THE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM: A PRIZE ESSAY, IN REPLY TO THE LECTURES OF DR. CHALMERS ON CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS. BY JOSEPH ANGUS, M.A. PASTOR OF THE CHURCH WORSHIPPING IN NEW PARK STREET MEETING, SOUTHWARK. LONDON: JACKSON AND WALFORD, 18, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. 1839. PREFACE. EARLY in the summer of 1838, THE PROTESTANT SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY were induced to offer a prize of one hundred guineas to the best essay, and a second prize of twenty-five guineas to the second-best, in answer to the Lectures of Dr. Chalmers on Church Establishments, and in defence of the Voluntary System. By the unanimous decision of the examiners,-the Rev. Thomas Raffles, D.D., LL.D., the Rev. J. Pye Smith, D.D., LL.D., F.G.S., and William Tooke, Esq., F.R.S.,-the first prize was adjudged to the following Treatise. In complying with the terms on which the prize was proposed, the author submits this Essay to the public, with some regret; partly because he could PREFACE. EARLY in the summer of 1838, THE PROTESTANT SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY were induced to offer a prize of one hundred guineas to the best essay, and a second prize of twenty-five guineas to the second-best, in answer to the Lectures of Dr. Chalmers on Church Establishments, and in defence of the Voluntary System. By the unanimous decision of the examiners,—the Rev. Thomas Raffles, D.D., LL.D., the Rev. J. Pye Smith, D.D., LL.D., F.G.S., and William Tooke, Esq., F.R.S.,-the first prize was adjudged to the following Treatise. In complying with the terms on which the prize was proposed, the author submits this Essay to the public, with some regret; partly because he could |