pline, but the next clause, after enumerating the duties to be performed, concludes with these words, "and if it shall appear to the justices in Quarter Sessions assembled, that any chaplain shall have neglected any of his duties, they are hereby enpowered and required to direct, that his salary or any portion thereof, which they may think proper, shall not be paid, or to remove him from his office."

Without adverting to the manifest contradiction of these enact ments, I cannot but regard the latter as a direct infringement of the powers, with which the bishops are invested by the stipendiary curates act, and entirely subversive of that independence, which it was intended to secure to that useful and laborious class of the established clergy. Beset with dangers as our Church is in the present day, I trust, Mr. Editor, you will agree with me in thinking, that even the most trifling innovation should be resisted; and if it should be said, that very few of the clergy can be affected by the present measure, may it not go to the establishment of a precedent, which may ultimately be productive of most disastrous consequences? If a clergyman's stipend may be curtailed, in direct opposition to the bishop's licence, or himself removed from his office by persons acting in a civil capacity in one instance, why not in another?

Having said thus much, I would leave the matter to the wisdom of our ecclesiastical rulers; briefly sug gesting that I am at a loss to discover, why one class of clergymen should be subject to any rules or ordinances imposed chiefly by laymen, when they are amenable to their diocesan, for any dereliction of those ministerial duties to the performance of which they solemnly pledged themselves at their ordination.

ΣΚΟΠΟΣ,

JOHANNA SOUTHCOTE AND

PROPHET TURNER.

A CORRESPONDENT has called our attention to the persevering ef forts of a few crazy or crafty indivi duals in the cause of the wretched woman whose name is at the head of this article. We are not so simple as to imagine that the ravings and blasphemies of Prophet John Turner will be diminished by any exposure of his folly or of his fraud. But it may serve the purpose of a serious, if not salutary, warning to many well-intentioned and erring individuals, who conceive that there is no danger in heating the imaginations of the ignorant, and that fanaticism is a bugbear in the mouth of the worldly and the formalist. The fashion of the present day is to tolerate every thing; aud to maintain that enthusiasm and hypocrisy are no checks to the progress of religion. If any of our readers shall be of opinion that Mr. John Turner ought to be permitted, in virtue of a sixpenny license, to preach the trash which we are about to quote, or that the dissemination of his blasphemies is harmless and innocent, we exhort them forthwith to become attendants upon his ministry; and have no doubt that they will be qualified to assist him in his labours.

He has published various pamphlets, which are sold by S. Ġompertz, Granby-Gardens, Lambeth; and three of these are now before

us.

One is entitled, "The Inheritance, by George Turner, the Servant of God." Another, "The rich Treasure of the Kingdom revealed to George Turner;" another, "The Assurance of the Kingdom, by George Turner, the Servant of God.'

Our readers will be not a little disgusted at hearing that the speaker in all three, for they are composed in the first person, is God himself, who is represented as making immediate revelations to the prophet. Of the two first books, the principal subject is the ap

proaching kingdom of Shiloh, which is described with the greatest minuteness. The prophecies of the Scriptures are set down as a sort of text, and God is supposed to expound them to his servant. The following is a fair specimen.

"These promises shall be fulfilled to man and woman upon earth; for the whole earth is mine, the Lord, and the possession must return unto me, the Lord, when I command: and all laws of men must cease, that my laws may be established; and I will give the kingdom to my son Shiloh, who will give it to my children and people to inherit; and order it as I shall command to the ends of the earth. Every man shall have his wife, and every woman shall have her husband; and man and woman so soon as they are of age to unite, as none will remain alone when man is of years, I give him power to choose his wife; but when he makes his intention known, if her heart and mind be not inclined to him, she must make it known; and then he must not pursue her any more; but when he is accepted, then the father of the woman must give her unto him in the presence of two of the principal men of the city, town, or village where they dwell; or the nearest to which they dwell, and it must be recorded; for order must be in my kingdom. And I will order the land for their inheritance, and their house and buildings; the expence must be paid out of my trea sury, which I shall appoint in every city, town, and village in my kingdom; and seed and tools for their use, and furniture for their houses, and convenient things for the other buildings; and provisions for one year must be given them, And as the people multiply (which they will do) to an immensity upon earth, (as no disease or complaint will be amongst them as they increase,) I will increase the earth from the sea, and other lakes of waters, to be dry land. As the earth hath been divided, and the sea rose up and co

vered the land that then was seen; so I shall command, and the sea will retire again into its place, and the earth be united as one continent. And I will give one speech to all people upon earth, that an intercourse may be open to all from one end of the earth unto the other end of the earth; that all may praise my holy name, and join in the same language; the tongues will then be no longer divided; but all be one speech in the earth. I shall give my son Shiloh my command to order this my kingdom, for all nations and peoples, and for the generations that shall be born. And man and woman will be united in the sweetest ties of love and affections, being holy; and their offspring will be holy over all the earth. And the earth I will bless with abundance of all sorts of fruits, both for man and beast, and they will be pure, sanctified for their use; and wine abundantly will flow for man and woman; the use of spirits will cease, man and woman will not require them, being healthy and lively; and the vigour of youth will remain with them in their old age, in all their days. There shall be money, as my son Shiloh shall direct, and banks in every city, town, and village, to put my treasure in, under my son Shiloh, and his council of princes; which must have the direction of them under the command of my son Shiloh. The stamp upon the money must be "The KINGDOM IS THE LORD'S," on one side; and on the other side what my son Shiloh shall direct. I am the Lord." P. 72.

We hardly like to venture upon another extract from such a farrago of blasphemies; but the following is laughable, rather than shocking, and is too curious to be passed over.

"I have laid up in store treasures, both temporal and spiritual, for man and woman to enjoy in my kingdom, which man cannot comprehend a knowledge of the enjoyment; but I will point it out unto them, for I will bless them with

abundance of riches. The earth shall bring forth abundance of fruits, and blest with my blessing; and such as has not been known yet in the world for good, of all kinds, and for all people for to enjoy in all the earth. And every family shall have their inheritance for to enjoy, and for their generations also to enjoy; not to be sold, nor alienated from them. Cattle and flocks of sheep, and corn, and wine in abundance; fowls, ducks, geese, and abundance of all kinds of clean fowls, of all sorts, shall be upon their inheritances; with springs, and rivers of waters, and fish of all sorts and kinds for eating; with all kinds of herbs, and spicy balms, and sugars, teas, coffees, and cocoa nuts; with bread, fruits, peas, beans, cabbage, carrots, turnips, celery, spinnach, cauliflower, brocoli, onions, cucumbers, asparagus, lettuce, potatoes, and all other blessings from the gardens for man's use; and by a small labour of cultivation shall bring forth abundance, by continually growing at all times in all places, summer and winter; and seed time and harvest will continue in the earth, and the fruits of the trees; berries of all kinds; apples of all the best kinds, plums of all the best kinds, pears of all the best kinds, wall fruits of all kinds, grapes of all kinds; oranges, lemons, pomegranates, pine-apples, melons: artichokes, and precious roots of all kinds." P. 8.

Thus far there seems to be no doubt that Prophet Turner is silly and mad: but the third work makes us acquainted with another ingredient in his character, and proves that he is rogue likewise. The book itself is more extravagantly impious than either of the former pretending to be answers dictated directly by the Almighty to all the questions and letters which had been received by his prophet. "Thou hast read M-'s letter complaining of his not being permitted to see thee, and I the Lord, answer." This is the form in which each chapter commences. And the subjects upon which the

Almighty is thus represented as giving his commands are the squabbles between Turner, and certain gentlemen with short names, Messrs. M—, B-, G-, &c. &c. It appears incidentally that there is a committee, which Turner cannot always manage; and that a list is kept of women who are married to the Lamb, and who are consequently to be admitted to his marriage feast. Many letters relate to the individuals who are placed upon this list. Others have reference to a different but not less important subject; and we extract them at full length.

"I now order the committee to write to all my children, to prepare tokens of love to me, the Lord, for my treasury; and they must be given to thee, to assist thee in thy journey. I will provide for G-'s family while he is with thee in the journey; and my blessings shall be upon my children. I am the Lord." P. 168.

"I will now explain unto thee my words, as my children I see stand in need: I have said thou wilt now be freed, and thou art freed from my restraint upon thee of being retired: but my time is not fully come for me, the Lord to rise up unto the prey; then I shall call thee forth; but now the restraint is man's restraint moved by evil, to try to stop the fulfilment of my words but I will work round thy deliverance in my providence, for my honour and glory. Thou must write to the committee, to send those books to thee, for thee to send to thy relations, and others as before; and they must send thee ten pounds, to pay the expences of the carriage of the parcels, and other expences, I will tell thee of. If H-will agree to thy going to Leeds, and for him to go with thee, thou may go and return back with him again. I am the Lord." P. 177.

"The fifty pounds I ordered Ito pay thee for expences, clothing, support, and travelling, of the first of October, he must send to thy

directions, as thou appoints him: taking an acknowledgment for thee, to pay the interest of the mortgage. And the rents of the estates must be put into the hands of trustees, for the benefit of thyself, while thou remains here; and for thy family, of son and daughter, and her children, as I shall further direct. Let him pay it to K-for thee. I am the Lord."

We shall say no more of George Turner; but we cannot help regretting that the punishment of the pillory has fallen into disuse. This man gathers congregations and itinerates, and makes converts and picks pockets: Is he not a proper object for the tender sclicitude of the Society for Protecting Religious Liberty?

Among the places where he is acknowledged, Cornwall and Devonshire are said to be distinguished;

and we have been favoured with a sight of several letters written to a clergyman in Devonshire, by a woman named Mary Boon. The greater part of these epistles is too horrid and blasphemous to be printed. She says that the kingdom has long been warned through Mr. George Turner the Prophet, and Johanna Southcott the Prophetess; and she does not appear to be indifferent to the good things which Mr. Turner has promised, or ignorant of his plan for procuring them. She offers all the temporal blessings which her prophet has enumerated in case the person whom she addresses "will have a house done up in one month for John Brown to live in, and per contra she threatens that in case of refusal he shall never see another Christmas day." The whole is compounded of imposture and enthusiasm in equal proportions: and happy should we be, if we had any reason to believe, that her imitators were few, or were decreasing.

REMEMBRANCER, No. 32.

To the Editor of the Remembrancer. SIR,

THE great rage for Bibles without note or comment, is a novelty in which the generality of your readers have no disposition to take a part. But they may be confirmed in their present good principles by learning through the medium of your Miscellany, that the sentiments now avowed by all classes of Dissenters, were not always in fashion among the fathers of their schism. I ac

cordingly subjoin, and request you

to insert, an extract from the Preface to the Annotations on the

Bible, published by the Assembly of Divines, who met at Westminster under the authority of the long Parliament. These persons were and ability than any who have apmore celebrated for learning, wisdom, peared among their successors; and the value of their testimony is more considerable on that account. It is for their descendants to explain why they set at nought the advice liberation upon a subject with which of men, who spoke after mature dethey were so well acquainted.

I remain, &c. &c.

A.

"The third thing which improveth the price of our portion in religion, is the necessary use and great benefit of expositions and annotations upon the Bible, to render the right meaning of the words of the translation, as the translation does the words of the original; for though the Scriptures may have their use, and force upon the affections of ignorant readers, at first sight, without any serious search into their hidden sense, and may have worke upon the will to encline it to good, or withdraw it from evil (as it was with Austin, in his casual and sudden reading of the Apostle, Let us walke honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkennesse, not in chambering and wantonnesse, not in 30

strife and envying, Rom. xiii. 13.); yet what Peter saith of his beloved brother Paul's Epistle, there are some things which are hard to be understood, 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. may be truly said of many other parts of holy Scripture, especially in the books of Genesis, Job, Canticles, Ezekiel, Daniel, some other of the Prophets, and the Revelation.

"To which he that seriously reads them may apply the patheticke admiration of Austin. There is a wonderful profoundnesse in thy words; a wonderful profoundness, oh my God! a wonderful profoundnesse: it is a matter of horrour to pierce towards the depth of them, an horrour of horrours, and terrour of love: so that if the question were put to most of those (who are daily conversant in the reading of the Bible, and read it by course from one end to the other) which Philip put unto the Eunuch, Understandist thou what thou readest? their answer (for divers texts) might be the same with his, How can I, except some one should guide me? Acts viii. ver. 30, 31.

"The question implyeth, that he that readeth should (if it may be) un derstand what he readeth; and our Saviour his precept enjoyneth an endeavour to that purpose, where he saith, Who so readeth let him understand, Matt. xxiv. 15.

And the answer directeth the reader to desire and to seeke for a guide, and though now there be none to be found whose guidance is infallible (for the best guide may be some times to seeke, and seeking may be at a losse, for the proper sense of some obscure places of the Scripture), yet may he make such a probable interpretation of them, as may prevent a dangerous misconception of an imprudent inconsiderate reader?"

"Nor had those ridiculous heresies of Peputians, Seleucians, and Ascites, and such like, ever been hatched, if the places of Scripture, on which they founded their erroneous opinions, had been fenced

an orthodox exposition against misconstruction.

"Nor had (it may be) such groundlesse and fatal fantasies, as some have set abroach and spread abroad, been the fruit of their fa miliar reading of the Word of God, if some expositors or annotators had been ready at hand, to shew them the sense of difficult sayings; in which respect (by the goodnesse of God) the modern times are more happy, than many centuries of anciently precedent ages."

ON PSALMODY.

To the Editor of the Remembrancer. Sir,

I HAVE at different times heard many good persons complaining that we have no Christian hymns in the public service of our Church-no hymns exclusively Christian, that make mention of the name of Christ and the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. They would be the last, they say, to approve of the low, familiar, and enthusiastic compositions that are often put forth and used under the name of hymns; but they still think that, as Christians, they should not in their offerings of praise be confined to the Jewish Psalms of David, however excellent, as such, they may be, but should have others provided more appropriate to their Christian state, and expressive of the mercies of Redemption. I think however with due deference to these good persons, that they cannot be fully alive to the real merits of the Psalter. Psalter is a collection of inspired songs, and as such, confessedly above every other composition, merely human, and consequently if it should not contain all that we might want, we are certain that it can contain nothing that is wrong, for the spirit that dictated it is the spirit of truth. This is a most important consideration to begin with.

The