racterize the Gothic style; still, however, it forms a prominent feature; and although in the instances which we have been adducing, it is certainly unaccompanied by any genuine Gothic appendages, yet some appendages of that kind appear to have been connected with it, in other parts of Europe, at the beginning, or in the progress of the eleventh century.

It still remains, then, by no means an improbable conjecture, that the Gothic is merely a farther, but happier corruption of the Roman architecture, which had been previously degenerating from the age of Hadrian and the Antonines: the changes in this decli ning architecture were of course gradual; and to seek for a precise period and spot in which it first assumed the forms and ornaments denominated Gothic, appears to be in vain; being freed from the restraint of scientific rules, it must readily have admitted the introduction of any shapes or decorations, which the peculiarities of national taste, or even the caprice of individuals, might be disposed to engraft upon it; while on the other hand, an easy and frequent intercourse between different countries, would ultimately excite the desire, and afford them the means of a mutual imitation.

A compact, chronological view of the ancient styles of building in Britain, including an enumeration of the criterion by which the different eras of our Gothic architecture might be accurately determined, has long been a desideratum in this country. A manual of the kind alluded to was planned by Gray and Mason; it has lately been again recommended to attention, and an outline given of the grand divisions which might be conveniently adopted in it.* From some expressions which appeared in an early Number of Mr. Britton's Architectural Antiquities, we had been led to expect a correct arrangement of his subjects in the order of their dates, a plan of proceeding which would certainly have much promoted the final accomplishment of the work ;-our expectations, however, were grievously disappointed; and although we wish not to withhold our unqualified approbation of the execution of the designs and engravings which are contained in Mr. Britton's production, yet we cannot but deem the adjustment ofthem, (with the exception of his specimens of domestic architecture,) to be extremely injudicious and confused. The edifice with which his series begins is the priory church of St. Botolph, a building undoubtedly of great antiquity, but whose era is not satisfactorily determined; from these venerable remains he passes to the priory church at Dunstable, and to the church of St. Nicholas at Abingdon; he thence proceeds, by a very extraordinary leap, to a delineation and account of King's College Chapel, then measures back his steps to round churches; and

Saver's Disquisitions. p. 167. (2d edit.)

after amusing us with a long, though certainly not ill-executed digression upon crosses, he returns to the investigation of our most ancient ecclesiastical structures. Of these, however, he soon becomes again impatient; for after a perusal of about ten pages of letter-press, we are astonished by the appearance of an Essay towards an History and Description of King Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster.' In such windings and doublings as these it is impossible for a reader to collect the slightest notion of the progressive changes of our architecture, and he must rest contented with the gratification which he may be able to extract from the rich and elegant engravings which abundantly adorn the work. As Mr. Britton is receiving a pretty high, and far from an unmerited, encouragement, it is incumbent upon him to do away the fault into which he has so notoriously fallen. The introduction of a chronological table of the buildings already noticed by him would prove exceedingly convenient: by such a table of reference, by publishing together his views and illustrations of them, and by a very careful arrangement of his succeeding engravings in the exact order of the eras of their prototypes, his work would undoubtedly acquire a much higher value than that to which it has at present any pretensions.

ART. XIII. Hints to the Public and the Legislature, on the Na. ture and Effect of Evangelical Preaching. By a Barrister. Part the First. pp. 139. Fourth Edition. 1808.—Part the Second. pp. 198. Third Edition. 1808.-Part the Third. pp. 140. 1809.-Part the Fourth. pp. 159. London. Johnson. 1810.

T is now about fourscore years since a handful of young men at Oxford obtained the appellation of Methodists, the least opprobrious name that ever was affixed by scorn, and likely to become one of the most memorable. A single room in Lincoln College was then sufficient to contain the whole community: they have now their Tabernacles and their Ebenezers in every town of England and Wales: their annual increase is counted by thousands; and they form a distinct people in the empire, having their peculiar laws and manners, a hierarchy, a costume, and even a physi ognomy of their own. Their origin and progress will make an important part of the history of the last century. As soon as they began to attract notice they were regarded first with contempt, then with hatred; a popular outcry was excited against them, and their two great leaders, Wesley and Whitefield, both narrowly escaped with their lives from the effects of popular violence. This season of persecution, as they call it, thanks to the laws of the country, and the good feeling of the country, was of short continuance; and from that time almost to the present they have gone

on with no other opposition, than a few inoffensive squibs of satire, and a little polemical skirmishing, of which neither the irritation, nor hardly the knowledge, extended beyond the immediate disputants. Of late, however, the public attention has been roused by their numbers, their zeal, and their activity, and the alarm has been sounded against them from all quarters. Among the anonymous opponents who have distinguished themselves by the manner in which they have attacked this powerful sect, the most conspicuous is the barrister whose Hints' have given occasion to the present strictures

So far as the immediate sale of a book may be considered as the measure of its success, the barrister has been a successful writer. Four editions have been printed of his first pamphlet, and the whole extends to four parts,-it might as well reach to forty, so utterly does it set all order at defiance. Want of arrangement, however, is the least of this writer's faults. The opinions which we hold, concerning the evangelical sects have been already avowed, and will, in the course of this article, be sufficiently : explained: but our agreement with the barrister, in some points, has not prevented us from perusing his book with astonishment and indignation at its ignorance, its calumnious misrepresentations, and its impudent call upon the legislature.

The first object of this rank libeller is to show that the public depravity, (of which he produces a frightful numerical account from Mr. Colquhoun's Treatise,) is, in great measure, owing to the doctrines of the evangelical preachers.

They tell the people,' he says, that they may multiply their offences to what degree they please: that the seducer, the gambler, the drunkard, the prostitute, the sharper, the robber, may all proceed in their career of infamy; that their lives cannot be too impure, or their offences too aggravated: for that when once the weapon of sin shall fall from their hands, (and this it must, when thus worn out in the service of sin, they are too weak to hold it,) they will not be precluded by this their long catalogue of crimes from the offered reward of the gospel, for that the gospel does not suspend its favour on the perform ance of any moral duties whatever.'-Part I. p. 28. The word of proclamation, delivered weekly from the pulpits, and dispersed daily in cheap tracts to all degrees of society, is,-to the SEDUCER-you have betrayed many that once were innocent, and have brought down many a father's grey hairs with sorrow to the grave: but add one more victim, for your life cannot be too impure, and then-take refuge in a Redeemer. To the ROBBER-You have corrupted many an honest mind by your example, and ruined many an honest man by your villany: but YOUR

CRIMES

CANNOT BE TOO MANY OR TOO AGGRAVATED:

commit one more fraud on the public, and then-lay hold on the cross. To the MURDERER-YOUR SINS CANNOT BE TOO GREAT-dip your hands once more in the blood of your fellow creatures, and thenWASH THEM WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Such is the plain, distinct, intelligible language of evangelical teaching-such are the principles propagated by means of the press throughout the whole extent of the kingdom-such are the lessons which are taught to the profligate of every class, and sent into the world at a price that may bring the purchase within the reach of that description of persons to whose reception it is fitted-such is the new gospel faith instilled into the ears of the ignorant in the numerous and annually increasing meeting houses of its professors-such is the evangelical doctrine which is daily multiplying its converts and its congregations.' Part I. p. 33.

Again

The whole gang of coiners, pickpockets, receivers of stolen goods, housebreakers, and all the attendant train of criminals, who set the laws of their country at defiance, may go on to sin in security within the scope of a covenant which procured them pardon and peace from all eternity, and the blessings of which no folly, or AFTER ACT WHATEVER, can possibly frustrate or destroy.' Part I. p. 43. It is in vain that the laws of the country strive to check the prevailing spirit of immorality. It is in vain that thinking men, contemplating its dreadful effects, and its rapid increase, form themselves into a society for its suppression. It is in vain that the breakers of that moral law which says thou shalt not steal, are launched into eternity, to deter others by their fate. In vain will all these operate to restore the criminal and profligate to the path of moral duty. The evangelical priesthood pursue the extirpation of morality with a zeal and vehemence that must finally defeat all these efforts.' Part I. p. 63.

If it be proverbially tedious to hear a twice told tale, how much more wearisome is it to confute calumnies which have been a thousand times confuted! Under the general name of Evangelicals, or Methodists, two great bodies are comprised, the one professing Arminian, the other Calvinistic, doctrines: whatever may be the minor sects, they all class themselves under one or other of these divisions. Wesley and Whitefield separated as Luther and Calvin did before them, and the schism has been perpetuated in both cases. It is therefore either gross misrepresentation, or gross ig norance in the Barrister, to impute to both parties the doctrine of predestination, which is the point of difference between them. It is equally absurd and false to accuse either party of Antinomianism, which has been explicitly disavowed and reprobated by both, whenever any half-frantic fanatic has set it afloat. This, however, is not the only flaw in the Barrister's bill of indictment. One radical mistatement pervades the whole of his invective-a wilful and malicious mis-statement of the point in dispute. He uniform

ly represents the Methodists as teaching the compatibility of a vicious life with a saving faith; whereas, what they assert is that good works are the consequence, and not the price of salvation. 'Repentance, whereby men forsake sin; justification, or the pardon of sin by faith in the atonement of Christ; and sanctification, or salvation from sin, by the grace and spirit of Christ.' These are the tenets which they hold and avow; this is their authenticated confesson of faith, and nothing more than an appeal to this is needed to put such a calumniator to shame.

From belying the tenets, this Barrister proceeds to libel the individuals of the sect.

'The very name of Methodist,' he says, 'carries with it an impression of meanness and hypocrisy. Scarce an individual that has had any dealings with those belonging to the sect, but has had good cause to remember it, from some circumstances of low deception, or of shuffling fraud. Its very members trust each other with caution and reluctance.' Part IV. p. 13.

Now, if this charge were as true as it is certainly and infamously false, it is impossible the Barrister should know it to be true. But we may spare ourselves the task of exposing his falsehood: the value of his testimony against the methodists may be estimated by the accuracy with which he represents the opinions of the fathers of the English church, of the existing clergy, and of Christ himself.

'The Reformers,' he says, (Part III. page 106,) by whom our articles were framed, were educated in the church of Rome, and opposed themselves rather to the perversion of its power, than the errors of its doctrines!' Can this man have read we will not say the writings of the English reformers, but even their lives in the commonest biography? Of Christ himself he says, that he appealed to the understanding in all he said and in all he taught ;' and that he never required faith in his disciples without first furnishing sufficient evidence to justify it.' (Part IV. page 56.) Can this man ever have read the New Testament, that he makes this assertion in direct contradiction of so many plain texts, and of the whole spirit of the whole Gospels? Oh! but he tells us, our clergy are convinced of this; they have been brought at last to esteem those as most orthodox who are most virtuous, and to acknowledge that there is no true faith but in practical goodness.

Such, he says, is the conviction of the most enlightened of our clergy; the conviction, I trust, of the far greater part. They do not, therefore, feel it necessary to revive the exploded controversies which agitated, without purifying, the passions of the divines of past days. They hold it more important to reform the vicious, and, after the example of their Divine Teacher, to exhort men to do justice, to love mercy, and to