"One, out of many millions, may be fenfible of his fins, and favoured with a call from the fpirit; but the reft are configned over to perdition.* "How dreadfully this doctrine muft operate in the conduct of life, I need not obferve to you. I have heard of inftances of elect parents, cafting off their children, and elect children feparating themselves from their parents, as from loft fouls. I have known huibands, among the Lord's people, who have abandoned their wives to perdition, though virtuous and religious women, and refused to admit them even to family prayer, because they profeffed themselves infenfible to the operations of the Spirit! · "You, Sir, I perceive, are acquainted with numerous inftances of this fort. Alas! is this the word of the merciful God, who is not willing that any fhould perish, but that all should come to repentance? "In the mean time, thofe of the other clafs, who are either expecting, or have received, an affurance of falvation, are not, at all, better qualified for acceptance with heaven, on the fcore of morality; nay, it should feem, that they are not to well qualified in this point as their fellow mortals in general. "With you, it feems, the tefts of Chriftian rectitude are a horrible dread, overwhelming the fpirits; the agonizing cry for mercy; and the tremblings of fufpenfe, or hope deferred,' perhaps, through life; and the transports of expe Tiences, and vifions, and conferences with God! "With us, however, (the reprobate and the damned,) the tefts are chastity, fobriety and honefty, humility and love unfeigned.' By thefe, shall all men know, that we are Chrift's difciples With us, Chriftianity is a religion of ace tion, not of fpeculation. Instead of elevating us above the duties of our ftation, it enforces the ftricteft attention to our several callings. It teaches us, for inftance, that the poor labourer in the fields, who serves his mafter with fidelity, carries home the produce of his induftry, for his wife and family, and chearfully fharing with them the comforts of his cottage, looks up to Providence for a bleffing upon his honeft exertions, and trufts, for the pardon of his human errors,' in the mercies of his Saviour; has a fairer profpect of an inheritance with the faints in light, than he that neglects his labours and deferts his dwelling, led aftray by fome itinerant preacher, and hungering and thirsting after righteoufnefs, whilft his offspring are crying to their mother for bread, naked, cold, and destitute! " If "That infants, who die before baptifm, will be damned, is a tenet of the rigid Calvinift; and, it is perfectly confiftent with the doctrine of original fin. Yet how full of barbarity and blafphemy, to damn to the flames of hell thofe little children of whom our Saviour faid, that their's is the kingdom of heaven! Surely, it was its natural, not its acquired, difpofition, which our Saviour bade us imitate, when he enjoined us to receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child. Nevertheless, if its fpitit efcape from it without the form of baptifm, it is condemned, with all its fimplicity and innocence, to everlafting torments! Rather, indeed, than have specified a doctrine, more wild and extravagant than that of the Limbus Infantum of Virgil, we should have obferved, with Plato, of its advocates : Και ολίγον χρονον Βιούντων περα αλλα ελεγεν ουκ αξία μνήμης. De Rep. L. 10. P. 615. Ser. Ed. From John ix. 2, 3, where our Saviour's difci ples afk him who did fin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?' &c. We may draw an inference, I think, that the Calviniftic doctrine of original fin, is falfe. For, if it were true, our Saviour would have immediately refolved the doubts of his difciples, by recurring to it. A Calvinist would have answered, that the punishment of blindness inflicted on the child from its birth, was owing to its own fins, transmitted to him, through his parents, from Adam." +"Because their wives resembled too much the innocence and fimplicity of little children to be fenfible of pollution from fin, and, confequently, were never drawn (by the Spirit) unto Chrift, to be cleansed from fuch a leprofy." "The diftreffes introduced into families by Methodifm ftand so prominent n almoft every town in the kingdom, that I need not adduce inftances to evince the "If the latter, at length, return to his wretched habitation, he will returne, perhaps, groaning under the weight of his fins, and trembling from the apprehenfion of the wrath to come, and fitted only to add defpair to mifery. But, for the other cottager he fanctifies, with gratitude, his humble meal, and the little blaze that illumines his walls, in the circle of his helpmate and his innocent children. He enjoys the prefent hour; and (pardon me, Sir, the expreffion,) the affurance of bleffednefs, hereafter! Yes! he hath an affurance, the most infallible in the world-an affurance, by which we may live and die in peace with ourfelves, our fellow-creatures, and our God-the affurances which arife from the teftimony of a good confcience. For, (fays the apoftie, referring us to the law of nature, which is prior to the law of revelation,) beloved, if our heart condenin us not, then have we confidence towards God.'* The facts here advanced by Mr. Polwhele are of fuch a nature, that, were they not fanctioned by his authority, we could fcarcely be brought to give credit to them. They fpeak, however, fo frongly for themselves, that any comment which we could add, would only leffen their force, and diminish that impreffion which they muft unavoidably make on the minds of our readers. We fhall, therefore, difmifs this article, for the prefent, without farther obfervation, and refume our confideration of it in a future number. (To be continued.) MISCELLANIES. ART. XXII. The Ninth Report of the Society for bettering the Condition, and increafing the Comforts, of the Poor. 8vo. Price 1s. Hatchard. London, 1799. HE very laudable object of this benevolent inftitution entitles our fellow creatures as an imperative duty prescribed by the holy the juftness of the above picture. Were it neceffary, I could mention a cobbler, at no great diance from this place, who used to live contented and happy with his wife and little family, till the woman was feduced by a young Methodist preacher, both from his bed and board,' The man, poffeffing no very quiet fpirit, often expoftulates with his wife (on her return to him, perhaps, at two or three o'clock in the morning,) on her diforderly behaviour, and fometimes has recourse to the ftrap for a little wholefome correction. But her attachment, I believe, to her daily and her nightly inftruétor, is too ftrong to be overcome by remonftrances, menaces, or blows. Her children, before neat and clean, and blooming with health, are now yellow with mifery.' Nor can her husband, full of refentment and jealoufy, purfue, with any comfort, his folitary labours. I am acquainted with a fimilar inftance of aberration in another neighbourhood, where the husband has had the most fubftantial proof in the world of his wife's devotion to her fpiritual guide. But Methodifm does not ftop here. It plunges its votaries into every vice. In its faber moments it is polluted with adultery!In its frenzy it is imbrued with murder. Very lately, in this part of Cornwall, a poor man having heard a Methodift preacher on the text, I will wash my hands in innocency,' went home, and feized his infant child, then afleep in its cradle, and murdered it, and washed his hands in the innocent's blood !" -- * "According to Dr. Clarke, and other rational divines, the only way to underftand the Scriptures rightly, is to explain one text by another, and to as that none fhall contradict the great law of nature, which is, likewife, the law of God.' Does not our Saviour himself refer the Pharifees to the religion of nature, when he asks them, Why, even of yourselves, judge ye not what is right?" founder founder of our religion. Confidered merely in a political point of view, if there can be a mind fo ftrangely formed as to extend its confideration no farther, it is an object of the first magnitude to devise all practical means for meliorating the condition of those who are, by the difpenfations of an all-wife Providence, placed in fuch a fituation, in this world, at to render the attainment of the ordinary comforts of life a matter of extreme difficulty. In every fociety it is unqueftionably the duty of the governing power to afford the means of fubfiftence to all its members; that is, to provide work for fuch as have the ability to obtain a livelihood for themselves, and to maintain those who, from age or fickness, are deftitute of that ability. It must be a matter for felf-gratulation to every Englishman, that, in no country whatever, have so many charitable inftitutions been founded, as in England; in no country are the funds appropriated to the fupport of the poor, fo ample; and in no country is the difpofition to better their condition and to incrcafe their comforts more generally prevalent. But, notwithstanding thefe advantages, much certainly remains to be done in order to render this extenfive and ufeful clafs of the community as comfortable as their fituation will allow; and the means taken by the fociety, whofe report is before us, appear to be admirably calculated for effecting this defirable purpofe. One thing, however, ftrikes us as extraordinary, viz. that the attention of the fociety appears to be limited to the poor in villages and coun◄ try towns, but chiefly in the former; whereas, as far as our observation has extended, the village poor, generally, are more comfortable, and certainly lefs addicted to inebriety, or any other vice, than the lower clailes of people in the metropolis and large provincial towns. We have alfo had frequent occafion to obferve, that, in many places, where manufactories are eftablifhed, there is a greater appearance of mifery in the families of the lower claffes, than in villages where the poor are almoft exclusively employed in agricultural purfuits. To what cause is this to be ascribed? In the former, the means of fubfiftence are more numerous than in the latter, and the wages much higher. Are we to fuppofe then, that, in proportion to the facility with which money is earned, the difpofition to fquander it is increased? We much fear that this is really the cafe ; in the metropolis we know it to be fo; there men, who can eafily earn from forty to fifty fhillings a week will frequently work only half the week, fpend the remainder in drunkenness and diffipation, and meanwhile difhoneftly neglect the business of their employers, and bafely leave their wretched families to ftarve. The man who could devife any means for supplying a remedy to this spreading evil, which tends materially to promote the growth of immorality, would render a most effential service to the community. We approve highly of the plan, adopted by Lord Carrington, of allotting to every cottager on his eftate fufficient land to enable him to keep a cow; and we heartily with it were generally adopted throughout the kingdom. Its effect on the peafantry muft be highly bencficial; as it tends to connect more firmly the links of the focial chain; and to encrease that attachment to bome, which is the fource of much individual comfort and of infinite public good. In short, while it betters the condition, it meliorates the mind of the poor. We cannot, however, fee the neceflity, nor even the propriety, of fupprefling village-alchoufes; never having witneffed any of the evil effects which are here ftated (in the note to P. 189,) to refult from them. On the contrary, we conceive them to be highly neceffary on various accounts; and furely the power vefted in magiftrates to refufe licenfes is fully fufficient to correct all fuch abuses as thofe here complained of. It fhould not be forgotten that the abridgement of rational recreation is not very compatible with the augmentation of comfort; nor yet that comfort is a relativ term. It is needlefs to enlarge on this topic; as the grounds of our opinion must be obvious to every one. While every effort to excite a fpirit of induftry, to diffufe moral principles, and to propagate found religious doctrine, fhall have our determined fupport; we fhall enter our protest against all attempts to introduce the revolting fternness of puritanical manners; we neither wish to see our peafantry turned preachers, nor our country-alehoufes converted into conventicles. Dr. Ferriar is entitled to the thanks of the country for the excellent inftitution of the Houfe of Recovery, which he was the means of establishing at Manchefter. This houfe is exclufively appropriated to the reception of patients afflicted with infectious diforders; it was erected in 1796, and has already produced the most beneficial effects, the nature of which is explained in P. 224, et feq. o1 the prefent report. Similar inftitutions ought to be adopted in all the principal towns in the kingdom. This report contains leveral other papers, replete with useful information, refpecting the means of promoting the grand object of the fociety, whofe farth r progress we fhall watch with infinite pleasure, and to whofe future reports we shall pay particular attention. ART. XXIII. Information for Overfeers, published by the order of the Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor. 12mo. Fp. 48, Price 6d; or 4s. a Dozen; or a Guinea a Hundred. London. Hatchard, 1799. THE following table of contents will fuffice to demonftrate the utility of this publication which every Overseer should procure. "Of a spinning school at Oakham, in the county of Rutland. By the Earl of Winchelfea. Of a parish wind-mill on Barham Downs, in the county of Kent. By Thomas Bernard Efq. "Of the manner and expence of making ftewed ox's head for the poor. By Mrs. Shore, of Norton-Hall, Derbyshire. houfe "Of the expence and benefit of frequently white-washing the rooms of a poorBy William Emm, Efq. Secretary to the Bishop of Durham. "Of the benefit of the ufe of rice. By the Matron of the Foundling. "From the Rev. Mr. Gilpin's account of the new poorhoufe at Boldre, in Hampshire. By the Bishop of Durham. "Of "Of a parish dinner for poor children, at Epping. By Thomas Bernard, Elq "Of a mode adopted in the parish of Hadham, in the county of Hertford, for fupplying the poor with flour of the best quality, and at a reasonable rate. By the Rev Dr Hamilton. Charge to Overfeers of the Hundred of Stoke, in the county of Bucks. By Thomas Bernard, Elq." The article on the fubject of white-washing is particularly curious. The importance of attending to this practice is much greater than is generally imagined. It is highly conducive to the prefervation of health. It appears, by the following account, that the expence is very trifling indeed. "The poorhoufe at Bishop Auckland has been, during the preceding fummer, white-washed every fix weeks. The method of preparing the lime, (which is rock or ftone lime from Coxhoe, about ten miles from Auckland, and costs, including carriage, four-pence a bufhel,) is as follows:-a large tub is procured to shake it in, and this is filled with lime nearly to the top, cold water being poured upon it by degrees, and it being stirred with a stick that is broad at one end, until the tub is filled with lime: when the lime and water are well incorporated, and of the confiftence of mud, it is to be taken out of the tub with a wooden scoop, and ftrained through a hair or fine wire fieve into another veffel, where it fettles to the bottom in a folid mafs of white-wafh. There will be fome water at the top, not imbibed by the lime; this fhould be skimmed off. It is then to be mixed with cold water, till it is of the confiftence of thin paint, being stirred occafionally while it is ufing. In this ftate it is to be laid on with a whitening brush by the man and his wife who have the care of the house. "The quantity ufed, for white-washing the fifteen rooms at Auckland poorhoufe, is half a buffel, which cofts two-pence; the expence of the four white-wafhings being, in the whole, not quite EIGHT-FENCE A YEAR. This trifling expenditure has produced a very great benefit to the poor in the work-houfe, to thofe who vifit it, and, indeed, to the parish in general, that is not eafily to be calculated.-I have the plealure of being able to say, that there is neither difeafe nor vermin in our poorhoufe at prefent; but that the inhabitants are very comfortable and happy."Pr. 12, 13. In the obfervations on this arricle we find the following very curious fact: "The penitentiary houfe in Cold-Bath Fields was white-wafhed in 1796. The charge for the work was fairly made, according to the ordinary course of trade, and amounted to one hundred and one pounds. In 1797, it was white-washed again; the materials were bought, and a prifoner in the houfe employed in the work which, as far as I am a judge, was extremely well done: the expence of the materials was £1. 1. 75. Ed; the donation to the man for his trouble, £2. 125 6d; in all FOUR POUNE-P. 14." At Epping an ordinary has been provided, on week days, for the children of the poor, at which they dine for fixpence per week; and are allowed to eat as much as they chufe. We are told that fince this establishment, the children are greatly improved in health, good habits, and happiness; and their parents find it the cheapeft way of providing them with a comfortable meal. In order to extend the knowledge, (and we hope the ufe,) of such an useful inftitution, we fhall tranfcribe the weekly bill of fare : "The following is an account of the week's fare of 77 perfons, from Monday the 12th to Saturday the 17th of February, 1798, both days inclufive, with the exper ce of each article. MONDAY. |