uttered the following memorable words, in reply to the accusations of Dr. Drummond, Archbishop of York. "The dissenting ministers," he said, "are represented as men of close ambition. They are so, my Lords ; and their ambition is to keep close to the college of fishermen, not of Cardinals; and to the doctrines of inspired Apostles, not to the decrees of interested and aspiring Bishops. They contend for a scriptural and spiritual worship; we have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and Arminian clergy. The Reformation has laid open the Scriptures to all; let not the Bishops shut them again. Laws in support of ecclesiastical power are pleaded, which it would shock humanity to execute. It is said religious sects have done great mischief when they were not kept under restraints; but history affords no proof that sects have ever been mischievous when they were not oppressed and persecuted by the ruling church."*

In March 1779, Sir Henry Houghton, a faithful friend to the Dissenters, again brought the subject of subscription before the House, and succeeded in obtaining a measure of relief. An Act was passed releasing the Dissenting Ministers from subscription to the articles of the Church of England, and substituting a declaration that they were Christians and Protestants, and received the Scriptures as their rule of faith and practice. Dissenting schoolmasters were also relieved from the penalties to which they were liable for teaching youths without a license from a Bishop, and taking the sacrament at the altars of the Established Church. Some dissenters appear to have been bigoted enough to object to the relief thus pro

*It was about this time, or in 1774, that the celebrated Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, published his letters on toleration, under the title of Arcana.

vided, on the ground that it might prove subversive of Trinitarian doctrine.*

In the following year those alarming riots, which are known by the name of the Lord George Gordon riots, took place in London and the vicinity. They originated in an attempt, on the part of the Protestant Associations which had been formed throughout the kingdom, to resist some measures of relief for the Roman Catholics then engaging the attention of Parliament. Thirty thousand people assembled in St. George's Fields, on the 2nd of June, and accompanied Lord George Gordon to the House of Commons for the purpose of presenting the petition against the Catholics. The scenes which followed the rejection of the petition are a disgrace to protestantism and humanity.t The relief attempted amounted to nothing more than a repeal of some of the cruel penal statutes against the Catholics, without conferring upon them any measure of political power. It is to be regretted that some of the dissenters joined in the agitation of this period, and that Alderman Ball, a baptist, one of the city members, expressed his approval of the petitions which emanated from the protestant associations About the same time, the subject of the slave trade came under general notice; and it deserves to be recorded that the Independents from that day to the present, took an active part in seeking the universal abolition of that unhallowed traffic.

In 1786, the committee of deputies took into consideration once more the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts; and in March of the following year procured the services of some eminent members of

* Ivimey, iv., 32, 33.

†They have been described with great effect in Charles Dickens' Barnaby Rudge.

the House of Commons, in promoting their object; amongst the rest, of that great orator Charles James Fox. In consequence of the influence of Lord North and William Pitt, the measure was lost. In 1789 and 1790, the attempt was renewed; but with similar results. The French Revolution, which occurred a little before the last attempt, had excited the fears of many who formerly professed themselves friends of liberty, and inflamed the passions of multitudes against the dissenters.

On the 9th of May, 1811, the year after the formation of the Society for the Protection of Religious liberty, Lord Sidmouth introduced his famous bill, "To explain and render more effectual the acts of 1st of William and Mary, and the 19th of George the Third, so far as they relate to the Protestant dissenting ministers." This bill provided, that in order for any man to obtain a qualification as a preacher, he should have the recommendation of at least six respectable housekeepers of the congregation to which he belonged, and that he should actually have a congregation that was willing to listen to his instructions. With regard to preachers who were itinerant, it provided that they should bring a testimonial from six housekeepers, that they were of sober life and character, and qualified to perform the functions of preachers. On the 21st of May, the bill was read a second time and discussed. The dissenters had everywhere taken alarm, and petitioned against it. Seven hundred petitions were presented on this memorable evening. Earl Stanhope presented one signed by more than two thousand persons, and observed, "I have no doubt, if the bill be persisted in, the petitioners against it must be counted not by thousands, but by millions." The Wesleyan Methodists were at

this time a large body, and Lord Erskine presented from them alone two hundred and fifty petitions. The scene in the House of Lords during the bringing up of the petitions was the most remarkable ever witnessed before that period. After a long discussion, the bill was thrown out without a division.

In June, 1812, Lord Stanhope was unsuccessful in endeavouring to pass a measure for preventing dissenters from being liable to certain penalties arising from the imperfect provisions of the Toleration Act. Some intolerant and persecuting proceedings had been taken against them by forced constructions of that act; and his lordship, with Lords Holland and Landsdowne, and some others, were very earnest in their attempt to carry the bill. Although defeated on this occasion, they were sustained by the petitions of all classes of dissenters, and in the following month procured an act which repealed certain previous acts relating to religious worship and assemblies, and persons teaching and preaching therein." The royal assent was given on the 23rd of July, and such were the benefits of the measure, that it became generally known by the name of "The New Toleration Act."

On the 28th of February, 1828, an act was passed repealing the Corporation and Test Acts in favour of protestant dissenters, to which the royal assent was given on the 9th of May following. The following year witnessed the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill. From that day to the present the spirit of British legislation has advanced with the improved views of the age; and although from time to time retrograde movements are attempted by the advocates of religious establishments, there seems little reason to doubt that ere long the voice of the people, which

waxes louder and louder against all civil interference with the religion of the nation, will prevail. The advantages now enjoyed by the Independents and all other denominations of dissenters are invaluable, and such as call for gratitude to that over-ruling Providence which has furthered their efforts from age to age in the advancement of the general liberty. But complete justice can never be done, until the precedent of the United States be adopted by the mother country, and dissent itself is destroyed by the absolute separation between church and state.

In concluding the imperfect account presented in this chapter of the progress of Independency under the House of Brunswick, it may be observed, that the last statistical report of the body states the number of congregational churches in Great Britain and Ireland to be 2,173, and the number of ministers, exclusive of itinerants and lay agents, 1,979. From other sources we learn that the baptists in Great Britain and Ireland possess about 2,000 places of worship. Thus the principles of Independency are advocated at the present time by between four and five thousand congregations of Christians. Add to these the public and collegiate institutions supported by each denomination respectively, and it will not be questioned that those principles have laid firm hold upon the minds of the people of this country. In proportion as increased regard is paid to the authority of scripture in matters of Christian polity, it is only to be expected that they will spread; until they become generally recognized as the only principles consistent with a complete recognition of individual and social freedom.

LONDON: WARD AND GRIFFITH, PRINTERS, BEAR ALLEY, CITY.