ENGLAND. 



559 



vast knowledge of character, manners, morals, and everything that is connected with a deep 

 knowledge of human nature. 



20. Religion, &c. The earliest religion in Britain of which any account has reached us, 

 was that of the Druids ; a gloomy and sanguinary superstition. It included a belief in trans- 

 migration, and enjoined human sacrifices. The temples were the deep recesses of a grove, 

 or a circle of upright stones, for the Druids held it unlawful to worship the Deity under any 

 roof raised by human hands. Tertullian, who died A. D. 202, was the first who asserted the 

 existence of Christianity in England. But the irruption of the pagan Saxons suppressed it till 

 570, when it was renewed and extended, in consequence of the marriage of one of the mon- 

 archs with a princess of France. 



The Protestant religion is now established by law, and the king is the head of the church. 

 There are 2 archbishops, and 24 bishops, all of whom, except the Bishop of Sodor and 

 Man, are peers of the realm, and have seats in the House of Lords. 'J'he archbishop of 

 Canterbury is called the Primate of all England, and his rank is that next below the royal 

 family. The archbishop of York is called the Primate of England. The bishops have somj 

 temporal authority, and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction extends to all questions of births, mar 

 riages, deaths, probate of wills, and delinquencies of the inferior clergy. Under the bishops, 

 are the deans prebendaries, archdeacons, rectors, priests, curates, and deacons. The church 

 wardens overlook the alms for the poor. A plurality of benefices is not uncommon, though 

 the incumbent can perform only the duties of one ; and a slight excuse sometimes serves for 

 a neglect of even these. The wealth and patronage of the church is immense. For a further 

 view of this topic, the reader is referred to the article on Religion, under the head of Great 

 Britain. In a wealthy parish, tliere are lectureships, or preaching, after the ordinary service, 

 and the expense is defrayed by contribution. A clergyman has sometimes a chapel of his 

 own, conveniently fitted up with stoves and easy seats, and, if a popular preacher, he lets out 

 the pews to great advantage. The clergy of the established church are a learned and pious 

 body, though there are many individuals in it, who have neither learning nor piety. Where 

 the right of presentation to a church is held by a layman, he will too often be moved by con- 

 siderations of friendship or affinity, more than by a desire to preserve the purity of the church. 

 Hence there are so many sporting parsons in the country, and in London so many clergymen 

 to be seen at theatres and balls. 



The Dissenters are a numerous body, and have many ministers of great learning and purity 

 of mind. The Dissenters are chiefly Methodists, Baptists, and Quakers. The Catholics are 

 numerous, and have several colleges and convents. A description of all the different creeds 

 would of itself make a volume ; the following list of the denominations is given by Mr. Southey : 

 Arminians, Socinians, Baxterians, Presbyterians, New Americans, Sabellians, Lutherans, 

 Moravians, Swedenborgians, Athanasians, Episcopalians, Arians, Sabbatarians, Trinitarians, 

 Unitarians, M'llenarians, Necessarians, Sublapsarians, Antinomians, Hutchinsonians, Sande- 

 manians, Muggletonians, Baptists, Anabaptists, Pa^dobaptists, Methodists, Papists, Universal- 

 ists, Calvinists, Materialists, Destructionisis, Brownists, Independents, Protestants, Hugo- 

 nots. Nonjurors, Seceders, Hernhutters, Dunkers, Jumpers, Shakers, Quakers, &c. Eng- 

 land has had a share of those enthusiasts, who first delude themselves and then lead others 

 astray. Within the present century a madman named Richard Brothers, who had been a 

 lieutenant in the navy, called himself the king of the Hebrews, and found many to believe in his 

 title. He called the earth hell, and he taught that all men were created, and that they fell 

 with Adam, but had since transmigrated into difl^erent bodies. A first-rate engraver became 

 a convert to this doctrine, and engraved the head of Brothers ; a member of Parliament, who 

 was a profound oriental scholar, was another believer. London, however, would not come 

 over to the faith, and Brothers threatened it with an earthquake and foretold the day ; but the 

 city stood firm, and he pretended that he had saved it by prayer. Numbers, however, were 

 alarmed, and it was said, that some looked for the general conflagration. It was said, too, 

 that fire insurance advanced, and that some merchants made preparations for additional fire- 

 engines, with directions for the firemen to " keep a sharp look out on the Bank of England." 

 But the case was bad enough without ridicule, and the government caused Brothers to be 

 confined as a lunatic. 



His mantle fell upon Joanna Southcote, who seems to have had the requisite share of assu- 

 rance for a false prophet. She asserted, that redemption hitherto extended only to men, and 

 that she had been sent to redeem women. Nothing was too monstrous for her to feign, or for 



