self. Cromwell though an usurper, was no persecutor; for in the articles respecting religion, in what was called the in strument of government, it was express ly declared, that the christian religion contained in the scriptures be held forth and recommended as the public profession of these kingdoms,' and that none be compelled to conform to the public religion, by penalties or otherwise, but that endeavours be used to win them by sound doctrine, and the example of a good conversation.” This head of the discourse is con cluded by the following very just and appropriate reflections. "Soon after, [the Revolution] a bill for the toleration of protestant dissenters was brought into the house, entitled, an act for exempting their Majesties' dissenting subjects from the church of England, from the penalties of certain laws.' Ever recollect, my brethren, that for the privileges we enjoy, in consequence of this act, we are not at all indebted to the church of England. Bishop Burnet, who was a low churchman, says, that his zeal for this act, lost him his credit with the church party; by which it appears they did not like it and it is very certain, that could they have had their will, the act of toleration would never have passed. Such was the ungrateful return (says Neal) that these angry churchmen made to those who had helped them in distress! For it ought to stand on record, that the church of England had been twice rescued from the most imminent danger, by men of those very principles for whose satisfaction they would not move a pin, nor abate a ceremony." "It is to the steady and persevering exertions the quiet and patient submission--the firm and manly support of constitutional principles, which the protestant dissenters have manifested, that we owe the enjoyment of religious liberty; and to this we may add, our civil liberties also. This the infidel Hume, who hated the religion of the nonconformists, is compelled to acknowledge. By the puritans alone (says he) the precious spark of liberty had been kindled, and was preserved; and to them the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution.' "Where is the propriety, then, of the children of these worthy men being deprived of those privileges which they lost their lives and liberties to procure? Is it just that the Test and Corporation Acts should still remain in force; and thus some of his Majesty's best subjects be prevented from serving him in the lowest offices of trust, without shamefully prostituting a sacred ordinance, and doing violence to their principles and their consciences! This is a blot in the fairest constitution which the world can boast; and is by all genuine lovers of liberty and of their country, seen and deplored.-But I am persuaded, my brethren, that we shall prove, by our loyalty and zeal in the service of our country, that we are worthy to enjoy places of trust under his Majesty's go vernment, though by being protestant dissenters, we are now deprived ofthem." We now proceed to the last head of this discourse, in which the au thor professes to state" Some spe cial reasons why Protestant Dissenters should be grateful to God for the reign of George III." The first reason assigned is-" We have a prince to govern us of the illustrious house of Hanover, a protestant but not a popish king." This leads to a concise history of the princes of this "illustrious house," for whose reigns we readily acknowledge, the British nation has reason to be grate ful to Providence, more especially when we consider the principles and character of their predecessors. The author mentioning our present sovereign adds "His present Majesty, though last, is yet not least among them: let the principles and conduct of George the third be compared with those of the tyrannical and cruel Henry the eighth, the bloody and insatiable Mary, the arbitrary and bigoted Elizabeth, the vain and contemptible James the first, the oppressive and unprincipled Charles the first, the hypocrisy, profligacy and lasci viousness of Charles the second, the cruel, sanguinary and bigoted measures, of James the second, or the intriguing and persecuting measures of Anne; and he will appear to great advantage. None of these hateful qualities have appeared is reason for us to say, God save the in George the third, and therefore there King." The compliment paid to his Majesty in the above paragraph is in deed curious. The most weak and wicked princes which have disgraced the British throne are held up to our view, and then we are told that comparing our sovereign with these, he appears to great advantage: he has none of their hateful qualities!" The author, it is evident has not yet learned the art of flattery, and we would recommend him not to attempt what he seems at present to have so little talent for; a talent which we hope will never be improved! "His Majesty," it is added, "has never suffered any infringement on our religious liberties-they have been enlarged during the present reign."-These are the remaining reasons assigned to excite our gratitude. The discourse concludes with some animated reflections on the incalculable value of liberty in general The blessedness of those who are in the enjoyment of christian libertyand their duty to improve their privileges. laws by which they are deprived of the RIGHTS of citizens, and until these laws are repealed, it is impossi ble, they should feel that gratitude which some persons are so fond of professing themselves,and demanding from others. We close the subject by observing, and pressing it on the consideration of our countrymen, that the best mode of proving our gratitude to the sovereign is by endeavouring to preserve that constitution of which he is the guardian and defender. That we are in danger of losing it by the various innovations which have deprived us of some of our most va tuable rights (amongst many others the RIGHT of frequently choosing our representatives), and the corrup❤ tion and venality of the times, that have produced, and are constantly producing evils of the greatest magnitude, and which, if not remedied, must terminate in the loss of every thing dear to us as Britons, no ho nest inan in the exercise of common sense can deny. Till that remedy We perfectly agree with our au- is effected, jubilees and festivals, and thor respecting the debt of gratitude flatteries offered to the sovereign, will we owe to the Almighty for all the so far from preventing, have the civil and religious privileges we en- tendency to accelerate the catas joy; indeed there can be no contro-trophe so much to be deprecated! versy on this point. The indifference we have shewn to some of the most valuable of those privileges is an awful proof of our ingratitude. But the obligations subsisting between the governors and the governed are reci procal. The constitution of this country instructs both the sovereign and his subjects in their rights and their duties. His Majesty's subjects in general, and his protestant dissenting subjects in particular, may safely appeal to their conduct as a proof of their loyalty; and when the latter are told of the gratitude they owe for the restoration of some of their long withheld rights, they feel that gratitude which is due for the payment of part of a just debt. They are, however, still subject to An Oration delivered Oct. 16, 1809, on laying the first stone of the New Gravel-Pit Meeting-house, in Pa radise field, Hackney. By Robert Aspland, Minister of the GravelPit Congregation. 18. Although we do not consider it within our province to notice works of a nature purely theological, or that relate to the peculiar opinions of the divers sects and parties into which the christian world is unhappily divided, yet, as there are certain points which form the foundation of all valuable truth, and in which all sincere inquirers after truth must cordially unite, we deem it our duty to solicit the serious attention of our readers to those points, as we have opportunity. We, therefore, with pleasure notice the oration before us, delivered by the minister of a society, over which presided a PRICE, and a PRIESTLEY; men who although differing in some of their theological opinions, were eminently distinguished for their integrity, their ardent love of civil and religious liberty, and who proved the reality of their faith, by that most unfashionable mode in this degenerate age-making sacrifices the most important, and counting all things but loss for the excellency of truth, and for the sake of a good conscience! This Oration is the more worthy of notice, as it is entirely free from those blemishes which too often disfigure, not only sermons at the consecration of bishops and churches of the establishment, but the ordination services of Protestant dissenters. We are not, in the pages be fore us, disgusted with the airs of either the established, or of any sectarian priesthood; we find no assumption of inspired or Apostolic titles; no nonsense about Dissenting Cler Eymen, or sacredness of order, or of the holiness of dress, bricks and murtar; and what is still more wor thy of notice, there are no anathemas hurled at those persons whose explanations of scripture doctrines differ from those of the author, although he appears at the same time careful to guard his audience against indulging a sceptical' spirit, or that fatal indifference respecting truth, which too many are apt to mistake for christian candour: but we have already said more than we intended on this article, and shall now leave our author to speak for himself. "You attach no sancity to particular places. Holiness is in the heart and the life; and the Universal Lord looks down with complacency upon pure and contrite worshippers wherever they assemble, and with what circumstances soever their prayers are offered. But you rightly judge it expedient to set apart a house for prayer, where you may conveniently assemble to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire, as in his Tem bours and increases or creates all our ple. Society, which lightens all our lapleasures, cannot but have an animating influence upon our worship. All our feelings are heightened by being expressed in words, and there is a peculiar quick and lively sympathy in oral and public devotion. And the habit of contemplating the Creator in company with our fellowcreatures, has a happy tendency to make us more important in each other's view, to excite brotherly and charitable senti ments, and, in a word, to associate piety with virtue. In making this provision for social worship, you do not consult your own benefit only. You raise an altar, around which the poor and the stranger may assemble, and, on a perfect equality with any of yourselves, serve the common parent. You plan the means of furnishing poor and fatherless children with such knowledge as shall make them useful in society, and lead them in prayer and obedience to their Maker. You open the way for your children to come up to the house of God in company, for you can have no greater joy than to know or anticipate that they walk in the truth. Nor do you content yourselves with attempting these objects in reference to the term of your own lives, but you seek by liberal exertions and wise precautions to secure them to the genera tions to come; desiring to lay a foundation, under God, for blessing remote posterity." ** "Is it then asked, what are our princi ples? we reply, without equivocation or restriction, in the language of the New Testament:-There is one God, and one Mediator between God and Men, the Mun Christ Jesus.-That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. There shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust. -We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.-Then cometh the end when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be de stroyed is death. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then also shall the Son himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. lence; but we cannot, consistently with our views, shrink from notice and hide ourselves in a corner. We raise, in humble gratitude and hope, this building, sacred to the one God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, trusting that we, like the believers at Ephesus, "In support of these peculiar and are no more strangers and foreigners, but fundamental doctrines of the gospel, we fellow citizens with the saints, and of the think it incumbent on us, as we must household of God, and are built upon the answer for our deportment as christians foundation of the apostles and prophets, to a righteous judge, to dissent from all Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner forms and modes of worship in which stone. they are either not acknowledged, or "True; we may err. We are ready are subverted. Believing that Christ's to confess our fallibility; there is no kingdom is not of this world, agreeably practical truth which we are more accusto that good confession which he witnessed tomed to press home upon our own before Pontius Pilate, and not daring in minds; and least of all persons should the face of his prohibitions, to call any we be excusable if by any uncharitable man upon earth father or master, in a sentiments or deeds we brought upon religious sense, we protest against the ourselves the charge of bigotry: but we interference of the civil power in affairs may be permitted to say that, if we err, of conscience, and reprobate the alliance it is not wilfully, nor altogether through of church and state as a wide departure negligence. Nay, there are some amongst from the obvious design of christianity us who might without affectation adopt yet if we thought it lawful, as the sub- the language of the ever memorable Mr. jects of the King of Kings and Lord of John Hales, of Eaton, in his letter to Lords, to obey magistrates in the pale Archbishop Laud: The pursuit of of the church when they command things "truth hath been my only care, ever indifferent, if any thing in such a case "since I first understood the meaning can be indifferent, we cannot so far for- "of the word. For this, I have forsaken feit our allegiance to our one only mas- "all hopes, all friends, all desires which ter as to believe, on any authority, what "might bias me and hinder me from is not revealed or what is contradictory "driving right at what I aimed. For to revelation, or to profess what we do "this, I have spent my money, 'my not and cannot believe. Here we know means, my youth, my age, and all I our duty, and are prepared at any risk "have. If with all this cost and pains, દર Hence to obey God rather than man. springs, my christian friends, our dissent from the church of England and other protestant churches, whether national or congregational, supported by public authority or purely voluntary. We dissent, however, in peace and charity. We pursue no political, no worldly object. Our aim is single and direct. We strive to be perfect in our imitation of Christ, and our obedience to him, that we may be found of him in peace at his coming. "The scriptures being the true source of our opinions, we cannot feel shame on account of them, how unpopular or obnoxious soever they may become. We would make no unseemly boasts, and advance no arrogant pretensions; but we feel a holy constraint upon us, obliging us to assert the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. We court not censure, much less vio my purchase is but error; I may safe "ly say, to err hath cost me more, than "it has many to find the truth ;—and "truth itself shall give me this testimony "at last, that if I have missed her, it is "not my fault but my misfortune." " But, my brethren, I cannot conceal that we have as a congregation something wherein to boast. It is not that, we are considerable in number; it is not that, we are respectable according to the standard by which society measures respectability; it is not that, heretofore our pastoral chair has been filled by men of unrivalled eminence;—it is not that, we are of long standing in the christian world:-but it is this glorious peculiarity, which I pray to God we may never forfeit, that we allow unbridled liberty of conscience! History tells us of a Grecian robber, who having taken travellers, measured them by his bed, and if too long cut them shorter, and if too short stretched them longer :-a fit type of the invaders of Christ's jurisdiction, the violators of christian liberty, the framers and imposers of human creeds and articles of faith, engines to rack and torture the free-born mind. .O my soul, is the exclamation of us all, come not thou into their secret; and unto their assembly mine honour, be not thou united. Delivered from the house of bondage ourselves, we abhor the thought of enslaving others. We hold no creed but the New Testament; every man's interpretation of which is to himself the true standard of orthodoxy. Our communion is open to all that are sound-in charac ter! We think that virtue is of more importance than speculative belief, and that the worst heresy is a wicked life. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound of gospel freedom.-Happy is that people, that is in such a case; yea, hap By is that people whose God is Jehovah. "Pardon my weakness, brethren, if in concluding, I drop a sentiment which may be thought too melancholy for the occasion. There is something solemn in any service that we can perform but once. It is an epoch in our lives, and serves to measure our progress to the grave. But this is not all I mean :-we are, building for futurity, and raising a monument of our own short-livedness and frailty! If a good Providence shall prolong our existence to the time of the completion of this house, and grant us health and strength to join in the first praises which shall resound under its roof, how few summers and winters onward can we in the course of nature expect to come up hither with a multitude that keep the holy day! We are shadows; our own feeble works mock our vanity; in a little moment we shall have passed away, and the place that hath known us shall know us no more for ever! "But, peace! ye suggestions of nature! Hark! the voice of the captain of our salvation! Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore; and have the keys of hell and of death. "Reviving sounds! Thy church, great conqueror of the King of Terrors! is founded upon a rock, and the power of mortality shall never prevail against it. Inspired by thy holy doctrine and example, successive multitudes shall here assemble in thy name. And, in thy Fa ther's power, thou wilt raise us and them, a glorious assembly! in the resurrection of the just, to join thee in the service of God, all in all, in that nobler temple, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens !" Whoever possesses the principles so admirably comprised in the language of John Hales, forming, if we may be allowed the expression, a part of his very soul, cannot fundamentally, or finally err. He is in possession of what our divine instructor, our supreme and only governor in religion, terms, an honest and good heart! He is, as justly described by our great moral poet,- "An honest man," and therefore the "noblest work of God!" FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Foreign-Office, Nov. 11. 4 Letter, of which the following is an extract, was this day received by Earl Bathurst, his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, from Lieut.-Col. Carrol, dated Army of the Left, Tamames, Oct. 19. I have the honour to acquaint you, that the army of Marshal Ney, now commanded by General Marchand, advanced on the morning of yesterday, in force 10,000 infantry and 1200 cavalry, with 14 pieces of artillery, to attack this army; which was most judiciously placed on those heights.-The enemy divided his force into three columns, which advanced against the right, centre, and left of our line; it soon became evident that the principal object of his attack was to force and turn our left, it being the point in which our position was weakest.-The enemy, |