mere warfare, a pilgrimage, a probation, in which "much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed." And Dr. Blair, describing the state of prosperity, drolly admonishes us that "one of the first reflections which must strike every thinking man, after his situation has become agreeable, is, that the continuance of such a situation is most uncertain; that on many sides he sees he may be pierced, and the wider his comforts extend, the broader is the mark which he spreads to the arrows of misfortune." As if a man should never allow himself to be happy, for fear it should make him miserable; or, as if he might be considered in a state of prosperity, while he was frightened out of his wits. While another of the same school, has a better excuse for supposing a most ridiculous alteration of the moral sentiments, contingent on a favourable change of fortune, by conveying the absurdity in very agreeable versification,

"Thus he eased his thought, ́

I'll now give sixpence, where I gave a groat;
Where once I went to church, I'll now go twice,
And am so clear too of all other vice.

Behold Sir, Balaam, now a man of spirit,
Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit;
What once he called a blessing, now was wit,
And God's good providence-a lucky hit."

But sentiments that are really just, will not be affected by any change of our circumstances. Truth is immutable, and always the same, from whatever aspects our change of position may call us to look upon it. It is an ill augury for the chances of the bird in the bush, that nobody ever dreams of catching him till the bird in the hand has done singing; and an ill and ungrateful return it is to the Almighty for the comforts we have had in this life, to take upon ourselves the impertinence of supposing that any other life would be a better one.

Let us but be so sober as to look at our own anatomy-let us contemplate the materials of our structure, and the laws which, continue us in existence at all, and we shall see that the quantity of human happiness, and the superabundance of agreeable over painful sensations, is prodigious; that, organised as we are, it is no fixed state, that is, or could be, happy to us. No-. thing is at rest in nature-nothing formed to be so. The state of prosperity to man, therefore, is the state of hope and of pursuit only, not of acquisition and security. The lassitude of mind, the loss of energy and appetite which would inevitably follow upon our having nothing more to wish and nothing more to pursue, would destroy us much sooner than the roughest buffeting of adversity.

(The press of matter inevitably throws over to the next Number, the remainder of this interesting article.-R. C.)

Printed and Published by RICHARD CARLILE, 62, Fleet street, where all Communications, post paid, or free of expence, are requested to be left.

No. 19. VOL. 4.] LONDON, Friday, Nov. 6, 1829. [PRICE 6d.

THE walls of the metropolis have been for some days placarded with the announcement, that this society of dissenting preachers were about to meet at the Albion Chapel, Moorgate, on Tuesday evening, November 3rd, to consider of and devise some means to prevent the present profanation, as it is called, of the Sabbathday. The Infidel Missionaries, on hearing of this meeting, determined to be present, for the following reasons and purpose:First. Whatever might be pretended by its conveners about the object of such a meeting being strictly religious, its bearing. on the community, which is not, nor ought it to be wholly religious, is entirely a political bearing.

Second. It is an act of tyranny and intolerance to enforce any kind of observance of the Sabbath, or any other day, excepting what is meet with good laws and good morals, which have no relation to religion.

Third-There is no Christian authority for the observance of a Sabbath; Jesus Christ himself being represented as profaning the Jewish Sabbath, and setting it at nought, without requiring the observance of any day as a Sabbath.

Fourth. That the only day as a Sabbath, for which there is any pretence of divine revelation, is not now observed by the Christian world.

Fifth. That both Jewish and Christian religions are worn out and publicly loathed.

On the strength of these reasons, the Infidel Missionaries attended, with the purpose of moving an effectual amendment. At the opening of the business, and before any one but the chairman had spoken, a religious man, an avowedly religious man, who was, or appeared to be intoxicated, addressed the chairand of a religious body of men meddling with subject. He was clamoured down two or three times; and at last forcibly, and with great violence, ejected. At the No. 19. Vol. 4.

matical

a.

2 P

time at which this happened, one of the managers on the ros trum said, that no objection would be made to any person's moving a resolution or amendment, provided it was handed to the chairman, with a proper name and address. On hearing this, the Infidel Missionaries resolved to act at the proper time; and at the putting of the first resolution, Mr. Carlile rose to move an amendment, which was so well pointed, as to falsify all their pretensions. Besides the religious man who had been ejected, two strangers had been allowed to address the chairman, in favour of the object of the meeting, before the putting of the first resolution. There was an evident indisposition to receive any kind of amendment; for, like the last-dying speeches of hanged felons, the business of the meeting, as to its passing resolutions, was in print before it began. It was to be a very snug thing: there was to be no dissent. The object of certain individuals was a certain plan to raise certain sums of money; and as the resolutions were all resolved beforehand, nothing more was meant in the meeting, than a few prepared speeches to tickle the money out of the pockets of the simpletons who would attend. It was a great insult to a meeting called together professedly for deliberation, and for assent or dissent; it was a lie to print beforehand, that such and such resolutions were moved, seconded, and adopted. Pretty fellows, these, to complain of the public morals, who would thus go practically to work to pick pockets with a lie in their hands! This is Christian instruction! These are “friends of God!" They are not friends to mankind. “Friends of God!" Enemies of God! Poor God! thou art strangely blasphemed, and treated as contemptible by these thy professed friends. Needest thou their friendship?-Then thou art despicable, indeed. Acceptest thou it ?-Then thou art not less despicable. How can man be thy enemy? Can man be the enemy of the sun, of the moon, of the earth, of the ocean? How much more presumptuous is it to say, that man is either the friend or enemy of God-of all things?

The following is the printed lie circulated in the chapel during the meeting:

PROFANATION OF THE SABBATH. At a Special General Meeting of the Subscribers, Visitors, and Friends of the Society for promoting Christian Instruction in London and its vicinity, held at Albion Chapel, Moorgate, on Tuesday Evening, Nov. 3d, 1829, Thomas Wilson, Esq. of Highbury, in the Chair; the following Resolutions were severally moved, seconded, and adopted :

1. That we acknowledge with gratitude and awe the divine and permanent authority of the Christian Sabbath over all classes and conditions of men and therefore witness with feelings of peculiar sorrow aud alarm its open and increasing profanation by multitudes of every rank in this metropolis, who, in unnumbered

:

ways, desecrate its sacred hours, and thereby increase the amount of national depravity, endanger the stability of the empire, and provoke the righteous judgments of the Almighty upon themselves and the community.

2. That we regard it to be our duty, as members and friends of the Christian Instruction Society, to endeavour, by all the moral means in our power, to promote one of the primary objects for which it was established, "the observance of the Lord's Day;" and therefore, as the professed friends of God and our country, we bear this our humble but solemn testimony against the shameless violation of the fourth commandment; and presume to remind all persons of illustrious and noble rank, and of official station and influence, of the alarming mischiefs which must inevitably result to themselves and the country, from the open and continued profanation of that day which is rendered sacred, not only by human edicts, but by that divine law which cannot with impunity be broken.

3. That availing ourselves of the extended organization of this Society, we entreat our esteemed associates and brethren the Committees, Superintendents, and Visitors of our numerous federated associations, to deliberate on and employ the means best adapted to their respective neighbourhoods, to reprove and lessen the awful profanation of the Lord's Day; and we request our Committee to prepare and publish, for the use of our associations and the public, such original or selected placards, tracts, and pamphlets, as may appear best adapted to persuade our countrymen to abandon that demoralizing and ungodly practice.

4. That conscious of the effects of personal example, we deem it to be our solemn duty on the Lord's Day to abstain from all the pursuits of worldly business, all visits of entertainment or ceremony, and all journeys which are not demanded by cases of urgency, or purposes of charity, and that in our families we will not require our domestics or dependants to engage in unnecessary occupations; and further, we pledge ourselves to use our best influence with tradesmen and others in our respective employ, to discountenance a practice which is afflictive to all true Christians, and subversive of the best interests of the country.

5. That aware of the powerful influence of the Christian ministry over the public mind, it appears to us peculiarly necessary that it should be especially exerted at the present crisis, to censure the wanton desecration of the Sabbath-day; and therefore we agree that an appropriate circular letter be prepared and sent to the Christian pastors of this metropolis, of every denomination, calling their serious attention to the melancholy fact, and entreating them, in the public discharge of their official duties, to reprove and condemn this appalling evil.

6. That subscriptions and collections be now made, and employed to print and circulate those publications which may be

deemed appropriate by the committee; and that Thomas Wilson, Esq. and the Pastor and Elders of Albion Chapel be assured, that by their kind compliance with the requests of the Committee, they have greatly contributed to promote the objects for which this meeting was convened.

The amendment which Mr. Carlile offered to the first resolution was as follows:

"Resolved, That there is no authority in the Scriptures of the Old or the New Testament, or in the writings of the fathers of the church, for the observance of the present Sunday as a sabbath."

On rising to propose this amendment, the managers of the meeting, with their already settled and printed resolutions, were astounded. The first cry was No, no." A counter-cry of read the amendment being set up, it was called for. As it was being passed to the chair, some of the Christians cried out, " Destroy it;" and a fellow put it into his pocket, and sat down. This would not do; a second was ready written, and, at last, the original passed to the committee. One of the fellows said he could not read it. Mr. Carlile exclaimed, "I will read it."-" No, no,” was the cry. Another took it, read it privately, and declared it was blasphemous! Then to get rid of it, the cry of "Turn him out" was set up. One of the committee came to Mr. Carlile to tell him, that he was not entitled to propose an amendment, as he was neither a subscriber, a visitor, nor one of the friends convened. Three constables producing their staves were requested by this manager to take Mr. Carlile into custody, as an intruder and a disturber, though one-half the persons present were not advocates of the proceedings. Mr. Carlile left the chapel avowedly in custody, and, to his surprise, when he got to the street-door, he found the three constables had run away from him, and he had no occasion to run away from them.

We expected to have heard at the meeting some outcry about our Sunday Schools of Free Discussion; but these were not alluded to, other than under the general head of Infidelity. The complaint, as to profanation of the Sabbath, was divided into three heads, as it related to the working-people. First-Gin was cheap; they could buy gin on the Sunday, and get drunk. Second-Newspapers were sold on the Sunday, and the working-people dared to read them. And third-That shops were kept open for the sale of different articles; that butchers swore when parsons passed by, and their well-brushed coats were in danger of being sprinkled with blacking, or themselves jostled, by the brushing of shoes in the public streets. Such were the allusions of the report of the society. No allowance was made for the Jews, who make such sacrifices to the rigid observance of their proper sabbath on the Saturday. It is but fair to say, the rich were also remonstrated with; the King and his cabinet were