was a measure attended with peculiar success; and it may be acceptable to our readers to have some account of them. A small sum is paid monthly by each member; and the fund thus raised (which is increased by charitable contributions) is appli d partly to the relief of the sick and aged, and is partly distributed in rewards, on the day of their marriage, to those young women whose character has been irreproachable. A regard to female reputation has thus been encouraged; and by these, and various other means, a higher standard of morals has been introduced into the district.

The advantageous effects of Mrs. More's schools were, after a certain time, very fully and generally acknowledged. They were mentioned with approbation in the publications of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor. They have been the means of exciting, in many quarters, a zeal for similar institutions. They have contributed to exalt the religious character and stimulate the exertions of the Clergy themselves; to whose inspection they have always been submitted. They have been visited by many benevolent foreigners; and Mrs. More has often been loaded, and even overwhelmed, with compliments, on account of the success of her exertions. Multitudes have been accustomed to attend the celebration of an annual festival, held on the hills of Cheddar: a festival in tended chiefly for the purpose of affording an innocent amusement, to more than a thousand children; though it has been sometimes misrepresented by the malevolent, as a contrivance calculated solely for the ostentatious display of Mrs. More's own charity.-Few persons, perhaps, more entirely exclude from their religion, all dullness, all pharisaical severity, and all Sectari an sourness, than Mrs. More; and none, as we believe, have been less afraid of incurring the charge of vanity when it has appeared necessary to submit to that imputation, for the sake of recommending loyalty, of disseminating religion, and of promoting the general good.

That the beneficial influence of Mrs.

More's labours has not been over stated, appears, not only from the testimony of Nine Clergymen, belonging to the parishes in which the schools are placed, but also from that of the Curate of Blagdon himself, (the Rev. Mr.. Bere), who is lately become her accuser; for in a letter to Mrs. More on this subject, written on the 7th March 1797, Mrs. Bere expresses herself as follows:

"The School," the Blagdon School, " goes on very well, There seems to be a serious spirit, working for good among the common people. Mr. Bere desires me to say, which he thinks is saying a great deal, that two Sessions and two Assizes are past, and a third of each nearly approaching, and neither as prosecutor or prisoner, plaintiff or defendant, has any of this parish, once so notorious for crimes and litigation, appeared; and moreover warrants for wood stealing, pilfering, &c. are quite out of fashion."*

Our readers may probably be surprised, when they are told that institutions, so evidently tending to promote the cause of religion and morality, have been the occasion of exposing Mrs. More to severe censure, and that these censures have been framed and uttered by a Clergyman of the Church of England. The circumstances which led

*We might fill our pages, were it necessary, with additional testimonies to the same effect, from the Nine Clergymen above alluded to. These testimonies are contained in a little pamphlet, called " A Statement of Facts," they afford the most satisfactory evidence, of to which we beg to refer our readers; and the loyalty, regularity, and utility of Mrs. More's institutions. It is impossible, indeed, for any candid man to peruse them, without feeling a strong conviction, that the charges of a sectarian and seditious tendency, which Mr. Bere has in so unqualified a manner advanced against Mrs. More's schools, are wholly unfounded. The mode pursued by Mr. Bere, for invalidating the attestations of these nine clergymen, is, in the highest degree, unbecoming a Christian Minister, not to say an

honest man

He endeavours to hold some of them up to ridicule; while he distorts, misrepresents, and garbles the words of others; but on this point, we must refer our readers to the pamphlet called the "Force of Contrast," as a specification of particulars would occupy more room than we can spare for that purpose,

to this extraordinary attack, were the following:

The Master of Blagdon School was represented by the wife of the Rev. Mr. Bere, the Curate of Blagdon, to be of a methodistical turn; and, in particular, objections were made against a weekly meeting of grown persons, held at his house. The weekly meeting was, in consequence of this representation, discontinued. Mr. Bere, some time afterwards, complained of certain words injurious to his character,which he understood to have been spoken by the same Schoolmaster, and on this account insisted on his being dismissed. To this demand Mrs. More did not yield a ready acquiescence. Whether she was at this time aware of the natural violence of Mr. Bere's temper, and of those habits of misrepresentation and unfounded assertion, of which he has lately given so many disgraceful specimens; or whether she judged that this request, though accompanied with high professions of approbation of her measures, was intended merely as a prelude to an attempt to overthrow all her schools; or whether she thought herself under some sort of obligation to protect the character of her dependent, we do not presume to judge; nor is it to our present purpose to decide, whether the rule of conduct she adopted at this juncture, was the very best which human wisdom could dictate. It is sufficient for us to state, that she referred the examination of the point at issue, to her friend Sir Abraham Elton.

Mr. Bere is himself a Magistrate; and the mode which was adopted, both by Sir Abraham Elton and Mr. Bere, of substantiating their several allega. tions, was that of taking down numerous affidavits; a proceeding on many accounts highly exceptionable. Affidavits on the side of Mr. Bere, were taken before himself, and were made by persons of a low condition, (one of the principal by a woman of infamous character,) and were full of hearsay evidence. Affidavits in flat contratiction to these were taken by the other party. The Bishop of the Diocese heard of the dispute, though in an imperfect manner, and expressed some opinion, though not an official one, in

favour of the removal of the Schoolmaster. At a meeting of some neighbouring gentry and clergy, which was proposed by Sir Abraham Elton, Mr. Bere, however, having been allowed to select the individuals who should attend, (in doing which he contrived to prepossess their minds upon the subject,) a resolution was passed, in favour of the removal of the Schoolmaster; and Mrs. More immediately both dismissed the man and put a period to the institution, though not without giving earnest exhortations to the children and their parents, to avoid all complaint, and to attend duly as before at the church in which Mr. Bere officiated.

The Bishop, learning that the information which had led him to conclude that Mrs. More's Schoolmaster ought to be dismissed, was incorrect, and having also heard certain things unfavourable to the character of Mr. Bere, suspended him from his curacy, and requested Mrs. More to restore both the School and her Schoolmaster, which was done accordingly.

Mr. Bere, however, refused to yield his pulpit to the person whom his Rector appointed to succeed him; and the Bishop, after a time, took off the suspension; some of the charges made against Mr. Bere not being substantiated. The School was now once more dissolved, and Mr. Bere is at this time Curate of Blagdon.

Mr. Bere's principal charge against Mrs. More, is, her having preferred secret accusations against him to his Rector and to the Bishop, in consequence of which he had been suspended.

It appears, indeed, that Mrs. More had transmitted certain complaints against Mr. Bere, in a letter to his Rector, by whom they were conveyed to be Bishop; but it is also certain, that she had distinctly authorized the Rector to inform Mr. Bere of the substance of her letter, though not to grant a copy of it. Her object however seems to have been, to vindicate the character of her Schoolmaster, and not to injure Mr. Bere. She never, at any time, either directly or indirectly, applied for Mr. Bere's dismission; an assertion which we hazard on

the authority of Dr. Moss, the Bishop's son, and the Chancellor of the Diocese.

We think it also right to make known this fact, that Dr. Crossman (Mr. Bere's Rector,) with a warmth becoming the integrity of his character, has expressed his regret and indignation, that Mrs. More should have incurred so much abuse on account of a transaction (Mr. Bere's dismission from his curacy) in which she had no

concern.

Mr. Bere has, however, written three pamphlets, in which he assumes it as a point proved, that Mrs. More had used means to effect his ruin. This accusation, we have already said, is untrue; and we are concerned to add, that the books containing this unwarrantable charge, are composed in a manner equally disgraceful to the character of a clergyman, or a gentleman. We do not now refer to the quaint, perplexed, and inaccurate style of these writings, which reflect little credit on the literary talents of their author; but we would chiefly animadvert on that vein of low scurrility which pollutes almost every page, and compels us to suspect, that the man who possesses so rare a fluency in this gross dialect, is the familiar companion of those who habitually employ no better language.

The circumstance, however, of his having been suspended, before he had been fully heard in his own defence, appears to have given some temporary credit to his cause; and having once taken up the pen to complain, he seems to have lost all sense of propriety and decorum, indulging a querulous prolixity till he has rendered himself disgusting and absurd.*

* The following may serve as specimens of the style of Mr. Bere.-"For this the world gives you no credit. It is thus you acted with Mrs. Cowley, Mrs. Yearsley, and on other occasions But if you thought these were not your equals in society, you cannot think so of me. Had your mind been even a little imbued with right principles, you would not have been so indefatigable in forming, fostering, and, by the basest means, defending practices directly contrary both to our civil and religious establishment. I never countenanced the low ri

To the several books of Mr. Bere and his coadjutors, which contain, as we conceive, many actionable passages, Mrs. More, whose ill health, indeed, has rendered her unequal to any business, has given no answer; and her silence has been one alleged ground, for the vast quantity of coarse and violent abuse poured out against her. Many of the grosser falsehoods of these pamphlets have however been pointed out, in the publications of persons, who appear to have volunteered their serWe would, in parvices in her cause. ticular, refer our readers to a little tract, entitled, "The Force of Contrast," containing numerous quotations from the works of Mr. Bere, which directly contradict one another; and which have very plainly proved to us, that he is a man, on whose representation of a fact we ought to repose no confidence whatever. Many of Mr. Bere's most hardy assertions have also been contradicted by public advertisements, signed by the

churchwardens, overseers, and some of the parishes, where Mrs. More's respectable inhabitants of three or four

schools are established.

You

baldry which this unfortunate controversy has produced." "In your outset, Sir," says the same Mr. Bere, in his preceding pamphlet to Sir Abraham Elton, "You have prostituted that of H. More superlatively ridiculous. In the name and fame of Scipio, and rendered sooth, Sir, the queer and humourous figure your Scipio in petticoats offers to the mind's eye, mecks gravity into hysterics.-You are not made for sportive tricks.-You have done If ever I wrote discreetly, sensibly, or spirityour cause no good by your disgraceful freak. edly, it was in my letter to you of the 3d Oct. and the world will sustain my reasons. and Hannah," meaning Mrs. H. More, "ignofluence. How dare you, &c.-Look ye, Sir bly triumph in the success of artifice and inAbraham, I am descended in direct line from Gwyn ap Glendour, ap Cadwallader, ap Styfinig, and so on to Adam-sound men and true."-Of his own Rector and Sir Abraham Elton, he says, "A precious pair of parsons they appear to be." And yet, in one of his pamphlets Mr. Bere observes, "I take this opportunity of declaring, upon my honour, that I never directly or indirectly was concerned in, or at any time countenanced, the low ribaldry which this unfortunate contro. versy has so abundantly produced." We can hardly, however, conceive much lower ribaldry, than that of which Mr. Bere has been guilty.

The Blagdon controversy has become the subject of much observation in the Reviews. The BRITISH CRITIC has supported the cause of Mrs More, as that of injured merit; has affirmed that Mr. Bere, who accuses her of sedition as well as methodism, is connected with the Jacobins; and that Mrs. More, and not Mr. Bere, is the true friend to the Church and State.

The ANTI-JACOBIN REVIEW has ranged itself on the side of Mr. Bere, and has even justified the style and manner of his writings.

The Anti-jacobin is a work which we consider as entitled to much praise, for having manfully sustained the cause of loyalty, and for having also strenuously pleaded on the side of the Church of England. It has, likewise, on many occasions, assumed a tone, in respect to morals, which is highly creditable to it. French profligacy of manners, as well as French atheism and anarchy, are the objects of its attack; and we desire to co-operate with it, though after our own manner, in this important warfare.

The Anti-jacobin has, however, been often betrayed, as we conceive, into an unchristian violence; and has disdained that spirit of conciliation and kindness, which is one of the means of recovering men from their religious prejudices, and is one characteristic of a Protestant and truly Christian Church. It has, in the case of the Blagdon Controversy, as well as in other instances, been hurried into error, chiefly by its hatred of Methodism; or rather of any thing, to which that name may have been given by the ignorant and irreligious.

We may probably treat of the difference between real and falsely imputed Methodism, in some of our future Numbers.

It appears, from a recent pamphlet, entitled, "Animadversions on the Curate of Blagdon's Three Publications," (a work, which, though anonymous, as well as severe, abounds with evidence of its having been written by a per

bours, are very different from those which the prejudices of the Anti-jacobin Reviewers have led them to indulge. Mr. Shaw, who figures in Mr. Bere's pamphlet, as his friend and ambassador to the Bishop, is affirmed to be a Clergyman, who was lately in the King's Bench, and whose Church is entirely deserted. It is, likewise, asserted. that all familiar acquaintance with Mr. Bere is carefully shunned, by almost every one of those neighbours of whose countenance he has boasted. Of the five clergymen, who supported him at the Blagdon Meeting, four (who are named) are said to have now turned against him; and the fifth appears not to be very favourable to him. But not to mention the friends who have withdrawn, it seems that Mr. Bere has created an abundance of enemies. He has attacked not only the Nine respectable Clergymen, who published the Statement of Facts, but, likewise the Chancellor, Dr. Crossman (Mr. Bere's rec. tor,) the Bishop's Chaplain (Mr. Barker,) Dr. Randolph, Dr. Maciaine, and Mr. Lewis. "You talk much," says the writer to whom we lately referred, "of pretended schisms in the Church, but have you not attempted to create a real schism in it, by inflaming the body of Curates, for these are apparently meant by your insidious expression" the labouring clergy ?" By these labourers, I suppose, your "firm clergy" are designated.

"An enlightened observer of your manœuvres has informed me, that when you thought you had got your Diocesan and Dr. Moss on your side, in the beginning of the contest, and had impressed them with admiration of your zeal for the Church, in opposition to Sectarism, you suddenly hurried away to Cambridge, to obtain a Master of Arts Degree. Those who did not penetrate your motives, wondered at this ebullition of vanity in an old clergyman, and that you should incur so considerable and so useless an expense; but a few, who knew you better, judged that you were impelled to this measure, by your sanguine expectations of speedy preferment, as such a degree was a necessary qualification for your holding two livings." "Your assuming a solemn air,

and summoning Mrs. H. More to the awful day of judgment, is so shockingly presumptuous, that I shudder, and turn aside from it." Mrs. H. More's zeal, is a zeal with knowledge; a zeal that, in her numerous Tracts, has done more perhaps, and certainly as much, to repel the dark and menacing tide of levelling and anarchical principles, as the ablest among the very able rulers, either of the Church or State."-" In vilifying a woman of such active and celebrated benevolence and piety, you have done all in your power to shake the confidence of infirm minds, (of which, alas! there are but too many,) in religious conduct, and Christian sincerity. If Mrs. H More is a hypocrite or a fanatic, whom, they might naturally say, shall we trust?"-" You have striven hard, to deprive all those parishes, which have been favoured by Mrs. More's religious instructions, and relieved by her abundant charities, of a double blessing; and what reward have you to offer them in return?.... When you retire to your chamber, and are still, will it satisfy the magistrate, who has repeatedly vaunted of his sedulous exertions in the cause of justice, for thirteen years, to say to himself, "I have degraded a woman of the highest reputation, by my malicious accusations, and have revenged myself on her, for daring to think I was a man to be neglected?" Or will it silence the monitor in the bosom of the elderly Christian pastor, to say, "My arts have prevailed. I have perverted her piety to fanaticism, her labours of love into schemes of vanity, and her wisdom from above, into worldly craftiness?" Would the complete success of your endeavours

shed the dew of blessing on your life, or a baim on your death? Is it, can it be delightful to you, to have done all in your power to blacken her virtues, to murder her peace, and destroy her health? Is such persevering, such obdurate vengeance, towards a woman, worthy of a man; putting the Christian, the Clergyman, and even the Gentleman, out of the question ?"

"Before Mrs H. More's school was established in your parish, both the children and youths neglected divine service, and generally, according to your own account, passed the holy-day, set apart for it, in riot and idleness.

"After it was instituted, they attended the church, in the most regular and orderly manner; and four times the usual number were present at the Sacramental Table. Now that the school has been for some time abolished, where are the two hundred children and youths, that sat with decent demeanour and devout attention on the benches at Church? Alas! few of them appear there, and Blagdon is falling back fast into its former irregularities."

We shall conclude with expressing our hope that no considerations will induce Mrs. More to engage in this controversy. Let her continue to enlighten and improve the age. Let her assist the cause of rational piety, and good old Church-of-England religion, by devotion without cant, and zeal without enthusiasm.

We will venture to predict, that all attempts to injure the character of this excellet woman, and to depreciate her merits, will prove as impotent as they are wicked; and that her enemies, with their slanders and aspersions, will quickly sink into neglect and oblivion.

cover, to the

tronomy, 2d edit. 8vo. 6s.; Dr CRAVEN'S Tracts, 8vo. in Parts; L'ADVOCAT's Biogra phical Dictionary, translated by Collignon, Vol. IV. 8vo 6s; MILNER's Sermons, 2d edit. 8vo 6s.; MARSH'S MICHAELIS on the New Testament, Vols. III. and IV. 8vo. in 3 Parts, 2 B