possible for you to get any help in collecting or writing what is practically interesting? If so, I should be glad to be one of any number to appropriate five guineas each to that object, to enable you to try that plan for the year during which you have engaged to continue the Repository. If the proposal be eligible to you, and yet no other person joins in the plan, you may (if you can get help by it) depend upon me for ten guineas.

"I have done nothing at present for the Christian Reformer, but I will be answerable for the sale of twenty copies more than have been sent to Liverpool. With all good wishes and brotherly affection, I remain your faithful friend and servant, JOHN YATES."

Rev. Robert Aspland to his Brother Isaac.

"Hackney Road, March 7, 1818. "Dear Brother,—You wonder, I dare say, at neither seeing me nor hearing from me. The truth is, I have had another serious fit of illness, from which I am scarcely recovered. And the weather is so unfavourable, that my recovery must yet be slow. In my state of weakness it would be unwise to face the damps of your neighbourhood, and therefore I fear that I must put off my visit until cuckoo time; though, at the same time, so desirous am I of being at Wicken, that, should the weather turn up marvellously fine next week, you must not be surprised at a sudden visit from me at the latter end of it.

"On one account I have been anxious to get to you-namely, that I might see our poor friend John Emons once more in this world. I think about him very frequently. Assure him of this; and say to him, from me, that I trust he can commit himself, with all his everlasting interests, to our merciful Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"I have just met with an account of one of our ancestors, John Aspland, who was given, it seems, to the sin of sleeping in church, and who was made to do penance for it. This was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1595. On Sunday, the 4th of June of that year, the said unfortunate sinner was obliged to stand forth in the middle aisle of his parish church of Witcham (Isle of Ely), after the reading of the gospel, and then and there in 'a loude voyce' to say and confesse as followeth-viz.,

"Good neighbours, I acknowledge and confesse that I have offended Almighty God, and by my evil example you all, for that I have used to sleepe in the church, for which I am most harteley sorry; and I aske God and you all most hartey forgiveness for the same, promising, by God's helpe, never to offende hereafter in the like again.'

"I am afraid our unworthy ancestor, the aforesaid John Aspland, was given to good ale on Sundays. His descendants live in better times, and may sleep at church or meeting without molestation or public shame.

ROBERT ASPLAND."

His anxiety to see once more his humble friend John Emons, then like himself depressed by sickness, was repeatedly gratified. From the following letter, written some little time after this period, it would seem that the heart of this worthy old man yearned in his decline towards his friend at Hackney. The reader will notice the playful allusion to his having acted the part of a bishop.

Mr. John Emons to Rev. Robert Aspland.*

"My dear Friend,-I should like to have something to write to you about religion, but I find so little of it I do not know what to say. I go to hear the

The Editor has felt himself justified in correcting the orthography, and in one or two instances the grammar, of the original. This village blacksmith was no scholar, but he was something better-a truly wise and good man.

*

preachers in your brother's chapel; but, alas! I find but little profit, except to discover a deal of ignorance. I go in hopes of finding grapes, but they almost always prove wild grapes. When I am hearing some of their discourses, I am fit to cry with the sons of the prophets-Oh! thou man of God, there is death in the pot, for I cannot eat it.' It is true they pipe, but I cannot dance. They ofttimes strive to prove that Christ is God, but they are like John Bunyan's highway-menders they mar instead of mend. Some of the hearers have said they had better let it alone, for they do more hurt than good. It hurts me, because I sit like a man handcuffed, and cannot defend my own cause. I hope when you come you will preach from those words where it is said, 'Thou hast well said, Master, for there is but one God.' Who knows but your smooth stone may be a means of slaying their boasted Goliah? I long to hear a good sound discourse. My heart pants for it, as the hart pants after the waterbrook.

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Mr. Clack has preached at Wicken three or four times this summer, but he preaches at Mr. Lamon's, in his house. I had a letter from him a few days past, and he informs me his mother is very agreeable, and he thinks before it is long she will not be against his preaching in the meeting.

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My dear friend, I have sent you a few apples and grapes. It is but a small gift; but such as I have, I give unto you. That exceeds other bishops that give only their blessing.

"Your absence has sadly worn out my patience. I long to see you again. I have expected every time the last [year?] either that you would be taken from me, or I from you. But if it were so, I hope we should meet again to part no more. I remain your old friend,

Rev. Robert Aspland to a near Relative.

JOHN EMONS."

"Nov. 7, 1818.

"You will have heard, before this reaches you, of the melancholy death of Sir Samuel Romilly, one of our best public men, if I ought not rather to say, the best. Poor man! hard study and intense grief upset his reason, and he was no longer master of his own actions. Deplorable as is the event, I entertain little concern as to the manner of it, except as it may furnish an occasion of triumph to mean and corrupt minds of the Government faction, and as it may be fatal to some weak minds as an example.

"I mentioned to you on my last visit, the subject of your making a will: let me again impress it upon you. Life is of all things, you know, least certain, and in the event of your dying intestate, there would be little provision for I should, in your case, I think, give the house and business to -, binding him to pay a fixed sum upon her coming of age, or by convenient instalments. Were your will made, you would be less alarmed at any sudden illness. I know your disposition to put off such things, and therefore beg most seriously that you would accomplish this most necessary work."

During the latter months of the year 1818, Mr. Aspland's health was sufficiently improved to enable him again to undertake public business. He had with much anxiety observed some symptoms of a growing disposition amongst "orthodox" Dissenters to dispute the right of Unitarians to the continued enjoyment of endowments handed down to them from Presbyterian ancestors. The opinions expressed on the state of the common law with respect to Unitarians, by judges and lawyers of eminence, did not diminish his anxiety. He conferred on the subject with Mr. Edgar Taylor, Mr. Richmond, Mr. Talfourd, with the other

The humble chapel which had been erected twenty years before for Robert Aspland, on his father's premises, was at this time kindly lent to some Metho dist preachers.

members of the Non-con Club, with the Committee of the Unitarian Fund, and with various friends in the provinces, and the result was a general opinion of the desirableness of forming a society for the protection of the civil rights of Unitarians. To such a society it was felt that the Unitarian body could most conveniently delegate the conduct of an application to Parliament for an alteration of the law which compelled Unitarians, on contracting marriage, to use a Trinitarian form of service. Mr. Belsham was of course, in an early stage of the business, consulted. His habitual distaste to popular combinations, and his jealousy (in itself most laudable, though on the present occasion, perhaps, unnecessarily aroused) of any possible encroachment on the independence of individual congregations, prevented his joining or aiding the projected organization.

Rev. Thomas Belsham to Rev. Robert Aspland.

"Essex Street, Nov. 14, 1818. "My dear Sir,-Though I cannot approve of delegations, I think the method proposed of summoning respectable individuals to meet upon the subject of an application to Parliament for relief in the case of marriage, is highly judicious and expedient. But would not our friend Mr. Christie be a far better chairman than Alderman Wood? To appoint Wood to conduct an application to Parliament, would be to bespeak a refusal. Mr. W. Smith should by all means be engaged to bring the business before the House. He is looked up to as a veteran senator.

"If I wished the Unitarians to become a powerful political sect, I should be a warm friend to that grand scheme of federal union, of which I heard so much in Lancashire. But as a friend to truth and liberty, which I think much impeded by such associations, I must dissent from them. And as I think our civil rights in no particular danger, a new society for their protection appears to me to be needless. Nor can I approve of any plans for separating Unitarians from their fellow-christians more than is absolutely necessary.

"We are the salt of the earth. But a lump of salt lying by itself will never fertilize the ground. It must be mixed and blended with the earth, in order to manure the soil and produce a copious harvest. I was brought up an Independent; and I am unwilling to bow to any authority beyond the limit of my own congregation. But these are the sentiments of an oldfashioned Unitarian; and we cannot expect that the new generation will always act upon our views: they must judge and act for themselves; and either way, I have no doubt that the great cause of truth and religion will go on prosperously; and that you may be long continued as an eminent instrument in the hand of Providence for the propagation of pure and uncorrupted Christianity, is the earnest wish and prayer of, dear Sir, yours very sincerely, T. BELSHAM."

Early in 1819, a meeting of Unitarians, convened by Mr. Fox, as Secretary of the Unitarian Fund, to consider the propriety of forming Association for protecting the Civil Rights of Unitarians," was held in London. In proposing to establish such a Society, Mr. Aspland argued that he was proposing no novelty, and pointed to the Deputies

an

* In a letter addressed by Mr. Belsham to Mr. Aspland, the following year, in allusion to some exertions about to be made by the latter in promoting a reform of the Marriage Law, he wrote thus: "You are going abroad in a good cause, and I wish you good success and a good journey. I think you will probably live to see the marriage ceremony altered to your mind, for an alteration so reasonable cannot long fail of success.'

of the Three Denominations, the Protestant Society, the Friends' Committee of Sufferings, and the Committee of Privileges of the Wesleyan Methodists, as existing societies founded on the same principle. That it was expedient for Unitarians to unite in defending their civil rights, he argued from the general obloquy to which they were exposed, and the particular opinions recently expressed concerning their legal position. He alluded in these terms to the opinion of the late Sir Samuel Romilly: "In the discussion of the Wolverhampton case, a very unfavourable opinion had been expressed by that great man whose loss had recently occasioned so painful a shock. He declared this opinion in court; but besides the expression of opinion there, which might be attributed to the warmth of an advocate, he had in private letters since expressed a strong feeling of the insecurity of the basis on which the civil rights of Unitarians rest. I received a note from him not many months before his death, stating his deliberate opinion that Unitarians were not protected at law, and that no other course was open to them than an application to Parliament. He offered willingly to assist and support such an application, but observed that he was not very sanguine as to its success. There was therefore, in the opinion of this great man, a strong ground for action and exertion; and it appeared highly important to associate, with a view both to resist aggression, and to proceed, if necessary, to obtain security by legislative provisions. Nothing can be worse than uncertainty where liberty and property are concerned." He admitted that if no necessity existed for the proposed Association, it would be injurious, by appearing to separate the case of Unitarians from that of other Dissenters; but it was notorious there was no existing society would do what had been and might again be necessary. When Mr. Wright was under persecution, the Deputies were appealed to in vain. He dwelt on the disposition of reputed orthodox Dissenters to deprive Unitarians of their hereditary religious property, and urged that fact as a sufficient reason for the appointment of a standing committee, who should watch over the interests of the denomination, and be ready to act should any emergency arise. He shewed that the proposed Society need not interfere with any other, for no case would properly come within its jurisdiction which was not strictly Unitarian, or which would be within the scope of the Deputies or the Protestant Society. It could not make any separation between Unitarians and other Nonconformists. The question they really had to decide was, not whether such cases should be left to other associations, but whether they should be neglected and abandoned. On the subject of the desired extension of their privileges, he thus spoke: "I am thankful for what the Legislature, in compliance with public opinion, has already done; but if I say I am not contented, I only repeat Mr. William Smith's opinion, declared to Lord Liverpool on that nobleman's expressing a hope that Unitarians would be satisfied with the Trinity Bill: No, my Lord,' answered Mr. Smith, we shall not be satisfied while one disqualifying statute in matters of religion remains on the books.' This is my feeling also, and I therefore think the proposed Association very useful, not only to protect our rights, but to enlarge them, and those of every class of Dissenters; for in all general measures for that purpose, it would doubtless cheerfully concur with other societies." Mr. Aspland's arguments were seconded, in a speech of great ability and force, by Mr.

Talfourd, and the meeting adopted the resolutions and constitution of the Society by an unanimous vote. The Secretaryship was undertaken by Mr. Edgar Taylor, and the important duties that devolved upon him were discharged, till nearly the close of his valuable life, with eminent ability and zeal.

A review of the hard struggles and important changes that took place in the five-and-twenty years that followed the establishment of the Unitarian Association, is the best vindication of the wisdom and foresight of its projectors. Sixteen or seventeen years of toil and repeated disappointment elapsed before the desired reform in the Marriage Law was achieved. During the greater part of that time Unitarians toiled alone, unhelped by other Nonconformists. But the fruit of their perseverance was shared at last equally by all the Dissenters of England, and none more rejoiced at this catholic result than the surviving projectors of the Unitarian Association. When the repeal of the Sacramental Test was sought, the Unitarian Association sent its representatives (and they proved efficient auxiliaries) to the United Committee, by which the great battle was fought and won for the Nonconformists of England. For many years the Unitarian Association took a large share of the responsibility and burthen of conducting the defence of the Hewley Trustees; but when the time came for an appeal to the Legislature for that protection, the necessity of which Sir Samuel Romilly saw a quarter of a century before, the existence of this Society did not obstruct, but aided, the formation of the more comprehensive body to which, under the name of the Presbyterian Union Committee, was entrusted the conduct of the Bill through Parliament. The apprehension that the Association must interfere with the independence of Unitarian congregations was in no degree realized.

In the year 1819, several prosecutions were instituted against persons for publishing and selling deistical and other irreligious books. One of the principal of these, R. Carlile, was tried and convicted before Chief Justice Abbot, for publishing Paine's "Age of Reason." In his defence he pleaded that he was protected by the Trinity Bill, recently passed, which, he alleged, included Deists as well as Unitarians, whom he pronounced to be Deists under a cloak. The trial lasted three days, and attracted a great degree of public attention. A clerical correspondent of the Times newspaper, in commenting on Carlile's defence, asked the editor's opinion whether the repeal of the Act against the "Socinians" did not give this man some show of defence, and whether there were not some truth in his definition of a Socinian as a “Deist in a cloak”? The Clergyman disclaimed any desire to persecute a sect on account of their principles, but declared that the Act should have been allowed to continue on the Statute-book, because it would act as a barrier against infidelity, and because, if suffered to remain suspended as a sword over their heads, Socinians would be taught that the Legislature, though it did not punish, yet disapproved of their tenets. To the questions of the Clergyman, the editor of the Times expressed his opinion that "the Socinians ought to reply." Mr. Aspland immediately wrote two letters, which were inserted in the paper of the two following days. He stated that Unitarians had been so long accustomed to hard language from their theological opponents, that they could scarcely wonder at the Clergyman's readiness to accept of Mr. Carlile as an authority against