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ggddfcnand imiknely » in the year 1705 , a qd the 49 th of 'his age , Arnklst some coa&mon place reflections < upe « r this occurrence , Mr . Wilson- relieves the reader by relating that Mr . Grove published a sermon 00 the iear of death , in which the subject was treated ih . so masterly a manner , that a person of considerable rank in the Warned world declared , that after reading it lie could have laid down tyis head and died with as much satisfaction as he had ever done apy thing in his life ( III . 171 ) .
We have an interesting account ( III . 185—19 O ) , of the meeting-house in MonkvvieH i&reet , t , ije first that was built after the fire of . London , 1 G 66 , ^ n < J prp ^ ably the / ^ oldest in . London . Hsre , % wever > i £ he author has been tetmyejrbv his prejudices into a very
jjnpertii ^ e ^ t remark . He says , of this ) laee , " a £ . pjresent the number of ) $ ws gre ^ ytjy exceed * that of the jearers , who are 50 J * eiv thtit the ends ofpuphc . tQorskip seem scar cell / answered iy tkgir mzpimg together " * Has Mr .
Wilson then authority to . determine the exact number of persons in a con * gregation that make public worship effectual ? He may perhaps have Heard of high sanction being given to the meeting together of " two or three * ' in the name of Christ . A
sarcastic reader might a&k ; whether he would have been better pleased if he had beep , obliged to record that Presbytefian congregations were much more numerous than they really are ? In the present instance he is , we believe , mistaken in point of fact . The congregation at Njonkwell Street is accus- * tonaed to take £ he lead , and to set an
e $ aoojue tha ' t is scarcely * ever equalled , in ! congregational collections , which i % a . presumption that the place is not quite deserted ; and we are informed that . the congregation has been of late years ori the increase . That the actual number of members and hearers
^ matter surprize when the talents and character of the present minister are taken into account , we readil y acknowledge ; and we will add that it ii " not creditable to the Presbyterian Wy . that , ail unfriendly observer
* 'Ttie same reflection occurs with reg * dto two other heretical places , Prince « fc& » , i WtsJmwster ( IV . 68 )> and St . FfomMU ^ Savt&uarkilV . S £ 5 )* r ' f . ' . ' -
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should be able , with any semblance of justice , to taunt them with the paucity of attendants at their oldest place of worship , and on one of their most able and eloquent preachers . Thomas Doalittle , M . A . one of the Bartholemew sufferers , was the first minister at Monkwell Street , the
meeting-house being , indeed , of hfs own erection . In the " troublous times" in which he lived it was not likely that he should escape persecution : the following extract shews the dangers to which he was exposed and the temper o ^ the age > botn for gpod and for evil .
" A kin 2 j s messnger , with a conipdny of the trained bands , came at midnight tt > seize Mr . Doolittle in his house ; bufcwfcf&f they were breaking open the door , he gof over the wall to a neighbour ' s house , and made his escape . He purposed to have 1
pieached the next morning , but was prevailed upon tp forbear ; and the minister who supplied his place , narrowly escaped being taken . For while in his sermon , a company of soldiers came into the meetinghouse , and the officei * who led them cried
aloud to the minister , * I command yoi $ in the king ' s name to come dotvn / Th 6 minister answered , * I command you in the name of the King of kifigs , not tJi disturb bis worship , but let me go bri ^ Upon which the officer bad £ bis men fire * The minister , undaunted , clapt his ban 3 upon his breast , and said , (> S hoot } if ToU
please , you can only kill tbe body , and after that can do no more . * Upon wbteh , the people being all in an uproar , and thb assembly breaking up , the minister got away in the crowd , unobserved , and witbr out hurt . * After this , Mr . Doolittle was absent from home for some weeks , and on Lord ' s .-days , guards were set before the
meeting-house , to prevent the worship of God being carried on there . At length the justices came , and ^ had the . pulpit pulled down , and the doors fastened , with the king ' s broad arrow set upon them . The place being , convenient , was soon
after used as a chapel for the Lord Mayor , without any allowance to the owner . Thus liberty and property were invaded by tyrants , and Christ ' st faithful servants , by the heat of persecution , driven into corners . "—III . 193 , 194 .
We cannot refrain from quoting an extraordinary relation of a rhetorical * " The minister above alluded to , Mas Mr . Thomas Sare , the . ejected , minister of Hedford , in Gloucestershire , loueerning whose history no particulars are p * o ~ i « rWd . "
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Review . •—WUsori * s Dissenting Churches . 723 ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1816, page 723, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2459/page/31/
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