Pietas Oxonienjis: O R, A FULL and IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT O F T H E EXPULSION of Six Students from St Edmund Hall, Oxford. With aDEDICATION To the Right Honourable the Earl of LITCHFIELD, Chancellor of that University. By A MASTER OF ARTS Of the University of OXFORD. • . . TL__ Men of candor will not think that the Spirit of God teaches any to act direct- ly againft the Laws they have fivorn to obferve, and Articles their own hands have Jubfcribed to. See a pampbUt inthled, A vindication of the Proceedings againft th« Six Members of Edmund Hall, Oxford. THE SECOND EDITION, Revifld, Corrcflcd and Enlarged, with fome extraordinary Anecdotes. To whUh is added, A Letter to the MONTHLY REVIEWERS. LONDON: Printed by J. and W. Oliver, in Barivjl'jmnv Clo r e; and SoW by G. Keith, in G'-acechurrb Street; E. and C Dii.ly, in the. Foully; M. Fomngsby, at Ttmple Bar; Mr Fletcher, at Oxford; and to be had ot any other Be kieller in Town or Country. MDCCLXVJII. [Price ONE SHILLING.} 9 08* 6 tjvi ■^^F^J^jK •y*kJ*J"£i'9*ai ■&ij*Jkj'3** '5^ < *Kv5 ^S 'JC^p't. ^-| 55* T O T H E RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Earl of LITCHFIELD, i CO I— Chancellor of the Univerfity of Oxford, >- •< oc QQ —I / My LORD, KeWfo?3 OUR Lordmip is not only fe y g diftinguifhed by your illuftrious ^g 3 birth and ancient family, but ro k$S*$33# by a zealous attachment to the § true interefts of your King and Country. ® It was a deep fenfe of your Lordfhip's o worth and character, joined with the firm- "* eft perfuafion of your Lordfhip's will and abilities to defend the religious and civil liberties of cur Conftitution, which caufed our ancient Univerfity of Oxford lb unani- moufly to make choice of your Lord/hip to be their Chancellor j in which ftation your 5 Lordfhip hitherto has, and 1 doubt not ever will make it evidently appear, that A 2 you < 30.1.:S32 iv Dedication. you have the profperity and welfare of the. Univerfity much at heart. Happy then may I efleem myfelf in, humbly dedicating the following pages to your Lordihip's protection and patronage ; not doubting but when all the particulars relative to fome late Expulfions from that Univerfity, whereof your Lordfhip has fo eminently diftinguifhed yourfelf to be the nurfing Father, fhall be impartially fubmit- ted to your candor and judgment, that you will not fuffer her Laws and Privileges to be difregarded, nor any of her Members to be opprefled or injured. And of this I am the more confident, from the polite and kind reception given by your Lordfhip to Mr Grove, (a Gentleman- Commoner of St Edmund-Hall, and one of the expelled Members of that Society,) when he waited upon your Lord (hip in London, and you teftified your approbation of his being re- admitted into the Univerfity, if the confent of Mr Vice- Chancellor and his AfTefTors could be obtained : but this favour being denied, Mr Grove did not choofe to give your Lordfhip any further trouble. However Dedication^ tr However the late fentence may have the appearance of an Univerfity-A£t, or how- ever it may pafs for fuch in hiftory, when children's children fhall read the dire ac- count, yet it is the higher!: injuftice to that ancient and refpeclable feminary of true piety and learning to look upon it in this light ; for befides that only four Heads of Houfes were prefent upon the occafion, I am well allured that many great and emi- nent men in the Univerfity have teftified their difapprobation that matters were car- ried with fo high an hand : particularly the Reverend and Learned Doctor Dixon, Principal of the Hall from whence thele fix Students were expelled, (who, it muft be allowed, was the beft judge of their characters and conduct^ fpoke of them in the higher!: terms before the whole Court, and has fince told me himfelf, that he never remembers in his own, or in any other College, fix youths whofe lives were fo exemplary, and who behaved themfelves in a more humble, regular, peaceable manner. How far thefe fix members have or have hot defer ved the fhameful and fevere punifh- a 3 ment vi Dedication; ment inflicted upon them, the following fheets will enable your Lordfhip and the world to judge. I fhall only add, that I have been particularly careful not to afTert any thing upon hearfay evidence, but have taken much pains to trace up every circum- ftance and facT: that I have alledged, to the fountain-head, which has caufed the pub- lication of the piece to be deferred longer than was intended. My Lord> Tour Lordjhifs mojt obedient humble Servant ', Jufte i, 1768. A MASTER OF ARTS of the Univerfity of Oxford. [ 7 ] i s<>GOOOOOO«? s PIETAS OXONlENSISt or, a FULL and IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT, Sec ^^Ms-ONSCIOtJS of the mighty power At p ^ of prejudice* and how apt men are Ife J. to be influenced by an undue regard ^^r^4> t0 Names, Sects, and Parties, before I enter upon the following work, I think it neceflary to acquaint the reader, that I am a member of the Eftablifhed Church, into whofe communion I was in my infancy baptized, and for whofe doctrine and difcipline I flill pro- a 4 feis E 8 J fefs the higheft veneration. It is not therefore in behalf of this or that denomination of chrif- tians that I attempt to write ; the caufe of reli- gion in general, and that of the Church of Eng- land in particular, the caufe of violated truth, trampled laws, and injured innocence, is what I mean to defend. And as I would not be biafed by an attachment to any parties, *fo neither to any perfons. As to the fix young men who have bee-n lately expelled from Edmund Hulk, I had 1 very little acquaintance with any of them, and fome of them were totally unknown to me, till after their Sentence was palled, fo that I am in lefs danger of partiality on that account; and Can appeal to the fearcher of hearts, that f defire to be guided by a fpirit of wifdom, truth, love and candor, in what I have undertaken ; as alio to have every word I advance to be weighed in the balance of calm reflection and of unbiafed judgment ; and if plain undifguifed truth fhould be found to bear hard, perhaps very hard, upon fome individuals, this is neither the fault of the trush itfelf, nor of thofe who bring it to light. The firft trace which I can dilcover of any dif- fatisfadtion againft thefe fix Gentlemen, was an application of the Rev. Mr H— n, their Tutor, to the Rev. Doctor D — n, Principal of the Hall. The charge was, tc That there were feveral En- " thufiafts in that fociety, who talked of regene- «« ration, [ 9 J " ration, infpiration, and drawing nigh unto God." Doctor D. well knowing that the Gentleman who brought the accufarion, had long laboured under an infanity of mind, for which he had been obliged to leave the Univerfity, and undergo the difcipline in fuch cafes neceffary *, and confidtring that he was withal of a very proud revengeful difpofition, juftly imagined that what he laid might be partly the effecl: of his diforder, or partly owing to fome pique he had taken againft the young men; he therefore thought that the Ids he argued the cafe with him (at that period) the better, and only ob- ferved, that thefe were all fcriptural phrafes or apoftolical expreffions, and the ufe of them au- thorifed by the offices of the Church of England^ that therefore he could fee no caufe to look upon the Gentlemen as enthufiafts for having adopted thefe' terms*. Let none fuppofe from what I have faid that I mean to reflect upon Mr H. on account of the vi- fitation he has been under in the deprivation of his * John iii. 3, 5, 6, &c. " Jefus anfwered, Except a man "be born again he cannot fee the kingdom of God," C3V.— CoIie&forChriftmas day. " Grant that we being regenerate, '* and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be ** renewed by thy holy Spirit," &c — Communion Service. *' Cleanfe the thoughts of our hearts by the Inspi ration of thy " holy Spirit," fcfV Colled for the fifch Sunday after Eafter. *' Grant, that by thy holy Inspiration we may think thofe «' things that be good." The Apoftle James exhorts us to draw nigh unto Goo ; and his Brother Paul bids us, draw ntar in full ajjurance of faith. ( 10 ) his ferries, God forbid! fo far from it, that whilft I really feel the fincereft pity for him, I look upon this as the beft excufe which can be offered for his conduct ; and if others have taken advantage of this poor unhappy Gentleman, in order to make him the tool or cat's-paw to perpetrate what, through fhame or fear, they durft not undertake themfelves, however this may exempt him from reflections, as an object truly meriting compaffion, yet it will not exempt any who were the firfl: movers in this bulinefs, and much lefs thofe who have fuflered themfelves to be fo far led and in- fluenced by him, as to pafs the moft cruel, igno- minious fentence which can poffibly be inflicted by the Univerfity-laws, in great meafure upon his fingle evidence, or elfe by letters he had received from others ; which letters, it will plainly appear, were fluffed with the groffeft falflioods and mif* reprefentations ; yet were thefe letters*, and this evidence, * Among the letters read at the trial, as it is called, of thefe Students, was one which had been intercepted from a religious youth to his friend, wherein the title of King was applied to the name of Jesus, which expreffion the Rev. Mr H. read in a manner which befpoke the higheit contempt ; and which raifed a loud unbecoming laughter among the gownfmen prefent. Truly fhocking muft it found to a chriftian ear, to hear the kingly office of the Saviour of finners thus turned into ridicule, and this, by whom, before whom, and in what place, horrtndum diSu! But the language of every natural heart is, •* We will not have this man to reign over us ; we have no " King but Cefar."-— An expreffion from rhe Rev. Mr Haweis was alfo brought on the carpet, concerning which the faid Clergyman ( •» ) evidence, admitted as much as if they had amount- ed to full inconteftible proofs, and in the moft unprecedented, illegal, arbitrary manner, all the witnefies againfi: the parties accufcd were examined without being put to their oath (except one, namely, the Rev. Mr Greaves, a worthy confcientioua man, who wasjuftly fuppofed to be their friend:) and not only was, whatever thefc witnefies ad- vanced from their own perfonal knowledge, but likewife every idle report they had picked up by hear fay, admitted as genuine, and charged upon thefe young men ; who were even compelled to turn their own accufers, or elfe condemned for contu- macious behaviour, in a manner which exceeded the dreadful tyrannical oath ex officio, which was adminiftered to the Nonconformifls by the High-CommhTion Court in Queen Elizabeth's time, or the proceedings of the Star-Chamber and the fame High- Commifiion- Court in the two fol- lowing reigns f : infomuch that I will venture to appeal Clergyman actually aflced, (by way of expofmg the term) whether Mr Haweis did not fay, that " Mr Middle-ton was •• a dear child of God ?" What a dreadful pafs indeed are things come to, when the endearing comfortable relation in which God (lands to the believing (inner, as his reconciled Father in Christ, and a phrafe which is ufed at lead an hundred times in fcripture (namely, that of a child of God) as well as in various parts of the offices of our own Church, is made matter of feoff and reproach ? f Thefe Courts were abolifhed by Aft of Parliament in the reign of Charles I, as favoring fo very ftrongly of Popifh Incnaifuion, ( « ) appeal to every man who is at all acquainted with the fpirit of our laws, and the liberty of our cort- ftitution, whether both Law and Juflice, not to fay Religion and Confcience, were not as much put out of the queftion in this tranfaction, as if they had never had any exiftence. But to proceed Mr H. being much diffatisfied with Dr D's anfwer in vindication of the young men, began to fet other engines to work for their overthrow; he wrote to different Clergymen, who lived in the fame pariihes, or in the neighbourhood of thefe young men, and from them received particular accounts of all their proceedings, em- bellifhed and interlarded according to the fancies and ingenuity of the refpective writers. One of thefe Clergymen, who was then Curate of New- fort in Shropjhire, and lately fhewed himfelf a zealous champion for a company of ftrolling Play- ers, in oppofition to a neighbouring Juilice of the Peace who fent thofe pefts of fociety out of the town*, took the pains of going to a village called Wheaton- * This juflice of the peace told the fame Clergyman in a private letter he wrote to him upon the fubjecl:, that " any " chriflian Divine might bluih at the thought of encouraging " a gang of idle ftrollers by his prefence and purfe, in direct •« oppofition to magistracy." In anfwer to which letter the" Clergyman replied, (as I faw it under his own hand) that «' though he faw no caufe to bluih for himfelf, he faw caufe td " bluih for the Magiftrate who cenfured him for countenancing "and ( 13 ) JVheaton-AJton in Stafford/hire, to gather what intelligence he could concerning Mr Jones, one of the fix expelled Students, who ufed to vifit a pious Gentlewoman of the Church of England at that place, and now and then, at her requeft, perform- ed the family-worfhip, to which the poor neigh- bours were admitted ; when Mr Jones read and explained part of a chapter in the Bible, and after- wards prayed and fung a Pfalm or Hymn with them. The way whereby Mr Blackham, the Clergyman abovementioned, came to the know- ledge pf this, was, by calling on fome ferious perfons who were prefent on thefe occafions, and pretending a fingular regard and affection for Mr Jones, and the higheft approbation of his con- duel; the artlefs people foon furnifhed him with fufEcient matter for an anfwer to his letter, which anfwer was accordingly produced in court, with the addition of a letter which Mr Jones had fome years ago written to this Clergyman, upon his having fent him Dr Trapp's Sermons upon the danger of being righteous over-much, a danger which fhis Divine, to do him juftice, is as careful to avoid, " and attending the ftrollers, from whofe performances he *' drew real advantage." The holy and learned Dr Edwards, in his excellent book intitled the Preacher, page too, taking it for granted that no Clergyman would be feen in a play-houfe, yet tells the Clergy that if their Auditors be addicted to plays, they will not care for their fermons, unlefs the fermons be akjn to the pjays. C 14 ) avoid, as the unpardonable fin againft the holy Ghoft. BUT as the particular charges againft each of thefe Gentlemen will be beft ken by the feveral Articles for which they were expelled, I proceed to confider thefe Articles one by one, as nearly as they can poflibly be recollected ; and if in any thing they fhould vary from the Originals, which however I believe they do not in the leaft point, the fault is not mine, but theirs who refufed a copy of thefe Articles to the young men them- felves, after they had expelled them. But where- fore was this requeft denied ? if the fentence was juft, why mould the reafons for which it was in* flicted be huddled up and kept fecret, efpecially from thofe who were the unhappy fufferers by it ? if they had done amifs, could there be a better method of convincing them of it, and of preferv- ing them from the like faults for the time to come, than by giving each of them a copy of the charges on which they were proceeded againft ? If it be faid, that the Articles of their accufation were included in the fummons fixed upon, the Chapel- door; I anfwer, that the charges contained in the fjmmons were in a more vague general ftile than thofe on which they were feparately arraigned and expelled ; befides, it is not what a perfon is accufecj of, or fummoned to anfwer to, but what he is lawfully convicted of, that will render him liable to ( '5 ) to punifhment irv any nation where Tyranny and Defpotifm are not the avowed principles of govern- ment *. The Articles, as nearly as can be recollected, (land as follows. I. James Matthews was bred a Weaver, and kept a common Tap-houfe. When he entered himfelf a member of the Univerfity, he had not fuch a competent knowledge in the learned languages as would enable him to perform the exercifes of the Hall and of the Univerfity He hath applied for Orders, and hath been refufed. — He ftill remains in- capable * Mr Grove and MrMiDDLETON went to theV — C— — after their expulfion, and defired a copy of the Articles for which they were expelled ; but this favour was refufed : however Mr V — C intimated that " be thought it was right to give them a copy, but that the other heads of houfes were againft it ; and that for his part he was concerned that he was in office to pafs fuch a fentence upon them; and if the .matter had depended upon him, he fhould have been for lefs violent methods." Now Mr V-r-C might perhaps think that by this foothing fpeech to the young men in private, he fhould (hake off a little dirt from himfelf; but how agrees this difcourfe with his publicly thank jng Mr H — n for the fervice he had done the U y ? Befides, if Mr V — C really thought the fentence fo very hard and fevere, why did he pafs it? Ought he, for the fike of obliging any perfons whatever, to inflict a punifhment upon fix pious harmlefs youths, which, for ought he knew, might reduce them to the very want of bread, and caft a tailing ftigma upon their names and characters ? ( 16 ) capable of performing the exercifes of the faid Hall, much lefs of taking holy Orders. —He hath frequented unlawful Conventicles, ; by his own confeflion — He hath been with Mr Davies and one Mr Fletcher, reputed Methodifts, and is himfelf a reputed Me- thodift. II. Thomas Jones was bred a Barber, and hath lately followed that low occupation. >. He hath expounded the Scriptures at Wheat on -Aft on, although a Layman. He hath attended illicit Conventicles in this city, as appears from his own confeflion.— He is deficient in the learned languages. III. Joseph Shipman was bred a Linen-draper, is deficient in learning, and hath attended illicit Conventicles. IV. Benjamin Kay hath attended illicit Con- venticles at a private houfe it this city.— Hath heard one Hewet, a Stay-maker, although a Layman, pray extempore. — He holds Elec- tion : if once a child of God, always a child of God : and that the influence of the Spirit is neceflary to conftitute every one a child of God— He has endeavoured to draw others into thefe opinions. V. Erasmus ( 17 ) Y. Erasmus Middleton has officiated £$ Pried in a Chapel of eafe belonging to the Parilh-church of Cbevely, in the county of Berks and diocefe of Salijbury^ as appears by his own confeffion. — He fays, we muft fit down and wait for the Spirit, for without it we can do nothing. — That good Works are unneceffary, and no part of our juftification^ but that we are faved by Faith alone* VI. Thomas Grove hath* by his own cori- feflion, preached to a mixed multitude of people called Methodifts in a barn, and offered up extempore Prayer* For which crimes we, David Durell, D. t). Vicechancellor of the Univerfity and Vifitor of* the Hall \ Thomas Randolph, D. D. Prefident of C. C. C\ Thomas Fothergil, D. D. Provoft of Queens -College \ Thomas Nowel, D. D, Prin* cipal of St Mary-Hall^ and the Reverend Thomas Atterbury, A. M. of Chriji-Cbureb i Senior Proctor, deem each of them Worthy of being ex- pelled the Hall ; I therefore by my vifitatorial power do hereby pronounce them expelled *. Befides all thefe charges there was added that of impudence and difobedience towards their Tu- tor, and leaving College without his leave* B IN * This fentence was pronounced in the Chapel. ( .8 ) IN order to proceed with the greater method and perfpicuity, we will firft confider the charge of attending illicit Conventicles, of which they were moft of them found guilty ; particularly Mr Grove, of preaching in a barn. idly* The charge againft James Matthews, Joseph ShIpman and Thomas Jones, concerning their having been bred to Trades. 3$y, The charge againft James Matthews, Joseph Shipman and Thomas Jones, for being infufficient in the learned languages. 4?£/y,The charge againft Er asmus Middleton, for having officiated in a chapel unordained. $tbly, The charge againft Benjamin Kay and Erasmus Middleton, for holding the doctrines of Election, Perfeverance, Juftification by Faith alone without Works, and that we can do nothing without the Spirit of God ; into which opinions the faid Benjamin Kay is alfo found guilty of having endeavoured to draw others. 6/^/y, The charge againft James Matthews and others, for being acquainted with reputed Methodifts, Mr Venn, Mr Newton, Mr Townsend, and particularly with Mr Fletcher and Mr Da vies. Firft ( 19 ) • Firft then, with regard to the charge of attend- ing illicit Conventicles.— Now in order to prove who are and who are not guilty of this offence, it is neceffary firft to afcertain what is a Conventi- cle. —Mr Jacob, in his Law -Dift ionary, obferves, " That the word was firft attributed to the Meet- " inss of Wickliff in this nation, and is now (l applicable to the illegal Meetings of the Noncon- *' fcrmijls" And the preamble to the Act of 22 Car. II. cap. i. gives a very full and clear infight into the Act itfelf, and againft what perfons it was defigned. It begins as follows — " For *' providing further and more fpeedy remedies " againft the growing and dangerous practices of " feditious Sectaries, and other difloyal perfons, *' who, under pretence of tender confciences, have " or may at their meetings contrive infurrections " (as late experience has fliewn) be it enacted,'* &c. &c. &c. The defign of the LXXIIId Canon of our Church is entirely to prevent any fecret meetings, parti- cularly among the Clergy, " to confuk upon any " matter which may tend to the impeaching and " depraving the doctrine of the Church of Eng- " land, or the book of Common Prayer, or of any "part of the government and difcipline now " eftablifhed in the Church of England:' B i The ( ao ) The Statute of the Univerfity, De Conventiculis itticitis * reprimendis, is in every refpect conform- able to the Canon and Aft of Parliament. " Sta- " tutum eft quod nullus cujufcunque gradus, five " flatus, conventicula illicita intra Univerfitatis «' przecinctum inftituat aut iis quo modo interfit, " aut in domo vel hofpitio fuo haberi permittat. " Qualia cenfenda funt in quibus contra pacem " publicam, dodtrinam vel difciplinam ecclefise ** vel regimen et tranquilitatem Univerfitatis quic- " quam deliberatum vel geftum fuerit : vel in LETON, for having officiated in a Chapel unor- dained : And here, though I muft believe his motive to have been good, for he could have no temporal intereft in what he did, yet i condemn the action as a very high indifcretion, and a fla- grant violation of the Twenty-third Article of our church ; and indeed he himfelf has long acknow- ledged it to be fo -f", and proved the fincerity of this acknowledgement by behaving ever fince with the greatefl: regularity- But though I would im- partially cenfure the great imprudence of this ftep in Mr M. yet how can his moft prejudiced enemies defend the proceeding againft him, even to Ex- pulfion itfelf, for an offence which was committed C a long miffion to do fo, if the confent of the V— C - , &c. could be obtained, yet in order to call a greater ftigma and oppro- brium upon Edmund Hall, and the worthy Principal of it, feveral members of that Society have been fuffered to take their names out of the Books, and to enter at Magdalen Hall ; and this after Mr V— C— — had told Mr Grove, and folemnly given his word to the Principal, that unlefs the ex- pelled young men were received again into the U y, none of the others fhould have liberty to leave his Hall and to enter tlfewhere.— Heu ! prifcaf JiJet! By the expulfion of the fix young men, and this permiffion being given to the others to leave the Hall, Doclor Dixon, the Principal, is deprived of great part of his ufual incomei and this treatment he hath met with notwithflanding he never would receive any member of the Univeriity into his own Hall without a bene decejffit, and the confent of the Head of the College or Hall from whence he came. f See Mr Middleton's letter to the Bifhop of HueforJ, in- ferted before the poftfeript. ( 34 J a long time before he was a member of the Uni- verfity ? By what law did .they who fat in judg- ment upon him pafs fentence againft him for an act dene fo long before he could poffibly be fubjec~r. to their jurifdiction ? Might he not with as much equity have been puniflied for any thing he did twenty years before ? Let the advocates for this ientence produce from all the annals of hiftory a like cafe of deipotic proceeding in this nation ! But even fuppofing Mr V — G and his four afteflbrs had not exceeded their power in this in- stance, yet would any perfons of common huma. nity and candor condemn a man, and turn him out to itarve, for one fingle ftep which was amifs, when he acknowledged his error, and refolved to avoid it for the future ? Alas ! if all were to be dealt with upon fuch rigid principles, where is the individual to be found, who is zealous and earneft in any thing he undertakes, but may once in his life at leaft, efpecially in the feafon of youth and inexperience, acl: with rafhnefs and incon^ fideration ?-— It is well for us if even by our follies we can learn wifdom *. It * Though Mr Middle-ton's motive for this indifcre.tioo of preaching in a Chapel before he was ordained was pure and difinterefted, yet lean produce an inftance of a like e;:ror, ia which there does nor appear quite fo much difioterdled love for f mis The fail alluded to happened abcut twenty years ago at B— ■ — h in Shroplhire, where a certain gc:;;'e;:;an,. then un- oidained < 35 ) IT may not be amifs here to fpeak a little con- cerningone of the charges againft Mr Matthews, namely, that he was refuted Ordination. The reafon of which refufal, by the B — p of S , was, becaufe his Teftimonium was not ligned by his Tutor, owing I conrefs ffor I defne to (hew no partiality) to MfMatthews's own neglect in de- ferring to carry the Teltimonium to Mr. H n in proper time to have it figned and fent by the port, which occailoned him to indole it to the Bm , -p without Mr H 's name ; however, he added a poftfcript to his Letter, fignifying that his Tutor happened to be out, and that he hoped his Lord- fhip would not object to the Teftimonium on ac- count of its not being figned by him: But his Lordfhip did object to it, and I think very juftly C 2 too ; ordained, and of as low circum fiances and extraction as any of the expelled youths, but now a great Doftor in divinity, aflumed the character and habit of a clergyman, and mounting the parifh pulpit in that town, took his text from EccUs iv. ii. "If two lie together then they have heat : but how can M one be warm alone ?" In what manner the gentleman handled his fubjeft I was not particularly informed ; but this is certain, that he thereby fo much engaged the heart of a woman who lived at the fign of the Pig and Caftle, and who had faved upwards of one thoufand pounds, that fhe htttfrally refo'ved to lie alone no longer, but kindly took our preacher to he her hufband ; from which circumftance his reverencr, whofe rear name begins with B. is to this day called Dodior Pig and Caftle, at — where he now refides. This anecdote [ had from a gentleman of undoubted veracity who lives upon the fpot where our Hero held forth, and who knows him at this inftaat by the dignified tide of Dr Pig and Caftle. ( tf ) too; For although Mr M. had one Teftimonium from the Principal of the Hall, and another figned by three refpectable Clergymen, and authenticated by the B— *-p of the Diocefs, yet that which he fenc to the B — p of S< . ■ certainly ought to have been figned by Mr H. the Vice-Principal, as it ran in his name as much as in that of the Principal : not to mention that the Teftimonium was by mif- take of the B— p of * <• who authenticated it, directed to another Bilhop, inftead of the Bilhop of S But his Lordfhip had ftill a more un- furmountable objection againft Mr Matthews, for being what he deemed a Methodift ; and ac- cufed him of maintaining doctrines contrary to the Church of England, and different from what he (viz. his Lordfhip himfelf) held; to which Mr M. replied, that he held no doctrines but what were agreeable to the XXXIX Articles; and unlels his Lordfhip would be pleated to mew him wherein they differed, he could not tell that they differed at all: but this his Lordfhip declined, and gave him to underftand that he was no ftranger to what was going on at — i — d. This then is the true reafon why Mr Matthews was refufed Ordina- tion, and expelled the Univerfuy, and not for procuring a falfe Teftimonium, as was wickedly reported, and inferted in the public papers, to- gether with feveral other malicious untruths, in order to prejudice the minds of people againft him and the reft of the young men ; fuch as •« their y preaching in the fields, in a barn, and on an " oven, ( 37 ) tk oven, as alfo attending the preaching of an old " wonjart in an illicit conventicle : that one of " them had been a Smith, and had fhoed the " Tutor's horfe not long before. That fome of '« them had behaved with infolence and difobe- " dience towards their Tutor." All which re- ports were as falfe as God is true, and (hew what fort of a caufe that muft be, which needs fuch weapons in its defence. It is a fact indeed, that one or two of thefe Gentlemen did leave the Hall for a few nights without their Tutor's permiffiori 5 but it was upon fome urgent occafion, and he not being in the way, they went to the Principal him- felf, as is ufual in fuch cafes, whp gave them leave to go. THE next charge againft thefe" young men to be attended to, is, that they held heterodox doc- trines, contrary to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England -> and particularly, that they deny Free-will^ or that good works are any part of our Juflification : that they hold the doclrines of ElecJicn and abfolute Predefiination, that whofoever is once a child of God, is always a child of God ; that we are juftified by Faith alone , and that tht influences of the Spirit are necejjary to conflitute every one a child of God. •« How is the gold becorrie dim ! how is the * l mod fine gold changed !"— Who could ever have fuppofed that the famous U— — y of — the great Salvation wrought out and perfected by his fori Jesus Christ. Thefe three Articles themfelves (land as follows. Article IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin. «« Original Sin ftandeth not in the following •« of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) " but it is the fault and corruption of the nature " of every man, that naturally is ingendered of " the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very " far gone from original righteoufnefs -f% and is " of his own nature inclined to evil, fo that the " flefh lufteth always contrary to the Spirit ; and " therefore in every perfon born into this world, " it deferveth God's wrath, and damnation. «« And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, " in them that are regenerated ; whereby the luft H of the flefh, called in Greek, ft**** l Now when we confider that thefe Articles were drawn up on purpofe to -prevent diverfity of opinions *, [ 44 ]] opinions*, and therefore the compilers of then* were particularly careful to avoid the poffibility of an ambiguous expreftion, and that the Decla- ration prefixed enjoias them to be taken. in their plain litter at grammatical jenfe, without being drawn cijide any way, and prohibits every Clergyman, Mead or Mafer of a College, from putting bis own jenfe or comment upon any Article either in printing or preaching, under pain of the royal difpleafure and the certain cenfui£ of the Church , I fay, when we confider this, it will not be an eafy matter to make the Ninth Article, which fets forth the total depravity of human nature, and the Tenth, which pofitively affirms that man fince the fall of Adam has no free will nor power to do good works, or to turn, or even prepare himfelf to turn to God, harmonize with the fen- timents of thofe Heads and Mafiers of Colleges > who both in printing and preaching do vehemently infill: upon it, that man, fince the fall of Adam, hath both will and power to turn to God. Equally difficult will it be to bring the opi- nions of thofe who have adopted the pride-footh- ing Arminian*{* herefy of univerfal Redemption, to * Vide the Declaration prefixed. + When this fcft of Armihians firft began to get footing in England, under the patronage of Archbifhop Laud, one afking, " What do thefe Arminians hold ?" was anfwered to this effect. ? *« They already bold many good livings among us, ** and it is likely they will foon bqjd all the fat benefices in the " Kingdom." (45 ) to correfpond with the language of our Seven- teenth Article, which in fuch plain terms aflerts that " PredefTination to life is the everlafting " purpofe of God., whereby, before the f'ounda- " tions of che world were laid, he hath conftantly " decreed by his counfel, fecret to us, to deliver " from curfe and damnation thofe whom he hath " chofen in Christ out of mankind, and to " bring them by Christ to ever lading Salvation^ " as vefTcls made to honor." Not lefs arduous muft be the tafk of thofc Gentlemen who have iolemnly fubfciibed to the Eleventh Article, which affirms in exprefs words, that we are juftified by Faith only, (of which I fhall fpeak more fully under the next point of doctrine) and nevertheless would make us believe they are found members and minifters of the Church of England* whilft both in their words, writings, and pulpit-harangues, to the great de- rogation from the Redemption of Jesus Christ, and the exaltation of fallen man, they are mak- ing Works a part of the finner's Jutfincation be- fore God v and out of a mighty pretended zeal for much more holinefs and morality than is ge- nerally found in their own practice, are conti- nually crying out againft this doctrine of our Church, as a licentious doctrine and deftructive of " Kingdom."— It needed not a prophetic fpirit to foretel what a rapid progrefs doftrines fo very pleafing tc flcfll and blood would make. C 4*> of good Works, though the zealous exemplary lives of the maintainers of it, give daily and am- ple proof of the falfhood of the charge. But as the certain ftnfe of the Church of Eng- land touching her own Articles will be belt known by the cenfures which have been inflicted upon thofe who had fubfcribed to the truth of them, and afterwards in writing or. preaching contradicted them ; I proceed to give a fhort account of the cafe of the Rev. Mr Barret, A. M. of Caius College, Cambridge, who in the thirty -feventh year of Queen Elizabeth was fummoned before the Vicechancellor and Heads of Houfes in that Univerfity, for having, in a Sermon which he preached the 29th day of April 1595, before the faid Univerfity, broached divers pernicious errors contrary to the Articles of the Church of England ; particularly, denying the doctrines of AJTurance, Election, and Reprobation ; and affirming, that a true child of God might finally and totally fall from grace. To which fummons the faid Bar- ret appeared ; whereupon the Rev. Dr Duport» Vicechancellor of the Univerfity, with feven other Doctors in Divinity and Heads of Houfes, c< en- •• tering into a mature deliberation, and diligently " weighing and examining thefe pofitions, be- " caufe it did manifeftly appear that the faid po- " fitions were falfe, erroneous, and likewife ma~ «« nifeftly repugnant to the Religion received and " eftabhjhed in the Church of England •, adjudged " aad ( 47 ) « and declared* that the faid Barret had incur- " red the penalty of the forty-fifth Starute of that " Univerfity, De Concionibus : and by vertue and " tenor of that Statute they decreed and adjudged «' the faid Barret to make a public recantation, " in fuch words and form as mould be prefcribed *« unto him by the Vicechancellor and the Heads, ■«' or upon his refufal to be perpetually expelled " from the Univerfity : binding him likewife in «« an aflumpfit of forty pounds to appear perfon- " ally upon two days warning before the faid " Vicechancellor or his Deputy, at what time and " place they mould require. — Afterwards this immediately 44 after the Clerum ended, to go up in perfon " into St Mary's pulpit, where he had published 44 thefe errors, and there openly in the face of the m Univerfity to read and make this Recantation -, 44 which he did accordingly, though not with 44 that humility which was expected. — Not long 44 after this, to mew that thefe pofitions are but a 44 bridge to Popery, Mafter Barret departed " the Univerfity, and went beyond fea, where he " turned a profeffal Papift ; but came back to " England, where he lived a Layman's life^ and 44 became C 48 ) w became an open, dangerous, violent, and moft «' pernicious feducing Papift." Anti-Armmiavifm, p. 61. id edit. For the Recantation itfelf, Mr Prynnf. tells us, it was fairly printed and publifhed in Queen Elizabeth's days, in the very fame words that he has given it to his readers, and that he himfelf had a tranfcript of it in Latin, taken out of an original copy in Barret's own hand, which agrees verbatim with the Englifh one, except that in the Latin copy the feventeenth Article is in- ferted at length. I (hall therefore write out this Recantation as it ftands recorded by Mr Prynne i and for the benefit of the unlearned, and to avoid prolixity, fhall only transcribe the Englifh copy, referring thofe who are defirous to fee the Latin one to Mr Prynne's book. A Copie of a Recantation of certaine Errors raked out of the Dunghill of Poperie & Pelagianifme, publiquely made by Mailer Barret of Kayes Colledge in Cambridge, the 10th of May, in this prefent yeere of our Lord, 1595, in the Univerfitie Church called St Maries in Cambridge; which Errors he (together with Mr Harsnet of Pembroke Hall * ) did rafhly hold and maintaine. Tranflated out of Latincjnto Englifh. « PREACH- * It is reafonable to fuppofe from the mention of thefe two Gentlemen, that no others in the Univerfity were fufpefted of maintaining the like errors. Now, alas, their name is Legion, ( 49 ) " PREACHING in Latin not long finqe " in the Univerfity Church (right worfhipfull) " many things flipped from me both falfely and " rafhly fpoken, whereby I underftand the minds " of many have been grieved * to the end therefore |W that I may fatisfie the Church, and the Truth «' which I have publiquely hurt, I doe make " this publique confeflion, both repeating and *' revoking my Errors. Firft, " I faid that no man in this tranfitory " world is fo ftrongly underpropped, at leaft by *f the certainety of faith, that is, unlefs (as I af- " terwards expounded it) by Revelation*, that " he ouo;ht to be allured of his owne Salvation. ) An. No truely : for God fometimes, to prove his, feemeth to leave them in fuch fort, that the flefh overmatcheth the fpirit, whereof arifeth trouble of confcience for the time ; yet the Spirit of adoption is never taken from them that have once received it ; elfe might they perifh : but as in many difeafes of the body, the powers of the bodily life are letted : fo in fome affaults the mo- tions of fpiritual life are not perceived, becaufe they lie hidden in our manifold infirmities, as the fire covered with afhes. Yet as after ficknefle commeth health, and after clouds the fun fhineth cleare; fo the powers of fpirituall life will more or lefse be felt and perceived in the children of God. Qu. What if I never feele thefe motions in myfelfe, mall I defpaire, and thinke myfelfe caft away ? An. God forbid : for God calleth his, at what time he feeth good ; and the inftruments whereby he ufuaily calieth, have not the like effect at all times ; yet is it not good to neglect the means whereby God hath determined to worke the fal- vation of his. For as wax is not melted without fceate, nor clay hardened but by means thereof; fo God ufeth means both to draw thefe unto him- felfe, whom he hath appointed unto falvation : And alfo to bewray the wickednefse of them whom he juftly condemneth. Qu. By ( ffl ) Qu. By what meanes ufeth God to draw mert to himfelfe that they may be faved ? An. By the preaching of his word, and the miniftring of his facraments thereunto annexed, &c. Thefe Queftions and Anfwers concerning Pre- deftination, which are full and punctual to our purpofe, were always printed at the end of the old Teftament, and bound up and fold, cum pri- vikgia, with this authorized tranflation of the Bible, till about the Year 1615, fince which no Bibles of this fort were printed. We may there- fore ufe them as a pregnant teftimony, a punctual declaration of the doctrine of our Church. To thefe authorities may be added the Cate- chifm, drawn up by the Right Rev. Father in G OD John Ponet, Bifhop ofWincbefter, which was fet forth by command of King Edward the Sixth for all fchoolmafters to teach. Though the whole of it is an excellent compendium of chrif- tian divinity, yet in order to be as brief as pof- fible, I mail only quote from it the following paf- fage, which will clearly fhew the fenfe of our Reformers, and of the original, pure, primitive Church of England in fome points of doctrine, which are now looked upon as by far too abfurd to be fubmitted to by the wifdom of this enlight- ened age. « As ( 62 ) t ' " As many as are in the true faith ftedfaft* " were fore-chofen, predeftinated, and appointed " to everlafting life before the world was made, " witnefse hereof they have within their hearts, " the fpirit of Christ, the author, earneft, and " unfailable pleadge of their faith : which faith " only is able to perceive the myfteries of God : " only brings peace unto the heart : only taketh " hold on the righteoufnefs that is in Christ « Jesus." •a Majier. " Doth then the Spirit alone, and (i faith (fleepe we never, fo fecurely, or ftand we " never fo rechlefse or flothfull) fo worke all " things for us, as without any helpe of our owne •* to carry us idle up to heaven ? ScboL u I ufe Matter (as you have taught me) " to make a difference between the caufe and the " effect. The firft principall and mod proper " caufe of our juftification and falvation, is the " goodnefs and love of God. Whereby he chose " us for his, before he made the world. " After that, GoD granteth us to be called by *' the preaching of the gofpel of Jesus Christ, " when the Spirit of the Lord is powered into " us, by whofe guiding and governance we be led " to fettle our truft in God, and hope for the * c performance of his promife. With this choice ct is joined as a companion, the mortifying of the *' olde man, that is, of our affection and luft. " From the fame Spirit alfo cometh our fanclifi- *J cation,' ct cation, the love of God, and of our neigh- u bour, juftice and uprightnefs of life : Finally, " to fay all in fumme, whatever is in us or may «* be done of us, honeft, pure, true, and good, " that altogether fpringeth out of this mod plea- " fant rock : from this mod plentiful fountaine, * By the ift, 9th and 10th ofWm. III. for preventing the horrible crimes of Blafphemy and Profanenefs, " Whofo- " ever fhall deny any one of the perforts in the Trinity to be «* God, or fhall deny in preaching or writing the doiSlrines of " the blefTed Trinity, as fet forth in the XXXIX Articles, fhall ** be incapable of holding any ecclefiaftical office." But thefe A6ls of Parliament have of late years lain dormant, and now a direft contrary punifhment is frequently paffed upon fuch profane Blafphemers, r/«. a promotion to the higheft ecclefiaftical of- fices, as we may inftance in the cafes of the late Rev. and Learn- ed Dr Samuel Clarke, Dr Sykes, the Right Rev. Fathers in God Dr Benjamin Hoadly, late Lord Bifhop of Wincbefler, and Dr Clayton, late Lord Bifhop of Clogher in Ireland; not to mention the renowned Archbifhop Tillotson, who, if he did not go the lengths of the before mentioned Gentlemen, kindly wifhed the Church '« well rid of the Athanafian Creed. *' &c. &c. fefrl &c. Ciff. fcfe. &c. &c. fcfr. &t. fcfr. &c. ifc. fcfr. &c. &c. b'c. &fr. faTr. &V. &c. &Y. tiff. tiff. &V. ( 8-2 ) V C- and his afTefTors to have patfed fome cenfure upon them But,—" O tell it not in Gath / publifh it not in the ftreets of J/kelon!" — Let iilence conceive, what grief forbids to utter -j\ I have now gone through every particular charge againft each of the young men; and whofoever hath attended to thefe charges will readily fee that mofl, f Although I confefs that I do not fee how any perfon can he in a good ftate who denies the necefllty of the Spirit's in- fluences to quicken, renew, fanctify, enlighten, and comfort the foul ; or who joins any thing with Christ in the matter of juitification ; yet I would not be underftood to intimate, that believing the doctrines of perfonal Election and final Perfe- verance is effential to falvation ; being well affured that there are and have been many eminent chriftians who hold univer- sal redemption and falling from grace. What I mean to infift upon, is, that the Church of England is certainly calviniftical, and that the mofl eminent of her divines, who lived neareft the reformation, , were of calviniflical principles. That therefore if any cenfures were inflicted, they ought rather to have been upon thofe who maintained the doctrines for which Barret was called to account by Mr Vice-Chancellor and the heads of houfes in Queen Elizabeth's time, than upon fuch who, had they been members of the Univerfity at the fame period when Barret was, would have met with the higheft appro- bation and efleem. I the rather mention this, becaufe it hath been objected againft me that I bore too hard upon fuch as denied Election and Ferfeverance : but perhaps thefe objections will not appear fo well founded, if we reflect that thofe parts of the book which moflly carry this afpect, are not my cwn words, but prece- dents of the proceedings of thofe in power againft fuch as were oppofers of thefe doftrines ; or elfe quotations from the writings of our firft Reformers. < 8 3 ) mod:, if not all of them, might equally have been brought againft our Lord, the Apoftles, and Evan- gelifts. i/7, 'They were moft of them bred' to trades — Jesus the Carpenter, Luke the Phyfician and Pain- ter, Matthew the Publican, Paul the Tent- maker, Peter, Andrew, James and John, the Fimermen. . idly, They iv ere (moft of them) very deficient in the knowledge of the learned languages — Much -more fo than any of the expelled youths. gdffU) They all ufed extempore prayer* ; and if they did not hear 0/7* Hewet a Stay-maker (although a layman) pray extempore in a private houfe^ as was objected againft Mr Kay ; yet they heard one Bartimeus, a poor old blind Lay- beggar, .pray extempore by the way-fide, which was certainly much worfe. And that ring-leader of the feci:, Paul the Tent-maker, was himfelf a notorious promoter of this kind of prayer, and of the enthufiaftic cuftom of Hymn-finging ; for we find, that he even kneeled down on the fea-fhore, without either book, haflbek or vel- vet cuihion, and prayed with his friends who F 2 accompanied * Since the publication of the firft edition of this book,'! have come to the knowledge of the following anecdote, viz. that the Rev. Mr Hjcson, who was fomuch difpleafed at the young men for ufmg extempore prayer, in a religious qiulm which fcized him in a fit of illnefs a few years ago, defired one of his ferioi:s pupils to pray by him extempore, which he accordingly did. ( $4 ) accompanied him to the Ship. And then for finging of hymns, he has given an undifguifed exhortation to the ufe of it ; " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wifdom ; teaching and admonifhing one another in pfalms and Hymns and fpiritual fongs, finging with grace in your hearts to the Lord," Col. iii. 16. So it appears that our Lord, and every one of the Apoftles, were Hymn-fingers ; for thus it is written, " when they had fung an hymn they " departed into the mount of Olives."— It makes nothing againft us that Judas was a wolf in Iheeps clothing, who in his heart hated the tlymns, but loved the money-bag. \thly, They all attended illicit Conventicles And it was in one of thefe Conventicles that this fame peftilent mover of fedition, this turbulent fel- low, this fomenter of divifions in families, the tent-maker, even out- preached all our modern Enthufiafls •, for we find he continued his extem- pore fpeech until midnight, and preached poor Eut ych us faft afleep, whofe cuftom of napping, more than of Paul's preaching, " has fince been followed by many great arid dignified Divines, as may be feen at the U- y- Church of Saint M — y moft Sundays in the afternoon through- out the year, but particularly on Gaudy-days, by thofe who can find time to leave the common room, and attend their refpe&ive evening pray- ers in Chapel. 5#, ( 85 ) ■ Sibfy, If we allow the Church of England to be in the right, Jesus and all the Apoftles and Evangelifts held the doctrines of Election— Juftification by Faith alone without Works— Once a child of God, always a child of God — That we can do nothing without the Spirit, whofe efficacious influences are neceflary to conftitute every one a child of God— and they, as well as Mr Kay, have endeavoured to draw others into tbefe Opinions. 6thly, Mr Venn, Mr Newton, MitTownsend, Mr Fletcher and Mr Davies, having no exig- ence in thofe Days, it cannot be faid that our Lord and his Apoftles had any connection with them, but no doubt they were connected with many of the fame Method iftical caft, and whom the high Prieft and Rulers, Scribes and Pha- rifees, Lawyers * and Doctors, looked upon to be as great enemies to the Church, and as dread- ful difturbers of the public tranquillity, as the abovementioned Clergymen were by Mr V— • G and his AlTeffors. AND now to bring this matter to a conclufwn; If the doctrines of Election, Perfeverance, Jufti- F 3 fication * MfAinoi, expounders of the law. ( $e y fication by Faith alone, AfTurance of Salvation, and the necefiity of the influences of the Spirit to conflitute every one a child of God, are the known, avowed, received tenets of the Reformation, and of the Church of England •, and if the doc- trines of Free-will, Univerfal Redemption, falling from grace, Conditional Salvation, Justification partly by Faith and partly by Works, or (as the Biihop of Meaux exprefles it, in his artful book in titled /"' Expojition de la dcftrine de l* Eg lift Cathohque) by works wrought by the Spirit through Faith, v are the known, avowed, received tenets of the Church of Rome^ and were abhorred by our Reformers, as being' dvflrines of devils^ and limbs of anluhrijty which caufed the cha/te fpoufe of Christ to le pa rate from the Babylonifh Whore j then, from whence are we fallen? And how juftly may we be alarmed at the great increafe of Popery- in our land ? But from what quarter our danger is to be apprehended, whether from private Mafs houfes, or from public and authorized chairs of Oratory, let matter of fact and fad experience determine. Alas ! the doctrine of Tranfubftantiation is an harmlefe error, compared with that which would make the Almighty Spirit of God dependent on the will of the fallen creature, or give man's righteoufnefs a place on Christ's throne, and (hare with Him in the great work of juftifying a firmer before God. IF ( 87 ) IF then the Church of England be deemed a true apoftolical Church, let us be zealous in her de- fence. If (he be deemed a falfe Church, let thofe who think her fo, at once burn her Articles, Ho- milies, and Common Prayer at Cbaring-Crofs. This would be acting openly and without hypocrify : then might the true friends of her communion be diftinguiflhed from thofe fubtle ferpents who lurk within her bofom only to prey upon her vitals; and whilfi: they are throwing duft into the eyes of the deluded multitude, by crying out " The Church, " The Church, the temple of the Lord are we ;" would overturn her very foundation, if the pro- mife of God had not engaged that " the gates of " hell (hall never prevail againft her." — But, for the fake of filthy lucre, to carry on a folemn farce of fubferibing to Articles, which many of the fub- fcribers no more believe, than they do Mother Goofe's Tales ; and then to form excufes for this horrid mockery, by calling them Articles of Peace, inftead of Articles of Faith, is fuch a degree of impious jefuitical equivocation, as without fpeedy repentance muft draw down the juft vengeance of a long-fuffering God upon our land. I know it will be thought by many that I have declared my fentiments too plainly ; but let any one read the very fharp expreflions of Him, who neverthelefs was meek and lowly in heart, againfb the high Priefts and Rulers of the fynagogue, the Scribes and Pharifees, Lawyers and Doftors, who whilft they were the bitterelt enemies of true god- F 4. linefs, t zs J linefs, fet themfelves up for the orthodox inflruc- tors of the age Let any one read the nervous ex- clamations of that courageous Champion of the Reformation, Martin Luther, againftthe po- 'pifh advocates for Juftification by Works, and the denyers of the free imputation of Christ's Righteoufnefs to finners, and then let them tell me that I have fpoken things which ought to have been concealed. The following is the copy of a Letter written about two Years ago by Mr Middleton to the Right Hon. and Right Rev. Father in God Lord James Beauclerk Bifhop of Here- ford; which Letter, as it was read by Mr M. at the trial, I have annexed, as a proof of that Gentleman's intentions, had he not been ex- pelled and refufed Ordination. My Lord, HOUGH I have not been fo happy as to fucceed in my application to your Lordfhip for ordination, yet 1 hope you will have no objection to return me the papers I left with your Lordfhip, as I Matter myfelf that my future conduct and regu- larity may inritle me to that favor from yourLord- frip or fome other of the Bifhops, which I acknow- ledge my own imprudencies have at prefent juftly deprived ( «9 ) deprived me of*. — However, I humbly hope your Lordfhip will permit me to plead my youth and inexperience as fome mitigation of my errors, and to aflure you, that I have for fome time been con- vinced of the propriety and neceflity of obferving the ftricteft order and regularity ; and that if I had now met with your Lord (hip's approbation, that I fhould have made it my conftant endeavour not to have rendered myfelf unworthy of it, but in all things to have paid the utmoft regard to the doc- trine and difcipline of that excellent Church in which I am fo defirous of the honor of being a Minifter. I have the higheft fenfe of the great condefcen- fion and kindnefs of good Lord Vere for interest- ing himfelf in my behalf ; but as your Lordfhip has not thought proper to comply with his requeft I am willing to take your refufal as the juft re- ward of my pad folly and imprudence, however contrary my intention was to have acted for the future. I am, My Lord, Tour Lord/hip's moji obedient, and moft humble Servant, Erasmus Mjddleton. * Alluding particularly to his having preached in a Chapel .nordained. ( 90 ) POSTSCRIPT. Pamphlet, intitled, A 'vindication of the 'pro- ceedings again]} the fix members of Edmund Hall, has lately appeared, which confirms the affertions I have made, beyond any thing that could have been written in defence of the young men ; info- much that if I did not believe the Reverend Mr Whitefielo had more Religion and Honefty than to be guilty of fuch a knavifh action, I mould be inclined to think (and am not fingular in the opinion) that the author was fome perfon em- ployed by him to expofe Mr V — C— and his AiTefTors, by writing a weak, or an ironical de- fence of their conduct. However, be that as it will, perhaps this poor catch-penny Gentleman was in want of a dinner ; and certainly all the young men are much obliged to him for the fer- vice he has done their caufe, and particularly my- felf, for having furnifhed me with a motto to Pietas Oxonienjis. But let us enter a little into the merits of his performance — Our Author, who feems of the Pe- lagian or Arminian leaven, begins with obferving, that " to profefe openly our religious principles, " and to worfhip God in fuch manner as feems to " ns ( 9* ) * us moft acceptable to him, are juftly efteemed " a noble branch of the liberties of this country •, " that we claim it as our birth-right, as one " of thofe glorious privileges bought by the " fwords, and fealed with the blood of our noble " anceftors." What he means by all this pompous nonfenfical flourifh, I am at a lofs to find out. — That many- glorious Gofpel -truths were fealed with the blood of our noble anceflors, is certain, but then thefe truths are the very fame which this writer ranks in the lift of methodiftical herefies As to any re- ligious principles or privileges being bought by the fword in this nation, I profefs myfelffo utterly ignorant of the hiftory of my own country as .not: to. know that this was.ever the cafe, even from the firft dawn of the Reformation by Wickliff under Edward the third, to its perfect eftablilhment in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.--*- The grand im- poftor Mahomet did indeed propagate his religion by the power of the temporal fword, but the fub- jects of the Prince of peace have other weapons to fight with, namely, the fword of the Spirit, the breafi -plate of Right eoufnefs, the fhield of Faith, and the helmet of Salvation ; but thefe, I fear, are over- grown with ruft ; and who has not heard that the ufe of them is in a manner prohibited by the- new regulations at a certain famous U— — y ? One thing which feems to give particular of- fence to this writer is, that fome of the expelled members were of low extraction or circumftances, and ( 92 ) and that they fhould prefume to rank with perfons of the moji refpeffable families in the kingdom * ; yet in * I mould be glad to know whether our author means to rank Mr H N the Tutor among thefe Gentlemen of 'refpettable fa- mily, from whom any accufations againft the young men for having been of mean birth or circumftances come with a very ill grace, as would clearly appear, if 1 was to lay before the pub- lic his private hiftory and various metamorphofes, of which I know much more than he is aware ; — O quantum mutatus ab ilk I I fhould alfo be glad to be informed, whether he means to in- clude a certain drunken Infidel, who was admitted an evidence againft certain fober religious young men, at a certain tribunal, erefted in a certain U y ; which drunken Infidel, for ought he himfelf can tell, may indeed be of a more refpedable family than any Gentleman in Oxford, as he knows not his parents to this moment, having been a poor foundling beggar- boy, and from that condition received into the houfe of an honeft Hatter to run on errands ; from whence he became the fcout of an Apothecary in Lei after- fields, to trot about with pills and purging potions ; after which he was taken into the houfe of a worthy pious Clergyman, who is a Schoolmafter, where he taught children Reading and Arithmetic. Here he vigoroufly maintained his Deiflical principles, till the Maid- fervant having the misfortune to be with child, people were fo cenforious as to believe him to be the Father, which oc- cafioned the difmiffion both of him and her. However, he af- terwards made her an honeft woman, {as we fay,) and fhe getting a good place in a Jews family, was enabled to con- tribute towards his fupport. But as he has actually been or- dained to a cure of souls fince this went to prefs, [pray mark well, p. 31.] and declares he will not reft till he is a Doftor in Divinity ; it is to be hoped that he will not be chargeable to the poor woman much longer. A Gentleman who has known this Hero feveral years, told me that one ftratagem whereby he endeavoured to creep into the favor of thpfe whom he thought could be ferviceable to his ( 93 ) in the very next fentence he is not lefs enraged, becaufe two of them were Gentlemen of inde- pendent fortunes, and could afford to put on Gentlemen Commoners gowns.— -[See here, the very fpiritof the old Pharifees : " John the Baptift came neither eating nor drinking, and he hath a devil : Christ came both eating and drinking, and behold, a gluttonous man and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and finners."] However, he is a little miftaken in the fact, for only one of the expelled members was a Gentleman-Commoner> though two of that gown were accufed. Our writer undertakes to give an explanation of the Statutes of the Univerfity, and of the Ar- ticles of the Church, in which he mews the moft profound ignorance both of the one and of the other. his temporal interefts, was, by firft difputing with them in defence of his Infidel opinions, and then making them believe that by their arguments he was convinced of his own errors.—* This puts me in mind of what is called by our Englifh Sailors at Naples, Whitewashing. Now this Whitewajbing confifts in making a temporary profeflion of the Popi(h religion, and fubmitting to all the forms enjoined ; for which, if the party Whitewajhed were before an Heretic or Proteftant, he received a reward of about two fequins ; and I am credibly informed that fome of our Britifh Tars have frequently undergone this ceremony of Wbite Another anecdote told me by a perfon of undoubted veracity concerning this Gentleman, is, that being afked why he went into orders as he did not believe the Bible ? He replied, that he might as well be paid for reading that book as any other. ( 94 ) other f. The twenty-third Article, which declares the unlawfulnefs of unOrdained perfons adminifter- ing the- facraments and preaching in the ftated public congregation, he interprets as laying a pro*- hibition upon all members of the eftabliftied Church from reading a Sermon or giving an Ex- hortation in a private houfe to a few ferious people, as fome of the young men occafionally did, rank- ing it all under the notion of public illicit preach- ing. — He alfo infifts upon it, that thefe ftudents were liable to expullion by that ftatute of the Uni* verfity, De conventiculis illicitis reprimendis, for holding and propagating doctrines contrary to the thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England*, among which erroneous doctrines he ranks Jufti* rication by Faith alone without works j the necef* fity of the influences of the Spirit ; and once a child of God, always a child of God.— Now then it is certainly granted by this author, that where- foever or by whomfoever any doctrines contrary to the Church of England are maintained and preached, all fuch places are illicit conventicles, and the Preachers at them, and the Frequenters of them, liable to expulfion, as much as Barret was i but as we have moll clearly and fully proved that the above mentioned doctrines are the pure, avowed, fundamental doctrines of that Church, confequently 'f' If our vindicator knows nothing elfe, he knows how to feoff at religion, and has learned the fhoe-black language of fneering at the pious youths and worthy babes in grace, as aptly as if he had been brought up to it from his cradle. i( 95 ) confequently whofoever holds or preaches any others, or is prefent where any others are held and preached, ought (according to this writer's own interpretation of the Statutes J to be driven from the boundaries of the Univerfity by the Vice- chancellor, as an Heretic, Schifmatic, £*5V *. — Should then that unhappy time arrive when Mr V — C s an< 3 h^ Afleflbrs, after the example of this fame poor Barret, not only fhould ceafe to preach thefe doctrines, but fhew themfelves to be open notorous impugners of them •, then, I fay, according to our ingenious pamphleteer's own conclufions, thefe great and learned men would ftand expofed to all the charges of Herefy and Schifm ; and may we not tremble for the confe- quences ? might not our Colleges be in danger of an • " Siquis aliquod dogma contra doctrinam (veldifci- * plinam) Ecclefias Anglicanae defenderit, &c. — — ab aula ** expellatur." •• If any one (hall defend any tenet contrary to the doftrirte •* (as well as difcipline) of the Church of England, let him be «* expelled from the Hall." In like manner the Statute which declares the office of the Vicechancellor, enafts,— -" UtHereticos, Schifmaticos, etquof- •« cunque alios minus refte de fide Catholica, et doctrina vel * difciplina Ecclefiae Anglicanse fentientes, procul a fihibus '* Univerfitatis amandandos curet." Of this take the author's own tranfiation. "That he fofejc. the V— C ) " lliall take care to banifh from the boundaries «' of the Univerfity all Heretics, Schifmatics, and all others hold - ** ing doftrines inconfiftent with the Catholic Faith, and the " doctrine or difcipline of the Church of England." (9* ) an utter defertion, and an almoft general Expul* lion enfue ? Our author concludes his performance with one of the higheft encomiums upon Mr Whitefield which one man can poffibly pay another. He affirms that the only reafon why that Gentleman defends the young men, is becaufe he himfelf did the fame things when young ; that is, he was addicted to prayer, reading the fcriptures, finging of ; hymns, exhorting his neighbours, adhering to the Articles of the Church, was connected with laborious parilh Minifters, &c. Now this eloge is fo much beyond any thing which Mr White- field would have faid of himfelf, that the writer has put it out of all difpute which fide be means to fupport. But if after all, any fhould ftill be of opinion, that he really intends to blame Mr Whitefield for thefe things, then every fcrap of dirt he cafts upon that Gentleman for praying, reading, expounding, finging hymns, believing the doctrines of the church of England^ &c. is a tacit implication that our wife vindicator is totally free from all fuch old fafhioned cuftoms. One word more and I have done — If any An- fwer is made to this Pamphlet, let it be obferved that there are three very material points, on which I principally ground the caufe 1 have defended, and therefore I thus publickly call upon the writer of fuch Anfwer not to pafs them over. ( 97 ) ift. Let him make it appear that I have mif- reprefented any one fact relative to the Trial and Expullion of the young men, as I am not afraid mod folemnly to call God to witnefs to the truth of what I have afferred, according to the bed information I have been able to procure ; and do moreover de- clare, that I have rather extenuated than aggravated, . as well by omitting to mention the haughty overbearing treatment thefe youths met with at their Trial*, and the prying im- pertinent queftions then afked them about their private concerns, notwithstanding the meek fubmiffive behaviour they fhewed, as by drawing a veil over the moral characters of certain perfons, who have been very active againft them, when it was in my power to have expofed them moft feverely ; — but Non tali auxilio nee defenforibus iftis Tempus eget. ld> Let the writer of the Reply prove (if he can) that the doctrines which thefe young men were expelled for holding, are not the pure received doctrines of the Reformation, and of the Church of England Let him G alio * When the Bifhops, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer had their mock trials and examinations at Oxford, they were infulted, hifled at, laughed at, and puflied from fide to fide by their adverfaries, and no attention was paid to what they faid on their own behalf. How far the cafe of the young men was nmilar to theirs, I refer to the confeiences of thole prefent. r 9* ) alfo tell me what, he thinks of Barret's cafe ; and whether all perfecution is confined to primitive times. 3*/, Let him fhew why Mr Venn, Mr Newton, Mr Towns end, Mr Davies, and Mr Fletcher, were called Methodifts * ; and let fome particular reafons be alledged, why a connection with thefe Gentlemen mould be punifhed with the cruel fhamefal fentence of Expulfion ; for if to be acquainted with them be fo heinous a crime, certainly they themfelves deferve nothing lefs than the halter and the gibbet. A folution to the following Queries is alfo requefted. i. Why was the teftimony of the pious and learned Dr Dixon in behalf of the young men fet at nought, and that of an avowed Infidel againft them received ? 2. Why was an avowed Infidel difmified with a reprimand only, upon the plea ofdrunken- nefs, and fince admitted into holy Orders* when, it is a received maxim in our Laws, that Drunkennefs excufeth no crime \ then cer- tainly * Though only the two laft of thefe laborious exemplary Minifters were mentioned in the Articles read at the Expulfion in the Chapel, yet their names were all brought up at the Trial, as propagators, aiders, and abettors of Methodifm and Enthufiafm. ( 99 ) tainly not that of Blafphemy, which is punifh- able by Pillory, Fine and Imprifonment? See the Cafes quoted in Burn's Ecclef. Law y particularly that of' Woqlston, who wrote and fpoke against the Miracles of our LORD, but I do not find that he declared every man muft be a knave or a fool who believed them, nor that he added Brunkennefs or Fornication to Blafphemy. Since it is alfo an eftablifhed rule in the Laws of England, Nemo feipfum tenetur accu[are s " No man is obliged to accufe himfelf;" Why were the young men queftioned in their own particular cafes, and what was thus extorted from their own mouths put dowa againft them ? A WORD ( • 100 ) A WORD TO THE MONTHLY REVIEWERS. Gentlemen, THAT you may not complain of my doing you any injuftice by a mifreprefentation of what you are pleaftd to fay of Pietas Oxoniensis, I (hall tranfcnbe your own words, and then make a few reflections which are evidently deducible from them. 44 This (viz. Pietas Oxoniensis) is a well 44 digefted and fpecious defence of the Students. 4t We look upon it to be a pamphlet of fuch * 4 dangerous tendency that it ought to be fully 44 anfwered and refuted by the Gentlemen of 41 Oxford, who are fo freely attacked in it. We 44 have not lately met with fo able a vindication 44 of orthodoxy and modern fanaticifm ; and we 44 cannot but apprehend, that if its contents are 44 not properly expoftd and refuted, fuch a per- 44 formance may impofe on and miflead many an 41 unwary reader. The progrefs of Methodifm «« among us is now become lo confiderable, that 44 it feems to be high time for rational religion 44 and common fenie to keep a good watch and 41 defend themlelves againlt its encroachments, 44 left we be again overwhelmed by an inundation 44 of pious barbarifm worfe than that of thofe 44 fpirituai Goths and Vandals the Monks." Monthly Review for June, 1768. In the firft place, Gentlemen, permit me to obfeive that the great compliment you are fo kind ( ioi ) kind as to pay me on the ability of my perform- ance was as much unexpected as your declarations of its dangerous tendency were apprehended. To tell you the truth, I always fufpected you had a fly affection for Infidelity, and confequently no fmall hatred for orthodoxy ; but now you have fpoken out, and put the matter beyond fufpicion, for by ranking orthodoxy with fanaticifm, you have given us a plain intimation what you mean by rational religion and common fenfe, viz. heter- odoxy and infidelity, for certainly thefe two mud ever ftand in opposition to orthodoxy, and there is no defpifing this without being an advocate for thofe — And yet MelTrs the Reviewers tell us, that «' if this vindication of orthodoxy is not properly anfwered and refuted by the Gentlemen of Oxford, who are fo freely attacked in it, it is of fuch a dangerous tendency as to be likely to miflead many an unwary reader." Well then, our Reviewers it feems take it for granted that thefe Reverend Gentlemen are no more friends to orthodoxy than themfelves, elfe they would never look to Oxford for a refutation of it, nor fuppofe that thofe poor unwary readers who may be milled into orthodoxy by the perufal of Pietas Oxoniensis, may be brought back into heterodoxy, by the expected anfwer from Mr V — C or any of his afleflbrs. What may have caufed MelTrs the Reviewers to entertain fuch ideas of the faith of thefe great and learned men (who neverthelefs are each of them diftin'guifhed by the two capitals, D. D=) I take not upon me to determine, but it is probable that the mild reprimand bellowed on the Gentleman who declared that " whofoever believed the miracles of our Saviour and of Moses muft be a knave or a fool,'* and the fevere treatment the orthodox youths met met with, may not a little have contributed to- wards their imbibing thefe notions of the principles of our U— — -y Doctors. But, Gentlemen, why do you call the doctrine defended in Pi etas Oxoniensis, modern fanati- cifm ? if it is fanaticifm at all, I am fure it is ancient fanaticifm and reformation fanaticifm, yea author- ed and eftablimed fanaticifm too, feeing the whole of this fanaticifm is extracted from the Articles, Homilies, Lirurgy and other offices of the Church of England, fo that I have at leaft the comfort of being a fanatic with fome of the beft and greateft men that ever lived, viz. our firfl Reformers ; whilfl Meflrs the Reviewers, by calling the quotations I have made from their compofitions pious barbarifm* voorfe than that efthofefpiritual Goths and Vandals the Monks, have evidently brought the matter to this iflue, that Popery and Monkifh fuperftition is greatly to be preferred to Proteftantifm, and that the orthodoxy, methodifm, and fanaticifm, which rational religion and common fenfe ought to keep a, good watch againji, are in truth and reality the pure fcriptural doctrines of the Reformation, and of the Church of England. And now, Gentlemen, I cannot help furmifing that you have drawn yourlelves and your friends the U " .y Doctors, into> a difficulty which you will not eafily get out of ; but if you will take my advice, the beft method you can purfue is either to pafs my remarks over in perfect filence, or elfe to fay that you do not think them worth notice, / am. Gentlemen* 2'cur very humble Servant, F I NT S. 9 08 3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below ?! SEP % 1 1^5 Form L-9 20m -12, '89(3380) JJJgOfEBSTi OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES UDBBABY LF 528 Hill - -H5-5 — Pieta s oxonion - sis. ; SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A A 000 33 040 6 — m4*»^