arms, and fighting in person, as inconsistent (we think) with the rules of the gospel of Christ, yet we can, and do by his example, readily and cheerfully pay unto every government where we happen to be subject, such sums and assessments as are required of us, by the respective laws under which we live. For when a general tax was laid by the Roman Czar upon his extensive empire, and the time of payment came, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world, demanded of Peter,-'Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that take, and give unto them (the tribute-gatherers) for me and thee: thus working a miracle to pay a tax, where it was not strictly due. We, by so great an example, do freely pay our taxes to Cæsar, who, of right, hath the direction and application of them, to the various ends of government, to peace or to war, as it pleaseth him, or as need may be, according to the constitution or laws of his kingdom; and in which we, as subjects, have no direction or share. For it is Cæsar's part to rule in justice and in truth; but ours to be subject, and mind our own business, and not to meddle with his.'

"After this I said to the interpreter, that we understood there was a person of great dignity and distinction in that place, a stranger very inspectious into the state of affairs and things in general; and might be also inquisitive into the state of religion; and we, lest that great prince should be misinformed concerning us and our religion, had brought him some books dedicated to the sovereign of our own country; by which he might please to see a full account of our principles. We then produced two of the Apologies in Latin.

"The Czar then talked again with the interpreter, who asked us, Were not these books writ by a Jesuit? It is said there are Jesuits among you.' To which Gilbert Mollyson replied,

That is a calumny, and proves the necessity of our endeavours in that respect at this time. We have no Jesuits among us. Our religion and theirs differ very widely.

"This book was writ by a near relation of mine who was not a Jesuit, but sincerely of those principles asserted and maintained in the book, as our whole community is.'

"Then the Czar and interpreter talked together again; after which, the latter offered us some gold for the books; but I told them, they were a present to that great prince; all we desired was, that they might be acceptable; and that in case any of our Friends should come into his country and preach those principles, and meet with opposition, and be persecuted by any officers or persons in power under him for the same, he would please to afford them protection and relief. Then they talked together again, the interpreter kept the books, and the Czar and Prince Menzicoff retired into the room from whence they came.

The interpreter afterwards told us, the Czar did not understand the Latin tongue, but only his own language and high Dutch. This was about the beginning of the week, and the next first day (Sunday) the Czar, the prince, and a great company of his other attendants, came in the morning to our meeting in Grace-church Street, all in English habits, like English gentlemen, and the same interpreter with him. I happened to be there in the [preachers'] gallery, and the first I knew was Prince Menzicoff. Robert Haddock had begun to preach a little before they came in, upon the subject of Naaman, the captain-general of the host of the Assyrians, going to the prophet for cure of his leprosy; who directing him to dip himself seven times in the river Jordan, the general, despising the means, was about to return without a cure, till being persuaded, by his own servant, to make a trial of the means prescribed, he found the end accomplished by happy experience.

""The nations of this world,' said the preacher, being defiled and distempered, as with a leprosy of sin and uncleanness, no cure or help could be found until the Almighty, in his infinite goodness, sent his Son Jesus

"The Czar and his interpreter were often whispering together, though Robert Haddock knew nothing of his being in the meeting; and thus he staid very sociably, till observing the people crowd up before him to gaze, (which he could not endure,) he retired on a sudden, along with his company, before the meeting was quite over. Some people in the streets had seen him as he came, and, discovering who he was, crowded after him to see him more perfectly.

"After this he went incognito to Deptford, to improve himself in the art of ship-building, and there wrought at it with his own hands. Gilbert Mollyson and I acquainting some Friends how we happened to see him, and had given him some books, and that he understood High Dutch, William Penn, George Whitehead and some other Friends went to Deptford, and waited on him privately, and presented him with more of the same books in that language, which he accepted; and, afterwards, was sometimes at our meeting there, behaving as a private person, and very social; changing seats, standing or sitting as occasion might be, to accommodate others as well as himself.

"When this great prince had, in a good degree, furnished himself with useful knowledge in natural things, necessary for the civilizing and improving the barbarous people of his kingdom and nation, he returned thither, accomplished with experience in

many particulars, to the great advancement thereof in general.

"In the year 1712, the Czar of Muscovy, being in the city of Frederickstadt, with 5000 soldiers to assist the Danes against the Swedes, after he had quartered his men, inquired of one of the Burgomasters, whether there were any of the people called Quakers there. The officer told him there were a few. The Czar asked him if they had a meeting in the place. The officer told him they had. Then the Czar bid the officer let the Friends know that if they would appoint their meeting that forenoon, being first day, he would be at it. The officer replied, that there were thirty of his soldiers in the meeting place, so that there could not be any meeting in it.

"When the Czar heard this, he was angry that they had put soldiers there, and sent an order by one of his own captains, that they should all be put out forthwith, and that notice should be given to the Friends by the captain, that if they would appoint the meeting, he would come to it; and accordingly the officer gave notice to Jacob Hagen, then at Frederickstadt, and Philip Defair, a public Friend [or minister] who lived there; and not only ordered the soldiers out of the room, but made them take away all that they had brought thither. And the place being made ready, they had their meeting at the second hour afternoon; to which the Czar came, and brought with him Prince Menzicoff, of Muscovy, the General Dolgoruchez, and several others of his dukes, generals, and secretaries of state, and other great men. A great crowd following, he ordered the door to be shut, as soon as a competent number were in to sit comfortably, and many more came to the windows and all about.

"After some time of silence, Philip Defair preached the doctrine of truth among them, and all sat very quiet, but especially the Czar; who sat very gravely all the time of silence, and all the others, being awed by his example and presence, did so likewise. But the Muscovite lords and generals not understanding the language, and the Czar himself understanding it pretty well, interpreted to them what was declared, with much gravity and seri

ousness; commending what he heard, saying, that whoever could live according to that doctrine would be happy. A Friend, after this, presenting him with Robert Barclay's Catechism and Apology in High Dutch, he said he would have them translated and printed in his own language."

SIR,

FI have, as your correspondent
John

been guilty of an "uncharitable imputation of want of charity," in the case of Dr. Marsh and Co., I am sincerely sorry for it: and gladly should I acknowledge my error could I find, on an attentive re-consideration of the subject, any reasons for so doing. In John Buncle's letter I see, indeed, a very brisk retort on the Evangelical party, which, as I provoked it, I suppose it behoves me to bear patiently. At the same time, as I am neither Evangelical nor High Church, but a lover of conscientious honesty whereever I can meet with it, I hope not to be considered a friend to orthodox faith or practice any farther than as this appears in connexion with ingeguousness, and that with charity. Nor do I presume to attack the High Church party upon other ground than that of disingenuousness, in retaining and upholding a system of faith, by which it yet refuses to abide: and of illiberality in hunting out of the Church men whose greater conformity of belief gives them a superior claim to be considered as its real members.

But it is to the expression of "Protestant spirit," as applied to them, that John Buncle chiefly objects. I do not know what ideas the word "Protestant" may suggest to his mind. Sure I am that though to me it brings many cheering and delightful images, I cannot connect the past history of those who have borne it with any extended views of religious toleration. I regard its chief and peculiar gift to have been the Holy Scriptures; and its great boon to man, the substitution of the words of our Lord and his followers, for the traditions of a church. Now it does seem to me very clear, that if in the English Church there be any agency at work to counteract this blessed effect of Protestantism, it is that of the High Church party.

They dare not call in our Bibles and substitute the Prayer-Book for them; but they take infinite and unwearied pains to prove that it is dangerous to trust the Bible alone. "A Bible," says one of these worthies, “given away by a Papist will be productive of Popery; the Socinian will make his Bible speak Socinianism; while the Calvinist, the Baptist and the Quaker, will teach the opinions peculiar to their

"What

Bibles, (I speak as a true Churchman,) and you will supply them with arms against yourself." God has joined together," says Dr. Wordsworth, speaking of the circulation of Church tracts with the Bible, "let not man put asunder." "For though," says Dr. Marsh, "without the Bible, the Liturgy has no support, yet, without the Liturgy, men are left in doubt, whether the principles of our faith should be embraced by them or not. Without the Liturgy, they want a guide, to lead them to the Established Church. Without the Liturgy, the Bible may be made to lead them into doctrine and discipline most discordant with our own.” ↑

In a better and, with leave from John Buncle, in a more "Protestant spirit," exclaims Dealtry, (an Evangelical Churchman,) "And this is common sense and reason and charity and sound Churchmanship! Eternal God! hast thou provided thy blessed Word to be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path'? Hast thou indeed enjoined it upon us all, as a sacred duty, to search the Scriptures; to read them by day; to meditate upon them by night; to teach them diligently to our children; to talk of them when we sit in the house, when we lie down and when we rise up; to receive them with all reverence, as the record of truth, as the guide to everlasting life? And shall creatures like us attempt to impede the free course of thy mercy, and to defeat thy providential designs? Shall we interpose

Lord Teignmouth. * Country Clergyman's Address to

+ National Religion the Foundation of National Education, a Sermon preached in St. Paul's, June 13, 1811. By Herbert Marsh, D. D. F. R. S.

to arrest the pure stream of heavenly light, till they can be rendered more fit for their purpose by the miserable contrivances of human ingenuity? Keep back thy servants from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over us, then shall we be upright and innocent from the great transgression.' Cordially as I love the Church of England, and in this country I am persuaded that the existence of true religion is involved in her existence, I cannot admit that any system should be supported by the suppression of the Scriptures." Again he says, "I know of no commentary on the Scriptures, or on any other book, of which it can truly be said that it is given by inspiration of God.' Away, then, with these profane and vain babblings, which would elevate the traditions and comments of men to the rank of heaven's blessed and lively oracles! Other writings are valuable, but these are above all value others may be wise, but these flow from the Fountain of Wisdom: others may be useful, but these are given for the conversion of the world."*

This is not the language and sentiments of one individual in a party. If John Buncle has made any inquiries at all on the subject, he must be aware that in the passages I have quoted I have given the sentiments of both sides fairly; and I leave it to your readers to decide whether my expression, explained as I have explained it, is not justified. I am sorry to say, instances have come to my own knowledge, in which poor curates have been restrained by the high hand of ecclesiastical power, and that in the most tyrannical manner, from attending Bible-meetings; and have read most awakening sermons, addressed to country congregations, by affrighted High Church ministers, on the appearance of a little cloud "no bigger than a man's hand," indicative of the approach of that fearful thing a Bible Society. Yet, now, it proves that all this affection for the Church is not an affection for her doctrines, but for that spirit of non-inquiry in which Priests and Popery have flourished.

Dealtry's Vindication of the Bible Society, pp. 31, 133.

If Dr. Marsh has really departed from the faith of the Church of England, as expressed in her Articles; if he has adopted larger and more liberal views, we cannot but lament that he should thus uphold her with all her sins upon her head, and discourage the free circulation of that volume, to which we must hope he himself owes his revulsion from Calvinism. But really it is too much to believe in the existence of liberal views of toleration, where we see a mode of proceeding so very opposite to the gospel spirit.

I wish I were convinced that the High Church party are satisfied with themselves about their past concessions to Unitarian Dissenters. Joining the Evangelical in nothing else, it is not very likely they will unite with them against a sect to which, in a few points of doctrine, they approach a degree nearer than their Calvinistic brethren; but that they have a warm and hearty desire to extend the right hand of fellowship to Unitarians, I do not believe.

If the continual insinuations of their organ, "The Quarterly Review," mean any thing, they seem to say that Unitarians have not been sufficiently grateful for the kind condescension already shewn them; and that there is no danger of their receiving more favours speedily. I do not, however, wish to add to the list of suspicions which, I fear, your correspondent will already deem "uncharitable" enough. With regard to politics, my own experience is decidedly of an opposite nature to his. The Evangelical clergy have, with very few exceptions, appeared to me to be strikingly devoid of interest, even in politics; and to leave the battle to be fought by High Church Tories and the Whigs and Reformers. Submissive they undoubtedly are; but this is from a feeling of reverence (which John Buncle, no doubt, will agree with me in thinking superstitious in this case) for the words of St. Paul, which they admit very literally. But I will not take up your time with discussions which are not as profitable as could be wished.

SIR,

Q.

I AM a Unitarian, but not without

doubt and difficulty; consequently, very desirous of seeing all the agreea