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tage to the public. It was about the same time that he bought considerable landed property in the county of Stirling, called Craigingilt. Mr. Oswald continued to reside at Dryburg for about four years; but in 1777, he was presented to the parish of Clackmannan, in the county of that name. At his first settlement in this living he did not give that satisfaction to a number of his parishioners, which was afterwards the case. He raised his popularity with them by resigning the choice of an assistant to their decision; which act confirmed him ever afterwards in their favour.

Mr. Oswald died at Clackmannan, much beloved and respected by his whole parish, on the 7th of December, 1787, in the 66th year of his age. His disorder was of the nervous kind, and terminated in a decline. He was confined but a short time, and retained the use of his faculties to the last. Mr. Oswald was a man of the middle size, rather corpulent, and of a dark complexion. He possessed strong natural abilities, which were improved by education and reading. By his brethren in the ministry he was greatly esteemed, and respected by all who had the happiness to know him. During his residence in London, he took a conspicuous part with some of his brethren in attempting to lessen the contention that then prevailed among the Dissenters, respecting the Test Laws. His own views upon the subject led him to oppose their repeal; in which decision we are bound to pay greater deference to the sincerity of his motives, than to the correctness of his judgment. The habits of education, and his close connexion with an ecclesiastical establishment, probably contributed very much to the determination he adopted. He was one of the ministers who went up to the king with an address, and was received with particular kindness. Mr. Oswald published only two sermons, both preached at the Scotch church, London Wall, May 5, 1771, upon the death of the Rev. Robert Lawson. He left a widow and four children, two sons and two daughters; the

CROWN-COURT.-Scots Presbyterian.

youngest of each is dead. Only one daughter married, and she left no family."

WILLIAM CRUDEN, M. A.-This was a different person from the celebrated author of the Concordance, whose baptismal name was Alexander, and whose exploits were no less remarkable, and worthy of being recorded, than those of the renowned hero of Cervantes. It is not impossible but the two Crudens were of the same family. Alexander was born at Aberdeen; but of William we possess no information prior to his leaving Scotland. In the year 1774, he was chosen to succeed Mr. Oswald, as pastor of the Scots congregation in Crown-court, and continued in that relation till death called him away, on the 5th of November, 1785, when he was 60 years of age. His remains were interred in Bunhill-fields, where, upon a stone erected over his grave, may be seen his name, age, and the time of his death. In the year 1787, there was published under the inspection of his friends, a volume of his sermons. They are fifteen in number; and to the book is prefixed a good likeness of the author. Mr. Cruden was a worthy and respectable minister, of approved talents and piety, and he lived in London greatly respected by his brethren. We lament that the paucity of our materials prevents us from giving a more minute account of his life and character.

JAMES STEVEN, M. A.-Mr. Cruden was succeeded in the pastoral office at Crown-court, after a vacancy of about two years, by the Rev. James Steven, who settled there in November, 1787. In this situation he laboured with great acceptance and success for upwards of fifteen years, and during that period, preached in his turn at some

From the information of Miss Mary Oswald, niece to the above, communicated through Mr. Hardy of London.

↑ See an account of his life, apud Biog. Brit. Vol. 4. App. No. 2. VOL. IV.

C

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of the most popular lectures amongst the Dissenters; particularly at Broad-street, Hare-court, and Salters'-hall. The utmost cordiality prevailed between Mr. Steven and his people, and his external situation was as comfortable as that of most ministers in London. A sense of duty, however, prevailed with him to remove. Towards the latter end of the year 1802, he was presented by Lord Eglington to the living of Kilwinning, county of Air, North Britain; and at the same time received an unanimous call from the parishioners. This appointment was, on his part, as unsolicited as it was unexpected. Kilwinning is a large manufacturing town, about twenty-five miles from Glasgow. We are told that besides inferior considerations, that place furnished him with a larger sphere of usefulness, and a higher degree of laudable influence.* More than two thousand souls belong to the parish, and the number of Dissenters is small. Mr. Steven took a solemn leave of his charge in Crown-court, on the first Sabbath in February, 1803, and his departure from London was attended with very general regret by Dissenters of all denominations. He still labours, with great acceptance, at Kilwinning.

GEORGE GREIG.-After a vacancy of more than two years and a half, Mr. Steven was succeeded by the Rev. George Greig, who had been for a short time assistant to Mr. Greville Ewing, at Glasgow. The church subscribed their call to him, Aug. 26, 1805, and on the 23d of October following he was set apart to the pastoral office. Mr. Greig has met with great acceptance since his settlement in London, and his church is now in a flourishing state.

• Theol. Mag. Vol. 3. p. 44.

HART-STREET.

GENERAL BAPTIST.-EXTINCT.

HART-STRE

ART-STREET is a long paved street, commencing on the south-west side of Bow-street, a considerable portion of one corner being occupied by the north side of the new theatre royal, Covent-garden. Hart-street crosses James-street, and terminates in Conduit-court, Long-acre. The meetinghouse, of which we are now to speak, was situated in Jon'scourt, the name and memory of which have long since perished. We learn, however, that it was situated at the upper end of Hart-street. The fragments of history, being all that can be recovered respecting this place, are derived chiefly from the valuable records belonging to the General Baptist Society in White's-alley, with which this church stood closely connected. By the help of these, together with some other memorandums, we are enabled to trace the origin of this society, as well as a tolerable correct list of the ministers who presided over it, till the period of its dissolution.

It may be necessary to inform the reader that, at the period of which we are speaking, the Baptist churches were divided in their opinions respecting the propriety of laying on of hands at the admission of members; and so tenacious were those who practised the rite, that they made it an indispensable term of communion. Their defence of the practice they grounded chiefly upon Heb. vi. 2. In the seventeenth century there were five General Baptist Churches in London that contended zealously for the practice; and this seems to have been the strong bond of their union. These churches were White's-alley, Glass-house-yard, the Park, Fair-street, and Goodman's-fields. The discipline of these churches was very strict, and though many of the members resided at a great distance, yet they were constant and punctual in their attendance. As a considerable number of their

HART-STREET. -General Baptist.

members resided at the west end of the town, and found the remoteness of their residence to be peculiarly inconvenient, the five churches, after consulting together, resolved to countenance the formation of a new society, and fixed upon Hart-street, Covent-garden, as a convenient spot. They appear also to have been strongly animated with a desire of spreading the gospel in the western suburbs of London. In the whole of this proceeding the united churches manifested great caution, but at the same time discovered a disinterestedness of conduct that strikingly illustrated the purity of their principles. The sacrifice they made upon this occasion though great, yet did not seriously affect them, as each society was then in a very flourishing condition. A list being returned of the number of members belonging to White'salley who joined the church in Hart-street, it was found that they amounted at least to twenty-one; so that, if the numbers from the other parts of the union bore any proportion, the society in Hart-street, must, at its first formation, have been very considerable.

The first steps towards the formation of this western society appear to have been taken in the autumn of 1691, and at a meeting of the elders and representatives of the five congregations held at White's-alley, on the 5th of November in that year, sundry resolutions were passed for the regulation of the new interest. A convenient place is said to have been taken at the Two Golden Balls, the upper end of Bowstreet, by Hart-street, Covent-garden. Mr. John Turner, then a member and an occasional preacher at White'salley, was appointed to lead the devotions of the new congregation, and to provide preachers to assist him from the other parts of the union. It was not until the 12th of April, 1692, that they were constituted a distinct society, when, at a meeting of the elders and representatives of the five churches, it was determined that they should form a sixth part of their community; and they were set down accordingly. But the unanimity between the infant society and the