their earnest desire for the repeal of all remaining persecuting statutes. Mr. Aspland had the honourable duty assigned to him of moving the resolutions suitable to the occasion, which, in addition to the assertion of the general principle of religious liberty, expressed loyal confidence in the wisdom and conciliatory spirit of the Legislature and of his Majesty's Government, and asserted the expediency of petitioning Parliament for the adoption of measures that would unite all the subjects of the realm in the enjoyment of equal religious liberty. His address to his reverend brethren on this occasion made a deep impression. A critic far from friendly admitted that it was "powerfully argumentative" and "truly eloquent." The motion was seconded by Dr. Robert Winter, the esteemed minister of the Independent congregation of New Court, Carey Street, who professed his approbation of "every word to which his friend had given such eloquent utterance," and was able to add that he himself had published similar sentiments thirty years previously. The discussion that followed was shared, amongst others, by Mr. Aspland's former tutor, Rev. Joseph Hughes, who zealously supported the resolutions, and commended in terms sufficiently handsome the address of the mover. An opponent appeared in the person of the Rev. Joseph Ivimey, the pastor of the Baptist congregation of Eagle Street, who maintained that it was unsafe to entrust Roman Catholics with political power, and that the withholding of it was no detriment to their religious liberty, and moved an amendment declaring it inexpedient for the Body of Ministers to publish resolutions or present petitions to Parliament on the subject of the Catholic claims. Aspland replied in a tone of good-humoured irony, and reminded the mover of the amendment that it was something new in English religious history to see a Baptist upholding persecution. The debate, after an adjournment of a week, and an unsuccessful attempt to evade the matter of it by moving the previous question, ended in the adoption of the resolutions by a very large majority. Lord Holland presented the petition to the Lords, and Lord J. Russell that to the Commons; and both introduced it with remarks in illustration of the respectful attention to which they considered it entitled. The honourable mention made by Lord Holland of the Dissenting Ministers of London, should never be forgotten: "It was true that this body was not invested with any legal authority; it had no corporate seal, no legal corporate existence; it received no actual official emolument; it held no official situation; it had no authority over others, no claim even to any authority, except that derived from the piety, the virtue, the great learning, of many of its members. He was sure that they themselves would be the last men to assume any authority they did not legally possess; but he might say for them, besides that authority which they possessed, and their own virtues, that they were persons who had long been recognized by the Government, and that they were the descendants of those men who had separately negociated, through the medium of the illustrious Locke, with the Government, for that Toleration Act which was the cornerstone of that great edifice he hoped now to see completed."

Mr.

The efforts of the friends of religious liberty were crowned with success, and early in the session of 1829, Catholic Emancipation was regis

* Rev. Joseph Ivimey.

tered in the statutes of Great Britain and Ireland. Fervently did Mr. Aspland utter the language of congratulation on this auspicious event, both from the pulpit and the press.

The debate at Dr. Williams's Library led to a singular publication, which, however little it may be entitled to notice by its own merits, must be mentioned on account of its connection with circumstances not unimportant in the history of religious parties. Mr. Ivimey, while smarting under his defeat, published an angry pamphlet,* in which he indulged in many despicable personalities against the mover of the resolutions which he had unsuccessfully resisted, reproached the orthodox ministers for the "Socinian spirit" which he alleged animated the General Body, asserted that the Congregational and Particular Baptist denominations were dishonoured by ranging themselves under leaders who were publicly known as oppugners of the doctrines of the gospel, and invited the orthodox Dissenters to unite with him in a Chancery suit to expel the Socinians from the administration of Dr. Williams's Trust. Many of his orthodox brethren felt that they were disgraced by this effusion of bigotry; and on the motion of an Independent minister, seconded by an "orthodox" Presbyterian, the pamphlet was referred, at the adjourned meeting of ministers, to the consideration of a Committee of Privilege. Beyond a short article in the "Christian Reformer," Mr. Aspland took no notice of Mr. Ivimey's attack. The imputation of being under Socinian influence rankled in the minds of some orthodox members of the Body, and combined with other circumstances to produce a result of some importance to the Three Denominations, which will be hereafter described. An immediate result of Mr. Ivimey's allegation was the publication, by a writer of greater power and somewhat better spirit, of a Letter to Lord Holland, ‡ describing the nature of the union which bound together the Ministers of the Three Denominations, and opposing as false and calumnious, "both as regarded the history of the Petition agreed to on Jan. 27th, and all other matters in which the Dissenting Ministers act as a body, the representation that Unitarians were their leaders, and that the orthodox Dissenters could not, or would not, resist the measures and influence of the Unitarian party among them." In commenting on this

* "Dr. Williams's Library, and the Debate on the Roman Catholic Claims, Jan. 20, 1829; with the History of the Adjourned Meeting on the 27th. To which is added, Extracts from The Manchester Socinian Controversy;' Laws relative to Dissenting Trusts; a True Copy of the last Will and Testament of the late Rev. Daniel Williams, D. D., first published in 1717; and Papers relating to the late Daniel Williams, D.D., and the Trust established by his Will. The whole intended to shew the Necessity of an immediate Separation between the Trinitarian and Socinian Members of the General Body of Dissenting Ministers in London, and as an Appeal to the Evangelical Dissenters throughout the Kingdom to support, by their Pecuniary Contributions, a Suit in Chancery to recover the Library, &c., from the Socinians. With an Engraving of Dr. Williams's Library, Red-cross Street. By Joseph Ivimey. London-Wightman and Cramp. 1829." Entitled, "The Bigot Abroad," Vol. XIII. 191.

The title of this pamphlet was-"A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Holland, occasioned by the Petition from the General Body of the Dissenting Ministers of London, for the Relief of the Roman Catholics: with Strictures on a Petition of an opposite nature, from some Dissenting Ministers, and other Remarks occasioned by recent Circumstances. By a Member of the General Body. LondonHoldsworth and Ball. 1829."

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Letter, an able writer in the Monthly Repository remarked, that it was satisfactory to find that the honour of originating and carrying the Petition was worth contesting with the Unitarians. But the plain fact is, that it was moved by an Unitarian minister and carried by Unitarian votes. But for the one-seventh' who by mere numerical force could do nothing,' the six-sevenths would have done nothing, and the Petition would have been extinguished by the previous question. The Unitarians alone unanimously supported the Petition. It was only for them to have stood neutral, or to have divided, or to have absented themselves, in the same proportion as the Trinitarians, and the cause of Intolerance would, even in the feebleness of dissolution, have gained a victory where it ought only to have encountered the most deadly hostility. It would better become our orthodox brethren, instead of being so sensitive about Unitarian influence, to come manfully forward, and render honour where honour is due, for the preservation of Dissent from a stain so foul and indelible."*

During the years 1828 and 1829, Mr. Aspland lost some valued friends, of most of whom mention has been repeatedly made in this Memoir.

On January 30, 1828, died at Hackney Fields, the Rev. James Holt, who for the eleven years subsequent to his retirement from the exercise of the Christian ministry, had been a member of the GravelPit congregation. He was brought up as a member of the Church of England, but during his apprenticeship to an engraver in London he adopted the sentiments of the Calvinistic Methodists. Subsequently he joined the Independents, and having his attention directed to the Christian ministry, he entered himself a student at the Independent Academy at Homerton. After a series of ministerial engagements amongst the Independents, his opinions underwent great modification, and he successively ministered to Presbyterian societies at Plymouth Dock, Dartmouth, Crediton and Cirencester. In his sixty-second year, he retired to Hackney, where the amiable simplicity of his character procured him the respect of a limited circle of friends. He had acquired a moderate property by marriage with a lady of Dartmouth, who died suddenly in 1806. His habits were always simple and strictly economical, and he anxiously consulted Mr. Aspland how he could appropriate the accumulations of his life so as best to serve the cause of Unitarianism, in which he felt a deep and growing interest. By the advice of his pastor, he founded by will a trust for the education of students for the Unitarian ministry. Dr. Thomas Rees and Mr. Samuel Hart were associated with Mr. Aspland in the execution of this simple but useful trust, which has already assisted in the education of several highly-valued Unitarian ministers. Mr. Holt was interred in the burial-ground of the Gravel-Pit chapel, and by his own desire it was recorded on his tomb, that "after ten years' earnest, incessant inquiry, he became a decided Unitarian, and continued so invariably until death."

*

Early in the next year he followed to the grave (over which he spoke

Monthly Repository (1829), Vol. III., N. S., p. 430.

See Mr. Aspland's obituary memoir of Mr. Holt in Christian Reformer (12mo), Vol. XIII. 125.

the funeral address) his old friend, Mr. Benjamin Flower, who died at Dalston, February 17th, 1829, and was buried at Forster's Street, near Harlow. In an interesting obituary memoir inserted in the Christian Reformer (XV. 98), Mr. Aspland thus characterized this eccentric but fearless and upright man :

"His temperament was constitutionally warm, and this led him to an occasional fervour, and even severity of language, which was sometimes misunderstood: the writer ventures, however, from an intimacy of thirty years, to say, that never was there a human being who made more conscience of truth, or was more desirous of extending to others the ample liberty which he claimed for himself. He was quick-sighted to what appeared to him to be religious hypocrisy or political servility, and he was no doubt sometimes mistaken in his suspicions, and sometimes immoderate in his accusations; but his errors leaned to the side of truth and liberty."

On the 16th of April in the same year, he attended, at Worship Street, the funeral of Mr. David Eaton, the Rev. Benjamin Mardon officiating at the service. On the following Sunday, in fulfilment of the dying request of his friend, Mr. Aspland preached at Worship Street the funeral sermon, and subsequently printed in the Christian Reformer the biographical sketch of Mr. Eaton's life and character with which the discourse concluded.*

In its next blow, death struck still nearer to his heart, and brought suddenly to the grave, on the 9th of July, 1829, his half-brother, Mr. Isaac Aspland, of Wicken. He keenly felt every family bereavement. His diary shews that he noted to the close of life, with tender sorrow, the anniversary of the death of his parents, and generally on those sacred days avoided or declined all festive engagements. He mourned most sincerely the loss of his brother, in whom uprightness and strength of principle were united with a singular degree of good-nature.

Rev. Robert Aspland to Mrs. Aspland.

"Wicken, July 14, 1829. "My dear Sara,-I sit down in this once more gloomy house to fulfil my promise. For your satisfaction, let me begin with saying that I am quite well, and that, notwithstanding the sorrowful scene before me, I have had no return of my complaint.

"One comfort there is to us, and that is, the extraordinary sympathy of the whole village and neighbourhood. William Seaber, who met me at Newmarket on Sunday, and who had been that morning as well as before at Wicken, told me that there was not a dry eye in the place;' and this was no figure. Every one I have met was in tears; and at the funeral yesterday the whole village was assembled, and many persons from the neighbourhood, and all appeared greatly moved. The suddenness of the event has contributed to this deep impression, but much is owing to poor Isaac's good qualities, which made him an universal favourite. None of us had any conception until now how much he was esteemed and beloved.

"I find it difficult to bring my mind to the reality of the sad change. Several times I have found myself calculating and planning on the supposition of Isaac's being here. Those that five days ago saw him moving about, and heard his good-humoured voice, are still less able than myself to realize the melancholy fact: they one and all say, 'It can't be; it is a dream.'

"I found the widow, Mary and Isaac in such sorrow and distress as I have rarely, if ever, witnessed. Their grief went at once to my heart. My coming,

* Christian Reformer (12mo), XV. 227.

however, has been a relief, and I hope and trust, under the blessing of the Father of mercies, that it will contribute to the composure at least of my poor mourning friends. All the family followed the corpse; and trying as the effort was to Mrs. Aspland and Mary, it has, I have no doubt, done them good; it seemed as if the open grave were a vein through which the bitterness of grief was discharged.

"Another trying duty remains, the burden of which will lie heavy upon me ; I refer to the funeral sermon. This is to be preached at Wicken on Sunday afternoon. A great concourse of people is expected, and my good friend John Emons is at this time arranging for the use of some commodious barn in the village. Our service is to begin at three o'clock, at which time you and the dear family at Hackney will, I am sure, be with us in spirit. Methodists and Church-people are equally anxious about this service, and have volunteered to shut up both church and meeting on the occasion.

"Your ever affectionate husband,

ROBERT ASPLAND."

The arrangements made by his good friend John Emons for this funeral service, proved inadequate to the accommodation of the large concourse of people who flocked into the village on the Sunday afternoon. From 1 Cor. xv. 26, he addressed an audience composed of persons of every variety of faith professed in that part of Cambridgeshire, and although he asserted explicitly the doctrine of universal final salvation, he appeared to carry with him the approbation and sympathy of his audience.

Before the close of the year died the successor and biographer of Lindsey, and the friend and vindicator of Priestley, the Rev. Thomas Belsham. For more than a quarter of a century, notwithstanding occasional and wide differences of opinion, Mr. Aspland had been permitted to enjoy the confidence and friendship of this learned and able and high-minded man. He was buried on Friday, November 20th, at Bunhill Fields, in the tomb of the confessor whose virtues he has recorded in one of the most instructive religious biographies in the English language.†

By the desire of Mr. Belsham, Mr. Aspland officiated at the grave. In the address to Mr. Belsham's mourning friends, he reminded them that the spot around which they were gathered was 66 consecrated to Christian friendship.”‡

"Distinguished as this place of tombs is by the virtuous names of those that inhabit its melancholy abodes, there is not a sepulchre in this sacred ground that contains more honoured ashes than that which is now open before me. The memory of THEOPHILUS LINDSEY is fragrant in this Christian assembly,

* A large barn at the entrance of the village was the place of meeting, and a market-cart the temporary pulpit. The place was not only filled, but the audience in front of the building exceeded in number that within. The afternoon was fine, and the pulpit was fixed at the threshold of the barn. The scene has been described to the writer as remarkably impressive, notwithstanding the rudeness of the place of meeting.

† Mr. Belsham published his Memoirs of Mr. Lindsey in 1812. It is greatly to be regretted that Mr. Belsham's Life was not written with the fulness of personal knowledge and other qualities that characterized the Memoirs of Lindsey. How admirable Mr. Belsham's correspondence was, the readers of this Memoir have had opportunities of judging. Is it too late to hope that it may yet be collected and published?

It had been agreed upon in the life-time of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey and Mr. Belsham, that their remains should rest in the same grave.