LIN' 



ricd his daughter-in-law. From Kirkby Mr. Lindfcy went 

 to Piddletown, in Dorfetlhire, having been prefcnted to the 

 living of that place by the earl of Huntingdon : this, throngh 

 the interell of the fame patron, he exchanged, in i 764, for 

 the vicarage of Catterick, in Yorkfiiire. Here he refided 

 nearly ten years, an exemplary pattern of a primitive and 

 confcientious path>r, higiily refpetled and beloved by the 

 people committed to his charge. Befides his various and 

 important duties as a parifh clergyman, Mr. Lindfey was 

 ever alive, and iicartily aftive, in every caufe m whii h the 

 principles of truth a;id right rcafon were concerned. We 

 accordingly find him, in 1771, zealoufly co-operating with 

 Mr. arclideacon Blackburne, Dr. John .Jebb: Mr, Wyvil, 

 and others, in endeavouring to obtain relief in matters of 

 fubfcription !o the thirty-nine articles : the objeft of tliefe 

 gentlemen was fimply this, that the clergy of the ellabliftied 

 church migiit be permitted to held their preferments upon 

 condition of merely iubCcribIng their belief of the holy 

 fcriutures, inftead of the thirty-nine articles. The quellion 

 «as brought before the haufe of commons in 1772, but after 

 a very auiniated difcudlon, it vvas loll by a great majority. 

 Coiifidering the ilTue cf this debate as an abfulute difapponit- 

 ment and refufrd of ail their ju(l and righteous demands, lie 

 began to confider what courfe he ihould take to latisfy his 

 cou'.cience, and in a Ihort time explicitly avowed his i, ten- 

 tions of refigning his living. He had, probably, for fome 

 years, had doubts with relpect to the dodrine of the Tri:iity, 

 and other leading topics of the'eilabliflied faith, .Tnd early in 

 the year 1773 an anonymous writer, under the fignaturc of 

 Laslius, ftarted the fubjedl of the impropriety of perfons re- 

 maining in the church who could not confcientioufly conform 

 to her principles: to this Mr. Lindfey, in a letter to a friend, 

 mod feelingly alludes ; " The fubjeS: of Lxluis's lall letter 

 may give one many a pang. 1 cannot fay that I have been for 

 many years a day free from uneafinefs about it." In the fol- 

 lowing November he wrote to the prelate of his diocefe, in- 

 forming him of his intention to quit the church, and fignifying, 

 that in a few days he (liould tranfmit to him his deed of refig- 

 iiation. The bifhop endeavoured to perfuade him to remain 

 at his pod, but lie had made up his mind that duty required 

 the facrifice, and he was refoKed to bear the confequences. 

 When the act was done, he faidhe felt himlelf delivered from a 

 load which had long lain heavy upon him, and at times nearly 

 overwhelmed hirn. Previonfly to his quitting Catterick, 

 Mr. Lindfey delivered a farewell addrefs to his pariihioners, 

 in which he :'ated his motives for quitting them in a fimple and 

 very affecting manner, pointing out thereafons why he could 

 no longer condufl, nor join in their worfliip, without the 

 guilt of continu.d infincerity before GoH, and endangering 

 the lofsof his favour forever. He left C.:tterick about the 

 middle of December, a id after vifiting lome friends in dif- 

 ferent pans of the coimtry, he arrived in London in January 

 1774, where he met with fiiei.ds, who zeidoufly patronized 

 the idea which he entertained pf opening a ulace of worfliip, 

 devoted entirely to Ui itaria pri.iciples. A large room w<is 

 at firll fitted up for the pu pofe in Eilex-ftreet i;i the S'rand, 

 which, after overcoming fome 1-gal otillacles, thrown out by 

 the magillrates in the way of regilteriiig it, was opeoed 

 April 17, 1774. The fervice of the place was conduced 

 according to the plan of a liturgy which had been altered 

 from that ufed in the eltabliflied church by the late Dr. 

 Samuel Clarke, reftor of St. James's church, Piccadilly, 

 London. Mr. Lindfey publifhed the ftrnion whiih he 

 preached on the opening of his chapel, to whieh was added 

 an account of the liturgy made ufe of. About the fame 

 time he pubhthed his " Apology,'' of which leveral ed.lions 

 were called for in tlic courfe of a few years, 'i'his was fol- 



L I N 



lowed by a flill larger volume, entitled " A Sequel to the 

 Apology," which was intended as a reply to his various 

 opponents, and likewife to vindicate and eilablifh the leadii g 

 doctrines which he profeffed, and en account of which he 

 had given up his preferment in ihe church. This work was 

 publifhed in 1776, and in 1778 he was enabled, by the slu.t- 

 ance of his friends, to build the rhapel of Ef!i-x llri'ct, and 

 to purchafe the ground on whxh it itands. Till thefumnier 

 of 1793, Mr. Li'idfey, with the aid of his friend the Rev. 

 Dr. Difncy, condnttcd the fervices of the place, upon 

 ftrift Unitarian principles, to a refpectable and nnratrous 

 congregation. He th-.'n refigned the whole into the hands 

 of his very able coadjutor, notwithftanding theearneft wiflies 

 of his hearers that he fliould Hill continue a pait of the fi-r- 

 vices. Though he had quitted the duties of the pulpit, 

 he continued to labour in the caufe, by ids publiL-.tioiiS,' 

 till he had attained his eightieth year. In i8o3 he puhhflied 

 his lall work, entitled " Conferfations on the Divine Go- 

 vernment, fhewing that every Thing is from God, and for 

 good to all." The objeft of this piece, which has been re- 

 printed for general circulation by a fociety for promoting, 

 Chrillian knowledge, &;c. is to vindicate the Creator froin 

 thofe gloomy notions which are too often attached to his. 

 provide. ice, and to fhew that the govi-rr.mei.t of the world 

 is the wifeft that could have been adopted, and that a(Hic- 

 tions and apparent evils are permitted fur the general good. 

 From thisprincipilo Mr. Lindfey derived confolat ion through 

 life, and upon it he aded in every difficult awd trying fcene. 

 On his death bed he fpoke of his fufferiiigs with perfcA pa- 

 tience and meeknefs, and when reminded, by a friend, that he 

 doubtlefs was enabled to bear them with fo much fortitude 

 in the recolleftion of his favourite maxim, that " Whatever 

 is, is right ;" no, faid the dying Chrillian, wit'ii animation 

 that lighted up his countenance, " Whatever is, is bell.'' This 

 was the lall lentence which he was able dlltindly to articu- 

 late : he died November 3, 1808. Befides the wijrks already 

 referred to, he publilbed two differtations : i. On the Preface 

 to St. Jolin's Gofpel ; 2. On praying to Chrifl : "An Hif- 

 torical View of the State of the Unitarian Doftrine and Wor- 

 fhio from the Reformation to our own Times ;" and fevcral 

 other pieces. Among controverlial vvriters Mr. Lindfey takes 

 a very refpectable place, as his " Vindici.e PrieiUeiam," and 

 his ■' Examination of Mr. Robiufon's Plea for the D'vinity 

 of Ciinlt," will fhew. In every eharafter of life which this 

 excellent man fullained, he adted his part with iionour an-d 

 integrity, and for his exertions in the caufe of truth and 

 rational Chriilianity, whatever may be thought of lii.s peculiar 

 opinions, many will rife up and call him bletfed. O.liers,. 

 equally devout, equally humble, equally perfevering, will be 

 forgotten when the name of Thtophilus Lindfey fliad be held 

 in veneration, bccaufe to humility, piety, and perievorancir,. 

 he added a courageous avowal of wliBt he believed to be t!ic 

 truth : lie bore public teflimony, in oppoiltion to the penal 

 laws, in mattcrs-of faith, tliat llill exill on our liatutc-book, 

 to the Ui.ity of God at the hazard of all. Two voliimcs of. 

 hi.^ fermons have been pubhlhed fince his death. Montlily 

 Mag. Dec. l3c8. 



LINDUM, in Ancient Geography, a town of Britain, in 

 the country of the Coretani, which ty tiie jth Iter of 

 Antoninc is lituated between Caufenn* or Ancailer, and 

 Segelceum or I^ittleborough. This is univerfally agreed to 

 be Lincoln, which was a Roman colony, and ^ place o£ 

 great in portance in ancient tinus. Baxter, without luffi- 

 cient authority, contends that Lindum was the Lendiniuiri' 

 in which fo many of the Romans were fiain by the Britons 

 in their gn at revolt under Boadicea. See LixcoLX.. 



Lil^DU.M was alfa the name of. a glace in the coiaitry of 



the 



