IN reference to the former religious state of this place the picture is a truly gloomy one—a common ruin of all that is holy seems to have pervaded society from the highest to the lowest; nor did the condition appear to awaken any concern—bull and badger baiting, cock and dog fighting, with all their concomitant evils, depravity of manners, pugilistic encounters, drunkenness and profanity, were the characteristics of the people, not of the lower classes only, but also the middle and upper, and not only sanctioned but encouraged by the clergy; to such an extent did this run, that a notoriety rested upon the place and its inhabitants for miles round. It is true the Society of Friends had long possessed a place of worship here, but little benefit resulted to the morals of the people. The peculiar tenets held by them, together with other circumstances, tended to their decline, public service was confined to periodical assemblings, called quarterly district meetings, the funeral of friends, or the visits of some of their principal speakers. In the Establishment the teaching was a meagre maudling something, for neither in precept or example could it be called religion, or even morality. Its quality was of the same stamp as that which generally pervaded the discourses of the clergy of that day, and which diffused its baneful seeds over the country at large, such as might be expected, where the sports of the field, the facilities for angling, and the pleasures of good-fellowship were objects of pre-eminent attraction to clerical ambition. The submission of the poor to their superiors; reverence and obedience to the commands of the priesthood; abject veneration for the Established Church; punctuality in attendance on her rites and ceremonies, with a full and prompt discharge of all her dues; these were the staple of her instructions, and all that was required by her to constitute a good man, a Christian, and to entitle him to heaven; while every effort made to instruct and enlighten the mind received the whole weight of her opposition and anathema, as it was considered far preferable that the population be left in the grossest darkness, perfectly and profoundly ignorant of the claims of God, so besotted in vice were they, that to be the best fighter, to have the best bulldog, to possess the finest game bird, or to have won the prize in any of the sports was the highest felicity and enjoyment their minds could desire or appreciate.