.Vj> I. A' «p ■•:"}■->- Prefatory Addrefs TO THE LADIES, &c. of GREAT BRITAIN, IN BEHALF OF THE FRENCH EMIGRANT CLERGY. ir m IF it be allowed that there may arife oc- f .cafions Co extraordinary, that all the leflcr motives of delicacy ought to vanifh before them ; .it is prefumed that the prefent emer- ' gency will in fome meafure juftify the har- dinefs of an Addrefs from a private indivi- dual, who, ftimulated by the urgency of the cafe, facrifices inferior confiderations A 2 m mBSSi^ssaasmssm i! ( iv ) to the ardent defire of raifing further Tup* plies towards relieving a diftrefs as prcfling as it is unexampled. We are informed by public advertife* ment, that the large fums already fo libe- rally fubfcribed for the Emigrant Clergy are almoft exhaufted. Authentic information adds, that multitudes of diftrefled Exiles in the ifland of Jerfey, are on the point of wanting bread. Very many to whom this Addrefsismade have already contributed. O let them not be weary in well-doing ! Many are making generous exertions for the juil and natural claims of the widows and children of our brave feamen and foldiers. Let it not be faid, that the prefent is an interfering claim. Thofe to whom I write, have bread enough, and to fpare. You, who fare fump- tuoufly every day, and yet complain you have little to beftow, let not this bounty be fubtraded *-•• m^m^i^mir ( V ) fubtradled from another bounty, but rather from fome fuperfluous e^pence. ■t The beneficent and right-minded want no arguments to be prefled upon them ; but I write to thofe of every defcription. Luxu- rious habits of living, which really furnifh the diftrefled with the faireft grounds for application, are too often urged as a motive for withholding afliftance, and produced as a plea for having little to fpare. Let her who indulges fuch habits, and pleads fuch excufes in confequence, reflect, that by retrenching one coftly difh from her abundant table, the fuperfluities of one ex- penfive defert, one evening's public amufe- ment, fhe may furnifh at lead a week's fubfiftence to more than one perfon*, as liberally bred perhaps as herfelf, and who. * Mr. 6owdler*s letter dates, that about Six Sbillings a week includes the expences of each Prieft at Winchefter. A3 m ; ( vi ) in his own country, may have often tafted hew much more bleffed it is to give than to receive to a minifter of God, who has been long accuflomed to bedow the ncceflkries he is now reduced to Xolicit. Even your young daughters, whom ma- ternal prudence has notyet fumifhed with the means of bellowing, may be cheaply taught the firft rudiments of charity, together with an important lefTon of oeconomy : they may be taught to facrifice :; feather, a fet of ribbons, an expenfive ornament, an idle diverfion. And if they are thus inftruded, that there is no true charity without felf- denial, they will gain more than they are called upon to give : for the fuppreflion of one luxury for a charitable purpofe, is the exercife of two virtues, and this without any pecuniary expence. Let ( vu ) Let the Tick and afflided remember hovr dreadful it muft be, to be expofed to fuf- ferings, without one of the alleviations which mitigate their afflidlion. How dreadful it is to be without comforts, without neceflaries, without a home, — without a country ! While the gay and profperous would do well to recolIecSt, how fuddenly and terribly thofe for whom we plead, were, by the furprif- ing vicifTiiudes of life, thrown from equal heights of gaiety and profperity. And let thofe who have hufbands, fathers, fons, brothers, or friends, refledl on the uncertain- ties of war, and the revolution of human affairs. It is only by imagining the pofli- bility of thofe who are dear to us being placed in the fame calamitous circumftances, that we can obtain an adequate feeling of the woes we arc called upon to com- miierate. - -■■. : ■ ::>/^■ -^^ 1- ' :l .- . ■ -; ^ In a diftrefs fo wide and comprehenfive, many are prevented from giving by that A4 common ^imi,^ ( vlii ) common excufe — " That it is but a drop of water in the ocean." But let them re- fledl, that if all the individual drops were withheld, there would be no ocean at all ; and the inability to give much ought not, on any occafion, to be converted into an excufe for giving nothing. Even moderate circumftances need not plead an exemption. The induftrious tradefman will not, even in a political view, be eventually a lofer by his fmall contribution. The money ratfed is neither carried out of our country, nor diflipated in luxuries, but returns again to the community; to our (hops and to our markets, to procure the bare necefTaries of life. Some have objected to the difference of religion of thofe for whom we folicit. Such an objeftion hardly deferves a ferious an- fwer. Surely if the fuperflitious Tartar hopes to become poffefled of the courage and talents of the enemy he flays, the Chriftian 4fi A* ( « ) Chriftlan is not afraid of catching, or of propagating the error of the fufferer he re- lieves. — Chriftian charity is of no party. We plead not for their faith, but for their wants. And let the more fcrupulous, who look for defert as well as diftrefs in the ob- jects of their bounty, bear in mind, that if thefe men could have facrificed their confci- ence to their convenience, they had not now been in this country. Let us (hew them the purity of our religion, by the beneficence of our actions. If you will permit me to prefs upon you fuch high motives, (and it were to be wiflied that in every adion we were to be influenced by the higheft,) perhaps no adt of bounty to which you may be called out, can ever come fo immediately under that folemn and afFeding defcription, which will be re- corded in the great day of account, — / was a Jlranger^ and ye took me in. Lately PtihUJhedf By the fame Author, Printed for T. Cadell in the Strand, 1. An Eftimate of the Religion of the Fafliionable World. 4th Edition. 3 s. fewed, 2. Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to general Society. 8th Edition. 2S. fewe\ ( ^i ) of er- 7th ned ^he following is an exaEt 'Tranjlation from a SPEECH made in the National Conven- tion at Parisy on Friday the 14//& of De- .^ , cember 1792, in a Debate on the Subje£i of ejiablifljing Public Schools for the Edu- cation of Touthy by Citizen Dupont, a Member of confiderable Weight; and as the Doctrines contained in it were received ('''■■:'^ with unanimous Afplaufey except from two " or three of the Clergy y it may be fairly ■ conftdered as an Expofition of the Creed of ;f that Enlightened y^Jembly. TranJIated from .'^ Lc Moniteur of Sunday the i6th of De- ■ cember 1792. . ^" ; , : 1 WHAT! Thrones are overturned! Sceptres broken ! Kings expire ! And yet the Altars of God remain \ (Her^ there is a murmur from fome Members; and the Abb^ Ichon demands that the perfon fpeaking may be called to order.) Tyrants, Tyrants, m outrage to nature contbue", burn an impious incenfe on thofe AU^- (Some murmurs arife. but they arc loft^n he applaufes from the majority of the Af 7 w ^ The Thrones that have been re- SiJ':ft there Altars naked, un^p- rorted and tottering. A fingle breath of ledreafon^iUnowbefufficientto.. Jethemdifappear-.andifhumant^^ «.der obligations to the ^r-h "atton for The firft of thefe benefits, the fall of Kmgs. 'litbe doubted but that the French peo- .tw fovereign. wiU be .ife enough L Uke manner, to overthrow thofe Altar .nd tbofe IdoU to which thofe Kings have irto made them fubjea. ^..- - Thefearemygods! IHere i • A «,if " There is no oearmb T^uEiN cried out, auci^ "to" and rufhed out of the Affembly.- A^eat laugh.) Admire «./«.-- - r And vou. Legiflators, if you de- V ( atiii ) py, make hafte to propagate thefe princi- ples, and to teach them in your primary fchools, inftead of thofe fanatical principles which have hitherto been taught. The ty- ranny of Kings was confined to make their people miferable in this life — but thofe other tyrants, the Priefts, extend their dominion into another, of which they have no other idea than of eternal punifhments ; a doc- trine which fome men have hitherto had the good nature to believe. But the mo- ment of the cataftrophe is come— all thefe prejudices tnuft fall at the fame time. B^ , T!L,icET and other^-furrounded in CoNDORCET, an phUofophers :i; from an parts. E^.;-- '^' ^L fjr :fVuniS., and de- TiXogrefs of all human know^ ledgl. that, perfeaioning the focal fy - em,and£hewinsinourdecreeofh >7th Tt TaRT the feeds of the mfurrec- of June 1789. ^^^ jions 6 ( XV ) tions of the 14th of July, and the loth of Auguft, and of all ihofe infurredions which are fpreading with fuch rapidity through- out Europe — fo that thefe young ftrangers, on their return to their refpedive countries, may fpread the fame lights, and may ope- rate, yor the bappinefs of mankind^ fimilar revolutions throughout the world. (Numberlefs applaufes aro(e, almoft throughout the whole Aflembly, and ia the Galleries.) REMARKS A.i'-i REMARKS ?]-,:.. ON THE SPEECH of Mr. DUPONT, ON THE SUBJECTS OF Religion and Public Education. IT is prefumed that it may not be thought unfeafonable at this critical time to offer to the Public, and efpecially to the more religious part of it, a few flight obferva- tions, occafioned by the late famous Speech of Mr. Dupont, which exhibits the Con- feflion of Faith of a confiderable Member of the French National Convention. Though B th^ ( 2 ) the Speech itfelf has been pretty generally read, yet it was thought neceflary to prefix it to thefe Remarks, left fuch as have not already perufed it, might, from an honeft reludlance to credit the exiftence of fuch principles, difpute its authenticity, and ac- cufe the Remarks, if unaccompanied by the Speech, of a fpirit of invedive and unfair exaggeration. At the fame time it muft be confefled, that its impiety is fo nionftrous, that many good men were of opinion it ought not to be made fami« liar to the minds of Englifhmen ; for there are crimes with which even the imagina- tion fhould never come in contad. But as an ancient nation intoxicated their flaves, and then expofed them before their children, in order to increafe their horror of intemperance ; fo it is hoped that this piece of impiety may be placed in fuch a light before the eyes of the Chriftian reader, that, in proportion as his deteftation is raifed, ( 3 ) ralfed, his faith, inftead of being (haken, wiU be only fo much the more ftrength- ened. ^ , , ■' This celebrated Speech, though delivered in an afTembly of Politicians, is not ou a queflion of politics, but on one as fuperior as the foul is to the body, and eternity ta time. The objed here, is not to dethrone kings, but him by whom kings reign. It does not here excite the cry of indignation that Louis reigns, but that fJbe Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Nor is this the declaration of fome ob- fcure and anonymous perfon, but an expo- fition of the Creed of a public Leader. It is not a fentiment hinted in a journal, ha- zarded in a pamphlet, or thrown out at a difputing. club ; but it is the implied faith of the rulers of a great nation, f Little notice would have been due to this famous Speech, if it had conveyed the fen- ^^ •- B 2 timents ■H ( 4 ) timent8 of only one vain orator; but k ihould be obferved, that it was heard, re- ceived, applauded^ with two or three ex- ceptions only — a fadk, which you, who have fcarcely believed in the exigence of atheifm, will hardly credit, and which, for the honour of the eighteenth century, it is hoped that our poderity, being dill more unacquainted with fuch corrupt opinions, will reject as totally incredible. A love of liberty, generous in its prin- ciple, inclines fome good men dill to fa- vour the proceedings of the National Con- vention of France. They do not yet per- ceive that the licentious wildnefs which has been excited in that countiy, is deftrudtive of all true happinefs, and no more refem- bles liberty, than the tumultuous joys of the drunkard refemble the cheerfulncfs of a fober and well-regulated mind. To thofe who do not know of what ftrangc inconfifteacies man is made up; who ( 5 ) who have not confidered how fome per- ions, having at firft been haftily and heed- lefsly drawn in as approvers, by a fort of natural progrefHonjfoon become principals ; —to thofc who have never obferved by what a variety of (Irange aiTociations in the mind, opinions that feem the moil irrecon- cilable meet at fome unfufpe^ed turning, and come to be united in the fame man ;— ^ to aP fuch it may appear quite incredible, that well-meaning and even pious people (hould continue to applaud the principles of a fet of men who have publicly made known their intention of abolifhing Chrifli- anity, as far as the demolition of altars, prieds, temples, and inftitutions, can abolifh it; and as to the religion itfelf, this alfo they may traduce, and for their own part rejedt, but we know, from the comfort- able promife of an authority ftill facred in this country at leaft, that tl^e gates of hell (ball not prevail againjl it. . ,» ^- ,, Bj Let ( 6 ) Let me not be mifunderftood by thofe to whom thefe flight remarks are principally addrefTed ; that clafs of well-intemionecl people, who favour at leaft, if they do not adopt, the prevailing fcntiments of the new Republic. You are not here accufed of being the wilful abettors of infidelity. God forbid ! " we are perfuaded better things of *' you, and things which accompany fal- ** vation." But this igtiis Jattius of li- berty ahd univerfal brotherhood, which the French are madly purfuing, with the in- fignia of freedom in one hand, and the bloody bayonet in the other, has bewitched your fenfes, and is in danger of miflead- ing your fteps. You are gazing at a me- teor raifed by the vapours of vanity, which thefe wild and infatuated wanderers are purfuing to their deftrudion ; and though for a moment you millake it for a heaven- born light, which leads to the perfei^iom of human freedom, you will, fhould you join in the mad purfuit, foon difcover that it i ( 7 ) it will conduct you over dreary wilds and finking bogs, only to plunge you in deep and inevitable ruin. Much, very much is to be faid in vindi- cation of your favouring in the firft inftance their political projedls. The caufe they took in hand feemed to be the great caufe of human kind. Its very name infured its popularity. What English heart did not exult at the demolition of the Baftile ? What lover of his fpecies did not triumph in the warm hope, that one of the fined countries in the world would foon be one of the moft free ? Popery and defpotifm, though chain- ed by the gentle influence of Louis the fixteenth, had actually Hain their thou- iands. Little was it then imagined, that anarchy and atheifm, the monfters who were about to fucceed them, would foon flay their ten thoufands. If we cannot re- gret the defeat of the two former tyrants, what muft they be who can triumph in the milchiefs of the two latter ? Who, I fay, B4 _ that ( 8 ) that had a head to reafon, or a heart to feel, did not glow wiih the hope, that from thi; ruins of tyranny, and the rubbilh of popery, a beautiful and finely- framed edi- fice would in time have been conftruded, and that ours would not have been the only country in which the patriots' fair idea of well-underftood liberty, and of the moft pure and reafonable, as well as the moft fublime and exalted Chriftianity, might be realized? But, alas ! it frequently happens that the v/ife and good are not the moft adventu- rous in attacking the mifchiefs which they perceive and lament. With a timidity in fome refpeds virtuous, they fear attempt- ing any thing which may poflibly aggra- vate the evils they deplore, or put to ha- zard the bleflings they already enjoy. They dread plucking up the wheat with the tares, and are rather apt, with a fpirit of hope- lefs refignation, , - • . *< To bear the ills they have, ** Thau fly to others that they know not of." ^-V While ( 9 ) While fober-minded and confideratc men, therefore, fat mourning over thi$ complicated mafs of error, and waited till God, in his own good time, {hould open the blind eyes ; the vaft fcheme of reform- ation was left to that fet of rafli and pre- fumptuous adventurers, who are generally watching how they may convert public grievances to their own perfonal account. It Wi:s undertaken, not upon the broad ba'is of a wife and well-digefted fcheme, of which all the parts Ihould contribute to the perfe(flion of one confiftent whole : it was carried on, not by thofe fteady mea- fures, founded on rational deliberation, which are calculated to accomplifh fo im- portant an end ; not with a temperance which indicated a fober love of law, or a facred regard for religion ^ but with the moft extravagant luR of powfir, and the moft inordinate vanity which perhaps ever inftigated human meafures — a luft of power which threatens to extend its de- folating ( 10 f folating influence over the whole globe; —a vanity of the fame deftrudive fpecies with that which ftimul^.ted the celebrated incendiary of Ephefus, who being weary of his native obfcurity and infignificance, and preferring infamy to oblivion, could contrive no other road to fame and immor- tality, than that of fetting fire to the exqui- fite Temple of Diana. He was remem- bered indeed, as he defired to be, but only to be execrated ; while the feventh wonder of the world lay proftrate through his crime. It is the fame over-ruling vanity which operates in their politics, and in their re- ligion, which makes Kerfaint* boaft of carrying his deftrudive projects from the Tagus to the Brazils, and from Mexico to the fhores of the Ganges ; which makes him menace to outftrip the enterprizes of the moft extravagant hero of romance, * Sec hii Speech, enumerating their intended projefts. and and almofl: undertake with the marvel** Jous celerity of the nimble-footed Puck, ■ft «« To put a girdle round about the earth ** In forty minuces." It is the fame vanity, ftill the mafter- pafiion in the bofom of a Frenchman, which leads Dupont and Manuel to un- dertake in their orations to abolifh the Sabbath, exterminate the Priefthood, ere^^ a Pantheon for the World, reftore the Peri, patetic Philofophy, and in fliort revive every thing of ancient Greece, except the pure tafte, the wifdom, the love of virtue, the veneration of the laws, and that degree of reverence which even virtuous Pagans profefied for the Deity. - - n^ r nr'^i^t'. "5 :. ■ . r. , That defpotifm, prieftcrafr, intolerance, and fuperftition, are terrible evils, no can-^ did Chriftianitis prefumed will deny; but,^ bleffed be God, though thefe mifchiefs are not yet entirely banifhed from the face of the earth, they have fcarcely any exiftence in this country. To guard againfl: a real danger, and to - cure actual abufes, of which the exiftenca? has been firft plainly proved, by the ap- - plication of a fuitable remedy, requires di- ligence as well as courage ; obfervation as well as genius ; patience and temperance as well as zeal and fpirit. It requires the union of ( H y g£ that clear bead and found heatt whith conftitute the true patriot. But to conjure up fancied evils, or even greatly to aggravate r«al ones, and then to exhauft our labour in combating them, is the charadteriftic of a diftempered imagination and an ungo- verned ijpirit. .jii^q Romantic crufades, the ordeal trial, drowning of witches, the torture, and the inquifition, have been juftly repro- brated as the fouleft ftain of the refpedtive periods in which, to the difgrace of human reafon, they exifted ; but would any man be rationally employed, who fhould now ftand ' gravely to decbim againft thefe as the predominating mifchiefs of the prefent cen- tury ? Even the whimfical Knight of La Mancha himfelf, would not fight windmills that were pulled down ; yet I v;ill venture to fay, that the above-named evils are at prefent little more chimerical than fome of thofe now fo bitterly complained of among ( >5 ) . ' us. It is not as Dry den faid, when one of his works was unnxercifully abufed, that the piece has not faults enough in it, but the critics have not had the wit to fix upon the right ones. r- It is allowed that as a Nation, we have faults enough, but our political critics err ia the objeds of their cenfure. They fay little of thofe real and preffing evils refulting from our own corruption, which conftitute the adual miferies of life ; while they gloomily fpeculate upon a thoufand ima*- ginary political grievancea, and fancy that the reformation of our rulers and our le- giflators is all that is wanting to make us a happy people. ^. ■ - . ■ >• |v'-i The principles of juft and equitable go- vernment were, perhaps, never more fully eftablifhed, nor public juftice more ex- adly adminiftered. Pure and undefiled religion was never laid more open to all, 13 than ( i6 ) than at this day. I wifh I could fay we were a religious people ; but this at leaft inay be fafely aflerted, that the great truths of religion were never better underftood ; that Chriftianity was never more complete- ly dripped from all its incumbrances and difguifes, or more thoroughly purged from human infufions, and whatever is debafing in human inllitutions. In vain we look around us to difcover the ^ravages of religious tyranny, or the triumphs of prieftcraft or fuperftition. Who at- tempts to impofe any yoke upon our rea- fon ? Who feeks to put any blind on the eyes of the moft illiterate ? Who fetters the judgment or enflaves the confcience of the meanefl: of our Proteftant brethren ? Nay, fuch is the power of pure Chriftianity to enlighten the underftanding, as well as to re- form the heart, and fuch are the advantages which the moft abject in this country poflefs for enjoying its privileges, that the pooreft peafant ( '7 ) ^^eafant among us, if he be as religious as multitudes of his ftation really are, has clearer ideas of God and his own foul, purer notions of that true liberty wherewith Chrift has made him free, than the mere difputer of this world, though he poflefs every fplendid advantage which education, wifdom, and genius can bellow. I am not fpeaking either of a perfect form of Government, or a perfect Church Eftablifh- ment, becaufe I am fpeaking of Inflitutions which are human ; and the very idea of their being human, involves alfo the idea of imperfedion. But I am fpeaking of the bell conftituted Government, and the beft conflituted National Church with which we are yet acquainted. Time, that filent inftruilor, and Experience, that great rec- tifier of the judgment, will more and more difcover to us what is wanting to the per- fedion of both. And if we may truft to the adtivc genius of Chriftian Liberty, and C to ( 18 ) to that liberal and candid fpirit v^hich is the charaderidic of the age we live in, there is little doubt but that a tem- perate and well-regulated zeal will, at a convenient feafon, corre^ whatfoever found policy (hall fuggeft as wife and expedient. « . ». -^ If there are errors in the Church, and it does not perhaps require the fharp-fighted- nefs of a keen oppol'er to difcover that there are, there is at lead nothing like fierce in- tolerance, or fpiritual ufurpation. A fiery- zeal and an uncharitable bigotry might have furnifhed matter for a well-defervcd ecclefi- adical philippic in other times ; but thanks to the temper of the prefent day, unlefs we conjure up a fpirit of religious chivalry, and Tally forth in queft of imaginary evils, we fliall not apprthend any danger from perfe- cution or enthufiafm. If grievances there are, they do not appear to 4e thofe which - - refult ( »9 ) refiilt from polemic pride and rigid bigotry, but are of a kind far different. If the warm fun of profperlty has un* happily produced its too common efFedt, in relaxing the vigour of religious ex* crtion ; if, in too many inftances, fecu- rity has engendered Hoth, and affluence produced diflipation i let us implore the Divine grace, that the prefent alarming cri^ fis may roufe the carelefs, and quicken the fupine ; that our paftors may be con- vinced that the Church has lefs to fear from external violence, than from internal de- cay 5 nay, that even the violence of attack is often really beneficial, by exciting that adivity which enables us to repel danger^ fmce increafe of diligence is the trued ac- ceffion of ftrength : that the love of power, with which their enemies perhaps unjuftly accufe them, is not more fatal than the love of pleafure : that no degree of orthodoxy in opinion can atone for a too clofe aflimi- ' ^ C 2 lation J ( JO ) lation with the manners of the world ; that herefy without, is Icfs to be dreaded than indifference from within : that the moft regular clerical education, the moft fcrupu- lous attention to forms, and even the ftrideft conformity to the cftabliXhed opinions of the Church, will avail but little to the en- largement of Chrift's kingdom, without a ftri£t fpirit of perfonal watchfulnefs, ha- I bitual ftlf- denial, and laborious exertion. • Though it is not here intended to animad- vert on any political complaint which is not in Ibme fort conneded with religion ; yet it I?, prefumed it may not be thought quite foreign to the prefcnt purpofe to remark, that among the reigning complaints againft our civil adminiftration, the moft plaufible feems to be that excited by the fuppofed danger of an invafion on the Liberty of the Prefs. Were this apprehenfion well-found- ed, we fliouid indeed be threatened by one of the moft grievous misfortunes that can ii i» ■: \ ' i: : befal ( "« ) befal a free country. It is not only a mod noble [Privilege itlelf, but the guardian of all our other liberties ; and, notwithftand- ing the abufe which has lately been made of this valuable poflinion, yet every man of a found unprejudiced mind is well aware that true liberty of every kind is fcarcely inferior in importance to any object for which human a' • * Extracl from Monf. Manuel's Letter to the National Couven-^ tion, dated January 26, 179j. " The piiefts of a republic are its nr.. jiftrates.thelaw its gofpel. What mlffion can be more auguft tha?» that of the inilruftors of youth, who having themfelves efcaped from the hereditary prejudice of ali fefts, point out .0 the human race their inalienable rights, founded upon that fublime wifdom which pervades all nature. Religious faith, imprefled on the mind of an infant fcven years old, will lead to perfect flavery; for dogmas at that age are only arbitrary com- mands. Ah ! what is belief, wilhcat examination, without cohvidlion? It renders men either melancholy or mad, &c. •»■ .• « Legiflators ! Virtue wants neither temples nor fyna- gogues. It -- not from prieft* we learn to do good or no- ble adlion:. No religion muft be taught in fchools which are to be national ones. To prefcribe on'^, vv-ould be to pre- fer it to all others. There hiftory mult fpeak of feds, as Ihe fpeaks o*" '".uer events. It would become your v.iilloni, per- hr.ps, to order that the pupils of the republic (hould not en- ter the temples before the age of fevcnte^n. Reafon moft not be taken by furprife, &c. Hardly were children born before they feli into the hands of prielts, who firft blinded their eyes, and then delivered them over to kings. Wherever kings ceafe to govern, priefts muli ceafe to edu- ca*e.'* C4 To ( H ) To return to thefe orations: — We have to© often, in our own nation, feen and de- plored the mifchiefs of irreligion, arifing incidentally from a neglected or an abufed education. But what mifchiefs will not irreligion produce, when, in the projected fchools of France, as announced to us by the two metaphyfical legiflators above-men- tioneu, impiety (hall be taught by fyAem ? When out of the mouths of babes and fuck- lirrs the monftrous opinions, exhibited by Dupont and Manuel, fliall be perfeded ? When the fruits of atheifm, dropping from their newly-planted tree of liberty, fhall pollute the very fountains of knowledge ? When education, being poifoned in all her fprings, the rifing generation will be taught to look on atheifm as decorous, and religion as eccentric ? When atheifm fliall be con- fidered as a proof of accompliflied breed- ing, and religion as the ftamp of a vulgar education? When the regular courfe of obedience obedience to mafters and tutors will be to renounce the hope of everlafting happinefs, and to deride the idea' of future punifh- ment? When every man and every child, in conformity with the principles profefled in the Convention, fliall prefume to fay with his tongue, what hitherto even the fool has only dared to fay in his heart, T/jat there is no God '^. * It is a remarkable clrcumftance,that though the French are continually binding themfelves by oaths, they have not mentioned the name of God in any oath which has beea invented fince the revolution. It may alfo appear curious to the Englilh reader, that though in almoft all the addrefles of congratulation, which were fent by the aflbciatcd clubs from this country to the National Convention, the fuccefs of the French arms was in p^rt afcribed to Divine Providence, yet in none of the anfwers was the leaft notice ever taken of this. And to fliew how t'-e fame fpirit fpreads itfelf among evety dcfcription of men r i .•K.Ke, their Admiral Latouche, after having defcribed £ht t. nf rs to which his fhip was expofed in a llorm, fays, nue iwe i'"r exiflence to the tutelary Geuiut nvhich 'watches o-ver the dejliny of the French republic » andthg 'fitj^mdirs of lihirty and equality. My ( 26 ) My fellow Chriftians I This is not a ftrife of words ; this is not a controverfy about opimons of comparatively. fmall im- portance, fuch as you have been accu(^ tomed at home to hear even good men dif- pute upon, when perhaps they would have a£ked a more wife and amiable part had they remained filent, facrificing their mutual dif- ferences on the altar of Chrif '^n charity : But this bold renunciation of the i great fundamental article of faith, this daring r£>» jedion of the Supreme Creator and Ruler of the World, is ftriking with a vigorous ftroke at the root of all human happineis. It is tearing up the very foundation of human hope, and extirpating every true principle of human excellence. It is annihilating the very exiftence of virtue, by annihilating its motives, its fan€tions, its obligations, and its end. That atheifm will be the favoured and the popular tenet in France feems highly probabU ; St- probable ; whilft in that wild contempt of all religion, which has lately had the arro^^ gance to call itfelf toleration, it is not ina- proLable that Chriftianity itfelf may be to- lerated in that country, as a fed not perfe- cuted indeed, but derided. It is, however, far from clear, that this will he the cafe, if the new doctrines fhould become generally prevalent; although the great apoftles of infidelity, Voltaire and his difciples, have employed all the acutenefs of their wit to convince us that' irreligion never perfe- GUtes. To prove this, every art of felfe citation, partial extra dt, fupprefled evi- dence, and grofs mifreprefentation has been put in pradice. But if this unfup- ported aflertion were true, then Polycarp, Ignatius, Juftin, Cyprian, and Bafil, did not fufFer for the faith once delivered to the Saints. Then the famous Chriftian apo* logifts, moft of them learned converts fronx the pagan philofophy, idly employed their zeal to abate a clamour which did not exift, and ■■Ml ( '-8 > and to propitiate emperors who did not perfccute. Then Tacitus, Trajan, Pliny, and Julian, thofe bitter enemies to Chrifti- anity, are fuborned witneffes on her iide. Then Ecclefiaftical Hiftory is a feries of falfehoods, and the Book of Martyrs a le- gend of romance *. i ^.''■■- I That one extravagant mifchief fhould produce its oppofite, is agreeable to the or- dinary courfe of human events. That to the credulity of a dark and fuperflitious religion, a wanton contempt of all de- cency, and an unbridled prophanenefs, ihould fucceed ; that to a government abfo- • It u.ay be objefted here, tliat this is not applicable to the ftate of France ; for that the Roman Emperors were not •theifls ordeifts, butpolytheills, with an eftabliflied religion. To this it may be anfwered, that modern infidels not only deny the ten pagan perfecutions, but accufe Chriftianity of being the only perfecuting religion ; and affirm, that onTy thofe who refufe to embrace it, vlifcover a fpirit of tole- rauon. lutely ( 39 ) lutely defpotic, an utter abhorrence of all reftraint and fubordination fhould follow; though it is deplorable, yet it is not ftrange. The human mind, in flying from the ex- treme verg€ of one error, feldom ftops till flie has reached the oppofite extremity. She ger Tally pafles by with ^lofty difdain the obvious truth which lies directly in her road, and which is indeed commonly to be found in the mid-way, between the error (he is flying from, and the error fhe is purfuing. \ h it a breach of Chriftian charity to conclude, from a view of th£ prefent ftate of the French, that fince that deluded people have given up God, God, by a righte- ous retribution, feems to have renounced them for a time, and to have given them over to their own hearts lufts, to work Inl^ quity wkb gnedinefs f If fuch is their pre- lent ( 30 ) fcnt career, what is li'';ely to be tlieir ap- pointed end I H v fea'- 'ully applicable to them leems th..l :*wful enunciation againd an . ncieiTt, offending people — " The Lord " Ihall fmite thee with madnefs, and blind- " nefs, and aftonifliment of heart V* It is no part of the prefent defign to enter into a detail of their political condud ; but I cannot omit to remark, that the very- man in their long lift of kings, whofeemed beft to have deferved their aflumed appella- tion of mojl CbrlJliaUy was alfo moft favour- able to their acquifition of liberty * : his moderation and humanity facilitated their pow^er, which, with unparalleled ingrati- tude, they employed to degrade his per- fon and character in the eyes of mankind. • Of this the French themfclves were fo well perfuaderf, that the title of Rcjitrutcur de la Liberie Franfoi/e, was fo- lemnly given to Louis the XVlth b/ the Conftituent Affembly. , „ by -,■■*' ( 3« ) by the blackeft and moft deteftable arts, and at length to terminate his calamities by a crime which has excited the giief and indignation of all Europe. On the trial and murder of that mofl: unfortunate king, and on the inhuman pro- ceedings which accompanied them, I fliall purpofely avoid dwelling, for it is not the defign of thefe remarks to excite thepaffions* I will only fay, that fo monftrous has been the inverfion of all order, law, humanity, juftice, received opinion, good faith, and religion, that the condudt of his bloody executionei;:6 feems to have exhibited the moft fcrupulous conformity with the prin- ciples announced in the fpeeches we have been confidering. In this one inftance we muft not call the French an inconfequent people. Savage brutality, treafon, and murder have been the noxious fruit ga- thered from thefe thorns ; the baneful pro- 9 duce --('■ \^ ■■ ( 3* ) duce of thefe thirties . An overturn of alt morals has been the well-proportioned off- spring of an inverfion of all principle* But, notwithfianding the confiftency, in this inftance, between caufe and con- feqiience, fo new and furprifing have been the turns in their extraordinary pro- jeds, that to foretel what their next en- terprife would be from what their laft has been, has long bafHed all calculation, and bid defiance to all conjedure. Analogy from hiftory, a ftudy of paft events, and an inveftigation of prefent principles and paflions ; judgment, memory, and deduc- tion, afford human fagacity but very flendef affiftance in Its endeavours to develope their future plans. We have not even the data of confiftent wickednefs on which to build rational conclufions. Their crimes, though vifibly connected by uniform depravity, are yet fo furprifingly diverfified by interfer- ing -/ y\-i ( 33 ) Ing abfurdltles, as to furniili no ground ou which reafonable argument can be founded. Nay, iuch is their incredible eccentricity, that it is hardly extravagant to affirm, that improbability is become rather an additional reafon for expeding an event to take place. ' But let us, in this yet happy country, learn at lead one great and important ' truth, from the errors of this diftra£led people. Their conduct has awfully illuf- trated a pofition, which is not the lefs found for having been often contro- verted. That no degree of wit and learn- ing ; no progrefs in commerce ; no ad- vances in the knowledge of nature, or in the embellifhments of art, can ever tho- roughly tame that favage, the natural^ human heart, without religion. The arts of focial life may give a fweetne^ D 10 ■!!r> ( 34 ) ■ to the manners and language, and induce, in fome degree, a love of juftice, truth, and humanity ; but attainments derived from fuch inferior caufes are no more than the femblance and the fhadow of the qualities derived from pure Chriftianity. Varnifh is an extraneous ornament, but true polifh is a proof of the folidity of the body; it de- pends greatly on the nature of tl i fub- flance, is not fuperinduced by accidental- caufes, but in a good meafure proceeding from internal foundefs. » ,. The poets of that country, whofe ftyle, fentiments, manners, and religion the French fo affededly labour to imitate, have left keen and biting fatires on the Roman vices. Againft the late proceedings in * France, no fatirift need employ his pen ; that of the hiftorian will be quite fufficient. Fad will put fable out of countenance ; and the crimes which are ufually held up to our { 35 ) our abhorrence in works of invention, will be regarded as flat and feeble by thofe who (hall peruOs the records of the tenth of Au- guft, of the fecond and third of September, and of the twenty-firft of January. If the fame aftonifhing degeneracy in tafte, principle, and practice, fliould ever come to flourifli among tts^ Brita^in may ftill live to exult in the defolation of her cities, and in the deftrudicn of her fined monum*^ ">ts of art; fhe may triumph in the peoplir ^ the fortrefles of her rocks and her forefts ; may exult in being once more reftored to that glorious ftate of liberty and equality^ when all fubfifted by rapine and the chace ; when all, O enviable privilege ! . were equally favage, equally indigent, and equally naked ; may extol it as the refto- ration of reafon, and the triumph of na- . ture, that they are again brought to feed on acorns, inftead of bread. Groves of ? ;>. ' D 2 ' confccrated w ( 36 ) confecrated mifletoe may happily fiicceed to ufelefs corn-liclds; and Thor and Woden may hope once more to be invefted with all their bloody honours. Let not an^^ ferious readers feel indig- nation, as if pains were ungeneroufly taken to involve their religious, v/ith their poli- tical opinions. Far be it from me to wound, . unneceflarily, the feelings of people whom I fo fincerely efteem ; but it is much to be fufpeded, that certain opinions in politico have a tendency to lead to certain opinions in religion. Where fo much is at flake, they will do well to keep their confciences tender, in order to which they fhould try to keep their difcernment acufe. They will do well to obferve, that the fame reftlefs fpirit of innovation is bufily operating un- der various, though feemin^ly unconnected forms. To obferve, that the fame im- patience of reftraint, the fame contempt of order, peace, and fubordination, which 5 . . " makes 4 ( 37 ) makes men bad citizens, makes them bad Chriftians ; and that to this fecret, but al- moft infallible connection between reli- gious and political fentiment, does France owe her prefent unparalleled anarchy and impiety. There are doubtlefs in that unhappy country multitudes of virtuous and reafon- able men, who rather filently acquiefce ia the authority of their prefent turbulent go- vernment, than embrace its principles or promote its projedls from the fober con- viction vif tlieir own judjjment. Thefe, together ;?ith thcfe (ionfcientious exiles whom this nation fo honourably proteds,, may yet live to rejoice in the reftoration oi: true liberty and folid peace to their nati^/c country, when light and order fhall fpring from the prefent darknefs and confufion, and the reign of chaos fhall be no more. May I be permitted a fliort digreflion on the fubje^t of thefe exiles ? It ihall oaly be D 3 to ( 38 ) to remark, thw.i all the boafted conquefts of our Edwards and our Henrys over the French nation, do not confer fuch fubftan- tial glory on our own country, as ihe de- rives from having received, proteded, and fupported, among multitudes of other fuf- ferers, at a time and under circumftances fo peculiarly difadvantageous to herfelf, three thoujand prtejls^ of a nation habitually her enemy, and of a religion intolerant and hoftile to her own. This is the folid tri- umph of true Chriftianity ; and it is worth remarking, that the deeds which poets and hiftorians celebrate as rare and fplendid ac- tions, and fublime inftances of greatnefs of foul, in the heroes of the Pagan world, are hut the ordinary and habitual virtues which occur in the common courfe of adion among Chriftians; quietly performed with- out effort or exertion, and with no view to renown ; but refulting naturally and ne- ceflarily from the religion th-" profefs. So r )■ ' ( 39 ) . So predominating is the power cf an ex- ample we have once admired, and fet up as a ftandard of imitation, and fo fafci- nating has been the afcendancy of the Con- vention over the minds of thofe whofe ap^ probation of French politics commenced in the earlier periods of the Revolution, that it extends to the moft trivial circumftances. I cannot forbear to notice this in an in^ fiance which, though inconfiderable in it- felf, yet ceafes to be fo when we view it in the light of a fymptom of the reigning dileafe. --».*--- ** While the fkntaftic phrafeology of the new Republic is fuch, as to be almoft as difgufting to found tafte, as their doctrines are to found morals, it is curious to obferve how deeply the addreiTes, which have been fent to it from the Clubs * in this country. C; • See the Colledlionof Addrefies from England. f»„; D4 have vrf. ' ■■■■■■■i { 40 ) have been infected with it, as far at kkft as phriifes and terms are objeds of imitation. In other refpeds, it is but juftice to the French Convention to confefs, that they are -hitherto without rivals and without imita- tors i for who can afpire to emulate that compound of anarchy and atheifm which in their debates is mixed up with the pedantry of fchool-boys, the jargon of a cabal, and the vulgarity and ill-breed* ing of a mob ? One inilance of the pre- vailing cant may fufHce, where an hundred might be adduced ; and it is not the moil exceptionabie.-^To demoli(h every exift- ing law and eftablifhment; to deflroy the fortunes and ruin the principles of every country into which they are carrying their deftrudive arms and their frantic doc- trines ; to untie or cut afunder every bond which holds fociety together; to impofe their own arbitrary fhackles where they fucceed, and to demolifh every thing where they fail; — 'This defglating fyftem, by { 4i ) by t moll unaccountable perVerfidn 6f lan- guage, they are pleafed to call by the «l- dearing name oi fraternization \ and fra- ternization is one of the favourite terims iivhich their admirers have adopted. Lit- tle would a fimple ftranger, uninitiated in this new and furprifmg dialect, imagine that the peaceful terms of fellow-citizen and of brother, the winning offer of freedoitt and happincfs, and the warm embrace of fraternity, were only watch-words by whicli they, in effe«St, Cry havoc, ■f- '-^^ • And let flip the dogs of war. i In numberlefs other inftances, the fafhioii* .-■V able language of France at this day would be as unintelligible to the correct writers of the age of Louis the XlVth, as their fafhion- able notions of liberty would be irreconcilc- able with thofe of the true Revolution Pa- V triots mam ( 4J ) tiriots of his great contemporary and vic- toriouft rival, William the Third* Such is indeed their puerile rage for novelty in the invention of new words, and the perverfion of their tafte in the life of old ones, that the celebrated VoC- fius, whom Chriftine of Sweden oddly complimented by faying, that he was fo learned as not only to know whence all words came, but whither they were going, would, were he admitted to the honours of a fitingy be obliged to confefs, that he was equally puzzled to tell the one, or to foretel the other. ' If it (hall pleafe the Almighty in his anger to let loofe this infatuated people, as a fcourge for the iniquities of the human race; if they are delegated by infinite juftice to a£l, as ftorm and temped fulfilling ' his ■ J' •■. •» < ( 43 ) his word ; if thty are commiflioned to per* form the errand of the deftroying lightning or the avenging thunder-bolt, let us try at leaft to extradt perfonal benefit from national calamity ; let every one of us, high and Ipw, rich and poor, enter upon this ferious and humbling inquiry, how much his own individual offences have contributed to that awful aggregate of public guilt, which has required fuch a vifitation. Let us carefully examine in what proportion we have fe- parately added to that common ftock of abounding iniquity, the defcription of which formed the charafter of an ancient nation, and is fo peculiarly applicable to our own — Pridej fulnefs of bread^ and abundance of idlenefs. Let every one of us humbly in- quire, in the felf-fufpeding language of the difciples to their Divine Mafter — Lord^ is it If Let us learn to fear the fleets and V armies ^.r;'., ( 44 ) armFes of the enemy, much lefs than thofe iniquities at home which this aiarming difpenfation may be intended to chaflize. The war which the French have declared againft us, is of a kind altogether unexam- pled in every refped ; infomuch that human wifdom is baffled when it would pretend to conjedure what may be the event. But this at lead we may fafely fay, that it is not fo much the force of French bayonets, as the contamination of French principles, that ought to excite our apprehenfions. We truftj that through the bleffing of God we ihall be defended from their open hoftilities, by the temperate wifdom of our Rulers, and the bravery of our fleets and armies ; but the domedic danger arifmg from licentious and irreligious principles among ourfelves, can only be guarded againft by the perfonal care and vigilance of every one of u& ' who I ( 45 ) who values religion and the good order of fociety, God grant that thofe who go forth to fight our battles, indead of being intimi- dated by the number of their enemies, may bear in mind, that *' there is no reftraint with God to fave by many or by few." And let the meaneft of us who remains at home remember alfo, that even he may contri- bute to the internal fafety of his country, by the integrity of his private life, and to the fuccefs of her defenders, by following them with his fervent prayers. And in what war can the fmcere Chriftian ever have ftronger inducements to pray for the fuccefs of his country, than in this? Without en- tering far into any political principles, the .difcuilion of which would be in af great meafure foreign to the defign of this littk tra^, it may be remarked, that the un- . chriftian principle of revenge is not our motive to this war; connngft is not our " '•- object ; ( 46 ) obje^ ; nor have we had rccourfe to hof- tility, in order to efFedt a change in the in- ternal government of France *. The pre- fent war is undoubtedly undertaken entirely on defenfive principles. It is in defence of our King, our Conftitution, our Religion, our Laws, and confequently our Liberty^ in the found and rational fenfe of that term. It is to defend ourfelves from the favage viohnce of a crufade, made againll all Religion, as well as all Government. If ever therefore a war was undertaken on the ground of felf-defence and neceflity — if ever men might be literally faid to fight/ro ARIS cificisy this feems to be the occafion. The ambition of conquerors has been the fource of great and extenfive evils: reli- gious fanaticifm, of ftill greater. But little as I am difpofed to become the apologiil of r ♦ See the Report of Mr. Pitt's Speech in the Houfe of Commons on Feb. 12, 1793, publilhed by Woodfall. either ^ ( 47 ) Cither the one principle «. the other, there 18 no extravagance in afTerting, that they have feemed incapable of producing, even in ages, that extent of mifchief, that com- prehenfive defolation, which philofophy^ falfelyfo called^ has produced in three years. Chriftians ! it is not a fmall thing — It is your life. The peftilence of irreligion which you deteft, will infinuate itfelf im- perceptibly with thole manners, phrafes, and principles which you admire aud adopt. It is the humble wifdom of a Chriftian, to (hrink from the moft diftant approaches to fin, to abftain from the very appearance of evil. If we would fly from the deadly contagion of Atheifm, let us fly from thofc feemingly remote, but not very indire£l: paths which lead to it. Let France chufc this day whom ihe will ferve ; but^ osfor us and our houfes^ we wi/i ferve the Lord, And, O gracious and long-fufFering God ! before that awful period arrives, which ..,«'.«» ymti-r •+ -lt*j -hi' |1» ,. \^ |f^h ihall exhibit the dreadful efie^s q£ fticu an education as the French nation are inllituting; before a race of men can be trained up^ not only without the knowledge of THEE, but in the contempt of thy mofl holy law, do thou, in great mercy, change the heart of this people as the heart of one man. Give them not finally over to their own corrupt imaginations, to their own hearts* lufts. But after having made them a fearful example to all the laations of the earth, what a people cart do, who have call off the fear of thee, do THOU gracioufly bring them back to a fenfe of that law which they have violated, and to a partici'^ation of that mercy which they have abufeu ; fo that they may happily find, while the difcovery can be attended with confolation, that dotihtkfs there is a re* ward for the righteous \ verily^ there is a Goo whojudgetb the earth. 1 3 TH£ £KX>. t IP|MiqOTipilfl^niFiiV-i'>»>«Jt^'»<« ,..<;;' 'f''.'L'"'<'.'v vj»„<, 'f ^"ifr i