the laws of the land, was considered and treated as an offence.* They were called upon by the court to assign their reasons for this absence, and to declare to what denomination they belouged. The latter question embarrassed them not a little. Having known scarcely any other denomination of dissenters besides Quakers; and not being aware that any body of people then on earth embraced the same opinions on the subject of religion with themselves, they were at a loss what name to assume. In this embarrassment they begged of the court a little time to retire, and determine by what name they chose to be known. After a short consultation, recollecting that Luther was a noted reformer, and that some of his works had been of peculiar service among them, they resolved to take their denomination from him; they accordingly returned into court, and declared themselves Lutherans. By this answer the members of the court were embarrassed in their turn, not finding any law or precedent which directed them how to proceed against Lutherans; and, after a little consideration, dismissed Mr. Morris and his friends without pursuing their design further at that time.

"Things were in this situation, when, in the year 1743, the Rev. William Robinson, a member of the Presbytery of New-Brunswick,† who had been ordained sine titu

* Mr. Morris and a number of his friends were repeatedly fined by the court for absenting themselves from the established worship. He himself, being considered as a kind of leader, was treated more severely than the rest. He paid near twenty fines.

+ Mr. Robinson was the son of a wealthy Quaker in Eng land. Being permitted to pay a visit of a few weeks to an

te, with a view of his being sent as an Evangelist to preach the Gospel on the frontier settlements, in the

aunt in the city of London, from whom he had considerable expectations, he greatly overstaid the time which had been allowed him; and becoming deeply involved in the dissipations of the town, he incurred large debts, which he knew his father would never pay, and which his aunt refused to discharge. In this situation, fearing to return home, and unable to remain longer in London, he determined to quit his native country, and seek his fortune in America. In this determination his aunt reluctantly acquiesced, and furnished him with a small sum of money for the purpose. Soon after his arrival in America, he had recourse, for subsistence, to teaching a school, in New-Jersey, within the bounds of the Presbytery of New-Brunswick. He had been, for some time, engaged in this business, without any practical sense of religion, when it pleased God to bring him to a knowledge of himself, and of the way of salvation, in a remarkable manner. He was riding at a late hour, one evening, when the moon and stars shone with unusual brightness, and when every thing around him was calculated to excite reflection. While he was meditating on the beauty and grandeur of the scene which the firmament presented, and was saying to himself, "How transcendantly glorious must be the Author of all this beauty and grandeur!" the thought struck him with the suddenness and the force of lightning, "But what do I know of this God? Have I ever sought his favour or made him my friend?" This happy impression, which proved, by its permanency and its effects, to have come from the best of all sources, never left him until he took refuge in Christ as the hope and life of his soul. He soon resolved to devote himself to the work of the Gospel ministry; completed his academical education, and studied theology, while he went on with his school; and was, in due time, licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of New-Brunswick, as above stated. Mr. Robinson was remarkable for the native vigour of his mind, and still more for the fervour of his piety.— Wherever he went, it pleased God to grant him some precious fruits of his ministry. Few names in the American Church rank higher than his on the scale of usefulness. He died at St. George's, in Delaware, in the month of April,

1746.

course of his mission, entered Virginia, and preached with considerable success in some of the more remote counties of the Colony, While he was thus employed, some young people from the neighbourhood of Mr. Morris, and the children of his friends, being on a visit to that part of the country, heard him preach, and recognizing in his sermons the same doctrines which they had been accustomed to hear at the Reading-house, they communicated the intelligence to their parents in Hanower, who immediately dispatched two men to Cub-Creek, where he had been heard by their children, in search of Mr. Robinson. He had left the place, however, before the arrival of the messengers, and they were obliged to follow him a hundred miles on his journey.They at length found him, and prevailed on him to appoint a time for visiting Hanover.

"At the appointed time Mr. Robinson came. He had been obliged to ride the whole of the preceding night in order to avoid disappointing the people. When he arrived at the Reading-house, they were assembled in crowds, waiting for the preacher. On his appearance a scene ensued which marked at once the conscientiousness and the simplicity of the parties on both sides. Mr. Morris and his friends, though they had heard a high character of Mr. Robinson from their children and others, thought proper to be more certain as to his testimonials and his creed, before they suffered him to address the congregation which had assembled. They, therefore, took him aside, while the people waited, and not only requested to see his testimonials, which were ample; but also proceeded to examine him as to his views

of the leading doctrines of the Gospel. To this Mr. Robinson submitted, not only with meekness, but with affection; and having entirely satisfied his examiners, he went into the house and began to address the people. Mr. Morris himself, in a letter to President Davies, thus describes the scene which ensued.

""On the 6th of July, 1743, Mr. Robinson preached his first sermon to us from Luke xiii. 3, and continued with us preaching four days successively. The congregation was large the first day, and vastly increased the three following. It is hard for the liveliest imagination to form an image of the condition of the assembly on these glorious days of the Son of man. Such of us as had been hungering for the word before, were lost in an agreeable surprise and astonishment, and some could not refrain from publicly declaring their transport. We were overwhelmed with the thoughts of the unexpected goodness of God in allowing us to hear the Gospel preached in a manner that surpassed our hopes. Many that came through curiosity, were pricked to the heart; and but few in the numerous assemblies on these four days appeared unaffected. They returned alarmed with apprehensions of their dangerous condition, convinced of their former entire ignorance of religion, and anxiously inquiring what they should do to be saved. And there is reason to believe that there was as much good, done by these four sermons, as by all the sermons preached in these parts before or since.'

"These pious people, after formally taken the name to themselves in the presence of the court, steadily called themselves Lutherans. When Mr. Robinson- visited

them, they inquired of him to what denomination be belonged. On his informing them that he was a Pres ́byterian, and laying before them the import and reasons of this denomination, they agreed to adopt it. They accordingly took the earliest opportunity of connecting themselves with the Presbytery of New-Castle, which was the nearest body of that kind to the place of their residence; and ever afterwards they called themselves Presbyterians.

"What took place subsequently to the short visit of Mr. Robinson at Hanover, will appear from the following continued account by Mr. Morris, in the same letter from which the former quotation was made. 'Before Mr. Robinson left us he successfully endeavoured to correct some of our mistakes, and to bring us to carry on the worship of God more regularly at our meetings.After this we met to read good sermons, and began and concluded with prayer and singing of psalms, which till then we had omitted. The blessing of God remarkably attended these more private means, and it was really astonishing to observe the solemn impressions begun, or continued in many, by hearing good discourses read. I had repeated invitations to come to many places round, some of them thirty or forty miles distant, to read. Considerable numbers attended with eager attention and awful solemnity, and several were, in a judgment of charity, turned to God, and thereupon erected meeting-houses, and chose readers among themselves, by which the work was more extensively carried on.— Soon after Mr. Robinson left us, the Rev. Mr. John Blair paid as a visit; and truly he came to us in the fulness of