nation, that the Governour among the armies of heaven, and the inhabitants upon earth, hath still a favour to dear old England. He is loath to give us up. The wise and vigorous measures pursued by the king and his ministers are surely tokens for good to my country. The late very splendid victories are propitious signs. The acts too, for excluding suspicious foreigners, and arming the whole nation, are masterpieces of sound policy. Hitherto assuredly the Lord hath helped us. He hath given us a patriotic king, able ministers, skilful generals, brave soldiers, unparalleled admirals, and gallant sailors; above all, he hath poured out a spirit of wrestling prayer upon large numbers of religious people. These are symptoms of the most propitious kind. But, with all these advantages, since God usually works by means, how is it possible for any country, that is not in a constant high state of preparation, to resist such a mighty armed and growing republic as France? If the people in this kingdom will not very generally come forward and qualify themselves for resistance, we must ultimately fall. But, if we should share the fate of the other nations, there will be no just reason to accuse the government. The war was inevitable on our part. It was, moreover, ordained of God for the subversion of the seat of the beast. They have been extremely vigorous in their measures, and have done what men in their situation could do. Let the people remember, that we live in a period, when one of God's great and afflictive providential dispensations is coming upon the world; a dispensation predicted for some thousands of years; and let them second the endeavours of their Governors, and come forward, man, woman, and child, to defend themselves against the common enemy, as they would against an army of bears, wolves, and tygers; and we

* It has been noticed on a former page, that the Pope and Mahomet rose in or about the same year. The former is driven from his seat exactly at the end of 1260 years. And is it not a circumstance extremely remarkable, that the very same man, in the very same year, should invade the empire of the latter during a state of profound peace, seemingly without any reason? We know the Turk is to fall, and we have some cause to suppose the period of that catastrophe will be at no great distance from the subversion of the Pope's secular dominion. I fear we shall be on the wrong side of the question, if we attempt to support either him or the remaining popish states, and shall suffer for our intermeddling,

shall be safe under the divine protection, while that protection is afforded. But, in my opinion, every remaining popish, secular, and superstitious circumstance, which is calculated to offend the Majesty of Heaven, and to oppose the interests of Christ's kingdom,* should be removed from the ecclesiastical part of our Constitution, and nothing should be left undone to engage his continued favour and protection.

The Dissenters and Methodists, I have observed, are moving heaven and earth to promote the interests of religion in their several ways, and to oppose the torrent of vice and infidelity, which is overspreading these happy and heaven-favoured lands. A kind of association has been formed among some of the established Clergy at Manchester, to preach a weekly lecture in each others churches; which, no doubt, will be attended with good effect. This is a laudable effort, and shews a proper attention to the circumstances of the times,t and should be followed in all populous towns. We ought every one to step out of the routine of our accustomed methods of doing good, and strive with peculiar energy to save our

* What can be more inimical to the interests of the Gospel of Christ in the world, than the damnable monopoly of Church Livings, so extremely common among all the higher orders of the Clergy in this country? More than one instance of this nature is given in the foregoing papers. To these may be added the following. A certain clerical character, whom I could name, is at this time in possession of 700 pounds a year private fortune. He is a tippling immoral person, with little or no family, besides his wife. One living he has got, at a good distance, of 600 pounds a year, besides two rectories, one of 500, the other of 350 pounds a year. At the same time, he has obtained a Prebendary of considerable value in one of our magnificent cathedrals. Will any wise man undertake to say, that a Clergyman of this description believes the Gospel of Christ? All such characters are undoubted infidels in disguise, do an infinite deal of harm to the interests of religion in the world, and, in a well ordered state of things, would be degraded from their pretended sacred office. Such men may cry out as loud as they please against Thomas Paine and his deistical brethren-their craft is in danger!-but they themselves are much more to blame, and shall be condemned with tenfold confusion. Tom Paine is a saint, when compared with such fellows.

† Something similar to this has likewise been practised for some years by several pious and respectable clergymen in the metropolis.

people's souls from death, and our beloved country from ruin. An association of Protestant Dissenters, of different denominations, has also been formed at Bedford.* About thirty ministers in that neighbourhood are already engaged to cooperate in spreading the knowledge of the Gospel through all the towns and villages, in that vicinity, upon the most liberal plan. The same kind of associations are formed also in Kent, Dorsetshire, Surry, Suffolk, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Northumberland, and will probably in a little time pervade the whole of the three kingdoms. This is good news to all who wish well to the cause of religion, without regard to sects, parties, and opinions; and may convince us that the Gospel of Jesus wants nothing but fair play; and that human establishments, and great worldly emoluments, are not essentially necessary for its propagation and support. The Puritans were frowned on by the government from the time of the Reformation to the days of Charles I. and yet they increased to such a height as to overturn both Church and State. The Dissenters have been, in some respects, frowned on again from the Restoration to the present time; yet they, and the Methodists, who are in the same predicament, are much more upon the increase, than we of the Establishment, who are fostered by the government, attended by the nobles and gentry of the land, and supported by the State, at the expense of near two millions a year. When shall it once be, that the Great

1

* Consult Mr. Greatheed's Sermon at Bedford on General Union: a valuable discourse.

It is said that the Methodists have increased many thousands of late years. This brings to my mind an anecdote that is related of the late Rev. George Whitefield, in the reign of King George II. which is, that when a certain Bishop was complaining to the King of Mr. Whitefield's great and eccentric labours, and advising with him what steps were best to be taken to put a stop to his preaching, his Majesty very shrewdly replied, "My Lord, I can see no other way but for us to make a Bishop of him. This will stand a good chance of stopping his wild career. If this be a recipe for curing a Clergyman of an excess of public preaching, the following prescription, given by a valuable author about forty years ago, would have no little effect in preventing the growth and increase of Methodism.-"Let the Clergy live more holily, pray more fervently, preach more heavenly, and labour more diligently, than the Methodist ministers appear to do: then will Christians flock to the churches to hear us, as they now flock to the meetings to hear them."

Ones of the world will be capable of seeing, that oppression, of every kind and degree, for conscience sake, always produces an effect directly contrary to the wishes and intentions of the oppressor?

The villages in England alone, besides cities and market towns, are about 30,000. All these call upon us for every exertion to evangelize them, and to save the people's souls alive. A branch off from the Methodists has likewise spread far and wide, under the direction of the late Mr. Alexander Kilham. At present they have about seventeen circuits, twenty preachers, and upwards of 5,000 persons in society, and are increasing considerably each year. Shall we then, we, the eighteen thousand Clergymen of the establishment, who are under such superior obligations, many of whom are paid by the state, at the rate of some hundreds, and others at the rate of some thousands a year; shall we be all asleep, sit still, and pursue no peculiar vigorous measures, each one in our own sphere, or various of us in concert, till destruction come upon us to the uttermost?* Is not the time nearly arrived for the subversion of the nations? And can any thing under heaven prevent our sharing in the common fate of Christendom, but a speedy and effectual return to evangelical principles and practices? Is not our sister kingdom already deluged with blood? And is not the alarm of war in our own borders! Does not the murderous sword draw nearer and nearer every year? And shall we Clergymen, who above all men in the kingdom are devoted to the most assured destruction, be indifferent to circumstances? Let the very laudable conduct of the several zealous bodies of Christians in this nation, before mentioned, not excite our rage and envy, but rather let it provoke the great body of us, the established Clergy, to jealousy and emulation. If ever there was a time when it was necessary to awake out of sleep, and be alive to the interests of the Gospel, surely it is now. If our most reverend and right reverend

* It is related of the Rev. John Carlyon, LL. B. in the Gentleman's Magazine for Oct. 1798, that when his health would not permit him to reside upon the valuable Living of Bradwell in Essex, he resolutely gave it up, and would not serve it by a Curate, though entreated by the Bishop so to do. There was not, however, in this case that close trial of conscientious integrity, which we have known in some others; because Mr. Carlyon was a person of considerable private fortune.

the Archbishops and Bishops are indisposed towards a meliorated state of the ecclesiastical part of the constitution, let them at least lay aside their affectation of pomp and show, come among their clergy and people, and set us an example of a warm and judicious zeal* in preaching-not merely a refined morality-but the great and glorious truths of the ev erlasting Gospel,t in such a way as we can all understand and feel. This would have a strong tendency to animate and encourage the pious part of the Clergy in their ministerial labours for the good of mankind, and to discountenance and overawe the licentious and profane, those dreadful pests of every neighbourhood, which has the misfortune to be cursed with their example. Such a reformation as this, is within the power of every Bishop upon the bench, whose age and health will admit of exertion: and no one need wait for the concurrence of his brethren. As matters, however, are now managed, a large proportion both of our Bishops and Clergy are, in a very considerable degree, a useless burden upon the public. We not only do little or no good, but we do a great deal of harm.

* Sce Bishop Gibson on the evil and danger of Lukewarmness in Religion.

† Consult the Charge of Bishop Horsley in 1790, on the Truths of the Gospel.

For the various efforts which have long been making, and are at this moment still making, for the destruction of all the churches and governments in Christendom, see those two very curious and interesting works, Robinson's Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, and Barruel's Memoirs of Jacobinism.

Bishop Newton, in his three admirable volumes on the Prophecies, which were first published about fifty years ago, hath spoken in terms nearly as strong as any of the foregoing, concerning the danger which the country is in because of national iniquities. See vol. 2. p. 239.

Bishop Horne also hath expressed his fears to the same purport, at the 162d page of his Sixteen Sermons; to which two able writers, I beg leave to recommend the reader.

Bishop Burnet speaks on this subject with great concern. "I say it with great regret," says he, "I have observed the Clergy in all places through which I have travelled, Papists, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Dissenters; but of them all, our Clergy are most remiss in their labors in private, and the least severe in their lives. -Unless a better spirit possess the Clergy, arguments, and what is more, laws and authority, will not prove strong enough to preserve the church "---Own Times, vol. iv. p. 411, 430.