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    excellent men , proved themselves every way worthy of such instructors . Their congregations were numerous and respectable . In some to < yns the Corporation w&s of this profession ;

    arid it was no uncommon thing for the principal families in the neighbourhood to pass by the parish church 6 n their' way to the meeting-house . Several of the nobility and gentry had been educated under Noriconformittg tutors , and still continued the

    practice of retaining them as chaplains . and tutors . Uncorrupted by the profligacy of the times , by the temptations of the court , or the servile

    compliances of those around them , they held fast the profession of their faith without wavering , and sanctioned the religion of their forefathers by an attendance upon the same forms of

    worship . With the reign of Queen Anne ended the hopes of the high-church party , and the persecution of Dissenters by the civjl pgwer . George I . being of a different religious profession from the sect established , felt no sympathy with its prejudices , and would have extended the boundaries of toleration

    had the scheme been practicable . He clipped the wings of the clergy by overturning their convocation ; and his successors in royalty have discovered the same tolerant disposition towards the Dissenters . But thi 3 sunshine of

    prosperity , however desirable , has been far from favourable to the Dissenting interest . To whatever cause it m&y be owing , it is certain that from the period of the accession of the House of Hanover , it has been visibly upon the wane . This declension was more

    particularly apparent in the reign of George II ., and in the earlier years of his successor , when many meetinghouses in various parts of the kingdom were shut up for want of support . This circumstance sufficiently marked a numerical declension ; but there were other particulars in which the signs of decay became manifest .

    At this time the snares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches had drown aside from their ranks most of the 4 eading persons in their communion . Mmiy of the clergy , also , ran the same race of Conformity as the laity . Of the elder ministers , who continued atedfeet to their principles ,

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    there w&re many who distinguished themselves by their lea ^ nirig-and talents ,, b y their personal piety , and by their - valuable writings . As ' thfey grew in years , however , their congregations

    declined ; and the younger ministers who took their places , being deficient in popularity , w ere unable to ; support a drooping cause . There was also a considerable alteration in the style and matter of their preaching , which was but ill adapted to the capacities of

    their people , and often involved topics in which they felt but little interest . It is no breach of charity to observe , that the race of ministers which sprang up about the middle of this period ,

    was by no mean * equaito those which preceded it , either in ministerial qualifications , or in attachment to the cause . On account of the expense incurred at an university , some of them h £ d received biit a slender

    education ; whilst , in some instances , they were taken into the pulpit without any previous preparation . The injury that must accrue to any cause from its falling * into the hands of ignorant or half learned-men , was soon exem-:

    plified in the case of the Dissenters . Their adversaries began to treat them with contempt , from which their pretensions to piety could not redeem them ; and they sometimes courted it by their folly and indiscretion .

    Destitute of the spirit of their profession , some of their ministers quitted it for trade , whilst others combined them together , and thus rendered themselves unfit for either . The little

    encouragement that was given to Dissent , deterred persons of any property from bringing up their s 6 ns to the Dissenting ministry . The consequence was , that their preachers were usually taken from the inferior ranks of life ,

    and being wholly dependent upon their people for support , their inebpaeri were generally small and precarious . Thus circumstanced , and destitute' of that polish and refinement whidh are the effect of education , it is no wonder

    that they sunk from that station society which was occupied by the earlier Nonconformists . Another very material circumstance that affected " the prosperity of the Dissenters during this period was , the divisions that took place amongst them upon questions of dogmatic theology *

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    346 The Nonconformist . No . XXVII .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1823, page 346, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1785/page/34/