to my brother, respecting the "infidel wicked settlement at the
Illinois," proceeded from that principle of fear for the interests
of christianity, which an enlightened christian, by which I mean one
who understands the principles, imbibes the spirit, and follows the
example of the primitive christians, need not indulge. To all sincere
christians who may have indulged similar fears, may be applied what
the Psalmist remarks of certain pious persons of his day, who appear
to have been placed in a very "infidel, wicked settlement;"--"_There
were they in great fear where no fear was._" (Ps. liv. 5.) Infidelity,
or unbelief in the divine mission of Christ; a rejection of those
grand truths, essential to the salvation of a lost world, where
the gospel can be read and examined, as it may easily be in the
present enlightened age--enlightened, with respect to the means of
instruction for the attainment of knowledge the most important,--is
so inexcuseable, that I know not how any man, even if his capacity
be below mediocrity, and more especially any man whose capacity {59}
is above mediocrity, can, remaining an unbeliever, rationally hope
to escape the awful sentence pronounced by our Saviour:--"_He that
believeth not the Son, shall not see life:--he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God._" (John iii.) Passages as equally applicable to
unbelievers of the present day, as to those of old, as the evidences
of christianity are equally bright and convincing as in our Saviour's
time, if not more so. We have no such gross prejudices to combat as the
Jews had, as no persons are so stupid as to expect a temporal Messiah,
to imitate those grand pests of society, who, in all ages, have ravaged
the world--despotic kings, and wholesale murderers commonly called
conquerors! And if we have not the evidence of sense, the personal
presence of Christ, we have _a more sure word of prophecy_, not of a
temporary nature, but more suitable to succeeding ages, even to the
end of time,--the fulfillment of Divine predictions. Men who after
reading the various relations of travellers of the first reputation,
concerning the fall and present state of ancient states and cities,
Babylon, Tyre, Egypt, &c. can reject the evidence of the truth of
revelation arising from such a source, may be pronounced without
breach of charity, wilfully blind. If it be said, there is no general
rule without exceptions,--I allow it, but only so far as there may be
exceptions to other important general rules: for instance, that justly
called the _golden rule_, delivered by our Saviour in his sermon on
the mount. But let it be seriously recollected, that the very word
_exceptions_ implies the generality of the rule, and that the man
cannot be very wise, who endeavours to persuade himself, that he shall,
in the great day of final account, be included in these exceptions.
For myself, I {60} must profess, that after some acquaintance with
several of our principal infidel writers, English and foreign, I have
never met with any who dared meet the distinguishing evidences of
christianity fairly; and that in general, the description of writers
alluded to, have been men whose moral conduct has been so defective,
as to afford just reason to apprehend they were not sincere inquirers
after truth. The infidel public may safely be challenged to answer, not
only the writings of Locke, Newton, Lardner, Paley, &c. but even some
of our shilling or sixpenny pamphlets. Let any unbeliever exert his
energies in refuting that admirable tract entitled--_An Answer to the
Question_, WHY ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? by the late Dr. Clarke of Boston,
in America, of which there have been published numerous editions, but
to which, if an answer has been written, I will thank any person to
inform me, and where it can be procured. But so long as the enemies of
revelation consider misrepresentation, arising from wilful ignorance,
sneering, jesting, and ribaldry, lawful weapons to effect the purpose
they have at heart--the destruction of christianity--I shall certainly
suspect they do not possess that indispensable qualification in all
inquiries concerning revelation,--_an honest and good heart_, and that
of course they are not sincere in their inquiries; but let all such men
take warning from the numerous declarations in scripture concerning the
rejectors of the gospel, as they will most assuredly find, that with
respect to threatenings, as well as promises, _it is impossible for God
to lie_!
Should it be asked,--How is it that so many men of talents, and who
may possess qualities, which may render them in different ways, and
to a certain degree useful to the world and ornamental to the social
circle reject christianity; various {61} causes may be assigned. I
must confine myself to a few. The principal reason is assigned by the
divine author of Christianity:--_This is the condemnation; light is
come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because
their deeds are evil._--The love of applause in favourite circles is
assigned by the same authority as another reason. Our Saviour demanded
of the Pharisees,--_how can ye believe who receive honour one of
one another, and not the honour which cometh from God only._ They
rejected our Saviour's doctrines because _they loved the praise of
men, more than the praise of God_.--How often has _pride_ determined
men to reject truths the most important? The _doctrine of the cross_,
although the brightest display of the _wisdom and power of God_ to
the world, is to the _carnal_ man, that is the man whose belief and
practice are determined by worldly motives, _foolishness_. The remark
of Dr. Priestley on this subject, deserves the most serious attention
of men, who are by their talents and learning, elevated above the rest
of the world. "Learned men have prejudices peculiar to themselves, and
the very affectation of being free from vulgar notions, and of being
wiser than the rest of mankind, must indispose them to the admission of
truth, if it should happen to be with the common people!"
Although if the opinions I have expressed be true, they want not the
sanction of the learned, yet knowing the influence of names, I will in
their support add two, who although men of very different opinions,
are by their respective admirers, considered _masters in Israel_. The
first is Dr. Johnson who, as his biographer Mr. Boswell informs us,
remarked on this subject,--"_No honest man could be a deist_; for no
man could be so after a fair examination of the proofs of christianity.
Hume owned {62} to a clergyman, in the bishopric of Durham, _that he
had never read the New Testament with attention_!" Another example of
the truth of Johnson's remark is the famous Thomas Paine, who in a work
misnamed "the Age of _Reason_," but which is a disgrace to any man
possessing his reason, at the very moment of pretending to criticise
the bible, and of glorying in having destroyed its credit, acknowledged
"that he had not read it for several years!" This may, in part at
least, account for the numerous misstatements and falsehoods which
deform his pages. This work has been the more injurious to society, as
thereby the author lost much of that fame he had justly acquired by his
admirable, and popular political writings, but to which the world has
since shewn a comparative indifference.
To Dr. Johnson's opinion I only add that of Mr. Belsham, who in his
_Calm Inquiry_, &c. observes:--"The Unitarians acknowledge that the
scriptures were written for the instruction of the illiterate as well
as of the learned, and they believe--that ALL _which is essential to
doctrine or practice is_ SUFFICIENTLY INTELLIGIBLE _even to the meanest
capacity_."
From these premises I conclude, that there is little danger of the
spread of that _absurdity of absurdities_--INFIDELITY, where it is not
supported by more plausible reasons than are contained in the writings
of its votaries; but it is with pain, that I am obliged in justice to
the subject to add, that its principal support has been the corrupt
systems and lives of its professors.--Those ANTICHRISTIAN CHURCHES
under whatever denomination, and in every country under heaven, which
have been established by the civil magistrate:--THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN
CHURCH AND STATE, which has displayed its brazen front _in the temple
of God, exalting itself above all that is called God_; robbed {63} the
great head of the church of his peculiar prerogative, the sovereignty
over conscience; and plundered countless millions of their rights and
properties, thus turning the church into _a den of thieves_,--These
ecclesiastical corruptions constitute a more formidable argument
against christianity, although by no means an honest reason for
rejecting it, than the writings of the whole infidel world united.[70]
[70] A modern divine gives us the following curious description of
the Church of England.--"The governors of this society form a kind of
aristocracy respecting the community at large, but each particular
governor in his proper district is a sort of monarch, exercising his
function both towards the inferior ministers and laity, according to
the will of the supreme head of the church."--_The English Liturgy a
Form of Sound Words; a Sermon delivered in the Parish Churches of St.
Benet, Gracechurch Street, &c._ by George Gaskin, D.D.
How any man, with the New Testament before him, could possibly call
such an _aristocratical_ and _monarchical_ church, one "formed
according to the will of the Supreme Head," when he well knew that
it was diametrically opposite to the letter and spirit of the most
solemn, particular, and repeated directions of the Great Head of the
Church on this subject:--"_Call no man your master on earth; one is
your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren, &c._"--I shall not
stay to inquire; but it may amuse the reader just to observe how this
clerical pluralist exercises "_his function towards the laity_," and
more especially as it relates to _tythes_:--that species of property
which was first voluntarily given by the people for various benevolent
purposes, but of which they were afterwards robbed by the clergy,
who appropriated them to their own sole use. How they are sometimes
raised, even in the present enlightened age, I lately discovered in a
catalogue, at a sale of pawnbroker's unredeemed pledges, where, amongst
other names and descriptions of property, I read as follows:
"_Lots sold under a distress for tythes due to the Rev. Dr. Gaskin,
Rector of the United Parishes of St. Benet, Gracechurch Street, of St.
Leonard, Eastcheap, [and of St. Mary, Newington"]._
Then follow eight lots of writing paper, silver table and tea spoons,
&c.
"_The following sold under a distress for tythes due to the Rev. Mr.
Parker, (son in law of Dr Gaskin) Rector of St. Ethelburga._"
Then follow five lots of yellow and mottled soap!
Whether the body of the clergy, who have for so many ages been
supported by these and by other means scarcely less obnoxious, come
nearer to the description of the primitive apostles and pastors for
independence, disinterestedness and benevolence, or to that description
predicted by one of them of those who should come after him,--_grievous
wolves not sparing the flock_, I leave to the reader to determine.
Dr. Gaskin, I was informed, ranks amongst the clergy who have arrogated
to themselves the epithet _evangelical_; but I have since been informed
otherwise; and I am inclined to believe, as those do who best know him,
that he is _not_ an evangelical clergyman!
I cannot help expressing my surprise that my countrymen will not, on
this subject, take a hint from that great and liberal minded statesman,
the late Lord Chatham, at the commencement of the American war, when
our debt and taxes were not _one fifth_ of what they are at present.
His lordship in a speech in the House of Lords, turning to the right
reverend bench, exclaimed,--"Let the bishops beware of war; for should
the people be pressed for money, _they know where to look for it_!"
It is a pity that amidst so much nonsense, with which the nation is
pestered at our agricultural meetings, and in agricultural reports,
and so much injustice as is proposed for relieving the public, by Mr.
Webb Hall on the one side, Mr. Cobbett and others on the other, such
as new corn laws, and breaking public faith, &c. ruining thousands by
the reduction of interest of the national debt, our real resources
should not be even hinted at. Is there no patriot to be found in either
House of the Legislature, following the excellent example of Mr. Hume
respecting _state_ abuses, who will recommend, "_An inquiry into the
nature and amount of our church revenues?_" Would christianity suffer
if a Bishop of Winchester, or a Bishop of Durham, had not 30 to £40,000
a year! or if our overgrown church revenues in England, and more
especially in that still more oppressed country, Ireland, where the
bishoprics are in general richer, and many thousands are wrung from
a long oppressed and impoverished people, not unfrequently in places
where little or no duty is performed, were inquired into? Let Britain
look at the church reformation which has taken place in France, and is
now going forward in Spain and Portugal, the abolition of tythes, and
the resumption of the useless and hurtful revenues of the church, and
blush at her _bat_ and _mole_-like stupidity!--B. FOWLER.
{64} But as America is not disgraced with an established church,
supported by penal laws, the work of statecraft and priestcraft united,
infidelity has, in that country, lost {65} its chief support, and
cannot, to any extensive degree, flourish. Let that favoured quarter
of the globe carefully preserve her only establishment--LIBERTY AND
EQUALITY, and her religious interests are safe. Christianity left to
itself will, by its own internal excellence, and by the lives of its
sincere professors, have _free course, and be glorified_.
The English settlement in the Illinois already affords an illustration
of the truth of these sentiments. In the first stage of its
infancy, reports, as it appears by the remonstrance and admonitions
of the female _friend_ at Philadelphia to my brother, have been
industriously and widely circulated, of its being a "wicked infidel
settlement;" where "a christian parent" could not "answer it to his
God for endangering the precious souls of his dear children!" Three
years have scarcely passed since this solemn warning was given; and
what is the present state of this "Infidel settlement?" The friends
to Christianity have exerted themselves, and although without the
assistance of _Priests_, or even _Reverends_ of any denomination, two
places within the distance of as many miles, have been erected for
public worship; one on the moderate candid _Unitarian_ plan,--I mean
that which according to the only accurate import of the word includes
in its communion, all christians who dissent from that contradiction
in terms--"THREE divine PERSONS in ONE GOD:"--The other for the
members of the Episcopal Church of England, which in America, by
losing its antichristian sting, has lost its principal deformities;
and what deserves peculiar notice--the service in the latter is read
by the very person who was supposed to have been the chief promoter
of infidelity!--A third chapel is now erecting for the use of the
Calvinistic baptists. These different denominations, with any others
{66} which may hereafter appear, have only to follow the example
of their brethren throughout America; to meet in civil society, as
friends, perfectly equal as to political, civil, and religious rights,
no one allowed to have any ascendancy over the other, christianity will
then triumph, and infidelity will be ashamed to shew its face.
To the excellent admonitions on the subject of religious and moral
conduct with which my brother concludes his letters, I cannot help
adding my ardent hopes, that as the English settlement appears to
be increasing in prosperity, and to present an happy asylum for
those, who from various circumstances, are induced or compelled to
emigrate from their native country, the inhabitants will prove an
example of that true religion and virtue, which constitute the only
sure foundation and preserver of states and communities:--my wishes
are equally ardent, that as christians, they would not only avoid
the errors of antichristian established churches, but of those which
although professedly dissenting from them still retain a strong
attachment to many of their follies. Primitive christianity, how
seldom is it aspired after! The unnecessary division of christians
into clergy and laity; the distinctions of dress, habits, and titles,
so calculated to please the fancy of our grown babies in the christian
church; the objectionable manner in which christian pastors are too
frequently ordained and supported:--these with other follies which
might be mentioned, all innovations on the simplicity and purity
of the primitive churches will at the Illinois, it is hoped, be
avoided. Let the English seriously recollect, that in their native
country priestcraft prevails, not only in the established church,
but in different degrees amongst those who dissent from it, where
I fear it is increasing; and that those who are distinguished for
their {67} attachment to _weak and beggarly elements_, are in general
equally distinguished for their indifference to the grand principles
of LIBERTY, for their servility to the ruling powers, and for their
support of that ruinous system of war and corruption, which has so
peculiarly disgraced the British nation for the past sixty years.--May
the office of pastor of a christian church be no longer deemed a
_trade_, but let every christian teacher aspire to the honour of being
equally independent with the apostles and pastors of the primitive
churches, who are chiefly if not wholly dependant on their own
exertions in the pursuit of some honest calling. May all denominations,
uniting with each other in the bonds of christian friendship, no longer
consider their peculiar explanation of doctrines as necessary to
christian communion. May their only grand essentials be, _sincerity in
the search of truth_, _and honesty in practising it_. Thus may they, in
the full enjoyment of political, civil, and religious liberty _go on
unto perfection_.[71]
[71] That I may not be misunderstood, I beg leave to remark, that
I intend no reflection on those who may have been educated solely
with a view to the ministry, and of whose habits we cannot expect an
alteration. It is an evil attending the present system, that while
men of very moderate talents, and judging by their conduct, who have
made no great advancement in the christian life, who possess a few
superficial qualifications which captivate the ignorant and unthinking,
are living in luxury, there are men of fine talents, and transcendent
virtues, who are living in comparative poverty. The grand error is
the mechanical transformation of youths into ministers at seminaries,
instead of their being brought up to some trade or profession in which
their independence might rest on themselves.
I have, on this subject, expressed myself more at large in the MEMOIRS
OF ROBERT ROBINSON, prefixed to his Works. See also an excellent
Sermon in his incomparable VILLAGE DISCOURSES, entitled, "_Any one who
understands Christianity may teach it_." And another in the Posthumous
volume of his works, entitled, "_The Corruptions of Christianity_."--B.
FLOWER.
{68} [_Note_ C, _page_ 147.]
Mr. Cobbett's former calumnies respecting the English settlements in
the Illinois were amply refuted by Mr. Birkbeck and my brother, in two
pamphlets, published in 1819, and to neither of which, although he has
alluded to a private letter, since written by the former, and inserted
in a provincial paper, has he dared to reply. He has however, had the
effrontery in a late _Register_, (_July_, 7th, 1821,) not only to
repeat those calumnies, but to invent others still more atrocious; and
as the parties concerned are five thousand miles distant, I deem it my
duty on the present occasion, to add a few observations to those of my
brother, that the character of the calumniator may appear in its true
colours, and that my countrymen may no longer be the dupes of a man who
has so frequently deceived them.
This writer has in his rage against the settlements at the Illinois,
not only shewn his usual disregard of truth and decency, but thrown off
the common feelings of humanity. Yes!--This marble-hearted reprobate
has impiously dared to reproach an affectionate,--a peculiarly
warm-hearted father with the death of a favourite son. Addressing
himself to Mr. Birkbeck, he states as follows:--"As to English
farmers, yours, or any like yours, is the _very worst spot_ they can
go to." Of the falsehood of this assertion, the reader has before
him demonstrative evidence. Then, alluding to Mr. William Hunt and
his qualifications for farming, the writer adds:--"With great sorrow
I heard of his untimely end, from one of those terrible fevers that
never fail to haunt new settlements for years. One of Mr. Flower's
sons is _dead also_, in the bloom of life. Now, had Mr. F. followed
my advice given him at New York; if he had purchased a farm or two
on the Atlantic side, _this son would in all probability have been
alive_!" {69} To this atrocious paragraph I reply:--_It is false_
that "terrible fevers haunt the English settlements" more than is
common in either England or America. I am well acquainted with some
who were born, and had previous to their emigration, lived in one of
the finest counties in England, Devonshire, who were not unfrequently
subject to fevers in general, but to such "terrible fevers," as had
nearly terminated their earthly existence. These very persons have
lately written me, that during a twelvemonth's residence near Albion,
succeeding a long and fatiguing voyage and journey, they had been less
subject to fevers, and have enjoyed better health than when breathing
their native air. As to the climate in general, its healthy state has,
after four years experience, been proved, by the evidence of persons,
whose characters for veracity more particularly, are as superior to
that of their calumniator, as light is to darkness.--_It is false_
that Mr. W. Hunt was brought to an untimely end by "a terrible fever."
At the moment I am writing I have a gentleman at my elbow, who during
his late residence at the Illinois was well acquainted with Mr. H. and
with the circumstances attending his death; and he has authorized me
to state:--That Mr. Hunt's disorder was a common pleurisy, attended
with but a slight degree of fever; that he was fast recovering; but as
is not uncommon in other countries, not taking proper care of himself,
and negligent in following medical advice, he had a relapse which
terminated fatally.
_It is false_, that my amiable and excellent nephew _died also_ in
consequence of one of those "terrible fevers." Being intimately
acquainted with the circumstances of his case, from the very best
authority I assure the reader, that his death was occasioned by a
common complaint {70} in all countries, and to which young people
are more peculiarly subject: a cold, caught on a journey, (it is not
necessary to detail the particulars) which, without any alarming
symptoms of fever, terminated in a decline, and as is frequently the
case in such disorders, suddenly, when his parents and family were
flattering themselves he had nearly recovered. Thus has Mr. Cobbett
impiously represented an affecting visitation of Providence;--a
visitation common to every spot on the habitable globe,--as a judgment
inflicted on my brother for not following _his_ advice, although he
_forgot_ to add, that this advice was enforced with a denunciation,
clothed in his favourite phraseology, "I'll be d----d if I do not
write down Birkbeck and his settlement."[72]--Thus has he strove to
transpierce the heart of a father, and to tear open a wound, which
time, a flourishing situation, with those ample means of enjoyment with
which the favour of providence has surrounded him, together with those
"strong consolations," which a true christian only can feel the force
of, was healing; and I trust, that the same supports will enable him to
triumph over the fiend whose deadly aim has been to send him a mourner
to the grave.
[72] Flower's Letters from the Illinois, 1819, p. 32.--B. FLOWER.
Mr. C. warns my brother and his family "to retreat in time," which
if they do not, he dooms them for their lives "to pass their days
principally amongst the fellers of trees, and the swallowers of
whiskey." After the reader has attended to the evidence respecting the
state of society at the English settlements, in the pamphlet before
him, (I might refer him to additional respectable evidence) it is only
necessary to warn Mr. C. in return, should he again cross the Atlantic,
and take it into his head to reside at the Illinois, to be careful to
leave his vicious habits of {71} _swearing_ and _lying_ behind him, as
he will otherwise find not only English society, but even the society
of "fellers of trees, and swallowers of whiskey" too humane, too
civilized, too virtuous to be very fond of _his_ company.