The Anxious Bench (1844)

It Is Proposed To Institute A Free Inquiry Into The Merits Of The Anxious Bench As It Has Been Enlisted Extensively Of Late Years In The Service Of Religion. My Object Will Be To Show That The Measure Is Adapted To Obstruct Rather Than To Promote The Progress Of True Godliness And That It Deserves To Be Discouraged On This Account. No One Needs To Be Informed What Is Meant By The Anxious Bench. Its Nature And Design Have Come To Be As Familiar To Most People As The Nature And Design Of The Pulpit Itself. Even Among Those Who Dislike It There Are Few Perhaps Who Have Not Had The Opportunity At One Time Or Another Of Witnessing Its Operation While All Are Well Acquainted With It At Least In The Way Of Description And Report. It Will Be Understood That The Anxious Bench Is Made To Stand In This Case As The Representative Of The Entire System Of What Are Technically Denominated In Our Day “New Measures.” It Belongs To This System And May Be Regarded As The Door That Opens The Way To All The Rest. If It Be Found Unworthy Of Confidence The Whole System Will Be Shorn Of Its Title To Respect At The Same Time. If Any Part Of The System Could Claim Indulgence It Would Be The Anxious Bench. All Beyond This Is Only Something Worse.