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preach the Gospel, and that they are not Gospel ministers a most cruel and unjust assertion, deserving of the most marked and severest reprehension; because it goes to the dreadful length of destroying all spiritual confidence on the part of the parishioner towards his lawful minister, and thereby renders his best efforts of instruction entirely ineffective and nugatory. I believe all the Clergy of the Established Church preach, that, in consequence of the fall of Adam, such is the natural frailty and corruption of human nature, that, without the aid of the grace of God, and his holy Spirit, it cannot of itself either please God, or obey him likewise they preach, that Jesus Christ descended from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, suffered death on the cross for the sins of mankind; that he arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and there graciously condescends to be a Mediator and Intercessor with his heavenly Father, to pardon the sins and frailties of mankind: further, that it is only by the merits of Jesus Christ, his Redeemer, that any man can expect to have his sins pardoned, be justified, or expect admission into the kingdom of heaven: they further preach, that every man at his best state is only an unprofitable servant; and that every good and perfect gift is from above, and its possession entirely derived from the spontaneous goodness of God, and not from any merit

in man. This is, I apprehend, to preach the genuine doctrines of the Gospel with respect to faith. They likewise preach largely, and frequently, earnestly inculcate, and strongly insist on, the observance of the duties of Christian charity and morality; and if it is the great object and peculiar duty of a Gospel minister to imitate, as closely as he can, the conduct of God himself, his Prophets, that of our blessed Saviour, and his Apostles, they are then justified by these great examples in this their present mode of preaching. Are not the Ten Commandments of God, which he addressed and enjoined to the observance of the human race, all moral? And with respect to the whole duty he expressly informs us by his prophet Micah he requires man to perform, two of its members, namely, doing justly and loving mercy, are entirely moral: and if walking humbly with God is not wholly to be classed under this denomination, it is so greatly connected with it, that without morality it is impossible to do so. Is not our Saviour's sermon on the mount entirely on the subject of Christian morality? And do not the Epistles of St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, and St. James, all of them, with force, frequency, and a divine eloquence, inculcate that very Christian morality, which these men, improperly called Calvinists, censure the Clergy of the Established Church for inculcating? Before these men pre

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sume to dictate to the regular Clergy, they should reflect, that the lower classes of the people have no opportunity or means of studying moral philosophy, or of reading such moral books as the Spectator, Guardian, &c. and that if the welfare of themselves, their families, and society, require that their passions should be under discipline and subjection, this discipline and subjection can be accomplished only by instruction received from the pulpit. And they should know likewise, that if their own style of preaching was to be generally adopted throughout the nation, it would be disgracefully filled with hypocrites, fanatics, and enthusiasts, as it formerly was during the usurpation of that great hypocrite, Oliver Cromwell, who, to favour his secular views, adopted himself, and encouraged in others, this very species of fanaticism and enthusiasm, infallibly destructive of the very vital essence of that real religion, which is so well and effectively inculcated by the present mode of preaching adopted by the regular Clergy of this country, and which it is most devoutly to be wished they will neither alter or relinquish ; especially as there is every reason to believe there are as many, or more, sincere and devout Christians in this kingdom, as in an equal number of persons of the same rank in any other. whatsoever; or if in this estimate I should be considered as assuming too much, (which I believe those who have passed

any time on the continent will not imagine,) let any person reflect on the present state of morality and piety in England, and compare it with the state in which it prevailed during the Protectorship of Oliver Cromwell, or during the reign of Charles the Second. By reference to the history and very different characters of these two potentates, we find a confirmation of the adage, "Qua"lis rex talis grex ;" and how much the state of morality and piety, and the manners of a nation, depend on the reigning monarch. It is therefore only just to ascribe much of this present superior degree of morality and piety to the personal example of his present majesty, and to the great attention he has invariably paid, during his whole reign, to the promotion of both. At the same time it is equally just and reasonable to impute an equal degree of national effect, in the promotion of virtue and piety, to the personal examples of both, usually set by the regular Clergy, and to such men as Doddridge, Watts, Mason, Chandler, Grove, and many of the present existing Dissenters and whilst this blessed effect so visibly prevails in the nation, all reasonable people, who judge of the tree by its fruit, will allow, that, generally speaking, the Clergy of this country do their duty properly and conscientiously, if their conduct is judged only with that charity and candour which the natural frailty of man requires,

and which men of all ranks, classes, and descriptions, have a fair claim to. It is not indeed to be expected that the Pseudo-Calvinists before mentioned will observe this charity and candour, be

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These itinerant preachers are so extremely illiterate, that a Wiltshire magistrate assured me, out of four who appeared at the quarter-sessions to have a licence to preach, three of them could not write their name! The magistrates and gentlemen. in court were exceedingly shocked that such ignorant men, who so much wanted to be instructed themselves, should possess the power of misleading the minds of the lower classes of the people: but as the act now stands, this power cannot be withheld from them, on their taking the usual oaths, and paying sixpence. The religion of these pests of society is founded not in reason, but in passion and enthusiasm; and they inflame the minds of their auditors with their fanatic and unintelligible jargon of election and predestination, and "once in grace, and always in grace," &c. and so derange their understandings, that, in consequence of the preaching of these people, within a few miles. of my residence, there is at this time a person in the most melancholy state of mind imaginable, who attempted very lately to destroy himself. A family, with whom I am personally acquainted, who lately travelled in Wales, told me, they were exceedingly surprised at seeing a large concourse of people, all jumping as high as they could, in an endeavour, as they said, to "catch the "foot of the Lamb," in pursuance of the injunctions of their preacher to do so: some of the women, exhausted by their efforts, fell into fits; and the landlord of the inn assured this family, that his daughter, who had unhappily imbibed this superstitious heresy, was in a deep consumption, owing, as he believed, to her exertions in this way. Can it be right that the health both of the body and mind of the lower classes of the people should be thus liable to be abused, and that with impunity, by these ignorant or designing men? I am very far from presuming to be able to point out an effective remedy for this pestilent superstition; but probably, if, instead of paying the few pence

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