X -^ 
 
 ^ PRINCETON, N. J. '^' 
 
 Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agnew Coll. on Baptism, No. 
 
 sc c 
 
 c,l 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/pioneersincontraOOhump 
 
THE 
 
 PIONEERS IN CONTRAST- 
 
 A DISQUISITION; 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE THROUGHOUT 
 
 OF THE TRULY SIMONIACAL USE 
 
 AND 
 
 ANTI-CHRISTIAN ABUSE OF WATER, 
 
 AS AT THIS DAY EMPLOYED, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 MATTER OF BAPTISM, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A DIALOGUE AND ADDRESS: 
 
 BEING ABSOLUTELY CONCLUSIVE 
 
 AS TO 
 
 THE SCHISMATICAL CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NATIONAL SYSTEM, ETC 
 
 BY JAMES (the elder ;) HUMPHRYS. 
 
 BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT, BUT TRY THE SPIRITS.-l Johii, iv. 1. 
 PROVE ALL THINGS, HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.— 1 Thess. v. 2!. 
 NEITHER CAN THEY PROVE THE THINGS.— Acts, xxiv. 13. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PKINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND PUBLISHED BY E. PALMER AND SON, 
 18, PATERNOSTER ROW; AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1838 
 
 (Price Five Shillings J 
 
LONDON: 
 
 Printed by S. Kemshead, Kennington Lane. 
 

 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 
 
 To THE Kind and Tender-hearted, Reflecting, Fair, 
 AND Gentle Reader. 
 
 The much obliged Author begs hereby, most respect- 
 fully, to solicit the very considerate and indulgent candour 
 and forbearance, of an intelligent and discriminating pub- 
 lic ; convinced, that an appeal to their judgement and 
 discretion, as well as the very best and softest affections 
 of their, or, perhaps, rather our common nature, will not 
 be made in vain. He presumes, then, in the first place to 
 believe, that no one who thinks, will for an instant dispute 
 the assertion — that absolute perfection in any thing, is 
 unattainable, at least, by man here below. But yet, he 
 is indeed, vei^ far from affirming, or even intending to 
 affirm, that there is nothing in this world to be found 
 that is perfect. Oh dear no; very far from that — in fact 
 quite the contrary. In proof then of the truth of the 
 above position, he is prepared to summon your attention 
 to an object, ay, and that too, to all, (save and except 
 the sordid wretched miser, stupidly and wickedly doating 
 
 over his shining heaps of lifeless, senseless gold, and 
 
 b2 
 
IV THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, 
 
 thus denying his nature as well as the God who made 
 him,) and especially to by far the most interesting portion 
 of the species, the most interesting 07ie, that can possibly 
 attract, engage and occupy their notice, attention, and 
 most anxious regards; an object indeed, wherein are 
 associated, as being closely united together, the widest 
 possible extremes ; yet therewith, at the same time, com- 
 bining the very utmost propriety ; so that there may be 
 actually seen existing, in one and the same object, and 
 moreover at one and the same instant of time, the greatest 
 possible perfection, and also imperfection too. But I think 
 I see you suddenly start, and hear you, as suddenly too, 
 exclaim — Impossible ; it cannot be. Yet, now, do only 
 just stop, and be quiet for one moment, and calmly look 
 on, whilst I deliberately place before you a form all but 
 angelic ; the very delight of your eyes, the chief solace of 
 your heart, your (that is if, or if not yet, blessed with one, 
 we will say another's, perhaps your own dearest sister's) 
 lovely smiling babe ; (ah, no wonder that He who merely 
 looking should love, and no sooner look and love, than say, 
 " of such is the kingdom of heaven.") Yes, a babe, only 
 that very instant, and that too for the very Jirst time in 
 its life, out of leading strings. 
 
 That it is quite perfect, yes even perfection itself, you 
 yourself will not (and I am very sure you will not, with 
 even common patience, hear any other one) deny ; neither 
 do I know who there is, (unless he wished to catch it) in 
 his senses, that would so much as barely think of such a 
 
THK EPISTLE DEDICATORY. V 
 
 thing, for it is the work of God ; and it is written, " His 
 work is perfect ; " and again, " I am fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made, and in thy book were all my members 
 written," taking thereof a most exact account ; and again, 
 " God made man in his own image ; " so that that point 
 is settled beyond even the possibility of further contro- 
 versy or dispute ; except, as by or among fools, or rather 
 madmen, and with them, the maddest man makes the best 
 king ; so that it is only wasting time and breath, to say 
 any more about that which is now as clearly proved and 
 demonstrated to be true, as that the sun shines at noon- 
 day ; which, if denied at all, it can be only so, by those 
 who have quite lost their eye-sight. But whilst thus idly 
 talking about that which we cannot improve, the child is 
 " all alone ; " and see, there it stands, if, indeed, that can 
 be said to stand, which when left to itself, does nothing 
 else but totter till it falls. " Oh; mind the child; I am 
 sure it will fall ; Oh dear, I never was so frightened 
 before in all my life." Well, who is there, do you think 
 that doubts it ? Why you were never before a wife; and 
 it would truly be beyond measure surprising if you were 
 not ; (indeed, I for one, should feel far less surprised than 
 alarmed, as suspecting it to be not the first of the lot,) yes 
 no doubt of it, fall it must, and fall it will, but for her 
 prompt aid and succour, whose whole time, and constant, 
 tender, vigilant care, are incessantly employed in pro- 
 viding solely and exclusively for its welfare ; and although 
 its little prattle is to every one else nothing but perfect 
 
VI THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 
 
 gibberish , yet to her, whom it has learned to call mammae 
 (and whose attentive ear, moment after moment most 
 intently listening to the significantly expressive sounds, 
 and therein, at length, well instructed, has become, there- 
 to, responsively attuned;) it is, every syllable, articulate, 
 equally intelligible as, and infinitely more interesting, 
 than the most deeply studied, well set, and finely ex- 
 pressed wation ; and what does it all amount to, when 
 with its little hands extended, and quite out of the 
 upright ; now bending forwards, then backwards, first to 
 the right then to the left, and all the while trembling and 
 just ready to fall ; but " mamma, help me, help me, for I 
 have no strength at all ; since if you do not help me, 
 mamma, help me ; I am sure I shall fall." 
 
 Then, it appears, we may most truly say, that it really 
 is perfect ; since to take away would be a loss, to add a 
 superfluity ; yet, whilst in respect of both form and figure, 
 colour, shape, and make, it is indeed, as we have seen, 
 nothing but perfection; it is, as being totally destitute of 
 power, also equally imperfect; so that to say, that that 
 which is altogether perfect in weakness, is nothing but im- 
 perfection itself ; is at least as correct as to say, that that 
 is indeed 'oerfection itself, which is altogether perfect in 
 beauty. 
 
 Is it true then, that I still maintain my positio?f, or 
 must I at last submit to a fall? " No, no ;" I think I 
 hear a thousand voices exclaim ; " You are right, you are 
 right," we answer, one and all. Then by way of applica- 
 
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. Vll 
 
 tion of, as by inference from, and also in conclusion of this 
 my epistle, may I beg the favour of an interest in your 
 syynpathy; that most valuable, important, and likewise 
 interesting quality, and so peculiar too to the character of 
 my fair and gentle readers ; and allow me here just to 
 observe, that I trust this will appear to be a very moderate 
 request, since I only ask the half, when I might quite as 
 well lay claim to the whole ; although I am not compelled to 
 tell every body, that I have an idea that the surest way of 
 obtaining a favour of the King, is by making good one's 
 interest with the Queen he loves ; and to whom he will, 
 accordingly, grant any thing she may desire, even to the 
 half of his kingdom. Then presuming on your kindness, 
 I will now venture to disclose the object and drift of my 
 appeal ; for I am expecting every moment, as your pa- 
 tience now must be nearly exhausted, to hear you exclaim 
 — Well, what is it you want ; tell us plainly what you 
 want ? Why, then the plain and simple fact is this ; I 
 have got a little baby, and which, moreover, has been 
 nursed and reared with the utmost care and tenderness, 
 and is just now for the first time out of leading strings, and 
 attempting to go alone ; that is, about to be turned out on 
 the wide world for support ; not that in point of attractive 
 beauty, it is at all to be compared to the lovely little ob- 
 ject which so recently, as above, attracted and engaged 
 our attention; and which, in respect of personal appearance, 
 is, indeed, quite perfect ; certainly not. Still it has a per- 
 fection of its own, to be found in its regard to truth 
 
VIU THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, 
 
 and fact. And as to those attractions which consist in the 
 advantages of person, that is, of figure and of dress, it is to 
 be hoped, that they may be clearly discerned upon a more 
 intimate acquaintance therewith. It possesses, however, 
 one peculiarity, and which is, indeed, somewhat singular ; 
 viz. that whilst it may, and will be found to be the imme- 
 diate subject of errors, additions, and corrections ; yet no 
 , sooner are its errors detected, than they accordingly, stand 
 corrected ; whilst its additions and corrections, instead of 
 being superjiuous, tend to improve, if not its beauty, at 
 least, its appearance. But although in a state of infancy, 
 it is not, we trust, altogether destitute of power ; yet, 
 as it is depending entirely upon you for support, it, or 
 rather its sponsor, in its name, and on its behalf, engages, 
 in return for your countenance and kindness, that all its 
 energies shall be employed, when to the stature and 
 strength of Goliah shall be conjoined the skill and ad- 
 dress of little David, in favour of its kind and tender- 
 hearted, reflecting, fair, and gentle readers ; the friends, 
 advocates, and promoters of truth, love, and peace. 
 
 March, 
 
 1838. 
 
./' 
 
 PREFACE INTRODUCTOft%^^ ^V , 
 
 ^'rVN 
 
 ^n-vr'r^r^■ 
 
 It has been our unspeakable (and we may still venture 
 to hope not to be very long interrupted) happiness, for 
 very nearly the last quarter of a century, to hear nothing 
 whatever of the operations of armies ; that is, of men 
 combined together in masses, either larger or smaller, for 
 the mutual destruction of each other, and of all around 
 them ; and that, too often, under the very specious and 
 plausible pretence of defending and maintaining the 
 honour and the liberties of their king and country ; 
 but in reality for no other purpose than, and with the 
 sole intention of, the upholding and sustaining of op- 
 pression ; so that artillery and ammunition, muskets and 
 lances, pistols and swords, bomb-shells and rockets, gun- 
 powder and drums, together with all those (from the 
 commander-in-chief himself, down to the private man,) 
 engaged either in the use or else in the abuse of them, 
 are words which we have, it seems, most strangely for- 
 gotten ; being, as if of not even the slightest service to 
 society, suffered, as it were, to die a very natural death. 
 Now, had I been a soldier, instead of a plain humble 
 
X PREFACE INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 citizen, and one, moreover, occupying the prime post of 
 honour, the front rank I mean, that nearest to the enemy ; 
 (danger and honour being, in all military movements, so 
 very closely allied to each other), I could have given you 
 a much better description, than you ought now to expect 
 of me, of the use and advantage too, of Pioneers. 
 
 Then having never been employed in actual service, 
 nor, therefore, an ei/e-witness of the scene; we must, in 
 order to be able to form a clear idea of the subject, have 
 recourse to the representations of others. According to 
 them, it appears, that in some certain situations, without 
 Pioneers, an army however numerous, (indeed all the 
 worse the greater the number) and moreover well equipped 
 and appointed, would be altogether incapable of acting ; 
 the country all around them so uneven, rough and thorny, 
 intersected in every direction with thickets and woods, 
 trees large and small, and all kinds of impediments, that 
 without Pioneers, it would be absolutely impossible for 
 them even to move, much less to form a field of battle. 
 Now to enable the army either to advance or to act, the 
 Pioneers are directed to " go " forward ; and with mat- 
 tock and spade, hatchet and axe, they very soon remove 
 and level all obstructions, and form a perfectly clear and 
 open, smooth and even surface. 
 
 On ground thus prepared, as being done with that in- 
 tention, there quickly ensues what I, for one, had much 
 rather hear (though even that I could dispense with) than 
 see ; for a cannon ball, they say, will tell two miles off, 
 
PREFACE INTRODUCTORY. tLI 
 
 and to make any thing of the sight, you must come ivithin 
 that distance, and it is impossible even to guess which 
 way they are about to fly ; so that it would be scarcely 
 worth one's while to risk a broken head, merely for the 
 sake of gratifying an idle curiosity. But we will say, you 
 are securely intrenched, behind a wall ten feet thick, with 
 a loop hole therein, to enable you to see the whole affair. 
 What, then, would you see ? Why, supposing you had 
 dined, do you think your stomach would stand the shock 
 of such a shocking sight ? Vast numbers of your fellow 
 men, only five minutes before, standing calm and com- 
 posed, and as quiet as so many lambs ; in one instant (ay, 
 and were it only of ninety-nine out of a hundred of them to 
 be demanded, I am very sure, they could not tell the reason 
 why,) transported with all the fury and rage of demons ; each 
 vying with, and striving to emulate the other in shedding 
 the largest quantity of his brother's blood ! ! ! Thousands 
 of heads, and arms, and legs, and bodies too, turned in- 
 side out, all smashed to mummy, and so mixed up to- 
 gether, in 07ie promiscuous hodge podge. The sum and 
 substance this ; the total amount, of the mere world's 
 conqueror's boast and glory ! ! 
 
 As clearing the way for the waging of successful war, 
 but attended with scenes, and, moreover, productive of 
 results, aifording a most perfect contrast to that above 
 described ; the Christian Pioneers are now about to en- 
 gage your attention ; for that they regarded the service in 
 which they were employed, as not inaptly represented by 
 
Xll PREFACE INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 the duties, discipline, and objects of the military pro- 
 fession, is sufficiently evident from the words of one of the 
 chief leaders therein ; when he says, " Let us put on the 
 armour of light, the uliole armour of God ;" the weapons of 
 our warfare are mighty through, fully adequate to the pulling 
 down of strong holds, casting down things that are high, 
 exalted against God; therefore, my brethren, stand fast, 
 be strong, quit you like men ; for so fight I not as one that 
 beateth the air ; I have fought a good fight ; and now are 
 we nwre than conquerors through Him that loved us ; for 
 death itself is swallowed up in victory.^'' And again in his 
 letter of advice to his own dear son Timothy, he says — 
 " Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ. No man that ic arret Ji entangle th himself 
 with the affairs of life, that he .may please Him who hath 
 chosen him to be a soldier.'''' In this sort of way I might 
 easily multiply quotations, in full proof of the strength and 
 correctness of my poskio?2, were not the passages already 
 cited absolutely decisive of the point. But allow me here, 
 just to observe, that Pioneers are indeed a species of com- 
 pound character ; for having done their duty, in most 
 effectually performing the service of clearing away, they 
 fall in with the rest, and thus forming rank and file, or 
 else in line, or however they may be required, they will 
 not only fight, but speedily conquer too. 
 
 Then having thus reconnoitred, and so left the parties, 
 prepared, as above, for a most severe campaign ; all that 
 now remains for us to do, is straightway to betake ourselves 
 
PRFFACK INTKODL'CTOKV. Xlll 
 
 to some secure retreat ; where, far removed from the din 
 and tumult of the battle, as well as out of rcmge, and, 
 therefore, reach and danger of the shot ; we may from 
 time to thne duly receive reports, of the course of events, 
 the progress of the icar : and according thereunto m«^v 
 up our dispatches. I have now only finally to notice, 
 that as those, of whom we have, as above, been speaking, 
 were chayyipjons for the truth, contending against their 
 adversaries, on the subject and ground alone of strict 
 principle ; it was absolutely essential that they should 
 agree well together, avoiding every thing like a division in 
 sentiment ; since a schismatic breach amongst themselves, 
 would prove far more fatal to them, than the united 
 strength of all their enemies combined ; which brings me 
 at once to the consideration, of that almost indescribable 
 source and origin of all mischief y Schism ; and to which I, 
 now forthwith proceed. 
 
ERRATA, ADDENDA, ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 16, Line 21, read, Ars Judaeum tradendi Judaicus. 
 
 — 19, — 11, /or other, read latter. 
 
 — 22, — 27, for Church and State, read State Church. 
 
 — 40, — 6, for basis, read, bus-es. 
 
 — 41, — 32, for Church and State, read State Church. 
 
 — 75, — 3, for Coniad, read Coniah. 
 
 — 147, — 4, after thousand, read miles. 
 
SCHISM 
 
 THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM. 
 
 The word Schism, or rather tlieidea associatedwith the 
 term, or to speak still more accurately, with the use there- 
 of, has reference to a certain and specific standard; a rule, 
 or criterion, serving, in respect of its application, as an in- 
 fallible test of the comparative correctness of principle and 
 sentiment in reference thereunto, absolutely considered. 
 Now that standard is Truth. In speaking of truth, I wish 
 to be understood as restricting the term, in respect of its 
 employment on the present occasion, to the subject of the 
 Instinictions, which the Author of the Christian Revela- 
 tion, who announced himself to the world, as the Way, the 
 Truth, and the Life, gave to his immediate followers, a 
 very short time indeed, previous to his ascension to heaven. 
 But truth as well as every other principle, whether valuable 
 or not, has its antagonist; and thus falsehood, instigated by 
 pride and arrogance, pomp and covetousness, (but which, 
 if the sacred record, the only Standard of authority be 
 true, and if there be any thing like meaning in the signs 
 of the Times, are not likely to prove the Heralds of peace 
 
 B 
 
2 SCHISM. THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM, 
 
 and concord,) yet falsehood, I say, stimulated by covetous- 
 ness and pomp, arrogance and pride, has with reference to 
 truth, the subject so particularly predicated as above, and 
 in direct opposition thereunto, set up a standard of its own. 
 Now it is absolutely certain, that He, who is truth itself 
 personified, did, on every suitable occasion, caution and 
 admonish his followers in terms the most express and ex- 
 plicit, as well as the most serious and solemn, as to the 
 inevitably fatal consequences of paying the least attention, 
 or yielding only the slightest obedience to any of the many 
 sayings and doings dictated and enjoined, by, or under the 
 authority or influence of the above-mentioned fallacious 
 principle. Then under the circumstances, and in so very 
 clear a case as that stated above, it only remains for us to 
 say, that those who deviate the farthest from the above-men- 
 tioned true and veritable standard, necessarily become and 
 are indeed, the most perfect Schismatics; a distinction 
 this, rendered so absolutely necessary, as involving ul- 
 terior consequences of incalculable importance. 
 
 The above definition, the entire accuracy and propriety 
 of which, my readers will doubtless not fail at once to per- 
 ceive, is given as being not only indispensably requisite, 
 but extremely useful moreover, in enabling them, as they 
 proceed in the perusal of the following Essay, to make a 
 just and suitable application thereof 
 
THE PIONEERS, &c. 
 
 " Go" forward, and first " teach all nations, baptizing" 
 afterwards " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost," such of " them" only as were fit 
 and proper subjects, and moreover, desirous thereof. 
 
 ** And Abraham was called the Friend of God." Why 
 Task — simply why? Was it because that in strictest obe- 
 dience to the positive command of God, he promptly sub- 
 mitted to the infiiction of the painful act of circumcision ? 
 Most certainly not, as from what follows will plainly enough 
 appear, " And he brought him forth abroad and said. Look 
 now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to 
 number them, and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be ;" 
 and he believed, — yes, "against hope he believed in hope;" 
 for as yet he had no child, neither was there, upon the uni- 
 versally acknowledged principles of human nature, (to allude 
 further to the subject is unnecessary,) even the slightest 
 remaining possibility that he should have one. Yet 
 " Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was counted unto 
 him for righteousness." Then it thereby appears that the 
 voluntary act of the mind it was, and that alone, which was 
 regarded and appreciated, as bringing him into a state of 
 immediate and friendly relationship with God. The out- 
 ward rite is spoken of merely as a token of the covenant 
 previously entered into on the part of God with Abraham. 
 That external operation became a badge or mark, and no- 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 thing more, whereby the posterity of Abraham, might, in 
 all time to come, be distinctly recognized as his descend- 
 ants. 
 
 But a strict adherence to its regular and punctual per- 
 formance, was so entirely dependent upon circumstances, 
 that during the sojourn of the people in the wilderness, it 
 had been neglected altogether, and multitudes had died, 
 who, by personal experience, never knew what circumcision 
 meant; and yet we may hope, that they, notwithstanding, 
 were blessed togetherwith faithful Abraham. From all which 
 we may reasonably conclude, that while circumcision is to 
 be considered as having been instituted chiefly, if not solely, 
 for the purposes of national distinction, it was designed 
 also to direct the subjects thereof to the contemplation 
 of those superior benefits which God had promised to the 
 faithful seed of believing Abraham — His Friend, 
 
 Where the circumstances were favourable, the rite, no 
 doubt, was invariably carried into constant practice, but, 
 as we have already seen, they might be such as to render 
 its observance altogether inexpedient, unadvisable, and 
 improper, without in any way defeating the intention of 
 its original institution. It is true, the Apostle Paul speaks 
 of it as a seal, but as a seal, be it observed, of the right- 
 eousness Abraham had before he was circumcised; being 
 thus intended, primarily, as a sign or an assurance to him, 
 individually, of his personal acceptance with God, and 
 moreover as a sure token also of the final, complete, and 
 irrevocable ratification of the covenant made with him as 
 the federal head of the Hebrew nation, and having respect 
 solely to temporal blessings, — but with special reference 
 ultimately to Him, in whom, as the promised seed of 
 Abraham, all the families of the earth were to be blessed. 
 
 As regards the subject of the precept under the one, 
 and of the rite under the other dispensation, how baptism 
 under the New Testament came to be identified, or at 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 5 
 
 least to be put on a very similar footing, with circumcision 
 under the Old, is not very easily understood. The latter, 
 a purely national custom, specially confined or restricted 
 to, and that most expressly and exclusively the infant male 
 offspring of one particular people ; the former, an observance 
 instituted for persons of all nations, and of both sexes, indiscri- 
 minately, who should not merely profess themselves believers 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also afford indubitable 
 evidence of their being under the extraordinary influence 
 and agency of the Holy Ghost. The Scripture certainly 
 does not, in any part of it, authorize or warrant us in as- 
 signing such a comparative affinity of the one to the other: 
 neither Paul nor any other of the Apostles ever maintained, 
 or even insinuated, that because it was necessary, in obe- 
 dience to the divine injunction to circumcise a child when 
 it was eight days old, that it was therefore necessary to 
 baptize a child at that or any other age, 
 
 ^^ hy the practice of baptizing infants, has been intro- 
 duced into and made part and parcel of a national system, 
 is very easily explained. All national systems of religion, 
 whatever meaning or idea soever there may have been at 
 any time attaching to the use of the term religion, still 
 all national systems of religion, are only, nor ever were any 
 thing more, than just so many methods of extorting money 
 from or out of peoples' pockets : they never were, even in 
 the estimation of those who either have been, or now are, 
 the principal agents in such institutions, connected with 
 godliness, any further than godliness is connected with 
 gain; and to those persons, godliness, which under such 
 circumstances of wilful perversion of the plainest and most 
 simple directions, becomes nothing better than sheer 
 priestcraft — is clear gain. 
 
 The utter absurdity, no less than the impiety of the 
 practice, as above described, could not fail of being uni- 
 versally apparent, if people were only to bestow a little 
 
b THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 more reflection, than they are usually in the habit of doing, 
 on the subject. An order is issued, or more properly, rather, 
 the performance of an act directed by the Lord Jesus 
 Christ himself, having on the authority of the record itself 
 no reference whatever to any thing, more than the relation 
 wherein the party, the subject thereof, actually stands 
 towards the Redeemer, as his avowed follower, voluntarily 
 professing himself his disciple, and complying with his 
 injunction, as a spontaneous declaration to the world that 
 he is conscious of having been brought into that relation 
 to the Saviour, whereby he is "become heir of the right- 
 eousness which is by faith" in him. I confess myself 
 utterly at a loss to perceive any other construction that can 
 (although it is quite possisble that persons of either deeper 
 penetration, or under the influence of interested motives, 
 are fully prepared to assign some other that may) be put 
 on it, as the proper and legitimate meaning of the act; 
 but in this view it becomes at once solemn and impressive, 
 involving obligations of the most important and serious 
 nature. Now in all this, there is employment and work for 
 the conscious principle, for the intelligent mind; and any 
 one who engages in it, unimpressed with such sentiments, 
 not only fails to derive any benefit therefrom, but betrays, 
 at the same time, the grossest ignorance and impiety. 
 
 Nothing but the desperate persevering selfishness of the 
 human heart can adequately account for the frequency of 
 the commission of an act, which discovers such an utter 
 contempt for, and sets at proud and impious defiance every 
 thing like sovereign authority, the sole prerogative of Him, 
 unto whom "all power in heaven and earth is given." This 
 would appear scarcely credible, were it not that the fact is 
 before our eyes every day; for no sooner does a human 
 being enter the world, than the evil principle is set to work, 
 and the first act the dear infant stranger is made a party 
 to, {unconsciously so certainly) is that of affording an op- 
 
THK PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 7 
 
 portunity to one of the national system agents, to extort 
 money, by means of false pretences, mider saintly shew, 
 and an occasion also of becoming an innocently passive 
 instrument in the hands of wicked, covetous men, of put- 
 ting a most gross affront on its already gracious and mer- 
 ciful Saviour. 
 
 A man, who from the colour of his hair, the furrows on 
 his face, the settled down unconstrained gravity of his 
 countenance, and the sound of his voice, is known at once to 
 be aged, is at the same time pronounced to be sagacious also, 
 a sort of infallible oracle of wisdom. This wise man of the 
 west, receives into his arms a babe of the earliest growth; 
 keen-eyed griping avarice, well knowing that the fry cannot 
 be taken too young; for should it so happen, that death re- 
 moved the infant, before he has had an opportunity of per- 
 forming his all-important functions over it, not only, accord- 
 ing to his notionsjwould the loss to the child be irreparable, 
 but what is far more serious, pence, shillings, or pounds, as 
 the case may turn out, would be irrecoverably lost to hmiself. 
 
 But to proceed — the babe being so, as aforesaid, received, 
 the solemn farce begins: — well, but suppose, both old man of 
 fourscore, and infant of days, dropped down at the instant 
 dead together, — 'tis quite a possible case: — then suppose 
 it so — what then? why, the babe as yet without offence, the 
 innocent, unoffending, and therefore sinless infant, would 
 doubtless pass instanter to the arms of its kind hearted 
 Saviour; for he has said "of such is the kingdom of 
 heaven;" and that blessed abode is thronged with such 
 like inhabitants : and what more certain, than the tendency 
 of like to its own. But as to where the hoary headed, 
 hard hearted, reckless, simoniacal, baptized sinner would 
 appear, since I do not know, not being quite so fully 
 informed thereon; although the great infallible, because 
 divine Teacher, has not left us altogether without inform- 
 ation as to the consequences which may be expected to 
 
8 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 result from selling, or attempting to sell, or only harbouring 
 the thought of selling the gift of God for money; for ac- 
 cording to the scripture, "eternal life," (which the departed 
 babe enjoys as one of Christ's members) "is the gift of 
 God, through Jesus Christ, his Son:" I say as to where 
 he would appear, since I do not know, so I cannot tell. 
 
 And now to the ceremony without further delay. — Thus, 
 as above, holding the babe, which being fast asleep, is 
 necessarily as quiet as it is unconscious of all that is being 
 transacted about it, he then proceeds inidely to dash a 
 quantity of cold water in its face. This act, which could not 
 fail to startle a person even of mature age, whilst sleeping, 
 occasions, as might very naturally be expected, a sudden 
 outcry, expressive of terror, on the part of the infant, but 
 like tooth drawing, it is very soon over, the quicker the 
 better for all the parties interested and concerned therein — 
 the terrified babe is speedily restored to, and hushed to 
 asleep again by its mother or its nurse — the palmy tribute- 
 money reluctantly finds its way, from the pocket of its 
 just and rightful owner, into the very willing hands 
 of the mercenary time-serving priest, and the uncon- 
 scious infant is thus effectually made a real christian, 
 a child of God, a true son or daughter, of the one and 
 indivisible, holy, catholic, apostolic, I beg pardon, I should 
 or ought to have said, the protestant, national, episco- 
 papal, mother church. 
 
 If the epithet of absurdity may not, with the strictest 
 propriety, be applied to the spectacle above described, it 
 would appear to be very difficult indeed to suppose a case 
 which would justify the employment of the term absurdity. 
 To call it simply absurd, is indeed not sufficiently correct, 
 even to assert it to be ridiculously absurd, is very far 
 short of the tnith — to place it in any thing like its true 
 light, it must be pronounced to be mischievously absurd. 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 9 
 
 that is to say, absurd in the extreme, and as mischievous 
 as absurd. 
 
 I will now, in as summary a way, as the nature of the 
 subject admits of, endeavour to recapitulate the main facts 
 and features of this anomalous, self-contradictory system, 
 with a view to demonstrate the enormous practical evils 
 andmischiefs necessarily arising out of and resulting from it. 
 And here, the first remark that suggests itself to the 
 mind, is, how completely an institute, which by its founder 
 was designed as connected with the bestowment of the 
 most important and valuable benefits to those who at the 
 time were the fit and proper subjects of it, has been per- 
 verted from its original intention, and that in a manner so 
 gross and revolting, and at the same time, from the very 
 plain and simple directions left on record respecting it, so 
 perfectly wilful, as cannot fail, when duly considered, 
 to excite in us the utmost astonishment, disgust, and 
 detestation. 
 
 But these feelings, however justly entertained by us, 
 would nevertheless lose much of their violence and aspe- 
 rity, could we but assure or persuade ourselves, that the 
 pernicious, baneful consequences of such practices are 
 confined solely and entirely to the actors in this religio- 
 politico drama — ^but unfortunately, so far is this from being 
 the case, that whilst they are reaping all the advantages 
 attending it, all the evils and mischiefs, its necessarily 
 unavoidable concomitants, are the sole and bitter portion 
 of those, whose best, because immortal interests, they 
 thus hypocritically pretend to be so anxious to secure. 
 
 The design, object, and tendency of any institute what- 
 soever, and particularly of one involving mental and moral 
 considerations and results of the very highest order, can 
 never be correctly estimated, or thoroughly and satisfac- 
 torily approved by us, unless we are in a situation to form 
 
10 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 an accurate opinion as to the character and motives, as 
 well as the views and intentions of its Founder. Fortunately 
 as regards the ascertaining of all these qualities, and that 
 in all the integrity and perfection of which they are capable, 
 as present in the person of the Founder of the institute in 
 question, we are placed in the most favourable position 
 possible: and in contemplating him as acting under their 
 influence, the first perception that strikes the mind, or of 
 which the understanding is conscious, is the fact of the 
 existence of a perfectly disinterested benefactor of the 
 human race ; laying aside all personal considerations, the 
 entire term of his whole life was employed in going about 
 doing good; and lest, knowing, as he well did, the natural 
 hardness and obduracy of the human heart, lest there might 
 be a lurking, unworthy suspicion in the minds of men, as 
 to the purity of his motives ; he resolves all the proofs into 
 one undeniable and irrefragable act, and demonstrates the 
 strength, ardour, and sincerity of his attachment to them, 
 by pouring out his heart's blood for their sole advantage, 
 and to secure the eternal salvation of their immortal souls. 
 
 In pervising the history, we discover the same kindly 
 spirit and disposition pervading every act and circumstance 
 of his holy and useful life; but the comprehensive character 
 of his benevolence is particularly observable. Persons of 
 every station in life, and of all ages, were alike the objects 
 of his affectionate and solicitous regard. He never re- 
 pelled — but his invitations were as general, as are the 
 necessities, the distresses, and the miseries of mankind. 
 In proof of the absolute truth of which assertion, one 
 sentence alone shall suffice; "Come unto me, all ye that 
 labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest — 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek 
 and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, 
 for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 
 
 But the strength of his affection discovered itself most 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 11 
 
 strikingly in his tender concern for the welfare of the 
 infant oftspring of mankind — " Suifer the little children to 
 come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is 
 the kingdom of heaven ; and he took them up in his arms 
 and blessed them," not by baptizing them certainly, not 
 by nidehj dashing cold water in their faces, and by such 
 rough treatment eifectually repelling them from him — 
 no; his object was to allure and conciliate, not to frighten and 
 estrange. But how comes it to pass, that he, who never 
 suffered any matter of only the slightest importance what- 
 soever to mankind, to be involved in any thing like doubt 
 or obscurity, neglected to avail himself of the occasion, 
 that most favourable opportunity to explain and enforce 
 his views and intentions relative to this particular subject 
 of baptism, but in reference to which our modern eccle- 
 siastical potentates (far surpassing as they do all the sages 
 of antiquity in respect of those attainments which constitute 
 the perfection of mere worldly wisdom) have pronounced 
 in terms of such positive absolutism, as even to determine 
 the eternal destiny of every individual, to be actually 
 depending upon a strict compliance and conformity there- 
 with. So very severe a sentence proceeding from such very 
 high authority, would be rather startling to us, had we 
 not acquired a little insight into the working of the system, 
 and some perception also of the drift of the thing. Then 
 under the circumstances above cited, how perfectly natural 
 would it have been for the Reedemer to have said. Bring 
 hither the vessel of cold water in order that they may be 
 baptized, for otherwise they cannot possibly receive or 
 enjoy my blessing. 
 
 But so far from this, he on the contrary — Hear it, and 
 not only hear it, but ponder it well, ye wilful, self-inter- 
 ested, covetous perverters of the truth — He on the direct 
 contrary, and that too accompanied with an angry frown, 
 or something at least not very much unlike it, admonishes 
 
12 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 those rude, unnatural men around him who would have 
 kept back the modest, unassuming, unobtrusive little ones, 
 those heavenly candidates in miniature, as yet, till then, 
 breathing the pure untainted atmosphere of the place, by 
 saying, except ye, ye proud, officious, self-conceited men, 
 " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, 
 ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Amongst those engaged in this nefarious anti-juvenile 
 attempt, the most forward and active was lie, that dark 
 monster in human shape, he who held the bag, and that 
 simply and solely, for the sake, and for the sake alone, of 
 what, from time to time was put therein; but had the intro- 
 duction of each of the interestingyoung ones to the Redeem- 
 er, only been accompanied with the tender of a single piece 
 of money, who would have been more busy, or apparently 
 more anxiously concerned for their immediate reception, 
 with or without cold water, than the insidious Judas ? 
 Indeed he would have preferred dispensing altogether with 
 the water, as a useless unmeaning ceremony, and as only 
 interposing unnecessary delay, in handing over the money — 
 but many of these little ones were the children of the poor, 
 and the contents of the bag were intended for the poor only, 
 and that was enough to rouse the opposition of the traitor; 
 the bag was in danger of being considerably lightened of 
 its contents, and that alone accounts for the hostile inter- 
 ference of this prototype of Demas; the generous Saviour, 
 the venal wretch's liberal master, would direct a piece of 
 money to be given to each poor child, and that would be 
 so much heart's blood lost to Judas. 
 
 But Judas is now long since dead and gone. — Yes — the 
 world very happily is rid of li/m, but has it altogether got rid 
 ofhisnature? andinstead of one, is not the land, in the length 
 and in the breadth thereof, swarming in all directions with 
 men like-minded with himself? Are there not thousands, 
 who, if the pieces of money, the price of the gift of God, 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 13 
 
 were refused to, or withheld from them, would rudely drive 
 out of the consecrated building, so called, or rather miscalled ; 
 for how can the character of holy he, with propriety or con- 
 sistency attached to any thing by such men set apart ? can 
 that which is unclean, unclean in itself, produce any thing 
 that is clean? — yes, I say, rudely drive out both mother 
 and nurse, infant and sponsors, (male and female,) that most 
 wonderful result of ecclesiastical intellectual refinement 
 and subtlety, which, till just now, I had forgotten to 
 mention, though still it is all in very good time, that most 
 admirable fiction, that most beautiful sample and specimen 
 of archiepiscopal metaphysics, that most glorious archetype 
 of university learning, instruction, and discipline, which has 
 been productive of such golden realities to its authors, and 
 in that way has so completely served their turn, and ful- 
 filled their design in its introduction. 
 
 But yet a few words more, on the subject of this Pater et 
 Mater in Deo, alias sponsorship contrivance — this most 
 splendid triumph of spiritual, ormore properly speaking, the 
 spirit of humbug-ism — this very acme and climax of clerical 
 gold-finding, or rather gold-securing ingenuity. Papa and 
 mamma, perhaps, are poor, or if not very poor, have a very 
 numerous family of little ones to maintain, and therefore 
 cannot afford to pay much — but god-papa is rich, else he 
 would not have been there to assist in that kind act of 
 adoption. Now the priest is well aware of all this, and 
 takes care to nick deeply the sponsor — and as he, moreover 
 took the pains of making, to this silly scape-goat, so very 
 valuable a conveyance, as the sins of the babe, and of all 
 it ever should commit, 'tis but fair he be well paid for the 
 transfer: but I shrewdly suspect the affair will not end 
 here, for as the whole transaction amounts to nothing less 
 than a most villainous attempt, under the semblance of 
 pretended kindness, to cheat his friend the devil, of that 
 which might in process of time, very possibly become his 
 
14 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 due, SO by and by the man in black, ay, and perhaps^ the 
 sponsor too, will be called on to account for all his arrears 
 in full — and there will then, O yes — then there will be the 
 devil and all to pay. 
 
 It is almost superfluous and unnecessary to observe, but 
 of which they are very well aware, that for the enacting of 
 all this mummery they have not the slightest countenance, 
 either on the authority of scripture, or on the ground of 
 reason or common sense; but which like every other feature 
 of the system, only goes to corroborate and confirm the 
 fact, of the impious and utter recklessness of a design- 
 ing, crafty, avaricious priesthood. 
 
 Thus far have we traced the very close resemblance sub- 
 sisting between the principles, character, and conduct of 
 the arch-traitor of by-gone times, and his very worthy 
 brethren of the present day ; but impartiality, and the 
 interests of truth require, that injustice should not be done 
 even to a Judas, merely to screen men who are not entitled 
 to any particular favour at our hands — It must be borne in 
 mind, that Judas had but a very partial acquaintance with 
 his master's real character — it was indeed quite just, that 
 having betrayed the innocent blood, he should become the 
 son of perdition, and then find his way to his place ; but 
 Judas never heard the pathetically intercessory supplication, 
 "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!" 
 He had never seen his kind Master's breast when for us he 
 suffered, and suffered for us, bared to the stroke of the 
 Roman soldier's spear — he was never in a situation to con- 
 template the"lovethat was stronger than even death"itself, 
 and "which altogether passeth knowledge." 
 
 Oh methinks — methinks if he had, even Judas might 
 have " sorrowed after a godly sort," and become the sub- 
 ject of " repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," and so have been promoted to a very dif- 
 ferent place ; for subsequently to his fearfully righteous 
 
THK PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 15 
 
 doom, it was charged upon multitudes — " Ye have killed 
 the prince of life," — "and they were pricked in their heart," 
 and with one voice unanimous, instantly cried out, " Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ? — Repent and be bap- 
 tized," was the counsel and reply — and they did repent, 
 and were baptized, and thus were saved. 
 
 The far greater part, if not the whole of the multitude 
 then present, were doubtless of mature age, and most pro- 
 bably came there not quite without money. Now here 
 Peter certainly made a sad mistake in neglecting to im- 
 prove the golden opportunity — He should, or ought to have 
 said — be baptized — then repent — but first of all, pay Peter 
 his pounds, shillings, or pence, and thus fully secure the 
 ultimate blessing. In some such sort of way, or on terms 
 very similar would our iiolitico-ecclesiastical iireachers 
 have dealt out the water — but so did not Peter. 'Tis true, 
 he once was applied to, and solicited to sell the gift of God 
 for money — But mark well the sentence and reply — " Thy 
 money perish with thee ;" if so be the gift of God has sunk 
 so low in thine esteem, as to admit of an equivalent in 
 money. 
 
 But herein consists the difference between honest, self- 
 denying, zealously devoted Peter, and his mock, mongrel, 
 money making — by many or by any means, and those too 
 often roguish, successors amongst us. " Freely having 
 received, so freely he gave," delighting in the work of 
 imparting benefits to others; to promote his Lord and 
 Master's glory, and the immortal interests of his dying 
 fellow-men, being his richest and only earthly reward. 
 Now observe the perfect contrast subsisting between him 
 and his self-styled living representative successors. Having 
 no other previous qualifications for their office except a 
 very ample share of pride and self sufficiency, they become 
 mere pretenders to Peter's high vocation, yet still boldly- 
 pretending to far greater authority than Peter himself ever 
 
IG TFIE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 
 
 claimed or even thought of. And thus the welfare of souls 
 is with them nothing more than a false-fair pretence, a 
 mere pretext for obtaining their real object, the money. 
 
 I trust you will excuse this apparent, though short, 
 digression ; we will now, if you please, revert to the imme- 
 diate subject in hand. 
 
 Then with the procuring cause and circumstances of 
 Judas's sad fate, let us now contrast the advantages pos- 
 sessed by the modern traiterous fraternity. Their daily 
 familiarity with these deeply interesting, these soul over- 
 whelming facts, has had no other effect upon them than 
 that of rendering them indifferent to their reality, and 
 insensible to their influence : and on all the fixed princi- 
 ples of inductive reasoning, and as regards the legitimate 
 results of inferential conclusion, we feel ourselves im- 
 pelled to declare, that as placed in juxta position with 
 them, in reference to this most momentous subject, 
 Judas was very far indeed from being a proficient in 
 treachery, and — as viewed in comparative relation with 
 them — he, who sold his master for thirty pieces of silver, 
 was not lialf an adept in the ars trahcndi Judceus. 
 
 Judas " touched, and was bitten," and although he 
 succeeded in getting rid of the tempting cause of the cri- 
 minal offence, thus, as it were, shaking off the venomous 
 beast ; yet, unlike Paul, he felt the poison rankling 
 within, and unable any longer to endure the painfully 
 tormenting accusations of a guilty blood-stained conscience, 
 in the agony of his feelings he rushed upon destruction, 
 as his sole remaining refuge, and in all the blackness of 
 despair hurried away to his place. 
 
 The offence of him who is gone, was that of basely 
 betraying "the innocent blood" whilst ignorant of its value 
 — the infinitely more aggravated crime of his living repre- 
 sentative successors far and near around us, is that of 
 "trampling it under foot," with full proof of its efficacy 
 
THI' PIONEERS I\ CONTRAST. 17 
 
 daily before their eyes. Like him they also " sell the inno- 
 cent blood;" like him they also "touch," but unlike him 
 they go and come again; are incapable of remorse; and 
 having "counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, 
 they do despite to the Spirit of Grace" but whilst fully aware 
 of the consequences of their sin, they still prefer "the 
 wages of iniquity;" "having loved idols, after them they 
 will go;" and falling down before the image of Dura, in its 
 service and defence they are resolved to live and die. — 
 How much more the one is deserving of sorer punishment 
 than the other, and in what degree the sorer, is not for me 
 to determine — but as the sure and certain award of a 
 'perfectly righteous Judge, degrees in crime, will, in due 
 time, be necessarily succeeded by degrees in punishment. 
 
 It would appear, that we may here, with singular pro- 
 priety, quote a sentence or two out of • the sacred volume, 
 as being so remarkably apposite to and expressive of the 
 present character and future destiny of the class of persons 
 more immediately alluded to as above, and who, moreover, 
 profess to venerate the authority of the faithful record, as 
 absolutely incUsputable ; and to regard its declarations as 
 infallibly certain of receiving the most exact fulfilment — 
 as follows : " But he answered and said, every plant which 
 my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted z//)." 
 " Let tliem alone, they be blind leaders of the blind, and 
 if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch — 
 Woe unto you, ye blind guides — Woe, unto you. Chief 
 Priests, which love to walk in long Qawn ?) robes, and for 
 a pretence make long prayers, but whose object is to devour 
 widow's houses; these shall receive greater damnation : 
 — Ye hypocrites, how can ye escape the damnation of hell." 
 
 It is quite certain, although, perhaps, the interesting 
 fact is not by us considered as it ought to be, that we are 
 indebted for a very large proportion of the comforts we 
 daily enjoy, to the constant agency and influence of the 
 
 c 
 
18 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 only two original fluids we possess — it is to water and light I 
 here allude. As it regards results, the letting in of light, and 
 the letting out of water, are in some important particulars 
 very much alike. Both alike tend to cleanse and purify : of 
 each it may with equal propriety be said, it is impossible to 
 tell to what it may lead, or where its consequences will ter- 
 minate. But with respect to the modus operandi, there is, 
 however, between the two agencies, a marked and striking 
 difference ; of the one, it may most truly be affirmed, that 
 of it we can never have too much ; with the other, whilst 
 we may have it in all its divers stages, from sprinkling to 
 immersion, and that over head and ears, even so as to be in 
 extreme danger of drowning, it may be both expedient and 
 advisable to dispense altogether ; at least, however it may 
 suit the interest or convenience of others to let it out 
 upon us, we shoukV not be dragged into it, as it were in the 
 dark, without our consent, as in the case of the babe, being 
 previously obtained; but left to exercise our own discretion 
 on the subject, and that without at all intending to detract 
 from the very natural pureness -and efficacy of the water. 
 
 Yet, in justice to these true and direct descendants and 
 disciples also of Aquarius, I feel myself bound to acknow- 
 ledge, that the instructions left on record by the Master, 
 relative to the promulgation of his gospel throughout the 
 world, and the introduction of individuals into his kingdom, 
 are very clear, distinct, and positive. It is perfectly true, 
 and I am quite ready to achiiit, (although inclined to 
 think that the admission will be considered as coming 
 with a very bad grace, and a still worse intention,) that his 
 faithful servants, were by him required to go into all the 
 world, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
 the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; he himself 
 at the same time assuring them, that " he that believeth and 
 is baptized, shall be saved." 
 
 But it would appear, that however devoted to the palpably 
 
THK PIONKEUS IN CONTRAST. 19 
 
 main and fang/'h/e object of their calling, these artful men, 
 whilst totally blind to the utter absurdity of their dailyprac- 
 tice, as it regards the use of water, are not altogether insen- 
 sible to the total inconsistency of their conduct as it regards 
 not the spirit, but the letter of the instructions handed down 
 respecting teaching; and thus, whilst complying, as they do, 
 after a fashion of their own, and that in a manner most 
 disorderly out of order, (conformably to ancient custom 
 transmitted down to them) with the former, although by far 
 the least important, they have also very recently begun to 
 affect a compliance with the other, and that by far the most 
 important branch of the instructions on the subject, with 
 such condescending kindness given. 
 
 As it is the essential and peculiar property of light to make 
 manifest, even so in like manner will the progress of a spirit 
 of enquiry , freedfrom the restraints of prejudice that is merely 
 educational, prove fatal to the dominion of ignorance, error, 
 and superstition over the minds of men. That the national 
 system agents should have taken so active a part, as they 
 havedone in realisingsuch a state of things is passing strange 
 indeed, — since that act of theirs, whereby the institution 
 of infant schools was carried into operation, is deserving 
 of no other name than that of suicidal. In order to retain in 
 their communion the young ones they instruct, they will find 
 themselves under the necessity of transposing the book 
 of instruction; and thus instead of teach and baptize, 
 it will be baptize and teach, otherwise, being at pre- 
 sent imsophisticated, and with no other object in view 
 than to ascertain the truth, they will very soon be "wiser 
 than all their teachers are," and go, and learn their 
 lessons somewhere else; and thus deprived of recruits from 
 among the rising generation, good bye to, for the end of, 
 the national system, is at hand. 
 
 But whilst this proceeding of theirs, as above mentioned, is 
 decidedly an actoffelode se, it is indeed, no part of our inten- 
 tionto impute it tothem as a cn'we; on the contrary, consider- 
 
 (j 2 
 
20 THE PIONEERS IX CONTRAST. 
 
 ingthe important advantages necessarily accruing therefrom, 
 we rather incline to regard it as a praiseworthy act. So 
 long as they continued to confine themselves to simply 
 letting or doling out the water, the delusion might still be 
 kept up; but having once begun to let in the light, the 
 evil will, in process of time, infallibly correct and cure itself. 
 But herein we clearly perceive how infinitely superior light 
 is to water; yet, whilst we rejoice in the prospect of the 
 beneficial consequences which must necessarily result from 
 such an improved state of things, we cannot but consider 
 the change as reflecting very strongly on the soundness of 
 the understandings of its authors and abettors. But this is 
 quite consistent in the nature of things; for the inordinate 
 "love of money, the root of all evil," once well and deeply 
 planted, a departure from the truth, and a perversion of 
 the mental perception, are the fruits it of necessity yields. 
 Aud this is just what might very naturally be expected 
 among persons in whose estimation the intellectual faculty 
 is become so degraded, as to be, to all intents and pur- 
 poses, efficiently superseded in its functions, by the simple 
 application of a few drops of cold water. 
 
 In the further prosecution and developement of our 
 design, we now proceed distinctly to notice two other 
 most important traits in the character of our Divine Re- 
 deemer, but to which we have not as yet otherwise than as 
 by implication alluded ; and they are, his wisdom and 
 consistency. Not only was all that he did well done, 
 but never man spake like him. Indeed, in his conduct 
 throughout, and that on every occasion, we cannot fail to 
 observe the most consummate wisdom, and the most admir- 
 able consistency. In constantly adapting the means to the 
 end, he pointed out to us the only just B.ndi proper method, 
 which true wisdom dictates, and whereby it may reasonably 
 expect to attain its object. Though possessed of absolute 
 power over the entire creation, both animate and inanimate, 
 yet in all his intercourse with men he never once, except 
 
THE PIONEERS IX CONTRAST. 21 
 
 in the case of bodily infirmity or disease, availed himself of 
 that irresistible prerogative, and then health and strength 
 were restored by a word or a touch. But for the purpose 
 of either guiding the will, or controlling and influencing the 
 passions and affections, he invariably appealed to the un- 
 derstanding of the subject; and if it so happened that that 
 was deranged, he never dealt with it as a free agent, until 
 he had restored its powers to their soundest and most 
 perfect exercise. 
 
 His conduct in this particular was, doubtless, entirely 
 regulated and determined by his intimate knowledge of the 
 absolute necessity there existed for the free and uncon- 
 strained use of this most important faculty in man. He, 
 who recognised it distinctly as a scintilla of the Deity, as 
 a direct divine emanation, was anxious, at all times, to 
 maintain it in its proper, just, and true position. He 
 never uttered a syllable which tended in any way to degrade 
 it, even in the least degree, in the estimation oi mankind; 
 but, perceiving to what an extent ignorance, error, and 
 superstition had taken possession of the minds of those 
 whom he had selected to carry forward and accomplish 
 his designs of love and mercy towards the human race; 
 (and although originally of so lofty an extraction, and 
 endowed with powers -which none but he who gave them 
 can thoroughly comprehend, yet, in consequence of these 
 wretched associations and alliances, how comparatively 
 weak and powerless the invaluable faculty had become;) I 
 say, perceiving all this, he resolves at once to remove the 
 defect, and supply the deficiency. Being about to issue 
 his last and all important commission; in the exercise of 
 his prerogative as Sovereign Lord of All; and as a most 
 indispensable preliminary, he speaks the word — that word 
 which is power in itself, and by it, opens their understand- 
 ings, and pours in a flood of holy, heavenly light. But 
 for what purpose? simply, that they might understand the 
 
SZ THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 Scriptures, and with understandings thus enlarged, ex- 
 panded, and enlightened; and that too by him who well 
 knew what they would have to cope with and encounter, they, 
 like skilful well instructed Pioneers, proceed forthwith to 
 execute their divine commission. 
 
 In reference to any subject whatsoever, the qualifications 
 either required of, or imparted to anyone or more individuals, 
 sufficiently indicate the character of the office to be as- 
 sumed or undertaken, and the nature of the duties to be 
 discharged or performed. To assail and weaken, to remove 
 and annihilate, deep-rooted prejudices, prepossessions, and 
 ill habits, reinforcedandsustained with the powerful concur- 
 rence and aid of evil passions and aifections, and backed by 
 all the force and authority of custom, and the inveteracy 
 of age, was a task of no slight or ordinary difficulty to 
 engage in. But the word of command — "Go, teach all 
 nations," being once given, straightway the champions 
 enter the field of labour, where antagonist powers already 
 were assembled, prepared to dispute with them every inch 
 of the ground, and quickly the conflict begins. But as co;^- 
 ir«s^e<Z with their achievements, the fiercest, stoutest, noblest 
 deeds performed in the fields around bright Water-loo, of 
 truly sad, yet surely glorious memory, were nothing better 
 than mere child's play It was, indeed, a conflict be- 
 tween children of a growth somewhat larger than when 
 they were by means of the dripping cold ledgerdemain 
 touch of the stipendiary churchand state minister oi peace, 
 turned into real christians ; but although congregated, and 
 that to the number of even one hundred thousand, or more, 
 yet having been made christians in infancy, and so well 
 instructed ever since, there could not possibly be any 
 cause for alarm or apprehension as to consequences, even to 
 the trembling friends of jt>eace and the joeop/e. It presented, 
 certainly, a most magnificent array, as comparedwith which 
 the glorious army of martyrs, in the book of prayers so 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 23 
 
 commonly set forth, appears perfectly insignificant, a vast 
 concourse of dutiful, affectionate sons, hastening full speed, 
 to the succour of their poor old mother in distress — self- 
 devoted martyrs, in the cause of maintaining the state 
 church. Hold — I am in error — I hasten to correct it; it 
 should be, defending church and state. 
 
 It is true, that as in the latter case, the matters in dis- 
 pute were purely material; and in the former, as purely 
 mental, as we may very clearly gather from the strikingly 
 graphic description of their equipments given in the words 
 of one of the principal leaders in the contest, when he says, 
 "for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual, 
 and mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong 
 holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing 
 that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God;" and 
 again, when descending still further to particulars, he 
 speaks of "salvation for a helmet; righteousness for a 
 breastplate; truth for a girdle;" the patent "prepared san- 
 dals of peace" as an impenetrable armour for \\iq feet; faith 
 for a shield; the word of the Spirit of God for a sword, 
 (terms all having inference to matters and things of a rather 
 psychological import ;) so it would seem, that they all 
 considered their special appointment and designation by 
 their greatly wise Master, to be in itself a qualification 
 fully adequate to and sufficient for the successful dis 
 charge of the laborious duties of the very perilous ser- 
 vice on which they were about to enter; at least it does 
 not appear that even one of them had received a university 
 qualification ; indeed, I very much question whether they 
 would have understood the meaning of the term university, 
 unless they had considered it as applying to the whole 
 world : and in that case, having received what may, very 
 aptly be termed a roving commission, and viewing the 
 entire universe as before them, they would very natu- 
 rally regard themselves as accredited university teachers. 
 
24 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Accoutred as they were, any thing beyond this perfectly 
 general notion on the subject would have appeared to them 
 utterly absurb, and as only hanging their brains in cob- 
 webs, which to say the least of them, are unsightly, and 
 occasion useless trouble, and a waste of time, by rendering 
 it necessary to send some menial or other with a broom, to 
 sweep them clean away, as tending only to encourage the 
 propagation and increase of disagreeable insects, or perhaps, 
 more properly speaking, venomous reptiles — offensive to 
 the sight — dangerous to the touch. 
 
 But to return : Then with the sound of their Master's 
 voice still fresh in their ears, they enter upon the work 
 of instnicting human minds. But what was the result of 
 their first attempt to teach ? — ^Vhy, no less than three 
 thousand hearts yielded to conviction, and demonstrated 
 the wisdom and consistency of the Master, and the power 
 of his truth. Their understandings once enlightened, they 
 avowed themselves Christians, and were accordingly Z^r/^:*^/~ef/, 
 But among all this large number, there does not appear 
 to have been one single infant. And thus they proceeded 
 on — not according to the tactics of the world's martial 
 heroes, the approach of whose vanguard spreads confusion, 
 terror, and dismay, far and near ; and whose rearguard 
 leaves behind it nothing else but devastation, ruin and 
 despair, fire, blood, and death. No ! in their career, a 
 Tperiect co?itrast to horrors such as these presents itself. They, 
 on the contrary, approach with an offer of the kiss of peace 
 and love ; and that which they found a barren, dreary de- 
 sert ; a waste howling wilderness ; the abode and the lurk- 
 ing place of every unclean bird, and every ravenous beast, 
 they convert into a scene of the most perfect order, har- 
 mony, and joy ; thus subduing without killing; extending 
 their bloodless conquests without inflicting a single wound 
 except on hearts which, according to the record, must indeed 
 be wounded before they can be safely healed : and so 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 25 
 
 universally did success attend their efforts, that within 
 fifty years from the date of the issuing of the grand com- 
 mission, the people and tribes of a territory, equalling, 
 perhaps in extent, the whole of modem Europe, bowed the 
 knee to and confessed their again risen Master to be the 
 Sovereign Lord of all — to the glory of God the Father ; thus 
 affording the most ample, perfect, complete, triumphant 
 illustration and fulfilment of that his most positive assur- 
 ance as well as memorable prediction — "And I, if I be lifted 
 up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Now all this 
 was done in strictest accordance with their Master's instruc- 
 tions, neither have we the slightest reason to suppose that 
 they ever presumed in even one single instance to use the 
 water, until the light had effectually performed its infinitely 
 more important office. But for the uniform propriety of their 
 conduct in this particular, a very sufficient and doubtless, 
 satisfactory reason may be assigned ; viz, they under- 
 stood their Master's orders, and respected his authority, 
 and were moreover free from the taint of covetousness, 
 that odious sin of the modern greedy Midases, who have 
 positively acquired the art of converting even drops of water 
 into gold ; thus furnishing, as they do, not only a most 
 perfect model of, but also an exact living counterpart to 
 the subject of the mere fable of antiquity, and at the same 
 time actually changing it into a present, bright, shining, 
 tangible reality. 
 
 Enough I think has now been said, to demonstrate the 
 wisdom and consistency of the Master. He himself stood 
 pledged to succeed and confirm the effectual teaching of his 
 devoted servants, in their zealous endeavours to fulfil their 
 high commission, with that baptism w hich he alone, and 
 none but he can confer ; viz. the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, consisting in light, purity, and holiness; love, peace, 
 and joy — for it is written, " He shall baptize you with 
 the Hohj Ghost, and Fire.'"' 
 
26 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 As regarded those who might express a wish to be bap- 
 tized with water, they were left to the guidance and exercise 
 of an enhghtened understanding, and of the soundest dis- 
 cretion ; but in proof of the jealous caution with which they 
 guarded against whatever might appear to afford even the 
 slightest encouragement to any thing like an attempt to 
 substitute a few drops of water, for the infinitely more 
 important agency of light, sufficient evidence exists in the 
 reply given by one of their number, to a then recent convert 
 to the Christian faith, an individual of some eminence in 
 his day, and who it would seem was desirous of being bap- 
 tized, in the words following — " If thou helievest, thou 
 mayest" — and which accordingly was done, but without 
 either sponsor, or even specie spent ; whereupon Niger 
 went on his way rejoicing to his mistress in Ethiopia — and 
 Philip the Christian teacher was found at Azotus. I would 
 just observe that the above reply of Philip does not, at least 
 tome, sound very much in favour of the practice of baptizing 
 unconscious babies — the which, if the practice of paying for 
 it were to cease altogether, would most undoubtedly, of 
 itself, altogether cease as a practice. 
 
 Let us now pass from the review we have thus as above 
 taken of the conduct of those who were not only his personal 
 associates, but were moreover favoured with his immediate 
 and direct oral instructions, so illustrative of his perfect wis- 
 dom and consistency, to the consideration of the conduct of 
 the agents of the modern motley system of compoundreligi- 
 ous nationalism, wherein those most portentous colours black 
 and red so fearfully predominate; the one so forcibly remind- 
 ing us as it does of the miseries of war, the other enforcing on 
 us, and that in spite of ourselves, all the horrors of the most 
 callous hearted priestcraft, as exemplified and illustrated in 
 their very honest, zealous, disinterested endeavours to carry 
 into full effect the instructions of Him whom they also call 
 Lord and Master, and whose authority they also profess 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 27 
 
 SO deeply to venerate; and this scrutiny becomes the more 
 necessary, as the result of it will enable us to form some- 
 thing like an accurate opinion as to what they understand 
 by the term Lord and Master, and the meaning they attach 
 to the expression, deep veneration. 
 
 Then with the above mentioned object steadily in view, 
 we cannot do better than commence where they also begin, 
 and that is, with the new-born living subject. And now, in 
 order to demonstrate to us, the extreme urgency of the case, 
 and likewise the danger necessarily arising from the least 
 delay therein, as regards the interesting young one — the im- 
 mediate subject of the all-important transaction ; as well 
 as at the same time to impress us with a most stupendous 
 idea of their extraordinary and most astonishing powers of 
 transmutation ; the innocent babe, before its little peepers 
 have actually as yet beheld the moon twice at full, is brought 
 in at one door of the consecrated edifice, under the desig- 
 nation of, as by those thrice and again newly regenerated 
 (for if regenerate now, it must of necessity have been many 
 times repeated, since they have again and again " denied 
 the Lord that bought them") knaves declared to be, a 
 child of wrath, and, in a few minutes after, the necessary 
 forms and ceremonies required by law having been duly 
 complied with, and the passport fee (the absolute sine qua 
 non as regards the validity of this momentous affair,) well 
 and tinily paid, is carried out at another, a real babe of. 
 grace, being now thereby infallibly destined, in due time 
 to become an assured inheritor of glory everlasting in the 
 kingdom of heaven. Now, if it be tnie, that water has in it 
 so much of potency, as to be capable of effecting such 
 wonders as these, certainly light may be dispensed with as 
 altogether useless ; but still the unen-ing record declares, 
 that " truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for 
 the eyes to behold the sun." 
 
 Let us now attend for a few minntes to that most singular 
 
28 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 and notable document, the formulary of initiation made use 
 of on this most momentous occasion, it being the only stage 
 of the business wherein the party, for whose immediate and 
 likewise ultimate benefit this most important transaction (as 
 by them declared to be) takes place, and its representative 
 so called, but on the subject of whose appointment in its 
 behalf, it has never been so much as even once consulted, in 
 itself, by the by, a most arbitrary proceeding, but still quite 
 in character and keeping with all the rest of it — the only 
 stage, I say, wherein they appear to take any thing like a 
 direct and prominent part — commencing as it does with 
 a most distinct and foriiial recognition of the devil, en- 
 throning the prince of darkness himself in all the plenitude 
 of his power and prerogative, as the god of this world — 
 and that for no other purpose on earth, than to provide a 
 substitute for the indispensable agency of light : but con- 
 descending to take no further notice of his omnipotent 
 superior sovereign Lord and Master, than just to mentionhis 
 name, and scarcely that, at the close of the affair ; thus 
 raising or reducing him, just which you please, to the rank 
 or the station of a minister of Sin, because — the very humble 
 servant of the devil. 
 
 And in this sort of way it is that the instructions of the 
 Master, " Go teach all nations," are by them carried out 
 into full practice and effect. 
 
 As the importance and value of this instantaneous 
 change, effected, as it appears, by means of the miraculous 
 agency of a few drops of water distilling from the points of 
 the fingers of a not altogether deeply disinterested priest, 
 is depending entirely on the fact of the undoubted 
 certainty attending its complete and final security; the 
 rogues have wisely judged it expedient to graft on to the 
 system the idea of the perfect and absolute infalUhility of 
 the prime agents in the transaction; distinctly perceiving 
 that a single failure as to the ultimate issue, must of 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 29 
 
 necessity prove fatal to the trade. This potion, so very 
 grateful and flattering in many points of view to, is, with 
 a very few exceptions, as readily swallowed by those to 
 whom it is administered, without further enquiry as to the 
 propriety or validity of the claim of the parties. The 
 question as to whether or not they themselves sincerely 
 believe it ( thus being, as it were, influenced by principle, 
 such as it is) is scarcely worth our while to stop to enquire 
 and examine into, since it is something more than probable 
 that as the whole affair is with them evidently a matter 
 simply and solely of interest, principle of course is discarded 
 altogether; indeed, in a case wherein such ample interest 
 is secured, they may very well afford to sink the principle 
 absolutely; and judging from their conduct in the affair 
 throughout, such, I have no doubt, is their sentiment and 
 feeling on the subject. 
 
 But with respect to the parties that have been operated 
 upon, the amount of their faith in the final issue of the 
 transaction, is just in proportion to the degree of reflection 
 they bestow on the subject; the few who think at all about 
 it, if not actually horror-stricken at its impiety, perceive, 
 at once the absurdity of the thing, so glaringly apparent 
 as it is in the fact, that the babe, the purely passive subject 
 of it, instead of being the party consenting, nay more, 
 moving in, and inviting to, ay even actually originating 
 it, and which indeed is the only circumstance or ingredient 
 in the affair, that can render it either valid (seting aside 
 other considerations to be hereinafter dwelt upon) as an 
 ordinance, or allowable as a practice, is in reality the only 
 individual present that is totally unconscious of the trans- 
 action: this reflecting few, I say, perceive at once its 
 absurdity, and moreover boiling with indignation against 
 the authors of the delusion which has been practised upon 
 them, they misapprehend the dereliction of principle for 
 the principle in reality — the perversion of the truth. 
 
30 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 for the pure tinith itself — and assail with indiscrimi- 
 nate fury both the guilty and the innocent, confounding, 
 in their rage, things that not only differ in toto coelo, but 
 which now are and must for ever remain at utter and 
 eternal variance with each other. Just as a dog, which 
 has been trod upon, turns round, and in its agony, seizing 
 the first object which presents itself, wreaks its vengeance 
 on the calf of the leg, instead of the foot, the real aggressor: 
 so these discerning persons, having been bitten by the sly 
 mongrel, in the heat of their anger produced by the smart 
 of the wound, and bent on revenge, yet incapable at the 
 moment, of just discrimination, attackbymistake the unof- 
 fending royal mastiff, instead of the mischievous cur which 
 really 6/? them — and in this sort of way it is, the kind Master 
 himself is wounded in the house of his pretended friends. 
 
 But have we not seen the noble, generous spirited 
 creature, far removed from all feeling of resentment, indeed 
 incapable of any sensation of the kind, yet sensible of the 
 difference between the injury that is intentional, and that 
 which is not, but determined at all events to get rid of, 
 and remove from off the face of the earth, such a disgrace 
 to his species, as well as a common nuisance to all around 
 — calmly take the beast up by the nape of his neck, and drop 
 him in, and keep him there, until he had imbibed and gulped 
 down so much of the fluid, that he could stay on the surface 
 no longer, but quietly sank down like lead to the bottom. 
 
 That the practice above alluded to should have become 
 so very general and common as it has, is not at all sur- 
 prising; for it is only one of the many ways, in which men 
 every day, and all the day long, " go about to establish 
 their own righteousness, not submitting themselves to the 
 righteousness of God:" and therefore the frequency of the 
 thing proves nothing, or if any thing, too much, and all 
 against them; affording moreover, as it does, this addi- 
 tional incentive to their perverseness and rebellion, that 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 31 
 
 whilst they gratify their pride, they at the same time are well 
 paid for it, which is quite an exception to the general rule. 
 
 Now surely these inconsiderate, thoughtless people, if 
 they ever knew, must have totally forgotten that the great 
 Master himself is " the author not of confusion, but of 
 order," and that those who introduce confusion and 
 disorder into his affairs, will be held accountable to 
 him, sooner or later, for such their highly criminal mis- 
 conduct. 
 
 In saying that there is nothing that tends to exasperate 
 people so much as the discovery that they have been made 
 the dupes of a system of misrepresentation and falsehood, 
 under the disguise of the garb of religion, I feel persuaded 
 that I am giving utterance to the sentiments of the great mass 
 of my species at the same time that I am expressing my own. 
 This assertion is most strikingly exemplified and illustrated 
 in the conduct of those few, who, upon only the slightest re- 
 flection, as observed above, discover the fraud which men, 
 whose interest it is to deceive, have for so long a period, and 
 that too with the most perfect impunity, practised on the 
 nation at large. Upon the principles of their own system, 
 and it is upon the ground of those principles alone, that 
 the declaration is made ; I say then, upon the principles 
 of their own system, Hume, Bolingbroke, and Paine, and a 
 score more writers of the same stamp, and with similar 
 objects in view, were every whit as good christians as Ca- 
 rolus Londinensis, vel Gulielmus Cantuariensis — arm in 
 arm, all the way from A — g — n to F — 1 — m, as well they 
 may, and truly ought to be, in strictest hamiony joined. In- 
 deed, so far as I can perceive, the real difference between them, 
 as it regards the simple matter of strict principle, viewed 
 as it were in the light of a balancing of account, must be 
 placed entirely to the credit of the former ; for whilst the 
 latter resolved, at all hazards, to advance and secure their 
 worldly interest and advantage, have recourse to a scheme. 
 
32 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 which their understandings, if employed at all on the sub- 
 ject, must clearly perceive at once to be a most rank impos- 
 ture ; the former having no other inducement or object in 
 view but to frustrate the scheme, and prevent its success, 
 most diligently use and exert the discriminating faculty ; 
 (and if not decidedly to their own advantage, is to be attri- 
 buted entirely to those whose gross misconduct has had the 
 effect of confirming them in a rejection of that pure system 
 of heavenly truth, the gospel of the blessed God, even our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, into the merits of whose 
 claims upon their attention they might otherwise have been 
 induced to enquire, and the incalculable benefits of which 
 it might, as a very natural result, have been their happiness 
 accordingly to enjoy,) and laying open the imposture, hold 
 up the impostors themselves, as objects of the contempt 
 and execration they so richly deserve. 
 
 Indeed we may still further say, that whilst in a state of 
 infancy, they all alike underwent that process, by means of 
 which, in consequence of the lofty attribute of infallibility 
 attaching to the operators in the affair, all the benefits 
 necessarily connected with and resulting from their cha- 
 racter and relation, as members of Christ, and children of 
 God, are irrevocably assured alike to them all — and more- 
 over, whenever their mortal career shall by death be 
 brought to a close, they will all, likewise, be alike com- 
 mitted to the very safe custody of their parent earth, by 
 one of the sons of, and in the very words dictated by their 
 own dearest mother, (for notwithstanding, that until 
 within five minutes before the breath had quitted their 
 bodies, they were denounced as most incorrigible infidels, 
 and in about as many more after those very same bodies 
 were interred, their memory was branded with the cha- 
 racter and designation of something worse than atheists, 
 and their spirits consigned to a locality comporting ac- 
 cordingly therewith, yet agreeably to the maxim which 
 
THK PIOXKKRS IN CONTRAST 33 
 
 prudence and self interest combine to dictate, viz. a truce, 
 while the chink is passing, or being got ready to hand 
 over;) and comprised in that well known and most solemn 
 sentence, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and after that, 
 " in hope, of a joyful resurrection to eternal life." 
 
 But any thing beyond or surpassing that most blessed 
 and glorious consummation, and that is, supposing his 
 brightest expectations should be realized, even an arch- 
 bishop does not look for or aspire to. Now Judas was a 
 bishop; for it is on record concerning him, "and his 
 bishopric let another take; " but all parties are agreed 
 in calling him also the arc/z-traitor, so that we find 
 ourselves compelled to come to this conclusion : that Judas 
 when he died, was indeed, I will not say a traitorous, 
 but no doubt, an arch-bis-cop. Then 'tis matter of fact, 
 and no mistake, that o;?e arch-bishop at least, has reached 
 his home in safety. 
 
 But here a rather curious, and no less important question, 
 very naturally arises; viz. — will Judas be, the only A. B. 
 C, thus pre-eminently distinguished I — Why, that of course 
 depends entirely upon character, and it is confessedly 
 a rule of law, or if not a rule of law, most assuredly 
 a principle in ethics; that the amount of criminality, is, in 
 all cases, just in proportion to the degree of evil intention 
 evinced; and the comparative measures of ignorance 
 or of knowledge, exhibited by the parties committing the 
 offence. Now, in both these respects, as we have already 
 shewn, the gentile has decidedly the advantage of the 
 jew; he was the victim of covetousness, 'tis true; but if 
 thirty Jewish pieces of silver, proved sufficient to become, 
 the guilty occasion of entitling him, to the deeply dangerous 
 distinction to which he has attained ; what must be the 
 result, in a case, wherein half as many thousand pieces of 
 Sovereign British gold are concerned. There cannot be 
 the slightest doubt, but, that if the degree of delinquency, 
 
 b 
 
34 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 and sacrifice of principle, bear any proportion to, or are 
 to be actually determined by, the quantity of money 
 involved in the transaction, however we may approve his 
 sentence, we cannot, for the future, but refuse him the pre- 
 eminent distinction of arch traitor; and maintain that he 
 must yield the palm of precedence to those who have 
 become, not merely his rivals, but have actually far 
 outstripped him in iniquity. A palm, which, notwithstand- 
 ing that eighteen long centuries have elapsed since it was 
 first awarded, (a term of possession sufficient to entitle any 
 one to the fee simple of all the British Islands,) would 
 nevertheless be ultimately secured to those who could 
 establish the clearest title, since every claim in that 
 locality, rests on the ground alone of pure and simple merit. 
 A\ e have now reached a point, at which it will be quite 
 as well to pause awhile, and from so commanding an 
 elevation, take a retrospective survey of the ground 
 we have passed over. xA.nd here the first enquiry that 
 suggests itself to the mind is, — Can it be possible that men 
 of such principles and character as those who have thus 
 passed under our review, are appointed to the solemn and 
 important office of Teachers of religion ; the christian 
 religion, I mean — those very simple yet most sublime 
 principles, which the Lord and Master himself, in the 
 exercise of the very purest benevolence, came down to 
 propound to, and enforce on us, for no other purpose on 
 earth, than to emancipate, restore, and bless, what he 
 himself declared to be, an enthralled, a fallen, and 
 perishing world? — Can it be possible that such men are 
 appointed as Teachers of such principles to the community 
 at large? are the people, every seventh day, summoned 
 together, to receive from them instructions upon the 
 subject of the right improvement of the mind and the 
 proper application of its powers, and of moral obligation 
 in all its bearings and relations? Is it likely that the people 
 
THL PIONEERS IX CONTRAST. 35 
 
 who listen to 'them, whilst " for a shew, as well as a pre- 
 tence they make long prayers," and when in the enclosure 
 at the farther end of the Building, performing the most 
 important, as well as in itself, by far the most rational 
 part of their duty, they at the close of the reading of the 
 decalogue, utter the sentence of condemnation on them- 
 selves, as the votaries and devotees of covetousness, can 
 be impressed with any other feelings than those of 
 horror and disgust? 
 
 But even in this most awfully solemn transaction, their in- 
 sensibility to, and contempt for every thing like common 
 decency, betray themselves. In every other Building, 
 except what is called a sacred edifice, the individual 
 whose office it is, in the course of the administration 
 of the law against others, to perform that melancholy 
 agonizing duty, assumes what is considered by people in 
 general, most to comport with the solemnity of the occasion, 
 as indicative of mourning and grief; viz. an entire and 
 totally black dress. But these on the contrary, go down the 
 dance of death, gay as larks, in all, and something more than 
 the colours of the rainbow ; whilst, with far less of meaning 
 in their gesticulations, but infinitely more of magic in 
 their touch; in their blacks, blues, and greens, reds, whites, 
 and yellows, all emblematic of the true spirit of genuine and 
 sincerely papistic antipapal rivalry, they strikingly remind 
 us of the exhibitions of harlequin and his servant, in their 
 patchwork habiliments, dressed out for the occasion. And 
 here, perhaps, it may not be altogether without its use, 
 to say a few words, on the subject of this their most strange 
 partiality to a diversity of colours. 
 
 On the authority of a very interesting Work, (Pictorial 
 England,) now in course of publication, it appears, that "a 
 love of gaudy colours is a natural characteristic of a 
 rude age;" now, since the period in reference to which this 
 assertion is made, above twelve hundred years have 
 
36 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 elapsed ; and although, during that term, the march of in- 
 tellect has certainly effected wonders, as regards the 
 improvement of the taste of the great mass of the people, 
 with respect to that childish fancy, with the simple excep- 
 tion of a very small proportion indeed, of that particular 
 portion of them, known by the peculiarly interesting 
 appellation of the weaker vessels, and a few 7io}}descr}pts of 
 the other sort; yet the church has stuck to its Te.tt, with- 
 out appearing even in the slightest degree, to have flinched 
 or deviated from its purpose. Now this state of things 
 involves the consideration of a fact, which to me appears 
 perfectly unaccountable ; indeed, I cannot but confess 
 myself totally at a loss how to escape from the dilemma. 
 This arises out of the circumstance of the spectacle presented 
 to us on the one hand, of an Listitiitfon, existing for the 
 sole avowed purpose of instriicthtg the people on the sub- 
 ject of religion; (revealed it is, not natural religion that I 
 mean ;) but which is itself, to this day, under the active 
 undiminished influence of all the barbarism, which 
 distinguished and disgraced it twelve centuries ago ; and 
 on the other of a people, who have not only divested 
 themselves of their former ancient, rude, uncouth, ridi- 
 culous habits and propensities, but have even assumed the 
 bright polish of civilization and refinement ; assembling 
 by hundreds, nay, by thousands, and apparently taking a 
 deep interest in those exhibitions and performances, which 
 from the improvement that has taken place in their own 
 views and sentiments on the subject, they must of 
 necessity, on the ground of consistency alone, one and all 
 unite in condemning. 
 
 But I have not, as yet, done with this affair of the colours. 
 The correctness of the sentiment so admirably expressed 
 in the Pictorial, a Work by the bye, which will amply repay 
 the expence of the time and trouble of a perusal of it, and 
 which cannot fail, moreover, to prove extremely interesting 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 37 
 
 to those, who are desirous of obtaining information 
 respecting the clergy and their proceedings; their very 
 strange sayings, and still stranger doings, in times past 
 and olden : is fully established, by the well authenticated 
 occurrences of former, and very ancient times. My readers, 
 no doubt, both old and young, not only well recollect, but 
 have, without question, got completely by heart, the story 
 of poor old Jacob's pet ; who although, doubtless, a good 
 man, was confessedly a plain one ; and that he lived in a very 
 rude age, is sufficiently evident, from the fact of the taste for 
 gaudy colours which then prevailed. But surely the vain 
 old man, (for a rude age is invariably a vain one) just then 
 either entirely overlooked, or very possibly, was never fully 
 aware of the mischevious propensities of horned cattle, 
 when at the instigation of a misguided affection, and to 
 gratify his pride and vanity, he turned out his darling boy, 
 at the imminent hazard and risk of his life, in a dress of 
 many colours, a mountebank complete; for of all the wild 
 beasts of the forest, none have have so mortal an antipathy 
 to gaudy colours as oxen. The dreadful sequel and 
 catastrophe of the affair, is very well known to you all ; and 
 I for one, can quite sympathize in the fond indulgent 
 parent's, self inflicted distress and agony. 
 
 And now good Jacob's all, aye, and kind Rachel's too, 
 only see what sad mischief comes oi petting. 
 
 But this is equally true oi public as of private pets, — for in 
 making a pet, you really do, you do in reality, create a most 
 intolerable nuisance, plague, and pest ; and it is, no doubt, 
 from the circumstance or fact of this most remarkable coinci- 
 dence, that the word pet itself derives its etymology, for by 
 only dropping the 'S', you have it at once ; and this obser- 
 vation and sentiment throughout, applies, with singular 
 propriety, to the whole of the national system. 
 
 Almost every body, now-a-days, knows that it is dan- 
 gerous in the extreme, for a woman, dressed in a cloak or 
 
38 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 mantle of divers colours, to shew herself in a field of horned 
 cattle ; indeed the writer, is very well acquainted with one, 
 who if she had not been pretty quick in the heel, as well as 
 nimble on the toe, would have paidvery dearly for her temeri- 
 ty on such an occasion. But, if a solitary, inoffensive, thought- 
 less woman, so narrowly escaped being most roughly handled, 
 or rather, on the sharp horns dandled, of that very tame 
 creature, poor old Colly the cow ; what must the fate of those 
 monstrous strange party-coloured beings, be, when placed 
 within the reach of vigorous Johnny, the great wild bull, 
 whom they have for so long a time past taken pleasure in 
 uorryhig; but now, at length terrified, or enraged, or 
 determined no longer to endure the sight, or what not, 
 of all their gaudy-gay, but still outlandish frippery. 
 
 It becomes necessary here, merely to enquire, how far 
 the facts of the case justify me in employing the term 
 worried, as I have done just above. The word worry it 
 would seem, is of very extensive signification, and the ideas 
 of disturbing, hunting up, pestering, teasing, vexing, 
 plaguing, harrassing, provoking, distressing, tormenting, 
 seizing, tearing, and many more, are each and all associated 
 with, and comprised in the meaning and use of the term; and 
 suggests to our imaginations the forms of lions, tigers, bears, 
 hyeenas, both crying and laughing; wolves, both out of, and 
 in sheep's clothing; dogs, both noisy and dumb; &c.&c.; but 
 all these ideas, and likewise forms, in the closest possible 
 compact joined, afford but a very faint representation of 
 the disposition, qualities, attributes, and authority of that 
 tremendous national hydra ; the Being arising from, or out of 
 the consolidated amalgamation of the powers and resources of 
 Argus and Briareus united ; when it bestirs itself, and sends 
 forth in all directions, its harpies of every grade, in quest of 
 tithes, rates, fees, dues, and offerings, with a will, either free, 
 or constrained; and whatever else, in the event of a refusal 
 to pay, they can wrap or rend, or grab, or seize, from rich 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 39 
 
 and poor, enforcing the injunction, " he that taketh from 
 thee thy coat, let him have thy cloak also," — after a fashion 
 very remote indeed, as we apprehend, from the intention of 
 its author. There can be very little doubt, but that the re- 
 sult of all these operations is very satisfactory, at least to the 
 parties more immediately interested, if not to all concerned 
 therein ; and leaves them nothing whatever, to complain of, 
 but the effects of extreme repletion and excess. 
 
 In passing along the public streets of this vast overgrown 
 metropolis, teeming with busy silent multitudes, our ears 
 are suddenly assailed with sounds, which caeseless repetition 
 at length renders familiar. On looking round, we observe 
 they proceed, invariably, from men, very possibly not in 
 the highest repute for character, but whose occupation at 
 the same time is not altogether insignificant; for to them 
 appertains the high prerogative of handing both ladies and 
 gentlemen into, and out of the public carriages. We all 
 know something of the force of habit, upon these men its 
 effects are strikingly apparent ; " all right, all right," 
 resounds in all directions, till the whole air is filled with 
 the deafening intonation, completely superseding all other 
 articulate sounds; the monotonous phrase is never re- 
 versed, and the term " right all," the converse of the 
 words, "all right," has not once been heard. 
 
 The expression "all right" has reference, I apprehend, 
 to the state of things inside; for it is usually uttered, 
 whenever the door has been closed upon a fresh accession 
 of inmates or customers ; and as all these machines were, 
 in the first instance, constructed at the entire and exclusive 
 expence of the parties whose property they are, and more- 
 over, are all conducted on the voluntary principle, no one 
 can with any shew of reason, complain of injustice ; as, in 
 the event of using them, he is sure to receive his quid pro- 
 quo; therefore since no one is wronged, it would be absurd 
 to talk of righting any ; and thus, these locomotive 
 concerns furnish, perhaps, the most perfect specimens of 
 
40 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 honest, straightforward dealing, to he met with throughout 
 the country at large. 
 
 It now only remains for us to take quite a hrief survey 
 of the system of management, which, from a very remote 
 period has been, and at the present moment is pursued 
 within, and relative to, the basis of the Establishment, as 
 contrasted with that of the more pojjular vehicles alluded to, 
 as above. Yet, as the capital embarked in these national 
 concerns is so immense, and since there is good reason to 
 believe, that very mistaken apprehensions, or rather the 
 grossest misapprehensions on the subject, very generally 
 prevail ; and although it may not perhaps prove very edify- 
 ing, still it cannot be altogether uninteresting to enquire a 
 little into the nature of the various arts and expedients em- 
 ployed, in the first instance, to get possession thereof, and 
 which have been constantly resorted to ever since, to pro- 
 cure and effect its increase and accumulation. But for 
 this purpose, we must again have recourse to the very valu- 
 able pages of the Pictorial; and whilst unwilling to be re- 
 garded in the light of a plagiarist, thus as it were availing 
 myself of, and appropriating to my own use and benefit, the 
 legally and honestly acquired property and right of another ; 
 yet, being inclined to think, that the few extracts already, 
 or which may herein be hereafter thereout made, relative to 
 the subject before us, are not likely to be productive of 
 any injury whatever to that most admirable work ; I shall 
 offer no further apology for the liberty so taken, than 
 candidly to acknowledge the obligations I am under 
 thereto. 
 
 Then on the ground of the authority of the statements 
 and relations therein contained, is it not evident even to 
 a demonstration, that all those properties, denominated 
 ecclesiastical, have, in the course of their acquisition, from 
 the very first, either been connected with, or actually 
 arisen out of, the fact of the copious shedding of human 
 blood ; and that, frequently, under circumstances of the 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAiST 41 
 
 most horrid and atrocious description; so that there is 
 scarcely an incident, which, as it proceeds, becomes a tale 
 of horror, and finally terminates in a deed of blood, hut 
 what winds up, either in the munificent endowment of 
 some ecclesiastical Institution or other, or in the promo- 
 tion and advancement of a priest of higher or lower degree 9 
 — thus proving, beyond the possibilifi/oia doubt, the reality 
 and intimate character of their relation to him, whose 
 only property in this world consisted in the price, (the 
 pieces of silver) he received in exchange for the innocent 
 blood; and as regards the circumstances under which the 
 various additions and accumulations, which from that hour 
 to the present have by them been eifected ; is it not 
 equally true, that what was begun in fraud, violence, 
 and cruelty, has been maintained and perpetuated by in- 
 justice and oppression ; so that the only means of escaping 
 from protracted persevering persecution, is by at once 
 paying the iniquitous exactions, be they what they may ; and 
 therefore, as the system at the outset, was established on, 
 and has ever since been nourished by, the proceeds of the 
 principle of wrong to all ; it would be the very perfection 
 of absurdity itself, to expect them now to deviate from 
 their course for the purpose of righting any ; indeed, the 
 fair presumption, or rather, the far greater probability 
 appears to be; that with all their characteristic indifference 
 to the rights a?id wrongs of others, intoxicated with pros- 
 perity, and reckless of consequences, they will still urge on 
 their way with increasingly accelerated rapidity ; and thus, 
 choke full of inside passengers, well and closely packed 
 together, and having oil for their wheels enough and to 
 spare; with a ding-dong, dash-along, hi-gee-woe ! the Pa- 
 tent Church and State Omnibus proceeds on to its destina- 
 tion : with a Parson for the Cad, and the Devil for a Driver. 
 As it is not either necessary or expedient, and, moreover 
 would be neither prudent nor safe to follow them any 
 
42 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 further, we shall now just coolly sit down; and leaving them 
 to pursue their career at the already improved, and still ra- 
 pidly improving railway paces, calmly indulge in a few 
 reflections thereon, as follows : 
 
 We commence them by observing, that He, whose autho- 
 rity all the sober-minded, and likewise right-hearted, most 
 cordially unite in distinctly and unreservedly acknow- 
 ledging, has imperatively enjoined it on us, to " Search 
 diligently the Scriptures." Whilst thus complying with 
 this. His most solemn injunction; amongst the many nume- 
 rous and important declarations with which the Sacred 
 Record every where abounds, we find the following most 
 impressive sentence, " For to obey is better than sacrifice, 
 and to hearken than the fat of rams." Then, as connected 
 with our present subject, it now becomes necessary to 
 enquire, after what kind of fashion have those, who so arro- 
 gantly and exclusively assume to themselves the designa- 
 tion and the character of his faithful ministers and obedient 
 servants, complied with the above declaration of the Writ- 
 ten Word ; (mind, I do not say the injunction of the Master, 
 for that being entirely a 'private affair, is necessarily known 
 only to themselves, although from their conduct in general, 
 we may form a tolerably correct opinion also as to that) 
 but with the above declaration of the Word, I ask; either 
 in the Spirit, or even the Letter thereof. How have they 
 complied with it ? — Why, by impudently and impiously re- 
 versing the order of the Master's instnict'ions, and thus 
 setting at nought His aiithoritij : the baneful influence of 
 their pernicious example being aggravated by the circum- 
 stance, that to the perverseness of rebellion, is superadded 
 all the selfishness of the most sordid covetousness ; for 
 whilst they obstinately refuse to obey, they, at the same 
 time, persist in retaining the offering. And now is the 
 time to propound the all-decisive question. Who then are 
 the schismatics now ? — In so very clear a case, since there 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 43 
 
 cannot possibly be any difficulty, so there need be no hesi- 
 tation in answering the question. Then, doubtless, those 
 who disobey the instructions of the Master. 
 
 But to proceed with our reflections, — That the genius or 
 spirit of disobedience qualifies and disposes men for the 
 commission of every evil work, is an assertion so firmly and 
 incontrovertibly grounded in fact, that no one, in his right 
 senses, will, for only a single instant dispute the truth of it. 
 Then, as the decided patron of disobedience ; to the system 
 under review, that most prolific germ of all iniquity, is to 
 be traced and attributed the prevalence of all that depravity 
 with which the land, from north to south, and from east to 
 west, as with a mighty flood, is deluged ; whether, under 
 the denomination of infidelity, dishonesty, vice, and immo- 
 rality, and that in all their protean shapes and forms ; and 
 also the lamentable and alarming absence and dereliction of 
 every thing like sound principle; which, as an overwhelming 
 torrent, is necessarily bearing away before it whatever is 
 morally valuable amongst us, and even threatens the very 
 dissolution of society itself. 
 
 In confirmation of the absolute truth of the above decla- 
 ration, independent of a host of proof from various other 
 quarters, we may appeal, with the most perfect confidence, 
 to the national occurrences and events which have trans- 
 pired within the compass of only the last nine months ; to 
 events and occurrences, involving circumstances and 
 transactions, the hideous features and complexion of which 
 demonstrate not only the enormous power, but the dreadfully 
 mischievous character of the influence possessed by (the 
 abominable makebates of every parish) the entire clerical 
 portion of the people; both of those in, and those out of the 
 peacefully peace-keeping and preserving office ; thus proving 
 the necessity there exists for interposing some effectual 
 check and barrier to its destructive exercise for the future; 
 as doubtless it will, in time to come, continue to be em- 
 ployed, as it has been in time past ; viz. as in their assumed 
 
44 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 character of Ministers of the Gospel of Peace, instigating, 
 enticing, encouraging, under threats urging, to the com- 
 mission of falsehood and perjury, without even the slightest 
 feeling of compunction, all within the range or reach of 
 their dictation, and to regard their most valuable princi- 
 ples and privileges as a mere marketable commodity, thus 
 furnishing a ready solution to that most intricate question, 
 " What shall a man give in exchange for his soul," by de- 
 termining at once how many soi^ereigris it is worth. For 
 surely it is not possible that both the guilty corrupting agents 
 in, and their wretched pitiable victims of, the transaction, 
 can have alike steered completely clear of the conviction ; 
 that both those who offer, and also those who take a bribe, 
 and that too in opposition to the dictates of a sound and 
 discriminating judgment, do really barter away their con- 
 sciences, and actually sell their souls — to whom I need not 
 say. And here we may, with the utmost propriety, again 
 repeat the question, Who then are the scJiismatics now ? — 
 Why doubtless those, who in the assumed character of the 
 professed friends oi peace and truth, become the abettors 
 of, and at the same time, the willing instruments in en- 
 forcing falsehood and perjury throughout the whole extent 
 of the nation. 
 
 Then it really does appear, that, relatively considered, 
 as between priest and people, matters have just now come 
 round again to the same point at which they had arrived 
 some three thousand years ago, when all the evils of the 
 time in which he lived, and all the calamities consequent 
 thereon, were by the prophet, traced to the very same causes, 
 which, in these days, are operating so powerfully, and pro- 
 ducing so freely their natural and necessary effects, when 
 he said, "And there shalt be, like people, like priest, and I 
 will punish them for their ways, and reward them their 
 doings,"* and so on. But the entire chapter should be read, 
 
 * Husca iV; 9, ct seq. 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 45' 
 
 as affording a description indicative of a state of things 
 bearing a most striking coincidence and affinity to the cir- 
 cumstances and relation wherein the parties, predicated 
 as above, stand towards each other respectively at the 
 present day ; and moreover, as at length fully apprizing us 
 of the danger to be apprehended from an over-fed, luxu- 
 rious, and most vicious priesthood; completely demonstrat- 
 ing the extreme folly of having ever allowed them to 
 decimate the entire property of the nation, in addition to 
 the immense wealth which they have surreptitiously and 
 per terrorum secured, in fee simple, to themselves. 
 
 The fact just above adverted to, most forcibly reminds 
 me, that among the very numerous and significantly laconic 
 sayings, wherewith our language abounds, and which, in 
 general, are found so admirably to comprise the multum in 
 parvo ; there is one in particular, which appears to be en- 
 titled to pre-eminent notice, as so fully giving out in its 
 meaning the idea therein involved ; and as a proof that I am 
 not mistaken in my conjectures and apprehension on the 
 subject, I would just mention that even children make use 
 of it, in expressing their sense of the inevitable fate, which 
 ultimately awaits the dishonest acquisition of any thing 
 whatever; indeed, it was by a young one that I last heard 
 it uttered. It is to that very common saying, that " what 
 is got over the DeviTs back, is sure to be spent under his 
 belly,^^ that I now allude. From all the information 
 furnished us on the subject, it does appear that mankind, 
 are, if so disposed, at liberty to avail themselves, of the 
 powerful agency and active co-operation of that evil being ; 
 and that he is particularly constant and unremitting in his 
 attentions to those, who thus identify, and place themselves 
 in communication with him, taking the deepest interest in 
 their welfare, and never abandoning his charge. Then, as 
 the mode in which they originally, as above described, 
 acquired all their uealih, necessarily brings them into the 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 closest possible connection, and communication also with 
 him, ; we may reasonably expect to be constantly meeting 
 with most unequivocal notices of his real presence among 
 them, and of hispersonal and active superintendence of their 
 concerns; and I would here just observe, that the Edifices, so, 
 as above, constructed by means of the funds obtained 
 and placed at their disposal, were all finished in a 
 form, shape and figure, very much, indeed, like unto 
 that of an extinguisher, terminating in a point; an idea it 
 would seem that was taken from b, fashion, said at that time 
 to prevail among ecclesiastics, of adorning the summit of 
 their persons with an article of dress, known by the name 
 of a cap and bells; and which were always hung on the out- 
 side of the cap, for the purpose, as we imagine, of frightening 
 away evil spirits, whose first object always is, to gain 
 possession of the upper story; and though it was 
 perfectly natural that they should have the constant com- 
 pany of the aforesaid evil Being ; yet, as the frequency of 
 his visits might prove to them, both inconvenient and trou- 
 blesome, the advantage derived from the use of the cap with 
 bells to it, suggested to them the idea of, and supplied them, 
 moreover, with a most exact model for a steeple and a chime; 
 thus proving to a demonstration, that he considers himself 
 Director General of all and every such like Establishment. 
 The above relation is given, as descriptive of a represen- 
 tation of one of the edifices above alluded to, as it appears 
 on one of the pages of the Pictoricd, and with only this 
 slight difference ; viz. that the bells therein are hung inside, 
 at least, as we suppose, since they are not to be seen on the 
 outside of the steeple ; but in thus concealing them the in- 
 tention was no doubt, that they might be thereby enabled, 
 with more sure and certain effect to employ them, as a 
 species of flying artillery, in taking the enemy, so to speak, 
 by surprise, a sort of coup de main, as it were. That the 
 view, then, above taken by me on the entire subject, is 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 47 
 
 perfectly correct, is fully confirmed from the fact of what is 
 actually to be observed, mounted on the sphnlle of the 
 steeple; for it is notorious to all, who know any thing at all, 
 of agricultural or horticultural operations, that when the 
 ground has been sown with any valuable kind of 
 seed, that nothing is more common than to stick up what 
 is termed, a scare crow; which is neither more nor less 
 than a dead one of the species,transfixed on the top of a pole, 
 as being the most effectual means of frightening away the 
 living ones of every kind and species, but most particularly 
 of that which is known by the peculiarly appropriate name 
 of black game. Now, that the dark invisible agents, some- 
 where above referred to, have a particular preference and 
 partiality for the upper parts of such like edifices as those 
 above-mentioned, as is the case with jack-daws, up to 
 the present hour ; may be gathered from the circumstance, 
 that for the purpose, as we conclude, of frightening away the 
 living ones of the species, they have actually transfixed a 
 dead devil on the spindle of the steeple ; and there he sitting, 
 is to be seen, very much, as it appears, in the attitude of an 
 old one nursing a young one; and that he has, like a perfect 
 scare devil as he is, fully answered the purpose for which 
 he was placed there, is very evident from the fact of his hav- 
 ing, in conjunctive co-operation with a well-timed discharge, 
 from the bells inside the steeple, succeeded in pitching two 
 demonshead foremost, clean over the battlements of the tower. 
 The greedy, ravenous, sly destructive creatures, had ac- 
 tually got a-head, and would moreover, without the slightest 
 question or even the shadow of a doubt, have succeeded 
 in completely gaining the upper hand too, thus destroying 
 one's hopes and expectations, so far, at least, as they were 
 implicated and concerned, in the productive result of a 
 valuable crop of potatoes; but for an active, vigilant, and as 
 yet unteened lad, who handled the projectile, with some- 
 thing more than merely singular effect, and thus most 
 
48 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 materially reduced the numbers of the animals ; pursuing it 
 as a past time, from morning till night, a long summer's 
 day. And indeed it was quite as well his fancy took that di- 
 rection, as it kept him out of other, and perhaps far more 
 serious michief; for like unto most other boys, he has Hve 
 fingers on each hand, and each of them like a fish hook, 
 drags after it whatsoever it does but touch ; and here I could 
 go into a long history of adventures, but that being quite 
 beside, and indeed very far below my present object ; I for- 
 bear. Now, in this case, as the vermin occasionally showed 
 themselves above the ground, the keen-eyed practised 
 skilful boy, had every advantage ; for no sooner did he get 
 sight of one, than he was instantly, by the swift-winged 
 shot, (as all thieves and robbers ought to be,) on the spot 
 arrested: so that there. scarcely passed a day, without some 
 game being bagged. But what is to be done, when the artful 
 wary creatures never make their appearance on the surface, 
 but with all the vigour and perseverence too, of busy under- 
 mining moles, incessantly carry on their operations 
 underneath, clearing from beneath as they go ? Traps 
 and gins are useless, since they really do appear, to 
 understand for what purpose they are placed there, as well 
 as those that set them. Then can nothing more be done? — 
 Why, if indeed it were practicable to close up all their holes, 
 and thus prevent the possibility of escape at any opening, we 
 might then have recourse to the infallible process of 
 fumigation ; but their under ground passages, tracks, and 
 ways, are so numerous, that even that would, very probably 
 fail of taking full effect. Then, as all further deliberation 
 on the matter,can be nothing better than a mere loss of time, 
 and as the only means of saving what remains of the crop, 
 delay no longer sending in those well instructed, persevering 
 pioneers, thejerrets. Now only just wait a minute or two, to 
 witness the progress and result, of the subteraneous 
 movement. Suddenly they debovche in all directions^ here 
 
TTIE riONEi:H>i IN CONTKAST. 49 
 
 nnd there and everywhere in an instant we realize, a most 
 magnificent and splendid rat hunt. 
 
 The rats we have just now heen speaking of, are such as 
 are known by the name of the large brown, Norway or 
 Danish breed ; and although apparently all of one kind or 
 genus, still they entertain a most mortal antipathy to the 
 little black, or old English rat ; which to avoid the danger 
 of a total and complete extermination, bas been forced to 
 seek sanctuary wherever he could find it ; and this fact 
 clearly proves, not only how well rats understand their tac- 
 tics, but demonstrates, moreover, their extreme cunning 
 and address ; for the ancestors of these brown vermin, ori- 
 ginally came over to this country, in the ships of the very 
 first of the Danish invaders. Now the dominion of the 
 Danish men has long since passed away, but the Danish 
 rats maintain their ground until this very day ; and this, 
 moreover, accounts for the circumstance or fact of the 
 hlacJi ones being found to infest all ecclesiastical structures, 
 even from, and including the spacious cathedral and do\\Ti- 
 wards; and although in the new domiciles wherein they 
 have found shelter, they are associated with swarms of 
 those beings ; who, with the sole exception that they have 
 got but two legs, whilst the others have got four, bear so 
 very strong a resemblance to their relentless persecutors, 
 especially in the insatiable appetite they discover for both 
 agri-and-horti-cultural produce of every kind ; sparing not 
 even the growing crops of any of their neighbours grounds 
 around them, in addition to the stores they have crammed 
 into, and laid up in their own holes, and that even down 
 to, and including that very thorny thing, a single goose- 
 berry bush : yet they still contrive to live together in the 
 most perfect harmony, as being so very much alike as re- 
 gards their nationality of origin, propensities, and habits. 
 Now, as of all living creatures, none are considered so use- 
 less as rats, and as the object of each and all alike seems 
 
50 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 to be, if possible, to exterminate them altogether ; there 
 could not well be a more favourable opportunity for the 
 purpose than when we have got them safe shut up inside 
 a building, which is in all directions so very close and tight, 
 as to be, when the doors and the windows are all fastened, 
 next to being hermetically sealed, Tlien let us make the 
 experiment at once, and fill every nook and corner, as well 
 as the entire body of the edifice, with the fumes oijlre and 
 brimstone; and if that fails to exterminate or dislodge them, 
 there cannot then be even the slightest doubt remaining 
 as to the fact or reality of their lineage and descent ; for 
 there is but one race of beings, at least, so far as we are 
 informed, that is capable of existing, whilst breathing 
 such an infernal atmosphere. 
 
 And now for the third and last time of asking, Who 
 then are the schismatics now ? Why, doubtless those, who 
 in the pretended guise of the friends and promoters of 
 purity, light, and love, have, for the vile and infamous pur- 
 poses of injustice and oppression, robbery, spoil, and plun- 
 der, entered into the closest league and compact with the 
 prince of darkness and malignity himself. 
 
 Then, arguing on the principle of the known and estab- 
 lished relation, one to the other, of cause and effect, we 
 may, from an acquaintance with their character, determine 
 with the most unerring certainty as to the real, fixed, ori- 
 ginal nature of the parties ; and thence conclude, that, in 
 all probability, they would, to all intents and purposes, be 
 practically proof against the very active power, strength, 
 and influence of even fire and brimstone united ; or of any- 
 thing whatever that mere human skill and ingenuity, how- 
 ever well combined and directed, could devise and execute. 
 Then, as in the former case, the ferrets become our last 
 and only remaining resource ; and if not misinformed, or else 
 very much mistaken, it seems there is now, and for some 
 time past, has been, a number of them in constant regular 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 51 
 
 training for this sole and express purpose. Now here it be- 
 comes a very serious consideration, whether or not they are 
 all of them of the right and proper breed. Their number, 
 be it less or more, may very probably amount to a score ; 
 and if they be, as it is to be hoped they are, all of the 
 truest sort, we may expect they will do most surprising 
 execution. But then indeed they ought to be the very 
 bravest that can be found ; for when they enter upon the 
 discharge of their very arduous duties, and commence the 
 active operations of the campaign that is just at hand; 
 they will meet with, and have to encounter such a determi- 
 ned desperate resistance from that dark dense phalanx, 
 that numerous mighty host of the trailing long-trained 
 gentry; reinforced and sustained with detachments from 
 all quarters, of their supporters and adherents, all united as 
 one man, in defence of their ill-gotten gain of every kind, 
 the accumulations, spoils, and stores of ages that are past; 
 as will require all their courage, strength, and resolution 
 to overpower and suppress : and as the only means of aiford- 
 ing security for the future, eifectually and finally to exter- 
 minate and destroy. For simply considered, as regards the 
 right or title to, what has the lapse of thne to do, with any 
 thing that is illegally or unjustly acquired ; indeed, so far 
 is it from being possible for any one to derive a title to the 
 property of another, merely from the circumstance of its 
 being found in his possession, that it is, on the contrary, in 
 itself, prima facie evidence of his dishonesty ; and ought, 
 upon the plain and most obvious principles of equity, to be 
 immediately taken from him and kept in safe custody, for 
 the purpose of being employed, so far as it may be neces- 
 sary or required, in establishing the fact of his fraudulent 
 acquisition of it ; on proof of which, it should be instantly 
 restored to its just and rightful owner ; but allowing the 
 guilty receiver no further compensation or advantage from 
 his either shorter or longer, but still unjust detention of it, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 than the satisfaction of undergoing the punishment he 
 deserves. 
 
 Now as \}a^ ferrets above mentioned were selected from 
 among, and moreover delegated to their work by the repre- 
 sentatives of the people as the best of a very large lot, the 
 eyes of the whole nation are, very naturally, turned towards 
 these delegates. But should it so happen, in consequence 
 of the recent process of selection throughout the country 
 at large, in which those sanctimonious sable-suited servants 
 of the people have taken so conspicuously prominent and 
 disgracefully ixdpahle a part ; — I say, should it so happen, 
 that those elective occurrences and events have had the 
 effect of either totally dismissing them, or merely suspend- 
 ing their operations for the present ; they will doubtless, 
 nevertheless, be very shortly re-appointed, and it is to be 
 hoped, \i possible, rendered even more efficient than before, 
 for the very important service which they have been depu- 
 ted to perform ; but should it so turn out that they are 
 found to be deficient, either in honour or integrity, cou- 
 rage or resolution, then there remains nothing more to be 
 done than for the nation itself to select from among them- 
 selves some right trusty, and approved, well-instructed, 
 persevering, ferretting pioneers ; for be it borne in mind, 
 that pioneers are miners too, and when fully equipped for 
 service, are truly formidable in appearance ; and are in 
 reality, as formidable as they appear to be, when in quest 
 and pursuit of the object that is before them, they, like 
 busy undermining moles, set to a delving, and suffer nothing 
 whatever to arrest or interrupt them in their progress ; 
 until at length arrived beneath the very foundations of the 
 concern, they proceed without delay to deposit and adjust 
 the smutty, granulated, highly inflammable, and as instan- 
 taneously expanding material; and that too in a quantity that 
 is amply sufficient, after having effected their own retreat 
 in safety, to reduce the mighty, overgrown, unwieldy public 
 
 i 
 
THE riOXEERS IN CONTRAST. 53 
 
 nuisance to the confused and undistinguishable mass of 
 worthless rubbish ; thus presenting to full view a most 
 perfect illustration and fullilment of that very fearful vision 
 (the existence of which, in substance and reality, is evi- 
 dently referred to modern times, as shall very shortly be 
 made clearly to appear,) of that most potent and truly 
 Ujranmcal Mon-arch of antiquity : when the gold, and the 
 silver, and the brass, together with the iron and the clay, 
 shall be inseparably and inextricably intermingled in one 
 stupendous and unsightly heap of ruins. 
 
 We now come to the consideration of the practical work- 
 ing of the system, as it regards the mental and moral im- 
 provement of the people with respect to the present life, 
 and their prospects and preparedness for that which is to 
 come ; and here we shall, necessarily and unavoidably be 
 led into some very curious statements. " Facts," they say, 
 *' are stubborn things," and what they say, I do, indeed, 
 believe really to be true ; then it is only with such stubborn 
 things that I here have any thing to do. Now the term 
 /act, from the word factum, means any thing that either 
 has transpired, or may have been done ; thus, for instance, 
 as if I were to say, that on the thirteenth of October the 
 moon was totally eclipsed, or on the 7iinth day of Novem- 
 ber the Queen went in procession to Guildhall. 
 
 For amongst all the varying objects of nature. 
 
 The bright orb of day itself only excepted, 
 There are none, as regards every attractive feature. 
 
 To compare with the two which I have selected. 
 
 But which of the two should precedence take. 
 
 Is a point which the nation alone must decide ; 
 Yet the following incident, so free from mistake, 
 
 Will prove a most accurate, indeed unerring, guide. 
 
 Then, 
 
 'Tls an ascertain'd fact, that the bright Queen of night 
 
 Underwent an eclipse, and so passed away ; 
 But what object in nature can eclipse the light 
 
 Of the brightest, the loveliest Queen of the day. 
 
54 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Now, I do not apprehend that the moon, will ever shine 
 less bright ox froicji, because I thus mention her temporary 
 transient disgrace ; or our lovely Queen look thunder, for — 
 She can as soon the lightning dart 
 
 As be in rolling thunder seen, 
 Both which are alike far from the heart, 
 
 Of our beloved gracious Queen, 
 then I say, nor our lovely Queen look thunder, because I 
 speak of Her as a nation's wonder, progressing through the 
 streets of her own i7nperial city. No, most assuredly not ! 
 Then, in this very general sort of way, I may, I suppose, 
 be allowed to speak of other facts, without being suspected 
 of intending even the least offence to any 07ie ; but should 
 it so happen that such facts should give rise to anything in 
 the shape of gloss, note, or comment, or comment, note, 
 and gloss, it must, indeed, by others, be both made and 
 supplied : since I furnish nothing more than the mere and 
 simple facts of the case. 
 
 As the facts I am about to detail, and thus introduce to 
 your notice, derive all their importance from the conside- 
 ration that they are directly and intimately connected with 
 the purposes and utility of an institution, being part and 
 parcel of a most widely extended and powerfully influen- 
 tial system, of which, if there be one feature more striking 
 and remarkable than another, it is that of its perfect, 
 entire, and complete uniformity, as being under the strict- 
 est and most minute rules and regulations of the most con- 
 stant and vigilant superintendence and controul, jealous to 
 a degree of even the slightest innovation upon, or depart- 
 ure from the principles so generally, rigorously, and impe- 
 ratively laid down, prescribed, and insisted on, for its daily 
 government ; and as they will, moreover, by necessary con- 
 sequence lead us to determine and decide, and that with 
 the most unerring certainty, as to the moral character and 
 tendency, and that in the most general point of view, of 
 the well and deeply managed system above alluded to, it is 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 55 
 
 absolutely indispensible that the most religious regard 
 should be had to truth in the relation of them. But, as 
 the immediate object in view is to point out and deduce 
 the moral, (I will not say religious, for that is altogether 
 out of and beside the question ; indeed it is wrong and 
 absurd in the extreme, even to throw out the idea of reli- 
 gion in connection with the subject;) then, I say, the moral 
 tendencies and results of the very regular and imdeviating 
 course of management which schism has been productive of, 
 and enjoined upon all its votaries, and thus holds up to all 
 the world as the utmost it is capable of ; and, moreover, if 
 it be possible, to rescue the poor deluded creatures from its 
 grasp, and point out to them distinctly the right and good 
 old way. 
 
 The way the ancient prophets trod. 
 And which still further leads to God; 
 Thus breaking the schismatic spell. 
 
 The trodden, hard highway to H 1, 
 
 we shall, necessarily be led to advert to living characters; 
 but still in so very general a sort of way, as to avoid or do 
 away with the propriety or even the possibility of the charge 
 of persoTial allusion ; that is, in that sense of the term which 
 involves the idea of individuality ; yet, as our direct aim 
 and pui-pose is to effect and accomplish the greatest possible 
 good upon the largest possible scale, the fact of the simple 
 circumstance of occasional personality, becomes nothing 
 more than the mere and trifling accident of the subject or 
 thing. 
 
 And now in order to make ourselves distinctly under- 
 stood, and, at the same time, to trace the thing with the 
 utmost certainty and precision, and that even from its very 
 first commencement, we will begin, if you please, with one 
 particular locality. Then, for reasons that are sufficiently 
 obvious, and in a way that is so perfectly general — We 
 will say that it lies due south, or according to the relative 
 
56 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 position of the point or place, whence a view of it may be 
 taken, south by east or west, of a very noble river ; (running 
 east and west of a most stupendous edifice, lying due north, 
 or as above observed of and respecting the locus in quo, 
 north by east or west thereof, and which, moreover, was 
 not only erected in honour of, but likewise consecrated, as 
 it is called, to the memory of a very ancient saint, a native 
 of the city of Tarsus, I believe, and whose name, when a 
 yowig man, was Saul; and, at that time, a most furious perse- 
 cutor of the inoffensive Christians, the only dissenters of 
 those days : and which imposingly massive building is situ- 
 ated, lying, and being, somewhere nearabouts, in the centre 
 of a very large and famous city, which, in very modern 
 times, has been said to be really in truth, as in effect it is, 
 the metropolis of the world. The aforesaid colossal and 
 most splendid erection is, moreover, by some, and that too 
 with a feeling of respect amounting almost to veneration, 
 pronounced to be none other than the cathedral church of 
 the aforementioned city ; and, again, is placed under the 
 special, sole, immediate, and exclusive superintendence, 
 government, and controul of one called Charles ; but his 
 un-or-antichristian name being altogether out of keeping 
 with the present (winter) season of the year, it can answer 
 no useful purpose whatever, just now to mention ; but per- 
 haps we may do so, when green fields and blooming flow- 
 ers not only remind, but also fully re-assure us of the actual 
 and unequivocal return of a kind and genial spring ;) and if 
 not on the very same spot, at least contiguous, adjacent, or 
 very nigh unto a plot of ground, whereon, in former times, 
 men used to be put to death by hanging, being the penalty 
 inflicted on them by the law as the due reward of the 
 crimes they had committed against their fellow creatures : 
 so that I do indeed very much question whether a place 
 that is so dreadfully polluted, could ever admit of being 
 consecrated. However, this is nothing more than merely 
 
THE PIOXEKKS IN CONTRAST, 57 
 
 an idea that is started by the icay, hut still, I entertain a 
 very great respect for my opinion on the subject; so much 
 so, that I think I may safely challenge any one to prove 
 the fact of a dwelling house for man, much less a House 
 of, or for God, ever having been built on a piece of ground ; 
 which, in consequence of its having been used as a place 
 for the public execution of criminals, and those of the deep- 
 est dye, has been, in all ages, held to be accursed : as it is 
 written " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree,'" and 
 the anathema no doubt extends, and, moreover, applies as 
 well to the spot as the subject of the curse. Whether for 
 ever, or not, is more than /can tell. 
 
 Yet there is, confessedly, some little difficulty in deter- 
 mining the point, — Well, be that as it may, still a structure, 
 fair and ecclesiastical, also perfectly clear, and moreover 
 unencumbered, has been reared upon the above-mentioned 
 spot of ground, having within and without a very free cir- 
 culation, and being withal most thoroughly ventilated ; 
 every possible pains and precaution having been used to 
 promote and secure both convenience and comfort ; it has, 
 moreover, this further advantage, that it is uncontaminated 
 by either the actual contact, or adjunctive approach of any 
 human dwelling whatsoever in the occupation, that is, of 
 living subjects, the building the nearest to it being a mau- 
 soleum or two enclosing the remains of those, who at some 
 former period or other, were among the prime gentry of 
 the parish, and although nothing more than receptacles of 
 dead men's bones, yet, as a fair and handsome price was 
 paid for the honour of being deposited so very near the 
 sacred edifice, the church is altogether unconscious of dis- 
 grace, since the only proper and effectual means were em- 
 ployed to avoid giving any, the least offence ; for the rest, 
 it is clean environed with the skeletons of the departed, 
 who rest quiet and contented under much humbler circum- 
 stances ; and then again, outside of all, enclosing church. 
 
58 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 
 
 and bones, and all, is a most substayitial and expensive iron 
 railing, mounted on a very bold and costly granite coping. 
 
 Having thus, with all possible minuteness, detailed to 
 you the very peculiar circumstances of, and attending the 
 particular and most remarkable locality above mentioned, 
 previous to its erection thereon, and the present aspect and 
 appearance, both of the exterior of the building itself, and 
 the appurtenances thereto, the validity of whose consecra- 
 tion, as an unquestionably indisputable fact, may, upon the 
 grounds above stated, be, with the utmost propriety, con- 
 troverted — I now proceed to delineate and describe, and 
 that, if possible, with a still greater degree of accuracy than 
 before, the spectacle which, from time to time, presents 
 itself to our notice in the interior thereof; and I commence 
 by observing, that immediately on entering the place, the 
 tout ensemble is such as to convince one that neither time 
 nor trouble, pains nor expence have been spared in realizing 
 so very comfortable, indeed I may say, perfectly imposing 
 a state of things ; but that which most particularly engages 
 one's attention, is the fact, that by far the majority of the 
 well and gaily plumed and feathered congregation is com- 
 posed, not of that section of the community ; who, as being 
 to a greater degree the subjects of gravity and though tful- 
 ness, might be expected to attend in by far the greater 
 numbers, in a place expressly designed, and on an occasion 
 specially appointed for the discussion of subjects of the 
 most grave and serious nature ; but by that, which though 
 not less, indeed, I may say, far more interesting, is also 
 distinguished by a much larger share of vivacity and giddi- 
 ness than the former — the honnetted portion I mean. 
 
 Now the aforesaid most striking feature of the spectacle, 
 as above described, involves, and that very obviously, a 
 most strange and anomalous discrepancy, and which nothing 
 but the possession of a considerable degree of accurate local 
 knowledge can enable any one satisfactorily to explicate 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 59 
 
 and unravel; but when the very simple reason, which any 
 one possessing such knowledge is capable of assigning, 
 shall be stated, the only seeming difficulty will instantly 
 vanish, and the whole matter appear at once perfectly 
 natural, and completely in character ; then the very simple 
 reason above alluded to, is to be found in the fact, that the 
 more immediate neighbourhood of the dubiously sacred 
 edifice, as aforesaid, is inhabited by an unusually large pro- 
 portion of that indispensably useful class of persons, com- 
 monly called, and indeed very well known by the exclu- 
 sively appropriate name or appellation of ladies' dress- 
 makers, and who, it may fairly be presumed, with a view 
 to, and as necessarily tending to promote the success of 
 their trade, business, or calling, resort thither, and that 
 in very considerable numbers, as to an academy or school 
 of instruction; and as with the sole exception of a few of 
 the tip-top, dashing, leading belles, they, for so perfectly 
 obvious reasons, very naturally shine and glitter as the 
 truly gayest of the gay. To this most notorious fact it is 
 that the building, so exclusively devoted to purely religious 
 purposes, has acquired the character and designation of the 
 milliners^ or mantua makers' church. 
 
 The above description will, I apprehend, be considered 
 as fully justifying me in using the term imposing as I have 
 done above, in reference to the matter so particularly de- 
 scribed ; but the extreme propriety of its application is to 
 be perceived only by those who have actually witnessed 
 the display : when, on surveying it from the entrance of the 
 building, you get that sort of view of it which all experi- 
 enced practical men always have recourse to when they, for 
 example, are about to purchase a valuable horse ; for it is 
 whilst standing, or placed in a position from behind, that 
 they invariably form their judgment as to the powers, ca- 
 pabilities, and usefulness of the animal ; so, in this case, 
 it is from that prime point of sight that the mind receives 
 
60 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 the impression which gives rise to the idea, for what are 
 all ideas, that is to say, correct ones, but the result of 
 impressions, which the mind receives, as being necessarily 
 consequent upon the daily intercourse of the senses with 
 the various objects, matters, and things, into contact where- 
 with, more or less immediate or remote, it may happen to 
 have been brought; the impression then, I say, that 
 originates the idea, which calls forth the expression of the 
 term imposi?ig ; a term, which, although perfectly fit and pro- 
 per to be used in reference to the scene above described, 
 may be also, as rationally, and legitimately employed in the 
 illustration of other subects and ideas, of at least equal, if 
 not, far greater importance as, in due time, shall be very 
 clearly shown. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe, that, on leaving, and 
 when without and moreover clear outside of, the might be 
 holier place, the assembly still exhibits a scene in most per 
 feet accordance with that, which was so very lately witnessed 
 itifhin ; being the attractive centre, and rendezvous of fashion, 
 the most fashionable subjects, as a matter quite of course, 
 become, and that withal, the general themes and topics too 
 of conversation ; and it is indeed truly diverting to hear the 
 remarks which are constantly being made upon this and 
 that particular costume, and the other article of dress, worn 
 by such, and such, and such a one; but the bonnets, and 
 particularly those that wear them, are after all, the principal 
 objects of attraction ; and an observation made in reference 
 to some party or other, (that might have been, mind, I do 
 not say, the only one that really was heard,) is particularly 
 noticeable. "Well, I did hear, this morning, that just such a 
 shape, but onli/one^as that of Mrs. Such-a-one, had been seen 
 yesterday, somewhere or other, at the West-end; but I am 
 truly surprised to see it here, so soon as this; surprised! 
 surprised at what ? Why, dont you know, that it was she 
 herself, who made her debut therein, last night, for the first 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. Gl 
 
 time, at the King's own Theatre? Now all, and much more 
 than all this, as necessarily requiring the light of day, takes 
 place under the eye of the sun. But when sahle mantled 
 night has drawn her dark veil over all things, and made 
 them all so completely of one colour, that is not possible to 
 distinguish one from another, scenes of a very different na- 
 ture, and description too, not unfrequently occur ; and the 
 neat, little, pretty, interesting di-ess makers of Tyburn in 
 the East, seldom find their way home in solitude and 
 altogether unattended, though perhaps only in or by mis- 
 take ; but I shall say no more. I am determined not 
 to indulge in mischievious inuendoes, — and as to scandal, 
 why I hate it from the very bottom of my heart. 
 
 But I can here very readily anticipate the bold and 
 impudent question, with which I shall at once be met. 
 " What have you to do with it, what is all this to you?" I 
 answer then, much every way," — The proportional quota 
 of the demand, (made according to law, I admit,) is un- 
 justly wrung from me in common with all those, for whose 
 direct and immediate interest and advantage, pleasure and 
 gratification these places are exclusively erected ; and I 
 have moreover, a right to express my opinion respecting the 
 direction and management of that, towards the support of 
 which, I am myself contributing, although against my wish, 
 and also to complain that five and twenty thousand pounds 
 of the public money, should be thus worse than wasted, since 
 its outlay realizes to the country, or that particular section 
 of it no greater benefits than those I have just above par- 
 ticularized, — neither does it follow, that because an excess 
 of ignorance discovers itself by a corresponding amount of 
 arrogance and presumption; — that therefore knowledge, in 
 a greater or less amount, is to display itself in nothing but 
 an excess of timidity and indifference ; or that I among 
 others am to take my stand and see the blind leading the 
 blind, and both together falling over the precipice, without 
 
62 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 extending even a hand to effect their rescue, and thus 
 prevent the horrid catastrophe. To those who do not bestow 
 a thought on the matter, the entire subject doubtless 
 appears of no moment whatever; but to those, who, under 
 the influence of right principles, deliberately reflect upon 
 it, such conduct does indeed appear to be highly criminal. 
 I have now just to observe, that as an apology is evi- 
 dently due from me, for having in my remarks upon 
 this most striking example, as determining the character 
 of the entire system under review, so long trespassed on 
 your patience ; so it is freely offered, and I doubt not, will 
 be as readily admitted, on the ground of the necessity there 
 existed, for a full, clear, and distinct understanding of the 
 subject; and as there exists not the slightest doubt as to the 
 fact of the entire uniformity established, and actually sub- 
 sisting betwixt and throughout the various parts and parcels 
 of the aforesaid system ; it becomes on the acknowledged 
 principles of the strictest analogy, a necessarily unavoidable 
 inference, " that the instance before us, affords an exact type 
 and specimen of all the rest." It now only remains for me 
 to state, that as it is a fact, established on the undoubted 
 testimony of history, fvicle siqmj that the upper parts of 
 these edifices,were, in former times furnished and garrisoned 
 as a sort of fortress ; so the idea is still retained and acted 
 upon to the present day ; but as the upper part of the 
 edifice in question, is not, owing to a wish to extinguish and 
 do away altogether with the notion and idea, or even the 
 remembrance of the cap with bells to it, at all calculated 
 for the above purpose, they have actually introduced, and 
 placed in its proper position in the main body of the build- 
 ing, what may not inaptly be termed a piece of artillery ; 
 yet, should it be required, a reinforcemenl to a less or a 
 greater extent may be promptly procured upon an order 
 to that effect being duly dispatched to head-quarters ; and 
 to work them with full effect no where else can hands be 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 63 
 
 found so robust and strong as among themselves — a very 
 natural result with those who have got such strength of 
 stomach : for, except among such people as them, whoever 
 heard of such a thing as a common gull, or else an albat- 
 ross-eater. 
 
 Thus established, endowed, protected, and secured, it is 
 not at all surprising that not only should the bonnetted, as 
 above-mentioned, appear in all the lively gaiety for which 
 they are so remarkable ; but that that section also which 
 continues to assume no other than the undisguised costume 
 of pure unadorned nature, and that whether black or 
 brown, or grey or red, should still wear the appearance of 
 blooming health and vigor; and, as a safeguard and 
 guarantee against any attempt to over-reach them, each 
 well-defined capital is amply stored with wisdom, or if not 
 with wisdom, with abundance at least of that which goes to 
 prove, not the correctness of the sentiment merely, but also 
 the positive reality of the fact, that all extremes at length 
 do meet, and that even from the feet and upivards. And 
 under such favourable circumstances of established supe- 
 riority and most decided advantage they are likely enough 
 to continue, until there comes a change ; but it is a lo7ig 
 lane indeed which never has a turning. 
 
 Then it appears that whilst there is wisdom there is also 
 such a thing in the world ^s folly : and although it is to be 
 met with in the greatest abundance among that class or 
 order of persons, yet folly itself is no monk, delighting not 
 in a state of celibacy ; but its nearest relative, and more- 
 over constant associate, is wickedness, or the very active 
 principle of all and every kind of mischief; indeed they 
 may be said to live together somewhat after the fashion of 
 man and wife, and to have for their natural and necessary 
 offspring every evil work. Now to enumerate each of their 
 hateful progeny by name would be totally impracticable ; 
 but we may just mention that at the head of the list stands 
 
64 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 that act which is nothing less than an attempt to place one 
 half, at least, of a nation in array against the other. The 
 truth of this assertion is to he found in the fact of either a 
 hishop, (or some other vile detractor, by him commanded 
 so to do ; and that in the character of ministers of peace, 
 and promoters of brotherly love) defaming in the mass, 
 and casting the stigma of the deepest odium upon myriads 
 of persons ; beneath whom, in point of fact, however high 
 he may happen to be raised above them as regards the 
 utterly useless grace of a mere empty title, he sinks very far 
 indeed as regards the actual possession of every real 
 Christian grace and virtue. But admitting it, for argument's 
 sake, to be true, that the devil was the first dissenter ; 
 there is another thing that is equally true, and that is, that 
 he will not be the last. For what else is a dissenter, but 
 one who is dissentient from the truth. Now the preceding 
 pages, throughout, abundantly demonstrate to whom that 
 character most strictly applies and appertains ; and by thus 
 at once settling the question, determine also the fact of 
 the same parties being actually co-relative with him who 
 was " a liar and a murderer from the beginning.'''' To 
 keep silence any longer would amount to nothing short 
 of high treason ; for — 
 
 Their elder brother on high has heard the foul slander, 
 
 And, indignant at such a most false imputation, 
 
 Has bid them no longer submit to the insult. 
 
 For his heart's still full of sympathy for the fraternal relation. 
 
 What! though in the first instance 'twas levelled at those 
 
 Who exhibit his spirit whilst bearing his name, 
 
 Yet having adopted them as his own brethren. 
 
 He regards the insult to them as to Himself— the same. 
 
 We can pity, and indeed sympathize with a man who, in 
 the extremity of his distress demands a few pence from 
 another on the highway, at the same time placing his own 
 life in immediate and most imminent danger ; and who, on 
 obtaining his demand, abstains from inflicting any further 
 
TUIC PIONEKUS IN CONTRAST. G5 
 
 injury. But, whilst secured from all danger, only in the 
 fancied strength of his position ; what means the pampered 
 plundering episcopalian slanderer, by coward-like assailing, 
 in the use of offensive epithets, and those employed with no 
 other intention than that of degrading to the very utmost, 
 persojhs, contrasted with whom, as regards the honourable 
 discharge of every private, social, and public relation, he 
 appears in the relative situation of the most JiumUlathig 
 inferiority. What does he mean then, by classing them 
 among the devil's oivn relations ; he is nothing more to them 
 than the accuser of the brethren, and the time, indeed, is 
 not very far distant, when their omnipotent exalted brother, 
 shall put his head beneath their feet ; and thus and then 
 inflict on him, the severest possible vengeance, for all the 
 innumerable wrongs, whereof he has been the wicked wan- 
 ton author. We do, indeed, feel that the law can, without 
 touching his life, easily mete out a degree of punishment 
 commensurate with the offence of the highway-man, the 
 only supposed thief; but the crime of the priest, the 
 actually real delinquent, demands the rigorous infliction 
 of the very highest penalty that public justice itself is ca- 
 pable of awarding. 
 
 But we have still an account to settle with our mitred 
 adversary. Then what, if the venal, hired, careless, cure- 
 less, clerical underling be, after the most wretched example 
 of a number of poor pitiable destitute women, employed in 
 gathering or picking up coals from amongst the mud on the 
 shores of the river, and using them too in lighting up fires 
 wherever his lord may list, for the purpose of scattering 
 fire brands in every direction around him ? Then what, if 
 after having spent sufficient time here to qualify himself 
 for the situation ; he be accordingly, upon his final dis- 
 mission from under the service of his dignified superior on 
 earth ; promoted to the station of chief stoke-hole to his 
 Satanic majesty, as lord-lieutenant of his vast dominions, 
 
 F 
 
66 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 situated in some part or other of the wide expanse of space ? 
 Then what, if in a moment of relaxation from the op- 
 pressively arduous duties of his ardently onerous office, 
 he should turn himself round, and, in all the warmth of his 
 feelings, instantly recognising his old friend and inaster, with 
 honest fervour exclaim — Welcome, welcome, safe arrived, 
 here we both are at last ; old friends, once more happily re- 
 united; but with this very material difference and distinction 
 as between us, viz. that I am vicegerent now ; yet still I 
 was always of opinion that one good turn deserved another, 
 and you very well know, that I have never been found want- 
 ing in gratitude for favours bestowed ; then having selected 
 and kept in reserve for you, a residence suitable to your 
 former rank and deportment ; and, being anxious to con- 
 vince you that I am now as much distinguished for strict- 
 ness of principle, as I have heretofore been for correctness 
 of sentiment and propriety of conduct ; I am indeed truly 
 sorry, — ^but the urgent and imperative nature of the duties 
 of my office only allows me time to say ; that as you are 
 standing quite in the way, pray do, my dear Charley, with- 
 out further delay, just move on ; up to yonder berth that's 
 warmer. 
 
 As second in order, but really first in point of im- 
 portance, we now come to the consideration of the question 
 as regards those benefits of a strictly mental character, the 
 religious advantages, consisting in the implantation of truly 
 christian principles ; and as necessarily contingent and 
 consequent thereon, a preparedness for the life which is to 
 come ; the religious advantages then derived to the country, 
 through the medium of the instructions of the various 
 orders and degrees of men, connected with the system 
 established as above ; and who, if they were only half as 
 attentive to, and diligent in the -performance of the icork, 
 as they are eager for, and vociferous about the pay ; and 
 as efficient in respect of sound principle and sentiment, as 
 
THE mONEKRS IN CONTRAST 67 
 
 they are effective in point of numbers ; would be capable of 
 effecting almost incalculable good. But we must take the 
 thing as we find it, and, in so doing, again have recourse to 
 our old, stubborn, unyielding friends ; plain facts. 
 
 Then as at stated periods he was, and still is, in the 
 habit of doing, as having an interest therein ; the writer 
 could readily mention one, who paid his accustomed visit at a 
 house, but for what purpose it is quite unnecessary further 
 to particularise; when to his extreme surprise as well as 
 regret as not having been previously apprized of his ill- 
 ness, and having left him but a few days before in ap- 
 parently good health ; he found its respected occupier in 
 the very arms of death. The hitherto active tongue re- 
 fused any longer to perform its wonted office, and all 
 articulation was for ever at an end; but that the in- 
 tellectual faculty was not quite extinct appeared sufficiently 
 evident ; for, upon being spoken to, he by an expressive 
 look, accompanied with a simultaneous squeeze of the hand, 
 indicated that he thoroughly apprehended the meaning of 
 the speaker. Upon the very first accession of the no less 
 sudden than fatal attack, the resident incumbent — a term 
 derived, I apprehend, from the word incubus a night mare ; 
 only with this startling difference, as between the original 
 and its derivative, that whereas the unsubstantial ephemeral 
 goblin scares us now and then by night, the dark spectral 
 substance haunts us all the day; in every other particular it 
 coincides exactly with its original : the incumbent then had 
 been sent for, yet notwithstanding that seventy years or 
 more had elapsed since he had been made a Christian, and 
 that by some one or other of his predecessors ; and although 
 it was so perfectly natural that he should attend immediately 
 at the call of one of his flock in distress ; yet up to that 
 very day they had continued total strangers to each other, 
 and all the notice he took of the sick and dying man was 
 to pass by on the other side of the ivay, without even con- 
 
 f2 
 
68 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 descending, only once, to come and look at him ; but three 
 days after he kindly sent the Levite, who came and uttered 
 over him some mysterious words, which were either said 
 or sung, out of an ordinary book ; and then, after pro- 
 mising to come again, departed, but was seen no more : 
 thus leaving it to the poor despised Samaritan to pour in 
 the oil and wine, which he cheerfully did, and would 
 as cheerfully do again and again, and that without either 
 book or pay ; for the tale, though solemn, is a very simple 
 one : and he was amply repaid for all his time and trouble, 
 when he thought he saw the almost motionless eye of the 
 dyhfg sufferer glisten with delight, on only hearing the 
 sound of the glad tidings. 
 
 But where is he ; he who passed by on the other side a 
 most correct and purely passive pattern and example, as 
 well as acknowledged member also, of that most holy 
 brotherhood ; who, while they stigmatize as the great 
 scarlet whore that lewd woman of former times, whose in- 
 dolent, selfish, hard-hearted, pandering, sycophantic vota- 
 ries and ministers they, both in office and in dress, as well 
 as in spirit and disposition so exactly resemble ; entirely 
 forget, how completely they at the same time compromise 
 the honour and character of their own dearest mother, to 
 whom indeed she is so very near akin ? Where is he ? He 
 is gone ! His sensibilities blunted by affluence and ease, 
 he is gone, calmly to lie down in sleek indulgence ; and 
 luxuriate in and batten on the freely afforded resources of 
 surely ueak, but, we still would hope, not deliberately ill- 
 meaning men. 
 
 The above is only one out of hundreds of instances that 
 are occurring everyday, not merely of base indifference to, 
 and neglect of, the common claims of suffering humanity ; 
 but also of the doubly criminal, because deliberate, derelic- 
 tion of the very solemn duties of a most awfully responsible 
 office. But what more, or better, is to be expected of men 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 69 
 
 who engage in the service with a determination to sacrifice 
 every other consideration to the love of gain ; and who, 
 having once entered the lists, start with a lie in their right 
 hand ; and keeping their eye steadily and undivertedly fixed 
 on the goal, wherefrom suspended hangs the object of 
 their strife, a bag containing something more than a mere 
 bone of contention ; but whereon are inscribed, in letters 
 large and legible, the words " filthy lucre ; " in clear view 
 whereof they urge on their career, until at length, seizing 
 the prize, they thus win the race, and so finish their course 
 at the expense of the sacrifice of a conscience seared as 
 with a hot iron ; being thereby, necessarily, made meet to 
 be partakers of the inheritance of something, very different 
 indeed from that of the saints in light. As being not 
 altogether irrelevant to, or unconnected with this feature 
 of the system, how easy would it be here to enlarge ; and 
 (as resulting from a most unfortunate introduction to one 
 of the dark tribe) expatiate on the injuries, personal, rela- 
 tive, and domestic, inflicted by the clerical fugitive, &c., 
 on, and also most severely endured (but whereof the par- 
 ticulars cannot here be stated) by, one who is dearer to 
 another than his own heart's blood ; the bare recollection 
 whereof forces the blood in an instant up to the boiling 
 point ; and is not his name, (but which it is neither con- 
 venient or necessary just now to mention, as the purposes 
 of identity and recognition are, from the bare allusion 
 herein thereunto already made, fally answered,) to be now 
 seen standing in juxta-position with those of some of the 
 most distinguished of his craft ; for any thing that is known 
 to the contrarj-, by some persons at least, not a single whit 
 better than himself; for we are apt to judge of people ac- 
 cording to the company they keep ? This incident, I 
 am fully aware, is herein of no further importance, than 
 merely as serving in illustration of the thing, in a social 
 and moral point of view And is it still to be endured, 
 
70 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 that such men shall be allowed thus to misapply and 
 consume the resources of a country, to an annual amount, that 
 is more than sufficient to defray all the just and reasonable 
 charges, which the various states of Europe require for all 
 the ordinary purposes of good and useful government? 
 Impossible ! It cannot go on much longer ; and while 
 pens, ink and paper are to be procured, and pulsation too 
 goes on, there is at least one head, and also pair of hands, 
 that will not cease to be employed in affording their aid 
 (puny doubtless, yet still employed) in, and towards, the 
 effecting of an object of such incalculable importance, and 
 so absolutely indispensable to the general welfare ; until 
 all impress of the injuries, both public and private, which 
 both in time past have been, and also at the present mo- 
 ment, are being thereby inflicted ; is effectually obliterated 
 and finally lost, in the sweeping away, of the very last re- 
 maining trace, of so palpably iniquitous a system. 
 
 Whilst speaking of such overwhelming super- abundance, 
 my recollection suddenly falls back on a passage in a note to 
 ]Mr. Locke's most splendid Essay on Human Understanding; 
 the same being neither more nor less than an extract from 
 the relation given by a " Divine " (rather singular as well 
 as ominous) " of the Church of England of his voyage to 
 Surat; wherein, speaking of a particular section of the 
 " Hottentots," he has these words — " They are sunk even 
 below idolatry, are destitute of both priest and tem- 
 ple, and saving a little shoiv of rejoicing, which is made at 
 the full and new moon, have lost all kind of religious de- 
 votion. Nature has so richly provided for their convenience 
 in this life, that they have drowned all sense of the God of 
 it, and are grown cfdte careless of the 7iext" To the lat- 
 ter sentence, of the paragraph just cited, it is, that I now 
 most particularly allude ; and to which I accordingly sum- 
 mon your attention, as being so remarkably apposite, and 
 appropriate to, and as appearing indeed so very exactly 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 71 
 
 to fit the parties herein in question ; for, excepting that 
 the one were the inhabitants of the southern, and the other 
 are those of the northern hemisphere, and the mere acci- 
 dent of the interval and lapse of a hundred and fifty years, 
 there is no difference whatever between them ; unless it be 
 in the fact, that the northerns, abounding as they do, in 
 both gold and silver, are on that, and that account alone, in 
 possession of both temples and priests. That the richness 
 o^ the provision has in each, and in both cases alike, been 
 productive of precisely the very same results, the slightest 
 observation only is sufficient to determine — as to this life I 
 mean ; for as to any difference whatever between them in 
 the next, there never was, nor ever can be, the least differ- 
 ence of opinion. 
 
 And now allow me to ask, whether, as respects its design, 
 character, and object, the system itself, as well as its uses 
 and abuses too, be fairly before you or not ; and if, as the 
 undeniable result, it does not become the real and un- 
 doubted source and origin of schism. That its pretensions 
 are uncommonly bold and lofty, it is scarcely necessary to 
 observe ; that they are equally hollow, weak, and ground- 
 less, is not at all the less certain ; and nothing but the 
 force of custom, and the influence of example, aided and 
 encouraged by the presence and power of ignorance and 
 superstition, could ensure to it even one hour's counte- 
 nance or existence among — much less the entire, constant, 
 and active, ascendancy over the minds of men ; although, 
 if only one half of what we have heard respecting the march 
 of intellect were true, we might most reasonably have cal- 
 culated upon a very different state of things ere this ; so that, 
 on the ground of the fact just above adverted to, we ought 
 not to expect much in the way of improvement among the 
 present adult portion of the population, unless very sud- 
 denly indeed enlightened: but we cannot hope to be so very 
 agreeably surprised. Then to the young and rising gene- 
 
72 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 ration, it is, that our views must be directed, as to the 
 quarter where all our hopes and expectations find their 
 obviously natural centre ; for in them are bound up all the 
 prospects oi futurity. Here indeed, if any where, we have 
 the blank paper; and it only remains for us to make, in 
 due time, the proper impression ; or at least effectually to 
 prevent the inscription of improper, because delusive, dan- 
 gerous, and destructive characters and ideas. 
 
 But what a design ! the conversion of the whole of ftie 
 rising generation, " from darkness to light, and from the 
 'power of Satan unto God,''^ and that even to a child. Stu- 
 pendous scheme ! Magnanimous project ! High-minded 
 ambition ! Yet to such a height as this does our am- 
 bition aspire ! ! 
 
 But is it possible, that any one has sufficient presumption 
 to propose to himself such a design ; a design comprehend- 
 ing all the infant intelligence of the whole British empire ? 
 Yes, it is not only possible, but the design itself is actually 
 in progress ; and in order to demonstrate its practicability, 
 as well as at the same time to fulfil and thus relieve myself 
 from an engagementwhichit just now occurs to me as having 
 somewhere above contracted ; I shall proceed by reciting 
 an event, which, as contrasted with the means employed 
 to effect its accomplishment, must have appeared infinitely 
 more impracticable than the object, just above declared to 
 be in view. Then, I ask, is not that image, at sight 
 whereof one of the most indomitable tyrants of antiquity 
 shook and trembled like an aspin leaf, and was troubled 
 beyond measure, an exact type of the national system; 
 presenting to our view, by day as well as by niglit, a pal- 
 pable incorporation and display of that oolossal figure 
 which passed before the affrighted monarch in the visions 
 of his head upon his bed ? And has it not a head of gold, 
 as compared with Neb's, of proportions truly gigantic ; re- 
 quiring moreover to be fed therewith, its appetite for which 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 73 
 
 appearing to be insatiable ? Then, as it wears a truly lovely 
 royal head, comparable unto finest gold, very far indeed 
 exceeding that of Ophir ; aye even that choicest specimen 
 which Queen She-ba-She (her Christian or rather primal 
 name I do not just now recollect), then which fair She-ba- 
 She gave to Solomon ; are not its breast and arms too 
 of superior. 
 
 Yes, superior, I say, for common sense sake. 
 Since, in point oi precedence, they next post do take, 
 then of superior episcopalian silver; so characteristic of 
 their consistency, and emblematical also of their kindred 
 attachment to their great prototype and ancestor in office; 
 who lost his life in an attempt to secure to himself only a 
 comparatively small quantity of that pale death-Yx^e 
 coloured metal ? Its belly and its thighs, the intermediate 
 clergy, do most admirably represent ; for, true to nature 
 still, they really do. 
 
 In point of impudence surpass. 
 
 The belly and the thighs of brass ; 
 
 Which does, as an inferior metal, 
 
 Their relative importance settle. 
 
 But if thus brazen be the inferior. 
 
 Is it less true then of the superior, 
 
 Or do we not, as we upward trace. 
 
 Find them, still more resembling brass. 
 The subordinates forming the orders below, and who, in con- 
 sequence of the /iuties attaching to the main body, being 
 ultimately devolved almost entirely upon them, may, 
 strictly speaking, be termed the legs, are most fitly 
 shadowed forth by the strength of iron; and are to be 
 found of every grade and degree ; till by successive grada- 
 tions, they descend at length to the most luretched su- 
 baltern ; who indeed is sunk so very low, as to be at last, 
 like the toes, degraded down even to the miry clay. 
 
 Now, as regards the instrumentality employed in the 
 
74 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 destruction of this formidable spectre, was there, according 
 to the ordinary apprehension of things, any thing therein, 
 in the least, like the adaptation of means to an end ? 
 Certainly not. For instance ; a piece of granite separates 
 itself from the rock, and by means of an agency altogether 
 unaccountable, proceeds on to the encounter ; and notwith- 
 standing his truly gigantic proportions, and his bright and 
 splendidly imposing appearance, with one stroke, in an in- 
 stant, takes him off his legs ; and down he sinks, on the spot, 
 a most perfect amalgam, inseparable by any known process 
 of analysis : and is quickly dissipated, and finally lost in utter 
 and total annihilation. 
 
 Then what comparison is there, between an insignificant 
 pebble, headless, devoid of hands, and, as a matter of course, 
 we imagine, without intellect, that is, even one single 
 particle of common sense ; and a free agent, complete from 
 head to foot, and with all his natural wits about him, re- 
 inforced moreover with a sincere good will, and disposition 
 to do his duty. But it is no proof whatever of wit, to 
 disclose all one's counsel ; for it is written, that " a fool 
 uttereth all his mind, but the wise keepeth it in till after- 
 wards." Then, for the present, let us spare the toes, and 
 all that is intermediate between them and it, and that for the 
 sake (and for the sake alone) of the very costly head ; for, 
 when once fairly off" his legs, what either is or can any one be 
 fit for. Now, as in the case of David and Goliah, a pebble 
 in the head; and of the stone and the image a pebble on the 
 feet, proved adequate to, and sufficient for, all the purposes 
 of complete and final destruction ; so it is quite possible, that 
 there may be other means of reducing to perfect impalpa- 
 bility, the above most strangely compounded metallic mon- 
 ster. In order finally to extinguish his hopes, and also ul- 
 timately to blot out his very name from under heaven, it is 
 written, concerning one poor devoted wretch ; "icrite ye this 
 man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days ;" 
 
THE PIONEERS IX CONTRAST 75 
 
 that is, extirpate him effectually, but still suffer him to live, 
 and enjoy the delightful prospect before him. So say we of 
 that, whereof " Conlad " of old that " despised broken idol" 
 was the type ; the more than mere modern Minotaur of the 
 north ; whom not even seventy times seven annual living vic- 
 tims can satiate. But are innocent sucking babies, those 
 darlings of the kind, those gems of the species, of so very 
 little value, as to be, with the coolest and most perfect un- 
 concern, abandoned to the monster's grasp; as those in whom 
 we feel no sort of interest, whose welfare creates in us no 
 feelings of anxiety ? Perish the thought. It cannot be. But 
 it can, on the contrary, be resolved, that from and after this 
 very instant not a single infant shall they ensnare ; nor 
 again, without a struggle, secure a subject, over whom they 
 may re-enact their impious doleful orgies ; when, with 
 hearts which have sacrificed the truth to their covetous- 
 ness, and their hands wringing wet, as from the murderous 
 deed, they impudently lift up their faces; and setting their 
 mouths against the heavens, most daringly to his face, give 
 the Redeemer the lie. 
 
 As, arising from our extreme solicitude for little babies, 
 the circumstances of the rising generation very naturally 
 again press themselves on our notice ; and we accordingly 
 feel it to be absolutely imperative on us, to lose no time in 
 taking the necessary steps, towards completely cutting off 
 the communication between the parties ; thus most ef- 
 fectually, as it were, stopping the supplies. It is a singular 
 fact, and one which is entitled to infinitely more considera- 
 tion, than it has ever yet received ; that their strength and 
 prosperity are depending, more on the stability of their 
 union with the young and rising generation, than on all 
 their resources, vast as they confessedly are, in gold and 
 silver ; and moreover constituting, as they do, the sinews 
 of every thing else, that like them assumes an aggressive 
 character; a fact, the above, so very strangely overlooked by 
 
76 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 those who appear indeed to be their opponents ; that one 
 is really more than half inclined, to believe it to be an op- 
 position only in appearance ; since the very simple fact, 
 was most distinctly perceived by a young one, who smiled 
 at the same time that he announced the idea ; as being 
 fully aware of its sure and certain result. Now, in order to 
 detach these interesting young ones, from this most unholy 
 alliance, they must be dealt with as rational agents ; and, 
 to render success infallibly certain, we must begin by 
 gaining access to their understandings, and bringing them 
 to think on the subject : for could they but be induced to 
 lay aside their most absurd prejudices and prepossessions, 
 and keeping their minds still open to conviction, set to a 
 thinking with a hearty good-ioill ; we should very soon 
 succeed in completely alienating them from, and finally 
 dissolving, so mischievous and fatal a connection. The 
 preceding pages, it is true, contain matter, both as to 
 quantity and quality, amply sufficient for such a purpose ; 
 but as it is rather too diffuse to engage the attention of the 
 young, for so great a length of time, as is requisite for the 
 production of the necessary impressions, recourse must be 
 had to something in a more condensed form ; and which 
 will, within the compass of a few or more sentences, con- 
 vey to their minds a correct idea of the subject. It just 
 now occurs to me, that the above design may be most ad- 
 mirably achieved, by means of a catechism, (not that which 
 is national, nor that which is still shorter, but the elder's) 
 or rather a catechetical dialogue ; since there is nothing, 
 in respect of style and form of composition, which creates 
 so great an interest in the mind of a young one, as that 
 which appears in the shape of question and ansiver. 
 
 Previous to entering upon this most interesting colloquy, 
 it becomes expedient, and advisable moreover, to meet and 
 remove out of the way, a few enquiries, or objections; and 
 which may, perhaps, suggest themselves to those fathers and 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 77 
 
 mothers who feel, and that most properly, a very deep con- 
 cern for the welfare of their little ones ; and who have 
 hitherto either imagined, or been taught to believe, that 
 great danger was to be apprehended, from their failing to 
 associate the destinies of their children with the fortunes 
 of the institution in question. Then in order to disabuse 
 your minds, as well as at the same time to silence and 
 remove your doubts and your fears, and also to animate 
 your hopes ; allow me to reply to the question, which you 
 are no doubt, and that very naturally prepared now to 
 put. " Well, but what would you have us do with 
 them ? " Do with them ! why take care of them to be 
 sure, as good and honest guardians of the master's pro- 
 perty ; and as they grow up, which they will if they live ; 
 and as their understandings expand, which they will if they 
 are not idiots ; gradually, just as the bud developes itself, 
 pour in instruction. Yes, even as they are able to receive 
 it. Teach them agreeably with the Master's instructions ; 
 and by way of encouragement, I can, from personal ex- 
 perience, assure you that your labour will not be in vain. 
 In very deed, the Master will honour those, that do in 
 very deed, honour him. But I have yet one word more to 
 say. It surely cannot be necessary for me, to remind those 
 who are parents, that children are very apt to play with y?re/ 
 or to advise them to use every precaution in their power 
 to secure them from danger of that kind ; although, should 
 they escape with nothing more than a slight scorching, it 
 may, for the future, have the salutary effect of preventing 
 too near an approach to mischief of that sort ; according to 
 the true proverb, that " a burnt child dreads the fire." 
 
 Then we will say that fire is, indeed, very dreadful ; but 
 still there is something that is more destructive than even 
 fire ; for may it not be affirmed, and that without fear of con- 
 tradiction, that where there is one child that is destroyed by 
 fire, there are five hundred at least that are drowned : and 
 
78 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 in order to prove how very few escape, for the last half 
 century, we have never once heard it said, that a " drowned 
 child dreads the loaterT But knowing, as I well do, the 
 extreme danger they are in, from too near an approach to 
 that cold liquid substance, and that from more than one 
 occurrence of the kind ; the bare recollection of which, 
 although after the lapse of several years, even now makes 
 me shudder ; you need not be surprised at my earnestness, 
 in urging upon you the necessity, of closely watching their 
 movements, when in the way that leads to that most deadly 
 element. Oh ! never shall I forget his half smothered 
 cries, as the dear little fellow was just about to take his very 
 last dip (and at what rate I sped me to pluck him out of 
 the very jaws of destruction) beneath the mortal fluid ; 
 and, one moment more, not all the united powers of earth 
 could have saved him. Therefore, fond parents, if at any 
 time you should observe in them, only the least inclination 
 to toddle toicards the water, redouble and never relax your 
 vigilance, until you are thoroughly satisfied, they have de- 
 cidedly taken the very contrary direction. Be resolved, 
 never to suffer them to approach the water's edge. I trust, 
 my dear friends, that as you cannot fail, to have felt a deep 
 and lively interest in the issue of the occurrence above 
 stated, as well as being sensible of the correctness of the 
 fact, the relation whereof precedes it, and also of the senti- 
 ment and assertion as strictly deducible therefrom ; so you 
 must likewise, of necessity, perceive the extreme propriety 
 of the view thereof as above taken, as to its use and applica- 
 tion in reference to the system under notice ; but if denied 
 entertainment in your minds, I cannot refrain from de- 
 claring ; that such conduct, on your part, would savour of 
 nothing else but the most wilful neglect and cruelty, as well 
 as absence of every thing like sound sense, discernment, 
 and discrimination ; since it really does appear to me, that 
 there is not sufficient mystery wrapped around it, to serve 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 79 
 
 even as a disguise to, much less as a shroud for, its 
 meaning. 
 
 We now proceed accordingly to lay before you, for your 
 perusal thereof, a catechism ; that is, and most fitly so, to 
 say, A Dialogue Catechetical, and Explanatory of 
 the subject in hand, and intended more expressly for the 
 use of the young and rising generation ; assuming, as it 
 does, the form and shape of a very important, and as we 
 trust, a no less interesting and instructive conversation, as 
 between the elder and his very much younger friend ; and 
 which, it may be hoped, will be the means of throwing 
 not merely a little light on this most dark and gloomy 
 affair, but of likewise inducing a spirit of examination and 
 enquiry ; proving moreover eventually, and that too at no 
 very remote or distant period, the precursor of, and also 
 introductory to, the brightness of the meridian day. 
 
 It commences then with the following very plain and 
 simple question, proposed, as you may perceive, by the — 
 
 Elder. — Do you know, my dear, whether or not you 
 are a Christian? 
 
 Younger. — Yes, I believe I am. 
 
 Elder. — Can you tell me what reason you have, for be- 
 lieving so ? 
 
 Younger. — Because I have either been told, or else have 
 heard say ; that I was christened when an infant. 
 
 Elder. — Can you tell me, my dear, what it is that you 
 mean, when you use the word christened ? 
 
 Younger. — I mean that the parson sprinkled, as I sup- 
 pose, some water on my face, just as I have seen him do to 
 other young ones. 
 
 Elder. — Can you tell me, my love, why water was 
 sprinkled on your face ? 
 
 Younger. — It is the custom, I believe. 
 Elder. — Have you never, my dear, been any further in- 
 structed, as to the use or intention, in so doing ? 
 
80 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Younger. — I have been taught, in the catechism, to say, 
 that I " therein was made a member of Christ, a child of 
 God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; " and 
 that from being a child of wrath, I became a child of grace. 
 
 Elder. — Most surprising eifects indeed, produced by only 
 a few drops of water ! But do you know, my dear, by 
 what authority it was, that all these things were done ? 
 
 Younger — No ; there is not in the catechism, one word 
 about authority. 
 
 Elder. — Then do you, my love, really believe that a few 
 drops of water, so used by a man called a parson, have in 
 deed and in truth made a Christian of you ? 
 
 Younger. — I am taught so to believe. 
 
 Elder. — But by ivhom are you so taught ? 
 
 Younger. — By those who call themselves God's ministers. 
 
 Elder. — Then can you not, my dear, tell me ivhy they do 
 so, or any thing more about it ? 
 
 Younger. — No ; I have never been taught to give any 
 further reason for it. Yet, by God's authority it is, as I 
 suppose. 
 
 Elder. — But would you not wish to know something 
 more about the matter, for it is quite evident you cannot 
 very well know less ; and from what you have already said, 
 it really does appear to me, that all these things are done 
 without any, even the least authority. 
 
 Younger. — I should very much like to know something 
 more about it ; but still I cannot think that it is done 
 altogether without authority ; for except as by, or under, 
 the authority of God, and of God alone, it would certainly 
 be very wicked indeed to teach a child to say ; that by the 
 mere sprinkling of a few drops of water on its face, it was 
 made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an i?ihcritar 
 of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Elder. — That is an opinion quite in character with the 
 natural simplicity of one so young as you are ; but as it 
 
, TtlE PIONERR> IN CONTRAS^T. 81 
 
 would tend so materially to establi-sh and confirm their 
 high pretensions, they would not fail, if it were in their 
 power, to produce their authority ; but, my love, did you 
 never hear, or have you no idea, that the making of a 
 Christian has something to do with money, or money itself 
 to do with the makhig of a Christian ? 
 
 Younger. — Xo, I have no such idea, nor did I ever hear 
 that money was at all concerned in the matter ; for that, 
 indeed, would be neither more nor less than making a com- 
 mon trade of it, and buying and selling in churches, as they 
 do in the public shops ; and that, I am sure, would be 
 verjj wicked indeed. 
 
 Elder. — That is very true, my love, and in making such 
 sure work of it, you are, indeed, quite right ; but all this 
 does no more than only go to prove, how very easily chil- 
 dren are imposed upon by specious professions ; and that 
 while intending no harm themselves, they are not naturally 
 prone to suspect evil intentions in others ; but is it not 
 evident, that while the gift of God is without money and 
 without price, and he neither charges nor exacts from us 
 any thing for travelling on liis highway to heaven, that, 
 in making you pay as they do, these men in black are 
 guilty of the grossest extortion ; for notwithstanding the 
 importance which, they pretend there is attaching to their 
 services, they do not so much as even open to us the gate? 
 
 Younger. — I certainly have read that eternal life, which 
 I suppose to mean the same thing as the kingdom of 
 heaven, is the gift of God through Jesus Christ his son ; 
 and there surely cannot be any thing more free than a gift, 
 so that, under such circumstances, the exacting of money 
 can be nothing short of downright extortion. 
 
 Elder. — Extortion, my dear, you may call it, and ex- 
 tortion it may be ; but whether it be extortion or not, by 
 means fair or foul, the money they will have. 
 
 Younger. — Then, if so. I am sure they cannot be God'.s 
 
 G 
 
82 THE PIONEERS IX COXTRAST. 
 
 ministers ; for they do indeed appear to me, in point of 
 enormity of conduct, very far to surpass that covetous 
 hypocrite, Gehazi, or even Ananias ; and most of all to 
 resemble the traitor Judas Iscariot. 
 
 Elder. — Then having now, my dear, thus fairly chsposed 
 of the question of authority, and ascertained and deter- 
 mined the principle and motive whereby they are actuated 
 and impelled; it may not be altogether uninteresting to us 
 to enquire how it was the matter really did originate, and 
 what were the circumstances whereof they have thus availed 
 themselves for the purpose of promoting their own selfish 
 ends. 
 
 Younger. — I should be most happy, indeed, to hear yet 
 more about it, and am truly thankful for the pains you 
 have taken in thus instructing a poor ignorant child. But 
 I am exceedingly astonished at what I have heard ; indeed 
 did I not know you so well as to be certain that you would 
 not deceive me, I could scarcely have believed that you 
 were telling me the truth. I promise I will give you my 
 very best attention. 
 
 Elder. — Then let us trace the subject from its first in- 
 troduction by John the Baptist. Do you, my love, recol- 
 lect reading the name of such a person in the Bible, and 
 what was the natvure of his occupation I 
 
 Younger. — O yes ; I very well recollect reading in the 
 Testament about John the Baptist, and that it was he who 
 did appear, in the wilderness of Judea, preaching the bap- 
 tism of repentance for the remission of sins ; he baptized 
 with water unto repentance. 
 
 Elder. — You are quite right, my love. He preached 
 that men should repent, and those that repented he bap- 
 tized ; but he refused to baptize those who he knew had 
 not repented, describing them as a " generation of vipei's ; '* 
 and you know it is very dangerous indeed to meddle with 
 such venomous creatures as r/pers. But surely they do 
 
Tlir: PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 83 
 
 not take him for their pattern or authority ; for though 
 John himself was empowered to baptize, he was not au- 
 thorized to confer the same power upon others. 
 
 Younger. — Certainly not. But John's conduct con- 
 demns their practice altogether, for he baptized none but 
 those who had repented ; and whoever heard of a baby of 
 only four weeks old repenting. What can the little dear 
 possibly have to repent of ; for even supposing it to be at 
 all conscious of any thing, it cannot be so of the wrong 
 which it has never done ; and to talk of those repenting 
 who have never done wrong, seems to me, who am but a 
 child, to be not only the most absurd nonsense, but also a 
 very wicked waste of time. Then, the baptism of John 
 was, moreover, perfectly free of expence, for I have not 
 forgot what you told me about the money ; why, if he had 
 been paid at the rate that they are now, he would very soon 
 have made a very handsome fortune ; for, according to the 
 history, he baptized many thousands, so that John and 
 they, throughout, do entirely disagree. 
 
 Elder. — I am, I can assure you, my dear, very much 
 pleased to perceive that you so clearly apprehend, and, 
 from the nature of your answers, evidently feel an interest 
 in the| subject. Indeed I am thoroughly persuaded, that 
 such would be the case with young ones in general, if they 
 only understood the matter as well as you appear to do. 
 
 Younger. — There can be no doubt of that ; for, from 
 the very clear explanation you have given of the thing, 
 children, it appears, are particularly interested in it ; for 
 as the innocence and simplicity of infants is by them, from 
 day to day, perverted and employed in promoting the pur- 
 poses of their cunning craft, so their hopes and expecta- 
 tions for the future, are depending on the ignorance and 
 credulity of children of larger growth. But children, if 
 they live, will become men and women, and being thus as 
 knowing as themselves, neither they nor their little ones 
 
 g2 
 
84 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 will be caught in the snare ; for, whilst harmless as doves, 
 they may still be tcise as serpents, and it is written, 
 " Surely in irdn the net is spread in the sight of any bird." 
 
 Elder. — I am delighted, my love, to find that you not 
 only understand the subject, but are determined, for years 
 to come, to act up to what you so well understand ; and I 
 do, moreover, really think that you seem so alive to the 
 thing, that you will very soon make every little boy and 
 girl of your acquaintance as knowing as yourself. 
 
 Yonnger. — That you may depend upon ; for I have 
 several brothers and sisters, and they are all very fond of 
 me, and will pay the utmost attention to every thing I say 
 to them ; indeed they call me the little chatter box of the 
 family ; and then I have such a number of acquaintances, 
 and such a host of school-fellows ; and simply because I 
 have always something fresh to tell them, as soon as ever 
 they see me, they one and all exclaim, " Here comes little 
 Polly Prate- a-Pace." 
 
 Elder. — Oh indeed ! then, to proceed, my love, with our 
 subject ; we lately parted, as you may recollect, with John 
 the Baptist ; and as the stars do disappear before the rising 
 sun, so John the Baptist retired before his great Master; 
 and at His bidding, the baptism of water yielded to and 
 merged in that of the Holy Ghost ; Christ himself never 
 baptized, but he preached, and he healed, and he went 
 about every day doing good, but, in making Christians, 
 never once used even a single drop of water ; so that we 
 here seek in vain for any thing like authority, or even so 
 much as a precedent. 
 
 Younger. — I well remember reading, that, on one occa- 
 sion, when they brought some little children to Him ; certain 
 rude hard-hearted men (for they must be hard-hearted men 
 that can treat little children with indifference,) that were 
 standing round about, and who endeavoured to prevent 
 their gaining access to him, were very sharply rebuked by 
 
THE PIONEKHS IN CONTRA.ST. 85 
 
 hini, saying, Stand aside, and make way for " the little 
 children to come to me, for of such," even now, " is the 
 kingdom of heaven ; " but not one word did he say about 
 baptizing ; and hoM^ natural was it for those, before whose 
 eyes he had healed the sick, given strength to the infirm, 
 sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the 
 dumb, created food for the starving, and even actually raised 
 the dead, to bring their little children, the children they 
 were fond of, to Him — yes, even " to Him, that he might 
 put his hands upon them, and bless them ;" for after wit- 
 nessing such things as those, what might they not expect 
 that he would do for their little ones ; and that without 
 even thinking, only once about cold water. 
 
 Elder. — Ay, expect indeed, it is true ; but we now come, 
 my dear, to the last parting interview, the occasion where- 
 upon the Master gave his final instructions ; and may I, 
 if it be not taxing your memory too severely, request you to 
 favour me with a description of the meeting, as well as its 
 result. 
 
 Younger. — You allude now, I suppose, to the farewell 
 scene at Bethany ; but you are, I think, expecting almost 
 too much of me, yet being, as I am, so very much gratified 
 by all that you have told me, and moreover sensible of the 
 obligations I am under to you for all your kindness to me, 
 I will endeavour, so far as my recollection may enable me, 
 to comply with your request. Now is it not rather singu- 
 lar that, on this occasion, when giving his very last in- 
 structions, the Master hwuelf should omit all mention 
 whatever of baptism ; particularly as he uses the very 
 words employed when speaking of the baptism of water by 
 John ; for he says, "and that repentance and remission of sins 
 should be preached in his name among all nations," but is 
 totally silent about the water ; which seems to imply that 
 it is not of much importance ? Then most probably it is 
 the historian himself that is in fault ; who, whilst attending 
 
86 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 to the far more important matter of the very solemn 
 charge which the Master himself was giving to his disciples 
 on the subject of teaching, neglected altogether to notice 
 what was said about the water ; but the historian, it ap- 
 pears, is relating not what he himself, but what, some 
 other persons witnessed; if so, then those at least who 
 told him, were either very inattentive to, or wholly in- 
 different about the matter. It is true the word " bap- 
 tized " is used by another writer in his account of the very 
 same transaction, bnt that must be read in addition to, as 
 well as imderstood also in connection with what the very 
 same historian has stated, in reference to that which passed 
 on a former occasion, viz. " with the Holy Ghost and fire ;" 
 certainly not with water. However, be that as it may, 
 they received his positive orders to hold themselves in 
 readiness to enter upon the duties of public teaching ; and 
 having now no more to say or do on earth, whilst engaged 
 in the very act of expressing his undiminished affection for 
 them, he ascended majestically to take his seat on the 
 throne, and assume the reins of universal empire. 
 
 Elder. — Describe it indeed ! I am 7iou:, my dear, not at 
 all surprised that your brothers and sisters should pay the 
 utmost attention to every thing you say to them ; for I 
 cannot express to you the satisfaction and delight with 
 which I myself have listened to your artless narrative, for 
 such I must call it, so consistent too as it is with fact. 
 I see plainly, that you will not fail to make an admirable 
 use of the information you have received. 
 
 Younger. — I do, indeed, feel quite disposed to make 
 myself useful, and this you may depend upon, that if each 
 and every child thought and felt as I do ; there would very 
 soon be an end to the practice of manufacturing Christians. 
 
 Elder. — Much, doubtless, is depending on children in the 
 business ; then let us rest in hope, my dear, and in the in- 
 terval say, that in order of time, the next occurrence that 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 87 
 
 we meet with, in relation to this subject, is that which re- 
 sulted from the preaching of the apostle Peter on the day 
 of pentecost. But there are some singularly remarkable 
 circumstances connected with this transaction, and which, 
 from previous assurances, might very naturally have been 
 expected to take place on the first public occasion 
 which presented itself for the display of the power of the 
 Redeemer, after his ascension to the right hand of the 
 Majesty on high, A very large number, it appears, were 
 by Peter then directed to be baptized, not in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, as en- 
 joined by Christ himself; (which was never once done, 
 either by Peter or any of the rest ; a most gross and wilful 
 disobedience, it would seem, of direct and positive orders, 
 and the more inexplicable too, since Peter himself was 
 present, and heard all that passed on the subject ; but 
 which nevertheless admits of being satisfactorily accounted 
 for, as shall, in due time be made to appear ;) no, but in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and as 
 Peter himself in express terms alledges, for this most spe- 
 cial purpose, that they might " receive the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost ;" His extraordinary influences, the power, 
 without doubt, of working miracles ; for that it has nothing 
 whatever to do, with the matter and fact of our salvation, 
 is perfectly evident from the tenor and drift of the words 
 of Christ himself, when he said, " Dost thou believe on 
 the Son of God ; " and a plain answer in the affirmative, 
 proved absolutely decisive of the object of, as well as con- 
 clusive of the question itself, and that without even the 
 slightest reference to cold water. But the next affair of 
 Peter's, decides the point beyond dispute, and places it at 
 once out of the reach of controversy ; although we should, 
 be extremely cautious without due examination, of placing 
 too much reliance on Peter'' s declarations ; for he was once, 
 on account of his dissimulation (and that not his first offence 
 
88 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 of the kind) very sharply rehuked by his brother Paul ; and 
 notwithstanding, that, like a man and a Christian, he 
 frankly confessed his error, yet it is evident that he was 
 too prone to yield to the mere force of circumstances. I 
 trust, my love, you fully apprehend the object I have in 
 view, in what I have, as above, just stated. 
 
 Younger. — Perhaps I may not fully ; but still I think 
 I can gather from it, that, the employment of (mind, I do 
 not say the use thereof, their simple object and drift therein 
 being so perfectly apparent, from what on such occa- 
 sions may be observed to drift across) the water in the 
 matter, is an affair that is totally distinct from the business 
 of our salvation; that being effected simply and solely by faith 
 in Christ alone ; and, moreover, that it was intended to be 
 confined to the age of the apostles, (and perhaps their im- 
 mediate successors,) in attestation of the authority and 
 powers specially conferred upon them by their risen Lord 
 and Master; being accompanied therein, or rather, the 
 employment thereof being preceded by the communication 
 of the extraordinary gifts and influences of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Elder. — ]\Iost admirable, my love ; all you have said, it 
 is true, was implied in what I had stated ; yet, I did not, 
 I can assure you, expect to hear you carry out the idea to 
 such an extent as this ; but so very clear an explication 
 evinces a degree of attention and acuteness too, without a 
 parallel, or even a precedent, in one so young as you. 
 
 Younger. — Pray, did you not say, that Peter was once 
 sharply rebuked by Paul ! then, is it true that Paul was 
 Peter's brother ? It has to me so strange a sound, I can- 
 not think how it can be. For I was brought up with the 
 kindest of brother's, and have spent whole days in his 
 company; yet though I have sometimes met with rebuke 
 from otJiers, still he has never once rebuked me. 
 
 Elder. — Yes, it is quite true, my dear, Peter and Paul 
 wore brethren ; for the Scripture says, " One is your 
 
THi: nONEEKS IN CONTKAST. 89 
 
 Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren ; " and never 
 did brotherly kindness discover itself in any thing more 
 strongly than in the rebuke which Peter received from 
 Paul ; for it is written, you know, " Thou shalt not suffer 
 sin upon thy brother," that is to say, if thou art under the 
 influence of the true fraternal principle, thou wilt endeavour 
 at all times, to rescue thy brother from the greatest ca- 
 lamity that can possibly befal him. 
 
 Younger. — Oh, now I understand ; then, if at any time 
 my brother .should rebuke me, since I know that he loves 
 me so dearly ; I shall not fail to impute it to the strength 
 of his affection for, and his anxiety to save or defend me 
 from some impending evil. 
 
 Elder. — I am pleased to find, that you have at once ar- 
 rived at the only right conclusion. The next instance as 
 regards the order of succession, is that of the public teacher, 
 or the preacher P]iilip, either title being equally applicable. 
 Now this case is perfectly and absolutely conclusive as to 
 the value and importance of the water. Never did a man 
 manifest a more direct readiness to teach ; never did a man 
 preach with more immediate and powerful effect ; never was 
 gospel more sound, nor the way of salvation made more 
 clear ; and yet not one word, for Philip had actually for- 
 gotten all about the water ; and Niger and Philip would 
 have parted dry shod, had not Niger himself expressed a 
 Avish to be baptized. But never was greater indifference, 
 than that which was expressed by Philip in those two 
 words — " Thou mayest .' " " But dost thou believe with all 
 thine heart"? If so, " Thou mayest." Still I do not en- 
 join it on thee ; being entirely thine own affair, it is left 
 entirely to thyself; yet, " Thou mayest." But that which 
 may or may not be done, is, surely not of very great 
 moment. I cannot but think that the conduct of Philip, 
 in neglecting, as he did, to impress on the convert, the in- 
 dispensable necessity of immediate compliance with what 
 
90 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 some people call a Christian ordinance, must in their esti- 
 mation, appear to have been exceedingly criminal. But 
 after all their noise and clatter, other people will be apt to 
 say, that as it regarded the use of water, Philip himself 
 advised delay. You recollect, my love, that you asked 
 your mamma, if you might go out this morning ; she said, 
 you know, you may if you please, but have you learnt your 
 lesson ? Pray what did you think of that ? 
 
 Yoimger. — Why, I thought, that if the lesson was not 
 learned, mamma would be very angry ; but I might do as 
 I pleased about going out, without offending mamma. 
 
 Elder. — Quite right, my dear ; but we shall now direct 
 our attention to the consideration of the circumstances 
 attending, and consequent upon, the further course of 
 instruction alluded to above, as having been given by 
 Peter ; and as we proceed, we cannot fail to be struck 
 with the fact, that at that early period of the pronmlgation 
 of the gospel, baptism, in all the recorded cases of real and 
 effectual conversion, was invariably accompanied with the 
 communication of supernatural powers, of some description 
 or other ; and it was not until he perceived that his 
 preaching was attended with "demonstration of the spirit 
 and of power," that Peter was heard to say, " Can any man 
 forbid ivater that these should not be baptized, who have 
 received the Holy Ghost as well as toe" It is evident, from 
 the degree of doubt and hesitancy which characterises this 
 question, that serious differences of opinion had arisen, 
 with respect to the propriety of baptism as an indiscrimi- 
 nate practice. There was an obvious abatement of that 
 decided tone of authority, which he assumed on the former 
 occasion, and which cannot be accounted for on any other 
 supposition, than that he himself entertained strong mis- 
 givings on the subject, and which were dispelled only by 
 the miraculous impartation of the extraordinary gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost ; that fact alone determining his conduct 
 
THE PIONKERS IN CONTRAST. 91 
 
 in the business; as otherwise, he would doubtless, have 
 followed Philip's example, and left them entirely to their 
 own discretion in the affair ; and with no other difference 
 than this between them, that whereas Philip preached to 
 only one, so Peter preached to many ; therefore, instead of 
 the singular thou mayest, he would have addressed them 
 in the plural number ; that is, supposing they had proposed 
 the question to him, by saying, ye may, *'• if ye believe with 
 all your hearts," ye may. Then presuming that Peter 
 and Philip agreed in sentiment respecting baptism, and 
 that they were influenced entirely by circumstances, in 
 having recourse to it or not, the above conclusion becomes 
 absolutely unavoidable. As the conversion of Niger was 
 not accompanied with any manifestly supernatural agency, 
 Philip passes by the subject of baptism in perfect silence, 
 and it was only in compliance with his earnest solicitations, 
 and in consequence of his being most solemnly assured by 
 him of his unfeigned faith in the Son of God, that he con- 
 sented at last to baptize hmi. But the case was widely 
 different with Cornelius and his com.pany. They were in- 
 stantaneously, and therefore miraculously endowed with 
 the gift of tongues ; and to that fact alone Peter makes his 
 appeal, in the face of apprehended opposition, plainly im- 
 phed in these words, " Can any man forbid water, have 
 they not received the Holy Ghost," in justification of his 
 conduct in baptizing them. But they were both specialty 
 affairs ; both the agents therein acted by special com- 
 mission ; and it may be useful for those to bear that fact in 
 mind, who have nothing else to plead or alledge, but 
 the grossest usurpation. And now, my love, I trust 
 that in the course of the explication thus furnished as 
 above, you have not failed in some measure to perceive the 
 design proposed in the institute of baptism; restricted, as 
 it was, in its use to special occasions only ; adapted to the 
 peculiar circumstances of the case, as being symbolical of 
 
92 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 the moral effects resulting from the visible and miraculous 
 communication of the extraordinary influences and gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost ; required, and indeed rendered necessary 
 from the fact of the then recent introduction, and conse- 
 quently weak, feeble and depressed state of Christianity, as 
 being confirmatory of its divine origin ; and indispensable, 
 moreover, to the inculcation and maintenance of the authority 
 of those, who were alone commissioned to promulgate it. 
 
 Younger. — I have not, indeed, failed to perceive, that it 
 might be very necessary, at the time when Christianity, in 
 order to its establishment, required extraordinary displays 
 of the power of its author ; and also in confirmation of the 
 fact that the agents by whom it was employed, were really 
 accredited by Jiim. But those important purposes once 
 fully answered, and the necessity which gave rise to it 
 having ceased, the practice itself as a matter of course 
 would be discontinued. Recollecting, as I do, what you 
 told me about its having to do with money, I am not at all 
 surprised that designing, covetous, selfish men should have 
 revived and continued it down to the jiresent time ; but I 
 am indeed astonished beyond measure that whole nations 
 should, for centuries past, have quietly submitted to the 
 imposition. I think I have heard that those were times 
 of great and generally prevailing ignorance, encouraged by 
 the very men who were then, as above, interested in its 
 continuance ; but as light is now every where chasing 
 away the darkness, they cannot possibly much longer keep 
 up the delusion. 
 
 Elder. — It is, my dear, with inexpressible satisfaction 
 that I perceive, I have at length succeeded in bringing 
 you thoroughly acquainted with the subject, indeed I 
 begin to think that you will very soon be capable of 
 giving me instruction in return. Oh, I wish I could engage 
 in the same sort of colloquy with every child in England ; 
 soon, very soon, then indeed would the grateful sound be 
 
TFfE PIONEERS IN CONTKAST. 93 
 
 heard ; Babylon, (or which is much the same,) her very 
 true and faithful representative is fallen, never, never, 
 never, more again to rise. Then as a means of hastening 
 on the arrival of this most desirable event, we will now 
 proceed to ascertain the sentiments, and enquire into the 
 conduct of one, who in point of sagacity and penetration, 
 as well as coolness of judgment, fully equalled if he did 
 not surpass all or any of the men, either of his own or of 
 the present day. The individual to whom I now allude is 
 none other than the highly gifted teacher Paul. So im- 
 pressed was he with a sense of the magnitude of the evil, 
 and the urgent necessity of immediately arresting its pro- 
 gress, that, as claiming precedence of a great variety of 
 other most important topics, he introduces his Letter to 
 the Church at Corinth, with a most severe notice of, and 
 animadversion on, as well as an enumeration also of some 
 of the mischiefs, resulting from the indiscriminate use of 
 baptism. It was then, as it is now, the cause and occasion 
 of schism. Nothing can prove more completely the im- 
 propriety of it as an indiscriminate practice, even at that 
 early period, than the fact that it had already divided men 
 into sects and parties. Therefore Paul denounced and 
 condemned it, in terms at once unequivocal and unquali- 
 fied ; and although he from his heart thanked God, that he 
 had baptized no more, he could not conceal his regret 
 that he had even so many as three or four. Then if it was 
 denounced by Paul, as being productive of nothing but 
 contention, unquestionably it was equally so by Apollos ; 
 and ichy should not Peter entertain the same sentiments 
 respecting it. But Paul tells us plainly it was not in his 
 commission ; for he was " sent to preach the gospel, and 
 not to baptize ;" so that he committed an offence in bap- 
 tizing only one. Then if Paul, by special commission, 
 declared to be the great apostle of the Gentiles, confessed 
 himself to be guilty of gross disobedience of orders in 
 
94 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 baptizing, upon what authority is it that men, who have no 
 commission to shew, presume noio to baptize ? If they are 
 right, then Paul was wrong ; but if Paul spoke the truth, 
 and acted in strict accordance therewith, then they stand 
 convicted before the world, as a set of daringly impious 
 rebels ; but in PauPs case there was nothing like the loss 
 of money, or what now by some are called vested rights, 
 involved in the surrender ; there was no other difficulty 
 except the relinquishment of a mere mistaken notion, to 
 surmount and get the better of; which is a very different 
 case indeed from the one before us. Now Paul, it appears, 
 had a son, and if he be to be believed, a beloved son ; aye, 
 if he be entitled to credit for any thing like sincerity, a 
 dearly beloved son in ihe faith ; a mutual attachment sub- 
 sisting between them, formed and cemented on the broad 
 and deep basis, as necessarily arising out of the very best 
 and soundest principles. Then how comes it to pass, that 
 such fathers and such sons, as Timothy and Paul, are not 
 now more frequently to be met with I The same source is 
 open for the attainment of their principles ; the same faith, 
 the same Master, are equally and alike accessible now as they 
 were then. The reason and the fault then are one and the 
 same, and are both to be found in this very simple circum- 
 stance ; that the cement is not now so good as it formerly 
 was, the art of compounding it having been lost ; fand that 
 notwithstanding the very positive and express injunction 
 of Him, who was at the" same time both the inimitable 
 type, pattern, and example thereof ; and which it was one 
 of his chief objects daily to inculcate and enforce, when he 
 said, " a new commandment I give unto you, that ye have 
 love one towards another;" although doubtless, in one 
 respect the injunction has been most strictly attended to, 
 for it is even noiv (and that God knows) " new " enough ; 
 as we are apt to say, of eggs, milk, and potatoes, which 
 .are also new, simply, because they are just arrived fresh, 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 95 
 
 and particularly of sovereigns, because they (that is good 
 ones) are both recent and scarce ;) for there is now-a-days 
 so much ivater used in the mixing of it up, that its co- 
 hesive property is totally destroyed; and there ensues 
 nothing, but a complete disintegration of all its parts and 
 particles. But in the mixing up of theirs, Paul and 
 Timothy invariably used oil, (for it is written, " he hath 
 sent me to give them the oil of joy for mourning;") and 
 that sort alone which gives to man a cheerful shining 
 countenance, and makes him in perfect good humour with 
 his brother ; just like the modern lithic compo, which with 
 the simple adcUtion of a certain quantity of the proper kind 
 of oil, forms a firm and impenetrable cement, absolutely 
 impervious to water, and presenting, moreover, a beau- 
 tifully smooth, and bright shining surface. Paul, it ap- 
 pears, had known Timothy from childhood, and with all 
 the aifectionate solicitude of the kindest parent, had 
 watched his progress upwards, even to man's estate. As 
 there is no mention made of it, we presume that Timothy 
 7iever was baptized ; but as a matter of much greater im- 
 portance, since some useful purpose, was, no doubt, in- 
 tended to be answered by it, we are informed that he 
 was (somewhat strange in sound, since his father was a 
 Greek) circumcised by Paul ; rather a degrading position, 
 by the bye, for baptism to be placed in, somewhere, but as 
 we are not told, so are we left to guess how far it was, in- 
 deed, below circumcision. However, that being merely a 
 passing remark by the way, I shall notice it no further, 
 but proceed on to say, that there are extant tiDo letters, 
 from Father Paul to his own son Timothy ; each contain- 
 ing most ample and minute directions, relative to the 
 various subjects, matters, and things, connected with the 
 due discharge of the duties of his office, as a preacher of 
 the gospel, and a true and faithful minister of Jesus Christ. 
 In particular, he reminds him of the distinct object of his 
 
96 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 mission, viz. to maintain the purity and simplicity of the 
 doctrines of the gospel, especially cautioning him against 
 " giving heed to fables, which minister questions, rather 
 than godly edifying, which is in faith." He then goes on 
 to say, " that in the last times some shall depart from the 
 faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of 
 devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, commanding to abstain 
 from meats," and so on. I have purposely omitted owe 
 expression, because the practical consequences resulting from 
 an observance of the interdict, although so obviously pre- 
 sent to the apostle's imagination, are of a nature too loose 
 and offensive, to be even further here alluded to, much 
 less prominently introduced to your notice. He then goes 
 on to counsel and exhort him to " refuse profane and old 
 icives'' fables ; " an expression, which, not having ever before 
 been used by him, very naturally at first, gives rise to not 
 a little perplexity in our apprehension of the precise mean- 
 ing of the apostle in using it ; although upon mature re- 
 flection it is found not only entirely to vanish, but as being 
 a matter of daily and almost constant occurrence, even to 
 admit of a perfectly easy and natural explication. Then 
 the plain fact of the matter stands simply thus ; one 
 enters a room in a house called a nursery, and the first 
 object that presents itself to our view, is a grisly old 
 woman called a nurse ; holding in her arms a babe, which 
 made its first appearance on the stage of this world, at the 
 very farthest, only some tJiree or four weeks back. Next 
 to her, on one side, is seated the infant's old grandmother, 
 on the other an old great aunt or two, and who together 
 with a few more old ancient friends, make up and form a 
 complete circle round the babe; and as they are each and all 
 of them the mothers of large families, there is thus formed 
 a perfect party, or junta, of old wives ; and never did a con- 
 clave of popish pandenioniacs with their own Vulcan seated 
 as and for their president, confronted by his deputy with 
 
THE PIONKKRS IN CONTRAST. 97 
 
 hammer, tongs, and poker, for his triple trident, meet at any 
 time (except to concoct and perpetrate a deed of hlood, more 
 or less direct) to determine upon an affair of more deep and 
 dark importance, than that of the aforesaid junta of "old 
 wives." And what is the subject in close consultation and 
 debate whereupon they are all so very deeplij engaged I 
 What is the subject i Why, what else think you can it 
 be, but the near approach of the time for the christening 
 of the baby ? For, say they, since it is determined by 
 some Rev., or very Right Rev. men, that it is a child 
 of wrath, and nothing but water can assuage lis fury, sup- 
 pose it should die before it is christened. " Oh, I cannot 
 endure the dreadful thought, that such a little innocent 
 dear, should be for only one moment longer, in danger of 
 being doomed to undergo the bitter pains of everlasting 
 death ; the never ending torments of ' hell-fire, prepared 
 for the devil and his angels;' but spec iall t/ veserved for 
 such impeniteyit sinners, as unconscious sinless babies 
 needs must be." And there is then a general outburst ; 
 such sobs and exclamations, and the poor distracted mo- 
 ther's voice, loud above all the rest is heard; "Thank 
 God, to-morrow is the day ; for not a wink of sleep shall 
 /get all this night." And so say we too ; thank God, it 
 is all a mere " fable," and not half so amusing and in- 
 structive as that of iEsop's, of the Fox and the Crow, 
 though very similar to it indeed as regards both its drift 
 and its moral. For in each, a cunning crafty fox there is, 
 whining and pining below ; and doting and croaking above, 
 a silly credulous old croiv ; and it is all about the possession 
 of the bit. Or of the Wolf and the Kid ; which it still 
 more closely resembles, in every other respect, as well as 
 in the darkness of its complexion and design ; for, though 
 perfectly secure on the inaccessible craig, from the ra- 
 venous wolf below, with a stream of water running clear 
 between them ; yet if only once induced to come down to 
 
 H 
 
98 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 the water, we ktwir — the innocent kid becomes the prey of 
 the merciless icolf. Then again we say, thank God, for it 
 is nothing more nor less than " a prof cine and old wives' 
 fahle ;" a fiction fabricated by " seducing spirits," a "doc- 
 trine of devils ;" the cunning device of crafty men, " speak- 
 ing lies in hypocrisy ;" of men who, " having their con- 
 sciences seared as with a hot iron," thus justify their 
 motto, that " godliness consists in gain ; " whilst the more 
 effectually to cover their deep and dark design, they 
 assume the daily dress and habit of perpetual grief and 
 mourning. He then proceeds to represent them as produc- 
 tive of " strifes, and contentions, and endless genealogies ;''"' 
 this last expression being most particularly noticeable, so 
 minutely descriptive as it is of the constant and daily 
 custom and usage both of modern and of by-gone times ; 
 when the registry of names without number and without 
 end was most improperly committed to the men above ad- 
 verted to ', even to men, whose inordinate, insatiable, 
 over-ruling love of money, rendered them totally unfit for, 
 as well as unworthy of, the office of doing that, as well as 
 the depositaries thereof when done, wherein the pecuniary 
 interests of the people at large were so completely as well 
 so very deeply implicated and involved. But thank God, 
 one link at least, of the schismatic spell is at length 
 effectually broken, and until the people revert back again 
 to a state of perfect fatuity, never, never, never again to 
 be re-united. Then, in what above is stated, even so much 
 as by implication, not one syllable respecting baptism, 
 does Paul's kind letter to his beloved Timothy contain ; so 
 that the use of water in the affair stands in this most im- 
 portant relation or predicament ; that, whilst Paul con- 
 sidered it to be absolutely indispensable that Timothy 
 should receive the most particular and minute instructions, 
 concerning all matters and things whatever relative to 
 teaching ; he not only would not suffer his own dear 
 
TIIK PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 99 
 
 Timothy to be baptized ; but actually poured such cold 
 indifference and contempt upon the water as not even to 
 condescend to give him so much as only the slightest 
 directions about the baptizing of others. All that has 
 been observed above, respecting the communications of 
 Paul to Timothy his first, is equally and to the full extent 
 true as it regards that to Titus, his second son in the 
 faith, with only this exception ; that he therein makes 
 mention of the icash'mg of regeneration, which, as it has 
 the soiiml of water about it, has not been suffered to escape 
 without attracting their attention ; with such eagerness 
 and assurance do they (as in the case of the rats among 
 the j)Otatoes) presume to invade the rights and properties 
 of others ; and arrogate to themselves the whole and sole 
 prerogative of converting into gold and silver, for their 
 own proper use, that which is simply and exclusively a 
 matter of strictly private and individual concern ; the 
 business of the man's own soul with his maker God. For 
 to what else besides a purely mental process, and that too 
 under the influence of the power and grace of God him- 
 self, as is sufficiently evident from the immediate con- 
 text, can such an expression refer ; since none but down- 
 right fools, or interested knaves, or crafty hypocrites ; but 
 in the making use of such and other like hard names and 
 terms I feel indeed I ought to apologize, for truly in com- 
 mon parlance I never do employ them ; (a quality, which in 
 consequence of their very regular seventh day repetition of 
 the precept, must of necessity be found, and that too in its 
 very highest degree of perfection among the votaries of the 
 national system ; although if not actually chargeable with 
 the guilt of too prompt a payment, yet it is satisfactory in 
 the extreme to know that their credit is, generally speak- 
 ing, considered as undeniably good;) indeed they were ex- 
 pressly coined for, and intended to be used, only on special 
 occasions similar to the present ; for in the ordinary 
 
 h2 
 
100 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 transactions between man and man, they ought always to 
 be reckoned, and rejected too, as something worse than 
 counterfeit ; and never allowed to pass curre?it as good and 
 proper cohi ; but in such a case as that which we have 
 now before us, they become the only intelligible medium 
 which can serve as the legitimate channel for the sure and 
 certain conveyance of our ideas ; yet, nevertheless, I have, 
 and do again, as above, apologize, and will, just as often 
 as you may please to require me so to do ; aye, I will not 
 hesitate, and that advisedly, to declare, that none but 
 downright fools, or interested knaves, or crafty hypocrites, 
 would ever, for one moment only, pretend to say, that the 
 mind of man can be regenerated, by the mere sprinkling of 
 a few drops of ivater on his skin. We are now, my dear, 
 very nearly, I believe, arrived at the conclusion of this 
 most interesting colloquy ; and I fear, from the length of 
 this present article, at the end too, long ago, of your little 
 stock of patience ; yet still I cannot but think, that this 
 eclaircissement has thrown not a little additional light on 
 this very dark affair. I will therefore now release you 
 from the very severe restraint which so long continued 
 silence has imposed upon you ; trusting that the time thus 
 devoted and the attention wherewith you have favoured 
 me, will be amply compensated by the very valuable in- 
 formation which you have now received. But, before 
 concluding, I would just observe, as affording a sufficient 
 reason why they should not only reject his authority, but 
 treat the Master himself with so nnich disrespect ; that 
 nine-tenths of these people are the disciples of one Unit- 
 Ari'us, an old perverse grey-headed devotee; and the re- 
 maining tenth, save and except a few, observe very strictly 
 indeed the injunctions of Anti-nomos, a very ancient per- 
 son of extremely loose behaviour. Yet, although they do 
 thus occupy the opposite extremes, they do again, like all 
 extremes, gradually to each other approximate, and at 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. ]01 
 
 length again do meet, and together do agree, and under 
 different forms of speech, still do, both in effect and in 
 reality too, repudiate the authority of the Master. Thus 
 proving to a demonstration, that in the act of ha'ptizhiif 
 they are not influenced by a paramount regard to Him, but 
 by some other motive, and that no other than the love of 
 money. Then in the hope, that when we meet again, and 
 that before miuch lapse of time, this matter will engage our 
 attention under totally altered, and decidedly improved 
 circumstances — I now beg leave, my dear, to bid you a 
 most kind and affectionate farewell. 
 
 Younger. — Before we part, allow me to assure you, that 
 the perfect silence which I have so carefully observed, has 
 not been for one moment in danger of being interrupted, 
 by any thing like an impatient feeling of restraint ; but 
 that my interest in the subject has so engrossed my at- 
 tention, that I have not, as yet, had time to think 
 about my patience. But never having till now heard 
 those two persons, named ?7w/^-Arius and Anti-nomos, 
 spoken of, I should very much wish to know something 
 more about them, and the opinions likewise, which they 
 entertained. 
 
 Elder. — This curiosity on your part, my dear, is at once 
 so perfectly natural and proper, that I will endeavour in as 
 few words as possible to gratify it ; yet so as at the same 
 time to give you a clear idea of each of them, and their 
 sentiments respectively ; I therefore, in reply, just briefly 
 observe, that Unit- Arms, was one, who under j)retence of 
 securing, undivided and indivisible, the honour of the 
 Deity, spared no pains whatever to undermine the claims 
 cf the " Great God, even our Lwd and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ; " whilst of Anti-nomos it may be said, that in 
 order to demonstrate the superiority of his understanding, 
 as well as his gratitude for being set quite free; he main- 
 tained, that if not alloiccd to do icrong as well as right, it 
 
102 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 was utterly absurd to talk of liberty. But feeling per- 
 suaded that you must now wish to be yourself set free, I 
 again beg leave to bid you, a very kind farewell. 
 
 Younger. — I thank you, very kindly, all the same ; for 
 I can at any time have as much liberty as I want ; but it 
 is not so with knowledge ; besides I very much incline to 
 think that knowledge stands in very nearly the same re- 
 lation to liberty, as it does to power ; so that those who 
 are most knowing, are at the same time also the most free. 
 But I am not a little surprised, that you should, till now, 
 have withheld from me all knowledge whatever of the 
 fact of their having entertained so very great respect and 
 veneration for the memory and sentiments of those two 
 ancient personages; since at the same time that it has 
 most strangely opened my eyes, it has also poured a flood 
 of light on the subject. 
 
 Elder. — Why, I considered, my love, that the commu- 
 nication at any earlier period, would have been quite pre- 
 mature, feeling convinced that whenever it was made, it 
 would be productive of a perfectly astonishing, and truly 
 electrical effect ; and, therefore, having according to your 
 own admission, received the shock as anticipated, let me 
 now recommend you, just to take a gentle walk in the 
 open air, as being not only a very necessary recreation, 
 but as also affording you time and opportunity for cool, 
 and calm reflection on what you have now heard. In the 
 mean time I shall, instead of a most interesting young 
 one, still further proceed to address myself to my felloiv 
 country-wew and women. Therefore, for the third and 
 last time, I bid you, a very kind and affectionate fare- 
 well. 
 
 Younger. — Confessing myself, as I do, perfectly satisfied 
 of the propriety of the reason which you have just now 
 assigned, for having so long delayed making this most 
 important disclosure to me, as well as gratified by your 
 
THIC PIONEERS IN CONTRAST 103 
 
 thus kindly condescending to instruct me, and as I trust 
 also, most materially benefited by the very important 
 lessons which I have received; but anticipating, as I do, a 
 very speedy renewal of our most agreeable and useful con- 
 versation so recently concluded ; I shall do no more, now, 
 than just bid you, for the present ; good bye. 
 
 My Address then is to the reflecting, candid, liberal 
 portion of the people of England ; old and young, rich and 
 poor, from the monarch on the throne, down to and in- 
 clus'we of the pauper in the parish workhouse, partaking 
 of the daily parochial ordinary, provided at the people's 
 expense, for the people at large. But who is 7iext to be ad- 
 mitted thereto, it is impossible to say ; doubtless, some one 
 or other of those who now are out. Then there cannot be 
 any impropriety whatever, in addressing my speech to the 
 generous, kind, discermng English people, one and all to- 
 gether, (save and except her Majesty,) 
 
 Respected Fellow Subjects, 
 
 The subject whereon I am now about to address you, 
 and that with as little waste of words as possible, I shall 
 take the liberty of laying before you, in the shape of bold 
 and striking contrast. Then we have, as you well know, 
 lately lost one, but the record, as you also know, tells us 
 that " there is another King, one Jesus ;" thus plainly de- 
 claring that King to be a Saviour, and at the same time, 
 presenting us in his own person, with a very bold and 
 striking contrast. For whereas when on earth, at the very 
 lowest point he was of degradation, for of Him it was truly 
 written, " a iDorm I am and 7io man ; King of Kings, and 
 Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning 
 and the ending, the first and the last, on higJi now he 
 reigns." This King we shall never lose. For as is the 
 *' Uirone " which he occupies, so is lie who sits upon it. 
 
104 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 *' eternal in the heavens" But in His kingdom as in all 
 others, their are numerous gradations ; thus nearest the 
 throne, are seated, the princes of the hlood royal; and on 
 the ground alone, it is, as I imagine, of the supposed right 
 of priority and precedence, that Peter himself is by some 
 called the Prince of the Apostles ; so that we are here 
 again presented with a hold and striking contrast ; raised 
 from the very humble occupation of Simon the poor fisher- 
 man, to the high and lofty rank and station of a prince of 
 the hlood royal, near his Masters throne. But how comes 
 it to pass that Paul too is not a prince, as well as his 
 brother Peter, for the faithful record declares that he "was 
 not a whit beJiind the very chiefest of the apostles,^'' 
 therein, doubtless, alluding to Peter ; and he that is not 
 a uhit behind, runs, to say the least, an equal chance, of 
 being in the first ; at all events, it may be called a neck 
 and neck affair; that is, an eve7i heat. Then may we not 
 suspect foul play, or else an undue preference given ; for if, 
 on the ground of good character and conduct, as well as of 
 constant and unremitting exertion, Paul had not won the 
 ichole sweepstakes ; he was, undoubtedly, entitled to 2ifair 
 and equal lialf ; so that I still think that Paul, has not had 
 justice done him, and in support of my opinion, beg leave 
 to offer the following very plain and simple reason, viz., 
 that after having been for a length of time in service, and 
 most thoroughly accustomed to the yoke, Peter faltered 
 sadly more than once ; and at the very last in fault, was 
 found by his kind Master. But after having fairly 
 buckled on the harness, Paul was 7iei'er known even 07ice 
 to flinch, but kept his shoulder icell and boldly uj) to the 
 work. Therefore on the ground and authority of the evi- 
 dence of the facts of the case, Paul's right to priority and 
 precedence is clearly established; and as the advantages of 
 rank are neither few nor small, and are much more easily 
 lost than either gained or recovered; I intend, on the 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 105 
 
 Lehalf of Paul, to lay claim, at least in name and place, in 
 the estimation of his fellow creatures here helow, to a su- 
 periority over his brother Peter ; so that in future I shall, 
 when requisite so to do, address him by the style and title 
 of Paul the Prince, and speak of his brother as my Lord, 
 or perhaps Duke Peter. And here indeed, once more, does 
 contrast bold and striking, arrest our attention, appearing 
 awhile in the character of the cltief oi sinners, clothed with 
 the very ojf-scouring of all things ; then anon to the third 
 and very highest heaven exalted, promoted also to a chief 
 station therein ; and, moreover, wearing in the presence, of 
 righteousness the crown, as well as the gift, of his beloved 
 IMaster there. 
 
 But some little light may, very probably, be thrown on 
 this most mysterious affair of and respecting Peter and 
 Paul, when we come to consider distinctly the subject of 
 the apostolical succession ; since, according to our particu- 
 lar views of the matter, it appears to be therewith very 
 intimately connected. The pretenders to, and claimants 
 of the exclusive right and privilege of the above named 
 spiritual prerogative, including of necessity, the power of 
 working miracles, and without which the whole scheme, 
 becomes futile, and absurd, indeed childish in the ex- 
 treme ; rest their claims, as we imagine, on the alone 
 (and that only) ground, of the original commission and 
 authority, specially and as strictly personally delegated to 
 the first and o?ily true apostles ; and in particular, as they 
 pretend to believe, to Peter ; and therefore he has been all 
 along quite a favourite (mind) among them. Now that 
 they should, as it regards this most special particular, at 
 all relax in their pretensions, does indeed appear most sur- 
 prizing ; and that too the calm deliberate act of men who 
 are such steady, persevering sticklers for what they call 
 their vested rights; since it is in reality the only ingredient 
 in the affair that can determine the fact, as it nmst also, 
 
106 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 by necessary consequence, the question of their right to 
 the authority they lay claim to. Just like a man, who, 
 being the proprietor of a freehold, surrenders, as the only 
 quality in the matter, that can render the property of su- 
 perior value, the fee simple of the estate, and yet ob- 
 stinately maintains that it still is free. Now whatever 
 could you do with such an incorrigible a — s ? Why treat 
 him, to be sure, as an a — s, incorrigible as he is. But 
 allow me to suggest, that herein, very possibly, may con- 
 sist the secret of the affair ; viz. that having actually tried 
 their hands at the thing in private, and finding that the 
 power is not equal to the will, they have most prudently 
 determined to relinquish all that relates to that particular 
 portion of the claim, and yet to assert their right to the 
 thing as a most perfect whole. An attempt very similar 
 to the above, was made many years ago by the sons of one 
 Sceva, a Jew ; and bye and bye, or in due time, or out of 
 time, these empirics and quacks, these most perfect moun- 
 tebanks, will, still like them, have him on their backs in the 
 exact shape, form, and figure too, of otie of their own most 
 conspicuous tip-tojJ steeple ornaments ; and, moreover, all 
 the while exclaiming, " Jesus I know, and Paul I know, 
 but who are ye ; ye false pretending Fitz — Scevas, who are 
 ye ?" and all the rest, they will be sure to get in the way 
 of retribution ; since their only delight, for ages past, has 
 been in the denuding and the icounding too, and that even 
 to the death — of others. 
 
 But as in all cases of deep and dark imposture and 
 conspiracy, they have, most unaccountably, unless on the 
 ground of fatuity and itfatuation, selected, save and 
 except one more, the 07ily individual, who from his known 
 disposition and propensities, was capable of proving the 
 total destruction of their vile plot. As is the case with 
 all hot-headed, rash, and highly, or else readily, ex- 
 cited men, Peter was always desperately fond of strange 
 
THE PlONEERb IN CONTRAST. 107 
 
 extravagancies, and just as often mistaken in his conceit 
 of the thing ; and from the very first, and that quite 
 naturally, discovered a most singular yet still undue 
 taste and partiality for water ; but for which he was, 
 and that by his own Master, just as constantly re- 
 proved. As his habits from his infancy had been al- 
 together aquatic, so the occasion whereon he made his 
 first highly ridiculous exhibition, was quite in character 
 and keeping with his youthful predelictions, for it was a 
 nater scene. It was not enough for him that his Master 
 should be seen, treading the waves of the ocean, like solid 
 ground beneath his feet; and in thus subjecting the bois- 
 terous elements to His own good will and pleasure, assert- 
 ing His supremacy as Sovereign Lord of the entire crea- 
 tion ; no, but Peter's ambition must be fired, and he too take 
 his stand on the fickle, fluctuating, dangerous surface, as 
 a sort of competitor with, and rival of his Master. And 
 only mark his haughty dictatorial language, " Bid me 
 come ; " how much more decorous and becoming would it 
 have been, for him to have said, If it be thy pleasure, 
 Lord, through strength by thee supplied, I will venture 
 boldly, at thy word, and place me near thy side ; to say 
 no more, he was, it appears, ijidulged in his vain humour, 
 the consequence we all well know, at least those of us who 
 have read the account of it ; but I should be almost cu- 
 rious enough to enquire, if there was any other eye on 
 Peter, besides that of his own Master, for surely you and 
 I should smile to see any other person, get so complete a 
 ducking. It seems, however, to have given him a regular 
 quietus, for we read no more of his again requesting a 
 similar fa\our to be granted him, indeed I know of nothing 
 else that does more efiectually cool one's courage. Again, 
 all the rest quietly submitted to, and suffered their Master 
 to wash their feet ; but to Peter, this appeared to be a 
 most intolerable degradation ; and it is only surprizing 
 that he did not desire his Master to be seated, and himself 
 
108 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 undertake all the ivashmg. But still he must cut a figure, 
 dictate terms, and like Naaman of old, do some very 
 notable thing. Then let us have plenty of water. Master, 
 '' not my feet only, but my hands and my head." Well, 
 Peter, there would certainly be no harm in simply washing 
 of your hands, for it is written, " he that hath clea)i hands 
 shall be stronger and stronger," but to wash you all ove?- 
 and then to rub you dry, a basin of water and a napkin, as 
 you may see, will not suffice ; for that purpose, we must 
 have a large tub full of water, and also a Jack towel. But 
 alas ! how sadly poor Peter mistook the design and in- 
 tention of the Master, in this self-humiliating act of conde- 
 scension ; He was teaching him a lesson on humility, and 
 that on the sole ground and authority of his own example ; 
 but he was either too proud and self-conceited, or else too 
 stupid and perverse to learn and accordingly receive the In- 
 struction. 
 
 The propriety and correctness of this inference and 
 sentiment, are fully confirmed, as being grounded on the 
 fact, that, almost immediately upon the conclusion of the 
 transaction just above adverted to, they fell into a hot dis- 
 pute among themselves, about who should be the greatest, 
 and that too a very short time indeed after having partaken 
 of the last supper ; and nothing is more probable than that 
 Peter took the lead in it ; for so long as danger was clean 
 out of sight, he always appeared in the foreground of ar- 
 rogance and presumption ; as do his successors to this very 
 day in the va?i, vehicles, and equipages too of pretemion ; 
 but no sooner did things begin to look serious, and mis- 
 chief appear to lour and threaten, than it quickly became 
 evident that self-confidence and conceit, could not supply 
 the place of cool courage and resolution ; so that it comes 
 at last to this ; that, like you and me, Peter may do very 
 well as a weak and fallible man ; but very ill indeed, as a 
 most infallible master 
 
 As the details thereof are so very dismal and melan- 
 
I 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 109 
 
 clu)l}', I shall be very brief indeed, in my notice of Peter's 
 behaviour in the next affair ; the very last opportunity af- 
 forded him of testifying the strength of his attachment to 
 his Master, while on cartli ; but it is sufficient to con- 
 vince us, in how very near a relation rashness stands to 
 cowardice ; and that the Master himself never intended 
 that Peter's conduct should at any time, serve as an au- 
 thority or an example to us, in any other way than as an 
 incitement to the increased exercise of humility, faith, and 
 patience Then, bolder than even a most perfect dread- 
 nought, whilst they were, both of them, completely out of 
 sight, neither prison nor death did he fear; but no sooner 
 did the scullery maid set her tongue in motion, than all 
 poor Peter's courage evaporated in something worse than 
 smoke ; and to prevent the fatal consequences, of, perhaps, 
 a sudden fit of apoplexy, up boldly steps the kind, interest- 
 ing female servant ; (the same (little Rhoda) I apprehend, 
 who at some subsequent period or other, so gladly, on that 
 cold dark wet night, opened to him the door, whereat she 
 had, doubtless most unconsciously, kept him so long and 
 loudly knocking,) and in an instant disarms both prison 
 and death of cdl their terrors. 
 
 Then if Peter be, indeed, their chief example and au- 
 thority, to what is it that these arch pretenders have suc- 
 ceeded ? to his self-conceit and perverseness, or his most 
 indomitable partiality for water .'' for be it remembered, 
 that in all these super-marine exercises of his, there was 
 not even the slightest principle involved -, since they were 
 nothing more than mere absurd thoughtless adventures, 
 ending, as they began, in himself alone. But Peter had 
 about him many very good points, as well as many bad 
 ones; and although he might have had their opposites, yet 
 he was honest, he was zealous, he was generous, he was 
 kind ; and when the converting influences of faith and re- 
 pentance, reflection and reformation had produced their 
 
110 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 truly proper and legitimate effects, he shone out, indeed, 
 with no ordinary lustre ; but it is highly worthy of re- 
 mark, how completely his sentiments in reference to the 
 use of water, were changed ; for, when speaking on that 
 very subject, instead of the language, as formerly, of dic- 
 tatorial self-confidence and authority ; he expresses him- 
 self in the tone of calmness and caution, doubt, hesitation, 
 and distnist ; and so far was he from expecting that he 
 should be referred to as the source whence any thing like 
 authority should emanate, or be derived, that he on the 
 direct contrary, propounds this most startling question, 
 " for if the righteous^'' (necessarily including himaelf) " be 
 scarcely saved, where shall the imgodly and the sinner ap- 
 pear ? " And, astonished beyond measure at his very nar- 
 row escape — 
 
 Whilst lost in gratitude and praise. 
 
 And viewing every danger past, 
 He spends his cheerful, happy days. 
 
 In musing o'er the striking contrast. 
 
 Then again we ask, to what it is in reality that these 
 arch pretenders have succeeded ? Why to each and all of 
 his bad qualities, without even one of his good ones, to 
 serve either as counterpoise or in the way of compensation ; 
 and they have moreover had recourse to a most abominable 
 fiction, and have again and again imposed the base idol of 
 their fancy on the thoughtless, unreflecting, credulous 
 multitude, as for and in the ^j/«ce of substantial truth and 
 fact. Thus, for instance, they have succeeded in per- 
 suading silly people, that Peter stands at heaven's gate, 
 with a bunch of keys in one hand, (but neither of their 
 number, nor their size, nor the metal they are made of, nor 
 the locks they are intended to open, nor the gates, nor the 
 posts whereon they are hung, and to what they are 
 fastened, whether stone, brick, or timber, and so on, ad 
 infinitum, if they know themselves, they have not thought 
 
THE nONEERS IX CONTRAST. Ill 
 
 proper to inform them,) and a vessel, we suppose, of cold 
 water, in the other ; thus combining in one, the two most 
 important offices of porter and cup-bearer, at the very en- 
 trance of paradise itself; and having received the pass- 
 ports, signed by his true and lawful successors upon earth, 
 and thoroughly refreshed those who have arrived thirsty 
 and fatigued with the length of their journey ; he in return 
 for the honour doije him in his Church below, accordingly 
 admits them to a seat in his kingdom above. Now all 
 this may pass current with mere children and idiots ; but 
 will not bear the test of common sense matured : besides 
 Peter has long ago taken his seat, as o?ie of the twelve 
 select judges of Israel, and 
 
 It would be strange, to find the Queen, 
 
 Standing outside the door alone ; 
 When, within the room she should be seen, 
 
 Seated upon the imperial throne. 
 
 So Peter takes his seat above. 
 
 And sits as judge, upon his throne ; 
 Nor from it will he e'er remove. 
 
 To stand outside the door alone. 
 
 It would indeed be a contrast, strange, striking and bold. 
 To gire in change for afar thing, a ha^full of gold ; 
 But it would be no better, were a ^aue judge like Peter, 
 From the judgement-seat to descend, and stand as beef-eater. 
 
 But in answer to all this, I am well aware how they will 
 meet me. Oh, you are talking now of the times before 
 the reformation, when nothing else but the very rankest 
 popery was in vogue. Reformation ? Stuff and nonsense ! 
 Why that, as it regards what is called the Church, is just 
 as much a fiction as all the rest of it, for the difierence, 
 whatever it be, is not in it, but in the light that shines 
 around yet outside of it ; in truth, in the people, (that is 
 to say, those who may choose to avail themselves thereof,) 
 having free access to the pure source of unmingled, un- 
 adulterated truth ; although all the solid and important 
 
112 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 benefits and advantages it is capable of imparting, are very 
 imperfectly, indistinctly, and inadequately understood, 
 appreciated, and enjoyed ; and which must of necessity be 
 the case, so long as the fountain whence alone it is to be 
 procured, continues to be so much neglected as it is ; for a 
 stream of the purest, freshest, sweetest water, may flow in 
 the very richest abundance at a man's feet, but if he 
 merely looks on its surface, without using it from day to 
 day, he will become at last so abominably filthy in his 
 person, as to be, not only a perfect misery and torment 
 to himself, but also a most intolerable plague and nuisance 
 to all around him. The time was, when it could not be 
 obtained pure at any price ; that time is, and as we may 
 hope, for ever gone by ; but it is not to any reformation 
 iu the Church, that we are at all indebted for this im- 
 proved state of things ; it is the result of that which has 
 arisen in opposltiofi to it, and to which ?t continues as 
 much opposed as ever it was ; for although as regards the 
 details of the system, different names are made use of, the 
 things themselves, as it respects their operation and in- 
 fluence, mentally and morally considered, remain essen- 
 tially the same; to be sure, there are not now to be met 
 with daily amongst us, by name, such things as crooks, 
 croziers, and crucifixes ; hoods, cowls, bulls ; penances, pur- 
 gatory, friars, black, white, and grey ; mischievous med- 
 dling monks, and blooming, timid, retiring nuns ; dis- 
 pensations, indulgences, &c., &c,, &c. ; yet, so far as relates 
 to the intention and use thereof, there is every thing as 
 fully realized now, as there was at the period when they 
 first originated ; since truth is now just as much as ever 
 dispensed with, for the purpose of iudulging in and en- 
 couraging ignorance and error ; as in order to indulge in 
 vice and immorality, it is found as necessary now as ever 
 it was to dispense with the obligations of morality and 
 virtue. 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. Hi] 
 
 Can you tell nie then, where the reformation is, or 
 only whereunto it amounts ? For as regards the plain 
 matter of fact, that is, in the estimation of all those who 
 are free from prejudice, and have likewise well considered 
 the subject; never was the proverb, "as is or was the 
 mother, so is the daughter;" more strictly true, and also 
 applicable thereunto, than with reference to the state of 
 things as it respects the system under notice, previous to 
 the period above mentioned, and what we find therein to 
 be the case at the present day ; and that too as it regards 
 the matter, as well of seyitiment and doctrine as of moral 
 principle and influence ; a position, in illustration whereof, 
 I shall take the trouble of adducing only one fact, (since 
 one such, well attested, is worth ten thousand arguments, 
 for to that the argument itself, even if as long as to-day 
 and to-morrow, and moreover to be worth any thing at all, 
 must at last come ;) as absolutely decisive of the point at 
 issue. It is to be found then, as it appears, in the formu- 
 lary of absolution, appointed to be read at the visitation of 
 the sick, as follows, " Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 left power to his Church to absolve all sinners, who truly 
 repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee 
 thine offences, and by " (now mark, for herein lies the pitli 
 of the thing) " his authority committed to me, I absohe 
 thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Now what think you of this ; is it not a pretty speci- 
 men, a regular vile compound of the most audacious, in- 
 sulting falsehood, arrogance, and impiety ? However, it 
 shall undergo a thorough analytical sifting ; and let us be- 
 gin, if you please, with the term Church ; and out of their 
 own mouths shall their condemnation proceed. It appears 
 then, that they themselves define the word Church as 
 meaning, importing, and implying a " Congregation of 
 Faithful Men," and so on Now this act of absolution, as 
 
 I 
 
114 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 we have seen above, is exercised, as alledgecl, in consequence 
 of power left to the Church, alias the Con- Faith -Men; 
 but not one of whom, (that is, supposing that they really 
 do, although I for one as really do not believe, that they 
 really do, exist as a body ; but I verily do believe that it 
 would puzzle, nay would even venture to challenge the Con- 
 vocation itself, that is, if such a thing there be, to prove the 
 existence thereof; unless it be, and I really do believe 
 that there is something in that, viz., that they do indeed 
 mean none other than themselves ; and therefore that 
 they alone, that is to say, collectively as a body, alias the 
 congregation of faithful men, the number or the character 
 (except as above) of the individuals comprising it I neither 
 do, nor care to know, only that they alone, that is to say, 
 by themselves form the Church. Then whether this be 
 the fact, or whatever else it be, we are left entirely to con- 
 jecture, until they themselves think proper to enlighten us 
 thereon ; so that we will say that the Convocation is the 
 Church, and the Church the Convocation, which is much 
 the same thing as to say, the superior clergy ; however 
 we, for several reasons needless here to mention, prefer the 
 former name. But then unless, or until convoked, it is 
 not a convocation, and it is now nearly three hundred 
 years since it met as a body, or a congregation of faithful 
 men, alias the Church ; so that we have now for the 
 above interval or period had before our eyes the most singu- 
 lar and extraordinary spectacle of a head without a body ; 
 an object which certainly does not afford us any thing like 
 a very bright or formidable idea, either of animation or of 
 power. Yet notwithstanding all, this most strange body, 
 if a mere non-entity can indeed be so called, continues, it 
 seems, not merely to exist, but also to act ; aye, even to 
 perforin deeds, affording a display, as requiring the ex- 
 ercise of a power, which, as it regards the parties pre- 
 tending to the exercise thereof, is, even now, truly awful 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 115 
 
 and astounding; and as it respects its final result to the 
 same, really fearful and terrific in the extreme. I mean 
 then nothing short of, or less than the power oi forgiving 
 sins, for it is written, "who ca/i forgive sins but God 
 olojfc ; " but to this they must of necesssity one and all 
 pretend, or else renounce the Church, aye, and denounce 
 it too ; yes, that thing, whatever it be, called " the 
 Church ; ") not one of whom, then, knows a syllable about 
 the matter, never having (for of the common people there 
 is no such body distinctly recognised, and certainly none 
 pretending to any such like power, for they possess too 
 much sound understanding and good sense, as well as per- 
 ception too of the diiference there is between right and 
 wrong, even for one moment only to entertain such an 
 idea;) been thereof informed, yet the power is said to 
 exist, and, although not by the body (that is as above) of 
 the people, is still, as being by far too important and valua- 
 ble an instrument to be suffered to lie dormant and idle, 
 by some one or more employed ; then by whom ? iVh ! 
 there is the question ; for, be it by whomsoever it may, still 
 as being the sole and exclusive right, property, and pre- 
 rogative of the congregation of faithful men, if used with- 
 out their consent and authority, it can be nothing short of 
 a breach of trust, or to speak, perhaps, still more correctly, 
 an act of the grossest usurpation. Nevertheless, it is ex- 
 erted ; then by whom ? Why certainly by none but the 
 chief servants of the Church, alias, the Con. Fa. Men. 
 
 But, in deed and in truth, do either Archbishops, or 
 even those that stand next to them in the established 
 order of succession, ever visit the sick ? Most assuredly 
 they do ; but such only as are to be found in the houses 
 of kings and queens, princes and dukes, the prime nobility, 
 and those of their own order ; beneath them, none what- 
 ever ; that would indeed be infra dig. Yet, whilst they, 
 comparatively speaking, thus totally neglect the poor, they 
 
 i2 
 
116 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 at the same time most eagerly and assiduously court, and 
 strive to secure the countenance and support of the richj 
 and so hecome the mere devotees of wealth ; and is it pos- 
 sible, that they can ultimately, as by a most necessary 
 consequence, be any short of the miserable victims of that 
 most destructive principle, the insatiable love of money ? 
 But be it known, that when the Lord and Master himself, 
 left his high and lofty throne, and took up his abode, if 
 such it could be called, where He " had not where to lay 
 His head," in this nether region; and that for the express 
 purpose of visiting and most effectually relieving them, he 
 altogether laid aside his dignity ; and when he finally de- 
 parted to resrnne his station as supreme governor, he most 
 solemnly committed them to the care of his immediate 
 followers ; but observe, they were such as he himself had 
 specially appointed, and not those spurious self-constituted 
 delegates, who in thus bowing, scraping, and truckling, as 
 they do, to the rich; afford the most complete and irre- 
 fragable evidence of the utter weakness of their preten- 
 sions ; an anxious concern for the poor as it regards their 
 interests both here and hereafter, being the chief test of 
 attachment to Himself; as it is written, " the poor ye have 
 always with you, but me ye have not always;" and again, 
 "but ye have despised the poor;" and again, " do not 
 they blaspheme that holy name whereby ye are called?" 
 
 But in all the dignified places as above enumerated, are 
 deeds of absolution most efficiently performed ? Doubt- 
 less they are ; then who are they that take charge of the 
 immense remainder, the vast bulk or mass, that is the 
 millions of plebeian degree ? Oh, they according to their 
 respective stations, are left to the care and management of 
 the various classes below ; and the great body, that is of 
 such as are called the poor, to those who, as having been 
 either by the Church or congregation of faithful men, or 
 a bishop, or some one or other of the next, or some other 
 
THl': PIONKERS IN CONTRAST. 117 
 
 grade below, duly authorized and empowered, most effectu- 
 ally perform the work of absolution by wholesale ; even to 
 those poor mercenary beings, who thus, and scarcely that, 
 procure salt to their porridge, but who are perfectly pre- 
 pared to do any, but quite indifferent what, thing, so long 
 as they are but "thrust into the priest'' s office;" and 
 thus, or any other way, earn their morsel day by day ; and 
 for such a sordid, miserable pittance as this, it is^ that men 
 can be found, who will presume to arrogate to themselves 
 an absolutely divine prerogative, exercised not solely to- 
 wards persons in the full possession of their faculties ; 
 although even then it amounts to nothing less than the 
 very basest treachery, wherein the ignorant, confiding in- 
 dividual is betrayed to his ruin, by one whose conduct 
 in the business is not a bit less, perhaps, indeed, really 
 more criminal than even that of Judas the traitor ; but in 
 cases wherein the parties could not possibly comply with 
 the terms or conditions required of them ; for it is a fact, 
 aye, and that to be attested by more than one person, that 
 one of these very honest worthy agents, actually absolved 
 from his sins a man who was speechless. Now, we ask, is 
 it possible to express one's self in terms sufficiently 
 abhorrent and condemnatory of such conduct as this ; 
 although, if it be true, that ajiy one is capable of ascer- 
 taining that a person who can neither speak nor write, and 
 who, moreover has not sufficient consciousness remaining 
 to be able, through any medium of communication whatso- 
 ever, to render himself intelligible to another, really does 
 repent and believe ; there cannot be the slightest doubt that 
 such a one is supernaturally endowed, and fully competent 
 to the due discharge of whatever his infallible superiors 
 may think proper to depute him to perform ; since the 
 attribute belongs equally and alike to them all, of every 
 grade. 
 
 But are we thus to pass it over, or not rather to 
 enquire u'liat it is that constitutes the unpardonable 
 
118 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 sin { There was a time when he, who then disputed the 
 sovereignty, and is ?iotv actually contending for a divided 
 empire with the Almighty himself, first begem to revolve in 
 his thoughts the deep and dark design of black and danger- 
 ous rebellion, against his Bw^x&me benefactor; until at length, 
 having reached the zenith of his pride, in evil hour he 
 passed the Rubicon ; and in the very self same instant 
 wherein he aspired, or perhaps even imagined himself 
 really to be a god, down he sank into the inconceivably 
 degraded circumstances of a devil, and " hath never for- 
 giveness." Yet there was comjmratively some excuse for 
 him ; he was already the very brightest of the bright, and 
 he might plume himself upon the fact of his actual splen- 
 dour, and seem to himself to require but one step more to 
 reach the very highest point of grandeur ; but for a poor 
 sinful, polluted worm of earth to ape the God ! and im- 
 piously presume to say to any, much less a speechless man ; 
 '•'thy sins be forgiven thee," that is, / absolve thee from 
 all thy si?is : why, positively, language itself fails to 
 pourtray the wretch. Oh Lucifer, Son of the Morning, 
 how art thou fallen ! Yes, how, indeed ! Why truly we 
 neither do, nor perhaps ever shall, know, since the depth 
 is too great even to think of, without endangering the 
 integrity of our slender faculties ; for who is there that 
 can tell how deep that is which is immeasurable, the 
 '■' bottomless pit" I mean? but however low /ie fell, the wretch 
 who can thus dare compete with God, finds, below tJiat of 
 Satan's a still lower deep ; and, oh, horrid thought ! with 
 swarms of sncJb wretches are we on all hands environed : — 
 
 But ingenuity itself can never invent, 
 
 A theme wherein contrast more striking appears. 
 
 Than where, instead of rupture, fond hope is sent. 
 To indulge in perpetual torment and tears. 
 
 Yet what short of this can of him be the fate, 
 "Who In place of the sinner assumes the God, 
 
 And of Heaven the right claims to open the gate, 
 
 For which alone, the Almightij One slied his licarC.s blood. 
 
THb: PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 119 
 
 1 1 becomes here quite natural and proper for us to pause, 
 and inquire as to the source whence they pretend to have 
 derived this most extraordinary power ; and I strongly 
 suspect that the result of such inquiry will prove to be a 
 most remarkable exemplification of that old fashioned 
 saying, used on occasions wherein people, after the most 
 violent eiforts, succeed not in improving their condition, 
 but in making things infinitely worse ; so that they would 
 actually have heen gainers, if you can understand it, by 
 sitting still and doing nothing ; all which is summed up 
 in these words, viz., " getting out of the frying pan into 
 the fire ; " and in so doing we are necessarily led to have 
 recourse to the pages of the infallible record, since to that 
 it is that they themselves refer, in proof of the validity of 
 their pretensions. We therein accordingly find that Peter 
 and the rest of the apostles were, and that by the Master 
 himself, authorized and empowered to remit sins ; as it is 
 written, " whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted, 
 and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained ; " the 
 word absolve not being to be found any where throughout 
 the book ; however we will not raise any objection on that 
 ground, but at once admit, that remitting and absolving 
 mean one and the same thing. Yet we cannot help noticing 
 the very material difference and distinction too, as it re- 
 spects the practice of the parties exercising the preroga 
 tive, viz., that whereas Peter and his brethren remitted the 
 sins of those who were in the full possession of health and 
 of their rational faculties, and the consistent subjects 
 moreover of faith and repentance ; the modern absolution- 
 ists, or absolvers, remit the sins of such only as either 
 actually are, or are apprehended to be, in the very last ex- 
 tremity ; and when scarcely conscious of what is passing 
 around them. 
 
 Absolution then, or remission of sins, it would seem, is 
 being performed every hour of the day, in some part of the 
 
1^:0 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 country or other ; but as we are altogether ignorant of 
 the nature of the process when it becomes necessary to 
 retain sins, conjecture must supply the place of positive 
 information on the subject. As there is evidently no dif- 
 ficulty, neither do they, as being altogether unconscious 
 thereof, appear to apprehend any, even the least danger to 
 themselves, as it respects the exercise of the power of 
 absolving ; but the case is indeed widely diiferent as it re- 
 gards that of retaining ; for the subject being then about 
 to leave the world, his sins, if retained, must become their 
 own, that is the property of the retainee, (for how is it pos- 
 sible at one and the same instant, both to absolve, alias to 
 remit, and retain,) and that, when a man is himself already 
 overburthened, is rather too serious an affair to be meddled 
 with. But as it is obviously as much a part of their duty 
 to retain as to remit, they have, in order to surmount the 
 difficulty, had recovirse to a most singular sort of expe- 
 dient, yet one which at the same time saves themselves 
 quite harmless. Now as it appears that the act of absolution 
 once effectually performed, is fully adequate to all possible 
 future exigencies ; so neither does that of retention require 
 to be repeated ; but as it involves a very serious responsi- 
 bility, they have contrived to place that half-witted sim- 
 pleton, the sponsor, in the gap, the very fore-front of 
 danger ; and thus charging him with every thing that bears 
 the shape or even the sound of sin, they have, as they 
 imagine, completely got their own necks out of the halter. 
 We have thus brought our enquiry into the merits of the 
 business, matter, or work of remitting and retaining, very 
 nearly to a close ; and allow me here just to propose one 
 question ; pray, " have you ever read the fable of the 
 Monk-ey, the Cat, and the roasted Chesnuts ?" then taking 
 it for granted that you have, I apprehend if you work 
 those three ideas the right Avay, they will not fail to bring 
 you, as it respects the immediate subject under notice, to 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 121 
 
 the only right conclusion ; I mean with regard to the three 
 parties herein concerned, to -wit , parsofis ; sponsors; people ; 
 although I must not omit to mention this startling dif- 
 ference, viz., that it is very donbtful indeed whether the 
 chesnuts instead of being plucked out, are not rather, that 
 is to say, stand a very fair chance of being helped still 
 further into the "fire." Now, in reading the fable, we 
 cannot help pitying ^oor puss ; for the mischievous, unfeel- 
 ing monster, took her off her guard, had her up in a mo- 
 ment ; and though she kicked and she swore ; and she 
 scratched and she spit ; and she squalled and she tore ; and 
 she raved and she bit ; and — I know not what more ; yet 
 having to contend with one who was not only far superior 
 to her in point of strength, but as he did not feel, so 
 neither did he care, all her efforts were utterly unavailing ; 
 and the cruel wretch at last succeeded in securing to him- 
 self all the chesnuts, at the expense of grimalkin's singed 
 whiskers and nose, and above all, most dreadfully charred 
 toes. But in the case, whereof the fable is merely an illus- 
 tration, things, as it respects one most prominent feature, 
 are not only very different, but even assume the aspect of 
 bold and striking contrast ; for herein the cat's representa- 
 tive becomes the thoughtless stupid dupe, an evil willing 
 instrument, (that " instrument," I mean, or " tool, which 
 knaves do work with, called a fool,'''') in implicating not 
 simply and solely himself, but others also, who but for his 
 injurious intervention would, in all human probability, be 
 altogether out of clanger; so that if it be so, that one and 
 the same fate awaits monk-ey, cat, and chesnuts, and they 
 are all finally dismissed to the left ; the one that will meet 
 with the least commiseration will be, perhaps, the cat — 
 alias poor puss's very unworthy representative. You have, 
 doubtless, from the very first, been prepared for this de- 
 nouement. 
 
 But before they can fairly lay claim to the exercise 
 
122 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 of the power of absolving men from their sins, they 
 must of necessity prove, and thus establish their right 
 to the succession ; and to make short and sure work of 
 this matter, we commence by observing that the words 
 succeed, succession, successor, or successors, are not even 
 once, either each or all of them, to be met with throughout 
 the New Testament ; so that it really does appear as if 
 the eye of Him, to whose goodness alone we are indebted 
 for the possession of the invaluable charter, had watched 
 it with that jealous, anxious care, as not at any time to 
 suffer the insertion of even one single word which might 
 appear to afford the slightest ground for such an absurd 
 and impious assumption. Yet they have, notwithstand- 
 ing, contrived to hook on ; but we will even suppose that 
 there had been no such insurmountable barrier in the way 
 as that above mentioned, still there would be this fact to 
 obstruct their progress ; viz., that the apostles were select 
 consecrated ./e/^".5, and "not sinners of the Gentiles;''^ a 
 block which they can never get over; for if the claim be 
 open for competition to any people besides the Jews, it 
 must, where no one in particular is selected, be necessarily 
 so to those equally and alike of every nation upon the face 
 of the earth ; and will they have the goodness, or rather 
 the honesty only to tell us, icho is appointed arbitrator in 
 the affair ; referring us accordingly to the document. But 
 we have seen more than enough, and others have suffered 
 a vast deal too much in consequence of these absurd no- 
 tions of succession, to be any longer duped thereby; time 
 was, indeed, it is true, when the monarchs of this country 
 pretended to the succession to the crown of France ; it 
 never amounted, to be sure, to any thing more than the as- 
 sertion of a mere empty title, productive only of confusion 
 and anarchy violence and bloodshed ; until at length peace 
 and quietness, order and harmony, were, by the withdraw- 
 ment of the absurd and mischievous claim, finally restored. 
 
THE nONEERS IN CONTRAST. 12:) 
 
 Now in the instance just cited, there was something like a 
 basis whereon the claim, temporary, fickle, and transient 
 as it was, might appear to rest, or he grounded ; namely, 
 the right of conquest; andw'hich is exactly the point where- 
 unto most of these matters may he traced ; heing, that is, 
 having been in nine cases out of ten very little better than 
 the working out of the law of the strong over the weak; but 
 that is a position which they will scarcely venture to assume. 
 Then, however monstrous it may seem to be, to talk of 
 an Englishman aspiring to the government of France, or 
 vice versa, a Frenchman to that of England, it is perfectly 
 trifling as compared with the character of i^Aeir pretensions ; 
 for setting aside the merely accidental circumstance of na- 
 tional dilFerence and distinction, there might, on moral 
 and also civil grounds, be no incompetency or impropriety 
 whatever ; indeed quite the reverse ; and the prejudices of 
 the people of the two nations, respectively, once sur- 
 mounted, it is quite possible that either or both countries 
 might, even under the circumstances pre-supposed as 
 above, be extremely well governed ; but who would for 
 one single moment think of comparing, indeed how is it 
 possible ever to place Gentile reprobates, on a level with 
 elect, holy Jews, specially designated and set apart as they 
 were by the Master himself; with men of and to whom 
 He moreover expressly declared, "Ye are the light of the 
 world ; ye are the salt of the earth ; ye shall sit on thrones 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; I will give you a 
 mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries shall be 
 able to gainsay or resist; lo, I am with you alway, unto 
 the end of the world ; " and " he breathed on them, saying. 
 Receive ye the Holy Ghost, ''^ and thus " follow me ; " and 
 who, in reply, as in striking contrast to, and likewise con- 
 tra-distinguished from, the modern money amassing Mam- 
 monites, could say, " Lo, we have left all and folloiaed 
 Thee ;'' thus making their most solemn as well as personal 
 
124 THE PIOxNEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 appeal to Him who "searcheth the heart/' yes, to Him 
 who " needed 7iot that any should testify of man, for he 
 kneiv what was in man," as to the fact of their sincerity 
 and self-devotedness to Him ; and who in return, as at- 
 testing their veracity and integrity, gave them the most 
 positive assurance that they should " receive an hundred 
 fold in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting." 
 As being intimately connected with the matter of 
 money, it just occurs to me here to notice an affair, 
 which, if closely followed up as a precedent, cannot fail of 
 being productive of most astounding results, as regards the 
 interests of the parties herein in question. I now allude 
 to a very recent proceeding, promoted by the friends of an 
 individual, whose extreme liberality towards what is called 
 the Church, or that which is the same thing, the Congre- 
 gation of faithful men ; or some one or more of them, 
 certainly 7iot towards the poor ; led them to suspect that 
 he was of unsound mind. The whole business has, doubt- 
 less, a very strange and ominous appearance, as astrologers 
 would say, one of malignant opposition ; just as " the stars 
 in their courses fought against Sisera ; " notwithstanding 
 it clearly demonstrates one thing, and that is, that the 
 march of intellect is not a mere empty sound; for if any 
 one had dared three hundred years ago to have given 
 utterance to such an idea, he would very soon have been 
 made shorter by the exact length of his most audacious 
 head, that being the part whence such like mischievous 
 sentiments are found invariably to proceed ; or if things 
 had not been carried quite to that extreme against him, 
 he would, to save the capital, have been, like poor Galileo, 
 forced to eat up his words again, and read his opinions 
 backwards, as thus consigning them to Jdin, whom his vile 
 persecutors, (and they were those who were called the 
 Church, alias the Congregation of faithful men) de- 
 nounced as the author of all such like heretical notions, as 
 
I 
 
 THE PIONEERS I\ CONTRAST. 125 
 
 those which he promulgated ; but which are at this day 
 received and embraced as being demonstrated to be strictly 
 consistent with tnitli ; the correctly ascertained result of 
 actual, careful, and unerring observation. But it has 
 always been, as it is now, a main object with them to deter 
 and thus prevent men from looking upwards; lest struck 
 with a view of the order and harmony that reign above, 
 they should begin, without any reference whatever to 
 them, to exercise their own understandings ; in which case 
 they would very soon discover that they had hitherto been 
 made the dupes of a system of the most absurd, stupid, 
 and venal trickery. However the subject (indicative as 
 above of a state of non compos mentis) is now not only 
 broached, but twelve honest, sensible, discreet men, were, 
 after the most patient and deliberate investigation, unani- 
 mous in affirming the matter alledged as a most un- 
 questionable fact ; thus declaring all those transactions of 
 former and very ancient times, whereby such immense and 
 equally valuable properties were, for purely ecclesiastical 
 purposes, alienated from their true and lawful owners, to 
 have been, on the part of the donors, nothing better than 
 just so many acts of insanity. Still it is not, even now, 
 too late to do something towards remedying so gross an 
 injustice ; the representatives of the original proprietors 
 it is true cannot at the present time be traced ; but the 
 object may be most effectually attained, by restitution 
 being required to be made to the nation at large, for the 
 benefit of the poor ; and they may well consider such an 
 arrangement as that to be indeed highly favourable to 
 them ; since they might, and in fact ought to be, com- 
 pelled to account accordingly, for all they have in the 
 mean time received. Indeed, if any thing like justice 
 were rendered, such terms as these would be far too easy and 
 lenient ; for if the pictures given in the "Pictorial" afford 
 any thing like an accurate representation of the facts of 
 
126 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 the case, (to particularize would be impossible, since it 
 appears more or less on almost every page thereof, and on 
 some the impress is of the very deepest blood-red dye,) the 
 only thing that astonishes us, after reading an account of 
 such barbarous atrocities, or atrocious barbarities, and 
 those too committed by men who called themselves the 
 ministers of a Being whose nature is mercy as his name 
 is love ; I say the only thing that astonishes us is, that the 
 red wrath of Almighty God should not, as with the besom 
 of destruction, have swept the land in the entire breadth 
 thereof, from the extreme point of the Lizard's Tail to 
 John o' Groat's House, of every individual thing that bore 
 not only the shape, but even the smell of a priest. 
 
 This just now brings fresh to my recollection, a some- 
 what curious incident which, no longer ago than the last 
 season but one, occurred on board of a Ramsgate steamer. 
 On doubling the foreland there, a smartish lurch or two 
 quickly cleared the deck of some two or three score of 
 them ; who in order that the feelings, and senses too, of 
 others might be neither hurt nor offended at the result of 
 the very natural, though necessarily violent efforts they 
 were almost incessantly making, to rid and thus relieve 
 themselves of the burdens which so grievously oppressed 
 them, had most kindly as well as prudently retired down 
 below. Whilst seated at the head of the vessel, agreeably 
 engaged in conversation with some persons there ; one of 
 the crew, rather suddenly, made his appearance amongst 
 us, with a mop in his hand ; and a most peculiar sort of 
 expression in his countenance. In reply to some observa- 
 tion or other respecting the mop, and how very strangely 
 he looked, he said, that he had staid down below as long 
 as he possibly could, but was compelled at last to come up 
 for a supply of fresh air ; for that "they stU7ik like bishops.'' 
 This comprehensively, as well as singularly laconic ex- 
 pression, uttered moreover as it was with all the cha- 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 127 
 
 racteristic bluntness of the man, caused a hearty laugh 
 throughout the company ; with the sole exception of the 
 very humble individual, the relator hereof. He could not 
 help saying to himself. What ! a Christian man, and of the 
 national faith too; baptized, doubtless, when an infant 
 under the authority thereof; and moreover, when at riper 
 years arrived, confirmed also therein, by one of very Right 
 Rev. individuals in reference to whom he had so very 
 irreverently expressed himself. What ! are there not per- 
 sons, and scenes too enough to be met with in London by 
 day, and more especially by night, which might have 
 served his turn, his purpose, or his humour, without 
 having recourse to his spiritual pastors; could he select 
 nothing but Right Rev. Fathers in God, as the very 
 fittest emblems whereby to represent the extreme wretch- 
 edness of his sensations ? Now one would really expect 
 to find men of his line of life, more completely vmder the 
 influence of their most Christian principles, sound as they 
 no doubt are. Consider the dangers which so constantly 
 await them, as occupying their business in deep icaters. 
 What are the perils attending the mere turning up of the 
 clods of the dry land, compared with those of the ploughing 
 of the waves of the ocean ? Why their lives hang, or float, 
 in instant jeopardy every hour ; and yet in speaking of 
 their Lordships the Bishops, they use not a bit more of 
 delicacy, than they would of a common Sir; your Reverence. 
 Then we need not be surprized at their meeting with so 
 cool a reception from landsmen, since they are treated so 
 very unceremoniously by the men at sea. 
 
 I have hitherto adverted to the conduct of those around, 
 no further than only just to mention, that they laughed 
 most heartily on hearing the very indelicate, as well as 
 disrespectful language, employed by the seafaring man in 
 reference to his Right Rev. spiritual pastors. Now the 
 behaviour of the sailor may possibly admit of some degree 
 
128 THE PIONEERS IX CONTRAST, 
 
 of extenuation, on the ground of his not being a man of 
 extremely refined education ; that is beyond the mere 
 rudiments and daily concerns of the passage But what 
 excuse can be offered for ladies and gentlemen, inhabitants 
 of the most renowned city, as well as members of the 
 most highly civilised and polished community on the 
 face of the whole earth ; and who have, moreover, been 
 taught, and affect also to believe, that the very stability of 
 their whole regime in Church and State, is depending on 
 the maintenance of the dominion of, and by necessary con- 
 sequence also, the respect manifested towards the consti- 
 tuted ecclesiastical authorities ? Now this is a question, the 
 solution whereof I must beg permission to leave to some 
 one or more, far better skilled in casuistry than I myself 
 pretend to be. It certainly, to say the least of it, has a 
 most omitwus appearance and sound. The truth of the 
 facts above related can be attested by more than one, as 
 having been also witnessed by the relator's very near 
 relative himself, he being at the same time seated close by 
 his side. 
 
 Then is it from the Lordly bench. 
 
 That point of coveted elevation ; 
 Whence there proceeds so foul a stench. 
 
 As to suffocate half the nation ? 
 
 Yet, are they not held up to view, 
 
 As the pure source of heavenly light ; 
 The holy, happy, favoured /eio, 
 
 Forming a constellation bright ? 
 
 But British tars are men of power- 
 
 Ful scent, as well as of oak the heart, 
 And will not view as a May-day _^o«j£r. 
 
 What offends them more than a nightm — n\ cart. 
 
 Then to those hardy sons (the men at sea,) 
 
 Of Neptune, inured to the blast. 
 We're indebted, as you plainly see, 
 
 For this most bold, and striking contrast. 
 
THE PIOXEKRS IX CONTRAST. 12'.) 
 
 Then to, or in what is it, that these arch pretenders 
 have succeeded ? ^^ hy, we at length happily find ourselves 
 in a situation to answer that most important question ; 
 and although not, perhaps, to the full extent of the reality 
 of the thing, still, so far as it goes, quite satisfactorily. 
 Then, in what else can it be, hut in bringing themselves into 
 the very worst possible odour Aerey and as it appears, that 
 from their characteristic preference for ill-favoured smells ; 
 and, moreover, from what must result from their exercise, as 
 above, of the power to absolve, they are likely hereafter to 
 occupy a locality somewhat deeper, that is, lower down than 
 that of, as being so much deeper in crime than even the 
 Prince of Darkness himself; they will of necessity be regaled 
 with effluvia proceeding from a more refined sort of material, 
 that is to say, so far as refining tends to improve the 
 strength or offensive quality of a thing ; ay, and that too for 
 ever and for ever. Oh, but you will say, that is being too 
 severe ; oh, indeed ! then only read a little further, and 
 you will find something severer still ; now, let me just 
 beg of you to observe, that I herein neither assert nor 
 assume any thing as a priori ; (as the bishop does, whereof 
 more anon \) what I have stated is purely inferential or 
 inductive, as resulting from the conduct of the parties 
 " known and read of all men," and viewed simply in the 
 light, as it were, of cause and effect, necessarily operating ; 
 then all I ask is, for I want no other favour, than a clear 
 stage and ya?r play ; and that I am very sure no free-born 
 Englishman or icoman will refuse me ; for the rest, I care 
 not one single rush ; that is, as I calmly proceed, be not 
 hasty in deciding, suspend your verdict, and " judge no- 
 thing before the time." 
 
 Now an apostolic bishop, it seems, has sent, or what 
 amounts to the same thing, regularly booked the pas- 
 sage of all such of us, at least, as he may think proper to 
 denominate dissenters, to Hell; that is, those that do not 
 
 K 
 
130 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 think fit or choose to enter his fold, and thus altogether 
 avoid paying the pass-port fee, since that in point of fact, 
 is the sorest part of the business ; for as to the maintenance 
 of the honour and authority of the Master, that is entirely 
 out of the question, with men who are in the daily habit of 
 contradicting and contravening his most positive declara- 
 tions, orders and injunctions; so very natural a consequence, 
 where the principles and character of the parties are neither 
 more nor less than a compound, in about equal propor- 
 tions, of those, so very justly attributed to those tico very 
 ancient personages, of and concerning whom the young 
 one was so particular and anxious in her enquiries. But 
 if all that is said of and respecting that most fearful place, 
 to which the bishop, or else some one or more whom he 
 commends and also recommends for having so clone, thus 
 employing them as his evil instruments in doing his dirty 
 work ; and also becoming, like every workman, more guilty 
 than his tools, (as the infernal tormenting brute of a 
 monkey, who, whilst the poor cat shrieked and flew, did 
 no more than just screech and dance to the sound of her 
 music,) so coolly dispatches all whom he calls (as the 
 saying is, " give the dog a bad name and then hang him") 
 dissenters, denouncing them as obnoxious to the " curse 
 of God here and his eternal wrath hereafter," be true, it is 
 not a matter to be lightly passed over. He who was truth 
 itself personified, has disclosed to us these dreadful reali- 
 ties, not for the purpose of trifling with our feelings, and 
 so sporting with our distress — no, but from motives of 
 the purest and most disinterested benevolence ; thus 
 bringing us acquainted with our danger, in order that we 
 might be thereby induced, to seek that shelter and security 
 which he himself had, at an incalculable cost of personal 
 suffering and agony, provided ; and accordingly made 
 known to us, as being to be obtained by every one who 
 only simply, sincerely, and honestly applies for it, and 
 
THF PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 131 
 
 that too, without the interference of a bishop or any other 
 man ; but all which, upon the bishops' principles, becomes 
 perfectly nugatory, (a matter to be settled between the 
 bishop and the Master ;) and in the mean time all you and 
 I have to do, is to take care that neither we nor our little 
 ones are deceived by the bishop. Now, as addressed to 
 Him, can any one tell me, when it was that a bishop was 
 heard to say, "I have left all and followed thee;'''' but I 
 can tell you, what they are saying every day, and that is, 
 " if compelled to leave cdl, I will not thy follower be ? " 
 
 That we may be enabled to form some idea of the kind- 
 liness of the Bishop's disposition towards the stubborn self- 
 willed resisters, we will just recite a few of the expressions 
 employed by the Master himself, to represent to us some- 
 thing of the nature and extent of the peril attending a 
 rejection of the overtures of His mercy to us, as above ad- 
 verted to, as follows, " For Tophet is ordained of old, it is 
 deep and large, the pile thereof isjire and much wood, the 
 breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle 
 it ;" and, "in Jiell he lift up his eyes, being in torments," 
 " where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" 
 " where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of 
 teeth," " in the lake that burneth with fire and brim- 
 stone ; " " into everlasting punishment, jorepared for the 
 Devil and his angels ; " " punished with everlasting de- 
 struction from the presence of the Lord ; " " for it is a 
 fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ; " 
 and " the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever 
 and ever." I shall stop here, for if I attempt to proceed 
 any further in this strain, the pen will drop from my hand, 
 and I shall become faint at heart ; but should it be, that 
 this ever meets his eye ; I am very certain if he has the 
 heart of a man, (mind, I do 7iot say of a bishop,) I very 
 well know howhe wiliyee/; however that is not my present 
 affair. 
 
 k2 
 
132 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 I proceed then, by asking him, if he recollects what one 
 of his own fraternity said some two or three centuries ago, 
 of and respecting their etitire order ; if he has forgotten it, 
 and perhaps he has, for it is not very flattering, I beg leave 
 to remind him of it ; he says then, and that most advis- 
 edly, " There is a gap in hell, as wide as from Dover to 
 Calais, and it is all filled with bishops ; " a pretty decent 
 sort of gap ; and observe, that as it regards the rules of 
 proportion, the length of a gap generally exceeds by many 
 times its breadth, perhaps five or six, very often more ; so 
 that there would be, or rather, upon the authority of the 
 honest bishop, there actually is, a gap in hell, one hundred 
 miles long and twenty broad, the depth I know not, and that 
 choke full of bishops. Then, one very naturally enquires, 
 where did they all come from? for even supposing the 
 whole brotherhood, from the archbishop clown to the 
 meanest curate, and that from the period of their first in- 
 stitution, were collected together, and moreover pitched 
 in, in one mass, they would be all out of sight and disappear 
 in one moment ; so that it must be intended therein to 
 comprise all the bishops, not only of this sphere, but also 
 of all the planets of and belonging to our solar system, 
 save and except him who revealed the secret ; and whose 
 evidence or information, call it which you will, is indeed 
 most invaluable ; yes, truly, some one or more of them 
 will say, just as much so as that of all those who " turn " 
 what is called *' king's evidence," and who are invariably 
 considered to be the " biggest rogues ;" no, no, " but stop, 
 that's fast and loose; and haste, they say, it is, makes 
 waste ; " " king's evidence," why it has no more to do with 
 a king, than it has with a dead dog ; for bishops know 
 better than to attempt such a thing as sending a king, or 
 even a queen, that is, the weaker vessel, to hell; only just 
 let them try it, for they have now a very fair opportunity 
 for making the experiment. No, they understand their 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. l33 
 
 tactics too well for that. Indeed I am truly astonished, 
 that he should have dared to treat one half at least of her 
 Majesty's subjects with such indignity and injustice, since 
 we are given to understand that the reigning monarch 
 takes the greatest possible interest in whatever relates to 
 their welfare ; and although it may concern principally 
 their temporal advantage, still she cannot be altogether 
 indifferent to those matters of infinitely superior moment; 
 and particularly as being exercised towards a class of 
 persons, who are among the most truly loyal and devoted 
 of her subjects ; since there is nothing better calculated 
 to disturb the peace and quietness of society than the 
 base, libellous, false, lying, charges which he has brought 
 against them ; and as he has not thought proper to assign 
 any reason whatever that bears even the slightest appear- 
 ance of probability, so are we accordingly left to offer the 
 only one that appears to us as capable of being assigned 
 as a sufficient ground for such unworthy treatment, viz., 
 that he apprehends the "loaves and fishes " to be in danger ; 
 and so indeed they are, and all his clamour and rage will 
 not prevent their being, although they will doubtless 
 not fail to hasten the arrival of the period when they must 
 be, shared out amongst those who are best entitled to 
 them ; so that if what they say be true, the bishop is 
 likely enough, as I should expect, to receive a very sharp 
 rebuke, or rather perhaps a severe rap on the knuckles, 
 (for if a king be truly the father of his, why should not a 
 queen be equally so the mother of her people) and all the 
 smarter coming from so young a one : and that too the very 
 Jlrst lady in the land, would be, as I should guess, no 
 very trljiing matter. So that they altogether mistake 
 the thing ; for in point of fact it is " the peoplc\s evi- 
 dence," that is, evidence in favour of the people, since 
 bishops and people are never known to dwell together in 
 one and the same locality. Now the beauty of all this is. 
 
134 THI' PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 that the good bishop (for we have never heard of a second 
 like him) has kept close to the terms of his oath ; which 
 prescribes, you know, " that you tell the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth," and in return for the 
 good bishop's candour and kindness, the people, I am very 
 certain, will one and all say, " amen ; " " so, and for ever, 
 may God /lelj) him." But I am not at all surprized at 
 their being so very anxious about driving the people 
 there ; for the record declares, that " broad is the road that 
 leadeth to destruction ; " yes, as broad, I suppose, as the 
 entire circuit of the whole earth ; and as they are, or at least 
 have hitherto been, so very particular in the choice of their 
 company, it is poor solitary work for six and twenty 
 wretched pilgrims to be scattered, (and that too without 
 being able to see another fellow traveller besides them- 
 selves^ throughout an extent, and moreover, in every di- 
 rection, of about as many thousand miles. And thus 
 much for the testimony of his brother bishop. 
 
 But we will now if you please come nearer home, and 
 still we find the Bishop and his clique, as it were at play, 
 and sending us all, as above, to Hell, Then for what ? 
 Do we not pay them all their demands ? Their tithes ; 
 their rates ; their dues ; their fees ; their offerings ; &c., 
 &c. ; why if they exterminate us, they will most assuredly 
 find themselves by just so much the minus. Then what 
 more do they want ? They mulct us here, they abuse us 
 there, and then henceforth and for ever they determine to 
 pack us off to hell. Now, how are we to account for this 
 very strange conduct ? Why, the fact is, they are all the 
 while afraid of the fraud being detected, knowing it to 
 be all a delusion ; and they dread the consequences of ex- 
 amination and enquiry, since they are sure to bring people 
 to a dead halt, and tJiat again, is just as preparatory to a 
 "right about /«re." But whilst writing, the fire continues 
 to burn, and it becomes brighter and brighter, and now 
 
THK riONKF.RS IN CONTRAST. 135 
 
 begins to glow, and I just then felt a spark, and no won- 
 der indeed that they should say, that "a, burnt child dreads 
 the fire ; " for the pain of it is most intolerable ; and under 
 the smart of it never did I more keenly feel the propriety 
 and force of that very ancient sentiment, that " the tender 
 mercies of the wicked are cruel." Has the Bishop do you 
 think, ever proved it with his own finger (you see I am a 
 practical sort of person) therein, for only ^ve minutes. I 
 shall not very soon forget the sensations I experienced on 
 seeing the lower part of a house on fire, and the people 
 above altogether unconscious thereof, and how their own 
 brass knocker outside the door, and my own (as some per- 
 haps may feel disposed to say, brazen) clapper within 
 doors, were " going it " both together. But how very 
 coolly the Bi;shop and his friends, enjoying it as they do 
 over their bottle, determine upon plunging half a nation 
 into " the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone," and 
 a plunge too that will never be repeated, for this very 
 obvious reason ; viz., that those who once get in, never ca?i 
 get out again ; and where, moreover, the poor wretches wiU 
 not be allowed even his pleasure, who said, "^ this side 
 enough is toasted, then turn me, tyrant, eat ; and see 
 whether raw or roasted, I am the better meat;" but it 
 will be roast, roast, roast, roast, and never, never, never 
 do?ie. Now is not this, think you, nice amusement for 
 a Christian shepherd, a bishop of souls 9 
 
 I have hitherto, throughout this essay, most anxiously 
 and studiously endeavoured to avoid every thing that 
 might appear to afford even the slightest ground for 
 the charge of egotism, and I really have the vanity to 
 imagine that I have, until now, succeeded to admiration 
 in so doing ; but I noic utterly disclaim and discard the 
 idea, and moreover declare plainly that egotism here 
 becomes a virtue, indeed absolutely unavoidable, as ac- 
 tually resolving itself into that grand principle which 
 
136 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 we one and all unite in maintaining, viz., that " self- 
 preservation is thejirst law of nature ;" and my only aim, 
 object and anxiety now is, to be able to inoculate you all 
 with the very same sort of egotistic feeling. For when 
 the good-natured Bishop, with far less remorse than hesi- 
 tation, thinks fit to plunge a million of us into hell, what 
 are we altogether but a million of Ego's ^ Yet what if the 
 entire million of Ego's besides, should take it quite 
 coolly, is that a sufficient reason why the millionth Ego 
 should tamely submit ? quite the reverse ; but before 
 the Bishop shall toss me into hell. Ego will kick and 
 fling like a fury, and thus 7-esist to the very last ; and if 
 after all my efforts the Bishop seems likely to prevail. Ego 
 will make a prompt and direct appeal to the Master him- 
 self, to know if it be his good will and pleasure, that Ego, 
 who am conscious of no other offence, than that of a con- 
 science void of intentional offence either "towards God or 
 towards men," am to be consigned to that very horridest 
 of all horrid places, merely to gratify the whim and caprice, 
 the spite and the malice, of an ambitious diahoUcal Bishop. 
 Now this proceeding cannot fail of being effectual and 
 conclusive, for in thus referring the matter to Him, for his 
 final decision thereon, we do as a matter of course, ac- 
 knowledge His authority; and that it is, whereinto the 
 whole affair resolves itself. And is it possible to do less 
 than love the Being whose power and authority we dis- 
 tinctly recognise, as exerted and employed on our behalf; 
 and under the influence of a principle of love thus origi- 
 nating and produced, can we do otherwise than act in 
 obedience to his will ; for he has said, " Ye are my friends 
 if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you," but, as I 
 apprehend, 770t otherwise; and it may perhaps be a question, 
 whether the negative of the position, is considered as it 
 ought to be ? 
 Now all that is, as just above propounded, may be trans- 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 137 
 
 acted between the individual himself and the Master, even 
 if there was no other individual besides himself, in the 
 whole world ; indeed the intervention of a third party, 
 is, in truth, not merely useless ; but positively mischievous ; 
 for it is simply and altogether a matter of the recognition 
 of authority ; it was so in the case of the thief on the cross ; 
 there was no argument there, but the internal overwhelm- 
 ing conviction, that he who hung thereon, was, notwith- 
 standing all, able to deliver him ; and where is the being 
 who woidd, on such an occasion, have dared to interpose, 
 in order to set him right ? Not to be found, I trow. No. 
 His authority then once acknowledged, the business was 
 finished and complete, and that too without the aid of all 
 -potent water, however indispensable it may be now-a-days 
 pronounced to be ; Mammon, they say, knows why. In 
 saying, as above, that there was no argument used I am 
 evidently mistaken, and therefore wish to correct myself; 
 but it was very short and simple indeed, and involved 
 nothing else but the question of authority, for he said, 
 "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom ;" 
 and whether He, to whom it was addressed, felt the force 
 of it or not, must be determined by the answer he re- 
 turned, (and remember there was no other communication 
 whatever between the parties) namely, " verily, I say unto 
 thee, to-day thou shalt be with me in paradise ; " and that 
 very day he, in company with his Lord and Master, entered 
 paradise in triumph. And what more or less than this 
 was it with her, than a bowing to his authority ; yes, with 
 her who " washed his feet with her tears, and wiped them 
 with the hair of her head;" she recognised in Him her 
 Lord and Master ; and though we are not to suppose that 
 she had lost the use of her tongue, yet there was not a 
 syllable passed between them ; still there was an argu- 
 ment going on somewhere, out of sight and hearing too, 
 save and except what became articulate in the frequent 
 
138 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 sincere sobs of poor, love stricken, tender hearted, silent, 
 yet still speaking, Mary ; and never, before or since, was 
 the " argumentum a foemind ad hominem in Deo, vel ad 
 Deum in homine,^^ plied with greater effect ; for the Master 
 himself with the utmost complacency assured her that her 
 *' faith had saved her, and told her to go in peace ; " but 
 (mark you) to avoid sinning any more ; and the only 
 difference between Simon the Pharisee and Mary the sin- 
 ner was, that Simon retained his sins, but the sinner's 
 were remitted ; and though poor Mary never said a single 
 word about her love, the Master himself most positively 
 declared, that " to her that loved much, much was forgiven." 
 Neither do we hear more of baptism in the affair, than 
 that instead of being herself baptized with water, she her- 
 self had baptized her Saviour's feet with her tears. 
 
 Why, it was on this very ground that the Pharisees 
 temptingly assailed him ; when they said, " by what au- 
 thority doest thou these things ; " and truly he vanquished 
 them on their oiV7i premises ; and have we not their living 
 counterparts with us to this very day. Are there now 
 none " who in long robes love to walk," and salutations 
 too, " in high," as well as in " market, places ? " And is 
 it not written, " no man calleth Jesus Lord " (which is 
 the same thing as Master^ " but by the Holy Ghost ; " 
 and so he becomes our "friend;" and thus astonished, 
 confounded, and completely paralysed, and, moreover, per- 
 ceiving " his scale in the ascendant high, and about to 
 kick the beam," under cover of the darkness, the Bishop 
 sounds a quick retreat ; and I can fancy I hear him all the 
 while muttering, " I fear indeed I have gone too far, but lest 
 the red lightning of his wrath speedily overtake me, let me 
 without delay hurry away, like lightning to my place." 
 
 But have we not read, that there was one who found his 
 way into the banquetting room, uninvited ; and took his 
 seat accordingly at the marriage supper ; and although 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 139 
 
 detected and expelled, is it not quite possible, that the 
 Bishop may, either in that or in some other way also gain 
 admittance theremito ; then having, as above, effected my 
 own escape from him, (yes, from him clad, not like him 
 who is now so very rife about, (called Spring-heeled Jack,) 
 in soft iron, but in long lawn without, and within in trqile 
 hardened steel ; just such a one, as at that time would 
 have made, and were it not that the laws noio restrain him, 
 (a lion chained^ would actually now make a bonny bloom- 
 ing Bonner, out- He rod-ing even Herod himself j or else he 
 never could thus deliberately and unmoved, deliver over to 
 ceaseless and unutterable agonies men and women, (ay, 
 and even innocent sucking babies too) who have never done 
 him, in return for evil, any thing but good;) and also, I trust, 
 made the Master my friend ; should I chance to see him 
 there disguised, for in no other character can it be; and as 
 the very peace of heaven itself would, so long as he was there, 
 be insecure ; I pledge myself to move the whole court 
 against him ; and never to rest or desist, until I have suc- 
 ceeded in carrying a unanimous vote (yes, and one too so 
 worded and expressed as to prevent the possibility of its 
 ever being rescinded, but framed after the model of " the 
 Imv of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not ") for 
 his immediate and final expulsion into outer darkness ; and 
 where occupying the seat appointed for him ab initio, he 
 may accordingly enter upon the interminable task, of count- 
 ing the vibrations of that dread pendulum, (constructed, 
 as they say, upon that principle so long and just as fruit- 
 lessly sought after ; and which, having its extreme upper 
 end, firm as irremoveably fixed and secured beneath the 
 bright eifulgent adamantine throne of God, suspended 
 hangs, reaching to the very lowest point of that dismal, 
 dark, and fiery gulph, or pit, and which, moreover, has no 
 bottom to it ; as being one of the secret things of Hi7n who 
 as he is excellent in working, is also infinite in essence 
 
140 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 as in being ; and who therefore, as by intuition, alone 
 understands what iier-petuity of motion means,) whose 
 deviations from the exact perpendicular, as they at equal 
 intervals, and in endless succession recur, are mysteriously 
 responded to, in those tremendously awful words ; for 
 ever, and ever ; but to be counted out ; never. 
 
 Then it seems that Tophet is prepared. 
 
 For those who impiously pretend 
 To be Gods ; and thus have boldly dared. 
 
 With God Almighty to contend. 
 
 But eternity, (that dreadful word !) 
 
 Endless, — as without beginning, 
 Itself, can never space afford 
 
 For repentance, unto men thus sinning. 
 
 Yet oh ! how dreadful 'tis to think, 
 
 That those, who to heaven's bliss aspire. 
 
 Should rise from death, only to sink 
 To hell ; and bathe in liquid fire. 
 
 Then let them lay aside their claims ; 
 
 And, to avoid the horrid contrast, 
 Seek his forgiveness, who proclaims. 
 
 Pardon for all offences past. 
 
 It can scarcely be necessary then, again to repeat the 
 question, which we have already so very frequently pro- 
 posed ; having now completely demonstrated, and that too 
 on strictly logical principles, not only the utter weakness and 
 futility of their pretensions, but also the dreadful impiety 
 thereof, as well as the extremely perilous consequences ne- 
 cessarily resulting from a persistence therein ; and this too, 
 as arising from the relation wherein they assume they 
 stand towards the apostles, and particularly to Duke Peter. 
 Now it becomes highly important here, to enquire into the 
 nature of their connection with Prince Paul ; but in his 
 character as Paul the Liberal (yet that he was) it cannot 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 141 
 
 be, for as such they denounce him ; no, but in that of 
 Paul the cruel Bigot ; (for " two cannot walk together 
 except they be agreed ") and, to answer their own selfish 
 purposes, such they have contrived to make him ; when in 
 quoting as they do, those words of his, " we are by nature, 
 children of wrath, even as others;" they apply them to 
 unconscious, innocent babies. Sinless babies children of 
 wrath!!! Babies, indeed, in understanding those must 
 be who can for one moment think so ; what they are in 
 heart it is quite as unnecessary as it would be dreadful to 
 mention. Yet should they still persist in their wicked- 
 ness, there remain but two methods of treatment to be 
 observed towards them ; that is to say, they are either to 
 be regarded as the ministers of him who to gain his oivn 
 ends is transformed into an angel of light ; or as lunatic, 
 that is, possessed with a devil ; and therefore, in their par- 
 ticular instance, the sooner a " commission de lunatico in- 
 quirendo " issues, the better for themselves, as being thus 
 about to be properly provided for ; and decidedly so for all 
 around them, as relieving them from a most intolerable 
 nuisance, plague, and pest. 
 
 But Paul, doubtless, had read Moses ; his epistles 
 throughout, and particularly that to the Hebrews afford 
 sufficient evidence of that ; and, as I apprehend, that pas- 
 sage in particular had not escaped his notice, (indeed it 
 very probably afforded him a precedent,) wherein we read 
 that God said to Moses, " Speak unto the children of 
 Israel, that they go forward^ Then are we to under- 
 stand, from the passage just cited, that the men and the 
 women, with sucking babies at their breasts, (tender 
 hearted mothers just attend here) were to " go forward," 
 of course carrying the babies (the only hope as well as re- 
 source, and that too of, and for years to come,) with them ; 
 or, on the contrary, that the helpless babies (oh, the 
 modern refinement of intellect,) were to carry their fathers 
 
142 THE PIONEERS IX CONTRAST. 
 
 and mothers in their arms ; and thus, or even by them- 
 selves, boldly and manfully " go forward." Inoffensive, 
 unoffending babies ; babies incapable of offence, " children 
 of wrath." Why, to demonstrate this to be a most wilfully 
 wicked perversion of the plainest and most obvious meaning 
 of words, it is merely necessary to advert to the sentence 
 itself, wherein it is to be found, and the immediate context 
 and general connection wherewith it stands related ; Paul 
 is therein speaking of character as determined by a course 
 (either longer or shorter) of conduct, of the dispositions of 
 the mind as developed in active life, and that too of none 
 but full-grown conscious men and women ; of the fathers 
 and mothers, to a less or greater extent, it doubtless was 
 quite true ; as it is written, " there is none that doeth 
 good, no not one," " the thoughts of mail's heart are evil 
 contmually fro7n his youth up," "evil pursueth sinners, 
 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
 righteousness and ungodliness of men;'''' but to charge 
 little thoughtless, unthinking babies as moral delinquents, 
 and therefore as children of wrath, is a most grossly and 
 infamously impious libel, and a lie ; and such too they 
 know it to be. But the fact is, that this very fiction it is, 
 that becomes the foundation itself whereon the national 
 edifice rests ; as well as also the key-stone of every arch 
 sustaining its allotted portion of the superstructure ; to say 
 the truth, the all in all, and which if only once effectually 
 withdrawn, must not only inevitably prove fatal to the 
 stability thereof, but actually pave the way for the final 
 and complete dissolution of the entire fabric itself. 
 
 It here becomes highly important, indeed indispensably 
 requisite, that we should examine closely into the merits of 
 this prime leading feature of the system ; as being in point 
 of fact the o?ily source to which it is now indebted for its 
 existence, as well as for its daily nourishment and support ; 
 since there are no other natio?ial Christians except such as 
 
THE nOXEERS IN CONTRAST. 143 
 
 were made so when infants, the institution itself scarcely 
 recognising, indeed admitting of no other ; and as nothing 
 but a clear and correct apprehension thereof, can remove 
 from, and thus disabuse your minds of those false im- 
 pressions, under which they may have hitherto laboured, 
 and whereby they must of necessity have been so very 
 much distressed, as considering them to be founded in 
 truth. It is true you are taught, and that too by men, 
 whose interest it is that you should so believe, that your 
 children if not by tJiem christened, cannot go to heaven ; 
 but where, except at the lying lips of impious men, do you 
 find the idea ? certainly not in the Scriptures ; and here let 
 me remind you, that those who were, and that by the Master 
 himself, originally commissioned to baptize, and who were 
 also at the same time by Him endowed with powers alto- 
 gether extraordinary, as being supernatural, have long 
 since terminated their commission, and entered into rest ; 
 and that He who appointed them has not named their 
 successors ; and although there are 7iot wanting those who 
 are bold and daring enough, to pretend to the exercise 
 of their authority as a matter of right, still to be com- 
 missioned and accredited to, and moreover duly to dis- 
 charge an important ofhce and trust, is one and a very 
 proper thing ; whilst to be guilty of a gross usurpation 
 and assumption of the same is another, and a very different, 
 and a very improper thing ; and observe, this is speaking 
 in the mildest possible terms ; for remember, that by com- 
 plying with their orders and injunctions, you are your- 
 selves accessory, as aiding and abetting in the perpetration 
 of an oifence, the complexion whereof is perhaps of a much 
 darker hue than it is usually imagined to be ; since on the 
 authority of the record it amounts to nothing less than a 
 " counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing ; " 
 and as without your countenance, encouragement, and 
 support, it must of necessity die a natural death. 
 
144 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 But to impress you still more deeply with an idea of the 
 homd consequences resulting from such neglect, they will 
 not, should it die, afford your babe what they call^Chrhtian 
 burial ; thus plainly telling you, and that too as loudly as 
 deeds can speak, that it is, according to their apprehen- 
 sions, gone to hell. Yet first of all, let them if they can, 
 make it out to be, or rather to liave been, what, no doubt, 
 they are themselves, that is — a sinner. Now to constitute 
 any one such, there must of necessity be a sense of con- 
 sciousness, an aversion from rectitude, a principle in the 
 mind indisposing it to that which is right, but not from 
 that which is wrong ; the characters which go to form 
 the free moral agent ; the conditions, the necessary pre- 
 requisites of responsibility ; all which, particularly the 
 fomier, are to be found, and that too in high perfection, in 
 the evil minded, money hunting priest ; but not one of 
 them, in the pure, innocent, because unconscious, babe. 
 And he that dares assert the contrary, gives the Redeemer 
 the lie ; for he said of such is — not icas — nor icill be — but 
 of such is — ay, in the very self same instant, wherein they 
 may happen to drop out of time into eternity, He himself, 
 and that in spite of wicked priests, now receives them in 
 his arms, as he did when on earth, and not one of them is 
 lost ; for " of such is the kingdom of heaven^'' and if any 
 are in danger, it is only those whom the priest has first 
 of all meddled with ; for (according to honest Jack) it is 
 quite possible then, that they may stink under His nose. 
 
 Then trembling, soft, and tender-hearted mothers, dis- 
 miss your fears ; since your babies, if taken away by death, 
 are, as you may plainly see, safe enough in heaven ; and 
 never will be otherwise, unless you yourselves do jeopardize 
 them, by truckling to a priest ; and it is only to be won- 
 dered at, that you should ever have thought otherwise, or 
 rather suffered yourselves to have been persuaded to the 
 contrary ; although it is not the only subject in reference to 
 
tul; i'io.\l;[:r>; i.v contrast. 145 
 
 vliich most strange niiisappreliensions are found to prevail, 
 a position this, which may be most thoroughly exemplified 
 by the following easy, simple, and familiar illustration. For 
 instance, to our apprehension, the sun rises and sets every 
 day in the year, whereas, in deed and in truth, it never 
 does either; but always continues in one and the same 
 place ; and it is we ourselves only, that do either rise or 
 sit ; so, again, the earth appears to us to be immoveable 
 and fixed ; whereas, in point of fact, it is nothing but the 
 very rapidity itself of its motion that prevents our seeing 
 it move ; and as compared with which, steam carriages 
 that fly at the rate of eighty miles an hour, do in reality 
 only creep along like snails. So that our apprehension of 
 the subject, is the very reverse of the fact ; and therefore 
 all we have to do in order to arrive at a correct knowledge 
 of the fact, is just to reverse our apprehension of the 
 subject. However, after all, the misapprehension itself, 
 although as complete as it can be, is perfectly harmless ; 
 and excepting that ignorance, in reference to any matter 
 whatsoever, should if possible be avoided, it is altogether 
 an affair of not the slightest consequence, whether we do 
 or do not know, that either the one or the other, or even 
 both of them, do or do not move. One thing is certain, 
 that we ourselves shall move on, and move through this 
 world too just the same as ever, and if we are only in the 
 right road to the next, our ignorance with respect to the 
 above particulars will not prevent our reaching it in safety; 
 and besides " what we know not now, we shall know here- 
 after ; " so that the more we have to learn, the greater will 
 be our pleasure and surprise ; always supposing that we are 
 taking the 'preparatory lessons. But we will now, if you 
 please, go back to the matter of the illustration, and apply 
 it accordingly, to the unmediate subject in hand ; and in 
 so doing, how delighted you must be to find, to what con- 
 clusion and result it will bring you ; which is neither more 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 nor less than this, that the priest and the infant are found to 
 have changed places ; that is, your babe is in heaven, and 
 the bishop is in h — 11 ; or what we may call arriving at a 
 knmoledge of the fact, by reversing our apprehension or 
 rather correcting our misapprehension of the subject. 
 
 I have used the word priest, but truly I cannot tell the 
 reason ivhy ; I imagine it is, that being so much accus- 
 tomed to the sound, it slips off the tongue without one's 
 knowing it ; since the title, as also the office, never did 
 belong to any but the descendants of Abraham ; and it is 
 now very little short of two thousand years since they were 
 as a body entirely and for ever disbanded ; and to revive 
 and apply that to heathen worshippers of Mammon, which 
 appertained exclusively to the chosen sons of Levi, is ab- 
 surd and preposterous in the extreme. Then why, my 
 fellow countrymen and women, encourage such a system ; 
 since you are able, in one moment, to put a stop to it ; all 
 that is required is to keep your little ones at home, and 
 never to suffer them to come in contact with the agent of a 
 system which has been productive of mischief, and that 
 alone, that is incalculable ? Oh, if one could collect to- 
 gether in one mass, all the evils (the page of history, and 
 the Pictorial in particular, will speak for the past, as will 
 our own knowledge and experience for the present time) 
 which the men called priests have inflicted on this and 
 other countries ; what an appalling spectacle would it not 
 present ? Why, the bare sight of it would so completely 
 rouse one's indignation that one would be apt to say, that, 
 if a sack could be found that was large enough for the pur- 
 pose, the whole concern ought to be instantly sewed up in 
 it, and conveyed away, and sunk in that part of the Medi- 
 terranean Sea which, they say, has been sounded to the 
 depth of nearly two miles, without finding, what, perhaps, 
 it has not got, and that is, a bottom ; for the probability is, 
 from the immense in-draught of water constantly flowing 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 147 
 
 thereinto, without any perceptible vent, that it com- 
 municates in some circuitous way or other, with the 
 interior of the globe ; which (the geologists tell us) is 
 filled with " liquid fire^'' eight thousand (minus eighty, 
 the thickness of the crust) in diameter; a fact this, of 
 itself, fully accounting for all the phenomena of earth- 
 quake, volcano, and other terrific appearances, witnessed 
 from time to time in that region of the earth, as being the 
 very natural effects necessarily resulting from the incessant 
 combination of such an enormous body of fire and water, 
 and as moreover producing and giving out, or off, all those 
 electric and other effluvia which go to answer all the useful 
 and salutary ends and purposes of palliation, equipoise, 
 and compensation, &c., so indispensahle to the existence 
 and maintenance too of animal and all other life, and the 
 comfort and convenience moreover of all who are capable 
 thereof; and whose presence although in themselves by 
 far too subtle to become in a general way the objects of 
 vision, is nevertheless very clearly ascertained, as being 
 demonstrated occasionally, from their effects ; as, for in- 
 stance, when the red, pale, or blue lightning becomes 
 actually visible. But what an idea! a gulph of "liquid 
 fire " (according to the geologists) four and twenty thousand 
 (save and except as above) miles in circuiyiference. Now, 
 I have just here one question to put ; that is, who can tell 
 me where the bottom of that is, (of the dimensions I mean 
 as above) which is continually, without so much as even 
 one moment's intermission, revolving in one direction 
 (that is in its circular orbit) at the rate of more than one 
 thousand miles a minute ; and in another, equally unre- 
 mitting, but at an angle to the plane of its orbicular path, 
 more or less acute, at the rate of one thousand miles an 
 hour ; a sort of duplex escapement, so to speak, but pecu- 
 liar to itself alone ; in the first instance purely progressive; 
 in the other, rotatory, that is to say, going round and 
 
 l2 
 
148 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 round about itself; that is, its oifii axis. I am quite 
 aware that it is, indeed, not a little perplexing to deter- 
 mine whereabouts the bottom of such a sphere, under the 
 circumstances as above, exactly is. Yet, were it put to 
 me, to answer the question, I should without the least 
 hesitation say, that so long as its motion is interminable, 
 that it has no bottom at all, which is much the same 
 thing, as to say, that it is bottomless ; a regular Tophet in 
 itself, if there were no other. Then supposing the whole 
 of the iniquitous concern as aforesaid, consigned as above 
 to the depths of the above-mentioned ocean; by means of 
 suction, or rather upon the principle of specific gravity, it 
 could not fail to find its way to the region of fire, as above 
 premised ; being the very same place whither they them- 
 selves do consign all those, both old and young, whom they 
 do not think proper to number among the sons and daughters 
 of what they call, the National Church, but particularly 
 little babies, who happen to die, as they call it, un-baptized. 
 You see then, kind mothers, I cannot forget your little 
 ones ; no, but when I do, and moreover, whenever, in re- 
 turn for the very kind attention they receive from the 
 bishop and his brethren, I forget tJiem, may I never again 
 meet wuth the favourable countenance, much less the for- 
 giveness, of every kind and sensible woman. Yes, when I 
 forget them, may the brains now engaged in concocting 
 these materials, and thus advocating your cause, become 
 addled like an egg, that has lain for six months under 
 
 uater. 
 
 An illimitable globe of fire ! ! 
 
 Revolving round world without end, 
 Where souls may live, but can't expire. 
 And whither all the wicked tend. 
 
 But men whose office it would seem, 
 
 'Tis to rescue spirits thither tending. 
 Are, instead of striving to redeem, 
 
 Thereinto millions coolly sending. 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 149 
 
 Yet, herein's the acme of their crime, 
 
 To a doom thus horrid to consign 
 Infants of rf«v*, babies in time, 
 
 ^Yho on the Saviour's breast recline. 
 
 But when " he comes " his right to claim, 
 
 And till his heaven with infant rubies. 
 He'll then consign to endless flame 
 
 The proud episcopalian boobies. 
 
 A result like this cannot but prove 
 
 To men, who deliberately have past, 
 That dreadful sentence, wherein love 
 
 Is wanting — a surprizing contract. 
 
 Having then hastily taken a view of the origin of their 
 connection with Prijice Paul, viewed by them as he is in 
 the light and character of a cruel relentless bigot ; and 
 traced out its result in a way which we apprehend must be 
 no less satisfactory to your feelings than conclusive to 
 your unprejudiced and unbiassed reason and judgement ; 
 and which, moreover, cannot fail, if you have, (and I am 
 very sure that I have no reason whatever to suspect that 
 you have notf excepting what may arise in consequence of 
 your communications as above with the priests) the af- 
 fection which you ought to have for your babies ; of being 
 decidedly influential in producing the desired result, as it 
 regards your future connection with the system under 
 review, that is to say, in disconnecting altogether both you 
 and yours therefrom, and that both now and for ever; we will 
 for the further purpose of complete and effectual contrast, 
 put them in comparison with Paul the Liberal ; a character 
 to which he is, although without even the slightest ostenta- 
 tious pretension, most eminently entitled. Having delibe- 
 rately considered the terms of the engagement, whereof 
 not the least was that which related to the care and charge 
 of the poor, that reversio in 'perpetumn, with the fee simple 
 whereof the Master himself, when he said " the poor ye 
 
150 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 have alicays with you," invested his immediate followers ; 
 and as a matter of course their successors also, be they 
 who they may ; and that too in terms so positive and ab- 
 solute as to be coeval with the duration even of time 
 itself. And here it is quite in place to enquire how stands 
 the question as between the moderns and the poor? Then 
 be it remembered, that this affair of the succession neither 
 is nor ever has been forced upon them ; that it is entirely 
 of their own seeking ; neither are they at liberty so to cut 
 and carve in the matter, for themselves, as to take away 
 all the meat from, and leave nothing but the bones for 
 others. " What God has joined together, let not men put 
 asunder," at least let them not expect that the attempt 
 can be made in perfect safety. The Master himself has 
 indissolubly connected the charge with the succession, and 
 whilst indifference to the claims of the poor demonstrates 
 the utter futility of their pretensions, it at the same time 
 amounts to a most gross insult to, as impugning the au- 
 thority of the Master. So, as above, was the subject un- 
 derstood by him, who said, " I have shewed you all 
 things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the 
 weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how 
 he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive." The 
 succession mongers of former times, were, in that respect, 
 far more consistent than their more modern, yet much less 
 charitable, brethren ; they do indeed appear to have been 
 sensible of the obligation still existing in all its original 
 force ; and, although not quite unmindful of themselves, 
 they did not altogether forget the poor, considering, very 
 properly, that the enormous mass of property which had by 
 various means (as noticed above) found its way into their 
 hands, was by them held in trust, so to speak, for their sole 
 benefit ; and a very considerable portion thereof was, 
 accordingly, so applied. But their more reformed Pro- 
 testant successors (so complete was the reformation) have 
 
THE PIONKEKS IN CONTRAST. 151 
 
 judged it expedient to take a very different view of the 
 matter, and although immensely improved in value, to 
 reserve to themselves, and thus apply to their own purposes, 
 the entire patrimony of what they call the Church ; and 
 as a matter of course, to throw the whole charge of the 
 maintenance of the poor upon the nation at large ; and the 
 nation, moreover, is weak and pusillanimous enough to 
 submit to the unjust, wicked, oppressive imposition. 
 
 Then, having deliberately considered the terms of the 
 engagement, immecUately , yet, to the inevitably certain 
 annihilation of the very brightest prospects that ever 
 flattered the ambition of any man, he " conferred not with 
 flesh and blood," but at once boldly and manfully made 
 his election ; and although it subjected him to contempt, 
 to persecutions, to poverty, to distress, to the loss of all 
 things, and stripes into the bargain ; yet to demonstrate 
 the sincerity, as well as the earnestness also, of his zeal and 
 devotedness in and to His and our cause, as well as his 
 anxiety to adhere closely to His injunctions ; and notwith- 
 standing that in consequence of his attachment to Him, he 
 he was reduced to such a state of destitution, as like Him 
 to have scarcely " ichere to lay his head ; " yet having still 
 remaining in his possession a pair of willing hands, and an 
 honest independent spirit ; so fully did he carry into effect 
 the directions of his Master, that he could proudly appeal 
 to those around him, (at the same time that he also called 
 God to witness) that he " had coveted no man's gold or 
 silver;" not so much whether or not he had been charge- 
 able to any of them, (and here too we may discover the 
 extent as well as the reality of his kindness and liberality,) 
 as on the contrary, that " these hands " (and here he 
 shewed them) " had not ministered, not simply and solely 
 to his own, but also to the necessities of those that were 
 with him ;" for it was a settled maxim with Paul, that, 
 *' if any would not work, neither should he eat;"" that is. 
 
152 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 that he should be left to starve. So that had Paul's in- 
 terdict been rigorously enforced, there would, in conse- 
 quence of their unconquerable aversion to icork, long ago 
 have been an end of them and (as a matter of course) of 
 their pretensions. And so fully did he follow out the 
 idea, as above quoted ; that in terms the most positive and 
 express, he declares those who were under the influence of 
 a contrary spirit, and as such pursued an opposite line of 
 conduct, to be "false apostles, deceitful workers, trans- 
 forming themselves into the apostles of Christ; and no 
 marvel," he goes on to say, " for Satan himself is trans- 
 formed into an angel of light ; therefore it is no great 
 thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers 
 of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their 
 works ; " and he very soon after speaks of them as "fools," 
 ds a " greedy devouring" set of oppressors, and, strange to 
 say, whom the infatuated people " suffered gladli/." 
 
 Yet still he does not altogether divest them of honour 
 and distinction ; on the contrary, he concedes to them the 
 exalted character of ministers of the Son of the Morning, 
 alias the Prince of Darkness ; so that it would appear that 
 there is a claim which they are at liberty to prefer, viz., 
 to the right of the administration of the affairs of the god 
 of this world; but recollecting as we do something of the 
 conditions thereof, and how very short lived the tenure of 
 that office is, we will no longer dispute with them the suc- 
 cession, for it is written, " their end shall be accoi'ding to 
 their norks ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their 
 belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly 
 things ;" and again, " Son, remember that thou in thy life 
 time receivedest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus 
 evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tor 
 mented." 
 
 Then to what, as derived from Paul the laborious, as 
 well as the liberal, have these arch pretenders succeeded? 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 153 
 
 To a participation in any measure or degree in the fellow- 
 ship of his sufferings, in cold, hunger, and nakedness, in 
 watchings, weariness, and imprisonments, in the daily ap- 
 prehension and danger of death ; in the loss of all things, 
 and stripes into the bargain ? " No certainly not ; " all 
 those things might be, and no doubt were, quite proper 
 and consistent too, in such a man as Paul, who at best was 
 only a labouring mechanic — a working, that is, an opera- 
 tive tent maker ; but would be altogether unreasonable and 
 out of character in such highly finished literati as we are ; 
 for together with the times, the circumstances of the Church 
 are entirely altered, that is to say, very much improved ; 
 and are we not told that " other men laboured, and we are 
 entered into their labours ; " so that all that remains for us 
 to do, is to sit still and take it easy ; that is, to reap and 
 enjoy in abundance the fruits of all their sufferings and 
 privations. Unquestionably he was ; and considering liim 
 who had been in the third heavens, as no mean precedent 
 or authority, the natural and obvious inference is, that the 
 generous hearted, hard working. Christian mechanics be- 
 come the most clearly entitled to the succession ; and to 
 such it would inevitably fall, were it divested altogether 
 of its pecuniary character and advantages ; and by means 
 of the labours of such, that is, supposing them to have 
 clear heads and warm hearts, would all the purposes of the 
 original institution be most effectually answered ; since it 
 does appear, not to be very easy to understand, that, or 
 how it is, that what is called deep learning can possibly be 
 required, to promote the success of an object or design, 
 which is, in itself, so very simple and plain, as to be (ac- 
 cording to discreet Paul) best secured, not by the ivlsdom 
 of words, but by the foolishness of preaching. Now, as 
 with men individually, so we suppose it to be with the 
 world in general ; for as they get older, they are said to 
 become iriscr ; and as the necessary result of eighteen 
 
154 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 hundred years experience, the character of the moderns, 
 and the Congregation of Faithful Men in particular, is 
 without doubt completely altered, and that too just for all 
 so much the better ; although the notion does not seem to 
 hold quite good, as it regards what are called the middle 
 ages ; which are usually quoted as an unexampled period 
 of ignorance, superstition, and vice of every kind ; the 
 very brightest interval of the reign oi priestcraft. 
 
 But, having once again adverted to the subject of the 
 succession, we will now finally dispose of it by means of a 
 familiar illustration, as follows. Then, as the minor to the 
 major, the greater to the less, so the son to the father 
 succeeds ; and in the instance before us, those that succeed 
 are inferior, we suppose, to those who preceded them. 
 This, doubtless, they are fully prepared to admit. Now, if 
 among a number of men, be it either greater or smaller, 
 engaged in any kind of work whatsoever, we observe one in 
 particular who does not work, but only walks about from 
 place to place, intent or not on all that is passing around 
 him, we naturally conclude that he alone is the master ; 
 and that those who are at work stand towards him in the 
 relation (apart from all moral considerations) of inferiors 
 to a superior. Now let us apply this idea (and take notice 
 that it is not a mere idle notion, for the fact itself may be 
 realized every day before our eyes in full operation) as a 
 test or criterion in the case before us, and we shall find 
 that it will bring out pretty nearly the following result — 
 viz., that the modem prete?iders, like gentlemen at ease, 
 and sauntering about with their hands in their pockets, 
 are nothing less than the masters ; whilst indefatigable 
 Paul, with his industrious companions, are to all intents 
 and purposes, nothing more than the conniion working 
 men. So that contrary to all rule or precedent, or to any 
 thing that is reconcileable either to fact or to reason, or 
 to cofnmon sense; or even to bare possibility itself; the 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 155 
 
 succession they so obstinately lay claim to, is, strange to 
 say, found actually to date and proceed on backwards. 
 
 Then what if they were as completely under the govern- 
 ment and control of Paul the operative, as they would he 
 delighted to have the furious, more than half distracted 
 persecutor Saul, for their very willing obedient servant and 
 coadjutor. Yes, him I mean, that merciless, fierce-flaming 
 fire-brand, which like coals in a blaze, gathered heat, as at 
 the bidding of the relentless priests, it flew, in every direc- 
 tion in quest of its victims, and as such haling to prison, 
 to judgement, and to death, men and women, the poor in- 
 ofiensive dissenters, the only Christians of those days. 
 Yes, methinks if Paul the operative had them thus to deal 
 with, with what a dark scowling fi-own would he turn 
 towards them, and addressing them in the language of 
 sharp and severe rebuke, say — " "i e are idle, ye are idle ; " 
 and since ye are nothing but a pack of indolent, lazy 
 vagabonds, so be ye a parcel of '' hungry, starving " beg- 
 gars ; for '' neither bit nor sup shall ye receive, until ye 
 have turned out of hand complete, those tents which by the 
 Christian Instruction Society were ordered more than three 
 mouths back ; and, mind you, I will have no scamping 
 work put in them, for recollect, (and here again he shews 
 his hands) I am any thing but a ?i0vice at tent fnaking." 
 
 And now, fellow country men and women, as from the 
 above detail of facts, and their unavoidable inferences, 
 your minds must, by this time, be firmly rivetted in the 
 conviction, that the whole scheme is in reality nothing 
 better than a most absurd fiction, a wretched device con- 
 trived solely with a view to purely mercenary purposes 
 and ends; and as the still further protracted pursuit 
 thereof would be utterly fruitless and unproductive, save 
 and except in, and of, increased aversion and disgust; I 
 shall, by way of conclusion, trouble you with only one or 
 two observations more, and that too very briefly, as follows. 
 
156 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Then as it is matter of no small satisfaction, after the 
 toils and fatigue of a tedious, troublesome journey, to be 
 able, in safety, to reach a secure and comfortable resting 
 place ; and, moreover, to exchange those objects which for 
 a length of time have occasioned us the most painful 
 emotions, for the more congenial scenes which await us on 
 reaching our ultimate and as long as ardently desired place 
 of destination ; where, Jinalhj relieved from all that has so 
 long distressed us, and cheered with the brightness of the 
 prospect in view, we may anticipate the future with un- 
 mingled pleasure and delight — even so, in like manner, 
 may we, in the exercise of feelings not very dissimilar to 
 the above, regard our arrival at the termination of this, at 
 least not to us very profitable enquiry ; and happily finding 
 ourselves, as we do, so very near its close, congratulate 
 each other on having at length succeeded in attaining that 
 point whence we may have a clear view of the object 
 of our search, so extremely important as it is to the in- 
 terests of truth and justice ; the same being neither more 
 nor less than the proud and far-famed high pressure steam 
 vessel of their pretensions : but alas ! a complete and total 
 wreck ! ! and after looking around most anxiously in every 
 direction, discover nothing more of it remaining but here 
 and there a fragment, whereon are inscribed, in letters 
 large and legible — Schism in the abstract, scJiism in the 
 act, and schism actually in active operation. 
 
 We may further observe, as being so perfectly obvious 
 from the preceding remarks, how very insinuating a thing 
 is that said thing called authority ; and that in thus put- 
 ting forward, as they have, what they affect to believe as 
 their paramount claims, how completely have the modern 
 apostolic successionalists (to their credit be it spoken) 
 disdained so nuich as even the appearance of disguise ; and, 
 as if conscious of superiority to, and as it were in defiance 
 of every thing like opposition, advanced the fore front of 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 157 
 
 their battle, without so much as making even the slightest 
 attempt to cover or conceal their movements ; as though 
 the world were altogether ignorant of the vast difference 
 there is between a clear right and title and mere preten- 
 sions ; or had never witnessed or even heard of such a 
 thing, as the total defeat of the machinations and designs 
 of a ueak and foolish pretender. 
 
 But allow me just to ask, if there are none besides them 
 who either dream of or imagine such a thing as either the 
 possession of, or an interest in, that said thing called au- 
 thority ; and who, although, secundum artem promoted, 
 and moreover fully aware, that whilst toleration comprises 
 •protection in spirituals, have nevertheless, unlike their 
 more fortunate brethren, yet to learn that protection p)er- 
 legem affords security even during their time, certainly not 
 *' assurance for ever," (I trust there is no ambiguity here) 
 in temporals ; and who whilst they, (and others like them ?) 
 with an appearance of humility, almost exceeding the 
 original pattern itself, consent to be called the apostles 
 and high priests of our profession, evince by their deport- 
 ment that they are not entirely unconscious of the im- 
 portance of the very high compliment thus bestowed upon 
 them ; for have we not seen them when at an elevation of 
 some few feet above their brethren, so calmly seated, dis- 
 playing, as carelessly dangling over the edge of the rostrum, 
 a hand — so delicate, that if placed by the side of the poor 
 hard working tent maker's, could not fail to raise a blush 
 in the cheek of one or the other, or perhaps of both of 
 them ; and if not each, at least one finger of each hand, 
 encircled with a ring, and that too, beset with brilliants ; 
 but then, oh then with such a hand, and that too so, as 
 above, enriched, who would not covet to be sprinkled ; 
 yes truly, but bear in mind also all the while, that it is a 
 wo«-commissioned hand, and that doubtless the water, 
 moreover, is pure and limpid as ever nature made it, and 
 
158 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 
 
 if you would not before, why should you after the so very 
 delicate hand, so captivating too, as above, has been 
 immersed therein, hesitate to drink it ? Pshaw, you will 
 say ; pshaw, indeed, ought all to say ; and some there are, 
 who, if to them by such offered, would be apt indeed to 
 baptize, (and that too not in drops but the entire quantity,) 
 the very kind friend who offered it in the name, not of the 
 great and awful One, but yet of one who might be men- 
 tioned ; for remember the hand with whose appearance 
 you may be so, as above, taken, is still a sinnefs hand ; 
 and is it not a fact that the " hand now is, as it is written, 
 of brother against brother," and do you not know that 
 there is such a saying, as " every man for himself, and the 
 d — ^1 take the hindmost ;" that such is the maxim of the 
 world, no one will dispute ; but that it should obtain in 
 what is called the Church, brings us most strangely to 
 doubt the correctness of the premises. Oh, I could, 
 but I, for the present at least, forbear ; though it is indeed 
 very doubtful, whether in former times, hands were ever 
 employed on such occasions, yet even if they were, re- 
 member also that they were holy hands ; for infinite purity 
 itself had breathed on them, and qualified them accord- 
 ingly ; but which never was repeated. And let me further 
 advise you, to be cautious of what you are doing ; for 
 remember, again, that by far the majority of those who 
 have been thus, as above, operated upon, prove to be 
 amongst those who, in after life become the most incorri- 
 gible offenders; thus practically demonstrating its utter 
 inefficiency ; and by necessary consequence also, the entire 
 absence of all qualification whatever, as from authority, in 
 them who have boldly undertaken to officiate therein. It is 
 true, that many have presumed to say, that they " believe 
 with all their heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God," 
 who have afterwards become the very vilest apostates ; so 
 that as far, at least, as such have been concerned in the 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST, 159 
 
 matter, it might (now speaking seriously) have been just 
 as well or, perhaps, even much better performed, by an 
 out-and-out and thorough thimble-rigger, or even a towting 
 omnibus cad. Now what is to prevent them all becoming 
 so ? I do not know what would prevent, but I can tell 
 you what would be likely enough to effect it ; only stop 
 the supplies to-day, and there would be to-morrow, a gene- 
 ral strike for wages. 
 
 But, in order to render the subject still more clear to 
 your apprehension, be it observed then, my fellow country 
 men and women, that there is no position more incontro- 
 vertible than that the Scriptures, as a revelation from 
 God, are public property, and therefore just as accessible to 
 the poor as to the rich ; and that in order to derive there- 
 from all the benefit they were intended to convey, nothing 
 more is either necessary or required than a sound under- 
 standing, an unprejudiced mind, and a heart that is dis- 
 posed to yield to conviction. Now to all this, one person is 
 quite as competent as another, and as individual advantage 
 is the ultimate object in view, so the previous labour and 
 study become the affair solely of the individual himself. 
 There is nothing that strikes us with greater astonishment, 
 in reference to this very subject, than the fact of the 
 vastly wide difference, as regards results, between the 
 preaching of the gospel at the period of its first promulga- 
 tion, and what is called by that name at the present day. 
 Herein, indeed, with a witness, do we contrast, bold and 
 striking, discover. A few very poor and altogether un- 
 learned men go forth, and by means of nothing more than 
 the bare recital of the very simplest tale the tongue of 
 man ever uttered, succeed most effectually in " turning 
 thousands from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God ; " and it would appear that this was the 
 ordinary result of their teaching, since scarcely a day 
 passed without bearing its testimony to the success of 
 
160 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 their endeavours, as it is written, " and the Lord added 
 to the Church daily, of such as should be saved," to carry 
 into effect the instructions of the Master; and that too 
 almost constantly in the teeth of the most violent perse- 
 cution. That their endeavours should have been thus 
 crowned with success, need, however, when we reflect on 
 the nature of the authority under which they acted, and 
 of the promised agency and influence which actually 
 accompanied their labours, create in us no surprise what- 
 ever ; for it is written, " taTry ye at Jerusalem imt'tl ye 
 be endued with power from on high." 
 
 Yet is it not also a fact, that the men who call them- 
 selves their successors, as well as others who assume the 
 ofRce of preachers of the gospel, do most solemnly declare, 
 that they too are " specially moved and designated thereto, 
 by the Holy Ghost." Then if so, where is the evidence^ 
 for do they not from time to time, bear witness against 
 themselves ; when complaining as they do, and that too 
 most bitterly, that they are spending their strength for 
 nought ? an expression, by the bye, of most ambiguous 
 meaning, since it is quite impossible to say, whether it 
 applies to the work or the pay. Then how is this ? Are 
 we not allowed to suspect that as the effect has ceased to 
 be produced, or at least to be observed, that the cause 
 may in like manner have ceased to operate ? or is it that 
 the necessary relations of cause and effect have nothing 
 whatever to do with matters of this nature ? Yet is it not 
 quite possible that in attempting to impose upon us, (for a 
 smooth as well as a rough garment may be worn to deceive) 
 that they are really self deluded ? The case was widely 
 different indeed with the true apostles, for never would 
 they have dared to assert that they were moved or in- 
 fluenced by the Holy Ghost, could they not at the same 
 time have pointed to their three thousands on the spot, 
 who had actually partaken of the benefit, and in the spirit 
 
THK PIOXEKRS IN CONTRAST. 161 
 
 of the most modest and grateful exultation, exclaimed, 
 " Have they not received the Holy Ghost as well as we." 
 But in direct opposition to results such as thin, and others 
 very similar, above referred to ; is it not a fact, that not- 
 withstanding their fearfully bold assumptions, all the en- 
 gagements of the moderns are nothing better than just so 
 many money transactions ? is not the calculation, in the 
 first and that too, in every instance, made with the greatest 
 possible nicety ? and when, and not until the probability 
 of a comfortable maintenance is satisfactorily ascertained, 
 then perchance, the interests of the people may be taken 
 into consideration ? Now what are all these but just so 
 many Simoniacal bargains. 
 
 Then again, fellow country men and women, let me ask 
 you, are you content, because there are men who can thus, 
 as above trifle, (but may we not hope that there are 
 some honourable exceptions, or is it true, that the circum- 
 stances of the case, too much resemble those of the 
 natural world, which derives all its light from only one 
 Sun, whereof if deprived, we should be left in total and ir- 
 remediable darkness ;) and that too with the most sacred 
 matters, and who are ready and willing, to make you the 
 dupes and tools of their mercenary seK-interested views, 
 to be the victims of ignorance, credulity, and indifference ? 
 Do you not know that as a distinct class, and as inflated 
 with all that feeling of the pride of their order, which is so 
 very natural to them, they consider themselves as occupying 
 a level far above you ? and that it is scarcely possible upon 
 the principles of the gospel, that you should ever receive 
 any real benefit from them ; since whatever degree of 
 knowledge, in reference to this all important subject, they 
 themselves may happen to possess, they must, if correct, 
 have drawn from the very same source which is also open 
 to you ; and whence, and not otherwise, you yourselves 
 may also obtain it pure and unadulterated ; so that not 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 until you have, and that too seriously and deeply, studied 
 for yourselves the sacred record, and moreover entirely 
 failed in the object of your enquiry, (although no honest 
 sincere search ever yet proved a failure) are you warranted 
 in seeking information at the hands of any one else ; 
 and remember, you are again and again commanded to 
 search, and that too with the most positive assurance of 
 ultimate success. You do not, as it regards your ordinary 
 daily affairs, act in so absurd a manner ; and it was by 
 a reference to those affairs, and to your conduct therein, 
 that the Master himself exemplified and illustrated the 
 great and momentous concerns of His kingdom, both in 
 this world and that which is to come. For instance, if 
 you wished for a draught of pure water, you would not be 
 content to drink such as, or out of whatever vessel, wherein 
 any particular individual might choose to offer it to you ; 
 and, moreover, mixed with any kind of ingredient which 
 he might think proper to put therein, and be persuaded 
 all the while to fancy it to be the very purest water ? 
 Certainly not. But knowing it to be pure, and that only 
 at its source, you would thither go, and thence draw for 
 yourselves, without the slightest reference whatsoever to 
 any other person. What is observed, as above, of fluids, 
 will equally apply to solid food ; and whether it be bread or 
 meat, so long as you have the means of paying for it, you 
 would, as it regards the subject of the purchase, consult 
 only your own taste and appetite ; and were any one, on 
 such an occasion to interfere, believe me, I do not intend so 
 far to insult your understanding, nor to suffer my oicn to 
 be sunk so low in your estimation, as to ask you what you 
 would think; since I perfectly well know how, under such 
 circumstances, you would really act. 
 
 Then, in a case wherein your duty and your interest are not 
 only inseparably combined, but are moreover so extremely 
 clear and distinctly pointed out, let me again entreat you, my 
 
THE PIONKER5 IN CONTRAST. 163 
 
 fellow countrymen and women, not to stultify yourselves. 
 Remember, that He who is the gospel itself personified, 
 is actually compared, indeed condescends to compare him- 
 self to bread and water ; each and both of them essential, 
 indeed indispensable, to the maintenance of life. Then 
 only act in relation to Him, " the living bread," simply 
 just as you are every day in the habit of doing with respect 
 to " that which perisheth," (save and except the paying for 
 it,) as above adverted to. But it appears that he also 
 called himself the " light of the icorld,'"' that is, for what else 
 can it be, besides the sioi; an illustration as simple and 
 familiar as the former, and the reality and use whereof, we 
 learn as it were by intuition ; for even a child that is igno- 
 rant of almost every thing else, thoroughly understands 
 what is meant by the sim; and there were never yet two 
 opinions in the world about it. Now here let me ask 
 you — Did you ever yet entertain a doubt, (and I wish 
 to be understood as addressing another in the full pos- 
 session of the faculty of vision perfect and entire, and, 
 moreover, as standing beneath a completely clear and 
 cloudless sky) whether at noon-day the sun shines or not ? 
 then supposing, that under such circumstances, any person 
 whatsoever, were only to commence haranguing you and 
 others on the subject, and all for the purpose of persuading 
 or convincing you that the sun really does so shine; and 
 supposing still further, that in order to have a yet greater 
 command of his audience, as well as at the same time, 
 perhaps, of the powers of his own voice, he actually stood 
 either on the top or else the bottom of his own proper tub ; 
 why, whatever would you call the whole aiFair, but a tale 
 of a tub, or otherwise, of the tub's owner. Then do you 
 believe that there shines a (Son ?) sun ; far above, for 
 aught I know, or else and also comprehending and in- 
 clusive of, and moreover (as far surpassing in splendour, 
 for it is written, " At mid-day, O king, I saw in the way 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun,'^) 
 absorbing within itself the very bright material orb, which, 
 his own word, when to time, and earth, and all things else 
 therein, and also thereupon, it at the first gave birth, like- 
 wise did create ; (for it is written, " And thou Lord, in 
 the beginning, hast laid the foundations of the earth, and 
 the heavens are the works of thine hands;" and again, 
 " for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, 
 and that are in earth,") and that for no other purpose, 
 but to enlighten, feed, and warm, and bless you and me, 
 and others ; even every thing that lives and breathes. But 
 where do you look to find the sun ; surely not doivmvards 
 on the earth ? No, but upwards in the sky. Then it is 
 only by looking upwards, as we suppose, that the bright 
 Sun of Righteousness can be found, and never yet did man 
 or woman, ay, or even child, look upward there, sincerely 
 to discover, and, moreover, find its rays, but they quickly 
 found themselves, almost, as it were, in a blaze ; for is it 
 not written, " Did not our hearts burn within us while he 
 talked with us by the way, and opened to us the Scrip- 
 tures ? " Then if such, and so great were its power and 
 influence, when circumscribed by, and enveloped in the 
 comparatively cold, dark, dense, dank atmosphere of 
 this nether region; what must they be now, that it 
 has reached the exact point of culmination ; and thus 
 firmly and immoveably posited within its high me- 
 ridian tower, for ever and for ever shall, just as it at 
 this very instant does, maintain its inconceivably lofty 
 station. 
 
 But it will be to very little purpose, that we talk of his 
 exaltation and his power, if his authority be not acknow- 
 ledged ; and we place ourselves accordingly beneath the 
 influence of his rays, as it is written, " to them that look 
 for him shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing 
 in his wings ; " for which purpose there is required no 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 166 
 
 other argument than the honest and diligent employment 
 of the understanding ; for like the truth itself, the simpler 
 the process is the better. Oh, if only one thousandth 
 part of the time that has been wasted, in listening to the 
 mystifying problems which have been propounded by men 
 in inclosures, called pulpits, had been employed in assidu- 
 ously collating and comparing the sublime yet simple facts 
 of Holy A\ rit, the world would long ere this have been 
 filled with sensible, well infomied, right minded, happy 
 Christians. Yes, Christians so rendered in consequence 
 of the ovenchelming evidence of the facts of the case ; not 
 to be " driven about by every wind of doctrine, the cun- 
 ning sleight of crafty men ; instead of the silly, simple 
 subjects of a parcel of senseless frames and feelings, even 
 one of which, as they cannot understand it, so can they not 
 explain. However, so it is, and so it must be, just so 
 long as that most indispensable process continues to be 
 deferred ; viz. the active and vigorous employment of the 
 understanding ; but for which purpose alone, that most 
 inestimable faculty was in the first instance imparted to 
 man by Him, of whom it is written, '• there is no searching 
 of his ujulerstanding" for " his understanding is infinite ;'''' 
 and who, when on earth, was constantly expressing his 
 astonishment at, and reprobation of the supineness and 
 indifference of his immediate followers, in respect of that 
 most important particular ; as, for instance, " do ye not 
 yet understand" " hoic is it ye do not understand," why 
 do ye not understand, and so on, almost ad infinitum ; and 
 who, as putting them in possession of the very richest 
 blessing, which God himself is capable of bestowing, closed 
 his career on earth by " opening their understandings." 
 Why, it is nothing but this criminal neglect, which gives 
 rise to the almost interminable host of opinions among 
 men, in reference to the very simplest subject that ever 
 yet presented itself to the human mind : and respecting 
 
166 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 which, if attended to with the full bent of the understand- 
 ing, there could not possibly be any more difference of 
 opinion, than there is about the existence and shining of 
 the sun, as above adverted to. 
 
 By way of finally dismissing the matter of money, just 
 allow me one hearing more. It seems then, that a new 
 fashion has of late years sprung up amongst us, I mean 
 the writing of books for prizes ; and no sooner is the bag 
 of gold displayed, than see, how they " press along the 
 line, line after line, for the prize of the high" — stop ; then 
 subject in dispute. But who are they that thus fly like 
 doves to their windows ? Doves, why who ever yet heard 
 of such a thing as a black dove ? There are many sorts of 
 black birds, I do not mean the singing ones ; there is one 
 sort called a rook, black as jet, and which, I believe, occu- 
 pies on the chess board, a house next door but one to a 
 bishop, which brings us at once amongst the parsons ; and 
 is it not a fact, that the parsons have run awai/ with all 
 the prizes ? And, though busily engaged in running the 
 race of schism, I think I may, without being schis7natic, 
 venture to say, that strange as it may seem, a parson 
 will also win the prize for that. But you will never get 
 the secret out of them ; they will beat closely enough 
 about the bush, while they are well paid for it, but they 
 will never, for they know better, than to start the game. 
 There was one, who some time ago wrote something 
 thereon, the reading whereof reminded me very much of 
 the two men who were charged with a theft ; the one vowed 
 he did not take the thing, the other that he had not got 
 it, and yet the robbery lay between them ; and the stolen 
 property too, might have been found somewhere or other 
 about the person (unless handed over beforehand to the 
 receiver) of either the one or the other of them. Yes, he 
 wrote what is called very well, the 7ie plvs rdtra, perhaps, on 
 that particular subject, of a parson ; yet, I could not some 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 167 
 
 how or other help thinking, that he understood the mixing 
 of milk and uater, far better than the detection of schism. 
 Now, though all this may be true enough, yet who will 
 ever regard what such an humble individual, as I am, may 
 say. Still let us calmly enquire, by means of what sort of 
 agency, the most stupendous events that have ever trans- 
 pired in the world, have been brought about ? Then, is it 
 not a fact, that the whole world was ruined by an in- 
 dividual, and that an individual it was, by whom the same 
 was restored i* as it is written, " for as in Adam all die, 
 even so in Christ shall all be made alive." x\nd, to 
 descend to instances of minor importance, what but the 
 sagacity of an individual was it, that saved the millions of 
 Egj'pt from starving ? What but the uplifted arm of an 
 individual, prepared a highway through the depths of the 
 ocean, and thus rescued the tribes of Israel from the 
 furious pursuit of the relentless oppressor I And when 
 Saul and all his worthies quailed before the Philistine, 
 what but the single arm was it, of the individual Hebrew 
 shepherd boy, that put to everlasting silence the tre- 
 mendous object of their dread ? As being so completely 
 a case in 'point, and as giving a most suitable finish to the 
 thing, I shall mention one, and just one instance more. 
 Then was there ever an affair, wherein the force of the 
 simple agency of a solitary individual, was more tri- 
 umphantly demonstrated ; and who although from place to 
 place, at the imminent hazard of his life, hunted up and 
 down, with all the persevering fury of despotic power, 
 opposed and disappointed in the attainment of its object ; 
 yet in the midst of all, succeeded in restoring a whole 
 nation, from the dominion and tyranny of the grossest 
 idolatry, and thus warding off from them all those horrid 
 evils which in close and rapid succession follow in its 
 cursed train ; and all this effected in the teeth of the most 
 violent opposition from four hundred men, dressed either 
 
168 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 in black or else in some other equally fit and proper eccle- 
 siastical colour ; each and all of them, moreover, zealously 
 devoted, and that to the very extreme of the most frantic 
 madness, in and to the service of their lord and master 
 Baal : and having thus discomfited the priests, and gained 
 a complete victory, with his own single unassisted hand 
 opened the very windows of heaven, and scattered in- 
 numerable blessings on the entire surface of the land. 
 But the most notable circumstance of the whole transac- 
 tion, is the very singular conflict which took place between 
 the fire of Elijah and the water of Baal ; and which 
 although maintained, and that too for a considerable length 
 of time, with no little or ordinary spirit on both sides; was 
 at length terminated by the fire licking up, and thus an- 
 nihilating not only every drop of the water, but also every 
 atom of whatsoever there was of a nature, in only the least 
 degree combustible on the spot. 
 
 But I must yet once more crave your indulgence ; for it 
 just now occurs to me, that there still remains to notice 
 one instance more of individual power and capability, which 
 in the simple view of the ordinary relations of cause and 
 eiFect, far surpasses any, or even all that have as yet been 
 adduced. Then, an order, it appears, was given to '• thrash 
 the mountains " ! ! Thrash the mountains ] Yes, and to 
 beat them too to dust. But to whom .'' Ay, there is the 
 question. Then surely to the emperor of the world: No, 
 not so surely. Then most certainly to the king of the 
 country : No, not so certain. Then to the princes of the 
 blood royal : No. Then to the men of rank and quality : 
 No. Then to the people of the upper class : No. 
 Then to those of the middle one : No, Then, if there be 
 any such, most assuredly to those of the lower : No. 
 Then if not to bipeds, as being the superior, most un- 
 doubtedly to quadiTipeds as the first inferior: No. Not 
 even to them ; but positively to a creature so extremely 
 
THE PIONEEHS IN CONTRAST. 169 
 
 insignificant, as to be scarcely comprized within the com- 
 pass and range of animal existence ; that creeping, crawl- 
 ing, contemptible thing ; that one is apt actually to set 
 one's foot upon, without being even conscious of the act, 
 much less of having actually done a wrong ; to an object, 
 as it were, totally destitute of both sensation and of power. 
 x\nd yet to such a wretched helpless reptile an order has 
 been issued, and that too by Him who must and will be 
 obeyed, to " thrash the mountains;" and that too until 
 they are reduced completely to powder; to chaiF. And as 
 surely as ever Adam by transgression fell; or as Joseph 
 provided food for the half-famished Egyptians ; or as 
 Moses divided asunder the waters of the Red Sea ; or as 
 little David smote and slew the giant Goliah ; or as the 
 fire of Elijah slaked its thirst with the water of the impo- 
 tent Baal; and the great prophet himself quenched the 
 flaming sword of justice in the heart's-blood of the in- 
 fatuated bewildered priests of the idol God; so surely 
 shall the worm Jacob " thrash the mountains." 
 
 Then, if I mistake not, this either is, or if not the very 
 same, at least the same sort of worm which as a prince had 
 power with God, and also prevailed ; and therefore we need 
 not be surprised, that it should be found fully competent 
 to the " thrashing of the mountains;" as the great apostle 
 himself said, " I can do all things through Christ which 
 strengtheneth me, for when I am iceak then am I strong." 
 But what is weaker than a ivorm, yet what must the 
 force of that be, which has poicer with God and prevails. 
 Then what a icorm has power to do, a ma7i, however hum- 
 ble, need not despair of eiFecting. Take courage then, 
 my fellow country men and women, since it really does 
 appear, that while there is most ample ground for hope, 
 there is none whatever for despair ; although, doubtless, 
 there are not a few, who at this attack upon the water, 
 will flare up like fire itself; but who they will be, there can 
 
170 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. ' 
 
 be no difficulty whatever in pointing out, confined, as of 
 necessity they must be to those, who relatively considered 
 in respect of the proceeds of the system, are placed in 
 circumstances exactly similar to his, who wrought in 
 silver, Demetrius of Ephesus, I mean; and out of that 
 metal made not only shrines, but also fonts, which while 
 they were far more useful, were also far more capacious 
 too, than any that now are used; as requiring to be filled 
 with abundance of the very purest water, rendered as it 
 was so indispensably necessary, as they say, for the various 
 purposes of the votaries ; whilst congregated as they were 
 in groups within the precincts and purlieus of the sanc- 
 tuary, consecrated to the service of, and both when and 
 after doing homage to, that most immaculate she god, that 
 perfect pattern of purity itself, Diana the Great of 
 Ephesus. Then all the opposition hereunto made, will 
 come it seems from those, who, like the Ephesian of old, 
 apprehend danger to their craft, and are fearful of losing 
 all their gains ; urged, moreover, and goaded on by the 
 priests and priestesses of the female deity. But he who 
 icrites is not 2i priest, no ; nor a priest's y«Me;-, nor his son, 
 nor his brother, nor his cousin, nor stands in any relation 
 or degree whatever interested or concerned in the main- 
 tenance of the system. Now, methinks, I see the smile 
 mantling on your cheek, whilst prepariyig to say — You a 
 priest, why, who do you think suspects such a thing I 
 That would, indeed, be neither more nor less than Satan, 
 in revenge, divided against himself ; of all spectacles on 
 earth the most singidar and strange. Truly so. Neither 
 do I imagine, that you do suspect any thing of the kind. 
 Yet I have judged it necessary thus to state the negative, 
 in order just to afford myself the opportunity of assuring 
 you, most positively,as below, of the affirmative of the case. 
 Seeing then, that I am, as above, no way connected 
 with the concern, but in deed and in truth, one of those 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 171 
 
 alluded to in those ancient well-known words, " one is 
 your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren ;" surely 
 you will not hesitate to place confidence in your brother, 
 and he in return will depend upon your most active as well 
 as passive co-operation in the matter. Now let me ask 
 you. Did you ever thrust a stick into a wasp's nest ? Did 
 you ever ? When a young one did not I ? Well, what 
 then ? W^hat then ; why I got severely stung. But that 
 is now so many years ago, that it would seem I have 
 quite forgotten the smart of the sting, for instead of one of 
 wasps, I have actually pitched into a nest of hornets. Yet, 
 although capable of stinging so much more severely, still, 
 being so much larger, and so very unwieldy, as well as 
 naturally dull and sluggish in their movements, they are 
 therefore much more easily evaded, or else beaten down to 
 the ground ; and which, indeed, is likely enough to be the 
 fate of nine- tenths of them ; so that there is on all these, 
 and also on other accounts, much less to apprehend or fear 
 from them, than from the little, lively, quick, and nimble 
 wasps. 
 
 And now, as nothing but the most pure and determined 
 spirit of sheer contradiction, and self-interestedness, can 
 dictate a denial of facts so plain and notorious, as are all 
 the foregoing, herein, as above, related ; I would just ob- 
 serve, that should any one or more of the parties, as herein 
 before noticed, deem it either advisable, or otherwise, not 
 imprudent to venture an adverse reply hereto ; I trust 
 that they will not only be extremely cautious therein, 
 since it is quite possible, that whilst they may fancy they 
 are refuting an argument, they are really doing nothing 
 more than merely furnishing most useful information ; 
 but, furthermore, also consider it to be at least equally 
 prudent not to descend to the use of low and vulgar 
 abuse, but conduct it in the way of fair and manly 
 argument, after the example I have set them ; for 
 
172 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 should they be advised thus to demean and degrade 
 themselves ; I shall condescend to notice it no further, 
 than merely to treat it with that sort of contempt, which 
 is most eifectually indicated, by observing a perfect and 
 total silence. 
 
 Before concluding, but as being preliminary thereunto, 
 I am particularly desirous of addressing a sentence or two 
 to the still disgraced Children of Israel ; although perhaps 
 it is scarcely necessary, since as it regards the exercise 
 and use of the mental faculties, they are very far indeed, 
 from being the very dullest people on the face of the 
 earth. But as a detachment of the nationalists has been, 
 for some time past, engaged in the very laudable service, of 
 attempting to turn them from the errors of their ways, to 
 the knowledge and acknowledgement also of the Messiah ; 
 I wish much to oifer a word or two on the subject. A 
 people, forsooth, whose error and fault, lie in their absurd 
 preference of the shadow to the substance ; of mere signs, 
 symbols, and types, to the object signified ; the great 
 Anti-type himself, long since revealed and manifested ; 
 and in their still perverse adherence to rites and ceremo- 
 nies ages ago exploded : a people, under such circum- 
 stances, won over and converted to the purity and sim- 
 plicity of the gospel, by none other than a master of rites 
 and of ceremonies, as well as of arts I Now all this may 
 be right enough, and quite in character, as a sort of trick 
 in trade ; as part and parcel of a national system ; but, 
 though he may be called a descendant of Abraham, he 
 cannot be a Jew, who does not at once perceive both the 
 utter and extreme fallacy and absurdity of the thing. For 
 out of what other materials, besides their blind attachment 
 and devotedness to worn out rites and ceremonies, is 
 formed the I'eil wherewith their minds, even to this very 
 day, are shrouded ; so that of each son and daughter too 
 of Abraham, it may be most correctly affirmed — 
 
THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 173 
 
 'Tis true, thou still the veil dost wear. 
 And so does many a lady fair ; 
 Yet, what have veils to do with faces. 
 Except it be, to enhance their graces ? 
 
 For surely, they never were intended to conceal, 
 That which when drawn aside, they do nothing but reveal ; 
 For if so, then the well-wrought thin transparent lace. 
 Ought, always, to obscure the fair and lovely face. 
 
 I know, indeed, I shall be told. 
 They're used to ward off heat and cold ; 
 But that's too flimsy a pretence. 
 To impose upon our common sense. 
 
 For were it true, I'm sure they'd choose 
 Something more impervious to use ; 
 No — the plain object is, us to incense 
 To curiosity ; still more intense. 
 
 Then for whatever purpose worn, must matter of opinion be. 
 Yet one thing at least is certain, the veil's still worn by thee; 
 But to what extent productive, of grief and dire distress, 
 The history of time past will prove, and thou thyself confess. 
 
 So the adversaries of faithful love, 
 
 Do misery on themselves entail, 
 When, their fancied sanctity to prove, 
 
 They o'er the /ace do draw the veil. 
 
 And thus, thy Lord so long expected. 
 
 To make thee feel the deadly smart. 
 Of Love unparalleled rejected, 
 
 Hath drawn the veil across thine heart. 
 
 But when thy Saviour lifts the veil. 
 
 And shews his reconciled face ; 
 First love shall then again prevail, 
 
 And thou shalt triumph in his grace. 
 
 Then shall thy beauty stand revealed. 
 
 And that it prove no more a bar again. 
 The veil wherewith it was concealed. 
 
 Thy Lord himself shall rend in twain. 
 
174 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Thus with glory radiant thou shalt shine. 
 
 Restored his image bright reflecting. 
 Crowned with splendour that's divine, 
 
 Never more thy Lord rejecting. 
 
 For, the vast universe throughout, 
 
 Resplendent as it is with brightness. 
 There's no object that he thinks about 
 
 So much, as his own perfect likeness. 
 
 And thus instead of a poor wandering child, • 
 
 For more than eighteen long centuries lost. 
 Returned safe and sound, thou shalt by a father mild, 
 
 Again be gladly received, and of his favour boast. 
 
 And now shall hymns of praise employ, 
 Thy grateful heart, thy well-tuned tongue. 
 
 Proclaiming, one and all with joy. 
 His coming ; tho' delayed so long. 
 
 From henceforth now in place, of darkness and disgrace. 
 
 And with a dread of the future, thy wretched thoughts engrossed ; 
 
 " As the moon fair, clear as the sun's face," 
 Thou shalt shine forth and blaze, a " terrible bannered host." 
 
 Yes, they may meet and hold their conferences, and 
 the Jew may seem in earnest, but he is all the while 
 doing nothing more than just keeping the Christians, as 
 they are called, at bay ; for every argument they advance, 
 is viewed and regarded too, by the Jew, in no other light 
 than as a dagger directed at the very heart and vitals of 
 the 7iational system. Then let them proceed, as the Jew is 
 out of danger ; since he does not fail to discover the ad- 
 vantage of his aivn position ; and they are not, of all 
 people in the world, the most unskilful in the art of im- 
 proving an advantage. Absurd and unmeaning rites and 
 ceremonies ! Why they are the very bane of the Jew ; and 
 those who pretend to instruct them therein, must be in- 
 deed, the very absurdest of pretenders. They existed, 
 as a system, with their fathers, and that too in all the 
 
THE PIONEKRS IN CONTRAST. 175 
 
 perfection whereof they were capable, for nearly two 
 thousand years, and it is now nearly as long since they 
 were pronounced obsolete by Him, whom they also rejected; 
 and that too, ages and ages before the very earliest of the 
 ancestors of the modern race of artful teachers, of rites and 
 of ceremonies, had acquired so much as even a local habita- 
 tion or a name. Yet the aifair must still proceed, and 
 when the full crop of the Gentiles is ripe, and likewise 
 gathered in ; then shall Israel vegetate and flourish, and 
 realize, moreover, a most glorious harvest ; but not as 
 the result, or in consequence of the labours and exertions 
 of men, whom the Jews themselves must regard as neither 
 more nor less than the agents of a system, which to say 
 the very best of it, is nothing better than a most absurd 
 mockery, as well as clumsy imitation of Judaism, worn 
 threadbare and superannuated. 
 
 Then, Children of Israel, allow me again to observe, that 
 long continued disgrace, although in itself a most severe 
 infliction, is widely different, very widely different indeed, 
 from absolute and final desertion ; and, when the period 
 appointed by Him, who determines all things according to 
 " the counsel of his own will;" "the set time to favour Israel 
 is come ;" and whilst it is also truly written, that "Abraham 
 was called the friend of God," it shall be found to be 
 equally true, that God will yet prove himself to be, still 
 the steady friend of Abraham. 
 
 Having at the outset, enlisted your kindliest sympathies 
 in my favour, I cannot do better, I think, than improve the 
 advantage thus already gained ; I shall, therefore, offer no 
 further apology than the above, for inscribing — but I per 
 ceive, that I must here use not a little caution ; therefore, 
 observe, I do nothing but inscribe thereunto ; I disclaim 
 all intention whatever of charging them with provoking, 
 to any thing more than good will; the parties herein 
 actually charged as below, are of a description very 
 
176 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 different indeed, from the kind and tender hearted, reflect- 
 ing, fair, and gentle readers ; therefore it is only unto 
 such, that I take the liberty of inscribing, the following 
 copy of verses : — 
 
 And now in all this wordy game, 
 
 I trust that you have found me civil ; 
 Yet should it burst out in a flame, 
 
 Mind; 'twas you alone that raised the Devil. 
 
 Now raising him is no light work. 
 
 Since if not for good, it is for evil. 
 And, though bad enough, to play the Turk, 
 
 It's worse by far, to play the Devil. 
 
 But a Devil, like another creature. 
 Will sometimes work, and sometimes play 
 
 At a game he loves ; and whose chief features' 
 To turn round three times, catch who you may. 
 
 So being raised, and ripe for play. 
 
 Though not disposed to be uncivil ; 
 Yet it can be in no other way. 
 Than as true to nature, still a Devil. 
 
 Then Devil play, but be not rude, 
 
 And still play on, and still be civil. 
 Oh, pardon me ; I did not intrude 
 
 But although raised, am still a Devil, 
 
 Well, here he goes ; roundy, round, round, 
 At a rate, 'twould make all the world ill. 
 
 For his feet never once touch the ground. 
 But that's just what delights a Devil. 
 
 That this is the truth is so clear. 
 
 As to remove all pretence for a cavil. 
 For who else claims the power of the air. 
 
 But that prince of all princes, the Devil ? 
 
 Then here he goes, roundy, round, round. 
 
 He comes all distinctions to level ; 
 For never in pride was there found. 
 
 One to equal his honour, the Devil. 
 
THE PIONKERS IN CONTRAST. 177 
 
 Now wlien disposed to play that trick, 
 
 Tiiey'd do well first to stop and tiiink. 
 Lest, after liaving raised Old Nick, 
 
 When laid again, they with him sink. 
 
 Then having played, I'll now depart. 
 
 That is, if allowed but just one sop, 
 The only one that's near my heart, 
 
 I mean sweet Char — y, the Bishop. 
 
 For as yet the game has been a solo, 
 
 And being fatigued I now must revel 
 With a trio, formed somewhere below. 
 
 Of my new partner, Btath andthe Devil. 
 
 Oh ! but do have mercy on the Church, 
 
 And take not one of its chief props ; 
 For sooner than be thus left in the lurch. 
 
 We'll find you fifty other sops. 
 
 What ! fifty more, and such as he, 
 
 Then what they say's the real thing. 
 Though some may doubt how it can be. 
 
 That the Dtvil is the Church's King. 
 
 I gave them of that fact before, 
 
 A hint so broad none need mistake ; 
 In reply to which, they did no more, 
 
 Than say, pray do not mischief vaskQ. 
 
 Then, it seems, it is not my affair. 
 
 Yet as I love you all, good people, 
 I caution you to look up there. 
 
 For he sits enthroned upon the steeple. 
 
 What ! enthroned above upon the spire? 
 
 Why, were that generally known. 
 Out they would rush all, crying, " fire," 
 
 And leave the parson quite alone. 
 
 Then, lest it prove a hopeless case. 
 
 And to prevent still further harm. 
 Let us at once put on a face 
 
 Of brass, and boldly give the alarm. 
 
178 THE PIONEERS IN CONTRAST. 
 
 Now, if I can be of any use, 
 
 I shall not be afraid to enter. 
 For I'll soon catch him in a noose, 
 
 Being myiel/a. Devil; that is, a Dissenter. 
 
 I feel it incumbent on me to offer a few words here, in 
 the way of apology, or rather of justification, as to the 
 style and spirit which characterize the foregoing compo- 
 sition. In some points of view it is, confessedly, a very 
 grave sort of subject, and as between persons who are 
 honestly in quest of truth, should be treated with all 
 possible gravity ; but as in the instances before us, the 
 character, principles, and objects of the parties thus freely 
 animadverted upon, are so very obvious and apparent, as 
 not to be, even by possibility, disguised to their own 
 minds ; they, of necessity, become, after the example fur- 
 nished by Elijah, who mockingly said, " Cry aloud, for he 
 is a god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is 
 on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be 
 awaked ; " fit subjects of something even below satire and 
 ridicule, and as such, and such only, can I for one, con- 
 sent to regard them. 
 
 The " FINIS "h for the present; the end is not till by 
 and by. 
 
 LONDON : Printed by S. Kemslicad, Kcnnin^tou Lane.