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Intelligence.--Oldbury Doulie Lecture.

seen a prospect of the Society raising the rent, and other expences, I would have given my services gratis for twelve months with pleasure: but finding that even this was not in the power of the Society to perform, I thought it advisable to leave the affair in the hands of those who were its first projectors, and have accepted an invitation from the small Society of Unitarians in this place, where I hope to be the means under Providence, of raising this drooping Society to its former health and vigour.

However we may fail in the object of our wishes, or however unfortunate we may be in our speculations, it is a duty which we owe to our friends, and to ourselves, to lay a statement of all monies collected, and to express our thanks to those persons who bave assisted us.

I sincerely hope, notwithstanding the situation of the Chapel at Southampton, arrangements will be made by our Unitarian friends in the South, to keep up Unitarian worship in that town. I trust that this Southampton speculation will not fail of answering some useful purpose, that of leading those who profess a rational religion, to exercise reason in building their places of public worship.

Your giving this a place in the next Num-, her of your valuable Repository, will much oblige Your Constant Reader, C. N. SAINT. Alcester, Warwickshire, Oct. 14, 1816.

Oldbury Double Lecture.

On Tuesday September 10th, 1816, was the Anniversary of the Double Lecture, at Oldbury, in Shropshire. The Rev. John Kentish, of Birmingham, conducted the devotional service: the Rev. John Corrie, of Handsworth, and the Rev. Thomas Bowen, of Walsall, preached the former on Matt. xiii. 24—30.—The parable of the tares in the field*—the latter on 2 Cor. iv. 13." We also believe, and therefore speak."

May the reporter be excused if he here expresses his high admiration of the acuteness with which Archdeacon Blackburne has availed himself of this parable, in his Remarks on Johnson's Life of Milton.

The Doctor, speaking of Milton's Areopagitica, says, "the danger of such unbounded liberty [of unlicensed printing,] and the danger of bounding it, have produced a problem in the science of government, which human understanding seems unable to solve."

Let us then have recourse to a Divine understanding for the solution of it. Let both the tares and the wheat grow together till the harvest, lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Remarks, page 50. ̧

Mr Corrie introduced his discourse with observing that the parable teaches a lesson of forbearance, of forbearance even to those who will hereafter receive from the all-seeing and unerring Judge, the just punishment their crimes have merited. And this forbearance, we should remember, may be shown not merely by the magistrate or his tribunal, but by every individual in the formation of his own opinions, and the guidance of his own conduct-in that kind feeling and that proneness to support or fo relieve, which attaches to those whose characters we respect and love, and which should never be withdrawn except în cases in which it is morally impossible to confound the innocent with the guilty.

This interpretation of the parable harmonizes with the whole tenor of the gospel, with all that is recorded of our Saviour's conduct and all that is preserved of his discourses. "And here," said Mr. Corrie, "I think we may justly feel surprised that any who have professed themselves to be the disciples of Christ should have preached or practised persecution.

Viewing the subject, moreover, as we do, in all the light that has been poured upon it by powerful and sagacious writers, we must be allowed to feel still more surprised that mankind should have been so slow to learn that the most perfect toleration in religion" is not more the doctrine of the gospel than the dictate of the soundest human policy."

And our surprise is still augmented, when we consider what those offences have been which have provoked the rod of the persecutor, and could be expiated only by the severest punishment: for those offences have been differences of opinion in the interpretation of what is, in some respects, a most obscure volume, and upon subjects which it confessedly exceeds the most vi gorous grasp of the humau faculties perfectly to comprehend, and all the powers of human language adequately to express. Yet there is scarcely an exposition of those mysterious doctrines that might not have been written in the blood of some virtuous and learned martyr who has died in its defence.

The eloquent preacher then proceeded to recommend unlimited toleration in religion, on the following grounds:

I. From the nature of the subjects which. have generally been made the occasions of persecution-the doctrines of the Trinity, of the atonement, and of original sin-doctrines confessed, on all hands, to be very abstruse and far removed from the apprehension of the mind.

II. From the nature of the evidence to which all must alike appeal in support of their opinions. Under this bead, Mr. Corrie pointed out the difficulties attendant on a critical examination of the Scriptures.

Intelligence.-Irish Presbyterian Association.

III. From the doctrines which are usually the occasion of persecution having, as Mr. Corrie conceives, little or no connection either theoretically or in fact with the proper discharge of the duties of life or with the formation of the character. Granting, said he, that their doctrines are the doctrines of Scripture, will any one contend that they are held forth to our belief as matters of the first importance, that they are revealed as clearly as the great principles of Christian morality, or the awful declaration of the resurrection of the dead, and a future eternal state of retribution ?

The principles which bear immediately on the conduct of mankind are the moral principles and the sanction which gives all their peculiar efficacy to religious principles, is the doctrine of a future sta'e. For, what moral principle can be more forcibly impressed upon the heart, on the Trinitarian, than on the Unitarian system?-To what height of Christian perfection can the one aspire, which the other may not humbly hope is attainable by him? On reading a treatise of Christian morality, who can decide from its contexts, what articles formed its author's creed? In sketching a picture of Christian perfection, where is the church in which we may not find a model? He surely has not read much of Christian history and has not seen much of Christian sects, who has not found among the votaries of the most discordant creeds, much of all that most adorns the Christian character: and who would not be filled with a holy transport, could he hope that in his final doom, his soul might be with some whom he could name, whose creed is much more ample or much more scanty than his own. If the Trinitarian errs, he errs with almost all the learning and almost all the virtue which have ever graced the Christian world-if the Unitarian errs, his errors have been sanctified by the learning of a Lardner, by the saintly virtues of a Lindsey, by the talents of a Newton, a Locke, a Priestley.

Mr. Bowen's discourse breathed throughout a pleasing spirit of piety and kindness. He earnestly recommended the union of diligence in the investigation of Divine truth with manly courage and unwearied zeal in its defence.

Fourteen ministers were present, viz. Messrs. Guy, Kell, and Kentish, of Birmingham; Small, of Coseley; Scott, of Cradley; Branshy, of Dudley; James Yates, lately of Glasgow; Corrie, of Handsworth; Fry, of Kidderminster; Lloyd, of Kingswood; Davis, of Oldbury; Bowen, of Walsall; Steward, of Wolverhampton; and Benjamin Carpenter, Jun. of Wymondley Academy.

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The Rev. Robert Kell and the Rev.
James Scott were appointed to preach on
the next Anniversary.
J. H. B.

Irish Presbyterian Association.
SIR,

During a late visit to Cork, I was in-
vited to attend a meeting of Christians
beld on the 16th of July, at Bandon.
The object of the association was to form
a friendly and religious union between
the Presbyterian congregations of Cork
and Bandon. It was the first meeting
ever held in the South of Ireland, with
such professed sentiments and prospects.
I sincerely trust it will prove a foundation
on which pure, rational religion will erect
lier standard for ages yet to come. The
congregation was numerous and highly
reputable. The public service was opened
by the Rev. James Armstrong, of Dublin,
in the most impressive manner, by reading
and prayer; after which the Rev. William
Hincks, of Cork, (colleague with the vene-
rable Mr. Hort) preached from the words
of Paul to the Corinthians, "To us there
is but one God the Father, of whom are
all things and we in him; and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and
we by him." The sermon was highly in-
teresting throughout, and delivered in the
spirit of Christian meekness united with
firmness of principle. The chief design
the preacher had in view, was to affirm
and prove the Unity of God as satisfac-
torily declared in the Old and New Testa-
ments; that Jesus Christ was a distinct »
being from the Father, deriving all his
authority and powers from him; that all
the blessings of the gospel proceeded from
the unpurchased grace of God the Father;
and that Jesus Christ was the messenger
by and through whom the Divine mercy was
made known to the children of mankind.

After establishing in a masterly manner the above important points, he insisted not only on the believing, but on the propriety and utility of publicly declaring our religious sentiments: herein his arguments are reasonable, strong and conclusive. He remarked, with great judgment, the more simple any religious system is, the easier will be its truths established and believed; while on the contrary, the more irrational and mysterious, the greater must be the difficulties to prove the Divine origin. Many other observations were made, exceedingly interesting and important; a spirit of Christian candour, moderation and charity is diffused throughout the discourse, towards those Christians who think differently, so that bigotry form no part.

After the close of the public service, several friends met together belonging to

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Intelligence.-Prosecution of a Methodist Preacher.

each congregation, and after dinner a string of resolutions were entered into with a view to promote the religious interests of each society, by the establishment of half yearly meetings to be alternately held at Cork and Bandon. Mr. Hincks was requested, by the company present to print his sermon, to which he kindly consented; and Mr. Armstrong was invited to preach the next sermon at Cork, to which he replied, that if circumstances suited his copvenience, he would cheerfully comply with the wishes of his friends.

I cannot help congratulating the friends of rational religion on the commencement of so auspicious an event, when the power of ancient prejudices and blind superstition too much prevail. E. C. Birmingham, Aug. 26, 1816.

MISCELLANEOUS,

Prosecution of a Methodist Preacher. At the General Quarter Sessions, holden at Wisbeach, on the 17th of July instant, a singular, and, happily, from the liberal temper of the times, a novel appeal came before the magistrates for their determination; in which Robert Newstead, a preacher, in the Methodist connexion, was appellant, and the Rev. Algernon Peyton, Rector of Doddington, and Thomas Orton, Esq. two of his Majesty's Justices for the Isle of Ely, were respondents. It appeared from the conviction, and the evidence adduced in support of it, that the offence with which Mr. Newstead stood charged was, the collecting together a con gregation or assembly of persons and preaching to them, otherwise than according to the liturgy and practice of the Church of England, in a field which had not been licensed. This was Mr. Newstead's crime; it was for this, that the Reverend Rector of Doddington, caused his fellow-labourer in the work of reformation to be apprehended; and that he and his brother Magistrates convicted him in the utmost penalty which the Toleration Act imposes! Against the legality of this conviction Mr. Newstead appealed. After several objections had been taken to the form of the conviction, by Mr. Newstead's Counsel, and which were over-ruled by the Court, Richard Vince, servant to Mr. Peyton, proved that he heard Mr. Newstead preach in a field at Doddington, on Sunday the 7th of April last; that he preached contrary to the Liturgy of the Church of England; and that there were more than twenty persons present. On his cross-examination, he admitted that he did not know what it was he preached, whether it were a prayer or a sermon; it was something, but he knew not what; and that he knew he preached contrary to the Liturgy of the Church of England only be

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cause he had not the Prayer-book in his hand! J. Lane, another of Mr. Peyton's servants, corroborated the testimony of the last witness, but he would not swear that there were twenty persons present.-Mr. Bevill, Counsel for Mr. Newstead, submitted to the Court, that the prosecutors had not made out their case. The Toleration Act requires that the place where any congregation or assembly shall meet, at which there shall be present more than twenty persons, besides the family and servants of the person in whose house such meeting shall be held, shall be certified and registered. In order, therefore, he contended, to render a religious meeting unlawful, according to the provision of this act, there must be present twenty persons of aparticular description of a certain class, twenty, exclusive of the family and servants of the owner or occupier of the place of meeting; but for aught the Court knew from the testimony of the witnesses, (OBE of whom could not swear that there were twenty persons present,) the congregation might be chiefly composed of the family of the owner of the field. He further contended, that a field is not a place which required registration: the term place" of meeting is used throughout the Act: and, in the 11th section, that term is explained, and defined to be, a place with doors, bolts, bars, and locks. As therefore it did not appear in evidence that there were twenty persons present of the particular,class required by the Act, and as a building, and not a field, was contemplated by the legislature, he contended that the conviction was unlawful, and must be quashed. The magistrates, however, confirmed it; and hence Mr. Newstead became liable to the penalty of thirty pounds, or to three months' imprisonment. A case was demanded on the part of Mr. Newstead, for the opinion of the Court of King's Bench; but the prosecutors having proposed to abandon the prosecution, and engaged not to enforce the penalties, the friends of Mr. Newstead withdrew their application, having obtained all they could desire. The question of right, however, between the Rector and the preacher remains undecided. The writer of this article is assured, that Mr. Newstead, conscious of the purity of his intentions, and feeling the firmest-conviction that no human authority had a right to interfere in matters purely religious, that penal laws cannot be thrust betweeu man and his Maker, without a violation of the inalienable rights of conscience and of private judgment, was prepared to submit with cheerfulness to the consequences of his actions; and that he envied not the Reverend Rector the possession of those feelings and motives, which could induce

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State of Public Affairs.

him to instigate and carry on this prosecution. No one can differ more widely in his religious sentiments than the writer from both Mr. Peyton and Mr. Newstead; but God forbid that he should use against them any weapons but those of reason and persuasion. He did. hope that the temper of the times had shamed them out of Persecution and Intolerance; and he is reluctant even now to give up the hope that these mousters sleep never to wake again. Stanford News.

Society for Converting the Jews. Four Dutch Jew merchants and two other persons of the same persuasion in this country, named Solomons and Abra hams, attended at the Mansion House at the instance of another Dutchman, who stated that he belonged to the Society for the Conversion of the Jews: he stated his name to be Mechtz, that he had but recently arrived from Holland, and had become a Christian, On his arrival, he had introductions to several Jews, and among others Mr. Solomons, in the neighbours hood of Soho Square. This gentleman took him into a private room and lectured him on the impiety of his embracing the Christian faith, of which he (Mr. Solomons) spoke in the most blasphemous language. Some days afterwards, witness was invited to dine at a house in Duke's place, with some Dutch Jews: he went there, but instead of a good dinner, was assaulted by the persons present, and he at length escaped in the greatest terror of his life. This conduct he attributed to the fact of his having ceased to be a Jew. In opposition to this statement, Mr. Solomons represented, that the complainant had been in great distress in Holland, that several of the Jewish merchants clothed him, and sent him to England,

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with recommendations to persons to further his interests. On his arrival, however, he went to the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, and tendered himself as disposed to abandon the religion 'in which he was educated. He was in consequence adopted a member of that Society, and received some assistance. Some days afterwards, he called on him, and told him he had something to inform him of, which he thought of importance to poor Jews: he then described the encouragement which the Society were disposed to give to any who were willing to become Christians,-to this be added the enumeration of the names of several persons who had pretended to become Christians, but who were Jews at heart, and who had got ample sums from the Society; he for one, he said, had taken the same course, and although he hated the Christian religion, should make the most of the Society. Understanding that it was the intention of some of his (Mr. Solomons') friends to do something for this man, he had feit it his duty to inform them of the principles he had avowed; he accordingly wrote him a letter, in consequence of which, when the complainant made his appearance, he was turned out of the house. The Lord Mayor said he had himself contributed to the Society alluded to, and very much feared his money had produced very little good; he had reason to believe that many designing persons had imposed upon the Society merely for fraudulent purposes. Whether the story now told was correct or not, he could not say; but at all events he could only recommend the injured party to prefer an indictment against the persons by whom he stated bimself to have been so ill treated.

Public Ledger, August 19, 1816.

MONTHLY RETROSPECT of PUBLIC AFFAIRS;

OR,

· The Christian's Survey of the Political World.

THE last month was distinguished by a remarkable occurrence in the Metropolis, the re-election of the Lord Mayor to the office which he has for the last year supported with so much honour to himself, and advantage to the city. Perhaps there never was an instance in which all parties concurred so completely with respect to the character of the person who was thus highly honoured; for though firm in his political principles, and those principles were in opposition to what had had the ascendancy for many years, yet in every instance all parties had reason to be satis fied with him; and for zeal, activity and integrity ho has not been surpassed by

any who before him filled the magisterial chair. The Common Hall, alive to his muerits, displayed by the shew of hands a very commanding majority in his favour; yet. the Alderman who was next in rotation thought it right to demand à poil, and thus gave the opportunity to the friends of his Lordship to come forward, and prove by a very great majority how Ligh he stood in the estimation of his fellowcitizens. By the constitution of the city, the members of the Common Hall present two candidates to the Court of Aldermen to elect one, and in this case though the latter did not feel exactly like the Common Hall, and the ideas of rotation might have

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an impression on their minds, yet his Lordship was returned by them as the new Lord Mayor elect, and was to the satisfaction of every one, who is gratified at the honours bestowed on real merit, and sensible of the benefits of his administration, invested with a second chain.

The idea of rotation, or that every Alderman should in his turn be Lord Mayor, is of weight with those who do not rightly consider the nature of election, and who are guided by precedent rather than reason. If rotation is allowed, then what need is there of a Common Hall to fix upon two candidates for the office? The two next to the chair might be presented to the Aldermen, and the first returned without any form of meeting. But this would be taking away from the freemen their right of choice; and as the Aldermen are not elected by the whole body, but each separately by his own ward, it would be giving to each ward the right of appointment in succession, to the highest office of the city. If, therefore, a ward from certain causes should elect an improper person in the opinion of the other wards, yet the right of setting him aside is destroyed by this pretended right of rotation.

Again, when a person has distinguished himself by every thing valuable in the character of a magistrate, as in the case of the present Lord Mayor, and the re-election of him might be highly advantageous to the city by the completion of the plans which he had formed in his first mayoralty, yet according to the strange notion of rotation, the city is to be deprived of the benefit of his services, because forsooth the next person conceived that it was his next turn to fill the office, and he must be forced upon the city, though perhaps the consequence would be the paralysing of all the efforts of his predecessor. In fact it is necessary to mention only these few circumstances to shew the absurdity of the notion of rotation, which may be a tolerably good rule not to be broken into, except on such occasions as presented themselves at the last election.

But the re-election of the Lord Mayor is of consequence in other respects, as it manifests the declining influence of those persons who had for many years exercised a very great sway in the metropolis. The person next in rotation was a very decided advocate for the line of politics maintained by that party, and every nerve was strained to promote his election. Yet with every degree of exertion on the one side, and on the other every thing being left to the spontaneous movements of the electors, the rotation candidate could not obtain nearly half as many votes as his Lordship. Indeed the principles of that party being

now thoroughly understood, and the advantages of adhering to it being very much diminished, its zealous advocates are becoming less active, and so many have suffered from its prevalence, that no new adherents are to be expected in the rising generation.

The above remarks on the pretensions of rotation may be applied to many other similar cases, where people are inclined to give up the use of their reason, and to be guided by mere precedent; to be slaves to paper documents instead of listening to the dictates of common sense; being servants of the letter, not of the spirit. This is no common case, but it is hoped that few of the readers of this survey are led away by such notions. They will examine for themselves, and act upon higher principles, reflecting that, even in the votes they may be called upon to give, there is a duty which they owe to themselves and their country, not to be frittered away by paltry considerations.

The account of several parts of the country has been melancholy from tumults, that have arisen from the depressed state of the manufactures, particularly those of iron. They have been quieted by the interference of the civil power, which prevents indeed the injuries that misguided men may do to themselves and their employers, but still their situation is a call upon the benevo lence of others, which happily in this coun try will not be denied. To add to this distress a very extraordinary wet season has been highly injurious to the harvest, and the ports will soon be opened to our relief, which, from the Corn Bill, so injudiciously. passed two years ago, have been shut. Thus, to add to our distresses, the bread has been made dearer, and with all the sup plies to be expected from abroad, it is not likely that it should be lowered during the approaching winter. It is our duty to submit with resignation to this dispensation of Providence; and every one high or low, must endeavour to alleviate as much as possible the calamity.

Meetings have been held in several parts of the country, to take into consideration those distresses, and in most of them resolutions have been passed, containing very severe animadversions on the state of the House of Commons, and the representation of the country. The facts, authorized in the House of Commons itself, and no where contradicted, of the imperfection in the representation, the corruption attending the election of representatives, and the places and pensions held by the members, are particularly dwelt upon; and as the abuses are now universally known and felt, it is to be hoped that the remedy of them will no longer be delayed. The House of Commons is indeed by no means what it is

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