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    in the name of the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , " or " in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ . " Dr . Wall says , " some of them choose the latter . " He insinuates that these were Socinians , " for they have many such among them . " These facts , I think , clearly prove , that though the majority of the General Baptists in the seventeenth century were Trinitarians , yet there

    were several Unitarians among them . But a still clearer proof of this was given b y the dissensions which arose among them respecting the opinions of Mr . Caffin . This gentleman was minister of the congregation atHorsham , in Sussex , during the reigns of Charles II . and James II . Mr . Taylor admits that " he was a minister eminent for his diligence and success , a man of good natural abilities , which had been improved by a liberal education . " He was accused first by Mr . Wright , of Maidstone , of heresy ; but

    the General Assembly resolved to maintain amity and friendship with him . Mr . Caffin acknowledged , " that there were some propositions in the Athanasian Creed which were above his understanding , after the most diligent and impartial examination , and therefore he never had , nor could as yet receive it as the standard of his faith . " In 1693 , the charge of denying the divinity of Christ was again brought against him , but the

    majority of the General Assembly refusing to expel him from their communion , a secession took place , and a long controversy arose among the General Baptists . The Assembly continued in communion with Mr . Caffin , and resolved , " that all debates , public or private , respecting the Trinity , should be managed in Scripture words and terms , and no other . " A separate connexion was formed under the title of the General Association .

    But after some time liberal sentiments prevailed . To these Mr . Taylor attributes the decline in numbers which took place among the General Baptists during the eighteenth century . But many more probable causes of this decrease may , I think , be seen in the nature of their connexion . They were indifferent as to the learning of their ministers . They had no academies to supply them with ministers . They did not take pains to support their ministers , most of whom carried on business , and seldom received any thing from the congregation , except travelling expenses : and when the increase

    of the cause rendered it necessary to contribute to their support , it was yielded to with great reluctance . Thus , when the fervour of zeal excited by their separation from the Church had subsided , there was no provision for keeping up religious instruction among them . Their churches and assemblies also were often very punctilious about trifles , especially slight differences in forms of worship , and expelled members on this account . These causes , with the decline of zeal for a ceremonial observance , will , I think , sufficiently account for the decrease in the numbers of the General Baptists .

    I he second volume of this work contains the history of the new connexion . This arose in Leicestershire , from the exertions of several persons who were at first connected with the Methodists of Lady Huntingdon ' s society , and who , after having collected several followers , became Baptists : two of their preachers baptizing each other , as a commencement of this ordinance . In 1762 , Mr . Dan Taylor began to preach first among the

    Wesleyan Methodists , near Halifax , but not being satisfied with their discipline he separated from them , and , becoming a Baptist , was baptized by the minister of the General Baptist Church at Gamston , in Nottinghamshire , This brought him into connexion with the Lincolnshire Association of General Baptists . But he became acquainted with the Baptists in Leicestershire , and finding their sentiments more nearly resembling his own than those of the Lincolnshire Association , he persuaded them to form a

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    484 On the History of the General Baptists .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 484, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/12/