With agonizing throes at last gave in. CONTINUED. But some were giants of an ancient race Renewed my strength, and stayed the rising tear, FRAGMENTS OF THE EARLY SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE NEW CHURCH IN THE NORTH. NO. IV.-FAILSWORTH. In the preceding sketches the chronological order of the establishment of the different societies has not been followed, a remark necessary to explain why the history of a comparatively modern effort has been introduced here before noticing some of older date. There are circumstances which have led the writer into this course, but it is not necessary to enter farther into their nature. may The origin of the church at Failsworth was, under providence, mainly owing to the instrumentality of the late Mr. Thomas Wilson, of Woodhouses (a village about five miles from Manchester) to whom it be remembered reference was made in the sketch relating to Middleton, in the last number of the Repository, as having had his favourable attention directed to the doctrines of the New Church through hearing a discourse of the late Mr. Richard Boardman, for so many years the leader of the society in that village. The impression he then received led to his attending the preaching of Mr. Boardman again and again, until, by these means and the further aid of tracts and books, he became convinced of the truth of the views thus propounded. The parents of Mr. Wilson, who were of Scottish origin, belonged to the Wesleyan body; but little attention appears to have been given to the religious views of their offspring. The father taught them the rudiments of what are now generally known as "the three R's," in which they acquired an efficiency adequate to the ordinary purposes of of life; some of them, it is said, acquired a considerable knowledge of algebra. For the rest, the spare time of young Thomas during his youth was spent in athletic sports, which no doubt great contributed to the robustness and development of a powerful physical frame, whilst his intercourse with his father, who was possessed of sound practical sense and more than ordinary strength of mind, laid the foundation of the perspicacity which afterwards distinguished him. It was about his sixteenth year that his mental activity received its first more marked incentive. At this time great excitement was caused by the prohibition of the works of Thomas Paine. Infidelity, and the political views generally associated with it at that time were widely extended throughout Lancashire, and nowhere were these principles more rife than in the neighbourhood where the Wilsons resided. Into the midst of this intellectual fray young Wilson threw himself with the zest and ardour so characteristic of him. Paine's works were procured, read and discussed by the family, by means of which and other sceptical works young Wilson became familiarized with the positions and arguments of the advocates of infidelity in the various phases it assumed. In the first instance he was inclined to favour them, till further reflection, and finally the teachings of the New Church, decided him on the side of Christianity. For one thing, it is probable that he had but little acquaintance with the Bible till his attention was directed to it by reading Paine's Age of Reason; and it is therefore not surprising that the plausibilities of that writer should exercise considerable influence on a mind then first awakened to a thirst for knowledge. Further reflection, with the aids he had received, enabled him to detect the fallacies with which that work abounds. I remember hearing him in a lecture describe the train of reasoning excited in his mind on reading Paine's argument, that assuming the Bible to have been communicated by inspiration, and thus a Divine revelation to him who received it, it ceased to be so to others, and was only a human communication to those to whom the knowledge of it was imparted. "When I read this," remarked Mr. Wilson, “I said, Mr. Paine, you are wrong there. If I ordered a hat at Liverpool, and the maker sent it by some one to Warrington, and another conveyed it to Manchester, whilst a third brought it to Woodhouses, I certainly shouldn't expect when it reached me to find it transformed into a pair of shoes. If it was a hat when it left Liverpool, it would still be a hat when it reached Woodhouses, how numerous soever the hands through which it passed on the way. So if God gave a Divine revelation to a man in Jerusalem, and he communicated it to some one in Europe, and this told it to a third person living in London, if it were a Divine revelation to the one who first received it, it would continue such to the end of the chapter, no matter through how many channels it was conveyed. Or if a monarch sent a message by an ambassador to another potentate, it would still be the king's message notwithstanding it being conveyed through the medium of a second party." On his first reception of the doctrines, he was strongly opposed by his father, and forced to defend the new views against the members of the family. At length, however, by frequent conversations, in which every point was challenged on the one side and met on the other, a change was effected in their views on the subject. Books were brought and eagerly read, till at length his eldest sister became convinced, and ultimately the father. This last result was completed through his hearing Mr. Boardman. Their discussions now assumed a new phase. Instead of debating the pros and cons relating to the new doctrines, they turned on their bearing on the infidel question then so rife. About this time Thomas's eldest brother, who had adopted the views of infidelity, organized its votaries into debating parties, and engaged a room in which they held regular meetings. These Thomas, encouraged by his father, attended, advocating the views of Christianity, in which he was generally opposed by his brother, the discussions being renewed on their return home, when the father took part with the former. The elder Wilson used likewise, prior to his son's meeting the sceptics, to test his capability of meeting the arguments likely to be offered, and to throw out any suggestions likely to enable him to meet them successfully. At length Thomas and his brother held a public discussion, which excited great interest, the ability of the two being generally well known. This discipline was of great value to Thomas, as it familiarized him. with the weak points of scepticism, and gave him great advantage over his opponents. On one occasion he engaged four of the leading champions of the locality, and on his father remarking, "Tummus, thou hast a ruck on 'em;" the other replied, “Au ne'er heed how many, so they nobbut come one at onst." The chairman, in introducing the combatants, expressed the opinion that the debate would be but a short one, anticipating from his knowledge of the four an easy conquest for infidelity. So far as the length of the debate was concerned he was correct, the whole being concluded in two hours; but the result was the reverse of the chairman's prediction, the victory of young Wilson being most decided. Whether it was on this or another occasion I do not remember when free will was the subject. In the debate in question, the opponent of Christianity argued that if man possessed free will he might do what he pleased, and if he were so disposed might kick the world before him like a football. In reply, Mr. Wilson pointed out that the party opposed to him had confounded agency with will; for whilst the will was free, the agency was limited by the extent of power to accomplish the aims and objects of the will. The kicking of the world before one was a question of agency; but this did not restrain the will to do so, were any one insane enough to entertain it. But the matter under consideration was man's free will in moral things, and man's agency was assuredly adequate to the ultimate amendment of his moral character, if he formed the determination to realize such a purpose. In course of time, however, the sceptics had to break up their meetings, and to confine themselves to occasional lectures from the leading infidels of the day. At length the notorious Richard Carlile was engaged to lecture in the neighbourhood. Having heard of Mr. Wilson, he expressed a wish to break a lance with him, which being communicated to our friend, was immediately complied with. Arrangements were accordingly made for a discussion to take place between them in Ashton-under-Lyne. This occurred in 1829. The subject determined on was "The Being of a God." The debate commenced in the morning, and continued for the space of five hours, admission to which was free, Mr. Wilson's friends bearing the expenses incurred in the hire of the room, &c. To give a full report of a discussion occupying so great a length of time, were it possible, would be impracticable in the space afforded in the pages of the Repository; the brief abstract which follows, and which I received from Mr. Wilson himself, will convey a tolerably clear idea of the arguments used on either side. Before entering on this it may not be uninteresting to those who had not the pleasure of knowing him to offer a brief description of the personnel of Mr. Wilson. 1 The account subjoined in the text somewhat varies in a few of its details from what is stated in the "Biographical Sketch of Thomas Wilson" prefixed to the last edition of his "Lectures." I give the particulars, however, as I received them from Mr. Wilson himself. His delivery was de The reader will have gathered that he was both tall and athletic. One of his infidel opponents described him as a man of three storeys and a cock-loft. In reply to an inquiry I once made of him as to his height, his characteristic rejoinder was-" "Well, I cannot justly say; but I am two yards, good measure;" so that he did not appear particular about an inch or two. His whole frame was characterized by massiveness, his head being remarkably so. His countenance was marked by imperturbable calmness and dignity. liberate, arising, it is said, from his having stammered when young, and the care he exercised in overcoming the impediment, but what he said came with a weight ofttimes irresistible. The following two instances may afford some illustration of his constitutional coolness. Returning home one night by the side of a canal, he was dogged by two men, and after considering what he should do in case of his being attacked, "I came to the conclusion," to use his own words, "to take care that one didn't get before me and the other behind me; and if they should offer to attack me, I would knock one fairly down to begin with, and then I would carry the other through the cut; and so I should have the canal between them." On another occasion he was walking home from Stockport, a distance of some four or five miles, when there had been a shower of rain, which freezing as it fell covered the paths with a sheet of thin ice as slippery as glass. "After several tumbles," again using his own language, “I found I should not get home that night, and so I concluded to go on all fours, and get home that road." To return to his discussion with Carlile, in which the opening speech was assigned to Mr. Wilson, he commenced by remarking that the idea of God under some form or other had universally been held by mankind. There was no age, nor was there any known nation, nor any people recorded in history, in which some conception of a Supreme Being was not entertained; and that being an incontestable fact, he flattered himself that he should be able to demonstrate from it the position he had undertaken to prove, viz., the existence of God. Mr. Carlile in reply admitted that it had been universally believed that there was a God; but that was no proof that such a belief was correct. Many beliefs had obtained universal assent, which afterwards had been found to be fallacious. For instance it was once believed that the earth was stationary, and that the heavenly bodies moved around it. It was also fancied that the earth was an extended plain, spread out as flat as a pancake; but these ideas had since been exploded, and it was now as universally admitted that the earth was |