UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 RELIGIOUS DISSENSION. 
 
 
 [ Price 2J. ] 
 
 9 08S ^
 
 HISTORICAL 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 o F 
 
 RELIGIOUS DISSENSION; 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE 
 
 SEVENTEENTH PARLIAMENT 
 
 O F 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 B Y 
 
 JEREMIAH TRIST, M. A. 
 
 VICAR OF VERYAN, CORNWALL. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 PRO REGE ET GREGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. MURRAY, N° 32, FLEET STJIEET, 
 M,DCC.XCI^
 
 J 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT, 
 
 CJ^tiE ohje5} of the following pages is, to examine and 
 
 illuftrate the ■principles and anions of the Protejiant 
 
 ^ Dijfenters; and to contraft their oMud conduct with 
 1. 1 
 
 ^ their profeffions of attachment to the efiahlifhments in 
 
 ^ church and fiate. 'Their determination to perjevere in 
 
 5£ their attacks upon the Teft Laws, and the meafures 
 
 which they have adopted in order to fecure Juccefs in 
 
 their future application to parliament, appear fufficiently 
 
 clear from their own deliberate refolutions. " It is our 
 
 *' earnejl wifh, that, either in the next Jejfion of parli- 
 
 :a " ament, or in the firft fefTion after the next general 
 
 ^ " clediion) every congregation of Protejiant Dijfenters 
 
 ^ " throughout the kingdom Jhould, either feparately or 
 
 o " jointly, petition the Houfe of Commons for the repeal 
 
 "** " of the Tejl and Corporation A^s J" 
 
 " We think it defireable that the whole body cf Pro- 
 
 " tejlant Dijfenters pould Jljew a Jleady regard, at the 
 
 '* enfiiing general ele^ion, to the fupport of thofe can- 
 
 " didates for feats in parliament, whom they have reafon 
 
 zs " to believe friendly to the caufe cf civil and religious 
 
 5 " liberty.'^ — See Refolutions of the Meeting of Dele- 
 
 2 gates from eight Congregations of Dijfenters, held at 
 
 fVarrington, January 6th, i790i 
 
 A 3 *• // 
 
 ; 10.1330
 
 vi ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 " // is our earnejl wijhy that, either in the next /eft on 
 " of parliament J or in the firft fefllon after the next 
 ** general eledion, 6?f." as above, — See Rejolutions 
 of the Meeting of Prot, Dif. held at Bolton j December 
 ijth, 1789. 
 
 " Let it fuffice to fay^ at prejenty that we are not 
 " difcouraged by our late defeat j but Jhall cberijh the 
 *' confidence y thaty ivhen application for relief from our 
 " grievances is renewed, we Jhall not be cenfured as 
 " cbjiinately perfifling in fruitlefs attempts. T'he time 
 " will fpe eddy arrive , when a generous nation, that of 
 " late has been mijled byfalfe alarms y and inftdious and 
 " bigotted mi/repre/entationsy Jhall return to calmer 
 " feelings and 7nore fiber reflection, A refioration to 
 " our rights mnft Jtecejfarily rejult from the progrefs 
 " of truth, jujlice, and found policy.** — See Addrefs to 
 the People ^f England from the Committee of Prot, Dijf. 
 drded LorJcUy May 11//7, 1790: Edward Jefferies, 
 fhairman. 
 
 *' Should king, mlnijlcr, and prelates be arrayed 
 " tigai?if? //'c";.-;, lef not the Prolejlant Dijfenters Jhrink 
 " from the contrjl. — Defeated in their firjl attcmptSy let 
 " them no! abandon their objeil, but repeat (heir appli- 
 " cation till the voice of rcafcn pall be beard. By 
 " pcrrcverance they mull be vidlorious," — Tht 
 Right (f Pro:. Dtjf. ^c. affcrtcd, p. 99. 
 
 T O
 
 [ vii ] 
 
 TO T H B 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 OF T H 1 
 
 PEOPLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 AMONGST the many fubjeds that 
 may be agitated during the period of 
 your truft, there will be few of greater na- 
 tional importance than the exiflence of the 
 prefent Tefl: Laws. The main queftion re- 
 lative to their ufe and deiign has been inten- 
 tionally confounded amidffcfpecious arguments 
 for political freedom, and claims for perfonal 
 merit. Since their late defeat, it has been 
 contended on the part of the Proteftant Dif- 
 fenters, that the human mind is not yet fuffi- 
 ciently matured by knowledge, or humanized 
 by philofophy; but that the rapid progrefs 
 of truth, and the true notions of liberty, 
 which begin to polTefs the multitude, are the 
 
 A 4 feeds'
 
 VIU 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 feeds of a falutary revolution, which, being 
 cherifhed by the culture of a more indulgent 
 Parliament, will fhortly expand into the per- 
 fe<fl bloom of liberty, and overfhadow every 
 femblance of ecclefiaftical polity and form of 
 worfliip. 
 
 The political fervices of the DifTenters, 
 like wife, are urged as a fubjcdt worthy of 
 your confederation, and as deferving of a jufl 
 recompence. Their principles and their ac- 
 tions are appealed to as the proper teft of their 
 attachment to the civil conflitution ; and it is 
 in confequence of this pofition, and in con- 
 formity with this favourite do(flrine, that the 
 following fheets, which are detached from a 
 larger plan *, are at prcfent fubmitted to your 
 
 notice ; 
 
 * It is intended to fubmit the following fubjcdh to public 
 notice : 
 
 1. The harmony of civil and religious polity. 
 
 2. The importance of a national church, and the abfolutc 
 neceflity of certain tefts to maintain and fecure it. 
 
 3. The Hiftory of the prcfent Teft Laws, with every 
 recent objrftion to them impartially confidcrcd. — And a 
 tranficnt view of the Bangorian controverfy. 
 
 4^ Nature and objc<fl of free enquiry. 
 
 5. Extent
 
 ADDRESS. IX 
 
 notice ; not as comprifing the merits of the 
 main queftion, but as colled:ing from hiflory 
 and precedent a true and judicious eflimate'of 
 the real fervices of the Proteftant DiiTenters. 
 
 It is to the peculiar honour of the late 
 parliament, that it relifted fuccefsfully three 
 feveral attacks on the eftabliihed conftitution 
 of this country ; and it is worthy your obfer- 
 vation, that fanguine hopes are cherifhed by 
 the friends to the repeal cf the Tefl Laws, 
 from what is now termed, the more enlightened 
 Members of the prefent Legiflature. But it 
 
 5. Extent of abatements and relaxations, in view of pro- 
 moting uniformity. 
 
 6. 111 confequences of the repeal of the prefent tefts, to 
 the ftate, the clergy, and the public feminaries. 
 
 7. Reafons why fuccefs cannot attend the petition of the 
 Diflenters. 
 
 From this fketch it is obvious, that the fubjeft under 
 difcuffion, viz. " The aftual conduft of the Proteftant 
 " Diflenters, contrafted with their profeflions of attach- 
 " ment to the eftablifhments in church and ftate," has in 
 its prefent detached form many unfavourable circumftances 
 to combat j and it would not have been at this time ex- 
 pofcd to notice, if it had not a temporary rerpe<5l, I mean, 
 the determination of the Proteftant Difl'enters to renew 
 their application to parliament, and their confidence of fuc- 
 cefs with the prefent legiflature. 
 
 becomes
 
 jl ADDRESS. 
 
 becomes you to reflect, that the prcfcnt Tefts 
 were intended, by our experienced anceftors, to 
 guard againfi what men may do : and if, in an 
 evil hour, you fhould confent to their abroga- 
 tion, your country is thenceforward reduced 
 to this inevitable deftiny, to trujl to what men 
 will do. A generous and grateful people has 
 now chearfully extended their confidence to 
 you, implicitly relying on your wifdom, and 
 trufting that their prefcnt happy conftitution, 
 in church and ftate, will be maintained pure 
 and undifturbed, and that their beft interefts 
 will never be betrayed by a vote of the Seven- 
 teenth Parliament of Great Britain. 
 
 That you may preferve inviolate thofe fa- 
 cred rights which have been recently entruft- 
 ed to you, is the ardent wifli of one, who has 
 the real intcrejls of Proteflant Diflcnters much 
 at heart. 
 
 Auguji I ft, 1790. 
 
 PREFACE.
 
 [ xi 3 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AN author who undertakes a fubjeft of fuch 
 latitude and variation as the " Hiftorical 
 " Memoirs of rehgious Diflenfion," would find it 
 very difficult to execute his defign, either for the 
 information of his readers, or the perfpicuity of his 
 own ideas, if he did not diftribute his fubjeft under 
 certain general heads and divifions. Convinced of 
 the utility of fuch arrangement, I have adopted a 
 plan, which is to take in tlie whole merits of the 
 queftion of late fo generally agitated, " The repeal 
 " of the Teft and Corporation A£ls j" a queftion, 
 which has intereft enough in it to awaken the at- 
 tention of every man who regards the welfare of the 
 community, and the profperity of the civil and re- 
 ligious eftablilliments. 
 
 In the following remarks I may be thought by 
 fome to have treated the Proteftant Diffenters with 
 too much afperity. To fuch I beg leave to fay, that, 
 
 from
 
 xu 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 from the outfet of my enquiry, I have had thofe 
 only in view, whofe political conduR has been di- 
 reftly oppofite to their profejjions of good- will. The 
 principles of thefe men, and their attachment to our 
 conftitution in church and ftate, may be very fairly 
 meafured by this hiftorical flatement of their a5lions. 
 The peaceable citizen, whether a conformifl: or non- 
 confbrmifl, is equally entitled to attention and re- 
 Ipeft : on fuch thefe ftridures cannot fall ; for, as 
 rhey relate little to theological difputes, and are 
 folely intended to difcufs the political merits of the 
 Diflenters, they are applicable to thofe only who 
 dillurb the tranquillity of that government, which 
 extends to all its members the bleflings of civil and 
 religious liberty. 
 
 I am as fenfible as any man, that there are, 
 amongfl die Proteftant Diflenters, men truly emi- 
 nent for piety, virtue, and moderation. Far be it 
 that a tittle of cenfure fhould fall on fuch : indeed 
 there cannot, in die prefent inftance ; for, as they 
 do not fl:and accufcd, no imputation of faflion, or 
 of inflncerlty, will attach to them. But fhould the 
 peaceable and moderate Difl!enter feel fome fmart, 
 fome compunclion, from thefe remarks, it muft be 
 attributed eitiier to the mifconducl of his diftem- 
 pcred brethren, or to his having, in fome remote 
 degree, connected himfelf with them in their late 
 injiuiiclo'Ji iiiearurcb. In cither cafe, I am to be 
 
 acquitted
 
 PREFACE, xui 
 
 acquitted of detradlon, but muft remind this re- 
 Ipefbable citizen, that 
 
 " The mildevv'd ear may blaft his wholefome brother." 
 
 Shak. 
 
 Having premifed thus much, it may be proper 
 to aflign fome reafon for my prefent appearance 
 at the tribunal of the public. I have witnefled, in 
 common with others, the late difturbance of the 
 public tranquillity, under the fpecious pretext of ob- 
 taining an e5ftenfion of civil and religious liberty. 
 I have fcen too, with concern, that the abettors of 
 the propofed reformation are firmly refolved to per- 
 fevere in their attempts to abolilh thofe fences of the 
 conftitution, which the common anceftor has efla- 
 blifhed : and, as I am as nf arly concerned in the 
 maintenance and fupport of them, as the Diflenters 
 may be in their demolition, I have taken fome pains 
 to enquire into the merit of their prefent enterprize, 
 and the reach of thofe arguments upon which they 
 found their claim. My prefent objefl, then, is to 
 clear their fpecious arguments from that fallacy and 
 fophiftication in which they are enveloped, and not 
 to widen a breach already too expofed, by entering 
 into theological controverfy. 
 
 I have only to requeft my reader, not to impute 
 any intemperance, which he may fancy he difcovers 
 
 in
 
 xW PREFACE. 
 
 in the following pages, to a want of candour or of 
 good-will for tlic Diflcnters, as fuch, but to that dif- 
 gtifl: which is natural to every man who fees religion, 
 the chief band of fociery, made a ftalking-horfe to 
 difturb that tranquillity which we may all enjoy under 
 ;iin adminillration fo mild and equal as the prefent. 
 
 My fentiments upon a difference in religious opi- 
 nions, as affe^ling the public peace, and my ab- 
 horrence of perfecution for confcience fake, I 
 Aall leave with my reader in the words of an il- 
 luftrious ftatefman and confummate politician. 
 
 " Ofdiis I may give only this advice, according 
 to my fmall model : — Men ought to take heed of 
 rending God's church by tu'o kinds of contro- 
 verfies : The one is, when the matter of the point 
 controverted is too fmall and ligiit, not worth the 
 heat and ftrife about it, kindled only by contra- 
 didion. For, as it is noted by one of the fathers, 
 Chris's coat indeed bad no Jcani \ but the churches 
 vejlure was of divers colours : " v/hereupon he 
 faith, " In Z'cjle i-arietas fitj fcijfura non fit i'* 
 they be two things, unity and uniformity. — The 
 other is, when the matter of the point contro- 
 verted is gi^eat, but it is driven to an over-great 
 fubtilty and obfcurity, fo tliat it becomcth a thing 
 radier ingenious than fubftantial. A man that is 
 of judgrnxnt and undcrftanding, fiiall fometimes 
 hear ignorant men difler, and know well within 
 3 " himfelf,
 
 PREFACE, XV 
 
 " himfelf, that thofe which fo differ mean one 
 
 " thing, and yet they themfelves would never 
 
 " agree. And if it come fo to pafs, in that diftance 
 
 *^ of judgment which is between man and man, 
 
 " fhall we not think, that God above, that knows 
 
 " the heart, doth not difcern that frail men in fome 
 
 " of their contradidlions intend the fame thing, and 
 
 *^ accepteth of both ? The nature of fuch contro- 
 
 " verfies is excellently exprefled by St. Paul, in 
 
 " the warning and precept that he giveth concem- 
 
 " ing the fame, * Devita prof anas vocum novitates, et 
 
 " opfojiticnes falfi nominis Jcientia;. Men create op- 
 
 " pofitions which are not, and put them into new 
 
 " terms fo fixed, as whereas the meaning ought 
 
 *' to govern the term, the term in efFedl governeth 
 
 " the meaning. — Concerning /^f means offrocurlng 
 
 " unity ; men mufl beware, that in the procuring 
 
 " or muniting of religious unity, they do not dil^ 
 
 " folve, and deface the laws of charity, and of hu- 
 
 *^ man fociety. There are two fwords amongfl 
 
 " Chriftians, the fpiritual and temporal ; and both 
 
 " have their due office and place in the maintenance of 
 
 " religion. -But we may not take up the third 
 
 *' fword, which is Mahomet's fword, or like unto 
 
 " it : that is, to propagate religion by wars, or by 
 
 " fanguinary perfecutions to force confciences, ex- 
 
 * *' Avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppofitions of 
 ** fcience falfely fo called." i Tim. vi, 20. 
 
 " cept
 
 xvi PREFACE, 
 
 " ceptit be in cafes of overt- fcandal, blafphemy, or 
 " intermixture of pradice againft the Hate : much 
 *' lefs to nourijb JediiionSy to authorize con/piracies 
 *' and rebellions y to put the /word into the people's 
 " bandsy and the like, tending to the fubverfion of 
 " all government, which is the ordinance of God. 
 " For this is but to da{h the firft table againft the 
 *' fecond, and fo to confider men as Chriftians, as 
 <* we forget that they are men." — Sir F. Bacon's 
 EiTays. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Pjfge 9. Note, line 10. for infcrencf:, t ea^ xnfvrencc, 
 — — 24. Note, line i. /or brother cleftors, '-m*/ readers. 
 
 IIISTORICAI
 
 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 RELIGIOUS DISSENSION. 
 
 TH E friends and advocates for the repeal of the 
 Teft and Corporation Afls have been for- 
 ward in celebrating the exploits and atchievements 
 of the Difienters, as one popular argument in fupport 
 of their caufe. They have reprefented them as the 
 chief authors and reftorers of civil and religious 
 liberty, as foremoft in promoting fchemes of public 
 utility, intelhgent in planning, a6live and intrepid in 
 conducing them, and, in fadt, as the props and 
 pillars of the prefent conftitution in church and 
 ftate. Had their pamphlets and declamations refted 
 here, the fond panegyric would not, in all proba- 
 bility, have been difturbed, or excited attention and 
 inquiry. But, in order to heighten the encomium, 
 and perfect the illufion, they have unmercifully 
 dragged the clergy of the eftabiifhm.ent into an un- 
 
 B hr-ppy
 
 2 Historical Memoirs or 
 
 happy contraft, and, to magnify the merits of their 
 compeers, they have overwhelmed this unfortunate 
 defcription of men with obloquy and derifion. 
 
 Thus, to dignify the offices, and elevate the re- 
 putation of the di (Tenting minifhy, we are told, 
 " That the epijcopal character is degraded by modern 
 prelates^ and the moft Jacred ceremonies projiituted to 
 fiate policy and perjecution *." To promote the 
 temporal interefts of nonconformity, we are ap- 
 prized, " That the chief ohjlacles to religious liberty 
 lie in the bigotry and habitual bad politics of ejlablified 
 churchmen, and in the complaijance of timid or fubtle 
 Jiatefynen in their favour f." To obviate any con- 
 ceit of liberal and enlightened times, we are re- 
 minded, " That the age in which we live is unfa- 
 vourable to religious freedom, that an inquiry into 
 truth is checked by the civil powers, and the fpread of 
 gefjuine Chriflianity chilled by the cold influence offplen- 
 didefiablifhments\r And, to complete the meafure 
 of their ignominy, we are alTured, " That churchmen 
 are unfriendly to the houfe of Brunfwick, infringers on 
 the rights of mankind, opprejfors, and perfeculors |." 
 
 It 
 
 • Right of the Protedant DlfTcnters to a complete Toleration 
 afTorted, p. 96, & fcq.— Advcrtilement to the Life of Monf. 
 Claude, by R. Robinfon of Cambridge. 
 
 ■)■ New and old Principles of Trade compared, p. 50. 
 
 I Prieftley's Importance of free Inquiry. 
 
 II Prieflley's Letter to tiie Rt. lion. Wm. Pitt. — Cenfurcs of 
 the fame complexion were pretty Arongly implied in the fpccches 
 of the Rt. Hon. Ch. J. Fox, anvl Henry Bcaufoy, cfq; in the hoafe 
 ofcoramous, March 3 J, 1790, on the motion, 'Ihat the houfe 
 
 rcfolvc 
 
 3
 
 Religious Dissension. 3 
 
 It muft be acknowledged that the refolutions of the 
 Proteftant Diflenters, in their late meetings *, convey- 
 more favourable imprefllons ; their language is, in 
 general, conciliating, and their profeflions of attach- 
 ment and good-will forcibly arreft the judgment, and 
 calm thofe difingenuous emotions fo natural in con- 
 tending interefts. The mild expoftulations of thofe 
 who are ftruggling with oppreflion, and who are 
 pleading for a redrefs of grievances, under the per- 
 fuafion of general harmony, and the welfare of all 
 diftinftions, Ipcak feelingly to the heart, and tempt 
 us to accufe ourfelves of partiality and want of can- 
 dour for withholding imphcit confidence in fuch 
 fair profeflions. For my own part, as I cannot give 
 chearflil credence to thefe declarations, it is but ho- 
 neft that I fhould aflign my reafons : I fufpe6b trea- 
 chery fomewhere, and, if their refolutions are not 
 mafked, why have not the Diflenters muzzled their 
 loud apologiflis ? — To do jufl:ice to a caufe of fome 
 moment, I have taken pains to examine the fair 
 pages of hiftory, to which they fo frequently refer 
 us J but from hence I have drawn intelligence not 
 at all favourable to their fincerity ; and I have no 
 fcruple in faying, that it will require the abihties of 
 
 refolve itfelf into a Committee on the fubjedt of the Tcil 
 Ads. 
 
 * Towards the clofe of the year 1789, and in the beginning of 
 1790, the feftaries of different denominations, affuming the com- 
 mon title of Proteftant Dilienters, convened public meetings 
 throughout moft of the counties, and many principal towns of 
 ilie kingdom. 
 
 B 2 a very
 
 4 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 a very able cafuift to reconcile thefe public decla- 
 rations of good-will to the prefent ellablifhment with 
 the adlual condu6t of the leading charadbers amongft 
 the Proteftant Diflenters. 
 
 To examine their proceedings with that impar- 
 tiality which is due to a refpedtable clafs of men, 
 and that perfpicuity fo neceflary in a conteft where 
 much mifreprcfentation may be expeded on both 
 fides, I am tempted to confider them under two dif- 
 tindlions, that I may not at large impute difTimu- 
 lation and inconfiftcncy to fuch a numerous body of 
 citizens, many of whom are no doubt men of high 
 integrity and worth. In the following difcuflion I 
 would diftinguifh the moderate dijjenter from the 
 refllefs and zealous reformer. The objedl of tiic 
 /r/?, as far as he is concerned in the plan of inno- 
 vation, is to foften thofe obftrudlions which have 
 hitherto interpolcd betv,ixt Iiim and the Ellablifh- 
 ment, to v.hich he approaches, with a view to union, 
 as near as he confcientioufly can; of the Jecond, to 
 pull down the national church, and to ereft fome 
 hitherto-undefined and vlfionary fabric in its room. 
 The mc derate dijfcnter^ not unmindful of the impor- 
 tance of church communion, and the harmony of 
 civil and religious polit\', labours for reconcilia- 
 tion, upon the principles of improving the refor- 
 mation, and of purifying and perfecting the protef- 
 tant caulc; whiid t'le d'Jlurhed Jcclar\\ eager to ex- 
 prcfs hii abhoricnce of litcs and ceremonie?, 'of li- 
 turgies and lucr.u-cliies, finks his patriotifm in his 
 zeal, and, like the overheated bi^ot of the fixteenth 
 
 ce;-itury.
 
 Religious Dissension. 5 
 
 century, betrays only his wilh, " to have one 'pluck 
 " more at the whore of Babylon's red petticodtJ'* 
 From the furious aflaults of the laft, the conftitution 
 has not much to dread ; but upon a union of thefe 
 formidable powers, the befl-conftituted ilate has 
 reafon to be upon its guard ; for when political jea- 
 loufy is lulled into an imaginary fecurity by the fair 
 language of calm expoftulation, the ftate is, in fa6t, 
 more expofed to the furious attacks of fanaticifm 
 and difaiFeclion. 
 
 I would not, therefore, be underftood to charge 
 every diffenter, who has attached himfelf to this 
 general confederacy, with diffimulation, or with 
 views injurious to the public fafety; yet, as they 
 have thought proper to affociate themfelves under 
 one general denomination *, the peaceable diffenter, 
 as far as he has joined interefts with the factious 
 feparatift, muft be expofed to that fcrutiny and cen- 
 fure which may fall upon the latter, fince he is in 
 fadl refponfible for the exceffes of his lefs temperate 
 
 * There is no fmall addrefs in compriling the various fedariea 
 under one general denomination of Proteftant Diffenter; under 
 this ambiguous term the adv'ocates for diflenfion appeal to hif- 
 tory, under the cloak of Prefbyterianifm, for inftances of con- 
 formity and rigid attachment to eftablilhments, and, as occafion 
 may ferve, they faift to ladepcndency in proof Of their main- 
 tenance of religious freedom and liberty of confcience. The 
 anfvvering fuch immethodical v/riters may be compared to the 
 diverfion of huiiting the duck, in tl^e words of Monfieur Bayle ; 
 '• When .1 have him in full view, and fancy him within my 
 " reach, he fiips froin me, takes a dip, and becomes invifi- 
 <•' ble." 
 
 B 3 affociate,
 
 6 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 aflbciate, agreeable to that juft maxim of the ele- 
 gant Tibullus, 
 
 •* Qulcquld agit, fanguis eft tamen ilia tuus." 
 
 To the profeflions of the firft, great attention 
 is due ; to the influence of thcfe men I attribute 
 that moderation in which their printed refolutions 
 are in general couched. It is impofllble to with- 
 hold one's approbation of the temper and difinter- 
 cftednefs of the following refolutions ; " That, 
 " with refpeft to the ufe of fair reafoning and ar- 
 " gument, the repeal of the A6bs in queftion will 
 " give us no advantage which we do not already 
 " pofltrfi ; and that we explicitly difavow, as a 
 " body, every afb of intemperate zeal, and declare, 
 " that we will not give our fandion or fijpport to 
 " the indifcrcet warmth of any individual *." Their 
 open contempt of private intereft claims alfo no 
 fin all notice : " While we thus afltrrt our rights 
 " to all the privileges of good citizens, we publicly 
 " difclaim all pretenfions to the dignities and emo- 
 " luments which are by law attached to the efta- 
 " blillicd church," &c f. 
 
 And, in proof of their fincerity,* they refer us to 
 their uiiiform good condufl throughout the laft cen- 
 tury : " We appeal to the uniform condu6l of all 
 " deiiominations among Ub, for the fpace of a whole 
 " century, and particularly in two critical periods, 
 " when there vsas not a finglc Proteftant DifTenter 
 " who joined the holtilc banners of a pretender to 
 
 • Rcrdutifn cf tl c Meeting of Protcflnnt DifTcntcrs of the 
 V, '} li iing of Vo:I:, held at Wakciicld, December 30, 1789. 
 t VAd. 
 
 " the
 
 Religious Dissension. 7 
 
 •* the throne, or was fufpefbed of an attachment to 
 *< his caufe *." 
 
 Such temperate and ingenuous language, whether 
 under real or imaginary oppreflion, demands at- 
 tention i and if it fhould be found, upon exami- 
 nation, to contain neither artifice nor fophiftry, who 
 would refufe unfeigned credit to fuch friendly de- 
 clarations ? But, to examine into their declared uni- 
 formity of attachment to the conftitution of this 
 country, I muft be permitted to go a little further 
 back into hiftory than that period whence the Pro- 
 teftant Diffenters have thought proper to date their 
 loyalty and good-will : this, indeed, is a juftice due 
 to their caufe, fince it will be a brief chronicle of 
 the times when they were in power, and when un- 
 der real perfecution. 
 
 To trace the progrefs of religious difTenfion 
 through the dark periods immediately fucceeding 
 the reformation, would be a tedious and uninte- 
 refting taflc i I Ihall therefore briefly obferve, that 
 although much greater reafons prevailed at that 
 time, than there do at prefent, for fepaiation, yet 
 there was no difagieement about the terms of church 
 communion : Hooper, Ridley, Rogers, and others, 
 the then controverfialifts, were reconciled to each 
 other; and it may be fairly prefumed that Rid- 
 ley, Cranmer, and Latimer, y,\\o laid down their 
 lives for the Eilablilhment, had fearched as nar- 
 rov/Iy into the abufes of the reformed church as any 
 
 * Refolution of the Wakefield Meeting, 
 
 B 4 amongil
 
 ^ Historical Memoirs of 
 
 amongft the prefent diflenters. There was in this 
 period no feparate meetings, except of fome of the 
 more flirious anabaptifk and fecret papifts, as is 
 implied in biihop Ridley's Articles of Vifitation, 
 1550 *. But the moderation of the firft reformers, 
 in regard to church ceremonies and eftablifhments, 
 was fuch that we find Calvin, Beza f, Peter Mar- 
 tyr, &c. men whofe zeal in many refpefts carried 
 them to great lengths, uniting uppn the broad 
 principles of reconciliation, commending unifor- 
 mity, and expofing the danger of contending for a 
 few ceremonies, " whether fuch as were appointed 
 for decency^ or thoje that were Jymbolical \." 
 
 If it (hould be faid, that in thofe days the danger 
 from the church of Rome was more imminent, and 
 that on this account the firft reformers were leis 
 vigilant, left by needlefs fcrupulofity they fliould 
 check the progrefs of reformation, I have this to 
 urge, that the dread of popery was not only then, 
 but has been ever fincc, the chief foundation of 
 diflenting patriotilrn. 
 
 I fliall pafs over the ftiort reign of unrelenting 
 Mary, as little applicable to the prefent fubjeft. 
 Upon the accefnon of Elizabeth, and the reftoration 
 
 • Sparrow's Canons, p. 35, 4to edit.— -Stillingflect on Se- 
 paration, part i. fed. 5. 
 
 f Beza defines the fm of Separation to conftft, " not merely 
 " in going from one church to another, but the difcontinuintr 
 ** communion with the public aflemMics, as though one were no 
 ** member of them." Epift. 24, p. 148. 
 
 X Calvin's EpiUlc to Sadolct, de vera Reformationc. 
 
 of
 
 Religious Dissension, 9 
 
 of the church, the Jefuitical party began to fow 
 the feeds of divifion j to check the growth of which, 
 and of a difaffeftion to the ftate which now began 
 to manifeft itfelf amongft the non-conformifts, the 
 ad: of Uniformity came forth, exprefsly againft the 
 Diflenters *. An open feparation had now taken 
 place, as Camden informs us, " under pretence of 
 " a purer reformation, by oppofition to the difci- 
 " pline, liturgy, and calling of our bifhops, as ap- 
 " proaching too near to the church of Rome f ." 
 
 From hence then we muft date that dilTenfion 
 which has fince raged with fuch indecent vio- 
 lence J. 
 
 * In 1559, anno primo Elizabethae. 
 
 f Annales Elizabethae, an. dom. 1568. — This circumftance 
 is miftated by a very fhrewd writer, who profefTes to give an 
 impartial hiftory of the Tefts, which, as he thinks, has never 
 before been fairly gi-ven. This advocate fays, " The Sacra- 
 *' ment of the Lord's Supper had been made a teft of the prin- 
 " ciples of the communicant here, prior to the year 1571, nuhicb 
 *' 'y.-as long before any Frotejlants had cper.ly feparated from the Ef- 
 " tablijhment." Right of Prot. DifT. afferted, Pref. & p. i. — 
 If this writer could eftablifh his fads, his inferences might be 
 fair enough. That, as the Tefts exiftcd before feparation, they 
 could not have been defigned againft Proteftant Diffenters. 
 
 X In 1568. See Stillingfleet on Separation, part i. feft. 6 & 
 7. — The notable Jfertor oi the. Rights of the Proteftant Diffenters 
 affirms, " That Bifhcp Stillingfleet dates the entire feparation 
 « of the Diflenters from the Church from the time of the 
 " King's declaration of indulgence, iffued in the year 1671-2." 
 Such inaccuracies are fo very frequent with this writer, that 
 they would be overlooked, if he did not deduce his fophiftical 
 inferences from them. See Rights of Prot. Diff. afferted, p. 4. 
 
 It
 
 lo Historical Memoirs of 
 
 It has frequently been obferved, that, in propor- 
 tion to the profpei ity of this country, and its {cou- 
 nty from foreign hoftilities, religious faftion has 
 been feen to flourilh. Thus, under the firrn and 
 fuccefbful reign of Elizabeth, thcfe holy feuds kept 
 pace with its encreafmg power, and in a very few 
 years we find a formidable party fetting up a fepa« 
 rate worfhip in oppofition to the eftablilhcd church : 
 whereas, under the feeble government of the latter 
 Stuarts, in particular, when there were continual 
 apprehenfions of papal power, fadion forgat its 
 nature, and fchifmatics crowded into fubjedtion, to 
 oppofe the inroads of tyranny and intolerance. 
 
 Thefe early diflentcrs, under pretence of more 
 evangelical purity, refilled the ceremonies, habit, 
 and dodrine of the national religion, and in a Ihort 
 time grew fo troublefome to the fl:ate, by attempt- 
 ing to confine the Queen's ^fupremacy to a tempo- 
 ral jurifdidion, and by publicly refufing to attend 
 the divine fervice of the church, that EUzabeth, in 
 addition to the A6t of Uniformity, thought it fafe, 
 in the year 1569, and again* in 1571, to publifh 
 proclamations, enforcing uniformity, and a due at- 
 tendance on the facraments, under heavy penalties, 
 as a iejl of the allegiance of her Juhjeils y in confe- 
 quence of which, the laws againtt the non-con- 
 formifts v/ere put in force, and fcveral of the prin- 
 cipal diflenters were fufpcndcd, deprived, and im- 
 
 • Sec Spa:ro.v'3 Canons* 
 
 prifoned.
 
 Religious Dissension. ii 
 
 prifoned *. I do not mean to juftify thefe harfli 
 proceedings againft the feparatifts, or the real per- 
 fecution which in fome inftances difgraced this 
 reign f . I only notice thefe feverities, in order to 
 controvert thofe unqualified aflertions, which the 
 apologifts for diifenfion make, " That the tefts 
 ** were enabled previous to feparation, and uni- 
 *' formly levelled againft the papiftsj" whereas the 
 direct contrary is the fafl, they originated in fepa- 
 ration, and were defigned as a teft of the principles 
 and allegiance of the non-conformifts. 
 
 But what puts this matter beyond a queftion, is, 
 that at the time -we are treating of, when the ad of 
 Uniformity palfed, and the Sacramental Teft was 
 firft enforced, the Papifts were more peaceable 
 fubjefts, more in favour with the queen, and freer 
 
 * The advocates for the diflenters roundly aflert " That 
 *' there was no pofitive law or injundion for perfons to receive 
 " the facrament of the Lord's fupper, until the popifli plot had 
 " put the nation in a ferment, when the ftatute of the 3d of 
 " James I. was enabled, 1606." Right of Pr. DiiT. p. 2d.— 
 Thefe writers artfully pafs over the ad of uniformity, and the 
 book of common prayer fet forth by the common confent of the 
 realm, and by authority of parliament, in the firft year of Eliza- 
 beth, and likewife her proclamation fourteen years after (viz. 
 1573) enjoining the magiftrate, " to fearch after and punijh all 
 " fuch perfons as fhall forbear to come to the common prayer, 
 " and recei've the facrament s of the church f according to the order 
 " in the faid book," &c. Sparrow's canons. — This was pur- 
 pofely levelled at the fedaries, and not againft the papifs. 
 
 -j- In the latter part of this reign thefe fanguinary laws 
 againft the diftenters, which were a difgrace to Chriftianity, 
 were, for reafons of ftate, judged proper to be repealed. 
 
 from
 
 12 Historical Memoirs or 
 
 from perfccution, than the Proteftant Diflenters 
 were: for it was not till that haughty prelate 
 Pius V. fulminated his bull againft Elizabeth, in 
 1569, that fhe thought the popifh a fornnidable 
 party ; whereas the feftaries, by dieir turbulence and 
 difafFedtion to the cibbliihed church, threatened 
 her fupremacy, and the interruption of the public 
 fefety. It appears too, that at an examination 
 taken before Grindal, bifhop of London, 20th 
 June, 1567, feveral pcrfons were accufed not only 
 of abfenting themfelves from their parifli churches, 
 " but of gathering together, making aflemblies, 
 " ufing prayers and preachings, and miniftringja- 
 " cr anient s among jl thenyelves." This occafioned the 
 a6t of uniformity to be prcfled with feme rigour, 
 yet not more than was neceflarvi for Gilby, himjelf 
 a dijfenter, infinuatcs, " That if they had been let 
 " alone a litde longer, they would have fhaken the 
 " conftitution of the church *." 
 
 The apprchenfions of James I. from the Protef- 
 tant DifTentcrs appears by his attempts to reconcile 
 them to the eftablifhment foon after he afccnded 
 the throne : but the conference held at Hampton 
 Court for this purpofe, filling of its defircd effecl, 
 the Diflenters were expcfcd to die fevericies of the 
 canons eftablifhed in 1603 ; a heavy blow upon the 
 Papifls, as well as the Diffenters from the eRablifhed 
 church, many of whom futTcred at the flake for 
 their difaftcdlion, through the horrible policy of 
 this feeble adminiftradon. 
 
 • Sec S:':!ling:lt-Jt on Separation, p. 20. 
 
 The
 
 Religious Dissejision. i^ 
 
 The reign of Charles I. prefents us with epifco- 
 pacy in all its fplendor; the Puritans, to whom 
 Charles feemed at firfl: attached, began foon to 
 take offence at the fabulous innovations * of fome 
 of the prelacy J and, as thePrefbyterianworlhiphad 
 been already declared to have no foundation in 
 fcripture, nor in the pra61:ice of the church, thefe 
 offended feds joined with the Independents, ever 
 averfe to ecclefiailical eflabhfhments, and over- 
 threw the difcipline of the church, dethroning that 
 unhappy monarch, whofe over-weening attachment 
 to the hierarchy was a principal caufe of civil 
 difcord, and haltened die ruin of the conftitution. 
 Hitherto v/e have feen little affection on the part 
 of the Diffcnters, either for monarchy, or the 
 national church, but an invariable deviation from 
 that wholefome advice of the old j- non-confor- 
 
 mifts, 
 
 * Particularly fcme ill-founded reports of archbifhop Laud. 
 
 f Baxter, an eminent difienter, in his Defence of the Cure of 
 Divifions, expreUes liimielf in the foliowing ingenuous terms : 
 *' The moll learned and worthy of the old non-conformifts, 
 " wrote more pgainft feparation, than the conformius: and the 
 " prefent non-conformiih have not more wifdom, learning, or 
 " holinefs than they : but they did not only urge the people 
 " againft feparation, but to come to the very beginning of the 
 " public worfiiip, preferring it before their private duties." 
 p. 88. &c. — See alfo on this fubjecl Beza's 23d epifde to biftiop 
 Grindal, Quaker's epiftle to Cox, bifhcp of Ely, and Zanchius'c 
 epiftle to bifliop Jewel. — I muft fubjoin here the opinion of John 
 Fox, a rational non-conformill. TJiis honeft and fenfible man, 
 apprehenfive cf the ill confequences of that turbulent and faftious 
 ipirit which had got amcngil his dliTenting brethren^ complains, 
 
 " That
 
 14 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 inifts, for a chearfiil compliance and reconcillatiort 
 to the legal cftablifhments. 
 
 We are now prefented with Diflenfion fi^ft in 
 power; how it availed itfelf maybe coUedled, with 
 fufficient cenfure, from writers at all times favour- 
 able to it. As foon as the Prefbyterians had got 
 the upper hand, we find them peremptorily refiif^ 
 ing that indulgence to others, which, during the 
 epifcopacy, they had fo unceafingly pleaded for 
 themfelves, even to thofe very men, who, by join- 
 ing with diem in the overthrow of the conftitu- 
 tion, had compaflTed their eftablifliment. And 
 fo rigid were they in point of uniformity, that 
 they even complained of a want of church power 
 fufficient to crufh the JeBaries^ as they could now 
 call all thofe who differed from them : to fuch a 
 degree of rigour did they proceed, that, by a me- 
 morable ordinance in 1645, the ufe of the common 
 prayer book was prohibited, not only in public 
 worfhip but in private families, under heavy pcnal- 
 
 ** That fomc of his party began to defpife him, bccaufe he 
 *' could not rail againfl bifhops and archbifhops as they did; 
 «' but, if he could be as mad as they, they would be kinder to 
 «« him. And therefore he fobcrly advifctli the governors of the 
 •' church to look well after this fort of men; for if they prevail, 
 *« it is net to be imagined what miichief and dillurbance they 
 «' will bring; whole hypocrify is more fubtle and pernicious 
 ** than that of the old monks; for, under pretence of greater 
 «* puritv, they will never give over, til! they have brought men 
 «« under a [cwifn flavcry." See Fuller's Church Hirtory, 1. 9. 
 p. ,06. — ouch were the fentiraents of a rational diflentcr in the 
 lall century. 
 
 ties;
 
 Religious Dissension. i^ 
 
 tiesi and a fine of 50/. was incurred by any perfon, 
 who fhould preach, write, or print any thing in 
 derogation of the Directory of the prefbyterian 
 worfhip. One inftance of intolerance cannot be 
 overlooked in this place, an inftance that baffles 
 comparifon in the darkeft ages of unrelenting bi- 
 gotry : thefe 'Vindicators of liberty and the rights of 
 man refufed to indulge their opprefied monarch 
 with the chiefeft confolation to infulted feelings, 
 and a broken fpirit, pofitively ftipulating, in the 
 treaty of the Iflc of Wight, that the king Ihouldnot 
 be allowed the indulgence of a common prayer 
 book for the private ufe of himfelt and fanrdly. 
 Till this revolution the real principles of Diflenters 
 were never known ^ they had been heretofore claim- 
 ing indulgence from thofe that were in power, but 
 now, being vefted with authority, they became 
 the bitter perfecutors of their rivals j and the ad- 
 vocates for freedom of confcience, and the natural 
 rights of mankind, were now transformed into furi- 
 ous bigots, and the engines of intolerance; 
 
 " And man, proud man, 
 " Dreft In a little brief authority, 
 " Play'd fuch fantafllc tricks before high Heaven, 
 " As made the angels weep." 
 
 MeaS. for M£A3. 
 
 Perhaps, If I v/as to queftion a difTenter of the 
 prefent day on fuch unexampled peifecudon, he 
 might tell me that this was the ad of the Prefby- 
 terian, or of the Independent, or of the Anabaptlft. 
 
 Vain
 
 i6 Historical Memoirs op 
 
 Vain effort at exculpation! Fruitlefs attempt to 
 limit the operation of intolerance ! — But how muft 
 his ingenuity be put to the teft to parry a narrative 
 of complicated oppreflion ! The unfortunate Mr. 
 John Biddle, a writer of fome eminence amongft 
 the Socinians, experienced, in this ^era of liberty , the 
 fmgular fate of having an Anabaptijl for his accufer, 
 a Pre/by terian for his judge, and an Independent to 
 execute his fentence. By the former. Griffin, an 
 Anabaptift teacher, who had challenged him to a 
 public difputation, he was betrayed, in the courfe of 
 the controverfy, to " deny that Chrift was God:" 
 his illiterate opponent, unable to refute the Socinian, 
 accufed him of blafphemy, and procured an order 
 for his commitment to Newgate ; in confequence 
 of which he was tried for his life, but his fentence 
 was changed by Cromwell, for banifhment into the 
 iflands of Scilly *. 
 
 I fhall be excufed inferting in this place the ju- 
 dicious remarks upon thefe times of an elegant and 
 enlightened write rf, and the rather becaufe he was 
 not a member of an epifcopal church. " Thefe 
 " broils and tumults ferved alfo unhappily to con- 
 " firm the truth of an obfervation often made, 
 " that all religious fedls, while they are kept un- 
 " der and oppreiTed, are remarkable for inculcat- 
 " ing the duties of moderation, forbearance, and 
 
 • In 1655. — See fhort account of the life of T. Eiddlc, pre- 
 fixed to ift vol. of Society T rafts, 1691. 
 
 f Moiaeim's LccIcfaHlcal IliHory, tranflatcd by Dr. Mac- 
 Irjnc, vol. iv. p. 522. 
 
 " charity
 
 Religious Dissensioi^. 1-7 
 
 <* charity towards thofe who difTent from them: 
 ** but as foon as the fcenes of perfecution are re- 
 " moved, and they, in their turn, arrive at power 
 " and pre-eminence, they forget their own precepts 
 " and maxims, and leave bodi the recommenda- 
 " tion and pradlice of charity to thofe that groan 
 *' under their yoke. Such, in reality, was the con- 
 '^ duft and behaviour of the Puritans, during their 
 " tranfitory exaltation; they fhewed as little cie- 
 *^ mency and equity to the bifhops, and other 
 " patrons of epifcopacy, as they had received fron:> 
 " them when the reins of government were in their 
 « hands." 
 
 But let us turn from this degrading pi6lure of 
 human nature, to that period where the diffenters 
 challenge our admiration, bidding us recoiled 
 that to them we owe the reftoration of the mo- 
 narchy, and the re-eflabliihment of the church *, 
 
 Able 
 
 • " The aid of the diffenters has more than once been 
 " wanted, to fecure the civil liberties of this country, and even 
 *' to befriend the ecclefiallical eftablifhments of it, and it may be 
 •* wanted again. Our anceflors were inftrumental both in the 
 " reftoration of the Stuarts, and in the fettlement of the crown 
 " upon the prefent family." Prieftley's letter to the Right Hon, 
 William Pitt, p. 51. 
 
 " Trufting to Charles II's declaration from Breda, the pref- 
 " byterians, notwithftanding a ftrong oppofltion from the other 
 " {e£is, entered heartily Into his viev/s, and compafled his reilo- 
 " ration. — By means of the reftoration, the church of England 
 " was tacitly re-eftabliflied." See Rights of the proteftant 
 Diffenters aflerted, p. 5. 
 
 C The
 
 'i8 • Historical Memoirs of 
 
 AbJe panegyrifts of fa<5lion and fedition! Let us 
 examine a little into this fudden change from re- 
 bellion to allegiance, from perfecution to prote<5lion. 
 The facts, as recorded by the bed hiftorians, ftand 
 thus: — The prefbyterians, diflfatisfied that their 
 church, although now become the national eftab- 
 liihment, did not empower them fufficiently to 
 compel rigid uniformity, were continually harraf- 
 fing the parliament for more coercive powers, in 
 order to profecute all thofe who differed from them 
 in religious opinions : upon this the army, confift- 
 ing chiefly of independents, with independent Crom- 
 well at their head, were violently incenfed agalnfl 
 diem, and betook itfelf to the defperate meafure of 
 afluming the fovereign power, and at laft became 
 fo far mafteis as to hold the prefbyterians in a fort" 
 of fubjeclion. Thefe, finding the tables now turned 
 upon them, and that in fadt they had no longer any 
 thing m.ore than the fhadow of authority in the 
 flatc, and being now thoroughly fenfible that their 
 
 The roman catholic claims equal notice, as the framer of the, 
 Critifh conllitutlon, and the improver of civil government: the 
 prefent titular blihop of London, in one of his many ingenious 
 publications, pleads with like dexterity. " In the various 
 «• abufe that has been thrown out on catholics, it fcenis 
 *' ne\er to occur to any one, that many valuable parts of the 
 <' Rnglifh condituiion were framed by them. — Shall the Engliih 
 * catholics, the n. who reared this conllitution, at the great ex- 
 " pence of their lives and forliines, and who loved it in its un- 
 " iiniilicd Rate, (hall tliey hate and attempt its ruin, when it 
 *' has acquired due form and liability?" See Bcrrington on 
 the Rights of the DifTenters. 
 
 8 lot
 
 Religious Dissension. 
 
 19 
 
 lot was even more fevere than under monarchy, 
 and the national church, began to think of reftoring 
 Charles II. to the throne s accordingly, upon his 
 artful declaration from Breda, they joined the epif- 
 copalians, and thus aflifted in the reftoration of the 
 monarchy, and re-eftablifliment of the churcK of 
 England. 
 
 Such then were the tender mercies of prefbyteri- 
 anifm ! and fuch the real motives of their boafled 
 fervices and attachment to the conftitution ! 
 
 " So felleft foes, 
 " Whofe paffions, and whofe plots have broke their fleep, 
 " To take the one the other, by feme chance, 
 *' Some trick not worth an egg, fhall grow dear friends, 
 " And interjoin their iffuei," Coriolanus. 
 
 The aim of Charles II. to reftore popery v/as 
 foon fufpedted by the diffenters, and perhaps no- 
 thing manifefted his intentions more than his de- 
 claration for toleration in 1672, which fufpended 
 all the penal laws both againfc papifts and diffen- 
 ters ; and we find the latter quietly acquiefcing 
 under the famous teft a<5t which pafTed in the fol- 
 lowing year, as more confonant to their wifhes, 
 than the former clemency of their king, at the bot- 
 tom of which they faw both popery and flavery. 
 The reigns of the latter Stuarts, in particular, prefent 
 us, at every junclure, witii the jealoufics and appre- 
 henfions of the non-conformifts, left the revival of 
 popery fhould deprive them, in common with the 
 C 2 m.embers
 
 20 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 members of the eftablifhment, of their religious pri- 
 vileges, and involve them in calamities more 
 feverc than churchmen would be expofed to j who, 
 according to their own accounts, retaining much of 
 the old leaven of autichrijiy would confequently ex- 
 perience fewer reltri(5tions *. The attachment then 
 of the diflcnters to the eftablifliment, during this 
 period, though not very confpicuous, muft be at- 
 tributed to this caufe — the mutual interefts of both 
 parties were concerned in one common oppofition 
 to popery, which was ever on the watch, waiting 
 fecretly for an opportunity to rellore perfecution 
 and intolerance. 
 
 The houfe of Stuart, through a feries of felfifli 
 policy, began now to totter; and a continuance of in- 
 difcreet and ruinous meafures, during the fhort reign 
 of inglorious James, completed its deftruftion. We 
 are prefented in this reign with a fingular pheno- 
 menon, a popijlj king afirenuous advocate for univerfal 
 toleration -f. " Strange dodrine," fays Burnet, " in 
 
 « the 
 
 • Some difTenters of the prefent times affirm that the reformat 
 tlon has not completely thrown down the kingdom of antichrifl, 
 who ftill retains dominion over tlie Britilh eftablifhment. See 
 Richards's free thoughts on the corruptions of Chriflianity, 
 1784. 
 
 f So tolerant was James at this time, that he granted permif- 
 Con to the lord mayor of London, a preft)ytcrian, to ufe what 
 form of worfhip he liked beft in Guildhall chapel: but the wary 
 difienicr, being afnen/i to the eJJablipment, refufcd the generous 
 offer : in other words, he faw through the artful defign, to engage 
 him to make the firft change from the cftablifhed worfhip, and 
 that if a prcAyterian miniftcr ofHciatcd this year, no doubt a po» 
 
 pifk
 
 Religious Dissension. 21 
 
 '^ the mouth of a profefTed papift;" and which is only 
 thus to be accounted for : — The clergy of the eflab- 
 lifhment having oppofed the artful defigns of the 
 court to revive popery, were difgraced, and the dif- 
 fenters in their turn taken into high favour j thefe bore 
 their exaltation unbecomingly : but the moll mode- 
 rate amongft them, (and there have been moderate 
 diffenters in all ages) reftrained in fome degree the 
 infolence of the refti they faw that this brightnefs 
 of royal favour was only a fun-beam, and a defign 
 of the papifts, to create an open breach betwixt 
 them and the church party*. 
 
 But I haflen to that fecond grand crifis of pa- 
 triotifm, to which the proteftant diffenters refer us, 
 as a proof of their being the friends to ecckfiajiical 
 eftablipmentSj and the rejiorers of civil liberty. There 
 is one memorable inftance in which their attachment 
 to the eftablifhment, and their zeal for civil liberty ^ 
 was not altogether fo confpicuous. Although I 
 cannot pafs it over in filence, becaufe it greatly 
 haflened that glorious revolution, which, as they 
 juftly obferve, they did promote j yet I fhall be fo 
 impartial as to let their favourite hiftorian f relate the 
 circumftance. " Towards the e^d of April 1688, 
 
 " the 
 
 plfu priefl would have celebrated mafs there in the next. And the 
 cautious magiftrate, under the wifdom of the ferpent, alTumed 
 the harmlefTnefs of the dove. 
 
 • See Burnet's Hiftory of his Own Times, an. 1686. 
 
 f The diffenterg are fond of referring to Dr. Burn^, as an 
 hiftorian very favourable to tlieir caufe, and a declared foe to 
 the clergy; the good biihop, with much candour^ however, cau- 
 tions them not to, rely too implicitly on his^ rcprefentations. 
 
 C 3 '' The
 
 11 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 " the king thought fit to renew the declaration, 
 " that he had fct out the former year, for liberty of 
 " confcience. Not fansfied with the publilhing his 
 " declaration, he refolved to oblige the clergy to 
 *' read it in all their churches in the time of divine 
 " fervicc. This put the clergy under great diffi- 
 " cultics, and they were at firft much divided 
 " about it. The point atprefent was not, whether 
 " a toleration was a lawful or an expedient thing. 
 " The declaration was founded on the claim of 
 " a dijpefif.fig p-wer, which the king did now af- 
 " fume, tiiat tended to the twtal fubverfion of the 
 " government, and the making it arbitrary: whereas 
 " by the conftitution it was a legal adminiftration. 
 "It alfo allowed fuch infinite liberty, with die fuf- 
 " penfion of all penal laws, and that without any 
 " limitation, that paganifm itfclf might be now pub- 
 " licly profefled. It was vifiblc, that the defign, in 
 " impofing the reading it on the clergy^, was only 
 ** to make them ridiculous, and to make them 
 " contribute to their own ruin." Thus far Burnet ; 
 who, after commenting on the indecent heats 
 of the difienters againft the clergy, now become, 
 by dicir manly refiflance of defpotifm, exceed- 
 ingly obno::':oiis to the court, proceeds to relate, 
 that it was by the t'./roi advice of the dijfentersy 
 now in the fulncfs (jf royal favour, tliat James 
 was induced to commit to the Tower the fix 
 
 " Tiic fMi"-vir;Hic^, the ill nature, and the ambilinn of r.-.any 
 " cle "vm.n, lias (harpcned my ipirits perhaps too much againit 
 " thcin : fo 1 warn my re; <kr to take all thr.t I {?.y on thc-fc 
 " li'.:: i. -.vith Tome grains of allowance." Preface to the lliilory 
 (A liii ( 'wn Tirnei. 
 
 bifliops.
 
 Religious Dissension. 23 
 
 biHiops, who, in defence of the conllitution, pofi- 
 tively refufed to read the declaration, and refifled 
 this daring attempt at arbitrary power. 
 
 The abettors of this notorious tranfacTtion have 
 then, in truth, the merit of greatly promoting that 
 glorious revolution, which a few months afterwards 
 was adlually completed, by the expuifion of an 
 infatuated bigot from the throne, and the re-citab- 
 liihment of the conftitution. 
 
 This iliort view of the conduct of the protc-ilant 
 dilTenters for near a century and half, prefents us 
 with the fad effefls of religious faftion; we fee the 
 peace of the community perpetually interrupted, 
 civil liberty trampled upon, and the conftitution 
 a6tually overturned in the tumultuous ftruggles for 
 religious rights and ecclefiaftical pre-eminence. 
 That the anceftors of the proteftant dilTenters were 
 the unpr evoked authors of thefe convulilons, I would 
 by no means be underftood to infinuate j the perfc- 
 cutions which their difcontents and remonftrances 
 had fo frequently brought upon them, and thofe*fe- 
 vere penal ftatutes which the government from, time 
 to time judged neceilary, to curb the feuds of iis 
 domeftic enemies, and to prcferve the public peace, 
 had now encroached largely on the liberties of the 
 fubjeft, and reduced the privileges of the non-con- 
 fbrmifts below the condiiion of free citizens: and, 
 although they occafionaily enjoyed fom.e tranEent 
 gleams of indulgence, through the varying fpirit of 
 the court and miniftry, yet their fituation v/as 
 always precarious, and they v/ere never entirely free 
 C -d. froir^
 
 24 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 from fears and perplexities; we are not then to won- 
 der at their reftleflhefs, and frequent attempts to fub- 
 vert the government, fince it was the only chance 
 they had of gaining the upper hand, and of fecu- 
 ring to themfelvcs that liberty, which this memo- 
 rable revolution has fo efFedtually eftablifhed. We 
 are rather to wonder at that paradox in politics, in 
 which the prefent advocates of the diflenters have 
 involved their caufe, who, whilfl they are challeng- 
 ing, in behalf of their forefathers, an eminent 
 fhare of mprit in conftrufting that beautiful fabric, 
 the prefent conftitution, are equally lavifh in their 
 applaufcs of the defcendant for his pious attempts 
 to deface the nobleft monument of his anceftor's 
 wifdom. This, however, may be eafily reconciled, 
 upon the argument of a Roman author:—" Dijfen- 
 '* ticntium res gefbe, ficut ego exiftumo, fatis 
 " amplx, verum aliquanto minores tamen, quam 
 " fama feruntur: fed, quia provenere ibi magna 
 " fcriptorum ingcnia, per terrarum orbem fa6ta 
 " pro maxumis celebrantur. lia eorum, qui ea 
 " fecercy virtus tanta bahetur^ quantum verbis ea po- 
 " tuere ext oiler c praclara ingenia *," 
 
 Upon 
 
 • For the fake of my brother eles^ors, who may have forgotten 
 their Latin, or never learnt it, I will tranflatc the paflage, appriz- 
 ing them that 1 have fuhftituted the firft won! for Athenunfium, 
 which 1 find Sn tiic origiual, vid. Salluft, Bell. Catil. 8. " As 
 «• i-AT as I can judge, fame fpeaks higher of their atchieve- 
 " mcnt";, great as they may be, than (he ought to do; thia may 
 " be owing to the great ingenuity of their hiftorians and panc- 
 <' gyriils, who have extolled their exploits to the very flcies. It 
 
 " has
 
 Religious Dissension. 25 
 
 Upon the re-eftablifhment of the conftitution, 
 the diflenters came in for that fhare of religious 
 liberty, to which, as a free people, they were enti- 
 tled. And the act of toleration, by delivering thern 
 froni thofe penal laws which had endangered their 
 perfons and property, reftored them to that rank 
 in the polidcal fcale, which was judged expedient, 
 and fafe to the conftitution. They are well war- 
 ranted then in paying a juft tribute of applaufe and 
 gratitude to the common anceftor, whofe wifdom 
 and virtue effefted the glorious revolution, that 
 cpocha of true Englilh liberty. The blind and 
 implicit fubmiflion of James to the papal fee, 
 which was on the point of re-aflyming its tyranny 
 
 " has fo happened then that the reputation of the difTenters, has 
 « rifen in proportion to the wit and abilities of their apologifts.'* 
 i — Mr. Beaufoy, in his very able fupport of Mr. Fox's motion 
 towards the repeal of the Tefts, March 3d, 1790, obferved that 
 the conduft of the Proteftant Diffenters had been excmplarily 
 peaceable andmodefl; that in the unhappy moments of national 
 embairafrment, they have preferred a continuance of fulFering to 
 every hope of relief; that it was not till all public difficulties and 
 anxieties were removed, that it was not till the return of the 
 general ftrength, that they have entreated the attention of the 
 legiilature to the hardfhips they have endured from the facra- 
 mental tefts ; and fuch has been the continuance of their conduft 
 for mcr^ than 120 years! — Credat Judasus. 
 
 Woodfall's Diary. 
 And Sir Henry Hoghton at the fame time declared, that, as a 
 Proteflant Dilfenter, he looked with pride to the hiftory of the 
 times preceding the pafling of thefe afts. — Thus do thefe gentle- 
 men, betwixt them, vindicate the 'v.-hcle political conduct of the 
 DifTenters, from the date of feparation {i559> or according to 
 Camden 1568) to the prefent times. 
 
 pver
 
 26 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 over civil and religious liberty, had brought the 
 proteftant caufe to the brink of ruin, and arbitrary- 
 power had nearly annihilated the lights and privi- 
 leges of the fubjedt. But die complaints of an op- 
 preiTed people increafing with the injuries that 
 were adcunnulating on them, the feafon was come 
 when rcfiftance was not only juftifiable, but a vir- 
 tue: the arbitrary monarch fled from his throne, 
 the long-conttiled limits of royal prerogative were 
 defined, and the facred and inviolable rights of the 
 fubjeft afcertained. 
 
 The mutual jealoufies that fubfifted betwixt Wil- 
 liam and a great part of his clergy was not a little 
 fomented by the diflentcrs, immediately after the 
 prince of Orange was called to the throne. The 
 king, who had a natural bias to Calvinifm, and 
 who yielded to no prince in political abilities, had 
 an early opportunity of fhewing his averfion to the 
 mcmbt-rs of the cliurch of England, and cfpecially 
 the biOiops, many of vvhoin, by th.eir refuful to 
 take the oaths of allegiance, and by withdrawing 
 from his parliament, openly difowned his autnoiity 
 and avotved their contempt of iiis governnuric. 
 To moitify thefe men, v.hofe ftrong prejudices in 
 ftvour of the late dodrine of palTive obedience and 
 non-refiftance, and whofe notions of he reditary, in- 
 deft-afible right, and direft lineal fuccefllon, coulil 
 not be got over, William refolved to admit the 
 diflfenters to a fliare in {)oRs under the government. 
 To this end, as a previous ftep, he piopofed to 
 parliament the abolition of the Teds ; a meai'Lire 
 
 which.
 
 Religious Dissension. 27 
 
 v/hich, in the former reign, he could by no means 
 be brought to countenance, and which, in all pro- 
 bability, would not have been even now brought 
 forv/ard, but with a view to humble the high non- 
 juring clergy. The attempt, however, after repeat- 
 ed trials, failed ; yet the conteft v/as eventually pro- 
 du6live of the befb confequences : the difappointed 
 king, at a more favourable feafon, obtained an A(^ 
 of Parhament, which reflects equal honour on the 
 promoter and the Chriftian caufe. In 1689 the 
 Att of Toleration came forth, intituled, " An Aft 
 " for exempting their Majeflies Proteftant Sub- 
 *^ jecls, diffenting from the Church of England, 
 '* from the Penalties of certain Laws," &c *. 
 
 It is from this memorable period that the dif- 
 fenters date that liberty and indulgence which they 
 now enjoy, and have fo long been blelTed withj 
 and it might have been expected that an experi- 
 ence of the fatal effefts of former religious conflifts, 
 and the benefits of an enlarged and liberal tole- 
 ration, would have fealed the tranquillity of the 
 kingdom. But, as it has been already obferved, 
 in proportion to the liability of the Engiifh govern- 
 ment, religious faction has been often found to 
 thrive : fo, in the period immediately fubfequent 
 to the revolution, although no open hoftilities were 
 offered to the eftabliiliment, nor any abfurd appli- 
 cation made by the diffenters for a repeal of thofe 
 
 * In this bill the Corporation and Teft AtSls are omitted, 
 and vonfjtjuently remain in fjrce, 
 
 laws
 
 £8 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 laws which they, by their own vohintary acqui- 
 cfcence had fo recently fandioned * j yet, fo fa- 
 vourable was this period to fanatical conceit, that 
 we find a multitude of feels darting up afrefh, and 
 again involving the people in the perplexities of 
 controverfy and divifion. 
 
 The clemency which was now extended to the 
 difienters in England, was not enjoyed by their 
 brethren in the neighbouring kingdoms. In Ire- 
 land an intolerant fpirit raged amongft the fcftaries, 
 and they fufFered perfecution, not as fchifmatics 
 from the eftablifhed church, but as diflenters from 
 their own narrow creeds and formularies. The 
 fate of Mr. Thomas Emlyn, a learned but unhappy 
 Unitarian, fufficiently illuftrates this matter. His 
 difTenting brethren having difcovered fome hetero- 
 dox opinion of his, refpeiling the incomprehcnfible 
 myftery of the Trinity, applied, with unexampled afn 
 fu ranee, to that government under which they them- 
 felves enjoyed no legal toleration^ and adlually ob- 
 tained, in 1703, from fir Richard Pine, the then 
 lord chief juftice of Ireland, a fpecial warrant to 
 fcize the miferable heretic and his papers j and, left 
 he fhould cfcape the juft vengeance of the offended 
 laws, the pious zealots conduced him in p>ei-fon to 
 the common gaol of Newgate ; there indeed diey 
 
 • The political maxim of the celebrated Junius is not inap- 
 plicable to the prcfent cafe: " The fubmiiTion of a free people 
 " to the executive authority of government, is no more than a 
 " compliance with laws whirh they thcmfcJvcs have ena<5\cJ." 
 Letter I. 
 
 left
 
 Religious Dissension, 1^ 
 
 left him : " for," as he fays in the Narrative of his 
 Life, " during my confinement all my acquaint- 
 *' ance were eftranged from me, and all offices of 
 *^ friendfliip and civility ceafed j but of all men, 
 " the difienting minifters of Dublin were the molt 
 " deftitute of kindnefs. Not one of them, except- 
 *^ ing Mr. Boyfe, vouchfafed m.e fo much as that 
 " fmall office of humanity, in vifiting me when in 
 " prifon : nor had they fo much pity on the foul of 
 " their erring brother, as they thought him, as to 
 " feek to turn him from the error of his ways *." 
 
 In the fame year, the kirk of Scotland had an 
 opportunity of manifefting her zeal for pure and un- 
 defilsd religion. Upon a motion of the earl of 
 Strathmore's, the 6th of May 1703, " for the 
 " toleration of all Proteftants in the exercife of 
 " religious woriliip," the prefbytcrians raifcd a vi- 
 olent and fuccefsful oppofition ; and, forgetful of the 
 indulgence that their brethren at that time were 
 enjoying under epifcopacy in England, rejedied the 
 motion with horror, exclaiming againft iuchfin/Hl 
 £cmmunio}iy and declaring that to enaft a toleration 
 in favour of epifcopalians, would be to ejiahliflj ini- 
 quity by law. 
 
 It would be foreign to m.y defign to enter into a 
 detail of the religious controverfies, or the inteftine 
 broils, that harrafied the kingdom during the reign 
 
 * See Narrative of his Life prefixed to his Works, and Eio- 
 graph. D'iGi. article Emiyn. — This gentleman afterwards fled 
 fo) fhclter to England, and becarne an intimate friend of the 
 fame... Dr. Samuel Clarke, 
 
 of
 
 30 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 of queen Anne. The violent condudt of two tur- 
 bulent parties difgraced this period of Englifh hif- 
 tory J for religion, from the firft rife of the Whig and 
 Tory fadlions, was always brought in as a pretext to 
 cover the political views of either party*. The dif- 
 fenters, who now conftituted a great part of the 
 Whig fadion, under an idle pretence that the court 
 and Tory party were folicitous to reftore the Pretend- 
 er, uniformly oppofcd the mealures of the latter, and 
 provoked them, after two unfucccfsfiil attempts, to 
 bring in and pafs a bill f to prevent occafional con- 
 formity^ and alfo J an a^ to prevent the gro'^sjth of 
 fchifnii in order more effcdually to humble thofe 
 dangerous fchifmaticsy as they affcflcd to call their 
 Whig opponents. Thefe bills, however, were in 
 reality a fpecies of perfecution, and a heavy clog 
 on that free toleration granted at the revolution; 
 but they originated in tlie turbulence of party, and 
 
 ♦ The church v/as not a little diftradcil by the indecent 
 contefts amongft the clergy, who ranged thcmfelves under two 
 divifions, diftinguiilied by the titles of High Church and Low 
 Church. Thefe ccclcfiadical Whigs and Tories loaded each 
 other with the mod invidious epithets ; the high-church men 
 ftigmatized their opponents as republicans and prefbyterians, 
 whilfl their low-church brethren branded their adverfaries with 
 the appellation of Jacobites and enemies to the revolution. And 
 thefe odious contefls, being fomented not a little by the Dif- 
 fenters, contributed in the end to fetter toleration with illiberal 
 rcftr'iftions. They ferved alfo to furnilh a very celebrated ora- 
 tor, near fourfcore years aftcr;vards, with argument to wound 
 the credit of the prcfcnt hierarchy ; but he wai more happy m ha 
 recolUdion of thcfc odious difputcs, than he \\^=, flrtun.^te in his ap- 
 plication of them to the fubjcd under debate : March 3d, 1 790. 
 
 -f In 1711. : In 1714. 
 
 would
 
 Religious Dissension*. 31 
 
 would not have ftalned the clemency of this reign, 
 if the diffenters had not been fo forward in promot- 
 ing political feuds *. We are now arrived at a pe- 
 riod of our hiftory favourable to genius and lite- 
 rary merit. The progrefs of reafon, and a liberal 
 cultivation of the mental powers, had not only freed 
 the human mind from the fliackles of Romifh fu- 
 perftition, but rendered a relapfe into popery morally 
 impoiTible. From the influence of that unbounded 
 liberty which each individual nov/ claimed of ipeak- 
 ing and v/riting on theological fubjecls, it v/as na- 
 tural to expeCl an increafe of feftaries ; and accord- 
 ingly we find the moft abfurd and ridiculous opi- 
 nions broached amoiag the people, whilfh enthufi- 
 afm, under the affedlation of fuperior ianftity, hung 
 upon the rivirts of pure religion. 
 
 From the whimfical attacks of im.pollure and 
 fanaticifm the church felt little annoyance ; but a 
 falfe philofophy, which had leagued itfeif with the- 
 
 * That there were feveral fchemes, at the latter part of this 
 reign, to rellore the pretender to the crown, cannot be doubted ; 
 but that the queen, or the Tory party, were the inftruments of 
 fuch a defign, does not at all appear by their conduct. It is 
 certain that the queen had fome Jacobites about her, who fs- 
 cretly wifhed for fuch a revolution : but that the Tories could 
 be brought to engage in, or even to favour, fo abfurd a rnca- 
 fure, there is not the leaft foundation to fuppofe. Party v/riters 
 have copied this inconfiftent charge one after another, and de- 
 fignedly overlooked the fpirited intention of the Tories to rcicu^ 
 their fovereign from a certain domeilic fia\'ery v/hich held Iicr. 
 They fliould have reneded that the Jacobite party would not 
 have been fo hardy as to counfel thcfe men to alter that fu&- 
 lelhon which they had fo lately eftabiidaed.
 
 32 HistoRiCAL Memoirs of 
 
 ology, began now to wound the credit of revek- 
 tion, and the interefts of the orthodox faith. The 
 malignant hypothefes of Hutchefon and Collins, of 
 Tindal and of Chubb, were received in this jera 
 of free-thinking with wonderful applaufe j their 
 difciples were numerous, and the intoxicating flimes 
 of free enquiry fhook the convi<5tion of the unlia- 
 ble, flackened the activity of the orthodox, and fe- 
 duced many from the fimplicity of the gofpel. 
 
 The eftabliflied church indeed had few or no 
 open enemies to contend with, in the beginning 
 of this century J neverthelefs, under pretence of 
 freedom of enquir)% and the exercife of reafon, its 
 tranquillity was wounded, and the crude fancies of 
 infidels and fanatics obtruded on its members. iFor 
 with the liberty of religious worfhip, the licen- 
 tioufnefs of enthufiafm and infidelity encreafed ; and 
 fuch was the infolence and effrontery of the fceptic's 
 of thefe days, that the good fenfe of the nation was 
 offended by their bold attacks on the being of a 
 God, the credibility of the gofpel, and the dignity 
 of the Chriftian caufe ; whilft the moft refpc6table 
 members of the church were infulted by the pro- 
 fane wit and blafphemous ridicule of deifts and 
 of athc'ifts *. — Thus, although we impute the pro- 
 
 grefs 
 
 • Such was the freedom of thinking and writing on religious 
 points at this time, that tlie eft'ufions of impictv ai\d extrava- 
 gance, which were poured forth among the people, were more 
 greedily fought after and read than the manly productions of an 
 enlightened dcrgy. And ii is a faft, that the profane writings 
 
 of
 
 Religious Dissension, 33 
 
 grefs of the proteflant faith to the improvements in 
 fcience and philofophy, yet we cannot forget, that 
 with the cultivation of the human powers the fub- 
 tilties of dialeflics, and the mifchievous refinements 
 of metaphyfical argument were introduced. No 
 period had been fo favourable as the prefent to lite- 
 rary merit j and genius, although not much encou- 
 raged by the great, flourifhed under the culture of 
 a liberal public ; for, as a philofophical fpirit of free 
 enquiry had diffufed itfelf amongft the people, me- 
 taphyfical reafonings, however precarious and un- 
 fatisfadory, obtained an inauipicious homage : 
 and it was, no doubt, in reference to this fpecula- 
 tive knowledge, that an acute defender of the Dif- 
 fenters was led to think, " That improvements in 
 *^ philofophy have made many fceptics in all 
 " churches, reformed and unreformed *." 
 
 The afcendency which this fpirit of free enquiry 
 had gained over the minds of men, and the reputa- 
 tion which philofophy had now attained by the dif- 
 coveries of exalted genius and fuperior talents, con- 
 tributed in no fmall degree to the culture of fophiitry 
 and fcepticifm. True philofophy, indeed, like pure 
 religion, will rife the brighter from the refearches and 
 
 of Toland, Mandeville, Woolflon, Sec. were fo coveted, that 
 fome of thcfe needy fceptics gleaned a comfortable fubfiftence 
 from the corruptions of the age, and their bookfellers, notwlth- 
 flanding fome expenfive lavv-fults, which thefe produflions had 
 involved them in, acquired confiderable fum£ by the faie of their 
 multiplied abfurdities. 
 
 * Preface to the CcnfelTional, p. 60. 
 
 D enquiries
 
 J4 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 enquiries of real genius ; but, under the name of fci- 
 cnce, falfely fo called, a profiifion of wild chimseras 
 and fpecious fyftems were now obtruded on the 
 public, and their reception was favourable, becaufe 
 they were adorned with all the elegance of fancy. 
 The powers and genius of thofe real philofophers. 
 Bacon, Newton, and Boyle, were not only exerted 
 in the inveftigarions of experimental and natural 
 knowledge, but were directed to the evidences and 
 confirmation of the great truths of Chriftianity*; 
 whilft fome overweening fophifts, afluming the dig- 
 nity of pliilofophy and a refemblance of thele real 
 fages, pointed their feeble fcience at the credit of 
 revelation. The fubtiltles of metaphyfics were at 
 this time miftaken for the depth of real wifdom, 
 and becaufe men wanted difcernment, they yielded 
 
 • The friends of Arianifm and Socinianifm have alternately 
 claimed this great man as their own. Whifton reprefented him 
 as an Ariar., nnd has candour enough to tell us, in the Memoirs of 
 his own life, that Sir Ifaac Newton was fo much offended with 
 him for this, that he would never fuffcr him to enter as a member 
 of the KoyA Society, while he fit at the head of it. Dr. Prieftley, 
 in his turn, claims him as a Socinian. The fad is, this good 
 man juftly abhorred the perfecution cf the Non-conformifts ; and 
 this was not inconfiflcnt with his being firmly attached to the 
 Church of England. He judged of men by their manners', and 
 the true fchtimatics were, in his opinion, the vicious and the 
 wicked ; not that he confined his principles to natural religion, 
 for he was thoroughly perfuadcd of the truths of revelation ; and, 
 amidtl the great variety of books which he had conflantly before 
 him, that which he ftudied with the greateft application was the 
 Lible. See Hi;^g. Did. article Newton; and Importance of 
 I'rcc Enquiry, :*cc. 109. 
 
 ♦ themfelves
 
 Religious Dissension. 35 
 
 themfelves eafy vafTals to imaginative fcience. The 
 philofophical improvements of thofe great men 
 threw a fplendour over true religion, and the evan- 
 gelical truths were illuflrated and confirmed by their 
 literary exertions : but the fubtil refinements of Bo- 
 lingbroke*, and the civil, Jocialy and theijlic fyjiem, 
 which Shaftefburyt had derived from the antient 
 moralifts, were fet up in oppofition to the golpel of 
 Chrifl ; and the fine wit and elegant humour with 
 which thefe vifionaries had decked out their fcepti- 
 cifm, was fo well feafoned to the artificial tafte and 
 flimfy principles of the times, as to charm their nu- 
 merous and deluded followers. Deifm having thus 
 aflumed the title of philofophy, infidelity triumphed 
 at the expence of reafon and demonftration. 
 
 I have been induced to take this Ihort view of the 
 ftate of fcience and philofophy at the beginning of 
 this century, in order to bring forward a defcription 
 
 * The EfTays on Philofophy and Religion, which Lord Bo- 
 lingbroke addrefled to Pope, contained fo many ofFenfive things 
 againft revelation, that they occafioned a prefentment of his 
 works by the Grand Jury of Weftminfter. 
 
 f The Letters and Charafteriftics of Lord Shaftefbury are full 
 of his vifionary fcheme of idolizing moral virtue, at the expence 
 of revelation. Every page fhews him a zealous afierter of the 
 ci^oily facial, and theijiic fyjiem ; and his philofophy was made up 
 of two principles, viz. That there is a Providence which admi- 
 nillers and confults for the whole, to the abfolute exclufion of 
 general evil and diforder; and. That man is made by that Provi- 
 dence a political or fecial animal, whole conflitution can only 
 find its true and natural end in the purfuit and excrcife of the 
 moral and fecial virtues. See Blog. Did. article Cooper. 
 
 D 2 of
 
 ^6 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 of Diflenters, whofe political condud has not been 
 hitherto under confideration j my remarks having 
 been in general confined to thofe non-conformifts, 
 the Prefbyterians, Independents, AnabaptiUs, and 
 Quakers, who, fince the reformation, have made fo 
 confpicuous a figure in the popular commotions of 
 this country. The Unitarian Jyftem having been 
 little known in England until the middle of the lall 
 century, could not be confidered as an objefl of po- 
 litical inveftigation ; for, as thefe religionifts made 
 no figure in the community, but were difperfed 
 amongft that great variety of fefts that Iprung up 
 after the reformation, their theological tenets, or 
 focial conduct, had not excited much attention. — 
 It is not my defign, neither would it be confiftent 
 with my plan, to examine the do6trines of Unita- 
 rianifm, or to difcufs the merits of that faith, which 
 would annihilate the dcarefl interefts of Chrif- 
 tianity *. I leave it to abler pens, and firmer nerves, 
 to embark on this antipacific ocean of theological 
 controverfy j my bufinefs is with the Unitarian, as 
 a fubjed and fellow-citizen, although not of the 
 
 * " Socmianifm cuts to the very root of all that is diftinguifh- 
 " ing in the gofpel. It dcftroyj. the neceflity, and even the im- 
 " portance of a miraculoiLs iiitcrpofition, and gives the infidel 
 " too great reafon to exclaim, that all that was extraordinary 
 " was fuperfluous ; and that the apparatus was too cxpcnfi\e and 
 *' too fplcndid for the purpofes to which it was applied. This 
 " feems to be an argument a priori againft that fpccics of Chrif- 
 " tianity, which feme, under the pretence of refining it from 
 " corruption, would reduce to the level of natural religion." 
 White's Sermons at the Bampion Lcilurc, notes, p. 68. 
 
 houjehold
 
 Religious Dissension. 37 
 
 houfehold of faith i and I ftiall confider his conduct, 
 whedier Arian or Socinian, as a member of that fo- 
 ciety, which affords a liberal connivance at, but no 
 legal toleration of, his creed *. 
 
 To the fpirit of fadbion, and an ardent zeal for 
 profelytifm, two evils equally offenfive to civil go- 
 vernment, we are indebted for the rife and progrefs 
 of this Ipiritual contagion. Driven from a coun- 
 try, which had afforded them countenance and pro- 
 teftion, by an offence againft the civil and eccleli- 
 aftical eftablifhments f of it, the difciples of Socinus 
 direfted their emiffaries to fearch out a refting- 
 place. England, that land of religious liberty, 
 that hot-bed of feftaries, was open to the wretched 
 exiles, and here they found a refuge from thofe conti- 
 nental ftorms which their zeal and irregularities had 
 
 • The Socinians are not included in the Aft of Toleration ; 
 and by the 9th and loth of William III. they are expofed to 
 fundry difabilities. Likewife by the 13th Eliz. c. 12. and the 
 29th Ch. II. c. 9. 
 
 \ Amongft other adls of violence which their zeal has tempted 
 them to commit, was that famous tumult at Racow, in Poland. 
 Their rage for reformation was vented againft an unfortunate cru- 
 cifix, which had excited their religious refentment, and which they 
 fo belaboured with flicks and, ftones, that they at laft triumphed 
 in its overthrow. The matter, however, did not end here, the 
 reformers attrafted the notice of the civil magiftrate, and they 
 were banifhed Poland with the utmoft ignominy in 1638, forthif 
 breach of the peace ; but they have always gloried in their zeal 
 and their fufFerings. " As Chriftians, we think it our duty t» 
 " hazard e^ery thing, rather than negleft to take any meafures m 
 "' our power to propagate truth." See Dr. Prieftlsy's Letter tQ 
 Mr. Pitt, p. 24 — 1787. 
 
 D 3 gatliercd
 
 ^8 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 gathered round them*. The emiffaries then of 
 this community are firft difcovered in this country 
 towards the middle of the feventecnth century, in the 
 courfe of which they gained many profelytes, fom^ 
 of whom were men of eminence and difUndion : nor 
 
 is 
 
 • The UnUarian religion, before tlie improvements of Fauftu$ 
 Socinus, was an incoherent ill-digefted fyftem ; but the confum- 
 mate abilities of this enterpriiing man difguifcd, ui great mea- 
 furc, its former monftrous abfurdities, and gave it an air of me- 
 thod and connexion. Hence, according to Dr. Mo(heim, the 
 modem Unitarians arc very properly called Socinians. The term 
 Unitarian, indeed, is very comprehenfive, and is not only applied 
 to the Arians and Socinians, but to all thofe who rejeft the do(5lrine 
 of the Trinity, upon which the Church of England is eftabliflied. 
 Notwithftanding the addrefs and dexterity of this able reformer, 
 he could not preferve his community from inteftine divifions. 
 One more zealous than prudent, by his ardour and obftinacy in 
 oppofmg the divine worihip cf Chrift, brought upon himfelf the 
 vengeance of the civil authority ; and it was in vain that Socinus, 
 attempted to foftcn down the error of Francis Davides, whofe 
 offenfivc tenets were the occafion of his being thrown into pri- 
 {bn, where he perifhed in 1579. Several others were banifhed 
 the fociety, and fuffered bitterly in the countries to which they had 
 fled ; but araongft them all, the capital errors of Budna;us gave, 
 mod uneafinefs to Socinus ; and it called forth all his abilitrcs to 
 colour over the daring hcrefy of this man, who pcfitivcly af- 
 fcrted, " That Chrift was not begotten by any extraordinary adt 
 " of divine power, but that he was born like other men, and 
 " tempted like other men." Hence he cafily drew this de- 
 duflion, " That to pay religious worihip of any kind to Jcfus 
 ♦• Chrift was idolatry." This hypothcfis, however conforma- 
 ble to the fundamental principles of Socinianifm, was at thit 
 time looked upon as impious and intolerable ; and he was in- 
 duced afterwards to abandon thcfc offenfivc fcniimcnts, and was 
 
 again
 
 Religious Dissension. 39 
 
 Is this to be wondered at, " For it is remarkable, 
 " that the Socinians, in propagating their religious 
 " principles, have always followed a quite different 
 " method from that which has been obferved by 
 " other fefts. It has been the general pradice of 
 " feftaries and innovators to endeavour to render 
 *' themfelves popular, and to begin by gaining the 
 *' multitude to their fide ; but the difciples of So- 
 *' cinus, who are perpetually exalting the dignity^ 
 u prerogatives J and authority of reajon^ have this 
 " peculiarity in their manner of proceeding, that 
 '^ they are at very little pains to court the favour 
 
 Again re-admitted into the community from which he had been 
 excommunicated. How far thefe opinions are held by modern 
 Socinians may be beft gathered from the tenets of their intrepid 
 champion: " If, Sir, you fuppofe that all the clergy of the 
 " Church of England really believe that Jefus Chrill is a proper 
 ** objedl of prayer, and that he is to be adjured by his holy 
 " Nat:-vi/y, tffr. with many other doflrines equally abhorrent to 
 ** reafon, you are greatly millaken." See letter to the Right 
 Hon. William Pitt, p. 3 1 . — " I am endeavouring by all the 
 " means in my power, to roufe the attention of thinking 
 " men in this country to the corrupt ftate of religion that is efta- 
 " bliOied in it ; and efpecially to convince them of this mif- 
 " chievous tendency of ivorjh.'pping Chrljl as God." Letters to 
 Dr. Horfley, part 3d. — This feems to be the Budn^ean doftrine 
 in perfection, and is enough to raife the Ipirit of the gejitler Soci- 
 nus. Whether an expoftulation would p- evail with his difciple to 
 change his principles, or to abandon thofe tenets, which are nei- 
 ther to be found in the Creed of Fauilus, nor the Catechifm of 
 Cracow, may beft be colledled from the words of his zealous 
 votary : " This is more than [ would chufe to fay of my own 
 *' opinions. I may fee reafon to change them to-morrow.'* 
 Importance of Free Enquiry, notes, p. 109. — 1785. 
 
 D 4 *^ of
 
 40 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 " of the people, or to make -profelytes to their 
 " caufc among thofe who are not diftinguifhed 
 *' from the multitude by their rank or their abili- 
 " ties. It is only among the learned and the great 
 " that they feek for difciples and patrons with a 
 " zealous afTiduity *." 
 
 Agreeable to thefe principles, they inftni(5led 
 their difciples, in their famous academy at Racow, 
 in the rules of eloquence and rhetoric, and paid great 
 attention to the fubtilties of philofophy and logic ; by 
 which means they invited the notice of men of birth 
 anddiftin(5lion, who, in this dawn of fcience, were fond 
 of patronizing perfons of education and talents, and 
 who infenfibly became members of their commu- 
 nity. The like caufes produced the like effeds in 
 this our country. When fpeculative philofophy had 
 fpread its influence amongft us, and when we had 
 fet up the lamp of reajorty as the only infallible guide 
 to truth, the Unitarian principles could not fail of 
 a favourable reception. — The feafon I have pointed 
 out ; the fuccefs let us next attend to. 
 
 Chriftianity had, at the period under contempla- 
 tion, many enemies to contend withj the nation 
 had been overrun with fcepticifm and infidelity, and 
 every fenfe of religion feemed to be extinguifhed in 
 the minds of men. Atheifm, indeed, began to 
 droop, for the daring impieties of Hobbes and 
 Spinoza had excited general difguft, and the public 
 willingly received a refutation of the abfiird denial 
 
 • Mo/litim's EccJef. Hiil, by Maclane, vol. v. p. 5Z.
 
 Religious Dissension. 41 
 
 af the exijlsnce and moral government of an all-pow^ 
 erful Beingy even from the hands of Deifm itfelf ; 
 which fcrupled only at the divine origin of the gofpel, 
 but promoted a religion which was to be amenable 
 to the dictates of natural reafon. Here was ample 
 room for the Unitarian mifTionary j his fundamen- 
 tal maxim, " That all things that furpafs the limits 
 " of human comprehenfion, fhould be entirely ba- 
 " nifhed from the Chriftian religion," could not fail 
 of accommodating this philofophic age. The harveft 
 truly was plenteous, the reapers were at hand, and 
 the fickle was thruft in with no little fuccefs *. To 
 Hop the progrefs of infidelity, the legiflature inter- 
 fered, and the 9th f and loth ftatutes of William 
 III. came forth to prevent the total fubverfion of 
 religion and morality. 
 
 Having 
 
 • The reader who would wirti to fee an account of the Uni- 
 tarian church, may confult a candid and liberal publication of 
 Mr. Lindfey, entitled, « An Hiftorical View of the State of the 
 " Unitarian Doftrine and Worlhip, from the Reformation to our 
 « own Times." 1783. 
 
 f It is worthy notice, that this ftatute feems to be pointed at 
 thofe who have apoilatized from Chriftianity : '* If any perfon, 
 " having been educated in, or at any time having made profeffion 
 " of the Chrillian religion within this realm, fhall, by writing, 
 « printing, &c. deny any one of the perfons in the Holy Tri- 
 " nity to be God, &c. or Ihall deny the Chriftian religion to be 
 *' true, or the fcriptures to be of divine authority, &c," And 
 it feems to have a peculiar refpedl to thofe who, having embraced 
 Socinianifm, by a very natural tranfition pafTed into Deifm, and 
 ended in downright Atheifm. Such was the cafe of the unfettled 
 Toland ; his firft Hep was Socinianifm, which appeared in his 
 
 book.
 
 42 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 Having thus brought forward the Unitarian to 
 public notice, I fhall leave him for a while, blend- 
 ed in the common mals of Proteftant DiiTenters, 
 and refume my fubjed. Perhaps I may have in- 
 curred fome cenfure for this digreflion, and been 
 thought to have wandered from my original un- 
 dertaking, which was, " to contrail the late friend- 
 " ly profeflions of the Diflenters with their former 
 ** political condu(5l." This cenfure might be ap- 
 plicable to a lefs defultory pubhcation ; in the pre- 
 lent cafe I claim indulgence under the fan<5lion of 
 a celebrated critic. " Memoirs denote a compo- 
 " fition, in which an author does not pretend to 
 *^ give full information of all the fads refpecfling 
 ** the period of which he writes, but only to relate 
 ** what he himfelf had accefs to know, or what he 
 ** was concerned in, or what illuftrates the condud 
 
 book, entitled, " Chriftlanity not myfterious," and from hence 
 he proceeded gradually, through the medium theifm, to the 
 fummit of infidelity. 
 
 It is this famous (latute that is the bugbear of Dr. Prieftley : 
 " Repeal the ad of king William, which makes it blafphemy 
 " to impugn the dod: ine of the Trinity. I think /; my duty to 
 « attempt the utter overthrow of this doftrine." Letter to Pitt, 
 p. 24. — But let him calm his fears, if he really has any, and let 
 him reft quiet, as a focial being, as a citizen, and fubjeft ; and, 
 J dare pledge myfclf, that he will not be dignified by perfecu- 
 tion or martyrdom. Church of England men arc of the fame 
 mel.1l with the Athenians of old, who condemned Socrates, not 
 for fayins;, " There is but one Got!,'" but for his imprudently ex- 
 citing a fcdition in order to overthrow the eftablifhcd worfliip 
 of his country. See V^oliairc's Letters concerning the Englini 
 Katioi. 
 
 " of
 
 Religious Dissension. 43 
 
 " of feme perfon, or the circumftances of fome 
 " tranfaftion, which he chufes for his fubjeft, 
 " From a writer of Memoirs, therefore, is not ex- 
 " pefted the fame profound refearch, or enlarged 
 " information, as from a writer of Hiftory. He is 
 « not fubjedt to the fame laws of unvarying dig- 
 " nity and gravity. He may talk freely of him- 
 " felf : he may defcend into the moft familiar anec- 
 « dotes *." 
 
 By the feveral afts of parliament which had pre- 
 vioufly eftablifhed the Proteftant fuccefiion in the 
 houfe of Hanover, George I. found an eafy and 
 peaceable acceffion to the throne f . The Proteft- 
 ant Diflenters having felt the benefits of Toleration, 
 and fenfible of the bleflings of a mild adminiftra- 
 tion, dreaded, in common with their fellow-fub- 
 jefts, an interference of papal policy, and re-intro- 
 
 * Blair's Leftures on Rhetoric, &c. vol. iii. p. 52. 
 
 ■\ In 1 7 1 4. — The Diflenters are fond of charging the clergy 
 of the Eftablifliment with difafFedlion to the Proteftant fuccef- 
 fion in the houfe of Brunfwick. When the convention of ef- 
 tates, at the revolution, declared the throne to be vacant, and 
 that the next Proteftant heirs of the blood royal of Charles I, 
 Ihould fill the vacant throne, in the old order of fucceffion, it 
 has never been denied that many of the clergy, together with a 
 great number of the people, from a regard to the antient line, 
 looked with coolnefs on the temporary exception, or preference 
 to the perfon of king William the third; and this unlucky pre- 
 judice was kept alive in the fucceeding reigns by the contend- 
 ing interefts of two powerful fadlions, to the great reputation, 
 it feems, of the DifTenters of the prefeut times ! 
 
 dudioia
 
 44 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 duftion of arbitraiy goverrtment. Accordingly, at 
 a critical jundure *, when the tranquillity of the 
 kingdom was interrupted by the hoftile attempts of 
 the pretender, their gratitude united with their felf- 
 intereft in oppofing the common enemy; and their 
 allegiance was not long after rewarded by the re- 
 moval of thofe reftridions which their political in- 
 terference had brought upon them in the preceding 
 reign f. 
 
 The reins of government devolved on George 
 II. at a period equally propitious to the monarch 
 and the fubje6l J. The odious jealoufies which 
 had fubfifted in the former reigns began to fubfide, 
 and commerce, the idol of the nation, flowed na- 
 turally 
 
 • In the rebellion In 1715. 
 
 f The Occafional conformity and Schifm Ads were repealed 
 in 1718. 
 
 X In 1727 — When the death of George the iirft was made 
 known, a council was aflcmblcd at LeiccUcr-houfe, where his ma- 
 jcfty made a declaration, in which was the following expreflion ; 
 " T^e religion, Iutvs, and hhcrties of the kingdom arc raoft dear 
 " to mc: and the prrj'cr'-jation of the conftltution in church and 
 " ftate, as it is novj happily eJIahliJiMd, fliall b<; my firfl and al- 
 " ways my chief care." 
 
 It has been often afTerted by the advocates of the DilTentcrs, 
 that the princes of the houfe of Hanover have been always zea- 
 lous for the repeal of the Telts. The fagacious author of the 
 Confcflional roundly affirms, tl«at the " attempts which were 
 " nude in the reigns of George I. and George II. to repial ihi 
 " Tfjls, did not mifcarry for want of the ijcariy concurrence of the 
 - princes on the throne." Pref to the Confefiional, p. 50. — And 
 ;hc ingenious AlTcrtcr of the Rights of the Protcllant Diflentcrs 
 
 infmuatcii
 
 Religious Dissension. 4^ 
 
 turally through all her channels. Civil liberty, and 
 the rights of mankind, were now 'clearly under- 
 ftood, and national profperity promifed a lading 
 duration. The declaration to maintain the confti- 
 tution as eftablilhed by laW, which the king made 
 at the commencement of his reign, prepofTefled his 
 fubjedls in his favour, and was a pledge of his future 
 intentions to proteft the eftablilliment, and to fe- 
 cure the fubje6t in the exercife of his civil and re- 
 ligious freedom. The political ferments that after- 
 wards difturbed this reign were not a little increafed 
 by the irregular conduft and unexpected claims of 
 the Proteftant Diflenters. 
 
 We have feen them grateful for the bleHings of 
 a free Toleration, and, mindful only of their {plvi- 
 tual concerns, making no attempts to overleap thofe 
 barriers, or to demolilh thofe fences, which the 
 wifdom and policy of their forefathers had peace- 
 ably acquiefced in. Some malcontents, in a popu- 
 lous commercial town, firil difcovered the imper- 
 fedlion of the ftate machine, and, zealous, no doubt, 
 
 infinuites, that the private fentimcnts of Sir Robert Walpole, 
 chough he oppofed the motion for the repeal, which was brought 
 Into the houfe by Mr. Walter Plunimei-, in 1736, were favoura- 
 ble to the application. The direct contrary of t'lis is the fad : 
 Sir Robert Walpcle, together with that moft independent of men, 
 Mr. Shippen, oppofed the motion ftrenuoufly, upon thefe very 
 grounds : " That a repeal of thofe claufei in die Tell A61, which 
 " require thofe who are admitted into office^ to take the Sacra- 
 " ment, would be extremely dang,:roui to the sjhxbUfocd church. 
 l^ee Rights of the Frot. DilT. aifened, p. 29. 
 
 for
 
 4^ Historical Memoirs or 
 
 for tht/alus reipublic<ej and the rights of their fellow^ 
 citizensy undertook to infiife new health and new 
 ▼igour into the difeafed conftitution ♦j or, 
 
 ** Blufhing that the world went well, had rather, 
 « Though they themfelvcs did fuiFer by it, beheld 
 " Diflentious numbers peft'ring ftreets, than fee 
 ** Their tradefmcn finging in their (hops, and going 
 « About their funftions friendly." Cor iol an us. 
 
 The objeft of thefe ftate phyficians was to re- 
 move the facramental teftsj and they drew this 
 
 • ** In 1 73 1 the Diffcnters of Liverpool determined to ap- 
 «« ply to the legiflature for relief. That they might have the 
 * greater chance of fuccefs, they propofed a general application 
 ** of the Diflenters when the parliament Jhould be draijjing to a 
 ** chfe ; and hoped that, to fecure their influence at the approach- 
 '* ing general cleftion, the minifter might be induced to hazard 
 « fomcthing in their favour. — In many counties and towns they 
 «* entered into engagements mutually to fupport, as candidates, 
 *' the friends of ci-jil a7id religious liberty , and the houfe of Han- 
 " irver:^ See Rights of Prot. DilT. afferted, p. 28. 
 
 About this time the Diflenters in Ireland attempted to obtain 
 a repeal of the Tefl .'\d. Thefe men often afFedled to call them- 
 felvcs brother Proteflants and fellow Chriilians with the mem- 
 bers of the eftablilhed church. Upon this occafion Dean Swift 
 wrote a (hort copy of verfes, which fo provoked one Bettef- 
 worth, a lawyer, and member of the Irifli e.^ablifhment, that he 
 fwore, in t)ie hearing of many perfons, to revenge himfcif either 
 bv murdering or maiming the Dean. And for this purpofc he 
 engaged fome rufnanis to aiTault him, wherever they could find 
 him. This lawlefs attempt roufcd the nobility and gentry of 
 the liberty of St. Patrick's, who, in a body, waited on the Dean, 
 and prefented a paper fubfcribed with their names, in which 
 they folcmnly engaged to defend his perfon and fortune, as the 
 friend and benctaclor of his country, againft the infulls of this 
 furious Difl'cnicr. Sgc Bicg. Did. article Swift. 
 
 patriotic
 
 Religious DissENsioif. 4^ 
 
 patriotic inference, which their defcendants pro- 
 bably will never forget, that when the obnoxious 
 claufes in the Teft A6t were done away, their dif- 
 trelTed country, would be no longer deprived of 
 their political abilities. To aid the fchenne of 
 reformation, the Quaker caught the fpirit of fac- 
 tion, and joining the patriots, preferred, about the 
 fame time, his humble petition for a relief from 
 the payment of tythes, church rates, and all ether 
 ecclefiajiical dues *. 
 
 The ferment which thefe unconftitutional claims f 
 had occafioned greatly difconcerted the reigning 
 
 prince, 
 
 • The Diflenters did not find a fit time to bring forward their 
 motion for a repeal of the Teft A61 till 1736, when it was loft 
 by a majority of 251 againft 123. Another effort was made in 
 1739, but this was quafhed by a ftill greater proportionate ma- 
 jority, viz. 1 88 to 89. The Quakers met with better fuccefs ; the 
 bill that was brought in for their relief, after much altercation 
 pafTed the Commons, but was thrown out by the Lords ; however, 
 
 " Both parties join'd to do their beft, 
 
 *' To damn the public intereft; 
 
 *' To try at both ends of the faw, 
 
 *' And tear down government and law." 
 
 Hud IB. Cant. 3. 
 The eftablifhed church v/as at this time greatly indebte..: to 
 the f:'-vices of Dr. Gibfon, bilhop of London, who, by timely 
 apprizing the clergy of the bold fcheme of the Quaker.'v to de- 
 prive them of their legal maintenance by tithes, and by anima- 
 ting his brethren on the bench to concur with him, averted a 
 ferious blow, that was aimed at religion, and the rights and 
 properties of the clergy. 
 
 f I maintain that their claims are uyiccnjlitutiaml, however 
 Ciif term rnay be combated by fophillry. If the ancellors of the 
 
 Di. Tenters-
 
 4? MisTORicAt Memoirs of 
 
 prince, who, about this time, intending to vifit his 
 German dominions, and dreading the confequences 
 offuch internal contefts, clofed the feflion of 1736 
 with this paternal admonition. " He exprefled 
 " great concern at feeing fuch feeds of diffenfion 
 " fown among his people : He declared it was his 
 " defire, and fhould ever be his care, to prefervc 
 " the prefent conftitution in church and ftate as 
 " by law eftablifhed: and recommenaed a fpirit 
 " of harmony and concord among all the Protef- 
 " tants of the nation, as the chief fiipport of the happy 
 « Efiahlifhmentr 
 
 I forbear commenting on this authentic docu- 
 ment, and Ihall only remark that it completely re- 
 futes thofe aflertions of the Proteftant DiiTenters, 
 " That their principles have been uniformly friend- 
 *' ly to the Eftabliihment." Had they been fo 
 even at this period, they would not have received 
 this fort of counfel from a prince, the avowed friend 
 to religious toleration. A compleat defeat which 
 the caufe of the Proteftant Diflenters fuftained in a 
 fecond effort to obtain their unconftitutional de- 
 mands, in 1739, filenced their clamours, and we 
 hear little or nothing of imaginary grievances for 
 the remainder of this reign. 
 
 Din^nt(Ts did affift in the contrivance and fcttlcracnt of that 
 fchcme of government, generally underftood by the Britifh Con- 
 ftitution, and helped to cllablifti cr confirm certain Tcfts, as 
 necefTary to the prcfcrvation of it, (a circumftancc eafily proved) 
 every attempt to overthow thofe cfTential principles, on which 
 fuch fettlement is founded, may fairly be deemed unconftitu- 
 tional. 
 
 Having
 
 JIelicious Dissension. 49 
 
 Having brought thofe tranfadions of the Protef- 
 tant Diflenters, which relate to their fuppofed at- 
 tachment to the EftaWifhment of tliis country, 
 down to our own times, I fhall make a momen- 
 tary paufe, in order to apprife my reader, that I 
 have not felefted thefe hiftorical remarks, with a 
 view to cloud his judgment, or to inflame his re- 
 fentments againft the Difienters as fuch. I am as 
 averfe as any man, from drawing unfavourable 
 conclufions of the principles of a party, from the 
 opinions, or even the a5fions af a few of that party, 
 much lefs from the fufpicions of their adverfaries. 
 But when I fee their RefolutionSj their Pamphlets, 
 ^and popular declamations fwelled out with oftenta- 
 tious references to former loyalty and attachment ; 
 when I am told by their celebrated orator *, 
 " That' the law confiders no man's opinion to be 
 *' injurious, until fuch opinion be brought into 
 " a^ion-^ and am inftru6led by their literary 
 champion -j-, " to judge of principles, as our Sa- 
 *^ viour teaches us to judge of men, by their ac^ 
 *^ ticnSy' however unwilling I may be to recur to 
 periods, when a narrow and contradted policy 
 governed the aftions of mankind, yet, when I fee 
 the whole coUefted body of the Difienters prefiing 
 forward for the removal of the antient Tefts of the 
 conftitution, under the colourable pretext of politi- 
 cal merit, it becomes, in juftice to their own pofl- 
 
 • See Mr. Fox's fpeech in the houfe of Commons, March 3, 
 1790. 
 
 t Importance of Free Enquiry, p. ic6. 
 
 E tiofla
 
 50. Historical Memoirs op 
 
 tion, and in compfiance with their own doftrine, a 
 neceflary although an invidious talk, to appeal to 
 the page of hiftory for an eftimate of Diffcnting- 
 principles. In the profecution of this enquiry, it 
 will appear to the impartial reader, that my fafts 
 are, for the moft part, coUedled from authors the 
 declared friends to toleration; and the refult of 
 the argument is, that the merit fo arrogantly 
 alTumed, is to be refolved into a felf-interefted 
 principle,^ a felf-intercft in maintaining a govern- 
 ment, which extends to all its fubjedb equal fecu- 
 rity and proteftion. 
 
 Civil government is an inflitution in which wc 
 are all confederated for mutual fafety and defence^ 
 and the interefts of the community indifpcnfably 
 require the aSfive exertions of every individual^ 
 however diiFering in religious fentiments, when 
 the general fafety is at flake. But, as the religious 
 interefts of the Proteftant Diflenters are inter- 
 woven with the eftablifhment of the Church of 
 England, their indifference at the time when the 
 latter was threatened with the hoftilities of a foreign 
 enemy, and with the revival of papal intolerance, 
 would have hazarded their own caufc; and their 
 neutrality would have been a political crime of 
 great magnitude. 
 
 Senfible and confiderate men will fee through 
 this fophiftry, and be tempted to conclude, that 
 a felf-interefted attachment has been the chief 
 foundation of DifTcnting patriotifm ! 
 
 I Wff
 
 Religious Dissension. 51 
 
 We are now entering upon a period of our hif- 
 tory, dear to every lover of his country; a period 
 that pofterity will envy us the enjoyment of, and 
 which the children that are yet unborn will conteni- 
 plate with fond veneration and regard. Our beloved 
 monarch George III. afcended the throne, amidft 
 the acclamations of a profperous and happy peo- 
 ple : the early fpecimen * which he gave of his feri- 
 ous determination to promote religion and virtue, 
 and to preferve and ftrengthen the conftitution 
 both in church and ftate f , promifed an augmenta- 
 tion of focial happinefs, and the maintenance of 
 political privileges; and an undeviating attention to 
 thefe original profefTions has marked the progrefs of 
 this iliuftrious reign. A6ts of indemnity and indul- 
 gence to the DilTenters followed thefe favourable ap- 
 pearances, and v/e find them at this time truly {en- 
 fible of a mild and beneficent adminiftration J. 
 
 • See the proclamation for the encouragement of piety and 
 virtue, ifTued in 1760. 
 
 f Addrefs to the council alTembled at Carlton-houfe. State 
 Papers. 
 
 X The Diffenters, in expeftation of the fullnefs of their 
 wiflies, affetl to fcout the very idea of an indemnity aft. 
 Strange perverfcnefs ! was it not for thefe remittances, their cla- 
 mours would be louder, and with greater degree of reafon» 
 Neither do th:y attribute the indulgences and the tranquillity 
 they enjoyed at "this period to political influence, but to an un- 
 natural fcnfation: " Our gracious monarch George III. afcended 
 " the throne in 1760, and from that nm^ an unacco!t7itabie torpor 
 " has feized the Di//"enters.'* Right of Proteftant Diflcnters af- 
 f«r ted, fedt. 7. 
 
 E 2 The
 
 $2 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 The ftrange attempt that had been made in the 
 preceding reign, to obtain a repeal of the Teft- 
 laws, though at that time alarming, contributed 
 
 . eventually to this general harmony. The argu- 
 ments that were then adduced by Sherlock, War- 
 burton, Gibfon, and others, had fo completely 
 
 . evinced the necefTity of pref-rving certain Tefts, as 
 
 . bulwarks of the conftitution, that the opinions of 
 men were well made up upon the fubjeft; and the 
 determined refolution of adminiftration to defend 
 the Eftablifliment upon this principle, together 
 with the decided majorities in the legiflature againft 
 thefe unconllitutional demands, warranted an ex- 
 pectation that the fubjeft would not be revived, as 
 long at leaft as the memory of the tranfaction 
 ihould remain. Accordingly we find half a cen- 
 
 . tury lapfe in the tranquil enjoyment of religious 
 
 . privilege. 
 
 A dread of the fatal confequences of inteflinc 
 feuds, and a jufl abhorrence of perfecution for con- 
 fcience fake, contributed, with the encreafing fpirit 
 of Toleration, to fupprefs former animofitics and 
 difafFcftion. The old narrownefs of fupellitioiis 
 policy, had Ihrunk before the milder influence of 
 lenity, and mutual foibearance: and churchmen 
 nov/ frcdy acknowledged, that die tenets of Chrif- 
 tianity, and the do(ftrines of their own Fftiiblifli- 
 ment, contained the ftiongcll arguments for tole- 
 ration; that humanity and benevolence, fo forcibly 
 enjoined by each, could not confift with an arbi- 
 trary compulfion inco cftablifhed forms of worfhip; 
 
 and
 
 Religious Dissension. 53 
 
 and that the intercouiTe betwixt God, and a man's 
 own confcience fhould be free and uncontrouled. 
 
 In times fo favourable to religious liberty, it was 
 natural for DilTenters to prefs forward for the fuU- 
 nefs of indulgence, and the removal of all reftric- 
 tions J and in the progrefs of this reign we find diem 
 petitioning for, and obtaining an extenfion of pri- 
 vilege, and an avowed completion of their wifhes. 
 In 1777 certain difabilitics, under which the minif- 
 ters of the Proteftant Difienters laboured, were re- 
 moved, and fo fenfible were they of the favour and 
 relief granted them in this inllance, that a leading 
 and truly refpedable character* amongft them 
 
 • Dr. Kippis, fee his letter. — In the debate on Mr. Fox's 
 motion, March 3d, 1790, Mr. Pitt with great fnccefs prefTed 
 this argument on the houfe, contending, " thnt, as the Protef- 
 *• tant DifTenters had, at the time this relief was granted to 
 " them, declared in the mofi; public manner, that they had no- 
 " thing more to aJk of the Icgiflature, and were now, in direft 
 " contradidion, urging additional demands on Parliament — it 
 " was impoflible to judge how far they meant to proceed, or 
 " what would in fa«St content them." Yet this fair reafbning 
 wns parried with fingular addrefs by Mr. Beaufoy : he allowed 
 that at the time alluded to, the DifTenters were fatisfied, and 
 exprcfled themfelvcs fo ; but then, as thofe indulgences afFefted 
 them as viinijiers, they were not precluded coming forward in 
 the prefent inflance as men ! Such equivocation is neither can- 
 did, nor indeed politic. And as the Difienters have already 
 urged the juftice of their being exonerated of ecclefiaftical fees, 
 in order to transfer them to their own miniftry, it is reafonable 
 to expeft, from this inftance of mental refervation, that they will 
 in time come forward for a legal eflablifliment to fecure to their 
 clergy this voluntary tribute. 
 
 E 3 declared,
 
 54 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 declared, " That diey had now no additional claims 
 to urge, and that their toleration was complete *. 
 
 The approved clemency of the monarch, and the 
 mildnefs of an enlightened age, encouraged an- 
 other defcription of Diflenters, equally well affefled 
 to the civil conftitution of this country, to folicit a 
 remiflion of their grievances, and an abatement of 
 real perfccution ; and fuch was the fuccefs of the 
 modeft and reafonable petition of the Roman Ca- 
 tholics, that in 1778 they obtained, v/ithout oppo-* 
 firion, a repeal of tlie nth and 12th of William 
 III. which, however neceflary at die time of en- 
 abling, were now underftood to be a difgrace to the 
 ftatute book, and an offence to the feelings of a po- 
 lifhed nation f. 
 
 Thefe 
 
 • The redrefs fo readily granted to the minlflcrs of the 
 Proteftant Diflenters was but ill requited by one of their re- 
 verend body. A celebrated Uniurian, of revolution prin- 
 ciples, added not a little to the calamities that diflrafled the 
 kingdom about this time ; his numerous inflammatory publica- 
 tions fomented the American revolt, and contributed in no fmall 
 degree to the difmemberment of the empire. Whatever unforc- 
 feen advantages the nation may have received from this revo- 
 lution, and they are not a few, the houfe of Brunfwick will 
 hardly thank this political Diflcnter for hb loyalty and alle- 
 giance. 
 
 t The penalties which were now repealed went to the 
 punifiiment of Popifli bifliops and priefls for ofiiciating in the 
 fervice of their church: the imprifoning Papifls who kept 
 fchocls, cr educated and boarded youth : and the difabling 
 Papills to inherit lands. 
 
 The Roman Catholics are flill under great difabilitics and 
 penalties, by many ads paflcd from the ajd Eliz. to nth of 
 
 George
 
 Religious Dissension". 55 
 
 Thefe relaxations and abatements, originating in 
 juftice, and founded in policy, produced an occur- 
 rence as unexpefted as it was atrocious. The 
 outrages committed in 1780, by bands of defperate 
 and defigning men, under pretence of defending 
 
 George II. They are prohibited from teaching fchools unlef« 
 licenfed by the ordinary. They cannot prefent to any advow- 
 fon. If they fay mafs the fine is 200 marks, if they hear it 
 100 marks, and each fufFers one year's imprifonment. They can 
 hold no office nor employment, They muft not keep arms, 
 nor come within ten miles of London, on pain of 100 pounds. 
 They can bring no a£lion at law, nor fuit in equity. If they 
 travel five miles from home they forfeit all their goods. If they 
 come to court they forfeit 100 pounds. If they fend any per- 
 fon abroad to be educated in the PopiHi religion, or contribute 
 towards it, the fender, the fent, and the contributor are diiabled 
 to fue in law or equity, to take any legacy, to bear any office, 
 and forfeit all their goods and chattels, and all their real eftate 
 for life. If a Proteftant becomes ^ convert to popery, or pro- 
 cures others to be fo, the offence is high treafon. Thefe are 
 real penalties and difabilities ! penalties worth petitioning a re- 
 miffion of! and not a tittle of thefe affedl the Protellant Diffen- 
 ters. And yet how different is the condufl of the parties as 
 citizens and fubjcfts ! From the Protellant DifFenters we hear 
 nothing elfe but clamour and difTatisfaiSion, complaints of op- 
 preffion and perfecution, of fancied pains and imaginary grie- 
 vances. Whilil the Roman Catholic appears contented under 
 this heavy catalogue of penalties. Nay he is grateful for the 
 clemency fliewn him by an enlightened people, and even ap- 
 plauds that ellablifhment which the Proteftant Difieuter fo in- 
 cefTantly reprobates. « Let us then remain as we are ; for a bet- 
 " ter eftablifhment, as I have faid, more confonant with the 
 " rights of the people, and the prerogative of the crown, Eng- 
 *' land can never enjoy." Such are the fentiments of a very 
 eminent Catholic, in pleading the caufe and interefts of DifTen- 
 tcrs 1 See Bcrrington on the Rights of the DilTenters. 
 
 E 4 tli^
 
 ^6 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 the Proteftant religion from the encroachments of 
 Popery, excited the horror and indignation of man- 
 kind. I would not revive the memory of thefe ex- 
 ccffcs, if they had not a very clofe relation to the 
 fubjed under difcuflion. 
 
 I am aware that the Proteftant Diflenters will 
 deny their being the authors of this horrible infur- 
 rc6tion ; and that then- principles^ in the prefenc 
 times, could not lead them to commit fuch atro- 
 cious anions : the latter part of diis pofition refts 
 with me to prove j what their principles were at 
 this time may be fairly collefted from a ftatement 
 of them by a candid and impartial Biffenting Mi- 
 nijler. " The diligent and impartial inquirer, 
 ** however candid, muft acknowledge that the 
 *' Proteftant Diflenters, in lefs time tlian even half 
 «* a century paft, were in general auftere in their 
 " temper and manners i that they painted religion 
 ** with a gloomy afped j betrayed a Ipirit of fin- 
 ** gularity and oppofition in trifles; were excef- 
 «* five, and almoft indifcriminate, in their invec- 
 ** tives againft pleafure ; laid too much ftrefs 
 " upon modes and opinions; made too little al- 
 " lowance for human infirmities ; fixed too liigh a 
 ** value on long and frequent retirements for the 
 *' fake of devotional exercifes in private ; placed 
 ** as much too low the ftandard of the moral vir- 
 •* inesy thofe cfjiccially which are humane, generous, 
 " and of all others the moft engaging: confined 
 " almcft all their approbation and good-will to 
 " ihe people of their cwnjecl 3 difcovered an over- 
 
 " weening
 
 Religious Dissension. 57 
 
 " weening conceit of their own Ipiritual attain- 
 " ments j and— what is ftill worfe than all the reft ! 
 <f — that there were undoubtedly inftances of thofe 
 " who put on the femblance of rigorous piety to 
 " atone for, conceal, and give fuccefs to heinous 
 *' immorality. — It is with all readinefs acknow- 
 " ledged, that there are upon record many ex- 
 " ceptions to this heavy charge ; but the above- 
 " mentioned may, I think, be exhibited as feme 
 *^ of the principal outlines in the charafter of thofe 
 " who were, or affefted to be, amongft the beft 
 " and religious perfons of the laft age. Nay, 
 *' further, if a diligent and impartial inquiry were 
 " now made (viz. 1780) into the prevailing temper 
 " of large bodies of Pr defiant Dijfenters, in feveral 
 " different parts of this kingdom, it would be 
 " found, that fomething of the fame fpirit is ftill 
 " amongft us *." — Such are the principles of Pro- 
 teftant Diffcnters, delineated in a fair, impartial 
 manner, by their own hands ! 
 
 But I am far from imputing the fatal confe- 
 quences of this terrible outrage folely to the Dif- 
 fenters. I am fenfible too, that many eminent 
 charafters amongit them were confulted upon the 
 repeal of the nth and 1:2th of Wilham, and were 
 zealous in the caufe of religious freedom, promot- 
 ing the indulgence which the Catholics at this 
 time received. But, whilil juftice is due to this 
 defcription of men for their candour and mode- 
 
 * See a Dlfcourfe on religious Zeal^ by Pylr. Rd. Godwin, 
 178c — bound up wi;h tv.o otiicr Difcourfcs. 
 
 ration^
 
 58 Historical Memoirs or 
 
 ration, I cannot fupprefs my abhorrence of thlt 
 tumultuous affociation of Proteftant Diflenters, 
 which, under the fpecious mafk of patriotifm and 
 religion, firft promoted an infurreftion that fub- 
 verted the civil authority, and introduced a fcene 
 of riot and diforder, that filled the empire with 
 amazement and confternation. 
 
 Whatever * the real defign of thefe infatuated 
 men might be, the meafures which they adopted 
 to promote their caufe were, in the leading fea- 
 tures, fo fimiiar to the late attempt of the Protef- 
 tant DifTenters to obtain a rcdrefs of their imagi- 
 nary grievances, that I cannot in this place over- 
 look the ftriking refemblance. 
 
 In 
 
 • Although the whole charge of thefe evils is not imputable 
 to the Diffenters, yet the original and chief caufe of the infur- 
 rcftion refts with them. It is a faft, that, fo early as 1779, the 
 infatuated leader of the rioters (lord George Gordon) main- 
 tained a correfpondence with fome difaffefted teachers in Edin- 
 burgh and Dumfries, upon the fubjcft of the Catholic Bill, and 
 particularly with the prefident of a formidable body at Glafgow, 
 called The eighty-f've Societies, with whofe agents this unhappy 
 nan was, in the following year, more clofcly conneded, when 
 he headed the Scotch divifion of infurgents in St. George's 
 Fields, and proceeded with them in a tumultuous manner to 
 Palace Yard, in order to intimidate th* legiflature into a com- 
 pliance with their wifhes, which then appeared to be a repeal 
 of an act paflcd in 1778, difannulling the obnoxious claufes in 
 the I ith and 12th of William, and admitting their fcllow-fub- 
 jeAs to fome immunities. Befidcs the petition of the Protcdant 
 Aflbciators, there were others, from various parts of the king- 
 dom, prcfcincd by lord George Gordon, on behalf of tl»c 
 D'uTcnters, at the bar of the houfc of commons. An adherent 
 
 of
 
 Religious Dissension. 59 
 
 In 1780 the leaders of the infurreftion, as a 
 previous ftep, invited the notice of the public by 
 circulating pamphlets, hand-bills, and public ad- 
 vertifements *, " exhorting the true friends of 
 ** Great Britain. to unite, before it be too late, in 
 *^ 'vindication of civil and religious liberty." — In 
 1789 a fimilar ftep was taken by the Proteftant 
 DilTenters, previous to the difcuflion of their caufe, 
 and, at fome of their meetings, they ferioully re- 
 folved " to raife a fund to defray the expences of 
 *^ ■^uhXiiWmgfmall fieces in vindication of liber ty\r 
 
 Charity forbids my imputing to the firft aflbci- 
 ators an intention of kindling a flame of fuch hor- 
 ror 
 
 of this gentleman's, and with whom he at that time lodged, was 
 very roughly handled by Mr. Burke, in the debate on the pe- 
 titions againft the Catholic Bill, 20th June, 1780. He attacked 
 this gentleman (alderman Bull) with great feverity " for the 
 " part he had acied in the late dijlurhances, and for his fupport- 
 " ing the petitions againfl: the Catholics." He afked, " How 
 «* fuch a man as he, enjoying as a Protejlant Diffenter all tht 
 *' hlejjings of religions Toleration, could reconcile it to his con- 
 *' fcience to deny fome few comforts to other men, between 
 •' whom and him there was no diiference but the mere diiFe- 
 «* rence of religious opinion ?" — From thefe and a multitude of 
 other reafons we may fairly conclude, that the riots of 1780 were 
 promoted and condufted by Proteftant DifTenters. 
 
 * See the various advertifements of the Proteftant Aflbciators, 
 in the periodical papers of 1780. 
 
 f From amongft others of the fame Import, I feled the fol- 
 lowing refolution of the meeting of Proteftant DifTenters at 
 Bolton in Lancaftiire, 17th of December, 1789: " That, as 
 " notliing can be more he7irficial to a good caufe than promoting 
 *' a knowledge cf its merit?, it be recommended to the Aflembly 
 
 " of
 
 6o Historical Memoirs or 
 
 ror and devaftadon from fo fmall a Ipark ; or to 
 the fecond a pre/entiment of the confequences of 
 their injudicious publications. In the firft cafe 
 indeed, the invaders of the public peace witnefled 
 the mifchief which their inflammatory notices had 
 excited, and attempted, when too late, to retrieve 
 the unhappy ftep they had taken * : from the lat- 
 ter />r^/«t/<f tofeditiony we have hitherto experienced 
 no evil confequences. 
 
 If 
 
 « of Delegates for this diftrifl, to endeavour to raife a fund from 
 ** among the congregations which they reprefent, to defray the 
 «« expcnce of ^whW^timg /mall pieces in vindication of liberty, and 
 « the rights of the Diflentcrs."— And, in confequence of thefc 
 refolutions, /mall pieces, of a peculiar tendency, were publiihcd in 
 February 1790, and advertifcd /or a>f«/tf/i«» at 5/. per hun- 
 dred. 
 
 • The Proteftant Diflentcrs in 1780, finding that it was 
 eafier to aflemble than to appeafe a mob by hand-bills, thought 
 proper, when their partizans were proceeding to outrageous 
 lengths, to publifli counter-notices, difluading the infurgents 
 from their cxcefles ; and, in faft, difavowing all connexion with 
 them if they proceeded further. And their unhappy leader at- 
 tempted, at his examination before the privy council, to excul- 
 pate himfelf by faying, that " he could not /orefe the mifchief 
 " that had enfued." Yet here was fome apparent contrition, 
 feme palliation of the otFcncc ; and however flight, the raoft fa- 
 vourable conftruflion was put upon it. But the Proteftant Dif- 
 fcnters of 1790, although admonifhed by fome of their moderate 
 and rational brethren not to proceed to fuch unjuftifiable Icngtlis 
 as their refolutions held forth, in contempt of the friendly ad- 
 monition, plainly intimated, that their firft exertions, their y»i<z// 
 pieces in 'vinJicaficn 0/ liberty, were only a prelude to ncbler at- 
 chievemcnts. This appeared clearly from a letter which Mr. 
 Burke produced in the houfe of comnons, March 3d, 1790, in 
 
 the
 
 Religious Dissensioi?. 6t 
 
 If I (hould be thought to have ufed, on this oc- 
 cafion, an expreflion too harlh, let it be remem- 
 bered that allegiance to the ftate may be broken 
 by other means than by open ads of rebellion : 
 the circulating fmaU publications, calculated to in- 
 Ipire the people with difaffedtion to the exifting 
 Jaws and government, however cautioufly worded, 
 may very fairly be deemed a prelude to /edition i 
 for the guilt of popular infurredion confifts as 
 much in any ad promotive of the tumult, as in 
 the real injury done to the community: and this 
 fpecies of libel, as it inflames the pafTions, is ge- 
 nerally produdive of diforder. In the firft in- 
 ftance, we have feen it lead a deluded mob to the 
 deltrudion of the lives and properties of their fel- 
 
 the debate on Mr. Fox's motion : this letter he declared he had 
 received but the day before, from a Mr. Fletcher, a Dlffenter 
 in Lancafhire ; in which he ftated, ** that the meeting of Pro- 
 ** teftant DifTenters held at Bolton avowed fuch violent prin- 
 " ciples, that he would not ftay, but came away with fome other 
 " moderate men." He obferved, that one member being' 
 afked, « What was their objeft, and whether they meant to feek 
 •* for any thing more than the repeal of the Corporation and 
 " Tell Afts?" anfwered, in the language of our Saviour, « We 
 " know thofe things which ye are not yet able to bear." And 
 when another member faid, « Give them a little light into 
 " what we intend," he informed him, that " they did not care 
 « the nip of a flraw for the repeal of thofe Adls ; but that they 
 " defigned to try for the abolition of the Tythes, Liturgy, &c." 
 To this unlhaken Abdiel regard is due ; 
 
 His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal ; 
 
 Nor number, nor example with him wrought 
 
 To fwer ve from truth. Milton. 
 
 low
 
 6^ Historical Memoirs of 
 
 low citizens : in the latter cafe, although the mea- 
 furc has been hitherto attended with no mifchief, 
 there is an overt-aft againft the public fafety j for, 
 by weakening the judgment, and inflaming the 
 iim^nztion, the/e fma/l pieces in vindication of liber ^ 
 ty are calculated to promote popular commotion, 
 and to introduce difafFedion and fedition amongft 
 the multitude : 
 
 Hac fonte derivata clades. 
 In patriam populumque fluxit. 
 
 This fpecious artifice, which has been adopted 
 by the aflbciators in both inftances, in order to 
 cover their defigns, and to carry their feparate 
 fchemes into execution, is calculated to lull oppo- 
 fition afleep, and it may, for a while, impofe upon 
 the credulous. Thus, the infurgents in 1780 dif- 
 played the mock banners of religion and liberty, 
 and numbers unwarily enlifted at the flandard, un- 
 confcious of any intended evil : and the aflbciators 
 of the prefent times, copying the fuccefbful pre- 
 cedent, are the declared ajferters of the rights of 
 meny and the avengers of their opprejfed and perfe- 
 cuted fellow citizens ; and, improving on the mo- 
 del, they congratulate one another upon the daily 
 incenfe offered at the jfhrine of Diflenting-Virtue : 
 ** We have received, witli heart-felt fatisfadlion, 
 *' the teftimonies of approbation with which our 
 ** condudl has been honoured *," &c. This tinfcl 
 
 • See the Rcfolutions of a Meeting of the Committee, &c. 
 held at the King's Head Tavern, Poultry, Lcr.don, January 
 13th, 1790; tdward jefferics, Efq; Chairman. 
 
 drefi
 
 Religious Dissension. 6j 
 
 drefs of fancied approbation has been put on to 
 dazzle the underftanding, and to confound the 
 judgment, that the projeded reformation of the 
 ftate might not be expofed to fcrutiny and defeat i 
 and, as the defign is of a deeper policy, a garb 
 more tawdry and meretricious than ufual was 
 judged neceffary i 
 
 Left an apprehenfion 
 Should turn the tide of fearful faftion. 
 And breed a kind of queftion in their caufe : 
 For well they know, they of the offending fide 
 Muft keep aloof from ftridl arbitrement. 
 And ftop all fight-holes, every loop, from whence 
 The eye of reafon may pry in upon tliem *. 
 
 It muft be allowed then that thefe modern vin-. 
 dicators of liberty have arrayed themfelves more 
 gorgeoufly than their predeceflbrs ; but with fingu- 
 lar negligence, whilft bufied in attiring the frontif- 
 piece of fadion, they have ludicroully expofed its 
 nakednefs in a lefs guarded quarter. 
 
 The indignation which, from purity of confciencey . 
 they have expreiTed againfl the impious policy of 
 their country, in perverting facred ordinances to 
 civil purpofes, muft claim our holy veneration j on 
 this popular fubjed their apologifts are peculiarly 
 eloquent : but, with inimitable afTurance, they 
 brand churchmen for their indelicacy in confound- 
 ing religion with politics, at the very time that 
 they are moulding their own rninifters into vehicles 
 
 • S'hakefpear's Henry IV. 
 
 of
 
 64 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 of feftion, and proftituting the fanctity of their 
 tabernacles to fecular intrigue. 
 
 The Proteftant Diflenters aflembled at Warring^ 
 ton, after noticing the " partiality , oppreffioriy and in- 
 ** jujiice of the Teft laws, and commenting on the 
 " injuries that their country fuffers by the exclufion 
 " of able and virtuous Diflenters from civil offices, 
 ** declare, that they cannot reft Jatisfied whilft fo 
 '* grofs a violation of the rights of men remains on 
 ** our ftatute books: they therefore exhort their 
 ** brethren, as good citizens, to do all they can to re- 
 ** move an obftacle which prevents the admifllon 
 «' of honeft Bijfenters into public employments." 
 And to imprefs thefe honeft principles on the minds 
 of the multitude, and excite their zeal for novelt}', 
 and laudable endeavours after reformation, they 
 refolved, *' That copies of thefe refolutions be fent 
 ** to the minifters of the feveral congregations 
 ** which are reprefented by their delegates in this 
 ** meeting, accompanied with a requeft, that they 
 " will publicly read them to their refpeHive congre- 
 " gations*.'* 
 
 Thus would they waken the fpiritual repofe of 
 the low-roofed meeting-houfe into an appetence of 
 temporahties, into a fcramble for the pcrquifites 
 of tide- waiting, and the lucre of an excife office f- 
 
 " Thcfc 
 
 • See the rcfoludons of a meeting of delegates from eiglit 
 congregationi of ProtcPiant Diffcrtters, held at Warrington, 
 January 6th, 1790. 
 
 t Pcrfons of all ranks and degree* In the ftatc, from t!ie 
 
 gauge
 
 Religious Dissension* 6^ 
 
 *' Thefe things, indeed, they have articulated, 
 " Proclaimed at market crofles, read in churches, 
 *' To face the garment of" rebellion 
 " With fome fair colour, that may pleafe the eye 
 " Of fickle changelings, and poor difcontcnts, 
 " Which gape and rub the elbow at the news 
 *' Of hurly-burly innovation." 
 
 It will appear^ upon further examination, that 
 the pulpit has been, of late, the common vehicle of 
 fanatical difcontent. A fpirit of prejudice againft 
 eftablifhed laws, and an irreverence of government, 
 has been induftrioufly imparted, and the oratory 
 has furniihed out the fuel and materials of fe- 
 dition. 
 
 An illuftrious writer, whofe fkill in all the offices 
 of civil life has not been equalled, points out to us 
 the origin and progrefs of popular difcontent. Sir 
 Francis Bacon, treating of the caufe and mifchief 
 of feditious infurreftion, obferves, that it originates 
 in the murmurs and averfion of two parties, the 
 higher orders in the ft ate, and the commonalty: 
 " When one of thefe is difcontent, the danger is 
 ** not great ; for common people are of flow mo- 
 *' tion, if they be not excited by the greater fort : 
 ** and the greater fort are of fmail ftrength, except 
 " the multitude be apt and ready to move of them- 
 " felves. Then this is the danger, when the better 
 ** fort do hut wait for the troubling of the waters 
 
 gauge to the fceptre, are alike excluded from executive offices, 
 except they receive the Sacrament according to the rites of the 
 church of England. 
 
 F among/i
 
 66 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 " amongji the meaner, that then they may declare 
 * themfelves *." 
 
 It would be a very eafy, although a tedious 
 tafk, to point out paffages and proofs from the fer- 
 mons of feveral of the Diflenting minifters, of their 
 attempts to inftil into their refpe<5live audiences a 
 diftafte of aU ordinances, civil and religious. The 
 conventicle has refounded with ideal tyranny, and 
 fanatic reformation, and the prefs has teemed with 
 fables of iron-handed perfecution, and with pre- 
 dictions of a golden age of liberty. Trope has 
 followed trope, and metaphor urged on metaphor, 
 to animate the eafy, inglorious feflary to deeds of 
 pious anarchy ; the Tefts, the Church, the Supre- 
 macy are no humble objedsj and when Kings, 
 Laws, and Bifhops are the promifed plunder, what 
 friend to Liberty would tamely reft in the weak pip- 
 ittg time of peace ? 
 
 Hinc concufla fdes, ct multis utile bellum. 
 
 How far their doflrine has fpread contagion 
 within the limits of the meeting - houfe, I am 
 unwilling to enquire; but if tlieir religio-poll- 
 tical directory has been as favourably received 
 without, which they infinuate, as it has been fer- 
 vidly enforced within the pale of diflcnfion ; it is 
 high time fome antidote fhould be adminiftcred to 
 corre(5l the malignant influence. This they have 
 abundandy furniihed j for a naked exhibition of 
 
 • Sir F. Bacon's Eflays,
 
 Religious Dissension. 67 
 
 the real principles of this gofpel-preaching minijlry, 
 ftjippcd of their borrowed frippeiy, will be fufH- 
 cient to convince their deluded followers, that 
 " though their voice be Jacob's voice, yet their 
 *' hands are the hands of Efau." 
 
 It would be wafting too much of my time, and it 
 would w^ary the patience of my reader, was I to 
 quote the multitude of inflammatory and libellous 
 publications, which have ifllied from the overheated 
 brains of thofe ufurping fons of Levi, who have of 
 late taken fo much upon thenii murmuring alike againjt 
 the priejlhcodi and the rulers of the people, I Ihall 
 only notice the zealous deeds of two, who are 
 leaders in the ajfemblyy famous in the congregation .^ men 
 of renown: Who, in fomenting fchifm in the church, 
 and diflenfion in the ftate, have mifappHed talents, 
 that would have adorned fociety, and might have 
 rendered real fervices to mankind. 
 
 Thefe holy champions of revolt, 
 
 " whofe virtues would be proud 
 
 " If their faults whipp'd them not: and whofe crimes 
 
 " Would defpair, if they were not cherifned by tncir virtues: 
 
 Thefe reverend abettors of fedition, are not con- 
 tent to wait for the troubling of the waters, but im- 
 providently agitaue the fearful element ; and, in- 
 ftead of infpiring their people with the fpirit of 
 truth, unity, and concord, they have mingled the 
 perverfe fpirit of difcoid and diiTcnfion, with the 
 fpirit of promife and the fpirit of prophecy. " What 
 '* we are aiming at is to enlighten the minds of the 
 F 2 " people.
 
 68 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 •* peopJe^ and to Ihcw them that, in the Church 
 «* Eftablifhment of this country, there is much of 
 ** error and fuperftition : and if we can convince 
 ** them that it is fo (and of this I have no doubt) 
 ** in proper time they will take it down themjelves.*' 
 See Letter to the Right honourable William Pitt, 
 1787, by Jof. Prieftley,LL. D. 
 
 " The enemies of reformation do not fuffici- 
 ** ently confider, that, by oppofing, in enlightened 
 " times, all attempts to remove fuch Jhccking hie- 
 " mijhes from our eftablilhed code of faith and 
 " worlhip, they expofe the hierarchy to particular 
 ** danger of a Judden and total overthrow. As a 
 " friend to the free progrefs of truth, and an enemy 
 ** to all Jlavijh hierarchies, I could almojl wijb they 
 " may ferjevere in their objlinacy** Sermons on the 
 Chriftian Dodrine, by Richard Price, D. D. &c. 
 
 1787. 
 
 " If you mujl have a ftate religion (for which I 
 ** own I fee no occafion whatever) let it be at leaft 
 " fomething rational and intelligible ; fomething that 
 " mankind may fee to afford a natural foundation 
 " of good conduft here, and of reafbnable expec- 
 " tation hereafter : and fuch is the Unitarian doc- 
 " trine*." Letter to the Right honourable William 
 Pitt, by Jofeph Prieftley, LL. D. &c. 
 
 " Happy 
 
 • I cannot help noticing in this place a droll coincidence of 
 projc^ ; that wicked rogue Ton; Woolfton, in the true fpirit of 
 badinage, propofed to give up Chridianity, 2xA fchmnly recom- 
 mended his " golden reli^jion of nature " in its jftead. Sc« 
 Wooia. Difc. vi, p. aS. 
 
 Woolfton,
 
 Religious Dissension. 69 
 
 '* Happy will the world be, when thefe truths 
 " ihall be every where acknowledged and pra(5tifed 
 " upon. Religious bigotry, that cruel demon, will 
 " be then laid nHtep ; Jlavijh governments znd flavijh 
 " hierarchies will then fink.'* " So injurious arc 
 " civil eftablifhments of formularies of faith and 
 " worfliip, that it has long been a fubjed of difpute, 
 " which is worft in its effefls on fociety, Juch a re- 
 " ligion, or fpeculative Atheijm. For my own fart, 
 " I could almofi give the preference to the latter.^* 
 Obfervations on the Importance of the American 
 Revolution, by Richard Price, D. D. LL. D. 
 
 '' If we be fucccfsful in the propagation of the 
 " truthy we need not give ourfelves any concern about 
 " the meajures of government concerning it. Caufes 
 " will always produce their effefts ; and, though the 
 " cafes be of a different nature, it is as certain an 
 " inference as any in geometry, that an Unitarian 
 ** people cannot long befuhjeci to a 'Trinitarian ejlablijh- 
 " ment. Things are already in fuch a train, that, 
 " though no perfon can forefee the particular time 
 
 Woolfton, however, was not cliargeable with the /urcr utm-van' 
 tium. This arch-difputant well knew that there was an infu- 
 perable obllacle to any ferious propofal of the kind ; he was 
 aware " that every king and queen at their coronation were 
 *• obliged to take and fubfcribe an oath to prefcr-ve the fettlanent 
 *' of the Church of England, and the doctrine, dfcipline, and go- 
 " 'vermnent thereof, within the kingdoms of England and Ire- 
 " land, and the territories thereunto belonging; and that this 
 " Aft (5 Ann. c. 5.) Ihould be held a fundamental and eflential 
 " part of the Union betwixt the two kingdoms of England and 
 " Scotland." 
 
 F 3 *' an4
 
 7© Historical Memoirs or 
 
 ** and manner of the change in favour of Unita- 
 . <5 rianifm, we may be as certain of its taking place, 
 ** as if we faw it adually accomplilhed." See 
 3crmon on the Importance and Extent of Free En- 
 quiry, &c. by Jof. Pricftley, LL. D. 
 
 ** Religious improvement mufl be ejfpefled to 
 " keep pace with other improvements. It is ob- 
 ** fervable that the fcriptures place the downfall of 
 ** antkhrijl before the commencement of the uni- 
 ** verfal kingdom of the MefTiah. Previoufly to 
 " this, it. muft lofe that conne(5lion with civil power 
 " which has debafed it, and which nov/, in almoft 
 " every Chriflian countiy, turns it into a fcheme of 
 " worldly emolument and policy, and fupports 
 " error and fuperftition under the name of it. The 
 " abfurdities fathered upon it muft be explode 
 ** ed," &c. See Sermon in the Old Jewry Meeting- 
 houfe, London, April 17 87, by Richard Price, 
 D.D. 
 
 *' AfTure yourfelf, Sir, that the Unitarian doc- 
 " trine has already taken deep root in the church 
 " itfclf ; and it is a plant of a ftrong conftitution, 
 " and makes vigorous fhoots. The prefcnt con- 
 " troverfy greatly quickens its growth; and, in fpite 
 ** of all the efibrts of churchmen, and of all that as 
 " a flatefman you can do to afllft them, the doc- 
 " trines v/hich conftitute the peculiar faith of the 
 " church of England muji fall before it ; and, if the 
 *' hierarchy will obftinatcly maintain thefe dodrines, 
 " and keep up the fubfcription to them, it muft in 
 " time fall v. ith them." Letter to the Right Hon. 
 W'iiliam Pitt, by Jofeph PricLley, LL. D. 
 
 " The
 
 Religious Dissension. 71 
 
 " The late (American) war did great good by 
 *' difleminating juft fentiments of the rights of 
 ** mankind, and the nature of legitimate govern- 
 ** ment. — But in its termination, the war has done 
 *' ftill greater good, by preferving the new govern- 
 " ments from that dellrudion in which they muft 
 *' have been involved, had Britain conquered : by 
 " providing, in a fequeftered continent, a place of 
 " refuge for oppreft men in every region of the 
 " world ; and by laying the foundation there of an 
 " empire which may be the feat of liberty, fci- 
 *' ence, and virtue, and from whence there is reafon 
 " to hope thefe facred blcflings will fpread till they 
 *' become univerfal, and the time arrives when kings 
 " and p'iefts fioall have no more -poijoer to opprefs^ and 
 " that ignominious Jlavery^ which has hitherto debafed 
 *' the worldy is exterminated.'" Obfervations on the 
 Importance of the American Revolution, by Ri- 
 chard Price, D. D. LL.D. F.R.S. 
 
 It is unneceflary to multiply inftances, from the 
 various publications of thefe patrons of novelty, of 
 their averfion from regular government j but, in 
 iuftice to them, I fhould obferve, that they have been 
 f^nfible of their injudicious conduft, and in fome late 
 fober expofitions have attempted to appeafe the cen- 
 fure of men and the vengeance of the laws *. Their 
 
 apologifts 
 
 • The reverend author of the " Obfervations on the Im- 
 " portanceof the American Revolution," honelly acknowledges, 
 that, in confequence of the --warm part he had taken in the rebel- 
 lion of the Britifh colonies, he had expofed himfelf to much 
 abufe, and x.o feme danger from the violated laws of his country. 
 
 F 4 This
 
 7* Historical Memoirs op 
 
 apologifts>too haye been bufy in glofling over their 
 indecent labours $ have oppofed to the charge of 
 feftion, the force, the nerve, the beauty of meta- 
 phor J and have qualified the principles of rebellion, 
 by attributing to honeji zeal its wonted imprudence, 
 hut upright intentions. But what opinion can wc 
 have of that caufe, or of its advocates, who are 
 either involved in a train of indifcretions, or en- 
 gaged in a tiflue of apologies ? Will the ample 
 cloak of reformation cover all the fins of reftlefs 
 zeal ? or will unblulhing revolutionifts veil over 
 every unfightly excrefcence ? In defiance of thofe 
 important and puzzling apothegms, " That an 
 " independent parliament is incompatible with the 
 " exiftence of the monarchy;" and, " That a 
 " church polity, conformable to the genius of the 
 ♦' civil conftitution, is indilpenfably neceflary to na- 
 " tional religion i" we have a flaming patriot de- 
 claring from the roflrum, that he has worked him- 
 felf up beyond his ftrength, and is well nigh ex- 
 haufled, at the glorious profped of " eftablifhing 
 
 This gentleman, in fome later editions of his fcrmons, parti- 
 cularly of his popular difcourfe on the love of our country, No- 
 vember 1789, has thought it prudent to foften down fome ofTen- 
 fivc llrokes of oratory. This has been judged a ncccflary prac- 
 tice by Dr. Prieftley, and particularly in his fermon at Birming- 
 ham, on the condud to be obferved by the Diflenters upon the 
 eve of their applicaiion to parliament ; in which he has atoned 
 for former inflammatory cxprclTions, in fome degree, by a calm 
 and rational eloquence. And it pains one to obfervc an un- 
 timely hint, " That more relaxations arc intended than have been 
 " as yet folicited." 
 
 " thcifni
 
 Religious Dissension* 73 
 
 *' theifm on the ruins of the epifcopal hierarchy, 
 " and the indepefidence of the three Jiates of the Bri- 
 " tifh government on one another, in which its 
 « effence confifts *." Yet, a little after, we hear 
 the fanne divine, in the fame fanduary, forgetful of 
 former political fpeculations, affirming with grofs 
 inconfiftency, that the monarchy is eflentially de- 
 pendent J and the king a mere creature of the public. 
 ** A king is no more than the firft fervant of the pub- 
 " lie, created by it, maintained by it, and reipon- 
 " fibie to it : and all the homage paid him, is due 
 " to him on no other account than the community. 
 " His facrednefs is the facrednefs of the community: 
 " his authority is the authority of the community: 
 « and the term Majefty, which it is ufual to apply 
 " to him, is by no means his own majefty, but the 
 *^ majefty of the people f ." I forbear commenting 
 on the indecency of handling this fubjed: in the 
 pulpit, and the tendency of fuch dodlrine to inflame 
 the conventicle. But I muft afk thefe delegates of 
 evangelical peace, whether they are in actual pof- 
 fefllon of their confciences, when they thus proftitute 
 the dignity of the laws, the honour of the crovrn, 
 
 • See a Difcourfe on the Evidence of a future Period of Im- 
 provement, with the means and autj of promoting ir, delivered 
 at the O'd Jewry Meeting -houfe, April 25, 1787, before the 
 fupporters of ane-iM academical injiitution, by Richard Price, D.D. 
 f.R.S. &c. 
 
 f See a Difcourfe on the Love of our Country, delivered 
 at the Old Jewry Meeting-houfe, November 1789, by Richard 
 Price, D.D. F.R.S. &c, 
 
 the
 
 74 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 the rights of the church, and the privileges of par- 
 liament, to the vifionary liberties of the people, to be 
 trampled on by overheated fedaries, 
 
 Ignavum pecus, quod a pnefepibus arcent ? 
 
 Experience has long fince convinced us of the fatal 
 confequences that have flowed from this rant for 
 liberty and the rights of confcience : but when po- 
 litics fuperfcde piety, and zeal takes place of 
 order, 
 
 ** 'Tis too much provM, that with devotion's vifage, 
 
 ** And pious aiftion, men do fugar o'er 
 •' The devil himfelf." 
 
 I hope I fliall not wound the feelings of thefe 
 reverent votaries of privilege, when I tell them that 
 they greatly overrate this majelly of the people, and 
 that the rights and liberties of the fubjedl may be 
 urged too far, and become, even in thefe enlightened 
 daySi as neceflarily to be refilled, eipecially on the 
 eve of tnncvatioriy as ever prerogative was in the laft 
 century : bccaufe " political innovations commonly 
 " produce many effcdls bcfides thofe that are in- 
 " tended. The dirccft confeqiience is often the lead 
 " important. Incidental, remote, and unthought- 
 *' of evils or advantages frequently exceed the good 
 " that In defigncd, or the inconveniency that is fore- 
 " feen *." !• ar be it from me to intrench upon the 
 lights of mr.n, or the tlignity of human nature, or 
 
 • Sec Archdeacon Pa! y's i'rincip'es of Moral and Political 
 Pluiofophy, p. 467. 
 
 what
 
 Religious Dissension. ^^ 
 
 what has of late been called the majefty of the 
 people, from whom the chief magiftrate originally 
 derives his power, and to whom he affords by a 
 reciprocal tie his protection. The abfolute rights 
 and civil liberties of Engliihmen are clearly de- 
 fined i they have the fecurity of perfon and pro- 
 perty; the right of feif-defence j the conftitution 
 and power of parliaments ; and the limitation of 
 royal prerogative; the regular adminiftration of 
 juflice, and the right of petitioning for redrefs of 
 grievances. Thefe are their rights, whether as in- 
 dividuals, or members of the community : and as 
 to any other popular privilege, undefined by the 
 municipal laws, the conftitution acknowledges nonci 
 but, on the contrary, has reftrained the natural liberty 
 of mankind by laws that are abfolutely necelTary for 
 the prefervation of fociety. 
 
 But there is a rock on which republicans in a 
 monarchical government are generally apt to fplit. 
 They lift up the dignity of the people, and mifin- 
 terpret and deprefs the royal authority, and, redu- 
 cing the chief mas-iftrate to the condition of a fer- 
 vant, infmuating that his power is merely delegated, 
 and reaflumable at will, they effeftuaily deftroy the 
 very efTence of a monarchical conftitution. Is our 
 celebrated revolutionift yet to learn, that the king's 
 prerogative is independent of the people ; that his 
 crown defcends to him by the pofitive conftitution 
 of the kingdom; and, notwithftanding parliamentary 
 limitations, the crown retains its defcendible quality, 
 and is hereditary in the prince to whom it is li- 
 mited ;
 
 'jS Historical Memoirs of 
 
 mited : and if he maintains the contrad betwixt 
 himfelf and his people, which is exprefled in his 
 coronation oath, and is founded in the very nature 
 of focietyi that is, if the king governs his people 
 according to the laws, and maintains the ejiablijhed 
 religion of his country, he is then entitled to our re- 
 verence and allegiance, not merely as the firji Jer- 
 vant (f the public y but as pofTefling the conftitutional 
 and legal attributes oi -perjonal Jovereignty^ abjolute 
 ferfeSJiony and political perpetuity ? Is the champion 
 of rights yet to learn, that, for the prefervation 
 of this monarchy, and the maintenance of the regal 
 dignity, adherence to the king's ejwnies is punifhable 
 as high treafon * i and contempt cf his perfon and go - 
 vernmenty is fubjccfl to fne and imprijonment f : that, 
 for the defence of religion, and the fecurity of the 
 public peace, reviling the ejiablijhed ordinances J, tu- 
 multuous petitioning §, pretended prophecies and libels [f, 
 are all reftrained by forfeiture, imprifonment, and 
 infamous corporal punifhment ? 
 
 There is in fome men an innate principle of op- 
 pofition to thofe whofe province it is to reprove, to 
 reflrain, and to rebuke ; and, whatever the friends 
 of fuch men may think of their multiplied indifcre- 
 
 • By the (latute of EJward III, 
 
 f By fpeaking or writing contemptuoufly, i:c. fee 4th Ann. 
 c. 8. and 6th Ann. c. 7. 
 
 X Seditious words, fpoken in derogation of the eflablifhed re- 
 ligion, arc inJidable, as tending to a breach of the peace. Sec 1 
 Haw. 7. and i Lliz. c. 2. ^ 4. 
 
 ^ By the 13th Charles II. c. i. and ift George, c. 5. 
 
 II See 5th Lliz. c 15. and 3 Infl. 128 and 129. 
 
 tions,
 
 Religious Dissension. 77 
 
 tions, their enemies will be apt to impute their difguft 
 of ordinances, to a dread of infulted authority, and 
 their cry for liberty, to the apprehenfions of a 
 prifon. 
 
 But I may be told that our reverend politician 
 has avowed himfelf an enemy to commonwealths, 
 and an advocate for monarchy. I know this : and 
 he has done more. With wonderful verfatility of 
 talent, he has difowned profelytifm, and retained the 
 fpirit and zeal for converfion * ; has abandoned 
 controverfy, in the midft of polemical pofitions f ; 
 and, iheltering himfelf behind fome equivocal 
 axiom of the celebrated Montefquieu, has con- 
 demned democracy, and difleminated republican 
 principles J. 
 
 A character 
 
 • Compare " Sermons on the Chriftian Doftrine, as received 
 " by the different Denominations of Chriflians," by R. Price ; 
 and his " Difcourfe on the Evidence of a future Period of Im- 
 " provcment;" with " Obfervations on the American Revolu- 
 « tion," by Richard Price, D.D. pafiim. 
 
 f In the advertifement prefixed to Dr. Price's " Sermons 
 " on the Chriflian Doftrinc," he declares his refolution not to 
 engage in controverfy j yet in tlie body of the fame work, he 
 not only charges churchmen with idolatry, but enters into a 
 curious comparifon of the Athanaf.an and Sccinian fyliems, de- 
 claring, that in regard to the Deity of Chrijl, " as far as Trini- 
 " tarians and Socinians have ideas, toey are agreed on this 
 " fubjeft ; and the war they have b^en maintaining againfl one 
 " another, has been entirely a war cf words." 
 
 X In his " Difcourfe on the Evidence of a future Period of 
 " Improvement," the Doftor exprefsly difclaims republican 
 principles ; and has gone fo far as to acknowledge that our 
 coniUtution of govcnuncnt is better adapted to this country 
 
 than
 
 7? Historical Me.voirs of 
 
 A charafter fo paradoxical, we are led to think, 
 could neither be the favourite of a party, nor tiie 
 idol of the tabernacle, now proflitiited to civil 
 dudgecn and phrenetic mood; and we might reafbn- 
 ably expedl that diflldents would no longer impute 
 iiliquity to eftablifhments of faith. 
 
 when their own biihop 
 
 *' Turns infurredion to religion; 
 
 ** Suppofed fincere and holy in his thoughts, 
 
 *' Derives from Heaven his quarrel and his caufe, 
 
 ** Tells them he doth beftride a bleeding land 
 
 •* Gafping for life. 
 
 " And more, or lefs, do flock to follow him." 
 
 But this age is the age of experiment : the principles 
 of cii'il dijfclution and political augury are tranf- 
 mitted and imbibed with theological precepts ; 
 and fpeculative faints have arrived at the temple of 
 fame, through the eccentric paths oijlate ckem'-.ftry 
 -and divination : nay, to prove the utmofl powers 
 of combination, a projector has been found to re- 
 
 than any other : yet, in moft other publications, particularly in 
 his late Sermon " On the Love of our Country," he entirely 
 depreciates the regal authority, and condemns all interpofition 
 of civil power in matters of religion : and in his " Obfervations 
 ** on the Importance of tlic American Revolution," he glories 
 in the emancipation of our late fellow -fjbj;. ft; from regal ty- 
 ranny, and, kindling with a zeal for reformation, he fervently 
 petitions Heaven " to put a fpccdy end to all ciutl eJlahUjhment$ 
 ** of religioTt '. '''' unmindful that the great charter has tn/f 
 farahly woven the edabliihmcnt into the civil conftituiion > 
 #^d that the monarchy can fland no longer tlian i\\c fio-Iriue, 
 dn'.iplinc, and prefent go'vernmen! of the C'lurch of England i» 
 maintained. Sec 12th W. 111. c. 2. and 5ih Ann. c. ^. 
 
 commend
 
 Religious Dissension. 7^ 
 
 tommend the abafers of monarchy, and the declared 
 foes of church eflabUfliments, as well qualified to fill 
 the offices of a regal and eplfcopal government *. 
 
 I fliall now take leave of thefe gentlemen for a 
 feafon ^ but, as we may meet again, I think it pro- 
 per to afilire them, that in my ftritlures on their 
 principles, I gratify no perfonal enmity ; their zeal 
 for godly -thcrough reformation^ as far as it has ope- 
 rated on their conduft as fubjefts and as citizens, is 
 a fair objeft of animadverfion : and, though they 
 have offended againfl the rules of decency and 
 good order, and have violated the laws of their 
 country, by wounding her conilitution, and aflailing 
 the befl interefls of her religion, through the me- 
 dium of her ozvn prejs^ it is my fincere wiih that 
 they may never be overtaken by popular infult, or 
 perfonal injury. — Errors in politics, as well as in 
 divinity, fnould be treated with the fame correctives 
 as errors in ethics or philofophy : prejudice fliould 
 be fubdued by reafon, and opinions fhould be con- 
 demned, not by the powers of magiftracy, but upon 
 the detection of fophifm and fallacy ; and religious 
 as well as political orthodoxy may be well fupport- 
 ed without an arm of flefh j for upon found argu- 
 ment and fair difcufTion, truth will always obtain the 
 
 • Mr. Fox, in the debate upon the repeal of the Tefts, March 
 3d 1790, noticed the wikini^s of Dr. Price againft the hierar- 
 chy ; but he infilled that there would be ro more danger to the 
 conftitution, in admitting him to any ofice in the frate, than thers 
 was in permitting the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who objecled 
 to the prefent reprefentation cf the people in parliament, to be at 
 the head of the treafury. 
 
 4 viiftory.
 
 So Historical Memoirs or 
 
 vifbory. But it by no means follows, that legaJ 
 reftri(5t:ions are either impolitic, iinneceflary, or un- 
 juft ; and, although nothing is to be dreaded from 
 coiijToverfy, except when giving rife to tumult and 
 commotion, yet there have been occafions. when 
 the public lecurity has depended on the very laws 
 that are now fo obnoxious, and to which indeed we 
 are indebted for our prefent enjoyment of civil and 
 religious liberty : and, however the principles of hu- 
 manity and benevolence fhould reftrain the execu- 
 tion of penal laws in matters of opinion, yet the 
 common policy of prevention will teach a well- 
 conftitutcd (late to preferve certain barriers betwixt 
 liberty and licentioufnels. " Oh, 'tis excellent to 
 " have a giant's ftrength, but, it is tyrannous to ufe 
 " it like a giant ! " — Shaliefpear. 
 
 It is a dale and common practice with innova- 
 tors, to impute to the advocates for cftablifhments 
 and regular government, an adherence to High- 
 Church principles and prerogative : but let me 
 afk that man, who is unbiafled by education, by 
 religious prejudice or connexion, whether, in the 
 prefent times, more mifchicf is not to be appre- 
 hended from a clamour for abftraft rights, and a 
 zeal for reformation, than from any undue influence 
 of prerogative, or any ambitious dcfigns of church- 
 men ? We have a monarch who has inflexibly 
 purfued a juft, equitable, and confillent conduct, 
 who has confidered his own intereft as interwoven 
 with the welfare of his fubjefls, and whofe hap- 
 pincfi has confifted in promoting the profperity of 
 
 his
 
 Religious Dissension. 8i 
 
 his people : we have a religion, I fpeak of it as 
 an eftablifhment, that difowns perfccution, and ab- 
 hors every meafure fubverfive ofhberty, and which, 
 through the bleflfed fpirit of toleration, is the very 
 prop and fiipport of focial happincfs. Our clergy, 
 as a colleftive body, are equally diftinguilhed for 
 their learning, mildnefs, and liberality, as they are 
 for their abhorrence of profligacy and libertinifm. 
 A pure adminiftration of juftice prevails amongll 
 us, as pure at leaft as the ftate of things here will 
 admit of Our judges are incorrupt ; queftions of 
 right and wrong are juHly decided; and the in- 
 terefts of the individual are preferred from the 
 griping hands of the oppredbr. A tide of wealth 
 and profperity is flowing in upon us ; the aff'eftions 
 of a grateful people are fecured by mild, equal, 
 and beneficial laws ; whilfl: national honour is main- 
 tained abroad ip unufual fplendour. Such is the 
 Ipirit and the efi^eft of our happy conflitution. As 
 free fubjefts of a free government, we may cherifh 
 our allegiance without betraying ourfelves into fer- 
 vitude, and we may exercife our freedom, without 
 owing any vajjalage^ except to thofe laws v/hich 
 are of our own prelcribing. The efibrts of fatlion 
 and ambition may indeed excite a feeble murmur, 
 and promote a partial difcontent; but an enlightened 
 preople cannot be long deluded by falfe reafoning 
 and falfe patriotifm. " The voice of joy and glad- 
 " nefs fliall put to filence the voice of him that re- 
 " proacheth;" and a juft tribute of applaufe fliall 
 be paid to thofe v/ho are to perpetuate thcfc blefTings 
 
 G to
 
 8l Historical Memoirs of 
 
 to us, with the ardour of Britiih gratitude, and in 
 the fpirit of Roman approbation. " Quapropter, 
 ** de fumma falute noftra, patres confcripti, de con- 
 " jugibus ac liberis, de aris et focis, de fanis ac 
 ** tempiis, de totius urbis teftis ac fedibus, de im- 
 " pe:io, de libertate, de falute patriae, deque uni- 
 " verfa rcpublica dccemite diligenter, ut inftitu- 
 " iftis, ac for titer *." 
 
 I now refume my comparifon of the conduct of 
 the Proteftant DilTenters in 1789, with that of the 
 Proteftant Aflbciators in 1780. 
 
 Another meafure adopted by the infurgents in 
 1780, in vindication of liberty, has been in no fmall 
 degree copied by the prefent aflbciated body of Dif- 
 fenters. I mean the attempt to obtain an altera- 
 tion of the eftablifhed laws, by cveraiving the legij- 
 lature. The proceedings in each cafe are not ex- 
 aftly alike, but the tendency was the fame, and 
 equally unconftifutional. In the firft inftance, the 
 danger to the conflitution was not fo imminent as 
 the outrage on the perfons of the fenators was of- 
 fenfive. The tumultuous petitioning of the bellua 
 
 • " Wherefore, fenators, go on as you have begun, with dili- 
 " gcncc and refolution, to provide for the public fafety, and 
 " that of our wives zr.<\ children, for our temples and altars, the 
 " city and its buildings, the empire, the liberty and welfare of 
 " our country, and for the good of the whole commonwealth." 
 
 Cicero. 
 
 ccnlicep
 
 Religious Dissension. 83 
 
 centiceps will generally defeat its own intentions ; 
 and in this cafe, the firmnefs and intrepidity with 
 which parliament refifted the daring violation of 
 its freedom and privilege, contributed alike to die 
 prefervation of the laws and the maintenance of its 
 dignity. But now the reprefentatives of the people 
 are to be affailed lefs hoftilely indeed, but more 
 infidioufly j not with open afts of violence, but 
 with the covert evils of ftratagem and intrigue. 
 " And covert evils are generally more dangerous 
 *' to all governments than thofe which are appa- 
 " rent, and capable of exciting immediate alarm *." 
 In either cafe, the defer tion of their conftitutional 
 duties was the obje6t j in the former, by a dar- 
 ing outrage on the perfons of the fenators and the 
 freedom of debate 3 in the latter, by a deliberate 
 and artful attack on their integrity and indepen- 
 dence; by a cenfure on fuch as had oppofed their 
 repeated -applications for a repeal of the iefls, and 
 by a folemn declaration to return fuch only, at the 
 next general eleftion, as would pledge themfelves 
 to fupport the private interefts of a party. And, 
 however ofFenfive the conduce of the aiTociators in 
 1780 might be, I have no hefitation in faying, that 
 the meafures of the aflbciators in 1789 were preg- 
 nant with greater miicnief to the conftitution. As 
 this charge is of a ferious nature, it muft be treated 
 v/ith attention, and if it is not ellablifhed on fad, the 
 
 •See Rights of the PiOteftant DifTenters afitrted. Sec. part 
 a. c. 5. 
 " *** G 2 accufer
 
 84 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 accufcr mufl be ovei-whelmed in the obloquy de- 
 iervedly due to calumniators. Difnnifling then for 
 a while, the firft tribe of infurgents, wc are to in- 
 quire how far the conduct of the prefent Aflbciated 
 Diflentcrs tends to overawe and influence the legif- 
 lature. It is a fundamental principle in the confti- 
 tution of this country, " That eleftions fhould 
 " be free, and the ele(5l:cd independent." In direct 
 violation of this falutary maxim, the Proteftant 
 DifTenters have concerted plans, which in their ope- 
 ration ftrike direftly at the freedom of eledlion, and 
 the independence of the reprefentative. 
 
 Having formed confederacies throughout the 
 kingdom, with a view to the repeal of thofe ancient 
 tefts, which the majority of their fellow -citizens have 
 always confidered and repeatedly declared to be the 
 great fecurity and defence of the crown, and the 
 permanency of the Britiili conftitution ; and judg- 
 ing that their intended application would meet with 
 little redrefs from that parliament, which after ma- 
 ture difcuffion had already twice folemnly declared 
 againft it, they look forward to the period of its 
 diflbiution, and violently Itrain eveiy nerve to crfecft 
 tlie return of a better-tem.pered legiflature. At 
 the fcafon then of a general eleflion, a feafon at all 
 times of faclion and divifion, when the minds of 
 men are agitated by contending intcrefts, and the 
 little weaknefies that are too often found amongil 
 the beft, float uppermolt ; in this hour of mental 
 infirmity, the unblufliing advocates of civil and re- 
 ligious
 
 Religious Dissension. 85 
 
 Mgious liberty prefs fonvard, and urge a teji * on 
 thofe very men v/ho are to thunder for them in the 
 fenate, in behalf of ahftraEl rights and natural pri- 
 vilegey in fupport of rbfclute liberty, jiiji and true 
 liberty, equal arJ in^partial liberty f . This palpable 
 abfurdity would not be credited on my bare affcr- 
 tion : I am necefiitated therefore to adduce other 
 proof in confirmation of the faft ; and it is nothing 
 lefs than the ccol deliberate rejolution of a body of 
 Proteftant DifTenters, aflembled at Bolton in Lan- 
 cafhire '^. "It is highly expedient and proper for 
 " all DilTenting freeholders and eledtors through- 
 " out the kingdom, in every county, city, and bo- 
 *^ rough, to require by letter, of all candidates for 
 " a feat in parliament, with whom they are feve- 
 " rally concerned, an explicit declaration of their 
 " views refpecling the Teft and Corporation Afts, 
 " and to refuje thsir votes to every man who will not 
 " engage to fupport a repeal of ails which appear 
 " to be obnoxious, intolerant, and unjuft : and of all 
 " penal fiatutes againft religious principles." 
 
 Here is a refolution as eminent for zeal, as it is 
 
 * This argument was moft happily urged by the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, in the debate on Mr. Fox's motion, March 
 3d, 1790; and it was, although on a diflimilar occafion, touched 
 upon with pointed application by a former minifter : " It does 
 " not become thofe who will not obferve covenants or treaties, 
 " to prefs them upon others." Sir Thomas Bodley's fpeech to 
 the Dutch, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 f See Right of Proteftant DifTenters, &c. aflerted, p. 50. 
 note ; and preface to the firft edition of the Confeliional. 
 
 J December 17th, 1789. 
 
 G 3 for
 
 S6 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 for abfurdity, and wJiich holds forth a ridiculous 
 mixture of latitude and intolerance ! 
 
 In a free country every thing is to be apprehend- 
 ed fi oin an undue exertion of privilege, and to de- 
 lude or entrap the reprefentatives of the people by 
 influence and ftratagcm, is ungenerous and un- 
 conilitutional. If the Diflenters were the only 
 perfons concerned in the repeal of the eftablifhed 
 Tefls, even then their plea for a redrefs of griev- 
 ances fhould not pafs without a ftrift examination, 
 becaufe the nneans which they have made ufe of to 
 carry their point have excited fufpicion j but when, 
 under die pretext of religion and liberty, the very 
 exiftence of that eftablifhment for which we have 
 been i'o long contending, is attacked, the cool de- 
 liberate refolution to influence the freedom of elec- 
 tion, and to cnfnare the judgment of that man who 
 is to be the reprefentative, not of the Diflenters 
 only, but of every member in the community, 
 roufes the attention of every one who is not indif. 
 ferent to his real interefts ; for the fubjeft comes 
 home to him, and his confcience and reafon mull 
 tell him, in fpite of fine-fpun arguments, that the 
 conduct of thefe men is not to be jufiified in this 
 particular y by any pretext of perfonal inconvenience, 
 or claim for private emolument. 
 
 But thefe men aflure us they are good citizens, 
 friends to civil liberty, friends to the ejlabiijhments in 
 church and fate, and that they are only adopting 
 feme ccnfitutional mcafures to efje3 their defr cable 
 pirfofe. When their plaintive brethren aimed at 
 5 the
 
 Religious Dissensio!^. 87 
 
 the repeal of the ofFenfive ftatiites in 1780, they 
 exhibited a jiifter knowledge of the Britifh conili- 
 tution, and betrayed a jealoufy of the honour of 
 their fenators, unknov/n to the aflbciators of 1789. 
 They exprefled, in their petition to parliament, an 
 apprehenfion, left the Roman Catholics, by the in- 
 dulgence recently granted to them, " jhould influence 
 '^ our eleSiions in future parliatnentSj which would 
 " tend to the deflruofion of our happy coyifiitution *." 
 They too, but a few hours before they fubverted the 
 civil power, and ere 
 
 " The burning ruins with a f.ercer ray 
 
 "• Supply'd the fun, and counterfeited day : " 
 
 They too, in the very a61: of overawing parliament, 
 were good citizens y frier.ds to civil liberty y and the efla- 
 hlijhments in church and fate. " Your petitioners 
 " prefume, that their peaceable deportment, and 
 " the conftituticnal fteps they have taken to obtain 
 " redrefs, will meet with the approbation of this 
 " honourable houfe *." There is an animation in 
 Roman politics that captivates v/hile it convinces : 
 " An tu populum Romanum effe ilium putas qui 
 " conftat ex iis, qui mercede conducuntur ? qui 
 " impdluntur, ut vim afFerant Magiftratibus ? ut 
 " obfideant fenatum ? cui populo duces Lentidios, 
 " Lollios, Sergios, prsfeceras. O fpeciem, digni- 
 
 * See the petition of Proteftant Affociators, prefented by lord 
 G. Gordon, at the bar of the Houfe of Commons, June 2d, 1780, 
 figned by 40,000 ; and faid to be brought up by ioo,oco 'uindi- 
 cators of liberty, 
 
 G 4 " tatemque
 
 88 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 " tatemque populi Romani, quam reges, quam na-r 
 " tiones exterce, quam gentes ultimse pertirrif fcunt; 
 " multiaidinem hominum ex fervis condudli^, ex 
 ** facinorofis, ex egentibus congregatam." — Ci- 
 cero. 
 
 The text may be eafily applied, I leave it to 
 others to interpret j but there needs no commen- 
 tary. 
 
 But I turn from thefe unjuftifiable meafures to an 
 objeft that claims peculiar attention. A pamphlet, 
 anonymous indeed, comes forward to the public 
 with fingular commendation. The author profefles 
 ** to give an accurate narrative of fac^s, and to 
 " ftatc the principles on which the Proteftant Dif- 
 ** fenters found their claim to a complete tolera- 
 " tion." And he has been ufhered into public 
 notice under the fanflion of a noble earl *, and 
 the applaufes of a diftinguiflied commoner f. The 
 firll commends this pamphlet as the bed that has 
 been publiihed upon religion y for a whole century j 
 the laft applauds it as a mod accurate and fair 
 ftatement of the DifTenters rights ; and it has ob- 
 tained equal com.mendation from authority J much 
 
 higher 
 
 • Earl Stanliope. 
 
 f Sir H. Hcghton. See Debates, March 3d, 1790. 
 
 \ " The narrative part of this piece ftatcs fuHy, and we think 
 " fairly, the l.illory of the Tcft laws : the argumentative part 
 " reafons clearly and forcibly on the injullice and impolicy of 
 " excluding from public offices a part of the community, who, 
 " Sec. SiC. The fact, and argument , ftited in thib publication, fo 
 «' dccifivcly cftai Lfi the expediency as well as the juftice of the 
 
 " repeal
 
 Religious Dissension. 89 
 
 higher in the court of criticifm. A publication lb 
 favourably arnounced av/akenscurioftty und attracfls 
 attention, und it fiiould contain important, accu/ate, 
 and in^.partial intelligence *. The importance of 
 this painphlet to the interefts of religion, and the 
 corrc^nefs and fidehty of its hiftoi ical references, 
 may be the fubjecl of future inveftigationi atprefent 
 I am to examine whether it is calculated to promote 
 undue influence, and to affecft the freedom of elec- 
 
 " repeal of the Teft A6ls, that we cannot fuppofe that it will be 
 " long in the power of the obfolete cry, The church is in danger, 
 " to prevent it." Month. Rev. vol. Ixxx. p. 561. 
 
 * The author of " The Right of the Proteftant DilTenters to 
 " a complete Toleration afTerted," informs us, in his preface, 
 that he was employed but little more than Jix vjeeks in nxjriting 
 and puhliping the firft edition of his work : an intimation that 
 implies either negligence and hurry, or fuperiority of abilities. 
 As the fubjeft is very important, and comprehends not only the 
 defigns of the Diffenters, but the welfare of the eftablifhed reli- 
 gion, we may fairly conclude that this Treatife, on which {b 
 little time has been beftowcd, will neither ftand the teft of exa- 
 mination, nor obtain diftinftion for accuracy and fidelity : con- 
 fcious of deficiency, the writer refers us to a publication of 
 the Reverend Mr. Fownes, of Shrewfbury, intitled, " An Inquiry 
 " into the Principles of Toleration." The work of this re- 
 fpeclable minifter has not as yet come within my notice ; but, 
 to this fortrefs and rock of refuge for DiiTenting principles, I 
 fhall turn with eagemefs, in expeftation of finding found argu- 
 ment and fair dedudlion. In the mean time, I Ihall remark, that 
 precipitation in a matter fo complicated and involved, inevitably 
 incurs that cenfare which is deftined to fallacious fa£ts, fophiftical 
 inferences, and flimfy argument. And, whatever the friends of 
 this afTerter of rights may think, his abilities, however tranfcen- 
 dent, will not fecure that reputation of which his negligence and 
 artifice have bereaved him. 
 
 tion.
 
 90 Historical Memoirs op 
 
 tion, and the independence of the cleAed. And 
 here, if I might hazard a conjedure, it appears, that 
 from this approved model, this prototype of reforma- 
 tion, the Proteftant Diflenters have framed their late 
 refolutions and proceedings. 
 
 This writer, after having beftowed a plentiful 
 fhare of cenfure on the whole bench of bifhops, as 
 ** fupporters of tenets in public, which in private 
 ** they utterly difclaim," fums up the credenda et 
 agenda of Religious Diffenfion in this animated 
 peroration. " Let not the Proteftant Diflenters 
 " put their truft in king, minifter, or prelates j but 
 ** let them confide in their own exertions , the juftice 
 ** of their caufe, and the generofity of the nation. 
 *' Let them not be withheld by promifes, or inti- 
 ** midated by threats, from profecuting their defign, 
 " or ufwg all the helps which Providence has placed 
 " in their power. There is not an individual among 
 " them, however humble his ficuation, however 
 « confined his fphere of aflion, who may not exert 
 " himfelf with effed. By converfation with his 
 " neighbours, by correfpondence with his friends, 
 ** he may conciliate our enemies, and make the 
 " lukewarm zealous. Befides, the time cannot be 
 ** far remote, when the reprefentatives of the peo- 
 " pie muft give an account of their truft to their 
 " conftituents ; and that power which the Diflenters 
 " fo fignally difplayed at the diflblution of the laft 
 " parliament, muft have confiderable influence at 
 " the conclufion of the prefent. Such a crifis in 
 " favour of the DiflTcnters may not occur in the re- 
 
 " volution
 
 Religious Dissension. 91 
 
 *' volution of ages ; and it is a duty to themfelves 
 " and their pofierity to take advantage of it. They 
 ** are peculiarly the guardians of religious liberty, 
 " and will fliortly have an opportunity to Ihew 
 " their attachment to its friends. Thofe who fhall 
 *' have approved their regard for the rights of con- 
 " fcience, and voted for the repeal of the Tefts, 
 *' may go down with confidence to their confti- 
 " tuents, who are DiJJenterSj and friends of religious 
 '* liberty; while the obftinate advocates for 'perfecution 
 ** can have no claim to their ajjijiance *." 
 
 This is the Catholic creed of Proteftant Difien- 
 fion ; and, without a queftion, the damnatory claufes 
 favour ftrongly of political Calvinifm. But is the 
 eve of the diifolution of parliament to be the eve 
 of the violation of fenatorial piivilege ? Is the fuf- 
 frage of the candidate to be pre-engaged to fupport 
 an unknown fyftem of reformation? his faith pledg- 
 ed to pcrfonal interefts, or his reluftance to make 
 fhipwreck of parliamentary virtue, wounded by 
 perfonal reftntment ? Yet fo it is ! And I have lived 
 to fee the day, when the reprefentative of a free 
 people is to be intimidated into compliance with 
 party views, or branded as an objlinate advocate for 
 perfecution ! 
 
 Every ele6lor is in poOefTion of civil privileges 
 and conflitutional rights j and if he is wife, he will 
 delegate them as pure as he has received them; 
 and when in the a6l of furrendering his mod valu- 
 
 * Right of the Proteftant DifTenters to a complete Toleration 
 aflerted, p. 97. 
 
 able
 
 92 Historical Memoirs op 
 
 able interefts, his liberty, to the guardianfhip of 
 another, he will take care not to acconnpany it with 
 a fetter. A combination of men may declaim 
 upon their rights to di(5tate to their candidate ; but 
 that man mull have more than Machiavelian craft 
 and ingenuity to perfuade me, that this boafted 
 right is an a£five power to hamper the freedom of 
 others, or to invade the privileges of their fellow- 
 citizens. In Ihort, however I may abhor the infults 
 offered to the legiflature by the aflbciators in 1780, 
 I have no hefitation in faying, that a cool preme- 
 ditated attack on the freedom of eledbion, and on 
 the delicacy, the honour, and independence of a Bri- 
 tifh fcnator, is full as alarming to the general inte- 
 refts of the public, as an outrage committed on the 
 perfon of majefly itfelf 
 
 But we are told that this meafure has a prece- 
 dent : " That power which the Diffenters fo fig- 
 " nally difplayed at the difiblution of the laft par- 
 *' liament, muft have confiderable influence at the 
 " conclufion of the prefent." And will precedent 
 fanc^ion what is inconfiftcnt with rcafon and found 
 policy ? So thought fadlion of old. " Vivimus ad 
 " exempldy nee raticne componimur, Jed conjuetudine 
 " abducimur." It is true this meafure has a prece- 
 dent ; a precedent indeed of the fame com- 
 plexion, but of a very different date from that al- 
 luded to. And as it applies in many inftances to 
 the fubjcft under difcuffion; I fhall be excufed, 
 even by the Diffenters themfelves, for quoting it 
 In the words of Burnet. The bilhop, after remark- 
 ing
 
 Religious Dissension. qj 
 
 ing on the infidious views of the Popifh monarch 
 James II. in fetting out his declaration for tolera- 
 tion and liberty of confcience in 1687, proceeds, 
 " This gave great offence to all true patriots, as 
 " well as to the whole church-party. The pre- 
 " amble, that pretended fo much love and charity, 
 " and that condemned perfecution, founded ftrange- 
 *' ly in the mouth of a Popifh prince. Upon this, 
 " a new kt of addrefles went round the DifTenters. 
 " And they who had fo long reproached the Church 
 " of England, as too courtly in their fubmifTions 
 " and flatteries, feemed now to vie with them in 
 " thofe abjCift drains. They magnified the king's 
 '* mercy and favour, and made great proteftations 
 " of fidelity and gratitude. Many promifed to 
 " endeavour, thai Juch ferjcns Jhould be chojen to 
 " Jerve in parlia-ment, as floould concur with the king 
 '* in the enacting what he now granted Jo gracioujly. 
 " The king and his priefts were delighted with thefe 
 " addreiTes out of meafure : and they feemed to 
 " think that they had gained the nation, and had 
 " now conquered thofe who were hitherto their 
 '' mod irreconcileable enemies. But feeing no hope 
 " of prevailing on his parliament (to concur v/ith 
 " him in his aims at arbitrary pov/er) he dif- 
 " fblved it ; but gave it out, that he wcuki have a 
 '■^ new one before winter ; and foon after fet out on 
 " a progrefs through fome of the weftern counties. 
 "In the places through which he paiTed, the king 
 " faw a vifible coklnefs both in the nobility and
 
 94 Historical Memoirs of 
 
 " gentry. On his part, he was very obliging to all 
 " that came near him, and moft particularly to the 
 *' DiJfenterSy and to thofe who had palled long 
 " under the notion of commonwealth's men. He ran 
 " out on the points of liberty of confcience. He was 
 ** well pleafed to hear all the ill-natured ftories that 
 " were brought him of the violences committed 
 " of late, either by the jullices of peace, or by the 
 '* clergy. He evaj where recommended to them 
 " the choofing fuch parliament-men as would con- 
 " cur with him in fettling this liberty as firmly as 
 " the Magna Charta had been: and to this he 
 " never forgot to add, the taking away the 'tefts, 
 " Many books were now writ for liberty of con- 
 " fcience; andyjince all people Jaw what Jecurity the 
 " I'ejls gave, thefe fpoke of an equivalent to be 
 " offered, that fhould give a further fecurity, beyond 
 " what could be pretended from the Tells." — The 
 king was making every day a very arbitrary ufe 
 of the power of changing the magiftracy. The 
 regulators, who alTifted him in this work, " were 
 " for the moft part DifTenters gained by the court, 
 ** and they went on very boldly, and turned men 
 " out upon every ftory that was made of them ; 
 " and put fuch men in their room as they confided 
 " in. Afior this, the king fent orders to the lords 
 " lieutenants of the counties to examine the gentle- 
 " men and freeholders upon three queftions : the 
 " firft was, Whether, in cafe thfty fhould be chofcn 
 " to fcrve in parliament, they would confcnt to 
 
 " repeal
 
 Religious Dissension. 95 
 
 *' repeal the penal laws, and thofe for the Tefts ? 
 " the lecond was. Whether they would give their 
 " vote for choofing fuch men as would engage to 
 " do that ? And the third was. Whether they would 
 " maintain the king's declaration ? — In moft of the 
 " counties, the lords lieutenants put thofe queftions 
 " in fo carelefs a manner, that it was plain they did 
 " not defire they fhould be anfwered in the affir- 
 " mative. Some went further, and declared them- 
 " felves againft them. And a few of the more re- 
 " folute refufed to put them. They faid, this was 
 " the frelimiting and the 'packing a ■parliament^ which 
 " in its nature was to be free^ and under no previous 
 " engagement *.'* 
 
 Here is a coalition indeed ! a coalition of Popery 
 and DifTenfion in fupport of religious fi-eedom ! 
 The eve of the diffolution of Parliament is the 
 feafon 
 
 ** For party-faint to flip his fetter.'' Hud. 
 
 And Popery winks, whilft DifTenfion feeks her fpi- 
 ritual enlargement amidft the cabals of a canvafs, 
 and the riots of an ele6bion. 
 
 Burnet's Hillory of his own Times. 
 
 I difmifs
 
 9^ HfstoRiCAL Memoirs of 
 
 I difmifs the fubje(5t, and Ihall now take leave of 
 my reader J and if thefe few obfervations on the 
 principles and conduct of the Proteftant Diflenters 
 /hall have attrafled his attention, it remains with 
 him to confider what inferences and what ufe may 
 be drawn from them. He muft remark, that, al- 
 though there are many upright and pious men 
 who dilTent from the eftablilhed Church, there is no 
 reafon to fuppofe that thefe are adherents to the 
 prefent fyftem of reformation. He muft recolledl, 
 from the inftances adduced, that the appeal of the 
 Diflenters to hiftory, in proof of their patriotifm 
 and political virtue, ferves only to condemn their 
 principles and their aftions;— that their fpecious 
 vindication of civil and religious liberty has been the 
 ftale trick of reformers in all ages, ad captandum 
 1-iilgnSy calculated only for the fickle and unwary; 
 — that their cenfure on the Eftablifhment, for con- 
 founding religion with politics, recoils with ten- 
 fold acciifation on their own heads ; — that their pre- 
 tended difgiift of Tefts, when they are forging fetters 
 for thofe wlio are the peculiar guardians of liberty, 
 is a grofs abfurdity ; — that their determination to 
 renew their attack on the eftablilhed laws of their 
 country, at every favourable o fpcrt unity ^ menaces the 
 public fecurity, and dcftroys all confidence in them 
 as citizens and rub)c(5ts. In fticrt — that their eager- 
 ncfs to promote the private interefts of their party, 
 at the period of a difiblution of parliament, is not 
 
 only
 
 Religious DissENS 10. '•f. 97 
 
 only unfair and difingenuoiis, but is fnfficient to 
 Awaken the apprehenfion of every man who is either 
 a friend to public peace, or to the prefent happy 
 conftitution. 
 
 If indeed we could perceive any thing more of 
 good order, of juftice, or loyalty on the one part, or 
 of meeknefs, charity, or benevolence on the other, 
 likely to refult from the projefted reformation, we 
 might fufpeft our judgment, and condemn our pre- 
 judices. But, on the contrary, we have all the reafon 
 imaginable to conclude, that, fhould thofe fences of 
 the conftitution, thofe bounds betwixt liberty and li- 
 centioufneis, be abolilhal, confequenceij moft fatal 
 to fociety would enfue. What Solomon fays con- 
 cerning the " beginning of ftrife," that it is like 
 " the letting out of water," might then be exem- 
 plified : for, if thefe ilood-gates were once opened, 
 we know not where the inundation would flop. 
 Whilfl one would be cavilling at ordinances, an- 
 other contending againfl the admifTion and authority 
 of fcripture, a third reform.ing church eflabliih- 
 ments, and a fourth demoliihing every fembiance 
 of epifcopal governm.ent, we may well imagine, that 
 the various opinions of the reformers, 77ozv e77trujled 
 with executive power y would create a fpirit of oppo- 
 fition, not to be confined to argument and reafon- 
 ing, but that would infenfibly draw in the arm of 
 magiflracy, in order to enforce a com.pliance with 
 this or that favourite fyflem : and, if the horrors of 
 civil war were not to be apprehended, we fhould 
 certainly fee that fcene of mutual intolerance re- 
 
 H vived,
 
 pS Historical Memoirs op 
 
 vived, which is one objeft of a regular eftablifhi* 
 ment to fupprefs. — But to take this reformation iq 
 its l^fs fri^tfiil point of view. If once thefe 
 fences, the Tefts, are thrown down, and a broad 
 road to Babel is paved by civil authority, the ridi- 
 cule of atheifm, and the triumph of infidelity, woul4 
 be complete. The unavoidable pollution of the 
 altars of religion, and the dillraflion that would 
 pervade her temples, whilft one was cr)'ing out, 
 " Ecce in dejerto ! " and another, " Ecce in peneira-^ 
 " libus!" would not only excite the mirth of the 
 libertine, but would difcompofe the features of or- 
 thodoxy itfelf. Nor would the ftate enjoy more 
 tranquillity, or be expofed to lefs conflifion : for, 
 fince the legiflature is required to grant a repeal 
 of " every penal fiatutc againji religious principles *,'* 
 what an encouragement is there for future afToci- 
 ations ? The gloomy fuicide, and bold blafphemer, 
 the Itv.'d fabbath- breaker, and common fwearer, 
 may confederate with the rank advocates for bigamy 
 and concubinage, and, pleading an exemption from 
 penal ftatutes againft their religious principles^ join 
 the cry for liberty y equal and impartial liberty. — The 
 confufion in politics would not be lefe ; Jews and 
 Mufiiilmen, Rabbins and Mufti, with all the un- 
 timely births, and mifcellaneous fpawn of Chrilli- 
 aniry, now fiiaped for comptrollers, clerks, and 
 commiflarics, would prefs forward to the various 
 departments of vacant office and proftrate ma- 
 
 • Rcfolutiun of the Protcllant Di/Tenters of Bolton. 
 
 8 giftracy.
 
 Religious Dissension. 99 
 
 giftracy. The routine of public bufinefs would 
 be impeded, the folemnity of national council 
 invaded, and the attention of government dif- 
 
 trafled 
 
 *< DUTentlentis conditionibus 
 « Foedis." Horace. 
 
 Whilft the only probable compenfation would be — 
 the dulnefs of a levee relieved by a morrice-dance 
 of fedaries. 
 
 I N I S.
 
 9 082 6
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 7 V.A\ 
 
 4AN 3 195ft 
 
 4' 
 
 
 
 ^UH27 
 
 1985 
 
 ^»aVERSnY OF CALIFORNU 
 
 AT 
 
 lOS AUGBLES
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 093 720