Parliament for their conduct, has been fully pointed out. But hitherto, neither the legislature nor government have considered this momentous subject. The sectarian societies and the defenders of missions, with only one exception, have endeavoured to supply the deficiency of ar gument, by the old and hacknied assertion, that all who oppose the efforts used by God's people to convert the heathen nations to pure and genuine Christianity, are pupils of Voltaire's school, and infidels. But the defence of sectarian missions has been made upon grounds entirely new, in a publication called the Quarterly Review. The ingenious writer admits, that in various instances the sectarian missionaries have been very intemperate and very imprudent. He admits that the religion which they teach is not the religion of our fathers, and that what they have altered they have made worse. But he adds, which no one has ever denied, that they are pious, diligent, and well-meaning men. He compli ments the church for the learning of its members, but he fears that the zeal necessary for the work of conversion, is only to be met with among Methodists. He censures the church, therefore, for not encouraging these men, who may be of use as an advanced guard to the church militant: in other words, that these men may make a few Pagans rigid Calvinists in the first instance, that the church may in the second make them members of her own body. It is in reply to this strange reasoning, that the Anti-Jacobin Review published an excellent critique, a passage from which I have inserted above. I entirely agree with you as to the danger of Methodism at home; but various means have been taken, and with success too I hope, to arrest its progress. Many of the most respectable and learned of our divines, have exposed the unscriptural doctrines of the evangelical clergy, who are the great patrons of Methodists. Even the Christian Observer does in some degree concur in opi. nion with the Barrister, as to the Methodistical publications of Dr. Hawker. Though Mr. Larpent would not permit Mr. Hook to bring a field preacher on the stage, the Hypocrite of Bicker. staff still continues to be acted. But if Methodists are allowed to enter the Torrid Zone at their pleasure, under no other controul than that of societies in England, it would be an act of humanity at once to abandon all our foreign possessions. When the Methodist Missionary Society was formed, about twelve years ago, they commenced their labours by sending mis. sionaries to Africa, and to the islands in the South Seas. If in these regions they did no good, they could not injure the public, and they expended their own money. But their operations have been in some instances dangerously, and in others foolishly, ex. tended, of late years. During the short peace with France, they sent a committee into that kingdom, to inquire into the state of religion, a scheme that I think could only have entered into the heads of the men who are directors of that society. The Me. thodists have established an Hibernian Society also, the object of which is, to reclaim our fellow subjects in Ireland from the errors of Popery. They sent a missionary to South America as soon as they heard of the capture of Buenos Ayres, without any communication with his Majesty's Ministers, and without considering how far the bigotted Spaniards of America might resent the attempt to introduce Methodism among them. They have sent a number of missionaries to the island of Ceylon, and to British India, in violation of the law of the land. To the charge of a violation of the law, the Methodist Mis. sionary Society has made no reply. The fact could not be denied. But the committee of the Baptist Society say, in excuse for the violation," that they could not suppose it was the intention of the legislature to invest the company with authority to exclude the Christian religion from India." Could you conceive it possible for any men to set up such a defence to such a charge!! Who could suppose the legislature capable of such an intention? But that it did intend to exclude from India all the subjects of the empire, professing the Christian religion, as well as infidels, if such there are among us, which I do not believe there are, is beyond all doubt, unless such subjects obtained a license from the Company to proceed to India. There is no man of common humanity who does not wish for the total abolition of slavery in the West Indies, for the civiliza tion, and the conversion, of mulattoes and negroes. From toler. ably good information, I have reason to believe, that the proprie. tors of landed estates would be most happy to grant freedom to their slaves, were there hopes that they would work for the wages which we give to day labourers in England. But the difference between the Privy Council and the legislative assembly, does not relate to a trade that happily is abolished, nor to the emancipa. tion of the negroes in the island, nor to the mode in which these unhappy men are treated by their masters; it relates to a set of bigotted, ignorant laymen,-not clergymen, not members of our church, and of whose intemperate and dangerous proceedings, those only who reside in the island of Jamaica can form a correct judgment. Had a bill for restraining such men come before the Privy Council in the days of Sir Robert Walpole, Mr. Pelham, or the first Mr. Pitt, I have no doubt as to what the decision would have been upon it. The black population in Jamaica, in proportion to the white, is, I believe, as nine to one; it appears. necessary, necessary, therefore, that a strong power should be lodged in the hands of the legislative body, the Council, and the Governor, But for three months, at the least, the tub preachers are now free from the controul of the legislative or the executive body in the island, in all points concerning Methodism. This appears to me to be an impolitic regulation, because it may possibly endanger the public safety. But in British India the disproportion between the European and the native population is infinitely greater than in the West Indies. We have thirty thousand subjects of our empire, including the army; above one hundred and twenty thousand native troops, and sixty millions of natives, subject to our dominion, in an empire as extensive as Europe. Nor is this all: the defenders of missions admit that this immense population consists of men singularly bigotted to their religions, though they deny that the prejudices of Hindoos and Mahometans are invincible, because in fourteen years a hundred persons, from among the lowest of the people, have been baptized in Bengal, and not a fourth of that number on the Coast, by sectarian missionaries. Must it not occur to every rational man, that if it should be thought prudent to attempt the conversion of this immense popu. lation to Christianity, the attempt can only be made by the na tion, through its representatives in Parliament? This is the opi nion of every member of the church, who is not an evangelical clergyman. But to let loose a number of bigotted fanatics on the continent of India, sent there in violation of the law, and subject to no controul in England, but that of Dr. Haweis, Dr. Hawker, and the directors of the Methodist and Baptist Societies, is so new a circumstance in the history of nations, that we can only wonder at the apathy of Government. If the Methodists are not to be ridiculed, at least let them be restrained from violating the law. The argument of the Methodists is this, and I trust they will admit that I state it fairly: It was the command of our Saviour to his disciples, to preach the gospel to all the world. Our Lord also said, and lo, I am with you even unto the end of the world; thereby clearly implying, that it was the duty of Christians in all succeeding ages, te preach the gospel to unbelieving nations. In obedience to this Divine command, the Methodists have formed societies in England, and have sent missionaries to diffèr→ ent quarters of the globe. But they do not seem to consider that they are subjects to a Christian state;-that our Saviour has told us, "to render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's." The Methodists, though gospel preachers, generally dilate upon the Epis tles, as you justly observe; yet St. Paul, again and again, enjoins Christians Christians to be obedient to their rulers, and to those who are set in authority over them. Are, therefore, the learned Doctors Haweis and Hawker, the other directors of the Methodist Society, and Mr. Fuller and the managers of the Baptist Society, justified as Christians in violat. ing the law, because our Saviour directed his disciples to preach the gospel to all the world? But Mr. Fuller says, "If Christian. ity be true, it is of such importance, that no political considerations are sufficient to weigh against it, nor ought they for a moment to be placed in competition with it; and if it be of God, to oppose, is the same thing as to tell our Maker, that we will not have him to reign over us." Does this logical reasoner mean, that no political considerations ought for a moment to prevent a Christian government from at. tempting to christianize the heathen world? If this is his mean ing, Government has indeed much to answer for. Does he mean that every individual in the kingdom, or any number of individuals formed into societies, are privileged to act as they please, when their sole object is to propagate Christianity in the East or West Indies? Does he mean to say, that if they are opposed, it is tantamount to a declaration that we will not have our Maker to reign over us? If this is Christian doctrine, it strikes at the root of civil government. But the church of England disclaims the doctrine. Many very able persons have written upon the subject of propagating the gos pel in the Pagan world; they all concur in opinion, that the le gislature alone is competent to determine, when, and how, the nation is to attempt to extend Christianity among the nations subject to its power. But for obscure individuals, led by Doctors Hawker and Haweis, and sectarian managers, to erect an imperium in imperio, to com mit unauthorised acts in some instances, and illegal ones in others, is to set human laws and regulations at defiance. The Anti-Jacobin Review contains the following very sensible remarks on the conduct of the sectarian societies: "It is a very serious matter to attempt the overthrow of the religious establishment of a country, whatever it may be. When the ancient sentiments and habits of a people, in regard to reli. gion, are disturbed and unsettled, it is impossible to say what consequences may ensue." These sectarian societies are said, by their advocate, the Christian Observer, to have done no more than has been done, for a century past, by a Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. This is an assertion notoriously unfounded. Those respectable societies act under a charter granted by the legislature; nor have they they violated the law in a single instance. The first society maintains a number of respectable missionaries in North America,→→→ the second, has given pecuniary assistance to a mission established above a century ago in India, by the Crown of Denmark, and the missionaries employed are clergymen of the Lutheran church, Danes, Swedes, or Germans. But under what public authority do these sectarian societies act? When they confined their exertions to the wilds in Africa, or to the islands in the South Seas, no one took much notice of their proceedings. They sent out taylors, and coblers, and footmen, &c. &c. as missionaries. Now the case is materially changed:-they have extended their efforts to countries subject to Great Britain, and their future proceedings ought to be regulated by the legislature. The act of toleration does not authorize them to violate the law. The similarity between the Catholics of the sixteenth, and the Methodists of the nineteenth century, is wonderfully striking. But the rage for proselytism among the Catholics has evaporated. The Methodists are not less anxious for the conversion of the heathen world, than for converting Christians of every church to the doctrines of Calvin. To conclude, I concur heartily with you, as to the Danger and Folly of Methodism at home; but the measures which they have adopted to spread Methodism in the foreign dependencies of the empire, are infinitely more dangerous. A MEMBER OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH. February 23, 1810. ART. V.-The Law Student. MR. REFLECTOR, I enclose you a series of Letters from a Student of the Inner Temple in London, to a Friend in the country, in which you may find some matter for reflection, that will not disgrace your pages, in the absence of worthier matter. As you will probably insert only the first Letter, containing a brief account of the Inns of Court and Chancery in general, and of the funer Temple in particular, in your first REFLECTOR, you had better acquaint your readers that most of the rest of the series attempt paulo majora canere |