THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN's MAGAZINE AND REVIEW, FOR JANUARY, 1803, CHANGE. Fear GoD and the KING, and meddle not with them that are given to THE LIFE OF ROBERT NELSON, ESQ. ROBERT NELSON, generally and moft juftly diftinguished by the appellation of the " pious Nelfon," was born June 22, 1656, in London, where his father was an eminent Turkey merchant, but did not live long to enjoy the happiness of this fon, whom, at his death, he left an infant two years old, with a handsome fortune, committing him to the care of his mother and her brother, Sir Gabriel Roberts. This gentleman, who was also a Turkey merchant, foon became extremely fond of his nephew, who in a few years discovered an excellent understanding, enlivened with a sprightly genius, which, being feen in a very handsome perfon, was ftill made more engaging by the fingular sweetness of his temper. At a proper age he was fent to St. Paul's fchool; but, after fome time spent there, was taken home out of fondness by his mother, who, being feated at Dryfield, near Cirencester, in Gloucefterfhire, procured the learned Mr. afterwards Bishop Bull, to inftru&t him at her own house after which he was fent to Trinity College, Cambridge. All thofe endearing qualities which disclosed themselves early in his youth ripened into the most amiable character in his manhood. From being the hope and darling of his family, he foon became the delight of all the ferious and thinking part of the world. As bufinefs or other occafions frequently called him to London, it was not long before he came to be known to Dr. Tillotson, with whom his uncle, Sir Gabriel Roberts, was intimately acquainted. A congenial worth in Mr. Nelfon prefently obtained him a principal place in the friendship of that great man, which death alone diffolved. În 1680 Mr. Nelfon was chofen Fellow of the Royal Society, and having laid a proper foundation at home for making the beft advantage of travelling abroad, he fet out for Paris the fame year. After ftaying in that city a few months, he fet out on what was called the grand tour, and reVol. IV. Churchm. Mag. Jan, 1808. A turned turned home in Auguft, 1682. During his travels he fell into the company of Lady Theophila Lucy, widow of Sir Kingfmill Lucy, of Broxborne, in Hertfordihire, Bart. and fecond daughter of George, Earl of Berkeley; and this intimacy foon ripening into affection, a marriage was concluded between them fhortly after their arrival in England. Not long after this union, the lady profeffed herself a Roman Catholic, which proved a great grief to her husband, who endeavoured, both by himself and his friends, efpecially Dr. Tillotfon, to bring her off from that delufon. But though all these attempts were ineffectual, this in no degree weakened either his attachment to his lady, or his stability in the Proteftant Religion. This is the more obfervable, as the lady was a woman of uncommon parts, and no ordinary zeal for her new faith, which the even defended in print, at the time that the controversy between Papists and Proteftants was carried to a great height. Mr. Nelfon on that occafion alfo drew his pen, and publifhed a piece, entitled, Tranfubftantiation contrary to Scripture; or, The Proteftant's Anfwer to the Seekers' Requeft, 4to, 1687. About the fame time he accompanied his lady to Aix la Chapelle, for the benefit of her health; and from thence they paffed through France into Italy. At the end of 1691 Mr. Nelfon returned to England, entirely diffatisfied with the new change in the government; for, though he was a refolved Proteftant, he could not reconcile it to his confcience to transfer his allegiance from one fovereign to another while the former was living. As he refided in or near London, a perfect friendship grew up between him and that worthy divine Mr. John Kettlewell, who loft his preferment for refufing the oaths; but, notwithstanding this connection, he continued attached to his old friends, particularly Abp. Tillotson, who died in his arms. Mr. Kettlewell left him his fole executor and trustee, in pursuance of which charge, he published, foon after, the pofthumous works of that excellent man. This friend had likewife prevailed upon Mr. Nelfon to write in the service of practical piety and devotion, as being more likely to do good when coming from a lay-gentleman. In that view he accordingly published that valuable book, A Companion for the Festivals and Fafts of the Church of England, 8vo, 1704. This was followed by the Great Duty of frequenting the Chriftian Sacrifice, in 1707, 8vo; and The Practice of true Devotion, in relation to the End, as well as the Means of Religion, with an Office for the Holy Commuion, in 1708, 8vo. At the fame time he engaged zealously in every public scheme for advancing the honour and intereft of Chriftianity, not only at home but abroad; as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts; that for the Reformation of Manners at home; feveral propofals for building, repairing, or endowing Churches, and particularly to Charity Schools. He had hitherto adhered to the communion of the deprived bishops, but on the death of Dr. William Lloyd, Bishop of Norwich, at the end of 1709, he returned to the public fervice of the Church as established. In 1713 he published the life of that great prelate Bishop Bull; and the following year appeared, The Scripture Doctrine of the most holy and undivided Trinity vindicated from the Mifreprefentations of Dr. Clarke; to which he prefixed, A Letter written by himself to that reverend Divine, with whom he had before held a conference on that fubject. But, though Dr. Clarke replied to this piece, yet the controverfy was managed with abundant good temper on both fides; nor did this difference in the least degree break the intimacy between them. From this time the dangerous diftemper under which he had had long laboured, an afthma, and dropfy in the breast, increafing to a dangerous degree, he retired to Kenfington, where it put an end to his valuable life, on the 16th of January, 1714-15, at the house of his coufin, Mrs. Wolf, daughter of Sir Gabriel Roberts, and then a widow. His remains were interred in the new burying-ground belonging to the chapel now St. George's, Bloomsbury, being the firft who was buried in that cemetery. Befides the works already mentioned, Mr. Nelfon wrote, 1. A Letter on Church Government, in answer to a pamphlet, entitled, The Principles of the Proteftant Reformation, 1705. 2. An Addrefs to Perfons of Quality and Eftate; to which is added, an Appendix, of fome Original Papers, 1715, 8vo. 3. The Whole Duty of a Chriftian, by way of question and anfwer, defigned for the ufe of the charity fchools in and about London. He likewife published, Thomas a Kempis's Christian Exercise; the Archbishop of Cambray's Paftoral Letter; with fome posthumous pieces of Bishop Bull; and feveral Letters written to himself, which fhew how much he was known and respected by princes, noblemen, and others, in the parts where he had travelled. Remarks upon the Pofition" That to judge of what are the DoCTRINES of the CHURCH of ENGLAND, we must have recourfe to (what is called) the Original Conftitution, and NOT learn it from the OPINION of the PRESENT Members." By the Rev. W. LUDLAM. F the question be, WHAT is Now the doctrine of the Church of Enggland, we must undoubtedly have recourfe to the liturgy, the articles, and homilies, as generally understood and interpreted by her prefent mem bers; and this is as much the character of what church doctrine is now, as the general opinion and the received interpretation of thofe articles two hundred years ago was the characteristic of the church doctrine then, or as the generally received Popish doctrines were the characteristic of the church doctrine two hundred years before that time. They who fubfcribe the articles, if they believe them in their generally received fenfe, are as far from difhonefty, as he is from lying, who, calling himself your humble fervant, should decline carrying your portmanteau. We judge by a fimilar rule with respect to the conftitution of the state: the generally received opinions of the great lawyers is the standard of what is common law at this day. Nor is there any reason why the generally received opinions of learned churchmen fhould not also be the standard of what church doctrine is at this day. I fee no difference between ecclefiaftical and civil fociety. I confider the Church of England as a temporal fociety-a fociety of human, NOT of divine inftitution. The church of Chrift is indeed a spiritual body; but the church of Chrift has no other articles, except the Scriptures * *It is not, we prefume, the intention of the writer altogether to deny that the Church of England, confidered as a fociety or political body, is of divine inftitution, but merely, that it is no otherwife of divine inftitution than as all well-conftituted ecclefiaftical focieties are. This propofition is true; otherwife no defence could be found for any Chriftian Church which at all differs in difcipline from that of England. The human authority, indeed, which is employed in the formation of an ecclefiaftical fociety, is bound to take all poffible care, that it has all poffible refemblance to that form which is marked out by Chrift and his Apoítles and our opinion is, that the Church of England, as by law established, has the felicity of poffeffing that refemblance. EDITORS. Ꭺ ? Now Now in the ftate, when a man swears true allegiance to the chief ma◄ giftrate, to the King fuppofe, is it that allegiance which is by law Now due, or that which was due in the time of Elizabeth? May not a man fay those words, which the present bench of judges would deem harmless, though the judges of the time of Elizabeth would have called them treafon. able, and have hanged the man for speaking them? It is not many years fince general warrants were iffued frequently, and obedience was always paid to them, fuch warrants being at that time held VALID by the great lawyers; this, then, was at that time LAW, and dif→ obedience to fuch warrants finful. The courts of law have now given another determination: common law has undergone one more change; and disobedience is NOT NOW finful. You may obey if you please; and you may understand the article in its primitive sense if you please. But in this inftance, you will fay, a formal decifion has changed the law. There are innumerable inftances, where cuftom not only accidentally, but fraudulently introduced, has changed the law. Thus :-a recovery is a fham law-fuit: it was originally a trickish one, devised by fome crafty lawyer to defeat an entail. Time and custom have purged away the roguery, and it is become an honeft tranfaction: it has been fanctioned by the conftant allowance of the judges. This, indeed, has made a change in the common law. Entails, in the cafes where you can now fuffer a recovery, are in fact forbidden by law; that they are forbidden is plain, for the legerdemain of a recovery makes them void *. Juft in the fame way interpretations of articles, originally bold, perhaps forced, may, by being received and generally admitted, become the Church's fense of thofe articles. You will fay, perhaps, this is a contemptible Church, and fuch are uselefs articles, if their fenfe can thus vary; but is civil government contemptible, or the law of the land useless, which varies full as much as Church Articles? To be fure, to fay this is to maintain that there is a confiderable latitude in the fense which may fairly be put upon the articles; and no method of interpretation can be devised which will not admit of fome. If fuch, or a greater latitude is allowed by the governors of the Church, they who subfcribe under that allowed liberty cannot be blamed if they make use of it. Whether it be proper to allow that, or any liberty at all, is a very different confideration. In all other focieties, the generally received opinions of the members conftitute the opinion of the fociety; and why does not the interpretation of the articles generally received by Churchmen conftitute the Churchfense of the articles? How can it be otherwife? Juft as the fenfe of a word is that only in which it is now understood, whatever sense it may once have had. A knave formerly meant only a servant (whatever it may now mean); and in fome tranflations of the New Teftament we find ઠંડ Paul the knave of Jesus Chrift." This TRICK was originally connived at by the judges for very wife purposes, viz. to check the holding of lands in mortmain, and thereby to enlarge civil liberty, in an age when it was impoffible to obtain a formal law to prevent this evil, on account of the temper, that is, the religious folly of the times; for violent religious zeal has always been tainted with folly, or fomething worse, from thofe to the prefent days. Now |
