present writer has availed himself of the assistance of De Foe, as, far as practicable. When this authority fails, the narrative has been connected from other sources, and chiefly from the writings of his contemporaries. In the quotations from De Foe, his sentiments have been delivered faithfully, and in his own words, without any other liberty than the abbreviation of a sentence, and the occasional substitution of a word, for the purpose of rendering the passage more intelligible. As the biographer of De Foe, rather than his apologist, the writer does not hold himself responsible for the accuracy of his opinions nor for the propriety of his conduct, any further than they will admit of a just defence. In many of his opinions, political and ecclesiastical, he freely avows a congeniality of thinking; but he has no desire to prejudice the reader by giving them more effect than is warranted by the facts and reasonings brought forward in the work.

Dryden, in his life of Lucian, observes, that biographical writing is at all times the most difficult task for an historian; and it may be added, that it is increasingly so when the times of which he writes are distinguished by faction. The characters of men then become distorted by prejudice, and the page of history presents a tissue of misrepresentation and falsehood. It was the misfortune of De Foe to flourish at a period when every thing was viewed through the false light of party.

Religion and politics being the occasions of strife, the passions of men were heated in a degree commensurate with their importance; and it had a serious influence upon the representation of character. If we are to credit the reports of partywriters, the virtues and vices that belong indifferently to the whole of the species, are entailed upon distinct classes of men, according to a particular rule of favoritism which they have established amongst themselves. This was precisely the case in the days of De Foe, when Whig and Tory became the watch-words of party; and in their application to morals, were the only symbols of right and wrong. In the contests between high and low church, the disposition to moderation seemed nearly lost; and if ever it raised its head, was branded for lukewarmness. The orthodoxy of the day, was no better than slavery both in church and state; and to advocate the principles of the Revolution, was to be a Presbyterian and a Republican-names that were appropriated to some of the best friends of the constitution.

The dissensions that prevailed at former periods have been mixed up so much with ecclesiastical subjects, that it is impossible to understand our history correctly, without some acquaintance with the controversies of the times. Although these are no longer interesting to the majority of persons, who read rather for amusement than for information; yet the importance of this knowledge, in order to a

PREFACE.

right understanding of things, and to estimate accurately the contradictory reports of our historians, cannot be doubted.

The bad use that has been made of religion by designing men, has had the most unhappy effect upon the nation. In the hands of crafty politicians, it has been an engine for misleading the ignorant and the servile, who have been made the tools of

faction for the basest purposes. The disgraceful doings, in the name of the Church, that disfigured the reigns of the Stuarts, and had the double purpose of advancing the prerogative, and enslaving the conscience, were but a continuation of those schemes of power that were devised for the slavery of mankind before the Reformation. Although by that event, the Pope lost his supremacy in England, yet the policy that governed religious matters continued nearly the same; and the ecclesiastical orders being numerous, it became the policy of statesmen to convert them into efficient instruments for their own designs. This diversion of the clergy from spiritual objects, imparted to the Church a secular character; and it was further promoted by the ecclesiastical courts, which were for a long time the terror of the people.

Thus, the history of the Church, instead of being a record of piety, presents a sad picture of the squabbles of men for ritual observances; and is fruitful in the contentions of rival sects for the establishment of a dominion upon the ruins of each

other. In support of the extravagant monopoly, the successful party never scrupled to call in the aid of the sword, vainly pretending to settle ecclesiastical questions by civil pains and penalties. Although precedents drawn from unenlightened times had sanctioned this policy, yet the folly of it was fully emblazoned in its futility. To the uninitiated in these mysteries, it may seem strange that so much blood should have been shed by Christians in behalf of rites and ceremonies, which most of them have acknowledged to be of human invention; but when it is known that they have been the passport to ambition and worldly aggrandizement, the secret is disclosed. In the pursuit of these, it has been found convenient to let loose the bad passions of bigots and fanatics, who, like so many destroying angels, have spread desolation in their progress, and blighted the fairest parts of the creation. It is thus that religion, divested of its moral qualities, has been converted into a temporal kingdom, as foreign to the genius of the system, as to the peace of society; and to support the anomaly, it has acted upon the public like a sword to slay the body, rather than as a medicine to heal the soul.

Since the days of De Foe, much light has been diffused over the public mind upon these subjects, and legislation has profited by the circumstance. The rubbish accumulated during the dark ages, and long fostered with reverence, has lost much of the sanctity with which superstition had clothed

it. Time has discovered that men possess rights, as members of the state, which cannot be subverted by speculative opinions; and tardy justice has been offered to the principle, by a partial overthrow of the usurpation. Errors of long growth, especially when they become identified with the institutions and habits of a people, are necessarily slow in their removal; but this circumstance is favourable to the permanency of the truths that supplant them. Whilst education is in progress, the truths that pertain to the principles of society will be in a state of developement, and it will be found expedient to recur to them as the basis of government. In the career of improvement, the machinery that encircles religion must be expected to participate, and its utility promoted, by divesting it of its political connections; for reason teaches, that those objects are only to be obtained by leaving open the mode of its profession to the judgment of mankind, unfettered by political restraints, or the allurement of temporal benefits (a).

Upon subjects that involve a contrariety of opinions, we are not to look for an uniformity of assent to the conclusions of any writer; and he shews but an imperfect acquaintance with human nature who exacts it. A liability to error is so much a condition

(a) The reader will bear in mind, that the whole of the present work was composed before the late repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts; and written under the influence of the state of things as they previously existed.