neither swerving towards an enthusiastic contempt of all order and decency on the one hand, nor towards a lukewarm indifference to every thing that is sacred on the other: but that all who profess and call themselves Christians, may hold the faith, in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life." It may well be believed, from what I have stated of the author's views, from the soundness of his principles, and the extent and nature of his reading, that no man was better qualified to give a right notion of the Church of God; whose foundation he lays in the Scriptures; and upon that, ably raises the superstructure of her government, her authority, and powers: and, by the like authority of Scripture proves the duty of obedience from her sons. The opinion of an obscure individual upon such a subject is of little consequence: but the venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge deemed it so admirably adapted for the instruction of those who have thought but little on this important point, that about thirty years after its first publication, they put it upon their catalogue to promote its extensive circulation; and for the first time, the name of its highly respected author was prefixed.

That the opinions of Mr. Stevens, respecting the Sin of Schism, underwent no change after he first published his Essay on the Church, appears by a private letter now lying before me, dated September 8, 1798, in which he says, after speaking of a work on this subject, "I am afraid the principles are so uniformly right and correct, it is more than the age will bear. We are rather mended, perhaps, but is there not reason to suspect the goodly apple is somewhat rotten at the core? Some will approve one part, and some another; but there are few doubt who will subscribe their unfeigned assent and consent to the whole. I question if the article on Schism will not be as much objected to as any;

and yet one does not see why. It certainly speaks the doctrine of Scripture and the Church of England. There is undoubtedly such a thing as Schism, and it is as undoubtedly a sin as adultery or drunkenness and the being guilty of it, the Apostle says, is being carnal. It surely behoves every one to enquire wherein it consists, in order to avoid it. Our Church teaches in her catechism, that there are two sacraments generally necessary to salvation, Baptism and the Lord's Supper: and if so, the inference is fair, that without them, generally speaking, there is no salvation. And, if they are necessary, it is necessary to know where they are to be had: for it is not to be supposed that every man has a right to administer them, any more than every man has a right to use the king's seal. The Scripture is express, that the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved; it is in the Church, therefore, that the means of salvation are to be had, and consequently it is incumbent on every one to be added to the Church, and to keep in it, as he has no right to expect the end, but in the use of the means in the way which God has appointed. As to the doctrine being uncharitable, which some object, so far is it from the want of charity, that to warn people of their danger is surely the truest charity; and we know what was to be the fate of the watchman who did not warn the people. And the adulterer and drunkard may as justly call it uncharitable to be told, that such shall not inherit the kingdom of God, as the Schismatic that he must be of the Church to be saved. To ask what is to become of those who are without the pale, is nothing to the purpose; God will judge no man, but by the law which he has given him; nor will any be responsible for opportunities they never had. As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have. sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. God

is no respecter of persons; he will be justified in his saying, and clear when he is judged."

The above work, " on the Church," was published evidently with a view to counteract their designs, about the time when some of the clergy of this kingdom had taken a most singular and unaccountable step with respect to their subscription of the thirty-nine Articles of Religion. Certain clergymen of the Church of England, and certain members of the two professions of Civil Law and Physic, met at a tavern in the Strand, called the Feathers Tavern, and thence this meeting was denominated the Feathers Tavern Meeting, and prepared a petition to Parliament, praying to be relieved from subscription of the Articles which all of them had subscribed; and having, by advertisement in the newspapers, invited all who thought themselves aggrieved in this respect, to join them in endeavouring to obtain redress, I am sorry to say the petition was signed by about two hundred clergymen.

This petition was offered to be presented to the House of Commons, and a motion was there made that it be laid upon the table. This was strenuously opposed, and warmly debated. It was observed, and justly, that Parliament could not grant relief to those who had already subscribed, as they had no power to vacate oaths; and it was a little singular, that those who made no scruple to subscribe the Articles, and to declare their unfeigned assent and consent to them, and every part of them, in order to obtain a living, had no sooner obtained one, than they were desirous of being relieved from those very Articles, without assenting to which the living could not have been conferred. And it was further said, that as to those who were not yet beneficed, and who wanted to seize on the emoluments of the Church, without believing in her tenets, or complying with her laws, they were

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not at all to be listened to; as from every principle of reason and justice, they should be excluded from her for ever. It was also argued, by the most moderate men in Parliament, that it was necessary that those, who were appointed to be the public teachers and instructors of the people, should be bound by some certain principles, from which they were not to deviate: that to prevent disorder and confusion, it was fitting that some public symbol should be established, to which they should all assent, as a mark of their conformity and union: that a simple assent to the Scriptures would, in this case, be of no signification; as it was too well known that the greatest absurdities, and even blasphemies, had, at different times, been attempted to have been supported or defended, upon their authority: that the Clergy were under no necessity of accepting benefices contrary to their consciences and if their scruples arose afterwards, they had it always in their power to quit them. The petition was, therefore, rejected by a very great majority; many members of the opposition joining with administration in the rejection. The numbers for rejecting were, 217-for receiving the petition, 71: and I never have read or heard, that any of the actually beneficed Clergy, who signed the petition, and whose scruples had arisen after they had accepted the preferment, resigned their charge, in consequence of their petition being rejected, except the Reverend Theophilus Lindsay; who, by afterwards opening an Unitarian Chapel, in Essexstreet, and composing a new Liturgy for the use of his congregation, shewed, that his objection went, not to the subscription merely, but to the fundamental doctrines of the Church of England. It was, in order to give correct notions upon these important subjects, that Mr. Stevens published the above pamphlet. But that was intended for grave and serious readers only. He thought, however,

that a little of his playful wit and humour might be successfully exerted upon this occasion. Accordingly, in the same year, a beneficed clergyman, (whose name I purposely omit) having published "An Address to the Clergy of the Church of England in particular, and to all Christians in general,' Mr. Stevens printed "Cursory Observations on a Pamphlet, entitled, 'An Address, &c.'" which are written in such a strain of easy unaffected pleasantry, accompanied with such solidity of argument, as have not often been combined in the same author. He thus begins his pamphlet, by remarking on the oddity of the title, "Seeing advertised a pamphlet, entitled, 'An Address, &c.' I had a mind, being one of the people called Christians in general, to know what the gentleman had to say to me, and accordingly I sent for it. Free choice, and a desire of doing good in my generation, as the author expresses it, led me to make a few observations upon the said pamphlet, and to present them to the public for their emolument. The gentleman sets out with acquainting us, that he is an obscure brother; and, lest any sceptical mind should doubt the truth of it, he has proved it to a demonstration at the very entrance of his address.

"On a supposition that we shall wish to know more of him than the name he bears, he next informs us, he is one whom free choice, and a desire of doing good in his generation, led at first into the ministry, for which his friends and family had not intended him. This piece of intelligence cannot fail of giving his readers a very favourable opinion of the good sense and judgment of his friends and family; and the more we see of him, the more we shall be disposed to wish that he had listened to their advice, instead of following his own inclinations." After following him through his pamphlet, and giving him that sort of chastisement and goodhumoured rebuke, which, as a beneficed clergyman