LB 
 
 2341.8 
 
 G7T86 
 
 A 
 
 
 c 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 v> 
 
 UTHER 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 IN REGI 
 
 4 
 5 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 
 NAL 
 
 
 
 IRARY 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 FACILIT 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 TURTOiM 
 
 THOUGHTS ON THE 
 ADIVlISSIOiNl OF 
 PERSONS WITHOUT 
 REGARD TO THEIR 
 RELIGIOUS 
 OPINIONS
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 ADMISSION OF PERSONS 
 
 WITHOUT REGARD TO THEIR RELIGIOUS OPINIONS 
 
 TO CERTAIN DEGREES 
 
 UNIVERSITIES OF ENGLAND. 
 
 By THOMAS TURTON, D.D. 
 
 KKOms PROFESSOK OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVEJISITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 
 AND DEAN OF PETF.RBOROUGIl. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 
 PRINTF.T) AT THE PITT PRESS, BY JOHN SMITH, 
 PRINTER TO TBE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN W. PARKER, CAMRRIDGE DEPOSITORY, WEST STRAND. 
 
 SOLD ALSO BY 
 
 RIVINGTONS, ST PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD; 
 
 DEir.HTONS, AND STEVENSON, CAMBRIDGE; ANO PAKKEH, OXFORD. 
 M.DCCC.XXXIV
 
 <57ru 
 
 THOUGHTS, 
 
 It occurred to me not long ago — when 'turn- 
 ing in my mind the admission of persons to certain 
 Academical Degrees, without any regard to re- 
 ligious tenets — that the sentiments of one who, 
 for many years after he became a Master of Arts, 
 filled the office of a College Tutor — has ever 
 since devoted his time and attention to the ser- 
 vice of the University — and, what is of some 
 moment, has throughout life stood aloof from 
 political contention — might deserve consideration, 
 on a subject of that nature. Although I then 
 felt that, on the grounds just stated, I should be 
 warranted in publicly expressing the result of my 
 reflections, on a point of so much importance, yet 
 the sort of controversy, which had been excited, 
 deterred me from taking such a step. I am liow- 
 ever now satisfied that it would be a dereliction 
 of duty, to suffer the occasion to pass away, with- 
 out recording my opinions on the matter in dis- 
 pute. But let it be observed, tliat I have no
 
 intention to animadvert upon any thing that has 
 been written on either side of the question ; 
 and that it is my design simply to lay before the 
 reader the impressions of my own mind. 
 
 The failure of the antient philosophers, in 
 many of their speculations, has in modern times 
 been uniformly attributed to their neglect of ex- 
 periment ; and it is one great object, in the edu- 
 cation afforded by our Academical Institutions, to 
 enforce these important truths — viz. that the sciences 
 which engage the student's attention are founded 
 on fact — and that the results which are presented 
 to him may be shewn to accord with the actual 
 constitution of things. Having been trained up 
 to this mode of conducting my inquiries, I am 
 habitually distrustful of theories ; and I am the 
 more confirmed in my distrust, by the knowledge 
 that a theory must be bad indeed, which does 
 not become plausible, when recommended by in- 
 genious and eloquent men. When therefore I 
 found that a Bill had been brought into the 
 House of Commons which, if passed into an Act 
 of Parliament, would make it " lawful for all 
 His Majesty's Subjects to enter and matriculate 
 in the Universities of England, and to receive 
 and enjoy all Degrees in Learning conferred 
 therein (Degrees in Divinity alone excepted) 
 without being required to subscribe any Articles 
 of Religion, or to make any declaration of reli- 
 gious opinions respecting particular modes of Faith 
 and Worship" — I immediately asked myself whe-
 
 thcr any plan of proceeding, at all similar to this, 
 had ever been tried in this country — and, if so, 
 what had been its effects. I soon recollected that 
 a very similar plan had been tried, on a scale 
 sufficiently large, and for a time sufficiently long, 
 to give some indications of the consequences which 
 would be produced, by the proposed measure, in 
 " the Universities of England." 
 
 'ft' 
 
 It is well known that Dr Doddridge was, 
 for more than twenty years, at the head of an 
 Academical Establish ment for the instruction of 
 young men ; and that " the constitution of his 
 Academy was," as Dr Kippis has expressed it 
 " perfectly catholic*." Subsequently to the death 
 of Dr Doddridge, the Institution was conducted, 
 on the original plan, by persons of considerable 
 eminence. My immediate object, therefore, will 
 be to trace, by means of such authentic ac- 
 counts as I can discover, the operation of the 
 system; which I shall be able to do through a 
 period of sixty years : — but before I proceed to / 
 my undertaking, it is right to state, that I have 
 great respect for the learning, talents and moral 
 worth of Dr Doddridge — and that it is not 
 
 * Kippis's Life of Doddridge. It is from this work, as well as 
 from Orton's Life of Doddridge, that I have derived most of the par- 
 ticulars mentioned in my account of the Academy over which that 
 eminent divine presided. Orton and Kippis had been Pupils of Dr 
 Doddridge, and were warmly attached to their Preceptor. It is 
 scarcely necessary to slate that the Preceptor and his Pupils were 
 zealous non-conformists. By the term "perfectly catholic"' is meant, 
 that students of anv sect of religion were admissible.
 
 witliout satisfaction that I recollect that some 
 of his best works fell into my hands very early 
 in life. 
 
 In 1729, Doddridge opened his Academy at 
 Northampton, his principal object being the edu- 
 cation of students for the Ministry ; but to the 
 end of his life he also received, as pupils, young 
 men of fortune who had other views. Although 
 he was himself a believer in the Trinity and the 
 Atonement, he never seems to have considered 
 Arian or Socinian sentiments as any bar to the 
 admission of individuals to his house and lecture- 
 room. In fact, many young men, holding senti- 
 ments of that kind, were his pupils, during his 
 two-and-twenty years' services as a public tutor. 
 Let us now endeavour to ascertain some of the 
 first consequences of this free admission to the 
 benefits of education, under this learned, and, in 
 the main. Orthodox divine. 
 
 In the course of a few years, the increased 
 number of Doddridge's pupils rendered it neces- 
 sary that he should have an assistant, or sub-tutor ; 
 and we find the following names of persons who 
 sustained that character : — Aikin, Robertson, 
 Orton, Clark*. Of Robertson's tenets I can give 
 
 * Dr Aikin was afterwards the Theological Tutor at Warrington. 
 He was the father of the latp Dr Aikin, and Mrs Barbauld... Mr 
 James Robertson was subsequently Professor of Oriental Literature 
 
 at Edinburgh Of Mr Job Orton, whose writings are well known, 
 
 mention has already been made — Mr Samuel Clark was afterwards 
 a Dissenting Minister at Birmingham.
 
 no account; but Aikin, Orton and Clark, (as, I 
 believe, there is no doubt) were Arians, at the 
 least. Now, if Doddridge had admitted, as pupils, 
 those only whose religious sentiments accorded 
 Avith his own, I think it most improbable that 
 he would have associated with himself, in the 
 business of tuition, the Gentlemen above named. 
 This therefore I deem to be one of the natural 
 consequences of the diversity of belief prevailing 
 amongst the students of the Northampton Aca- 
 demy. 
 
 Let us now consider the mode of lecturing 
 adopted under the same circumstances. Dr Kippis 
 describes it in terms which I shall strictly retain. 
 Being an Unitarian, he is of course pleased with 
 the tale he has to tell. 
 
 " Having laid a firm foundation in so ample a statement of 
 the evidences of Christianity, he (Dr Doddridge) entered into 
 a copious detail of what were, or, at least, what appeared to 
 him to be, the doctrines of Scripture. In so doing, though 
 he stated and maintained his own opinions, which in a consi- 
 derable degree were Calvinistical, he never assumed the cha- 
 racter of a dogmatist. He represented the arguments, and 
 referred to the authorities on both sides. The students were 
 left to judge for themselves; and they did judge for them- 
 selves, with his perfect concurrence and approbation ; though, 
 no doubt, it was natural for him to be pleased when their 
 sentiments coincided with his own. Where this was not the 
 case, it made no alteration in his affection and kind treatment, 
 as the writer of the present narrative can gratefully witness." 
 
 Here again, we may observe the working of 
 the same system. It is almost impossible to
 
 imagine that, if Doddridge's pupils had all been 
 brought up in the same belief with himself, he 
 would have exposed them to the perils with which 
 such a mode of lecturing was fraught. He must 
 have felt, in that case, that it would have been 
 like turning them adrift upon the ocean, amidst 
 the war of elements. 
 
 There are other respects in which the state 
 of things at the Academy — arising, as it should 
 seem, from the same plan of proceeding — is not 
 unworthy of remark. For what I am now about 
 to adduce, I have again had recourse to Dr 
 Kippis. 
 
 " How sincerely Dr Doddridge detested the want of inte- 
 grity in character, was displayed in the following fact. One 
 •of his pupils was in the habit of making a jest of what is 
 called Orthodoxy, and of ridiculing those who adhered to it ; 
 and this he continued to do, up to the time in which he began 
 to preach. Then, to the no small surprise of his intimate 
 acquaintance, it was rumoured, that in the congregations 
 where he had officiated in the neighbourhood of Northamp- 
 ton, he had appeared highly Calvinistical, and indeed much 
 more so than almost any other of his fellow-students. For 
 obvious reasons he declined ever preaching at Northampton. 
 At length, the affair was brought before the Doctor ; and both 
 parts of the charge having been proved by decisive evidence, 
 the young man was dismissed. Being a person of some for- 
 tune, he was not involved by his disgrace in any pecuniary 
 difficulty." 
 
 From the preceding account of this wretched 
 young man, it does not appear that there was 
 thought to be any great harm in his " habit of
 
 9 
 
 making a jest of what is called Orthodoxy' — and 
 " of ridiculing those who adhered to it," although his 
 Tutor was one of those who did so adhere. How-^ 
 ever, it is satisfactory to learn that, having laughed 
 at Calvinists up to the moment when he turned 
 Calvinist himself, he really was dismissed. Through 
 the whole of this proceeding, the only point that 
 seems to have been thought of importance, either 
 by Dr Doddridge or his biographer, was the want 
 of integrity in the young man. 
 
 By means of circumstances, such as have now 
 been detailed, we are enabled to form some estimate 
 of the nature and tendency of a "perfectly catholic" 
 Institution — comprising young men brought toge- 
 ther without any regard to their religious opinions,. 
 It ought indeed to be recollected that, in the midst 
 of students, who were thus fitted for the Ministry, 
 lived young men of fortune, who were qualifying 
 themselves for their respective stations in society. 
 Surrounded as those gentlemen were by every 
 thing that was discordant in religion, I will leave 
 it to the reader to imagine with what kind of 
 impressions on that important subject they would 
 close their Academical course. As to the effects 
 of the system of education upon the Divinity 
 Students — it is well known to have been a subject 
 of lamentation to all — whether Churchmen or those 
 Dissenters, who have held, with Dr Doddridge, the 
 doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement — that 
 the results, of the plan of instruction pursued at 
 Northampton, should have been so disastrous.
 
 10 
 
 There \vas a vagueness and indecision of language, 
 in the discourses of the young ministers who had 
 been trained in that Seminary, which made it a 
 matter of uncertainty whether they really had any 
 positive opinions at all, on some of the most mo- 
 mentous points that can occupy the attention of 
 mankind ; while the faith of many others being 
 shaken, by the debateable form in which every 
 doctrine was presented to them, they exposed to 
 danger the faith of entire congregations subse- 
 quently committed to their charge*. 
 
 At the time of Dr Doddridge's death, Mr Clark 
 — already mentioned as an abettor of Arian sen- 
 timents — was the Sub-tutor, at Northampton. 
 Dr Kippis thinks that Mr Clark would have been 
 a very proper person to carry on the business of the 
 Academy ; but this does not seem to have been the 
 opinion of Dr Doddridge, who, in his Will, men- 
 tioned Dr Caleb Ashworth, as the person whom he 
 wished to be his successor, " to perpetuate those 
 schemes which he had formed for the public ser- 
 vice." In accordance with Dr Doddridge's re- 
 commendation, Dr Ashworth was appointed, by 
 
 * Of Mr Hugh Farmer, one of the earhest and most eminent 
 of Dr Doddridge's pupils, we are told that "he was particularly 
 excellent in the pulpit, and that his sermons were rational, spiritual, 
 evangelical, and not unfrequently pathetic; that he had an ad- 
 mirable talent, without trimming, of pleasing persons of very different 
 sentiments ; and that when he was speaking of the doctrines of the 
 Gospel, there was a swell in his language, that looked as if he 
 was rising to a greater degree of Orthodoxy in expression than some 
 persons might approve : hnf it nevrr ramo io fhnt point." Biog. Diet.
 
 11 
 
 Mr CowarcVs Trustees,* to be the principal Tutor of 
 the Academy ; and this Gentleman, having engaged 
 Mr Clark as his associate in the tuition, removed 
 the establishment to Daventry, in the year 1751... 
 The Gospel doctrines — when explained, as required 
 by Mr Coward's Will, by the Assembly's Cate- 
 chism — must have been understood in a Calvinistic 
 sense ; and therefore if i\Ir Clark, an Arian, had 
 been placed at the head of the Academy, it would 
 have been a strange method of carrying Mr Coward's 
 designs into effect. Dr Ashworth having been 
 understood to agree in opinions with Dr Doddridge, 
 the Trustees may be considered as having at that 
 time made a judicious appointment... We have now 
 to ascertain in what manner the Trinitarian Tutor 
 and the Arian Sub-tutor contrived to carry on the 
 education of a set of young men, holding religious 
 opinions in as great variety as can well be ima- 
 gined. 
 
 Of the state of things, after the Academy had 
 been placed under Dr Ashworth's management, a 
 pretty accurate judgement may be formed, from 
 
 * William Coward, Es(i. bequeathed a considerable estate for the 
 education of Dissenting Ministers, and for other religious purposes. 
 The mode in which Mr Coward wished the education of Dissenting 
 Ministers to be conducted may be learned from the following words, 
 extracted from his Will : " My will is, that my said Trustees, and 
 those who shall succeed them as hereinafter directed, do take care 
 that the said students be well instructed in the true Gospel doctrines, 
 according as the same are explained in the Assembly's Catechism.'" 
 1 am inclined to think that the Northampton Academy derived 
 advantage, during the latter years of its existence, from Mr Coward's 
 Trustees; but of this I am not certain.
 
 12 
 
 Dr Priestley's account of his residence there, as a 
 student, from 1752 to 1755; a residence to which 
 he seems to have looked hack with the utmost 
 delight. On this suhject, he thus writes, in the 
 Memoirs of his own Life : 
 
 " In n^y time, the Academy was in a state peculiarly 
 favourable to the serious pursuit of truth ; as the students 
 were about equally divided upon every question of much 
 importance, such as Liberty and Necessity, the sleep of the 
 soul, and all the Articles of Theological Orthodoxy and 
 Heresy ; in consequence of which, all these topics were the 
 subject of continual discussion. Our tutors also were of dif- 
 ferent opinions ; Dr Ashworth taking the Orthodox side of 
 every question, and Mr Clark, the sub-tutor, that of Heresy, 
 though always with great modesty*." 
 
 Such were the circumstances which, on a calm 
 review of his life, Dr Priestley deemed " peculiarly 
 favourable to the serious pursuit of truth" — in the 
 case of young students. If, in commenting on this 
 subject, I were to employ the language which it 
 naturally suggests, I should probably be thought, 
 by some, to exhibit that narrowness of mind 
 which, in their estimation, the education of a 
 Churchman seldom fails to produce. In this 
 emergency, it fortunately happens that I can avail 
 myself of the remarks of a celebrated non-con- 
 formist ; and the language of Mr Robert Hall, 
 which I shall shortly have occasion to adduce, 
 expresses my own sentiments on the subject — 
 but more strongly perhaps than it would become 
 me to express them. 
 
 * Memoirs, p. 17, cd. 1806.
 
 Some time after the period wliicli has just 
 been reviewed, Mr Clark retired from the Academy 
 at Daventry, and a Mr Robins supplied his place. 
 In 1766, at the age of 17, JMr J3elsham, so well 
 known in after life by reason of his Theological 
 speculations, became a student at the Academy, 
 under Dr Ashworth and Mr Robins. At this pe- 
 riod there is good evidence that the method (de- 
 scribed by Ur Priestley) of instructing young men 
 in the Gospel according to the Assembly's Cate- 
 chism, was in full force ; and that the consequences 
 were as remarkable as ever. 
 
 In 1771, Mr Thomas Toller, afterwards a Dis- 
 senting Minister at Kettering, became a student at 
 the Daventry Academy. Of the state of things at 
 this aera, I shall present the reader with the follow- 
 ing account, from the pen of the late INIr Robert 
 Hall. 
 
 " At the early age of fifteen, his parents sent him to 
 the Academy at Daventry, over which Dr Ashworth, the 
 worthy successor of the celebrated Dr Doddridge, presided : 
 his assistant in the Academy was the Rev. Mr Robins, who 
 afterwards occupied the same station with distinguished ability. 
 Of both his Tutors he was wont to speak in terms of high 
 respect. Of Mr Robins he was often heard to say, that 
 he considered him as the wisest and the best man he ever 
 knew. Among many other mental endowments, he was re- 
 markable for delicacy of taste and elegance of diction ; and, 
 perhaps, my readers will excuse my observing, that the first 
 perception of these qualities, which the writer of these lines 
 remembers to have possessed, arose from hearing him preach 
 on a public occasion. It is to be lamented that he has left 
 none of those productions behind him, which a correct and
 
 u 
 
 beautiful imagination, embodied in language of tlie nnvst 
 classic purity, rendered so delightful. The qualities of Jiis 
 heart corresponded to those of his genius; and though, long 
 before his death, his bodily infirmities obliged him to re- 
 linquish a commanding station and retire into obscurity, he 
 retained to the last such an ascendancy over the minds of 
 liis former pupils, and such an interest in their affections, 
 as nothing but worth of the highest order can command*." 
 
 From the preceding account of the Daventry 
 Tutors, it is clear that there was no want of inclina- 
 tion, on the part of I\Ir Hall, to place in the fairest 
 light the system of instruction pursued by those 
 learned men ; and therefore, in order that the reader 
 may form some judgement of the value of that 
 system, I request his attention to the following 
 statement, which is contained in the very next 
 paragraphs of Mr Hall's Memoir of Mr Toller. 
 
 " At the time of Mr Toller's admission into the Daventry 
 Academy, the literary reputation of that seminary was higher 
 than that of any [pother] among the Dissenters; but partly 
 owing to a laxness in the terms of admission, and partly to 
 the admixture of lay and divinity students, combined with 
 the mode in which Theology was taught, eiToneous principles 
 prevailed much ; and the majority of such as were educated 
 there became more distinguished for their learning, than for 
 the fervour of their piety, or the purity of their doctrine. 
 .... The celebrated Priestley speaks of the state of the Aca- 
 demy, while he resided there, with great complacency : no- 
 thing, he assures us, could be more favourable to the progress 
 of free inquiry ; since both the tutors and the students were 
 about equally divided between the Orthodox and Arian sys- 
 tems. The arguments by which every possible modification 
 of error is attempted to be supported were carefully mar- 
 
 * Works, Vol. IV. p, :!06.
 
 15 
 
 shalleil ill hostile array against tlie principles generally em- 
 braced ; while the Theological Professor prided himself on 
 the steady impartiality with which he held the balance be- 
 twixt the contending systems, seldom or never interjjos- 
 ing his own opinion, and still less betraying the slightest 
 emotion of antipathy to error, or predilection to truth. Thus 
 a spirit of indifference to all religious principles was gene- 
 rated in the first instance, which naturally paved the way 
 for the prompt reception of doctrines indulgent to the cor- 
 ruption, and flattering to the pride, of a depraved and fallen 
 
 nature To affirm that Mr Toller sustained no injury from 
 
 being exposed at so tender an age to this vortex of unsanc- 
 tified speculation and debate, would be affirming too much, 
 since it probably gave rise to a certain general manner of 
 stating the })eculiar doctrines of the Gospel which attached 
 chiefly to the earlier part of his ministry ; though it is equally 
 certain that his mind, even when he left the Academy, was 
 so far imbued with the grand peculiarities of the Gospel, 
 that he never allowed himself to lose sight of the doctrine of 
 the cross, as the only basis of human hope*." 
 
 Mr Hall, then, was well aware of the mischief 
 attending the Daventry system of education ; and 
 we find the mischief attributed by him to three 
 causes : — 1. " A laxness in the terms of admission ;" 
 2. " The admixture of lay and divinity students ;" 
 and 3. " The mode in which Theology was taught." 
 In what way " the admixture of lay and divinity 
 students" is of itself injurious to Religion, I do not 
 understand ; hut I can easily perceive that, when 
 combined with " laxness in the terms of admission," 
 and a faulty mode of teaching theology, it will tend 
 to multiply the evils complained of, to a degree which 
 it is fearful to contemplate. The main difference 
 
 * Works, Vol. IV. i)p. rM7, 308.
 
 16 
 
 l)etweeii Mr Hall and inyself consists in tliis — that 
 he attributes certain effects to " laxness in the terms 
 of admission " and "the mode of instruction" con- 
 jointly ; while I attribute every thing in the first 
 instance to " laxness in the terms of admission." 
 I take this view of the subject, because it appears to 
 me that, unless young men are admitted with an 
 utter disregard to their religious opinions, no Lec- 
 turer would be so devoid of sense — to say nothing 
 of conscience — as to " hold the balance betwixt 
 contending systems" — in the manner described 
 by Mr Hall — " without betraying the slightest 
 emotion of antipathy to error, or predilection to 
 truth." 
 
 Mr Robins was the principal (Theological) Tutor 
 at Daventry from 1775 to 1781 ; when he resigned 
 his appointment, on account of ill health. Mr 
 Coward's Trustees — still, I suppose, with a view of 
 " taking care that the students should be well in- 
 structed in the true Gospel doctrines, according as 
 the same are explained in the Assembly's Catechism" 
 — then placed Mr Belsham at the head of the 
 Institution. At that period, indeed, Mr Belsham 
 does not appear to have abandoned the doctrine of 
 our Lord's pre-existence ; but, in pursuance of the 
 Daventry system, he endeavoured to " hold the 
 balance with steady impartiality." How successfully 
 he carried Mr Coward's intentions into effect, will be 
 manifest from the following account, which he has 
 given, in his Life of Lindsey, of his method of 
 tuition and the result of his labours :
 
 17 
 
 "Now the plan which to the author appeared most eligible 
 for conducting the minds of his j)upils on this Inquiry, 
 was to form a collection of all the texts in the New Testa- 
 ment which in any way related to the person of Christ, and 
 to arrange them under different heads, beginning with simple 
 pre-existence, and advancing through the various interme- 
 diate steps to the doctrine of the proper deity of Christ. 
 Under each text was introduced the comment of one or more 
 learned and approved Trinitarian, Arian, or Unitarian Ex- 
 positors, in the commentator's own words, and in general 
 without any additional, or at least doctrinal comment of the 
 compiler's own ; as it was his wish to leave the texts thus 
 expounded to make their proper impression upon the minds 
 of his pupils." 
 
 '•' The first consequence of this mode of conducting the 
 Lectures was to himself very unexpected and mortifying. 
 Many of his pupils, and of those some of the best talents, 
 the closest application, and the most serious dispositions, 
 who had also been educated in all the habits and prepos- 
 sessions of Trinitarian doctrine, to his great surprise became 
 Unitarians." 
 
 This surely is a striking exemplification of the 
 effects of such a plan of instruction as we have been 
 
 considering Soon afterwards, that scale of the 
 
 balance which contained the Unitarian arguments 
 having obtained a decided preponderance — in short, 
 Mr Belsham having become a complete Unitarian of 
 the modern school — he began to question his own 
 fitness for executing the purposes of Mr Coward's 
 Will. In 1789, after very mature deliberation, he 
 resigned his office ; and (to use his own expression) 
 " took leave of a flourishing seminary of estimable 
 pupils." Beyond this period, it is not my inten- 
 tion to trace the history of the Daventry Academy. 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 Every tiling tliat has come to light with regard 
 to this Institution, from 1729 to 1789, conspires to 
 prove the ruinous consequences of that system of 
 education which is the inevitable result of bringing 
 together, as fellow-students, great numbers of young 
 men, without any regard to their religious senti- 
 ments. In addition to the opinions of Mr Hall, 
 on this momentous subject, which I have already 
 .quoted, I recommend to the reader's attention the 
 following extract from the same writer's " Address 
 in behalf of a Baptist Academical Institution at 
 Stepney ;" in which he states his view's of the plan 
 of instruction to be there adopted. 
 
 " With regard to the principles we wish to see prevail 
 in our future seminary, it may be sufficient to observe, they 
 are in general the principles of the Reformation ; and were 
 we to descend to a more minute specification, we should add, 
 they are the principles which distinguish the body of Chris- 
 tians denominated Particular or Calvinistic Baptists. While 
 we feel a cordial esteem for all who love the Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity — disclaiming all pretensions to that vaunted 
 liberality which masks an indifference to revealed truth, we 
 feel no hesitation in declaring, that nothing would give us 
 more concern than to see the seminary we have in contem- 
 plation become the organ of infidel or heretical pravity *." 
 
 The opinion — that Religion must be taught on 
 some definite plan — when avowed by so celebrated 
 a non-conformist as Mr Hall, cannot but be allowed 
 to have weight; but lest it should be said that, 
 although he was a great man in his day, the non- 
 conformists of these times entertain more enlarged 
 
 * Works, Vol. IV. p. 413.
 
 19 
 
 notions of the purposes of education. I shall here 
 transcribe the sentiments of one of the most emi- 
 nent persons, amongst the Dissenters, now living : 
 I mean the Theological Tutor at Homerton — 
 Dr J. P. Smith. On Mr Belsham's mode of 
 Lecturing he thus writes : 
 
 " To throw down before a company of inexperienced 
 youths, a regular set of rival and discordant expositions, 
 appears to me to have been a method not well calculated to 
 lead into the path of convincing evidence and well ascer- 
 tained truth. It might excite party feeling, wordy disputa- 
 tion, unholy levity, and rash decision ; but, so far as either 
 from the theory of the case or from experience, I am able to 
 form a judgement, I could not expect a better result, except 
 in rare cases indeed. Difficult is the task to assist, in the 
 personal and successful search after sacred truth, young minds 
 whose judgement is immature, their experience nothing, their 
 reading hitherto scanty, their conceptions eager, and their 
 self-opinion often strong. If in relation to this subject, I 
 may presume to express my opinion and my wishes, they 
 would be to demand, in the first place, certain pre-requisites 
 for the study : good intellectual powers, the habit of deli- 
 berate and patient thought, a respectable acquaintance with 
 the language, style and idiomatical peculiarities of the inspired 
 writers, a memory well stored with the contents of the Bible, 
 some practice in Theological reading, and, above all, and 
 without which all the rest will be nugatory, a heart governed 
 by genuine piety, humility, the spirit of prayer, and love to 
 God as the God of perfect holiness*." 
 
 Having now detailed the result of the experi- 
 ment, which has been fidly tried in our own country, 
 of educating together young men, greatly differing 
 in religious opinions — and having stated the senti- 
 
 * Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, Vol. i. p. 160.
 
 20 
 
 meiits of tliinking persons, not belonging to tlie 
 Established Church, on the subject — I will proceed 
 to consider the bearing of the case upon " the Uni- 
 versities of England." 
 
 The non-conformist Tutor of the Daventry 
 Academy was, as the reader is aware, required, by 
 the Will of the non-conformist Mr Coward, to 
 instruct the students committed to his care, in the 
 principles of religion as laid down in the Assembly's 
 Catechism. I therefore conclude that, even the 
 non-conformists themselves being judges, there is 
 nothing Avrong in Christians, by whatever name they 
 may be designated, teaching, in their ow^n seminaries 
 of education, the principles of religion as laid down 
 in such formidaries as, after due inquiry, they con- 
 scientiously believe to contain the truth. This is 
 what I claim for the Members of the Church of 
 England. 
 
 Again, many non-conformists have described 
 the effects which have arisen, and cannot but arise, 
 from a continued residence, in the same place of 
 instruction, of young men widely differing from each 
 other in Theological sentiments — as highly injurious 
 to the cause of Religion. An entire agreement with 
 these non-conformists, in this matter, I take the 
 liberty of avowing, on the part of the Members of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 Lastly, to avoid the evils consequent upon the 
 plan of education last mentioned, non-conformists
 
 21 
 
 of different denominations have founded Academies, 
 in eacli of wliicli, to youths of their own communion, 
 those principles of Religion alone are taught, which 
 are in agreement with their own peculiar views. For 
 the Members of the Church of England I claim the 
 same privilege. 
 
 In " the Universities of England," this privilege 
 has long been enjoyed, with undoubted advantage 
 to the cause of Religion and to the best interests 
 of the Nation at large. Let us endeavour to trace 
 
 its mode of operation A young man, on com-r 
 
 mencing residence in one of our Universities, finds 
 himself consigned to a Tutor — as it were to another 
 Parent; and he at once regards his associates as 
 members of the same family with himself. There 
 is no necessity for him to be on the reserve, till he 
 can ascertain to what sect of religion any one be- 
 longs ; for he is aware that, on the most important 
 of all concerns, but one feeling exists. Nor does 
 any thing occur, to disturb the prevailing sympathy. 
 On the contrary, every thing tends to give it new 
 force. The daily service — the occasional Sacrament 
 — the Lectiu*es — the intercourse with those to Avhom 
 is entrusted the government of the Society to which 
 he belongs — all conspire to impress upon his mind 
 the reflection that, in common with those around 
 him, he is a Member of the Church of England. 
 To him, at his youthful time of life, religion is 
 communicated, not in general terms — not through 
 the turbid medium of controversy — but as it was 
 understood by the Fathers of the Protestant Church
 
 22 
 
 of England : — a Church by wliich, in maturer years 
 — when he shall have fully ascertained the founda- 
 tions on which it rests — we trust that he will be 
 content to stand or fall. It is for this end that, for 
 a season, he is committed to our keeping ; and for 
 I this we hold it to be our duty to provide. 
 
 Amongst the younger students of the Univer- 
 sities as at present constituted, every thing wears 
 the aspect of tranquillity. They have nothing to 
 unsettle their minds. They are — taking them as 
 a body — assiduously pursuing their studies, and 
 qualifying themselves for the stations for which 
 they are designed. Is it wise, under such cir- 
 cumstances, to run the risk of all the consequences 
 of introducing, amongst them, numbers of men, 
 concerning whose religion all inquiry would be 
 expressly forbidden by Act of Parliament? Surely 
 it would be to make arrangements for confusion. 
 
 We have seen the effects of great diversity 
 of belief, amongst the students at Daventry; and 
 we may rely upon it that those effects were not 
 accidental : — they were such as will always be pro- 
 duced by the same cause. In nothing is the 
 ardent mind of youth more ardent than, when once 
 excited, in matters of Religion. It is by no means 
 improbable that, should the proposed Bill become 
 the Law of the Land, persons trained in contro- 
 versy would be entered at the Universities, for the 
 very purpose of producing the results we deprecate ; 
 and, most certainly, their appearance, like that of
 
 23 
 
 the petrel, would announce tlie storm. In such 
 a case, it is greatly to be feared that, amidst 
 conflicting passions, both reason and religion would 
 be alike disregarded. Nor is there the slightest 
 hope that the agitation would cease. Tutors of 
 Colleges, indeed, would take part with the Church- 
 men, whose religious interests it is their peculiar 
 duty to watch over; but in process of time would 
 arise (as I am well convinced) a race of men 
 " priding themselves," like the Daventry Tutors, 
 "on the steady impartiality with which they held 
 the balance between contending systems." When, 
 in addition to all this, it is considered that, after 
 the lapse of a few years, there woidd be residing 
 in the Universities, as Bachelors and Masters of 
 Arts, men privileged by Act of Parliament to 
 teach their pupils any religion whatever, we have 
 before us the elements of such a scene of dis- 
 order as it requires no ordinary nerves to contem- 
 plate. 
 
 The higher and the middle classes of society, 
 in this country, are yet sound at the heart. They 
 reverence the law of God, and are conscientiously 
 attached to the National Church. It is no wonder 
 that, amongst them, there should be so much 
 alarm, at the prospects which are opening upon 
 " the Universities of England." When an Act 
 of Parliament shall have made it "lawful for all 
 His Majesty's Subjects to enter and matriculate 
 in those Universities, and to receive and enjoy all 
 Degrees in Learning conferred therein (Degrees
 
 24 
 
 in Divinity alone excepted) without being re- 
 quired to subscribe any Articles of Religion, or 
 to make any declaration of religious opinions re- 
 specting particular modes of Faith and Worship" — 
 will such persons, as I have alluded to, so far 
 disregard the principles of their lives, as to trust 
 those, in whom their hopes are bound up, to that 
 " vortex of unsanctified speculation and debate," 
 which will then inevitably await every young man 
 when entering upon his Academical course ? Many, 
 very many, of those rightly-minded persons will 
 reluctantly forego, for their children, the advantages 
 arising from the learning and science that might 
 be acquired ; being sustained in their determina- 
 tion by reflecting on the perils which had been 
 avoided, in matters of the deepest concernment 
 to their offspring, as moral and religious crea- 
 tures. 
 
 When, in short, we consider, on the one hand, 
 the far-extended alienation of mind, with regard 
 to the Universities, which would be produced in 
 the manner just pointed out — and, on the other, 
 the number of young men who, beyond doubt, 
 would leave the Universities with understandings 
 bewildered by the jargon of controversy — we can- 
 not but behold, in such results, not merely the 
 indications of a general breaking up of the con- 
 stitution of the country, but symptoms which, 
 combined with many others, would actually pro- 
 duce that sad catastrophe. That many non-con- 
 formists, who are earnestly pressing forward the
 
 25 
 
 Bill now before the House of Commons, arc an- 
 ticipating such consequences — is by no means 
 improbable ; but that those Members of the Uni- 
 versities, who are favourable to tlie measure, ever 
 thought of such a result — I do not believe. 
 
 We know, from the declarations of many 
 non-conformists, that there exists amongst them a 
 strong resolution to effect, if possible, the disrup- 
 tion of the Church from the State. Now, no one 
 will deny that, with such intentions, the Univer- 
 sities are the very places which they would 
 themselves select, for the purpose of commencing 
 their operations. There they would be glad to 
 insert the wedge — there to rest the lever. — When 
 the degree of Master of Arts is rendered accessible 
 to non-conformists, the folding-doors of the House 
 of Convocation at Oxford, and the Senate-House 
 at Cambridge, will be thrown wide open ; and 
 great power will be given to, it is impossible to 
 mention what, numbers of persons — who may em- 
 ploy it to very pernicious objects. There are few 
 sayings which have more truth in them than this 
 — that you know not what a man really is, till 
 you have invested him with power and authority. 
 That is the great test of his trust-worthiness. 
 What is true of an individual is equally so when 
 applied to many, co-operating with one design ; 
 and the consequences which may arise in the 
 latter case are by far the most alarming. To 
 whatever ill purposes the possession of power may 
 be applied by an individual, his abuse of trust 
 
 C
 
 26 
 
 must come to an end at some time or other, and 
 may come very soon. Bnt \vhen persons act toge- 
 ther, and receive constant accessions in point of 
 numbers, they become virtually a body corporate ; 
 and their power of doing mischief is, like pro- 
 perty held in mortmain, for ever. 
 
 There are, amongst the non-conformists, many 
 who agree with the Members of the Church of 
 England, in the great doctrines of the Reformation : 
 — who would lament to see a flood of dangerous 
 speculation and cold scepticism and reckless in- 
 fidelity overspreading the land — and are well aware 
 of the effect of the unwarrantable contentions, in 
 which young fellow-students widely differing in 
 religion never fail to engage, in producing those 
 evils. During a season of popvdar excitement those 
 non-conformists may not have observed the bearing 
 of such considerations upon our two great Aca- 
 demical Establishments; but when the subject is 
 thus fairly laid before them, it seems impossible 
 for them to resist the conclusion that has been 
 drawn. Let me therefore entreat them to pause 
 and think what they are doing, when urging the 
 Legislature to pass the Bill in question. They 
 have had to lament the consequences of a plan 
 of education on a small scale, similar to that 
 which the Bill would sanction : let them not insist 
 upon its being tried on a large scale. When an 
 experiment is notorious for having been produc- 
 tive of evil, it ought not to be repeated. The 
 results of the proceeding at Daventry need not be
 
 27 
 
 confirmed hy its application to *' tlie Universities 
 of England." 
 
 Of this I am certain — that many non-con- 
 formists who have petitioned for throwing open the 
 Universities to all — withont respect to religious 
 opinions — will feel that I have taken a correct view 
 of the subject. I am also convinced, that, in their 
 hearts, they will acknowledge that, in what I have 
 now sent forth into the world, I have told the truth 
 and done my duty. 
 
 Those who are at all acquainted with me will 
 not suspect me of any inclination to lower the 
 importance of learning and science, in the business 
 of education. Many, I believe, will rather be 
 disposed to think that I attach too great a value 
 to them, in that point of view. It would, indeed, 
 be a subject of the deepest regret to me to find 
 the attention, which is now so profitably directed 
 to learning and science, in any degree engaged by 
 polemical divinity. Let me, at the same time, 
 fairly state that, after well weighing the wants of 
 man's moral nature, and taking into account the 
 various destinations of the students who resort 
 for instruction to our two Universities, I cannot 
 but consider learning and science not as ends, 
 but as means — the means of strengthening the 
 minds, and informing the understandings, of those 
 who will shortly be required to undertake the 
 duties which respectively await them in Church 
 and State.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
 
 UCLA-Young Research Library 
 
 LB2341.8.G7 T86 
 
 y 
 
 L 009 610 429 4 
 
 1