GIFFORD, will sufficiently indicate the spirit of the times, and the great sufferings to which those excellent men were subjected in the conscientious maintenance of their principles.

Another advance is now made in the historical notice. Upon the death of the lamented King William, the sorrow occasioned thereby was in some degree alleviated by the hopes that were entertained by Protestant Dissenters that his successor, the daughter of James II., who had been educated in Protestant principles, would imitate her pious and illustrious sister, the late Queen Mary.

Protestant Dissenters rejoiced that the suppositious heir was prevented from coming to the Throne by the last act of the late King's political life, which secured the Crown in the line of the Protestant succession.

Queen Anne gave a solemn pledge that she would make the principles of the Act of Settlement the rule of her government, and the measures of her predecessor the model of her character.

The Baptists were not deficient in loyalty and zeal at this period. Mr. John Piggott, in a sermon, delivers his sentiments upon the accession of Queen Anne, as follows:-"Let us not," says he, "forget to bless God for a Protestant Queen, and her peaceable accession to the Throne. This excellent Princess discovered a becoming zeal for the Protestant religion, in opposition to Popery, when she moved in a lower orb; we have just reason, therefore, to expect that her zeal will be as warm and regular now she acts in a more exalted state. And let us not cease to pray for the illustrious Queen Anne, that she may have wisdom as an angel of God, to go in and out before so great a people; that she may be the Deborah of our English Israel, and a nursing mother to all the reformed churches; that she may have a prosperous reign, a long life, a safe government, a secure palace, faithful counsellors, valiant armies, and a loyal people; that she may trample upon the necks of her enemies, and reign in the hearts of her subjects; and that, under the influence of her wise and mild administration, true and undefiled religion may revive and flourish; to which I wish all her Majesty's subjects may as heartily say amen as do the Protestant Dissenters of the three kingdoms." *

A sermon by Mr. Joseph Stennett, minister of Pinner's Hall, about this time excited much attention.

"Some noble person presented a copy of it to the Queen, without the knowledge of the author. The Queen having read it, was so pleased with it that she ordered a gratuity to be paid him out of the privy purse, to be presented to him with her Majesty's thanks."+

The Protestant Dissenting Ministers in London had hitherto acted in separate bodies; but at the commencement of this reign they had agreed to form a committee, selected from the general body of approved ministers of the three denominations in the city of London and Westminster and their vicinity. This committee consisted of four Presbyterians, three Independents, and three Baptist ministers, who were chosen by the respective denominations to which they belonged.

With regard to the Baptists, it is highly probable that this arrangement arose, in a considerable degree, from the eminence to which some of their ministers had been raised in the public estimation, by their learning and patriotism.

The address which was presented to the Queen, after the battle of Blenheim, was the production of the pen of Mr. Joseph Stennett, and was highly commended by Lord Chancellor Cowper.

In the early part of the eighteenth century, several eminent persons who had been distinguished during some of the previous reigns for the promotion of the interest of that section of the Christian Church to which they were united, were removed by death, amongst whom are to be found the following :-William Kiffin, Benjamin Keach, William Collins, Thomas Harrison, Benjamin Devins, and Hercules Collins. The loss of these excellent men was severely felt by the Baptists of that time.

It was at the beginning of 1708 that the enemies of civil and religious liberty began to exert their influence at Court; and the Queen was drawn into a plan to support those measures, which were, doubtless, designed to prevent the Protestant family of Hanover from coming to the throne. The change which took place at this period, in the affairs of state, gave new life to the expiring power of the French monarch, and eclipsed the glory of her Majesty's reign, which had hitherto been crowned with laurels of victory, so as to fill her friends with wonder, and her enemies with fear.

At a time when the Parliament was convened this year (1708,) public affairs were brought to so critical a juncture that many eminent citizens, with the approbation of several noble and zealous assertors of English liberty, concluded that an address of advice should be presented by the citizens of London to their representatives. That a dissenting minister, and that minister a Baptist, should be selected to draw it up, gives a strong idea of the distinguishing eminence of the character of Mr. Joseph Stennett, who, by that circumstance, is again brought under notice.

At the conclusion of the war with France, it was much wished at Court that the general body of Protestant dissenting ministers in

London would present an address of congratulation to the Queen; but they could not be prevailed upon to do so.

On this occasion, says Ivimey, "the Baptists had an opportunity of giving full proof of the integrity of their principles and the consistency of their conduct, which entitled them to the confidence and the respect of their brethren of the other denominations."

A noble lord, who had been a particular friend of Mr. Joseph Stennett, probably the Earl of Peterborough, was employed by her Majesty's ministers, in connection with another noble peer, to induce the London Baptists, in their collective character, as a separate denomination, to approve the measures of the government. Mr. Stennett was sent for by them; these noblemen thinking that if they could gain him over, it would go far towards accomplishing their object. "Some things were insinuated by these peers in their conversation, which tended to produce an alienation of the Baptists from the other denominations; and assurances were made to him, that such a compliance with the expectations of the Court from him and his brethren, would be very acceptable, would bring them highly into the esteem of the Queen, and secure them any favour they could reasonably expect. Mr. Stennett was not to be taken with the gilded bait: he well knew that liberty was only safe when secured by the proper administration of the laws, and not when it was in any measure made to depend upon caprice and royal favour; and he assured their lordships, without hesitation, that neither himself nor his brethren could ever be brought to justify with their hands what their hearts disapproved; and that no particular advantages to them could ever counterbalance their regard for their country.'

In the latter part of the reign of Queen Anne, as the enemies of Dissenters lost no opportunity in their endeavours to crush them, FOR THEIR STEADY ATTACHMENT TO THE PROTESTANT SUCCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER, a bill was brought into the House of Commons, May 12, 1714, entitled, "AN ACT TO PREVENT THE GROWTH OF SCHISM, &c., and for the further security of the Churches of England and Ireland as by law established."

It will be seen that besides the various measures which had been taken by the Stuarts against Dissenters, such as the Corporation Act, Act of Uniformity, Conventicle Act, and the Five Mile Act, the Schism Act, now attempted to be introduced, was but an emanation from the same persecuting spirit of religious intolerance which had slumbered through the reign of William and Mary, and up to this period through that of Queen Anne.

*Ivimey, vol. 3, p. 69.

The Schism Act, thus introduced by the opponents of religious freedom, struck at the rights of conscience; and, as it has been observed, was the most grievous measure probably that could have been devised, and, in fact, shewed but little advance in evangelical civilization amongst the ruling powers.

The direct and avowed object of the Schism Bill was, "To prevent the Dissenters from keeping up the succession of their learned ministers, by giving those of the established religion AN ABSOLUTE CONTROL OVER THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN."*

It was designed to follow up the Schism Act by another, calculated more extensively to abridge the liberties of the Dissenters. It can scarcely be believed that such attempts, in the eighteenth century, would have been made as the following, namely, "To PREVENT all PROTESTANT DISSENTERS FROM VOTING AT ELECTIONS, OR FROM SITTING IN PARLIAMENT."

This Schism Bill "enacted that no person should keep any public or private school, or seminary, to teach or instruct youth, as tutor, or schoolmaster, unless he subscribed this declaration :-'I, A B, do declare that I will conform to the liturgy of the Church of England, as by law established ;' " and shall have obtained a license from the archbishop or bishop, or ordinary of the place, under his seal of office. And whosoever should be found doing this without these qualifications was, upon conviction, to suffer three months' imprisonment. No license should be granted, unless the person produced a certificate that he had received the sacrament according to the usuage of the Church of England, at some parish church, and within the space of one year. If, after this, the schoolmaster should be found present at any religious assembly, or at any other place of worship than the Church of England, HE WAS TO BE IMPRISONED THREE MONTHS, and from thenceforth he was incapable of teaching in any school or seminary, or instructing any youth as tutor or schoolmaster.

The next clause deserves to be inserted in the very words of the act :-"And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that if any person, licensed as aforesaid, SHALL TEACH ANY OTHER CATECHISM THAN THE CATECHISM SET FORTH IN THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, the license of such person shall from thenceforth be void, and such person shall be liable to the penalties of this act." Any person who, for the foregoing offences, had lost his license, in order to his being capable again of acting as a schoolmaster or tutor, he was required to make oath in a court of justice, that, during the space of twelve months, he had not been present at any dissenting

*Neal, vol. 5. Appendix, p. cliv.

† Appendix B,

place of worship, and had received the sacrament three times during the year, according to the usage of the Church of England.*

Such was the nature of the Schism Bill, which must, as Brook observes, "shock the feelings of every ingenuous reader." Severe as it appears, it is said to have been incomparably more so when it first came out of the hands of Bolingbroke and his coadjutors; but Harley had expunged the harshest and most persecuting clauses.

It will be clear to any candid mind what were the intentions of this bill. It was nothing more than ANOTHER UNIFORMITY ACT under a feigned name. That the education of the people should, by every possible means, be taken out of the hands, and withdrawn from the influence of the dissenting portion of the community, and confined within the power of the "predominant Sect,”—the legislature taking care to have special exceptions for NOBLEMEN'S FAMILIES, &c. Such was their regard for the intellectual and moral elevation of the people. This bill was not carried through the Commons without meeting with strong expressions in favour of Protestant dissenters; and was represented as a law more like a decree of Julian, the apostate, than a law enacted by a Protestant Parliament, since it tended to raise as great a persecution against our Protestant brethren, as either the primitive Christians suffered from the heathen Emperors, or the Protestants from the Inquisition.

On the other hand, it was asserted, but for which no proof was produced, that the Dissenters were equally dangerous to the church The bill was carried May 27, 1714, by a majority of 237 against 126.

and state.

When the bill was introduced into the House of Lords it was strongly opposed.

The celebrated LORD COWPER, who took a lead in that opposition, said "No man was more ready than himself to do everything that was necessary for preventing the growth of schism and the security of the church; but that this bill was so far from answering the title of it, that, in his opinion, it would have a quite contrary effect, and prove equally pernicious to church and state. Instead of preventing schism, and enlarging the pale of the church, this bill tended to introduce ignorance, and its inseparable attendants, superstition and irreligion."

The EARL OF WHARTON "Wondered that noble lords, who had been educated at dissenting academies, and whose tutors he could name, were so forward in suppressing them, and reminded the bishops who choose to be so silent in the debate of a law that had not yet been

* Brook's Religious Liberty, vol. 2, pp. 248, 249.