church. There were not wanting many very able and learned divines to come forward in the refutation of such opinions; and that it was done with great success-nay, with an unanswerable force of argument, has been generally enough acknowledged. But there were cir

• At this distance of time it may not be altogether unnecessary to mention, that the Bangorian controversy was occasioned by two productions of Bishop Hoadly, the one, "a Preservative against "the Principles and Practices of the Non-jurors both in Church and "State," printed in 1716; the other, "a Sermon on the Nature of "the Kingdom or Church of Christ," preached before the King, and published by command. As to the latter of which, the Bishop himself says, "At whose request it was commanded to be publish, "ed, I know not; but I know that it was not either directly or indirectly from any desire of mine." (Pref. to vol. of Sermons 1754) Against certain positions contained in these publications, a complaint was instituted in the lower house of convocation, which being referred to a committee, a representation was drawn up, reprobating them in very strong terms. But after it was received, and nem. con, voted to be entered on the books of the house, Bishop Hoadly's friends, as is well understood, procured the prorogation of the convocation in order to shelter him from the censure, which he would otherwise hardly have avoided. The bishop indeed disclaims. (Pref. to answer to the representation of the committee) having solicited or even known or suspected any such design, till it was actually resolved and ordered. He adds however, "It" (the prorogation) "neither tends to hinder any light from “appearing, which possibly can be procured, nor can it have such "effect in its consequences, but the contrary. For the debate is by this means taken from the bar of human authority, and brought to that of reason and scripture: removed from a trial by a majority of voices (which cannot be a trial contended for either by truth or "by the Church of England) and brought to that of argument "only."

? This may, I think, not unreasonably be collected even from

cumstances, which, independently of the merits of the question, tended to give weight and prevalency to the sentiments thus brought forward aud supported by Bishop Hoadly and his adherents. The very circumstance which had occasioned the question to be agitated, secured to him a considerable degree of favour with a very large party in the nation, and the decided patronage of the persons that were then at the head of the government. This was the scrupulousness, extreme, it may be allowed, and too nice, of certain of our divines, who, however they disapproved, and had even resisted the designs of James the second against the church, yet conceived themselves to be

the language of one of the bishop's strongest partisans. A con tinuation of the account of all the pamphlets relating to this controversy by Thomas Hearn, M. A. was published in 1720, which concludes thus. "Let me add one general observation: that though the principles maintained by my Lord of Bangor do appear to be the only ones upon which our reformation, or "indeed any reformation can be justifiable; though they evidently tend to justify christianity from the objections that are unanswerable by those, who contend for the contradictory principles, such as that it makes God a being acting not by reason, "&c. Though this and mmch more be true, yet the number of those who appear in public opposition to him increases as fast as former ones are baffled, new ones of higher stations, and greater dignity succeed, whilst many who are of the same * sentiments with him content themselves with being well-wishers to his cause; and except those who first sided with him, few "openly appear to his assistance," &c. See Hoadly's works, vol, 1. p. 710,

8 This was particularly the case with five (if I mistake not) of

so bound by the oath of allegiance which they had taken to him, that they could not, during his life, transfer that allegiance to any other sovereign; and they in consequence declined acknowledging his successor. This brought on the expulsion of them from their bishoprics. and other perferments; and, as they still persisted in considering themselves as the rightful pastors in the several cures to which they had been instituted, occasion was given to a contest, which though in itself purely religious, yet was made, naturally enough to bear upon the politics of the day. The assertion of an ecclesiastical authority independent of the civil power was conceived, by the adminstration then existing, to be of a dangerous tendency, and they were not backward therefore to support those who came forward in opposition to such claims. The mode however which was adopted by the then bishop of Bangor for the combating of these pretensions, well or illfounded, must be admitted to have been somewhat extraordinary for one, who was by his office, an established ruler in the church. Not

the seven bishops. It is remarkable too, that Leslie, who was the most violent (perhaps) of the non-jurors in favour of the pretender, had early in his life very strenuously opposed an illegal attempt of James the second to appoint a popish sheriff for a county of Ireland, where he was an acting justice of the peace. V. Biog. Brit. Art. LESLIE.

content to argue against any abuse or miscon ception of authority, he proceeded at once to deny that there was any authority whatever given by Christ to any person to rule or to govern his church: he asserted that what our Lord said of "his kingdom not being of this world" was to be taken most strictly, as interdicting every man from being a judge or lawgiver in religious matters; and thus he, by necessary inference, condemned or materially impeached the very establishment in which he held so distinguished a situation".

Inconsistent as this conduct might appear, yet while the doctrine was patronized by the government, and the supporters of it were rewarded with the preferments and the dignities, of which they thus seemed to doubt the propriety, it is no wonder that the tenet should have continued to gain ground. It was more particularly received with great favour by the dissenters, with many of whose positions it not only agreed, but even seemed in a great degree to be borrowed from them. It further opened to them a prospect of being set at liber

It is true the bishop afterwards endeavoured to explain away or to narrow his positions, but it was clearly shewn by his oppo nents that this could not be done without destroying the whole of his argument. See particularly William Law's third letter, under the head of "A remarkable evasion of your lordship's in relation to church authority."

ty from those restraints to which by the policy of the civil legislature they had been subjected; and they appear from that time to have shewn a disposition to unite as one body in their ge neral views of hostility against the national church.

In consequence of this too, and in order to preserve consistency in the maintenance of the doctrine, the Arians and Socinians began from that time also to be taken into favour by the other dissenters; and were admitted by them to be entitled to the same degree of indulgence and the same privileges as the other sects.

How far this was from being the case with their predecessors, no man who has looked ever so superficially into ecclesiastical history, can be ignorant. From the earliest appearance of the puritans down to the times of Baxter, and even of his biographer Calamy, the Socinians, and all those who denied the proper divinity of our Lord, were considered as hardly deserving even to be classed among Christians. Calvin, it is notorious, shewed it by causing Servetus to be burned, and Baxter spoke of Biddle's followers as men who were little better than Deists or Infidels". In the toleration act passed

1. "The Socinians also in these times made some increase by the "means of one Mr. Biddle, sometime schoolinaster in Gloucester, "who wrote against the godhead of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards of Christ. His followers inclined much to mere Deism and Infidelity.”