 1724, there were many expulsions in consequence of im- morality ; but there is no instance of excommuni- cation or even admonition, in consequence of sup- posed erroneous opinions. A bad life seems to have been the only heresy of which the Trowbridge congregation have ever taken notice. Nor is there the slightest intimation that the church was ever Trinitarian or Calvinistic, — that its members were ever required to do more than profess their faith in the Gospel, and endeavour to govern their conduct by its precepts. In the year 1806 Mr. Jones made the following entry : " We have had much trouble from the Particular Baptists, who insinuate themselves whenever they can among our weaker members, and make the grossest misrepresentations of our doc- trine," All the successors of Mr. Jones have been decided Unitarians. Mr. Gisburne and Mr. Wright were celebrated for their zeal in advocating the un- popular doctrines of their denomination ; and the present minister is not less firm, although honour- 76 TROWBRIDGE. ably characterized by a practical and truly evan- gelical style of preaching. The congregation began to decline soon after other Dissenters erected their standards. About the year 1800, the meeting-house at Southwick being found no longer serviceable was taken down. In the town of Trowbridge there are now seven worshiping assemblies besides that connected with the Established Church. Of the latter, the Eev. G. Crabbe was for many years the minister ; and while his talents as a poet gained the admiration of his countrymen generally, his liberality as a clergy- man secured the respectful regard of his townsmen.* * The following remarks were made by Mr. Martin, in the General Baptist pulpit, at the close of his sermon on Sunday evening, February 12, 1832. " I cannot conclude the sacred services of this hallowed day, without adverting to the loss we have all sustained by the death of the venerable Rector of this parish. He was, in every sense of the word, a good man, and one who has scarcely left his like behind. Kind in his disposition, af- fectionate in his manners, charitable in his principles, beneficent in his ac- tions, and liberal with his property, few were more desei-vedly honoured, or more universally beloved. Truly may it be said of him, in the beautiful language of Job : ' When the ear heard him, then it blessed him ; and when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him. He delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The bless- ing of him that was ready to perish came upon him ; and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.' " While attached to the church of which he was a minister, and firmly maintaining the principles he professed, he was no bigot. The spirit of party which (alas, for the interests of religion !) prevails to such an un- happy extent in this town and neighbourhood, never stained his character. He was a lover of all good men, and like the holy Apostle of old, could say in the sincerity of his soul, ' Grace be with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.' His memory will live in the grateful recollection of the wise and good, when that of narrow-minded bigots shall have passed into oblivion. Rich in years and usefulness, he came to hi^^ grave like a shock of corn in full season." — Bath Journal. TROWBRIDGE. 77 At the time of Mr. Martin's election, March, 1827, three fourths of the people were Dissenters ; the number of General Baptists, however, was very small, and the affairs of their church in a bad state. In consequence of the timely and zealous exertions of the new minister, followed by the Divine bles- sing, the society now wears a different aspect. During the last seven years many members have been added to the church by baptism. The num- ber of hearers now generally amounts to about 130 in the morning, 200 in the afternoon, and 300 in the evening. In addition to these services they have one of the same kind on Thursday evening, and prayer meetings on Sunday morning and Mon- day evening. One of the most interesting charac- teristics of this congregation is, that the majority of its members are in the humblest walks of life, yet find the simple truths of Unitarianism amply sufficient. Mr. Martin and his friends have also established or infused fresh vigour into several charitable institu- tions connected with the chapel, one of which is a well conducted Sunday-school, consisting of 150 scholars, supported by an annual collection. In the present year the trust-deeds have been renewed, and the chapel put in complete repair, at an expense of one hundred and forty pounds. It is gratifying to observe the regularity with which all the proceedings of the church have been lately recorded in the original book. The annual letters to the general assembly, never copied among the minutes before 1827, now appear in their proper 78 TROWBRIDGE. place and furnish interesting and important infor- mation respecting the gradual improvement of the congregation. Long may both pastor and people continue to see their pious labours prosper, and may the God of truth whom they so faithfully endeavour to serve, mahe them glad according to the days in which they have been afflicted and the years in which they have seen evil. The following are among the monumental in- scriptions : In memory of the Rev. William Waldron, avho was for fifty YEARS Pastor of the church op Christ in this place. He DEPARTED THIS LIFE 21st JANUARY, 1794, IN THE 79th YEAR OF HIS AGE, AND IS INTERRED NEAR THIS PLACE. In MEMORY OF THE ReV. DaNIEL JoNES, WHO WAS PaSTOR OF THIS CHURCH FOR TEN YEARS. He DIED MaRCH 14tll, 1810, IN THE 41st YEAR OF HIS AGE, AND IS INTERRED NEAR THIS SPOT. John Lawes 1710 — 1714. John Davisson 1712 — 1721. Thomas Lucas 1721 — 1743. William Waldron 1743 — 1794. Thomas Twining 1794 — 1799. Daniel Jones 1800—1810. William Jones 1811—1812. John Gisburne 1813—1822. Richard Wright 1822—1827. Samuel Martin 1827. TROWBRIDGE. 79 The Rev. Thomas Twining was bom at Haverfordwest, in 1746. In 1761, he commenced his academical studies in London, under Dr. Jennings and the Rev. S. M. Savage. After the decease of the former, and the removal of the seminary to Hoxton, he completed his course of education under Mr. Savage, Dr. Kippis, and Dr. Rees. His first settlement was at Exeter, in 1768, with a society that seceded from a Particular Baptist congregation. In the same year he removed to Down- ton, Wilts, on an invitation from a congregation of General Baptists. He was ordained as their pastor in May, 1775 ; and continued in this connexion till 1777. He then went to Trow- bridge, and became a colleague with Mr. Waldron, on whose death he was chosen pastor. Mr. Twining died suddenly, July 11, 1799. In the month of May preceding, he had Aisited his friends, and had preached before the General Baptist As- sembly, in Worship Street. On the 3rd of July, the annual meeting of the Western Unitarian Society was held at War- minster. Mr. Twining attended, apparently in perfect health and spirits ; and from a sense of duty, as he expressed it, became a member. The prospect of aid which the institution beheld in his character and abilities, was soon overclouded. Soon after he had given it his sanction, he was seized in the street at Trowbridge, before he reached his own home, and immediately expired. It is remarkable that, when he left Ms family in the morning, he took a more than usually affectionate leave of them ; and he was uncommonly cheerful all the day. During his residence in Exeter, he married Miss Ann Ken- naway, daughter of Mr. Robert Kennaway, fuller and maltster, by whom he had seven children. Mrs. Twining died in 1788, and of their children only two daughters survived their worthy father. Mr. Twining had learning and abilities ; he was a ju- dicious, though not popular preacher, and a man of unfeigned worth and goodness. In consequence of much study and inquiry, his religious sentiments underwent a great change ; he began life 80 TROWBRIDGE. a Calvinitit, and died a Uuitarian. His discourses, sixteen of whicli were published bj his friend Dr. Toulmin, afford a pic- ture of the man. They contain the sentiments of his open, honest, liberal, and inquiring mind, and are descriptive of the benevolence, integrity, and artless simplicity of his character. In 1 786, he published " A Discourse on Baptism ; containing remarks and observations on Dr. Priestley's chapters on the same subject. By Philalethes." This is a useful pamphlet ; it discovers a liberal spirit, and great good sense. He also printed a tract, entitled " A short History of the Pharisees, with a parallel between the ancient and modern." * Mr. Daniel Jones was the son of Richard Jones, woollen manufacturer, of Tresach, in the county of Carmarthen. Being fond of mechanical pursuits, he was apprenticed to a clock and watch maker ; but his master soon after died, and he gave up the pursuit of that business. It was about this time his mind was seriously impressed with the importance of religion, and this led him eventually to become a member of a Calvinistic Baptist church at Panteg. That society soon perceived the modest merit and intellectual powers of young Jones, and re- commended him as a candidate for the Christian ministry to the Baptist Academy at Bristol, then under the direction of Dr. Caleb Evans. Having finished his studies in the year 1792, he was invited to settle in Swansea with a society composed partly of persons who had separated themselves from the old meeting-house in High Street, and had erected a place of wor- ship in the Back Lane, in the same town : this was a Particular Baptist church. On beginning his labours here, he was highly approved of, and was ordained the first year of his settlement. But there had been noticed in the Principality, several years before, a spirit of inquiry amongst some of the leading teachers in the Calvinistic Baptist connexion, which led many to doubt * Toulmin's Memoir of Twining, prefixed to the Volume of Sermons. TROWBRIDGE, 81 the truth of some popular opinions. Mr. Jones was hy no means an inattentive spectator to what was passing ; on the contrary, the discussions which had taken place led him to re- consider his creed by the test of Scripture ; and the careful study of the New Testament proved fatal to his "orthodoxy." It was not long before he was suspected of a departure from the popular faith, by a departure from unscriptural terms and phrases. Although his friends and admirers were numerous both in and out of the society at this period, yet as a lover of peace, and one who cultivated the spirit of his Master, he did not think it his duty to continue any longer in a situation that promised him more trouble than comfort, and more difficulty than usefulness. In the year ]800, Mr. Jones settled at Trowbridge, in conse quence of an unanimous invitation ; and here he remained till he died. The closing scene of his pilgrimage was interesting, but natural. A life of piety, obedience, and benevolence, may reasonably be expected to end in peace, if not in triumph. During his illness, he expressed to his friends his entire satis- faction in his Unitarian sentiments. To him they appeared full of harmony and consolation. He often remarked, that while he retained Calvinistic and Trinitarian opinions, he felt perplexed in performing acts of devotion, and in keeping his view on the proper object of it. His more recent faith was not devoid of consolation ; he exulted in the thought, " That all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" ; here he found a centre of rest ; and, consequently, his hope was full of immortality ] * Mr. GiSBURNE was born at Gisborough, in Yorkshire. His parents being members of the Established Church, he probably learned its doctrines and for some time attended upon its ser- vices. But at an early period of life he used his judgment, and followed the dictates of his conscience with respect to re- * Mon. Rep. Vol. v. p. 199. G 82 TROWBRIDGE. ligious subjects. At eighteen years of age he joined the Wesf- leyan Methodists; and soon became a preacher. In 1798, he went to Scotland, and remained there about three years. He then returned to England, and continued to labour as a Method- ist minister till the spring of 1803 ; when he changed his opi- nions respecting Baptism, and was publicly baptized at Wor- cester. The Baptist society at Soham being withoiit a minister, he was recommended to them for three months, and soon after- wards settled with them. Even then he entertained just and enlarged notions upon the subject of religious liberty ; he pos- sessed, indeed, a mind too powerful to be fettered by human creeds, a spirit too investigating to be confined within boun- daries prescribed by man. Subscription to certain articles of faith being required as a qualification for union with the society at Soham, the following was part of his reply to their invitation to him : " I have never subscribed to any human formulary of faith, and never intend to do it, I look upon myself as a dis- ciple of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, consequently it is impos- sible for me to submit to any other authority. I intend to maintain my liberty, and will never be brought under bondage by any. On no account can I ever think of subscribing to any book but the Bible." This led to serious conversation, and at length the whole church, excepting one person, agreed " to re- ject all articles of faith and covenants of human manufacture, as binding on any member, and subscribe to the sacred Scrip- tures alone." He then became their pastor, and, for several years, his services were much approved. Not satisfied, how- ever, without pursuing his religious inquiries, he eventually saw that some of the doctrines which he had believed were unscrip- tural. When the change in his sentiments was made known, a few of his hearers withdrew from his services, while the majority adhered to him and embraced his principles. Soon afterwards, the seceders resolved to return and eject him. Finding other means ineffectual, they at length determined to keep him out of the chapel by force, and for this purpose locked it up after one of the morning services. One of the trustees would not TROWBRIDGE. 83 consent to have tlie afternoon worship thus prevented, and opened a window, at which Mr. Gisburne entered to unfasten the door. A constable, though withou^t a warrant, immediately took him into custody, and kept him five hours in confinement. The contending parties were then heard before two clerical magistrates, and the Calvinists bound over to prosecute at the next Cambridge assizes. Mr. Gisburne, on tliis occasion, ap- plied to the Committee of the Unitarian Fund. They advised him to procure a temporary place of worship, and sent their Secretary with an attorney to the assizes. Cross indictments were preferred against the prosecutors. The grand jury threw out the bill lodged against Mr. Gisburne, and found as true two bills presented by the solicitor of the Fund. Mr. Gisburne and his friends, unwilling to take an unfair advantage of this victory, adhered to a proposal they had made, of submitting the dispute to amicable arrangement. It was then agreed that Mr. G. should stop all proceedings against the rioters, and relinquish the old meeting-house, on condition of receiving fi-om the oppo- site party a sum towards the erection of a new one. This, having been built, was opened early in 1810. In the spring of 1812, the pastor received an unanimous invitation from Trow- bridge, which he accepted. In 1822, he was visited with an affliction by which he was wholly disabled for public services, and his family brought into great distress. At this time of need, the Almighty Friend in whom he had trusted did not forsake him. His case excited the sympathy of many persons in various parts of the kingdom, who kindly and promptly aiforded their aid. By the advice of friends, he removed to Soham with his family about half a year after his illness commenced, and there he finished his mortal course May 4th, 182(i, in the 49th year of his age. * * Mon. Rep. Vol. xxi. p. .'^2. g2 WARMINSTER. " Wereminster, Werminster or Warminster, is situated on a plain immediately beneath a long tract of verdant down extending as far as Bratton Camp. " One long street passes through the town ; but in the middle of the last century it was so full of deep hollow ways that you might step from the foot path to the top of a loaded waggon. " This town has been long celebrated for its great and ready-money corn market, held weekly on Saturday ; a sack belonging to every load of wheat and of other grain is pitched in the open street and the pur- chases are made between the hours of eleven and one. " The clothing trade in woollen cloths was formerly carried on here to a considerable extent ; but in consequence of the introduction of machinery and many other causes, it has dwindled almost to nothing." Sir R. C HoARE. Population in 1811,-4866; in 1821,-5612; in 1831,-6115. OLD MEETING. The seeds of Nonconformity in Warminster were probably sown by Mr. William Goiigh, who kept a school and preached here before the restoration. In the year 1662 he was rector of Inkpin, in Berkshire, and was deprived of his living on the fatal Bartholomew Day. He remained at Inkpin, however, till the passing of the Corporation Act, when he removed to Earl Stoke, between Warmins- ter and Devizes, and proved very useful to many infant churches.* Several ministers were ejected from the neigh- bourhood of Warminster by the Act of Uniformity. Small societies were immediately formed by their adherents, and meetings were held in retired places as often as possible. The history of the Dissent- ers in this town cannot be traced with precision farther back than the year 1687, when James the Second issued his declaration for liberty of consci- ence. It appears from the church book, which has been kept with unusual exactness, that Mr. Comp- ton South preached to the congregation and proba- bly became its pastor in that year. But the society * Noncon. Mem. Vol. i. p. 228. WARMINSTER. 87 had then been in existence some time and was one of the most important in this part of the kingdom. Dr. Calamy informs us, that " Mr. South was invited by a numerous people at Warminster to undertake half the service of that great congregation."* His colleague was Mr. John Buckler, who had officiated privately a considerable time, and was the principal instrument of forming the church. He also carried on the business of a maltster, and might have chosen for his motto, "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." About the year 1690 he was committed to Salisbury gaol for preach- ing without a license, and the congregation imme- diately collected a sum of money for the supply of his wants in prison.f A portrait of this sufferer for * Non. Mem. Vol. ii. p. 497. f It is well known that for many years after the Revolution, the power of the High Church party remained fatally strong in every part of the kingdom. Hence, the trifling circumstance that Mr. Buckler preached without a license was suflScient to immure him in a dungeon, to the seri- ous injury of his health, his business, and the interests of the congrega- tion. Here, I would avail myself of an extract from a lately published and highly valuable work, for the purpose of shewing the hardships to which the Dissenters were subject at the period so frequentlj' mentioned in this volume. — " As imprisonment (says Sir James Mackintosh, writing of the year 1687,) is always the safest punishment for an oppressor to inflict, so it was in that age, in England, perhaps the most cruel. Some estimate of the sad state of a man, in sufl"ering the extremity of cold, hun- ger and nakedness, in one of the dark and noisome dungeons then called prisons, may be formed by the remains of such buildings which industri- ous benevolence has not yet every where demolished. Being subject to no regulation, and without means of i-egular sustenance for prisoners, they were at once the scene of debauchery and famine. The Puritans, the most severely moral men of any age, were crowded in cells with those profligate and ferocious criminals with whom the kingdom then abounded. We are told by Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker, a friend of Milton, that when in ])rison in Newgate for his religion, he saw the heads and quarters of men, executed for treason, kept for some time close to the cells, and the 88 WARMINSTER. conscience' sake has been preserved by his descend- ants, some of whom are still interested in the welfare of the society. At the close of the seven- teenth century, various ministers officiated occasion- ally, especially Messrs. Clarke of Shaftesbury, Titford, Smith, Rossiter, Phillips and Dangerfield; and in the year 1692 the celebrated William Penn addressed the congregation. Until the year 1704, the Dissenters at Warmins- ter assembled in a barn fitted up as a place of worship. They then erected the present building, which was opened October the 8th, 1704, by Dr. Cotton from Boston, North America. This eminent minister built a house for himself in Warminster heads tossed about in sport by the hangmen and the more hardened male- factors. The description given by George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, of his own treatment when a prisoner at Launceston, too clearly exhibits the unbounded power of gaolers and its most cruel exercise. It was no wonder that when prisoners were brought to trial, at the assizes, the con- tagion of gaol fever should often rush forth with them from these abodes of all that was loathsome, and hideous, and sweep away judges, and jurors, and advocates with its pestilential blast. The mortality of such prisons must have surpassed the imaginations of more civilized times ; and death, if it could be separated from the long sufferings which led to it, might perhaps be considered as the most merciful part of the prison discipline of that age. It would be exceedingly hard to estimate its amount, even if the difficulty were not enhanced by the prejudices which led either to ex- tenuation or aggravation. Prisoners were then so forgotten that tables of their mortality were not to be expected, and the very nature of that atrocious wickedness which employs imprisonment as the instrument of murder, would, in many cases, render it impossible distinctly and palpably to shew the process by which cold and hunger beget long distempers only to be closed by mortal disease. The computations have been attempted, as was natural, by the sufferers. William Penn, a man of such virtue as to make his testimony weighty, even when borne to the sufferings of his party, publicly affirmed at the time, that since the restoration more than 5,000 persons had died in bonds for matters of mere conscience to God. — Sir J. Mackintosh's History of the Revolution, p. 160. WARMINSTER. 89 and was pastor of a church at Horningsham, in the neighbourhood. I have seen a curious acccount, by a Mr. Butler, of the disbursements to every labourer and for all the materials used in the erec- tion of the meeting-house at Warminster. It cost <;£487. 25. Id,, which was raised, partly by sub- scription, and partly by the sale of pews and seats, which became the property of the purchasers, and were often sold and bequeathed accordingly. The communion service of plate was presented to the church. May 2nd, 1790, by Mr. John Langley, a member of the congregation, who also bequeathed c£400. in the 4 per cent, annuities, with directions that, out of the Interest, <^6. should be paid to the minister, IO5. to the clerk, and <^9. IO5. to the poor. This is the only endowment. The time of Mr. Buckler's death is uncertain. Mr. South died in 1705, and was succeeded by Mr. Butcher, who was joint pastor till his resignation in 1718, with Mr. Bates, who then became sole pastor. Mr. Bates entered on his duties in the year of Mr. South's death. For many years the society was large. Writing to a friend in 1710, Mr. Bates describes it as consisting of some hundred hearers and a hundred communicants.* Some alteration must have been made in its numbers in the year 1719, when Mr. Nathaniel Butler and a small party seceded in consequence of their dislike to Mr. Bates's preaching, and the unwillingness of the * Five years afterwards there were four persons in the congregation who were qualified, by their estates, to fill the office of Justice of the Peace. 90 WARMINSTER. others to invite a Mr. Pike as joint minister. It in said that the secession was occasioned by a charge of Arianism against Mr. Bates ; — but, from a long "representation" in the church-book, signed by 44 members, and dated Jime 26th, 1719, it appears that there was much misunderstanding on the subject. The following statement is under the fourth head; — " Whereas 'tis suggested that oxir minister favours the Arrian notion, as we hear Mr. Butler told the Rev. Mr. Robinson, we can't but all readily declare this to be a vile slander, that he has been very free and full in speaking against y^ notion, in pri- vate and public, and this Mr. Butler heard but a few dajs before he went to London with his complaint." However, the complaining party were determined to have Mr. Pike; '* and soon after this, (says Mr. Bates in a note to the above document,) a new meeting-house was built (which is now occupied by the Independent congregation), and great boasts of large supplies from London were made in the hearing of me, Samuel Bates." Mr. Bates, after having been sole minister many years, was induced to have an assistant. This office was undertaken by Mr. Lush ; five years after- wards Mr. Bates died ; his colleague became his successor, and remained here until his own death in 1781. Mr. Lush's name occurs in the list of students educated under Dr. Amory at Taunton ; he lived to a great age, and though the prevailing recollection of him in the pulpit seems to be that of "a formidable looking person with a large white wig" — he is described as a very amiable WARMINSTER. 91 man in private life. The next minister was Mr. Andrews, of whose life I shall be enabled to furnish a short account elsewhere. He was followed by Mr. Thomas Tremlett, who, it is said, was taken from a business in which he was engaged in early life and sent to Oxford. Here, it appears, being unable to subscribe, he became first a commercial traveller, then minister of this congregation, and lastly an accountant in an eminent house in London. The other ministers in my list, of whom distinct biographical notices cannot be given, are Mr. Griffith Roberts, now settled at Boston, in Lincoln- shire; Mr. Benjamin Waterhouse, who came from, and removed to America ; and Mr. James Bayley, the present minister, who is about to leave and to become pastor of the General Baptist Church at Lutton, near Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. The congregation continued large many years and has always been respectable. As the number of meeting-houses increased it declined in size, but retained several of the most influential inhabitants of the town. It is probable that Arianism gained ground about the middle of the last century. The last five ministers have professed Unitarian principles, which the whole congregation gradually adopted and now steadily maintain. A Sunday- school, the first in Wiltshire, was formed here soon after the introduction of those invaluable institutions by Mr. Raikes, and still exists. Since the settle- ment of the present minister a chapel library has been established. 92 warminster. John Buckler CoMPTON South J 687 — 170a. Butcher 1706 — J 718. Samuel Bates 1705 — 1761. William Lush 1756 — 1781. Nathanael Andrews 1782 — 1794. Thomas Tremlett 1795—1800. Theophilus Browne 1800—1807. Griffith Roberts 1808—1825. Benjamin Waterhouse 1826 — 1832. James Bayley 1834 Mr. Buckler, although a tradesman in Warminster, was a member of an ancient and opulent family, whose descendants long enjoyed considerable property in this part of the kingdom. He is the person to whom a letter now in the Harleian collection of MSS. is addressed. It is thus described in the printed cata- logues : "Copy of a letter of Mr. Edward Buckler, sent to his brother at Warminster, upon the tidiugs of the death of his only son, 8 June, 1666." — Harl. 9866. This Edward Buckler was ejected from Calbourn, Hants, and afterwards followed the trade of malting. With regard to the subject of this notice, nothing prevented liis doing all in his power to promote the glory of God and the good of mankind. Such men were to be found in almost every Nonconformist congregation at that early period. Regard- ing the sacred dictates of conscience above every other conside- ration, they adopted the priuciples which they believed most scriptural and most favourable to civil and religious liberty. Not contented with cherishing those principles in their own mind, they endeavoured to recommend them to their friends and neighbours ; and thus they were of incalculable service to the WARMINSTER. 93 cause. The two facts, mentioned in the history of the congre- gation, that Mr. Buckler was imprisoned for preaching and that a subscription was made on his behalf by his hearers, in the barn, are striking instances of Christian firmness on his part, and of Christian sympathy on theirs. Mr. Buckler was twice married ; his second wife was a daughter of Sir Alexander Powell, of Salisbury. He left two sons, John Buckler, Esq., a magistrate, and Mr. Humphrey Buckler, a woolstapler, both members of the Presbyterian congregation at Warminster, and highly useful inhabitants of the town. Mr. Buckler died in his eighty-eighth year. Mr. Compton South is represented by Dr. Calamy as a good scholiar and a useful preacher. He was descended from an ancient, genteel family, and educated at the free-school at Salisbury. His first settlement was at Odiham, in Hampshire, where he exercised his ministry about twelve months, and had a numerous auditory. The Act of Uniformity ejected him from the living of Barwick, in Wiltshire, to which he had been pre- sented by the Earl of Pembroke. From his ejectment until the Indulgence in 1672, his life was a constant scene of sufferings, he being seldom free from indictments and presentments in the civil courts. At that period he became the minister of a sober, intelligent, and unanimous people at Ringwood, to which place he went weekly, although eighteen miles distant from his home, and was constantly entertained at Moyles Court, the seat of Lady Lisle — until she was condemned by Judge Jefferies for harbouring Mr. Hicks, a Nonconformist minister. Mr. South does not appear to have been settled in any other place before his removal to Warminster. He was at length obliged, by great weakness, to resign his pastoral charge, and live entirely at his his own house at Upper Dunhead, where he died in 1705. * Nathanael Andrews. — A gentleman who was connected with the Warminster congregation many years has furnished * Noncoii, Mem., Vol. ii. p. 497. 94 WARMINSTER. me with the following information respecting Mr. Andrews : *' I have heard that he was the son of a barber, that he was born at VYincanton, where his parents lived, and that his quali- fications were such as to cause him to be sent to an academy at Hackney, after he had received the requisite preparatory educa- tion. I believe that he settled at Warminster, as pastor of the Presbyterian congregation tliere, soon after he finished his studies, and that he left this situation to go to America, where he joined a relative in some commercial pursuit, and at the same time preached to a society at Baltimore. He afterwards became chap- lain to an American man-of-war, sent on a voyage of discovery to the Mediterranean ; and the vessel being obliged to put in at Portsmouth, Mr. Andrews proceeded to Warminster and preached once more to his old congregation, after an absence of twenty years. It is further said that he returned to Baltimore and died there, after having enjoyed, for some time, a retired allowance as ex-chaplain to the Congress." Somecj^et^fttce* BRISTOL. BATH. ASHWICK. SHEPTON MALLET. BRIDGWATER. TAUNTON. YEOVIL. ILMINSTER. C'REWKERNE. BRISTOL. "The camp at Clifton was the original town. It was fortified by one of the ancient British princes ; and its first name was Caer Godor or Caeroder." " Godor in Welsh is a chasm, a rupture ; in construction it drops the G according to the general rules of the language; and thus is formed Caer-Odor, the city of the clmsm ; translated by the Saxons into Clifton, that is, the cliff-toivn .- and more appropriate names for this fortress it is impossible to devise, standing as it does on the very edge of that prodigious chasm, through which the river Avon seems to force its way." " Thus was founded a British town on Clifton-hill, the original set- tlements from which Bristol was derived ; and when this latter town began to flourish, and the old hill-fortress to be neglected, it was easy and natural to call the new town, adjoining, by the old name, as hap- pened at Salisbury, Winchester, Colchestei*, and other places. — It is curious to observe how Clifton, after having transferred its inhabitants to Bristol and continued an unfrequented village for more than 1000 years, is now receiving back its population and re-asserting its claim to eminence." — Seyer. "After the name of Caer-Oder had been dropped, this place came to be called Bristow, partly from another of its ancient names, Caer Brito, the British city. But this name had not an immediate deriva- tion from the ancient British. The Saxons, in their rage for changing the name of every place in their possession, gave this a termination from their own language, by adding the word stotc, a place, to the ancient name Brito ; hence it was long called Britstow, from whence it was latinized into Bristolia, or BristoUum, and, lastly, derived its present name, Bristol." " This city has several public edifices of great beauty and import- ance. [Some of the most striking are devoted to the diffusion of know- H 98 BRISTOL. ledge, the administration of justice, and the promotion of commerce.] Here are nineteen churches belonging to the Establishment, besides places of worship appropriate to almost all the various denominations of Dissenters, and a synagogue for the service of the Jews. [The cathe- dral in College Green has not an imposing exterior. Among the. curiosities inside is an emblematic painting of the Triune Deity, being a triangle in a circle, surrounded by cherubs.]" " Though not, probably, the most ancient, this is certainly one of the most important cities in the empire, and was long reckoned second only to the metropolis, in a commercial and political point of view. The singularity of its situation, on the borders of two extensive coun- ties, in fact standing in both, yet strictly belonging to neither, seated on seven hills, and, in other respects, resembling ancient Rome ; surrounded with some of the most delightful scenery that the country can boast, being the great emporium of trade for the western counties, and the share it has had in all the great events of our history, are circum- stances that have often excited the interest, and roused the curiosity of the tourist and the annalist." — Nightingale. Population in 1811,-81,010; in 1821,-95,758; in 1831,-117,016. LEWIN'S MEAD CHAPEL. The city of Bristol honourably furnished its share of confessors on the memorable Bartholomew Day. Seven of its most learned and useful minis- ters resigned their livings because they could not conscientiously comply w^ith the terms of the Act of Uniformity. Some remained in the city, and others in the neighbourhood, preaching to small companies of adherents, so long as they could avoid imprison- ment and find places in which their prayers might be offered, unheard by the emissaries of Persecu- tion. Besides the ministers who were ejected in Bristol, many others resided there soon after they had quitted their livings. Dr. Calamy especially mentions Mr. Blinman, who had been minister of Chepstow, and Dr. Ichabod Chauncey, the chaplain to a regiment at Dunkirk, and afterwards a physi- cian.* All these ministers contributed to strengthen the cause of Nonconformity in this city, but the honour of forming the first regular congregation is chiefly due to Mr. John Weeks, ejected from Buckl and -Newton, in Dorsetshire; Mr. William Troughton, from Salisbury ; Mr. Richard Fair- * Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. 352. H 2 100 BRISTOL. clough, from Mells, in Somersetsliirc ; and Mr. Samuel Winney, from Glastonbury. Bristol was noted for the number of its religious sects many years before the Act of Uniformity was passed. In 1645^ when the city was taken by the Parliament army^ the inhabitants w^ere greatly di- vided^ both on questions of church government and intricate doctrinal points.* Eleven years after- wards, Quakerism having been recently introduced, the unfortunate James Naylor appeared here and excited great attention, especially among the poor and ill-informed. At this time most of the pulpits of the Established Church were filled by Presbyterian ministers, against whom the leaders of the new sect were exceedingly bitter, often producing disturb- ances in their " steeple houses" while they were con- ducting public worship. j- After the ejectment of so * To this fact there is curious testimony in a farewell sermon preached by one Samuel Kem, in 1646. This good man acted in the double capacity of major and chaplain to the Parliament garrison at Bristol ; and the fol- lowing remarks, among others, were addressed to the regiment when he left : " It is a sad time, this ; but a more sad omen of worser times, — even the rabble of opinio7is in this city of Bristol ; of which I may say, that as the sword hath slain many, so hath error many more in a few months' time. One while such a man preacheth truth, and you are willing to puU out your eyes to do him good : a little after you are ready to pull out Am eyes, and he is a low man and not worthy your presence, and so dis- couraged. How many wayes do you make to heaven in this place ! I beseech you where I am related unto, to look to your guards ; keep a strict watch ; double your guard ; eye your sally ports ; and put on the whole armour of God." t See Mr. Beyer's valuable Memoirs of Bristol, Vol. ii. p. 500. Few modern topographical works equal this in the number and beauty of its en- gravings, and the interesting nature of its facts. It is enriched by copious extracts from the curious MS. calendars, or chronicles, relating to the his- tory of the city, and preserved by the coiporation and a few private indivi- dxials. One of these calendars has the following notice : " An heresie arose BRISTOL. 101 many of the '''priests/ the opposition of the Quakers became less vehement ; notwithstanding their fana- ticism they were fervent lovers of religious liberty, and it would have been strange, indeed, if they had not reverenced the spirit which led the Nonconfor- mist pastors to brave, as they themselves had done, the frowns of the world. This was an era when all the enemies of spiritual usurpation were required to unite. Many and determined were the opponents of Civil and Religious Freedom, among the corpo- rate body and their partizans in this city. Their zeal against Whigs and Dissenters was at its height during the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion; — the Duke of Beaufort, then Lord Lieutenant, drew up twenty-one companies of foot on Redcliffe Mead, and declared that if the citizens shewed any dispo- sition towards insurrection he would immediately set fire to the town. Monmouth, on hearing this, is reported to have given up his intention of at- tempting to enter Bristol, saying, "God forbid I should bring fire and sword on so noble a city !" Again, on the accession of George the First, there was a proof of the difficulties which the Dissenters had to encounter in the attachment of the principal by the people called Quakers, to which many did cleave, and chiefly in the city of Bristol." — Mr. Seyer thus continues : " Beside the Quakers, the leading sects were the Presbyterians, the Anabaptists, and the Independ- ents ; and they were in violent hostility to each other. As for the Church of England, it was so intirely subdued, as apparently to be forgotten ; it is not even mentioned in any of these fanatic books and pamphlets lately quoted. The Presbyterians had gained the supremacy; most of the churches were occupied by their ministers ; theirs was, in fact, the esta- blished church." — Seyer's Memoirs, Vol. ii. p. ,500. 102 BRISTOL. inhabitants of Bristol to the Tory party, and their disloyalty to the new monarch and his government. " The public rejoicings were interrupted by a high- church rabble, the houses of those who illuminated were furiously assaulted, and their windows broken, with such other demonstrations of zeal as the Sacheverellites of that time, and their successors of later periods, thought requisite for the welfare of the Church and the maintenance of good order."* * Nightingale's Somersetshire, p. 666. Seyer confirms this account, and shews particularly that the Dissenters were great sufferers. " On the day appointed for the coronation, there were again in this city extraordinary rejoicings, and in the evening an illumination ; but the conclusion of the day was deplorable. About six or seven o'clock in the evening, an unruly mob began to assemble, and continued rioting and doing mischief till about midnight, before they could be dispersed. This mob was a Tory mob, and the violence which they committed was, (of course,) as they said, in defence of Church and State, and the objects of their rage were the Whigs and Dissenters. The spirit of party was at that time very violent throughout the kingdom, and in few places more so than in Bristol. The Tories and High-Churchmen were the same party, and some who survived were the same men as the Royalists in the reign of Charles I. and II. : most of these were much dissatisfied with the exclusion of the family of /S^Mar/ from the throne, and with the succession of the house of Hanover. Their adversaries called them Jacobites, as being attached to Prince James ; and Cheverellites, as friends to the principles of Cheverell, as the mob called Dr. Sacheverell ; and therefore they did not join, or joined unwillingly, in the rejoicings on the accession of King George. One may venture, at this distance of time, to say that this party contained the most respectable part of the citizens ; [Mr. Seyer would probably call the clergy and magis- trates who might have stopped the Birmingham Riots, men of the highest respectability ;] and it is manifest from what followed, that the populace were of the same party. They began to collect a little before night, and mustered to the number of about five hundred, who testified their ill- humour by breaking the windows of such houses as were illuminated, putting out the bonfires, and crying out, Doivn viith the Ronndkeads — God bless Dr. Sacheverell; Sacheverell and 0 ;d n all foreigners. They first attempted Mr. Gough's Presbyterian meeting-house, in Tucker Street, but were here disappointed ; they broke the door but did not go in, R woman in the neighbourhood telling thrni that there were several i)cr- BRISTOL. 103 The founder of the Lewin s Mead congregation was Mr. John Weeks, who had been ejected from Buckland-Newton. He came to Bristol soon after his ejectment, preached as often as he could, and was much persecuted here by the corporate officers and other public men. Twice he was imprisoned six months on account of his Nonconformity, but during his confinement he preached out of the prison windows, and had many of the common people con- stantly to hear him. His talents and sufferings rendered him so popular, that for many years he was the minister of a congregation of fifteen hun- dred persons, all of his own gathering.* For some years before his death, which occurred in 1698, he was assisted in his ministerial duties by Mr. Joseph Kentish, whose father and grandfather were ejected ministers, and who received his education in an academy at Wickham Brook, in Suffolk, conducted by Mr. Cradock, another member of the same ho- nourable band.-j* It does not appear in what place sons within, armed with muskets to defend it. The first house on which they discharged their fury was Mr. Whiting's, the Under Sheriff, in Tem- ple Street, {alias Temple-hacks,) with whom they were offended, because he had prosecuted a notorious rogue who had been guilty of perjury. The next was the house of Mr. Jeffery, a distiller, a Dissenter, belonging to the meeting-house above mentioned, whose windows they shattered to pieces; the same they did to a button maker, because they fancied that he made the buttons for the coat in which the pretended Dr. Sacheverell was to be burnt. But their principal object was the house of Mr. Richard Stephens, a baker, in Tucker Street, a man of good pi-opertj', a Dissenter belonging to the neighbouring meeting-house, one who always distinguished himself in the support of the Whig candidates at elections." — Seyer's Memoirs, Vol. ii. p. 561. * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 445. t Toulmiii's History of Dissenters, p. 240. 104 BRISTOL. the members of Mr. Weeks's congregation assem- bled during the troublesome times which preceded the Revolution. The earliest authentic memoran- dum is dated December 26, 1692, and appears at the beginning of the first church-book, — one of the most interesting records I have been allowed to in- spect. From this memorandum an opinion may be formed as to the state of the society. It is as fol- lows : Memorandum. Bristoll, Decern. 26, 1692. That y* day above written, [we] beiug at Election of Officers for y* year Ensuing, twas agreed upon (above 20 of y® Society beiug present) That Mr. Abra — Elton be Elected Treasurer, Mr. Ambrose West, Mr. Thomas Corp, and Mr. William Stratton, Assistants. And there being Several debts at that time, it was further agreed that y* two important cases, (viz.) The affair of y* Meeting House and Mr. Spademan of Rot- terdam his affair, be presented first by y* Said Treasurer and Assistants with the greatest Diligence ; that y* Treasurer shall Issue out his orders to the Assistants to warn 30 or more of y' most substantial men of y^ Society as Occasion Shall offer, upon the aforesaid affair or any other important affair; and that if Sixteen or more beside the Treasurer doth appear, that the Majority of them shall determine the aforesaid affair. John Weeks [Minister], [and many of the members.] Abraham Elton, Treasr., [and the three Assistants]. Hence we may infer that the first house of prayer in Lewin's Mead was then about to be erect- BRISTOL. 105 ed. The inference is strengthened by the third memorandum in the church-book, dated August 25, 1693. By a meeting then held, six persons were empowered "^"^to consider a plan for raising the money for building a meeting-house." Neither on this point, nor on the time when the undertaking was completed, have we any information ; but there was certainly no needless delay. With regard "to Mr. Spademan of Rotterdam his affair," that gentle- man, who had been ejected from a living in Lin- colnshire, and subsequently resided in Holland, re- turned to England soon after the Revolution, and proposed to open an academy in or near Bristol.* Agreeably to the above memorandum, the Treasurer warned thirty or more of the most substantial men of the society. A meeting was held January 20, 1693, and each person present subscribed towards encouraging the plan. But as far as Bristol was concerned, it was relinquished; Mr. Spademan went to London, accepted an invitation to be co- pastor with Mr. John Howe, and afterwards opened an academy in Hoxton Square, in conjunction with two other divines, Mr. Lorimer and Dr. Oldfield. The Lewin's Mead records, for nearly half a century from this time, relate almost entirely to the appoint- ment of the Treasurer, his assistants, and other officers, which was attended to with great regularity and unanimity at the close of every year. In 1708, sixteen persons were elected as deacons "to assist * Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches, Vol. iii. p. 42. 106 BRISTOL. at the administration of the Lord's Supper, several persons who formerly filled the office being deceas- ed;" and this custom has been observed to the pre- sent day. In 1718, a committee was first appointed ''to assist the Treasurer, and to meet once a month or oftener, to consider of every thing that may be for the good of the society" — another useful plan still regularly acted upon. The succession of ministers at Lewin's Mead is traced with much ease and accuracy. I have stated that Mr. Weeks gathered the congregation and was assisted, during the close of his life, by Mr. Kentish. On the death of the pastor the assistant became the successor, and remained in that office until his own death in 1705. When Mr. Kentish w^as pro- moted, the congregation invited Mr. Michael Pope to assist him ; but he declining the invitation, they chose Mr. Strickland Gough. On Mr. Kentish's death they again applied to Mr. Pope, and prevailed upon him to leave London and settle with them as their pastor. This arrangement was not compli- mentary to Mr. Gough ; and three years afterwards there was, for a short time, a slight want of unani- mity which terminated in the retirement, or rather dismissal, of Mr. Gough. First the question was mooted whether it was desirable to continue Mr. Pope in the office of pastor, which being carried in the affirmative, it was proposed at the next meeting that, "for several weighty reasons," Mr. Gough should cease to be the assistant, which was carried BRISTOL. 107 by a majority of 44 to 12.* From this time Mr. Pope seems to have been sole minister till his death in 1718. Then we find the names of Samuel Bury as the pastor, and John Diaper as the assistant. There are but few notices of the life of Mr. Pope. His family were persons of considerable influence in the city, and the names of several of its members occur frequently in the records of the society. Du- ring his ministry the congregation continued large, increased in opulence, and were distinguished for Christian zeal and integrity. It is worthy of re- mark, that at this early period, and even still farther back, there is not the slightest proof that the min- isters and people at Lewin's Mead ever professed the opinions and adopted the practices now called orthodox. If such had been the case, it is natural to suppose there would have been traces of it in the correspondence (copied into the records) between the society and their spiritual teachers preparatory to the settlement of the latter. Of these documents the following letter is a fair specimen : "^ Att a general meeting of the Society (the September the I whole being summoned), Mr. Michael Pope's 7th, 1705. J acceptance of the within call was read, and is J as followeth : — Gentlemen, I have considered the import of your kind letter, and upon due thought am purswaded 'tis my duty not to delay in my de- * From the preceding allusion to Mr. Gough, (see extract from Seyer, p. 102,) it appears that he became the minister of the Tucker Street con- gregation after he left Lewin's Mead. 108 BRISTOL. termination as to my acceptance. I do therefore, after due thanks to the society for your kind invitation, upon (I hope) due apprehension of the Great concern of a Pastoral charge, and [your] readiness to assist and encourage me in the discharge of so solemn and weighty a concern, accept of your kind offer and shall accordingly endeavour to be with you as soon as I can : I must be allowed some time to take my leave here of Persons to whom I am so very much obliged; it cannot but be expected that I should move leasurely — that due provision may be made for the several places to which I am related. I design (God willing) to be with you the latter end of the month, and shall dispose of my affaires accordingly. I beg your prayors, and beg for you that the Grace of our Lord Jesus may be with your spirits, whose I am and for whose sake I shall endeavour to serve you as the minister of our common Lord, as becomes Your humble servant, Michael Pope. London, September 4, 1705. This letter, written a hundred and thirty years ago, contains nothing that might not be written by an Unitarian minister of the present day. The same may be said of another letter which I shall introduce as a faithful token of the earnestness as well as the sentiments of many of the Presbyterian ministers of that time. It is entitled "The dying Pastor's last legacy to his flock : being the farewell letter of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Bury ; a late eminent preacher of God's Word, to a Dissenting congrega- tion in Lewin's Mead, Bristol. Written a little before his death, which happened on March 10, 1730."* * Plot. Diss. Mag., Vol. i. i). 248. BRISTOL. 109 Most loviug, and dearly beloved fltjck, Kuowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, I would not but leave you this last testimonial of my sincere love to you. How much soever I have failed in my duty to any of you, yet God is my witness, that I sincerely love you all, and that I never appeared in the mount before him in secret, but 1 had you all on my breast, and in my heart there. I am now to serve you no more in my former station. I blush to think I have served you no better, but am glad I have served you at all ; for, thanks be to God, I have a comfortable list of many sincere converts among you, as in many other places, who are effectually brought home to Christ, and can boldly call me their spiritual pastor and father, who shall be my joy and crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus' appearance to judgment. I have made it my business to preach unto you, and press upon you, the substantial doctrines and duties of religion ; and what I was fully assured was well grounded upon holy Scrip- ture. T was always afraid of apocryphal sins and duties ; I mean of charging any thing upon you, as sin or duty, for which I had no scriptural but imaginary proof or warrant ; and I bless God I have made it a considerable part of my life to get ready for death, and have now finished the work which God gave me to do. I have been employed in the Lord's vineyard, and borne the heat of the day, and continued in his work, blessed be his name, till evening ; and can now comfortably look into another world, in hope of the reward of eternal life, which God hath promised ; nor is it any terror to me to meet death, and appear before the awful bar of God ; while I can keep a steadfast eye upon my prevailing advocate and intercessor in heaven. I hope I can in some measure say, with the blessed apostle St. Paul, " for me to die is gain ; and that I have a desire to depart hence and to be with Christ, which is best of all : and that I have fought a good fight, and finished my course, and kept the faith, and henceforth I hope there is a crown of righteousness laid up for me ; and not for me only, but for all them that love his appearing." I have been solemnly devoted and ordained to the ministry. 110 BRISTOL. and I bless God I have taken much pleasure and satisfaction in it, especially when I have been any ways acceptable to the peo- ple. I never was prostituted to any party, but have endeavour- ed to serve God as a Catholic Christian ; I could not conform to the present establishment of the Church of England, because of difficulties which, upon tlie most impartial study, have ap- peared to me as insuperable. Nor could I ever be reconciled to the temper and interest of unpeaceable Dissenters, who would censure or unchurch all men that were not of their way. I have loved a Conformist as heartily as a Nonconformist, when both have been so for conscience' sake ; and when the power of godliness liath equally appeared in both, they have equally shared in my sincere love and affection. — I am now within sight of the world of life, light, and peace, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, circumcision nor uncircumcision, but Christ is all in all ; yet before I can leave the world, I must take my solemn farewell of you all, my beloved flock and people. I am now never to speak to you any more from the pulpit, nor must you ever see my face again till the vast appearance at the great day of judgment. Suffer me, therefore, I beseech you, solemnly to obtest and conjure you all, as your dying pastor, and one that must meet you ere long at the Lord's bar, and stand as a witness for you or against you then, — that you do not compli- ment God and your precious souls, but make religion your main business and work of your lives, in defiance of all the avocations and circumstances of this world. Whatever becomes of your shop and compter, be sin-e you mind your closet : secure to yourselves an interest in Christ without any delay, by accepting the gospel offer, and rest yourselves upon him for righteousness and eternal life. Nev^er trust to your own hearts, in matters of salvation, without an impartial trial, and that every day. Let the work of self-examination be carried on by you ; " examine and prove yourselves in order to know yourseh'es, whether you are in the faith;" whether your evidences for heaven be sound and of the right kind ; whether your title is clear for a better world ; and do not suffer any strangeness betwixt God and your own souls, or the least blot on your evidences for eternal BRISTOL. Ill life. That you may keep up your communion with God, clear up your union with Christ, which is the ground of your com- munion ; and see that you shew a just, inviolable respect to both the tables of God's law. In all your religious and secular concerns, keep conscience void of offence both toward God and man, and let every day's practice be the mending of the last day's errors. Make conscience of relative duties towards each other, and set up family instruction in your houses, and make the world truckle to your daily acts of divine worship. Dili- gently observe yourselves and families to keep from the infec- tion of evil company, that would lead you to drink and game, or to haunt the play-house ; which, as Archbishop Tillotson calls it, is the Devil's Chapel; a school and nursery of lewdness and vice. — Be not ashamed of godliness and true religion, though others reproach you on that account ; it being much easier to bear man's censure than God's auger and displeasure. — Have a special regard to the due sanctification of the sabbath- day, both in your assemblies, families, and closet. Also give diligent attendance on all the ordinances of religion, whether stated or occasional. — Keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and love, and shew yourselves exemplary unto others, for Christian temper and moderation. Adorn the doctrine of our Lord Jesiis Christ in all things, and let your light shine before men, that others, seeing your good works, may be in- duced by your good example to glorify God also. And now, my beloved friends and brethren in Christ Jesus, I leave you, and humbly commit you all to the care and conduct of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, and to the word of his grace, and to the direction and guidance of his good spirit, which is able to keep you from falling, and to present you fault- less before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, and to build you up and give you an inheritance among them who are sanctified ; and am your affectionate and ever-loving, and now dying pastor, Samuel Bury. The Lord be with your spirits and mine. Amen and Amen. 112 BRISTOL. This excellent man was educated at Islington, in Mr. Doolittle's academy. The catholic sentiments expressed in his letter are the more honourable to him, because in early life he witnessed much secta- rian strife. His tutor was obliged by the prevailing spirit of intolerance to remove, first from Islington to Battersea, and soon after to place his pupils with private families at Clapham, In this seminary Mr. Bury was contemporary with Mr. Matthew Henry, of whom he once said, while delineating his charac- ter, "he was to me a most desirable friend and I love Heaven better since he went there,"* Mr. Bury first settled at Bury St. Edmunds. He preached and afterwards published two sermons on the opening of the Presbyterian chapel at Bury, December II, 171 1; and his portrait still remains in the vestry of that building. He published a few other single sermons, and the life of his wife, a lady of eminent piety and benevolence. The successor of Mr. Bury at Lewin s Mead was Mr. Diaper, during whose ministry large additions were made to the congregation. In the record of the proceedings of the year 1736 we find the name of Sir Michael Foster, who for some time w^orshiped at Lew^in's Mead.-j- The committee met regularly to arrange the affairs of the society. At their sug- gestion, in 1748, a lecture w^hich had been delivered on Wednesday evening was afterwards delivered during the winter months in the morning. It had * Tong's Life of Matthew Henry, p. 27. t The life of this great lawyer and upright judge was published in 1811, by his nephew Mr. Dodson. BRISTOL. 113 been also customary for the pastor to preach a Pre- paration Sermon on the Friday evening preceding the day for the administration of the Lord's supper ; this also was altered to the morning. But the most interesting minute in this period of our history re- lates to the improvement of the singing. The con- gregation, in common with others, had been accus- tomed until the middle of the last century to sing without books at the dictation of the clerk, who gave out the lines singly. In 1758 a committee, consisting of John Hall, Jeremiah Ames, and others, met and passed resolutions in favour of the introduction of such a hymn book as the ministers should approve of, and the gratuitous distribution of copies among boys, servants and poor people. They also resolved, with a further view to the im- provement of the singing, that requests should be made to the ministers for suitable sermons on the subject, — to the clerk for his attendance in the vestry twice a week to teach those who were desi- rous of learning — and to the female part of the congregation for their especial assistance on the Lord's-day, in this part of public worship. This plan was immediately carried into effect. The pastor was Mr. William Richards. His pre- decessor, Mr. Diaper, whose assistant he had been, resigned in 1751, on account of infirmities. Mr. Diaper was but little known beyond the circle of his congregation, but that circle he brightened by his beautiful example and labours of love. Tlie society were warmly attached to him, as indeed 1 114 BRISTOL. they have been to all their ministers, proving the sincerity of their regard by friendly and delicate proceedings in reference to every official change, and by manifesting a warm interest in the progress of truth and virtue. The life of Mr. Richards was equally devoid of incidents of general interest. Where he was educated, or whether he published any thing, I have not been able to ascertain. He was chosen assistant in 1731, and pastor in 1751 ; and his letter of resignation is dated December 26, 1768. While alluding to the bodily indisposition which led to this event, he also bears testimony to the worth of the Lewin's Mead Society. " It is necessary," he says, " during the small remainder of my life to desire the relief of ease and freedom from the constant returns of public labour. I cannot, therefore, longer postpone declaring my resignation of the pastoral relation to this reputable and to me highly endeared society. I cannot but reflect with gratitude and pleasure, that the providence of God assigned me the sphere of my service among a people with whom I have enjoyed so long and un- interrupted satisfaction, for whom I always have had, and ever shall retain, a most cordial affection and esteem." On the appointment of Mr, Richards to the of&ce of pastor, Mr. Thomas Wright was chosen his assistant. After the retirement of Mr. Richards, the congregation were supplied by various ministers in conjunction with Mr. Wright, until Mr. (after- wards Dr.) Estlin became his permanent assistant. BRISTOL. 115 Thus connected, these gentlemen laboured together, with much success, twenty-one years, when, at the earnest request of Mr. Wright, Dr. Estlin was appointed joint pastor. Five years afterwards, Mr. Wright died, and the vacancy was filled by the election of Mr. John Rowe to the same office. In 1817, Dr. Estlin died and was succeeded by Dr. Carpenter, who had been many years one of the ministers of George's Meeting, Exeter ; and in 1832, another change took place in consequence of the removal of Mr. Howe, on which occasion the society chose Mr. E,. B. Aspland, of Chester, son of the Rev. R. Aspland, of Hackney. Of Dr. Estlin and Mr. Rowe biographical notices will be found in the usual place. With regard to the present ministers, their names and their labours are too well known, and too highly esteemed, to need further notice here. One circumstance, however, may be mentioned as closely connected with my object When Dr. Carpenter had resided at Bristol about ten years, his health became so much impaired that he deemed it right to tender the resignation of his pastoral office. This, his attached congregation were unwilling to accept, and finding it probable that a complete change of air and scene and a pro- tracted cessation from his usual engagements would^ under the Divine blessing, be followed by a renew- ed capacity for exertion, they urged him to continue their minister. At length Dr. Carpenter consented ; in the month of August 1828, he addressed a letter (afterwards lithographed) to the society, stating the I 2 IK) IJRISTOL. reasons by which he was influenced, and manifest- ing the same affectionate spirit, the same earnest desire for the Christian improvement of his hearers, as the reader has perceived in the letter of his pre- decessor Mr. Bury. The history of the congregation during the last half-century includes the erection of the present chapel. The old building was originally held upon a lease which expired about the middle of the last century, when arrangements were made for placing the property on a more satisfactory footing. The meeting-house, the ground on which it stood, and several old buildings adjoining, were at length purchased by the society ; and, prior to the year 1790, the present handsome chapel was erected on the same site. While the work was going on, the congregation assembled on one part of the Sunday in the Independent chapel, in Bridge Street, it being then customary for the Dissenters of Bristol, though differing widely on points of doctrine, to accommo- date each other in the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Many years afterwards the Lewin's Mead society, acting in the same spirit, lent their place of worship for several weeks to another Independent congregation meeting in Castle Green ; — but when, more recently, the Unitarians applied for the loan of the Castle Green chapel in return, the accommodation was denied ; — many of the "orthodox" worshipers would have consented, but the minister pronounced his veto and he was suffer- ed to prevail. BRISTOL. 117 The situation of the Lewin's Mead chapel is well known to be bad. The building, however, is in every respect worthy of the large and respectable society assembling within its walls. It has three aisles and three galleries, and is capable of seating about 1000 persons.* The pulpit and desk are particularly neat. In the gallery, opposite, is an organ. A new and useful collection of hymns, made by Dr. Carpenter and others for the use of the society, and since adopted by other societies, was introduced in 1831. It may be here mentioned, that Dr. Estlin at one period of his ministry wished a liturgy to be used at Lewin s Mead. The subject was discussed, but the congregation not being unanimous, the old plan was continued. Divine Service is conducted in the morning and evening. The number of worshipers is about six hundred, exclusive of several hundred scholars. Many changes have taken place during the last twenty years. A large number of heads of families and not a few promising young persons have been removed by death. There have also been seces- sions in consequence of doctrinal changes. Con- siderable interest w^as excited by the sudden altera- tion in the opinions of Dr. Stock, about the year 1817. That gentleman, after having long proved himself a zealous member of the Unitarian congre- gation, became, in the course of a few weeks, a Calvinistic Baptist. Many years afterwards, the * The galleries are ascended by two geometrical staircases rising from the wings of the building. 118 BRISTOL. public were presented with the " Second Thoughts" of Mr. C. A. Elton, a gentleman of considerable literary reputation, who went back to the Establish- ed Church, from which he had seceded. He is the son of the Rev. Sir A. Elton, Bart., and the lineal de- scendant of the first treasurer at Lewin's Mead. He joined the Unitarians about the time of Dr. Stock's secession, and published several powerful defences of the sect every where spoken against, — especially " Unitarianism Unassailable, " and " An Appeal to Scripture and Tradition." If, however, the congre- gation have suffered losses, they have also received many valuable additions. In 1822, the Rev. S. C. Fripp, a clergyman of the Established Church, avowed his conversion to Unitarianism in the Lewin's Mead pulpit, after an examination of nearly four years ; and there have been other instances of the same kind. Within the last few years many persons have joined the society from the middle and lower ranks of life. This may be attributed, under Providence, to various circumstances — par- ticularly to a strain of truly evangelical preaching, the well conducted schools attached to the chapel, and the occasional meetings for the cultivation of social and religious feelings. These meetings have greatly increased in number and interest. In ad- dition to the useful intercourse occasioned by the schools, the Book Society, the general congrega- tional affairs, and the Western Unitarian Society, whose committee reside in Bristol, much good has been done by annual tea-meetings. The first was BRISTOL. 119 held five years since, on Good Friday, and was attended chiefly by the teachers and managers of the schools. They have since been held on the same day on a larger plan ; each has been more numerously attended than the last, and all have been productive of pleasure and improvement. The congregation, of both sexes and of all ages and classes, now assemble to the number of 250, at five o'clock in the afternoon, and after taking tea in the school-rooms, listen to addresses on subjects of importance to them as members of a congregation. Unitarian Christians, and friends to the universal diffusion of knowledge and happiness. Besides commodious vestries attached to the chapel, the congregation possess other eligible buildings on the same spot. When the chapel was built, stables and coach-houses were provided for the accommodation of the worshipers. Over the stables is a lecture room, built in 1818, for the pur- poses of religious instruction to the younger mem- bers of the congregation ; here the Intermediate School is taught and the chapel library kept. In the month of January, 1826, the latest buildings were completed. These afford a strong proof of the zeal and generosity of the Bristol Unitarians. They consist of two large school-rooms, a committee- room, and a kitchen, together with a small tene- ment for the master and mistress of the Infant School, and the mistress of the Girls' daily school. In addition to this property, there are at Brunswick . Square a burial-ground, and a small building in 120 BRISTOL. which the funeral service is conducted ; and at Stoke's Croft an alms-house for 12 poor persons, and school buildings for the daily instruction and partial board of thirty-six boys. The institutions concerning which I shall state a few facts, may be noticed in the following order: — I. The Stoke's Croft Alms-house. II. The Stoke's Croft School. III. The Girls' Daily Schools. IV. The Sunday-schools. V. The Infant and Intermediate Schools.* Besides these there are — the Fund for the Relief of Poor Ministers or their Widows, the Reading Society, the Fellowship Fund, and the Chapel Li- brary,— ^all well supported and of great utility. Perceiving the necessity of concentrating their ef- forts as much as possible, the congregation have lately established a fund, called the Lewin's Mead Auxiliary Fund. There will consequently be no longer distinct subscriptions to the Chapel Library and Fellowship Fund. The leading objects of the new society are, to assist other congregations, to contribute towards York College and the Unitarian Association, to maintain and extend the Congrega- tional Library, and to distribute tracts calculated to make Unitarian principles better known and pro- mote their practical influence. * The information given under these heads is chiefly derived from an interesting statement ])rintcd by the congregation, in 1833. BRISTOL, 121 I. The Stoke s Croft Alms-liouse. This charity, together with the school conducted in the same buildings, was founded in the early part of the last century. At its commencement the congregation subscribed £4000 for the erection of the building and the support of the institution. This fund was further aided at subsequent periods, by benefactions and legacies, all which were vested in public securities. But as the income of the charity did not increase with its exigencies, at the beginning of the present century an appeal was made to the congregation on its behalf, which was liberally answered. At the same time it was resolved, that the fund should be fur- ther increased, by congregational collections and annual sub- scriptions for the benefit of the school, — a resolution which has been acted upon to the present time. The alms-house is comfortable, and is occupied by eleven women and one man, for each of whom there is an allowance from the funded property. II. The Stake's Croft School. For a long time from the establishment of this institution, .30 boys were instructed and wholly supported by it. The number boarded in the house was gradually lessened, till, on the appoint- ment of the present master in 1832, that part of the system was entirely relinquished, and the advantages of the school limited to instruction, with clothing and dinners on Sundays. At the close of 1832, six boys were added to the school, but with fewer advantages than the others in consequence of the state of the funds. The general objects of instruction are, reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography, together with the essentials of English grammar. Attention is paid to the exercise of the intellectual powers, and the boys are made familiar with the facts of scripture history, the duties of life, and the principles and preccjjts of religion. In these objects the master, who re- 122 BRISTOL. sides in the house, is aided by the ministers of the congregation, and the school is frequently visited by them and the other feoffees. Praj'ers and portions of scripture are read by the master every morning and evening, when several of the persons in the alms- house usually attend. On Sundays, also, the scholars are occupied in suitable employments. All the arrangements tend to prepare the boys for the useful occupations of life ; and va- rious instances have occurred, in which they have been enabled by its training to raise themselves into creditable situations. They are not admitted till they are nine years of age, nor con- tinued more than four years. When they leave, provision is made for continuing their religious instruction. III. The Girh' Daily School. This school was commenced in 1787. Twenty-one girls are taught, and have clothing and Sunday dinners. The expenses are defrayed out of funded property, aided by the annual sub- scriptions and the biennial collection. The following rules and principles are selected from a paper published in 1825. They are connected with the history of the congregation, and may furnish a useful guide to the promoters of similar institu- tions. It was the intention of those who founded this School, that the children should be chosen, in the first instance, from suitable families connected with the Lewiu's Mead Congregation. And it was their particxilar desire, that the characters of the parents or guardians of the children recommended should be attended to, in order that the endeavours used in the School to form habits of piety, industry, neatness, &c., might be encouraged and promoted at home. The girls are required to attend regularly and punctually, from nine till twelve in the morning, and from two till four or five in the afternoon. On the Lord's-day they form part of the Sunday-school. " They must appear with their clothes clean and properly mended ; their faces, necks, and hands washed ; BRISTOL. 123 their hair combed and cut short. They must never be kept from school on trifling pretences, nor without leave of the Mistress. The elder ones are instructed in household work and washing ; and during the last two years in writing and arith- metic. No girl is admitted before she is nine years of age, or continues after she is fourteen ; if on quitting the school she ob- tain a place of service, remain in it for six months, and receive a good character from her mistress, one guinea is laid out for her in clothes. Young ladies of the congregation, not being subscribers, are invited to become Visiters of the School, and to attend the Quarterly Meetings of the Subscribers, when scholars are elected and Visiters appointed. — The proper visiting of the School is, in various ways, an object of great moment, and en- courages among the girls a disposition to propriety of demeanour and regard to character." IV. The S^indai/- Schools. These were established in 1821. They are taught in the new buildings, and supported by donations from individuals and grants from the fund of the Lewin's Mead United Schools. Connected with this institution is a School Library. About ninety books and tracts are lent every Sunday. The following extract from a speech by Dr. Carpenter, in the year 1834, sup- plies interesting information as to the origin and objects of the Lewin's Mead Sunday-schools : " The school at our meeting at Exeter was the first in that place. At Bristol we had to wait. There are times when we must watch and wait for years. Our friends thought that the children would not be allowed to come. In the meantime, in the spring of 1818, two Persians of emi- nence, who were in this country, visited us. They wanted to know if we had a Sunday-school, and said they thought we were not so active as we ought to be. It was of no use to tell them of Birmingham. We could not speak of one Sunday- school in Loudon, or of one in Bristol. These inquiries, how- ever, enabled us to stir up our friends ; and we are now felt by 124 BRISTOL. the poor around us to be their benefactors. Prejudice and pa- rochial influence have been active against us ; but this should stimulate our zeal. Whose zeal is not stimulated by being told we are not Christians ? Our proper answer to this reproach is, to rouse a spirit of exertion ; not in behalf of foreign missions — we should not throw away our strength upon those ; but a spirit of exertiou at home. My friends, teach Christianity, not contro- versially, but simply ; that is the best way of teaching it. If the children inquire farther, teach them, as matter of fact, that such opinions are held, and lead them to think for themselves. Teach them never to turn away from holiness and love. Teach them in this manner, and then, though they should leave us, they will not be bitter against us. Shew them that our belief is not a mere skeleton, but that we have the vital power of religion." * V. The Infant and Intermediate Daily Schools. The former was commenced in 1826, and the latter in 1829, Both are supported by the fund of the United Schools. The Infant School contains from eighty to ninety children, who are taught in one of the rooms in the new buildings. The Inter- mediate School contains about the same number, and is in- structed in the lecture room, on another part of the premises. Besides the provision for moral and mental culture in these in- stitutions, they have a dispensary, established exclusively for the Lewin's Mead Schools. It appears by the medical report for 1832, that 106 cases had been attended to and relieved in the course of the year. In consequence of the great attention then paid to the health of the children, the cholera, which proved so fatal in some parts of the city, did not afflict one of the Lewin's Mead scholars. " Advantage has been taken (says the report) during the past year, of the permission given by the Committee to extend the benefit of this dispensary. The fall advantage of the permission has yet been limited, lest the funds should be * See Report of the meeting of the Sunday-school Association held in London, General Baptist Advocate, Vol, iv. p. 105. BRISTOL. 125 inadequate to meet the necessarily increased expenditure. .Ap- plication for advice has been constantly made by various mem- bers of families, of which the younger branches are attached to the Schools. Thus, in many instances, it is hoped that serious illness has been averted, since no delay has arisen irom the fre- quent difficulty of procuring recommendations to other chari- ties." The length to which I have protracted this ac- count precludes my giving further particulars of the minor institutions connected with the society. For the same reason I cannot enter into the details of those admirable systems of management, both moral and pecuniary, by which at the same time each school is distinctly provided for, and all are under an efficient superintendence. Enough has been re- corded to enable the reader to reflect with pleasure upon the efforts of the Bristol Unitarians ; and while he turns his thoughts to Lewin s Mead, where the opulent are giving of their abundance, the aged and well-informed guiding by their judgment, and the young devoting their energies to deeds of goodness, he may derive abundant encouragement to do what his hands find him to do, with all his might. The following inscriptions are found on suitable tablets in the small building in the cemetery in Brunswick Square: Near this stone are deposited the remains OF THE Reverend Thomas Wright, WHO SUSTAINED WITH DIGNITY THE CHARACTER OF MINISTER OF THE Society of Protestant Dissenters in Lewin's 126 BRISTOL. Mead during the space of forty-eight years. He departed this life the 14th of May, 17^7, IN THE seventy-first YEAR OF HIS AGE. By a manly avowal of the genuine principles OF Religious and Civil Liberty : By an ardent and well-directed zeal to promote the knowledge and the practice of pure Christianity: AND particularly BY A LIFE OP STRICT INTEGRITY, He ACQUIRED GENERAL RESPECT, AND SECURED TO HIMSELF THE TESTIMONY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE, AND THE WELL-GROUNDED HOPE OF A HAPPY IMMORTALITY. His PUBLIC services, in which piety, AFFECTION, AND JUDGMENT, WERE UNITED, were happily continued to the PERIOD OF HIS DISSOLUTION. "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing." Sacred to the memory of THE Rev. John Prior Estlin, l. l.d., MINISTER of LeWIN's MeAD ChAPEL for forty-six years, who, beloved and regretted, died August 10th, 1817, aged 70 years. His writings are characterized by an enlightened zeal for the faith OF THE GOSPEL, AS HIS LIFE WAS BY BENEVOLENCE, INTEGRITY, SIMPLICITY, AND CHEERFUL PIETY ; AND HIS DEPARTURE WAS ILLUMINED BY THE JOYFUL EXPECTATION OF A RESURRECTION TO ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JeSUS ChRIST. " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Also of John Wright, m.d., who, from an incapacity through a failure of voice to discharge the duties of the Christian Ministry, in which he delighted, engaged in the medical profession, and actuated by the same principles of piety and benevolence, closed a life of BRISTOL. 127 VARIED USEFULNESS IN THE PLEASING HOPE OF IMMORTALITY, 23rd December, 1794, jet, 62. ^'MaRK the perfect MAN, AND BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT: FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE." PsALM XXXVII. 37. JWmfsters. John Weeks 1662—1698. Joseph Kentish 1698 — 1705. Strickland Gough 1698—1708. Michael Pope ... 1705—1718. Samuel Bury 1718—1730. John Diaper 1718 — 1751. William Richards 1730 — 1768. Thomas Wright 1751 — 1797. John Prior Estlin, LL.D 1770 — 1817. John Rowe 1797-1832. Lant Carpenter, LL.D 1817. Robert Brook Aspland, M.A 1832. John Prior Estlin was born at Hinckley, in Leicester- shire, April 9tli, 1747. He received Ms school education under the auspices of his maternal uncle, the Rev. John Prior, Vicar of Ashbj-de-la-Zouch, and his earliest views in life seemed to be directed to the Church of England, towards which and its religious services, notwithstanding the wide ditference with regard to doctrinal points in the sentiments he afterwards entertained, he always felt a certain degree of affection. From 128 BRISTOL. school he was, however, iu 1704, sent by his father to the Academy- at Warring^ton ; and the course of studies he there went through, determined his choice towards a different per- suasion. The Divinity chair of this seminary was then filled by the Rev. Dr. Aikin, for whose character he felt the highest respect, and whose sentiments in morals and religion he for the most part adopted. Having finished his academical course, he was invited by the congregation of Lewin's Mead, as colleague to Mr. Wright. With this society, a numerous, respectable, and affectionate one, he continued till those who had sat as children under his early ministry, had themselves become heads of families ; and he often spoke with much feeling of the nume- rous friends he had followed to the grave, always adding with energy, that he should ever bless God for the circumstance, that he had not known an instance of a person who regularly attended the worship of God in that place, who had not hope in his death, and of whom he had not the brightest hopes. In his funeral sermon on the death of his co-pastor, in 1797, he says, " Two hundred times have I been called to the dis- charge of a similar melancholy duty." Soon after settling at Bristol, Dr. Estlin opened a school, which became a very flourishing one ; many of his pupils did credit to themselves and to their tutor, by the proficiency in classical learning wliich they afterwards exhibited in the Universities, or other stations in life. He treated his pupils with great liberality ; and their sense of the happy hours the}' had spent under his tuition was expressed by an annual meeting held on his birth-day, at which he was always a delighted and delighting guest. At one of these meet- ings they presented him with the degree of Doctor of Laws, which they had procured for him, without his knowledge, from the University of Glasgow. It was usual with Dr. Estlin, on these occasions, to address his former pupils in a short speech ; and that which he delivered on his last birth-day, when he completed his se\'entieth year, was peculiarly impressive. His school and congregation did not, however, so engage his active mind as to prevent his giving to the world several publications BRISTOL. 129 relative to those topics of religion and morals which were the favourite subjects of his investigation. They testify that he approved himself the watchful defender of the truths he pro- fessed to teach, and that the powers of his mind were engaged with sincerity and fervour in the duties of his profession. His style was elegant, clear and flowing — ^rather turned to pathos than to dry argumentation ; his delivery in the pulpit animated, solemn, and affectionate. He was fond of preaching, and never spared himself when any occasion called him forth. Dr. Estlin's religious opinions were what are called Unitarian, though, with his usual candour, he thought it wrong to restrict that term to those who hold the simple humanity of Christ. He always invited discussion, and though in the confidence of a san- guine disposition, (perhaps the best disposition for happiness,) he made no doubt of the prevalence of the opinions he held, and ilmt in a very short time, over the whole Christian world, he always shewed the utmost candour to those of a different per- suasion ; the fervour of his religious feelings never led him to bigotry, nor his liberality to scepticism. He approved of forms of prayer, and published in 1814 a volume of such forms, great part of which is taken from the Liturgy of the Church of England. He also embraced with great ardour the doctrine of Universal Restitution ; led to it as well by the benevolent tenden- cies of his own mind, as by the earnest and reiterated arguments of a dear and beloved friend. The leading characteristics of Dr. Estlin were an amiable frankness and simplicity, with a kind and sociable disposition, which made him, even when years pressed upon him, always acceptable in the society of the young and active. He never refused his purse to any claim of distress or useful project to which subscriptions were sjlicited ; and the money he thus dis- bursed amounted to no inconsiderable portion of his income. In the domestic circle, his kindness, his candour, his hospi- tality, his cheerful piety, the writer of this memoir has often experienced. Though fond of his children, he was not apt to indulge that anxiety which saddens the domestic circle, and K 130 BRISTOL. perhaps often defeats its own purposes ; lie lived to see his family grown up, and some of them settled in respectable pro- fessions. For some years past Dr. Estlin had experienced a decay of sight, and he had often said that after threescore and ten a preacher ought to be emeritus. He therefore resigned his situation at Lewin's Mead, and preached his farewell sermon, June 22, 1817. The congregation shewed their regard for him in various ways, particularly by presenting him with a handsome sum of money upon his retiring from the ministry. Being thus exonerated from all professional duty, having also given up his school, he went for the summer to Southerndown, in Glamor- ganshire, a retired place by the sea-side, where he had usually spent his vacations, and where he had amused liimself by building a cottage. His health seemed to be declining, yet there appeared nothing immediately alarming. On Sunday, the 10th of August, he performed the morning and afternoon ser- vices to his family and a few neighbours assembled in his house : the subject of his sermon was the resurrection. Retiring soon after into his chamber, he was seized with a sudden effusion of blood from his lungs ; the affectionate partner of his life ran to him : he grew faint, leaned his head upon her bosom, and with- out a sigh expired. His remains were conveyed to Bristol, and interred in the burying - ground belonging to Lewin's Mead Chapel. They were followed to the grave by more than one hundred and twenty gentlemen on foot, and many carriages. The burial service was performed by Dr. Carpenter, and on the next Sunday a consolatory sermon was preached by his old friend Mr. Manning, of Exeter. The chapel was hung with black, and the whole congregation put on mourning. Dr. Estlin was twice married, and left six children. The above sketch is chiefly in the words of a memoir in the Monthly Repository,* with the initials of Mrs. Barbauld. An- other memoir, containing a few more particulars, apparently from the same elegant pen, is prefixed to Dr. Estlin' s Lectiu'es * Vol. xii. p. .573. BRISTOL. 131 on Moral Philosophy. In either may be seen a list of Dr. Estliu's works, twelve iu number, in defence of his somid and rational views of Morals and Theology. Mr. John Rowe was descended from ancestors in good worldly condition, and celebrated, through several generations, as firm and zealous Nonconformists. He was the sixth child of William Rowe, Esq., of Spencecomb, near Crediton, and was born on the 17th of April, 1764. His father and mother were both Dissenters of the English Presbyterian denomination ; the former he lost at an early period of his life, but this misfortune was alleviated by the affectionate care of Ms amiable and judi- cious mother. It is no small proof of the wisdom of his parents that, perceiving in him an inclination for the Christian ministry, they placed Mm early in the classical school of the Rev. Joseph Bretland. Here he remained longer than the usual period, profiting by the instructions of his highly respected preceptor. On leaving school, he entered the Academy at Hoxton. On the dissolution of that institution, Mr. Rowe and others of the students entered themselves of the new Dissenting College which was finally established at Hackney. But though the name of Mr. Rowe stands first in the Matriculation Book of the College, where he is recorded as haviug entered, September, 1786, and left, June, 1787, he never resided within its walls. The students, during this session, boarded themselves iu or near London, and attended the lectures of the professors in Dr. Williams's Library, the use of which was liberally granted by the Trustees for this object, as it has been for various other purposes involving the general interests of Protestant Dis- senters. In this year Mr. Rowe officiated occasionally for Dr. Kippis, and at the afternoon service of the Gravel- Pit Meeting, Hackney. On the completion of his education he accepted a cordial and unanimous invitation to become one of the ministers of the congregation assembling in High Street, Slirewsbury. Ou the death of Mr. Fownes, who had officiated there forty- k2 132 BRISTOL. one years, Mr. Rowe was chosen sole minister ; and in this capacity he remained till 1793, when he found it necessary to require assistance in his public duties. The congregation applied to Dr. Kippis, and he recommended to them Mr. Arthur Aikin, who was joint minister for two years. Mr. Aikin then quitted the ministry and devoted himself to literary and scientific pur- suits, in which he has obtained much celebrity. Mr. Rowe's connexion with the congregation at Shrewsbury was in every respect happy. His public services were accept- able, and there were several families and many individuals of his flock to whom he was attached by the ties of friendship. The family of the Masons shewed great affection towards him ; he enjoyed the intimacy and confidence of Mr. Tayleur, the opulent and liberal supporter of free Dissenting principles ; in the Hughes family, at Hanwood, of whom Mrs. Mary Hughes was so distinguished a member, he was looked up to as a friend and adviser ; and when the amiable sisters changed their resi- dence, many years after Mr. Rowe's removal to Bristol, they transplanted themselves to that city, mainly for the sake of his society and pastoral instruction ; and one gentleman, Mr. Ser- jeant, accompanied him to the same place and lived in his house some years. In the year 1788 he married his couisn, Mary, sister of Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., of Bridwell House, Devon. This connexion was the source of unfeigned happiness to both parties. Several children were born to them at Shrewsbury, of whom two died in their iiifency. Notwithstanding the usefulness and comfort of this situation, he found great inconvenience in his distance from his relatives ; and for this as well as other reasons, he accepted an invitation to become one of the ministers of Lewin's Mead. The mode of this appointment was agreeable to his best feelings. He now entered into a wider sphere of labour, more adequate to his talents and zeal. His pulpit-services were highly estimated by his new flock. Being free from other engagements, he de- voted himself with great assiduity to his pastoral duties. He BRISTOL. 133 was not only the spiritual overseer of his flock, but also in many cases their temporal adviser, for which office he was well quali- fied by his wisdom and discretion. He was a liberal and active supporter of the charities of Bristol, in the management of some of which, especially of the Infirmary, he took a prominent and very useful part. By education and principle a friend to civil and religious liberty, he stood forward on many occasions to uphold what he regarded as the righteous cause. He gave all the assistance in his power to successive liberal candidates for the representation of the city in the House of Commons ; and though naturally repugnant to tumultuous assemblies, he pre- sented himself under a sense of duty at the " No Popery" meeting in 18 i3, and delivered a manly, argumentative speech against the prevailing bigotry and delusion. This speech, though unavailing for the moment, had no doubt some influence in bringing over his fellow-citizens to more Christian principles and more generous feelings. * Mr. Rowe's style of preaching was plain and practical; his enunciation distinct and emphatic ; his manner serious, earnest, and impressive. He considered it to be the peculiar advantage of Dissenting ministers that they are at liberty to take occasion of passing events in their prayers as well as sermons, in order to fix attention upon the ways of Divine Providence ; aud he frequently made a judicious and pious use of afflictive and other events within the circle of the congregation. From his yotith he was a decided Unitarian. He was one of the first members of the Western Unitarian Society, and con- tinued his support of this institution, according to its original basis, as long as he lived. His religious opinions were not in other respects peculiar, imless we may add that he espoused the middle scheme on the subject of future punishment, namely, that the finally impenitent will be in the end destroyed. P or this doctrine, especially as distinguished from that of the final resti- tution of the wicked, which was received by the greater part of * See this excellent speech in Mon. Rcpos., O. S., Vol. viii. p. 137. 134 BRiyTOL. his contemporary Uuitariau brethren, at one period of his life he manifested a degree of zeal which some of his friends judged to be disproportionate to its real importance. It was the will of Heaven that Mr. Rowe shoiild be tried by successive heavy afflictions. In 1823 he lost a brother, Mr. Lawrence Rowe, of Brentford, for whom he had a strong affec- tion. He sustained a more bitter trial in 1825 by the decease of his beloved wife, whose character endeared her to all who knew her, and particularly' to those that were connected with her by domestic ties.* His sorrows were soon after renewed and aggravated by the untimely decease of his only son, who died in Mexico, whither he had gone to fill an office in a mining company. Parental grief expressed and relieved itself after a time by a tribute to his memory, which is one of the most touching eff"usions a father's heart ever poured forth in honour of a son's virtues, t Another melancholy event severely tried Mr. Rowe's parental feelings. This was the death of his eldest daughter, the wife of Benjamin H. Bright, Esq. Her connexion in so close a relationship with this highly respected family had been a source of much satisfaction and joy to him, and its disso- lution by her untimely decease drew a cloud over some of his brightest prospects. It was now painfully evident to those about him, that his spirits were drooping and his general health declining. He manifested several paralytic symptoms, and, in the month of .lanuary, 1831, experienced a decided seizure. This did not, happily, affect his mind, though it impaired his bodily strength, and in this weakened state he suffered much from the cold of the following winter. It was recommended to him by his me- dical friends to try the effect of a warmer climate ; and in the summer of 1832 he sent in his resignation to the society at Lewin's Mead. He thus terminated a connexion of thirty-four * See Two Sermons preached at Lewin's Mead, Oct. 16, 1825: the First occasioned by the death of Mrs. Rowe. By the Rev. Robert Aspland. t See Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. ii. p. 56". BRISTOL. 135 j'ears' coutinuauce, which had been upon the whole a happy one, and which his people look back upon with gratitude to his memory for his vigilant and faithful attention to their spiritual and eternal interests. He then proceeded to pay a visit to his relations, Professor and Mrs. Grottanelli, at Sienna, in Italy. His daughter, the only survivor of eight children, of whom five died in their infancy, accompanied him on this, his last journey. This lady thus concludes an interesting account of her father's illness during his visits at Rome, Naples, and the Baths of Lucca : "After we arrived at the Baths, my father's extreme weakness deprived him of all hope of resuming his journey ; but the rest- lessness which had attended the earlier stages of his disease had subsided ; he was pleased with our house and the situation ; though generally unable to go farther, he sometimes sat for an hour or two in the garden. He was, too, most gratefully at- tached to our friends, and I am sure they will always reflect with pleasure on the comfort they afforded him in his latter days. We reached Sienna on the 19th of May, and on the 2nd of July, at eleven at night, he died. He had been confined to his bed two days. He was sensible till within a few hours of his death, and had for some days beeu aware that his end was fast approaching. He was perfectly resigned and composed, and often spoke of his absent fiiends, and mentioned little remem- brances which he wished me to give them. He had no fresh seizure, nor any particular disease that would have proved fatal, but seemed to sink from exhaustion, and at length fell asleep. He was buried in the Protestant ground at Leghorn."* * Christian Reformer, N. S., Vol. i. p. 266". BATH. "The city of Bath has long been famous for the advantages confer- red upon it by nature. Of late years, art has increased its celebrity, by adding to its elegance ; so that, were we to name this place as one of the most beautiful and extraordinary cities of modern Europe, Ave should not, perhaps, be taxed with perverse partiality, or be guilty of injudicious encomium. Its situation and appearance are at once sin- gular and elegant. Placed originally in the bottom of a vale formed by swelling hills which rise in all directions around it, the old city did not for centuries extend its bounds beyond those which were first marked out for it by the Romans. But the salutary effects produced by its waters having awakened a very general attention in the early part of the eighteenth century, the resort of company to the city be- came so great as to induce some enterprising spirits to speculate in building. Success crowned the attempt, and gave rise to other trials equally fortunate, which were repeated and continued till about the year 1790, when the paralyzing effects of war checked them alto- gether ; so that, from a small town, the diameter of which did not much exceed three hundred yards, Bath rapidly swelled to a large city, stretching in different directions upwards of one mile and a half. Of the many streets thus added to old Bath, some climb the south- eastern side of Lansdown, and others spread themselves to the north- east, along the flat valley through which the river Avon pursues its Avinding course. A beautiful limestone, found in the immediate neigh- bourhood in inexhaustible quantities, furnished materials to the build- ers, who judiciously availed themselves of it, in constructing squares and crescents, parades and streets, designed and disposed for the most part with classical taste and elegance." — Warner. Population in 1811,-38,408; in 1821,-46,700; in 1831,-60,802. TRIM STREET CHAPEL.* Many ministers were ejected from Bath and the neighbouring villages by the Act of Uniformity. Twenty-six years, however, elapsed before the cir- cumstances in which the Dissenters of this city were placed allowed of their having a place of public worship and a permanent ministry. Among the ejected ministers who lived here after 1662, were Mr. Long, of Bath; Mr. Green, his assistant; Mr. Baker, of Bath, afterwards Master of the Grammar School ; Mr. Bodin, of Wotton-under- Edge ; Mr. Philips, of Sherborne ; Mr. Afflatt, of Glutton ; and Mr. Crees, of Combhay. We do not learn that either of these filled the office of Pastor of a Dissenting congregation, though it is probable that most of them contributed by private preaching and conversation to excite and keep alive a deep interest in religion, and a high estimation of the rights of conscience. The first settled minister was Mr. Christopher Taylor, who was appointed to the office about the * This street derived its name from Alderman Trymc, who li\'cd in it many years ago, and to whom part of it belonged. It was originally called Tryme Street. BATH. 139 year 1688, It has been said that, at this time, the congregation met in a shear-shop, Bath being then a clothing town. In 1692, they removed to a meeting-house which they had built in a place then called Frog Lane, now New Bond Street. About this time Dr. Coleman became their minister, pro- bably as an assistant to Mr. Taylor ; and under the care of these gentlemen the congregation increased. The earliest register of baptisms is by Dr. Bennet Stevenson, who was minister from 1719 to 1756, and baptized 343 children, whose parents were chiefly farmers, tradesmen, and labourers. Many of these persons lived at the villages of Bath-ford, Bath-wick, Bath-easton, Bradford, English-coombe, Greenway, Marshfield, Mountain-coombe, Oddown, Southstoke, Twerton, and Weston. The ministry of Dr. Stevenson was also attended by several per- sons of rank and property, particularly by Lady Levett, the widow of Sir Richard Levett, Alderman of London, and who bequeathed* books to the value of c^30. for the use of the minister of the congregation and his successors. The Trustees have been accustomed, in compliance with a clause in the will, to pay the amount in money to each minister on his election, and to receive it again on his resignation or death. One of the executors was Mr. Howse, whose son and grandson have succes- * The will is dated Oct. 7, 1722, and provides particularly against any claim being set up by the Established Church. Lady Levett's high repu- tation as an enemy to ecclesiastical usurpation is acknowledged in Dr. Calamy's dedication to her of one of his sermons, 140 BATH. sively inherited this simple trust. There is no other endowment. Of the life and ministry of Dr. Stevenson I have been able to obtain only a few particulars. He was settled at Sidmouth before he became the minister of this congregation. Some of the present members have heard him represented as a fluent and very animated preacher. The large size of the congre- gation in his time, and the circumstance that many of the poorer classes were his hearers, may be partly attributed to his preaching extempore. Tradition also speaks of the good Doctor as a vehement cushion-thumper. He had a large family ; several of his grandchildren are still living, and are useful members of various Unitarian congregations. Dr. Stevenson died in Bath universally lamented, March 23, 1756, and was succeeded in the pastoral office by Mr. John Frank.* Mr. Frank is said to have been educated either at the Taunton or Bridgwater Academy. j- He was chosen assistant to Dr. Ste- venson in 1753, succeeded him on his death, and remained at Bath till his own death in 1780. The congregation continued to prosper under his care, and he was greatly respected by Christians of all * This gentleman had been Dr. Stevenson's assistant, and preached his funeral sermon. " For a few years," he says, " as a son with the father I have served with him in the Gospel. And a father he was indeed, worthy of being honoured as the guide of my youth, whose counsels were dictated equally by wisdom and affection." This interesting sermon is entitled, " The character and blessedness of those who die in the Lord." Nothing can be more pleasing than the allusions to the harmony and love which subsisted among the author, the deceased, and the congregation." t Private information by a nephew of Mr. Frank. BATH. 141 denominations for his talents, his gentlemanly manners, and his benevolent spirit. Mr. Frank was followed by Mr. Edward Armstrong, of whose death there is a short notice in the Protestant Dis- senters' Magazine.* He was minister of the con- gregation from 1780 to 1789 ; he was then obliged to resign the charge on account of infirmities; but he appears to have survived seven or eight years. He was much esteemed, not only by his own people, but by many other inhabitants of the city. By his aid several excellent charitable institutions obtained large pecuniary support and were placed on a liberal and permanent basis. Before he commenced his ministry in Bath, a gradual change had been wrought in the character of the congregation, so that the majority became composed of the rich rather than the poor. This circumstance is to be regretted whenever or wherever it occurs ; it gene- rally indicates, if not the preaching of " some other gospel" than that which was preached by the Saviour of mankind, yet an inattention to the deep- est wants of human nature, and to that beautiful characteristic of Christianity — its adaptation to men of all classes and capacities. With reference, how- ever, to the Bath congregation, great allowances were to be made; about the middle and at the close of the last century, large additions were made every year to the educated and highly refined population of the city ; the increased attendance of such per- sons at the Presbyterian chapel naturally encouraged * Vol. iv. p. 120. 142 BATH. its minister to adopt a more intellectual style of preaching; such a style might perhaps have been skilfully accommodated to the understandings of the poor, but it was not ; and that large and useful class Avere obliged to go where they could be both interested and improved. Several new religious societies were formed in Bath in the course of the last century. A secession from the Presbyterians seems to have taken place as early as 1726. In that year Mr. Henry Dolling, a Baptist, yet a Trustee of the meeting-house, united with a few other Baptists and licensed his house in Widcombe for public worship. But it was nearly thirty years before the new church consisted of fifty members, and prior to this period a small body of Quakers were for a long time the only other Dissenters in Bath. The register of baptisms, kept by Mr. Frank from the death of Dr. Stevenson in 1756 till 1780, leads to the conclusion that the con- gregation was nearly as large during the greater part of this interval as it had ever been. It was about the middle of the century that those efforts were made which, if they did not at once dimin- ish the Presbyterian interest so much as might be expected, tended in a great degree to prevent its subsequent growth. Mr. Wesley visited Bath in 1738, and laid the foundation of the large con- gregation now assembling in the spacious chapel in New King Street. In the year 1752, Mr. Cen- nick and other ministers of the Bristol and Kings- wood Moravian society formed a church of that BATH. 143 denomination in this city. About twelve years afterwards came Lady Huntingdon and gave orders for the erection of a chapel at her own expense, which was in due time opened by the Rev. G. Whitfield. From the large congregation meeting in that place sprang another, whose origin as well as system of church government well entitle it to the appellation Independent. Lady Huntingdon being offended by the introduction of several lay ministers into her pulpits, gave notice that they should no longer officiate, and that especial care should be taken to exclude Rowland Hill and Torial Joss. In consequence of this notice, which was read by the preacher of her chapel at the Vine- yards, in 1779, sixteen members withdrew, and commenced the formation of the very numerous and respectable society of which Mr. Jay is the present minister.* Besides the congregations already men- tioned, there are now in the city of Bath two of the Baptist denomination ; one of the Methodist, meet- ing in a handsome chapel, with the simple and scriptural inscription, Deo Sacrum ; two of the Roman Catholic, exclusive of that connected with the magnificent establishment at Prior Park; and eighteen of the Church of England. When it is remembered that, in many of the churches and chapels occupied by these societies, there have been zealous and popular preachers, it cannot be a source of surprise that the Presbyterian * Life of the Rev. Mr. Porter, of Bath, bj' the Rev. Mr. Cater. 144 BATH. congregation was gradually diminished. It should also be remembered that its ministers, obedient to the dictates of their consciences, introduced Arian and Unitarian sentiments, and thereby deterred many from becoming their hearers who would otherwise have done so, on the principles of Pro- testant Dissent. This society, however, was long respectable for its numbers, and included several individuals distinguished not only by their opulence and station in society, but also by professional skill, literary reputation, and high moral worth. Among those who attended the chapel during the ministry of Mr. Broadhurst, was Sir Robert Clayton, Bart., the author of several well-known w^orks. For many years Dr. Cogan and the Rev. John Simpson, whose memories are revered by all who have studied their writings, were constant and zealous w^orshipers here. Dr. Parry, the father of the celebrated Arctic navi- gator, and his family, were connected with the con- gregation. So was the late Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, whose name often appears as the chairman of the meetings, and the baptisms of whose children, with one or two exceptions, are recorded in the register. Names, now fast becoming still more unknown among Dissenters, — witness Mr. Twiss, father of Mr. Horace Twiss, M. P., and Lord Carrington, are found in the lists of members. And not a few Presbyterian ministers, after finishing their public labours in other places, have come hither, as did their predecessors the ejected ministers, some in consequence of ill health, and others to enjoy the BATH. 145 society and scenery of this noble city. The follow- ing may be mentioned : The Rev. William Billingsley, here in 1772. The Rev. Malachi Blake, from 1772 to 1780. The Rev. David Evans lived here, and went to and from Marshfield, where his congregation met, every Sunday. The Rev. John Simpson, from 1791 till his death, 1813. The Rev. Edmund Butcher, from 1821 till his death, 1822. The Rev. Theophilus Browne, from 1823 till his death, 1835. The Rev. Thomas Watson came to reside here in 1804. The Rev. Thomas Broadhurst has resided here since he resigned his office of pastor, in 1809. In the year 1795, the congregation found it ne- cessary to relinquish their old meeting-house in Frog Lane and erect the present building. The expense of this undertaking, including the purchase of the ground, amounted to nearly ,^2500., and the whole, with the exception of about c;£200., which was contributed by friends at a distance, was de- frayed by the congregation. The largest contributor was H. E. Howse, Esq., who gave altogether nearly <^400. To him the congregation are also indebted for their picturesque burial-ground, situated at Lyncomb, about a mile from the city, and present- ed in the year 1819. Here is a small chapel, in L 14C) BATH. which the funeral services are conducted ; and here rest the remains of many excellent worshipers. One of the first interments was that of a very aged man, with whose form many are familiar, as the original of the popular painting called ''The Woodman"; he was a long time in the service of Mr. Howse as a gardener ; the painting was executed by Mr. Bar- ker, an eminent artist at Bath. But we have wan- dered from the chapel ; as many would gladly do who know the diflerence between Trim Street and Lyncomb. Yet the situation is central; on one side and Avithin a short distance are Queen Square and several handsome streets ; but the nearest streets are very uninviting. The building is oblong ; it is too lofty, there being only one gallery. In this gallery there is an organ ; and under it, near one of the entrances, a book-case with the Chapel Library. At the entrance from Trim Street is a vestry. The interior of the chapel has lately assumed an air of great comfort and neatness. The pews and gallery have been painted in imitation of oak, and the light through the windows over the pulpit has been softened by the introduction of ground and coloured glass. Two handsome marble tablets have also been erected with the following inscriptions : In memory of Henry Edward Howse, Esq., Nine years Chamberlain of this city. He was a kind friend to the poor, the ignorant, and the AFFLICTED; A GENEROrS CONTRIBUTOR TO THE ERECTION OF THIS CHAPEL; HATH. 147 A ZEALOTIH FKIENI) T(» T(fK l)[ rKIISION, AND A FAITHFUL WITNESS TO TFfE EFFICACY, OF tJNCORRUPTEI) CHRISTIANITY. He died Dec. 5, 1H34, a^jed 82; and his remain.s WERE interred AT LyNCOMB, IN A CEMETERY PRESENTED BY HIM TO THIS CONGREGATION. "Jn SIMPLICITY and GODLY SINCERITY, NOT WITH FLESHLY WISDOM, BUT BY THE GRACE OF GoD, I HAVE HAD MY CONVERSATION IN THE WORLD." In the CEMETERY belonging to this congregation are interred the remains of The Rev. Theophilus Browne, m. a., FORMERLY FeLLOW OF St. PeTER's CoLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND AFTERWARDS ReCTOR OF HiNTON, IN THE SAME COUNTY. An earnest study of the sacred Scriptures led him TO LEAVE THE ChURCH OF ENGLAND, AND BECOME A MINISTER AMONG UNITARIAN CHRISTIANS, WHICH OFFICE HE FILLED IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE KINGDOM. He DIED May 20, 18.3.5, aged 72. In THE SAME TOMB ARE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF Ann, WIFE OF the above, WHO DIED December 2.5, 1834, aged 7'5. "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will i also CONFESS BEFORE MY FaTHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN." A few years before the meeting-house in Frog Lane was taken down, an interesting service was conducted w'ithin its walls, at the ordination of Mr. David Jardine. This gentleman had officiated a short time at Warwick, when the congregation invited him to succeed Mr. Armstrong. Mr. l2 148 BATH. afterwards Dr.) Estlin delivered the sermon, Mr. Wright the address on the design of ordination, and Mr. Belsham the charge ; the whole service, including Mr. Jardine's replies, was published. This is a valuable pamphlet ; it presents a fair specimen of the tone of thinking and the plan of teaching adopted by the ministers of the Presbyte- rian congregations of that period; the replies of Mr. Jardine are especially to be admired for the inde- pendent yet truly Christian spirit which they breathe. The Trustees of the meeting-house, or, as it was then called, in the title-page of the ordi- nation-service— the Unitarian chapel, testified their sense of the value of Mr. Belsham's assistance, by presenting him with a silver inkstand, a mark of respect with which he was highly gratified. Three years after the settlement of Mr. Jardine, several members of the congregation expressed a wish to adopt a Liturgy. Their minister cordially agreeing with them, the subject was taken into con- sideration at several meetings, and at length a ma- jority declared in favour of the alteration. So strong, however, were the objections of the minority, and so decidedly were those objections expressed after the division, that the carrying the resolution into effect would have been attended with many un- pleasant circumstances, and the advocates of a Liturgy yielded. In the year 1797, Mr. Jardine was suddenly re- moved from his earthly scenes of usefulness. The congregation then invited Mr. Thomas Broadhurst, BATH. 149 who had been first a pupil and afterwards assistant tutor at the New College, Hackney. Before he accepted the invitation from Bath, he officiated suc- cessively at Halifax and Taunton. Mr. Broadhurst was the minister of this society about eleven years, during which period the number and character of its members were such as to command general re- spect. They continued to manifest, on all proper occasions, a lively interest not only in the progress of religious truth, but also in the advancement of objects for promoting the temporal welfare of man- kind. The Unitarians have been for many years the only Dissenting society in Bath who make col- lections twice every year for the two Hospitals in the city. I may here mention that Dr. Bennet Steven- son took an active part in establishing one of these excellent institutions — the Bath Hospital — which receives from all parts of the kingdom patients who require the use of the Bath waters. His name was inserted in the Act of Parliament as one of the earliest officers, and his successors in the Presbyte- rian congregation have regularly inherited, sanc- tioned by the usual votes at the General Meetings, the honour thus conferred upon him. When Mr. Broadhurst relinquished his office of Pastor, the congregation elected Mr. Joseph Hunter. This gentleman was educated at the Manchester College, York; his views of the most important subjects of human inquiry are stated in several dis- courses published during his residence in Bath. Here he distinguished himself by giving to the 150 BATH. world the fruits of his antiquarian researches, and by promoting the establishment of the Literary Institution, of which he was a highly valuable member. Mr. Hunter quitted Bath in June 1833, to enter upon the office of Commissioner of Public Records, to which another has been added in con- nexion with the British Museum. — I have now only to remark that the congregation is gradually increas- ing ; several institutions have arisen which may be regarded as particularly useful in giving a right direction to the sympathies and energies of the younger members ; and hopes are entertained that, under the blessing of Almighty God, the society will continue to improve in numbers, in piety, in active usefulness, in all goodness. iWinisttrs. Christopher Taylor 1088 — 1091). Benjamin Coleman, D.D 1692—1700. Henry Chandler 1700 — 1719. Bennet StevExNSON, D. D 1 719 — 1756*. John Frank 1753 — 1780. Edward Armstrong 1780 — 1789. David Jardine 1789 — 1797. Thomas Broadhurst 1797—1809. Joseph Hunter, F. A. S 1809_I833. Jerom Murch liiH'S. BATH. 151 Mr. Christopher Taylor was born at Taunton, and edu- cated for the ministry in tliat town by Mr. Matthew Warren. Having been ordained at Lyme, together with seven others, in 1687, he was recommended by some senior ministers to fill an important station at Bath. Here he met at first with much op- position ; but by his solid preaching and prudent conduct he afterwards acquired great esteem, both by those who attended his ministry, and others in the Church of England. He left Bath in 1699, to become pastor of the congregation in Leather Lane, London, where he remained with much satisfaction to his hearers until within a short period of his death in 1723. Mr. Joshua Bayes, who preached his funeral sermon, speaks very highly of his qualifications for the ministry and of the manner in wliich he discharged its duties, and represents him as a warm, active friend to the cause of Protestant Dissent. Mr. Taylor published two sermons : one upon the thanksgiving for the union with Scotland, May 1, 1707; the other on the death of Mr. John Hind, Nov. 6, 1704 ; and he drew up a Latin epi- taph for his tutor, Mr. Warren.* Dr. Coleman was a native of New England. He received his education in Harvard College, where he graduated in 1692, being then only twenty years of age. Soon afterwards he took a voyage to England, was ordained in London, and entered im- mediately on his office at Bath. Here, however, he appears to have been only the colleague of Mr. Taylor, and to have re- mained no longer than eight years, at the expiration of which he was chosen first minister of a large congregation in Brattle Street, Boston, U.S. There he laboured with equal diligence till he attained the age of seventy- three, when he died, "leaving a reputation (to use the words of a contemporary) which will be dear to his country as long as zeal for the interests of sacred * Further particulars of Mr. Taylor's character may be seen in Toulmin's Hist, of Prot, Diss., Appendix, p. 56'J. 152 BATH. literature and the conversion of tlie Indian nations shall be held in due esteem." He distinguished himself not only as a pro- found scholar, a deeply impressive preacher, and a gentleman of the most polite and Christian bearing, but also by his public pliilanthropic efforts, among which was the publication of a treatise ; reprinted in England by Mr. Daniel Neal, designed to recommend inoculation for the small-pox. The life of Dr. Coleman was written by his son-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Turrell, and published in an 8vo. volume in 1749 ; of his talents as a preacher, the curious may form an opinion from a printed volume of his sermons on sacramental occasions, published at Boston, N. E., 1728.* Mr. Chandler was the son of a respectable tradesman at Taunton, who suffered severe persecution in the reign of Charles II. Inheriting his father's attachment to the cause of Protestant Dissent, he began liis ministry towards the close of the same reign — a time of peculiar difficulty and discouragement. He had been prepared for his office first in the grammar-school of his native town, and afterwards in the academy of Mr. Doolittle, at Islington. Prior to his settlement at Bath, he preached suc- cessively at INIalmesbury, in Wiltshire ; Hungerford, in Berk- shire ; and Coleford, in Somersetshire ; but only remained a short time in each place. His first publication consisted of two practical sermons delivered in Bath about the year 1705, one of which is introduced with expressions of gratitude to a Mr. Adams, of London, who was very generous to the author and gave him a library. In 1713, Mr. Chandler published a charge delivered at Gloucester at the ordination of Mr. Denham, whom he exhorts "to preach intelligibly" — "good sense backed with strong scripture argument" — "for (he says) we can neither be directed nor entertained by what we do not understand." Soon afterwards, he entered the lists with Mr. Thomas Carte the his- torian, a noted Jacobite and reader at the Abbey Church, in * Communicated by Mr. Wilson. BATH. 153 consequence of a sermon preached by Mr. Carte in vindication of Charles II. from certain charges relating to the Irish Rebel- lion. After sustaining the character of an able and faithful minister of Christ forty years, nineteen of which were spent in Bath, Mr. Chandler entered into his rest, leaving three children : Mrs. Mary Chandler, the author of several poems ; Dr. Samuel Chandler, the celebrated minister at the Old Jewry ; and Mr. John Chandler, an eminent apothecary in King Street, Cheap- side. Mr. David Jardine was born iu the year 1760, at Aber- gavenny. His father was a Dissenting Minister in that to«^n, and the tutor of an Academy for training young men for the same profession. He was educated first by his father and Dr. Davies, another tutor in the Academy at Abergavenny, and subsequently at Homerton, where he saw reason to renounce the Calvinistic opinions of his family and adopt the Unitarian ones of Dr. Priestley. This having rendered him obnoxious to his tutors, he was removed to Daventry, and finished his studies under the Rev. T. Belsham, who delivered the charge at his or- dination at Bath. In the same year Mr. Jardine accepted an invitation from Warwick, and spent a few months in that town much respected. A desire to be near his brother, Dr. Lewis Jardine, then of Bristol, afterwards of America, now induced him to remove to Bath. That his ministerial talents were highly estimated and his religious principles very decided, may be in- ferred from the fact that, in the following year, he received an invitation to be co-pastor with Dr. Priestley at Birmingham, which, however, he declined. In the year 1793, he married the eldest daughter of George Webster, Esq., of Hampstead, and soon afterwards took a small estate at Pickwick, about seven miles from Bath, where he resided during the week, and added to his literary labours those of agriculture. Both, however, were soon terminated. On Sunday, March 5, 1797, he preach- ed twice and administered the Lord's Supper. On the following 154 BATH. Friday, as he was walking in his fields, he was seized with a fit of apoplexy and conveyed speechless to his house, where he ex- pired the same evening. Thus suddenly, and, to human ap- pearance, prematurely, did Providence see fit to take a man who possessed most of the best qualifications of a minister of the gospel, and who, during his short career, did much to defend and draw attention to the doctrines of Unitarian Christianity. Mr. Jardine published three pamphlets : 1 . A Declaration at his Ordination. 2. Three Discourses on the Redemption of the World by Jesus Christ ; with an Appendix on the doctrine of the Atonement and the importance of having right sentiments in Religion. 3. A Reply to the Rev. John Simpson on the subject of Religious Fasts. After his death, two volumes of his sermons were published by Dr. Estlin, of Bristol, and dedicated to their mutual friend, B. Hobhouse, Esq., M. P., afterwards Sir B, Hobhouse, Bart. Prefixed to these sermons is a memoir by the editor, from which the above particulars are taken. Mr. Jardine left a son and two daughters ; the former resides near London, and is well known as a member of the legal profession and a valuable promoter of various important undertakings. ASHWICK. AsHWiCK lies on the borders of the MencUp Hills, about 3 miles from Shepton Mallet. It long sujjplied the city of Bath and the sur- rounding district with Coals, which are still dug in the neighbourhood. It was also noted for its manufacture of hosiery until the extensive introduction of machinery, and the consequent diminution of manual labour in small places. The houses are widely scattered ; part of the hamlet of Oakhill lies in the parish, and is remarkable for a good house standing in a romantic situation, and built by J. Billingsley, Esq., a member of the Presbyterian congregation. OLD MEETING. The early history of Nonconformity, in retired places, excites more than common admiration. In populous towns, we are not surprised to observe a spirit of earnest inquiry and Christian freedom. There, ministers of superior talent and liberality were generally stationed ; and the odium they incur- red, by thinking for themselves, was shared by many. But the inhabitants of obscure villages, though often blessed with pastors of learning and piety were, in most cases, few in number, compara- tively uncultivated, and placed in awe of country justices and the owners of the soil. Amidst these discouraging circumstances we see minds determin- ed to be free ; and the interest of the spectacle is not unfrequently heightened by the scenes in which the struggles were made. At this period the triumphs of faith were generally achieved, not in the "busy haunts of men," but in the depth of a beautiful valley or beneath the shelter of a friendly wood. Even here the persecuted Nonconformists were un- safe ; so often were they interrupted in their devo- tions that they at length fancied every rustling of the leaves to be the sound of the footsteps of their ASHWICK. 157 enemies; at the slightest sign of disturbance the preacher lowered his voice^ and, together with his hearers, began to suffer in imagination from the rude hands of the constable, the arbitrary questions of the magistrate, and the noisome air of the county gaol. Such sights are presented by the scanty accounts of Nonconformity at Ashwick. The first pastor of whom we know any thing is Mr. Nicholas Billings- ley, the son of an ejected minister. He probably settled at Ashwick soon after the passing of the Toleration Act. In the reigns of Charles 11. and James II., the Nonconformists of the neighbour- hood, including Shepton Mallet, assembled, in retired houses, or, when the weather permitted, in an adjoining wood.* They, however, fared better than others. Their intolerant enemies, the inform- ers, were kept at a distance by the steady and determined courage of a number of hardy colliers who worked in the neighbourhood, and sometimes attended the meeting, j- About the time of the Revo- lution they opened a place of worship at Downside, about a mile from Ashwick, towards Bath, and there they assembled till 1696, when they formed themselves into separate societies. Those of Ash- wick fitted up a house in their own parish, and those of Shepton erected a chapel in the town. The Ashwick division soon became numerous. About the year 1703, they built a place of worship in which they assembled upwards of 50 years. * Nightingale's History of Somersetshire. t P- D. M. iv. 364. 158 ASHWICK. During that period the congregation consisted chiefly of colliers and hosiers, and was not without a fair proportion of well cultivated minds. An anecdote is related, which shews that they possessed both earnestness and integrity with regard to religi- ous matters. Soon after Mr. James Pierce, of Exeter, gave an impulse to inquiry by his spirited conduct, Mr. Billingsley, the pastor at Ashwick, avowed himself a convert to his opinions. The congregation were disappointed and grieved. Fully convinced of the truth of the sentiments in which they had been educated, they requested Mr. Billings- ley to retire and allow them to choose another minister. He complied, but admonished them to search the Scriptures once more for the purpose of examining calmly and impartiality the grounds of their faith. This admonition they attended to, while they were deliberating on the choice of a new pastor, and the result was, they also embraced Arian views of the gospel, and went back to their faithful minister. It was during his ministry that Mr. (afterwards Dr.) James Foster came to the neighbourhood. He, also, was one of those who had been led by Mr. Pierce's writings and his own study of the Scrip- tures, to side with the heterodox party ; but his pastoral advice was not so successful as that of Mr. Billingsley. His sentiments had rendered him so obnoxious, at Milbourn Port, where he w^as the pastor of a congregation, that he was obliged to seek an asylum in the house of his friend under ASHWICK. 159 the Mendip Hills. Anxious to be useful without concealing his convictions, Mr. Foster was accus- tomed, while residing in this obscure but hospitable retreat, to preach to two plain congregations in the neighbourhood, one at Coleford, the other at Wokey, which, together, raised him only ^15. per annum! Some of his best works were composed in an old summer house, almost covered with ivy, on the property of J. Billingsley, Esq., who, some years afterwards, caused a small stone with the following inscription to be placed in the building. "Sacred to the memory of the celebrated James Foster, D.D., WHO IN this humble and retired mansion, secluded FROM the fury OF BIGOTS AND THE CARES OF A BUSY WORLD, spent SEVERAL YEARS ; AND COMPOSED MANY OF THOSE EXCEL- LENT DISCOURSES ON NATURAL RELIGION AND SOCIAL VIRTUE, (with THE ANNEXED OFFICES OF DEVOTION,) WHICH HAVE BEEN READ WITH UNIVERSAL ADMIRATION DURING THE LAST AND PRESENT AGES ; AND WHICH, WHILE THEY EXHIBIT TO POSTERITY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES AND IMPORTANT DUTIES OF HUMAN LIFE, WILL IMMORTALIZE THE NAME AND MEMORY OF THEIR LEARNED AND PIOUS AUTHOR."* * Collinson's History of Somersetshire, ii. 449. Dr. Foster removed from Ashwick to Trowbridge, in Wilts, where he adopted the practice of Adult Bapitism. There, his circumstances were so low, that he had seri- ous thoughts of quitting the ministry and learning the trade of a glover. From doing this he was saved by the unexpected generosity of a gentle- man in the neighbourhood, who took him into his house as Chaplain. And a few years afterwards we find him, as one of the Lecturers at the Old Jewry, enjoying unexampled popularity, attracting a confluence of persons of every rank, station and quality, and giving occasion to the well known lines of Pope — " Let modest Foster, if he will, excel Ten Metropolitans in preaching well." An interesting memoir of Dr. Foster may be seen in a valuable collec- tion of tracts by the Rev. Jared Sparks, an American minister, who has done much, in many ways, towards enriching the literature of his country. 160 ASIIWICK. The congregation at Ashwick long remained numerous and respectable. The descendants of Mr. Billingsley were efficient co-operators with his suc- cessor— Mr. David Lewis. About the year 1758, when this gentleman removed to Frenchay, and Mr. Evan Herbert was chosen to succeed him, the society resolved to erect a new chapel. The old structure was falling into decay ; they held it by a precarious tenure ; and they were desirous of having a place more in the centre of the congregation, and thus suiting the convenience of many persons from adjoining parishes. Accordingly they sold the old building, which was converted into cottages, and erected another in the same parish, half a mile nearer those parts from which most of the people came to worship. This chapel has two galleries, one for women and another for men, and adjoining it is a burial ground. In 1783, Mr. Herbert re- tired, and three years afterwards died at Ashwick. He was educated at Carmarthen, settled first at Wrington and then at Stalbridge. His successor was Mr. King, who only remained a short time, and was followed by the present minister, Mr. John Evans. The congregation then consisted of nearly two hundred persons ; — but they are described as chiefly mere hearers, who attended without any fixed opinions, and because there was no service at convenient hours in the churches in the neighbour- hood. Consequently, when Methodism was gene- rally known in the district, and a chapel erected in almost every village ; when, also, the Bishop of the ASHWICK. 161 diocese was enabled, by augmentations of the livings from Queen Anne's Bounty, to obtain service twice a day in the churches, the number of Mr. Evans's •^•^ hearers" diminished. For many years he has only been encouraged to persevere by the attend- ance and support of a few who are attached to their views of the gospel from principle as well as early associations, and who, if they see no prospect of a revival of the congregation in their time, may, at least, be consoled by remembering that they have adhered to it through evil report and through good report, i^mfsters. Nicholas Billingsley J 710 — 1740. David Lewis 1740—1757. Evan Herbert 1758 — 1783 King* ... 1783—1784. John Evans 1784. Nicholas Billingsley was the younger son of a minis- ter of the same name, who was ejected by the Act of Uniformity from the living at Weobley, in Herefordshire. I have not been able to ascertain any particulars concerning his education, early settlement, and death. It appears, that, in addition to his ser- mon on the death of Mr. Stogdon, he published a sermon, preached at Frome, in 1716, at the ordination of Dr. Thomas * Mr. King was educated at Hackney, and removed from Ashwick to Bandon, in Ireland. Mr. Evans was educated at Carmarthen, and settled at Ilfracombe before his removal to Ashwick. M 162 ASHWICK. Morgan, author of " The Moral Philosopher.'' The spirit which these productions breathe, the charitable and truly Christian sentiments they express, are in accordance with the general tenor of this good man's life, and will ensure for his memory the respect of many who have realized the promise, — " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The fol- lowing passage is a specimen of his style : — " Let me rather die than that I should, to serve any turn of life, or a party, misrepresent either the principles or practices of any of my brethren or neighbours. Let me rather die than ascribe such persuasions to them as I know they constantly disown ; they best know their own thoughts, and have as much right to be believed in the professions they make as I have in mine." Hubert Stogdon. The Rev. Mr. Billingsley was also the means of bringing to the neighbourhood of Ashwick, Hubert Stogdon, another minister, whose sotiI " claimed kindred there," and whose life illustrates the history of the times in which he lived. After receiving his education, successively, under a clergyman in Devonshire, at the free school in Exeter, and at Mr. Hallet's academy, he engaged in the the ministry, as Chap- lain, according to the forms of the Dissenters, to Sir John Davy, Bart., at Credy, near Crediton. At this period, about the year 1715, he was " thoroughly orthodox" and declared himself most decidedly against the opinions of Mr. Whiston and Dr. Clarke ; but his zeal was at all times tempered by charity, and a consciousness of his liability to err. " Afterwards, (says Dr. Toulmin in his interesting memoir),* by long and deliberate reading, a diligent and candid examination of both sides of the question, with many prayers and tears, with much fear and trembling, he settled into a view of the subject contrary to that in which he had been edticated." Prior to this change, Mr. * M. R. iv. 58. See also Billingsley's sermon on the death of Stogdon, 1728. ASHWICK. 163 Stogdon intended to propose himself for ordination bj the Unit- ed Assembly of Devon and Cornwall ministers ; but the clamour which was meanwhile raised against him as a supposed Arian, Deist or even Atheist, and the unscriptural authority exercised by the assembly in judging the qualificatious of candidates, ren- dered it desirable that he should remove to a distance. It was at this period his excellent friend, at Ashwick, first exerted himself on his behalf, though he only knew him by the ill report of some, and the good report of a gentleman, who recommended the young divine to his friendship. " 1 was persuaded (says Mr. Billingsley,*) that if Mr. Stogdon came, he would have with me a peaceable retreat, though in an obscure corner of the world ; and that by a successful attempt to draw him hither, I might be beneficial to myself and neighbours by getting such an one amongst us. I knew that I should hereby incur the censures of many, and of some who had given me real and fre- quent proofs of their friendship, and very much expose myself. But being fully persuaded that whatever Mr. Stogdon' s particu- lar sentiments were, whether right or wrong, the same with mine or different from them, one of such a character could not fail of divine acceptance ; and that if I were ashamed or afraid to own him I should not know how to answer it another day. I soon determined what to do." It is then stated that Mr. Billingsley procured Mr. Stogdon's settlement with a small con- gregation at Wokey, near Ashwick, where he continued seven years, for the first four of which he resided in the house of his generous friend. In 1718 he was ordained at Shepton Mallet. Even at this early period, a few candid minds entertained very different sentiments respecting this ceremony from those which prevail in the present day. " I only mean (says Mr. Billingsley) that he solemnly devoted himself to the sacred office in the pre- sence of many ministers and a great number of people ; some of the former assisting and leading, the public devotion, whilst all joined in recommending the labours of the person thus de- * Appendix to Funeral Sermon. M 2 164 ASHWICK. voted, to the Divine direction and blessing ; a sermon being preached at the same time and an exhortation given to the faitliful discharge of the ministry then expressly and solemnly undertaken." Pursuing his course of free inquiry and acting upon his noble principles, Mr. Stogdon became conviaced, whilst at Wokey, of the scriptural authority for Adult Baptism, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends who thought it might prejudice his interest, which was always the last idea in his own mind, he publicly submitted to the rite. It is gratifying to observe that this circumstance did not prevent him from being engaged by, nor from faithfully serving, a Peedo- baptist congregation at Trowbridge, where he happily and use- fully spent the remainder of his days. SHEPTON MALLET, Shepton Mallet is situated five miles from Wells, twelve from Frome, and sixteen from Bath. It lies (says CoUinson) chiefly in a recluse valley, interrupted with winding rocky shelves and dingles. In the last century it was famous for its manufactures of wooUen cloths and knit stockings, which still afford employment to many. Population in 1811,-4638; in 1821,-5021 ; and in 1831,-5330. SHEPTON MALLET, The foundation of the Dissenting cause in this town was laid in 1662. Mr. David Calderwood was then ejected from the living, but there is no account of his subsequent life and labours. The proceedings of the Nonconformists of the neighbour- hood, soon after his ejectment, are mentioned in the history of the Ashwick congregation. About the time of the Revolution the people of Shepton, in conjunction with their brethren at Ashwick and the adjoining parishes, opened a place of worship at Downside, and there continued to assemble until 1696.* They then separated, in consequence of their increased numbers and of the distances from which some of them attended, and the inhabitants of Shepton soon afterwards erected a place of wor- ship in their own town, and enjoyed the services of Mr. John Gumming. The building now occupied by the congregation is probably the original one. There are various marks of antiquity about it, and several indications of its having been enlarged. It contains three gal- * Plot. Diss. Mag., W. 364. SHEPTON MALLET. 167 leries — one of which has always been used indis- criminately; the other two were formerly appro- priated;, in accordance with an ancient custom, one to women and the other to men. There are two burial-grounds; one is on a level with the street; the other, which is smaller, is reached by sixteen steps, and is on a level with the chapel. The inte- rior of the building exhibits two monuments with the following inscriptions : Near this place lie the remains of Mr. Simon Browne, Minister OF the Gospel, a native of this town, but known THROUGH the NATION BY HIS WRITINGS. PORTSMOUTH AND London enjoyed his ministry; and when nature was op- pressed WITH so strange A DISORDER THAT HE THOUGHT HIMSELF less THAN MAN, HE ATTACKED THE BOLDEST INFIDELS OF THE AGE AND TRIUMPHED IN THE CAUSE OF GoD. He DIED A. D. 1732, ^t. 52. To THE EVER -VALUABLE MEMORY OF THE Rev. Anthony Atkey, A late WORTHY PASTOR OF THIS ChURCH, WHOSE SOLID JUDGMENT, GREAT LEARNING, COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRISTIANITY, UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE AND INFLEXIBLE VIRTUE, RENDERED HIM A MOST RATIONAL, AFFECTIONATE, AND USEFUL PREACHER, AN ABLE AND SUCCESSFUL ADVOCATE FOR THE RELIGION OF JeSUS, a faithful and most agreeable friend. The world was early deprived OF this bright ornament of Religion and Liberty, in the thirty-third year of HIS age, Dec 27, 1734. 168 SHEPTON MALLET. The connexion of Mr. Browne with Shepton Mallet induces me to place a short notice of his disorder among the distinct memoirs. He received part of his education from Mr. Gumming, the first minister at Shepton. The successor of that gentle- man, Mr. Aycrigg, removed to Glastonbury some years before Mr. Browne retired to his native town. With the next minister, Mr. Matthew Towgood, he was probably intimate, as he also appears to have been with the fourth on our list, Mr. Anthony Atkey. This name appears in the list of students educated in the Taunton Academy, under Mr. Grove.* Mr. Atkey preached and published a discourse on the death of Mr. Browne, entitled, "The Rectitude of Providence under the severest Dispensations." He also deserves to be had in re- spectful remembrance for the ability and zeal wdth which he appeared as an advocate for Christianity, in the controversy with Dr. Tindal.-f" The congre- gation at Shepton had reason to rejoice that some of the best defences of revealed religion, accom- panied by the most convincing arguments in favour of liberty of conscience, emanated from their circle. Until the end of the last century, this congregation afforded a fair specimen of the Dissenting societies in the West of England. Many of the members were enlightened and respectable manufacturers, * Mon. Repos., O. S., Vol. xiii. p. 90. t His object is thus expressed in the title-page of his work: "The main argument of a late book, entitled ' Christianity as old as the Crea- tion,' fairly stated and examined, or a short view of that whole contro- versy.'" SHEPTON MALLET. 169 possessing considerable influence in the town and neighbourhood. They manifested good sense in choosing as their instructors a succession of pious and liberal men, and gratitude in profiting by their counsels. The latter virtue was also manifested at Shepton by substantial acts of generosity. The society have been remarkable for showing, from the beginning, a greater desire to promote the discharge of moral duties than to excite attention to those points on which Christians differ. This course, however, has tended to lessen their numbers. As soon as other denominations obtained a footing in the town, attention to opinions was excited; it was at length found that the majority of those who attended places of worship preferred doctrinal preaching; and the Presbyterian congregation saw some of the oldest and most valuable members taken to their rest, without leaving others to supply their places. Of four of the ministers biographical no- tices will be given in the following pages. Mr. Shute, the last but one, was educated at the Exeter Academy, under Mr. Kenrick and Mr. Bretland. On leaving Ashwick, he quitted the ministry and engaged in business at Bristol. Mr. Evans was never chosen pastor of the congregation. On the retirement of Mr. Shute he preached as a supply; and in this capacity he has continued ever since, regularly administering the ordinances. He officiates in the morning at Ashwick, and in the afternoon at Shepton. 170 SHEPTON MALLET. i^misteis- David Calderwood 1602 — 1698. John Gumming, M. A 1698 — 1710. Benjamin Aycrigg 1710 — 1716. Matthew Towgood 1716 — 1730. Anthony Atkey 1730 — 1734. John Sherman, M. D 173J — 1754. \YlLLIAM PEARD JlLLARD 1754 — 1770. Benjamin Kiddel 1770 — 1803. Henry Shute 1803—1814. John Evans 1814. The Rev. John Gumming is supposed to have been of Scottish extraction. He was the uncle and father-in-law of Dr. Gumming, an eminent minister of the Scotch Presbyterian Ghurch, London Wall. He was a learned man, and besides being the minister of the congregation at Shepton MaUet, filled the office of Tutor in that town. He published a sermon on Rev. ii. 2, preached before the mayor of Bridgwater and other members of the corporation, at a lecture established for the refor- mation of manners, 1699. He probably settled at Shepton soon after the chapel was built; his death occurred in 1710.* The Rev. Matthew Towgood was the grandson of a minister of the same name, ejected from Hilperton, Wilts., and first cousin to Mr. Micaijah Towgood. At one time he kept a seminary at Golytou, in Devonshire, where he instructed young * Wilson's History, Vol. ii. p. 494. SHEPTON MALLET. 171 men in classical and theological learning — an office for which his solid attainments well fitted him. He afterwards officiated at Poole, but eventually relinquished the ministry and engaged in a brewery. His habits of study and absence of thought, of which many amusing instances were related, rendered Hm imsuccessful in his new occupation. Mr. Towgood published a small grammatical tract, a sermon preached at Poole, " A Brief Dissertation on Funeral Solemnities," 1745, and "Remarks on the Profane and Absurd use of the monosyllable ^ Damn,' " 1740. John Sherman, M. D. — Tliis gentleman received his edu- cation at one of the Scotch Universities, where he took the degree of Master of Arts. There is no account of his having practised as a physician, though, he bore the title. He does not appear to have been distinguished as a minister. His first ap- pearance in this character was at the Presbyterian meeting- house in Great St. Thomas, London, where he was chosen assistant to the Rev. B. A. Atkinson. In 1719 he removed to Ware, in Hertfordshire, at which place he preached and printed a funeral sermon for the Rev. John Hughes, whom he succeeded in the pastoral office. He remained at Ware until he accepted the invitation at Shepton, where he died in 1754, after frequent illness, during which he was often obliged to apply to neigh- bouring ministers for assistance, and sometimes to close the meeting-house, to the great disadvantage of the society. It must be mentioned, to the honour of Dr. Sherman and that of the congregations who elected him, that he was one of the non- subscribing ministers at the Salters' Hall synod in 1719.* The Rev. William Peard Jillard was descended on the maternal side from Mr. William Bartlett and Mr. Oliver Peard, two of the ejected ministers. He was the son of Mr. Peter Jillard, » Wilson, ii. 103. 172 SHEPTON MALLET. wtuD was educated at Taunton and settled successively at Bow, near Crediton, Castle Lane, Exeter, Tavistock, and Castle Green, Bristol. W. P. Jillard was born at Tavistock, and removed with the rest of the family, at a very early period of his life, to Bristol, where his classical education was commenced uuder Mr. Fisher. He entered upon his academical studies in the house of Mr. Moore, at Bridgwater, on whose death he went to study uuder Dr. Latham, at Findern^ in Derbysliire ; and he finished his course of preparation at Glasgow, under Dr. Leech- man. His first settlement in the pastoral office was at Shepton, where he preached with great acceptance seventeen or eighteen years. So much was he admired as a minister, and so high was the opinion of his learning, good sense, and piety, that more than one overture of preferment in the Church of England was made to him. The temptations to conformity thrown in his way were particularly strong ; and his refined taste and polite manners would have led him to value the advantages of a higher station ; but he could not be induced to swerve fi*om the path of integrity. His strain of preaching was sensible, liberal, and practical ; and yet, probably in consequence of these charac- teristics, towards the close of his life it was not popular. He removed fi*om Shepton to Bishop's Hull, near Taunton, * where he spent the remainder of his life, twenty-nine years, enjo^dng general respect and affection. Mr. Jillard left a son and a daughter, to whom Dr. Toulmin dedicated the impressive dis- course preached by him on the death of his friend and fellow- labourer. Mr. Simon Browne. — It was while exercising the pastoral office at the Old Jewry, with great reputation, that Mr. Browne was attacked by the "strange disorder" mentioned in the in- scription. He imagined " that Almighty God, by a singular instance of divine power, had in a gradual manner annihilated * An interesting account of this congregation is given in a note to the sermon on the death,of the Rev. W. P. Jillard, by Dr. Toulmin. SHEPTON MALLET. 173 in him the thinking substance, and utterly divested him of con- sciousness ; — that though he retained the human shape, and the faculty of speaking in a manner that appeared to others ra- tional, he had all the while no more notion of what he said than a parrot. And, very consistently with this, he looked upon himself as no longer a moral agent, a subject of reward or punishment."* It is singular that, having quitted the ministry and retired to Shepton, in consequence of this idea, though he could seldom be persuaded to pray, even for a blessing on his food, he was not only still distinguished for the performance of all social virtues, but even intent upon literary pursuits. For some time he amused himself with translating several parts of the ancient Greek and Latin poets into English verse. He af- terwards composed, for the use of children, an English grammar and spelling-book, an abstract of the scripture history, and a collection of fables. With great labour he also amassed together, in a short compass, all the themes of the Greek and Latin lan- guages, and compiled a dictionary to each of these works. Du- ring the two last years of his life, he published " A Disquisition on the Doctrine of the Trinity," " Remarks on Mr. Woolston's fifth discourse on the Miracles of our Saviour," and " A Reply to Tindal's attack on the Religion of Nature and the Christian Revelation." All these works were written at Shepton, with little assistance from books or learned conversation, and with the full impression that all the thinking powers had been taken from him ; yet they were pronounced among the best that had appeared on the subject. They display great extent of know- ledge, and uncommon argumentative powers ; and some of his friends were accustomed to say, " while he imagined he had no soul, he was so acute a disputant, that he could reason as if he was possessed of \ai ; a large part of the trade consists in the exportation of pipe clay, vast quantities of which are obtained from the pits round the town ; and nearly ten thousand tons are annually shipped for London, Hull, Liverpool, Glasgow, &c., for the supply of the various potteries. This clay is of considerable use in the composition of Stafibrdshire ware. — Britton and Brayley. Population in 1811,— 1709; in 1821,-1931 ; in 1831,-2325. UNITARIAN CHAPEL. A SOCIETY of Nonconformists sprang up at Ware- ham in those times of persecution to which so many references are made in this \ ohime. Mr. Chaplyn was ejected from the parish by the Act of Unifor- mity ; but it is not said that he preached afterwards, either in the town or neighbourhood. When he was silenced he had eight children; and it being necessary that something should be done for their support, Mrs. Chaplyn engaged, successfully, in a malting business.* We are told that Mr. Clark, the son-in-law of an ejected minister in Wiltshire, was the first Dissent- ing minister at Wareham.j- The other particulars of the early history of the old Nonconformist society, it does not come within my plan to relate, the mem- bers being now Trinitarian. My oliject is to fur- nish an account of the origin of the Unitarian con- gregation, the leading members of which belonged, until lately, to the original place of worship. I shall select from the correspondence, on both sides, those circumstances which appear to have been al- * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 1/.5. t Ibid., Vol. ii. p. .'i05. WAREHAM. 279 most unanimously considered as mainly instrumental in bringing about the present state of things. For very many years the congregation ranked under the denomination of Presbyterian.* Mr. Kell, the minister at the close of the last century, and who is still living at Birmingham, was an Arian. He was succeeded by Mr. Thomas, a gen- tleman recommended by Mr. Manning, an Arian minister at Exeter. " His sentiments (said Mr. M., in his letter to the congregation) entirely coin- cide with your present minister's — Mr. Keirs."-j- Mr. Thomas filled the office twenty-two years ; — in 1822 he resigned; and in the following year he died at Thickthorn, near Ilminster.^ During the latter part of his life he possessed some peculiari- ties of opinion which prevented his classing himself decidedly with any party. Yet he was on terms of religious fellowship with Unitarians ; he generally attended the meetings of their associations, and not those of the "orthodox." He certainly preferred Watts's Hymns, but he frequently altered or omitted their Calvinistic phraseology; and he invited Trini- tarian ministers to his pulpit, but they never return- ed the compliment. During the ministry of Mr. Thomas, as well as that of his predecessor, some of the oldest and most opulent members of the congregation were Anti- trinitarians. These were the descendants of per- sons who, for generations, had been the chief sup- * Moil. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 207. t Ibid., p. 437. I Obituary of Mr, Thomas, Mon. Repos., O. S., Vol. xviii. p. (J05. 280 WAREIIAM. porters of the Presbyterian interest at Wareham. But some years before the resignation of Mr. Thomas, their influence began to be diminished, in consequence of the exertions of a Calvinistic gentle- man who had lately settled in their town and married a lady of the congregation. This gentleman ap- proving many of the sentiments of the minister, and being related to several of the members, attended the chapel, and was anxious to be appointed a Trustee, though he knew there were strong objec- tions to his filling the office. At a meeting in 1818, on perceiving some hesitation on the part of his fel- low-worshipers, he said, ''If I am not worthy a place m your trust, I will not occupy one in your church and congregation." The appeal was suc- cessful ; — he was admitted.* From this time the new Trustee was active in diffusing his own religious opinions. He circulated tracts of an orthodox tendency among the young; and when opportunities offered, introduced Trinita- rian ministers to the pulpit. Various other charges were made against him, the most important of which was, that he practised great duplicity in en- deavouring to deprive the Unitarians of their place of worship. These charges were denied; a long letter, in reply to them, was published in the Monthly Re- pository, and another letter, substantiating them, quickly followed. That they were made without foundation, it is difficult to believe ; we are disposed * Mou. Rcpos., N. S., Vol. iii, p. 346. WAREHAM. 281 to make every allowance for, nay, to admire, the Christian zeal of one who believes he is opposing the progress of dangerous error, — but further we cannot go. After Calvinism had gained the ascen- dancy, the gentleman who had laboured to promote it called on a Unitarian in the district, to justify his conduct. — "Have you acted in a kind and chari- table manner?" was the question. The "orthodox" Trustee answered, "If I had done as much for Uni- tarianism as I have for Calvinism, you would have felt differently." — "I might have /e/^ differently," said the Unitarian, "though I never, under any circumstances, could have considered such conduct becoming either a Christian or a gentleman."* For some time after this change, the Unitarian section of the society continued to occupy the places of their forefathers in the old meeting. It was hoped that, as there was already a Calvinistic con- gregation in the town with whom the others might worship, the new j)arty would at length yield. But this was not the case; the Unitarians were com- pelled to withdraw and form themselves into a dis- tinct society ; and on the first Sunday in the month of February, 1828, though but a small flock and without a pastor, they commenced assembling to- gether in a temporary place of worship, opened by the Rev. J. Mitchelson, of Poole, with the hope that, under the Divine blessing, their numbers would increase, and their spiritual wants be sup- plied. They were not disappointed ; at first the * Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 438. 282 WAREHAM. house was kept open by the reading of one of the members and by the services of neighbouring min- isters ; for the space of three months the congrega- was favoured with the services of Mr. Kell, one of the former pastors ; and at the close of a year they had the services of a settled pastor, Mr. Henry Squire, from the York College. A large proportion of the congregation were, at this period, of the poorer classes ;* they had read, with attention and with understanding, various tracts which had been put into their hands ; they had searched the Scrip- tures for themselves, and recovered from the alarm which their Calvinistic friends had excited respect- ing the supposed dreadful tendency of Unitarianism ; they had found in the doctrines every where spoken against, a rich supply for their greatest wants as erring and sinful, yet rational and accountable crea- tures. Finding themselves thus encouraged, the leading members of the new society contemplated the erec- tion of a commodious place of worship. Meanwhile, various steps were taken to allay the irritation which had been occasioned by the retirement of the Unitarians from the old chapel. The gentleman who had made the charge of duplicity against the "orthodox" trustee offered to meet him for the pur- pose of proving it, which offer he thought fit to decline. Then, the Association of Independent Ministers for the county of Dorset proposed that three members of their body should meet three sub- * Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 212. WAREHAM. 283 scribers to the Southern Unitarian Fund.* This proposal was received in a spirit of conciliation, but not acceded to, because the charge had not been made against a congregation, but against an indivi- dual; and because the Association, by holding a meeting in the old chapel at Wareham and assisting at the ordination of its new minister, had prejudged the question. Other reasons were also assigned of equal weight ; the Calvinistic arbitrators, however, thought proper to meet, examine evidence, and pub- lish their opinion. Their number was reduced to two by illness ; these confessed, in substance, that the statements before them were only ex-parte ; it would be wrong, therefore, to attach much impor- tance to their published opinion as to the right of the present occupants of the place to their possession of it, and as to the meritoriousness of the efforts of the individual whose conduct had been arraigned.-]- Thus ended this unfortunate affair. — I have entered more fully into the details of it than my inclination prompted, for two reasons, — it appeared right to record on the pages of a history of the Western Churches a few particulars of one instance of the loss, to the Unitarians, by the non-appointment of suitable Trustees, of the chapels in which they and their ancestors had been accustomed to worship. I presumed, also, that I might be allowed to remind such of my readers as may be placed in similar cir- cumstances, that, whether they claim rights which * Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iii. p. 888. f Ibid., Vol. iv. p. 137. 284 warehyVM. they do not possess, or defend those which they have long enjoyed, — the highest considerations are fairness, kindness, candour, charity, the preserva- tion of a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man. While the provincial associations were consider- ing the proceedings of the past, the new congregation were energetically preparing for the future. Mr. Squire's zealous and judicious exertions having been attended with gradually increasing success, the members of his flock commenced the erection of a place of worship. This was accomplished at an expense of about ^1500., which, with a trifling ex- ception, was defrayed by five or six of the persons who had been accustomed to worship in the old meeting. On Wednesday, the twenty-ninth of Sep- tember, 1830, the new building was opened by a public religious service; the devotional part was conducted by the Rev. M. Maurice, of Southampton, and the sermon, which is justly characterised as eloquent and impressive, was delivered by the Rev. R. Aspland, of Hackney.* During this service the chapel was well filled ; but in the evening, when the working classes had finished their daily labour, the aisles were crowded, and many were prevented by want of room from hearing another discourse by Mr. Aspland on the delightful nature of the Divine * This sermon has been published. The text is singularly appropriate ; I Cor. iv. 13: "Being defamed, \vc intreat." The arguments must make a deep impression on all who arc desirous of exercising that charity which " thinkcth no evil." WAREHAM. 285 assurance that the blessings of knowledge, liberty, and religious truth shall be handed down from one generation to another to the end of time. * The results of the animating proceedings of the day were highly gratifying. A considerable addition was soon made to the number of permanent mem- bers of the society. About six months after this event they lost their first pastor, Mr. Squire, — that gentleman having removed to Yarmouth in com- pliance with an encouraging congregational invita- tion. His place at Wareham was filled by Mr. Wallace, who had previously discharged ministerial duties at Totness, York Street, (London,) Preston, and Brighton. This gentleman is still the pastor of the Wareham congregation, and has the happi- ness of seeing the cause which, in its infancy, had to struggle with so many difficulties, maintain an honourable position and acquire increasing respect and attachment. They have a chapel library of three hundred volumes and a Sunday-school of forty children. * Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. iv. p. 869. POOLE. A TOWN and county of itself, deriving its name from the bay or pool on the north side of which it is situated. It stands on a peninsula connected by a narrow isthmus with the main land. Being on the borders of a wide, desolate heath, and on an unsheltered shore, it has a dreary and bleak appearance. The peninsula is three quarters of a mile long, and half a mile wide ; and within that compass are three or four considerable streets, running nearly north-east and south-west. The borough of Poole is very ancient, as appears from William Long-espe granting a number of privileges to the burgesses both by land and by sea on payment of seventy marks. His charter was con- firmed by William Montacute, who changed the office denominated, in the former charter, Praepositus, into Mayor. Other liberties were after^vards given and confirmed to the town by different monarchs ; but for its most considerable privileges, Poole is indebted to Elizabeth. This sovereign incorporated and made it a free to^vn, and, after adding other immunities, directed it to be formed into a distinct county, and to appoint its own Sheriff, &c., in the same manner as the town and county of Southampton. — Britton and Brayley. Population in 1811,-4816; in 1821,-6390; in 1831,-6459. OLD MEETING, HILL STREET. Nonconformity did not excite attention at Poole so early as at many other places. Mr. Samuel Hardy was ejected from the parish, hut not until twelve or fourteen years after the passing of the Act of Uniformity. He was the minister at Poole during this interval, and, being a liberal man, it is probable that no society of Nonconformists was even secretly formed in the town while he remained in the Established Church. The particulars of Mr. Hardy's life illustrate the history of the times. He was dismissed from Wad- ham College, when about to take the degree of Master of Arts, because he would not take the oaths. He then went to Charminster, a peculiar, belonging to the family of Trenchards, and excluded, by this circumstance, from all episcopal jurisdiction. The minister here was a kind of chaplain to his patrons ; and by their influence and a little conformity, such as reading the creed, lessons, commandments, scrip- ture sentences, and prayer for the king, Mr. Hardy was protected from the neighbouring justices.* When he had lived at Charminster a considerable * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 4C6. POOLE. 289 time, the inhabitants of Poole invited him to that living, w^hich w^as also a peculiar. Here, however, though he preached, prayed, and conversed in the same manner as before, his situation was more hazardous. The public duties he was required to perform, as pastor of the flock, were regarded by the rigid Conformists in the neighbourhood as traps either for his conscience or his personal safety. On one occasion he was desired to baptize a child; — if he had used the form in the Common Prayer Book, he would have deserted his principles ; if he had not used it, and yet performed the ceremony, he would have been ejected; he escaped by inducing a clerical friend to act as his substitute. But Mr. Hardy was too obnoxious to be always allowed to discharge his duty in his own way. After various attempts had been made, in vain, to detect him acting illegally, a commission was ap- pointed to try his title to Poole. Three bishops were included, but they refused to act in any pro- ceeding that might appear prejudicial to the autho- rity of their own courts. The country gentlemen, however, were willing both to act and to convict. They appointed a sermon, before which the clerk set a psalm, and the minister went into the pulpit without using the Common Prayer. This was enough; they discarded him without further cere- mony, and he was obliged to quit the town imme- diately. He removed to Badsley, where he con- tinued two years in the pastoral office, meeting with u 290 POOLE. much trouble for not conforming to the canons. After this he never preached in public. Mr. Hardy's dismissal, which took place about the year 1674, probably occasioned the establish- ment of a church of Nonconformists at Poole. Their first minister appears to have been Mr. John Wesley — also an ejected minister, the son of Mr. Bartholomew Wesley, of Charmouth, and the grand- father of the celebrated founder of Methodism. On the passing of the Act of Uniformity, he was Vicar of Whitchurch, in Dorsetshire, from which place he removed to Melcomb, but was quickly driven thence by an order from the corporation against his settlement under heavy penalties. Mr. Wesley then visited Bridgwater, Ilminster, and Taunton ; in these towns he met with great kindness from Dis- senters of the three denominations ; and, encouraged by them, he preached almost every day in the vari- ous places which he visited. At length, a gentle- man who had a very good house at Preston, two or three miles from Melcomb, gave him leave to oc- cupy it rent-free ; and it was while he resided here that the Nonconformists at Poole chose him to be their pastor. In this relation he continued as long as he lived.* Mr. Wesley probably officiated in a retired room or some obscure detached building. Although full of Christian courage when circumstances required it, he deemed it right to avoid publicity while the * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 484. POOLE. 291 times were unsettled. The present place of worship, which is situated in Hill Street, was built in 1705, — it is presumed for Mr. Madgwick, who was very popular, and seems to have succeeded Mr. Wesley. The congregation flourished to such a degree that, in 1721, it was necessary to enlarge the building, which is now fifty feet square, having a double roof supported by four pillars in the centre. It has a substantial appearance, and is kept in good order, partly by means of a small endowment for that purpose, (the only one in possession of the con- gregation,) bequeathed by a lady during the minis- try of the Rev. A. Bennet. In the year 1817, a small organ was presented to the chapel by Mr. William Young, of Kingston, Jamaica ; and about the same time a congregational library was formed at the suggestion of Mr. Bennet. There is a small burying-ground attached to the meeting-house. In the interior of the building, over the pulpit, is a marble slab, with the following inscription : To THE MEMORY OF JoSEPH StEPHENSON, WHO FOR FORTY-FIVE YEARS, DURING WHICH HE FILLED THE OFFICE OF ClERK OF THIS meeting, manifested a steady attachment to the cause of Religious Liberty, the Right of Private Judgment, and THE practice of RATIONAL RELIGION. HiS FrAILTIES FOR frailties he HAD, (AND AVHO IS PERFECT?) LIE HUMBLED IN THE DUST. To COMMEMORATE HIS VIRTUES, AND AS A MONU- MENT OF THEIR RESPECT AND ESTEEM, THIS TaBLET IS IN- SCRIBED BY THE CONGREGATION. He SUCCEEDED HIS FaTHER as Clerk in the year 1766, and died on the 19th of July, 1810, aged 87 years.* * Communicated, with many other particulars, by Mr. Naish, of Poole. u 2 292 POOLE. Mr. Madgwick died in March, 1734. He seems to have had a colleague in Mr. Matthew Towgood, who settled at Poole in 1729, but soon relinquished the ministry and engaged in business. In 1735, Mr. Thomas Howe filled the pastoral ofiice at Poole ; how long he remained I cannot ascertain. He was succeeded by Mr. Hayward, who removed to Lon- don in 1752. Then came Mr. Phillipps, the father of the minister of the same name at Dorchester. In his time the congregation presented the singular scene of being, as Unitarians consider, in advance of their pastor in seeking and finding religious truth. He continued among them till the beginning of the year 1758, when the diversity of sentiment which had long existed rose to such a height as to occasion a division of the society. " The pastor (says my informant) had advanced doctrines not congenial with the opinions of the more moderate of his hearers, who also happened to be the majority, and he maintained them in a manner so disgusting, that, after much indecorous altercation, he was locked out of the pulpit, and his adherents followed him." Mr. Phillipps was succeeded by Mr. Howel, who removed to Poole from Enfield, and afterwards settled at Yeovil and Bridgwater. He was a man of good sense, liberal mind, and moderate senti- ments ; and for some years the congregation con- tinued large. It was now at the summit of its prosperity ; Mr. HoweVs ministry was well attend- ed and highly appreciated ; but at length his mild POOLE. 293 and sensible discourses were discovered to be less attractive than the fervid preaching of the ortho- dox. His hearers gradually diminished; and his stipend being consequently reduced, he found it ne- cessary, in 1782, to remove to Yeovil, where he had greater prospects of usefulness and better means for the support of his family. A similar account might be given of many Presbyterian congregations at this period. Their ministers had not only adopted Arian or Unitarian sentiments, but had acquired, in not a few instances, greater intellectual refine- ment than their immediate predecessors. Some happily deemed these acquisitions perfectly com- patible with great earnestness in the discharge of their pulpit and pastoral duties, and with a style of of preaching doctrinal as well as practical, evan- gelical as well as rational. The majority, however, though possessed of good talents, and though emi- nently useful by their private examples and literary labours, did not accommodate themselves to the wants and wishes of the age. They persisted in composing and reading sermons which could only be admired by the select few ; and hence the nu- merical declensions which mark the history of the Presbyterians at the close of the last century. May their successors, especially those who are young, pursue a different course; may they remember that the Gospel is designed to be preached to all, and that he is most worthy to be called a Christian minister who values intellectual treasures chiefly as they enable him to reach, reform, and elevate the 294 POOLE. poor and ignorant in common with the wealthy and enlightened ! Mr. Howel's successor at Poole was Mr. Evan Da vies, who, being a gentleman of some property, was able to settle here. During the first years of his ministry the society increased ; but afterwards it again diminished, and, in 1794, Mr. Davies accepted an invitation to Lewes. The next was Mr. William Lamport, during whose residence at Poole there was once more a considerable im- provement. Soon after the settlement of this gentle- man, a service was conducted, the particulars of which, as such forms then began to be disused among the English Presbyterians, may be copied into this work. "The Rev. W. Lamport, son of tlie late ingenious W. Lam- port, of Houiton, having officiated about eighteen months to the congregation in the old meeting-house at Poole, much to the satisfaction of his hearers, at their request was solemnly com- mitted to the blessing of God in the full discharge of his pastoral duties, on Wednesday, June 22, 1796. T. Howe, of Bridport, began by prayer and reading suitable portions of Scriptvu-e, with a brief comment. S. Fawcett offered up the general intercessory prayer for all states and conditons of men. J. Manning, of Exeter, preached from 2 Cor. xiii. 8 : " For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth;" proving that all the attempts of unbelievers had turned out, and were likely to turn out, to the furtherance of the gospel, by drawing forth convincing defences. J. Cornish, of Colyton, explained the design of the present meeting, proposed to the young minister certain questions relating to his ideas of Christianity, the Reformation, and his reasons for engaging in the work of the ministry amongst Dis- senters, and then commended him in prayer to the favour and POOLE. 295 blessing of the Almighty, in the connexion he had formed. J. Horsey, of Northampton, delivered a charge from John xxi. 15, shewing that a sincere love to Christ would lay the best foundation for fidelity and diligence in a preacher of the gospel ; and R. Kell, of Wareham, concluded with prayer and a bene- diction. Suitable psalms and hymns were read by J. Jeffries, of Ringwood, at the proper intervals for singing. A very numerous, attentive audience, comprising members of the Esta- blishment and other denominations, expressed their approbation of the manner in which the whole service was conducted, and several ministers, besides those engaged, expressed their friendly regards by attending. * In 1804, Mr. Lamport removed to Lancaster, and left no successor in the pastoral office at Poole. The service was then conducted with much pro- piety and praiseworthy zeal by Mr. John Elson, a young member of the congregation. By this means the chapel was kept open every Lord's day for six- teen months, at the end of which Mr. Seaward ac- cepted an invitation, and was also regularly ordain- ed. The writer of an account of this service -j- remarks, that "the highly respectable members of the congregation had for a series of years eminently distinguished themselves as the friends of civil and religious liberty." Mr. Seaward resigned in 1815; and another member of the congregation — Mr. Thomas Lamport, undertook to lead the devotions and promote the moral jand religious improvement of the flock. His services were respectably, though not numerously attended till the early part of the * p. D, M., Vol. iii. p. 279. t Mon, Repos., O, S., Vol. ii. p. 558. 296 POOLE. year 1817, when Mr. Bennett removed to Poole from Ditchling. At the commencement of his min- istry, he proposed the establishment of a chapel library, which was immediately assented to. The successors of Mr. Bennett have been Mr. Mitchel- son and Mr. Rowntree, both of Manchester College, York. Mr. Mitchelson left Poole to accept an in- vitation from Diss. The congregation is still small; but it contains elements favourable to its growth. Among those at present connected with the congre- gation are two descendants of its earliest benefactor — the gentleman who gave the ground on which the older part of the building stands.* Others there are who cherish the memories, and are disposed to profit by the examples, of those friends to truth, freedom, charity, and holiness, who have worshiped in this place. Besides the chapel library there is a Sunday- school, and a collection of books for children. ilttmfsters. John Wesley, M. A 1074 — William Madgwick — 1734. Matthew Towgood 1729 — 1735. Thomas Rowe 1 735 — Samuel Hayward — 1752. Samuel Phillipps 1752 — 1758. John Howel 1 758 — 1 782. Evan Davies 1782—171)4. * Unit. Chron., No. .vv. p. 96. POOLE. 297 William Lamport 1795—1804. Roger Seaward 1805 — 1815. Abraham Bennett 1817 — 1826. John MiTCHELSON 1826—1834. Mark Rowntree 1834. additional particulars of THE LIFE OF MR. HARDV. After he left Badsley he was a private chaplain in Essex, whence he removed to Newbury, where he died in 1691. He won the regard and promoted the improvement of men of all classes hy his Christian kindness and integrity. Several in- stances are on record of his courage and activity when the interests of his fellow-creatures were at stake. He once told a nobleman, Lord Brook, that men of high rank were the most unhappy in the world, because nobody dared tell them their faults, or shew them the right way to Heaven. His benevo- lence was manifested by his delight in doing good, and more particularly by his zeal in collecting nearly £'500 for the pur- pose of redeeming captives from slavery. Nor did he deem it inconsistent with his office as a minister, to exert himself on important political occasions, and to throw his influence into the scale of honest independence, though at the risk of enduring the frowns of the powerful. While he was living at Poole, the inhabitants were called upon to choose a member of Parliament. The Earl of Shaftesbury, then Lord Chancellor, was very anx- ious to have his son elected ; but Mr. Hardy opposed his lord- ship, and exerted himself successfully on behalf of Mr. Trenchard, whom he thought a fitter man. The Chancellor was incensed, and wrote a very angry letter to his opponent, but was soon afterwards reconciled to him in consequence of his own honest representations of the state of the case.* * Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii, p. 467. 298 POOLE. The Rev. J. Wesley, M.A. — This worthy ancestor of the founder of Methodism was educated at New Inn Hall, Oxford. His characteristics were not unlike those by which his celebrated grandsons were distingiiished. He was zealous, serious, and diligent ; willing to struggle with difficulties in the discharge of his duty, yet averse to plunge into needless danger. At the age of twenty-two, and in the year 1658, he was sent to preach at Whitchurch, in Dorsetshire. Soon after the Restoration, some of his neighbours persecuted him because he would not read the book of Common Prayer. He recorded in his diary two inte- resting conferences on this subject — one with the Bishop of Bristol, the other with Sir Gerard Napier, a country justice, by whom he had been imprisoned. These are interesting as shew- ing the opinions which were entertained at that period in refer- ence to the necessary qualifications for the pastoral office, and the manner in which bishops and justices exercised their power. Mr. Wesley, by preaching privately after his ejectment, pre- served his liberty longer than many of his brethren. Four ministers living in his neighbourhood determined on preaching with open doors, and were accordingly indicted at the next assizes for being present at riotous and unlawful assemblies ; they were found guilty, fined forty marks each, and obliged to find security for their good behaviour. But all Mr. Wesley's caution could not save him from the effects of wicked laws ; the Oxford Act obliged him to leave his family and his people ; and after he returned he was imprisoned four times, and appre- hended still more frequently. The sufferings, both of mind and body, to which he was exposed by the cruelty of the High- Church party, combined with other cirucmstances, produced an illness which terminated in his decease when he was only in the prime of life. Even then bigotry was not satisfied : the vicar of the parish in which he died, would not suffer his remains to be interred in the church.* Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 486. Mt\>otx0f)m. COLLUMPTON. HONITON. COLYTON. SIDMOUTH. LYMPSTONE and GULLIFORD. TOPSHAM. EXETER. CREDITON. MORETON HAMPSTEAD. TAVISTOCK. PLYMOUTH. DEVONPORT. COLLUMPTON. CoLLUMPTON, or Cullumpton, or Columbton, according to Risdon, is "the chiefest place on the river Culme, and was the King's demesne in the Saxon Heptarchy." Alfred bequeathed the manor to his son Ethelward, with other lands in the counties of Somerset and Hants. The town consists principally of one long street, badly paved. Through this street passes the turnpike road from Bath and Bristol to Exeter. Many of the houses are well buUt ; but the humbler dwellings are mostly constructed with cobb walls. The manufactures are of broad cloths, serges and kersymeres ; but the former are not made in any considerable quantity. — Britton and Brayley. Population in 1811,-2917 ; in 1821,— 3410; in 1831,-^813. UNITARIAN CHAPEL. CoLLUMPTON was One of the numerous places in Devonshire from which ministers were ejected in 1662. The sufferer here was Mr. Crompton, who continued many years among his people after he quitted his living. Once in five or six weeks the inhabitants were ministered to by Mr. Batt, who had been driven, by the Act of Uniformity, from the living of Riston, in Somersetshire. Mr. Crompton preached in a dwelling-house some years after the Revolution.* About 1695, the congregation built a meeting-house which re- mained till 1815. In 1698, they chose for their pastor Mr. Richard Evans, who remained with them forty-five years. The register of baptisms was commenced by him on the day he first preached at CoUumpton — April 10th, 1698. This was origi- nally a private record begun by Mr. Evans, at Staverton, near Ashburton, January 6th, 1694. He obtained his certificate in 1695 at the Exeter Quarter Sessions, where he was registered as a " Dissenting minister in holy orders." Mr. Evans received the following letter of invitation : * English Presbyterian, p. 181. COLLUMPTON. 303 CoUnmpton, April 6th, 1698. " Reverend S'^; " The good report we liave heard of you hath induced us to give you the trouble of these lines, being destitute of a minister and many of our congregation are desirous to heare you preach among us. We resolve to look no more after Mr. Meade, and this is our general resolution, wherefore desire that you would be with us the next Lord's day and preach heere. O*" ffriend Mr. Pearce can give you an account how our affaires stand heere. If you speake to Mr. Meade, you will find that Mr. Smith, of Collumpton, hath given him a ftdl answer as to our resolution above written ; soe we desire you will, if possible, be heere next Sabbath and you will much oblige y*' assured Is ffriends, "Thomas Spied, "James Artnoll, "John Harris, "Anth. Codner." « To Mr. Richard Evans, Minister of the Gospell, these presents." With this invitation Mr. Evans complied; and his settlement at Collumpton was advantageous to the cause. In the early part of the last century the congregation vv^as large ; many people in the neigh- bourhood being in the habit of joining it. As to the opinions of Mr. Evans and his flock there is no information ; from his only publication^ — " A Tract on Holiness," it may be inferred that he was chiefly anxious to cultivate purity of heart and life. He died in 1743. During the next ten years, the so- ciety had several ministers. All appear to have 304 COLLUMPTON. held liberal opinions and to have prepared their hearers for adopting Unitarianism. Mr. Morgan, who became the pastor in 1754^ had been led to relinquish orthodoxy by the writings of Mr. Peirce, and proceeded even farther than that celebrated man. The congregation declined in numbers towards the close of the last century. Many members had been previously removed by death without leaving families to supply their places; and about this period, other Dissenting chapels were erected in the neighbourhood. Then, however, a spirit of liberality prevailed in Collumpton, which was too soon extinguished. Soon after the establishment of Sunday-schools, many persons of various deno- minations were accustomed to meet on Sunday evenings, at the Presbyterian chapel. All the Sunday-scholars in the town assembled ; Mr. Mor- gan conducted the devotional parts of the service, and some respectable layman read a practical ser- mon. There are some yet living, who entertain a pleasing recollection of these services, and who deeply regretted the spirit of bigotry which put a stop to them. It is difficult for the young of the present day to form an adequate conception of the intemperate zeal against Dissenters, at the time of the French Revolution. A few, however, may have heard their aged friends speak of the dangers to which they were exposed. The following circumstance will tend to shew what our fathers had to encounter. COLLUMPTON. 305 In the parish of Uffcuhne, near Collumpton, there was, at this time, a small meeting-house dedicated to the worship of one God, the Father. It is thus noticed by Polwhele: "Bridwell, in this parish, on which is a new mansion, is the pleasant seat of Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., who pulled down an old chapel (dedicated to St. Bridget or St. Bride, probably near some consecrated well called St. Bride's well,) and v/ith the materials built a part of the present house ; and at a little distance, he has also erected a Presbyterian or Unitarian chapel for himself and family."* This period being, with re- gard to religious proceedings in this country, that of another reign of terror, it was more than usually necessary that those who were averse to all spiritual usurpation, and friendly to a simple, earnest, and scriptural mode of worship, should unite for mutual support and the diffusion of truth. Accordingly, several young men, still among the consistent mem- bers of our churches, having no minister at their own place of worship, at Honiton, went every Sun- day to the sequestered chapel at Bridwell. But so strong was the influence of ignorance and prejudice, that their steps were watched, their occasional calls on country friends misrepresented, and their praise- worthy efforts to excite a love of gospel truth stig- * The Bridwell chapel, which has now been abandoned some years, was opened in 1792 ; a sermon on "The Promise of Christ's Presence with his Disciples" was preached by Dr, Toulmin, and afterwards published. The occasion was rendered remarkable by the circumstance, that the friends who assembled formed that useful institution — the Western Unitarian Society. X 306 COLLUMPTON. matized as attempts to circulate sedition and infi- delity. This spirit hastened the decline of the congrega- tion at Collumpton. But a brighter time arrived, — a time when, though prejudice remained awake, persecution was asleep ; and Mr. Morgan's succes- sor did not fail to avail himself of it. Mr. Davis had been at Collumpton some years w^ithout an opportunity of doing much to diffuse his principles. At length he employed his energies judiciously and successfully ; and it should be noted for the encou- ragement of others, (says a writer in the Monthly Repository,*) that, by unremitting endeavours, he lived to see the fruit of his labours. In 1823, he felt it his duty to attend in the vestry, on Wed- nesday evenings, to deliver lectures and to con- verse with any who might be sufficiently interested to hear what he had to advance in favour of his views of the gospel. For some time few came to be instructed ; but, with peculiar steadiness, he held on in what he thought the path of duty, and his hearers became numerous. His last lecture, de- lived a few days before his death, was considered particularly interesting, and his auditors had then increased fourfold. I have stated that the first meeting-house was built in 1695. In 1814 it was found to be so much decayed as to render further assembling in it danger- ous; the congregation, therefore, took it down and erected another on the same site.-j* This building, * Vol. XX. p. 52. t Mon. Repos., Vol. x. p. 721. COLLUMPTON. 307 which, though smaller, is more commodious, was opened for public worship on the 29th of October, in the same year. Discourses were preached on this occasion, in the morning and evening by Dr. Car- penter, and in the afternoon by Mr. Davis. A tribute of gratitude was paid to the Wesleyan Methodists, who permitted the Unitarians to use their chapel, once each Lord's day, for some months. Adjoining the chapel are two school-rooms, of still more modern date, used for the religious instruction of about sixty boys and girls. The congregation also support a library, a fellowship fund, and a brotherly society.* These institutions have lessened the evils of ignorance and poverty, and strengthened the union that subsists among the worshipers. In promoting the happiness and improvement of this interesting society — their pastor, Mr. Yeates, has been lately assisted by Mr. N. S. Heineken, who was educated at York, and settled some years at Sidmouth. The following inscriptions are in the chapel ; Sacred to the memory of thr Rev. Samuel Morgan, WHOSE remains ARE INTERRED NEAR THIS SPOT, AND WHO, DURING 40 YEARS, WAS THE HIGHLY RESPECTED MINISTER OF THE CONGREGATION ASSEMBLING IN THIS PLACE. He DIED ON THE 15th September, 1794, in the 64th year of his age. * Communicated with much other information by the Rev. M. L. Yeates, who describes the brotherly society as a fund for the relief of poor persons in sickness, supported by monthly contributions of two pence per month, from those who expect relief, and other sums from those who do not. At the monthly meeting, each subscriber, is at liberty to recommend any case that he knows to need relief. The Treasurer is authorized to advance, in case of emergency, what he deems right in the interval. The .society has been established fourteen years, and has always worked well. X 2 308 COLLUMPTON. And also of Elizabeth, his wife, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 4th MaY, 1783, AGED 38 YEARS. She was the youngest daughter of the learned and EXCELLENT Dr. BeNNET StEVENSON, FOR 37 YEARS MINISTER OF A SOCIETY OF PrOTESTANT DiSSENTERS, AT BaTH. This tablet was erected in 1827, from a feeling op affec- tionate RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF HER PARENTS, BY THE daughter OF Samuel and Elizabeth Morgan. Emma Catherine, the beloved wife OF Nicholas Samuel Heineken, and only SURVIVING CHILD OF THE ReV. MaTTHEW LeE YeATES, MINISTER OF THIS CONGREGATION, DIED NoV. 12tll, 1831, aged 24 years. This tablet, too perishable for the record of her virtues, is erected as a tribute of affection by her bereaved HUSBAND. "What is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." On two stones in the yard adjoining the chapel: Here lieth the body of the Rev. Mr. Richard Evans, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE 22nd JuLY, 1743, IN THE 72nd year of HIS AGE. He WAS PASTOR OF THIS CONGREGATION 45 YEARS, "whose REJOICING WAS THIS, THE TESTIMONY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE." Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Davis, who de- parted THIS LIFE Dec. 16th, 1824, aged 62. He WAS a native of Cardiganshire, and the faithful mi- nister OF this congregation during 28 YEARS. "Be thou faithful unto death, and i will give thee a crown of life." COLLUMPTON. 309 William Crompton, M. A 1662—1696. Richard Evans 1 698 — 1743. Robert Glass 1745 — 1746. Thomas Chapman 1748 — 1751. Hook 1751—1754. Samuel Morgan 1754 — 1794. John Davis 1794—1824. Matthew Lee Yeates 1825. Nicholas Samuel Heineken 1830. The Rev. William Crompton was the son of a minister at Barnstaple. He was ejected from the living of CoUumpton bj the Act of Uniformity. He continued with his people, and spent many years among them, but without the encouragement he deserved. For some time before his death, which occurred in 1696, he was disabled by a painful disease from engaging in his beloved employment. The titles of his works indicate the subjects in which he felt peculiarly interested, as well as the general tastes of the Presbyterian congregations of that period. He published — A Remedy against Superstition. — A Brief Sur- vey of the Old Religion. — Foundation of God for the Salvation of the Elect. — Sovereign Omnipotency, the Saint's Security. — A Treatise on Prayer ; on James v. 16. — A Wilderness of Trouble Leading to a Canaan of Comfort.* The Rev. Samuel Morgan was a native of Laugam- gamarck, in Brecknockshire. His father was more than forty * Noncon. Mem. 310 COLLUMPTON. years minister of the gospel at Lauurlyd. The subject of this memoir was born in 1731, and having received a classical edu- cation, entered the academy at Carmarthen in 1745. Here he was prepared, by the Rev. Evan Davies and the Rev. Samuel Thomas, for the ministerial office, on which he first entered at Dulverton. From this place he removed, in 1754, to Collumpton, where he spent the remainder of his life. Mr. Morgan was educated in Calviuistic principles, and pro- bably never doubted their truth till he read the controversy between Mr. Peirce and his opponents. The following sketch of his character appears in the Protestant Dissenters' Magazine : * — " His piety was fervent and unaffected, his integrity inflexible, and his morals irreproachable. The liberality of his mind rose superior to all party distinctions, and he embraced, as brethren, the whole rational creation of God. With fortitude and cheer- fulness he sustained a lingering and painful disorder ; and at last, with truly Christian dignity, he closed his eyes in peace in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He published ' A Common Prayer Book, according to the Plan of the Liturgy of the Church of England, with suitable services.' " The Rev. John Davis received the first part of his educa- tion in Carmarthenshire, under the learned Mr. David Davis. At the usual age he was sent to the academy at Carmarthen, then under the care of Rev. Robert Gentleman. Not being satisfied with his opportunities for improvement there, he soon afterwards entered at Daveutry, where Mr. Belsham was the tutor. Although brought up in orthodoxy, he imbibed, in this seminary, the principles of Unitarianism ; but not from Mr. Belsham, who was then a Calvinist, and deeply lamented the results of Mr. Davis's inquiries. He bore testimony, however, to the very exemplary conduct of his pupil. On leaving Daventry, Mr. Davis settled in Cumberland, with a small and not very harmonious congregation. Here he * Vol. i. p. 463. COLLUMPTON. 311 remained some years, and discharged with much honour the duties of a minister and schoolmaster. So highly did one of liis pupils esteem Mm, that up to the time of liis death he deli- cately remitted him, twice a year, through a friend, a handsome donation, " lest his income should be too small for one in his delicate state of health." He probably removed from his first station to Collumpton without settling in any other place ; and here he spent the remainder of his days, possessing the respect and promoting the happiness of all to whom he was known. Mr. Davis's exertions in the cause of Christian truth have already been mentioned. These did not proceed from a secta- rian spirit but from a calm, yet strong, conviction of the im- portance of the conclusions at which he had arrived. If he was anxious to make proselytes, he uniformly asserted that sound morality was the end of true religion, and regarded, all opinions without it as " little worth and vain." One of his friends has remarked, that " neither the fear of man nor any wish to please him ever induced him to do that of which he did not approve, — he had all the firmness of Knox, without one grain of his ferociousness.' ' He was a man of sound learning and great application, but never became a popular preacher. In domestic life, he was easy to be accommodated, considerate of the accommodation of others ; quiet, peaceful, and courteous. The vigour of his mental powers and his increasing exertions to promote the welfare of his people, amidst the attacks of a disease which at length brought him suddenly to the grave, ex- emplified the Apostle's declaration " though the outward man faileth, the inner man is renewed day by day." Of the higher parts of his character some idea may be formed from the following lines, which appeared in his favourite publi- cation soon after his death. * * Mon. Rep., Vol. xx. p. 236". See also p. 116. The lines have since been republished by the author, the Rev. J. Johns, of Crediton, in an ele- gant volume entitled " Dews of Castalie." London. -Hunter. 1828. 312 COLLUMPTON. There is many a harp for the young man's doom. That is tuned to the notes of woe ; But alas ! they are mute o'er the oUl man's tomb. Though he lived like a saint below. There is many a tear over beauty's grave. And warm from the heart they rise ; Ah ! why less warm are the tears that lave The spot where the good man lies ? Is it nothing to keep the soul still young, When the frame where it dwells grows old .-' Or less should a beautiful life be sung. Than the charms of an earthly mould ? No, old man, no, — one passing lay. Though a powerless lay it be. Shall be given to the thought of the silent clay. Which is all that is left of thee. Though thy life was passed in the humble shade. Yet it brightened the shade around ; And every step that thy meek foot made. Was made upon holy ground. Thou hast seen thy friends around thee fall. Thou hast lived through years of pain ; — And now thou hast reached the goal of all. And broken a frail world's chain. Oh ! rest in peace till the day for which Thou hast looked with a Christian's eye ! Faith, hope, and love, long have made thee rich In the gold of a purer sky. Though so soon forgot be thy lowly sod. Yet thou hast not lived in vain ; For green above are the groves of God, Where the just shall meet again ! HONITON* "This towne claymes prioritie for antiquitie before many other. But for the name, yf I should say yt was taken from the abundance of honye there made or found, I persuade myself you would smyle ; and yet that may not be altogether sans reason, in regard of the hills ad- joyning, on Avhich abundance of thyme or tyme growes, in which these pretye creatures are much delighted and feed most willingly theron." — Westcote. "This town is near three quarters of a mile in length, lying east and west; and in the midst there is one other street towards the south. It is a very pretty town, indifferently \vell built, and sweetly seated both for corn and pasture. Its market is on Saturday, well replenished with all such things as the country aflfordeth for neces- saries ; more plentiful, indeed, in victuals and corn than most other markets in the county." — Sir W. Pole. " Honiton lies on the great western road from London to Exeter ; seven miles west of Axminster, and to the east of Exeter about sixteen miles. Situated in a delightful vale upon a rising ground, on the south side of the river Otter, it commands a fine view of the circum- jacent country. A little stream of transparent water flows through the town, with a dipping place at almost every door." — Polwhele. Population in 1811,— 2735; in 1821,-3296; in 1831,-3509. BRIDGE MEETING-HOUSE. This house was built by a Baptist society. There was a congregation of the same class in the town as far back as 1655. George Fox, the Quaker, mentions his having some intercouse with it in that year. If it existed till the passing of the Act of Uniformity, it was probably united to the Presbyte- rian society which was formed here soon afterwards. In Crosby's History of the Baptists,* there is "a confession of the faith of several congregations of Christ in the county of Somerset, and some churches in the counties near adjacent; printed at London, Anno 1656." The brethren at Honiton had probably some concern in this document, which, it may be observed, although very copious, contains no decla- ration of belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, and in the present day would be generally considered as heterodox in other respects. The next notice of Dissent in this town occurs in connexion with the year 1662. Mr. Francis Sore- ton, the rector of the parish, being unable to comply with the terms of the Act, was ejected. This learned and excellent man preached in Honiton, * Aj)pcndix, Vol. i. p. 27. HONITON. 315 occasionally, after his ejectment, countenanced and assisted by his fellow-sufferers, Mr. Hieron, of Feni- ton, and Mr. Saunders, of Kentisbeare. In the town and neighbourhood were many Noncon- formists, some of them gentlemen of note, but they could not provide themselves with a place of public worship till King James's Indulgence was issued. They then fitted up the back-house of William Clarke, a chandler, and were served by Mr. Saun- ders, Mr. Malachi Blake, and Mr. Goswell of Exeter, who continued for some time to preach alternately with much success.* The first stated minister of the Honiton Dissent- ers was Mr. John Edwards, a young man from Wellington. He was introduced on Mr. Gos well's discontinuing his attendance, and soon discovered an inclination to take the whole work upon himself, although Mr. Blake had been proposed as pastor. Mr. Edwards, being of a violent temper, soon destroyed that peace and harmony which had pre- viously subsisted; and notwithstanding a friendly admonition from the Exeter Assembly, to whom the society appealed, he still acted so improperly, that Mr. Clarke declared he should preach in his house no longer. There was consequently a division; some of the members remained in their old place, and were supplied by ministers from Exeter, Chard, and Taunton, while Edwards and his party retired to a wood-house, where they assembled till a new building, which they instantly commenced, was * English Presbyterian, p. 152. 316 HONITON. completed. Things were in this situation a con- siderable time; at length, the conduct of Edwards becoming scandalously immoral, his party forsook him. He conformed to the Church of England, and preached at Northleigh, a small village about four miles from Honiton. * In the year 1705, the two parties were united under Mr. John Ball, whose zeal, learning, and orthodoxy, made him one of the most celebrated divines in the West. He died in 1745, in the ninety-first year of his age, and was succeeded by Mr. John Butter, of South Petherton, who was the settled minister till his own death, which took place in 1769. Mr. George Heath, then finishing his studies at Exeter, accepted an invitation to settle at Honiton in the following year ; but he also soon lost many of his hearers, and ultimately his situa- tion, by bad conduct. Another division ensued, which was probably hastened by differences on points of faith ; one party inheriting the rigid Cal- vinism preached by Mr. Ball, the other shewing themselves favourable to those brighter views which were then becoming prevalent. The Calvinistic party seceded in 1771 ; at first they met in a licensed room ; two years afterwards they began to build a place of worship, which gradually acquired, and is now known by, the name of Independent. About the same time, Mr. Stevens, of Great Marlow, became their minister. The other members of the original Presbyterian congregation remained in * English Presbyterian. HONITON. 317 their meeting-house, and enjoyed the services of Mr. W. Lamport till 1788. The building being old and dilapidated, was soon afterwards taken down by the consent of the only surviving Trustee, and many of the worshipers united themselves to the Baptist society, with whom they had long agreed on the highest points of Christian faith. Of this society it is my chief object to give some account. In the year 1715, Mr. Jerom Maynard, manufacturer of serges, removed from Axminster to Honiton. He was a zealous Baptist, possessing Arian, if not Unitarian, views of the Gospel, and had for several years preached every Sunday to a Baptist society in the neighbouring parish of Dal- wood. At the time of his removal, the number of persons in Honiton whose religious views coincided with his own did not exceed two or three, besides the members of his own family. These he brought together about the year 1721, when he ceased preaching at Dalwood. He invited the men and women employed in his work-shops to attend a reli- gious service in his own house, and employed other means to increase the number of worshipers. His labours, temporal as well as spiritual, were so suc- cessful, that, in the year 1736, he determined on building a place of worship. To this object his thoughts had long been directed; and the people with whom he was connected, anxious to do all in their power to promote it, circulated the following appeal. I shall copy it from the original MS., as a specimen of the style and spirit of the founders of this church. 318 HONITON. To all Christian and well-disposed persons, more especially to our bretliren of tlie Baptized Chnrclies to whom these presents may come : the humble petition and case of the Baptized Church at Honiton, in Devon, under the pastoral care of Mr. Jerom Majnard. Beloved in our Lord, After Christian salutation, we beg leave to inform you that the God of all grace, the Father of mercies, and the giver of every good and perfect gift, was pleased to stir up and excite our now worthy and beloved Pastor or Elder, some years since, (he being providentially brought to reside here,) to set up his worship (having no place where he believed the Gospel was preached in its primitive purity, near enough for himself and his family to attend) in his own dwelling house : in order to promote the Divine honoiir, and to instruct those of his own household and neighbourhood into the knowledge of the Gospel, and the Truth as it is in Jesus, as through grace it appeared to him, and tliis good and laudable undertaking has been constantly and we hope faithfully continued, and we trust has met with the blessing, countenance, and approbation of the Most High, to the great Joy and Consolation of our and others' souls, so that now, through divine goodness and mercy, we have a name and a place in the house of God and the Church of Jesus Clu^ist, and as such we trust some have been added to us according to the order of the Gospel, who shall be saved in the day of the Lord, tho' we are of opinion that our spiritual increase has greatly been retarded for want of a convenient and separate place to assemble together in, the which therefore we for some time past have been and are now very desirous of obtaining. And as it has pleased Almighty God, under this his pious vmdertaking to bless our worthy Pastor aforesaid with some considerable increase in his worldly substance, altho' he preached constantly to us gratis, he has proposed to be very liberal in giving the Church the ground and a considerable sum towards erecting a house for God's worship : and when he dies, unless misfortunes HONITON, 319 attend him, he proposes to leave something considerable for the support of the cause of Chiist and the Truths of the Gospel in this place. Now we, the members of this little Christian Society, and those that attend amongst us as hearers, are in the general but Low in our worldly circumstances ; but we that have been buried with Christ in Baptism humbly hope we have some blessed stock in Faith and a treasure in the Heavens ; however, our present poverty renders us entirely incapable (contrary to our sincere desire) of enabling our Pastor to perform his pious intention of building a house for God's worship : but we are all willing to do our utmost, yea rather beyond than under our abilities, for the promoting so good, so desirable and so neces- sary a work, and for as much as the utmost we can do will fall very short of answering the end, it being proposed to build the house with brick, to cover it with tile, and to expend about £'150, which sum as aforesaid we are utterly incapable to raise, and therefore we are obliged and humbly make bold to petition you, our brethren and Christian friends, that you w"^ help and assist us, as we have and shall always be willing to do for others in the same or like case ; by your charitable contributions for the completing this, we hope commendable design, and whoso- ever does so lend to the Lord and cast their temporal bread upon the waters, we trust our God will repay them a hundred- fold in this world, and that in that to come they may find and share in eternal bliss and glory. ^Ye desire that what you are pleased to contribute to our assistance and we hope to God's Honour, you'll pay to oiir beloved brother Mr. John Sturch, or to our Pastor aforesaid, the which will lay us under lasting obligations to pray for your temporal and eternal felicity. This document was signed by six members and five hearers. A Postscript was added, recording "the baptism of two hopeful young men." About £60. was collected at Taunton, Exeter, Crediton, Moreton- Hampstead, and Honiton. The remainder of the 320 HONITON. expense appears to have been defrayed by Mr. Maynard himself. In 1737 the house was opened, having been duly licensed " for the said Mr. May- nard and others to perform there." The interior was fitted up to seat two hundred people. The zealous founder officiated himself as often as his strength would permit; but being advanced in life when the meeting-house was opened, he often re- quired assistance. At that time the Presbyterian congregation at Shaugh in Luppit, about three miles from Honiton, was supplied chiefly by students from Mr. Amory's Academy, and they frequently officiated for Mr. Maynard.* Before his death, the congregation, being able to engage a settled minister, chose a Mr. Sprague, who remained till 1753; the time of his settlement is uncertain. He was succeeded by Mr. Wheeler, who left for America at the end of four years. Mr. Maynard then officiated for some time, though j)ast his eightieth year, to the edification of a united and respectable congregation. The next supplies were Mr. Adams and Mr. Francis Webb, of whom dis- tinct accounts will be given. It was during the ministry of Mr. Adams that the Presbyterian congre- gation divided; afterwards he frequently preached, * The Luppit congregation has been many years extinct. The follow- ing list of its ministers appears in the appendix to a Discourse by Mr. Manning, of Exeter, delivered before the Annual Assembly, 1818. Thomas Collier, Nicholas Martin, Thomas Holwell, J, Lavington, Robert Wood, Nicholas Martin, William West, Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris was the author of the Lives of the Stuarts. HONITON. 321 in conjimction with Mr. Lamport, in the old place of worship. Mr. Webb's stay was short ; that his services were successful is implied by the fact, that one member of his church who was engaged in a prosperous business — the Honiton Lace Manu- factory— offered him one hundred pounds a year if he would remain at Honiton. Mr. Webb left about the year 1780. From that time till 1787 the meeting-house was seldom opened, the society being able to worship with the Presby- terians. But on the death of Mr. Lamport they w^ere desirous of having a pastor of their own, and accordingly applied to Dr. Caleb Evans, of the Bristol Academy. That gentleman recommended Mr. Stephen Freeman, who had nearly finished his studies, and was immediately chosen. Although educated in a Calvinistic academy, Mr. Freeman partook of the spirit of inquiry which prevailed among the students, and, before he left, became a decided Unitarian. This circumstance was satis- factory to the church; they had always confined their worship to One God — the Father — and were fully prepared to be led into what they now regard as "all truth." The services of Mr. Freeman were so acceptable, that the meeting-house was soon found too small. This may be partly attributed to the dissolution of the old Presbyterian society, many of whom, having imbibed new opinions under Mr. Lamport, became worshipers with the Baptists. There was, at that time, a large ladies' school at Honiton, consisting of members of the most respect- Y 322 HONITON. able Dissenting families in the West ; and these, to the number of seventy, attended Mr. Freeman's services. The people, thus encouraged, formed a plan of enlarging the building, which was promoted by Mr. John Maynard, who, inheriting his uncle's spirit as well as property, conveyed to the Trustees a piece of ground for the erection of an additional aisle and row of pews. They then made an appli- cation for the requisite funds, which proved partly successful; but owing to the resignation of Mr. Freeman, when he had been settled at Honiton three years, * and other unavoidable circumstances, the plan was not carried into execution till 1794. It was then deemed advisable to take down the w^hole of the house, but to leave the greater part of the foundations and to erect a new one, with a gal- lery, on the same spot. The expense amounted to <£'331. Of this sum <;£231 was subscribed by the congregation and their friends at a distance. The committee waited twelve months, and, seeing no prospect of additional assistance, paid the debt and the interest in equal shares. On the resignation of Mr. Freeman, the congre- gation were supplied by ministers from a distance. In 1793 Mr. John Hughes became the pastor. In September 1794, he opened the present building. This gentleman was a Psedo-baptist — a circumstance regarded, when he was chosen, as comparatively unimportant. Two persons, who still survive, were * Soon after Mr. Freeman's removal he opened a school at Enfield, where he still resides. HONITON. 323 baptized during the ministry of Mr. Freeman. The congregation has been in much the same state, with regard to numbers, for many years. It has not flourished, but it has been united, and neither defi- cient in zeal nor unadorned by examples of moral and religious worth. Several young persons — de- scendants of those who founded and others who well supported the society — are growing up, it is hoped, to imbibe the spirit and tread in the steps of their fathers. The meeting-house is situated near the bridge, at the entrance to the town from Exeter. It stands at some distance from the street, and the approach to it is under a large gateway. There is nothing at- tractive in its appearance ; over the door is the date 1737 ; within the walls are a vestry, with a library, and a baptistery, supplied from the neighbouring river. Among the books are Fox's Book of Martyrs and Crosby's History of the Baptists, bequeathed by Mr. Maynard ; and several valuable historical works of a more modern date, by Mr. Cornish, of Colyton.* * The materials for this account were chiefly furnished by one to whose efforts on behalf of the congregation I would fain pay a more than common tribute of gi'atitude — I allude to my father, Mr. William Murch, who, with my grandfather, Mr. Jerom Murch, was a member of the committee for rebuilding the house. y2 324 HONITON. Jerom Maynard 1721 — 1762. Sprague — 1753. Wheeler 1753 — 1757. Francis Webb 1757 — 1758. Philip Adams 1758 — 1 780. Stephen Freeman , 1787 — 1790. John Hughes 1793—1831. James Taplin 1831. Mr. Jerom Maynard was bom at Corfe Castle, Dorset- shire, in 1677. His father served in the army of Oliver Cromwell during the civil war, and was taken prisoner by the Royalists. This circumstance is noticed in the pulpit Bible in the Bridge Meeting, which originally belonged to the brave republican. The subject of this memoir was apprenticed, while his father was in prison, to a serge-maker, at More ton- Hamp- stead. During his apprenticeship he became a member of a General Baptist congregation, and occasionally engaged in a religious conference. His first settlement was at Axminster, where he carried on his business, and whence he went every Sunday to preach to a small congregation at Dalwood, a village a few miles distant. It is impossible to avoid admiring the piety, benevolence, and perseverance, which he manifested after his removal to Honiton, in collecting a people with whom he could worship " in spirit and in truth." He continued to preach occasionally until within a short time of his death, which took place in 1762, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Philip Adams was also what is commonly termed a lay preacher. He had a farm in the neighbourhood of Taunton, on which he resided. But his mind, for from being wholly HONITON. 325 devoted to the earth, was well stored with knowledge, and his chief desire was to do good. He is said to have been remark- able for a plain, apostolic appearance, and a refined, impressive style of preaching. The greater part of his time and attention, as a minister, was devoted to a society of Baptists at Wedmore, in Somersetshire, with which he was connected some years. His visits to Honiton were monthly ; he preached to Mr. May- nard's people one part of the day, and to the old Presbyterian congregation the other. It is not known how long these engage- ments lasted, or what was the cause of their being discontinued. The Rev. Dr. Toulmiu, of Taunton, who took a warm interest in the welfare of the Honiton congregation, was for several years one of Mr. Adams's most intimate friends. Their minds were formed in the same mould : their hearts were fixed on the same objects. Mr. Adams was interred in the burial-ground belonging to the Baptist chapel, Mary Street, Taunton. Dr. Toulmin conducted the funeral service, and several members of the Honiton congregation attended to testify their gratitude for tlie pious labours and amiable example of their minister. The Rev. FRANCIS Webb. — The ancestors and immediate connexions of this gentleman were highly respectable. His father lived at Taunton, where he himself was born in 1735. Two of his cousins, Robert and Nathaniel Webb, were succes- sively Members of Parliament for that borough. One of his paternal uncles was collector of the customs at Montserrat, and the other, Attornej'-General of Antigua. His eldest brother lived at the Island of St. Christopher, was one of the assistant Judges, and a member of the Assembly at Montserrat. Frauds Webb received his classical education at Abingdon and Bristol. He afterwards became a pupil, first of Dr. Dod- dridge, then of Dr. Ashworth, at Daventry, and lastly of Dr. Amory, at Taunton. His first settlement as a Dissenting mi- nister was at Honiton, where he was highly esteemed. After a short time he was induced to become the pastor of the General 326 HONITON. Baptist church meeting in Paul's Alley, London, where he was ordained in 1758.* In these situations he remained about ten years. He then relinqmshed the ministerial office, and under- took a civil employment at Graveseud. The reasons which led him to take this step are not fully known, but they did not consist in dislike to the duties of the ministry, or in any inca- pacity for it. His published sermons afford ample proof that his preaching was eminently sound, polished, impressive, and animating ; they testify that he had superior intellectual powers, and a deep sense of the value of religion. In 1777 Mr. Webb removed from Gravesend into Dorset- shire. Here, at the house of a friend, he met the Duke of Leeds, then Secretary of State, who immediately sought his society. This amiable nobleman frequently availed himself of Mr. Webb's assistance, and their intimacy continued until the death of his Grace. In 1786 he went to Hesse Cassel, with Sir Isaac Heard, who was deputed to convey the ensign of the Order of the Garter to the Landgrave of Hesse. The Latin oration delivered at the investiture was the production of Mr. Webb's pen. Fifteen years afterwards we find him going to Paris, in the office of secretary to Mr. Jackson, who had been appointed the resident minister at that capital, during the nego- ciation of the treaty of peace at Amiens. In consequence of bad health, Mr. Webb's stay did not exceed two months ; but he remained long enough to have frequent intercourse with many persons connected with the French government, and to be highly regarded for his frank disposition and great abilities. During the last thirty years of his life he lived in various places. His abode was, successively, in the neighbourhood of Crewkerne ; at Brasted, in Kent ; Lower Lytchett, near Poole ; Norton - sub - Hampden, near South Petherton; Lufton, near Yeovil ; and Barriiigton, near Ilminster. Amidst all these changes, some of which arose from necessity rather than choice, Mr. Webb devoted much of his attention to elegant and im- * WilBon's History, iii. 259, HONITON. 327 proving literary pursuits. * " In politics he was a decided Whig; in religion an Unitarian Dissenter. On all subjects of human inquiry, but particularly on the most important, he was accustomed to think freely. He was a man of delicate moral taste and strong feelings, which led him to perceive clearly and to expose forcibly the deformity and baseness of vice, in whom- soever found. A mean, cringing, time-serving disposition his soul utterly abhorred ; while he could not refrain from expressing in terms of rapture his approbation of noble, generous, and dis- interested actions." Mr. Webb was strongly attached to Lufton, — a delightful retreat in unison with his refined taste and ardent love of nature. But his dwelling was the parsonage-house ; and on being obliged to quit it, he removed to Barrington, which proved the last stage in his mortal journey. He died August 2nd, 1815, iii the eightieth year of his age, leaving a widow, the daughter of William Milner, of Poole, Esq., who published the last edition of his sermons. He was interred in the parish church of Bar- rington, near a plain, marble tablet, thus inscribed by his own desire : Francis Webb, the friend of mankind, and a friend to their sacred rights and liberties, both civil and religious : Born at Taunton, 18th September, 1/35; Died at Harrington, 2nd August, 1815. * See memoir prefixed to the last edition of Mr. Webb's sermons. The following list of his works is there given. 1. " Sermons" — 4 vols. 12mo., (now republished in 1 vol. 8vo.) 1766. 2. "MarmorNorfolciense:" a Satire, written when Dr. Johnson accepted a pension and became a govern- ment writer. 3. " Letter to John Sawbridge, Esq., on Popular Opposition to Government." 4. " Thoughts on the Constitutional Right and Power of the Crown in the bestowal of Places and Pensions;" 8vo. 1772. 5. " An Epistle to Lord George Germaine." 6. " Friendship," a Poem : "Justice," a Poem. 7. " An Epistle to the Rev. Mr. Kell," and an " Ode to Fortitude." 8, "Poems on Wisdom, on the Deity, and on Genius." 9. " The Diary" — " A Series of Letters on the dispute with Spain respect- ing Nootka Sound." 10. A "Hymn to the Dryads." 11. An "Ode to 328 HONITON. The Rev. John Hughes was descended from one of the oldest families in the Principality. He was the eldest son of the venerable David Hughes, of VVincantou, who, at his ordina- tion, in 17<)0, steadily refused to subscribe articles which he could not understand. His remote ancestors were also noted for their unflinching adherence to the principles of civil and reli- gious liberty, for their severe sufferings and noble sacrifices.* Nor was he unworthy his descent. Although anxious to live "peaceably with all men," he never sacrificed his mental inde- pendence ; and through the whole of his life he encouraged others to exercise the " liberty wherewith Christ had made them free." At the proper age he became a student at the Hoxton Aca- demy. His first settlement was at Tewkesbury, where he enjoyed the society and friendship of the widow and family of Dr. Doddridge. Wishing to be near his brother, the Rev. W. Hughes, then of Sidmouth, now of the Isle of Wight, he ac- cepted an invitation from Honiton. Here he spent thirty-eight years, " hap])}' in his coimexion with a people after his own heart, of inquiring minds and catholic spirit." And yet he was by no means a stranger to grief. He witnessed many mis- fortunes, which he did all in his power to alleviate. About fourteen years before his death he lost liis excellent wife, a niece of Dr. Harris, the minister at Luppit. And at a much more recent period, when his frame had been weakened by disease, he received a severe shock in the death of his most valued friend and hearer Mr. Isaac Cox, — a man whose memory is venerated as that of one of the brightest ornaments of human nature. But in reference to both events he could say, what he did in reference to the first, " Many a time has it been mine to exhort the Rural Nymphs ;" 4to. 12. " Somerset, a Poem ;" 4to. 1811. 13. "A Memoir of Giles Hussey, the Artist, communicated to the editor of the History of Dorsetshire." 14. " Panharmonicon ;" an attempt to prove that the i)rinciplcs of Hiu'mony more or less prevail throughout Nature. 4to. 1814. * Mon, Repos., N, S., Vol. v. p. ri8; 01>itiiary of Mr. Hughes. HONITON. 329 others to bow to their heavenly Father's behests ; shall / not also bow and evmce that I believe what I teach ? The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken awaj', blessed be the name of the Lord"! Mr. Hughes, as a preacher, was not popular ; jet those who knew and valued him could profit hy his services. It was by his example that he taught most effectually ; his patience under severe suffering, his ready, unostentatious charity, and his truly devotional spirit, made a deep impression. He died July 19th, 1831. His little flock followed him to the grave, thankful for the light he had been permitted to shed on their path, and hoping to meet him " when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall ha\e put on immortality ! " COLYTON. " The town itself of CoUington is no very notable thing." — Leland. " A market town of the hundred of that name in Devonshire, one hundred and fifty-one miles from London, and situated on the river Coll, at its junction with the Axe. The trade formerly carried on in serges is nearly lost." — ENCYCLOP.ffi;DiA Britannica. " Though a small town, it is most delightfully situated within three miles of the British Channel, fine views of which present themselves at very short distances, as also the devious courses of two beautiful rivers, the little Coly and the larger Ax, through rich meadows and between rising hills, shaded with trees which present innumerable objects to charm the eye and elevate the heart." — Cornish. Population in 1811,— 1774; in 1821,-1945 ; in 1831,-2182. OLD MEETING-HOUSE. The town of Colyton was favoured with pastors, who were friendly to religious freedom, many years before the passing of the Act of Uniformity. About the year 1640 the celebrated Dr. Manton, after- wards one of the chaplains to Oliver Cromwell, entered upon his ministerial labours in this parish.* In 1654, Mr. John Wilkins was presented to the living ; he continued to be the incumbent till Bar- tholomew Day, 1662. For some time after his eject- ment, he preached in his own house; but subse- quently died of a consumption, leaving his flock to be served by his fellow-sufferers in the district. -j* Of these, the nearest to Colyton, were Mr. Gill, of Shute ; Mr. Ashwood, of Axminster ; Mr. Tarrant, * Life of Manton, P. D. M. Vol. iii. p. 241. t Mr. Wilkins died in 1667. He was a man of eminent piety, remark- ably affectionate, and an excellent preacher. He was interred in the Vicar's vestry, in the large and handsome parish church at Col3'ton. Part of the inscription cannot be deciphered, but the date is visible, as are a few other particulars, and the following lines : — " Such Pillars layed aside. How can the Church abide ? He left his Pulpit-hee In Patmos God to see. This shining light can have No place to preach but's grave." COLYTON. 333 of Musbury; Mr. Short and Mr. Kerridge, of Lyme ; Mr. Godwine, of Uplyme ; and Mr. Soreton, of Honiton. The first Nonconformists at Colyton met with great hardships. They commenced by assembling in each other's houses, but were at length obliged to conduct their devotions in an adjoining wood. Their first place of public worship in the town was opened soon after the Revolution ; it was a dwelling- house, and though mean and inconvenient was well attended. There is reason to suppose that Mr. Gilb the ejected minister at Shute, — a parish con- nected with Colyton, privately served the congrega- tion from the death of Mr. Wilkins, in 1667, till his own, in 1688. About the latter period, they engaged Mr. Kerridge, who had been a schoolmaster at Lyme, and was ejected from that office for his Nonconformity ; he was a sufferer in various ways ; at the time of the Rye-House Plot the county troop, in consequence of some groundless suspicions, were ordered to proceed to Lyme and seize both himself and his excellent colleague, — Mr. Short. Between the Dissenters of Lyme and Colyton there was frequent communication. One of Mr. Short's sons assisted Mr. Kerridge in his ministerial duties at Colyton, and educated young men for the ministry. There was also an interchange of politi- cal feeling among the inhabitants of these neigh- bouring towns, which brought them into still greater trouble. Mr. Short, Sen,, was so deeply implicated in Monmouth's rebellion, that he was 334 COLYTON. sent from Lyme to be cast into a dungeon at Ports- mouth. And several of the people at Colyton, ani- mated by the general desire to free themselves from the tyranny of a popish king, no sooner heard that the duke was landed than they flocked to his standard. For this offence four of them suffered death ; they were executed as traitors near the market place, and died with great piety, resolution, and constancy. One of them being asked if it did not grieve him to think how his body would be mangled and his quarters exposed in the highways, answered with the calm consciousness that he had done his duty, — " It matters little, the resurrection will res- tore all with advantage."* , Mr. Kerridge died in 1705, and was succeeded by Mr. Rosewell. This minister was ordained in 1690, and was probably connected with some con- gregation before he came to Colyton. At the time of his election the society was numerous, and for many years there was an additional minister at Colyton, who occasionally visited the infant churches in the neighbourhood. But soon after Mr. Rose- well commenced his ministry here, he had no regu- lar assistant; the congregation urged him to have one ; he refused, and there was a division ; to those members of the congregation who adhered to him he preached in another house. On Mr. Rosewell's death some of his hearers became Baptists, but this society was soon dissolved. Meanwhile the original congregation had the services of Mr. Samuel Short, * English Presbyterian. COLYTON. 335 as pastor, and Mr. Matthew Towgoocl, as assistant. Mr. Short probably came to Colyton in 1707, and removed in 1714 ; Mr. Towgood kept an academy here, and left for Shepton Mallet, in 1716. The minister who succeeded Mr. Short in the pastoral office was Mr. William Youatt. He was ordained in 1715, and was then at Colyton with two hundred hearers. For many years, he had as his colleague Mr. Robert Batten, who, in conjunc- tion with Mr. Youatt, often preached at Sidmouth. In 1737, Mr. Batten left for Ottery St. Mary ; and the senior minister took the whole charge of the society, which he retained till he was disabled by the palsy. Then came Mr. Samuel Slater. He was an Arian, if not an Unitarian : of the opinions of his predecessors, we have no information. The congregation included a few opulent persons, but consisted chiefly of tradesmen and farmers. During the first half of the last century, the salary of the pastor did not exceed c£30. per annum ; this, how- ever, was then deemed a good sum even for the support of a family. It was soon after Mr. Slater was chosen that the present meeting-house was built. The expense of the erection was defrayed almost entirely by the society. Dr. Toulmin succeeded Mr. Slater, like whom, he was much beloved ; his preaching was plain, yet striking, and the congregation increased. When he had been at Colyton four years, he saw reason to change his sentiments respecting Baptism, 336 COLYTON. which occasioned his removal to Taunton. The society then chose Mr. Anstis who, however, soon removed to Bridport, being desired by the corpora- tion of that town to undertake a school there. In 1772, the congregation having been destitute four years, Mr. Cornish accepted their invitation, and continued here fifty years. His sermons were sound, he was beloved by his friends and highly respected as a writer, a classical scholar and an instructor of youth. Living in a house adjoining the chapel, he used the gallery as a school-room, and there educated many members of influential families both in the Church of England and among Dissenters. Yet his ministry was not popular; so great had been the diminution of his flock, in 1814, that a proposal was made to him by four " orthodox" ministers in the district, to give up his chapel to a Calvinistic minister. To this proposal Mr. Cornish gave a decided negative, adding that " in early life he was impressed with a remark in a charge of good Mr. Lavington's," — ' Should the number of your hearers lessen, do not be discouraged so as to grow remiss in your endeavours ; remember, Jesus Christ preached an excellent sermon to one wo- man.'" The following extract from Mr. Cornish's sketch of his own life* illustrates the customs and re- sources of country congregations at the close of the last century. * Mon. Rep., Vol. xviii. jj. 610. COLYTON. 337 "J. Cornish boarded eleven years in the family of Mr. Slade, a steady friend to the Dissenting cause, whose house was for years the chief resort of various ministers visiting the town. J. Cornish's income fell rather short of £'40. per annum, though besides some endowments, his hearers subscribed as m\ich as he desired. For a few years it somewhat exceeded £50., but fell back to £40. again. No minister, unless possessing other means of support, could now subsist on such a salary with tole- rable decency : but before the American and other expensive wars Britain has since engaged in, a good manager would make it suffice. Goldsmith uses a poetical license when he describes a pastor as ' passing rich with forty pounds a year,' and con- triving to display generous hospitality. A single man, however, with that income could, even so lately as 1772, make a decent appearance and be able to spare something for charitable pur- poses. There was hardly any Dissenting congregation without some one or more families ready to board a minister, not desir- ing to gain, aiming only at a fair recompence. Many ministers, at that time, in the West of England, were boarded by respect- able persons for less than £*20. per annum ; and in good farm houses, a much smaller sum was accepted for being found every thing like other members of the family. A gratis horse was frequently at the service of ministers, and both horse and rider kindly received, on making exchanges and visits, by some hos- pitable hearers." Since the death of Mr. Cornish, the congregation have often been without a pastor. During such intervals, the services were frequently conducted by serious and intelligent members of the flock. They are at present supplied by Mr. Taplin, of Honiton, who preaches in that town every Lord's Day morning and evening, and regularly visits Colyton in the afternoon. His hearers are not nu- merous, but there is reason to believe that his z 338 COLYTON. labours to keep alive that love of religious truth and that desire for Christian excellence for which this ancient church has been so long noted — will not be in vain. The following inscription has been copied from a neat marble tablet in the meeting-house : — M. s. OF THE Rev. Joseph Cornish, BORN AT Taunton, Dec. 16th, 1750; fixed in the ministry at colyton, July, 1772; DIED October 9th, 1823 ; " Humbly looking for the salvation of God THROUGH the LoRD JeSUS ChRIST." JWinfsters. John Wilkins 1662— 1667. John Gill 1667—1688. John Kerridge, M.A.* 1689—1705. John Rosewell 1705 — 1707. Samuel Short 1707 — 1714. William Youatt 1715 — 1745. Samuel Slater 1745 — 1761. Joshua Toulmin, LL. D 1761 — 1765. Matthew Anstis 1766 — 1768. Joseph Cornish 1772 — 1823. George Skey 1824—1826. G.F.Matthew 1826—1829. John Smith 1830—1832. James Taplin 1834. * I omit the names of the assistants in conseciuence of the uncertainty connected with the requisite particulars. COLYTON. 339 Matthew Anstis was born at St. Germains, in the year 1740. His situation prevented him from having the benefit of a classical education at the usual early period. When he was about seventeen, he entered upon a course of study with the Rev. T. Morgan, of Liskeard, preparatory to his going to Carmarthen, about the year 1761. Before he went to Colyton, he preached a short time in the meeting-house at Falmouth ; but as his re- ligious sentiments, which he took no pains to conceal, differed from those of the majority of the congregation, he soon removed. Neither did he remain long at Colyton ; in addition to his invi- tation to become the master of a school at Bridport, he received and accepted another from a small congregation in the neighbour- hood. The latter office he relinquished in the course of a few years, and devoted his attention entirely to the education of youth. In this capacity he gained the gratitude of many who were always ready to bear witness to liis ability and faithfulness. He officiated occasionally as a minister after he gave up the stated charge of a flock ; and we find him supplying at Colyton for three months, in 1781, during the absence of Mr. Cornish. The interest he continued to cherish in theological questions, and in the progress of Christian truth and righteousness, is well known to the readers of the Old Series of the Monthly Repository, to which he contributed numerous papers.* In early life, Mr. Anstis adopted the Humanitarian system ; and he avowed his adoption of it at a time when the great majority of the worship- ers of one God in one Person, in the West of England, still held Arian opinions concerning the person of Christ. The fruits of his faith were visible, more particularly, in his lively anxiety for the welfare of the human race, in his liberal, and sometimes profuse, pecuniary contributions to works of charity, and in the earnestness with which he cultivated the conviction, amidst mental infirmities, bodily sufferings, and the prospect of death, " tliat all things are from God and for (jood to ally * For references to these and a sketch of the life of Mr. Anstis, see Mon. Rcpos., Vol. xviii. p. 731. z2 340 COLYTON Mr. Cornish. — Few Dissenting ministers who have lived in retired situations are had in more respectful remembrance than Mr. Cornish. The number of years he remained with his flock, the literary efforts he made on behalf of religious liberty, and his learning, benevolence, and piety, gained him general esteem .* He was born at Taunton in 1750. In very early life he dis- covered an inclination to the ministry. The former part of his education was conducted successively by Mr. Patch, a clergy- man, Mr. Glass, from Westminster school, and Dr. Toulmin. Tn 1767, he went to Hoxton and spent five years under the guidance of Dr. Savage, Dr. Kippis, and Dr. Rees. The vene- rable Mr. Holden, of Tenterden, was his class-fellow and passed his examination at the same time with him. It is remarkable that these gentlemen not only corresponded with the most cor- dial friendship, but remained in the same situations diiring the remainder of their lives. While Mr. Cornish was at Hoxton, he occasionally supplied at Epsom, from which place, as well as from Colyton, he re- received a unanimous invitation. He preferred Colyton in con- sequence of its nearness to his aged father, and the earnest recommendations of his friends Doctors Amory and Toulmin. In May 1773, he was ordained at the General Baptist meeting- house at Taunton, in conjunction with Mr. Finnemore, of Collumpton, and Mr. Baynham, of Totness. Dr. Toulmin, the minister of the chapel, preached; Mr. Kiddel delivered the charge ; and the devotional services were conducted by Mr. Gifford and Mr. Jillard. After residing eleven years in the house of Mr. Slade, Mr. Cornish removed to another dwelling, for the pxirpose of taking pupils, and continued his school, with considerable reputation and usefulness, till he had entered his seventieth year. Mr. Cornish's talents and character procured invitations from several larger societies. He was proposed as the successor of * M. R. Vol. xviii. p. 617. COLYTON. 341 Mr. Farmer at Salters' Hall, and strongly urged to settle, in 1781, at Tewkesbury, and in 1702, at Banbury. But the attach- ment of his friends atX'olyton led him to spend the remainder of his days among them ; and his school increased his income so as to enable him to live comfortably and devote a considera- ble sum to the poor. Mr. Holden mentions an interesting cir ' eumstance* in reference to his savings. " From the fluctuations in trade during the American War, his Either was a sufferer in his pecuniary affairs ; and at length called his creditors together and honestly divided his remaining property among them. Many years after this, when my beloved friend, by the profits of his school, had it in his power to do it, he called the creditors together, and paid them up to twenty shillings in the pound." Mr. Cornish published the following works: — 1. A Serious and Earnest Address to Protestant Dissenters, a ^d. tract, which appeared before he left the academy, and of which three editions were rapidly sold. 2. A Brief and Impartial History of the Puritans, also price 4d., which met like its predecessor with a very favourable reception. 3. In 1775, A Blow at the Root of all Priestly Claims, — a pamphlet for the copyright of which Mr. Johnson, of St. Paul's Churchyard, gave the author five guineas, a large sum at that time to Mr. Cornish. 4. In 1777, A Letter to Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, on the Incon- sistency of that Prelate's Conformity to the Church, with his avowed wish for extensive alterations in the Liturgy and Articles. 5. In 1780, A Life of that excellent citizen Mr. T. Firmin; designed to soften the prejudices of zealous Trinitarians and excite Christians of every persuasion to activity in doing good. 6. In 1783, An Attempt to Display the Importance of Classical Learning ; addressed to the parents and guardians of youth. 7. In 1797, A Brief History of Nonconformity. In addition to the above, Mr. Cornish published a Thanksgiving Sermon; A Treatise on Divine Manifestations ; A Pamphlet on the Pre- existence of Christ, and another Treatise on Evangelical Holi- ness. All these had a rapid sale, and are now out of print. * M. R., Vol. xviii. p. 635. 342 COLYTON. The author advocated his views of truth with so much cau- dour aud charity, yet with so much firmness and uprightness, that he both u^on admiration and produced conviction. One year we see him defending Christianity with no common ability, and the next writing consolotary letters aud sending pecuniary relief to a stranger in London, who had been imprisoned for selling Deistical publications. — And the measure he meted to others was measured to him again. While advocating the cause of Dissent at all hazards, writing against unworthy com- promises, and even striking " a blow at the root of all priestly claims," he was employed to educate the sons of men who in religion and politics were strictly opposed to him. So liighly was he respected by men of all parties, that his death was uni- versally lamented, and he was followed to the grave by the curate of the parish and a large body of parishioners. Nor can those who knew Mr. Cornish forget that while he obtained the respect of his neighbours by his learning and charity, he walked with God habitually in private life, aud reached the confines of the tomb with that peace of mind which passeth all under- standing. SIDMOUTH. SiDMOUTH is a small but neat to\vn, situated at the mouth of a narrow valley, opening- to the sea, between two steep ranges of hiUs. Through this valley the little river Sid flows towards the ocean, tiU it is lost in the pebbles on the beach. The cliffs are composed of sand, tinged by the red oxide of iron, and partly calcareous ; the glare of which, together with that of a broad bed of pebbles, and the low situa- tion of Sidmouth, render the town intensely hot at the time of a clear summer sky ; the adjacent scenery is, however, extremely delightful. This was formerly a good sea-port; but the harbour has been so choked up with sand and pebbles, that pleastire-boats and fishing-smacks are the only vessels that can now approach the shore. Of late years, the population and buUdings have increased, through the number of per- sons who frequent the town in the summer season for the purposes of bathing and recreation. — Britton and Brayley. Population in 1811,-1688; in 1821,-2747; in 1831,-3126. OLD MEETING. This building stands near the entrance to the town from Honiton. The end of it is in a line with the street ; yet the traveller sees no signs of a place of worship. It is connected with a dwelling- house on one side by a low wall, in which is a door opening from the street into a small yard, partially used as a burial-ground. From this yard the meet- ing-house is entered ; and the interior, though neatly fitted up, confirms the impression which is derived from the outside, that its founders designed (as is well known to have been the case in other towns) that, if it ceased to be needed as a chapel, it should be converted into a dwelling-house. A hundred and twenty-five years have now elapsed since this humble edifice was built. Prior to that period — the year 1710, a Presbyterian society exist- ed in the town of Sidmouth. No minister was ejected here; but the spirit of Nonconformity, find- ing its way from Sidbury and other places adjacent, a congregation was formed in the time of Charles the Second. There is no account of a regular min- ister till 1715, when the learned and excellent Dr. Bennet Stevenson, afterwards pastor of the Presby- terian congregation at Bath, w^as settled at Sid- SIDMOUTH. 345 mouth, and had two hundred and fifty hearers. He was probably here at the time the meeting-house was built. The next minister was Mr. Palk, who began his ministry about the beginning of the century. He came here in 1719, and in the same year preached a sermon (afterwards published) before the Assembly at Exeter, on the Divinity of Christ. In 1731, Mr. Palk went to Southmolton, and the congregation chose Mr. West, of whom some account has been given in connexion with Ilminster, to which place he removed in 1738. The people were then supplied two or three years by Mr. John Brown. In 1740, the ofhce of pastor was filled by Mr. Lacy, who died in the following year. He was followed by Mr. Berry, who, after officiating here eight years, succeeded Mr. Towgood at Crediton. Mr. Kiddel, the minister from 1750 to 1759, was a native of Tiverton, educated under Mr. Moore at Bridgwater, went from Sidmouth to Cork, and afterwards settled at Shepton Mallet. Mr. Kiddel was ordained at Sidmouth in 1750. Among the ministers who officiated were Mr. Moore, Mr. Towgood, and Mr. Amory. The tone of the services (to which there is an interesting allusion in a letter written at the time and preserved by Dr. Toulmin*) indicates the feelings of the Dissenters in the West with regard to several important ques- tions. Mr. Towgood's remarks on the subject of * See Mr. Hoarc's Letter to the Rev. S. Slater, of Colyton, Mon. Repos., O. S., Vol. vii. p. 282. 346 SIDMOUTH. ordination were manly and consistent; he asserted that the right of ordaining was vested in each so- ciety, and disclaimed all pretence of conferring any latent gift or qualification. But when Mr. Kiddel came to give his answers on the controverted points of Christianity, he used language in reference to the Son and the Holy Spirit, which indicated a desire to accommodate his preaching to the notions of the multitude. "As to the Holy Spirit (says the sensible and straight-forward Mr. Hoare, in his re- marks on the service), as neither a throne, nor king- dom, nor church, nor people, are any where assigned him in Scripture; nor, to the best of my remem- brance, a single petition either immediately or by consequence addressed to him, I can't conceive how the same with a very little variation may be declared of him as of the other two persons. Much less can I conceive how an Unitarian could with the least propriety sum wp his confession of faith with that glaring interpolation of 1 John v. 7, which the most eminent confessor of the present century* of which the three kingdoms can boast, now with God, has beyond all peradventure proved to be spurious, both in his tracts against Martyn and also in his address to the Convocation. It was the subject of an affec- tionate prophet's lamentation, which I wish there was not too much reason to resume in our days, — ' that his brethren and countrymen were not valiant for the truth'; and as truth is the most valuable thing in the world, so I think all, but especially * Mr. Emlyn, of Dublin. SIDMOUTH. 347 ministers, ought tenaciously to adhere thereto, though it should have the misfortune to lie under the most discouraging circumstances." Mr. Kiddel was succeeded by Mr. Hogg, after- wards the minister at the Mint Meeting, Exeter, and ultimately a banker in the same city. He pub- lished a sermon "On the Taking of Quebec and other Successes against the French." We have also the names of Mr. Chapman, Mr. Isaac Smith, and Mr. William Hughes. Mr. Smith quitted England for America in 1784. Mr. Hughes removed to Leather Lane, Holborn; he has now lived many years in the Isle of Wight, without a pastoral charge. The vacancy filled by him in London was occasioned by the removal of Mr. Butcher to Sid- bury Vale for the recovery of his health. This gentleman having derived much benefit from the change of air, was, in 1798, chosen pastor of the Sidmouth flock. The congregation did not become numerous under his care ; he was not what is called a popular preacher ; but it maintained a highly re- spectable character. Among his auditors were several who came to Sidmouth as visiters, and who were thankful to find a place where they could wor- ship in spirit and in truth, and listen to discourses which, for piety, simplicity, and general utility, were rarely equalled. One gentleman there was, originally of the Jewish persuasion, who became a permanent resident at Sidmouth, and who was so much pleased with Mr. Butcher's society as well as ministerial services, that he presented him with a 348 SIDMOUTH. valuable piece of ground, near his own mansion, on which Mr. Butcher built a house. In his time the congregation became decidedly Unitarian, according to the common acceptation of the term ; Arian sen- timents had been professed by many of his prede- cessors, and the people, unfettered by trust-deeds, anxious only to believe what the Scriptures taught, gradually arrived at what they now deem Christian Truth. In 1820, Mr. Butcher was succeeded by Mr. Yeates, who remained here about five years. The congregation were then supplied by Mr. Maurice, formerly the minister of the Presbyterian society at Frenchay. This gentleman came to Sidmouth to obtain the benefit of the Devonshire air for some invalids in his family; and on his removal, the people, as a token of gratitude for his zealous and disinterested services, presented him with a silver waiter. The next pastor was Mr. Heineken, from the College at York, who removed to Collumpton in 1830. He was followed at Sidmouth by Mr. James, by whose ministry, though it only continued about two years, the congregation was much im- proved. During this period, great interest was ex- cited in the town by the delivery of a course of lectures, in which Mr. James declared what appear- ed to him the whole counsel of God. These lectures were frequently attended by four hundred persons ; a permanent addition, by no means inconsiderable, was made to the society ; and its future welfare was wisely provided for by corresponding pastoral efforts. SIDMOUTH. 349 and by the establishment of a small library and a Sunday-school. In 1832, Mr. James accepted an invitation to Bridgwater, and was succeeded by Mr. Baker, who had lately completed his course of edu- cation at York. At the beginning of 1835, Mr. Baker quitted Sidmouth and, it is understood, the ministry. The congregation are now supplied by Mr. Gibson, who has recently seceded from the Established Church, in consequence of a change in his sentiments. In the chapel, on a large board, is the following announcement : benefactions to this christian society. Mrs. Judith Gundry £'100. F. FoLAQuiER, Esq 50. Abraham Follett, Gent 50. John Carslake, Esq 100. Mrs. Leigh 100. There are two tablets ; one is to the memory of John Carslake, of Cotmaton, Esq., who died in 1815, and of his sister, Elizabeth Carslake; the other has the following inscription : "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." psalm xxxvii. 37. To THE memory OF THE ReV. EdMUND BuTCHER, WHO DIED AT BaTH, ApRIL 14tll, 1822, AGED 66 YEARS. His CONGREGATION ERECT THIS TABLET AS A LASTING TRIBUTE OF RESPECT AND ADMIRATION FOR THE PIETY, ZEAL, AND UNREMITTING FIDELITY WITH WHICH HE FULFILLED HIS PASTORAL DUTIES IM THIS PLACE DURING 23 YEARS. 350 SIDMOUTH. il^fnisters. Bexnet Stevexsox, D.D — 1719. William Palk ]T19_J73J. William West 1731— ]738. JOHX Browx 1738 — 17-10. JoHX Lacy 17J0— 1711. JoHX Berry 1 742 — 1 7oO. Bexjamix Kiddel 17o0 — 17o0. JoHx Hogg 1759 — 1771. William Chapmax 1772 — 1778. Isaac Smith 1778 — 1784. William Hughes 1 784 — 1 797. Edmuxd Butcher 1 798—1820. Matthew Lee Yeates 1820 — 1825. Nicholas Samuel Heixekex 1825 — 1830. William James 1830—1832. Thomas Baker 1832 — 1835. The Rev. Edmuxd Butcher was bom at Colchester, in 1 757. His family was originallj of Feering, in Essex, a place of which, about the year 1067, his ancestor John Batcher was rector. The father of Edmund was a carpenter and builder, and unable to afford him many advantages. Dr. Stanton, a Dis- senting minister at Colchester, supplied him with preparatory instruction, and his progress shewed that it was not ill bestowed. When only fourteen years of age, he wrote a little poem of several books, entitled " The Brutaeis," in heroic verse, on the fabled report of the peopling of Britain by the Trojans. This composition, ornamented with drawings of pen and ink, was found among his papers, and is preserNed as a proof of his good taste and persevering industry. He soon afterwards went to London and was apprenticed to a linen-draper. During his SIDMOUTH. 351 leisure hours, he cultivated his taste for literature, and employed his pen for periodical works. Whatever profits accrued were transmitted to his father, mother, and only sister, who composed the whole of the family. On the Lord's day he attended Salters' Hall, and became acquainted with Mr. Worthington, who, dis- cerning, his talents, led his views to the ministry. Furnished by Mr. W., with preparatory instruction, he went to Daventry Academy, then conducted by Mr. Belsham. His first settlement was at Sowerby, in Yorkshire. After some time he removed to London, and preached occasionally at Monkwell Street and Carter Lane. But his stated post was at Leather Lane, where he was ordained in 1789, by Messrs. Tayler, Kippis, Belsham, Gillibrand, Worthington, Lindsey, and Jacomb. He now united with a few ministers in carrying on a Wednesday evening lecture in Salters' Hall, which was well attended for several winters. He bestowed much attention on a Family Bible, in conjunction with Mr. Worthington, — a work on an original plan, and of great utility ; and he edited the latter volumes of the Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, At Leather Lane he continued many years, and revived the con- gregation. Popularity he could not attain, in consequence of the weakness of his voice ; but his sterling sense and piety always ensured him a respectable audience. His health be- coming precarious, he was obliged to leave London for Sid bury Vale, near Sidmouth. Here his comi>laint, an affection of the lungs, yielded to the mildness of the air, and his general consti- tution was invigorated. In 1708, Mr. Butcher was chosen pastor at Sidmouth. The flock was small, but he entered on his duties with cheerfulness and persevered in them with Christian fidelity. He and his family formed around them a small band of friends who knew their worth and studied their happiness. Within the last few years of his life he was afflicted with a kind of paralytic stroke, which produced great debility. In November, 182], he removed to Bath, with the hope of gaining some relief; but, soon after, he fell down and dislocated his hip. This confining 352 SIDMOUTH. him to his bed, increased his debility, which terminated in his jilacid dissohition, on April 14, 1822. It is remarkable that he had long wished it might be the will of God to take him (when he had fulfilled all the designs of His providence) on the day of rest. His remains were interred, early in the morning, at Lyncombe, in the cemetery belonging to the Bath Unitarian chapel ; the service was conducted with an impressive solemnity by the Rev. J. Hunter. Besides the works already mentioned, and his " Picture of Sidmouth," and bis "Tour through various parts of England," Mr. Butcher published three volumes of sermons for the nse of families. The third volume has an interesting account of his adoption of Humanitarianism. His last publication was a volume of " Prayers for the use of Families and Individuals," adapted for each discourse in his volume of sermons, and "Forms suited to particular occasions." After his death, Mrs. Butcher published a small volume of his "Discourses on our Lord's Sermon on the Mount." He wrote many valuable hymns which have found their way into various collections. These were warmly admired by no less a judge than Mrs. Barbauld. Of the hymn on the meeting of good men of all parties in heaven, that lady was once heard to express the highest praise. Mr. Butcher's prominent characteristics were good sense, great modesty, and true liberality. The pleasures which he relished most keenly were the pleasures of home : some years before his death, he sent the following lines to a periodical pub- lication. " Ask me to choose my happiest lot, I choose exactly what I've got ! Ask me what I wish for more, — A little to relieve the poor : A life well spent, since life is given. And long or short as pleases Heaven!"* * Monthly Repos., Vol. xviii. p. 312 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. Lympstone is a pleasant village eight miles from Exeter and three from Exinouth. The neighbourhood is celebrated for the salubrity of its air and the beauty of its scenery. 2 A LYMPSTONE and GULLIFORD MEETINGS. There is probably no other instance of the exist- ence of two Presbyterian places of worship so near each other in a retired situation. The more an- cient is about a mile from Lympstone, and is called Gulliford, from an estate of that name on which it stands. This, however, is not the original Noncon- formist place of worship, having been built little more than sixty years. The society was formed soon after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, and consisted of the friends of Mr. Samuel Tones, who was ejected from Woodbury, the parish to which Gulliford belongs. Mr. Fones left the country soon after his eject- ment. In 1687, his people were sufficiently nu- merous to invite as their pastor, Mr. Samuel Tapper, another sufferer for conscience' sake. Two years afterwards, a field was obtained for " erecting thereon a meeting for religious worship and the service of God of the people commonly called Pres- byterians." Such is the language of the original deed, dated April 10, 1689. Mr. Tapper's *'warm practical preaching and holy exemplary conversa- tion gained him universal love among his people. LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD, 355 His congregation increased, and he was blessed with success in the conversion of many souls. He was also generally respected by the neighbouring gentry who had any moderation and knew how to value learning, an obliging temper, and genteel carriage."* But his good qualities did not secure him from the fury of high church bigots, who, during the times of persecution, violently entered his meeting-house and broke tlie windows. On the next Lord's day, he prayed earnestly for his ene- mies, that God would forgive their sin and turn their hearts. In 1708, Mr. Tapper, feeling the infirmities of age, resigned his charge to Mr. Joseph Manston, who had been his assistant and was ordained at Lympstone, in 1703. In 1715, Mr. Manston's con- gregation consisted of five hundred persons. He acted with the orthodox in the proceedings of the Exeter assembly, and published a sermon " On the Perils of False Brethren." The congregation con- tinued to increase so considerably, that eight years afterwards, as it appears by another deed, they obtained an additional part of the field for enlarging the meeting-house and the burial-ground. The ministers who succeeded Mr. Manston, were Mr. Thomas Hancock, Mr. John Turner, Mr. Thomas Jervis, and Mr. John Jervis. f In the year 1774, * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 283. t Such is the statement by one of the trustees — the Rev. M, L. Yeates, — to whom I am under many obligations for his efforts to procure accurate information. The MSS. of Mr. Wilson represent Mr. Michael Martin, from Launceston, as the successor of Mr. Manston and as having returned 2 a2 356 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. soon after the settlement of the last of these gentle- men, the old building was taken down and another erected on the adjoining site. Mr. John Jervis was the minister forty-seven years. " I can distinctly remember him (says my correspondent) from 1782 up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1820. So much was he respected by all denominations, that the members of the adjoining churches often left them to attend on his services. In the summer months, particularly, I have a hundred times seen twelve and thirteen carriages at a time at the yard- gate. For many years, the meeting-house was at- tended by the first families in the neighbourhood, forming, with others, a regular congregation of two or three hundred persons, unquestionably, the most genteel in the West of England."* Mr. Jervis was what is generally called a Low Arian. His discourses were admired for their ex- cellent tendency and the beauty of their composi- tion. He was not what is usually termed eloquent, but had a plain, interesting delivery ; and his de- votional services were peculiarly good. These to Launceston in 1728. Mr. Thomas Clarke, a pupil of Dr. Doddridge, was at Lympstone in 1773 ; but as one of the Mr. Jervis's removed and the other succeeded him in that year, Mr. Clarke was probably only an assistant. Mr. Turner entered the academy at Hoxton, in 1752, came to Lympstone about 1757, and died in 1769. * Polwhele, with his usual brevity in all that relates to Dissent, says, (Vol. ii. 211,) "The Lees support the meeting-house in this parish near Lympstone village." As the congregation was in a flourishing state about this time, (the close of the last century,) it is probable that other highly respectable persons contributed their aid. The considerable property of the family mentioned by the historian, undoubtedly added to their influence in favour of the Dissenting cause at Lympstone, and their loss must have been severely felt. LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 357 circumstances when connected with his love of science, his excellent disposition, and his active benevolence, account for the success of his labours. During the summer preceding his death, he had been much engaged in superintending the erection of a new chapel, in the village of Lympstone, a more central situation than Gulliford ; and it was in- tended that this building should be used exclusively in the winter, and that both should be open in the summer. His heart was in the undertaking ; and to his indefatigable exertions and perseverance it owed its final accomplishment.* At his particular request, his friend Mr. Yeates, who has ever felt a lively interest in the congregation, consented to preach at the opening. But Mr. Jervis was denied this gratification ; a fortnight before the time when the first tribute of prayer and praise was to have been offered in the edifice, he who watched its progress was attacked by a severe cold ; and, ere the day of opening, he was summoned to join in the services of a nobler temple, — a temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Two months afterwards, when the grief occasion- ed by this event was slightly diminished, Mr. Yeates conducted the proposed service. This was in 1820 ; in 1821, Mr. Seaward, who had been some time at Poole, became the pastor of the congrega- tion. It then rapidly declined ; at first the numbers were lessened by deaths and removals; but after- wards by circumstances which might have been * Moil. Rcpos, 358 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. prevented. Every minister cannot command popu- larity ; — even if his talents be considerable, his use- fulness may be impaired by sectarian prejudices, and unavoidable personal defects ; — but every mi- nister can let his conversation be such as becometh the gospel of Christ. By a contrary course, the interests of pure religion are often injured far more than by the influence of ignorance or the assaultg of bigotry. A small congregation still exists at Lympstone. The chapels have been supplied, since Mr. Sea- ward's death, by a few ministers in the district. At present, the hearers have the services of Mr. Adams, lately the minister of the Presbyterian con- gregation at Marshfield. Jiittnfstets. Samuel Fones 1062— Samuel Tapper ] 687— 1708. Joseph Manston 1703 — Michael Martin — 1728. Thomas Hancock 1728—1757. John Turner 1757 — 1769. Thomas Jervis 1770 — 1773. John Jervis 1773—1820. Roger Seaward 1820—1834. Thomas Adams 1835. LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 359 Mr. Samuel Tapper was the son of a gentleman at Exeter. At tlie age of fifteen, having been examined and approved by the Exeter ministers, he was sent to Oxford. But he proved consumptive, and his physician obliged him to hasten into his native air, which he did, and quickly recovered. His first en- gagement was as an assistant in the church at Holdsworthy, in Devonshire, where he was ordained, in 1657, by several minis- ters of the fourth division. He was afterwards presented by Cromwell to the vicarage of St. Merran, in Cornwall, which at first he scrupled to accept ; but, at length, he took possession of it and continued in it till the Restoration. To his predecessor, Mr. Banbrigg, who had been sequestered, he allowed half his income, with other advantages, and they occasionally conversed together, in a friendly manner, both before and after Mr. Ban- brigg was restored. He withdrew from the establishment with a charitable disposition ; he was no enemy either to episcopacy or to a liturgy, but said he was not prepared to assent to a book which he could not see. His great learning, with his modera- tion, modesty, and candour, procured liim the friendship of the Bishop of Exeter and many of the clergy, some of whom would willingly have obtained preferment for him. After the Restoration Mr. Tapper resided, a short time, first at a place called Erisey, and subsequently at Exeter. He re- moved to Lympstone in 1687 and lived there till his death, sa- tisfied with his Nonconformity, and highly respected by his congregation. He was celebrated for his familiar acquaintance with the Greek Testament, the practical strain and general use- fulness of his preaching, the godly simplicity and purity of his life. He was an example of walking closely with God in secret duties, and would never venture into the world without endea- vouring to engage the presence of God with him. Both to friends and enemies he discovered a generous spirit ; his charity was not confined to men of particular persuasions ; whoever was in distress, he accounted his brother and fit to be relieved. Mr. Tapper printed nothing, but composed a Latin inscription 360 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. for the monument of the Lord Chancellor Fortescue ; translated seven books of Milton's Paradise Lost into Latin Hexameters ; and left some hundreds of Latin verses on the absurdities of Popery and the rogueries of the Romish priests compared with the Pagan.* The Rev. THOMAS Jervis was born in 1748, at Ipswich, and died in 1833, at Brompton Grove. His father, who was a Dissenting minister at Ipswich, placed him at the academy at Hoxton, on leaving which, he was chosen to the office of classical and mathematical tutor in the academy at Exeter. About the same time he was elected minister of the congregation at Lympstone, and immediately afterwards jomt minister at Topsham, with the Rev. J. Bartlett. In 1772, an application from the Earl of Shelburne, after- wards Marquis of Lansdowne, led him to remove to Bowood to undertake the education of two of his lordship's sons. Here Mr. Jervis remained in the enjoyment of highly cultivated society, and in the faithful discharge of his important trust, during a period of eleven years. With the kind attention and friendship of the Marquis, he continued to be honoured until the time of that nobleman's death. Lord Fitzmaurice, the elder of his pupils, completed his education for the university under his first instruction. The younger, the Honourable William Granville Petty, died at a very early age, to the deep grief of all who knew him. According to Dr. Priestley's testimony, he " had made attainments in knowledge and piety beyond any thing he had observed in life ; " a circumstance which may also be considered as an evidence of the knowledge and piety of his instructor and constant companion. In 1783, on the comple- tion of this engagement, Mr. Jervis accepted the appointment of minister of the congregation at St. Thomas's, in the Borough, which he retained till 1795. Dr. Kippis, the minister at Princes Street, Westminister, dying in that year, Mr. Jervis was chosen * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i, p. 283. LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD, 361 his successor. In 1808, he quitted London, on receiving an invitation to succeed his friend Mr. Wood, as pastor of the society at Mill Hill chapel, Leeds. He resigned this connexion in 1818, and never afterwards engaged in any stated ministerial duties ; jet he continued for several years to assist his friends with occasional pulpit services. Although permitted to reach the advanced age of eighty-six, he preserved to the last, in a very remarkable degree, the vigour, activity and cheerfulness of his mind, with few and slight interruptions to his bodily health. Notwithstanding the habitual tranquillity of his mind, Mr Jervis's attachment to the cause of civil and religious freedom was ardent as well as unshaken, and his devotional feelings were peculiarly animated, as appears from the hymns he contributed to the collection which bears his name. While he was affec- tionately attentive to the poor, he was able by liis discourses to interest and impress the higher classes ; he also carried a pure and high tone of morality into the private circles of the culti- vated, and rendered virtue attractive by the charms of mildness and urbanity. With him, to use an expression of his own, " courtesy was the law of social life." Mr. Jervis's largest publication was a volume of sennons which possess an even and sustained excellence, together with an application sometimes remarkably felicitous of the stores supplied by a classical education. It is remarkable that his works contain no indications of that change of sentiment which Mr. Belsham and others of his contemporaries underwent, and which is observable in their writings. In Mr. Belsham's charge, delivered at the ordination of Mr. Kenrick, at Exeter, in 1785, there are strong traces of orthodox sentiments ; e. g. " You, remember, Sir, that the great Son of God himself when in the incarnate form he condescended to be a preacher of truth and righteousness, saw reason to complain ' Who hath believed our report?'" Whereas, in the discourse of Mr. Jervis "on the blessings of Christ's mission," delivered on the same occasion, although his subject led him to speak of the " author, design, and means of our salvation, there is not a phrase which in his 362 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. later years lie would have modified. He here speaks as he was wont to do to the end of his days, of the " resurrection from the dead and a happy restoration to immortal life" as the main topic of Christian instruction, — as that " in which all the blessings comprised in the divine favour and forgiveness may be summed up," It cannot be too much to presume that this hope, wrought into the temper of his soul, contributed largely to his lengthened enjoyment of health, cheerful spirits, and intellectual vigour. The latter characteristic was strikingly evinced in a pamphlet written in his eighty-fourth year, in reply to Mr. Warner's tra- ditional tale of a supernatural appearance of Mr. Petty after his decease. INIr. Jervis married Frances Mary, daughter of his intimate friend Dr. Disney. His remains repose near those of this ex- cellent man in the churchyard of Fryerning, Essex. To Mrs. Jervis and others who attended the couch of the dying patriarch there were many sources of consolation. The pious wish expressed in his own touching description of the termination of the Christian's life was fully verified in his own case. Wlien my dim eyes are sunk in death. And God who gave shall take my breath ; May he sustain my fainting heart. And comfort to my soul impart. May his kind presence bring relief From fear, despondency, and grief. His cheering voice dhect my way To regions of eternal day. * The Rev. John Jervis, F.L.S. This gentleman was dis- tinguished by his talents and virtues, and by liis acquirements in various branches of knowledge, particularly in natural history. His favourite studies were botany and mineralogy. He left a large collection of plants, and choice specimens of minerals * Unitaiiau Chronicle, Vol. ii. p. 317. LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. 363 scientifically arranged by his own hand. In these he found a rational, refined and permanent resource. While, with a philo- sophic eye, he surveyed the wonders of nature, he discerned the mighty hand which directs and regulates the whole. He con- versed with the creation in his works, and felt the full force of that sublime truth, — " In wisdom hast thou made them all!" Mr. John Jervis and Mr. Thomas Jervis were ordained to- gether in 1779. On this occasion. Dr. Priestley preached his sermon "on the doctrine of the Divine influence on the human mind." The other parts of the service were conducted by Dr. Kippis and the Rev. Sir Harry Trelawney, the worthy Baronet having lately joined the Dissenters. " About the beginning of July, 1779, (says Mr. Howe, in a sketch of Sir Harry's life,) I met with him by appointment at Lympstone, near Exeter, at the ordination of Mr. Jervis. Sir Harry introduced the servdce, Dr. Kippis delivered an excellent charge, and Dr. Priestley preached an ingenious sermon which was afterwards published. There were a number of Dissenting ministers present. The afternoon was employed in conversation suitable to the characters of some of the most famous men of the age, in which Dr. Priestley, Dr. Kippis, and Mr. Towgood bore the principal part. Although they discoursed on controversial topics, and differed much in opinion from one another, yet the conversation was conducted with politeness, pleasantry, and good humour. Sir Harry ex- pressed the highest satisfaction and said, he esteemed it the happiest event in his life, and the most favourable dispensation of Providence, which brought him acquainted with such learned, pious, and worthy men."* Although the subject of this notice delighted to explore the natural world, his principal employments had an immediate reference to his office as a Christian minister. His habitual enjoyment of interesting scenery "exempt from public haunts" ilid not make him selfish ; on the contrary, his chief aim was to cultivate the social virtues, lu the diricluirge of his pastoral "^ Christ. Ref., N. S., Vol. i. !>. .50''. 364 LYMPSTONE AND GULLIFORD. duties, he exhibited to his flock a beautiful pattern of candour, rectitude, and benevolence. During forty-seven years, they en- joyed the benefit of his pious instructions and the light of his shining example. On subjects of free inquiry and theological disquisition, his sentiments were liberal and enlightened. In private life his conversation was interesting ; and he constantly promoted the happiness of those around him by his urbanity and cheerfulness. His sterling worth and unostentatious virtues not only endeared him to his intimate friends, but rendered him highly esteemed by his neighbours of all classes and of every religious persuasion. To the poor he was an invaluable friend. "In all their afflictions he was afflicted;" and his sympathy and kindness soothed and alleviated their sorrow. " The bless- ing of him who was ready to perish came upon him, and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy." It has been shewn how anxious Mr. Jervis was to engage in the service of God, and promote the cause of religion at the time of his death. His life ended as it had been spent, amidst honourable and useful labours. During his short and final illness his mind continued calm and collected, supported by a firm yet humble reliance on the hopes and promises of the gospel.* * Moil. Rcpos., Vol. XV. p. 680. TOPSHAM. "Apsham — a praty toimlet on the shore, a 4 miles upper in the haven. Heere is the great trade and rode for shippes that usith this haven, and especially for the shippes and merchant mannes goodes of Excester. Men of Excester contende to make the haven to cum up to Excester self. At this tyme shippes cum not farther up but to Apsham"— Leland. " As we sail down the Exe, its peninsular appearance hath a charm- ing effect. The town of Topsham, pleasantly situated to the south of Exeter, consists of one long street, extending north and south nearly half a mile, on the eastern bank of the river Exe ; some part of which street is wide, the other contracted. There are many well- built houses interspersed throughout the town." " The church stands about the centre of the town, built on the edge of a high cliff; so that the churchyard, in proportion to its height, commands a still more extensive view than the strand. And the scenery is extremely picturesque— a noble river, distant shipping, churches glimmering through groups of trees, a fertile vale, and a fine range of mountains, rising above each other in beautiful perspective, as far as the eye can reach." — Polwhele. Population in 1811,-2871 ; in 1821,-3156; in 1831,-3184. OLD MEETING-HOUSE. Religious Liberty found a zealous advocate at Topsham so early as the year 1645. The celebrated Ames Short, M. A., of Exeter College, Oxford, then commenced his labours in this town. About five years afterwards he removed to Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, where he continued until the noted Bartholomew Day, Few ministers in the West of England were placed in such perilous situations at this critical period; and few acted a more distin- guished and honourable part. His father disin- herited him ; he was several times in prison ; on more than one occasion his life was in imminent danger from the violence of the soldiery; and he w^as frequently harassed by troublesome and frivo- lous accusations. Yet he survived the times of per- secution, and "lived to bring forth fruit in his old age." When liberty was granted to the Dissenters, he opened a place of public worship at Lyme, in which eight candidates for the ministry were or- dained during the year 1687.* In 1662, the incumbent at Topsham was a Con- formist ; but the principles implanted by Mr. Short * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 458. TOPSHAM. 367 had taken deep root among the people. 8ome time after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, a Dis- senting congregation was formed under the care of Mr. Benjamin Berry, who had been ejected from Mary Tavy, in this county. In 1687, we find the name of the Rev. Bernard Starr in connexion with the society;* and in the same year, Mr. William Horsham was ordained as their pastor, and com- menced a long and successful career. He was at Topsham in 1715, with six hundred hearers; his name occurs again four years afterwards ; and it is probable that he continued his services till 1723, when Mr. Daniel Cooper became the minister. Mr. Horsham died in 1725, and Mr. Cooper in 1727; the latter was in the morning of life, and had only been the pastor of the congregation about four years. It was during Mr. Coopers ministry that the present meeting-house was assigned to Trustees. The assignment was made by one individual, Mr. George Hodder, who was probably at the cost of building it; the society is designated Presbyterian. Mr. Cooper's successor was Mr. Stephen Towgood, who removed to Exeter in 1745. The society then elected Mr. Aaron Pitts, whose name is found in the list of students educated at Mr. Hallet's Aca- demy, a strong indication of the early heterodoxy of his people. Among Mr. Pitts' fellow-students were Mr. King, afterwards Lord Chancellor; Mr. Hubert Stogdon, whose reputed heresy excited so much at- « Mr. WUsou's MSS. 368 TOPSHAM. tentioii ; and Dr. James Foster, still more celebrated for the honesty with which he formed and avowed impopular opinions. In 1771, the congregation, having been deprived by death of Mr. Pitts, elected as his successor Mr. J. P. Bartlett, who remained here till his own de- cease in 1788. The next minister was Mr. Joseph Jeffries, who resigned at the close of the following year, and was succeeded by Mr. Blatchford, who is said to have been very useful at Topsham in form- ing Sunday-schools on liberal grounds. When he had filled the situation six years, he went with his wife and family to some town in North America, where his ministerial services were both acceptable and lucrative, and where he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. After Mr. Blatchford's departure, the congrega- tion were without a settled minister more than a year and a half, which proved injurious to its inte- rests. On the first of January, 1797, Mr. John Follett, a relative of the distinguished lawyer. Sir William Follett, M. P., undertook the pastoral office, and has continued at Topsham to the present time. Many of the particulars in this account were com- municated by that gentleman. He thus concludes his statement: "There is now only to add, that some desertions, several removals of residence, and numerous deaths, have gradually reduced this once large and respectable society to a very small one indeed." * * There are a few Unitarians in the neighbouring town of Totness ; but TOPSHAM. 369 .Ptmfsicrs. Benjamin Berry Bernard Starr William Horsham 1(587 — 1723. Daniel Cooper 1723 — 1727. Stephen Towgood 1727 — 1745. Aaron Pitts 174G — 1771. James Perry Bartlett 1771 — 1788. Joseph Jeffries 1788 — 1789. Samuel Blatchfokd, D. D 1789 — ]79o. John Follett 1797. they are not sufficiently numerous to form a society. They have a chapel, which was erected many years since on a piece of ground adjoining the site of a larger meeting-house then taken down in consequence of its being in a ruinous condition. The last Unitarian minister at Totness was the Rev. J. C. Wallace, now of Wareham, who settled here in 1823, and remained a few years with the hope of reviving the society. The first minister of the present chapel was the Rev. W. Johns ; after this gentle- man left, the Unitarians are said to have been without a minister nearly twenty j'cars. In the list of ministers who officiated in the old building, I have Francis Whiddon, Samuel MuUins, Thomas Edgely, Henry Atkins, Samuel Carkeet, Thomas Hancock, John Reyuell, Thomas Chapman, Jacob Hayes, and Henry Baynham — most of whom ranked among the firmest and most enlightened friends of truth, virtue, and liberty, in the West of England. The chapel is at present let to another denomination of Christians. 2b EXETER. "The history of the city of Exeter is lost in the remotest antiquity. Without recurring- to unauthenticated legends and romantic traditions of Trojan founders and Trojan governors, Exeter may justly boast of having been a very considerable Roman station. Its beautiful and commanding position, its rapid and navigable river, the salubrity of the climate and the fertility of the surrounding country, would natu- rally arrest the attention of the judicious and enterprising Romans. By them it was called Isca Danmoniorum. " The city, exclusive of the suburbs, is about a mile and a half in circumference. At an early period, it was divided into four wards or quarters — East, West, North, and South ; but the castle was not in- cluded in this division. By the charter of King Charles I. the city is governed by the mayor, assisted by the recorder and eight aldermen, (who are justices of the peace,) and fifteen common council-men. "Few towns of the same size can boast of so many churches as Exeter. Besides the cathedral and some ancient chapels, there are no less than eighteen parish churches in the city and its immediate suburbs. Very few of these edifices contribute in any degree to the embellishment of the city. Generally speaking, they are mean in appearance, half concealed by other buildings, and present little to arrest the notice of the curious antiquarian. With such a magnificent model as the cathedral in the heart of Exeter, it is matter of astonish- ment to strangers and visiters, that a better style of architecture does not present itself in the parish churches. But it should be observed, that several of these churches are of a date prior to the cathedral. " Though Exeter is no longer the key and bulwark of the West of England, by the strength of her fortifications — though she has ceased to be the great mart of our staple commodity — though she cannot boast of being the theatre of many brilliant exploits in the page of English annals — though she contains not the sepulchres of any of those illustrious heroes to whom we are indebted for our Christianity, our monarchy, and our constitution — she is, nevertheless, the ornament and the first city of the West, in dignity, antiquity, and beautiful situa- tion."— Oliver. Population in 1811,-18,896; in 1821,-23,479; in 1831,-28,201. 2b2 GEORGE'S MEETING. In the early history of Dissent few places are more frequently mentioned than the city of Exeter. Ten ministers were ejected from its parishes by the Act of Uniformity, and it was the rallying place of many others who lost their livings in the neighbour- hood. The Nonconformists' Memorial furnishes an account of more than a hundred confessors, at this critical period, within the borders of the county of Devon. Many resorted to Exeter, and employed themselves soon after the memorable Bartholomew Day in forming congregations, notwithstanding the more than usual severity of the magistrates. At first, small parties of the adherents of the ejected pastors assembled privately in the houses of the more courageous, anxious to hear, though by stealth, the prayers and exhortations of the men whose labours had already largely promoted their spiritual improvement. And as brighter times arrived, they lost no opportunity of forming themselves into dis- tinct societies, and manifesting openly their attach- ment to the cause they had cherished, at the hazard of their worldly possessions and personal safety. The congregation now assembling in George's EXETER = 373 Meeting consists partly of the descendants of live ancient societies. Their places of worship were called James's Meeting, Bow Meeting, Castle Lane Meeting, Mint Meeting, and the Little Meeting. The first three appear to have been built about the same time, for the use of the original Noncon- formists, probably as soon as the law permitted. James's Meeting was so called in consequence of the declaration of Indulgence by James the Second; it was relinquished and converted into dwelling- houses in 17G0, the year in which George's was opened. Bow Meeting was taken down in 1795 ; the congregation, into whose hands it had fallen, then built the Independent chapel in Castle Street; in the preceding year the Western Unitarian Society held their fourth annual meeting in the old building, hy invitation of the Trustees. Of the Castle Lane Meeting the accounts are very scanty ; it originally belonged to the Independents ; what became of the place of worship does not appear. On the removal of Mr. Robert Atkinson, about the middle of the last century, the congregation united with the others.* The Mint Meeting was built by the ad- herents of Mr. Peirce and Mr. Hallet, in 1719, in consequence of the memorable division on the Tri- nitarian question. Their exertions were followed * The founder of this congregation was the celebrated Lewis Stuckley, an ejected minister. He was succeeded by Mr. Peter Jillard, who, after living a short time at Exeter, removed to Crcditon, and subsequently to Bristol. The next and only other minister besides Mr. Atkinson was Mr. George Denbury, in whose time there were about four hundred hear- ers.—Eng, Prcsb., 126. 374 EXETER. by those of ministers of kindred sentiments till 1810, when the chapel was sold to the Wesley ans, who took it down and erected a new one on the same spot. Of the Little Meeting there are also but few particulars ; it was situated nearly opposite the Friar's Gate, in Holloway, and appears to have been closed soon after the opening of George's. The localities of the Bow, Mint, and Castle Lane buildings are indicated by their respective names. George's Meeting is situated in South Street, near the South Gate, and derived its name from its being built at the time George the Third came to the crown. At this period the congregation and their pastors* manifested an extraordinary anxiety to be noted for their loyalty. From this brief account of the meeting-houses, we proceed to the general history of the Exeter Dissent- ers. For many years before the passing of the Act of Uniformity, Presbyterianism maintained an almost undivided sway in the city and neighbourhood. There were a few Independents who had ministers of their own persuasion, officiating, like those of the more numerous denomination, in the cathedral and the various parish churches. Among these two bodies of Christians great harmony prevailed ; a well-attended Tuesday's lecture, set on foot by Mr. Ford, was conducted by all the ministers of the city in their turn ; and each church alternately had com- * One of the Rev. M. Towgood's works is an elaborate attempt to shew that the Dissenters had the chief hand in reprobating the execution of Charles the First, and procuring the restoration of his son. EXETER. 375 munions once a fortnight, in which the members of the other congregations were invited to participate. This union not only preserved harmony among the Presbyterian and Congregational denominations, but enabled them to diminish more effectually the influence of those enthusiasts in the city, by whom ordinances of all kinds were denounced, and many other wild notions industriously propagated. From 1650 to 1662, the established ministers pursued their courses of usefulness with great quiet and comfort. Then came those arbitrary laws which, though aiming to make the faith and worship of Christians uniform, produced the most lamentable divisions. Most of the ministers who were now ejected from their livings at Exeter were willing to make large concessions on points of ceremony and church discipline, but they could not swear their unfeigned assent to all and every thing contained in a book which they had not even time to examine. Vain were all their declarations of loyalty to the king s person and government ; vain their appeals to the success which, under the blessing of God, had followed their spiritual labours. The officers to whom their remonstrances were made, intoxicated with their newly-acquired power, or influenced by the prevailing infatuation, shewed no mercy to the unfortunate pastors, and, in many cases, granted less indulgence than even the law was willing to allow. The most eminent of the ministers for exertions and sufferings were Ford, Stuckley, Atkins, Bartlett, Gaylard, Serle, Hallet, Hoppin, and Trosse. Ford 376 EXETER. and Stuckley were ejected from the Cathedral; Atkins, from St. John's Church; Bartlett, from St. Mary's in the Moor; Gaylard, from Ede; Serle, from Plympton ; Hallet, from Chiselborough, in Dorsetshire ; and Hoppin and Trosse, from colleges at Oxford. Of these ministers, five remained in and near Exeter by virtue of their previous connexion with their flocks ; the others were led to settle here by persecution elsewhere, the prospect of living with friends, or invitations from newly-formed so- cieties. These societies, as I have intimated, sprang into existence immediately on the passing of the Act of Uniformity. The majority of the adherents of the ejected ministers assembled at the usual times, though in different places, every Lord's day. But there were a few, w^ho, though professedly be- longing to the general body, contented themselves with attending the week-day services of the Dis- senters, and receiving the Lord's Supper in their meeting-houses. The latter class were encouraged by several of the Exeter ministers, who refused to conduct public worship at the time of its celebration in the parish church, where they often attended, desiring by this occasional conformity to manifest a catholic spirit, and obtain toleration, if not compre- hension, from the government. But in 1664 the Parliament passed the Conventicle Act, by which it was decreed, that all who should attend Dissenting worship, in the presence of more than five persons, should be subject, for the first offence to three months' imprisonment, for the second to six, and EXETER. 377 for the third to seven years' transportation; the penalty of an escape from the latter sentence being death without benefit of clergy! Yet so resolute were the Nonconformist societies at Exeter, that this cruel act did not dissolve them. Mr. Trosse and other ministers occasionally preached with much earnestness and acceptance; and, notwith- standing the great power entrusted to sheriffs and justices of the peace, they generally avoided punish- ment. * This course they pursued amidst all the subsequent persecutions. In 1668, new severities were introduced, and many private meetings of Dis- senters, which had been held by connivance, were broken up; in 1670, the Conventicle Act was re- vived with additional rigour, the effects of which produced one loud cry of distress from every part of the kingdom ; the jails were crowded ; informers were every where pursuing their vile occupation ; soldiers were invading the peace and plundering the property of Dissenters, on pretence of searching for conventicles ; while the king and his court, bidding defiance to all virtue, and intent only on their own * " I preached once every week, (says Mr. Trosse,) and administered the sacrament every month, in the midst of violent persecutions, in private houses, sometimes by day and sometimes by night, sometimes to a smaller and at other times to a greater company. For a long time together I preached in the very heart of the city, every Wednesday, about two or three of the clock in the afternoon, to a very considerable society, which fiU'd two chambers. This could not but be observed by the Church party ; but for a considerable while we continued without disturbance ; till at length a magistrate came upon us, and found us assembl'd. But, by God's good providence, I escaped, tho' very narrowly. For I got into another chamber, where I was hid , and though I was diligently sought for, and every coffer opened, yet could they not find mc." — Life of Trosse, p. 91. 378 EXETER. guilty pleasures, turned a deaf ear to the complaints of the sufferers. Yet still the Dissenters of Exeter adhered steadily to their principles, and, though now chiefly bound together by the ties of faith and love, formed an interesting and far from powerless portion of the Christian church. In 1672, when Charles the Second pretended to compassionate the Nonconformists, the pastors in this city obtained a transient relief. Mr. Trosse, though suspecting that the king was indirectly en- deavouring to bring back Popery, thought it his duty to accept a license. The Independent congre- gation, served by Mr. Stuckley, applied to his Majesty for a similar act of favour. It was part of the policy of the Government that such applications should be made ; and various eminent Dissenters in London were employed to write to their country brethren on the subject. The following documents will shew the reader how the affair was managed ; Letter from Mr. Butler, of London, to a Dissenter in the Country.* Lond. Ap. 4<^ —72. I AM not unmindful of friends, and therefore thouglit good to oflFere my service to you and any of your brethren, in order to procuring licenses. [They] Shall cost nothing. Our Lon- * The name of the Dissenter in the country I have not been able to as- certain ; he probably lived in Lancashire. The documents are selected from a curious MS. note-book, containing a vast fund of information re- lating to the affairs of the Dissenters from 16fi2 to 1673. For the use which I have made of this Ijook I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. J. S. Smallfield, of Homerton, into whose possession it came a short time EXETER. 379 don ministers have returned thankes, and most have already taken out their licenses. Its expected that someth: by way of addresse be sent from those in the countrey. 2 examples I have sent you, coppyed by my men from the originall ; the places must be mentioned and so licensed, the name of the min- ister and his Persuasion, and so he wid not only be licensed to this place, but to all places whatever we have licensed. If you please you may direct your letter to mee in little St. Helleus in Bishopgate Street. I am S'' your loving friend, Nicholas Butler. To the Kings most excellent maiestie. The cordial acknowledgement and humble petition of a church of Christ in Exeter. Humbly sheweth, That your maiesties late Declara: of the suspention of the execution of the penal statutes against Nonconformity in places your ma*^!^ shall approve of hath abundantly refreshed our wearey spirits, hath given us great inducements to bless God in your ma^'^s behalf and hath laid on us the deepest obligations to serve your ma^'^ w*^'* our lives and fortunes. We cannot but looke on your ma*'^ as the breath of our nostrils, as the Repairer of our breaches and a restorer of our paths to dwell in. May it please your ma*^*^ so far to condescend to your ma*^'«=s faithful and Loyal subjects, as to give your Royall grant & favour, that Mr. Lewis Stukeley be allowed by your ma^'^ to be our teacher, in an house belonging to Mr. Nicholas Sawney in the said citty of Exeter. And the said Mr. Stukeley & your petitioners shall ever pray for your ma'*^* long, prosperous since. It is particularly rich in records of the earliest proceedings of the Lancashire and Cheshire Nonconformists — records, of which, with the permission of the owner, 1 shall avail myself with a view to the extension, at some future period, of my historical undertaking. 380 EXETER. & peaceable raigiie, aiul that CJod would be pleased to requite your ma'''^'^ remembering of us iu our low condition. [Signed by tliirty-eight persons.] In 1673, the declaration of indulgence was with- drawn, having continued in force only about sixteen months. Mr. Trosse immediately "desisted from public preaching on the Lord's day, and frequented the prelatical assemblies with great constancy."* He probably coincided with the mistaken opinion expressed by Alderman Love, an eminent Dissenter, in the House of Commons, that it was better for the Dissenters again to have their liberties abridged, than for the Catholics to be protected by their shield.-f This forbearance, however, did not con- ciliate the High-Church party ; the bishops and magistrates became more vehement than ever against the Nonconformists ; and the King, piqued by the ill-success of his scheme in favour of Popery, issued a proclamation for putting the act against Conventicles in full force. During the interval of its suspension, Mr. Hallet, who had been ejected from a living in Dorsetshire, accepted an invitation from one of the Exeter societies ; — the following memorial bears witness to the immediate revival of the persecuting spirit ; Exon, June J4, 1673. " Oil Monday last, the 2"'i instant, according to the order of the Mayor and Justices of the city of Exon, Mr. Joseph Hallet. * Life of Tiosac. t Ncal's History of the Puritans, EXETER 381 and Mr. John Palmer appeared before them at the Guildhall, (some hundreds of people being present,) where it wns sworn against them by two witnesses, produced bj one Gould, an in- former, that at Mr. Palmer's house the said Mr. Hallet did preach, nenr 200 persons being present. The said Mr. Palmer and Mr. Joseph Hallet pleaded, in justification of the fact, the King's declaration of license, w'hich they desired, again and again, might be publicly read, but could not obtain it. They much insisted upon the King's authority, which was (they ap- prehended) a sufficient warrant for what they did. But this argument would not be heard, the Mayor, Deputy Recorder, Justices, and three lawyers more called in to their assistance, telling the said Mr. Hallet and Mr. Palmer that the King had no such authority in matters ecclesiastical, it being against an Act of Parliament. To which, after it had been answered that in that very Act of Parliament ecclesiastical power was acknow- ledged to the King by a proviso, and that His Majesty there- upon claimed it iu his declaration, they passed to another alle- gation, viz. that the King had revoked the declaration and licenses by taking off" the great seal ; and though it was answered the privy seal and His Majesty's hand were still on, the great seal being put on some months after, and not long before the Parliament sate (which the Deputy Recorder denied), yet could nothing avail ; but still they denied His Majesty's authority as to the liberty he granted, and so proceeded to judge the evidence against Mr. Hallet and Mr. Palmer to be a conviction, and ac- cordingly fined them ; so that they are iu hourly expectation of having their houses rifled and their goods violently carried away. " Since which time warrants are granted against the said Mr. Hallet and Mr. Palmer for £20. each, and against thirty-five persons more, and the constables have been several times en- deavouring to take the distresses." [Signed by ten persons.]* * English Presbyterian, p. 100 382 EXETER. From this year (1673) to the declaration of In- dulgence in 1687, the sufferings of the Dissenters increased to a degree of which it is difficult to form an adequate conception. Yet Mr. Trosse and his brethren could not refrain from doing all in their power to keep alive the love of spiritual free- dom and the desire for moral and religious improve- ment which still prevailed in their scattered flocks. The time of their greatest danger was that of the accession of James the Second. Though they had been harassed by frequent fines and the constant fear of informers, during fourteen long years, they proceeded with comparative security till the death of Charles, when those bloodhounds of persecution which before had only bayed at a distance, were let loose in every part of the country. It was under- stood at Exeter, that the surest way to obtain the favour of the new monarch was to crush, without mercy, all the advocates of freedom, and especially the undaunted, noble-minded Nonconformists. Ac- cordingly, Trosse, Serle, Gaylard, Hoppin, and Hallet, were all seized on frivolous pretences, and committed to prison. These ministers were pro- bably not exposed to all the hardships of the prisons of this dreadful time; their connexions, in private life, with the magistrates and other leading men in the city, procured them some abatement of the usual rigour; and from Mr. Trosse's own account we learn that fourteen wealthy friends alternately sent them a plentiful dinner every day. But the punishment was still dangerously severe; the suff'erers had been EXETER. 383 accustomed not only to enjoy the advantages of air and exercise, but to possess in their own homes all the comforts of life ; nor were they insensible to the degradation of being confined in the same buildings with the most hardened criminals, to whose de- praved and wicked conversation they were perpe- tually obliged to listen. The illegality of Mr. Trosse's commitment is shewn in the following passage, taken from his life : *' We held our meeting on Mondays, in the afternoon, about two o'clock, in a place very private and secure, as we thought, to which were several passages ; and some came one way and some another to it, and in a small number, that we might the better avoid discovery. And we met in those times of danger only to pray together. But how closely and prudently soever we thought we carried it, we were discovered by a malignant neighbour, who went and informed against us to the magistrates, who were then at feast with the mayor of the city. Hereupon, no less than three magistrates, with constables, and some of the baser and ruder sort, came to find us out, and seize us. After they had searched an house or two, at length they discovered our little meeting, and found about twenty people, of whom three were aged ministers, and I the youngest of them. They gave us hard language, and treated us as if we had been the worst of malefactors. The ministers were committed to the care of the constables, to be by them conducted to one of the magistrate's houses; where, after awhile, we were sentenced to be sent to gaol, unless we would take the oath, which has these clauses in it, (viz.) ' That it is unlawful upon any pretence what- soever to take up arms against the King, or any commissioned by him ; and that we will not endeavour any alteration of go- vernment, either in Church or State.' We refused that oath. As to my own part, I declared my resolution not to take it, because by it, under some circumstances which by the provi- 384 EXETER. dence of God might attend me, I might swear against my duty. I offered several instances and reasons which made me scruple taking that oath, but could receive no satisfactory answer. Then I desired that I might be allowed to put in the word (unlaw- fully), and so I would take the oath : for I was ready to declare that I would not unlawfully endeavour any alteration of govern- ment. But they told me, they could not favour me in that par- ticular, but I must take it verbatim, as it was in the Act. Which I told them, I could by no means do. They then replied, You must go to prison. I pleaded, that the Act did not extend to me, neither were they obliged to propose the oath to me, because the law expressly says, — ' That he must either be a non-confor- mist, turned out for non-conformity, or one convicted of keeping Conventicles.' Now I was obnoxious upon neither of these accounts ; for I never had a benefice to be turned out of, neither was ever legally convicted of keeping Conventicles ; but tho' I was not included in the Act, }'et they committed me to prison, without any law to warrant what they did." The declaration of Indulgence by James, though viewed in much the same light as that of his brother, mitigated the hardships of the Exeter Dissenters, and enabled them to build a meeting-house. But nothing like security was felt till some time after the landing of the Prince of Orange, which took place in the following year. His army marched from Torbay to Exeter, and here his memorable declaration was published. But the whole county was still so terrified by the executions which had followed Monmouth's rebellion, that for several days very few joined the Prince. The bishop (Lamplugh) fled to London, and carried intelligence of the inva- sion to the court, where he was immediately reward- ed with the archbishopric of York, which had long EXETER. 385 ])een kept vacant, with the intention, as was univer- sally believed, of bestowing it on some Catholic.* Even the Dissenters of Exeter received the Prince with coldness ; and while the Established Clergy re- fused to hear Bishop Burnet, the Nonconformist Pastors would have nothing to do with the Reverend Mr. Ferguson. This man was ejected in 1662 from a living in Kent; he afterwards followed Lord Shaftesbury to Holland, and returned to England wdth the Duke of Monmouth ; having contrived to escape on the failure of the latter, he came back in the train of the Prince of Orange. ■]• Clever he unquestionably was ; but those who knew him best had the lowest opinion of his moral character. On his arrival at Exeter he expressed a wish to preach; the Dissenters, however, refused him the keys of the meeting-house. "Then, (he exclaimed, laugh- ing,) I will take the kingdom of heaven by violence," and, calling for a hammer, he broke open the door with his own hand, forced his way with his sword to the pulpit, J and preached from Psalm xciv. 16: "Who will rise up for me against evil-doers?" This proceeding tended to injure the Prince's cause among the Dissenters; yet they expressed their willingness to support him, as soon as they became thoroughly acquainted with his views and saw him surrounded by gentlemen of influence and charac- ter. * Hume's History, Vol. viii. p. 294. t Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 60. X Harlcian Miscellany. Quoted in Eng. Presb., p. 101. 2c 386 EXETER. Twenty-six years had now elapsed since the passing of the Act of Uniformity. Several of those excellent men who became ministers of Noncon- formist congregations at Exeter, in consequence of that event, had entered into their rest. Mr. Hallet, one of the most prominent, was drawing near the close of his honourable and useful life — ^happy in believing that brighter days were awaiting the cause he loved. He died in 1689, and was suc- ceeded by Mr. George Trosse, one of the ejected students. This minister had been in early life as noted for his immorality as he was now for his piety. He was well known in Exeter, and con- tinued to preach to Mr. Hallet's congregation till his own death, in the year 1713. His colleague was a son of Mr. Hallet, who had been chosen two years before the death of his father, and was one of the ministers at the time of the celebrated contro- versy which ended in the ejectment of himself and Mr. Peirce. The latter came in 1713, on the death of Mr. Trosse ; and the other Presbyterian ministers at this remarkable period were Mr. Withers, chosen in 1704 to succeed Mr. Hoppin; and Mr. Lavington, appointed to fill up another vacancy two years after the settlement of Mr. Peirce. The Exeter Noncon- formists were now numerous and powerful ; they comprised a large portion of the most religious, in- dustrious, and affluent inhabitants; many were thriving tradesmen and manufacturers, whose suc- cess in the world, so far from being retarded by their opinions, now that persecution had relaxed its EXETER. 387 hold, was rather increased by the freedom and en- terprise in secular concerns which those opinions generated. There were three Presbyterian congre- gations ; two had their two respective pastors ; and the third was ministered to by each of the four ministers in rotation; a committee of thirteen was entrusted with the general management of their congregational affairs — the contributions of the w^hole body being thrown into a common stock and divided equally.* Hitherto no material difference had been openly avowed with regard to points of faith ; the more abstruse doctrines had not been often intro- duced in public, and those who questioned them in private were anxious to avoid the discredit of not believing them ; each minister had been obliged at his ordination to sign the Articles of the Church of England, and this was generally deemed a sufficient guarantee for the orthodoxy of the teachers. But we are now come to the time when new light broke in upon the minds of many, and all old tests proved utterly ineffectual. * " I shall here take occasion (says Mr. Peirce) to speak a little of this committee of thirteen, that the reader may understand somewhat of our constitution. At the first liberty of conscience granted, if I am rightly informed, by King James II., it was thought necessary that some persons should be appointed to take care of the building places of worship, and other temporal affairs of the Dissenters. The number of these, by I know not what accident, was then thirteen, and has continued so ever since. They fill up their number themselves, as any vacancy happens. This gave great uneasiness to some of the people, who thought it was regular they should be chosen by the whole body. They were never intrusted with any thing, that I can understand, but the care of our temporal affairs, tho' upon this occasion they thought fit to assume another kind of power, without any authority from the body." — Western Inquisition, p. 49. 2c2 388 EXETER. The controversy commenced in the year 1717 The pastors were Hallet, Withers, Peirce, and Lavington. Lavington was the only one who had not a leaning towards liberal views. Those views had been partially adopted in Mr. Hallet's academy ; and there the foundation of the controversy was laid so early as the year 1710.* At this time Mr. Whiston corresponded with the tutor's eldest son, by whom the opinions of that celebrated man were communicated to John Fox, another inquisitive and free-minded student. His own account is too interesting to be omitted. " I was more intimate with him (Hallet) than with any of the rest of the young men, but knew nothing of his notions till our class was lectured on Pictet's chapter concerning the Trinity. He then laid several books upon that subject in my way, which extremely surprised me, for I had always taken this doctrine for an undoubted truth, which was never to be examined or called in question. I remember what startled me most was the famous Mr. Boyse's answer to Emlyn. At that time I had never heard of either of their names, and knew nothing of the prosecution of the latter, or any part of his story, and therefore could not possibly have any bias or prejudice upon me. But the bare quotations wliich Boyse made from Emlyn, in order to answer him, seemed to strike so strongly that I began to doubt from that moment, notwithstanding my own natural prejudices and * At this time the Academy had not been long established. The lead- ing incidents in the life of Mr. Hallet, Jan., being mentioned in the history of the congregation, a separate memoir will not be needed. His character as a teacher has been drawn by Mr. John Fox, of Plymouth, in papers to which I shall often refer. The chief faults imputed to him are an exces- sive love of ministerial power, and a disposition to cherish unfriendly feel- ings towards a conscientious opponent. Yet his conduct in reference to the Exeter controversy indicates the possession of many excellent qualities. EXETER. 389 all the art and learning of Mr. Bojse. We were about five or six of us who understood one another in this affair, but we con- versed with great caution and secresy."* This account of the first approach to reputed heresy is thus corroborated by Mr. Peirce : " The common vogue of the people is, that there was nothing of this doctrine in the city before my coming into it ; that I was the first who brought it among them; and abundance of re- proaches and untoward wishes have been bestowed upon me for this cause. But there is no truth in this report. Dr. Clarke, Mr. fVliiston, and other writers who differ from the common notion, had been read here before my coming ; and some few of the people, tho' they kept it to themselves, had long before, hy only reading their Bibles, been convinced that it was not agree- able to the Scriptures." t In the year 1715, the subject began to be much talked of, both in public and private. The Deity of Christ was often disputed, particularly in the house of a layman who boarded some of Mr. Hal- let's pupils. Rumours that three of the ministers disbelieved that doctrine and secretly opposed it, were circulated among the citizens. J In 1717, the attention to the question had become so general, and the suspicions of Mr. Peirce's orthodoxy so * " Memoirs of himself by Mr. John Fox," Mon. Rep., Vol. xvi. p. 131. + Western Inquisition, p. 11. X " Account of the Reasons why many of the Citizens of Exeter have withdrawn from the ministry of Mr. Joseph Hallet and Mr. James Peirce," p. 4. This " Account" and " the Western Inquisition" supply most of the information in the next few pages. The latter is written by Peirce ; the former by one of his opponents. I shall aim to state such facts as are ad- mitted on both sides. 390 EXETER. strong, that he was applied to by three of his most influential friends to preach a sermon on the satis- faction of Christ, a doctrine which they thought must be entirely overthrown by a denial of our Lord's deity. With this request Mr. Peirce com- plied; and his mode of treating the subject, though far from being such as to remove all fears respect- ing the soundness of his own creed, tended to re- store peace for a short time. But the seeds of dis- sension had been sown in a favourable soil; and many circumstances occurred which irritated both parties, and appeared to render a public collision unavoidable. The Exeter Assembly was at this period a very important body, and was generally considered entitled to take cognizance of such mat- ters. It was fully expected that the subject would be introduced at their September meeting in this year (1717), in reference to the case of Mr. Hubert Stogdon, who Avas said to be "very bold in his errors," and yet wanted from the Assembly a certifi- cate for his ordination.* But the breach was post- poned in consequence of Stogdon's receiving a cer- tificate from Hallet, Withers, and Peirce, three months before the meeting, which enabled him to disjjense with the sanction of the Assembly, and to be ordained among a people in Somersetshire who had invited him to be their pastor. Although the granting this certificate was censured by the ortho- dox, all parties were glad to get Stogdon out of the way ; his candour in searching for truth, and his * Sec History of the Ashwick congregation. EXETER. 391 manliness in avowing his opinions, had occasioned much of the animosity at Exeter ; and after he was gone there was another transient calm. This lasted about three months. In January, 1718, the lay advocates of the new opinions began to boast of their numbers and their strength among the minis- ters, even defying the Assembly to take cognizance of it. " It was high time (says one of the other party*) to make a public affair of it ; accordingly, the committee of thirteen, with several other citizens, met, and, after consulting together, deputed four of their body to lay the state of the city before their ministers, and to desire them to preach in defence of the Eternal Deity of Jesus Christ." Mr. Peirce says the request was "to assert the eternity of the Son of God."f At all events, he acted on this oc- casion in a manner which no one who values Chris- tian Liberty can condemn. He thought himself as capable of choosing proper subjects as the com- mittee of thirteen or any other section of his con- gregation. He told them that he could not venture to assert any thing of God which he did not per- ceive he had asserted of himself. However, he in- troduced the subject in question in one of his subsequent sermons. To many persons he gave satisfaction, and these united with him in endeavour- ing to restore peace. Still, there were a few under the guidance of Lavington and two or three country ministers, who continued to stir up strife. A few months more passed away. The May * Account of Reasons, p. 6. t Westei-n Inquisition, p. 50. 392 EXETER. Assembly (1718) dispersed without noticing the affair. Six weeks of the months of July and August were spent by Mr. Peirce in London. He satisfied himself with the idea that all was quiet and would remain so. Mr. Lavington, however, availed him- self of his colleague's absence to promote new schemes of discord. He joined with Mr. Ball, of Honiton, Mr. Walrond, of Ottery, and several others, in exciting the Dissenters of the West against the suspected ministers. Mr. Peirce, on his return, found ''all was in a flame again"; the here- sies were viewed in a worse light than ever, and were certainly to be brought before the Assembly in September. A preliminary meeting w^as held on the day before that on which the reverend body for- mally met, for the purpose of arranging their pro- ceedings. It was proposed that "the growth of Arianism rendered it necessary that they should purge themselves and clear their reputation to the world."' Some one expressed his surprise that the Exeter ministers were so backward. Mr. Peirce replied, that he could not speak without some con- cern, seeing he apprehended they were about to sap the foundation he stood upon as a Christian, a Pro- testant, and a Dissenter; and in the course of his speech he called for a text in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were called the One God. The orthodox party only answered by dwelling upon consequences. A long discussion ensued, in the course of which Mr. Peirce charged a minister "who was forward to answer him" with the absur- EXETER. 393 dity of his prayers, which he had heard him begin thus : " O Lord God, Jehovah, we know thou art Father, Son, and Spirit — we thank thee for giving us thy Son — and we pray thee give us thy Spirit." Even several of the most orthodox ministers had objected to this practice. In connexion with this circumstance, Mr. Peirce notices* an accusation which one of his brethren had made against him, of not giving glory to the Holy Ghost in his dox- ologies. The passage affords a fair specimen of the objections to Mr. Peirce, and the manner in which they were met : " The next time we met he did not reprove me so indirectly, but downright censured mj practice. I put it then to him, as I used to do, whether he had any scripture example for giving glory to the Holy Ghost in the many doxologies extant. His answer was, that he did not suppose he was left out in those doxologies, as tho' the Apostles scrupled the giving glory to him ; and that certainly we might as well give glory to him as baptize in his name. I told him I supposed the Apostles might understand how to draw svich a consequence as well as we ; and since we do not find they ever did draw it, I thought there could be no necessity for it ; and that my practice of giving glory to the Father, thro' the Son, or of giving glory to the Son, was scriptural and unexceptionable." At the preliminary meeting, Mr. Withers made a noble speech against bringing any test at all into the Assembly, and particularly against the proposed declaration — "I believe the Father, Word, and Spirit to be the one God." On the following morn- * Western Inquisition, p. 78. 394 EXETER. ing the Assembly met, and, after prayer, Mr. John Ball, of Honiton, commenced by desiring to know whether they should declare against the errors of those who denied the divinity of the Saviour, and made a motion accordingly, which was seconded. First, there was a long debate on the expediency of discussing the question, which being affirmed, it was moved that the particular errors and heresies be mentioned, that the brethren might know what they had to declare against ; which was not granted. It was next resolved that the Declaration should be concerning the errors relating to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; and then followed a long discussion on the grand point, " Shall a declaration in words of Scripture be considered orthodox"; "but this point (says Mr. Peirce) could by no means be ob- tained." Several other questions were proposed in vain, — such as ''the use to be made by the Assem- bly of the Declarations they did not like ;" or the proceedings to be resorted to in consequence of such declarations. It was now impossible to continue the debate, as the people were waiting at the door of the meeting-house to hear the usual lecture, the time for which was fiilly come; and it was there- fore agreed that each minister should at once de- clare in whatever words he thought fit. Mr. Hallet, of Exeter, began; he was followed by Mr. Withers; and next came Mr. Peirce. The greater part of Mr. Hallet's declaration was in the language of Scriptiu'e ; it appears that he believed the Father to be in some sense Supreme, yet Christ to be " God EXETER. 395 over all, blessed for evermore/' and the Holy Ghost to be God, on the ground that "the temples of believers are said to be the temples both of the Holy Ghost and of God"; he did not say that he believed the Holy Ghost to be a being distinct from God, forming the third person in the Trinity, neither did he explain the sense in v^^hich he received the word God when applied to Christ; he concluded his declaration with the words of Mr. Baxter : " Two things have set the Church on fire, and been the plagues of it above a thousand years ; — first, enlarg- ing our creed and making more fundamentals than God ever made; secondly, composing (and so im- posing) our creeds and confessions in our own words and phrases," &c. Mr. Withers was one degree more satisfactory to the dominant party ; he defined the heresy of Arius, and sincerely disclaimed it ; he declared his belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were one in Deity, nature, essence, and sub- stance, but that the New Testament and the most primitive Christian writers held forth a distinction of persons. Mr. Peirce said, " I am not of the opinion of Sabellius, Arius, Socinus, or Sherlock. I believe there is but one God, and can be no more. I believe the Son and Holy Ghost to be divine per- sons, but subordinate to the Father : and the unity of God is, I think, to be resolved into the Father's being the fountain of the divinity of the Son and Spirit." Some of the ministers, instead of making any declaration of their own, expressed their agree- ment with Mr. Hallet ; others used the words of the 396 EXETER. Assembly's Catechism, besides a great variety of phrases of their own invention; three members of the body refused to make any declaration at all, and disowned the authority of any body of men to demand their opinion. At length it was recorded by the Scribe, at the dictation of Mr. Lavington, — "'Tis the general sense of this Assembly — That there is hut One Living and True God ; and that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the One God.'' No objection was formally made by the Assembly to any of the declarations. The ministers, however, returned to their homes, with the belief that, not- withstanding all that had been done, Arianism would spread. And so it did. Soon after the ac- count of the discussion was communicated to the citizens, the Exeter press teemed with pamphlets in defence of the "new heresy." From the account given by the Trinitarian party, it appears that the authors of these productions, whose names were unknown, held most of the opinions of the modern Unitarians. Many of the disputants on this side of the question were laymen. It cannot be denied that, at this period, their sentiments were expressed with much greater clearness than those of the hete- rodox ministers ; whatever were ^the actual conclu- sions to which the latter had come on the points at issue, there was great ambiguity in some of their public declarations. They were certainly influenced in some measure by the dread of being burthened with those calumnious accusations which have been, in all ages, heaped upon men who have ventured to EXETER. 397 wander from the beaten tracks of theology, and which, at the time in question, were peculiarly dangerous to the interests, the reputation, and the usefulness of Christian ministers. By Mr. Laving- ton and his friends, the anonymous pamphlets to which I have adverted were harshly denounced as blasphemous, and the arguments of the authors were met, sometimes by similar weapons, but frequently by fierce invectives and threats of present and eternal punishment. It was impossible that the ministers should escape the storm ; accordingly, two months after the Assembly met, the committee of thirteen once more applied to the ministers "to know what they did believe about these matters themselves." The result of this interview and other circumstances connected with it were so unsatis- factory, that "the citizens (to use the words of the Trinitarian writer) thought it high time to shift for themselves, and sent to some eminent ministers of London for advice, whose counsel was, — to call in some neighbouring ministers, who could best judge of these matters upon the place," This plan was adopted; the ministers met and drew up their opi- nion, which Avas, in fact, that the orthodox ought to separate themselves from Messrs. Peirce, Hallet, and Withers. Withers prevented the committee from acting upon the opinion as it regarded himself, by giving the required satisfaction ; but the others continued firm. Accordingly, the day after these seven ministers had consulted together, and formed the above resolutions, three of the four proprietors of 398 EXETER. the chapels, went, in their own name, to the place where Messrs. Peirce and Hallet usually preached, and took the keys of it into their own possession. They sent no message to their ministers to inform them of their intentions ; and when Mr. Peirce applied to one of them to know what he was to do, all the answer he could obtain was, that he might preach an old sermon in the Little Meeting. The week following, a general meeting was held of all the proprietors or trustees of the three chapels, at which they came to a resolution, that Messrs. Peirce and Hallet should preach no more in any of them.* Mr. Peirce complained that this was altogether unfair — that the seven neighbouring ministers had all along been decidedly opposed to him — and that the proprietors of the meeting-house acted by them- selves and did not call the people together. These were forcible objections; but it was urged, on the other side, that conferences had on various occasions been declined by Mr. Peirce, and that the proprie- tors not only "thought the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Christ were too great matters to be offered to the vote or made the subject of conten- tion," but had good reasons for believing the majo- rity approved of their conduct. A calm review of the whole case suggests various apologies for the part which was acted by the Trini- tarians. They attached incalculable value to their opinions, and saw that those opinions were in danger of being subverted by the influence of the ministers * p. D. M., Vol. ii. p. 448. EXETER. 399 whom they invited and long considered orthodox. They also saw that the places of worship which they had built at considerable expense, were gra- dually becoming subservient to the dissemination of views which many called blasphemous and fatal. Moreover, their fears were increased by the well- known fact, that what they deemed heresy was not openly inculcated, but that some friends of Peirce and Hallet carried on a secret mode of proselytizing which appeared likely to be more hurtful to their cause than open warfare. And if, on one side, it be asserted that Mr. Lavington and his party were guilty of deceitful transactions, it cannot be denied, on the other, that the heterodox occasionally con- cealed their opinions on important topics, and en- deavoured to give them a popular colouring. That the heterodox ministers wished for peace is very evident; but it is a question whether, in pursuing what they believed to be a Christian object, they did not sometimes resort to unworthy compromises. These considerations are perfectly compatible with a full appreciation of the difficulties in which they were placed — with high admiration of many parts of their conduct — and with a firm persuasion that the cause of religious truth and religious liberty is deeply indebted to them. In the first place, they dared to inquire and decide for themselves, when it was the universal custom to be guided implicitly by established formularies, and they subsequently maintained their convictions, and advocated the great principle of the sufficiency of Scripture, 400 EXETER. amidst the clamours of ignorance, prejudice, and bigotry, at the risk of losing friends, reputation, means of subsistence, — all, indeed, that most men value ! In this trying emergency, Mr. Peirce and Mr. Hallet were supported by many who valued their ministry and admired their general conduct. They therefore immediately formed a new society; and having, with much difficulty, procured a temporary place of worship, it was opened on the fifteenth of March, 1719, the first Lord's day after the eject- ment. The sermon was preached by Mr. Peirce ; it is entitled "The Evil and Cure of Divisions," and while breathing a generous spirit of forbear- ance, inculcates sentiments of Christian liberty which cannot be too much admired.* About a * The following extract will shew the spirit of this sermon : " In short, we glory not in men, ancient or modern, or in any other name but that of Christ ; his disciples, and his alone, we pretend to be. We neither do nor will call any man upon earth Master. Plain, undisguised Christianity, as 'tis contained in the Scriptures, is the religion we profess. We set up in opposition to none, but are ready to receive all good Christians, and join with all, so far as their worship is agreeable to the sacred rule ; and accord- ing to that alone do we desire to order our own. " It has been artfully insinuated, that our design is here to preach upon speculative points, and to teach a new doctrine, and a new religion ; than which nothing is farther from our intention. You can't but know, that 'twas never my custom among you, to entertain my auditors with abstruse matters of speculation of any kind ; and 'twas a more than ordinary impor- tunity, that prevail'd with me twice only to treat of such. And I have much satisfaction in looking back upon the general course of my preach- ing, which has been design'd to explain the Holy Scriptures, and inculcate the duties and virtues of the Christian life ; nor can I see reason for making any alteration in that respect. And therefore, as we dreaded the division before it was made, and were very willing to go on in the way in which we were, so we profess we have no intention to alter our preaching, now the division is made, supposing that it should never be healed. I declare, I EXETER. 401 year afterwards, his congregation erected a new and more commodious edifice, called the Mint Meeting. Here he officiated only about six years; his life, which had been much imbittered by the treatment he had experienced, terminated in 1726.* Mr. Peircef and Mr. Hallet were succeeded by the son of the latter — who was the author of many valual)le tracts, but better known in consequence of his ** Critical Notes and Observations on the Scrip- ture.s." He it was with whom Whiston corre- sponded twenty-five years previously, and in whose ingenuous mind were planted those principles which set not up in opposition to any opinion, or any men who do not invade my Christian liberty, nor to teach any other religion than that which was from the beginning, and which I have taught all along from my first coming, when my endeavours were more acceptable." — The Evil and Cure of Divisions" pp. 31 — 3;^. * We learn the number of the congregation at this period, from an interesting letter written by the learned Samuel Crellius to La Croze, discovered by the Rev. James Yates, in the Thesaurus Epistolicns La Crozianus, and communicated by that gentleman through the Christian Reformer (N. S.), Vol. i. p. 822. The letter is dated Amsterdam, July 17, 1727; it was written after a visit to London, where the author had just published, under the name of Artimonius, a Latin treatise on the Proem of the Gospel of John. His account of the London Unitarians of that period, the kind treatment he received from the most celebrated orthodox theologians of the Church of England, and his interviews with Venn, Waterland, and Sir Isaac Newton, is extremely interesting. With regard to this city he says, " But at Exeter the Presbyterians do not allow Arians in their body, on which account the Arians, to the number of about three hundred, have formed a separate congregation, and have their own preach- ers. There they meet openly and in peace, to attend sermons and their sacred rites, without being disturbed by the magistrate. James Peirce, a man of first-rate learning, who died last year, was their minister." t On the death of Mr. Peirce, in 1726, the congregation at the Mint Meeting proposed to invite Mr. Emlyn, who, hearing of their intentions, excused himself on account of his feebleness and advancing years. — Mon. Repos., Vol. xii. p. 523. 2d 402 EXETER. sul)sequenlly excited so much attention.* His as- sistant in the duties of the ministry at the Mint Meeting was Mr. Thomas Jeffrey, who pul)lished several useful treatises on the Nature and Perfection of the Christian Revelation. The next minister was Mr. William West, a good scholar and an ami- able man, noted for his great attention to mathe- matical studies, and for that closeness of argument which they tend to produce. He was succeeded by Mr. David Williams, who introduced the Liturgy used at Liverpool into this society; he afterwards removed to London, where he opened a chapel in Margaret Street, Cavendish Square; he had the honour of being the Founder of the Literary Fund. On his removal, in 1770, Mr. Joseph Bretland was chosen, and the Liturgy was laid aside. After offi- ciating about two years he resigned, and was suc- ceeded by Mr. John Hogg. The duration of this gentleman's ministry was shortened by his engaging in business, and in 1789 Mr. Bretland was re-elected. In 1792 Mr. B. again introduced the Liturgy, at the request of the congregation; but at the end of an- other year he felt his mind oppressed with difficulties * Three Joseph Hallets, — father, son, and grandson, succeeded each other at Exeter. The sound judgment of the last is shewn by the cir- cumstance, that there is scarcely a conjectural emendation of the Hebrew text proposed by him, which was not afterwards found by Dr. Kennicott, in some manuscript, to have been an ancient reading. Neither the learn- ing nor the candour displayed in his " Notes and Observations," preserved him from a violent attack from Mr. Enty, who was chosen by the Trini- tarian party on his father's ejectment, and to whom he replied, in a pam- phlet, the following year. He also published, in 1 720, an ingenious tract to prove that the unity of God is not inconsister.t with the deity of Christ, in answer to Dr. Waterland. — Eng. Presb., p. 127. EXETER. 403 in the use of it, and again resigned his office. Soon after his first entrance on his duties at the Mint, he avowed Unitarian principles from his pulpit. He then stood alone, in the West of England, as the preacher of the true unity of God and humanity of Christ, and was exposed in consequence to peculiar ohloquy. Mr. Bretland was succeeded, in 1794, by Mr. Theophilus Edwards, w^ho continued to be pastor of the society till the year 1810, w^hen it was united to that of George's Meeting. Of Mr. Edwards a short memoir will be given under the head of Tavistock, w^here he was settled twenty-two years. On the sale of the chapel to the Wesleyans, it was agreed that the monument to the memory of its founder, which adorned its w^alls, should be re- moved to George's Meeting. The society w^hich he formed had existed about ninety years, on the sim- ple and scriptural principles stated in his opening sermon ; and when its members parted with the house of prayer in which he had exerted himself in the cause of Christian truth and liberty, it was to join a larger body supporting the same cause, and partly consisting of descendants of those by whom he was ejected. To return to the memorable division in 1719, — Mr. Peirce and Mr. Hallet were succeeded by Mr. John Enty, of Plymouth, and Mr. Walter Furze, of Bristol. The old congregations continued to act in concert on all important occasions, but had no communica- tion with their heretical brethren at the Mint Meet- ing. Enty and Furze were considered pastors of the 2 d2 404 EXETER. congregation at James's, though they occasionally officiated at Bow, and probably at the Little Meet- ing. Furze removed in 1724, and was succeeded by Mr. James Green; and Enty's death, in 1743, was the means of introducing Mr. Stephen Tow- good. In 1749 his cousin, Mr. Micaijah Towgood, was chosen by the united congregations on the death of Mr. Green. The election of this gentle- man is an important event in the history of the Exeter Dissenters, whether we consider the length of his ministry or the moral efficacy of his services and character. He had relinquished the doctrine of the Trinity when he accepted the invitation from the societies assembling at the James's and Bow Meetings ; this circumstance was one of some diffi- culty in the minds of the people, as well as in his own; and for a long time he found the greatest prudence necessary to overcome the impediments which his Arianism presented. "Mr. Towgood (says his biographer) never gave up what he thought an essential article of faith in order to please men; but by his justly acquired reputation as a writer, by diligent and affectionate assiduity in the various branches of the pastoral office, and by the force of Christian meekness, condescension, and a readiness to do them all kinds of good offices, he conciliated their affection and esteem, and con- strained them to forego their objections."* The first important alteration accomplished by this judicious reformer, was in the admission of members to the * Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 43. EXETER. 405 Lord's table. He found that his new flock had been used to require a more particular examination of the candidate than he thought the Scriptures countenanced. In his opinion, "that examination tended to discourage meek, humble, and modest persons, while it rendered the communion easily accessible to men of bold and forward dispositions, who were tempted to declare more than they really experienced, lest the church should reject them. He esteemed a Christian life a very sufficient and a much better rule, because he did not find the Scrip- tures required any other ; and if the society were satisfied of this, he thought it not material by what means it received the information. From this time, therefore, it was left to the ministers to converse privately with the candidate, and inquire into his knowledge of the nature and design of this ordi- nance, and whether his views in desiring to join in it were sincere and upright. When the ministers were satisfied on these points, they mentioned the name of the person one month preceding his admis- sion." Mr. Stephen Towgood and Mr. Micaijah Towgood continued to officiate in James's Meeting, pursuing the same liberal course of acting, till the year 1760, when the society removed to the new meeting, called George's, where it continued to enjoy their services many years. We now revert to the history of the Bow congre- gation. At the time of the controversy, its minis- ters were Mr. Withers and Mr. Lavington. Withers died in 1729, and was succeeded by Mr. Walrond, 406 EXETER. of Ottery, who had taken an active part in the " Western Inquisition." Lavington, who found him a congenial associate, lived till 1759, when no suc- cessor was chosen, the two churches being supplied by the three surviving ministers. One of these was Mr. Abraham Tozer, who had succeeded Walrond in 1755 ; and although the three ministers preached by rotation at the two meeting-houses, Mr. Tozer continued regularly to administer the Lord's Supper at Bow, and Stephen and Micaijah Towgood at George's. In the year 1776, the two congregations invited Mr. Manning to be an assistant to the latter gentlemen — the elder of whom dying in the follow- ing year, he was chosen co-pastor with Mr. M. Towgood, and from this time the two societies have been still more closely united. The Bow meeting-house was taken down in 1795. In reference to the meeting of the Western Unitarian Society, held within its walls the preceding year, there was a curious correspondence between Coun- sellor White, one of the Trustees of George's, and Dr. Toulmin. The latter had given a notice, by request of Mr. Kenrick, for whom he officiated at George's, that the meeting would be held in that place. The Trustees, for some reason not explained, assembled on the day after the notice was given, were unanimously of opinion that the house should not be opened on the occasion, and gave directions accordingly. A note was then sent to Mr. Kenrick, from the Trustees of the Bow Meeting, inviting him and his friends to " make that use of the Bow EXETER. 407 meeting-house on the morrow which their ancestors had been accustomed' to glory in^ viz. worshiping the Great God according to the dictates of their own consciences."* The circumstances in which the invitation was given enhanced its vahie. It was at the time when the French Revohition and the Bir- mingham Riots had made some Dissenters timid and compromising. The ilkistrious Priestley, too conscious of the importance of his sentiments to conceal them, and too well convinced that the manly avowal of them in his own country would endanger his liberty and life, had just fled to the shores of the New World ! Moreover, the Western Unitarian Society assumed a decided tone; it con- sidered " every practice as idolatrous which attribut- ed any of the prerogatives of the Deity to another ;" and its preamble was so framed that the Arians, who were then numerous at Exeter and other towns in the West, could not consistently become members. All these circumstances render the offer of the Bow meeting-house for the use of the society worthy of no common praise, f It was not long before the congregation at * This correspondence was published, together with the sermon preached before the Society, by the Rev. T. Reynell. t In connexion with the feeling on the subject of Dr. Priestley's unpo- pularity, it should be recorded here that the Exeter Assembly of Ministers, at their half-yearly meeting in September, 1791, voted an admirable address to that excellent man, in reference to his late sufferings. The address was forwarded by Mr. Bretland — one of the warmest admirers of the Doctor's character and talents. — See Rutt's edition of Priestley's Works ; Life, Vol. i. Part ii., p. 154. The same interesting volume con- tains an address to Dr. Priestley from Protestant Dissenters in Bristol and Bath, and the reply addressed to Dr. Estlin. This appears to have been the only congregational address in the West of England. 408 EXETER. George's Meeting imbibed a similar spirit. Mr. Kenrick, who succeeded Mr. Towgood in 1784, be- came a decided Unitarian, and, though living in perfect harmony with his colleague, often inculcated Unitarian sentiments. His labours, however, as one of the ministers, had no exclusive reference to points of doctrine ; he laid the surest foundation for the future welfare of the society by diligently and judiciously imparting knowledge to the young. By his efforts, a congregational library was formed for the use of his classes, who, on their part, gave many proofs of attachment and gratitude to their affectionate instructor. On the sudden removal of this excellent man, the congregation elected one whose greatest delight was to carry on the useful plans of his predecessor. The settlement of Dr. Carpenter was attended by favourable circum- stances ; he had made an explicit avowal of Unita- rian sentiments, and was yet unanimously invited ; the congregation had acted with the full concur- rence of Mr. Manning; and all parties publicly re- solved to co-operate in instructing the young. Dr. Carpenter remained at Exeter twelve years. His labours in the city in forming and maintaining in- stitutions for the diffusion of useful knowledge are still remembered by many. To the cause of Unita- rianism, not only in his immediate neighbourhood, but throughout the West of England, great benefit accrued from his active and unwearied exertions. * * One controversy in which Dr. Carpenter was engaged, particularly requires to be mentioned. In the year 1814, soon after the passing of Mr. Smith's Inll for the repeal of the penal laws against the Unitarians, EXETER. 409 On Dr. Carpenter s removal to Bristol, the con- gregation elected Mr. W. Hincks, who had received his education at Manchester College, York, and who, after devoting several years to the ministry at Exeter and Liverpool, accepted the situation of Mathematical Tutor in the same college. The next minister was Mr. Acton. This gentle- man received his education for the ministry under Dr. Morell, of Brighton, and officiated a short time the Bishop of St. David's published, in the form of "a brief memorial," his regret that such laws had been repealed, and his belief that they ought to be restored. This uncharitable production was quickly followed by an- other from the same pen, entitled " An Address to persons calling them- selves Unitarians," advertised in an Exeter newspaper, with harsh remarks on what the advertiser called " the debasing, degrading doctrines of So- cinianism." Dr. Carpenter deemed it right to publish, in reply, a state- ment of the Unitarian faith, which produced a letter from the Rev. Mr. Cleeve, a clergyman of the Established Church. The editor of one of the Exeter papers (Flindell's Western Luminary) having thrown open his columns to the disputants, a controversy ensued, which extended through several months, and called forth in its progress many additional pens and much interest in the western counties. It was at length supposed to be concluded by an article from the editor, professing to be an impartial summing up. At that period, however, there happened to be living in Devonshire a clergyman, since celebrated as a witty author, who could not resist the temptation (though the subject as well as some of the facts were against him) to WTite the following lines in a subsequent paper : Cleeve — Dennis — Carpenter — agree ! And fully prove a Trinity ; For, in their writings, all may see Not one incomprehensible — but three .' Yet Flindell deemed the task undone, So finished what these scribes begun, And shewed more clearly than the sun Not three incomprehensibles — but one 1 See Carpenter's Edition of " Letters on the Trinitarian Controversy in the Exeter Newspapers"; the ]Mon. Rcpos., Vol. x. p. 192; and Colton's Lacon, Vol. ii. p. 70. 410 EXETER. at Walthamstow. Amidst numerous changes Mr. Manning remained ; but at length his time of depar- ture arrived; he died in September, 1831, having filled the pastoral office here fifty-five years. On the death of Mr. Manning, Mr. Cropper, who had been educated at Glasgow, and some time minister at Bolton, in Lancashire, became the colleague of Mr. Acton. Under the ministry of these gentlemen the congregation maintains its high character. About two years since, a liturgical form of wor- ship was introduced. The usual services are in the morning and afternoon; during the winter months there is an additional service in the evening, when lectures are delivered which excite considerable at- tention.* The members of this society support the usual congregational institutions. They have a good chapel library, which was formed at the suggestion of Mr. Kenrick. Their Sunday-school was estab- lished in 1812, and consists at present of sixty boys and fifty-six girls. Their fellowship-fund was pro- bably instituted soon after Dr. Thomson, of Leeds, drew attention to this method of aiding the cause of Unitarian Christianity. The congregation at George's Meeting have also the management of the Protestant Dissenters' Charity School, established in the year 1710; thirty boys and twenty-six girls at present attend on the Sunday at George's Meet- * Mr. Acton has published in one small volume, " Six Lectures on the Dignity, Office, and Work of our Lord" ; another, in the form of a pam- phlet, " on the Religious Opinions of Milton, Locke, and Newton " ; and several single sermons. EXETER. 411 ing, and are educated during the week at the school in Paris Street; they are also annually clothed. The congregation have a burial-ground in another part of the city. In the lecture-room at George's Meeting is a tablet, with the following inscription : This Monument is erected by mournful friends as a lasting testimony of their high regard to the memory and honour OF THE Reverend, Pious, and Learned Mr. James Pejrce, A MOST WORTHY AND INDEARED PaSTOR OF THIS ChURCH, a rational, JUDICIOUS, AND AFFECTIONATE PrEACHER, A VERY LABORIOUS AND SAGACIOUS INTERPRETER OF THE Holy Scriptures, A sincere lover and strenuous DEFENDER OF TRUTH, A COURAGIOUS SUFFERER WHILE LIVING FOR MAINTAINING THE DoCTRINES OF THE GoSPEL OF Christ, AND FOR ASSERTING THE LIBERTIES OF CHRISTIANS; AND AFTER DEATH, DENIED A JUST ENCOMIUM ON HIS Tomb in Leonard's Church Yard by the Rector of the Parish.* The GREAT GOOD MAN DEPARTED HENCE IN Peace, March 30th, 1726, IN THE 53rd YEAR OF HIS AGE. Philipp. I. 2L Rev. XIV. 13. "To ME TO LIVE IS ChRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN." "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." * A copy of this encomium, both in Latin and English, will be found in the memoir of Mr. Peirce. The above inscription was sent me, with the particulars relating to the schools, by Mr. B. P. Pope, of Exeter. 412 EXETER. illttnfstns. JAMES'S MEETING. Joseph Hallet ] 070 — 1680. George Trosse 1089 — 1713. Joseph Hallet (Second) KJOO — 1719. James Peirce 1713-1719. John Enty 1719-1743. Walter Furze 1719 — 1724. James Green 1724 — 1749. Stephen Towgood 1743 — 17G0. MiCAlJAH TOWGOOD 1750— 1700. BOW MEETING. Robert Atkins, M. A 1 662— 1 685. Robert Gaylard 1662 — John Hoppin 1662—1704. Benjamin Hooper 1662 — John Withers 1704 — 1729. John Lavington 1715 — 1759. John Walrond 1729 — 1755. Abraham Tozer 1755 — 1794. MINT MEETING. James Peirce 1719 — 1726. Joseph Hallet (Second) 1719—1722. Thomas Jeffrey 1728 — 1 7 Joseph Hallet (Third) 1722—1744. William West 1744 — 1761. David Williams 1761 — 1770. Joseph Bretland 1770 — 1772. John Hogg 1772—1789. Joseph Bretland 1789 — 1793. Theophilus Edwards 1794 — ]SU). EXETER. 413 GEORGE'S MEETING. Stephen Towgood 1700 — 1777. MicAiJAH Towgood ] 760 — 1782. James Manning 1776—1831. Timothy Kenrick 1784—1804. Lant Carpenter, LL.D 180/5—1817. William Hincks 1817—1822. Henry Acton 1822. John Cropper, M. A 1832. Lewis Stuckley. — This gentleman was an Independent ; but his connexion with the Exeter Dissenters requires a short account of him. He was of an ancient and honourable family in Devonshire. His brother was Sir T. Stuckley, and one of his ancestors was standard-bearer to Queen Elizabeth. It is said that, belonging to the family at one period, were thirteen manors within sight of the gate-house of the mansion at West Worlington. Mr. Stuckley preached a short time at several places before his removal to Exeter. To this city he came from Great Torrington, and began to gather a Congregational church about the year 1650. His station was the Cathedral ; by conforming he might have filled a high office, but in l(i()2 rendered himself ineligible for all further preferment. iVfter h's ejectment, he foxinded the congregation in Castle Lane. Some time before his death, which occurred in 1687, he removed to Bideford, where he preached occasionally. He vras indefatiga- ble in the work of the ministry, and wrote, when near his end, a book entitled " A Gospel glass representing the miscarriages of English Protestants."' He also published " Manifest Truth against Mr. Tobie Alleiu." * * Noncon. Mem., VoL i. p. 364, 414 EXETER. Robert Atkins was born at Chard in 162(5, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford. For some time he was one of Cromwell's chaplains ; but, growing wearj of the office, removed to a benefice of £300. per annum, at Coopersale, in Essex. He found this place overrun with sects, but after a while so con- vinced and gained them as not to have one Dissenter left in his parish. His health obliging him to remove, he was invited bj Mr. Ford, of the Cathedral, to Exeter, and preached at St. Sid- well's while the choir was preparing for him. When it was finished, he had a vast auditory ; he was generally esteemed one of the best preachers in the West of England. Mr. Atkins was expelled from the Cathedral in 1660, in con- sequence of some disagreement with the choir. He deemed it of more importance that the thousands who sought to hear a sermon should be gratified, than that the singing service should be kept up in its ancient splendour and glory. The choristers and other powers that were thought differently ; and Mr. Atkins therefore removed to St. John's Church, where he officiated till the Bartholomew Day. He then preached in private as oppor- tunity offered, and was several times apprehended ; on one occasion he was committed, but on another the major and jus- tices could not, by promises or threats, get any of the multitude who gathered about his house to take him to prison. The majority of the chamber were, however, generally tole- rant towards him. Although an upright man, his manners were conciliatory, and his principles moderate and loyal. He enjoyed the friendship of two successive bishops ; and some of the ma- gistrates who were severe against other Dissenting ministers, favoured him. It is reported that he once proved, by 1 Cor. iv. 15, that those ministers who beget converts to Christ, may be justly entitled Fathers in God. This feat may have tended to recommend him to the Bishops. In his farewell sermon at St. John's, which was transcribed for his friends, he thus defends his brethren from the charge of disloyalty : " We will do any thing for his Majesty but sin. We will hazard any thing for EXETER. 415 him but our souls. We hope we could die for him ; only we dare not be damned for him. We make no question, however we shall be accounted of here, we shall be foimd loyal and obe- dient subjects at our appearance before God's tribunal." Mr. Atkins died in I(j85, aged 59. His funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Trosse. * Joseph Hallet was a native of Bridport. He had no Uni- versity education, but, by his own industry, acquired consider- able learning. He was an accomplished critic in the Hebrew and Greek languages, and an excellent divine. At the time of the civil wars, he was minister at Hinton St. George, in )Somer- setshire. The following certificate of his ordination indicates the custom of the times : Inasmuch as Mr. Joseph Hallet, student in Divinity, hath addressed himself to the Classical Presbytery of Sarum, within the province of the County of Wilts, according to the form of Church government established by authority of Parliament of August 29, 1648, for the or- dination of ministers by Classical Presbytere, desiringe to be ordained a preaching Presbyter, for that he is called to the work of the ministiy in the parish church of Hinton St. George, in the County of Somer- set ; and hath exhibited to the Presbytery sufficient testimonial (now remaining in their custody) of his competent age, of his proficiency in his studies, and of his faire and direct calling to the forementioned charge in the county aforesaid, by an order from the Committee of the said county ; we, the Ministers of the said Presbytery, have (by appointment thereof) examined him according to the sense of tlie said form of Church government, and finding him to be duely qualified and gifted for that holy office and employment, (no just exception being made against his ordination or admission,) we have approved him ; and accordingly in the parish church of St. Thomas in Sarum, upon the day and yeare hereafter expressed, we have proceeded solemnly to set him apart to the office of a preaching Presbyter and work of the ministry, with fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands, and do hereby (as far as concerneth us) actually admit him to the said * Noncon. Mem., Vol. ii. p. 365. 416 EXETER. c'hari>o, there to pcilorm all the olliees ami tlutiesof a failhtul INJinister of Josus Christ. In witness whereof we have hereto subscrihed our hands tl\is twenty eighth of Ootoltor, Anno Doni. 1652. PiuLir Pyncknky. John Conant. John Stiuckland. NaTH. (ilLK.S. Jo. Watts. Matthew Hurd.* Mr. Hiillet rcuitn-od I'nMii Hiiiton to Chisloborough. ()u his cjcctnient he retired to Hriilport, and li\ ed a short time in the house of his wife's fatlior. Here he made himself useful to several Nonconformist societies ; alter his removal to a house of liis own, he preached several years at Bradpole, a parish in the neighbourhood. He was invited to Exeter about the year 1072, and continued there till his death in 1(588. Mr. Hallet was twice in the Southgate Prison for his Nou- conformily. His conriuemeut shattered his constitution, and brought upini him hypochondriacal aftections, which sometimes de})rived him of his reason. But he was spared to be very use- ful among his people, and was generally considered a diligent student, a laithfid and affectionate pastor, and a clear, fervent, and impressive preacher. The last subject on which he preached was Deut. xxxii. J, the beginning of (he song of Moses, and his discourse contained many passages peculiarly appropriate to his own case. He published several sermons on " Christ's Ascension into Heaven,"" and " Twenty-seven Queries to the Quakers.'" Mr. TVosse preached his fuueml sermon. Georok Trosse succeeded the subject of (he last memoir. His life presented a strange contrast of complete d(>pravity and exalted virtue. The following outline is taken from an account * English Prcshytcriau. EXETER. 417 written by himself, and a sermon preached by Ins colleague CMr. Joseph Hallet, Jun.; on his death.* He says of hiuiself, — " I was born in Exon, Oct. 25th, in the year 16.'il, of Wealthy Parents, honourable Citizens. My Father was by Profession a Counsellour, and my mother the daughter of one who had twice been Chief Magistrate of the C'ity. They gave me the usual Education of those Days amongst such as were no Friends to Puritans; They were averse to the Placing me with such, either to be bred up in Religion or Learning." HLs youth, from a very early period to the age of fifteen, was spent at the Cirammar School. He had a quick apprehension, and made greater progress in learning than most of his school- fellows : " But this course of Ufe (he continues) did not so well please me, nor the Devil as I may well .suppose. For, having a roving fancy, a Desire to get Riches, and to live luxuriously in the World, I was bent upon Merchandize and travelling into Foreign Parts. But then in this I had no other motive, but the Satisfying the Great Lords and Commanders of the unregenerate world, the Lusts of the Flesh, the Lusts of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life." When he left school, he was in practice an Atheist, and pro- fessedly an intense enemy to Puritans. He kept vain company, played much at cards, scoffed at godliness, and was a welcome companion to the profane. " Then he resided awhile (says Mr. Hallet) at Morlaix, in France, where he was more extravagantly wicked and vitious than he had 1)een before. A while after he fixed at London, and there he was still the same person; spending his time mostly in Taverns, Gaming and Drinking to Excess. In this sensual Course of Life he continued for some considerable time ; till at length God convulsed his mind. * The Life of the Reverend Mr. Geo. Trosse, Late Minister of the Gos- pel in the City of Exon, Written by Himself, and Published according to hia Order. To which is added, the Sermon preached at his funeral by J. H. E.xon. 1714. 2 E 418 EXETER. awaked him out of his Stupidity, and made liim, in some measure, sensible of his great Wickedness." It appears that from London he went abroad again, and spent some time at Oporto. On returning to his native city, where he lived in his mother's house, his perpetual intemperance and other vices led to a loss of reason. Three times he was con- fined in a state of outrageous madness, and on two occasions sent to the house of an eminent physician at Glastonbury, by whose instrumentalit}' he was restored. During these dreadful inflictions, he fancied he saw sights and heard sounds which reproved him for his evil courses, and summoned him to engage in the work of repentance and reformation. He often relapsed into his bad habits ; but at length it pleased God to make a per- manent impression upon him. When he was about twenty-six years of age, he accompanied one of his cousins to Oxford ; there he met with a reformed acquaintance, who had com- menced a studious life and who prevailed upon him to follow his example. He was entered a Gentleman Commoner in Pem- broke College, and spent some years in diligent study, reading many volumes of Latin authors, especially Divines, such as Zanchy, Camero, Paraus, &c., and Greek historians, as Thucy- dides, Herodotus, &c. He had a master to teach him the ele- ments of Hebrew, and eventually he read his Hebrew Bible through several times. Nor did Mr. Trosse remain unskilled in " Rhetorique, Logick, Physicks, Ethicks, and Systemes of Divinity." All this he mentioned not to boast of his learning, but to magnify God's goodness in so wonderfully composing his head. The picture he draws of Oxford as a place of Christian teaching, about the year 1660, is now somewhat curious. He blesses God for the means of religious improvement he possessed in the University. He records his attendance at Dr. Conant's Lecture on Fridays, Dr. Harriss's Catechetical Lectiu-e on Tuesdays, and the Lecture of the Canons of Christ Church on Thursdays. EXETER. 419 "Then (he adds) Religion was in its GI017 in the University, and was a Qualification for Respect and Advancement. Most of our Halls and Colleges had Religious Governours; so had ours, who was Dr. Langley, a person greatly favouring and encouraging such as lived in the fear of (lod. He frequently administered the Lord's Supper to a select number of Collegiates. In our College-Hall, every Lord's day, in the evening, before Supper, we had a Repetition of Sermons and Solemn Prayer, by the Vice President or some one or other of the Fellows. Besides which, after supper, all Collegiate Duties having been dispatched, three or four hopeful, religious lads came to my Chamber ; and with them I was wont to repeat and pray. But when King Charles H. came in, and a change was made in the University, and our Doctor turned out, all Repetitions in the Hall were put down, and my private one in my chamber could not be endured, neither could these few young men be permitted to come near me. A Refor- mation this which did not well deserve the name." A combination of circumstances brought Mr. Trosse into the ranks of the Nonconformists. He was not a little disgusted at seeing the pious and learned Master of his College expected to make room for a man who was chieflj famed for being a great Racer!* The chaplain of Pembroke "had an excellent Gift of Prayer ;" and having prayed one Lord's day morning "with the most proper language and Heavenly matter, and with more than ordinary Elevation of Soul," this new Master, the great Racer, violently reproached him for not using the Common Prayer Book, and soon afterwards discharged him from his office. The * It appears, from a recent exhibition at Oxford, that the taste for field- sports still prevails among her sons to a far greater degree than a love of liberality. During the present month (October, 1835) her Majesty, Queen Adelaide, has paid a visit to this celebrated seat of learning. The students and other members of the University, while waiting for her Majesty's arrival, employed themselves, as is customary on such occasions, in shout- ing the names of the most prominent public characters, and either cheer- ing or hissing with great vehemence. In this instance, some young aspi- rant for fame shouted, " Lord Radnor and bis fox -hounds," and great were the expressions of joy. Soon afterwards, another, recollecting his Lord- ship's effort to abolish Subscription to Articles of Faith, exclaimed, " Lord Radnor and the Dissenters,'' and there was immediately a loud and uni- versal hiss! 2 e2 420 EXETER. subject of tliis memoir tliouglit it necessary, about this time, to studj the Controversy, and thus states the course he adopted : " I sought God by constant Prayer for his Direction in this impor- tant case. I also apply'd myself to the Reading and Studying of Books Pro and Con. And after ray most serious Perusal of Mr. Hooker's Ecclesiastical Policie, Mr. Sprint and Burgess for the Ceremonies and Conformity, and Mr. Galespie, Mr. Paul Bayn, and Mr. Ames, against these things ; upon the most mature deliberation and serious weighing of matters, I concluded it was the safest way not to conform." " I was satisfyd that by my Dissent I should disgust my mother and all my near relations, who were perfectly prejudiced against Presbytery and Nonconformity, and thoroughly devoted to the Episcopal Way and Interest. But notwithstanding all discouragements of this kind, I kept my resolution of being a Minister and preaching the Word." Mr. Trosse was soon afterwards ordained in Somersetshire, with, two others, by five or six able and pious Nonconformist divines. These ministers heard the theses of the young men, examined them strictly in some difficult points in divinity, received their confessions of faith, and then proceeded to ordain them. The subject of this memoir immediately began his min- istry at Exeter, amidst violent persecutions. For twenty years, he preached once a week, and administered the Lord's Supper once a month, in private houses. Some account of the events that befel him during this period is given in the preceding his- tory. When Mr. Trosse and his brethren were released from prison, they were carried to the Guildhall, in company with rogues and felons, to be accused not only of having had a Con- venticle, wliich subjected them to a fine of forty pounds, btit also for having created a riot. By means of the latter accusa- tion, which was notoriously false, the magistrates hoped to have wrested from their victims some hundreds of pounds. Long and harassing were the trials on this infamous charge ; they were adjourned from place to place, and from time to time, until the accession of William the Third put the matter at rest. About this time Mr. Trosse succeeded Mr. Hallet, Sen., as the stated and public minister of a large congregation. For many years he continued to labour among his people, with great EXETER. 421 reputation and usefulness. His character, botli as a minister and a private individual, during this period, is described in the highest terms by Mr. Hallet, in his funeral sermon, and Mr. Gilling, in a continuation of his life. He seems to have con- sidered himself peculiarly bound to practise self-denial, and engage in exercises of piety, in consequence of his great wick- edness in early life. Hence we read of his large gifts to the poor, his prayei's seven times every day for many years, and his secret fasts once a month, which lasted from five o'clock in the morning until six in the evening, when he only came down to pray in his family. The particulars of his former course being well known in Exeter, and the energy with which he subse- quently denounced all kinds of vice and oppression being, to some, very disagreeable, he had to endure many taunts, and not a few cruel and groundless aspersions. From the latter he de- fended himself in various publications, and by a consistent and truly Christian example. He lived to the age of eighty-one, and preached to his congregation on the very day of his death. While returning from the meeting-house he fainted in the street. As soon as he was revived, he conversed with the friends who surrounded him concerning his hopes of future blessedness. When he had reached his house, he placed himself in a praying posture, called upon the name of the Lord, and thus yielded up his spirit. He chose the following words as the text of his funeral sermon : " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sin- ners, of whom I am chief." Mr. James Peirce was born in Loudon, about the year 1073. His parents belonged to the Dissenting church at Step- ney, of which the celebrated Mr. Matthew Mead was then pas tor : their circumstances in life were easy, and they maintained a good character "for sobriety and works of charity.' Having lost these relatives when he was not more than eight years of age, the subject of this memoir, together with a brother 422 EXETER. aud sister, were committed to the care of Mr. Mead. How his brother and sister were afterwards disposed of, is uucertaiu ; but James was taken into the family of his guardian, and instructed by the tutors he had chosen for his own sons, one of whom was subsequently the eminent Dr. Mead. For some years he went to a grammar-school ; and when he had attained a proper age, was remoN'ed to the University of Utrecht, where he had the advantage of attending the lectures of VVitsius, Leydecker, Grseve, and other celebrated professors. Here, too, he became acquainted with the learned Reland, with whom he afterwards maintained an agreeable correspondence and friendship. After spending some years at Utrecht, he removed to Leyden, with a view to attend the lectures of Perizonius, Spanheim, Noodt, and other learned men. At Leyden he found several Englishmen of rank and fortune, also receiving their education ; this circum- stance not only animated him to pursue his studies with dili- gence, but enabled him to commence several valuable friend- ships.* When IVIr. Peirce had continued upwards of five years in these seats of learning and virtue, he went back to England, and remained some time among his relations in London, whence he removed to Oxford, for the purpose of examining the Bod- leian library. Returning to London, he preached occasionally at the evening lectures in Miles' Lane ; and about two years afterwards he accepted the pastoral charge of a congregation of Dissenters at Cambridge ; having previously received ordination from the hands of the Rev. Messrs. Sylvester, Woodhouse, Shower, and Christopher Taylor. In this new and difficult situ- ation he was highly respected by his people, who made him what he terms "a handsome allowance ;" and by every other means in their power contributed to make his settlement among them agreeable. The duration of his ministry at Cambridge is luicertain. When he received the invitation from Exeter, he had been some time minister of the Presbyterian congregation at Newbury. Prior to this event, his character as a scholar and * P. D. M., Vol. ii. p. 4 12. EXETER. ' 423 a genuine Nonconformist had been established by his vindica- tion of the Dissenters in reply to Dr. Nichol. * The liistory of Mr. Peirce's opinions may be best given in his own words : " I was bred up in a scheme of which I can now make nothing but SahelUanism ; and a set of unscriptural expressions had been incul- cated upon me from my youth, which I had a great veneration for. However, having this principle as early and as deeply fasten'd in my own mind, that the Scriptures icere the only mile of our faith, I always paid the highest regard to them ; and I find a satisfaction in observing how careful I was, in the main, to use theh language in my preaching. And though I cannot justify all I meet with in my old sermons, yet it pleases me to observe that, the older I grew, the more careful I be- came to express myself in these matters in the words of Scripture. I look'd upon this doctrine as a mystery which it was to Httle pui-pose to search into, and, despairing of satisfaction with reference to the difficulties I perceived, I negligently contented myself with patching together some places of Scripture, which I thought yielded the main assertions I held. " But while I studiously avoided the controversy, and read my Bible under the influence of a prejudice in favour of the common opinion, two things used very much to astonish me. One was, that I saw plainly the ante-Nicene writers never came up to my notion, nay fre- quently spake very contraiy thereto. I was at a loss how to reconcile the supposed necessity of my belief with the charity which I thought due to them. But here I help'd myself with this fancy, — that the doctrine was not then so well clear'd as it was afterwards ; and there- fore great allowances were to be made to those writers. The other thing which sometimes surpris'd me was, that I observ'd the writers after the Council of Nice, and particidarly St. Basil, appear'd to have had odd notions of the Trinity, as that the three persons had one com- mon nature, just as three men have. This seem'd to me downright Tritheism; and I wonder'd how he came to be counted orthodox. But these things I reputed peculiarities, and thought I avoided them by the fewness of the assertions I would venture to advance. And ob- serving how very differently men used to speak and think of this sub- ject, I became more and more averse to the thinking or speaking of * Western In(iuisition, p. 5. 424 EXETER. it, and avoided reading about it, except as it came in my way, when I wan reading witli quite another view. " When the noise was first raised about Mr. Whiston, I was much troubled, having an high esteem of him as a learned and pious man, who had honour'd me with his acquaintance while I lived in Cam- bridge, and with a correspondence after I was removed. I took, therefore, the liberty to write him a letter, wherein in a friendly man- ner I expostulated with him, and produc'd some arguments for my opinion, and against what was reported to be his. His answer waved all manner of argument, and referred me to his papers which he in- tended to print, as soon as they had been examined by some learned men into whose hands he design'd to put them ; and in the mean while he referred me to Xovutian de TnnHate, to see his notions and those of the ancient writers together." " At length Dr. Clarke pul)lish'd his Scripture-doctrine of the Tri- nity, and I, continuing as backward as ever to puzzle myself with con- troversy, would not so much as read him. But the talk of these mat- ters very much increasing after men had read his book, I accidently met a friend who reproach'd me with my sloth, and my unfairness in not readuig both sides of so important a controversy ; and thereupon 1 bought the Doctor's book, and IVIr. Wliiston's five volumes, resolving to inquire as throughly as I could into the matter, and then to write somewhat in defence of my opinion, but with the greatest caution. This I believe might be near a twelvemonth after the Doctor's book was publish'd." " I was soon convinc'd the common opinion could not reasonably be csteem'd a fundamental article of the Christian faith, as I had been too apt before to take it to be. And upon serious consideration the subject seem'd to me so abstruse and difficult, that I could not imagine God had made men's salvation to depend upon their entertaining exactly the same notion concerning it ; especially seeing the Scriptui'e never insists upon the absolute necessity of one uniform belief about it. And I was much confirmed in this apprehension, by considering how widely good men had differ'd from one another upon the subject. " While I continued in suspence, being still upon the search, I con- si'hom he had great disputes, and at length occasioned him to be excommvniicated. The patent by which this Abbot was honoured with a miti-e is dated the twenty-third of January, 1513 ; but the privilege continued only till the year 1539, when John Peryn, the thirty-sixth and last Abbot, surrendered his monastery, and had the annual salary of £\QQ. settled on him for life. The same year the possession of the Al)bey, with the borough and town of Tavistock, were given by. the King to John, Lord Russcl."— Ibid., Vol. iv. p. 218. 486 TAVISTOCK. twenty-six yards in length ; the extensive cloisters, the magnificent chapter-house, have long been com- pletely demolished. In the year 1736, the ruins of the latter were removed, and a neat house erected on its site for the residence of the Duke of Bedford's steward. Near this interesting spot are the parish church, dedicated to St. Eustachius, and the prin- cipal inn, whose stables bear traces of very ancient architecture ; and here the three principal streets of the town now meet. It is remarkable that, amidst all the alterations and innovations which have been made during a hundred and forty years, the humble society of Dissenters have been allowed, unmolested, to retain their quiet sanctuary. While some of the monastic apartments have been con- verted to warehouses, and other spots still more sacred to devout meditation have become the scenes of worldly bustle and anxiety, the old hall has re- mained to be the sabbath-home of humble and contrite worshipers, the suppliant children of one Father — God, — the grateful disciples of one Master — Jesus Christ! The succession of ministers in this interesting building is easily traced by means of the register of baptisms, Mr. Larkham lived only seven years after his ejectment. In this interval the feeling against him, as the champion of Nonconformity, was so strong, that he was threatened with im- prisonment if he went beyond his house. His whole life was spent in resisting persecution. Soon after he quitted Jesus College, Cambridge, his puritanical TAVISTOCK. 487 opinions involved him in a variety of vexatious suits ; and he experienced, in quick succession, the tender mercies of the Star-Chamber, the High- Commission Court, the Consistory at Exeter, and other tribunals. The malice of some of his enemies followed him even after his death, and would have prevented his interment in the church; but the steward of the Earl of Bedford interposed, and he was buried in that part of the chancel which belong- ed to the house of Russell.* After Mr. Larkham's death, Mr. Pears e, who had been ejected from the living of Dunsford, preached privately at Tavistock, and continued to do so till the Revolution, when he opened a Dissenting place of worship at Ashburton.-j' His successor was Mr. Henry Flamanck, another ejected minister, — a branch of an ancient and respectable Cornish family — a " very genteel man, of considerable learn- ing, great natural abilities, a clear head, a strong memory, and lively affections."^ The congregation at Tavistock during his ministry was large, and he laboured with great success till his death, which occurred in 1692. The first minister at the Abbey Chapel educated by Dissenters was Mr. Jacob Sandercock. He came to Tavistock in 1688, and preached four years as Mr. Flamanck's assistant. It was in compliance with Mr. Flamanck's recommendation on his death- bed, that Mr. Sandercock was appointed his succes- * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 407. t Ibid. p. 357. t Ibid. p. 278. 488 TAVISTOCK. sor. The latter gentleman was particularly noted for sustaining the dignity of his office, but he also secured the affection of his hearers, and largely promoted the cause of the Dissenters. He died in 1729, and was succeeded by Mr. Peter Jillard, whose ministerial services were continued here eleven years. At this period the town abounded with poor persons, for whose welfare Mr. Jillard was unceasingly anxious, — not confining his efforts to the pulpit, but labouring in various ways on their behalf. In Dr. Gibbons's life of Dr. Watts,* there is a pleasing account of his benevolent efforts to establish a charity-school in Tavistock, our admira- tion of which efforts is increased by the circum- stance that the parents of most of the children be- longed to the Church of England, and were only desired to take them to some place of worship. For three years after the removal of Mr. Jillard the society had no settled minister. In 1744, Mr. Merivale was ordained at Tavistock ; he remained there till 1762, when he left to preside over the Dissenting College at Exeter. The next minister was Mr. Bernard Dow^dell, who died in 1772, and was succeeded by Mr. Theophilus Edwards, after- wards the minister of the Mint Chapel, Exeter. On the departure of Mr, Edwards in 1794, the con- gregation elected Mr. William Evans, the present pastor, who kindly furnished many of the particu- lars in this sketch. * Mentioned by Dr. Toulniin in his sermon on tlie death of Mr. Peter Jillard, son of the above-named minister. Sec supra, p. 172. TAVISTOCK. 489 The history of the opinions of the society is thus faithfully stated by Mr. Evans: "During a whole century from the commencement of Protestant Dis- sent, the breeze of controversy was seldom or ever stirred by the voice of presbyter or deacon in Tavistock Abbey. Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy never thought of comparing notes, in flats or sharps, about their creeds ; but, instead of ' searching the Scriptures daily,' dozed unanimously in the bed of sloth, like their forefathers of the mitre and crosier. The congregation was numerous till it was split into parties by difference of opinion, and another chapel was erected by the Calvinists. The Pres- byterian, now surnamed Unitarian, society, has flourished w^ith singular uniformity for more than forty years, sustained by the zeal of a few of its members and the concurrence of the common people." In a turret of the edifice is a chapel library. A Sunday-school is also supported by the congrega- tion. Thus do the well-informed of the present day employ the talents committed to tJie'ir care. And thus is the belief in the animating doctrine of Pro- vidence confirmed and strengthened; — on the spot where an institution for the study of Saxon litera- ture existed — where knowledge was imparted suited to the wants of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, — the little child and the intelligent youth now receive instruction equally adapted to their circum- stances and the age in which they live. 490 TAVISTOCK. il^fnfsters. Thomas Larkham, M. A 16G2— 1069. William Pearse 1069—1688. Henry Flamanck 1688—1692. Jacob Sandercock 1688 — 1 729. Peter Jillard 1730 — 1741. Samuel Merivale 1744 — 1760. Bernard Dowdell 1762 — 1772. Theophilus Edwards... 1772 — 1794. William Evans 1794. Jacob Sandercock was a native of Cornwall. His parents beiug in low circumstances, lie was sent to a grammar-school by the kindness of a few friends. He received his education for the ministry in the xAcademj of Mr. Warren, at Taunton; and, when he had finished his studies, commenced preaching at Tiverton. In 1688, he removed to Tavistock to assist Mr. Flamanck, whom he eventually succeeded as pastor of the Abbey Congregation. Here he opened a school, notwithstanding the threats of Trelawny, Bishop of Exeter. This domineering prelate insisted on his applying for episcopal leave to instruct the rising generation. Sandercock, however, set him at de- fiance ; and the Bishop, iu a letter to a correspondent, expressed his determination to punish " that obstinate miscreant, the Pres- byterian of Tavistock," But it does not appear that his power was, in this instance, equal to his will. Mr. Sandercock's character is sketched by Mr. John Fox in the usual sarcastic style of that writer. While reading the fol- lowing extract, the reader will not forget that Mr. Fox was prone to dwell upon the foibles rather than the virtues of his friends. At the same time it will be remembered that it is only TAVISTOCK. 491 from such a writer the true state ot" Dissent at the period in question cau be fully ascertained. " He was one of those Dissenting ministers who beUeved the cause of the Separation to be the cause of God, and this made him sit the easier with his people, who were of the true old stamp, and who stiU retain the same stiff, uncharitable disposition to a wonder. They had for many years been trained by Mr. Flamanck, who was one of the ejected ministers after the Restoration, and Mr. Sandercock knew very well how to encourage and confirm their party notions, and to keep up that spirit, which is not to be found in any congregation of Dissenters in this part of the kingdom. To this it must be owing that they sat with such great complacency and patience under his ministry for so many years ; for though he had clear notions as far as he went, and composed with judgment, yet he was the most dull, drowsy, dis- agreeable man in the pulpit I ever heard in my life. Though I do not remember to have heard any nonsense in his sermons and prayers, yet they were both delivered in a manner which was apt to lull every one to sleep. However, some amends was made for this ; for though he was tedious, he was never long in his performances, either in the church or in the family, it being a very commendable maxim with him never to make religion a burden. His sermons, for the matter of them, were like the rest among Dissenters ; he took great care to tell his people that he was one of Clirist's ambassadors, and was vastly dis- pleased at any thing said or done to deprive them of that respect or power which they were invested with and ought to have. I remember, while I lived with him, he preached a long time on the text, * We, then, as ambassadors, in Christ's stead,' &c. ; and though I was then very young, I could not but take notice how earnestly he inculcated the notion of ambassadorship upon his hearers, and that he took much pains to make them believe that what he said as such, from the pulpit, was not only the word of God, but an ordinance really and strictly appointed by Him. By this art these ministers in general maintained that respect which was paid them. His notions in other matters did not run so high. He was in opinion among those who at that time were called Baxterians, that is, such as rejected the notions of true Calvinists, but yet were terribly afraid of being called or thought Ar- minians. For the difference between them is not so great, had they the honesty or courage to speak out. He was a very zealous pro- moter of the Assembly held twice yearly at Exeter. He found great 492 TAVISTOCK. emoluinent both to body and purse by giving his regular attendance. He had many presents and sums of money given him both from pri- vate people and the Fund, to both wliich he was constantly recom- mended by Mr. Walrond and some other leading ministers. I re- member he once made a journey to London, where, by Mr. Walrond's recommendation, he cleared ^100., besides all his expenses of going and coming. He was very often employed in reconciling family dif- ferences, in which he had very good success, for great deference was paid to his judgment by people of all denominations in the town. He was likewise very often consulted in politics ; for he was able to direct the votes of most of his hearers in time of an election, and therefore ^\';is in high esteem with the old Sir Francis Drake, by whom he hath often provided for such of his friends as wanted places. He main- tained his power and reputation to the end of his life, and was as much regarded and attended in the last stage of life as in the beginning." * Samuel Merivale was born at Northampton, and educated for the ministry under Dr. Doddridge, whose academy he enter- ed in. 1734. One of his class-fellows was the excellent Mr. Or ton, who describes him as " a most worthy, learned, and pious man." He settled first at Sleaford, in Lincolnshire, where he kept a grammar-school which was in great reputation. In this school Andrew Kippis received his preparatory education, and it was probably by Mr. Merivale's advice that he afterwards went to Northampton. In 1744, Mr. Merivale removed to Tavistock. Here he was ordained, and spent sixteen years with much honour and usefulness. His removal was occasioned by an invitation to undertake the office of Divinity Tutor in the New College at Exeter. He entered upon his duties here in 17(30, his colleagues being Mr. Towgood and Mr. Turner. In 1770 Mr. Turner died, and was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Jervis, whose appointment excited the hopes of all the friends of the College. But in the following year Mr. Merivale died ; and this event occasioned its dissolution. * Men. Rcpos., Vol. xvi. p. 258. TAVISTOCK. 493 The subject of this memoir published a small volume, en. titled "Daily Devotions for the Closet," which has passed through several editions. The last was published in 1829, with a preface by Dr. Carpenter, and the addition of several valuable prayers from various sources. It was a favourite work with Mr. Orton; Dr. Stoneliouse calls it an admirable book, — per- haps the best [of the kind] ever written ; he says, " it is far su- perior to Bishop Kenn's, being elegant, sensible, and devout." It is circulated by the Western Unitarian Society, as eminently calculated to aid their object — "the promotion of Christian knowledge and the practice of virtue." Mr. Merivale's character was justly described by Mr. Bretland, one of the earliest pupils in the Exeter Academy. After men- tioning the excellence of his conduct in domestic life, in dis- charging the duties of a Tutor, and in interesting and gratifying his friends, Mr. Bretland thus proceeds : " As a member of society, to the most cordial love of aU mankind he joined the most anxious concern for the welfare of his native coun- try ; — filled with the true spirit of a Briton and a Protestant, he mani- fested a warm and generous resentment at every attempt to lessen the civil or religious liberty of his country ; and expressed the most ardent \vishes for success to all schemes designed and well calculated to es- tablish its just rights in due extent, and on a proper and lasting basis. As a Christian, he was such not from the prejudices of education or worldly views, but from conviction : he diligently studied, and well understood both the evidences and the principles of his religion. He entertained the most exalted conceptions of God; and his bosom glowed in consequence with ferv^ent, manly piety. The system of Christianity which he adopted was far from the taint of dark super- stition, or wild enthusiasm ; and (rational and consistent in all its parts) it defied the attacks of infidelity. As a Dissenting minister, he adopt- ed those truly Christian and Protestant principles which oppose all human claims and impositions in matters of reUgion as invasions of the inalienable prerogative of Jesus Christ. In the discharge of the duties of his ministerial character, he was invariably upright and assi- duous. After he had entirely quitted the charge of a particular con- gregation, he engaged in the care of providing supplies for vacant 494 TAVISTOCK. societies in his neig;liltourhoo(l, and was eminently serviceable to them both by his assistance and advice. In short, sobriety in the govern- ment of himself; justice and charity in his behaviour to others; a sincere and warm devotion in his intercourse with (iod ; an insatiable thirst for knowledge ; — diligent and cheerful endeavours to improve the minds of youth ; a warm and judicious zeal for the interests of virtue, truth, and liberty ; and above all, an exemplification in his own practice of the duties he recommended, are the great outlines of that excellent character which has so lately been removed from our ad- miring view. Well may we suppose that, as far as the mind of this worthy person was concerned, his end was peaceful and serene. Ac- cordingly, he smiled on the near approach of death, no doubt from the self-complacency of his own conscience, the enlivening hope of the Divine favour, and the delightful prospect of endless felicity. And, when this last enemy of nature gave the fatal stroke, it freed a soul from its mortal mansion to whose revered memory many have paid with me the tributary tear, and which I pray that you and I may meet again in a happier state of existence, where we may together for ever enjoy the love and favour of our indulgent Father and everlasting Friend." * Theophilus Edwards was a native of South Wales and born in the year 1750. He received his education for the mi- nistry at Cannarthen, under tne Rev. Dr. Jenkins. In 1772, he succeeded Mr. Merivale at Tavistock, and remained there till the spring of 1794, when he became the pastor of the con- gregation at the Mint Meeting, Exeter. Some years before his death, he removed to Taunton for the purpose of enjoying the society and experiencing the affectionate attention of Dr. and Mrs. Davies, — the latter being his daughter. Mr. Edwards was highly respected for his talents and character ; although visited with heavy afflictions, he invariably manifested the most pro- found resignation. He died at Taunton, Oct. 4, 1833, aged 83. An appropriate tribute to his memory appeared soon afterwards in the Christian Reformer, f * Bretland's Sermons, Vol. ii. p. 3.5. f O. S., Vol. XIX. p. 552. PLYMOUTH, " Plym christeneth that town which bears her noble name, Upon the British coast what ship yet ever came, That not of Plymouth hears, where those brave navies lie, From cannon's thund'ring flote, that all the world defy ; Which to invasive spoil when th' English list to draw, Have check'd Hiberia's pride, and kept her still in awe, Oft furnishing our dames with India's rare devices. And lent us gold and pearl, with silk and dainty spices." Drayton (end of sixteenth century) , " It is not long since Plymouth was accounted a mean fishing town, untill the conveniency of the haven, which (without striking sail) ad- mitteth into its bosom the tallest ships that be, where they ride safe, in either of the two rivers, to take the opportunity of the first wind. The commodious situation, and healthful habitation, was vulgarly known, and allured many to resort thither ; whereby it is so increased with beautiful buildings, that of the two parts (formerly spoken) con- joined is made one populous Plymouth ; and now so great grown, that it may be held comparable to some cities." — Risdon (beginning of seventeenth century). Plymouth is distant forty-four miles from Exeter, and two hundred and eighteen miles from London. In the lapse of two centuries a vast change has taken place in the town and vicinity of Plymouth ; but the limits prescribed in this work forbid any attempt being made to give an adequate idea of its increased extent, opulence, and national im- portance. Since the period at which Risdon wrote, it is become one of the greatest naval arsenals in the kingdom." — Editors of Risdon's History (1811). Population in 1811,-20,803; in 1821,-21,591; in 1831,— ,31,080. UNITARIAN CHAPEL. Five ministers residing in, and nearly connected with, Plymouth, were silenced in the year 1662. The seed they had scattered was watched and watered, not only by themselves, during the inter- vals of their exiles and imprisonments, but also by several of their brethren from other parts of the county, and abundant proofs were offered that their labours were followed by the Divine blessing. The ministers mentioned under the head of Plymouth in the Nonconformists' Memorial, are Mr. George Hughes, Vicar of St. Andrew's ; Mr. Obadiah Hughes, his son, then studying at Oxford; Mr. Thomas Martyn, Lecturer at St. Andrew's; Mr. Samuel Martyn, his son, an occasional preacher; and Mr. John Horseman, ejected at Scilly Island, but well known at Plymouth.* Of these five ministers, one only was able to dis- charge the duties of the ministry at Plymouth for any length of time. This was Mr. Thomas Martyn, and he also was sent from the town soon after his ejectment, and frequently interrupted when, at length, he found opportunities of preaching. The magis- * Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. .387. PLYMOUTH. 497 trates of the neighbourhood, dreading the influence of the ejected pastors where they were generally beloved, sent him with Mr. Hughes, Sen., who may be considered the founder of the present society, to the island of St. Nicholas under a guard of two files of musqueteers. There they remained nine months; they were liberated on condition that Mr. Hughes should give security of c;62000., and Mr. Martyn of ^1000., not to live within twenty miles of Plymouth without leave of the Earl of Bath or his deputy. Mr. Hughes then retired to Kingsbridge, but the hardships of his banishment and his separation from his flock impaired his health ; and at the end of four years, chiefly spent in devotional exercises and serious discourse, he died. His friend and fel- low-sufferer survived him many years, and obtained permission to appear once more among his people; but during his absence his trials were of the severest kind ; at St. Nicholas he was deprived of the society of his wife and children; a dangerous sickness prevailed among the soldiers, and he en- treated in vain to be removed ; and, subsequently, while he was bound not to live within twenty miles of Plymouth, though often wanted to advise, relieve, and comfort his family in sickness and death, he dared not go near them. The evidence relating to the early history of the Unitarian society is somewhat contradictory. It appears, at first sight, to favour the opinion that Mr. Nicholas Sherwill, another ejected minister, was the founder of their church. Their register of 2 K 498 PLYMOUTH. baptisms was commenced by Mr. Sherwill only three months after the memorable Bartholomew Day, and continued by him till March 23, 1686. Then follows a blank of a page and a half; and the register was afterwards brought down, appa- rently in the same writing, and without any other minister's name, to August 20, 1697. However, the statements of several w^riters, especially Mr. Wilson, lead to the conclusion that Sherwill was the more immediate founder of the church since called Independent, and Hughes of the present Uni- tarian society. The possession of Sherwill's register by the latter may be accounted for by the fact that, at the close of the seventeenth century, there was in many towns a community both of Dissenting minis- ters and Dissenting records. I have inserted a few names on my list, particularly Nathaniel Jacob, because, though chiefly connected with the other congregation, such ministers preached occasionally to both, till the settlement of Mr. Harding. That this gentleman presided over the society in question, is evident from the inscription on its communion cups: " Bought by and for the use of that Church in Plymouth OF which Nathaniel Harding is Pastor, 1705." The records in possession of the Unitarian minis- ter afford much information. Mr. Sherwill's regis- ter embraces, with one short omission, the generally obscure period from 1662 to 1697. About half of these baptisms are expressly said to have been " in PLYMOUTH. 499 private," but a great number of them are recorded as having been performed at " the Old Marshall's," a locality now unknown. In the same book is a list of baptisms ''by Mr. Thomas Martyn," begin- June 12, 1672, (perhaps earlier, as a leaf seems to have been torn out,) continued by him to August 6, 1673, and brought down, apparently by another minister, to February 3, 1674-5. It further appears from the following memorandum, after one of Mr. Martyn's entries, that there were two houses in which the Plymouth pastors met their flocks ; " All those before mentioned weare baptised at Greene house near Charles Church, in Greene Streett." The circumstance that several ministers, preaching or discharging pastoral duties in different places, recorded their proceedings in the same book, indi- cates that they, as well as the people entrusted to their care, were "one,'' — that they realized the happy union which the Saviour so earnestly prayed might exist among his followers, and which their sufferings for conscience' sake especially led them to promote. The attachment to Mr. Sherwill and the conviction of the permanent validity of his epis- copal ordination were so strong, that several persons were married by him, though he was avowedly a Nonconformist. In the church book are the fol- lowing entries : Marry ed by mee Nicholas Sherwill. 16G2. Mr. Walter Trowt and Mrs. Katherine Crampron Sept. 17. at Stonehouse. 2 k2 500 PLYMOUTH. 1663. July 15. Matthew Greet and Ruth Kingstou at Brixton. 1670. Mr. Abraham Sherwill and Mrs. Joanna Fortescue May 3. of Sprindlestoa at Pljmpton Morris. With respect to the meeting-house in which Mr. Harding and his successors officiated, there is no evidence of the time of its erection ; but the accounts of the number, respectability, and earnestness of the early Nonconformists at Plymouth, lead us to sup- pose that they built a place of worship as soon as possible. The date of the edifice raised in Batter Street for Mr. Enty and his congregation, after- wards called Independent, is 1708. In 1715, Mr. Harding had seven hundred and sixty hearers, and for a long time this church and that assembling in Batter Street included almost all the influential citizens, merchants, and manufacturers of the town.* Mr. Enty was noted for his " orthodoxy," which he frequently manifested in the Exeter Controversy. On the expulsion of Mr. Peirce he was one of those chosen to succeed him, and his own place was filled by Mr. Baron, his assistant. The prominent part taken by Enty at this period, the zeal with which he inculcated the Trinity and its kindred doctrines, and the great influence he possessed over his hear- ers, tend to account for the circumstance that, in after years, Ms congregation remained orthodox, while the other gradually adopted Unitarianism. Harding as w^ell as Enty took an active part in the * Worsley's Lectures on Nonconformity, 2nd cd., p. 343. PLYMOUTH. 501 exclusive proceedings of the Exeter Assembly, but the latter was by far the more violent; both re- fused, for a long time, to invite Fox, a reputed here- tic, to their pulpits, but at length Harding asked him indirectly. The father of Fox w^as a member of Harding's church, and had imbibed a large share of that zeal for Dissent and reverence for Dissent- ing Ministers vv^hich were then so common.* It was the great object of his ambition to see his son a member of the Exeter Assembly, or to hear him haranguing some large congregation in the West. He sent him first to Tavistock School, then to an old Mr. Bedford at Plymouth, next to Mr. Hallet's Academy at Exeter, and, lastly, with the hope of * Several instances are mentioned by Mr. Fox. In reference to his going to Mr. Hallet's, he says, " I was about fifteen years of age. Mr. Harding and son went with us, which my father took to be so great an honour, that he defrayed all their expenses upon the road." Mr. Hallet encouraged this kind of feeling. " He had high notions of the ministerial power, and thought that it was derived from the Apostles, who had their commission from Christ ; so that his opinion was, that Christ had granted a charter (that was his word) by virtue of which all ministers had power to rule and act in the church, as such, at all times and upon all occasions." And in perfect accordance with these notions was the reception of Dr. Calamy in 1713. "During his stay in the West he was to come to Ply- mouth. As I was designed for London, my father thought it could not be amiss to shew him some respect, so he sent him an invitation by Mr. Enty to lodge with him. I went as far as Newton to meet him, where he was treated nobly and far beyond what the Doctor expected from a country brother. He moved by slow degrees to Torbay, Dartmouth, Shilston, and thence to Plymouth, where he took up his lodgings at the great inn for all Dissenting ministers, which was at Mrs. Pinson's." — Mon. Repos., Vol. xvi. p. 134. In the course of this journey, Dr. Calamy preached at SaUsbury, Dor- chester, Exeter, Plymouth, Liskeard, Tiverton, Taunton, and Bath. " I never went a journey," he says, "in which I worked harder or fared better than in this." — Cal amy's Historical Account of his own Life, Rutt's Ed., Vol. ii. p. 266. 502 PLYMOUTH. making him thoroughly orthodox, to London. But the good man's hopes were destroyed by the circum- stance that his son, though shrewd, intelligent, well acquainted with the world, and by no means indif- ferent to the approbation of his father and the re- ligious public, yet persisted in thinking and acting for himself. While at Mr. Hallet's, he "and five or six others fell into the Unitarian scheme about the Trinity," which being spread abroad, (and it deserves to be noticed here as the origin of the cele- brated controversy in the West,) he was prevented for some time from obtaining a licence to preach. Meanwhile, his father, distressed at the prospect of the failure of his scheme, employed various means to re- move the young man's difficulties — his dread of an examination by the Assembly, occasioned by the spi- ritual tyranny of that body — and his objection to sign the Thirty-nine Articles, at that time, in many cases, an indispensable ceremony. At length, with- out sacrificing his principles, he received a certificate to signify that he was a licensed candidate by order of the Assembly, upon which the old gentleman was gratified by hearing him preach several times at Plymouth ; but so sickened was the son by the pre- vailing spirit of the age, that he soon after quitted the ministry, and lived upon his private resources.* * " In the very next Assembly after this (he says, in reference to the short-lived gratification he was able to afford his father), Mr. Peirce's affair came to a crisis. The orthodox made a public declaration of their faith in the Trinity, agreeably to the Articles and Creeds of the Church of England and to the Assembly's Catechism ; and every body believed them. Mr. Pcirce and his friends hastily set their names to a paper, in which PLYMOUTH. 503 For some years there was but little improvement in the spirit of the Plymouth Nonconformists. Though Harding was less violent than Enty, there was no difference in the sentiments of the two congregations during the lives of those ministers. Harding had at different times three assistants ; — two were Henry Brett and Joseph Cock,* whose peculiar opinions are unknown; the other, Henry Moore, originally an Arian, but towards the close of his life an Unitarian. Moore removed from Southmolton in 1731, to assist Harding, at whose death, in 1744, he became pastor of the congre- gation. His appointment was not without opposi- tion, chiefly caused by one leading member of the congregation who was a great favourer of Mr. Whitfield ; but the discontented party, finding them- selves in the minority, withdrew, and joined the church in Batter Street. Mr. Moore "happening to be on the unpopular side of the question, there were those who (even after the secession) did not fail to give him great uneasiness, especially by attempting to prejudice his people against him, they declared they were no Arians, and that they believed the Scriptures, for which almost every body laughed at them, and said that they in a manner confessed the Assembly's charge, and assured the world of it under their own hands. I, unluckily for my private interest, happened to be one of the brave fellows that signed it, the consequence of which was, that there was scarce any for me to preach to besides the poor remains of a few broken congregations, who had good nature and charity enough to stand by their ministers, whose reputation, interest, and usefulness were abso- lutely ruined by the rage, aspersions, and violence of the other party. And thus ended my short warfare among the paltry, spiritual wickednesses with whom it was my ill luck to be concerned." * Mr. Wilson's MSS. 504 PLYMOUTH. in which they were but too successful."* By these means his flock was reduced, before he died, to a very small number ; but soon afterwards a division took place at Batter Street, because the majority would not consent to appoint Mr. Hanmer, who had been the assistant of their former minister, to fill the office of pastor ; and the liberal party was increased by the addition of Hanmer and his friends. This circumstance occur- red in 1762, the first year of the ministry of Mr. Reynell. Hanmer preached for him occasionally, and baptized many children ; but there is no evi- dence of his having received a salary as stated min- ister. Before this division, the two congregations which had long been known by the common appel- lation— Presbyterian — were on friendly terms, and belonged to the same Assembly at Exeter. The successors of Mr. Reynell were Mr. Watson, Mr. Porter, Mr. Kentish, Dr. Jones, Mr. Ting- combe, Mr. Jones, Mr. Worsley, and Mr. Odgers, — all decided Unitarians. During the ministry of these gentlemen, the society, though not numerous, has included many intelligent and truly respectable inhabitants of the town. With two exceptions, (Dr. Jones and Mr. Jones, of whom memoirs will be given in the usual place,) the ministers just mention- ed are still living. Mr, Watson removed to Chiches- ter in 1788, officiated there till 1803, and has since resided at Bath. Mr. Porter continued at Plymouth till 1794, afterwards preached for some time in the * English Prcsb3'tciian, p. 180. PLYMOUTH. 505 neighbouring chapel at Plymouth Dock, now De- vonport, and subsequently went to America. He engaged in a controversy with Dr. Hawker, which came before the public ; and he compiled the Liturgy which was introduced during his ministry and is still used. Mr. Kentish quitted Plymouth for Birmingham in 1795, where, to the present time, he has filled the office of one of the pastors of the large society at the New Meeting.* Dr. Jones was Mr. Kentish's successor, and remained here till 1798, when he was followed by Mr. Tingcombe, who, at the end of eight years, removed to Bridg- water, and afterwards from thence to Frenchay. The congregation were then supplied for a few months by Mr. John Rudd. In 1807, Mr. Jones came, and found the chapel thinly attended; but his exertions were followed by a considerable im- provement. On the death of this gentleman, Mr. Worsley removed to Plymouth ; and, after labouring here eighteen years, went to Paris with the hope of forming a Unitarian society there; not succeeding to the necessary extent, he soon returned to England and accepted an invitation from his former flock at Lincoln. A new era in the history of the congregation now commenced. The old chapel, being ruinous and inconvenient, was taken down, and a new one * Of Mr. Kentish's unwearied labours in one of his fields of Christian usefulness, my readers may form some idea from a list of his writings, twenty-seven in number, subjoined to a short memoir in an interesting " Sketch of the History of Presbyterian Nonconformity in Birminyham, by the Rev. John Reynell Wreford." 506 PLYMOUTH. erected on the same site. This is a substantial edifice, with a plain exterior, but neatly fitted up and capable of accommodating five hundred per- sons. Soon after it was finished, the congregation unanimously elected as their pastor, Mr. W. Odgers, then pursuing his studies at the London University, under the direction of his Theological Tutor, the Rev. B. Mardon. The new chapel was opened on Sunday, May 13th, 1832. In the morning, Mr. Evans, of Tavistock, read the liturgy and delivered an address, and Mr. Acton, of Exeter, preached ; in the evening Mr. Odgers conducted the whole ser- vice. The congregation assembling under these favourable auspices were also gratified by the presence of the Unitarian society at Devonport, whose chapel was purposely closed on that day. Most cheering has been the subsequent progress of the Plymouth Unitarians. Their number has been greatly multiplied, and all their recent proceedings prove that they are influenced by a spirit which will not speedily decay, — a spirit which sustains itself, and acquires increasing strength, by promoting the spread of truth, and piety, and benevolence — a spirit of power, of Jove, and of a sound mind. The following institutions are supported by the society : Fellowship Fund. Commenced in 1817, and very well supported. Objects, " to assist in building places of wor- ship, defraying the expenses of travelling ministers, promoting plans of education for ministers, and other exertions for dif- fusing the truths of the Gospel." PLYMOUTH. 507 Chapel Library. Founded in 1825. Contains about three hundred volumes, of which there is a printed catalogue. The following publications are regularly circulated among the subscribers : — The Christian Reformer, Unitarian Chronicle, Monthly Repository, Christian Pioneer, Christian Advocate, and Christian Teacher. Congregational Tract Society. Formed in February, 1833, for the purpose of promoting habits of reading and think- ing in reference more particularly to the doctrines of Christi- anity. Two ladies attend regularly in the School Room after each of the Sunday services, to deliver tracts to any of the con- gregation who are disposed to read them, — a part of the plan which has proved very useful. They have also another Tract Society, the members of which engage to take tracts to persons living in their respective districts who may be willing to read them, though not belonging to the congregation. Sunday-School. Established in March, 1833. Confined hitherto to girls. Number at first limited to twenty, but after- wards extended to forty. Connected with this institution are a School Library and a Writing School. Both are found to be valuable auxiliaries. The Writing School is conducted every Saturday afternoon by two of the Sunday teachers, who also, at the same time, instruct the children in the rudiments of arith- metic. This part of the plan is found to induce the scholars to seek improvement at home. Sunday-School Savings' Fund. Established in Janu- ary, 1834, to encourage habits of economy and forethought among the children, and thus prepare them for the prudent per- formance of the duties of life. Each child is encouraged to bring a sum not exceding two-pence weekly, which, having ac- cumulated, is returned in some form to the parents or children at the end of the year, with a premium of two -pence on every shilling. In the first year the deposits amounted to more than £S. The money to be laid out for the benefit of the children, or no premium to bo given. 508 PLYMOUTH. iDltinisters. George Hughes, B.D 1662 — Thomas Martyn 1662 — 1673. Samuel Martyn Nathaniel Jacob 1C73 — 1690. Nathaniel Harding 1690 — 1744. Henry Brett 1707 — 1723. Joseph Cock 1721—1731. Henry Moore 1731—1762. John Reynell 1762 — 1784. Thomas Watson 1785—1788. Thomas Porter 1789—1794. John Kentish 1794 — 1795. John Jones, LL. D 1795—1798. John Tingcombe 1798 — 1806. John Jones 1807—1812. Israel Worsley 1813—1831. William Odgers 1832. George Hughes, B. D, — Born at Southwark. — Educated at Oxford. — Ordained in 1628. — Preached first in and about Ox- ford.— Afterwards Lecturer of Allhallows, Bread Street, London. — Silenced by Arcbbishop Laud, at an early period, for Non- conformity to some ceremonies. — Presented by the Earl of Bedford, to the living of Tavistock, where he did much good. — Obliged by the Civil War to remove to Coventry and live with his wife's relations. — Soon sent for by " the government of Ply- mouth," and presented to St. Andrews in that town, 1644. — Found the Liturgy had been omitted by his predecessor, and willingly followed his example. — Very generous to the Puritan ministers who took refuge in Plymouth, and much respected by PLYMOUTH. 509 all parties for his learning, piety, and general usefulness. — Ejected in 1662. — Soon afterwards sent to St. Nicholas Island on account of his Nonconformity, and subsequently removed to Kingsbridge, where, in 1667, he proved by his death as he had done by his life, that he was a Christian indeed. — Continued preaching privately to the last, and confessed that he " was not ashamed to live nor afraid to die."* Nathaniel Jacob was the son of a major in the Parliament army. He designed his son for the ministry from the cradle, if it should please God to qualify him for it. iVt fifteen years of age, the youth, being well furnished with grammar-learning, went to Oxford, and at twenty-three he was ordained by the classical Presbytery of Sarum. He was ejected from Ugborough, where his learning, exemplary piety, and obliging behaviour, had much endeared him to the people, particularly to several gentle- men of good fortune and character. After his ejectment, he rode to Plymouth once a fortnight to preach to Mr. Martyn's people, (a branch of the Nonconformist church,) and at his death became their pastor. About the year 1 684, he was con- victed under the act against conventicles, and committed to Exeter gaol for six months. Still he lived on good terms with several worthy clergymen in the neighbourhood, and when the Five-mile Act drove him from Plymouth, Mr. Nosworthy, of Dipford, gave him shelter in his parish. Afterwards, liberty being granted, he returned to the public exercise of his ministry to a numerous congregation. His labours were crowned with great success. Canon Gilbert, vicar of St. Andrews, preached his funeral sermon and gave him a great character for piety and learning, f * Noncon. Mem., p. 387. See a Latin inscription composed by the son- in-law of Mr. Hughes — Mr. John Howe, t Noncon. Mem., Vol. i. p. 422. 510 PLYMOUTH. Nathaniel Harding. — Tlie fullest account of Mr. Harding's life is found among the biograpliical sketclies by Mr. Fox, of Plymouth. Part of that account I shall introduce here ; ven- turing to omit a few passages not necessary to my purpose. Of Mr. Fox's tendency to be severe I have already reminded my readers. " Mr. Harding was born in Ireland. His father was a Dissenting minister in that kingdom, and called Nicodemus. From the quaintnessof the name and the notions and disposition which his son brought to England, I apprehend he was of the Puritan kind. It was by accident (as I have heard) that young Hardmg came to Plymouth. He went on board a ship in Ireland to see some friends who had embarked for England. While he was there, the wind sprung up fresh and fair, and he was persuaded by his friends to take the tour with them. On arriving at Plymouth, he found that a large congregation of Dissent- ers had, some time before, lost their minister. He was desired to preach to them, which he did to such good purpose that the people immediately fell in love wiih him and elected him their pastor. In Ireland, he had been under the tuition of one Dr. Carr, who had the character of a proud, sour man, and of a very good Grecian. Where he studied I can't say ; 'tis certain, he settled very young at Plymouth, and brought all his notions in divinity with him, which he notably re- tained and ^andicated to the last. I sat myself under his ministrj% many years, and the general run of his preaching was upon the darling mysteries of Cliristianity, and upon such things as Election, Adoption, Sanctification, &c. ; and I never understood that he entered at any time on any other method of preaching. His behaviour in the pulpit was ver)r suitable to his way of thinking ; for he made a most mon- strous disagreeable noise, especially when he grew angry, as he often did, if he happened to be confuting any opinions he did not hke. I can remember myself, that he was once very near throwing a quarto Bible upon the head of the minister who sat in the desk under him. At another time, he with much difficulty recovered his wig, Avhich he had almost jerked from his head by the violent agitation of his body at an argument he was offering against Dr. Clarke. He was much more disagreeable in prayer. Not that he was at a loss, or guilty of PLYMOUTH. 511 of tautology, for he composed his prayers and learnt them by heart as he did his sermons. But then he had so strange an utterance, especially in the beginning of his prayer, that persons not used to him could seldom understand him. He had always the art of keeping great authority over his hearers ; the external sanctity which he car- ried about with him, gained him universal respect. His conversation generally turned on spiritual things, or on some disputed point in divinity, and if any indifferent things were talked of, he seemed always uneasy, was constantly sighing, and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven . But all his knowledge and piety never got the better of his natural temper ; for he was naturally proud, and impatient of contra- diction, and governed with great haughtiness and tyranny in his family. The menaces he gave his only son on his falling into the Unitarian scheme, and his driving him out of the kingdom, will be always a standing proof of his furious bigotry, and the barbarity of his temper. Yet after all these imperfections, which perhaps he never knew or considered as such, it must be allowed that he was a man of singular piety towards God. His heart was certainly in his work, and I believe he thought it was his duty to live in that retired and abstracted man- ner which he always delighted in. Upon the whole, considering his education, principles, and professions, he discharged his duty faithfully, gave an excellent example to his brethren of the separation, and with all his infirmities and mistakes, lived and died an honest man." * Henry Moore, of Liskeard. — I omit a separate memoir of Mr. Moore, of Plymouth, because his life was not marked by circumstances of peculiar interest. But the reader will not ob- ject to the introduction of a few particulars of the life of his son, — derived chiefly from Dr. Aikin's preface to the posthu- mous volume of Mr. Moore's Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poems. Henry Moore was bom, in 1732, at Plymouth. His father, a man of extensive learning and merits, was a Dissenting minister. His mother was the daughter of William Bellew, Esq., of Stockleigh Court in the same county. He received his grammar education under Mr. Bedford, afterwards vicar of Charles parish, in Plymouth. In 1749, he was entered at Dr. * Men. Rep., Vol. xvi. p. 257. 512 PLYMOUTH. Doddridge's Academy, at Northampton, of which he was a mem- ber at the time of his tutor's decease. On this occasion, Mr. Moore paid a tribute of respect and veneration in a poem to the memory of Dr. Doddridge, which was afterwards published with many unwarrantable alterations. The poem was dedicated to Mrs. Doddridge, and was justly admired as a tribute of elegant fancy and warm affection. He finished his academical course under Dr. Ashworth ; and in 1755 or 1756, was elected minister to a congregation at Dulverton. In 1757, he removed to Mod- bury, where he continued till his final removal to Liskeard, which took place in 1788. During these long periods, he was almost lost from the notice of the world ; recollected, perhaps, by some of his fellow-students as a youth of promise ; known by a few brother-ministers as a man of learning and critical talents ; but scarcely recognised for that cultivated genius which fitted him for shining in the highest ranks of literature. He so far overcame his diffidence, as to contribute largely to the two volumes of commentaries and essays, published by the Society for promoting the knowledge of the Scriptures.* These pieces obtained for the author the character of a very learned, ingenious, and useful critic, from such judges as Dr, Geddes, and Michael Dodson, Esq. Mr. Moore was the author of an anonymous letter, in which the doctrines of Mr. Madan's Thelypthora are attacked with much humour and vivacity. At the solicitation of his nephew, who was a very intelligent surgeon at Plymouth, he printed, in 1795, a short poem entitled Private Life, a Moral Rhapsody. This, though a performance of much poetical and sentimental beauty, yet appearing from a country press, with no advantages of publication, attracted little notice. During the last summer of his life, Mr. Moore put into the hands of his nephew, a volume of MS. poems which, with singular modesty, he requested him to shew to some person who could judge of their fitness for the public eye. * A list of Mr. Moore's contributions may be found in Dr. Aikin's preface. PLYMOUTH. 513 *' I was applied to ou the occasion," (says Dr. Aikin in concluding the preface,) " and I trust the readers of these pieces will be convinced that I could not hesitate in giving a decided opinion in their favour. In reality, I scarcely ever experienced a greater and more agreeable surprise, than on the discovery of so rich a mine of poetry, where I had not the least intimation of its existence. That the author should have passed seventy years of life almost totally unknown, was a cir- cumstance that excited the interest of all to whom the poems were communicated ; and we were impatient that, however late, he should enjoy those rewards of merit which had so long been withheld. In the mean time, he was attacked with a severe stroke of the palsy, which, while it left his intellects free, incapacitated him for every exertion. There was now no time to be lost. My offer of taking upon myself the whole care of the editorship was thankfully accepted ; and a sub- scription was set on foot, which met «'ith the warm support of many who were desirous that all possible comfort should be supplied to cheer the helpless decline of such a man. But the progress of debi- lity anticipated these well intended efforts. He sunk tranquilly under his disease on Nov. 2, 1802 ; having, however, lived to enjoy some satisfaction from the knowledge that there were persons whom he had never seen, who could regard him with cordial esteem and friendship. As he lived in celibacy, and had no dependent relatives, no other object remained for a subscription than that of bringing for- ward his posthumous work in an advantageous manner secure both from loss and neglect." Those who are so fortunate as to possess tliis volume, will cordially assent to the estimate, formed by the accomplished edi- tor, of the literary rank of Mr. Moore. Many who are only acquainted with the hymns by the subject of this memoir in various Unitarian selections, will gratefully acknowledge his claims to their admiration. If he had only written, those begin- ning with the lines, "My God thy boundless love I praise," "Soft are the fruitful showers that bring," " Supreme and uni- versal light," he would have furnished food for the piety of thousands. Of his personal qualities — his mild and gentle manners, his humility, contentment, and thankfulness, there is a beautiful description in the memoir by Dr. Aikin, and the fol- 2 L 514 PLYMOUTH. lowing extracts from the volume of poems derive their greatest charm from the circumstance, that the sentiments they ex- press are in perfect unison with those by wliich the heart and life of the aiithor were habitually influenced. " Rejoicing- in the good his hands bestow, Th' Almighty Father looks well pleas'd below. But chief his fav'rite work to see. The pious, grateful, social soul, Wliere, tun'd to nature's harmony. The softest, sweetest passions roll ; That throbs in sympathy with woe. That flames with friendship's holy glow, That swells with wishes unconfin'd To scatter blessings o'er mankind. And, in divine resembling lines imprest. Loves his own image in the gen'rous breast." — p. 5. " But mark, where poor, unnotic'd or unknown. Neglected virtue smiles at fortune's frown ; Or blest by fortune in a private state. By worth ennobled and by goodness great ; Bright on whose gen'rous breast those splendoiu's glow. Of sacred honour, kings could ne'er bestow ; T)\t friend of man ! who can in life confess No joy worth living, but the joy to bless." — p. 153. " O Resignation ! Faith's soft soothing child ; Come with thy words — thy looks — divinely mild : Woe's Avild emotions lull to gentle rest ; Pour holy balm into the bleeding breast ; Be ev'ry passion, ev'ry murmur, still. And bend the struggling soul to Heav'n's high will." — p. 106. Since compiling the above imperfect notice, I have been fa- voured with a selection of Mr. Moore's hymns in his own hand- writing and entrusted by him to the respected friend from whom I received it. The following effusion has not, I believe, been published : PLYMOUTH. 515 ' As OH tlie swiftly-gliding stream A thousand sunbeams play. Successive give a transient gleam. And quickly glance away ; So on our eyes with rapid glare A thousand pleasures float ; Ere we have time to say " they are," — They vanish, and " are not." Unnumbered joys, illusive, vain, Our eager wishes cheat ; Yet are we still allur'd again. Nor will suspect deceit. From scheme to scheme we wildly fly, Nor let OUT passions rest : Then grieve, and weep, and wonder why We cannot yet be blest. The world let pride and folly share. It never was design'd To be the pleasure, or the care. Of an immortal mind. To joys more lasting and sublime The Christian's faith aspires ; No bliss within the bounds of time Can fill his vast desires. To thee, my God ! my wishes tend ; In thee completely blest ; My present hope ! my final end ! And my eternal rest ! " The Rev. John Reynell was descended from a very an- cient and distinguislied family which had been seated in Devon- shire for about four centuries, at Ogwell-house, near Newton- Bushel, the present representative of which is Major General Sir Tliomas Reynell, Baronet. Mr. Reynell was born at Newton- Abbot, in the county of Devon, October 30th, 1736. 2l2 516 PLYMOUTH. In the year 1755, he was placed in the Academical Institution at Daventrj, then under the superintendence of Dr. Ashworth. In this Institution, when under the charge of Dr. Doddridge at Northampton, his uncle and early instructor, the Rev. John Reynell, of Totness, had received his education ; and at Daven- try, at a subsequent period, under Mr. Belsham, his son the Rev. Thomas Reynell, of Crediton, was educated. — That branch of the family from which the subject of this memoir more im- mediately descended, had joined the Nonconformists soon after the passing of the Act of Uniformity. Mr. Reynell left Daven- try in the year 1760, and in 1702, he settled as pastor of the congregation at Plymouth. In this office he continued until 1784, when, in consequence of his coming into the possession of an estate at Thorverton, near Exeter, he removed to that delightful village, where he officiated to a small Presbyterian congregation, and continued to reside until his death, which took place in September, 1800. Soon after his settlement at Ply- mouth, he married Mary, the only surviving child of Edward Richards, Esq., of Upex, near Exeter, by whom he left seven sons and two daughters. Mrs. Reynell died in 1789. Though the name of this admirable man is not extensively known, few persons have passed through life more honoured and beloved than he did. While at Plymouth and engaged in the more active duties of his profession, he secured the venera- tion and regard of his flock, by the courteousness of his deport- ment, the warmth of his benevolence, and the amiability of his temper, as well as by the piety, earnestness, and sound practical sense by which his preaching was distinguished. He was un- friendly to controversy, and seldom dwelt upon speculative points of theology. His heart overflowed with kindness to the whole race of man, and he was ardently desirous of promoting a friendly disposition among Christians of all denominations. At Thorverton, Mr. Reynell occupied precisely the situation which the Author of his nature seemed to have fitted him to im- prove and adorn. In that retired and rural village, he lived happy in himself and dispensing happiness to all around him. PLYMOUTH. 517 Encircled hy a numerous and affectionate family, — placed in easy and even affluent circumstances, — and anxious to contri- bute to the comfort of every one who came within the sphere of his influence, he had it in his heart — and in his power also — to be a blessing to the neighbourhood to which Providence had conducted him — and a blessing to the neighbourhood in truth he was. By his kind offices to the poor, by his affectionate at- tentions to their temporal as well as to their spiritual necessities, he was at once a complete model of a vUlage pastor, the friend, the comforter, the guide of all. His house was the scene of hospitality and of domestic bliss. His brethren in the ministry and all who enjoyed his friendship or acquaintance were ever received by him with a cordial and courteous welcome, and were made happy in the feeling that they shared the regard of one of the excellent of the earth. He was fond of rural pursuits and recreations, as well as of his books — of society, as well as of his own fire-side. It was there, in the bosom of his happy fa- mily, that he sought and foimd his purest earthly felicity. By them, he was beloved and revered in no ordinary degree while he lived ; and after his death, by none of them could his name be ever pronounced without emotion. The dignified and manly beauty of his person — the urbanity of his manners — the simpli- city, uprightness, and benevolence of his character, are still re- membered with affectionate and admiring regret by many to whom his memory will be always precious — nor can the influ- ence of such a character ever altogether cease. Thus in the possession of every source of earthly enjoyment and going about continually doing good, the life of this excel- lent man passed happily and usefully away ; and when he died, the tears of the whole village accompanied him to the grave, where he was again united to the gentle partner of his days — and where " side by side they sleep beneath the village tower." * * Communicated by the Rev. J. R. Wreford, of Birmingham. 518 PLYMOUTH. Dr. .John Jones. — This accomplished scholar and volumin- ous writer, was born at Landingate, iu the county of Carmar- then. His father was a respectable farmer ; and the son had been destined for agricultural pursuits, till it was discovered that he had neither taste nor inclination for such occupations. From his earliest childhood he had evinced an unusual predilection for books. It was his frequent practice, immediately after break- fast, to disappear from the family circle, and retire to the banks of a secluded rivulet, about a mile from the house, and there pursue his studies till hunger compelled him to return. His memory was at this time remarkable for its strength and tena - city. His father, finding that it would be vain to attempt to con- sign him to the drudgery of a farm, resolved to educate him for the Christian ministry. With this view he procured for him the best instruction in the elements of the Latin and Greek languages, which he could obtain in the country schools of the neighbourhood. He made the most of these slender advantages, and gradually imbibed an ardent desire to become a proficient in classical learning. About the age of fourteen or fifteen, he was sent to the College Grammar School at Brecon, one of the first classical seminaries in the Principality, always under the superintendence of a clergyman of the Established Chiu'ch. Here he remained three years, when the death of his father, in 1783, obliged him to return home. About this period, his neighbour and relation, Mr. David Jones, afterwards the colleague of Dr. Priestley, and known, iu the controversy with Dr. Horsley, as the " Welsh Freeholder," was a student at the New College, Hackney. Through his re- commendation, the managers of that institution admitted Mm a student on the foundation. Here he sroon acquired the friend- ship and patronage of the late Dr. Abraham Rees, who had held the office of Resident Tutor. He remained at Hackney six }ears, enjoying, among other advantngc^, the enviable privilege PLYMOUTH. 519 of the classical instruction of the late Gilbert Wakefield, with whom he was a favourite pupil. In the year 1792, the death of the learned and excellent Mr. Thomas Lloyd having created a vacancy in the office of Classical and Mathematical Tutor in the Welsh Academy, then stationed at Swansea, Mr. Jones was appointed by the Presby- terian Board to be his successor. After he had held this office about three years, some unhappy differences arose between him and his colleague, the Rev. W. Howell, in which the students rashly embarked as partizans. The Board finding that there remained no prospect of an amicable adjustment of the disputes, and not wishing to side with either party in a matter which was entirely personal, adopted the resolution of dismissing both tutors, and removing the institution to Carmarthen. On quit- ting Swansea, Mr. Jones settled at Plymouth, as the pastor of the Unitarian congregation in that place. He remained here two years, when he accepted an invitation to Halifax, in York- shire. Here he resided for three years, joining to his ministerial labours the instruction of youth, an employment for wliich he was singularly well qualified. From Halifax he removed to London, where he continued till the end of his life. Not long after his settlement in London, he married the only daughter of his friend and former tutor, Dr. Rees. This lady died without issue in the year 1815. In 1817 he married Anna, the only daughter of the late George Dyer, Esq., of Sawbridgeworth, Herts, who, with two children, survived him. After his removal to the metropolis, Mr. Jones occasionally preached for his brethren, but never had the charge of a congre- gation. Under some momentary feeling of disgust, never ex- plained to his brethren, he destroyed all his manuscript sermons, and from this time never could be prevailed upon to appear in the pulpit. He still, however, adhered to his profession ; was a member of the Presbyterian Body of London Dissenting Min- isters, and for some years one of the clerical trustees of the estates and endowments of Dr. Daniel Williams. A few years before his death, the University of x\berdeeu conferred upon 520 PLYMOUTH. him the honorary degree of Doct(^r of lirtw.s, ami within a year or two of his death he was elected a member of the Royal So- ciety of Literature. Dr. Jones maintained a high reputation as a teacher of the classical languages. His instructions were ibr many years in great request among persons of rank and eminence ; and he had to reckon in the number of his pupils some individuals of noble birth. He superintended, for a considerable time, the education of the sons of that distinguished lawyer and philanthropist. Sir Samuel Romilly ; and to the last he had under his care some young persons of opulent families. It must be observed here, to the honour of Dr. Jones, that while he was thus courted by the rich and the noble, he was ever ready to afford encourage- ment and gratuitous personal assistance and instruction to young men in humble circumstances, whom he found struggliug with difficulties in the pursuit of learning. He acquired no small degree of celebrity as an author, if not by the uniform success, at least by the number, the originality, and the ability of his writings. In the year 1800, wliile he resided at Halifax, he published his first work, in two volumes 8vo., under the title of " A Development of Remarkable Events, calculated to restore the Christian Religion to its Ori- ginal Purity, and to repel the Objections of Unbelievers." These volumes contain a vindication of the authenticity of the disputed passage in Josephus, and are remarkable as conveying the first intimation of the hypothesis for which Dr. Jones was afterwards so greatly distinguished, of Josephus and Philo being converts to the Christian faith. In 1801 followed a second part of this work, which the author entitled " The Epistle of Paul to the Romans analyzed, from a Development of those Circum- stances in the Romish Church by which it was occasioned." His original plan was much more extensive, but here he discon- tinued the prosecution of it, meaning, however, to resume the subject at a more advanced period of life. In 1808, he pub- lished "Illustrations of the Four Gos])els, founded on circum- stances peculiar to our Lord and his Evangelists." This work PLYMOUTH. 521 is distinguished hy a mode of thinking peculiar to the author, and evinces an intimate acquaintance with the sacred writings and with Christian antiquity. It is, unquestionably, one of his ablest theological publications. Many of his "Illustrations" are strikingly original ; they discover an acute mind, always feelingly alive to the unrivalled excellence of our Lord's manner of instruction, and to the unstudied but exquisite beauties of his historian. Dr. Jones's next work of this class appeared in 1812. It was entitled " Ecclesiastical Researches, or Philo and Jose- phus proved to be Historians and x^pologists of Christ, of his Followers, and of his Gospel." This hypothesis the author also maintained in the Monthly Repository, to which he was a frequent contributor. A sequel to his Ecclesiastical Researches was published in 1813, in which he proposed to trace the origin of the introductory chapters in Matthew and Luke's Gospels from Josephus, and to deduce the peculiar articles of the ortho- dox faith of the Gnostics, who opposed the Gospel in the days of Christ and his apostles. Under the name of Essenus, Dr. Jones published, in 1819, a New Version of the first three chapters of Genesis. The work was occasioned by Mr. Bellamy's translation that had then just appeared. In the following year, the appearance of nume- rous Deistical works induced Dr. Jones to print, in one volume 8vo., " A Series of Important Facts, demonstrating the Truth of the Christian Religion, drawn from the Writings of its Friends and Enemies in the First and Second Centuries." His next publication was " A Reply to two Deistical works, entitled A New Trial of the Witnesses, &c., and Gamaliel Smith's Not Paul but Jesus." In the title of this work he assumed the name of Ben David. His last publication of a theological character, which appeared in 1825, was entitled "Three Letters addressed to the Editor of the Quarterly Review, in which is demonstrated the Genuineness of the Three Heavenly Witnesses, 1 John v. 7. By Ben David." His aim in this tract is to prove that this much-disputed verse, which nearly all the most eminent scholars and writers of modern times have pronounced to be a Ibrgery, 522 PLYMOUTH. was the genuiae compositiou of the author of the epistle ; and that, instead of being foisted into the text, as is commoulj maintained, for the purpose of supporting the doctrine of the Trinity, it was actually expunged by the earlier fathers, as fur- nishing a strong argument in favour of the proper humanity of Christ. This pamphlet exhibits, in the liveliest colours, the sanguine temper of the author's mind, and displays great inge- nuity as well as enthusiasm in the maintenance of a favourite hypothesis. Dr. Jones ranked deservedly high as a scholar and philologist, and his writings on the classical languages are nmnerous. In 1813, he published a short Latin Grammar, which was reprinted in 1816. In 1804, he published a Greek Grammar on an im- proved plan, which was repeatedly reprinted ; but in the last year the author re-modelled and nearly re-wrote it, and pub- lished it under the title of " Etymoloyia Grccca, or a Grammar of the Greek Language," &c. In 1812, Dr. Jones published " A Latin and English Vocabulary, on a sunple yet philosophi- cal principle, for the use of Schools." This work he afterwards greatly improved and re-published, in 1825, under the title of AnaloijicB LatincR, or a Development of those Analogies by which the Parts of Speech in Latin are derived from each other," &c. But his great work on language, to which he had devoted a very large portion of his active life, and the best en- ergies of his mind, was his Greek and English Lexicon, which appeared in 1823, in one volume 8vo. Its success equalled his most sanguine wishes ; a large impression was rapidly sold. Though this Lexicon may possibly be liable to some objections, the author has executed his task in a manner highly creditable to his industry, his erudition, his taste and critical acumen. He has been rewarded by the approving verdict of some of the first scholars and critics of the age, and, among others, by the late Dr. Parr. These circumstances encouraged Dr. Jones to print another work of a similar kind, but designed for a different class of persons. This he entitled the " Tyro's Greek and English Lexicon,' which is a very excellent and useful publication. Not PLYMOUTH. 523 long lifter the publication of the first (xreek Lexicon, some severe animadversions in a critical journal drew from the author an indignant and triumphant reply, in a pamphlet which he en- titled "An Answer to a Pseudo-Criticism of the Greek- English Lexicon, which appeared in the Second Number of the West- nainster Review" — a criticism which he ascribes to a " Mr. John Walker, late Fellow of Dublin College," and characterizes as a malignant personal attack. In 1820, the subject of this memoir published " An Exposure of the Hamiltouian System of Teaching Languages, in a Letter addressed to the author of an Article recommending that System, in No. 87 of the Edinburgh Review." His last work was entitled " An Explanation of the Greek Article, in Tliree Parts." This work was printed during the author's life-time, but he died before it was published. The characteristics of Dr. Jones's mind were an irrepressible ardour and enthusiasm in the prosecution of whatever he under- took; great confidence in the correctness of his own views, arising from a consciousness of superior intellectual powers ; an utter disdain of the authority of great names, when he failed to be convuiced by their arguments ; a devoted attachment to truth, and a faithful adherence to what he deemed such, united with a fearless disregard of personal consequences. By posterity he will probably be better known as a scholar and a philologist than as a theologian and ecclesiastical historian, though he seemed himself confidently to expect that the progress of know- ledge would tend to support his speculations, and to demonstrate to general conviction the correctness and truth of his theories. He has left his literary property in the charge of trustees, providing that his classical works should be reprinted under the editorial care of his nephew, Mr. James Chervet, of Croydon, who had been educated by him, and of whose classical attainments and judgment he entertained a high opinion. He was interred in the burying-ground of St. George's, Bloomsbury, the parish in which he had resided. Over the grave is placed a plain monu- mental stone, with the following inscription : 524 PLYMOUTH. Depositum JoHANNis Jones, LL. D., SociET. Regal. Liter. Soc. ViRI SACRIS PROFANISQUE LITERIS Apprime PERITI, Qui die decimo Januarii, Anno Domini MDCCCXXVIL, Obiit.* Mr. John Jones was also a native of Wales and the son of a respectable farmer. He received bis grammatical educa- tion under the Rev. W. Howell, of Swansea; and his academical course occupied three years at Carmarthen and one at York. Before he went to Plymouth, he spent a few months as a supply at Bridgwater, two years as a private tutor in the family of the widow of the Rev. George Morgan, and about one year as pastor of a church at Belper, in Derbyshire. He entered on liis office at Plymouth in 1807. His congregation gradually increased, and bright prospects of happiness and usefulness were unfolded before his eyes. But God had a different lot in store for him. His health, which had probably never been strong, could not endure the fatigue of a day-school (which he opened in 1810) in addition to his pulpit and pastoral exertions, and towards the close of the year 1812 it began to fail rapidly. A few months afterwards he removed to Clifton, but all human attempts were unavailing; on the thirtieth of May, 1813, he was carried to his last earthly home, in the burial-ground belonging to the Lewin's Mead Chapel, Bristol, f * Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. i. p. 297. Contrary to my first intention, I have found myself obliged to abridge this interesting memoir. In the ori- ginal, to which is subjoined the initials of Dr. Thomas Rees, the reader will find valuable explanations of the particular objects of the numerous works of Dr. Jones. t From a memoir by Mr. S. Gibbs, Mon. Rep., O. S., Vol. viii. p. 551, DEVONPORT. Devonport, formerly Plymouth-Dock, is pleasantly situated on the eastern bank of Hamoaze, about two miles west of Plymouth. It owes its origin to the establishment of the Dock-Yard in the reign of William III., and its increase in importance since that period has been very rapid. In form it is oblong, measuring nearly three thousand feet from north to south, and fifteen hundred feet from east to west. The streets are wide and well-built, intersecting each other, with some exceptions, at right angles. The foot-ways are paved with variegated marble raised from quarries in the neighbourhood, and presenting, when washed by a shower, a most beautiful appearance. The parish church of Stoke being incompetent in point of size to accommodate the inhabitants of this densely populated district, nume- rous places of worship have been from time to time erected Avithin the town of Devonport. St. Aubyn's (chapel, in Chapel Street, and St. John's, in Duke Street, the former built in 1771, and the latter in 1799, conform to the principles of the Established Church. The chief Dis- senting meeting-houses are the Calvinistic Chapels in Princess Street, Mount Street, and Ker Street ; the Baptist Chapels in Morice Square, and Pembroke Street ; the Methodist Chapels in Morice and Wind- miU-hill Streets ; and the Moravian, in James Street. In addition to these, the Dock-Yard Chapel is open to the inhabitants. " Close to the Town Hall is the Devonport Column, erected by public subscription to commemorate the alteration in the name of the town. A spiral stair-case within the shaft conducts to the summit, from which the spectator enjoys a grand and extensive prospect. The hills, vales, fields, woods, and waters, from Hengeston Down in the north to the ocean in the south — ^from the wilds of Dartmoor in the east to the billowy eminences of Cornwall in the west — lie before the gaze in a beautiful panorama : while the eye looks down on Devon- port and its immediate vicinity as on a map." — Carrington. Population in 1811,-35,257; in 1821,-39,621; in 1831,-44,454 UNITARIAN CHAPEL. Although the present chapel is not the first in which the Unitarian inhabitants of Devonport as- sembled^ the history of their proceedings is compa- ratively modern. It does not appear that they had any place of worship before 1791, when, in conse- quence of the exertions of the Rev. T. Porter, of Plymouth, a neat chapel was erected in George Street.* The expense of the building was defrayed by voluntary subscriptions in addition to a loan of <^200. advanced by the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey. The opening took place April 27, 1791. Dr. Toul- min preached to a crowded audience, and his dis- course, which is described as excellent and ap- propriate, was published. Mr. Kentish, now of Birmingham, having just completed his academical course, was appointed the first minister. For a short period the new society was numerous and respectable; but the signs of the times were against it. In the following July, the Dissenters throughout the kingdom were alarmed by the accounts of the disgraceful riots at Birmingham. The Unita- * Of these exertions honourable mention is made, in a letter from the Rev. T. Belsham to the Rev. T. Kenrick. — See Williams's Life of Behham,2i. 427. DEVONPORT. 527 rians at Plymouth Dock, many of whom were em- ployed under Government, partook largely of the ge- neral terror. It was reported and currently believed, that Commissioner Fanshawe, of the Dock- Yard, had intimated that he should consider all persons who attended the new chapel as disloyal subjects. This intimation produced the desired effect; most of those who were connected with Government depart- ments withdrew; and professional gentlemen and tradesmen quickly followed the example. The zeal and talents of Mr. Kentish could produce but little impression amidst a torrent of prejudice and perse- cution ; yet notwithstanding his numerous discou- ragements, that gentleman continued his labours until 1794, when he became the pastor of the con- gregation at Plymouth. The subsequent ministers of the first chapel were Mr. Holt, Mr. Rice, Mr. Tingcombe, and Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans was chosen pastor about the year 1798, and continued to officiate until 1806, when it was deemed advisable to sell the chapel.* The amount obtained for it was ^1000.; c£200. were returned to Mr. Lindsey, a small sum was appro- priated to unavoidable expenses, and the remainder transferred by the Trustees to the support of the Plymouth congregation. It would be wrong to consider Prejudice and Persecution the sole causes of the dissolution of the Plymouth Dock congrega- tion; the following remarks by one well qualified * Mr. Evans died in 1828, at Plymouth. See Mon. Repos., N. S., Vol. ii. p. 419. 528 DEVONPORT. to judge, point to a deficiency of interest in the ser- vices of the chapel. "I would not have it conceived that I am desirous of casting an improper reflection on those gentlemen who filled the pastoral office, but I am apprehensive that their want of success partly arose from the almost total neglect of doctri- nal preaching. Many a time have I heard Mr. David Evans lament this circumstance, and remark, with considerable emotion, that, were he to go over his days again, he should frequently bring into view the unity and benevolence of God, the proper humanity of Jesus Christ, and the other leading doctrines of Unitarianism,"* Every prospect of a revival of Unitarianism in Plymouth Dock had now almost vanished. The chapel was sold, — the flock scattered, — reputed or- thodoxy more successful than ever. But the Su- preme Being was advancing his purposes by means unknown to the desponding friends of religious truth. In the year 1805, Mr. Silvanus Gibbs, then an Arminian, became a resident in the town, and undertook a respectable employment in the Dock- Yard. He soon became an occasional hearer of the Rev. John Hawker, — son of the celebrated Doctor of that name, — a most rigid Calvinist, and an active opponent of Unitarianism. Mr. Gibbs also read several Calvinistic works, and ere long he began to regard more favourably the doctrines they incul- cated. Violence, however, generally produces a re- * Mr. GiBBs's Address at a Meeting of the Devon and Cornwall Associa' lion, 182f», Christ. Ref., Vol. xv. p. ai.l. DEVONPORT. 529 action, especially when employed in abusing a sect or party on account of a conscientious difference of opinion. Both Mr. Hawker and his father were accustomed to rail bitterly against the Unitarians, and to stigmatize them as disguised infidels, blasphe- mous apostates, and God-denying heretics. This led Mr. Gibbs to examine for himself; he studied the Scriptures with the single aim of finding the truth as it is in Jesus; and the consequence was, his complete conviction that Unitarian views of the Gospel were "most rational, consistent, and scrip- tural, most honourable to God, and most beneficial to man." This change was wrought in the year 1810. Mr. Gibbs valued his new faith too highly, and felt too thankful for the light and peace and strength it brought to his own soul, to hide his talent in a napkin. He lent his friends the books by which he had been convinced; he conversed with them frequently on the all-important subject ; and it was not long before his efforts procured for him the pleasure of associating with kindred spirits. In 1812, a few persons rented a room during four months in the summer, where Mr. David Evans, the last minister of the old chapel, officiated ; but for want of proper support, this attempt was aban- doned. In October, 1817, Mr. Worsley, then of Plymouth, now of Lincoln, commenced a course of lectures, which were delivered on Sunday evenings, once a fortnight, in a school-room at the back of George Street. These lectures were continued until 2 M 530 DEVONPORT. the following May, and made a considerable though silent impression. The intervening Sunday even- ings w^ere filled up by Mr. Evans, in conjunction with Mr. Cree and Mr. Gibbs ; but as the number of regular attendants w^as not large, and several ob- jected to a morning service in consequence of their wish to attend the chapel at Plymouth on that part of the day, there was another cessation about Mid- summer in the same year. Still the Unitarians of Plymouth Dock did not despair. By meeting occasionally, keeping up their library, and circulating tracts, they w^ere always ready to avail themselves of a favourable oppor- tunity for re-assembling regularly. Accordingly, in the spring of 1819, on a visit from Mr. Wright, a Unitarian Missionary, they were found meeting in a room then partially occupied by a congregation of Universalists. On this occasion the spirit of in- quiry received a strong impulse ; soon afterwards several of the Universalists embraced Unitarianism, and in January, 1820, Mr. Evans, Mr. Worsley, Mr. Gibbs, and a few other friends, engaged to conduct morning and evening services regularly. In March, 1822, it was deemed necessary to engage a more eligible room in Fore Street. Here they continued to worship twice every Lord's day for seven years, at the expiration of which time their numbers and prospects encouraged them to build the present chapel. It was opened June 21, 1829, w hen three services w^ere conducted ; the attendance was very large, and many other circumstances com- DEVONPORT. 531 billed to render this a most animating day. The chapel is large enough to accommodate about two hundred and seventy persons ; the total expense of the ground and building amounted to £586. ; the greater part of this sum has been contributed by strangers at a distance ; a debt of nearly c^lOO. still remains and presses rather heavily on the society. One circumstance has induced many to be cheerful givers in this interesting case, and v^ill probably operate in removing altogether the present burden — almost the ivhole of the wood-work of the chapel was completed gratuitously hy members of the con- gregation after the usual working-hours of the day. By means of their steady, w^ell-directed zeal, this interesting society are gradually producing a favour- able impression at Devonport. But they are still unable to support a minister; — their own means of subsistence being chiefly derived from the scanty and lately-reduced wages of the Dock-Yard. This is to be regretted, because the gratuitous and very useful services of Mr. Gibbs are precarious; his health is delicate, and his professional engagements during the week are pressing. For some time he had the assistance in the new chapel of Mr. Han- cock, who died suddenly in October, 1832, and of Mr. Bayley, who at the end of the following year re- moved to Warminster. The services of Mr. Gibbs are not confined to the pulpit ; he has pul)lished several letters to young people, and other beneficial pamphlets. The congregation, regarding the circu- lation of books and tracts as among the best means 2 M 2 532 DEVONPORT. of disseminating their principles, have collected a Chapel Library which now contains nearly one thousand books and tracts. " Not only (says a neighbouring minister) do the members study these books at their own houses and lend them to others ; but it is their custom to meet in the chapel on Tuesday evenings, for the purpose of reading and conversing on religious subjects. And I know not a more interesting sight than that which is presented by a number of men in humble circumstances, thus meeting together after the labours of the day in the house which has been erected mainly through their own exertions, partly by their own hands, and dedicated to the worship of the Universal Father, and there reading of his works and ways, and con- versing on subjects the most exalting and ennobling upon which the human mind can be exercised." * * Letter on behalf of the Congregation, by the Rev. W. J. Odgers, of Plymouth. ffiociibjall* FALMOUTH and FLUSHING. The County of Cornwall contains only two Uni- tarian congregations. Both have been formed since the beginning of the present century. About forty ministers were ejected from livings in Cornw^all in 1662, but the number of Presbyterians was never large. Some of the persecuted pastors found flocks in the neighbouring county, and the adherents to others were not sufficiently numerous to form per- manent congregations. The Baptists and Indepen- dents have now many flourishing churches. Wesley and Whitfield also collected large societies, and rendered incalculable service to the cause of Re- ligion. In the last century there were societies at Fal- mouth, Truro, and a few^ other places, which pos- sessed the services of liberal Presbyterian ministers. That at Liskeard will occur to all who are acquaint- ed with the life and writings of the excellent and highly-gifted Henry Moore. At various times there have also been intelligent and influential individuals in the county who have professed Unitarian senti- ments. The late Rev. Sir Harry Trelawny, Bart., is well known to have halted at one period of his FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 535 life at this form of Christianity. I have already noticed his assistance at an ordination service at Lympstone, in conjunction w^ith Dr. Priestley, Dr. Kippis, and Mr. Towgood. He also, for some time, used Lindsey's Reformed Liturgy in his own chapel at Trelawny. In 1822, great interest was excited in the religious circles of the West by the supposed heterodoxy of another Baronet, the late Sir Rose Price, of Trenguainton, near Penzance, who had served the office of High Sheriff in 1814, and was highly respected both in public and private life,* This gentleman was obliged to resign his office of President of a religious society in consequence of his rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity, and his avowal that he would do all in his power to pro- mote the worship of the Father only, and the diffu- sion of other opinions which he deemed scriptural. About the same time, the friends of free inquiry in Cornwall were presented with an excellent pamphlet, entitled " The Unitarian Doctrine briefly stated by a Physician," which was understood to be from the pen of a gentleman distinguished both for high at- tainments and extensive usefulness. In 1811, the Rev. R. Wright visited Cornwall at the request of the Committee of the Unitarian Fund. His chief object was to ascertain how far future missions among the inhabitants would be likely to prove successful. His report was so satisfactory, that it induced the Committee soon after his return to send another missionary — Mr. Gisburne, to * Mon. Rcpos., Vol. xix. p. 88. 536 FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING strengthen the interest excited by his visits. The labours of these missionaries were principally en- couraged at Falmouth, a place of great commerce, and in Flushing, a village at a short distance from Falmouth, on the eastern side of the harbour. Before the arrival of Mr. Wright, several candid and intelligent members of the Wesleyan societies in these places had been led by their own serious and unbiassed study of the Scriptures, to doubt the truth of the commonly-received doctrines. At this period their number consisted of about twelve ; they pursued their inquiries with great earnestness ; and the result was, their abandonment of the doctrine of the Trinity and several kindred tenets, and their cordial adoption of the Unitarian faith and worship. The existence of this band of Bereans induced Mr. Wright to renew his efforts ; he revisited Cornwall twice, — in 1815, with the Bev. T. Cooper, and in 1819, with the Bev. J. Smethurst. On both occa- sions the missionaries went to various parts of the county, addressed large congregations, and distri- buted a great number of tracts ; but it does not appear that permanent impressions were made in any towns besides Falmouth and Flushing. We must now go l)ack to the year 1812, when those decisive steps were taken which occasioned the establishment of Unitarian worship. The movement was commenced at Flushing in conse- quence of an inquisition, authorized by the Confe- rence and conducted by a Mr. Seckerson, — an assist- ant preacher, concerning the supposed heresy of a FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 537 few members of the Methodist society in that town. Mr. Seckerson had just returned from London, in- vested with full power by the Conference to excom- municate all who could not give him satisfactory answers to his questions upon the six articles of what he called genuine Methodism* When he had preached his first sermon, he requested the society, or members of the church, to remain in the chapel ; and, after praying for his mistaken brethren, he proceeded to open his commission and question the suspected members. Their answers were, of course, unsatisfactory ; some of the members were expelled on the spot; and the consequence of this tyrannical proceeding was, the separation of ten members from the Methodist society at Flushing. Six weeks afterwards, a similar scene was wit- nessed at Falmouth. To this place Mr. Seckerson was accompanied by Mr. Riles, the chairman of the district. When the usual preaching and praying were over, a meeting was held, and questions were again put to suspected members. Here the interest in this inquisition was considerable, in consequence of the religious stations of the heretics, — nearly all being officers in the church before which they were brought to trial. One of the most zealous was at the same time a popular Local Preacher, — a Stew- * "L The Total Depravity of Human Nature. 2. The True and Proper Deity of Jesus Christ. 3. The Satisfaction to the Divine Justice. 4. Faith in the Merits and Intercession of Christ. 5. The immediate in- fluence of the Spirit, fi. Endless Rewards and Punishments." — Men. Repos., O. S., Vol. vii. p. G50, 538 FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. ard. Leader, and Trustee.* To return to the ques- tions of the officers appointed by Conference. Some of the accused declined giving any answer. They contended that the tribunal was incompetent in every point of view. Mr. Philp proved that the whole proceeding was inconsistent with the rules of the Society, the writings of Wesley, the dictates of reason, and — the word of God. Others, thus put upon their trial, expressed, with indignant elo- quence, their sense of the tyrannical nature of the inquisition and their determination to retain their mental freedom. The affair w^as terminated on the part of the conclave, by a declaration that the here- tics were to be no longer considered officers in the church ; on which these noble-minded men retired altogether from the Wesleyans, and immediately commenced Unitarian worship. In the following year (1813) there were about thirty professors of Unitarianism in this neighbour- hood. The more zealous engaged two large rooms, one at Falmouth, the other at Flushing, for public religious services ; and both were, at first, well filled. Mr. Philp gave his valuable services, and was assisted by one of his excommunicated brethren. An interesting account of their proceedings in 1815 is given by Mr. Wright, who visited them in that * This was Mr. Philp, who afterwards became the minister of the Uni- tarian congregation at Lincohi, and is now one of the valuable missionaries employed by the City Mission Society in London (consisting of Unitarians) for visiting and relieving the poor at their own houses, and imparting re- ligious instruction to them and their children on the Lord's day. FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. 539 year.* ''They retain (he says) the best part of Methodism, — zeal, a high degree of the devotional spirit, and the habit of attending diligently to pub- lic worship and other religious services." About this time the Unitarians at Falmouth, finding the situation of their room inconvenient and discourag- ing, and wishing to obtain a more permanent settle- ment, attempted to buy a piece of ground for build- ing, but w^ere prevented by their opponents. In 1816, the theatre, which they had also previously tried in vain to procure, was unexpectedly offered them ; they immediately made the purchase, and fitted up the building for public worship. The stage is used as a vestry and Sunday school-room; con- nected with the building are a stable and a hay-loft, the rent of which has been highly serviceable to the finances. The total expense amounted to £5d0. ; the sum of <^4(X). was contributed almost immedi- ately by Unitarians in various parts of the country ; but a great part of the remainder is still unpaid. The chapel was opened June 26, 1818. Dr. Car- penter preached twice, and the devotional services were conducted by Mr. Philp and Mr. Smethurst. For some years the congregation at Falmouth continued in a promising state. It depended, how- ever, almost entirely on the services of lay preach- ers, which at length became precarious; this cir- cumstance occasioned a diminution in the number of hearers. In 1827, Mr. Philp removed to Lin- coln; but visits continued to be paid occasionally * Wright's Life and Laboius, p. 31(2. 540 FALMOUTH AND FLUSHING. by missionaries from London. It should also be mentioned, that the preaching of the latter produced a deep conviction of the value of religion in the minds of several young men, who exerted themselves on behalf of the Falmouth society. Two of these, soon after this period, quitted their native homes, to commence their studies for the Christian minis- try ; — both are now occupying important stations in the West of England. In the year 1829, Mr. Harding, who had for many years officiated as a missionary in various parts of the kingdom, took up his residence at Falmouth and regularly ministered to the little church. He, however, quitted two years afterwards for America. Within the last few years the services have been generally conducted by Mr. Philp, Jun., the Editor and printer of the Christian Child's Faithful Friend. The congregation is very small, and Mr. Philp per- severes amidst many discouraging circumstances. The recent history of the society at Flushing so nearly resembles that of its Falmouth neighbour as to render a separate statement unnecessary. It must be recorded, however, that, by the generous efforts of one or two individuals, the chapel at Flushing has been lately purchased and secured to the Unitarians. The services are regularly con- ducted by Mr. Odgers, Sen., one of the serious and independent inquirers who were declared to be un- worthy of holding office among the Wesleyans. SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 541 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. SIR HARRY TRE- LAWNY, BARONET. This eccentric religionist was descended from an ancient and honourable family in the countj of Cornwall. Trelawnj, the seat of liis ancestors, was, when he took possession of it, a vene- rable Gothic mansion, rendered peculiarly striking by its old towers rising amidst the surrounding woods. He received part of his education at Westminster School, and completed it at Christ Church College, Oxford. Even when very young, his sobriety and religious turn of mind rendered him an object of ridicule to his gay companions. This, how- ever, he had sufficient strength of mind to enable him to disre- gard ; and by pursuing the same course he obtained, while at the University, the friendship and affection of Dr. Bagot, Dr. Home, and several other dignitaries of the Church. When the time came for him to take his Bachelor's degree, it was found that his conscience, as well as his habitual deport- ment, was purer than that of many of his brethren. Before he declared "his unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing contained in the Book of Common Prayer," he chose to examine whether he could, bond fide, make such a declaration. This examination excited in his mind many doubts and much uneasiness, and he saw plainly that subscription to articles of faith was not a matter to be trifled with ; but the plausible re;i- soning of some friends to whom he stated his objections, led him to acquiesce ; and he remained for a little while a true sou of the Church. Before he left Oxford, however, he formed an acquaintance with some enthusiasts, who made a great impression upon him. Under their influence, and guided, as he generally was in after life, by a warm imagination rather than by sober reason, he at- tached himself to the Methodists. On coming into the country, he made an intimate companion of the celebrated Rowland Hill, 542 SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. with whom he travelled through the towns and villages of Corn- wall, preaching at all hours — in fields, in streets — wherever they could collect a cornpanj to hear them. Sir Harry excited espe- cial attention ; he had such a thundering voice, such a copious- ness of words, such bold figures and flights of fancy, such a commanding appearance and earnestness of address, that many of his uncultured auditors looked up to him as to an angel dropped from the clouds. On some occasions the orators were calmly remonstrated with by their friends, and on others they experienced ungentler usage. At a fair in Pelint, where they resolved " to attack Satan on his own ground," the crowd were equally determined to prevent them from putting their warlike intentions in practice; and had it not been for the rank of one of the combatants, they would certainly have been pelted out of the town. At Saltash, when Sir Harry was in the market-place, haranguing a numerous auditory, some gentlemen of the neighbourhood interrupted their devotion by riding in among them with a pack of hounds, which made such hideous cries, and caused such a commotion among the people, that the preacher could not be heard, and therefore thought proper to withdraw. The chief gentleman of the town came afterwards to him, told him that he was the cause of the interruption — that he did it out of respect to Sir Harry's family — that he was not willing he should so expose himself, and, " Depend on it. Sir Harry, (said he,) if you ever come to your senses, you will thank me for it ! " This prediction, it is said, was actually verified. It may, however, be justly suggested that such was not the best mode that could be adopted for re- moving the evil. Some "respect" was due to Sir Harry's auditors, poor and illiterate as they were ; his pursuits were pro- bably quite as harmless as those of his fox-hunting disturbers ; and if he " exposed himself" by preaching to a crowd, there was almost as questionable an exhibition ou the part of those who sent their pack of hounds among them. It is also related, that duriuo" the silent pause that preceded his ministrations before an audience in a spacious hall at Totness, a physician of that town, SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 543 who regarded the Baronet with concern, exclaimed at the door of entrance in a well-known verse — "Ah! Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit?" " Ah ! Corydon, Corydon, what infatuation has seized thee ?" These circumstances cooled Sir Harry's zeal, and he soon relinquished preaching in the open air. Being frequently in London, he commenced an acquaintance with the more mode- rate Dissenters — particularly the Independents. From them he imbibed the principles of Nonconformity ; and ere long he sent to Oxford and had his name erased from the College books. Soon afterwards he was ordained at Southampton, in the meet- ing-house of the Rev. Mr. Kingsbury, — that pious and liberal minister, with several others of the same denomination, engaging in the usual service. His confession of faith was Calvinistic, but the reasons he assigned for his Nonconformity were solid and important; and in proportion as he read and thought, his sentiments on other subjects approached nearer the pure and benignant religion of the gospel. Meanwhile he engaged the Rev. Mr. Clayton as his domestic chaplain, and built a meeting- house at West Looe for his own followers, who were very nu- merous, and to whom he officiated a considerable time. About the same period, he increased his attachment to home by marry- ing Miss Browne, the daughter of a clergyman at Kingstone, near Taunton, — an excellent and accomplished young lady. A gradual alteration now took place in Sir Harry Trelawny's opinions and style of preaching. " He was no longer (says one of his intimate friends) the fiery bigot, denouncing anathemas on all who differed from him. His sentiments became more moderate ; his censoriousness was exchanged for Christian charity ; the catholic principles of religious liberty dailj' gained ground in his mind, and he was now justly entitled to the noble epithet of a rational, liberal Dissenter." This change was accelerated in some degree by the new friends with whom Sir Harry was acquainted. The excellent Mr. Howe, late of Bridport, then a student at Hoxton, was an occasional ,544 SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. visiter at Trelawny, and afterwards succeeded Mr. Clayton in the office of cliaplaiu. In 1778, the reverend Baronet was ad- mitted a member of the Exeter Assembly, and preached a sermon before that respectable body, which was published, and which, though not distinguished by depth of judgment or close reason- ing, is written with classical elegance and precision, and breathes a Christian spirit of candour and benevolence. About the same time, he published a sermon which he had preached in the Presbyterian chapel at Taunton ; tliis production manifested (says Mr. Howe) "a mind engaged in the search of truth, un- terrified by the anathemas of the bigot, and unconcerned about the consequences of free inquiry and impartial examination." An account of Sir Harry's co-operation with Dr. Priestley, Dr. Kippis, and others, at an ordination at Ljmpstone, has been given elsewhere. Notwithstanding the candom* and fearlessness displayed by him on this occasion, there was soon afterwards observable " an inconstancy of mind and fickleness of temper, which seemed to indicate that the revolutions in his religious sentiments were not at an end." Some of his friends in the Established Chiu-ch, knowing his disposition better than he knew it, availed themselves of every opportunity of urging him to return to his alma mater. Still confident, however, of the correctness of the position he had assumed, and anxious to jus- tify himself to the world, he published a letter to a clergyman containing his reasons for joining and continuing with the Dis- senters. From this production it was evident that he believed the doctrines of the Church to be unscriptural, and that he re- garded " submission to terms of clerical conformity as inconsist- ent with the allegiance due to Jesus Christ, the sole Head and Lawgiver of the Church." But the effect of this literary effort was not what he expected. Instead of quieting his friends, it brought from them a number of letters, in the shape of answers, more earnest and more plausible than ever. Sir Harry began to waver. Ere long he was in great distress and anxiety of mind. And now he had many interviews with the Bishop of Exeter, the Archbishop of York, and many other of his old SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. 545 friends. They saw that the greatest stumbling-block in his way to conformity was subscription to the Tliirty-nine Articles ; and this they removed by virtually saying to him, " If you subscribe, Sir Harry, the whole meaning of your subscription will be, that you are a Christian" ! In less than two months after the pub- lication of his apology, he returned to the communion of the Established Church. The reader will scarcely be able to decide which was the more lamentable, the fickleness of the Baronet or the fallacies of his friends. * It should be mentioned, that considerations of a minor nature were presented to Sir Harry Trelawny. He was reminded of the desirableness of " returning to the religion of his ancestors, and retrieving the honour of his family." He was certainly * The same fallacies are still maintained in high places. See the speech of the Bishop of Exeter, in a recent discussion in the House of Lords, on a Bill for Abolishing Subscription to Articles of Faith in the English Univer- sities. See also the admirable speech of the Earl of Radnor, by whom the Bill was introduced. In this speech was the following sentence: "The idea which was disseminated, that young men might be allowed to sign these articles without understanding them, was a doctrine, the propagation of which must, in his opinion, tend to undermine the best principles of moraUty, and to inculcate equivocation and hypocrisy." The feelings, if not the expressions, at many a matriculation scene have been thus faithfully described by a popular poet. He pictures a well-known polemic making known his version of the Thirty-nine Articles to an inqui- sitive student : — Doctor P . " Oh, a mere form of words, to make things smooth and brief, — A commodious and short make-believe of belief. Which our Church has drawn up, in a form thus articular, To keep out, in general, all who're particular — But what's the boy doing .' What ! reading all through. And my luncheon fast cooling! — this never will do! Boy (poring over the articles). Here are points, which — Pray, Doctor, what's 'Grace of Congruity'.' Dr. P. (sharply) . You'll find out, young Sir, when you've more ingenuity. At present, by signing, you pledge yourself merely, Whatever it may be, to believe it sincerely. Both in dining and signing we take the same plan, — First, to swallow all down, then digest — as we can." 2 N 546 SIR HARRY TRELAWNY. influenced, in no small degree, by those stronger appeals to the senses which were found in the services of the Established Church, and which he always admired while he professed Uni- tarianism. Mr. Howe, who was often in his company after his conformity, frequently heard him declare that he did not believe the Creeds and articles of the Church of England in their literal sense, but that he put his own construction upon them, and thought he might maintain the two characters — a clergyman of the Establishment and an inquirer after truth. All who differ from the Baronet on these points, and all who have observed the deplorable want of decision which he mani- fested, as well as his love of forms and ceremonies, will not be surprised to hear that he wandered once more before he died ; — he became a Roman Catholic. Amidst all these changes his private character commanded general respect. He died at an advanced age, about the begin- ning of the year 1831, at Lavino, on the Lago Maggiore, in the Milanese. His title devolved on his sou, William Trelawny, Esq., Member of Parliament for the eastern division of Corn- wall. * * Christian Reformer, N. S., Vol. i, p. 502 and p. 506. appenau* SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY OF THE EXETER ASSEMBLY OF MINISTERS, AND THE WESTERN UNITARIAN SOCIETY. 2n2 Sketch of the History of the Exeter Assembly OF Ministers. There are traces of the existence of a union among certain ministers in Devon and Cornwall, so early as the year 1606. Those ministers ranked under the denomination of Puritan, and experienced their full share of persecution and obloquy. Their objections to various puerile ecclesiastical ceremonies were ex- aggerated by the episcopal party into a denial of the king's supremacy ; and they were accordingly charged with disloyalty and sedition. This injurious charge had been completely dis- proved by Bradshaw's treatise entitled " English Puritanism ;" but the boldness with which the calumny was still propagated obliged the ministers of Devon and Cornwall to unite in pub- lishing another defence, entitled " A Removal of Certain Impu- tations, &c."* * Neal's History of the Puritans, second edition, Vol. i, p. 353. The following extract is quoted by Neal, from the treatise published by the Devon and Cornwall ministers : — " Let the Bishops sift well our courses since his Majesty's happy entrance in among us, and let them name wherein we have done aught that may justly be said ill to become the ministers of Jesus Christ. Have we drawn any sword ? Have we raised any tumult ? Have we raised any threats ? Hath the state been put to any fear or hazard through us ? Manifold disgraces have been cast upon us, and we have endured them ; the liberty of our ministry hath been taken from us, and (though ^vith bleeding hearts) we have sustained it. We have been cast out of our houses, and deprived of our ordinary mainte- nance, yet have we blown no trumpet of sedition. These things have gone very near us, and yet did we never so much as entertain a thought of violence. The truth is, we have petitioned the King and State ; and who hath reason to deny us that liberty ? We have craved of the prelates to deal with us according to law ; and is not this the common benefit of every subject .' We have besought them to convince our consciences by Scrip- ture. Alas ! what would they have us to do ? Will they have us content ourselves with this onl)% that they are Bishops, and therefore for their greatness ought to be yielded to ? The weight of episcopal power may oppress us, but cannot convince us." APPENDIX. 549 The Puritan pastors in tliese counties probably continued to act in concert, though not as a regularly constituted body, on various occasions during the reigns of James the First and Charles the First. It was in the time of the Commonwealth that the earliest associatious of this kind were organized ; and the merit of setting the example is chiefly due to Mr. Baxter who, with a few of his brethren, formed an assembly of ministers in Worcestershire, in the year 1653. * About the same time, Mr. George Hughes, then of Plymouth and afterwards ejected from his living in that town, in conjunction with Mr. Thomas Ford, one of the preachers at the Exeter Cathedral, who was also ejected on Bartholomew Day, " prevailed with the minis- ters of those parts. Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational, to join in an association for mutual assistance in their ministry. They parcelled themselves into seven divisions, each met quarterly, and subdivided themselves into lesser bodies, which met every six weeks. In their quarterly meetings the Moderator opened them with a Latin prayer ; then there was a thesis upon some divinity qviestion, and a disputation, wherein all the min- isters present opposed the respondent." f It appears from this statement, that the original design of the Exeter Assembly related more to the mutual benefit of the ministers than to the discussion of their congregational affairs. Yet either their objects must have been numerous or the danger of irregularity great, for we are told that tliirty rules were laid down for their government. Some of these rules breathe a very liberal spirit. All the divisions met annually at Exeter, — a practice which promoted their acquaintance and amicable corre- spondence with each other. The first meeting was held October 18, 1655 ; and another in the month of May in the following year; — Mr. Hughes, of Plymouth, presided over both. They were soon joined by several episcopal divines of high character ; and the benevolent intentions of the founders of the institution were already in the course of fulfilment. " By these Assem- blies," says Mr. Baxter, " they opened and preserved a friendly * Mon. Rep. Vol. xii. p. 641. t Noncon. Mem. Vol. i. p. 391. 550 APPENDIX. correspondence amongst ministers, they removed a great many prejudices and misunderstandings, insomuch that the controver- sial heats of angry men began to be allayed, their spirits better- ed, and the ends of religion more generally promoted."* Too soon, alas, was this improvement checked ; the re-establishment of Episcopacy at the Restoration was the signal for the revival of all old sectarian jealousies ; it was unsafe for any body of men in the slightest degree opposed to the new state of things to meet together ; and the first Exeter Assembly was dissolved when it had existed little more than four years I The minutes of their proceedings during this interesting period are still pre- served. Thirty years elapsed before the times permitted the formation of a similar body. It was in 1691 that this object was mider- taken and the present association commenced. At the first meeting, Mr. Sanders, ejected from Kentisbeare and settled at Tiverton, presided as Moderator ; and Mr. Caryl, ejected firom Uplawman and settled at Crediton, preached. These ministers were Presbyterians ; and their original object appears to have been the establishment of a clerical board consisting exclusively of members of their own body. But at the second meeting, Mr. Flavel, of Dartmouth, another ejected minister, and a truly catholic Christian, being called upon to preach, took occasion to suggest the propriety of a union among Dissenters of different denominations, and eventually succeeded. The minutes of this Assembly, from its formation in 1691 down to the year 1721, are lost ; — there are, however, various accounts of its proceed- ings, in pamphlets published in the West of England during the interval, which shew that its spirit was very different from that * Quoted by Mr. Manning, in a discourse delivered before the Assem- bly, June 24, 1818, and published at their unanimous request. Appended to this discourse is a list of the Protestant Dissenting ministers settled in Devonshire, from 1662 to 1818. The value of this list would have been considerably enhanced by the introduction of dates, shewing the duration of the labours of each minister. It may also be remarked, that several typogiaphical errors both in the discourse and the appendix, escaped the observation of the compiler. APPENDIX. 551 of the assemblies which were honoured with the eulogy of Bax- ter. This may be inferred from those imperfect notices of the proceedings of the Exeter body which I have had occasion to introduce in the preceding pages. Ample allowance should un- questionably be made for the difficulties in which the earliest Nonconformists were involved, and, especially, for the necessity, imposed by their peculiar position — of securing a well-educated ministry. It is impossible, however, for any enlightened Dis- senter of the present day to look back upon the inquisitorial proceedings of the Exeter Assembly, during the interval in question, — particularly, in. reference to the opinions of Stogdon, Peirce, and Hallet, without acknowledging that the members violated the plainest principles of Christian liberty, acted incon- sistently with their own professions as Protestant Dissenters and employed their unwarrantable power in promoting, not " the ends of religion" but "envy, hatred, and all uncharitableness." The minutes of the Assembly from the year 1721 to the pre- sent time are preserved. They afford no indication of improve- ment in the spirit or objects of the association for upwards of thirty years. Their proceedings were similar, in many respects, to those of the] Presbyteries of their forefathers ; which, there is reason to suppose, many of the members would have gladly revived. " In these assemblies," says Mr. Manning,* " a mode- rator was chosen, who opened and conducted the meeting with prayer. In the morning service, two or three ministers took a part. They met again in the afternoon to consult about the affairs of their respective societies, distributed the collections received from them, examined the testimonials of those who offered themselves as candidates for the ministry, appointed three of their number to inquire more particularly into their acquaintance with the doctrines of Christianity, into the progress they had made in literature, the views with which they under- took the ministry, and their aptness to teach ; in order to jiidge of which a theological thesis was to be exhibited in Latin, to the perusal of the examiners, and if they found them qualified * Discourse before the Assembly, p. 12. 552 APPENDIX. for the Christian ministry, they gave them a certificate of their approbation. The Assembly then appointed the ordainers. From these minutes it appears, that the members of the Assem- bly agreed (hat they should not meddle with politics or the affairs of civil government, or pretend to exercise any church censures, but only assist, advise, and encourage, each other in propagating truth and holiness, and keeping their churches free from illiterate ministers and scandalous communicants." This agreement, which, if generally acted up to in the letter, w^s often departed from in the spirit by the Assembly at this period, owed its origin to the " Articles of Concord," drawn up by the first Assembly in the year 1655. * It was about the middle of the last century that this body began to see the necessity of relinquishing a part of their un- scriptural authority. The removal of Mr. Towgood to Exeter, which took place in 1749, gave that gentleman an opportunity of advocating with success his own liberal and enlightened opi- nions on this subject. By means of his arguments, many mem- bers of the Assembly gradually became convinced that their conduct, with regard to the examination of candidates for the ministry, was wrong, — that, by insisting upon qualifications which the Scriptures do not requii'e, they assumed an unlawful jurisdiction over the consciences of men. " They perceived," says Mr. Manning,t " that admitting one unscriptural test to be proposed, by an order of the Assembly, as a necessary term of admission to the Christian ministry, was a matter of very seri- ous moment, and drew after it consequences extremely im- portant ; for, one being admitted, two, ten, or thirty-nine might with equal right be hereafter added, the tendency of which was too obvious not to be observed, and too formidable not to be the object of dread. It being therefore proposed to the As- sembly which met in 1753, to take into consideration the fol- * Manning's Life of Towgood, p. 11. At the ordination of Mr. Towgood, in 1722, the subject which the Assembly desired him to treat on was, "An Bajjfisma Infantum sit validum ?" t Discourse, p. 14. APPENDIX. 553 lowing question, * whether the Assembly will recommend any Candidates who refuse to declare their faith in the Deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit,' it was debated whether the question should be put, and decided by a considerable majority in the negative. This debate would probably have given rise to very warm animosities, had they not been very seasonably dis- countenanced by the truly catholic and conciliating conduct of some aged ministers. * In consequence of this vote, it has been left wholly with the respective congregations to satisfy them- selves of the qualifications of the persons they choose for their ministers." Towards the close of the last century, a still further improve- ment became visible in the proceedings of the Exeter Assembly. This may undoubtedly be attributed, in a great degree, to the influence and exertions of two ministers who have been fre- quently mentioned in these pages, — the Rev. Joseph Bretland, and the Rev. Timothy Kenrick. While these gentlemen were anxious that the immediate objects of the Assembly should be vigorously promoted, and that the members should avail them- selves of the light which had been increasing for nearly a cen- tury f — the time during which their institution had existed, — they were also desirous of proving that they and their brethren could extend their interest to those occurrences, whether in the West of England or at a distance, in which was involved the welfare of Protestant Dissent. Accordingly we find that one of those welcome addresses which, in the year 1791, poured in upon the persecuted Dr. Priestley, was from the Exeter Assem- bly ; and it is impossible to avoid admiring the contrast be- tween their spirit at this period, and that which they manifest- ed at the beginning of the century. " We think ourselves bound (they say in addressing Dr. Priestley), though several of * See a letter by the Rev. P. Baron, of Plymouth, to the Rev. J. Wal- rond, of Exeter, formerly of Ottery, — the latter being one of the most violent advocates for doctrinal tests. — Life of Towgood, p. 5.5. t See Mr. Kenrick's sermon, " An inquiry into the best method of com- municating religious knowledge to young men," preached before the As- sembly, May 7, 1788. 554 APPENDIX. us diifer from you in opinion on various subjects, to seize the opportunity wliicli our meeting affords us of uniting in an ad- dress to you on the occasion of your late sufferings and losses." Again, " It affords us great pleasure to hear that you have al- ready received a letter of condolence from some of our brethren of different religious sentiments and denominations, couched in terms expressive of warm affection and esteem. We would flatter ourselves that this noble example of a truly liberal spirit and behaviour will be followed by many others, and that one beneficial consequence of the late riots at Birmingham will be, the establishment of a closer union, and of a more general and friendly intercourse among Dissenters of every description."* The discourse by Mr. Manning, of much of whose valuable testimony the reader has already had the advantage, brings the history of the Assembly down to the year 1818. It appears that several alterations had been made from time to time ui the rules, the most important of which bears date September, 1801, when it was resolved that there shoiild be only one assembly in the year, to be held on the last Wednesday in June. The following extract contains a pleasing statement of Mr. Manning's experience as a member of this venerable body. " During forty- four years in which I have resided in this county, I do not re- member having been once absent from the Assembly, and am therefore a competent witness, and have no hesitation in declar- ing, that these meetings have always been conducted with great decency and order, and have, in no small degree, conduced to the comfort and encouragement of the ministers, cherished mutual affection, and animated them to more zealous exertions in the duties of their profession. We do not meet as a priest- hood, a privileged order, distinct from our brethren, as having an interest different from theirs. We utterly disclaim all pre- tensions to religious domination, to the least shadow of au- thority or controul over the faith or religious practice of our fellow-christians. W^e do not assemble ourselves together to settle any point of doctrine, or any matter of Christian disci- * Priestley's Works, Rutt's edition, Vol. i. Part i. p. 154. APPENDIX. 555 pline. We do not hold oxir assembly on the narrow principles of a party, but on the broad grounds of unlimited freedom of inquiry, and the brotherhood of all who believe that Jesus is the Christ." Strange as it may appear, in proportion as these sentiments have gained ground in the Assembly, the interest of the Devon and Cornwall ministers in its proceedings has declined. The annual meeting is still held at George's Meeting, on the last Wednesday in June ; but the number of members is much re- duced. There is a morning service, — the preacher and the minister to pray having been appointed at the previous annual meeting ; two others are nominated to officiate in the event of their failure. After the service, the ministers who are members of the Assembly meet in the vestry, when the preacher of the former year acts as Moderator, and opens and concludes the meeting with prayer. The chief object of this meeting is to grant exhibitions out of the funds of the Assembly to the minis- ters of small congregations needing assistance. Afterwards the members dine together, and thus conclude that interchange of thought and feeling which is still found, as it was in the time of the excellent Baxter, to "better the spirits" of men, and pro- mote " the great ends of religion." 556 APPENDIX. Sketch of the History OF the Western Unitarian Society. The first rule of this Society requires that it " shall be de- nominated the Society of Unitarian Christians, established in the West of England, for promoting Christian Knowledge and the practice of Virtue by distributing books." The qualification for membership has never included a decla- ration of assent to any articles of faith. The terms of admission are thus stated in the fifth rule of the original code : — " Every person recommended after the meeting in May, 1792, by two members, shall be considered as a member of this Society, upon paying his admission fee and subscription for the current year, or compounding for his subscription." The admission fee was ten shillings and sixpence, the annual subscription — the same sum, and the composition — the payment, at one time, of five guineas. There was, however, a preamble to the rules, drawn up by the fomiders of the Society, in the principles avowed by which the members were supposed to concur. After asserting that the value of Christianity is lessened by the errors which are blended with it, the preamble thus continues : — " Considering that one principal obstruction to the progress of just sentiments in religion has arisen from the want of an open avowal of them, on the part of those by whom they have been embraced, or of other methods of making them known to the world, we have thought proper to associate ourselves together, in order to distribute among those who are disposed to in({uire, such books as appear to us to con- tain the purest account of the doctrines of revelation, and to be the best calculated to promote the interests of true piety and virtue, but more particularly among such persons as, from their situation in life, are precluded in a great measure from obtaining the means of information ; declaring it to be the fundamental principle of the Society, in which we all agree, that there in but One God, the APPENDIX. 557 Creator and Governor of the Universe, without an equal or a vice (jerent, the onlij proper object of religious worship ; and that Jesus Christ was the most eminent of those messengers ivhich he has em- ployed to rex)eal his will to mankind, possessing extraordinary pow- ers similar to those received hy other prophets, but in a much higher degree. While we thus declare our belief in the strict unity of God, and cannot but regard every practice as idolatrous which attributes any of the prerogatives of the Deity to another, a conclusion in which we think ourselves warranted by the lan- guage of Scripture, we would not be understood to assert that we think such practices are attended with the same immoral consequences as the idolatry which prevailed in the ancient heathen world. That they are, however, in all cases injurious, and in some highly criminal, we have no doubt ; but how far they may be so in any particular instance we pretend not to de- termine, as it must depend upon circumstances which can be known only to the individuals concerned, and to that Being who searches their hearts." This preamble was framed in unison with one which had been adopted a few months previously on the formation of the London Unitarian Book Society, or, as it was then called, "the Unita- rian Society" — there being no other of the same kind in the kingdom. The association in the West of England was found- ed by a few gentlemen who advocated the principles to which their friends in London attached the greatest importance — viz., that the worship of Jesus Christ w^as idolatrous, and'that devia- tions from the doctrine of our Lord's simple humanity were highly injurious. The idea of forming the Society originated with W. Davy, Esq., of Fordton, who presided, in J 834, at the forty-second annual meeting. By Mr. Davy the suggestion appears to have been communicated to the Rev. Timothy Ken- rick, of Exeter. This lUithful labourer was also anxious that an effort should be made in the West of Eugland. " He had formed a plan" (says his son — the Rev. J. Kenrick, of York,)* * Mon. Rep., Vol. xiii. p. 230. The materials for this account were derived from a series of letters put into the hands of the author — Mr. John 558 APPENDIX. " for the delivery of a series of lectures upon those doctrines of Christianity of which erroneous notions commonly prevail, and had engaged eight or nine ministers in Exeter and its vicinity to bear a part in it. The chief peculiarity in the plan was, that the whole course was to be delivered in one place, by the asso- ciated preachers, each taking his turn, at the interv^al of a fort- night, and then to be repeated to their respective congregations, till the whole series had been preached in every place compre- hended in the union. A week-day evening was chosen both for the convenience of the ministers, and to avoid giving offence to those who disliked the introduction of controversy into the pulpit on the sabbath. The sermon was to contain ' a brief but comprehensive view of the arguments from reason and scripture, in support of the doctrine maintained, accompanied with infe- rences and observations calculated to shew that it will have no unfavourable influence upon the religious conduct of those by whom it is embraced, but, ou the contrary, affords a good or a better foundation for peace and comfort, and for the duties of piety and morality, than the opposite opinion. The whole to be conducted with as little appearance of controversy as can be admitted.' The Mint Meeting, at Exeter, which had been built for Mr. James Peirce, as a refuge to heresy and liberty of conscience from the fury of the western inquisitors, was the place fixed upon for the first delivery of the lectures ; but, on application being made to the Trustees, the use of it for such a purpose wa"S refused." The author proceeds to express his belief that this refusal " arose, not from any hostility to Unitarianism, but from a fear that the jealousy of Government, then beginning to be awakened by the introduction of revolutionary principles from France, might be excited by this open attack on established opinions, or even the buildings be endangered by the outrages of a church- and-king mob." In consequence of this difficulty at the outset, the scheme for delivering a series of lectures was never carried Kenrick, by Mr. Isaac, of Moreton-Hampstead, to whom they were ad- dressed by Mr. Timothy Kemick. APPENDIX. 559 into execution : although, in a letter written by Mr. Kenrick to Mr. Isaac immediately after, he announces his design of per- severing in it. The object which these zealous individuals so ardently desired to see accomplished, was, in the course of a few months, promoted in a way which they probably did not antici- pate. On the fourth of January, 1792, several ministers and other friends of religious truth assembled at Bridwell, near Col- lumpton, the seat of Richard Hall Clarke, Esq., to witness the opening of an Unitarian chapel erected by that gentleman. On this occasion, the best means of diflfusing the true doctrines of the Gospel formed the prevailing subject of conversation ; — the establishment of the London Society was probably quoted as an example ; and, in consequence of the failure of the plan for de- livering lectures at Exeter, it was determined to form a similar society for the West of England. Mr. Kenrick undertook to draw up the Rules and Preamble. These were submitted to a meeting held at Exeter, May 11, 1792, R. H. Clarke, Esq., in the chair. It was then resolved that the Rules and Preamble should be printed, — that the first general meeting of the sub- scribers should be held at Creditou, September 6, J 792, — and that the Rev. Mr. Toulmin should be desired to preach a ser- mon on the occasion. These resolutions were carried into effect. Mr, Clarke consented to act as Treasurer, and Mr. Kenrick as Secretary. The sermon was printed and circulated with the rules of the society ; it was entitled, " The Character of Christ as the Witness to the Truth" ; it excited considerable interest, and has since passed through a second edition. The Society at the tune of its first general meeting consisted of thirty-one members.* For many years the additions were * List of the first Members. Rev. M. Anstis, Bridport. Rev. T. Belsham, New College, Hackney. Mr. W. Browne, Jun., Collumpton. Mr. Basnett, Bath. R. H. Clarke, Esq., Bridwell, near Collumpton. Mr. Davy, Fordton, near Crediton. Mr. M. DuNSFORD, Tiverton. 560 APPENDIX. few, and the sphere of the Society's operations limited. These circumstances may be attributed to various causes. There was at that period an unusually strong feeling in favour of " or- thodoxy," and especially of the standard set up by the Church of England. Again, many who might have been ranked under the denomination of Unitarian, were not prepared to adopt the principles laid down in the Preamble of the new Society. Al- though such persons believed that the God and Father of ouj* Lord Jesus Christ was the only proper object of religious wor- ship, and were decidedly opposed to the prominent doctrines of Calvinism, they could not relinquish their belief in the pre- existence of the Saviour, they objected to the terms "mere man," and "simple humanity," as applied to so exalted a being, and they considered the epithet "idolatrous" much too harsh, if not actually unwarrantable, when used in reference to Trini- Mr. G. DuNSFORD, Tiverton. Mr. J. Evans, Exeter. Rev. J. Isaac, Moreton-Hampstead. Rev. D. B, Jardine, Bath. S. Kenrick, Esq., Bewdley, Worcestershire. Rev. T. Kenrick, Exeter. Rev. J. Kentish, Plymouth Dock. Rev. T. Lindsey, Essex Street, London. Joseph Littlefear, Esq., Exeter. Rev. T. Morgan, Liskeard. Rev. S. Morgan, CoUumpton. Samuel Pett, Esq. Rev. T. Porter, Plymouth. Rev. T. Reynell, Thorverton. Mr. W. Reynell, Barnstaple. W. RowE, Esq., Spence-Comb, near Crediton. Rev. J. RowE, Shrewsbury. Mr. S. Shute, CoUumpton. Mr. J. Spry, Plymouth. W. Tayleur, Esq., Shrewsbury. J. TiNGCOMBE, Esq., Plymouth. Rev. J. TouLMiN, Taunton. Mr. Tucker, Exeter. Rev. J. Williams, Bridwell, near CoUumpton. The perusal of this list will excite a melancholy interest in the minds of the survivors, the number of whom, I believe, does not exceed yb?«r. APPENDIX. 561 tarian worship. On these points thej coiucitled with many gentlemen in various parts of the country, who would have joined the London Unitarian Society, had its Preamble been more comprehensive, and who deeply regretted that, at a time when union was more than ever desirable among all Antitriui- tarian Christians, the enlightened founders of the new societies attached so much importance to their own peculiar views of truth.* But the principal cause of the slow progress of the Western Society was the political unpopularity of its members. This was one of those periods when Dissent from the Church was stigmatized as Disaffection to the State ; and those Unita- rians who followed out the principles of Dissent with the gi-eat- est faithfulness received the largest share of public obloquy. The promoters of this society were especially distinguished for their consistent attachment to the cause of Civil and Religious Liberty. Nothing could induce them to swerve from the path of duty. Many of them experienced unremitting insult ; year after year they beheld the spirit of persecution which excited the riots at Birmingham gain ground in every part of the kingdom ; they saw the Rowans of Ireland and the Muirs of Scotland con- signed to dungeons or exiled to foreign lands ; they saw their owTi beloved Priestley, the champion of their cause, " the patriot * The retaining of the word " idolatrous " in the London Preamble was strongly insisted upon by Mr. Belsham, Mr. Lindsey, Dr. Priestley, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Tayleur, and opposed by many gentlemen of equal emi- nence in their respective circles, especially by the whole body of Unitarians then existing in the University of Cambridge, who were compelled to withdraw their suppoi't from the Society. Among these were the Rev. W. Frend, M.A., formerly Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, and Vicar of Long Stanton ; the Rev. R. Tyrrwhit, M. A., Fellow of Jesus College, and Founder of the Hebrew Scholarships, Cambridge ; and Mr. Jones, the celebrated Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge, Others joined the So- ciety, though they could not approve of the Preamble. Dr. Price, in par- ticular, said he coidd not suffer an Unitarian society to exist without giving his name to it. Many years afterwards, Mr. Belsham admitted that it might have been prudent to omit the word " idolatrous," "as the doctrine which the Society desired to hold forth as their common faith, might have been expressed with equal distinctness and precision without it." See Belsham's Me- moirs of Lindsey, p. "21)9. 2 o 562 APPENDIX. and riaiiit and sage," loaded with calumnies wherever he went, railed at by every class from the drunken brawler of the pot- house to the "heaven-descended" leader of the House of Com- mons,— assailed from the pulpit bj priests who, like Madan, wanted preferment — and from the press by authors who, like Burke, wanted pensions, — and at length driven from the land he loved, to close his existence among strangers; — the promoters of the Western Unitarian Society saw all this, and endured in their own persons more than those who live in the present day can easily imagine ; yet they did not falter ; they calmly yet earnestly continued to advocate what they believed to be the Truth of God ; and, though to worldly men their prospects seemed dark and cheerless, they had their reward ! * But to re- turn— this reward was certainly not found in the rapid progress of Unitarianism in the Western counties. Although the political disturbances of the time did not move such men as Mr. Toulmin and Mr. Kenrick, they alarmed the friends on whom these excellent ministers had reason to rely for support. A striking instance of this was witnessed in the year 1794, in reference to the holding of a meeting of the Society at George's Meeting, Exeter. Mr. Kenrick, the learned and benevolent instructor of the young- the faithful friend and counsellor of all, could not on tliis occasion obtain for his colleagues the use of his own pulpit. The Trustees refused to allow the Society to meet within * The lines of Mr. Coleridge, in his "Religious Musings written on Christmas Eve, 1794," have so striking an allusion to the horrors of the time, that, well as they are known, I cannot refrain from quoting them. He had been writing of "the mighty dead," — of Milton, Newton, and Hartley, — and thus proceeds : " Pressing on his steps, Lo ! Priestley there, patriot and saint and sage, Whom that my fleshly eye hath never seen, A childish pang of impotent regret Hath thrill'd my heart. Him from his native land Statesmen blood-stain'd, and priests idolatrous, By dark lies madd'ning the bhnd multitude, Drove with vain hate : calm, pitying he retir'd. And mus'd expectant on these promis'd years." APPENDIX. 563 the walls of their house of prayer, though the usual notice had been given at the request of one of the ministers. Happily, the admirable sermon of Mr. Reynell, — on adorning the doctrine professed by his hearers, — ^which he delivered by invitation in the Bow Meeting-house, may still be read by all who would know how noble was his object and how groundless were the fears of his opponents. "They misjudged" (says one of the writers I have already quoted) "the temper even of those trouble- some times, in apprehending any such danger, and they cer- tainly very much misconceived the motives of the projectors of the plan in question, if they suspected them of any concealed political schemes ; but it is not for us, natis melioribus annis, harshly to pronounce that the refusal may not have proceeded from conscientious fears of the consequences : — when the love of innovation is inflamed into frenzy, it is not wonderful that pru- dence is chilled into timidity." * It was not until some time after the commencement of the present century that the society was much increased. The members assembled regularly, once a year, at the various towns in which there were Unitarian congregations, and a series of sermons were preached and published which proved highly ad- vantageous. Mr. Kenrick, of Exeter, continued to discharge the duties of Secretary until his death in 1804, when the seat of the Society was removed to Bristol, and those duties devolved on the Rev. John Rowe. The unwearied zeal of Mr. Kenrick has already been noticed; and, in 1814, the Society resolved to shew their sense of the value of Mr. Rowe's services through the intervening years, by presenting him with a copy of the Fac-simile of Beza's Manuscript, and (as soon as published) of Mr. Wellbeloved's Bible ; this testimonial, however, Mr. Rowe respectfully declined. t The offices of Treasurer and Secretary have since been ably filled by several gentlemen in Bristol, who in conjunction with the Committee have rendered the most valuable aid to the cause of Unitarianism by their selection of books for the annual catalogue, and their arrangements for pro- * Mon. Repos., Vol. xiii. p. 230. t Ibid., Vol. x. p. 45'J. 2 o 2 564 APPENDIX. moting the interest and usefulness of the Annual Meetings.* At these meetings the rules of the Society have, from time to time, undergone a slight revision. On one occasion it was re- solved to discontinue the admission-fee of ten shillings and six- pence, which is consequently now not paid. Discussions frequently took place respecting the propriety of altering the Preamble so as to enable the Arians to become members. As early as the year 1811, this subject was taken into consideration at an annual meeting by the suggestion of Dr. Carpenter, an earnest advocate for the proposed comprehen- sion. But no decisive step was taken until the year 1819, when, at a meeting held at Bath, Dr. Carpenter, in accordance with a notice given the preceding year at Ilminster, submitted several resolutions in favour of the object he had in view. The original principle was defended by Mr. Kentish and several other members; and Dr. Carpenter, finding that the disposition of the meeting was against the change, withdrew his proposed resolut^'ons.t When twelve years more had elapsed, the sub- ject was again brought forward at a meeting at Bridgwater, and the alteration agreed to. It was resolved, " That union with this Society shall henceforwards be con- sidered as implying no more than the reception of the Essential Principles of Unitarianism ; viz. the Personal Unity, the Sole Deity, the Essential Mercy, and the Exclusive Worsliip of Jehovah, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The additions to the number of members during the first twenty years of the existence of the Society, appear from the lists appended to the annual sermons to be as follow : In 1792 there were 31. 1798 4o. 1804 98. 1812 217. * The present Treasurer is Jolin Maningford, Esq.; the Secretary, Mr. W. Browne, of Clare Street. t See Letters by Mr. Trend, Mr. Belsham, and Dr. Carpenter, Mon. Repos., Vol. xiv. APPENDIX. 565 For some years subsequently to 1812, the additions were not proportionably great. The present number of members, though considerable,* is certainly smaller than the number of Unita- rians in the West of England would lead a stranger to suppose. It should be mentioned, however, that this body of Christians support two other societies for the promotion of their objects, and especially for establishing a greater bond of union — one in the counties of Dorset and Somerset, formed in 1818, the other for those of Devon and Cornwall, formed in 1813. It should also be mentioned, that during the past year, the Western So- ciety has exhibited considerable vigour ; a larger number of new members have been elected than within any preceding year, — even more than the Society was composed of at its first meet- ing ; the funds are in a satisfactory state ; the catalogue includes one hundred and eighty-eight valuable books and pamphlets ; and those who were present at the annual meeting and listened to the discourses of Mr. Wellbeloved and Mr. Aspland, will not easily forget the spirit that prevailed. I shall conclude this sketch with a list of the sermons preached before the Society ; but the reader will pardon me if I first intro- duce an extract for the purpose of here placing on record the impressions of " a mind at once zealous and enlightened, philo- sophical and elegant," t respecting the progress and prospects of the Society. " Had not those by whom it was projected been fully per- suaded that their cause was of God, and therefore must prosper, they might well have been dismayed by the inauspicious circum- stances of its birth and infancy, when the doctrines of the Unity of God could only be avowed by braving the penalties of law, when the civil power looked with jealousy on their association, and when only here and there an individual could be found, who, for the truth's sake, was willing to encounter popular * I do not exactly know what it is, as neither annual sermon nor list has been published for several years. f Review of a sermon preached before the Society by the Rev. J. Ken- rick, Mon. Rep., Vol. xii. p. 733. 566 APPENDIX. odium. Tlie event has shewn, that manly courage, tempered by Christian prudence, will overcome obstacles, remove prejudices, and conciliate regard, and, in a few years, change opponents into advocates, and enemies into partisans. The seed which was sown beneath so inclement a sky, that it might well have been doubted whether the binder of sheaves should ever fill his bosom with the increase, has shot up with a vigour which removes all fears for the future, the fields have long been green and are rapidly becoming white unto the harvest. You need not, I am sure, my exhortation to recall and to honour the me- mory of those, who putting their hand to the plough looked not back, but held on their way, and accomplished their work, at the risk of reputation, of usefulness, of property, and of freedom. They indeed laboured, and we, of the present generation, have entered into their labours. O that at the same time we could enter into that zeal for the glory of God, and lively con- cern for the welfare of men, that unwearied activity in the dif- fusion of truth, and unshaken fortitude in meeting calumny and danger, which prompted them to undertake their task, and ena- bled them, under the Divine blessing, to carry it on so far towards its accomplishment." " Who that beholds the progress which the doctrine of the Unity of God has made in this kingdom, since the period to which I allude, can avoid exclaiming, ' It is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in our eyes ! ' Who that reflects on the simpli- city and scriptural authority of this doctrine, and on the inquir- ing spirit of the age, will think that we indulge the visions of a romantic imagination, in looking forward to its becoming the recognised belief of the Christian church, and, by purifying the gospel from one of its most revolting difficulties, preparing the way for its progress among those nations to whom the popular faith presents insuperable obstacles ? It is not indeed for us to know the times and the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power ; his kingdom cometh not with observation ; and, I believe that the open defection from the doctrines of orthodoxy, extensive and increasing as it is, is far less than the secret and APPENDIX. 567 almost unconscious renunciation of them, especially in tliose countries where controversy has not roused the spirit of contra- diction. The avowal and even the reception of the truth are influenced by a variety of accidental causes ; it may be abandon- ed by those whom we thought most zealously attached to it ; the dispensations of Providence may call away its most faithful advo- cates, ere half their term of years appear to have been complet- ed. We possess the treasure in earthen vessels, but the treasure itself is incorruptible, incapable of waste or destruction. Like a consecrated weapon, truth descends from one generation to another, sometimes wielded by a feebler, sometimes by a more vigorous arm ; but its own ethereal temper is unchanged, and its enemies shall continue to feel its penetrative power, till the last of them has resigned the contest. It is mighty, and in this con- flict it must prevail ; the maxim rests not only on the authority of successive ages of men, who have witnessed its partial ac- complishment and transmitted it with the seal of their experi- ence, but on the character and perfections of God, who must design the greatest happiness of his reasonable offspring, and whose power notliing can oppose and prosper." \ 568 APPENDIX. &.eu (L, CUOh Ph CU (l,Cu Cm(14 < ^ . =^ c^i :a '-' CM C^ ■< pL| S ^ ^1 T^ t» 1 & ;:h _ I- . --^ :5 -S O -So £■50 2^ a.-S U -3 43 -2 Kr, ti P o ce be 3 PhO +3 to s^^ I— I o •^.2 ^ 4^ ^ r -'^ ^ s c « M S 3 S =^ .23 -3 ajaiS^u4)'5a3<; 13 O) rt S s 3^ if' CO 03 O &.0 a^ a) £ 's Kc^ 0^ ! H- D? O^ s^^- fN ^i^cqcqcq f^ Q< < : < H <^ >< f^ U: tf ei • 2; z - 3 ^ < OS 03 03 w 2 ?^ w S •* S 53 Q a < o g £^ § Sill 4) O a r iz >■ o o CO < s s o < < cr ff c 7- 5 H o < IT > < p I 03 t s 2 3= S B X s o r o << r ffi o S — o < « a < Q •-5 h ir- H >-s H-sE- •-: '-i'-i rtH JW j_; (M rr ■^ iC «r t->i c •vC t^coc^ O^ C~ c C-. t^ t^ !->. i^ .t-> .CO CO cc cr. CO 00 CO GO C» CO r^ •■" ^ '■" ^H 1-^ • ^~ r -' F— 1 »-^ r" APPENDIX. 569 fl(CU C»5 ^1 ■ So s -§-* o „ t oo "5 4- :s GO t^ :=3 o o.S 4k- ^ O o S J^ .2 ^ >a Us g.sG o .3 2 O 5 =* 0,03 be 2 tH o •5 >r."b g^S a aj i3 S > hi L^- Q a '^ a; .3 a.S be o S-, o o o t/: O ii >- *^ '^ ^-< ? aj J- --Cos >-. o — ' ••: ^ ^ -s ■5 'S "iS ^ S 5 1^ ■C t> to JS .S ^O fi: S ly D o) •3 sS S.i « *- 2 ,^ o o 4J 3 a> o -^ s 2^ =-' Q. cq (^ ki 2qcq ^ G Q Z X < W cc 1-4 iS !Z Z W S ffi a « o 5 o o^a o X X o & Oi a z M « h H Z cc X 0 0 ^ "-s X H s CO Q o o o 03 s . Eh Q Z is < z < CD cc 00 cc CO oc CO -K. c I ^ I £">. i >^ o IP o « s P- ci ^ Si I O Of 3 a 0) "^ CO ■a <« ,0 +^ o ^ t< !- S oM •= c •■ -^ (U o c " a> « - ^ I ^•^ O _ O 05 03 .a -g c3 rS |2l Ho fa cS * > C5 570 APPENDIX. SI ij 3 j3 Ph.2 X .A o -S cd O P3 •a I «^ .2 S o ■^ SO oo to g cs oj b rv, tw -fi '^ !^ O to OJ ii § 5i o .a i3=+H ^ +^ CO Q.2^ cs O P- . 4^ CO OJ Ac^ o &H S (/3 (U ■^ :ph "S ; ° r— • O !=0 SH O -a O S c a C 2 o 2'^ 5^^ ,j3 .-tS >. S ^ cs 3i oj .2 ->^ s Q.&; o 5r- [j-i s i^ oj C (N (M (N CO CO GO I>.CO CO CO e CO QO CO •* i« ec CO CO CO CO 00 IN DEX. Academies and Colleges: Aberdeen, 68, 519 Abergavenny, 153 Bridgwater, 172, 178, 179, 223 Bridport, 237 Bristol, 59, 80, 207, 321 Cambridge, 16, 20, 60, 147, 486 Carmarthen, 58, 160, 161, 216, 237, 310, 339, 494, 524 Colyton, 170, 335 Daventry, 31, 153, 183, 218, 237, 310, 325, 437, 459, 516 Dublin, Trinity College, 14 Edinburgh, 16, 202, 209, 260 Exeter, 10, 162, 169, 367, 388, 434, 441, 446, 449, 473, 488, 492 Findern, 172, 224 Glasgow, 39, 43, 128, 173, 222, 410 Hackney, 94, 131, 149, 161, 518 Harvard, N. E., 14, 151, 204 Homerton, 33, 153 Hoxton, 79, 131, 216, 261, 328, 340, 356, 360, 449 Islington — Mr. Doolittle's, 112, 152 Kendal, 477 London — Dr. Jennings's, 79, 203, 275 London University, 506 Mr. Rowe's, 41 Mr. Spademaii's, 105 Mr. Aspland's, 474 Manchester, 446 (see York) Northampton, 64, 189, 216, 237, 244, 246,325,356, 492, 512 Oxford, 16, 91, 185, 186, 274, 288, 298, 376, 414, 418, 508, 509, 541 Rhode Island, N. E., 204 Shepton Mallet, 168, 170 Stratford-upon-Avon, 475 Swansea, 519 Taunton, 9, 10, 90, 151, 168, 172, 194, 198, 208, 234, 2.35, 320, 325, 432, 475, 490 Tiverton, 67 Trowbridge, 73 Utrecht, 422 Warrington, 128 Wickham-Brook, 103 York, 120, 149, 183, 184, 198, 219, 242, 263, 282, 296, 348, 408, 524 Acton, H., Exeter, 409 His pupils, 10, 184 Acts of Parliament, notices of : Act of Uniformity, 6, 28, 98, 138, 253, 332, 372 Conventicle Act, 376, 377, 380 Oxford, or Five-Mile Act, 24, 29, 221, 241, 298 Toleration Act, 213, 471 Adams, P., Honiton, 320, 324 Adams, T., Marshfield, 40 Lympstone, 358 Addey, R., Gloucester, 9 572 INDEX. Aikin, Dr., quoted, 513 Alsop, W., Ilmiuster, 230 Amory, Dr., Taunton, 198, 208 Andrews, N., Warminster, 91, 93 Anstis, M., Colyton, 336, 339 Armstrong, E., Bath, 141 Ash wick congregation, 156 Aspland, R. B., Bristol, 115 Association for Devon and Corn- wall, Dorset and Somerset, Gloucester, Somerset, and Wilts, 39, 51 Astley, R. Gloucester, 10 Atkins, R., Exeter, 376, 414 Atkey, A., Shepton, 167 Awbrey, R., Gloucester, 10 Aycrigg, B., Shepton, 168 Baker, S., Bridport, 260 Baker, T., Sidmouth, 349 Ball, J., Honiton, 316 Baptist Societies, 71, 192, 317, 460 History of, in England, 463 Baptism, adult, by a Presbyterian, 180 Barker, T., Bradford, 64 Bartlett, E., Yeovil, 214, 220 Bartlett, J. P., Topsham, 368 Bates, S., Warminster, 89 Bath congregation, 138 Batson, E., Taunton, 198 Ilminster, 231, 234 Batten, Mr., Colyton, 335 Bayley, J., Warminster, 91 Beeb}'^, Mr., Cirencester, 25 Benn, W., Dorchester, 266, 274 Bennett, A., Poole, 296 Berry, B., Topsham, 367 Berry, J., Sidmouth, 345 Crediton, 459 Bidle, J., Gloucester, 5 BiUingsley, N., Ashwich, 157, 161 Billingsley, S., Bradford, 64 Blake, M., Honiton, 244, 315 Blake, W., Crewkernc, 242, 244 Blake, W., Jun., Yeovil, 217 Crewkerne, 242, 244 Blatchford, S., Topsham, 368 Bourn, S., Calne, 56, 60 Bowen, T., Ilminster, 234, 237 Bradford congregation, 64 Bransb}^ J. H., Moreton, 473 Eretland, J., Exeter, 402, 445 Quoted, 493 Brett, H., Plymouth, 503 Bridgwater congregation, 176 Bridport congregation, 252 Bridwell chapel, 305, 559 Bristol congregation, 99 Broadhurst, T., Bath, 148 Taunton, 199 Brock, G. B., Gloucester, 10 Bi'owne, J., Sidmouth, 345 Browne, Simon, 167, 172 Browne, T., Gloucester, 10, 16 Warminster, 92 Browne, W. S., Bridgwater, 183 Buckler, J., Warminster, 87, 92 Burgess, T., Taunton, 192 Burnet, Bishop, quoted, 468, 469 Bury, S., Bristol, 107, 109 Butcher, E., Sidmouth, 347, 350 Butcher, Mr., Warminster, 89 Butler, H., Yeovil, 213 Calamy, Dr., Journey to the West, 501 Caldei'wood, D., Shepton, 166 Calne congregation, 56 Carol, R., Crediton, 455 Carpenter, Dr., Bristol, 115 Exeter, 408 Chandler, H., Bath, 152 Chapman, T., Collumpton, 309 Chapman, W., Sidmouth, 350 Chaplyn, Mr., Wareham, 278 Charles II., Declaiation of Indul- gence, 378, 380 Resisted in New England, 14 INDEX. 573 Cheltenham congi-egation, 20 Cirencester congregation, 24 Clarke, H., Frenchay, 51 Clarke, Mr., Wareham, 278 Cock, J., Plymonth, 503 Cogan, E., Cirencester, 26 Coleman, Dr., Bath, 139, 151 Collier, J., Crewkerne, 242 Collier, J., Moi-eton, 470, 477 Collier, T., Taunton, 192 Collins, T., Ilminster, 231 Bridport, 254 Collumpton congregation, 302 Colyton congregation, 332 Coombe, Mr., Bradford, 65 Cooper, D., Topsham, 367 Cooper, T., Moreton, 473 Cornish, J., Colyton, 336, 340 Cornish Unitarians, 534 Crabb, H., Cirencester, 26, 30 Cranch, J., Ilminster, 234, 236 Crediton congregation, 454 Cree, R., Bridport, 260 Crellius, quoted, 401 Crewkerne congregation, 240 Crosby, quoted, 467 Crompton, W., Collumpton, 302 309 Cropper, J., Exeter, 410 Cumming, J., Shepton, 166, 170 Cure, J., Trowbridge, 73 Dangerfield, Mr., Bradford, 64, 88 David, Job, Taunton, 198, 207 Davies, Dr., Taunton, 198 Crediton, 459 Davies, Evan, Poole, 294 Davis, R., Marshfield, 41 Davis, J., Calne, 58 Davis, J., Collumpton, 306, 310 Davisson, J., Trowbridge, 71 Denham, J., Gloucester, 9 Devon and Cornwall Assembly, 548 Devonport congregation, 528 Diaper, J., Bristol, 107 Dickenson, J., Gloucester, 10 Dissenters, sufferings of, 87, 176, 187, 213, 240, 268, 377, 382 Dixon, A., Cirencester, 26 Dorchester congregation, 266 Dowdell, B., Tavistock, 488 Downe, R., Bridport, 252 Drewitt, R., Bridport, 253 Eaton, W., Bridport, 252 Edwards, A., Dorchester, 271 Edwards, J., Trowbridge, 71 Edwards, J., Crediton, 459 Edwards, J., Honiton, 315 Edwards, T., Tavistock, 494 Exeter, 402 Elson, J., Poole, 295 Emlyn, Mr., 401 Enty, J., Exeter, 403 Plymouth, 500 Estlin, Dr., Bristol, 114, 127 Evans, D., Marshfield, 39 Evans, D., Devonport, 527 Evans, E., Trowbridge, 71 Evans, J., Ashwick, 160 Shepton, 169 Evans, J., Cirencester, 25 Evans, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 Evans, J., Marshfield, 39 Bradford, 65 Evans, R., Collumpton, 302 Evans, W., Bridgwater, 182 Tavistock, 488 Eveliegh, J., Crediton, 459 Exeter congregation, 372 controversyinl717, 388,502: in 1814, 409 Effects of, 158, 179,304 Falmouth and Flushing congrega- tions, 536 Fawcett, S., Yeovil, 217. His exer- tions at Bridport, 255 574 INDEX. Fenner, J. L., Taunton, 198 Ferguson, R., anecdote of, 385 Flamanck, H., Tavistock, 48" Flexman, Dr., Bradford, ()4, 67 Crediton, 456 Follett, J., Topsham, 368 Foot, J., Bradford, 64 Foot, W., Moreton, 469, 475 Fones, S., Lympstone, 354 Forbes, J., Gloucester, 8, 16 Forsbrey, J., Frenchay, 57 Foster, Dr. J., 158 Fox, Charles James, quoted, 194, 267 Fox, J., of Plymouth, quoted, 268, 388, 426, 491, 501 Frank, J., Bath, 140 Freeman, S., Honiton, 321 French Revolution and the persecu- tion of Dissenters, 304 Frenchay congregation, 48 Fry, R., Cirencester, 26 Furber, Mr., Cheltenham, 20 Furze, W., Exeter, 403 Gardener, J., Bridgwater, 177 Gaylard, R., Exeter, 412 Gibbs, S., Devonport, 528 Gibson, Mr., Sidmouth, 349 Gill, J., Colyton, 333 Gisburne, J., Trowbridge, 78, 81 Glass, R., Yeovil, 215 Collumpton, 309 Gloucester congregation, 4 Goswell, Mr., Honiton, 315 Gough, S., Bristol, 106 Gough, W., Warminster, 86 Graham, D., Yeovil, 216 Green, J., Exeter, 404 Gregory, A., Cirencester, 24, 28 Griffith, J., Frenchay, 49 Grosvenor, Dr., London, 10 Grove, H., Taunton, 194 Gummer, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 Hallet, J., Bridport, 252 Exeter, 376, 415 Hallet, J. (Second), Exeter, 386, 388 Hallet, J. (Third), Exeter, 401, 402 Hallet, Mr., Crewkerne, 242 Hammond, G., Taunton, 193 Dorchester, 266 Hancock, T., Lympstone, 355 Harding, Mr., Falmouth, 540 Harding, N., Plymouth, 498, 510 Hardy, S., Poole, 288, 297 Harriss, J. R., Ilminster, 234, 237 Harrison, R., Taunton, 200, 202 Moreton, 470 Harson, D., Moreton, 473 Hartford, E., Taunton, 194 Harwood, P., Bridport, 260 Hawkes, H., Marshfield, 39 Hayes, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 Hayward, S., Poole, 293 Hazlitt, W., Marshfield, 43 Hazlitt, W., Jun., quoted, 45 Heath, G., Honiton, 316 Heineken, N. S., Collumpton, 307 Sidmouth, 350 Herbert, E., Ashwick, 160 Hincks, W., Exeter, 409. Quoted, 448 Hinton, G. P., Marshfield, 39 Crediton, 459 Hodge, Dr. J., Gloucester, 9 Hogg, J., Sidmouth, 347 Exeter, 402 Crediton, 457 Holt, J., Cirencester, 26, 33 Crediton, 459 Honiton congregation, 314 Hook, Mr., Collumpton, 309 Hooper, — , Exeter, 412 Hoppin, — , Exeter, 412 Horsfield, F., Cirencester, 26 Horsfield, T. W., Taunton, 200 Horsham, W., Topsham, 367 Hort, Dr. J., Marshfield, 37, 41 Hort, W. J., Frenchay, 50 Crediton, 457 Houson, H., Bridgwater, 183 Howe, T., Bridport, 254, 261 INDEX. 575 Howel, J., Bridgwater, 182 Yeovil, 216 Poole, 292 Hughes, D., Yeovil, 219, 226 Hughes, G., Plymouth, 496 Hughes, J., Honiton, 321, 328 Hughes, W., Sidmouth, 347 Hunt, W., Yeovil, 230 Hunter, J., Bath, 149 Ilminster congregation, 230 Independent congregations origin of: Bath, 143 Bridport, 254 Exeter, 374 Gloucester, II Honiton, 316 Taunton, 194 Warminster, 90 Inscriptions on Communion Cups at Plymouth, 498 Foundation Stone at Marsh- field, 37 Mr. Baxter's Works at Yeovil, 215 Pulpit at Trowbridge, 72 Summer-house at Ashwick, 159 Tablets (see Monumental) Isaac, J., Moreton, 474, 479 Jacob, N., Plymouth, 498, 509 James, W., Bridgwater, 184 Sidmouth, 348 James II., his Declaration of Indul- gence, 15, 315 Hypoci'isy towards the Church of England, 268 Persecution of the Dissenters, 382 Attempts to restore Popery, 378 Jardine, D., Bath, 147, 153 Jeffrey, T., Exeter, 402 Jeffries, Judge, 267 Jeffries, J., Taunton, 200, 201 Jeffries, J., Topsham, 368 Jenkins, J., Yeovil, 219 Jeremy, T., Ilminster, 234 Jervis, J., Lympstone, 355, 362 Jervis, T., Lympstone, 355, 360 Quoted, 447 Jillard, P., Crediton, 456 Tavistock, 488 Jillard, Peard, Shepton, 171 Johns, J., Crediton, 459 Jones, D., Trowbridge, 74, 80 Jones, J., Bridgwater, 183 Jones, Dr. J., Plymouth, 504, 518 Jones, J., Plymouth, 505, 524 Jones, T., Calne, 56 Keech, J., Ilminster, 234, 236 Keeling, John, Cirencester, 25 Kell, Mr., Wareham, 279 Kenn, Major, quoted, 100 Kenrick, J., quoted, 557, 565 Kenrick, T., Exeter, 406, 437 Kentish, John, Plymouth, 505 Devonport, 526 Kentish, Joseph, Bristol, 103 Kerridge, J., Colyton, 333 Kettle, J., Dorchester, 270 Kiddel, B., Shepton, 170 Sidmouth, 345 King, Mr., Ashwick, 160 Kings, John, Cirencester, 26 Knight, R., Crewkerne, 241 Lacy, J., Sidmouth, 345 Lamb, T., Dorchester, 271, 275 Lamport, W., Honiton, 317 Lamport, W., Jun., Poole, 294 Larkham, T., Tavistock, 483 Lavington, J., Exeter, 386 Lawes, J., Trowbridge, 71 Lay preaching at Moreton, 474 576 INDEX. Letters from Bury, Mr., to his flock, 109 Butler, Mr., to a Country Dis- senter, 378 Collier, Mr., to the Taunton Baptists, 192 Collumpton congregation to Mr. Evans, 303 Pope, Mr., to the Lewin's Mead society, 107 Lewis, D., Freiichay, 49 Ashwick, 160 Lewis, J., Crediton, 459 Lewis, L., Dorchester, 271 Crediton, 459 Libraries, Academical : Exeter, 10 Taunton, 10 Trowbridge, 73 Lines by a popular Poet, S45 Rev. E. Butcher, 352 Rev. E. Jervis, 362 Rev, H. Moore, 514 T. Moore, Esq., 483 To the memory of Mr. Davis, 312 Mr. Coleridge, 562 Liturgy, reasons for introducing, 257 used in Presbyterian chapels, 13, 65, 256, 402, 410, 506 Lobb, Dr., Yeovil, 215, 221 Lord's Supper regulations, 405 Lucas, T., Ti-ow bridge, 71 Lush, W., Warminster, 90, 180 Lympstone congregation, 354 Mackintosh, Sir J., quoted, 87 Madgwick, W., Poole, 216 Manning, J., Exeter, 406, 448 Quoted, 550, 551 Manston, J., Lympstone, 355 Manton, Dr., Colyton, 332 Mardon, B., his Pupil, 506 Marriages, solemnized by a Non- conformist, 499 Marshall, J., Yeovil, 216 Marshall, T. and N., Ilminster, 231 Marshfield congregation, 36 Martin, M., Lympstone, 355 Martin, S., Marshfield, 40 Bradford, 66 MartjTi, S., Plymouth, 496 Mart}m, T., Plymouth, 496 Mather, Dr., Gloucester, 7, 14 Matthew, G. F., Colyton, 338 Maurice, M., Frenchay, 50 Sidmouth, 348 Maurice, Mortimer, Bridgwater, 184 Maynard, J., Honiton, 317, 324 Melhuish, J., Calne, 57 Merivale, S., Tavistock, 488, 492 Milner, Dr., Yeovil, 215, 223 Mitchelson, J., Poole, 296 Monmouth, Duke of, notices of his Rebellion, 8, 101, 193, 194, 244 253, 267, 384 Montreal, Unitarianism at, 227 Monumental inscriptions : Amory, Thomas, 210 Atkey, Anthony, 167 Blake, William, 243 Blake, William, Jun., 243 Browne, Simon, 167 Browne, Theophilus, 147 Collier, John, 470 Cornish, Joseph, 338 Davis, John, 308 Estlin, John Prior, 126 Evans, David, 41 Evans, Richard, 308 Foot, William, 475 Forbes, James, 9 Heineken, Mrs., 308 Holt, James, 34 Howe, Thomas, 256 Howse, Henry Edward, 146 Jones, Daniel, 78 Jones, Dr. J., 524 Kings, Mr. and Mrs., 27 Morgan, Samuel, 307 Morgan, Mrs., 308 Osier, Thomas, 182 INDEX. 577 Peirce, James, 411, 430 Stephenson, Joseph, 291 Thomas, Evan, 41 Waldron, William, 78 Watson, Thomas, 182 Webb, Francis, 327 Wright, Thomas, 125 Wright, John, 126 Moore, H., Plymouth, 503 Moore, H., Jmi., Liskeard, 511 Moore, J., Bridgwater, 177, 186 Moore, J., Jun., Bridgwater, 178 Morell, Dr., his pupil, 409 Moreton congregations, 462 Morgan, S-, Collumpton, 304, 309 Mosheim, quoted, 465 Murch, J., Bath, 150 Neal, quoted, 542 Newton, G., Taunton, 193 Nightingale, quoted, 102 Noon, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 Norman, J., Bridgwater, 176, 185 Nowell, B., Dorchester, 268 Penot, S., Yeovil, 216 Phillips, S., Jun., Dorchester, 271 Phillips, S., Poole, 292 Philp, Mr., Falmouth, 537 Pitts, A., Topsham, 367 Plymouth congregation, 496 Poole congregation, 288 Pope, M., Bristol, 106 Pope, J., Crediton, 455 Porter, T., Plymouth, 508 Presbyterianism prevalent at Bristol, 101 Exeter, 374 Presbyterian congregations, causes of their decline, 140, 293 Presbyterians intolerant towards Bidle, 5 Priestley, Dr., addresses to, 407, 553 His Sermons used at Chelten- ham, 21 Known to Rev. W. Hazlitt, 44 Sons educated at Frenchay, 50 Residence at Calne, 58 General unpopularity, 561 Prince of Orange, his reception at Exeter, 384 Odgers, W., Plymouth, 504. Quoted, 532 Ordination, sentiments on, 163, 346, 431, 499 Ordination services, 147, 294, 340, 345, 363 Owen, J., Yeovil, 219 Palk, W., Sidmouth, 345 Parry, J., Cirencester, 26, 29 Parminster, R., Ilminster, 234, 237 Parr, J., Moreton, 473 Paterson, Mr., Marshfield, 36 Peirce, J,, Exeter, 386, 421. Quoted, 387, 389, 393, 400 Penn, W., Warminster, 88 Pearse, Mr., Tavistock, 487 Queen Anne's Bounty, 161 Queen Adelaide's visit to Oxford, 419 Read, J., Cirencester, 26 Read, Mr., Bradford, 64 Retired places, zeal of Noncon- formists in, 156, 333, 214 Reynell, J., Plymouth, 504, 515 Reynell, T., Crediton, 458, 459 Reynolds, J., Gloucester, 9 Richards, W., Bristol, 113 Risdon, quoted, 484 Roberts, G., Warminster, 91 Rosewell, J., Colyton, 338 Rowe, J., Bristol, 115, 131 2i> 578 INDEX. Rowe, T., Poole, 292 Rowland, J., Moreton, 473 Rowntree, M., Poole, 296 Rowswell, R., Calne, 56 Russell, House of, 482 Rutter, J., Honiton, 316 Sacheverell, his partisans at Bristol, 102 Sandercock, J., Ta\istock, 487, 490 Saunders, Mr., Homton,l"35 Schools, Bristol, 121 Plymouth, 507 Seal, G., Marshfield, 36 Seaward, R., Poole, 292 Lj'mpstone, 35" Beyer, quoted, 100, 102 Shapland, A., Marshfield, 36 Shepton congregation, 166 Sherman, Dr., Shepton, 171 Sherwill, N., Plymouth, 497 Short, A., Topsham, 366 Short, S., Colyton, 333 Shute, H., Shepton, 170 Sidmouth congregation, 344 Simpson, J., Bath, 145 Skey, G., Colyton, 338 Slater, S., Colyton, 335 Smethurst, J., Moreton, 473 Smith, J., Colyton, 338 Smith, I., Sidmouth, 350 Smith, Dr. S., Yeovil, 218 Smith, S., Cirencester, 25 Soreton, P., Honiton, 314 South, C, Warminster, 86, 93 Southwick congregation, 71, 76,478 Spademan, Mr., 104, 105 Sparke, A., 472 Spencer, B., Dorchester, 270 Squire, H., Wareham, 282 Starr, B., Topsham, 367 Stevenson, J., Crewkerne, 240 Stevenson, Dr. B., Bath, 140 Sidmouth, 344 Stogdon, H., 162 Strong, J., Ilminster, 231, 235 Stuckley, L., E.xeter, 373, 413 Sutton, W., Bridport, 254 Taplin, J., Honiton, 324 Colyton, 337 Tapper, S., Lympstone, 354, 359 Taunton congregation, 192 Tavistock congregation, 482 Abbey, account of, 484 Taylor, Mr., Calne, 59 Taylor, C, Bath, 138, 151 Taylor, J., Ilminster, 234, 237 Tea Meetings, Bristol, 118 Teggin, J. G., Taunton, 200 Bridport, 264 Terry, H., Moreton, 469 Thomas, E., Marshfield, 37 Thomas, S., Frenchay, 50 Thomas, S., Yeovil, 215 Thomas, Mr., Wareham, 279 Thomas, Mr., Moreton, 470 Tidcombe, J., Gloucester, 9, 25 Tingcombe, J., Frenchaj'^, 51 Bridgwater, 183 Plymouth, 508 Tomkins, Mr., Crewkerne, 24 Totness congregation, 369 Toulmin, Dr., Taimton, 196, 203 Colyton, 335 Towgood, Matt., Bridgwater, 178, •188 Towgood, Matt., Shepton, 168, 170 Poole, 292 Colyton, 335 Towgood, Micaijah, Exeter, 404, 432 Crediton, 458 ]\Ioreton, 473 Towgood, S., Topsham, 367 Exeter, 404 Tozer, A., Exeter, 406 Tremlett, J., Gloucester, 10 Trelawny, Sir H., Memoir of, 543 Tremlett, T., Warminster, 91 Trosse,G., Exeter, 376, 416. Quoted, 383 INDEX. 579 Trowbridge congregation, 70 Turner, T., Lympstone, 355 Twining, T., Trowbridge, 74, 79 Tyler, J., Frenchay, 49 Wallace, Mr., Wareham, 285 Waldron, W., Trowbridge, 73 Walker, S., Crewkerne, 242 Walrond, J., Exeter, 405 Warren, M., Taunton, 194 Ward, J., Taunton, 197 Yeovil, 215, 224 Warehara congregation, 278 Warminster congregation, 86 Waters, G., Bridport, 254 Waterhouse, B., Warminster, 91 Watson, T., Bridgwater, 170, 189 Watson, T., Jan., Plymouth Bath 145 Watts, G., Crediton, 459 Wawne, G. B., Bridport, 260, 263 Webb, N., Calne, 56 Weeks, J., Bristol, 99 Webb, F., Honiton, 320, 325 Wesley, J., Poole, 290, 298 West, W., Ilrainster, 232 Sidmouth, 345 Exeter, 402 Western Unitarian Society, 556 Wheeler, Mr., Honiton, 320 Whinnel, T., Taunton, 200, 201 Whiston, W., 389, 401, 424 Whitfield, E., Ilminster, 234 Williams, E., Calne, 58 Bradford, 65 Williams, W., Ilminster, 234, 237 Williams, D., Exeter, 402 Wilkins, J., Colyton, 332 Wilson, W., Crewkerne, 242 Withers, J., Exeter, 386 Woolcombe, R., Moreton, 471, 475 Worsley, I., Plymouth, 504. Quoted, 199 Worth, S., Cirencester, 25 Wright, R., Bradford, 65 Trowbridge, 75. Quoted, 539 Wright, T., Bristol, 114. Yeates, M. L., Collumpton, 307 Sidmouth, 348 Yeovil congregation, 212 Youatt, W., Colyton, 335 Lately published, by the same Author, price One Shilling, CHRIST'S HOLY GOSPEL: A LECTURE DKLIVERED IN TRIM STREET CHAPEL, BATH, January 18th, 1835.