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    rest , drew up and transmitted to the landlord a letter , commencing , " In the name of the Presbytery of Bangor , ' * and containing , in a different form no doubt , but still in a form well calculated to mislead their correspondent , the very same

    request which the Presbytery that very raoruiug had indignantly refused to sanction ? They did so , however ; perhaps under the influence of the Rev . Henry Cooke , whose name , though he be a member of another Presbytery , appears ia the very front of their phalanx . We present our readers with a copy of this document .

    " Greyabbey , Jan . 27 , 1830 . " Sir , " In the name of the Presbytery of Bangor , assembled here this day , we beg to return you our best thanks for your permission to transact our business in the Meetinghouse ; but as at the time your permission was communicated , the Presbytery had retired under a vote of the majority , and as at the time the business had been nearly concluded , they terminated their business without doors .

    So far we speak in the name of the Presbytery . In what follows , the undersigned beg to speak in their own . ** The congregation of Greyabbey was erected in 1736 ; and the minister , Mr . Cochrane , was an orthodox minister , as was the congregation . Of the intermediate ministers we need not speak ; but as Mr . Watson , a licentiate of the

    Presbytery of Dromore , must have signed the Westminster Confession of Faith , there can be no question that he entered the congregation as an orthodox minister . Now that Mr . Watson has been pleased to avow Arian sentiments , and connect himself with a body of avowed Arians , you are aware that a large proportion of the congregation have been forced to withdraw from his ministry . Nearly one hundred seat-holders have applied to us

    for preaching , and we have accordingly appointed some of our members to supply them each succeeding Lord ' s day . We therefore beg leave , respectfully , to request your countenance in retaining the original right of the orthodox members of the congregation to the use of the Meeting-house , which their fathers received as an orthodox people , and for an orthodox minister , under the patronage of your

    ancestors-The affairs o > f our Presbytery have detained us to so late an hour , that we have not been able to effect our original design of sending a deputation of our brethren to wait upon you in person .

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    € i We have the honour to be , Sir , your obedient servants , « ( Signed , ) " H . Cooke , * ' James Morgan , * ' James Tem p leton , ' * George Bellis , " Alexander Hkndersov , * ' John Macaulev . " To William Montgomery , Esq . ' *

    This is beyond all question an extraordinary epistle . Its truth atid courtesy are upon a par . The writers commence , " In the name of the Presbytery of Bangor * ' &c . The Presbytery never gave them any authority to write to Mr . Montgomery ; not even to return thanks . Their assurance in adopting this style was the more remarkable , as a motion proposing to give them an authority for that purpose had been made and iejected .

    ' * In what follows , the undersigned beg leave to speak in their own name . * ' This may be very true , but is not consistent with the language which they afterwards employ , when they say , " nearly one hundred individuals have applied to us . " No application had been made to these gentlemen individually ; but ninety-seven persons had , under the influence of

    meddling ministers , and tyrannical landlords , applied to the Presbytery of Bangor : and of this Mr . Montgomery , of Hosemount , was well aware . Their letter could only lead him to regard them as the accredited agents of the Presbytery . See to the same effect the last paragraph : "The affairs of our Presbytery have detaiued

    us till so late an hour , that we have not been able to effect our original design of sending a deputation of our brethren to wait upon you in person . * Does uotthis convey a hint that the persons so ad dressing Mr . M . were authorized to confer with him by letter ? But all doubt as to the construction of this document

    must have been removed from Mr . Montgomery ' s mind , on reading what they state about supplies of preaching : ' We have appointed some of our members to supply them each succeeding Lord ' s-day . ' * Here the writers unquestionably identify themselves with the body by which the

    supplies were appointed ; that is , with the Presbytery of Bangor . The most moderate interpretation which their expressions will bear , amounts to this ; that the Presbytery bad put them forward to aay or do something which , for some reason or other , the body did not choose publicly to do or » ay

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    Intelligence . — Hie Rev . John Watson and Congregation of Greyabbey . 281

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    VOL . IV . X

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1830, page 281, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2583/page/65/