have, I take it, to expose their machinations, and to appeal from them to the Government and the people."

"May 12, 1835.—• The Unitarian Association have, at my instance, determined on a new plan at the annual meeting. After the Sermon, the Committee's Report is to be read to the congregation, and four gentlemen are to be requested to address the audience on topics of their own selection connected with the meeting,-the whole to be considered as part of the service, and to be concluded devotionally. Afterwards, the subscribers are to form their meeting for business. The four gentlemen are Dr. Carpenter, Mr. G. W. Wood, Mr. Abraham Clarke and myself. Mr. Yates retires from the Secretaryship, and I am reluctantly drawn to consent to take the office." "Aug. 1.-A prophet called to deliver a message from above; but I told him I could not receive it, and shewed him the door. He gave his name ; a tradesman-looking man of 55."

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Sept. 18. There is to be a celebration of the Tricentenary of the English Bible on the first Sunday in October. This may be a good opportunity for preaching upon the principle, as opposed to what are called the principles of the Reformation; upon the evil as well as the good of the event; upon the incompleteness of the reform, and of the inconsistency of those who with the same breath cry up the Reformation and vilify sincere Reformers." "March 15, 1836.

"The great matter now is our Presbyterian secession. I penned the Ministers' resolutions, Edgar Taylor the Deputies'. We have been nearly unanimous, i. e. we liberals. Three Scottish Secession men, brimful of orthodoxyBroadfoot, Young and Redpath-protest and assert themselves to be the Presbyterian Body of Ministers. The claim is allowed, of course, by the Independents and Baptists, in order to keep together Three Denominations, for the sake of the privilege of access to the Throne. But we expose and oppose this, I hope to the satisfaction of his Majesty's Government. You saw, no doubt, the news of our deputation to Lord Melbourne. We were received most courteously, and I believe we made the right impression. Lord John Russell was with us part of the time. To him I addressed some strong remarks on the political conduct of our opponents. We are to see Lord Holland to-morrow; and the result will be, I doubt not, that the Government will not acknowledge any Presbyterian body but ourselves, and will receive the several bodies separately and with equal privileges.

"The orthodox are surprised and astounded. They never dreamt of our striking so sudden and decisive a blow. They flattered themselves with the success of various schemes for extinguishing us gradually. Their present hope of setting up the Scotchmen in our place must be far from agreeable to them, except as a piece of resentment, for these are the folk that will every where trip up the heels of the Independents, if they succeed in courts of law against the English Presbyterians.

"We are expecting Lord Cottenham's judgment on the Wolverhampton case, and some of us do not despair. In the worst event, we shall go to the Lords, as we shall probably with the Hewley suit."

The letter which follows was addressed to an eminent Independent minister, with whom Mr. Aspland had been in the habit of acting in a variety of public trusts, and for whom he entertained, to the close of life, respect and affection. Of the painful and discreditable proceedings connected with the Orphan School, to which the letter refers with welldeserved indignation, a report will be found in the Christian Reformer (N. S.), Vol. III. p. 203.

Rev. Robert Aspland to

"Mare Street, April 9, 1836. "My dear Sir,—It was not till this morning, after a long search, that I found

your letter, which I send to you, that you may copy it, or use it otherwise, at your discretion. I must, however, request its being returned, at your convenience, as it is my justification for a statement repeatedly made by me, that some of the most liberal and important members of the Congregational denomination could no longer, as heretofore, satisfy themselves in the union of the Three Denominations.

"I did not answer the letter, my dear Sir, because I felt that I should have imposed upon you a long discussion, and that any answer must have been, in fact, an assertion and defence of the first principle of Protestantism, not to say of Protestant Dissent. You do not see it, but the invariable argument, nay, the very 'term,' of the 'orthodox,' is an assumption of infallibility. Our neighbour H—— takes up the admitted principle when he denounces you as a blind guide.'

"But if I do not take care I shall commit the error of plunging into controversy, which I mean to avoid. I have to thank you for a kind note relating to the Orphan Working School. This is a painful subject. The conduct of some of your leading men in this affair has given us Presbyterians (for such, allow me to say, we are, and such we purpose to be) a stronger feeling of disgust than I ever remember to have seen produced by any wantonness of any majority. Often have we exclaimed, 'Would that we had to do with men of the world, actuated by a sense of honour, rather than with men who, laying claim to a divinely-inspired personal holiness, violate the first principles of honesty, avow the violation, and laugh in the faces of the injured, esteeming their complaining a mark of their simplicity. At the last court, we were less shocked at Mr. B's appearing to give the signal to the mob below, and at Mr. T's joining in, if not leading, the hissings against us, than with Dr. B's grave insult, that because we professed unbounded liberality, we ought to allow the Calvinistic party to drive us out of the temple. Nay, for one, I was not more disgusted when, at a former court, Mr. W, high in the Evangelical ranks, cried out, while I was urging the iniquity of receiving our subscriptions and depriving us of the rights legally appertaining to them-We like Socinian money!' an exclamation received by the patron of Evangelical Dissent, sitting by him, with a laugh, which in its manner indicated what I will not put down on paper, with regard to both the person and what he considered his

cause.

'I envy not the majority their triumph; much rather would I be wronged than bear about the consciousness of wilful injury. Nay, we have-I speak from experience-some reason to rejoice in our maltreatment. It has drawn the ties of union closer amongst our people, and increased their attachment to a system of divine truth which includes, as essential to it, moral justice and social charity.

"If the Independents mean that we should regard them as practically Christian men, they will yet devise some scheme by which we may separate from them without suffering the 'spoiling of our goods.'

"I write in confidence, and therefore very freely; and here, as between us, let the matter drop.

"We are to meet, I learn, on Wednesday, in consequence of the removal of our poor friend Coates; and on that and all other occasions I hope to be regarded, my dear Sir, as

"Yours, with high esteem,

ROBERT ASPLAND."

Rev. Robert Aspland to Rev. R. Brook Aspland.

"July 22, 1836.

"We (Edgar Taylor and myself) were with Lord Plunkett on Tuesday, by appointment, on our Presbyterian question. He received us frankly, affably, and even cordially, and went freely with us into legal and more general points. His judgment as well as sympathy is wholly with us. He evidently wonders

at Shadwell and Copley law. We are working with a quarto pamphlet, entitled, Memorial and Statement.' A copy will be sent to each member of the Cabinet, the law officers, &c. I will take care that a copy finds its way to Bristol, with the understanding that it falls into none but clean hands.

"I am just out of an affliction, sitting for another portrait. If the three now in the family go down to another generation, I shall be regarded, I think, as three persons under one name.'

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The accession of Queen Victoria, in 1837, led to the preparation of loyal Addresses by various public bodies, and amongst the rest, by the Presbyterian Ministers of London. There was considerable speculation, and some anxiety, as to the mode in which the Address would be received by the Sovereign. In itself, it was of little consequence whether an Address from certain of her Presbyterian subjects was received by the Queen on the Throne or in the Closet; but the decision on this point became important when viewed as the test of the civil equality, or otherwise, of the Presbyterians with the other two denominations. The correspondence which follows will shew that the efforts made to save the independence and uphold the dignity of the Presbyterian body were crowned with perfect success.

Rev. R. Aspland to the Right Honourable Lord Holland.

"Hackney, July 7, 1837. “My Lord,—Permit me to put into your hands a copy of an Address to her Majesty upon her happy accession, agreed upon by the Body of Presbyterian Ministers.

"It will now be for her Majesty's Government to decide in what manner the Presbyterian body, in its separate capacity, shall be received at Court. We cannot believe that a Liberal Administration will acknowledge another body (if body it may be called), consisting only of two or three Scottish Ministers, to be the Body of English Presbyterian Ministers in and near London. We were driven out from the other bodies by bigotry; we now stand upon our independence; and we hope and trust we shall not lose any civil privilege by our retiring in our corporate capacity to save ourselves from persecution and insult. We ask no more than to be received at Court in the same manner as the other two denominations, and I am persuaded your Lordship will concede that we ought not to ask less.-I am, my Lord, your much obliged and very obedient Servant,

ROBERT ASPLAND."

Right Hon. Lord Holland to Rev. Robert Aspland.

"July 8.

"Dear Sir,-Many thanks for the copy of your excellent Address. With respect to the manner of presenting it, I am not at present authorized to give you any positive answer, not having hitherto spoken on the subject to Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell, or any of my colleagues; and if there is any question of form and etiquette affecting it, it would perhaps be improper as well as premature in me to give any individual, much more official, opinion on the subject.

"As to my private wishes on the subject, I think you are not likely to mistake them; but one cannot disguise from oneself that if the privilege granted to a joint body is extended to any in their separate capacity, it will be natural for other bodies, especially those who are composed of very large numbers, to apply to be admitted to a similar privilege; and that objection urged to such admission which rests on special grounds, will be ungracious and invidious. However, it will be for us to consider whether that be really any great inconvenience, or, if it be, whether there is no method of obviating

or avoiding it, without refusing the Body of Presbyterian Ministers in and near London the access to the Throne which they have hitherto enjoyed.

"If you have any thing to suggest on the subject, I will thank you to furnish me with it in confidence and in good time; as whenever or wherever it is discussed, I should like to be ready with every example and every argument that is likely to obviate any scruples or difficulties that may be felt to the reception on the Throne of one separate and distinct sect.-Yours, VASSALL HOLLAND."

In reply, Mr. Aspland furnished Lord Holland with a statement, of which the following are the most important parts:

"The Presbyterian Body of Ministers separated itself from the Independents and Baptists, in consequence of repeated and offensive violations of the principle of the union (i. e. non-interference with regard to religious opinions), and of the known determination of the leaders of the majority to introduce laws by which its independence, and even existence, would have been ultimately, though gradually, destroyed.

"The separation was unanimous in the Presbyterian body, with the exception of three Scottish ministers (of whom one is since dead); so that the Presbyterian body is entire, and (it is humbly suggested) entitled to the same rights and privileges as it enjoyed in conjunction with the Two other bodies.

"The attempt of the Two other bodies to pass themselves off as the Three Denominations, on account of their having two Scottish Presbyterians amongst them, would be ridiculous, if it were not fraudful and injurious with regard to the Presbyterian body, and an imposition upon the public.

"On other occasions, the Independents especially have denied that these Scottish ministers can be fairly denominated English Presbyterians. When, lately, these Scottish ministers came down upon the Hewley spoil, taken from the Unitarians by the Independents, Mr. Thomas Wilson, the relator in the suit for the Independents and their acknowledged patron, made affidavit that the aforesaid ministers were never regarded or termed English Presbyterians; and further, that the Unitarians are the only body of English Presbyterians existing. In conformity with this, a rich Protestant Dissenting charity, called the Widows' Fund,' founded by and for the Three Denominations, has been again and again declared, by votes of the governors and subscribers, not applicable to the widows of Scottish ministers located in England, on the express ground of such ministers not being, in any honest sense of the denomination, English Presbyterians.

"Before the union of the Three Denominations, each denomination had separately the privilege of addressing the Sovereign, and of receiving an answer; though in what precise form (i. e. whether upon the Throne, or in the Closet) does not appear. By retiring from the union, the Presbyterian body conceives itself to be in precisely the same position, relatively to the Government, as it was before the union was formed.

"On the accession of his late lamented Majesty, the Quakers were, for the first time, received upon the Throne; and the Quakers are about the same in numbers, and in the proportion of their body in London to those in the country, as the English Presbyterians.

"The Presbyterian Ministers in and about London, though comparatively few, are virtually the representatives of the English Presbyterians at large, comprising many numerous and wealthy congregations, whose members are in various important towns the active strength of the Liberal party, and the leading supporters of her Majesty's present Government: four-fifths of the Protestant Dissenting Members of Parliament are from this body.

"The Presbyterian body does not expect her Majesty's Ministers to adjudicate between it and the Two other denominations; but it relies upon the justice and impartiality of the Government to place it upon an equality with those denominations, as far as regards reception at Court."

Dr. Rees, as Secretary of the Presbyterian Body, had in the mean time applied to Lord John Russell, the Home Secretary, and stated the grounds on which they asked access to the Throne and the Closet in their separate capacity. He stated, and proved to the satisfaction of the Home Secretary, that the Presbyterians had presented Addresses and been received on the Throne before their union with the other denominations. The production of two or three Addresses, and the replies to them, presented in this manner in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., settled the question, equally to the satisfaction of the Government and the Presbyterian Body.

Right Hon. Lord Holland to Rev. Robert Aspland. "July 14. "My dear Sir, I believe it is decided that your Address will be received on the Throne. I am very glad of this.-Believe me ever truly yours, VASSALL HOLLAND.”

On the 21st of July, the Presbyterian Ministers of London and its vicinity were received by Queen Victoria, surrounded by her splendid Court, her venerable uncle, the Duke of Sussex, standing to the right of the Throne. The Address was read by Mr. Aspland. One passage of it appeared particularly to move the Queen-that in which reference was made to the Duke of Kent, "whose virtues endeared him to the British people, and to no portion of them more than the Protestant Dissenters," and also to the Duchess of Kent, by whose enlightened counsels, and moral and religious instruction, the Queen's early years had been nurtured.

On the same day the Presbyterian Ministers presented, at Buckingham Palace, an Address to the Duchess of Kent. Mr. Aspland was again the speaker. The Address alluded to the virtues and the premature death of the Duke of Kent, and to the faithful discharge by the Duchess of the momentous trust which had devolved on her, in the education of her illustrious Daughter.

The reply of the Duchess was singularly beautiful, and bespoke the feelings of a happy Mother.*

On the following day, Mr. Aspland, Dr. Rees, Mr. Tagart and Mr. Barrett, as a deputation from the Presbyterian Ministers, waited on the Queen Dowager at Bushy Park, with an Address of condolence. Queen Adelaide was deeply affected, both in receiving and replying to the Address. The presentation of this Address was probably the more welcome, from the omission of a similar mark of respect and sympathy on the part of the other Two denominations.

In respect to the painful struggle which this chapter of the Memoir has described, it only remains to add, that the reader must not suppose that his energy and abundant labours at this period indicate Mr. Aspland's possession of health and strength. During a large portion of this time, sickness and languor were his portion; and in the intervals of his public appearances, his family often beheld him prostrate in strength, and struggling painfully but resolutely with the distressing symptoms of organic disease.

The Addresses and Replies will be found in the Christian Reformer (N. S.), IV. 562-566. The former have been much admired for the judicious selection of topics and simple but dignified style. They were drawn up by Mr. Aspland.