king inquisition at the
mouth of common rumour, and by such methods as might be convenient, into
the conduct and fidelity of clergymen whom they never saw; and, having
exhausted their means of information, have made their way into the
closets of their adopted proteges; to advise, admonish, pray with, and
for them; according as they might need. Having fulfilled their office,
they have renewed their march, `staff and script,' in a straightforward
way, to the next parish, in the assigned round of their visitations, to
enact the same scene, and so on till their work was done.

"Of course, they were variously received; though, for the most part, I
believe they have been treated civilly, and their title to this
enterprise not openly disputed. There has been an unaccountable
submission to things of this kind, proving indeed that the ministers
thus visited were not quite manly enough; or that a public opinion,
authorising these transactions, had obtained too extensive a sway in
their own connexion, and among their people, to be resisted. By many,
doubtless, it was regarded as one of the hopeful symptoms of this age of
religious experiment.

"I have heard of one reception of these lay apostles, which may not be
unworthy of record. One pair of them--for they went forth `two and
two,' and thus far were conformed to scripture--both of them mechanics,
and one a shoemaker, having abandoned their calling to engage in this
enterprise, came upon a subject who was not well disposed to recognise
their commission. They began to talk with him: `We have come to stir
you up.'--`How is the shoe business in your city?' said the clergyman to
the shoemaker, who was the speaker: for it was a city from which they
came. The shoemaker looked vacant, and stared at the question, as if he
thought it not very pertinent to his errand; and, after a little pause,
proceeded in the discharge of his office: `We have come to give your
church a shaking.'--`Is the market for shoes good?' said the clergyman.
Abashed at this apparent obliquity, the shoemaker paused again; and
again went on in like manner. To which the clergyman: `Your business is
at a stand, sir, I presume; I suppose you have nothing to do.' And so
the dialogue went on; the shoemaker confining himself to his duty, and
the clergyman talking only of shoes: in varied and constantly-shifting
colloquy, till the perverse and wicked pertinacity of the latter
discouraged the former; and the shoema