RELIGIOUS and CIVIL RIGHTS." Indeed it was at his own express command, the barbarous prosecution of the mild and candid Doddridge, for imparting the blessings of knowledge to the rising generation, was annihilated--the monarch declaring, that" in his reign there should be no persecution for religious opinions!" Nor must it be forgotten, that George the Third on his accession declared, that "THE TOLERATION ACT should be preserved inviolate," and to which the House of Lords replied, that "the preservation of THE TOLERATION ACT inviolate, was the surest support of the PROTESTANT INTEREST in these kingdoms !" And permit me, my Lord, to add, that the reign of GEORGE THE THIRD, emblazoned as it recently hath been, by military and naval exploits, which have now happily terminated, in conjunction with the efforts of foreign Powers, in giving Peace to a harassed and ex

hausted world, will, in the eye of heaven, derive a still purer and more vivid lustre, from its spread of the Holy Scriptures, from its diffusion of knowledge among the Poor, and from its accelerated augmentation of religious Liberty. Indeed looking around on the nations of the earth, then viewing the eminence upon which Britain stands, and to which she has been raised by the fostering hand of Providence, the impartial spectator will exclaim: Many daughters have done virtuously, but THOU excellest them all!

May your Lordship, to the latest period of life, enjoy the consolations, and indulge the exalted hopes of THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, "which is denied without being examined, and reviled without being understood." And, as you have finely remarked, in one of your eloquent speeches at the bar, when addressing yourself to that incomparable

part of our Civil Constitution, a BRITISH JURY, with which the name of Erskine will be associated to latest posterity" Gentlemen, CHRISTIANITY forms at this moment the consolation of a Life, which as a shadow, passes away, and without it, I should consider my long course of health and prosperity, (too long, perhaps, and too uninterrupted to be good for any man), only as the dust which the wind scatters, and rather as a snare than a blessing!"*

I beg leave, my Lord,

to subscribe myself,

Your most obliged humble servant,

Pullin's Row, Islington,

June 1st. 1814.

J. EVANS.

* See an interesting WORK, from which the above, and a preceding extract have been taken,

entitled "The Speeches of the Hon. Thomas Erskine (now LORD ERSKINE) when at the Bar, &c. Second Edition, in Five Volumes."

PREFACE.

THE origin, progress, and success of THIS LITTLE WORK are detailed at length in the DEDICATION of the twelfth edition to the late John Brent, Esq. of Blackheath; and is, for that reason, continued in the present edition, as well as out of respect to his memory. The closing paragraph of the Dedication was but too prophetic; he has quitted this sublunary sphere and is gone to his eternal reward. Including the present edition near one hundred thousand copies of the work have issued from the press! The author ascribes its unparalleled success to the general correctness of its delineations and to the spirit with which it breathes, of peace on earth and of good will towards every individual of the Christian community.

With respect to the present impression the author has to declare, that the work has been