1825.] 
Christians, and probably believing them- 
selyes so to be, who, in all practical essen- 
tials, are much more remote from genuine 
Christianity than many and many a poor 
unenlightened pagan, who bows before the 
altar of idolatry, and sees the God of All 
in the distorted sculpture of his imagined 
attributes. 
1, The Progress of Dissent; containing 
Observations on the remarkable and amusing 
Passages of that Article in the Sixty-first 
Number of the Quarterly Review: addressed 
to the Editor, by A NONCONFORMIST. 8vo0. 
—2. A Vindication of the New Translation 
and Exposition of the Epistles of St. Pai, 
from the Strictures in the Fifty-ninth Number 
of the Quarterly Review: with an Appendix 
of Extracts from the Writings of eminent 
Divines of the Church of England, on the 
flistory of the Creation and Fall, on Justifi- 
cation, and on te Inspiration of the Apustles. 
By the Rev. T. BetsHam. 8vo. The 
dogmatic and fantastic bigotry, and the in- 
temperate aberration from every thing 
like Christian candour and moderation, 
which distinguish, so invariably, the politico- 
theological tirades (for criticisms they can- 
not be called) of the Quarterly Junta, may 
naturally be expected to arm a host of con- 
troversialists, who find it not very difh- 
cult to take the’ vantage-ground against such 
antagonists, and convert the weapons of 
defence into missiles of much more galling 
attack. This, the Nonconformist does, in 
particular, with an efficiency by no means 
diminished by the good-humour and urba- 
nity with which his warfare is conducted. 
His shafts strike home; but they are not 
the random-shot of fury, whose object is 
alone the extent of havoc and destruction ; 
nor is it with poisoned arrows that he 
wounds—they are the weapons of fair and 
honourable warfare; and if the wounds 
should fester, the virus is in the humour, 
and the conscience of the victim. Were 
we to treat this pamphlet as it merits, we 
should give it ample space: for it is a spe- 
cimen much too rare of the temper with 
which controversy upon points especially 
with which religion and conscience pre- 
tend to have any thing to do, ought to be 
maintained ; and though sometimes the au- 
thor attempts more than he accomplishes 
in the difficult and delicate management of 
the weapons of raillery, and loses sight of 
the nice discriminations between serious 
and ironical gravity,—and though the te- 
dious “ Fable,” as it is called, (p. 77 to 87) 
is a puerile failure of attempt to veil his- 
torical argument in the amusing form of apo- 
logue,—yet the pamphlet, upon the whole, 
exhibits no inconsiderable portion, either of 
discriminative intellect, or of a due,though by 
no means affected or elaborate attention to 
the graces of composition. A single passage 
may illustrate the general spirit of the 
* Observations.” The author is speaking 
of the acknowledged great learning that is 
fo befound among the ministers of the esta- 
Domestic and Foreign. 
255 
blished church, and the eomparatively 
humble and restricted attainments of the 
dissenting ministry. He informs.us, that 
during a temporary residence “ in one 
of the university cities,’ he “ entered 
one of the principal churches ;” the de- 
portment of the minister, and his man- 
ner of conducting the service, he very 
characteristically describes. The next, ser- 
vice he attended “ was at a meeting-house, 
but not of his own denomination,’’—of the 
minister, and the performance of the service 
at which, he gives also an interesting de- 
scription. (See p. 59 to 63.), The result of 
the comparative impressions is thus can- 
didly and temperately stated : 
«* Judge the individuals by their vocation, and 
there is no comparison; and, notwithstanding the 
high patronage and worldly influence of the endowed 
Church, dissent must necessarily spring up. in the 
very shadow of her domes, her minarets, and spires, 
if her ministry is to remain so culpably inefficacious, 
Such reflections gave me deep regret; not that I 
would have the one church worse, but the other 
much better; and 1 did not reach my resting-place 
without some desires, which I know were sincere, 
and hope were devotional, that a church, which had 
been a grand instrument in the Reformation, and 
which is still a principal feature in the Protestant 
bulwarks of Christendom, might yet contribute, as. 
she ought, to the instruction and salvation of a lost 
world.” 
If this be an antagonist to the church of 
England, he is a candid and liberal anta- 
gonist; such an enemy as may more pro- 
fitably be attended to than a thousand flat- 
tering friends, or a myriad of such ambi- 
guous panegyrists and scurrilous vindicators 
as the writers of the Quarterly Review. 
One passage more will shew that the 
writer is not incompetent to a higher style 
of composition, where the occasion may re- 
quire or justify it. He is noticing the pre- 
tended tolerance and Jiberality of The Church 
of the Quarterly Review: liberality, which 
“ our Nonconformist’’ aceurately enough 
observes, “ would satisfy any church, 
whether Papal or Mahomedan:—‘ You 
shall judge for yourselves; but we must 
decide on your ability to judge aright.’ ””»— 
Such liberality as kindled the fires of Smith- 
field, &e. 
‘ It is Intolerance, gaunt and terrible in her form, 
with baleful fires gleaming in her eyes, and sulphu- 
reous vapour steaming from her lips, and decrees, 
bulls, and anathemas lodged in her hand; with the 
phantom Superstition on the one side, lifting her 
sightless eye-balls to heaven; and the imp Bigotry 
on the other, bearing the branding-iron, the faggot, 
and the fetter-lock; that has gone over the world, 
like the monsoon of the desart, blighting every thing 
she touched, withering up the energies of man, and 
expelling light, liberty, and hope from his earthly 
habitation !” 
_ The detections of the silly lack-grammar 
puerilities,. affectations, and downright 
nonsense, in the style of the Reviewer, are 
happy and amusing; and will not, we 
should suppose, be felt as the least galling 
part of the “ Obseryations,”’ 
Somato- 
