The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-11-05 00:00:00

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for their piety and their learning, vellum lie had
purposely collected to hear his infidel ridicule of
nil they reverenced—when I saw him raise the
holy Bible in one hand, and the Age of Reason in
the other, as it were confronting the Almighty with
a rebel worm, till the pious Judge grew pale, and
the patient Jury interposed, and the self-convicted
wretch himself, after having raved away all his
original impiety, was reduced into a mere ma-
chine, for the re-production of the ribald bias-
Jiliesuy of others—l could not help exclaiming,
" Infatuated man—if all your impracticable mad.
nem could be realised, what would you give us in
excitaage for our establishments? what would you
substitute for that august tribunal—for whom
would you displace that independent Judge and
that impartial Jury ?—or would you really burn
the Gospel and erase the statutes, for the dreadful
equivalent rat thecrucifixainttlieguillotine!" Indeed
it I was asked for
a practical panegyric on our Con-
sistution, I would adduce the very trial of that cri-
sninal...and if the legal ;Moak of any country upon
earth furnished an instance, not merely of such jus-
tice, hut of such patience, such forbearance, such
almost culpable indulgence, I would concede to him
the triumph. I hope, too, in what I say, I .hall not
be considered as forsaking that illustrious exam.
pale—l hope I am above en insult on any man in
his situation—perhaps, haul I the power, I would
follow the example further than I ought—perhaps
I would even humble him into an rvideure of the
very spirit he spurned—and as our creed was re-
viled io his person, anal vindicated in hit conviction,
so I would give it its noblest triumph in his sen-
tence, and merely consign him to the pwnidtment
(.t• Its merry. But indeed, my Lord, the bite of
tills half-trailiwrr' martyr, matters very
little in comparison of that of the thousands he has
coiro pie 1. tie has literally disseminated a moral
plague, against which even the natimi's quarantine
call scarce avail UP. It has poisoned the fresh blood
o I infancy—it has disheartened the last hope of
age—if his own account Of its circulation be correct,
Itu..Jrsdic of thousands must he this instant tainted
with the infectious venom' whose sting dies not
with the destruction of the body. Imagine not be-
cause the pestilence smites not at once that its fata-
lity is the lets certain—imagine not because the
lower orders are the earliest victims, that the more
elevated will not stiffer in their turn: the most
mortal chiluess begins at the extremities, and you
may depend upon it nothing but time said apathy are
ow.ling; to change this healthful I anal into a charnel-
where murder, miarchy, and prostitution,
mud the whole hell brood of infidelity, will quaff
tio: heart's blood of the consecrated and the noble.
MY Lord, I coin the more indignant at these designs
iiecau.e they are sought to he concealed in the dia.
pure of liberty. It is the duty of every real friend
to liberty to tear her mask from the fiend who has
ii.orlied it.—No, no, this is not our island Goddess,
the mcmitain freehness on her cheek, and
PC4llriing the valleys bounty from her hand, known
iiv the keits that herald her fair presence, the
peaceful virtues that attend her path, and the long
blaze of glory that lingers in her train—it is a
Benton, speaking fair indeed—tempting our faith
with airy hopes and visionary realms, but even
within the folding, of its manila:hiding the bloody
symbol of its purpose.—Hear not its sophistry;
guard your child against it; draw round your
homes, the consecrated circle which it dare not
tiller. You will find an amulet in the religion of
your country—it is the great mound raised by the
Almighty fur the protection of humanity—it stands
between you and the lava of human passions; and,
• lwlitve me, if you wait tamely by while it is
undermined, the !levy deluge will roll on,
before which all that you hold dear, or venerable, or
tiered, will wither iota ashes. Believe no one
• tells you tiiat the friends of freedom are
Lc», or ever were, the enemies of Religion.—
know ton well that rebellion against God
camoit prove the basis of government for matt, and
that tile loftiest Gil nature impiety can raise is but
the Babel monument of its impotence, and its
prplr,mockiug die builders with a moment's st. enai h
arid then covering them with inevitable confusion.
1)-• von cant an example ? only look to France.
'fire nliscrissropic vision of your rabble blasphemers
has l,ot tight enough to contemplate the mighty
minds which comtnenced I.er revolution. The wa—
ttlr sage—the orator—the hero—the whole family of
genius furnished f. rth their treasures, and gave
them nobly to the nation's exigence; they had
great provocation—they bad a glorious cause—they
Fad all that human potency could give them. But
they relied too much upon this human potency—
'they abjured tlit:ir Grid, and, as u natural come-
quesice, they murdered their King—they culled
their polluted deities from the brothel, and the fall
of the idol extinguished the flame of the altar.
They crowded the scaflyld with all their country
held of genius or of virtue, and when the peerage
mid thi 'prelacy were exhausted, the mob-execu.
lineal of to.tfay -became the mob-victim of to.
Morin*. Nn sex was spared—no age respected—
P.:buffeting pitied stud all this they did in the
sacred name of liberty, though in the deluge of
lineman Wood, they left riot • inouniain top for the
14, k of liberty to rest on. But Providence was
sieither " dead nor slerinrig.” It mattered not
that for a moment their impiety setwed to
prosper—that victory panted after their etisalignined
',inners-115ot as their nisi: fiat, eagle soared against
tine sun he seemed but to replume his wing acid
to rel.,» his vision—it was only for a moment. and
you; see at last that iii the very banquet sit their
Iri-
cmph, the Almighty's vengeance blued upon
tho teal, and their diadem fell front the brow
of the idolater. My Lord, I will not abjure the
&car. the throne, and the corotitution for the
bloody tinsel of this revolutionary pantomime.—
I prefer my God, even to the impious ctinocrrey
of their Pantheon-1 will not desert my King, even
fur the !Minima equality of their Pandemontom.--.
1 most see sense better authority thilti thi Fleet-
street Teen 'before I forego the principlti *lnch
I imbibed in my youth.' end to dutch 1 lubk for-
s•arit as the Cribmlatitm of mY age; thnie
cling principles which at once ~hard, and
crdte. soil loreoteo the social intercounie--ohidi
Klee I.fe, happiriesy ; and deathhhope ; which Coo-
stirute man's purity, his best protection. placing
tire infaiit'a cradle is..dthe female's couch beneath
the sacred shelter of the national morality. Drafter
Mr. Paine, or Mr. Palmer, nor ail the venom-
brinithiog brood,' shall swiudle from me the book
where 1 hare learned %hese precepts—in despite of

all their NA and scorn, and menslng, I say, of
the, idlitiealorlanae they +meld obliterate. it is
a book ts, as well authenticated as any heathen
history—a back of miracle", incontestably avouch.
ed—a book or prophecy, confirmed by past as well
as present fnlfilment —a book of poetry, pare and

natural, and elevated even to inspiration—a book of
morals, such as human wisdom never framed for the
perfection of hulll4ll happiness. MyLord, I will abide
by the precepts, admire the beauty, revere the mys.
teries, and as fir as in me in practise the mandates
of this sacred volume ; and should the ridicule of
ears and the blasphemy of hell assail me, I shall
console myself by the contemplation of those
blessed spirits who, in the same holy cause,
have toiled, and shone, nod suffered. In the
"goodly fellowship of the Saints"—in the:l:noble
artily of the Martyrs"—in the society of the greats
and good. and wise of every nation ; if my
sii.furness be not cleansed, and my darkness Mu-
mined, at least my pretensigigless submission may be
excused ; —if I err with thgeminaries I have chosen
fur my guides, 1 confess myself captivated by the
loveliness of their aberrations. If they err it is is
an heavenly region—if they wander, it is in fields
of light—if they aspire, ilia at all events., glorious
daring; and rather than sink with infidelity into the
dust, I am content to cheat myself with their vision
of eternity. It may indeed be nothing but delusion,
but then I err with the disciples of philosophy
and of virtue—with men who have drank deep at
the fountain of human knowledge, but who
dissolved not the pearl of their salvation in the
draught. I err with Bacon, the great confidant of
untrue, fraught with all the learning of the past,
and almost prescient of the future ; yet too wise not
to know his weakness, and too philosophic not to feel
his ignorance. I err with Milton, rising on an
angers wing to heaven, and like the bird of morn,
soaring out of light amid the music of his grateful
piety. I err with Locke, whose pure philosophy
only taught him to adore its sotirces whose
warm love of genuine liberty was never chilled into
rebellion with its author. I err with Newton, whose
star-like spirit shooting athwart the darkness of the
sphere, too soon to re-ascend to the home of his
nativity. I err with Franklin, the patriot of the
world, the playmate of the lightning, the philo.
sopher of liberty, whose electric touch thrilled
through the hemisphere. With men like these, my
Lord, I shall remain in error, nor shall I desert those
errors even for the drunken death-bed of a Paine,
or the delirious war-whoop of the surviving fiends,
who would erect his altar on the ruins of so-
ciety. In my opinion it is difficult to say, whe-
ther their tenets are more ludicrous or more
detestable. They will not obey the King or the
Prince, or the Parliament or the Constitution,
but they will obey anarchy. They will not believe
In the Prophets—in Moses—in Mahomet—in
Christ—hut they believe Tom Paine ! With no
Government but confusion, and no creed but
scepticism, I believe, in my soul, they would
abjure the one, if it became legitimate, and rebel
against the other, if it was once established. Hold-
Mg, my Lord, opinions such as these, I should
consider myself culpable, if, at such a crisis, I
did not declare them. A lover of my country, I
yet draw a line between patriotism and rebellion.
A warm friend to liberty of conscience, I will not
coofound toleration with infidelity. With all its
ambiguity, I *boll die in the doctrines of the
Christian faith ; and with all its errors, I am con-
tented to live under the glorious safeguards of the
British Constitution."

During the course of this speech, Mr. Phillips
was frequently interrupted by the loud and enthu-
siaitic applause of the Meeting., Never indeed did
we witness a more powerful or successful display of
eloquence ; it seemed to have charmed every indi-
vidual present. When Mr. Phillips sat down, the
applause continued for several minutes.
The motion was then put and carried, on which
his Lordship came forward, and in a ve►y neat
►peech returned thanks. He took the occasion of
expressing in high terms the powerful effect of Mr.
Phillips's eloquence—the Bible Society, and, in-
de,d, Christianity, were indebted to the exertions
of that Gentleman.

Mr. Alderman Balms., the Lord Mayor Elect,
said, that after the blaze of eloquence which had
delighted the meeting, be would not trespass for
soy length of time upon their attention. He
agreed with his Lordship on the propriety of using
every means to check the progress of works of infi-
delity. It should be his anxious wish to suppress
them, as far as his authority would enable him to
do so, and at the same tone to entourage by teary practical
means the true spirit of chromate benevoleace amongst his
fellow-citizens. The Society, during the term of his Mayor.
ally, might on all necessary occasions comoisnd the use of
that Hall. He coecluded' by moving the following Resu.
lutiou

Resolved, That the thanks of this Sleeting be given
to the Right Hon. and others the Vice-Presidents of the So-
ciety, for the patronage which they have afforded to the In-
stitution; and that the Gentlemen specified in the aretexed
list be the Vice-Presidents for the year ensuing.

Sir DIGaY MACKWORTNI said he heard with delight the
beautiful and cloqueut speech of Mr. Phillipa—a speech.
which did honour to his priuciples and his gneiss. He was
glad to see the spirit of resistauce roared against iwidelity—
the contest was not doubtful —the cause of truth sad God
amid prevail.. _ .

The following Resolution was then pat and tarried:—
Resolved, 1 hat sloe thanks of this Meeting be given to
the Treasurer, the Secretaries, and the Committee, for their
unions exertions to further the objects of the Society, sad
for their interesting Report; and that the GellitlCllMe• speci.
flkd in the annexed hot be the Committee for the lest ease-
Ise, with power to enlarge their number. •
The Rev. Dsstirt, Wtcsow next addressed the meeting WI
considerable length, and with great effect.
. .

The Rer. Mr. ST 1111 ROPIT, a Germs hfiaritioary,stated,
that in hie .we couutry there were 700 Bible Societies; is
great, hinted, was the dissemination of the woad of G•rbi
that three Ronson Catholic Priests in Germs*, were knows.
to hare distributed three hundred *boomed Bibles.-..(Neer,
deer.)
The Rev. -loosen Ficnnes neat oddettend the alelliing•
He was followed by Mr. Alderesse Sint, who epokesi
evosiderebte length. He toothed villa much force on the
keeling topics of the day, sent paid • very warm tribute to
the eloqueoce of many Gentlemen who went before hint
partintiati to that of the distist•Olsed Gellilmes whim:
speech bad given the oseetiog no mach delight end it.-
',traction.

Thr Hon. Captain P w, R.N. went case forward.
He said, that in his terrier one volunteer was worth twenty
pressed iota.—(A laugh.)—He wished that he could impose
on the imagination of those present—he wished• that they
could belies! him to br hie dintinenished countryman Mr.
ps—that they mould give hinicredit for the troths which
that Gentleman had Mated, aad tire noble eloquence with
winch he bad delighted them, and then indeed he would go
haw srlf-gratified; but as he rather despaired of producing
lIIIh iffeeciwith tiOr lesaisflbe.usairtiselie weight @lively
t►W isynthrlisni t gm, sissArr lint

197 ?“4—farrifig.