"We have heard of _Field-Conventicles_ in Scotland, among the enthusiasts of that country; which yet, I think, were there always suppressed by the authority of Church or State, or both. We have had, in former times, something of this nature in England, as practised by Brownists, Anabaptists, Quakers, Ranters, or such like. But for a _clergyman of the Church of England to pray_ and _preach in the fields_ in the country, or in the _streets_ in the city, is _perfectly new_; never heard of before; a _fresh honour_ to the _blessed age_, in which _we_ have the happiness to live. To pray, preach, and sing psalms in the streets and fields is worse, if possible, than _intruding into pulpits_ by downright _violence_ and _breach of the peace_; and then _denying_ the plain fact with the most _infamous prevarication_.[203] I could say much here; but am quite _ashamed_ to speak upon a subject which is a _shame_ and _reproach_, not only to our _Church_ and _country_, but to _human nature_ itself. Can it promote the Christian religion, to turn it into riot, tumult, and confusion?--to make it ridiculous and contemptible, and expose it to the scorn and scoffs of infidels and atheists? If it be alleged, as I think it is, that Christ and His apostles prayed and preached in the fields, on mountains, and on the sea-shore,--I ask, Have these creatures the same spirit and power that they had? Is Christianity now in its infancy, as it was then? Was the Church then established as it is now? Are we now to be converted to Christianity, from Judaism or heathenism, as people were in those days? Or if we were, are such false and spurious apostles as these able to convert us? I might here very properly urge the _canons_ of the Church of England, and the _laws_ of the civil state. But the thing, though detestable and of most pernicious tendency, is, in another view, too contemptible to be longer insisted upon. It would likewise be endless, as well as nauseous, to make reflections upon that rhapsody of madness, spiritual pride, and little less than blasphemy, if not quite so, which this _field preacher_ calls his _Journal_; and so I say no more of it. Go not after these impostors and seducers; but shun them as you would the plague. Those who run after them are the _enemies_ of our _religion_ and Church. These _Protestant enthusiasts_, with all _Protestant heretics, schismaticks, and false teachers_, on the one hand; and the _free-thinkers, infidels, deists, and atheists_, on the other, are doing the work of _Papists_ for them, to their hearts' desire." [203] See the _Weekly Miscellany_ concerning the forcible intrusion into the pulpit at St. Margaret's, Westminster.