O PRINCETON, N. J. *w Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. BX 5150 .S336 1832 Schofield, T. The history, institutions and tendencies Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/historyinstitutiOOscho I THE HISTORY, INSTITUTIONS, AND TENDENCIES, OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, EXAMINED BV SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY: BEING A REPLY TO THE LETTER OF VICE-ADMIRAL STIRLING. BY T. SCHOFIELD, MINISTER OF CHERTS EY CHAPEL, SURREY. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? — Cat. iv. 16. LONDON : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR ; AND SOLD BY J. DINNIS, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW; WESTLEY AND DAVIS, 10, STATIONERS' COURT ; HOLDS WORTH AND BALL, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH Yard! ALSO BY R. WETTON, AND W. KEMPSON, CHERTSEY, AND C. C. WETTON EGHAM. 1832. ^ : W. lYLER, PIIINTEH, IVY LAN'F, ST. PAULS. CONTENTS. Introductory Remarks 1 The sufficiency of the Scriptures as a guide to salvation 3 The right of private judgment 8 The means of determining the constitution of the Christian Church 10 Sketch of the history of the Church, from apostolic times to the establishment of the Church of England 13 The constitution of the Church of England examined 20 Brief detail of the origin and probable reasons for the continuance of Forms of Prayer 24 General objections to the forms used in the Church of England . . 27 Scriptural examination of the Creeds 29 Service of Baptism 32 ■ ■ Confirmation 36 Matrimony 38 — ■ the Order for the visitation of the sick 39 the Order for the burial of the dead 44 — * the consecration of burial grounds and churches 45 Form and manner of making, ordain- ing, and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons 48 the articles of religion 52 Observations on the means used for the induction and support of the clergy of the Church of England 56 on the impediments thrown in the way of the propa- gation of the gospel by that Church 58 ■ — — on the destiny of the Churches of Rome and England 60 The doctrine of the cross proved to be the grand subject of the ministry g2 Sketch of the character of the Christian Church 67 state of religion in Fiance and America 69 Plea for Dissenters, in contrast with the conduct of the hierarchy of the Church of England mm 70 .eral and personal reformation 72 Appendix, containing a copy of the Author's first Letter to Vice- Admiral Stirling 75 Oi>a: CTT ovciciotv, AW oSufaiat \eriting, which could not therefore form a part of the Scriptures they then had in their possession, and for their attentive and obediential regard to which, they were so eminently distinguished ! Our circum- stances are widely different from theirs ; the sacred canon of Scripture is now completed ; to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be taken away ; no promise of future revelation, except that which the final revelation of Christ and of eternity will unfold, is given ; and, therefore, all expectation of any kind of ministry giving additional power to it, to answer a design for which it is already pronounced to be sufficient, is equally visionary and absurd. The Christian ministry may help, and is designed for, the dispensation of the truth; but "the excellency of the power is of God, and not of us." Sorry, indeed, am I, Sir, to tell you plainly, that notwithstanding you claim the character of a Protestant, you violate one of the first principles of the Protestant, yea, even of the Christian faith. Where is the difference, between the " Romanists, who call the clergy the church," and you, who plead for the clergy of the Church of England, as of more utility than the Scriptures themselves ? I cannot perceive any. Nor, perhaps, will it be found upon farther investigation, is there much difference between the one church and the other, in this respect: the Church of Rome maintaining, "that the medium of the transmission of truth, through the unbroken line of the priesthood, has preserved it pure and incorruptible to the present day ;" and the Church of England claiming "the power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in matters of faith :" your pleadings, therefore, for your church, and her own pleadings for herself, are in effect the same, and both contain the very essence of popery. Either the Scriptures are of paramount authority in matters of faith and duty, or they are not : if they are, then it is our peril to reject them ; if they are not, then it is equally at our peril to receive them. This truth, the honoured in- struments of reforming the Church both saw and felt; their con- sciences, enlightened by the Scriptures themselves, assured them that there was no other ground upon which the Reformation they proposed to bring about, could possibly, with any fair prospect of stability, rest. This was at once the conviction and principle of Wickliffe, the morning star of the Reformation in our own country ; and hence he not only maintained, that the New Testament is a perfect rule of life and man- ners, and ought to be read by the people ; but he was the first that translated the New Testament into English for the benefit of the peo- ple. And need you be informed, that it was the accidental finding of a copy of the Scriptures in the library of the Augustinian Monastery, at Erfurt, that brought Luther to the saving knowledge of the truth, and urged him, not only to separate himself from that church, of which he was once a most devoted member, but to exert all the mighty energies of his nature, to bring about that Reformation in Germany, the in- fluence of which was soon felt throughout Europe, and in the benefits and blessings of which we have participated to the present day ? " To the authority of popes and councils, to the dogmas of the schools, and all the sophistry of the casuists, he opposed simply the Bible, — that sole umpire, — that only ecclesiastical authority in matters of faith." Nor could the Reformers in our own country, under the authority of Henry the Eighth, pursue the Reformation they had in view, under any other direction, as the finat ground of appeal, than this ; and, therefore, though the clergy of the old religion opposed the translation of the Scriptures, impeded their circulation, and even did what they could to destroy them, yet they were ultimately translated, circulated, and commanded to be read among the people ; and had it not been for the blindness, bigotry, and tyranny of them that were in authority, on the one hand, and the culpable obsequiousness of our Reformers on the other, we should never have found, as we now unhappily do, Acts of Parliament substituted in the place of the infinitely superior authority and claims of the Word of God. The oft- quoted words of Chillingworth, (to which I referred in my first letter to you,) in his work, which will doubtless render his name " immortal," though he so unhappily vacillated, are applicable here : " By the religion of Protestants," he says, "I do not understand the doctrine of Luther, or Calvin, or Melancthon ; nor the Confession of Augsburgh, or Geneva ; nor the catechism of Heidelburgh ; nor the Articles of the Church of England;" (for some say, he subscribed to them only as articles of peace, and not of faith ;) " no, nor the harmony of Protestant Confes- sions ; but that wherein they all agree, and which they all subscribe with a greater harmony, as a perfect rule of their faith and actions, that is, the Bible. The Bible, I say, the Bible only is the religion of Protestants ! Whatsoever else they believe besides it, and the plain irrefragable con- sequences of it, well may they hold it as a matter of opinion; but as matter of faith and religion, neither can they with coherence to their own grounds, believe it themselves, nor require the belief of it of others, without most high and most schismatical presumption." And equally appropriate, and not less forcible, are the pleadings of Bishop Horsley for the sufficiency of the Scriptures as a guide to salvation ; and I quote his words, because he is a well-known modern " church and state man," — " ab uno disce omnes," — a man who could sympathise with the " prelates and clergy of the fallen church of France," while, at the same time, he could indulge the bitterest malignity and hostility towards the dissenters of his own country, although the very principle of his pleadings is the only support of dissent from the Church of England: "I will not," he says "scruple to assert, that the most illiterate Christian, if he can but read his Bible, and will take the pains to read it in this manner, (viz. comparing parallel passages, "spiri- tual things with spiritual,") will not only attain all that practical knowledge which is necessary to his salvation, but, by God's blessing, he will become learned in every thing relating to his religion in such a degree, that he will not be liable to be misled, either by the refined arguments, or by the false assertions of those who endeavour to engraft their own opinions upon the oracles of God. He may be safely ignorant of all philosophy, except what is to be learned from the sacred books, which indeed contain the highest philosophy, adapted to the lowest apprehensions. He may safely remain ignorant of all history, except so much of the history of the first ages of the Jewish and the Christian church, as is to be gathered from the canonical books of the Old and New Testament. Let him study these in the manner I recommend, and let him never cease to pray for the illumination of that Spirit by whom these books were dictated ; and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy and recondite history, shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will of man shall be able to shake this learned Christian's faith. The Bible, thus studied, will indeed prove to be what we Protes- tants esteem it, a certain and su fficient rule of faith and practice, a G helmet of salvation, which alone may " quench the fiery darts of the wicked." How much to be lamented is it, that the same plea is not admitted as alone giving validity to the faith and practice of Protestant dissenters from the Church of England, that is admitted by the members of that church to justify their separation from the Church of Rome! We regulate our faith and practice by this, and this alone. To relinquish this we consider would be a surrender of principle, an immolation of truth and duty upon the altar of what is called "expediency or state necessity," an act of rebellion against the exclusive Head of the Church, and King of Zion ! And it is remarkable, that in all the vituperations of church- men against dissenters, they are obliged completely to relinquish this first and fundamental article of Protestantism, in order to give the least semblance of propriety to what they utter. Let it not be forgotten, however, that the making the Scriptures the ground of appeal, for the support of our faith and practice, is one essen- tial principle of real religion ; and no man can be truly religious with- out it. For never can it be too strongly stated, that the Scriptures existed long before the Church of England, or the Church of Rome, and therefore that neither the authority of the one nor the other, can be equal to them. - These, and these only, were the guide of the Old Testament saints, and when completed, became the pillar and ground of the faith to the New. Thus Moses, in reference to that portion of them which he was commissioned to make known, said unto the children of Israel, " Set your hearts unto all the words which J testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law." (Deut. xxxii. 46.) Isaiah, also, when he would call off the attention of the people from false prophets, and expose their delinquencies and delusions, said, " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." And when the great Prophet of the church ap- peared, He — to whom all other prophets owed their inspiration and obe- dience, and who might, had it been consistent with the general utility of revelation, have dispensed with every appeal to the previously written word, and simply inculcated upon his own authority every thing he purposed to communicate for the salvation of man, without such an appeal, — even He made the law and the prophets, and the psalms, the subjects of his appeal, condemned the traditions of the elders, as making the commandments of God of none effect, and recommended all to search the Scriptures, to obtain at once the only satisfactory evidence of the rectitude of his character and the divinity of his claims. Nor do we any where find, that he ever acknowledged the authority of any ecclesiastical tribunal in matters of faith and conscience; "on the contrary, when describing the principles upon which his religion should be conducted, how frequently did he remind his disciples, that he alone was their Master and their Lord ? He therefore represents their authority in the church as merely delegated, as derived solely from himself, and as vested exclusively in them. On this account their instruction and writings possessed the same authority in the primitive Christian church, which the writings of Moses and the prophets pos- sessed under the preceding dispensation." Hence Paul, when reproving those who would attempt to unite the simple and spiritual institutions of Christianity with the abrogated ritual of the preceding dispensation, and probably devices of their own inventions, as other delinquents have 7 done in succeeding" ages, makes use of these emphatic and awful words, " 1 marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel ; which is not another ; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or any angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed ; as we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed 1" And without referring again to those other passages of a similar im- port, which I have already introduced to your notice by my former communication, it may suffice to observe, that from these facts, "we are clearly warranted to infer, that the Scriptures then existing were deemed authoritative ; that our Lord, and his Apostles, and the first Christians, appealed to them as such, in their directions and inquiries ; and that if the authority of the Apostles was subject to the authority of that revelation which then existed, the authority of the church, in every age, ought to be subject to the same authority." To maintain the converse of this, would, I apprehend, be to belie our principles and nullify our profession together.* But still you think these Scriptures, thus acknowledged as su- premely authoritative and sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, want an interpreter ; and you plead for the adequacy of those kind of interpreters only, who are " regularly ordained and duly authorized" by that establishment, that " safe establishment," as you elsewhere call it, " powerful in its investigation of truth, and defence of the principles of Christianity and sound morals," and towards the preservation of which you deem it obligatory to give our " national support." That the translation of the Scriptures into every language spoken under heaven, and historical, critical, and experimental helps to their elucidation and application, are of great importance and utility ; and that an evangelical ministry for the purpose of aiding the propagation and maintenance of the knowledge of salvation by Jesus Christ, is useful, desirable, yea, ap- pointed by the exclusive Head of the Church ; and so far as they are connected with the accomplishment of his purposes, indispensably necessary, I do not merely allow, but most strenuously maintain ; but that the ministry of the Church of England or of the Church of Rome alone, is necessary for this, I most unequivocally and decidedly deny ! The Church of Rome, we know, always pleaded for her infallibility as an interpreter or guide ; and therefore, to support her pretensions, she set aside that which would have disproved it at once, — the Scriptures of truth, and denied the use of them to the people ; and if the Church of England, the fairest and most productive offspring of the Church of Rome, pleads not for infallibility, she pleads, as you seem to feel most strongly, for her uniformity ; and, on account of her uniformity, to be at least the safest directory to salvation. But in what does her uniformity consist? in her pleading for the supreme authority of the Scriptures, and at the same time by her laws and institutions com- pletely overturning their authority ? — in claiming the rights of con- * See this subject most ably discussed and argued in Dr. Fletcher's " Lectures on the Roman Catholic Religion," — a work deserving to be read by every Protestant Episcopalian, as well as Roman Catholic, and which should be found in the library of every Dissenter. science for herself, but at the same time most cruelly invading those rights in others ? or in training and authorising a ministry, who by their own undeviating uniformity of sentiment, principle, and practice, shall be " able to teach others also," how to think and act alike, in reference to the dictates and claims of real religion ? Alas ! as I shall attempt hereafter more fully to declare to you, in each of these respects, her boasted uniformity is her most glaring deformity ; for, notwithstanding all her efforts to maintain an uniformity among her ministry, by the imposition of oaths of " unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing contained in and prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer;" the fact is incontrovertible, that it is impossible to bring an equal number of men together, who make a profession of the same religion, to say nothing of subscription to " articles of faith," among whom a greater dissonance of opinion is found to prevail, upon the most essen- tial principles of that religion ; and who, therefore, not being agreed among themselves, can never afford any thing like a correct, much less an infallible, guidance to the faith and conduct of others. Some there are, indeed, who have submitted their hearts and consciences, and all that goes to form their moral character, to the Word of God ; who, it may be, in early life, conformed to your church, and who, being " faithful men," are "able to teach others also;" but these are so notoriouslyyett; in number, as to form only a s:ct in the establishment in which they are found ; and like the sect of old, almost every where spoken against, and even where they ought to be most loved and che- rished ; but take your guides from what class you please of your clergy, and still, without the Word of God, they will all be found fallible, inefficient, and useless. Were their authority to be once admitted as superior to the Scriptures, or even as necessary to give them validity, for the accomplishment of their own declared design, then would the divine authority of our holy religion be completely overturned ; our preaching would be vain, our faith also would be vain ; and we should yet be in our sins ! To this standard, therefore, and to this alone, must every Christian minister make his appeal. From this armoury must we draw the weapons of our warfare, successfully to contend with the powers of darkness, on the world thatliethin subjection to the wicked one. Here must we find the " hidden manna," the food of our souls, and the fire of our devotions, and all the "things new and old," for the varied purposes of our ministry ; and if we do not find it here, elsewhere we cannot ; neither therefore should we save ourselves, nor them that hear us. From these statements, which serve to establish the supreme autho- rity of the Scriptures, (their divine origination being mutually ad- mitted,) and the inefficiency of every kind of human aid, in the work of salvation, without them, the right of private judgment, as set forth for us in those Scriptures, follows as a matter of course. I know full well, that the "Romanists" invade and deny this right; that the Church of England, after the example of her " mother," has not been wanting in her invasions, if not her denials of this right ; and that you also, in your pleadings for her, feel yourself incapable of admit- ting it. Hence, in your Letter, you speak of the " evils resulting from men interpreting the Scriptures for themselves ; and of its being thought, that nothing has tended more to impede the progress of Christianity, than the latitudinarian . ideas entertained of religious liberty, which frequently form an excuse for refusing obedience to 9 the church, and which, when acted on, constitute a man his own priest and temple ;" and, farther, " that there is scarcely a favourite opinion which a fertile imagination may not extract from some portion of" the Bible : the inference from the whole of which language I take to be this; that if the Bible be not taken away from the people, the right of private judgment, somehow or other, should ; and absolute submis- sion to the Church of England be demanded of all. Happily, how- ever, the times have long since passed away, for such sentiments, pro^ ceeding either from the pens of magistrates or clergymen, to excite any fear as to our liberties ; and let them make what efforts they may, to enforce them upon the "unthinking many," still, in spite of all their efforts, the people, and especially all truly Christian people, will think and act for themselves, as supremely amenable for their reli- gious faith and practice only to that tribunal, from which there can be no appeal. The simple statement of this right may be easily made 5 and both scriptural and rational pleadings in its favour be as easily multiplied. It was the prerogative of that God, who originally made us, and against whom we had rebelled, to furnish us with a revelation, of his purposes and requirements, for our salvation. This revelation^ to be of general, must also be of particular utility ; it must not only be directed to man universally, but to man individually. And is it not undeniable, that it is so directed ? Is not each individual therein ad- dressed, as if he were the only and exclusive object of address? Are not repentance, and faith, and the varied influences of both, incul- cated upon each, as well as upon all to whom it comes? and in conse- quence of this being its obvious character, are we not told, that " we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he hath done in the body, whether good or evil?" If, then, this be the condition of every one of us; if we are thus favoured to be the objects of a revelation of the will of God for our salvation, and are held supremely responsible to Him for the regard we express to the favour we enjoy ; what right has any man, or set of men, who in these respects, are on an equality of condition with ourselves, to interfere, to require of us certain modes of thinking and action in reference to the authority and claims of God upon us ? Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Our Lord and his Apostles most plainly recog- nized this right, and made it the grounds of their appeals to the peo- ple. Yea, and why even of yourselves, said our Lord, judge ye not what is right ? One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are bre- thren; the princes exercise dominion, and they that are great exercise authority, but it shall not be so among you. " Prove all things," said the Apostle Paul, when addressing the Thessalonians, " and hold fast that which is good :" language, that evidently implied the previous exhibition of a standard to their minds, by which they might prove all things ; and when they had found them to be good, adhere to them with the utmost stedfastness of mind. With this exhortation also accords that of the Apostle John, "Try the spirits whether they be of God;" as if he had said, ascertain by the only standard of truth and duty, not only what you hear^from thetprofessed teachers of Chris- tianity, but their own peculiar qualifications for the office they sustain, or to the possession of which they have aspired. And even though this right was abused under the ministration of the Apostles, yet they never attempted to interfere with its exercise. In the church at c 10 Corinth, there were great irregularities, abuses of gifts, debates, envy- ings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, and tumults ; but did the Apostles tell the Corinthians, that on this account they must never think for themselves, that they must abandon their rie^ht of private judgment, and submit with implicit deference to their unin- spired teachers ? No ! Far, very far, was such an assumption of dominion from his mind ; he asserted, indeed, his own inspired autho- rity, as an Apostle of Christ, but to no other did he make the slightest appeal ; — a proof of his consciousness that, if he had, he must have increased instead of lessening the disorders of the church. And the evils resulting from the attempts to withhold or restrain this right in subsequent periods of the history of the church, have been numerous and most affecting. When men have set themselves up as the judges, or authoritative directors of the faith and worship of their fellow men, so far as their efforts have succeeded, they have promoted only an exter- nal conformity to their credenda or dicta, but an internal indiffer- ence; and, instead of serving the cause of religion, have promoted positive infidelity and every evil work. If ever, therefore, any thing like a real uniformity has been, or is yet to be, brought about among the professors of the same religion, it must be, not by the imposition of creeds, and systems, and formularies of human devising, but by a voluntary agreement between inquiring, informed, and satisfied minds; an unity of sentiment and conduct, resulting from an unbiassed inves- tigation of truth, and an experimental and practical acquaintance with its inestimable worth and perpetual utility. Not that we have any reason to expect, I apprehend, a perfect assimilation in our modes of thinking and action, in reference to the one faith of the gospel, be- cause of the variety of our intellectual powers, our circumstances, and relationships in life ; but, that when this faith really influences our minds in the way it ought, whatever be our differences upon non- essential points, we shall constantly aim and desire to maintain the unity of the spirit, in the bonds of peace, and in rfehteousness of life. These, Sir, were the principles upon which the Teachers and first professors of Christianity uniformly acted ; and while they did this, they maintained the purity of the churches, and extended their influence in the world ; but when they departed from these, — when individuals or communities assumed a power over the consciences and conduct of their professed "brethren in the Lord," — a power which, as we have just seen, the Apostles never attempted to exercise, because they had not dominion over them, but were helpers of their joy, — then human expediency, and policy, and covetousness, " which is idolatry," formed an alliance between the church and civil government, and reduced, at least in appearance, that kingdom, which being not of this world, is des- tined to prove its independent, spiritual, and heavenly character — to a mere "national es'ablishment." But upon this point, you and I do most decidedly differ. So strongly prejudiced are you in favour of that religion only which is national, that you unequivocally declare in your Letter, that " a pure form of Christianity cannot exist, unless it be the accredited religion of the state," and forms a part of what you most un- scripturally imagine is a " national covenant with God." How then are we to ascertain what is truth on this point ? Or what are the autho- ritative dictates, the accredited will of God upon this matter? Now, in answering this inquiry, I know not that I can make use of more 11 appropriate or forcible language, than that of the eloquent Chrysostom, in one of his homilies. " All Christians," he says, " ought to have recourse to the Scriptures. For at this time, since heresy has infected the churches, the divine Scriptures alone can afford a proof of genuine Christianity, and a refuge to those who are desirous of arriving at the true faith. Formerly it might have been ascertained, by various means, which was the true church ; but at present there is no other method left to those who are willing to discover the true church of Christ, but by the Scriptures alone. And why? Because heresy has all outward observances in common with her. If a man, therefore, be desirous of knowing the true church, how will he be able to do it amidst so great a resemblance, but by the Scriptures alone? Wherefore our Lord, fore- seeing that such a great confusion of things would take place in the latter days, orders the Christians to have recourse to nothing but the Scriptures." This, then, I should hope, you will admit to be a fair, just, and decisive method of ascertaining the " certainty of those things wherein we have been instructed." It may, perhaps, appear superfluous for me to point out the erro- neous notions that have been affixed to the term church, by which many have gone themselves, and led others, astray ; but as it may be a means of correcting those notions, I will at least name them. Some confine their ideas of a church to the building in which people meet for professedly religious purposes ; and all other places, used for similar purposes, — not erected, shaped, and furnished in a similar manner, — (a manner which it would not be difficult to prove, is not merely Nor- man or Roman, but positively Heathen,) are deemed execrable by them ; and consequently, that all who frequent them must be equally execra- ble also. But, surely, a little reflection must convince you, that igno- rance,— the profoundest ignorance, — that ignorance which is the parent of superstition and bigotry alone, — could give rise, or offer support, to such an interpretation of the term as this. Others — and you too, Sir, among the number — most plainly intend, by your application of this term, to signify an union of parishes and dioceses, under the superin- tendance of archbishops, bishops, deans, chancellors, archdeacons, rectors, vicars, deacons, or curates, stretching their authority ' over a whole kingdom, and all avowing their submission to a secular domina- tion,— the king, or queen, or parliament, — and this is called "our national church," or the Church of England. And others acknowledge a still more extensive union as exclusively forming the holy Catholic Church, under an ecclesiastical head, as the Church of Rome. And by the same term I am most ready to acknowledge, some pitiably narrow-minded people understand that particular body of professing Christians, be they self-named particular baptists, or any other with which they stand united, to the exclusion of all other professing Christians whatsoever ; but I know not of any who entertain such absurd notions of a church, as those you tell me the members of "my persuasion" do, by which, of course, you intend the whole body of Congregational Dissen- ters ; — although, without intending it as a mere retort, I should say, that the members of a " national establishment " only can consider "the church as extending over the whole world where the name of Chris- tianity is in use, without laying down any specific rule to ascertain its presence," — indiscriminate communion being the well-known practice of your church, and a credible profession of Christian faith, being invariably required as a pre-requisite and a constant adjunct of communion with us. 12 The true use and application of the term, however, is not, I appre- hend, difficult to be ascertained. The word church, as we find it used in the New Testament, is a compound which signifies to call out ; and was anciently used to signify an assembly of the people, called out by the civil magistrate. Thus it is used in Acts xix. 32, 39 ; and those who translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Greek, uni- formly translated the Hebrew word, used in reference to the Israelitish church, into that word in the Greek which signifies, an assembly or con- gregation. Our English word church, is derived from the Greek word tcvptoc, signifying, the Lord, — the Head of the church, by way of eminence ; from whence we have the adjective Kvptaicoc, belonging to the Lord ; and thence Kyriac, kirk — church. Thus, then, by a simple examination of the meaning of the words used to denote a church, we are led to form two very important ideas concerning it : — the first is, that it denotes an assembly of the people ; and the second is, that it is an assembly of the people, acknowledging their subjection to one Lord, and called together by his authority. If we extend our inquiries still farther, we shall find that this term is sometimes used, in the New Testament, to comprehend, — 1st. All those that have died in the faith, from the beginning of the ages to the present hour ; and all those alive upon the earth, exercising a similar faith, and sharing in similar privileges, which all the faithful have en- joyed and continue to enjoy ; hence the Apostle (Heb. xii. 23) speaks of it as the peculiar privilege of Christians, to come — to the spirits of just men made perfect. 2ndly. All those that are scattered over the face of the earth, who believe in Christ, who place their dependance upon Him as their only Mediator and Advocate with the Father, and who acknowledge and submit themselvestohis authority, as theonly Law- giver of his people ; hence, in answer to the confession of Peter, our Lord, probably pointing to himself, while, at the same time, he referred to the confession of Peter, said, " On this rock will I build my church ;" and hence He is compared to the Head, and all who are united to Him by a vital influential faith, are compared to the members of one body— the true church. (See Matt. xvi. 16 — 18: Eph. iv. 15, 16.) And, of course, 3dly, the word must designate any particular society of Chris- tians accustomed to assemble in one place. Thus it is used in refe- rence to a meeting of Christians in an ordinary dwelling. (Rom. xvi. 5 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 19; Col. iv. 15; and Philemon 2.) But most frequently it is used in reference to an assembly of Christians, accustomed to meet together in a particular place, for the purpose of observing the instituted ordinances of our holy religion ; hence we read of the churches of Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Antioch, and of Asia; but in no one of the applications of the term, by the inspired writers, do we find the smallest pattern or indication of any thing approximating to a national church. The believers of the contrary, may be safelyand universally chal- lenged to prove their belief, if they can. The true church ever has been, and now continues to be, one, not nationally, but only spiritually, in consequence of the vital union of her members to one perpetually living- Head ; their exclusive subjection to his authority, and their perfect inde- pendence of every secular alliance and authority ; and consequently, that like the character of her divine Author, she has ever been a perfect novelty in the world, and must ever unfold his attractions and influence with ever fresh and absorbing lustre. Continuing our investigations of this matter, under the direction of 13 inspired authority, we shall not find it difficult to ascertain how the first churches'or assemblies of the disciples of Christ were called toge- ther. The Apostles were themselves first called by his grace, and endowed with sufficient powers for the execution of their commission. They then went forth, preaching every where, and it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believed. By this means the number of the disciples increased and multiplied, and certain insti- tutions and meetings were agreed to by them, which they afterwards conscientiously and religiously observed. (See Acts ii. 37 — 47 ; v. 42 ; and vi. 7.) With this association, of course, none united themselves but those who were called by the same means, who were influenced by the same principles of faith and obedience to Christ, and who afterwards proved the sincerity of their profession, by the purity and consistency of their conduct; and if any others crept in among them, they were speedily detected and denounced, or became the subjects of that dis- cipline with which the Lord had entrusted his church, for edification, and not for destruction. (See Acts v. 1 — 14; viii. 18 — 25; 2 Cor. xiii. 10.) Hence, the Apostles commended those who had first given themselves unto the Lord and unto them, that is, as the office-bearers of the Christian church, according unto the will of God. (2 Cor. viii. 5.) Upon these accounts, then, the definition of a church, given by the com- pilers of the Thirty-nine Articles, is correct. (Art. 19,) " The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which," or among whom, " the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments duly administered, according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." And in this, the right possessed by the Christian church, of requiring, in all its admitted mem- bers, a credible profession of faith, and all that is necessary to its pre- servation as such, is undoubtedly set forth and acknowledged, otherwise the church could never consist of "a company of faithful men." Under these circumstances the Christian church took its rise, and ra- pidly extended its influence in the world. The Apostles and first preachers of the gospel, marked by that simplicity of character which the conscious possession of truth alone could inspire, strangers to the mere- tricious ornaments of speech, with which the wise men of this world sought the applause of their fellow-men ; unsupported by any secular alliances or adventitious aid which the power of men could afford them ; they went forth to meet and vanquish the opposit;on of the world : and He who gave them their work to do, and furnished them with the materials for doing it, every where maintained his authority and magnified his grace ; — till at length the whole aspect of society began to change; the pride, prejudice, and enmity of the Jews were slain ; the im- pure mysteries and idolatrous practices of the gentiles were relinquished ; their temples and altars were deserted or overthrown ; and, " from the set- ting of the sun even to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord was magnified, and in every place incense was offered unto his name and a pure offering." It is delightful, indeed, to call to mind the state of the church at this period of her history. Notwithstanding all the opposi- tion with which she had to contend, she still appeared fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners. Deriving her light from the Sun of Righteousness, armed with the panoply of his truth, and re- suscitated by his own celestial influence, amidst all the power that was directed for her destruction, her ranks, instead of diminishing, in- creased ; and the oft-repeated adage was verified in her experience, 14 " the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church." The Apostles in succession had retired from their varied labours and sufferings, and sealed their testimony with their blood. One only remained — " that disciple whom Jesus loved," and he was banished to the desolate isle of Patmos : but then he was destined to receive, and become the last hon- oured instrument of conveying, the commendations, corrections, and premonitions of inspired truth, in a form which should become a kind of standing prophet in the the church, through the successive periods of her existence ; and like the sun at. his setting, the Spirit of truth hereby assumed a milder but more resplendent lustre, and marked his departure by filling earth and heaven with his glory ! The book and the prophecy were closed ; and the members of the mystical body of Christ became at once the depositaries and conservators of its contents. Pre- cious treasure ! Inestimable deposit ! Tree of life, destined to impreg- nate the dying race of man with the seeds of immortality ! But the fathers were gone ; and neither the prophets, nor apostles, nor their immediate companions and successors, were permitted to continue by reason of death. The wonder-working power of the Spirit was withdrawn ; and uninspired men, though men of God, faithful to the trust committed unto them, and those that they were instrumental in bringing them to the faith and obedience of the gospel, were now left to carry on the affairs of the church in the world. And too speedily, alas ! did their weakness, their selfishness, and tendency to defection, in sentiment and practice, display themselves. While " the sect of Christians," as they were termed, were every where spoken against, and seasons of persecution either pre- vailed or were feared, the purity of their character shone conspicu- ously, and not unfrequently the power of their faith, and fortitude, and perseverance, filled the minds of their persecutors with astonishment and fear ; but when these seasons of trial had passed away, and those of external peace and prosperity arrived, a state of conduct private and public was gradually assumed, which showed the most lamentable devia- tions from scriptural direction or apostolic order. " Long peace," says Cyprian, in his ' Treatise on Declensions,' " had corrupted the discipline divinely revealed to us. Each was bent on improving his patrimony, and had forgotten what believers had done under the apostles, and what they ought always to do. They were brooding over the arts of amassing wealth ; the pastors and the deacons each forgot their duty ; works of mercy were neglected, and discipline was at the lowest ebb. Luxury and effeminacy prevailed ; meretricious arts in dress were culti- vated ; fraud and deceit were practised among brethren. Christians could unite themselves in matrimony with unbelievers ; could swear not only without reverence, but without veracity. Many bishops, neg- lecting the peculiar duties of their stations, gave themselves up to se- cular pursuits. They deserted their places of residence, and their flocks. They travelled through distant provinces in quest of pleasure and gain ; gave no assistance to their needy brethren, but were insatiable in their thirst of money. They possessed estates by fraud, and multiplied usury."* * Had this writer been a prophet, instead of a simple recorder of facts which came in review before him, as he was writing for the benefit of the church, he could not have given a more accurate description of the state of things that do actually prevail in the Church of England in the present day. The prophet Isaiah, however, had actually described some such characters ages before him. — See Isaiah 1. 10 — 12. 15 Thus the affairs of the church went on generally from bad to worse : the mystery of iniquity, which had began to work even in apostolic times, continued its perverting and morally desolating influence, until at length, by the professed conversion of Constantine, the church was united to the state, and imperial authority was employed, to enforce, by temporal penalties, the observance of Christian institutions ; and the emperor as- sumed the sole right of governing the church. The consequences of this were soon found fatal to spiritual religion, to the rights of private judgment, and to the privileges of the people, in union with their mi- nisters or bishops, to manage the affairs of the church. " Hence it came to pass," says Mosheim, " that at the conclusion of the fourth century there remained no more than the mere shadow of the ancient govern- ment of the church. The privileges which had belonged to the presby- ters and people, were usurped by the bishops ; and the rights which had been formerly vested in the universal church, were transferred to the emperors, and to the subordinate officers and magistrates" of the empire. In this way the nominally Christian church became a kingdom of this world; its ministers an army of spiritual janizaries, depending upon the sovereign for their support; and its institutions subservient to the. accomplishment of the most arbitrary designs. And in this way was the hierarchy of the church of Rome completed ; and she became emphatically what she had been pfeviously designated, " Mystery — Babylon the Great — the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." It was not until about the sixth century that Christianity was intro- duced into Britain. Previous to that period, all in this country were in the darkness of heathenism — the worshippers of imaginary deities — the victims of the grossest superstitions and cruelties. Ethelbert, we are told by our own, as well as ecclesiastical historians, the king of Kent, married Bertha, the only daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, having previously stipulated that she should enjoy the free exercise of her reli- gion. This princess, by the influence she acquired, gradually prepared the way for the introduction and establishment of Christianity ; and Gregory the Great sent into Britain, A.D. 596, forty benedictine monks, with Augustine at their head, in order to bring to perfection what the pious queen had so happily began. By these records, then, you perceive, Sir, that you have erred in what you have stated on the tenth page of your Letter. So much of anti- quity as you claim for it, belongs not to the Church of England : instead of being a branch of the church founded by the Apostles, it is only a branch of the papistical church of France, and was never introduced into this country, until all the simple institutions of Christianity were debased and corrupted by the " mother of abominations." It would require, however, a volume to bring the history of the church in this country to the period when its reformation was commenced, during the reign of Henry the Eighth ; and when we obtained that kind of Esta- blishment which has been continued, with little variation, to the present day. Your statements also respecting the continental reformers and reformations, are no less erroneous, and contradicted alike by the tes- timony of friends and foes. The Bible, and the Bible only, as we have already stated, was the foundation on which the Foreign and British re- formations were professedly placed; and whatever of" human authority" was connected with them, was not owing so much to the preference of the Reformers, as to the uncontrolable circumstances in which they 16 found themselves placed. Your assumption, then, of " human authority" being the only hinge upon which they turned, being proved erroneous, your sneer at "sects" and "dissent" amounts to nothing. Had you taken the trouble correctly to inform yourself of the facts of the case, before you wrote upon this, as well as many other events, you would not have laid yourself open to charges of inaccuracy so frequently as you have done. The opposition of the King of England to the Pope, on ac- count of his reluctance to grant a divorce from Queen Catherine, and his assumption of supremacy in the Church of England in the place of the Pope, and the more general use and translation of the Scriptures, paved the way for our Reformation. Articles of faith and practice for the clergy, and forms of prayer, were drawn up, and enforced upon the attention and usage of the people. This was the dawn of the Reformation ; and under the subsequent reign, it seemed to rise to greater maturity, and presage the advance of perfect day. Puritanism, or that profession of religion which urges a man supremely to regard, in his faith and practice, the pure dictates of the word of God, in opposition to all human authority and impositions whatsoever, — puritanism had exerted a considerable influence over the minds of the people previous to these reigns, by the aid of Wickliffe and the Lollards, as they were called ; but during this and the subse- quent reigns, it began to display itself in still stronger forms. Upon the accession of that monster in the shape of a woman, called Queen Mary, popery was again established, and all the arguments urged against its unrighteous tyranny, were met with imprisonment, torture, or the stake ! The generality of the clergy were either too ignorant, or too selfish, or too papistical, to make any stand against the domination to which they then became subject, although, not long before, they had sworn against it ; and therefore, with few exceptions, they turned back again to the bondage from which they had been delivered. The acts of former reigns for the destruction of heretics were revived ; and Hooper, Rogers, Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer, were among the most noted of the martyrs for conscience and truth's sake : and while hundreds of others, men, women, and children, were doomed to similar sufferings, even unto death, the grave itself was searched for the bones of departed worthies, that they also might be burned for their nonconformity. At length, when the " souls under the altar " multiplied their cries for ven- geance, and the earth itself groaned under the barbarous tyranny of her oppressors, Mary died, and Elizabeth ascended the throne. Persecu- tion, in one shape, was then indeed arrested. The reformed religion, as made out in the reign of Henry, regained the ascendancy ; and for the support of the prerogative, as " Head of the church of this realm of England," which the queen claimed, after the example of her father, the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity were passed. The Prayer Book and the Articles of the Church of England, nearly in the same form as we have them now, were then enforced by fines and banish- ment, a return from which was to be visited with death. All that Would not conform to her church, — for she, be it remembered, was the avowed Head of this church, (and other queens may come in her place,) and as such she claimed the prerogative to compose a form of prayer for the use of her people, and to stop all preaching among them ; — to direct the clergy what they should preach and when, and finally to determine what should be deemed heretical, and what accorded with the true say- ings of God. All, I say, who would not conform to her church, were 17 tlie objects of her anger and opposition, and that she might the more effectually maintain her prerogative undisputed ; she declared, that she could not satisfy her conscience without crushing the puritans ; and, alas! by this tender-hearted woman-head of the Church of Eng- land; multitudes of the wise and the pious, among- her own clergy, were suspended and deprived ; the prisons were every where crowded with the puritans ; and when brought to their trials, were placed by the side of thieves and murderers; and even their lives were sacrificed by their protracted imprisonments and sufferings, or else by the hands of the executioner ! Her successor, James, was too much impregnated, as a Stuart, with the ideas of prerogative and right divine, though he had been brought up under the presbyterian form of church govern- ment, to relax any thing in favour of a purer form of worship than that of the Church of England, as established by law ; and, therefore, though moved by the millennary petition, (so called because it was signed by nearly a thousand preachers of the gospel,) to appoint a conference at Hampton Court, over which he presided as sole arbiter ; he denied the justice of the pleas of the puritans, and declared he would either " make them conform, or hurry them out of the land ;" and while many perished in prison, hundreds went into voluntary exile. Charles, his son and successor, was equally infatuated with the same hereditary passion for arbitrary government; and, under the con- trol of his queen, a determined catholic, he aimed to enforce confor- mity to that Church, of which he was the head, by imprisonment, by the pillory, by the slitting of noses, and the cutting off of ears; by branding, banishment, and death ! And, lest any should escape the grasp of his despotism, he prohibited voluntary exile, that no foreign land might afford the liberty he here denied them. At length, his violations of the laws and liberties of his people, compelled them to fight in their own defence, and to bring him to a premature and violent end. Perhaps I need scarcely remind you, that the brightest period of the civil and religious history of our country, until the acces- sion of William the Third, followed these mournful and deprecated events. Episcopacy was abolished by Parliament; and -the Act or- dained, that, after the 5th Nov. 1643, there should be no archbishop, bishop, chancellor or commissary of any archbishop or bishop, nor any dean, sub-dean, dean and chapter, archdeacon, nor any chan- cellor, chanter, treasurer, sub-treasurer, succentor or sacrist, of any cathedral or collegiate church; nor any prebendary, canon, canon residentiary, petty canon, vicar, choral chorister, old vicars or new vicars, of or within any cathedral, or collegiate churches in England or Wales, &c. &c. And thus, Sir, that wondrous apostolic succession for which you contend, but which history proves to be the mere chi- mera of a high churchman's imagination, was completely set aside, under the wise and powerful protectorate of Cromwell. The clergy that were removed from their stations, either for their manifest incapa- city or inexcusable immorality, were yet treated with a liberality which they never deserved, one-fifth of their income being reserved for their support : — the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, those common receptacles of anomalous adjuncts, learning and vice, were purified; and literature and religion flourished and prevailed even in them, in unprecedented degrees, under the superintendence of the puritans: — sobriety, honesty, and virtue, generally prevailed among the people ;- the magistrates, punctual in the discharge of their duties, became o 18 emphatically "a terror to evil doers, and a praise unto them that do well :" — the entire sanctity of the Christian Sabbath was asserted and maintained ; the simplicity and spirituality of prayer and the preaching of the pure Word of God abounded ; the well-known learning and piety of those who were either engaged in, or trained up for, the work of the ministry of those days, must secure their celebrity till the end of time : — and the whole aspect of the affairs of the country assumed a state of moral order, which has never since been realized. But, alas ! among the inscrutable mysteries of Providence, it was at length found, that a Stuart, in the person of that faithless, libidinous, and persecuting bigot, Charles the Second, was destined to return to the throne of England ; and a tyranny, almost as dark and intolerant as had ever been exer- cised by the Church of Rome, to gain the re-ascendancy with him ! Indeed, one's heart recoils at the review of the hypocrisy, perfidy, im- positions, and barbarities of this reign ! It was assumed by the advo- cates of the prerogative and of the Church of England, that his father had been murdered, that he had died a martyr, although, (without pleading for the adequacy of the tribunal before which he was tried, he had as obviously been as guilty of treason against the people, as it was possible for any of the people to have been guilty of treason against him,) and, therefore, an act was passed, to attaint the king's judges, " dead or alive;" and, accordingly, Cromwell, and Bradshaw, and Ireton, were taken out of their graves, were hung up at Tyburn, had their heads cut off, and were afterwards thrown into a hole under the gallows !* Imprisonment, banishment, forfeiture of estates, and deaths in cruel forms, were visited upon others, who had shared in this unhappy affair. At a subsequent period, the court and bishops, not con- tent with the violations of justice in their treatment of the puritans who were left alive, again descended into the grave, and dug up the bodies of those who had died, and were buried, during the late times, in West- minster Abbey, lest their dust should, some time or other, mix with those loyal and sacred beings that should there be deposited. Yes ! and this was the period when the Church of England, as we now have it, obtained its last settlement. It was then, that the finishing stroke was given to the semi-catholic and semi-protestant Liturgy ; and to the semi-scriptural and semi-secular Articles of the Book of Common Prayer. And it was then, that the Act of Uniformity passed, which was to take effect on Lord's-day, the 24th of August, 1662 ; and when all who would not give their unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing contained in, and prescribed by, the Book of Common Prayer," ( that more than Bible to the Episcopalians,) were to be expelled the Establishment! Iniquitous decision! Some had never seen the Prayer Book before they were called upon to swear their approval of it ! And all the puritans, to whom the treacherous Charles had promised free toleration before his restoration, it was well known, had the strongest objections to some parts of it, and had they con- tinued their connexion with the Establishment, would have used the rest : but all who would not subscribe, — and on that fatal day their * And so wise and deserving of commendation has this policy appeared to the University of Oxford, that they have preserved in their museum, to this day perhaps, (at least ten years ago I saw it,) a skull, which they have the satisfaction to suppose, contained the brains of Cromwell ; although, not the shadow of a resemblance exists between it, and the portraits which are generally set forth of him. 19 number amounted to two thousand, — were expelled their livings, amidst the deprecations and distresses of their people,— themselves and families reduced to poverty and destitution ; and, what was worse, were exposed to persecutions, imprisonments, and deaths, infinitely more appalling than poverty and want, or any of the ordinary calamities of life ! ! ! "Upon these foundations, and with these triumphs, was the present constitution of the Church of England restored." Nor was it thought enough, that those wise, learned, and holy men, "ministers of Christ," — Owen, Manton, Bates, Goodwin, Grew, Annesly, Ca- lamy, Baxter, Pool, Caryl, Charnock, Gale, Howe, Clark, Henry, and a host of others — whose works, as well as sufferings, will endear their memories to the hearts of Christians, while Christianity has a heart to dwell in on this side eternity, — nor was it enough, 1 say, in the view of the head, the bishops and clergy of the Church of Eng- land, that two thousand ministers of Christ should be reduced, by their expulsion from that Church, to circumstances so precarious and trying; but everything was done against them, that could cut off their hope of relief, except by death. And when their friends and their flocks would have sheltered and followed them, the Conventicle, and Five-mile Acts were passed, by which no more than four persons could meet together, for the purpose of religious worship, except according to the form established by law; or if they met, it could only be where the people were either afraid or indisposed to go ! In virtue of these Acts, the gaols, all over the kingdom, were filled with Protestant dis- senters ; while the papists had the good fortune to be covered under the wing of the prerogative. The people stood by their ministers, until they were either imprisoned or ruined, or compelled to remove with their families and property to more hospitable shores ! The cry of misery was heard through the land ! The Independents, Anabaptists, and Quakers, were objects of peculiar hostility ; — they were dragged to Newgate, till Newgate could hold no more ; and every kind of annoy- ance, vexation, and cruelty, was visited upon them, with a barbarity unequalled ! So revolting, indeed, was the conduct of the Church of England, at this time, and it should not be forgotten, that it was at this time it obtained its present character and authority in the country, that even the Earl of Castlemain, a Roman Catholic, wrote of it in the following terms: — "It was never known," says he, "that Rome persecuted as the bishops do, those who adhere to the same faith with themselves, and established an inquisition against the pro- fessors of the strictest piety among themselves ; and, however the prelates complain of the bloody persecution of queen Mary, it is mani- fest that their persecution exceeds it ; for, under her, there were not more than two or three hundred put to death, whereas, under their persecution, above treble that number have been rifled, destroyed, and ruined in their estates, liberties, and lives !" The exact number has never probably been ascertained ; it is stated, however, upon good authority, that between the Restoration and the Revolution, not less than 70,000 families were ruined, and above 10,000 persons destroyed ! But I can pursue this detail of woe, and misery, and suffering, no longer! Histories of England, and especially Neale's History of the Puritans, from whose volumes I have now furnished you with this sketch, will be found to finish the picture, in all its horrifying and heart-sickening forms ; and to prove, unanswerably, that the present 20 Church of England is founded in the worst of tyrannies, cruelties, and barbarities ; and being a progeny, " the firmest friend and natural ally" of the Church of Rome, acknowledged, on all hands, to be the completest anti-christian power with which the moral world was ever desolated, is destined by the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, " to be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed with the brightness of his coming. — (Compare Matt. xxix. 29, 30, with2Thess. ii. 7—12; and Rev. xviii.) It is true, that the times have altered. It is true, that on the accession of William the Third, the Toleration Act was passed, and all Dissen- ters had liberty of worship and protection in the enjoyment of their rights. And it is true, that the House of Hanover have always pre- served these rights inviolate ; and that George the Fourth adorned his crown with the richest gems acquired in his reign, by the repeal of those Acts, (which your Letter tells me, you wish were, even now, in force,) which imposed disabilities alike upon Catholics and Dissenters, and were equally disgraceful to the civil and ecclesiastical institutions of the country ; but still the very term toleration implies an unright- eous invasion of the rights of conscience, on the one hand, and an impious assumption of the prerogative of God, to grant liberty of con- science, on the other ; still, therefore, equal liberty is needed ; and not till the arrogance, and bigotry, and inquisitorial domination of the churchman is completely subjugated ; — not till all the anti-christian appendages of the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian hierarchies are re- moved out of the way ; — not till the Church is separated from the state, and let alone, (as she was in the purest periods of her history, and is now among Dissenters,) to seek her own establishment, and find her own way in the world, will any thing like civil peace and prosperity, or religious influence and enjoyment, prevail or continue in the country! "Takedown," said an eloquent member of the House of Commons, a few days since, " take down the golden domes of your Establishment, or they will fall in, in the shocks of the moral earth- quake with which you are threatened, and bury the whole edifice in ruin !" From many passages in your Letter, it seems difficult to ascertain what ideas you intend to convey, or what your unbiassed views are, con- cerning the Establishment. In some places you speak of it as an in- fallible directory; as embodying within itself all that is essential to the sal- vation of the race of man, and every thing without itself, as heretical, and therefore leading directly to the gulph of perdition ! Sometimes you seem ready to plead against its union with the state ; and then you call for the perpetuity of its "national support," as necessary for its continued existence, and "protecting us against the machinations of internal, as well as external, enemies." Now, you seem to rest all your pleas in its favour, upon scriptural grounds alone ; and then you so completely lose sight of this authority, as to persuade yourself, that the dictates of the Prayer Book are an adequate substitute in its place. Therefore, I appre- hend, how v ariable soever these pleadings in favour of the Church of Eng- land may be, that the fairest conclusion I can draw from them, as most fully expressive of your views, is this : that this Church, as it is now established, "is the exact and true Church, without any alteration, being precisely such as it was founded by Christ and the Apostles." And 1 know that you are not at all singular in your belief, and that quo- 21 tationsmighteasily be multiplied from the writings of others, which would, in effect, amount to a similar testimony ; but before this testimony can be admitted as true, we must beg you to prove that there were archbishops, ■ lord bishops, deans, sub-deans, deans and chapters, prebendaries, arch- deacons, chancellors, canons, precentors, old vicars or new vicars, rec- tors, curates, &c. appointed by Christ or his Apostles ; or even men- tioned in any accredited history of the Church, during the first three centuries after the propagation of Christianity in the world ; or until the character of the " man of sin" was completely formed. As however upon such grounds your proofs must completely fail you — and to no other would, or ought you to appeal, as a professedly Christian character — I must assume, that all disputes in favour of such an unauthorised ar- rangement of ecclesiastical officers, is at an end ; and proceed simply to the consideration of the only three orders of your clergy, for whom a form of consecration is prescribed by your Book of Common Prayer. " The fact," you say, " is undeniable, that the Church has been governed by bishops, priests, and deacons, from the Apostles downwards." In addressing myself to the consideration of this matter, I shall avail myself of a little assistance from the Reformers of the Church, in the first place. John Wickliffe, of whom we have already spoken as the morning star of the Reformation, shall come first. " I boldly assert one thing," says he, " that in the primitive church, or in the time of Paul, two orders of the clergy were sufficient : that is, a priest* and a deacon. In like manner, I affirm, that in the time of Paul, the pres- byter and .bishop were names of the same office. This appears from 1 Tim. iii. and Tit. i. ; and the same is testified by that profound theo- logian, Jerome : ' By the ordinance of Christ, priests and bishops were all one; but, afterwards, the emperor divided them, and made bishops, lords, and priests their servants ; and this was the cause of envy, and quenched much charity. For the ordinances of Christ are formed in meekness, in unity, and charity, and in contempt of riches and high estate.'" In answer to some questions proposed to a select assembly at Windsor Castle, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, Cranmer avows, " the bishops and priests were at one time, and were not two things, but both one office, in the beginning of Christ's religion." The testimonies of Tyndal, Lambert, and Barnes, who sealed their testimony to the reformed faith with their blood, are to the following effect : that " there were but two officers of divine institution in the church, viz. elders or bishops to feed the flock, and deacons to minister the charity of the church to the poor and needy." Other testimonies, of equal antiquity and note, might be multiplied ; but these will suffice to prepare the way for what I may be able to advance from the New Testament. That the term bishop is used in the New Testament synonimously with presbyters or elders, pastors or shepherds, ministers and guides, and that these names are given to the bearers of the same office indis- criminately, and are, therefore, to be taken only as descriptive of the different duties of that office, will appear from the following statements. In Acts xx. it is recorded, that Paul called for the elders of the church at Ephesus, and in ver. 28, he exhorts these same elders, as bishops, • The term priest, is a contraction of presbyter, (the Saxons used the term preoster, thence came preste and priest,) and were it always used according to its true etymo- logy, would be unobjectionable ; but it is well known that itis used to denote a distinct order of ecclesiastical officers, not warranted by the New Testament, and therefore to be rejected. Wickliffe evidently uses it assynonimous with presbyter. 22 tTvioKdirova, or overseers. In Tit. i. Paul reminds him that he left him in Crete, to ordain elders, — and that a bishop must be blameless. In 1 Pet. v. Peter says, " the elders who are among you I exhort, who also am an elder — feed the flock of God— taking the oversight — the bishopric" — tTtioKo-Kovvrio — " not by constraint," &c. Of course, the numbers of these in a church would be regulated according to the num- ber of members forming it. In some places one would suffice, in others two or more would be necessary. Thus in the church at Ephesus there were elders : so also Paul addresses himself to the church at Philippi — " with the bishops and deacons." Upon this latter passage the Rev. T. Scott, an approved episcopalian expositor, has made the following remarks : " Hence we learn, that the distinction between bishops and presbyters was not then generally established ; but that the pastors of the church were distinguished from the deacons, who managed the secular matters and the charities of the church. Much labour and learning have, indeed, been employed to set aside this conclusion, but with little success, even by the allowance of decided episcopalians." And hence it appears, that New Testament bishops, elders, or pastors, were so designated because of their Christian ministration among a particular people ; their connexion with the people of their charge over whom they presided, and among whom they ministered, alone giving utility to their office. The term bishop, therefore, as used by the inspired writers, has no more to do with those lordly men, that go by that name in this country, than it has with the Pope of Rome, the Lama of Thibet, or the Brahmin of India. Accordingly, it has gene- rally been found, that when episcopalians are pressed upon this point, finding that scriptural authority fails them, they have recourse to that ever mutable standard of conduct, expediency. Paley, with the sophis- try of a special pleader, has recourse to this alone, when he would find out a support for diocesan-episcopacy ; and sorry am I to find, that even Scott has given something like a sanction to this kind of plea in its favour, when, after asserting in his note on 1 Tim. v. 21, 22, that we can by no means infer the divine right of episcopacy, from the authority exercised by Timothy and Titus, or other evangelists, he adds, that " it is probable that it was very early found expedient, and condu- cive to peace, to have a stated presiding inspector, of approved wisdom and piety." And this was the most modest manner in which he could possibly suggest a plea, for any thing bearing the smallest resemblance to the episcopacy of the Churches of Rome or England. But if it be expedient to deviate from scriptural models and examples, in one case, or under one class of circumstances, why not so in a thousand cases and circumstances, and when once the doctrine is admitted, where will its influence end ? It evidently beclouds the conscience, by shutting out the light of truth ; not only sanctions, but renders necessary, a dis- regard to the monitions of the one, and the authority of the other ; sets aside the distinctions between right and wrong, virtue and vice, holiness and sin ; and when once these distinctions are set aside, by what laws, I ask, is any church to be governed, or by what bonds is any society to be held together ? We have seen the pernicious influence of this doctrine in the history of the church : it was this, and this alone, that prepared the way for the elevation of bishops of churches into those of districts, and then of a country or empire, until all were merged in subjection to one — the Pope of Rome — the " man of sin :" and it is by the admission and maintenance of this doctrine only, that 23 our country exhibits such a perfectly anti-scriptnral hierarchy, formed solely upon the model of the Roman Catholic, only putting the King of England in the place of the Pope of Rome, bringing their Graces the Archbishops, and their Lordships the Bishops, peers of the realm, instead of Christian overseers or pastors, with all their worshipful reti- nue, by names almost innumerable, into subjection to the king, instead of the Pope, leaving him to settle " rites and ceremonies," things nei- ther commanded nor forbidden in Scripture, and to command his sub- jects to observe them ; yea, and even to do more than the Pope ever did, to have one u form of common prayer," and orders of management, in all the minute parts of ministerial duty, (as we shall presently prove to you,) and to enforce the " uniformity " of the observance of these, by enactments and proceedings which, as we have seen, were a disgrace to humanity, and which must remain an everlasting stain, and a perpetual reproach to such a kind of religious profession. (See the 37th Article, and the first 12 Canons of the Book of Common Prayer.) And where shall we find, in the New Testament, what are called priests in your church — a distinct order of ecclesiastical personages ? Perhaps you have never been informed before, that no such designation is given to any by the inspired writers, except the priesthood of the Old Testament Economy — the " great Apostle and High-priest of our pro- fession," and all his followers, without distinction, who are expressly called " a chosen generation — a royal priesthood," &c. (1 Peter ii. 9.) One Christian, therefore, is as much of a priest as another, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, in the faith of the great propitiatory Sacrifice, once made in the end of the world for sin. Possibly this statement may fall under the class of " latitudinarian ideas," which you think are " so dangerous as to form an excuse for refusing obedience to the church, and which, when acted on, constitute a man his own priest and temple ;" but whether it be " latitudinarian," or rectilinear, judge ye. Peter de- signates all Christians " a royal priesthood," and Paul calls them a temple ; for " ye," says he, " are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (2 Cor. vi. 16.) And upon this passage an eloquent writer has observed, " What purity, sanctity, and dignity may be expected in persons who bear such a character ! A Chris- tian should look upon himself as something sacred and devoted ; so that what involves but an ordinary degree of criminality in others, in him partakes of the nature of sacrilege ; what is a breach of trust in others, is in him the profanation of a temple." But then come deacons, — and these, in your Church, form another order of spiritual or ecclesiastical personages, who, upon their assump- tion of this office, declare they trust " they are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them this office and ministration to serve God, for the promoting of his glory, and the edifying of his people;" and that they are duly called, according to "the order of this realm, to the mi- nistry of the Church;" and in the 19th page of your letter, you refer to a controversy respecting the first appointment of deacons, as if vested only in the pastors of the Church, and not in the people in connexion with their pastors : an impartial re-perusal of the passage will probably set this matter at rest. (See Cth chapter of the Acts.) But what was their office? Undeniably to collect money for the service of the tables, for the relief of the poor, and the support of the ministry ; and these col- lections were not to be forced, but voluntary, (not like the unrighteous 21 systems of poor and church rates, and tithe collections of your Church,) — and this almost exclusively secular office is still needed, and therefore is and ought to be continued in the Christian church, though your Church recognizes and cares nothing about such deacons. (See ITim. iii. 8—13.) Thus, then, by a varied and lengthened induction of particulars, I have proved that the true Christian church consists of " a congregation of faithful men," called together by the ministration of the word and Spirit of God ; a perfectly voluntary association ; invested with peculiar privileges by Him to whom alone they feel themselves supremely hound to submit their understandings and consciences; especially, under his direction, to elect their own officers, whether for the superintendence of their spiritual or secular concerns, as a body of people united together in virtue of their union to Christ, their ever-living Head;* and, conse- quently, that all their efforts and contributions for the support, usefulness, and influence of this society, are " free-will offerings, as unto the Lord, and not unto men." And these particulars, which will be of necessity yet farther drawn out, are so obviously drawn from the highest authority, that not a vestige of ground is left for the support of your hierarchy upon this authority; all its ecclesiastical and secular appointments being found the darling offspring of expediency, not of divine utility or truth. No wonder, then, that the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," has always been an object of terror, if not of abhorrence, to the Romanists and Episcopalians, at least, an object which they gladly would keep out of the pews as well as the pulpit, from the period of their establish- ment to the present hour. " Our church," " our excellent liturgy," " our articles," and " our canons," and " our" every thing, but the Bible, form the continual grounds of your clergymen's appeal for almost every thing they exhort, enjoin, or command their hearers to regard ; (and whatever accords not with this kind of preachment, the thirty- second page of your Letter tells me is not gospel ;) and hence the op- position that has been raised by one part of your clergy against the Bible Society ; and the unkind usage, (to use the softest terms,) to which another part of your clergy have been subjected for giving that Society their support ; and the fear which even both classes have sometimes ma- nifested, lest the Prayer Book should not be as extensively circulated as the Bible ; the Bible exposing the anomalies of the Prayer Book, and thus endangering the membership of the Establishment. Yes, Sir, and it is the Bible that convinces me of the inutility of prayer books, when " the spirit of grace and supplication" is poured out. The history of their origin will be found a sufficient warrant for the indul- gence of that conviction. Not the least intimation of the use of any such helps is to be found in the New Testament. The question raised concerning " our Lord's Prayer," has, I believe, been completely set at rest, by the united testimony of learned and pious divines, both in and out of the Establishment ; so that none, except such as may be incapable of receiving a rational and impartial conviction upon the subject, will now venture to assert, that it is any thing more than a " model or direc- tory, pointing out the principal heads or subjects proper for prayer ;" * See Acts i. 15 to 26 ; also Acts, chap. vi. j chap. xv. ver. 22 ; Hebrews, chap. ii. ver. 1 ; chap. x. ver. 21 to 25 ; and 1 John iv. 1. " One inspector or bishop," says Mosheim, " presided over each assembly, to which office he was elected by the voice of the whole people." 25 and therefore, in no sense of the words, an obligatory form. There is not a single prayer presented to our notice, on the whole inspired record, except such asawere connected with the ceremonial institutions of the Jewish economy, which did not arise out of the circumstances under which it was originally uttered, and was not, therefore, perfectly extem- poraneous. The petitions which that record suggests for prayer ; the varied exhortations which it presents to its exercise ; the corrections it offers against its abuse ; the promises it affords of assistance and suc- cess; and all the blessings it announces as given in answer to prayer, are all unanswerable proofs, that liturgies, or forms of prayer, did not exist in the purest periods of the history of the church, and are, therefore, not indispensably necessary now. Tertullian, who lived about the beginning of the third century, says, " We Christians pray with our hands expanded, because they are the hands of innocency ; with our heads uncovered, because we are not ashamed ; and without any prompter, because our prayers are from the heart.'''' No trace is to be found of an acknowledged precomposed form of prayer, until the third council of Carthage met, A. D. 397, when it was ordaintsl, " that whosoever copies out prayers for himself, from any other persons' composition, shall not use them, till he has first taken upon him the advice of better furnished brethren." From the third century, how- ever, it has been clearly ascertained, there was a gradual falling away of the spirit and power of religion. " The simplicity of primitive Christianity was overwhelmed by a host of ceremonies, borrowed from Judaism or heathenism. The body of the clergy was, in a great measure, sunk into worldliness, ambitious pomp, and arrogant as- sumption, while their growth in ignorance kept pace with their eleva- tion to secular dignity ; and already, many of the gross corruptions of anti-christianism had obtained a firm and extensive establishment."* On these accounts it was, that assistance, by written forms of prayer, became necessary ; — the better informed, and probably more pious, helping the more ignorant and worldly-minded, who had either thrust themselves, or been thrust by others, into the ministerial office, for a temporal subsistence or distinction. From the multiplicity of these, which in process of time got into circulation, selections were afterwards made, and, " partly by artifices, and partly by compulsion, those missals (so called from the pre-eminence which was attributed to the celebra- tion of the mass) which were sanctioned by the See of Rome, and which recognized its usurpations, were brought into general establish- ment throughout the western nations of Europe." During the darkest ages of popery, however, in this country, there were a variety of forms of prayer in use, particularly those of Sarum, York, Hereford, Bangor, and Lincoln. From these varied forms, which the Church of Rome saw no evil in allowing, the Prayer Book of the Church of England was originally formed. Out of these the morning and evening services, nearly as now used, except the absolution and the litany, were also com- piled, and such things only introduced as were consistent with the Pro- testant faith ; the compilers probably considering it necessary to retain as much as possible of the old forms; that, on the one hand, they might not give offence to the new Pope, in the person of the King, under • See a valuable discourse " On the comparative advantages of Prescribed Forms and of Free Prayer," by the Rev. Dr. J. P.Smith ; whose character and productions will always be venerated by those who believe that truth needs an advocate, and piety a cominendatioh, in this erratic and sinful world. £ V 26 whom they served ; and that on the other, they might not impede the progress of the cause they intended to serve among the people, — the Reformation from popery. The Reformers, however, never in- tended that things should continue, either in the Church or Prayer Book, as they then made them out; but they felt they were under the necessity of submitting to powers they could not control. Hence the learned Bullinger, when writing to the exiles at Frankfort, says, that " the Archbishop," meaning Cranmer, " had drawn up a book of prayers, a hundred times more perfect than that which was then in being, (though it had been twice reformed,) but that the same could not take place, for that he was watched with such a wicked clergy and convocation, and other enemies." And, in consequence of the adoption of this liturgy, the people were easily and exten- sively brought over to the kind of Reformation then accomplished ; and numbers, even of the Roman Catholics, conformed to the Establishment. " Even the Pope intimated his willingness to sanction the Anglican liturgy, and the administration of the Lord's Supper in both kinds, pro- vided the queen (Elizabeth) would acknowledge his supremacy." But, surely, no oversight could have been more culpable, nor any evil proved to be more pernicious in its results, than the imposition of one form of prayer, and one series of articles of religion, to which all the clergy were compelled to swear their approval, without admitting a variation in any degree, or allowing the smallest scope to ministerial discretion, or the rights of conscience. Almost every body knows, that knows any thing at all of the matter, that this same Prayer Book underwent very little variation on the restoration of Charles the Second, except the introduc- tion of some more exceptionable services, than it had before ; and that then the universal use of it was enforced by the heaviest penalties, to the eternal infamy of that despiser of every thing true and righteous — and all the minions of his tyranny — the Archbishops, Bishops, and Clergy, one of whom declared him to be " the breath of their nostrils." That a form of prayer was, at the time of its imposition, necessary, cannot be doubted. Not one clergyman in ten was then even tole- rably qualified for his office ; preaching was not to be had, except on some few favoured spots ; and, therefore, if there had been no Prayer Book, there would have been no prayer at all ! And the same reasons may probably be urged now ; though they may not be so extensively appli- cable, for the continued use of the Prayer Book. Thousands of the clergy are well known to be as incompetent, or perhaps I ought to say, as unscripturally qualified, for their stations now, as any were in the reigns of Charles, Elizabeth, or Henry. They have no more aptitude to teach, even by the composition of a sermon, than they have to measure the sands, or count the stars, or point out the influences by which they are governed. And as to prayer, alas ! they are as ignorant of the true letter and spirit of it, as if no such things were to be known or felt, in order to the exemplification of Christian character. And if any humble, pious, Bible-christian were to ask them to pray without a book " duly authorized," they would laugh at him for a fool, or abuse him for a me- thodist or fanatic ! Whole swarms of these men-made clergymen, fresh from those hives of vice and profaneness, as well as literature and conformity, Oxford and Cambridge, are to be found in every part of the country ; and I much question, whether we need travel five and twenty miles from the spot where I now write, to find some of these men, as consummately ignorant of the Scriptures, which they have sworn to teach 27 the people, as they are consummately insolent in their treatment of Dis- senters ; and who yet know not how to " pray either in the Spirit or with the understanding," for themselves or others ; and who do, therefore, cut themselves off from the only source and the only means whereby their personal benefit, or their relative usefulness, might be promoted. Pos- sibly, it may be argued by some, that the same kind of preparation or character is not necessary for the " state," as may be required in the Christian religion; but sure I am, that Christianity, in its influence, or as a preparatory direction for their work, has as little to do with these men, as the Koran, the Shaster, or the leaves of the Sibyl ; and well may the people among whom they officiate, exercising their inalienable right, " to try the spirits whether they be of God," by the authoritative standard of truth and duty for all — say, "Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are ye V And if such men are to be allowed to continue " in the Church," which of course they would always wish to do for the sake of " the livings" into which they have been inducted, either by " gifts," or " influence," or " purchase," what would they do without a Prayer Book ? And as the original and successive generations of these conformists, have been but too extensively found of this character, among the higher as well as the lower orders of the clergy, can we wonder that the Prayer Book has never undergone any revision, since the days of the tyrant Charles, nor a single movement ever been made to- wards the accomplishment, of what might surely be deemed a desirable object, if it were only to reduce the number of dissentients from the Establishment ? Most cheerfully, however, do we concede, that the Prayer Book of the Church of England has very many, and those very distinguishing, excellencies. On its first appearance, it was the " most important and valuable " that had ever been used; and the evangelical purity and sublime devotion of many of its compositions, must always be interest- ing and useful ; but, after all that can be said in its favour, it must be acknowledged, that it is only a human composition, and therefore capa- ble of being rivalled and excelled. But the exceptions we take, are numerous and weighty ; its defects are more than an overbalance for its excellencies : it is unscriptural, presumptuous, and contradictory in many of its parts ; and, above all, to be objected to, because of its arbi- trary imposition, and demanded uniformity of use ; as if it were unpa- ralleled in its excellencies, and infallible in all its directions. As a Dissenter, from very early and continued investigation and conviction, as well as family bias and connexion, I have often been painfully annoyed by the irreconcilable anomalies observable in your professedly reformed service. To say nothing of the surplice, as a purely papis- tical relic, which must be worn during the reading of the prayers, and laid aside when the ministration of the word is to take place, I could never account for the use of the old translation of the Psalms, and some parts even of the other Scriptures, in preference to our more modern and authorized translations of them. The standings up and sittings down in the different responses ; the performance of one part of the service in one place, and another somewhere else ; the use of a second creed, when the first is pronounced to be apostolic ; the bowings, turnings, kneelings, and remembrances at once of the true God, and his Son Jesus Christ, and creatures, as if on an equality with, though at an infinite remove from, both ; the repetitions, endings and beginnings, and beginnings and endings again, which serve most unnecessarily to 28 lengthen out the preliminary service, for, after all, it is but a. prelimi- nary service ; and if any regard is to be had to the authority of Christ, only subservient — to an obediential compliance with his command — to preach the kingdom of God — the reign of heaven upon earth; all which, in my view at least, is not merely wearisome to the flesh, but has a direct tendency to promote a spirit of formality, not to be over- come, on some occasions, even by the most spiritual worshippers. All these objections, however, I find have been urged, in much stronger language than any that I might use, from their more intimate acquaint- ance with your forms, by pious clergymen of your own Church. Thus the Rev. Robert Cox, a perpetaal curate in the north of Devon, writes, "The Lord's Prayer is necessarily repeated, every Sunday morning^^e times; on sacramental-days, six ; and, should the services for baptism and the churching of women occur, (both of which are appointed to be read during public worship,) the same prayer will be repeated not less than eight times, in the course of one continued service ! By the same appointment, tivo distinct prayers are offered up for the king, two creeds are recited, the collect for the day is twice read, the Gloria Patri is eight, and occasionally ten, times repeated; and, if we take into the account the comprehensive prayer for the church militant, and the various versicles interspersed throughout the service, there is scarcely a petition for any blessing, or a prayer for any work, office, or condition of man, which is not reiterated !" How contrary is this to the simple, heartfelt, extemporaneous prayers recorded in the Scriptures, with a ■view at once to furnish us with matter and language, as well as en- couragement in prayer ! How opposite to the exhortation of our Lord in reference to prayer : " When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking !" And how ill adapted must this necessarily be, not only to the ever- fluctuating states, and circumstances, and experience of Christian wor- shippers, which all public as well as private prayer should be adapted to meet and make known, but also to the suitable and devout eleva- tion of the heart to a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God ! But still stronger objections than these have been urged, by a more powerful pleader for the introduction of the unadulterated institutions of Christianity within the pale of your Church, by the Rev. John Riland, whose work I have already commended to your notice. " What," says he, " do we gain by the party spirit of the preface to the Liturgy ; the ill selections of proper lessons, epistles, and gospels ; the retention of legendary names and allusions in the calender ; the lection of the Apocrypha, and the omission of the Apocalypse ;* the mention of feasts and fasts never observed; the repetition of the Paternoster,JKyrie Eleison, and Gloria Patri ; the wearisome length of the services ; the redun- dance and assumptions in the state prayers ; the unsatisfactoriness of the three creeds ; the disputable character of the baptismal and burial offices ; the incompleteness and dubious construction of the catechism and of the order of confirmation ; the inapplicable nature and absolu- tion of the visitation of the sick ; the imperfection of the commination service ; the discordance between the Prayer Book and Bible transla- tion of the Psalms ; the contumelious and offensive language of the * Was it on account of its exposure of the blasphemies, abominations, and desola- tions of every anti-christian power or tvranny, that the Book of the Revelations has been so carefully shut out of the hearing of the members of the Establishment ? 29 state services;* and, added to all these sources of weakness, similar causes of inefficiency in the Articles and Homilies ?" What more for- cible or concise enumeration of the glaring defects of the Prayer Book, could possibly be given by any dissentient from the Establishment? But, remember, that this is given by a conformist ; a man who was once required to swear his " unfeigned assent and consent" to this very book ; and who now, as a clergyman, reads it every Sabbath-day ! There is, however, one other general objection, which, I confess, I should have been ashamed to notice, if I could not have met some allusion to it by others, which would help me to give it a sufficiently forcible expression : " There are low scenes in Shakspeare," it has been said, " and jocose chapters in the Waverley Novels, which would be eminently pure and edifying, if addressed to a Christian congregation, when compared with the nauseous gabble which a clergyman is required to read, as a first lesson, for the evening service of the thirtieth of Septem- ber." I need not, perhaps, remind you, that the allusion here is to the Apocryphal lessons, which surely no other than a corrupt church would ever have admitted into its " orders." But enough has been said of a general character upon these matters : let us now descend to par- ticulars. Let us take up your " Apostolic Creed." And let me remind you at once, that it is a mere assumption to call it " Apostolic," it was the pro- duction of men who lived ages after the Apostles had been " gathered to their fathers," and whose names are now lost in oblivion: The only reason which Dr. Barrow assigns for its being called Apostolic is, " be- cause the Roman church styled itself Apostolic, and, consequently, every thing which issued from it, Apostolical also." The creed itself was not all composed at once, but, as Mosheim states, " from small beginnings, has imperceptibly augmented, in proportion to the growth of heresy, and according to the exigencies and circumstances of the church, from which it was designed to banish the errors that daily arose." And if this were, as it probably was, the design of its formation, the subsequent history of the church proves that it was never answered ; and, conse- quently, that truth is best left to find its own way and standing in the world. The whole creed is what may be called a doctrinal creed, and yet exceedingly defective even in such a view. It states part of the truth, but not the whole truth. We look in vain into tha"t creed, for the least intimation of the design of Christ's appearance in our world, or of the mission of the Holy Spirit, or what it is that renders both neces- sary for sinful man ; for any mention of the great doctrine of Christi- anity; justification by faith, through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ our Lord ; of the need or evidences of our faith in it ; or for any thing else connected with the formation and development of Christian character, and, consequently, our preparation for the "life everlasting;" and yet these are points inculcated upon us, in every part of inspired truth ; and absolutely necessary to be experimentally known by us for the enjoyment of final blessedness : why, therefore, were they not in^ traduced, in some way or other, into this creed — if it be of so much * " Are not the services for ' King Charles the Martyr,' and for the Restoration of the Koyal Fainily, a solemn burlesque ; and do they not contain several blasphemous perversions of Holy Scripture 1" 30 importance to be repeated within, and printed upon the walls of your Church? But I maintain, that it is not only remarkable for what it has not of truth, but what it has of error. It says, referring to Christ, meaning his human nature, that he was " conceived by the Holy Ghost." This, it is true, was an ancient interpolation ; the original copies of the creed reading, either, " who was born by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary ;" or " of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary :" understanding by the word born, not only the nativity, but also the conception. And Bishop Pearson makes this remarkable declaration upon the article, " For though Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost, yet the Holy Ghost did not conceive him, but said unto the Virgin, thou shalt conceive." If you call the error a grammatical one, — it is still an error, in which you profess your belief, solemnly and continually; and one which, if language have any definite meaning, involves a natural impossibility. I believe in the miraculous conception of the human nature of Christ, as firmly as any believer in the Bible can ; but, of course, a conception by the Virgin, and not a conception by the Holy Ghost ; and if you turn to the first chapters of St. Matthew's and St. Luke's gospels, you will find my statement correct, and your creed wrong; for, "the angel said unto Mary, Behold, thou shalt conceive," &c. Again : — Did Christ descend into hell ? This is another article of your creed, interpolated about the fourth century. At its adoption we are told, that " it was propounded with various explication;" and a re- ference was made to the 1st Peter iii. 19, as the authority on which it rested ; but this explication and reference being suppressed in the reign of Elizabeth, a greater latitude of discussion was allowed, to find out its true meaning. But, in the year 1560, we are told the controversy respect- ing it ran so high, " that several of our bishops were for ruining those who would not hold, that Christ went into the hell of the damned." Whether it was an article thrown into your creed, to support the doctrine of a purga- torial punishment after death, or of an ultimately universal restora- tion, I know not; but that it was deemed necessary to support a something in your Church, and may be wrapped up in mystery among yourselves, seems evident from the third and eighth articles of your Church-book. But the word hell, it is undeniable, is sometimes used, by the inspired writers, to denote simply the invisible world ; in its com- mon acceptation, however, it is used to denote the "place of the damned ;" and in this sense, we are taught to believe it was used in this article of your creed ; — but upon what authority ? Not of Scrip- ture ; for Peter most plainly refers to the Spirit, and not to Christ, in the passage referred to ; the Spirit, by which Noah was influenced, in common with other preachers of righteousness, under the former dispensations of religion, when preaching to those, who in their days were in the bondage of corruption, and who now are " spirits in prison," reserved in darkness unto the judgment of the great day. And the evangelist tells us, that our Lord said unto the thief upon the cross, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise;" and if by paradise was to be understood, " the place of the damned," then what a deception must our Lord have practised upon the poor thief, under circumstances which, of all others, urged its avoidance. But if, on the contrary, he meant, as I believe he did, the abodes of the blessed — where the spirits of just men made perfect are found, then what a failure is there in your creed ! Alas I if truth had not a better sup- 31 port than this " creed" gives it, it would soon perish from the earth ! There is also another article, concerning " the forgiveness of sins," which will properly come under our examination of the Nicene Creed. This Creed was composed in the fourth century ; and, according to Bishop Usher, was as confidently, and more anciently called, the Apostles' Creed, than that to which we have just referred. It seems, therefore, that more ancient worthies than the compilers of your Prayer Book, considered this worthy of a first, instead of a second rate importance; and it certainly does not contain any articles so entirely exceptionable, as those of its kindred form. It was de- signed to check the Arian heresy, which then began to make very for- midable inroads upon the orthodoxy, as the alliance between "church and state" had been making upon the spirituality of the Church. But though it was agreed to at a council of three hundred and eighteen bishops, says Hooker, " the Avians who were present subscribed to it also ; not that they meant sincerely and indeed to forsake their error, but only to escape deprivation and exile, which they saw they could not avoid ; openly persisting in their former opinions, when the greater part had concluded against them, and that with the Emperor's royal assent !" O ! how fully does this statement of facts demonstrate the inefficiency of creeds, even though imposed by bishops and royal edicts, to maintain an unity of faith among professedly Christian men ! Reserving our observations upon the definitions of the Sonship of Christ, given in this creed, for an union with those we shall offer upon the Athanasian creed, both bidding defiance to the power of intellect to comprehend, we need only here observe, that the acknowledg- ment "of one baptism for the remission of sins" in this creed, and the article, " the forgiveness of sins," in the former creed, "are sus- ceptible of a dangerous latitude of interpretation ; since it may justly be suspected, from the required repetition of the creed by the person baptized, and the exalted epithets bestowed by the Latin fathers upon the ordinance of baptism, it supports the notions of a sacra- mental virtue inherent in the rite itself, and a ministerial power resid- ing in the Church, for the forgiveness of sins, the traces of which arc found in the offices of the Church of England."* "The Athanasian Creed" is now, I believe, generally disapproved, by the most enlightened members of your Church ; and even by the clergy, who are called upon " by authority," to read it thirteen times every year. It is attributed to Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who flourished about the fourth century, probably because he was most violent against Arianism, and resolute in his determination, not to restore Arius to his rank, from which he had been deposed in the church ; but Burnet tells us, that it was not compiled till nearly three ages after him. So much for the authority of its name. But it is of little consequence, to determine who was its author; — the most important question being, of what utility is the imposition of such a compilation, as a creed ? It is, without dispute, a presumptuous attempt to make people com- prehend, what is incomprehensible ; to explain, what is inexplicable ; to define, what admits not of a definition : and then it has the " auda- * See Mr. Conder's valuable work on " Nonconformity :" a work which, for the simplicity, and cogency, and scriptural authority of all its reasonings, as well as the variety and extent of the information it conveys, cannot be too strongly commended to the careful perusal of all classes of professing Christians. 32 city to declare," that unless a man believes what it sets forth as true, — " the Catholic faith," — he shall, " without doubt, perish everlastingly." No wonder that Chillingworth should have felt this a difficulty in the way of his subscription ; " for to say nothing," to use his own words, " of other things, which I have so well considered, as not to be in a state to sign them, and yet not so well as to declare myself against them ; the damning sentences in St. Athanasius's Creed, (as we are made to subscribe it,) are most false ; and also in a high degree presumptuous and schismatical." Ah ! had truth ever needed such a support, we should never have heard Him who was the " truth," who had truth itself embodied in his person, who could not, therefore, deviate from it in any of his declarations, or expositions of truth, say, " Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him ;" not that he would thereby encourage a speaking against himself, much less the denial of the divinity of his character, and the authority of his claims ; but that he would proclaim his readiness to forgive even such transgressors, and set an example to all who professed themselves his followers, not to condemn those whom he had not condemned. Besides, as expositions of faith, designed for popular use, of course, their simplicity, their adaptation to convey, in " words easy to be un- derstood," the truths to be believed, should be their highest commen- dation ; but is this the case with either of the creeds which have now passed in review before us ? On the contrary, has not each in succes- sion, become more obscure and unintelligible than the former? So that if the question were put to any man of plain understanding, What idea do you affix to these matters ? we might fairly expect, that the answer would be given in the manner of the countryman, who, in reply to a similar inquiry, answered, " that he believed what the Church believed ;" and on being asked what the Church believed, answered, " that the Church believed what he believed ;" and on being pressed still farther, as to what both the Church and he believed, could only reply, that " the Church and he believed the same thing !" But we must now advance to the consideration of the Baptismal Service, upon which, I am sorry to find by your Letter, that your views are as obscure and perplexed as ever. " Some good people," you say, " will not believe that water can be made effectual to the mystical washing away of sin," and " expect that the Almighty, because he has the power, actually will have direct communication with them, personally and bodily as individuals, instead of with them spiritually ;" and, farther, " Baptism is a condition of salvation, there- fore the great fundamental article of the gospel is that of faith," &c. Now you must excuse me, Sir, if I say, that had the compiler of that mystical creed, to which 1 have just referred, been at your elbow when you composed your observations upon baptism, on the 24th and 25th pages of your Letter, you could not, under his dictation, have put together any thing so nearly rivaling his own mysterious explanations of intelligible facts. By the term " mystical," it is evident you would have us understand, not a sign of a thing signified, but something inwrought and " effectual," and that this " mystical" and " effectual" agency, has to do somehow with individuals, " not personally," but " spiritually," as if the soul of man, and the spiritual condition of his soul, had nothing to do with him individually or personally ! But really I must leave it to you, or your metaphysical coadjutors, to explain what, to a plain matter of fact man, like myself, is really inexplicable. 33 And yet you say, moreover, " baptism is a condition of salvation :" but in what part of the New Testament is it so inculcated or set forth ? that it is an initiatory and allusive ordinance of the Christian church, and nothing more, I have already, in my former Letter, endeavoured to prove : it was for you, therefore, to disprove what I therein advanced, ratlier than to reassert what you had asserted before; but the conclu- sion to be drawn from your own theory is completely subversive of all your pleas in favour of infant baptism ; and if you give up what appears to me, after a very lengthened and mature investigation, the authority of Scripture upon that point, I wish the self-named baptists all the joy which such an accession to their members can possibly give them ; for if faith be essential to baptism, then of course, an infant cannot exercise it, and therefore, upon your own theory, an infant ought not to be baptized. But I deny the truth of your position, and the conclusion deducible from it together. And I feel fully persuaded in my own mind, that any unsophisticated Christian, with the Bible in his hand, who has known nothing at all of that " orthodox Church," as you call it, nor any of the mystical absurdities which have sprung up and been propagated as truth, in the midst of her, would have given an infinitely more correct description of baptism, and regenera- tion too, than you have given, or than your " orthodox Church" has enabled you to give. I speak thus firmly, it may be even satirically, because "baptismal regeneration" is the well-known dogma of your Church ; and of this a certain curate, living not many furlongs from both of our residences, when I was speaking to him upon the subject, was " fully assured ;" but, — mirabile dictu, — not because he found it in the New Testament, but in the Prayer Book ! and therefore, with his usually emphatic manner, lifting up his hands and closing his eyes, he said, " In some sense or other, children must be regenerated by bap- tism, for our baptismal service, which in common with all our minor services is most excellent, expressly teaches us " to yield most hearty thanks to our most merciful Father, that it has pleased him to regene- rate the infant with his Holy Spirit;" but though he maintained this language as true, and I would not have referred to him if I had not suspected that he has had something to do with your Letter, I cannot but in common fairness add, that he assured me, he " always insisted on the evidences of regeneration, as essential to Christian character." But let us examine this matter a little. By regeneration, I apprehend, we must understand, not a change in the outward or relative condition merely, but such a change in the state of the mind, (fitravuia) its principles, motives, preferences, and habitual character, as to warrant the distinctive appellations given of it, by the inspired writers ; such as " a right spirit," " a heart of flesh," "born again," "begotten through the gospel," "renewed in the spirit of the mind," " created anew," " new creatures in Christ Jesus," &c, — language which shows at once the decisive character and excellency of the change, and the divine power which is used and is necessary to bring it about. Of course it must be believed, that this is the change which your Church contemplates in that form of words, above quoted ; and which is used in her baptismal service. But is it true, that such a change is brought about in the state and character of the infants baptized within her pale? O ! what a happy state of society should we have, if this were really the case ! All the untold millions of children that are baptized by your clergy, and arc F 34 duly registered in your church -books, would all be regenerate souls, and, therefore, would not sin as others sin ; for the apostle tells us, that " whosoever is born of God, does not commit sin," — i. e. with the full consent and unrestrained bias of his soul ; nor despise and reject the Saviour as others do ; for the same apostle tells us, that " whoso- ever is born of God, believeth that Jesus is the Christ ;" nor would their minds be absorbed in the world ; for the same apostle tells us. " whosoever is born of God overcometh the world," — i. e. rises above its polluting and soul-destroying influence ; and, consequently, the whole moral aspect of those, at least, who have shared in vour church bap- tism, would be changed ; and instead of having to deplore increasing juvenile delinquency, or more matured life of unbelief and sin, we should have to rejoice in the almost universal return of the reign of heaven amongst us. But, alas ! what do facts — multiplying and undeniable facts, testify concerning this matter? — that there is not a word of truth in it ! — that those who are brought up after the strictest forms of your Church, have not only unhallowed tendencies and perverseness of mind fully commensurate with others, — but are taught to acknow- ledge impossibilities as it regards their sponsors, and errors, as it regards their creeds and catechism ; — and are trained to equivocation, falsehood, and perjury, as it regards all connected with theirlegal orofficial conform- ity to that Church ; while those who are otherwise brought up, and only for the ordinary purposes of life, a full measure of insensibility to every thing sacred and divine ; an excessive love of the world, which the attractions of the great and the wealthy, and the influential, united with the splendours of " a worldly sanctuary," tend most directly to foster and support, and become the greatest impediments in the way of the exercise of faith : for " how can ye believe," said our Lord, " who receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only ?" — The habits of sabbath-breaking, which the " book of sports " formerly, and the bishops pleading in the House of Lords for the partial keeping open of public -houses in the present day, tend to sanction ; profaneness, which the unrighteous multiplication of oaths, sanctioned by your Church, or its representatives in our legislature, en- courages ; gambling, swindling, fornication, adultery, and those thou- sand indecences which result from such indecent ways, are found to pre- vail and abound among them ; — to all which may be added, the crimes of the lower classes of society, all of whom are sought after, if they do not voluntarily come forward, to have their children baptized, according to the form of your Prayer Book. And though this representation of the " baptized" of your Church may appear strong, yet it could easily be made still stronger ; and even then, the challenge be given to you, or to any even of the dignitaries of your Church, to come forward, and prove that these are not facts ; or that those who are baptized, within the pale of vour Church, are still " regenerate" — " born again" — " new creatures " — though these facts are evidently true concerning them ! Nor is this all to be complained of concerning this service. Nature teaches us, that the proper guardians of children's spiritual training are their parents, or nearest of kin, in the event of the decease of their parents ; and revelation aids the dictates of nature, and calls upon parents " to train up their children in the way they should go ;" — " to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ;" — and not to throw impediments in the way of their improvement, lest they " be discouraged" in seeking it: — but what does that perfectly iniquitous 35 code of laws, called the " canons" of your Church, prescribe upon this point ? — Even this : " that no parent shall be urged to be present, nor be admitted to answer as godfather for his own child ; nor be suffered to make any other answer, or speech, than by the Book of Common Prayer is prescribed in that behalf," &c. Here, then, your " orthodox church" teaches, that the primary obligations of parents in reference to their children, are all to be disregarded or violated, in the observance of her forms ; that they are to have no more to do with the presentation of their children to the Lord in baptism, than if He had never given them children ; and thus being, by the " Church of England," dis- charged from their obligations, they may, of course, consider them- selves at liberty to lay the whole burden of the moral training of their children upon their sponsors : the strongest ties between children and parents, and parents and children, being completely cut asunder ! But the iniquity of the details of this transaction " is not yet full." The sponsors, on the behalf of these children, in the most solemn form which a religious service can impose, — a form, which gives it even more than the solemnity of an oath, — are required in the name, and for the child, " to renounce the devil and all his works ; the vain pomp and glory of the world ; with all covetous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that they will not follow, nor be led by them ; that they will, for these children, believe all the articles of the creed, and obediently keep God's holy will and commandments," &c. ; and before confirmation, the time specified for the release of the spon- sors from this obligation, the children are taught by their catechism, that they were made by baptism, members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven, and that these undertakings were solemnly made by their godfathers, &c, &c. This, perhaps, you will say, proves the consistency of the service ; ah ! but at the same time, it proves its utter inconsistency even with itself; and its imposi- tion and claimed assumption of a power which no created being can possibly exercise. In vain would it be said, that impossibilities are not required : our appeal is to the obvious and unequivocal import of the language used on the occasion ; language, the force of which, neither evasion, nor explanation, can in any way abate. After the children are baptized, you thank God that, by baptism, he has regenerated them with his Holy Spirit ; of course, this implies that none but the Holy Spirit can regenerate the souls of men; and, consequently, that it is not merely external, or reputed, but scriptural, spiritual regeneration, that is hereby acknowledged ; but, before the children have been bap- tized, your Church requires the sponsors to exercise a power over the minds of the children, which comprehends all the essential characteris- tics of regeneration ; in the exercise of faith — of obedience — of an op- position to the powers of darkness, and to " the world which lieth in wickedness ;" and, lest any should assume that the regenerative power of their sponsors is limited, even in these developments of spiritual principles, their power is required to extend even to the covetous and carnal desires of these children ; and as the desires, or affections, form the key to the guidance of the whole conduct, of course, these sponsors must change the whole character of these children : but where is the created being who can accomplish this ? Such a power is not given to angels, much less to men ; the moral government of God, and the re- sponsibility of his creatures forbid it ; and, therefore, the imposition Stnd assumption of such a power, is the greatest absurdity, and the 36 most daring impiety. God is jealous of his own honour ; and neither in this, nor any other matter connected with the salvation of the souls of his creatures, will he give his glory unto another. Nor is " the iniquity of the Amorites yet full." Children everywhere abound ; and not unfrequently, the poor, who have no friends, have more children than the rich, who have many friends. It is difficult for them, therefore, sometimes to get sponsors for their children ; and if they did not take them to church to be baptized, the overseer, or ma- gistrate, or clergyman, would, perhaps, call upon and scold them ; or threaten them with the withdrawment of any little assistance they may have from the parish,* or with the withholding of Christian burial in their " consecrated ground," in the event of the decease of their chil- dren,! not having been made good Church-of-England Christians ; and, therefore, they take them to church ; but what are they to do for sponsors ? the parents may be refused ; and I well know by whom they have been refused, though his predecessor never did so in this parish ; to whom then are they to apply? friends they have none: strangers they do not like to ask : then they may go out into the highways, and pick up any two of the greatest barbarians that are to be found in civilized society, who will " stand to do a poor man a kindness !" and though they may never have seen the parents, nor, of course, their children before, nor perhaps from the time they leave the church, the ceremony having been duly performed, may ever see them again, yet these — even these, are admitted as sponsors — not making use of any other speech than that prescribed ; and thus, these poor, ignorant, deluded creatures, unconsciously perjure themselves! and the clergyman admits, yea, in some cases, even demands this perjury ! ! Can greater iniquity than this, I ask, be more clearly established by law, or prevail in any other church in the world ? But intimately connected with this, is another ceremony, which, if not so thoroughly iniquitous, is equally characterized by impiety. I mean the Confirmation Service. I have not been able to ascertain when this ceremony was first introduced into the Church ; but I well know, that in common with others, it is pleaded for, on account of its antiquity ; as if, because an institution were ancient, it must necessarily be obligatory ; — a plea which, if admitted, would do well to place the religion of the Hindoos, the Chinese, or the Persians, in the place of the Christian reli- gion, all over the world ; but though, unquestionably, it was an early addition to the simple institutions of Christianity, it was reserved for the " mother of abominations," to make it an independent " sacra- ment ;" and from thence it was transferred to form a part of what you call " our National Covenant." To review those passages of Scripture, which have been adduced by some, to support a plea for this cere- mony, in which the Apostles are spoken of, as laying their hands upon the heads of the disciples of Christ, to convey to them the mira- * I should lite to know, by what " common law" — common fairness — or common honesty, the officers of a parish can dare to withhold from the poor, because they may be Dissenters, any assistance they may need from the poor's rate ; when those rates are levied alike upon Dissenters and Church-men 1 Oppressors should know, that the arm of the law is sufficient to restrain such iniquity as this. t The curate of this parish, " enlightened and liberal," no doubt, has actually re- fused burial to two children within a short period, because they had not been " bap- tized ; and, therefore, of course, were not A'? to lay in " consecrated ground." 37 culous endowments of the Holy Spirit, would be an unnecessary task ; for every plea drawn from such references partakes,, in my view, more of the sin of presumption, than the mistaken assumptions, to which even good men may be sometimes subject ; and renders those who urge them, the fit associates of those only, who in these days claim at once the gifts of miracles and tongues. There is, however, one passage, and but one, which seems to give the semblance of a sanction to a confir- mation service, and that is found in Acts xiv. 21, 22; but an impar- tial examination, even of this passage, will prove, that the object of the Apostles' visits to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, was as distinct from your order of confirmation as light is from darkness. The Apos- tles having been early removed from the churches, they had been in- strumental in gathering together in those places, were desirous to return to them, to confirm or strengthen them, by re-announcing in their hearing that gospel which they had already received ; that their views of its grand peculiarities might be enlarged, and their stability in its profession promoted ; to enable them to pass through the " great tribulation " which lay in their way to the kingdom of heaven, with consistency and integrity of character. The whole passage most plainly proceeds upon the assumption of the Christian character of these early converts to the Christian faith ; and though this would be a matter of heart-felt gratitude to the Apostles, yet not a syllable is re- corded concerning it, nor of their laying their hands upon their heads in token of their confirmation ! Now admitting, for one moment, the possibility of good being done by the bishops of your Church (though their office bears not the smallest affinity to that of the Apos- tles) occasionally visiting the churches, to strengthen the souls of them "that have believed through grace," as the Apostles did ; — we maintain, that not only is good not done, but an incalculable measure of evil does actually result from their occasional progresses to the churches, with the design of what, I believe, is technically termed, " holding a confirmation." But here it may be asked, in what does the evil of this service consist? We reply, in the professed assump- tion of vows which never have been, and in millions of instances never were intended to be, and which in the very nature of things it was utterly impossible ever could be, fulfilled in the youth that attend " to be confirmed ;" in the reiteration of a certain form of words, concerning their baptism, which are as delusive in their tendency as they are utterly incompatible in themselves with the dictates of truth ; in the assumption, upon the same grounds, of Christian principle, experience, and character, when, if these youth were fairly examined, they would be found as utterly ignorant of these, as they would be, if questioned concerning the Eleusinian mysteries ; all that they are re- quired to do by " the Church," being only to repeat the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Catechism, while the clergymen of the parishes to which they belong, in the majority of instances, do not require even that; and then, the officiating lord bishop, with all the pomp suited to the occasion, in the view at least of the Church to which he belongs, — clothed in his popish vestments of satin and fine linen, acknowledges before God, "that he has regene- rated these his servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and has given unto them the forgiveness of all their sins, &c. !" But what hypo- crisy—what profaneness — what a direct insult is this, to the great Searcher of hearts ; when neither the lord bishop himself, nor the offi- 38 dating clergymen of the respective parishes, from whence these youth are drawn, either perhaps, (for it is a mere perhaps if they do,) be- lieve in the doctrines which they here recognise, or, if they do believe them, have not the shadow of an evidence of the truth of what they affirm ! And what is the result of this ? If those who are " con- firmed," reflect at all upon what has transpired, they must go away under the influence of a "strong delusion to believe a lie:" — namely, that they are Christians, regenerate and pardoned, and therefore sanctified, merely because they have been * baptized and confirmed," and consequently are admissible to the sacrament : but how obvious is it to the most common observer of the participants in the ceremony, that the majority never seriously reflect upon the matter ; that it is to them a kind of church holiday, when they must appear in their " best clothes " before the lord bishop, to be, they know not what, "confirmed;" and when the ceremony is over, as on other feasts of their Church, called Christ-mass, Easter, or Whitsuntide, may drink, dance, and sing, and "run to every excess of riot." And this, O ! wondrous misnomer, even this is supposed to be a Christian institu- tion, and, consequently, all its participants are called Christians: and if any were to doubt, or be questioned concerning it, they might silence every doubt and inquiry, by a reference to the pre- scribed form, in which the lord bishop has, by the imposition of his hands upon their heads, " certified them of the favour and gracious goodness of God towards them," &c. ; and, consequently, whatever their future conduct may be, neither they for themselves, nor any others, should doubt the genuine stamp of their Christianity! Nor is this a mere picture of my own imagination ; millions of witnesses might be summoned to prove it ; and that even this picture of the cere- mony and its influences is not too highly coloured, an extract from a record, which I have by me, will perhaps serve to prove : — " 19th Oc- tober, 1821. Confirmation of male and female malefactors. The Right Reverend Father in God, the Lord Bishop of London,* held this day a confirmation at the General Penitentiary, Millbank, when 200 prisoners, male and female, were admitted to that solemn rite ! ! Let not the public wonder at the increase of juvenile delinquency." No! I add, nor let any wonder, that such profane mockeries of truth, and delusions practised upon undying souls, should have facilitated the spread of infidelity and the increase of crime, by which the judgments of heaven are provoked against us ! Men cannot be changed into Christians by the law of the land, nor by the inculcation of baptismal regeneration upon their minds, nor by the imposition of the hand, and acknowledgments of any men, even Christian men :— no ! a decisive change must be brought about in their state, character, and conduct, under the direction and influence of the Word and Spirit of God ; or else they will be found to have neither part nor lot in the " favour and gracious goodness " of God the Father, through Christ the Redeemer, and the Spirit the Sanctifier ! Perhaps in this hasty review of the Prayer Book, a few hints upon the " Matrimonial Service" may not be deemed out of place. This is a " very ancient " invasion of the civil rights of the community ; a pure * For an explanation of the absurd and blasphemous titles of these dignitaries of the Church of England, see the "Letter to the Archbishop of York," by R. M. Beverley, Esq. No less than 30,000 copies of this work were sold in a few months ! 39 relic of the darkest times of popery, with even more than the intolerance which those times exhibited. The state of matrimony, it is most readily conceded, is both honourable and sacred : but it is a contract between two parties, which, when wisely formed, no other parties can have any right to interfere with, except so far as may serve to give it validity as a civil contract. In this light it was viewed under the Old Testa- ment economy ; and there is nothing recorded in the New Testament, to set it in any other point of view.* The allusions to it by writers under both dispensations, only serve to set forth the sacred and irrevocable nature of the obligation, and not as having received any additional in- stitutions of a religious nature, to give it validity. And though no truly pious man would wish the contract to be formed, without the recognition and desire of the sanction and blessing of God, yet it is or ought to be left to his option, to determine whether any, and what kind of reli- gious service shall be connected with it. Hence it has been well ob- served, that " of whatever importance marriage may be in its direct and indirect responsibilities, it is not a religious contract, in the sense that renders a service and ceremony in the church necessary." It was re- served for the Church of Rome — " the mother of abominations," — to take even this institution under her control ; and, by giving it a mystical sig- nification, to elevate it into " a sacrament." The design of this was, doubtless, at once to increase her revenues, and to aid her unrighteous domination in the world. Even then, however, the celebration of this so called " sacrament," was not, until the sixteenth century, deemed ne- cessary to be held in a church, to give it validity. From this circum- stance, however, it was carefully transferred by the Church of England into her services as a religious ceremony ; and though many forms of its observance were allowed even by " her mother," yet she alone esta- blished an uniformity in her ritual, and rendered the use of any other, in this country, except among the Quakers, contrary to law. And hence your boasted liturgy, having retained such disgusting allusions and " sa- cramental" forms, (I suppose they must be called,) has, on this account, as well as others, rendered an universal plea against it indispensably ne- cessary. Few, perhaps, may think much of the ceremony when they are married ; but when they are called to attend the marriage of others, they feel it. I shall not, however,' enter into details, but simply content myself with uttering a protest against it, as a pure relic of popery — a gross im- position upon every man's mind who desires that his words should be an exact expression of his thoughts, and an invasion at once of the civil and religious rights of man.f The Church of England has, after its own manner, aimed to accom- modate herself to the varying states of man ; and has, therefore, made a kind of preparation, to meet him in affliction and the near prospect of death ; hence her " Order for the visitation of the sick." It must be acknowledged to be a very important duty to visit the sick ; and those of us who have * See Genesis ii. 24 ; Genesis xxiv. 1 — 4, and 61 — 67 j Ruth iv. 9 — 13 j John ii. 1 — 11 ; 2 Cor. vi. 4 — 15 ; Ephes. v. 22 — 23, and other parallel passages. t See a very ably written pamphlet upon this subject, entitled " An Appeal to Dis- senters on their Marriage, &c," by Joshua Wilson, Esq., of the InnerTemple, son of Thomas Wilson, Esq., the well-known and most liberal friend, patron, and supporter of the cause of Christ among Protestant Dis.senters, and Treasurer of Highbury College for the educution of young men for the work of the ministry. 40 been officially called upon to engage in its performance, have felt it a duty as difficult as it is important, among those who have given no evi- dence of Christian character before we visited them. Their true state speedily developes itself; they are evidently in darkness, not knowing whither they are going : we state truth — they assent to it ; we tell them they are sinners — they acknowledge it ; that Christ is the only Saviour — O yes ! say they, we believe it ; but alas ! there wants the anxiety of an awakened conscience — the feeling sense of the necessity of a pro- vided Saviour ! We read and we pray, but their insensibility continues ! We renew our visits — they are worse ; we can ascertain no satisfactory ground of hope concerning them ; and alas ! they have no well-founded hope for themselves ; we retire, and ere we can see them again, the sun of their earthly existence has set in darkness ! O ! how gladly would we have hailed the dawnings of spiritual light and life, and re- joiced over them as souls saved from death ; but we could not ! here's the difficulty of the case. But " your Church" gets over this, and a thousand other difficulties connected with Christian or ministerial con- duct, with a kind of talismanic promptitude, rivalled only by her " mo- ther," the Church of Rome. No sooner are her clergy sent for, than they, it may be, go ; and whether the individual whom they are called to visit, be a believer or an infidel — an upright man, or a downright rogue, they have their " order ;" and after having read it in the hearing of the " sick man," they turn their creed into questions, and then very kindly prescribe that the sick man shall say, " All this I steadfastly believe ;" then a little discretionary power is given to question the man spiritually and temporally ; but on no account to omit earnestly to move him to make a will, and be liberal to the poor ; aud then, after these matters are attended to, it is presumed a little comfort is needed by the sick man ; and upon his asking for it, he has it granted to him in this form : " Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his Church, to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences ; and by his authority committed to vie, I absolve thee from all thy sins," &c. If any doubt remains upon your mind, of the affinity between the Church of England and the Church of Rome, I hope I shall now remove it. The form of absolu- tion used by the Church of Rome runs thus : " Our Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee; and I, by his authority, absolve thee from thy sins," &c. Here, then, your Church " out-Herods Herod." You deny, as professed Protestants, the assumption of the Church of Rome, to forgive sins at all ; but your Church claims the power to absolve from " all" sins ! But let us examine this "order" a little more closely ; and perhaps it will aid our examination, if we inquire, 1st, What is meant by the term church here ? and 2dly, Upon what authority this part of her "order" is founded? If, by the term church, you mean what your 19th Article declares it to be, " a congregation of faithful men," then you overturn almost your entire order ; for as that generally obtains, you admit not the people, be they ever so " faithful," even to the appointment or selection of a ministry among themselves, much less any interference in their " orders ;" the people in the view of your church being made for the clergy, and not the clergy for the people ; apostolic precedent having nothing to do with your hierarchy ; (see 2 Cor. iv. 5 ;) but if by the term church, you mean that which claims, according to your 20th Article, " the power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith," 41 then, of course, we must understand, " the king and the parliament of these realms ;" for your articles and canons teach us, that they are here supreme ; and according to the decree of the convocation of the first year of Elizabeth, " Nothing," it is said, "shall be henceforward accounted heresy, but what is so adjudged by the Holy Scriptures, or in any one of the first four general councils, determining according to the word of God ; or, finally, which shall be so adjudged in the time to come, by the court of Parliament." Most plainly, then, the authority of the Bible, without your Parliament, is nothing to your Church. She owes her existence, and her downfall, and her uprising, and continued standing, only to successive Acts of Parliament ; and, of course, these being " authorized guides " in these matters, we must submissively conclude, that it is only by one of these " Acts " that this authority is deputed to the clergy of this Church : — was it, then, by mistake, an oversight in printing, that the name of "our Lord Jesus Christ" was introduced into this form, instead of " the king and Parliament V Oh ! but, of course, as a professedly Protestant Church, you must be presumed to have some authority in Scripture for this : have you so ? — then let us examine it. Yes ! it is precisely the same, and no other, than that cited by the Church of Rome, for her power of absolution ; and it is found in John xx. 22, 23, " And Jesus breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." But pray observe, this was connected with the commission given to the Apostles by our Lord himself, with the conveyance and miraculous powers of the Holy Spirit ; and, consequently, the perfor- mance of miracles in attestation of their mission and authority ; the remission or retention of the cause being put for the effect, according to the usual method of expression among the Hebrews : and unless you can prove the continuation of the same powers, for the same purposes, your quotation will not answer your purpose ; and, consequently, the authority for the practice founded upon it completely fails you ! Jf you say, that the " order " is limited to them that are penitent, even then the power of discerning spirits is claimed ; and if you have not that power, the assumption of the authority connected with it, is alto- gether presumptuous ; or if you say, that the whole form is to be taken only as a declaration, that 6ins are forgiven upon the evidence of repen- tance and faith, then it is saying no more than every Christian is at liberty to say to his fellow-christian ; and then after all, the whole order, as it regards the " authority" assumed, amounts to — nothing I What Churches, then, must those of England and Rome be, to make so " much ado about nothing !" But is it nothing? On the contrary, is it not esteemed by their clergy, yea, even by yourself, as a proof of their " apostolic " character ; and is it not on this very account, that such " breathless haste " is so frequently evinced, when a person is sick and like to die, to send for the clergyman, to receive his confession, to absolve him from his sins, and, in token of his absolution, to give him " the sacrament before he dies?" And that the Churches of England and Rome are united together in these acts, let an eloquent writer, to whom I have already referred (Dr. Fletcher) reply. Speaking of the claims of the priesthood of the latter Church, he says, " A mysterious efficacy attends his official discharge of sacramental rites. In baptism he regenerates, in confirmation he assures them of the grace of God, in the eucharist he works a miracle, in penance he remits and retains o 42 their sins, and in extreme unction lie gives them a passport for heaven !" Yes, Sir! and in the place of " extreme unction," I maintain, the sacrament is introduced, by your Church, to the sick and dying. And here I am sorry to be called upon to complain of an act of inadver- tence, I will not say, of designed misrepresentation, in your reference to my first Letter. I therein endeavoured to convince you, that praying for the dead was an unreasonable and unscriptural employment ; and then, in a separate paragraph, as my Letter will show, I referred to what you consider an indispensable requisite to comfort and salvation, the administration of the Lord's-supper to the dying. But this was not assigned as a reason, or a "principle" against praying for the dead, as you speak of it on the twenty-fifth page of your Letter, but as a short comment upon another of what I believe to be your erroneous notions of the efficacy of what are called sacraments. For, in common with the Church of Rome, and the formularies of the Church of England, (though contrary to her 25th Article,) you maintain the inherent efficacy of baptism and the Lord" s- supper ; nor is this peculiar, but so common, that it may be called even a vulgar notion ; and no wonder that it should be so, when the formularies and practices of the clergy of your Church teach the people that the notion is true. Most cordially do I approve of every sentiment you have expressed concerning the Lord's-supper, from the second sentence of the twenty-sixth page of your Letter, to the end of the paragraph : it is so scripturally and experimentally correct ; the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, with their sacred and satisfying influence, are so clearly set forth, that I can only hope to be excused if I say, that either you did not write what is there printed, or you did not believe what you wrote; or if you did both, somebody else must have written the thirty-second page of your Letter, for the sentiments expressed thereon are perfectly contradictory to the whole ! But upon that fatal page, the thirty-second page of your Letter, I must enlarge by and by. We are now animadverting on the administration of the Lord's-supper; not, be it remembered, according to Christ's institution, and among his own humble and decided followers, but according to the order of the Church of England, indiscriminately , among the sick and dying ; and we maintain, that on this account it frequently, and most undeniably, becomes a delusive ground of hope to the dying, and even to survivors. Let me not, however, be mistaken here. I refer not to those who by their previous habits may be known to be Christians indeed, and who may wish, as a closing proof of Christian love among Christian brethren, to partake with them the visible memorials of the purchase of their " common salvation ;" — no ! for them it may be " a time of refreshment," in the anticipation of death and eternity ; and like their divine and beloved Master, who instituted the ordinance no long time before " the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem," they may say, " we will not taste again with you, until we have it new in the kingdom of our Father !" But surely " it is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it unto dogs ;" it is not " meet to cast pearls before swine;" it is not meet, as your clergy do, to yield to the require- ment of administering the Lord's-supper to the dying, whether they are satisfied of their Christian character or not ; or rather, as they most gene- rally, if not uniformly do, urge its administration upon all, without any discrimination of character whatsoever. This is the evil, in connexion with the form of absolution, against which I contend ; and that it is a real, and not an imaginary evil, undeniable facts most fully testify. By the individuals themselves, and by survivors also, the administration, (or, I should say, the profanation or perversion, of the ordinance,) is viewed in the light of a saving- ordinance, a viaticum, to help them on the way, a " sure and certain " pledge of their admission into heaven at last, whatever their previous life, or character, or conduct, may have been ! And whether the individual may have been, until that hour, when "the order" was observed, an habitual Sabbath-breaker, profane swearer, and despiser of them that are, as well as that which is, good ; or were the most notorious prostitutes, debauchees, and drunkards, dying under the influence of the diseases their previous habits had brought upon them ; or whether they were brought out of the con- demned cell to the chapel of the prison, in which they were confined ; or remained in their eel! previous to their execution, according to the laws they may have violated; still the "sacrament" is either called for, or urged upon them, that they may have something of a religious cha- racter whereon to rest their hopes for eternity ! Nor can it be a matter of doubt, from the representations that are continually made of this affair, that this very " order" operates as a " strong delusion," on the one hand, to the dying, and an encouragement to sin, on the other, to the living. The dying man thinks his salvation sure, because (to use his own words perhaps) " the parson has been with him, and given him the sacrament ;" and survivors encourage themselves in an utter disre- gard to personal religion, while they are in health, and have no thought of dying, because they persuade themselves, they shall have time enough to attend to religion, — their soul's salvation, then ; and that what they may not be able to do, " the parson" will help them to do then! Infatuated mortals! they think not that their "day of grace" may be sinned away ; that by their cherished insensibility of mind, to the immediately offered benefits and blessings of that grace, and their continued habits of sinful indulgence, long before their mortal eyes may be closed in death, their c haracter may become so fixed, and their doom so certain, as if they were already " lifting up their eyes in hell being in torments:" and what renders their state as deplorable as it is infatuated, is, that your Church, by her perversion of sacred institutions, is ready to cherish the delusions under which they labour, even to their last gasp, on this side eternity ! Need you farther proofs of the evil influence resulting from the indiscriminate administration of the Lord's-supper in your Church? Formerly, you know, it was deemed a test of qualification for every office under government; but, alas! much to your regret, the Act which required the exhibition of that test, was deemed a disgrace to the statute-book, and to the hierarchy which supported it ; and, therefore, at last it was repealed. But what then ? were all the abuses of the ordinance done away with by the repeal of that Act within the pale of your Church? Far from it! Time after time, and especially before your " great festivals," all classes, believing and unbe- lieving, pious and profane, intemperate and sober, chaste and debauched, sensible and foolish,* all, without exception, are exhorted, entreated, almost commanded, to come, to take the " sacrament " according to " order ;" and having done that, even the very worst of this fellowship will think themselves, and be reputed by others, good Church-of-Eng- * I have recently heard, that a noted idiot in this parish has been urged to take the increment! The other classes I hare referred to, are not less notorious, perhaps, in every parish. Ab uno, disce omna ! 44 land Christians ; and, like the deluded of old, will say to themselves, " We shall have peace, (for we have taken the sacrament,) though we walk in the imagination of our hearts!" The Lord's-supper, however, was never so abused by the Apostles, nor by the Christian church, in the purest periods of her history ; nor by that portion of it which still continues to exist, however despised by the world ; though in this country, till within a few years, she could only be said to exist by sufferance ! The same system of delusion, as to what is essential to Christian character, and the support of " a good hope through grace," is kept up in entire harmony with its other " orders," in the " Order for the burial of the dead." To this I ventured to refer in my former Letter ; and if I had not had some acquaintance with its parts, and with the sophistry that has been employed to vindicate it from the objections so continuously and so justly urged against it, I should not have used the language I did in reference to it. Nor, per- haps, would any fresh animadversions upon it be now necessary, were it not that you have charged me with positive ignorance of the "order." After quoting nearly my own words, you add, " I am at a loss to con- ceive where you have met with such an expression, so contrary to what appears in our Prayer Book!* Were the expression of hope, which you condemn, much more immediately connected with the individual buried than, if you will again read over the service in our Prayer Book, you will see that it is, it still would only imply a charitable wish that it might be as we speak." Admitting, with much deference, that my memory might not serve me correctly, on the occasion referred to, I will now follow your suggestion, and renew, at once, my investi- gation and exposure of the whole " order." Thus it begins : " Here is to be noted, that the office ensuing is not to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon them- selves;" and hence I infer, that over all others, with all their "multi- form and mixed " varieties of state and character, this office is to be used. " Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, of his great mercy, to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life," &c. Again : " We give thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful world," &c. And again : " We meekly beseech thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin, unto the life of righteousness ; that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in him, as our hope is this our brother doth," &c. Now, Sir, these quo- tations, I must maintain, fully justify my objections to its indiscrimi- nate application to all who are buried within the walls of your so-called " consecrated ground." The officiating clergyman is, of course, pre- sumed to be a Christian ; and not only to know the truth, but on such an occasion to speak it. His words, therefore, must be the exact expression of his thoughts, and not the smallest mental reservation, equivocation, or deception be intended in their use ; then how does the matter stand ? The very men whom only a few days before, perhaps, he "cursed " for being " unmerciful, fornicators, and adulterers, covetous persons, idolaters, slanderers, drunkards, and extortioners ;"f or * See the exact expressions which I used in the Letter alluded to, now published with this in the Appendix. t See the Comminution Service. 45 declared, except they kept the catholic faith, as expressed in the Athanasian creed, " without doubt shall perish everlastingly ;" yea, the very men, to adopt the language you so erroneously used in reference to John Calvin, who have " died in despair, blaspheming God, and invok- ing devils ;" or who may, by their crimes, have reached the lowest state of human guilt, and even forfeited their lives to the laws of their country, — all these alike, may have the same office read over them, the same description, thanksgiving, and prayer, used ; and if the officiating clergy- man were to deny them burial, they not coming within the prescribed exceptions, or to vary the service on the occasion, according to the 68th canon of your Church, he would be liable to suspension for so doing ! Slaves of the system ! from my heart I pity them ! We talk of slavery ; we plead against the accursed system of West Indian slavery ; but what is even that, compared with the slavery of the clergy of the Church of England ? The one is the slavery of the body — the other of the mind ; the one tortures the material frame — the other distorts the moral powers of the soul ; the one may be innocently en- dured— the other cannot be sustained without the most awful criminality! In vain is excuse urged for the indiscriminate use of this service. If language be the expression of thought ; if thought, in the ordinary in- tercourse of life, and especially religious services, is required to be cor- rect ; then the language used on this occasion must mean what it says, or nothing. The belief, and thanksgiving, and prayer of the minister, cannot be transferred from the individual to be buried to himself : they must refer to the body committed to the dust, or to nobody. "The words cannot logically mean the very reverse of what they say, and they cannot grammatically mean less — they either mean all, or nothing. If they mean nothing, they are known to do so, either by both parties — those who pronounce, and those who hear them — or only by one, namely, those by whom they are employed. Take any of these suppositions you please, and you will find yourselves in the horns of a double dilemma. If they mean what they say, they express what is unscriptural and false ; and they perpetually repeat it ; they meet us in every important crisis, from the cradle to the grave, and always in the form of a dangerous delusion. If they mean nothing, and are thus universally understood by both parties, then they are a solemn farce, performed under the mask of religion, and in the name of God ! It is difficult to conceive of any thing more dreadful than such an awful mockery. But, if they mean nothing, and are known to do so, only by one party, then in ad- dition to this attribute of awfulness, they are the means of conveying to the minds of numbers, ideas which must be injurious, and may be fatal !"* It was far from my wish to enter into a discussion of the topic of consecration, but you have compelled me. I only used the words "consecrated ground," and you have favoured me with a page and a half of pleadings in its favour ! and these are commenced with what, perhaps, you may consider, is a kind of incontrovertible axiom in its favour : " All nations," say you, " have ever had places set apart for the * The above remarks were applied to the Baptismal, Confirmation, Absolution, an J Burial Services, by the author, from whose " Hints illustrative of the Duty of Dis- sent," they were extracted ; a little book, whose intrinsic excellencies — argumentative and scriptural — entitle it to the best consideration, of all who may be so h.ippy as to procure a copy of it. 40 interment of the dead." Now, had you said this merely in reference to the erection of memorials for the dead, you would have been a little nearer the truth ; but, even that practice has been far from universal among "all nations," or continuous, "ever" from the beginning of the ages to the present hour. The Egyptians embalmed the bodies of their dead, and put them in a kind of open chest, about the size of the body, and then placed them either in sepulchres, or in their houses ; neither of which places received any other kind of consecration, than the recollection which these bodies would help them to cherish of the virtues of their deceased ancestors. Some nations have exposed their dead to the vultures, or birds of prey ; others, from the prox- imity of their situation, cast them into the seas ;* and the ancient Greeks and Romans, like the modern Hindoos, consumed the bodies of their dead upon the funeral pile ! Perhaps, the consumption of Pom- pey's remains by his freed-man, the ashes of which were afterwards col- lected and sent to Cornelia, may now occur to your recollection ; while the name of the Hindoos may associate in your mind the heart-appal- ling spectacle of the living widow immolating herself upon the funereal pile, by the side of her deceased husband, that their bodies may unitedly share in one common destiny ! Among the Jews the practice prevailed, as among us in the present day, of entombing their dead, either upon or under the earth ; but these were in places remote from " the far- famed temple at Jerusalem ;" and by their being chiefly, if not exclu- sively, family property, such as the cave of Machpelah, the supulchres of the kings, and the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, we are at a loss to assign them any other kind of " consecration," than the recollec- tion of departed worth would give them. And though it may be ex- pedient to have burying places for tne dead, near to our villages, towns, or cities, yet I am utterly unable to ascertain, of what utility, or upon what authority, their consecration can be placed. But, of course, you cannot dissociate in your mind, consecrated " temples and altars" with burying places ; and you seem quite confident, that Scripture will bear you out in their association ; hence you refer to the appearance of God to Moses in the bush, that was apparently burned, but not consumed : but, unless you can prove the continuance of such a manifestation of present Deity, your plea from that event must fail you. You refer also to the dedication of Solomon's temple ; but, though there were deposited the visible memorials of the Divine presence, Solomon himself declared, that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; and the only reason why the Jews, when they prayed, turned their faces towards the temple was, because of the sacrifices there appointed to be offered up, typical of the great propitiatory Sacrifice for sin ; " which things are done away in Christ:" and, lest these references should fail you, you declare farther, that there was a prohibition given to the Jews to wor- ship in the open air, after the temple was built ; and that "all the offices" of the ancient church, being ordered by the Son of God himself, we are at liberty to seek salvation only in such places; by which you tell us, in a subsequent sentence, you mean a " consecrated building, which, with a congregation, must be called a church !" Indeed, Sir, I am very sorry, that no more enlightened appeals in favour of consecration * What a pitiable state must the poor sailors be in of " all nations," who may (lie on the mighty deep, and find a mirving place there; no "consecrated ground'' being; near at hand to receive them ! Would * little hvlu water, carried out by a ship's corn- pan)-, answer the puqiose of consecrating " a waterv gravel" can be offered in the nineteenth century ; but, most gravely do I assure you, that all my Bibles, ancient and modern, fail of giving me the least information upon such points. Permit me, however, in vindication of " open air" py-each'mg, when opportunity presents or requires, to offer a few remarks, more especially as 1 know your enlightened Church is much of the same way of thinking as yourself; and has re- cently turned out one of her most faithful sons from her protection, for daring to preach in the " open air," contrary to her canons !* After Solomon's temple had been reduced to ruin, and the Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon, we are told, (in the Bible, at least,) that Nehemiah stood upon a pulpit of wood, above all the people, that were gathered together into the street, that was before the water gate ! Good man ! little did he think, that about 2300 years after he had thus dared, in the open air, to expound the Scriptures unto the people, he would have been found disobedient to a. prohibition ! Surely my Bible must be heretical — it has not got the canons of your Church in it; and it belongs to a "small and despised" Dissenter; but, indeed, this Bible tells me — (perhaps you, or your curate, who so much admires the Bishop of Oxford's above-recited deed, will do me the favour to tell his Lord- ship of the discovery) — that my Bible tells me,f that our Lord Jesus Christ himself — the light of the world, and the glory of his people Israel, actually went up to the side of a mountain, and from thence taught his disciples and the people that came unto him ; that once, wearied " going about doing good," he actually sat on the side of " a well," and effec- tually preached the gospel to a woman of Samaria, and taught her, at once, the spirituality of the nature of God, and of the worship he re- quired, without any regard to situation, building, or ground, from whence it was offered, as requiring consecration , or being consecrated ; and farther, that so far from " sanctioning all the offices of the ancient church," by which, of course, you intend the so-called " apostolic," in their consecration of water, earth, wood, bricks, stone, or mortar, he ac- tually denounced the scribes and pharisees— hypocrites, who made such distinctions of things, in reference to the professed worship of God ; and even reasoned and remonstrated with them, upon their own principles, to show how unreasonable and impious such practices were. Nor were the inspired Apostles themselves less guilty than their Divine Master, of the non-observance of this lately discovered prohibition ; for though, when they conveniently could, they met the people, and " preached Jesus and the resurrection " to them in the temple, the synagogues, and pray- ing places of the land of Judea, and the regions round about ; yet, when they extended their labours "everywhere," they could not frequent such places ; and therefore, in places of public concourse, on the sea- shore, on Mars' hill, the court of the Areopagites, and in hired houses, they prayed and they preached, and as the result, " many believed and turned unto the Lord." And so utterly disregardful were they of what is now called " ancient offices," that they even denounced such as should retain things " after the commandments and doctrines of men." Probably I need not dwell longer upon the subject of consecrated churches, though you very strongly intimate that we are at liberty to * There is a remarkable canon (the 74) concerning the dress of the clergy — enjoin- ing, that none shall wear any other night caps than " black silk, satin, or velvet ; nor " any light-coloured stockings." How would the sticklers for the authority of thu canon law stand the test of inquiry upon these important matters? t See Matt. v. 1 ; John iv ; Matt. 32 ; Acts v. 42 ; Actaxiv. 8 — 18; Acts xvii. 22 j Acts xx. from the 16th ver. ; Acts xxviii. 30, 31 ; Coloss. ii. 18—23. 48 seek salvation only through them ! I have been unable to ascertain whether a single Act of Parliament ever passed upon the subject, and of how much more authority Acts of Parliament are than the Bible in your Church, I have already been obliged to remind you ; nor is there any " order " prescribed for such " offices" in the Book of Common Prayer ! Perhaps the Reformers deemed it sufficient for their purpose, that in every important place throughout the kingdom, certain buildings had been erected, and dedicated, after the fashion of the heathen, " the rudi- ments of the world, and not after Christ," to certain " tutelar deities," or so-called saints, which would still serve as places of worship, and therefore were appropriated accordingly. Be it so : it was then convenient to de- vote these " consecrated" buildings to such a purpose ; but it is far from being convenient — consistent with the dictates of righteousness or utility, in the present day — with burdens of taxes and tithes, under which the nation groans from one end to the other, that so many hundreds of thousands of pounds should be expended in the erection of buildings, placed due-east and west,* (as if an omnipresent God were to be found more in one direction than another,) after the choicest models of heathen antiquity, dedicated precisely as the heathen temples and Roman Catholic churches were ; and " consecrated," too, as it is called, at the expense of thousands more ; to be extorted from the pockets of the parishioners, ( Dissenters as well as conformists,) for the support of their " Graces and their Lordships," their rectors or their vicars ; when, for one half the amount, buildings might be erected that would accommodate Jive times the number of people, who would all have greater facilities for conve- niently meeting together for public worship, in plain, unadorned struc- tures, than they can possibly have either in the modern or ancient style of Grecian, Roman, Gothic, or Norman " consecrated churches." By what mummery of will- worship the ceremony of consecration may be performed, by " their Graces or their Lordships," in the present day, I know not ; but if it be after the form used by that intolerant and perse- cuting bigot, " his Grace," Archbishop Laud, — and I cannot ascertain any " authority" for that, — we should unhesitatingly pronounce it now, as it was then, " an intolerable piece of ecclesiastical foppery, which no sound Protestant can read without indignation." The assumption of the thing itself is only one among a thousand other means, kept up by schismatical churches, to insult the rational nature of man ; to deny the spirituality of religion ; to invade the rights of conscience ; and to extort money from the pockets of the people. There is, however, another kind of consecration which still deserves our notice ; namely, " the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons." This, indeed, may seem a very formidable part of your "order" to attack, and one which a mere " stripling " might almost tremble to advance to, if the word of God did not so amply expose the presumptuous wickedness of the whole, and thousands of instances did not every where testify, that men may be " made" into these orders of your hierarchy, who, like Simon Magus of old, supposing that the gift of God may be purchased with money, do yet prove themselves to be in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds- of iniquity. * How impressively was the custom denounced by the prophet Ezeldel, (ch. viii. from ver. 15,) as one of the abominations of the heathen ; for the imitation of which, the Israelites were to be visited by the heaviest judgments ! And shall any, claiming the character of Christians, expect to do the same things with impunity ? In my former letter, I said much to show you who may scripturally be considered ministers of Christ; and how opposite the ministry of your Church is to them needs no lengthened induction of particulars to testify. The evidence of men that have been trained up in the Uni- versities, according to the " due order of this realm " is sufficiently plain and undeniable upon this matter. To say nothing of the origin of these men — generally "sprigs of nobility," or the youngest sons of men of rank and wealth, and not unfrequently,'" the fools of the family," nor of their early education at our " public schools," where (to use the language of the author of " Social Duties," well known in this county, and at the anti-union Bible Society) " there is not one single form of vice in the world which is not practised ;" nor of the purchase of next presentations, &c, to facilitate which, public offices are now opened, and graduated scales of charges announced, (as if the " cure of souls" were a mere matter of bargain and sale,) it may suffice to advert to what takes place about the time these men are " made," &c. It is said that College testimonials are generally required of them ; these affirm that during the time the candidate for this office has been at College, he has behaved himself " honestly, piously, and soberly." "And now," says the Rev. H. B. Bulteel, " I speak from my own certain know- ledge, and affirm, that these testimonials have been given to men no- torious for nothing so much in their day, as profaneness, debauchery, and all kind of riotous living ; and, on the other hand, I also know for a certainty, that these testimonials have been withheld from piety, honesty, and sobriety, for no other reason than they happened to be accompanied with a profession of the grace articles of the Church of England."* But what do these men that are thus generally preferred, — and it is but too notorious that the majority of these made bishops, priests, and deacons, are of this character, — what do they profess, when they apply to be " made, ordained, and consecrated V Verily, that they trust they are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, to take upon them this office and ministration ! Possibly they may regard this form, as they do their subscription to the Articles, a mere matter of course ; a something with which their consciences have nothing at all to do ; and only a passport to the honours and emoluments of the Church ! How- ever this may be, the facts are too notorious to be denied, that numbers make this profession who do not believe that there is such a Being as the Holy Ghost, or who, in what they do believe, belie the whole testimony which holy men of God spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holv Ghost ; or in what they practice, as it regards this testimony, prove * Admiral Stirling may remember, that when I read my " Reply to his Letter" to him, he cried out, on hearing this sentence, as he did on hearing some others, " That's the testimony of an enemy." But is it not assuming too much that even an enemy to the iniquities of the Church, cannot speak truth ! If the University, before whom Mr. Bulteel made those declarations, could have disproved thwm, does he think they would not have done so before this? It was a contemptible revenge that was takon upon this faithful man afterwards, (though in keeping witli all that has been done to sup- port the Establishment,) by the Bishop of Oxford to suspend him for field preaching. The best cure which one of the " Heads of the Church" could invent for that, was sug- gested to one of the Bishops who was complaining of Whitfield's preaching, and askin"- what should be done with him to silence him. " 1 don't know," said the king, " unless you make him a Bishop!" A powerful but just rebuke! The country, as well as the late King George, and perhaps the present king too, is verv generally con- vinced of the utter inutility of such appendages even to a " State Religion," and there- fore, it may be heped that ere long " the reward of their hands shall be given them." H 50 that, as did their fathers, so do they always resist the truth ; and come not near to it in the way of personal investigation or application, lest their deeds should be made manifest, not to others only, but to them- selves also ! Can any infidelity be more inexcusable ; any hypocrisy more profound ; any wickedness more aggravated by the circumstances under which it is committed, than this? You and others may talk about the learning, the respectability, and the piety of the clergy ; but the eyes of the people are too extensively opened to a discernment of their true character, to be imposed upon by such representations ; and though you say Bishop Burnet does not give any more informa- tion, respecting the duties of candidates, than the ordination ser- vice itself, you shall now have the opportunity of hearing what he does say, and comparing it with the service, that you may fairly determine where the deficiency lies. In my edition of his " Pastoral Cave," dated 17 13, and p. 96, he says, " Certainly the answer that is made to this (ques- tion put to deacons before ordination) ought to be well considered ; for if any says, / trust so, that yet knows nothing of any such motion, and can give no account of it, he lies to the Holy Ghost ; and makes his first approach to the altar with a lie in his mouth, and that not to men but to God : and how can one expect to be received by God, or be sent and sealed by him, that dares do a thing of so crying a nature, as to pretend that he trusts he has this motion, who knows that he has it not, who has made no reflections on it, and when asked what he means by it, can say nothing concerning it ; and yet he dares venture to come and say it before God and his Church?" This question, how- ever, being answered according to the form prescribed, and each of the others as they are proposed in succession, the lord bishop lays his hand upon the head of him about to be "made, ordained, and conse- crated," and utters these awful words : — " Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work now committed unto thee, by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained," &c. What arrogance! what presumption ! what finished anti-christianity is this ! Can we wonder, that Christianity is so much ridiculed and despised in our country ; — that there is so little of its influence to be found, either in the Church of Rome or England, when such language is used by weak and erring- mortals like ourselves ; when such fundamental errors take place in the making, &c, of their ministry? No wonder, that candidates for orders should make so light of them ; that false testimonials should be so easily procured; and that the whole form should be so easily got over by the ordainers and the ordained ; when they must both know, if they know any thing at all about Christianity, that the whole is a farce ; —a solemn mockery; — a profane imposition, that deserves as much to be discountenanced, and reprobated, and universally dis- sented from, as the arrogant assumptions of the Pope of Rome ; one of whose titles is, the Lord God the Pope : as the miracles of the dark and wonder-working ages, which permitted such assumptions ; or as the enthusiasts of our own day, who claim the power of " tongues " as well as miracles ! In adverting to the order of Absolution, I took occasion to advert to the only passage from which this form of words is taken ; and to state, that it was confined to the Apostles, and the performance of miracles in attestation of their mission and authority ; I need not multiply proofs of the correctness of these statements ; you and others may "search and see" for yourselves; and truly, I think, 51 if either your bishops possess the miraculous endowments of the Holy Ohost themselves ; or any to whom they assume the power, by the imposition of their hands, of imparting them ; they should at once prove their possession of them, as did the Apostles, and demand uni- versal submission to their instructions, if they have any new or old to communicate : more than this, the people ought every where, whenever they see a bishop or a "duly authorized " priest or deacon moving about, to bring out their sick, their dying, or their dead, that they may heal, or revive them, or give them life; nay more, "this doc- trine, if believed by the people, ought to bring them at the priests' feet, as the ambassadors of Palermo, at the feet of Pope Martin the Fourth, repeating these words thrice, "Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us;" or, Ye that have power to for- give, or retain, or absolve from all sins, forgive and absolve us, — deliver us from hell, and take us to heaven at once ! I know, that if your mind is capable of being moved, as it ought to be, it must be shocked at the plain and unequivocal import and tendency of the lan- guage used on this occasion ; and if you are not shocked, I confess that I am ; — and even more than shocked, at this profanity beyond all profaneness ! I use the words of Dr. Samuel Clarke, — " Profane," he says, " beyond all profaneness, is the doctrine of those who contend, that the Apostles themselves, much less that any of their fallible suc- cessors, had a discretionary power of forgiving or retaining whose sins they pleased." " And what adds (says Towgood in his ' Dissent fully Justified,') to the absurdity of this claim is, that this form of words was never used, never known in the Christian church, for the first thousand years ; was never attempted to be introduced till the eleventh or twelfth century, which, every one knows, was a period of the deepest ecclesiastical darkness, stupidity, and oppression. Morinus, a learned priest, has published sixteen of the most ancient rituals, or forms of ordination, used in the church, from the earliest ages of Christianity in which any such are found. But it is peculiarly worthy of attention, that in not one of the first fifteen rituals does the form now used appear ! It is the last only, the sixteenth, which Morinus takes to be about three hundred years old, which assumes to itself this power. Yea, amidst the pride and intoxication of this corruptest state of the church, so much sense and modesty seem still to have remained, that this extravagant claim was not universally admitted ; for the learned priest observes, that in two other pontificals of the same age, this form was not found! And is this extravagant pretension, which the Church of Rome, amidst all its pride and wantonness of superstition, from the fifth to the twelfth century, never presumed to make, now openly avowed and adopted by the Church of England ! " Another writer, in an "Appeal to the Clergy," &c, lately published, says, "The ordination service, in this respect, teaches the people to believe a lie; and authorizes the priesthood to practise an imposture ; — an im- posture too, of a most awful nature, since it represents the Holy Ghost as calling and qualifying men to offices in the Church, which they never fulfil ; and giving them power to fleece the people, that they may gratify the vain desires of an earthly mind. To affirm that such men have received the Holy Ghost, and are officiating in the Church under his direction, is to father upon Him the sins of the clergy, and to make Him a party concerned in all the sinecures, pluralities, non-resi- dences, and other scandalous proceedings, which stain with so deep a guilt the character of the Church of England." " Is there no room," says Towgood, almost prophetically, "to apprehend the displea- sure of Almighty God, at the representation of Christianity in so inju- rious a light? Were the men of Bethshemesh smitten with death, for looking presumptuously into the ark, and Uzzah for stretching out his hand to support it, and Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Ghost, and can the sacred name of God, and the ' doctrines which are according to godliness,' be trifled with, profaned, and prostituted to purposes of worldly interest and ambition, without danger of divine resentment? Is there not a time coming, when God will visit for these things, and be ' avenged on such a nation as this?'" * But there is yet another portion of your Book of Common Prayer, which must not be passed over in silence ; and it is that which com- prehends your Articles of Religion.' These, you tell us, on the 27th page of your Letter, are taken from Scripture ; and though above your com- prehension, are not contrary to your belief! To what are termed the " doctrinal articles," I believe few exceptions are taken by Protestant Dissenters ; but I confess, if I were required to subscribe to them, I should demur to the requirement, as an imposition at once upon my understanding and conscience. Taking the Seriptures alone as the standard of my faith and practice, I feel myself at full liberty, yea, bound by the consciousness of obligation and responsibility to God, to form my own views of religious truth and duty, and to express them in my own form of words, without either wishing to impose that form upon another for his belief, or admitting a similar imposition upon myself. The very method which the Divine Author of these Scrip- tures has pursued, in what he therein inculcates upon our minds, forms the best authority for such a course as this ; for no system in a conti- nuous form of words is therein to be found ; and, therefore, not only are " many of its parts above our comprehension," as might be expected from the incomprehensible nature of their Author ; but they require to be seriously considered, " pondered in the heart," cast up one against another, " spiritual things being compared with spiritual," before any safe or satisfactory conclusions can be formed respecting them. And were I required to vindicate this part of the ways of God to man, I should do so, on the grounds of the peculiar constitution of our nature, and the supreme responsibility of our condition. Hence, then, upon these matters I maintain, that God alone has a right to direct us; that this right he has not delegated to any man, nor any collective assemblies of men ; and that, therefore, none can have the shadow of a right to impose " Articles of Religion," upon their fellow-men ; and that if they assume that right, they violate the rights of con- science, and arrogate to themselves the prerogative of God. Religious submission is what every man owes to God alone ; whoever, therefore, usurps authority in this matter over others, usurps the authority of God, and claims that as due to a mortal, which is due to " Him who only hath immortality." The source whence Articles of Religion proceed is of little consequence, whether from Augsburg, Lambeth, Westminster, or the Savoy ; still, however excellent, and even correct, they may be, the same objections lie against them, as impositions which ought not either to be attempted or submitted to. Besides, the imposition of Articles of Religion appears to me most plainly a violation of the apos- tolic precept: " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputatious." Now, in most Articles of Religion, put forth 53 by authority or otherwise, there is a maturity of knowledge and reflec- tion, and either an avowed renunciation of errors, or an implied oppo- sition to them observable, which make not the smallest allowance, either for immaturity of knowledge, or weakness of faith, or any unfitness to enter into " doubtful disputations." Even if no other objections lay against subscription to these Articles, to require it in such cases, is to assume the existence of what in a thousand instances does not, and, from the nature of things, cannot be expected to exist ; and, therefore, to injure, instead of advancing, the cause it is intended to serve. Of this I am well assured, from cases that have come within my own cog- nisance, in which individuals of the character now contemplated have, after their subscription, either continued as weak in the faith as they were before, or else have most deplorably deviated from their assumed faith ; or, what is inconceivably worse, have entirely relinquished every kind and measure of faith together ! Wisdom, then, even in this view, lies on the side of the dictates of tiuth, and not of either expediency or assumed necessity. But who knows not that an entire uniformity of faith has never yet been, and, therefore, it may be presumed, never will be, acquired by the imposition of Articles, proceeding either from ecclesiastical authorities only, or when united with the authority of the State. " It is difficult," says Paley, " to conceive how this could be expected by any who observed the incurable diversity of human opi- nion, upon all subjects short of demonstration." Of the truth of this remark the subscribers to your own Articles form an incontrovertible evidence. Even if all your clergy were capable of being divided into two classes, Calvinistic and Arminian, it is obvious that the former only could exhibit a conformity to the faith they had sworn to, the doctrinal articles being strictly Calvinistic ; while the latter, who are equally sworn conformists, must be in reality nonconformists ! But who, that knows any thing at all of these men, does not know, that even if they were capable of being divided into these two classes, even those classes would be found divisible into subdivisions almost innumerable ; but as it is utterly impossible to divide, or classify them all, in such a way, all kinds of faith, and even (I blush for human nature, as well as a religious profession, to declare it) no faith at all prevails among them ! What absurdity and impiety, then, most plainly characterises an imposition of Articles of Religion on the one hand, and subscription to those Articles on the other. Now, no such absurdities or impieties prevail among Congregational Dissenters, and yet upon investigation an uniformity of faith and practice will be found to characterize them in every place ! The reason for this distinction, yea, without arrogance we may call it superiority, may be easily traced. In the Church of Eng- land terms of communion are an expression of political obedience ; among us they relate solely to religious character. In the one articles of faith are subscribed to, because they are imposed ; among the other they are received without subscription, because they are believed. In the one it is the authority of man which is recognised ; among the other it is the authority of God !* • It may not he out of place to notice here a remark of the Admiral's, which had, hefore I read my replyto him, entirely escaped me. Hesays, in his Letter, " You must yourself have observed the lamentable declension of an orthodox creed, amongst some dissentingcominuuions, who have deviated into Deism ; and tho unfortunate increaso of unbelief in the United States of America, where there is no established church." The lust part of this sentence, I shall be found, I trust, most fully to answer towards f ho 54 But when we speak favourably of the " doctrinal articles," of course we must be understood to speak of those only which we believe to accord with scriptural truth ; because there are others which may be so designated, that have no warrant in Scripture ; such as relate to the descent of Christ into hell, the Apocrypha and the creeds ; but as to others, some of them are obviously unnecessary, as implied in the very existence of a professedly Christian church ; and the remainder are either of so equivocal a character, as not to be received without the greatest caution, or so perfectly erroneous and anti-scriptural, either in what they assert or imply, as to demand an instant and decided rejection. Such are the twentieth, which declares the Church hath power to decree rites and ceremonies, &c; the twenty-first, which gives a power to princes to call an ecclesiastical assembly ; the twenty- third, which gives to public authority, by which we are to understand the State, the power to call and designate to the work of the ministry; the twenty-sixth, which speaks of the mere ministers of a State religion being Christ's ministers, and yet wicked men ; and at the same time, by the whole tenor of the article, represses every complaint against them, let them be ever so wicked ; the twenty-ninth is a standing reproach to the Church for allowing what she reprobates, and encouraging so many wicked ministers, as well as members, to share in the memorials of the Saviour's death ; the thirty-fifth evidently implies that the Homilies should be read and approved by the word of God, before they are sworn to be " godly and wholesome ;" and " the question is," says Riland, " do the clergy give their full assent and consent to the Homilies ? and if not, what do they give ? It is too serious an inquiry to be resolved by a loose and equivocal reply ;" the thirty-sixth declares that there is nothing in the consecration service, " either superstitious or ungodly," yet both reason and Scripture prove the reverse ; and furthermore, that the State, and not the Church, " the congregation of faithful men," conclusion of my reply ; but the first, I believe, to be an exaggerated representation of what, in some few cases, mav have taken place ; for indeed, I have heard of some ministers, with some few of their people, degenerating from what is termed the ortho- dox faith, to Socinianism or Free-thinkingism, — both of which are only modifications of Deism : but the great body of ministers and people fall not so from the faith once delivered to the saints. When individuals or communities so fall, tbry imme- diately become objects of avoidance to the other parts of our body ; and we have no communion with them, in order to show the broad and marked distinction that sub- sists between them and us. Whatever deviations may arise among us, our avowed principles and practices enable us most easily and immediately to remedy ; but is it so with the Church of England 1 On the contrary, are not deviations, abuses, pro- fanities, and " Romish abominations" cherished and supported, and even pleaded for, age after age, without the least effort to remedy or remove them? There are deviations among some "dissenting communions," but these arise from the ahuse of liberty, not its scriptural use and application. But what a motley group of subscri- bers to the same Articles of Religioti would the Church of England exhibit, if fairly drawn out 1 " There would be Calvinists of all grades, from the supra-lapsarianism of Dr. Hawker, to the more moderate views of Davenant and South ; Arminians, from Pelagianism to the modified Arminianism of Tillotson ; Hutchinsonians ; Bap- tismal Regenerationists and their opposites ; Swedenborgians ; Arians ; Socinians ; Southcotians ; Modern Millenarians ; Irvingites ; Drummondites ; and other isms and ites, almost innumerable ; down to those who, in what they know naturally, as brute beasts, do corrupt themselves ; feeding themselves without fear ; clouds without water, carried about of winds ; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever ! So much for the boasted uniformity and utility of "an established church !" 55 determines the validity of ordination ; and the thirty-seventh gives to kings and queens a right which, as mere magistrates, they ought not to possess, and at the same time most falsely declares, that God has given them this right ;* while the twentieth is contradicted by the thirty-fourth, in the admission of traditions and ceremonies, which, if not contrary to, may yet be proved inconsistent with, the dictates of the word of God ; and so also is the thirty-third contrary to the twenty-fifth ; the latter disavowing five out of the seven sacraments of the Church of Rome, at the same time retaining the whole in modified forms, as " orders," and the former actually demanding penance, if not as a sacrament, as an order, which every one acquainted with the foolish white sheet business of the Church must very well know ; and how utterly inconsistent with the simple form of Christian church dis- cipline that is, every one turning to the following passages in the New Testament may determine for themselves : Matt, xviii. 15 — 17 ; 1 Cor. v. ; 2 Cor. ii." 1—11 ; Tit. Hi. 10, 11 ; and Gal. vi. 1, 2. Such then, in few words, are the general objections to subscription to Articles of Religion, and to fourteen out of your Thirty-nine Articles, which have a regard to the most important practices of the Christian life. To each and to all of these, however, and to all and every thing else contained in, and prescribed by, the Book of Common Prayer, the members of the two Universities, and all the clergy of your Church, are compelled, and the obligation assumes even more than the solemni- ty of an oath, to give " their unfeigned assent and consent." We need not retrace the history of these Articles ; it must suffice that we simply remind you, that the laws of England alone made them what they pro- fess to be; set them forth as the basis of uniformity in the Church, AND SEALED THEM WITH THE SACRIFICE OF THE LIVES, AS WELL AS THE LIBERTY AND PROPERTY, OF THE PuRITANs! The evils of the imposition, though not felt so fully now by us as they formerly were, are still seen in the total absence of all unity, even in the midst of an external and sworn conformity ; in the cherished indifference and insensibility of, it is to be feared, the majority of your clergy, to vital and practical godliness, as well as the people surrendering themselves to their charge ; and in the entire exclusion of all other churches, how scriptural and useful soever their character may be, from an assimilation with them in the way of official ministration, and Christian co-operation and exertion. The Church of England then, I repeat, not only from her own designation, but her peculiar nature and constitution, is per- fectly schismatical, a dislocated part, if indeed it can be called a part at all, of the Christian church ; having nothing in common with that church but the Scriptures, (and rejecting a portion even of them, while at the same time she receives what is not a part of them, being purely Apocryphal,) and a small number only of her ministry, who, notwithstanding all the fetters of corruption with which they are chained and bound, do faithfully proclaim and inculcate their prominent truths and obligations. " It holds communion with no dissenting church ; it holds communion with no established church ; nayA it does not even hold communion with the Episcopal Church of Scotland ! it cuts itself * The well-known author of" Social Duties " seems so much enraged with Paley, for comparing the '* divine right of kings " to the " divine right of constables," that one might infer almost that, after the most illustrious examples of passive obedience and non-resistance men, he would have no objection to take up Paley's bones, and have them hung up at Tyburn or somewhere else, and buried under the gallows ! 56 off from the whole Christian body, separates itself from all who will not acknowledge in it a power, the exercise of which, Christ has forbidden ; in no scriptural sense, can it be called a church : it is a union of sect- aries, a combination of separatists, a crusade of schismatics against the spiritual union and liberties of the church, and it is nothing else. Indi- viduals in it are holy and excellent ; but the principle of the confede- racy of which they are a part is schism, and the confederacy itself is schismatic." In these respects, then, it forms a perfect contrast to the Christian church, in the best periods of her history ; and what alone can deserve that designation in the days in which we live : her unity then, as it is now, was preserved by her experimental acquaintance with, and in- flexible adherence to, the distinguishing truths of the gospel ; by her respecting and supporting church discipline, according to the dictates of the gospel ; and by holding ministerial and Christian communion toge- ther, and, " with one heart and one soul," uniting in all their energies, influence, and exertions, for the advancement of the individual welfare, and the common prosperity. This is the kind of unity, which the best of men have ever laboured to preserve and promote ; and the violation of which, they have never hesitated to pronounce a practical renuncia- tion of Christianity itself.* And is it not undeniable, that the same authority which renders the Church of England so perfectly schismatical in her character, has re- course to means which are now almost universally denounced as un- scriptural and unrighteous in the extreme, for the imposition and sup- port of her clergy ? The State, in these respects, not only claims the liberty and property of its subjects, but even their present well-being and final happiness as within the grasp, and at the disposal, of its powers ! Millions of rational and responsible agents, — agents, who are under laws and immunities, with which no created being has any right to interfere, so as to annul or withhold, — are all under the laws and usages which are employed to support your Church, treated like so many head of cattle in Chertsey Fair, or so many slaves in the West Indies, as con- vertible property ; property that may be bought and sold at pleasure ; who may receive as their master, for the professed purposes of religious instruction, — a creature — the mere creature of the State — whom they may never have seen before; whom, when they have seen and heard, they may abhor in their hearts ; and who, their consciences may tell them, is utterly unfitted for, and undeserving of, the station he holds among: them ; or it may be that this very creature, to whose care, (I cannot call it religious or spiritual, for both terms would be disgraced by such an association — Church-of- England care, you may call it,) may seldom, if ever, go near the property he has purchased, and into the care of which he may be inducted as its rightful owner : he may re- ceive at a distance, and spend as he pleases, all the " living" that pro- perty may afford him ; he may express all that is involved in his care by proxv* yea it may so happen that he cannot do otherwise ; for he rn'av have at the same time, two, three, four, or five, similar kinds of property in other places ; " and, consequently, as he cannot be every- where, "he must be somewhere only in the person or persons of his representatives!" And this, even this mockery of pastoral relationship to the people, " and cure for their souls," is held as one of the most * See a valuable plea for Catholic Communion in the Church of God, by Dr. Mason, Xew York ; reprinted and published in London, 1816. 57 sacred institutions of your Church ! This is the merchandise in "the souls of men" held in the Book of Revelations, as characteristic of mystical Babylon — the Church of Rome — a merchandise, to use the words of Mr. Scott, " more cruel and unrighteous than even the ac- cursed slave-trade is ; the most infamous of all traffics ever devised by the spirit of avarice !" But, enormous and crying even as this evil is, it is one which may be mitigated or counteracted, by jmssible occur- rences; unrighteous men, of the higher orders of your clergy, may have both righteous and pious underlings, (I use the word only as declarative of the syste?n, and not contemptuously towards the poor curates,) who may be devoted to the best interests of the people, among whom they exercise their delegated superintendence ; and thus, notwithstanding the evil of the system, good may be promoted by it; but there are other means had recourse to, for the support of the system, which can only be characterised as evil — evil, indeed, which, when put in contrast with that to which we have just referred, must be acknowledged subordinate ; yea, even transient, as the interests of time are not to be compared with those of eternity ; but still evil, unmixed, without mitigation : I mean the unrighteous, cruel, and wicked tithe exactions of your Church. It is easy of proof, that the Jewish system, so often appealed to for its sanction, bears not the smallest analogy to it, nor gives it the least sup- port ; and as to Christianity, it is so utterly subversive of all its dictates, that it will not bear to be named the same day with it. The first GRANT MADE OF TITHES IN THIS COUNTRY, WAS TO ATONE FOR the crime or murder ! Offa, having murdered Ethelbert, king of the East Angles, that he might obtain that kingdom, made this grant to that church, which was always ready to sell indulgences, and " the ab- solution and remission of sin" to whoever would pay enough for them ; and afterwards, the more effectually to ingratiate himself with the sove- reign pontiff, engaged to pay him a yearly donation, for the support of an English College at Rome; in order to raise which, he imposed a tax of a penny upon each house worth thirty pence a year : this was after- wards called Peter's pence ; but these exactions were not made in Ire- land, until Richard, surnamed Strongbow, an earl ready for any despe- rate enterprise, had rendered the English name terrible, by the havoc and slaughter he there committed ; a dread, which may well be felt, even now, in that unhappy country ; since, ivithin the last thirty yeurs, not less than twenty-six thousand persons have been slaughtered for the support of the same system! It would require, however, a volume to enter into the history of this system, even in outline : I must, therefore, be very brief in my reference to it. When Pope Gregory was asked by Augustine how the oblations of the faithful should be divided, the an- swer was given, that it was the custom of the apostolic see, to charge bishops when they are ordained, that the whole income be divided into four parts : the first, for the bishop and his family, that he may be able to keep hospitality ; the second, for the clergy ; the third, for the poor ; and the fourth, for repairing the churches. " But, upon the creation of parishes, this division was abandoned, and the three following substitu ted in its place : the receiver, or incumbent, was obliged to expend one part in repairing, supporting, and adorning his church ; another, in entertaining strangers, and relieving the poor ; and the remainder was for his own immediate use." Now, whichever of these divisions we take, as the guide of our views upon the subject, it will appear perfectly i 58 harmless, when compared with that system which has now for ages ob- tained in your Church : the whole is now appropriated by the receiver, whether he be the incumbent or not ; and for the erection, reparation, or beautifying of churches, parliamentary grants, or parochial exactions are made ; for the entertainment of strangers, inns and public-houses, with all the accumulated mass of misery and crime connected with them, are now established ; for the support of the poor we have a national burden, ( praised be the church for its endurance !) of about .£8,000,000 annually ; and for the support of the incumbent, we have, in addition to tithes, church-fees, or fees of office, almost innumerable ! And, of course, for the support of what you consider so good a " na- tional covenant," you would not complain even of this ; yea, you would perhaps plead, that it was equally " apostolic," and received the same high sanction which you assert its offices did ; but whether you can complain, or apologize, or not, in a little time it will be found of little consequence ; the voice of millions must be heard, and that voice will speedily demand the abolition of the whole system ! It is so perfectly anti-christian and unrighteous in its character ; it gives so much to those who deserve the least ; it brings so much scandal upon religion, gives rise to tricks that are so disgraceful to it, and presents such an extensive barrier to its prevalence ; it excites so much ill-will among those who ought to love as brethren ; creates such endless law-suits, thus aggravat- ing its own expenses, by those of law ; checks and embarrasses the labours of the agriculturalist ; and, above all, has ruined so many in property, in body, and in soul ; that if it be not speedily abolished, if religion be not left free and unfettered — to the voluntary sltport of those who love it — we may speedily expect that both " Church and State" will be involved together, in one common ruin ! The tide of popular opinion is setting in against the system ; and all the barriers that oppose the progress of that opinion will be swept away, like hillocks before the Atlantic Ocean : and ultimately, its progress will be marked by the subjection of all things to its own dominion. In this matter, pre-eminently, the voice of the people is the voice of God ! Such an Establishment, and maintained by such means, it may natu- rally be expected, presents one of the most effectual impediments to the prevalence of Christianity, not only in our own country, but in every part of the world. Of the awful, the soul-ruinous delusions, which her formularies and practices have a direct tendency to generate, we have already informed you ; but, independently of these, there is such a va- riation in her ministry — such a direct interference with the ministerial work, both in the way of direction and restraint; and such an unhal- lowed, as well as perfectly anomalous influence exerted over all her proceedings, in reference to the propagation of the gospel ; that if any good results from it, it must be notwithstanding the system, and not as its natural and necessary result. Admitting that there are many truly Christian ministers in the Establishment, it is a fact that is equally cer- tain, so soon as they are found out, they become objects of suspicion, distrust, or even opposition ; and are liable to be driven hither and thi- ther, at the caprice of the very powers in whose service they have en- listed themselves ; or, if they obtain a standing in a place, and God is pleased to bless their labours, they may gain a promotion, (generally the chief object of all Church of England men's ambition,) and be removed from the midst of their people, and another may be appointed over them, who may strive to undo all his predecessor did, and render them as sheep without a shepherd ; or, if they continue with tliem, " till death them do part," the same results may follow ; and no complaints, no en- treaties from the destitute flock, for relief, can possibly be heard ; and hence, they must seek another and a better system of religious profes- sion, or wander in the wilderness, without a guide : but, even in the most favourable circumstances in which both ministers and people are placed, the former can do but little good amongst them, in any other than "canonical hours," or " consecrated places;" for if they deviate from those hours, or labour in other places, they are liable to entire suspension from their work ; they cannot even imitate the example of their Divine Master, and on an elevation or field, or wherever a conve- nient place of resort may present itself to them, avail themselves of it to preach the gospel to the poor, without being deemed traitors to their Establishment, and treated accordingly ; nor may they, in any degree, deviate from the forms prescribed by the Act of Uniformity, without similar treatment. And, besides all this, as a Church Establishment, sup- porting only the religion of the State, it cannot, upon its own principles, advance beyond its own territory, or extend its influence among other nations, with any legitimate prospect of success : for, upon whatever principles an establishment be based, whether of " expediency," or " utility," or the " determination of the majority of the people," the very same principles may, and do fix other establishments,— even Popish, Mahomedan, and Brahmin ical, in other parts of the world. It is an interference, therefore, with the general laws of policy, now recognised among the nations of the earth, for one establishment of the State of one country, to interfere with the ultimate design of completely over- throwing that of another country ; from whence it must be inferred, — • that to be consistent with herself, the Church of England must either renounce her character, and all that she holds most sacred as the means of her support, or else sit down in hopeless despondency of ever spreading the gospel upon her own principles. If a " duly authorised clergy" go forth among the heathen, with this object in view, they must forget by what they were so " made and ordained" here ; they must renounce their allegiance to the State, to the canon laws, and the pre- scribed form, to which they have here declared themselves subject ; they must become such kind of moveable preachers as the twelve apostles were, or as the evangelists, Timothy and Titus were, — "men that hazarded," not their professed principles, for they never placed themselves in connection with any system that was contrary to that religion, which was their directory and support, — but men that hazarded their lives for the sake of the gospel, and the salvation of the heathen ; they must throw aside all the trappings and fop- peries of a State religion, as useless incumbrances ; and go, in all the plainness and simplicity of an unadorned and defenceless shepherd, after the sheep in the wilderness; and though the enemy stand against them with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, (the only true supporters of a State religion,) yet their armour, and defence, and weapon, must be, " the name of the Lord of Hosts." To be consistent with themselves, therefore, the members of the Establishment must stand opposed to all movements for the propagation of the gospel, at home or abroad, beyond their own sphere. I say not this to give a repulse to what they may have done, or intended to do; but to prove to them, unanswerably, that to be consistent with themselves, in the support of 60 missionary exertions abroad, they must become Dissenters from their Establishment at home.* Yes, Sir, and I am well persuaded, from the signs of the times, and the testimony of eternal truth, that this, in common with every other anti-christian system, must either be purified from all its anti-christian amalgamations, or be completely overturned and destroyed ! It is im- possible that truth and error — holiness and sin — divinely and merely humanly authorized forms of religious profession and practice, should obtain equal prevalence in the world, under the sanction of a God of truth, who is necessarily without iniquity, there must, therefore, be a separation between them, before the former can triumph, and the latter be subdued ; events, that are every where transpiring, are bringing about this separation ; Providence, by these events, is more manifestly declar- ing it to be necessary ; the predictions of truth, aid the interpretation of providential events, and ere long the proclamations shall be made, " Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ!" And, "Babylon is fallen, and they shall have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image ; and * I have felt much regret, that on the formation of an Auxiliary Society, for " the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts," in this town, about six months ago, I did not openly express mv views and convictions of its true character. The truth is, how- ever, that I spoke to the assistant curate of the parish about it, and he answered so decidedly respecting one of my chief objections to it, having been removed by the bishops at the head of it, (/lis own amiable temper alone, I am persuaded, led him to be- lieve the truth of it,) that I let the opportunity slip, which I then had, to state it pub- licly. I have since, however, ascertained that this report is not correct. It ought now, therefore, to be known what the true nature and design of this Society is, as well as what are its sources of support. It is an incorporated Society, professedly for the propagation of the gospel; but this name, so far from being indicative of its true nature, is a delusion and a cheat. It is merely for the introduction and establishment of the same iniquitous system of ecclesiastical imposition and fraud, as obtains in this country. Its reports give no information respecting the conversion of souls, the accession of numbers of living stones to the spiritual temple of Christ through the gospel, nor even expresses much anxiety concerning it ; on the contrary, it is chiefly occupied with details of the movements of their agents, the state of the churches they have built, the church-yards they have enclosed, and the land either possessed or allotted as part of the revenue of their establishments ; and from the whole, anv one who is at all acquainted with the religious state of the people, where these establishments are, must know, that missionary labours are done and blessed among them by other so- cieties, and not by theirs. Besides, it is a Government Society, and is supported very considerably hy parliamentary grants — annually made — why, then, should the people be appealed to, to pan doubly for its support 1 If it were worth supporting at all, the people among whom it extends its chief influence, are sufficiently civilized, perhaps, even Christianized,to give it their support ; but their withholding it, and giving their support to other societies, and throwing this upon its own resources at home, is a clear proof how little they regard it abroad. But a curse hangs over it. The merchan- dise of " slaves and souls of men," is chargeuble to its account ! ! For the last cen- tury, three hundred or more slaves have been kept by this professedly Gospel Society, upon one of its own estates in the West Indies ! No other efforts than the most zea- lous abettors and supporters of slavery desire, have been made by this Society, to better the condition of their slaves ; that is to say, when they think them fit for liberty, they will grant it ! and as they have never yet so thought concerning any, all, all, are vet in bondage ! Can such a Society be expected to prosper ! Can God's blessing be sought to attend it ? Ought any Christian, who knows and feels that God has shown him " what is good, and what he requires of him," to give it his support ? It has been justly said, that " Taxation and the sword, form the only bond of union between the Church and the State ;" how much to be deprecated is it then, that this Society should practically teach us, that not the voluntary slavery of the minds of the clergy only, but the intolerable species of forced West Indian slavery also, is essential to its support ! 6L whosoever receiveth the mark of his name !" " And when I seriously reflect," says the amiable and pious Doddridge, " upon this text, and how directly the force of it lies against those who, contrary to the light of their consciences, continue in the communion of the Church of Home, for secular advantage, or to avoid the terror of persecution, it almost makes me tremble. And I heartily wish that all others, who connive at those things, in the discipline and worship of Protestant churches, which they in their consciences think (and may it not be added, which can be proved to their consciences, if they would lay them open to conviction, by the word of God ?) to be sinful remains of popish superstition and corruption, would seriously attend to this passage, which is one of the most, dreadful in the whole book of God, and weigh its awful contents, that they may keep at the greatest possible distance from this horrible curse, which is sufficient to make the ears of every one that hears it to tingle." (Compare Jeremiah xxv. 12 — 16, with Rev. xiv. 8 — 11. Read also, from the the 17th to the end of the 20th chap, of Rev.) We know, indeed, what deep roots and lengthened standings both these systems have obtained in the world ; we know how much the kings and nobles of the earth, — the rich men and the mighty men, have done, and may do, to aid their perpetuity ; and that they may even bring multitudes of people to help their cause ; buta^ their power united, when put in opposition to the power of Him who is Head over all things to the church, and has all power in heaven and on earth, and is destined to rule the nations, shall easily be broken and rendered useless ; and so surely as the walls of Jericho fell down, after the blowing of the rams' horns ; so surely as the two-leaved gates of brass were thrown open to facilitate the entrance of Cyrus to Babylon, and the overthrow of its mighty empire of old ; so surely as the devoted city of Jerusalem was taken and rased even to the ground, — the power of the Highest fulfilling the accomplishment of these events according to his own predictions; so surely as the church of Christ was established in the world, notwithstanding all the opposition that was raised against it, and has been perpetuated from that period to the present, notwithstand- ing the moral desolations with which she has been surrounded, and all the efforts which have been made by anti-christian powers to destroy her ; so surely as in any measure protestantism has triumphed over popery, and puritanism over episcopalianism ; so surely shall the Churches of Rome and England, and every other anti-christian tyranny upon the face of the earth, be completely overthrown, and give place to the latter-days glory of the church : when the vivifying, and purifying, and morally fertilizing influence of the Sun of Righteousness shall be felt throughout the world ! God has decreed it ; prophecy has de- clared it ; and events are hastening it on with a rapidity not to be estimated ! " And after these things," says the Apostle John, in the apocalyptic vision, " 1 saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power ; and the earth was lightened with his glory ; and he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird ! For all na- tions have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the mer- chants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her deli- cacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye 62 receive not of her plagues : for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities \" Possibly, upon reading this prophetic record, which involves the cha- racteristics and destiny of the Church of England, as plainly as those of the Church of Rome, some may dwell with a kind of consoling satis- faction upon the increase of evangelical religion among the bishops, the clergy, and the members of that Church ; and may say, Surely if ten righteous found in Sodom, would have preserved that devoted city, these shall preserve "our Church" from its predicted destiny; but let them not flatter themselves too much, nor too long, with these imaginary " visions of good to be revealed." What nation was ever more privi- leged than the Jews ? What city ever seemed more likely to bid defiance to the destruction of ages, or the powers of earth and heaven, than that did ? Yet, when the people had filled up the measure of their iniquities, the Most High visited them as he had told them he would, for all the iniquities which they had committed, and for all the blood which they had shed ; and having demonstrated their weakness before his strength, by the destruction of their city, even when their confidence in heaven for its preservation seemed most entire, he scattered the remnant of them through all nations, to prove to all, what some are so reluctant to admit, when all things seem prosperous with them, " that there is a God that judgeth in the earth." The voice of "the souls under the altar" that have perished, or may now be perishing, through the ini- quitous persecutions of the Church of England, as well as those of Rome, must be heard: and " shall not God avenge his own elect, that cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you he will avenge them speedily ! — nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth ?" Besides : — Light, said our Lord, makes manifest : — whatever enchanting spells, therefore, may be found within or without this mysterious temple, the darkness, pollutions, and abominations of its hidden chambers of imagery, have been, and are now daily being, made manifest ; and as truth is the best refutation of error: — when the institutions and formularies, and orders, of this hier- archy are examined by its dictates, their erroneous, sinful, and perni- cious character can no longer be denied ; and what must be the issue of such things as these ? Either an increased separation from the Church, or else an alienation of heart from its cherished evils, even while an ex- ternal conformity to it is kept up ; and who knows not that a house thus divided against itself, can never stand ? Were there not, therefore, a single prediction concerning its destiny, on the whole inspired record, these facts alone are sufficient to prove that its affairs are reaching a crisis, and that Reformation or Destruction must follow ! " I think it is evident," says one of your own clergy, and he no ordinary observer of the affairs of his Church, " that the cause of dissent has progressed with the increase of evangelical religion among the established clergy ;" and what is the true reason of this ? — Undeniably, that our cause is the cause of God and truth; and that, in espousing and maintaining it, we choose to obey God rather than man. I wonder not, therefore, at the hostility expressed against an evangelical ministry, by the most zealous advo- cates of their own Church : like the advocates of the Church of Rome, they feel that the ignorance, the moral slumberings, yea, even the spi- ritual death, of the people is their best support, (for, like the bodies in a grave-yard, they will never disturb each other while they are under the dominion of death,) and, therefore, they would r^her have those 63 clergy among them who will simply tell them, that if they go to church, they will go to heaven ; that church-going and religion are synonymous terms, consequently, that he who is most frequently at church must be most religious ; and that all " Dissenters are impudent Methodists," — " enemies to the Church and State," and must assuredly at last go, where Church of England men can never go ! And this, even this, is extolled as apostolic preaching, " according," (to use your own words,) " to the Church of God," and " the Christian life," being " interwoven with the texture of Holy Writ !" Yes, Sir, I say I wonder not at all this ; but I am truly grieved that such a state of things should prevail ; that such a moral insensibility should pervade so large a portion of your Church, and influence so deeply its warmest advocates ; for I know, and have felt, what deference is due to God, and God alone ; and as one that hath, I trust, obtained mercy of the Lord, I have felt also the worth of the truth as it is in Jesus ; the absolute expediency and neces- sity " of his obedience and death, to hide all my transgressions from view," and, as one that has been " deemed faithful, and put into the ministry," by the highest authority, I have felt also the worth of the soul's salvation, and the utility of the application of all the means which God has appointed for its accomplishment; and, above all, the indispen- sable necessity of preaching with the Apostles, " not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake." Believe me, therefore, that with heart-felt grief I read your denun- ciation of an evangelical ministry, on the thirty-second page of your Letter : "They unite," you say, " with the avowed enemies of that Estab- lishment of which they profess themselves to be members, and thereby virtually encourage defection from the Church. There is, moreover, a style of preaching, adopted by some teachers, which exhibits the doctrine of the cross, and is dignified by the name of gospel preaching. That which appears to them to fall short of this doctrine, is termed useless specu- lation, unedifying research, and a departure from the gospel." It would be of no utility to show, how utterly inconsistent this passage is, with other passages, and especially that on the Sacramant, on the 26th page of your Letter; it requires other kind of animadversion, upon which I must enter, if with grief on your account, yet without reluctance, be- cause of its obvious necessity. The clearing away of the encumbrances which obscured and even nullified the utility of the doctrine of the cross, and its exhibition to the world in all its glory, was one of the greatest advantages resulting from the Reformation ; or, to speak more correctly, the advancement of the Church from the darkness of popery to the light of protestant- ism ; and this same doctrine, how much soever it may be despised or abused by the wise men of this world, is still found the sum and sub- stance of the gospel, the testimony of God himself concerning the mediation of Christ : upon these two points, therefore, I hope you will excuse me, if I attempt to give you some information, which you either appear not to have possessed, or at least not to have suffici- ently regarded. With the priesthood and members of the Church of Rome, the ritual, decrees, and orders, of the Church were every thing; and though portions of the Scriptures were permitted to be used, yet the Church claimed to itself the power of interpretation ; and thus the practice was formed, which is still kept up by your Church, of the people standing up when the gospel is read, and sitting down when 64 the epistle is read ; thereby intimating the possibility of the people understanding the former, but that the latter required their submission as learners, instead of judges, of the faith. Nor was this the worst bondage to which the people were subjected. The doctrine of human merit was sedulously taught among them ; and, as the whole Church was said to be in subjection to God's vicar upon earth, so all the bless- ings of heaven were represented as at his disposal ; and, consequently, that auricular confession, penance, and offerings to the Church, were necessary for the " absolution and remission" of sin. Nor was even this the worst state of their bondage. If the sinner were so favoured, as to obtain from the Church the "absolution and remission" he needed, or sought, he was still held subject to a temporal punishment, the measure or continuance of which, was determinable by its own power, and that not in this life only, but in another, after the dissolution of the body, called purgatory also. Exalted privileges, therefore, were to be had in both worlds, by the favour, the indulgences, and absolutions, of the Pope and his emissaries. But who sees not in all these bondages, (and the outline of their ramifications is far from being complete,) that this Church arrogated to itself the exclusive prerogative of God ? for who can forgive sins but God only ? and who can determine the method of the bestowment, and the means of the security, of forgiveness, but God only ? The Scriptures would easily have answered these inquiries in the affirmative ; but these they were careful to shut up from the people ; so soon, therefore, as the Reformers brought them to the light, they laid the axe to the root of this tree of corruption, cut off the chief sources of its support, and lopped off its most pernicious branches ; the trunk and the tap-root still remaining in the earth ; in other words, they brought to light, what Luther denominated, the doctrine of a standing or falling church, the fundamental doctrine of our holy reli- gion, the doctrine of justification by faith alone in the atoning sacri- fice of a once crucified, but now risen and exalted Redeemer ! This was the doctrine upon which alone they felt, as well as taught, that the hopes of man could rest in safety. This was the only refuge, to which they could direct the burdened conscience to secure relief. And this was the only medium through which they could proclaim emanci- pation from the thraldom of ignorance, the drudgeries of superstition, and the bondage of corruption, and an introduction to "the glorious liberty of the children of God." Need I, then, multiply arguments to prove the importance of this doctrine? especially to one who holds his Church to be so truly apos- tolic, as not to need even the light of Scripture to " illustrate" its cha- racter, or prove its sufficiency, for the salvation of all who trust in it ? I wish not to weary, even if I multiply arguments in its favour, but I will be brief. As the divine law was given to human nature in its purity, so it was from the nature that had transgressed that law, that justice had a claim, and demanded satisfaction. This claim, therefore, must be satisfied, either in the person of the sinner, or of a substitute ; but who was to determine how this satisfaction was to be secured ? not the transgressor, for as such he could not be a judge in his own cause ; nor any of the superior orders of created beings, for it is not permitted them, except under the direction of Him who made them, to interfere in a matter between man and his Maker ; only He, there- fore, whose laws had been broken, and who alone could estimate the true nature and proper desert of such an offence, could determine this ; 65 and the annunciation of the method of its accomplishment, constitutes the exclusive boast and treasure of the Scriptures, and is emphatically the way of salvation. By this means, what was before confused, is reduced to order ; every part is invested with its intrinsic importance, and brought to bear upon the present accomplishment and final issues of " the purpose of grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began." And though you, Sir, may think that the " doctrine of the cross " does not deserve to be dignified by the name of " gospel preaching," permit me to assure you, that no other doctrine is found in the gospel ; that this is the sun of the system, from which every ray of truth and grace proceeds, which is destined to enlighten, and vivify, and fertilize a benighted, and sinful, and dying world ; and that nothing is to be gathered up, either from the Old or New Testa- ment, of a saving tendency, only in so far as it forms a part of " the truth, as it is in Jesus :" — " A truth so strange, 'twere bold to think it true, If not far bolder still to disbelieve." What else can be made of all the promises, predictions, and sacrifi- cial, as well as ceremonial, observances of the Old Testament economy, if it were not to prepare the minds of those that lived under it for the reception, and to introduce to the world, ultimately, the knowledge of the great atonement, and all the purifying and peace-giving influence result- ing from it, which once in the end of the world should be made for sin? If thus considered, every institution then had its significancy ; but, if viewed in any other light, the whole appears a mass of unmeaning ceremonies, as unworthy the benevolence, as they were of the wisdom, of their heavenly Author. And what does the New Testament teach us, but the same doctrine, only in clearer, more comprehensive, and im- pressive forms of speech? Nothing short of this was deemed an object worthy the humiliation, and sufferings, and death of the Son of God. This, therefore, we are taught, was the object he had in view, in his first interposition on the behalf of sinful man, on his assumption of the nature of man, and all the offices which his mediatorial work required him to sustain ; and from the accomplishment of this one object, nothing could divert his attentive, steady, and vigorous pursuit! The whole of his undertakings and sufferings, as well as their results, were clearly foreseen by himself ; and when the grand crisis arrived, the hour when the great Sacrifice was to be offered up, and the ransom paid for the liberty of the sons of God, "Father? said he, " the horn- is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified! Now is mrj soul troubled, and what shall I say?" Shall I draw back from that scene of suffering, from which humanity recoils? Shall I urge the petition which my feeble flesh put into my mouth, — "Father, save me from this hour?" If it be possible, let sinners be saved in some other way ; or let them perish, rather than I should suffer so much : — No ! I cannot bear the thought, "but for this cause came I unto this hour ! " Now, notwithstanding the sufferings, and ignominy, and accursed death to which I must be subjected, " now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out ; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me-'" And when nailed to the cross, and expiring amidst the darkness of nature, and the convulsions of the world, he cried out, "It is k 66 finished." Yes! The great work, which the Father had given him to do, was finished ; the sacrificial appointment, the great atonement, the equitable foundation of man's salvation, was finished; " the Father glorified the Son, that the Son also might glorify him." And hence, this wondrous theme became the great topic of the apos- tolic ministry. " Thus," said the great Mediator, after he had suffered upon the cross, and was raised from the dead, and was about to enter into his glory, "thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that repentance and re- mission of sins should be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." " Therefore," said Peter, on the memorable day of Pentecost, "let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." " We preach Christ crucified," said Paul, " unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." On another occasion, when contending with those who would have perverted the gospel of Christ, and mix its simple institutions with the beggarly elements of the world, he ex- claimed, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world !" And it was the preaching of this doctrine, the doc- trine of the cross, involving, as it necessarily must, all the other doc- trines and influences of Christianity, that became the grand means, in the hands of its heavenly Author, of enlightening the minds, and softening the hearts, and sanctifying the natures, of the inhabitants of the most barbarous regions, as well as, what were reputed, the most civilized nations on the first establishment of Christianity in the world. And it is the preaching of the same doctrine in the present day, that enlightens the most vacant countenances with the feelings of the deepest interest, that draws tears from eyes that have been unused to weep, — that raises those who were once dead in trespasses and sins, to a life of faith, and righteousness, and peace,— and that unites those who were once hateful, and hating one another, in the bonds of fraternal affec- tion and Christian love, and urges a regard to their common privileges and obligations on earth, as exclusively preparatory to the consummation of their desires and blessedness in heaven : and, therefore, I add, upon the surest grounds of expectation, that this doctrine shall continue to exert its attractive, transforming, and heaven-securing influence, in opposition to all the powers of earth and hell, until the last " vessel of mercy," found on this side of eternity, shall be safely lodged in the realms of everlasting bliss ! Fain would I hope, Sir, that you knew not what you said, nor whereof you affirmed, when you wrote so contemptuously of the doctrine of the cross ! Fain would I hope, that you did it inadvertently, and not in unbelief ; and that the same doctrine may yet become, if it be not now, the foundation of your hope of acceptance with God, and of happiness in heaven ! You have arrived at that period of human life when igno- rance, and unbelief, and all delusion upon a doctrine of such absorbing interest, should either be renounced or overcome ; when truth should be received in all its purity, and yielded to in all its power. You boast of your chuhch, but let me tell you plainly, that it is not your, nor any other church, that can save your soul ! Salvation is of the Lord. He alone is able to save even unto the very uttermost. Neither is 67 there salvation in any other. O ! venture not the salvation of yonr immortal soul ; launch not into the ocean of eternity, upon the broken planks of systems, creeds, and formularies, of men's devising ! Were all the Lord's Spiritual to draw up, and introduce an Act of Parliament, to-morrow night, into the House of Lords, for your salvation ; and it were to pass that, and the lower House, and receive the king's assent the same night, it would, in such an affair, be completely powerless : it could not, by any use or process of application, ever accomplish it. Your dependance, therefore, upon your Church, implicit as I know that dependance to be upon that Church, which is a mere creature of Parliament, was made, as 1 have told you, by one Act, and may be unmade again by another of its Acts ; this creature cannot save you ; and if you have not a better ground upon which to rest your hope in your dying hour, your hope will prove like a spider's web, and the dis- appointment which must follow, you may imagine, but I cannot describe ! But never shall you have it in your power to say, that no friend warned you of your danger. I solemnly warn you now. I tell you plainly, the only way of salvation for guilty man is by the cross of Christ. He is our only shelter from avenging justice. His atonement is the only ground of our acquittal from condemnation ; and it is only through his righteousness and grace we can obtain whatever is needful to sanctify our natures, and fit us for everlasting life ! Believe, then, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ! Faith is the only bond of union with Him, as the head of vital influence to the church, which he hath purchased with his own most precious blood ! Faith unveils the mysteries of redemption, and the glories of eternity ; and, becoming the anchor to hope, enables the soul to rise and enter within the veil ! And faith, thus fixed and operating, will overcome the world, will triumph over death, and become the pledge of immortal bliss ! But, possibly, this may be deemed a digression : if it be so, it is a most important one, and one which enters into all the principles and expectations which go to form the Christian character ; and, conse- quently, involves the perpetuity of the Christian church in the world. Without faith in Christ alone we cannot be saved. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith we cannot yield to the call of God, given through and by the ministration of the gospel ; and so come out from the world, and be separate from it, as that He may receive us, and be a Father unto us, and we may become the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. It is the God of hope himself that must fill us with all joy and peace in believing. It is our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, who hath given us everlast- ing consolation, and good hope through grace, that must comfort our hearts, and stablish us in every good word and work ; and thus yield- ing ourselves unto God, we shall receive one another in love, as Christ also hath received us, to the glory of God. This will unite us toge- ther "as a congregation of faithful men." This will urge our observ- ance of the Sabbath ; our meetings together with one accord in one place; and our habitual regard to all the public, as well as private, means which God has appointed for our salvation. This will invest us with the privileges of the city and church of the living God. This demands of us the remembrance of those who are the only proper officers of this holy state of laws and immunities. It teaches us to select for the pas- toral office, for the bishopric of our souls' concerns, men of honest report, who have obtained mercy of the Lord, and whose gifts, by him 68 conferred, prove them able to teach others also. With equal precision it directs us in the selection of deacons ; and how we may first prove them, before we suffer them to use the office of a deacon, being first found blameless. All other offices, besides these, it urges us to reject ; being utterly subversive of the order of the gospel, anti-christian in their character, pernicious to the church, and destructive to the souls of men. This also teaches us, not indeed how " to make," but to set apart, desig- nate, and appoint, these officers of the true church, by fasting and prayer, and the ministration of the word, with the laying on of trie hands of the presbytery. This also instructs or urges them to regard the instructions already given in the discharge of their duties towards the people of their charge ; and the people, on the other hand, in those they owe to the officers who are set over them in the Lord — the bishops and deacons of their choice. And this also forms a bond of union between the officers and members of a particular church in one place, and those of another in another place ; for never can they be cut off from, though they are independent of, each other ; and, therefore, when they meet together, they can hold interesting and useful communion together, by their observance of similar ministrations, institutions, and exertions, for the benefit of each other, the churches generally, and the family of man universally. In the movement, therefore, of such a machinery as this, for the individual welfare and the common prosperity, there is no difficulty. The whole .multitude of them that be- lieve are of one heart AND oxE sou l. All excitements to cove- tousness, ambition, or unrighteous domination, are removed out of the way. A holy jealousy of individual right and collective privilege and obligation, pervades every member of this multitude. In the event of offence, or occurrence of evil, a simple but sufficient provision, accessi- ble and manageable by all, is made for its correction ; a power intrust- ed by the Lord for edification, not for destruction. By this all tyrannv is restrained ; individual cases of grievance or wrong are redressed ; liberty, peace, and prosperity are secured. No system of truth, or duty, or Articles of Religion of merely human regulation, are imposed upon this multitude : the Bible only is recognised as the standard of their faith and practice ; and therefore all equivocation, perjury, and preseut or future violation of principle or connexion, is avoided. The same men, under this influence, every where sustain the same cha- racter; and he who is a Christian here is capable of being known and acknowledged as a Christian every where. Our missionaries or evan- gelists belong not to one class here, and another among the heathen; they are precisely the same men, under the influence of the same prin- ciples, and no where losing their identity as the members of the same church. Freed from impositions here, they have none to impose else- where. Strangers to extortionate and fluctuating burdens, and " worldly sanctuaries" here, they neither impose nor countenance them elsewhere. Having only the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and the blessings which are every where destined to follow its extension and influence, to impart, they feel their dcpendance upon Him, who has put it into their trust, and given them the ability to use it for his honour and the salva- tion of their fellow-men ; they are satisfied with what he is pleased to impart, and are well assured that not one thing shall fail them of all the good things which the Lord our God has spoken concerning them. They labour not for the meat that perisheth. They lay not up for themselves treasures upon earth. They give themselves not to filthy G9 lucre. Their bread is imperishable. Their treasures are inexhaustible. Their gain is godliness with contentment. Great is their peace in time ; and certain their happiness in eternity. Their record is on high. Their names are written in heaven. And the memory of their characters, their prayers, and exertions, is blessed, — and blessed with immortality. But no other church, beside that which is Christian, admits of such a description as this. Its simplicity is its beauty, its grandeur, its glory. Its adaptation to the condition of man ; its useful and benevolent influence over his mind and character, and all his relationships and connexions in life, are unique and unequalled. Its principles and prac- tices are wholly independent of, and infinitely superior to, all the civil and religious institutions of the world. It is emphatically a kingdom not of this world. It neither prescribes nor unites itself with any political institutions ; nor interferes with any that are found to exist. It demands a separation from every secular alliance, and all unhallowed and coersive measures for its support. And as it came down from heaven, its great design is to conduct its genuine sub- jects thither. O ! what would this and every nation of the earth become, were the church of Christ allowed her unbiassed influence over them ! But, alas ! almost every where this influence is fettered and restrained. Ever since the Church was united with the State, men's views have been distorted, perverted, and misdirected, concerning its true character ; and even you, Sir, declare, that the state of France, and many parts of the continent of Europe, and even America, proves that a pure form of Christianity cannot exist without being the accredited religion of the State. Comment upon such language, as it regards its author, is unne- cessary ; every one must deplore the blindness and prejudice in which it originates. In France, indeed, equal liberty has but just been realized. Pure and undefiled religion, except in Protestant districts, has only now began to breathe. Antichrist has only now been shaken to his foundations, and left to totter to his destined ruin. Infidelity only begins to blush and hide her diminished head. A little company only, out of the multitude of the priests, have become obedient to the faith. The minds of the people are only just moving in their inquiries after the true character of Christ, and the signs of his coming. But the banner of the cross has been unfurled. The gospel in its purity has began to be preached. Education, Bible, Tract, and Evangelical Societies have been established. The good work, thanks be to Him who ruleth among the nations ! has been begun. The times are alter- ing. The character of the people is changing ; and all the moral move- ments in that valley of vision are in favour of the cause of God and his truth ! So much for your first proof; but more of this anon. In America better things have already appeared, and in unequalled abun- dance. America has always been to Europeans the land of freedom. It became the retreat of freedom to the Puritans of our own country, under the unrighteous and cruel domination of the Stuarts. There they secured, not only their liberty, but their religion ; and God has prospered them. Peopled, indeed, by men of other countries, and other persuasions, they have been mixed in their character. But the chaff has been separated from the wheat. The church has come out from the world ; and the wilderness and solitary place has rejoiced on account of it ; and even the desert has began to blossom as the rose. The Spirit has been poured out from on high upon them, in measures 70 unequalled since apostolic limes. Churches have, in consequence, pro- portionably prospered ; the labours of their ministers have been more extensively blessed ; the prayers of the people, united with those of their ministers, (presented, not according to prescribed forms, for they have none, but according to their peculiar states, wants, and circum- stances,) have been answered in the bestowment of unmeasured bless- ings upon the heads and hearts of every one of them. Eyes, unused to weep, have now learned to mourn for sin. Conviction has been followed by conversion ; and conversion by holiness and happiness of life. No lions are there. The ravenous beasts prowl not around to seize any as their prey. False prophets, pretenders to miraculous gifts, and teachers of lies, are rejected there. Their religion is sought for, and found, in the Bible, and those only who subject themselves to its guidance and influence. From the sacred treasury of the Scriptures only are they furnished with spiritual armour, on the right hand and on the left ; and these become to them " the sword of the Spirit," by which they may cut off his enemies and their own. Their Universities and "schools of the prophets," are seats of virtue and religion, as well as of learning. The work of God prevails among them, and is magnified by them. And from thence the word of the Lord is spreading in all directions; and in every place their faith to God-ward is spread abroad ! Would to God that such a state of things prevailed in our own country ! It has, indeed, " its saving clauses," but not enough to re- deem it from the charge of general, and, in many respects, even of highly aggravated delinquency. It has, indeed, what is called a reformed religion, but mixed with so much that is erroneous, anti-christian, and sinful, as to be almost equivalent to no reform at all. The chief ad- vantage resulting from it was the translation and circulation of the Scriptures of Truth. These enkindled and kept alive the flame of pure and undefiled religion — the religion for which the Reformers first, and afterwards the Puritans, stood and stand distinguished. These taught them to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, and for those liberties which are the inalienable rights of man. At first, in- deed, they believed they might, consistently with their principles, con- tinue their connexion with the Church, " as by law established ;" but, despairing of liberty in such a connexion, and being persecuted for their more rigid regard to the Word of God than the institutions of men, they withdrew from that Church, and pushed their principles to their legitimate consequences, and began to discern the impropriety of all religious establishments whatever; a sentiment in which they are now universally united. The claimants of liberty for themselves, they were most ready to concede it to others. Their whole history testifies their attachment to the constitution of their country ; and Hume himself — the apologist of the Stuarts — was compelled to acknowledge, that during the most tyrannical parts of their reigns, the only spark of liberty kept alive in the country was preserved by the Puritans ! By succes- sive struggles, they have freed themselves from the pressure of almost every tyranny; and, if they are true to their principles and profession, there is not a right remaining unconceded which they may not now de- mand from the State, and it will be granted. Their character is now too well known, and too extensively acknowledged, for any to dare to deny that they are the best supporters of religion and liberty in the land. They have proved themselves the best benefactors of their country. Her noblest institutions owe their origin and chief support to them. Bible, 71 Tract, Missionary, and Educational Societies, and Asylums most needed by the wretched of the family of man, have risen and flourished, and been blessed abundantly, through their instrumentality. Their op- ponents did nothing toward the support of these or similar institutions, till they were provoked by their zeal. Their ministers and churches have multiplied, and every where spread abroad, till now they form the ma- jority of the nation as a body of religious profession ! But what can we say for the Church of England? Alas ! like the Church of Rome, it has made the nation groan under civil and ecclesiastical exactions, which it knows not how to bear. These it has not hesitated to pervert to other purposes than those for which they were originally claimed. Deviations from original concessions, have been even established as matters of right and law. The Church is involved with the State, as the State with the Church, in its multiplication of laws, until iniquities, untold and incalculable, have been established by law.* The Lords Spi- ritual and Temporal, and their nominees and supporters in the House of Commons, daring no longer to persecute the Puritans, but only to trouble them in trivial and vexatious forms, have glutted their thirst for the lives as well as the souls of their fellow-men, by penal enactments which now form the most sanguinary code of laws in the world !f Oaths without number have been so interwoven with all the arrangements and impositions of our government, till the distinctions between him that sweareth and him that feareth an oath, are now almost merged ! and profanity has become the common characteristic of Englishmen. The clergy have hereby been united with the people, and the people with the clergy, in the indulgence and practice of iniquity, and what will they do in the end thereof? Now the majority of the people being Roman Catholic or Protestant Episcopalians, are awfully deluded in reference to their true interests. The very men who are bound to un- deceive them, being themselves deceived, are those who find it to be their whole interest, as it regards this world at least, to carry on the delusion. Instead, therefore, of advancing as we ought to have done, in improvement, prosperity, and happiness, we are as a nation abound- ing in crime— rolling in distress with perplexity, and miserable now, our present miseries, unless the mercy of God prevent, will only prove the awful prelude to our future woes ! You indeed, Sir, deplore, you tell • " No man of political sagacity, or of any ordinary share of moral sympathy, can contemplate the present state of our laws, without being forcibly struck with the op- pressive burdens they impose upon individuals, and the numerous evils they occasion to the community at large. The fact is, that the whole legal fabric of this country is weakened and endangered by its own enormous weight. Conceive of a system of civil jurisprudence occupying five-and-twenty quarto volumes ; add to these three hundred thick octavo volumes of reports, containing the decisions of the judges, which now constitute a new, distinct, and permanent code of laws ; and then consider, that this system, already too complicated and immense either to be understood or read, is receiving continual accessions from new legislative enactments, and by the fresh de- cisions which are perpetually taking place in our courts of law ; and I ask, what must be the natural and ultimate consequence of all this 1 Common sense dictates the ap- propriate answer, —either reformation or ruin." — See An Appeal to the Clergy, especially the Bishops and Dignitaries, on the State of Religion, Morals, and Manners, in the British Metropolis. Published hp Holdsworlh, 1831. t " It is a melancholy truth," says Blackstone, "that among the variety of actions that men are daily liable to commit, no less than one hundred and sixty have been declared, by Act of Parliament, to be felonies worthy of instant death." Since his time, I have been informed, the number has increased to two hundred and forty ! and our revenue laws, at one time, contained no less than seventy-five capital enactments, the most of which had become obsolete, through their impracticable severity. Thus, 72 me in your Letter, the want of zeal for our National Establishment, commensurate with that which was evinced forty years ago ; and seem to triumph in thinking that it survived the shock which the Revolution of " infidel France" might then have given it: but assuredly, all such sorrows and triumphs may easily be proved to be out of place ; for is it not undeniable, that it was under the National Establishment of France, and the extortions, spoliage, and plunderings of property, and the in- vasions of the civil and religious rights of man, that were made for the support of that Establishment, that almost the whole country degene- rated from the forms of Christianity to those of infidelity ? Had it been after her revolution that this became her character, then, pos- sibly, a plea for an Establishment might be urged, at least with the shadow of plausibility ; but as it was before— and since equal liberty has been established, every movement of the people's minds has been in favour of Christianity, rather than against it — the plea is ut- terly groundless ! And it is equally undeniable, that it is under a similar Establishment, supported by similar means, that our countrymen have descended to that aggravated state of impiety, profaneness, and crime, for which, as a nation, we now stand distinguished ; and which threaten to involve the pious with the profane, the innocent with the guilty, in one common ruin ! " The Church is in danger," says one, and in danger from itself! It begins to be known, and in proportion as it is known, the danger increases. Every movement among the nations, any cloud raised by their advance and their activity, is dreaded by its supporters as big with the elements of certain destruction. It is of the world, and, therefore, the convulsions of the world alarm it. It de- pends upon it for its existence. Its basis, if it can be called such, is the shifting sand of political prescription, and not the rock of Divine authority ;" and, therefore, like the house built upon the sands, how- ever loftily it may have risen, broadly it may have extended itself, or magnificently it may be ornamented, — it must in the issue fall, and great, though awful, will be the fall thereof! our legislature, like quacks in the medical profession, have shown, that it is much easier to extirpate than to amend mankind. The)' have indulged their ease, and endeavoured to conceal their ignorance, by neglecting the curative process entirely, and making a liberal use of the exterminating knife. For ages past, multitudes, whose offences were of inferior degrees of guilt, and who, under the treatment of a judicious penal regimen, would have been restored to moral health, and have become good and useful members of society, have perished, the pitied victims of their re- morseless ignorance and unscientific butchery. The grave has covered the offences of their victims, but what mountain can cover the crimes of the inhuman legislators ! Those crimes stand rubric against their memories in the volumes of our penal laws, — laws written not with ink, but with blood, as if the law-makers had been emulous of the execrable fame of Draco, whose ensanguined laws the Athenians erased from the books of their republic, but saved his name from oblivion, to float it as a warning down the stream of an odious immortality ! (See the Tracts published by the Society for the diffusion of information on the subject of Capital Punishments.) And surely, when we consider, not merely the inefficient, but the unrighteous, oppressive, and cruel character of the legislative enactments of our country, and the increase of crime, notwithstanding those and ether enactments, an increase that exceeds 270 per cent., the increase of the population ? — when we consider the degenerate, licentious, and impious manners and habits of those classes in society, that scarcely make any profession of religion, and how extensively anti-christian, or any forms of religion, are substituted for an experimental acquaintance with its power, we may cease to be surprised at the " distress with perplexity" that is coming on the nation. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord ? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ! It is time for thee. Lord, to work, for the niched have made void thti law. 73 Thus, Sir, have I attempted a reply to your Letter ; and, however feeble has been my advocacy of the^cause I have espoused, it has, at least, this one merit, that it has been sincere — the result of deep and lengthened conviction — and a conviction induced, not by systems of men's devising, but what I believe to be the truth of God ; and is urged upon your own, and the regard of those before whom what 1 write may appear, — not from the love of party, but of the unbiassed influence of Christianity in the world. The aspect of our civil and religious affairs, nationally, is indeed gloomy and portentous; but still, I trust, Re- formation is not only needed, but within our reach ! Let us steadily pursue it ! Let us reckon no difficulties too great to be surmounted, which may lie in the way of its attainment ! And as it must begin somewhere, let it begin with ourselves ! Let us repent and return unto the Lord our God — it may be, that he will turn away from us the fierceness of his anger ! Let his word alone be the rule, and his honour the end, of all our proceedings! Let us attach ourselves su- premely to Him — His truth — His ways — His people — and devoutly and sedulously aim to excite similar attachments in the hearts of others ! To the throne of His grace, let us bear, in our prayers, our own, and the true interests of others, — our wives, our children, and all with whom we may have any connexion and influence in life ! Then may we not only expect to be blessed, but made a blessing ! The spirit of Reform- ation thus evinced, will prove the pledge of its diffusion. The little leaven cast into the mass of unkneaded dough, will leaven the whole lump. All classes will ultimately be affected by the sacred influence ; the little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation — the Lord hastening it in its time ! And with best wishes and prayers for your real welfare, I remain, Your obliged and faithful friend and servant, THOMAS SCHOFIELD. Addlestone, NE.vn Chertsey, 5th January, 1832. APPENDIX. It was very remote from the writer's intention or wish that the follow- ing letter should appear in print. It was written under the excitement of the hour, after the perusal of a kind of circular letter, which Admiral Stirling had published, and even during the leisure moments which the writer could rescue from his employ with the youth intrusted to his tui- tion, and without the most distant idea of its being received, or answer- ed, in any other manner than as a private letter from a friend, requiring only private and friendly consideration. To his utter astonishment, however, it was in a few months answered, by a printed letter of five and thirty pages in length ; and it is on account of the very unfair representations that are therein given of it, that he now feels imperiously called upon to publish it. On which side the power of reasoning "and the support of truth may be, our respective readers may judge for them- selves. The advantage of leisure, for research, reflection, and compo- sition, has unquestionably always been on one side ; the Author of the foregoing Reply to the Admiral's Letter having only the leisure of one evenino- (rarely two evenings) in a week, to compose the greater part of it ; that part from the examination of the Articles only being composed, and the whole fairly copied and revised for the press, since his vacation commenced. He would not mention these circumstances, in addition to the labours of his ministerial employment, if he did not hope that it may prove an ample apology for whatever may appear deficient or defective in his reasonings or pleadings in favour of the cause he has espoused. Conscious only of truth and integrity in what he has advanced, he commends the whole to the candid and devout considera- tion of his readers, and the blessing of God ! Addlestone, May 30th, 1831. My Dear Sir, I was last week favoured with a sight of the Letter you have recently printed and put into circulation, upon some points connected with the fundamental articles of our holy religion ; and as they must always be dear to the heart of every Christian, and minister of Christ, you will not, perhaps, feel surprised to hear, that my attention was much excited by the observations you have made upon them ; and though my inclination would lead me to make a lengthened reply, yet the very few moments of leisure I can seize from other necessary occu- pations will not allow me to make it ; and rather would I spend an 76 hour in conversation with you, than write at all. But as I must infer, from what you have written, that you consider the happiness of eter- nity dependant upon the religious influence experienced in time, you will not, I persuade myself, from what I know of the urbanity of your manners, and the kindness of your heart, deem it uncourteous, un- friendly, or unchristianlike, in me, if I venture to suggest, in few words, wherein I think you err; and how that which is defective in your views may be corrected, and that which is deficient supplied. At the same time, I beg you to bear in mind the fact, that / have not a copy of your Letter by or before me ; and therefore I trust solely to my recol- lection of the points in it to which I wish to refer. You set off with at least the tacit acknowledgment of the truth of Chillingworth's declaration, that "the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants but you seem almost immediately to overturn the position, by representing a something else, as essential to the forma- tion of a truly religious character ; in other words, the salvation of the soul ; and this, you think, is found in the institutions, creeds, and for- mularies, of the Church of England. Now, give me leave to say in reply, that either the Bible is, what it claims to be, " able," sufficient, to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ, or it is not. If it be, then your representation is erroneous ; for most plainly it declares for itself, that nothing human can add to its weight, or worth, or utility; and if it be not sufficient, then do we want a standard by which we may " prove all things, and hold fast that which is good ;" and since all human institutions, authorities, and opinions, are, from the mere imperfection of human nature, unavoidably varied and varying, we must still be in a state of uncertainty, whether we ought to submit to the dictates of the Bible, or the dictates of men ; and, like the heathen of old, whose philosophers furnished them with many excellent rules of life, and hopes of future happiness, but could never agree among themselves in what they should consist, we must, with all our supposed advantages derived from the Bible, acknowledge ourselves in the darkness of uncertainty, and the mere expectants of a brighter day. Receiving, then, as I apprehend we are bound to do, by an authority too exalted to be for a moment disputed, the sacred volume, as furnishing us with the only correct standard of our faith, and guide of our conduct ; as opening to us the only true sources of consolation, and prospects of immortality; it becomes no less obliga- tory upon us, to examine with a scrupulous, and jealous, and even sus- picious minuteness, every thing that is presented to us by creatures like ourselves, however eminent or insignificant their character may be, — for our assent, or consent, our faith, our practice, our hope, or our life. Permit me, therefore, to recommend for your diligent and prayerful perusal, the following passages of Scripture, in confirmation of these views, as of pre-eminent importance and utility. Psalm xix. 7—10 ; John v. 39—41 ; 1 Thess. v. 20, 21 ; 2 Tim. i. 13, and iii. 16, 17; 1 Peter iv. 10, 11; 2 Peter i. 16—21; and Revelation xxii. 18—20. Possibly, you may here be ready to suppose, that by these pleadings for the supreme authority of the inspired volume, I am setting aside the institutions of the Christian Church ; and particularly, the impor- tance and utility of the Christian ministry; — by no means! But who knows not, that for our knowledge of the peculiarities of both, we are indebted to the Scriptures themselves ? These teach us whom we 77 ought ever to regard as the exclusive Head of the Church ; by whose authority and support, her institutions receive their sanction ; and in whose gift, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are ; and what is the design of their bestowment, — viz. " for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," &c. (See Ephesians iv. 7 — 16.) It is not, therefore, to the direction, appointment, or authority of man, that the Christian mi- nistry owes its origin, its support, or continuance ; but to those of Christ himself. By his providence, his word, his Spirit, He selects, qualifies, sends forth, sustains, and continues, a succession of faithful men, " who shall be able to teach others also :" and these are found in His Church, in every part of the world, where those that are the true members of that Church are to be found ; according to his own pro- mise, " I will give them pastors after mine own heart :" and if He gives them, it is evident that they need neither secular authority, nor mitred brows, nor University influence, for their support, or sanction, or war- rant to instruct ; for all that is necessary for them, He will impart ; and as He holds them as stars in his right-hand, he will fix them in their station, — he will give them their work to do, — and, above all, He will furnish them with the materials for doing it ! But where, think you, are these materials to be found ? in the commentaries of the learned, in the writings of the fathers, in the decrees, decisions, or di- rections, of assumed heads of churches, councils, or convocations ? or, by any immediate manifest or continuous revelation from heaven ? I find not so ! " Thou shalt speak my words unto them :" " Go, ye," said the Great Head of the Church, " and preach the gospel :" " We," said the apostle, and in so saying, he spoke representatively of every minister of the gospel, " we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Ministers themselves, then, are subject to the Bible, and the Bible only ; and it is at their peril to teach, or preach, or inculcate upon the people, any thing that is not plainly found in it, expressly founded upon it, or fairly deducible from it ! While, then, we plead for the ministry, it must be one only according to the gospel. Hence we find, hearers are commended for receiving the word from their teachers, even though inspired, much more if uninspired, because of its accordance with the written word, which they previously had in their hands. (See Acts xvii. 11, 12.) Will you, then, my dear Sir, excuse me if I say, that I fear it is owing to a want of a sufficiently deferential regard to the dictates of the inspired volume, that you have advanced so many statements, or opinions, which I cannot but regard as utterly subversive of the faith and holiness of the gospel ? You plainly assert for the Church of England, what others assert for the Church of Rome, — what the members of no other denominations of professing Christians assert for the communities to which they belong, — that there can be no salvation for any not belonging to it ! But allow me to ask, Who gave the Church of Rome or of England, (both schismatical in my view, from their own peculiar designation, the true Church being Christian exclusively,) who gave either of them, I ask, the powerto save, which they claim, or the pretensions to which they put forth? By what title do they hold it? By what deed of conveyance was it granted them ? The whole scheme of salvation, as made known in the Bible, teaches me, that in this momentous matter, the Most High, whose exclusive prerogative it is to save or leave to destruction, putteth 78 no trust in his servants, and chargeth even his angels with folly ! That He so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ! And that in virtue of the mediatorial work of Christ, as well as his equality with the Father, He is able to save, even unto the very uttermost, all that, come unto God by him ; and that therefore, the inspired Apostles for themselves, as well as others, must have spoken truth, (and what- ever accords not with it must be erroneous,) when they said, " the kind- ness and love of God our Saviour toward man, appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us ; by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Sa- viour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs accord- ing to the hope of eternal life." (Titus iii. 4 — 7.) Oh ! but then your Church tells us that baptism is regeneration ; and it commands its ministers to commit those that have been baptized according to its for- mularies to the tomb, whether they were truly pious, and died in the faith, or were positively profane and infidel, in " the sure and certain hope of their resurrection to eternal life," &c. The question for our consideration, however, upon these points is, — What saith the Scriptures ? Now, they teach us, that baptism is the ini- tiatory ordinance of the Christian Church ; and, as it is called the " cir- cumcision of Christ," we are warranted in concluding, that it comes in the place of circumcision, under the former dispensation of religion. (See Matt, xxviii. 18— 20 ; and Coloss. ii. 10—12.) And, lest any should conclude that the outward and visible sign is to be taken for the inward and spiritual grace, we are expressly taught that he is not a Jew, or a Christian, who is one outwardly ; neither is that circumci- sion, or baptism, which saves the soul, which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew, or a Christian, who is oneinwardly ; and circumcision, or baptism, is that of the heart, — in the spirit, and not in the letter, — " whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Compare Rom. ii. 28,29, with 1 Peter iii. 21.) Baptism, then, cannot be, and therefore never ought to be, confounded with regeneration ; for, what did our Lord himself say (John iii.) to one who had, beyond all doubt, been initiated into the visible Church ? " Ye must be born again." In another place, he plainly points out faith as the principle of regeneration ; and how children can exercise this principle, if you can tell me, I cannot tell you ; and I therefore deeply deplore those representations of the doctrine which are so utterly subversive of the faith, and consequently of the obe- dience, of the gospel ! (See John v. 24 ; 2 Cor. v. 16, 17 ; Gal. i. 15— 17; iii. 25— 28; and Ephes. iv. 22— 24.) If, then, there be any truth in these passages ; if the Bible is to be taken as " the Judge that ends the strife, when wit and reason fail," it will undeniably follow, that those only who are capable of understanding what the gospel is, and who are partakers of the faith and holiness of the gospel, can realize or enjoy its salvation. But then comes the burial service : all, surely, must be right with the dead, who have this read over them ! It ought, indeed, to be so ; and those who read it ought to be fully persuaded, in their own minds, that the deceased was distinguished for the faith and sanc- tity of the Christian character, as well as baptized in the Christian church, or rather, as you would call it, the Church of England ; otherwise, they solemnly insult the omniscient Judge of all ; — they instil and cherish in the minds of surrounding spectators, the most palpable delusions, as to what is necessary to admission into the king- 79 dom of heaven; — and thereby, in my view at least, (and I think I have the mind of Christ in its indulgence,) incur a responsibility, which a mind under the influence of the greatest moral insensibility alone can think of without trembling ! Oh ! but " we may hope well con- cerning the dead ;" assuredly we may, and especially concerning all who are hopeful; but the Church of England not only hopes well, but is perfectly confident, and abundantly thankful, concerning all that are buried by her ministers, and within the limits of her consecrated ground ! And yet, surely, reason as well as religion, would teach us, if we are wise enough to learn their dictates, to leave those who really are not hopeful, in the state of uncertainty in which they die. (See Psalm cxv. 17, 18.) As to the notion of " praying for the dead," it is so preposterous, that I have always wondered how any rational man can adopt it ! Reason teaches us to pray for those things only which, we may believe, it will be for God's honour to grant, as well as our interests to receive. Now, surely, it can never be for his honour to falsify all the information he has given us, every declaration he has made, concerning our present existence and the issues of death. He teaches us, that the present is a probationary period of existence ; and as that is a period which necessarily involves a close, it follows, that when our present mode of existence is changed, the time of our pro- bation is terminated, and our destiny is fixed — and fixed for ever ! Moses, Job, David, and the prophets, are explicit in their declara- tions upon his point. Our Lord, in his parables of the " Talents," the " Rich Man and Lazarus ;" in many declarations concerning the present life of man, and the future destinations of his existence ; and his Apostles, also, are equally explicit ; and, therefore, all prayer for the dead, it being morally impossible to have any influence over either them or us, must be both unwise and useless ; not to add, even impious. But you express yourself feelingly, as well as uncertainly, upon this point, and therefore I proceed to notice another point upon which you seem more confident; viz., the administration of Baptism, and the Lord's-supper, as essential to admission into the kingdom of heaven : — and here you have taken ground which is untenable, and any proofs you can adduce must fail you. Scripture is against you. The thief upon the cross, whose salvation our Lord announced, re- ceived neither of the sacraments of the Christian Church. History is against you, for it furnishes, at least, presumptive evidence, that the elements of our Lord's-supper were never administered to the dying, until the Church was corrupted in all her institutions : — and Christian principle is against you, for then, reviving in all its energies, it rises above all earthly means and agencies of improvement, and steadily reclining in the arms of everlasting love and grace, cries out, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Your information concerning Calvin is perfectly erroneous, — the foulest calumny upon his character I ever heard of before ! He died most peacefully, full of faith and hope ; a Christian, acknowledged by all but Papists. Your acquaintance with the history of your own Church, and especially with her Articles, most evidently needs improvement. Burnett would help you much. Neale's " History of the Puritans " would help you more. " Predestination to Life" is the doctrine of the Bible ; and of the 17th Article of the Church of England also. And as to what is thought of the present state of that Church, 1 80 would refer you to the pamphlets called, *' The Church of England in Danger from Herself," by the Rev. J. Acaster. — "A Solemn Appeal on behalf of the Church," by the Rev. D. Nihill.— " A Letter to his Grace the Archbishop of York," by J. M. Beverley Esq., and " Bul- teel's Sermon, preached before the University of Oxford." If you would condescend to read one published by a Dissenter, I would refer you to one called, " Dissent and the Church," by the Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham. Pray excuse " my great plainness of speech ;" I have written only with a view to your benefit. And believe me your obliged and faithful servant, T. SCHOFIELD. To Admiral Stirling. THE QUESTION OF NATIONAL RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS ; CONSIDEUED IN THREE LECTURES. lecture tin Jftrst, Delivered on Wednesday Evening, May 16th, 1838, BY THE REV. J. H. H I N T O N, A.M. AT DEVONSHIRE-SQUARE CHAPEL, BISHOPSGATE. Ir I have taken the occasion, afforded by the recent Lectures of Dr. Chalmers, for delivering the present course, it is un- doubtedly not through fear of the effect, either of discussion in general, or of this discussion in particular. I am rather glad, that the question of national religious Establishments should be discussed in any and every form ; and this for two reasons — partly because I have not the spirit of a partisan, but shall rejoice in the progress of truth, whatever be the fate of the com- pany with which I am associated — and partly because I have the spirit of a par- tisan, and entertain a conviction that, of the beneficial fruits of such discussions, we shall have (to use the words of a right reverend prelate on a recent occasion,) " the lion's share." We hail the agitation, of this question therefore, in every quarter, and no where more than in those elevated regions, in which it has now for the first time been mooted, and the inhabitants of which have in no very remarkable degree had their senses hitherto exercised in " dis- cerning between good and evil." . Our opponents having thus spoken, and spoken so loud, it is of course both justi- fiable and imperative on us to speak also. After the appeal already made to the public ear, no complaint can be sustained against us, if we do what we can to engage still further attention to the subject. What- ever wrong may attach to the aggressive party in this case does not lie at our door; we are only making our defence. Now it is worth while to mark at the outset the new position of the question under review. Time was, when the pro- priety—the right principle— of national Nos. 151 and 152. Establishments of religion was a thing taken for granted, as admitting of no ques- tion, or asserted dogmatically, as though everyquestionerofit was to be borne down by the weight of great names and high authority. But the case now assumes a different aspect. The principle of national religious Establishments is not now, it seems, assumed as incontrovertible ; nor is the controversy expected to be settled by dogmatical assertion and the weight of names. Here is an appeal — not by the adversaries of religious Establishments now, (they have made it long ago,) but at last, by the friends of religious Estab- lishments here is an appeal made to the popular mind. For the first time in the history of the world, that I know of, there have been popular Lectures on behalf of the principle of religious Establishments. There is something very instructive in this. It tells us, that the endeavours we have been making, to awaken the popular mind on this subject, have not been made in vain. There never would have been an appeal to the mind of the people in behalf of the principle of a national re- ligious Establishment, if it were not that there was in the mind of the people gain- ing ground a pretty strong feeling against it. We have done our work, it seems, in some measure; we have not laboured in vain ; and the fact now comes out un- questionably, that the popular mind lias been wrought on to such an extent, as to impede the exercise of authority in such matters. We learn too from this fact, that even authority — church and state authority combined — like Juggernaut's car upon some occasions, sticks fast, and that they B 2 THE REV. J. H. can venture no further in opposition to the temper of the public mind. They must try to mollify it ; they must try to diminish the asperity of the feeling against ational religious Establishments, by con- vincing if they can, and persuading if they cannot convince. The feeling of the nation at large is now allowed to be the standard, to which the appeal must be made. Public opinion is to be even of this question the final umpire. We say "Hear! Hear!" to this con- cession. It ought to be so; we have been endeavouring to effect that it should be so ; and our adversaries now tell us, that it shall be so. Wp are glad to have dragged our opponents to this field. The first effort they make in it is certainly a very determined one. It must have required no little resolution — if it did not rather indicate some huge per- plexity— to select as an advocate for re- ligious Establishments in England a mem- ber of a church, in whose nostrils prelacy (that is to say, the English Establishment) is abhorred, and a divine, whom his ad- miring patrons, for want of apostolic or- dination, could not admit into their pul- pits. Nor can it have been without sor- rowful misgivings of their wisdom, if with- out keen smarting for their folly, that they have listened to a defence of religious Establishments, founded on principles they reject, and fortified by the renuncia- tion of almost all they revere. They have maintained the immeasurable superiority of episcopacy over every other form of ecclesiastical polity, and the divine right of its territorial establishment ; Dr. Chalmers assures them, that it is only one of a half a score sects of such nearly equal value, that any one of them might indif- ferently have been chosen for the state Establishment. They have prided them- selves upon the fancied possession of a mysterious power, derived by unbroken succession from the apostles — a plea which their lauded champion coolly advises them to abandon. They have spoken vehe- HINTON, A.M. mently of the sin of schism ; and in terms which Dr. Chalmers affirms fail alike of his sympathy and his comprehension. And these are the things, which the friends of the Church of England have caused to be uttered, and which reverends and right reverends and nobles and princes have heard, in the high places ot her metropolis! But Dr. Chalmers holds the principle of an Establishment, we are told, and this he has come to defend. It is well. The principle of Establishments has been attacked ; and here is an acknowledgment that it is in no little peril, since it needs a defence. Clearly this matter requires energy. It is of great importance to them ; for the fate of Establishments is suspended on the decision, since no idea can be en- tertained, that, when the public shall be generally convinced of the impropriety of religious Establishments, they will long stand. It is of no less importance to us; for there is at stake in it the cause of " pure and undefiled religion," on which Estab- lishments are powerfully acting for good or for ill — and, as we think, for ill. There is no greater obstacle, in our opinion, to the spread of real religion, than the exist- ence of these Establishments; there could be no greater facility afforded to the in- crease of real religion, than the removal of this obstruction. We, therefore, without its being at all imagined that we contend for the emoluments or the honours, have to say that we strive, as we think, for God — for truth — for the welfare of mankind. We do not say, that they are too earnest ; nor ought we to be less earnest than they. We shall endeavour not to forget, how- ever, that the question of national reli- gious Establishments, is a question of a sacred character. Not that all who take sides on it are pious ; manifestly not ; partisans on either side of this question are not all of them men of God ; but some are so ; the piety of some is un- doubted. To us it is not a question of state-craft, cupidity, or ambition, but a question between Christian brethren. We THE REV. J. H own them so, from whom we differ. We shall neither repeat nor retaliate the harsh and unwarrantable epithets of our Scot- tish antagonist, but shall endeavour to speak in the spirit of love, which we de- clare towards "all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity " As it is Dr. Chalmers's avowed design to vindicate the principle of Establish- ments, and as it is to be supposed that he has put the subject in the newest and most approved light, it will be proper, though without confining ourselves to his line of argument, (which in truth is very partial,) to pay some attention to his mode of treat- ing the question. He very singularly begins, by removing an objection which has no manner of rela- tion to his theme. He tells us of " certain religionists," who so hold the doctrine of the Spirit's influence, as to supersede the use of means. It is strange if he does not know, that the religionists by whom this preposterous notion is held, constitute a mere fraction of the Dissenting body, and are as numerous probably in the church as out of it. But if it were held by us all, what then ? It is an argument against exertion in general, but it is none against an Establishment in particular, nor has it ever been used as such, except in the visions of this imaginative divine. We are obliged to him for tearing the flimsy sophism to pieces — which we had done often before him ; but he proves nothing by all this in favour of Establish- ments, unless he can show (which he can- not show,) that they are the only mode of exertion for the support of religion. He then gives us his definition — a very important thing in this as in all contro- versies, and concerning which he shows a remarkable wariness. His words are these, (in the ninth page of his " Lec- tures ") — " We should assume, then, as the basis of our definition for a religious Establishment, or as the essential pro- perty by which to specify and characterise it — a sure legal provision for the expence . HINTON, A.M. 3 of its ministrations." And a little lower down — " It is this, which forms the essence of an Establishment, and as such must be singled out from among all the other ac- cessaries, wherewith it may happen to be variegated .'' A sure legal provision for the expence of Us ministrations ! There is surely a great defect in this definition. A legal provision is not the whole of a national Establishment. There is at least one other element, vital and essential; there must be not only nation il revenue, but national authority in a national religious Estab- lishment. Now of this national authority, (which seems to have haunted Dr. Chalmers like a phantom, and which he evidently de- signs and strives hard to escape, and to steer clear of, as a rock on which he would have dreaded shipwreck,) we must main- tain that it does belong essentially to the idea of a national religious Establishment — a claim for the authority of the state to be exercised in the religious affairs of the nation, constituting what Dr. Chalmers scornfully denounces, as a " lordship over the creed and the conscience." Now in proof that, in the idea of a national religious Establishment, there is fan ly and essentially included this ele- ment— namely, national authority exer- cised with reference to the religion of the nation — we adduce, first, the evident theory of all such institutions. For a sovereign or legislature to institute a national Establishment of a certain re- ligion is not merely to pay some persons to teach it, but to require other persons to be taught — to require them to submit to the profession of it — to ordain that the nation shall be of that religion. Suppose, for example, that a Mahometan sovereign, having obtained the throne of a country , con- stitutes a national Establishmentof the Ma- hometan religion, is that any thing short of ordaining that the Mahometan religion shall be the religion of the country ? This is the theory of Establishments taken up and developed by Hooker, a celebrated writer 4 THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. whom I need no more than name, in his " Ecclesiastical Polity," who lays it down that, in a national Establishment of re- ligion, every person in the nation is a member of the national church, by virtue of his being a member of the nation itself — that the nation is the church, and the church is the nation. And according to the theory of the English national church, we are as much members of the national church, though Dissenters, as the church people themselves ; practically there is an anomaly, but the principle, the theory is this ; and it is by virtue of the theory that we are still belonging to the national church, that we are caught hold of to pay church rates, and so forth. The power that creates such an institution must go- vern it. Say that a sovereign gives to his people the right of choosing their own ministers, it is his authority that gives them the right, and they hold that re- ligious privilege under his authority. Say that he gives to the ministers the power to choose their own creed, still it is his authority that permits them to choose. There is no framing the theory of a national Establishment, as far as I can see, exclud- ing the idea of authority in religious mat- ters out of it. Then, in the second place, in proof of the same point, we cite obvious facts. Look at all such Establishments, that are in existence. Take the Church of England. That is a national religious Establishment, and the authority of the legislature and the sovereign are not things unheard of in it. The head of the Church of England is the Sovereign — at the present time the Queen, who is declared, in legal phrase well known, to be " in all matters and causes ecclesias- tical supreme." Not a Bishop can be chosen, till she sends her permission to the Chapter to choose one; nor can a Bishop be chosen, other than the reverend divine she is pleased to nominate. The articles of the Church of England and the book of common prayer were not brought into use, nor made of any authority at all, till they passed through the legislature; they are "established " by Act of Parlia- ment. And so throughout the whole con- cern. And in this respect the Church of England is no exception to the general rule. Look at the Church of Ireland, the Church in Holland, in France, or where- ever else you will; wherever there is a national Establishment of religion, there is palpably, in immense masses and to minute details, the exercise of authority in matters of religion. Dr.Chalmers, indeed, in a very extraordinary passage, claims the Church of Scotland as an exception to this rule ; and if we wanted to show the good man's in- capacity,both for argument,atid for the state- ment of facts w hich must be quite palpable to himself, this passage would be sufficient to do it. He gives us, in the opening of his second Lecture, a long story about a divine of Maryland, who had taken fire at the notion of church and state ; and the Doctor very coaxingly says, ' Would not you like an endowment yourself ?' 'Oh! yes.' 'And would not you like to have the whole state of Maryland covered with endowed churches of your denomination V 'Oh! yes, delighted' — says the man. ' Well, this is all I mean by a natioual re- ligious Establishment.' We shall talk more about that by and by : but this man " failed " (says he,) " in making the requi- site distinction, between the act of a government in giving food and raiment to ministers, and the act of a government in assuming a lordship over the creed and the consciences of ministers." And then he gives a passage from one of his old sermons, (for so it is quoted, "vol. ii., ser- mon 15, uniform edition ") in which he proclaims most marvellously the independ- ence of the Church of Scotland. "There is to each of its members " (says he,) "a free and independent voice from within, and from w ithout there is no power or au- thority whatever in matters ecclesiastical;" and then he quotes a celebrated saying of my Lord Chatham, concerning the glory of every man's house that lives in England, that it is " his castle ;" and adds — " Not that it is surrounded with walls and bat- THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. .3 dements; it may be a straw-built shed, every wind of heaven may whistle round it, every element of heaven may enter it ; but the king cannot, the king dare not." A pretty notion ! when not a meeting of the General Assembly of Scotland can be held, without the royal commissioner pre- siding over it. " And from without " (he says,) " there is no power or authority whatever in matters ecclesiastical." That is well said. Why, the state and distribution of church patronage in Scotland is so out- rageously corrupt and mischievous, that the General Assembly have passed an act to render it somewhat more decorous and conducive to the general good of the parishes ; the patrons of the livings, aggrieved by this, have gone to the civil court in Scotland, and the civil court has decided that the General Assembly has no power to make such an act at all, even to regulate the distribution of their own patronage; and of the thirteen judges, eight of them have pronounced an opinion, that the Church of Scotland is nothing but the creature of the state, and that the sover- eign is as truly the head of that church, as the sovereign is also the head of the Chuich of England. I can only suppose, that Dr. Chalmers wrote and printed this ser- mon, before this case in the parish of Auchterarder (for that is the place,) had occurred ; but then, after it had occurred, it was hardly honest of him — at least it was rather forgetful — to re-print it. But in further proof of this, (that there is an exercise of authority involved in national Establishments of religion,) I refer to the fact, that state authority in religious matters is now asserted and clung to by the advocates generally of religious Estab- lishments. The exceptions are few — very few. There are a few church people, who do wish that there were no authority of the state exercised in religious matters; but the reasons of most of these are very obvious — they find that it thwarts them in some or other of their designs. Thus we have your conservative church people, who are very angry indeed and very grieved that there should be any manner of of state authority exercised in the church, while there is a liberal ministry in office, but who would hug their chains again, if the Tories should come into power; and you have others, very noble and evangeli- cal men, who want to do all the good they can, and they are thwarted in their en- deavours, and so they come to feel that state authority in the church is not a very good thing. But generally the advocates of religious Establishments even yet con- tend for and cling to the exercise of state authority in matters of religion. Pam- phlets are even now written, enforcing the subjection of the subjects of the realm to the established religion, upon the ground of the duty of civil obedience, or obedience to civil rulers. I believe Dr. Brown in Scotland has recently, in the "Voluntary " controversy there, written a pamphlet on that principle, enforcing the duty of sub- jection to the religious Establishment, by the duty of obedience to civil rulers. On the same ground we all know it is, that Dissenters have so often been charged in a mass with disloyalty. We have had the broad principle laid down, that, if a man be a Dissenter, he cannot be a good sub- ject— that, if he be an alien from the church, he must be a traitor to the state — that church and state are one, and, if you do not love the chuich, you do not love the king. That has been thrown in our teeth many a time. And this is the very feeling of the advocates of church Estab- lishments at this time. They are not, as a body, becoming sick of this argument or wishing to renounce it; but they cling to it, and are fighting for it. State authority in matters of religion, therefore, «san elementofnationalchurclies. Now Dr. Chalmers'sdefinitionof nation- al religious Establishments, not including this element, is altogether defective, and his argument is utterly void. It matters not what he has said ; he cannot have said a single word to the purpose, through the entire failure of his definition of a national religious Establishment. 6 THE UKV. J. H. Dr. Chalmers has not omitted this ele- ment inadvertently or unintentionally ; the shrewd Scotchman knew well what he was about. '' The thing we deprecate " (he represents his American as saying,) " is the authority of the civil magistrate in matters of religion, but we should be thank- ful to him or to any one else, for giving us (what he termed) an organised provision for a clergy. Now," says Dr. Chalmers, " this organised provision is truly all that we contend for.'' So that, with his eyes open, he is keeping clear of this question of state authority in matters of religion. It is not, then, a national religious Es- tablishment, that the Doctor pleads for. He is not an advocate for it, but wants a thing of his own sort — a Utopian affair, utterly unlike any thing that ever did exist in the world, or that ever can exist; for ne- ver will there be, or can there be, an im- mense body of lucratively paid clergymen, that shall be exempt from the authority of the state that pays them. It is not a national religious Establish- ment that he pleads for. Yet he professes to vindicate national religious Establish- ments. How strangely must his claim of independency have sounded in the ears of such an audience! Yet they applauded him. Were they then infatuated by his eloquence ? Or are the senses of noble- men and princes so little exercised in the judgment between good and evil, that they really did not see the nature of his state- ment? Or is there growing up in high quarters a wish for the separation of church and state ? And are bishops, and nobles, and royal princes, and uncles of the sovereign, forming a conspiracy to pluck from the British crown the jewel of eccle- siastical supremacy ? Let it be well understood, that in this principle we agree with Dr. Chalmers. In- dependent the Church of Scotland and every church ought to be. This is our principle ; but in holding it, the Doctor abandons the entire cause of national reli- gious Establishments. In this path, however, other advocates HINTON, A.M. of the system will not follow him. We shall still hear of the claim, though he has renounced it. And it will be as well for us to grapple with those who occupy this ground, before we proceed further in con- sidering the question of expediency, as ar- gued by the Doctor. For this purpose we may take the lan- guage of the present Chancellor of the dioceseof Winchester — the reverend (and , for ought 1 know, by virtue of his office, the venerable) Dr. Dealtry ; and I take it in the form of a tract, circulated by the Society for promoting Christian know ledge, entitled " Religious Establishments tried by the word of God," being Tract, No. 497. I take it in this form, because 1 sup- pose, as it circulates among the people at large, the argument is put in as correct and compact a form as possible. At page 9 are these words: " The legislature of every country is assuredly bound to consult in all things the public welfare. It may doubtless fail in the proper discharge of its functions, but the obligation itself is one which, as a government, it is not at liberty to cast off. Is reli- gion of importance to society? No Christian will assert the contrary. For what reason then is the line to be drawn so broadly between matters of a purely civil and those of a religious nature, that on the onej side of the line the authorities of the state are to expatiate iu perfect liberty, but are on no ac- count to do good by passing over to the other ? — to be allowed the privilege of enacting wholesome laws for the regulation of secular concerns, but to be prohi- bited from taking any measure for diffusing that sacred knowledge, and extending those heavenly prin- ciples, which, even as it respects the laws themselves can alone secure order and obedience. ' ' Here is the pith of this argument, as put by Dr. Dealtry. In short, it is this — The legislature of every country is bound to consult in all things the public welfare ; religion is for the public welfare of a coun- try ; and therefore the legislature of every country is bound to take care of religion. There is candour in putting the pro- position thus generally — in speaking of the legislature " of every country " as bound to do this. Sometimes we hear of the obli- gation of pious princes and statesmen. The question, however, lelates to the obligation THE HEV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. 7 of princes and legislators as such, inasmuch as it is out of their position as rulers that the alleged right and duty arise; they must pertain to all rulers or to none. So that the only fair form, in which the ques- tion can be put, is this — whether the right and obligation of attending to the re- ligion of a nation belongs to rulers as such, and to all rulers. So Dr. Dealtry has had the candour to put it ; "The legislature of every country is assuredly bound to consult in all things the public welfare." This first sentence contains an importani phrase — "in all things;" "the legislature of every country is assuredly bound to consult in all thingt the public welfare.'' This we deny. We limit this phrase; "the legislature of every country is bound to consult the public welfare in all things " civil, but in no other things. It could not be supposed, that we should admit, in the first place, that "the legislature" of every country is bound to consult the public welfare in all things," and then think that afterwards we could make an exception of religion. It is here we make our exception, where Dr. Dealtry seems little to have anticipated it. " The legis- lature of every country is bound to con- sult ihe public welfare " in all matters civil, but not in matters religious. " Now," says Dr. Dealtry, " for what reason, is this line drawn so broadly be- tween mailers civil and matters religious?" We will tell him. First, because religious matters are wholly beyond the just scope and design of human governments. 1 here were in- deed times when it was maintained, as an incontrovertible proposition, that kin^s had " a divine right" to reign ; and when it was admitted that kings had their right to rtign direct from God, it might be pretended perhaps that that right divine extended to religious, as well as to other matters. Out I do not know, that there are any politicians, who hold the jus divinum, u The right divine of kings to govern wrong," in this day. Now the theoiy of go\ em- inent, apart from the exploded notion of 't the divine right of kings, excludes religi- ! ous matters. Government is a system of j restriction on our natural rights ; that is to say, under a government our natural rights are limited. Our right to the soil, our right to food and various other rights, as natural rights, are all equal ; but rights of property are limitations upon the rights of nature, and government is altogether a system of restriction upon our natural rights, to which every man submits, and surrenders a portiou of his own natural rights, for the pur- pose of securing the rest. The govern- ment is conceived of as saying, You all agree to surrender each a portion of your natural rights, and to bow your necks to a general but useful restriction; and the state or the government will feel itself bound to secure you all in the possession of the remainder of your rights, that por- tion which you do not resign. Govern- ment is thus a system of restriction upon our natural rights, every individual giving up a pan for the sake of securing the rest. But it is only our civil rights, a portion of which we thus surreuder. None of us mean to surrender any portion of our moral or our religious rights, into the hands of any person whatsoever. None of us aie willing to make any such sacrifice. We might not, if we would ; we could not, if we would. God does not permit it ; our highest interest would not permit it ; our obligation to God would not permit it ; nor could it be carried out, even if we were to try it. Nor has the state any thing to give us, in return for such a sa- crifice, if we were to make it. The go- vernment, therefore, in this respect receiv- ing no trust, is under no obligation to ex- ercise care. According to the theory of government, its whole care is to be con- fined to the civil welfare of the com- munity. We draw this broad line of distinction between civil and religious matters — secondly, because religious matters are practically beyond tiie reach of human 8 THE RfcV. 3. a. HINTON, A.M. governments. Religion is essentially a matter of opinion — opinions issuing in conduct — but not of conduct apart from opinions. Religion is essentially a de- cision of the judgment ; and as such, it cannot be reached by the machinery of human governments. They do not at- tempt to reach any other matter of opinion ; no government passes a law, that all philosophers shall be Baconians, or that all logicians shall be Aristotelians; it would be preposterous manifestly that they should. And it is quite as prepos- terous, to pass any law that all the sub- jects of a nation shall be either Moselms, or Christians, or Budhists. The matter cannot be reached ; and the actual effect of all such enactments is, not the produc- tion of opinion, but the production of conformity. They touch the outward conduct ; they say, ' You must go to church,' and they may contrive to make you go; but when they say, 'You must entertain such and such views of God and Christ and eternity,' they can make no hand at it at all; they cannot touch it. We draw this broad line between things civil and things religious, thirdly, because the processes of human legislation are in religious matters utterly inapplicable and mischievous. Lawsareworthnothing,which have no sanction. There are accordingly rewardsand punishments attached toall hu- man laws. But what can be made of the attaching of human rewards and penalties, or human sanctions, to religious virtue or infidelity? Propose a bishopric to a man for becoming a Christian ; or enact a dungeon for a man for being an atheist. Abhorred appeal to the understanding and conscience of a man ! Abhorred appeal ! bringing into operation the worst motives, and tending to make of a nation nothing but a nation of hypocrites. And there are no sanctions at the disposal of human governments, that are any way applicable to the case, or that can work otherwise than with utter mischief. We draw this line between things civil and religious, fourthly, because in religious matters the authority of God is paramount and exclusive. To no other being are we responsible for our conduct in religious matters ; to no other are we bound to listen. For human authority to interfere, therefore, is to supersede his authority — which man ought not to do, and which God will not permit. We owe no man any reason why we entertain our religious views, or make our religious determina- tions; we are bound to render no man an account, nor to attach authority to the voice of any man in that which he teaches. We are entitled to ask, " What saith the Lord ?" — and to maintain our incredulity and hold ourselves aloof, till we hear it answered, " Thus saith the Lord." No man has any business to demand of me of what religion I am ; and if by any means he can guess and find out of what religion 1 am, he has no business either to reward or to punish me for it. There is no just dominion over conscience, but God's do- minion ; every thing that assumes it in any measure, is essentially and of necessity a tyranny. We draw this line of distinction between matters civil and religious, fifthly, because our decision in religious matters involves a responsibility, which the state cannot assume. If the government dictates my religion, it ought to secure me against the consequences of a wrong choice. I have a soul to be saved ; and if the govern- ment tell me, We have established a cler- gyman, and we have required you to be of a certain religion, I ask in reply, Will you or the clergyman be responsible for the safety of my soul ? and if 1 am to go to hell at last, will you go in my stead ? If you will not, then I say, hold your tongue ; let me take care of my own soul, and, if 1 perish, be responsible for my own condition — as I must be. You will recollect, perhaps, that on certain occasions the church has put out this very notion. In order to make people quiet in their parishes theclergy have been found saying, ' Why should you be careful about THE HKV. J. H. IIINTON, A.M. 9 your soul ? keep to your church, and trust to us ; we will take care of your soul.' This has been said in as many words. Now this pretension is a most awful and horrible pretension ; but it is involved of necessity in the constitution of a national religious Establishment. And seeing that such responsibility cannot in point of fact be assumed — that no state, and no clergy- man, and no set of clergymen, can be re- sponsible, or secure me against the conse- quences of a wrong choice in religion — they ought not to attempt to dictate tome what kind of religion I should adopt or reject. And we draw this distinction between civil and religious matters, sixthly, because if authority in religious matters be allowed to governments, it sanctions the establish- ment of all false religions. Governors, if they ought to act at all, ought to act honestly. It is of no use to say, that a government ought to establish Christian- ity. Ought a government to establish Christianity, which believes that Mahom- medanism is the true religion < Such a government, I should suppose, ought to establish, if any religion, the Mahommedan religion. Then see what we should have, if such was to be the case over the whole earth. Here be " lords many and gods many,'' and they are all of them taking this province of deciding on the religion of their subjects ; the Sultan commands his people to be Mahometans, and the Em- peror of China commands his to be of the religion of Confucius, and of the rulers in every place each is commanding his sub- jects to be of this and that religion, estab- lishing a thousand false religions, while there may be a governor or two that es. tablish the true. And this is sanctioned by the principle, that governors have a right and a duty to care for the religion of their subjects. You are not entitled to say to them, 'AH you governors and rulers, that are establishing false religions, are doing wrong ;' they are all fulfilling their duty, carrying out the principle laid down by the Chancellor of the diocese of Winchester as the principle of national religious Establishments. Such are our reasons for drawing the line broadly between civil and religious matters. What are Dr. Dealtry's reasons for ob- literating it? Why would he say there should be no such line 1 These ate his reasons. First, the necessity of oaths in civil pro- ceedings. This is a strange notion ; — but it really is the main pin of his argu- ment, and therefore it is necessary to take some notice of it. " It is difficult to imagine," says Dr. Dealtry, " that those who exclude the magistrate from all concern between man and his Maker, and require him to abstain entirely from interference in religion, can have well considered the length to which that principle will carry them. Without something for instance, in the nature of an oath — some appeal to Almighty God, as to One who knows the truth, and will punish falsehood — no man could have the secur- ity of a moment, either for property or for life, and the frame-work of society would be dissolved. It is absolutely necessary, therefore, with a view to the welfare of a nation, that the sanctity of an oath should be respected ; and hence that all classes of subjects, from the highest to the lowest, should have a just sense of their accountableness to God." And therefore there should be an Estab- lishment of religion, with about four mil- lions a-year and near 20,000 clergymen, to teach people the sanctity of an oath ! An expensive apparatus for the quantity of security for truth that oaths give us. Does Dr. Dealtry then think, that oaths are a security for truth ? There are some gentlemen of the law, who could tell him a very contiary tale. Is he prepared to say, that there is no truth in civil transac- tions, but where are oaths ? Or does he believe, that all who swear oaths have a just sense of their accountableness to God therein ? Or does he think, that this sense of accountableness to God is prac- tically instilled into the population by a national Establishment of religion ? Or what would be done by a Pagan Estab- lishment ? — because it is not only an Es- tablishment of Christianity that we talk of, but his argument must apply to an 10 THE HEV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. Establishment of idolatry ; and would he insist upon having an Establishment of idolatry, that people might learn the sanc- tity of oaths, for the security of civil pro- perty ? His second argument is this — The duty of parents in relation to their children. He thus writes — " It was doubtless, from the beginning the duty of every master of a family to bring up his children and to train his household in the fear of the Lord." And from this he goes on to argue that a nation is but a large family, and that what is the duty of a parent in a family is equally the duty of a king upon his throne. But admitting this — that it is the duty of all parents to biing and train up their family in the fear of the Lord, there is no exercise of authority in religious matters in this. This is a mere matter of instruction. The question is whether parents have a right to dictate the religion of their chil- dren, as the state claims to dictate the religion of its subjects. We say, No; parents have only to put their children into the best position forjudging for them- selves, and then to persuade them to what they believe to be the truth. To talk of Christiun parents, and say it is their duly to dictate to their children, seems very pleasant, because they would dictate the true religion ; but we are speaking of the right of parents universally, and if we allow Pagan parents the right to dictate to their children, what then? We know, on the very contrary, that our Missionaries go forth complaining of such a dictation, and calling for a free exercise of the judgment of the children. And besides, all attempts at authotity in religious matters, on the part of parents, would be just as futile as unrighteous — and open to the same ob- jections as have been already alleged. Dr. Dealtry's third argument is the Jewish national Establishment. " Here," says he, speaking of the Jewish national Establishment, ''was a religious Establishment most intimately connected, and even incorporated with the state ; and unless it can be shown that the adoption of such a system under the new dispensa- tion contradicts some positive command, or is op- posed to some moral principle, the question has been here settled by Jehovah himself." Now this is a very instructive reference, and shows what kind of Institution the friends of Establishments hanker after, and how much authority they would like. This Jewish Establishment exercised a j cruel and tremendous authority, and it i is an Establishment like that, it seems, I after all, if they could get it, that our i churchmen would be fond of. But even if this were a church Establishment, we say, it was God's own doing. Dr. Deallry asks triumphantly, " Did the Almighty forbid the civil authorities to interfere with his church.'" To be sure he did; he smote Uzzah for putting his finger upon the ark, and he limited the civil authority in all cases by his own express direc- tions. For the interference of civil au- thorities in religious matters, the Jewish economy presents no manner of pretence. God did it all. God does nothing of the kind now ; if he did, we would not utter a word or cherish a feeling of resistance; but there is no alternative in religious matters between a theocracy and a tyranny, if there be authority exercised at all. W e deny, however, that the Jewish Establish- ment was a religious Establishment in any sense. It was a typical Establish- ment, and therefore necessarily a secular one. You cannot possibly make spiri- tual things to be the types of spiritual things; nothing but carnal things can be- come types of spiritual things ; and as every body admits that the Jewish system was a system of types, so of necessity it was a system of temporal things, a system of shadows and not of substance. This whole subject has been ti'pated admirably and conclusively by a Scotchman of great name, one of the Erskines, in his "Three Dissertations;" one of them is on the character of the Jewish economy, and he shows that it was a secular and not a spiritual system. There were no schools — there were no places of worship, except the one at Jerusalem, if worship it was — there were no institutions of instruc- THE REV. J. H tion — there was no use of the Sabbath day for teaching the people or for edifica- tion— no synagogues throughout the land, until just before the time of Jesus Christ, and not of God's appointment nor Mo- saic institution — and there were no reli- gious results either from obedience or disobedience to the Jewish law. All that theie was of religion was to be found in the exercise of the individual's mind upon the typical character and spiritual import of the Jewish ordinances, and the oracles of truth in their possession. The Jewish Establishment, therefore, was (as we affirm) not a religious Establishment at all. It affords no example of one. The v\ hole argument, founded upon this, fails. And more than that ; tiie whole subject of national religious Establish- ments is thus left to be treated anew by Christ and his apostles ; and hence there is no force in Dr. Dealtry's chief argu- ment, that reference to it by them was unnecessary. For when we ask, What have Christ and his apostles said about religious Establishments? what we are told in answer is this, " Why should they dwell upon the duties of Christian rulers, when there were no Christian rulers in existence, and especially when the ob- ligations of pious princes were so clearly to be seen in the Old Testament ? there was no need for our Lord to refer to it ; it was so manifest in the Jewish Estab- lishment." But if that were not a religious Establishment, then it icas necessary, that, if our Lord or his apostles had any thing to say about such Institutions, they should have said it (which Dr. Dealtry admits they did not do,) and not have passed it over in silence. And, in the last place, he says, that the general Christian obligation of doing all they can for Christ and for his cause requires pious princes to establish Chris- tianity. But now the question is not about pious princes ; the question is whether princes universally have a right and duty to interfere with the religion of iheir subjects. This last argument can . HINTOK, A.M. 1 1 apply only to pious rulers ; it is, there- fore, quite beside the mark, the question we have being one relating to all ruleis, and not merely to pious ones. And be- sides this, even with pious rulers, (to whom this remark may be applicable, that they should do all they can for Christ,) their obligation must stop short at the limit between power and persuasion. Men may be obliged to do all they can for Christ, but they must not do wrong for Christ ; they must not transgress the proper limit and boundary of duty under the alleged force of the greatness of their obligation ; the weapons, that are " car- nal," must not be taken up. There must be a limit observed, even by pious princes; they may persuade, but they ought not to dictate ; they may set ex- amples and use Christian influence, but they are not to become " lords over God's heritage," nor to enact laws about religion, howeier wholesome. Now this is the whole of Dr. Dealtry's argument in support of his position, that a legislature is entitled and required to look to the religious welfare of the com- munity. Thus we endeavour to make out the general principle, that human govern- ments ought not to meddle with reli- gious affairs. If we do make this out, we apply this general principle to the parti- cular case of Christianity, and say that hu- man governments ought not to enact laws in relation to Christianity ; be they Chris- tian princes and Christian legislators, or what else, it is no part of their duty to enact laws concerning the religion of their subjects, not even concerning Christianity. National Establishments of religion, there- fore, being founded upon laws concerning religion, are utterly wrong. This conclusion seems painful to our brethren, (that Christian governments may not establish Christianity,) — not merely as it might be painful to a Turk, to argue and bring him to such a conclu- sion in Turkey, because it happens to be the established religion and the source (it 12 THE REV. J. II may be,) of emolument to himself — but inasmuch as they are many of them deeply concerned for the best interests of their fellow-men. I do not hesitate to say, that it is painful to pious Churchmen, on the ground that they think it is a great benefit to the country ; an Establishment, (they tell us,) might do so much good. Well, we are not unconcerned about the good of the country ; but after all, this is not the first consideration. If it is wrong, it may not be. We are not called upon to argue the expediency. Whatever is right should be done ; and if there be less good done . HINTON, A.M. without an Establishment than might have been done with one, the blame of that will not rest upon us, but upon that great, and holy and gracious God, who can well bear the blame, and in subordination to whose will we have refused to enact laws relating to religion. We are willing, however, to meet the combat upon the lower ground of expe- diency. We will proceed to do so in the following Lectures ; and as we have seen that our shrewd Scotchman has taken care to avoid Scylla, we will then see whether he steers equally clear of Charybdis. THE QUESTION OV NATIONAL RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, CONSIDERED IN THREE LECTURES. lecture tin ^ecimti, Delivered o.n Wednesday Evening, May 30th, 1838, BY THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. The advocates of national religious Es- tablishments dwell hugely on their expe- diency. They insist upon it that a host of endowed teachers, with territorial allot- ments of the population, constitute the best and easiest, nay, the only possible way of diffusing Christianity through a nation. Hence they maintain religious Establishments to be, not only useful and important, but indispensable. They iden- tify their " machinery " with the effective support, if not with the continued exist- ence, of the Christian religion in the land ; and under the influence of this assump- tion, they suffer their imagination to generate frightful apprehensions of the designs of those who take different views, and of the ruinous consequences of our success. " We are," to use the courteous languageof ournorthen brother," machine- breakers; far more mischievous, but hard- ly more intelligent, than the machine- breakers of Kent, the frame-breakers of Leicestershire, or the incendiaries of the northern and midland counties of Eng- land," (p. 23.) It is useless, in controversy, to affirm what will not be believed. I shall not take the trouble, therefore, of saying, that, whatever may be the views of some agita- tors of this question, we are as warmly concerned for the support of Christianity asouropponents; and that what wewantis, notto obstruct,but to forward her triumphs. The question, however, is not one of per- sons, but of things. And our discussion of it is not to be set aside by imputations, however grievous, which, if not ground- less to the satisfaction of others, are so at least to our own. It would be easy for us to reply to such No. 153. imputations, by asserting that those who plead for religious Establishments care for the fleece rather than the flock ; that the thing which is expedient in their view (and indeed indispensable) is the multi- plying of places of emolument and power, which may be obtained without merit, and held without labour. But this would not be to the purpose. That there are many such persons among the advocates of Establishments, no one will deny ; but to us, in this argument, they are as though they were not. We admit with joyfulness, that there are on the same side men of devoted piety and zeal for God ; and we reason with them. To proceed then with our discussion. The advocates of religious Establishments affirm that they are expedient. We will presently examine this plea. But, before we do this, let the position of it be pro- perly noted. As an argument for Estab- lishments, it holds only a secondary rank. National religious Establishments involve a question of principle, as well as a ques- tion of expediency. We have to ask, not only are they useful, but are they right. And in all controversies, the argument from principle is far more weighty than that from expediency. Nor is it not only the more weighty of the two ; it requires to be in all cases decisive of the question at issue. To argue from expediency for doing what is shewn to be wrong, is to say, " Let us 'lo evil that good may come;" a maxim utterly repudiated from all sound systems of morals. Even if the argument from expediency on behalf of national churches could be sustained, therefore, they would not be vindicated, unless they could also be proved to be right. c 14 THE REV. J. H Now in this view we took up religious Establishments in our former Lecture; and we endeavoured to shew that, in point of principle, they are not right, but wrung. Involving, as they necessarily do, an at- tempt at " lordship over creeds and con- sciences," they aim at objects for which human governments never were designed, to which they never can practically extend, and for which they possess no appropriate or admissible sanctions; they claim to dictate, where theytcannot meet the con- sequences of error ; they supersede the paramount, exclusive, and only rightful authority of the Most High ; and they give their authority to the multifarious forms of false religion, as well as, by an occasional accident, to the true. Na- tional religious Establishments, therefore, are at once a transgression of all just rules of government, and a violation of the most sacred rights, both of the creature and the Creator : they are institutions, consequently, which ought never to have been created, and which ought no longer to exist. To tell us they are useful, is nothing to the purpose. If they are use- ful, they are equally to be denounced, be- cause they are wrong. Nor does it move us to speak, in terms of whatever pathos, of the good which will be lost, or the mis- chiefs which will ensue, if these institutions should disappear. Should the lamentable picture be true, we are not accountable for it. The mischief does not lie at our door, but at our Maker's. It is He who is re- sponsible for the results of doing right, be- cause he has made it imperative on us ; and doubtless he will be far better pleased with those who, leaving results in his hands, render him the honour of an implicit obe- dience, than with those who, with an ob- trusive care over what does not pertain to them, at once violate his commandments, and infringe upon his prerogative. The question of principle, in regard to religious Establishments, being decided in the negative, we are not called upon to argue the question of expediency at all. We have a right to dismiss it un- . HINTON, A.M. heard. But we will not insist upon our right. We will hear, and hear patiently, what can be said on this subject. We believe that \vc have the best of the argu- ment, even on this secondary and inferior ground. Religious Establishments, we are told, are expedient. Now there is a general principle, upon which we are warranted to settle the expediency of things. It may be laid down as a maxim, admitting of no controversy, that whatever is right is ex- pedient. The foundations of this senti- ment are laid deep in the divine adminis- tration. It was for God to link duty and happiness together, rectitude and useful- ness ; and he would have failed in one of the most essential elements of a moral sys- tem, if he had not effectually done so. As a general principle, no one questions it. It is a postulate in moral science. Now this principle must be applicable to re- ligious Establishments, as well as to all other modes of human action ; and its ap- plication is fatal to them. They claim to be expedient; but we are sure they are not expedient, because they are not right. The things that are really expedient, are the things that are right, and only those. Un- til it can be shown that religious Estab- lishments are right, therefore, it cannot be truly affirmed that they are expedient ; their alleged expediency is rather to be taken as an illusion— a semblance, derived from imposing appearances, aided by er- roneous judgments and fallacious antici- pations. For the further consideration of the ex- pediency of national churches, however, we are willing to come down from the high ground of general principle, and to argue the question on the particular facts of the case. Religious Establishments are expedient — this is the assertion.- Of course, we understand this of religious Establishments universally. It means, that it is expedient for all governors, in every land and in every age, to institute religious Establishments ; and this, because such Establishments have THE nuv. J. II great power to diffuse the religious sys- tems so established through the countries respectively, and to maintain their pre- dominance there — the effect of this being that idolatry, fanaticism, and superstition have been propagated throughout almost the whole world, and lhat these enemies to God and man have entrenched themselves in the said religious Establishments, as in fortresses all but impregnable ! Why, this is one of the most painful and deplo- rable aspects of the world, and presents some of the mostafflicting obstacles to the diffusion of the Gospel. Far better would it have been if rulers would have let the religion of their subjects alone, and have left them unshackled by ecclesiastical fetters, until they should be called into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. And yet with all this, as the direct result of the institution of national religious Establishments, there are good people who maintain their expediency. We shall be told, that this is stating the question too broadly; and that our bre- thren do not mean to contend for the ex- pediency of all religious Establishments, but of an Establishment of Christianity only. I must maintain, however, that by thus broadly stating it, I have only done justice to the argument. The question be- fore us, is that of the expediency of reli- gious Establishments in general ; and not of the Establishment of any system of re- ligion in particular. It is as the right and duty of " the legislature of every country," that the creation of such Establishments is brought forward by Dr. Dealtiy ; and of course, the expediency must be co-ex- tensive with the obligation. If our bre- thren wish us to give them credit for any soundness of argument, they will never attempt to tell us, that what is obligatory in a hundred cases, can be expedient only in one. Were the rulers of the earth to be imagined as learning their duty from the Chancellor of the diocese of Winches- ter, we can readily conceive of them as assenting to his declaration of their uni- versal right and obligation to institute re- . IIINTON, A.M. lt» ligious Establishments; but with what amazement would they learn, that he con- fined the expediency of such an Establish- ment to the solitary case of Christianity ! Nor would they be long in finding him an answer. "You confine the expediency of an Establishment to Christianity," they would tell him, " because that is your re- ligion, and you think it true. These are our religions, mine, and mine, and mine ; we think them true, and denounce yours as baseless, infatuated, and barbarian." Every sovereign for himself, therefore, finds the same reason for establishing his religion, as Dr. Dealtiy and Dr. Chalmers do for establishing theirs. So that the question of religious Establishments uni- versally— the Establishment of Moham- medism, and of Paganism in every form — can not be separated from that of the Es- tablishment of Christianity. You cannot affirm the expediency of one, without af- firming the expediency of all ; and to affirm the expediency of all is impossible. But we will let our brethren escape from th is dilemma also; and permit them, for the sake of argument, to put the case in their own way. The Establishment of Christianity is expedient. This they are quite sure of. Such are the excellence and importance of this system of religion, that its diffusion must be infinitely beneficial ; and so abundant and influential are the means of diffusing it which are at the dis- posal of government, that they ought without scruple to be employed. Indeed, the multitude, the poverty, and the apathy of the people are so great, that by no other " machinery" can they be "overtaken." Such are the allegations on behalf of re- ligious Establishments ; in one word, they can evangelise a country — and they alone. In treating the case thus put forth on behalf of an Establishment of Christianity, we shall reserve for future consideration, the question whether such an institution be the only effectual means of diffusing the light and power of the Gospel ; and confine ourselves to enquiring, at present, . whether an Establishment can do it at all. J6 THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. Thi6 is easily assumed; but some little difficulty may be found connected with the proof. I might say, indeed, that, if a national Establishment of Christianity were able to carry its vital power through the whole land, it would do so at no inconsiderable cost. I do not now mean the pecuniary cost. There are social mischiefs, insepa- rable from the working of an Establish- ment, which make a very perceptible de- duction, even from the greatest benefits which may be supposed to be conferred by it. To some of these I shall have oc- casion to refer hereafter. I mention the subject now, only to have it remembered, that, if a national church should be found to do good, it is not good unalloyed. But we will not now press this consideration. We will admit, that, in the obtaining of so great an end as the effective diffusion of the Gospel, we ought unfeignedly to re- joice ; and that, if it be only by self-de- nials and sacrifices it can be attained, we ought, without murmuring, to submit to them. But cm an Establishment of Christian- ity evangelise the country, and so realise the benefit in the anticipation of which we are told to rejoice ? In order to reply to this, we ask two other questions. First, how is a pure Establishment to be secured ? And, secondly, what are the elements of its power ? I. Our first question is, How is a pure Establishment of Christianity to be secur- ed? With such an Establishment, pure in doctrine, already existing, it might seem needless, perhaps, to make such an enquiry. But we are clearly entitled to go back, for the sake of the argument, to a time when it did not exist, and to ascertain how the great questions connected with the origin- ation of such an institution may be met and determined. This Dr. Chalmers evi- dently admits ; since he devotes his fourth Lecture to a consideration of the circum- stances by which a government should be guided in this matter. We set before ourselves, in imagination, then, a country, in which no religious, or, at all events, no Christian Establishment as yet exists. Its rulers, being Christian, deem it their duty to establish Christian- ity. But what form of Christianity? If there was a period when no perplexity would have existed on this point, it was a very brief one ; since the professors of Christianity very early broke up into rival sects, and formed influential parties. It is obviously so now. The generic term Christian comprehends the Papist and the Protestant ; the Arian, the Trinitarian and the Unitarian; the Episcopalian and Pres- byterian ; the Congregationalist and the Methodist ; with many varieties besides. Which of these forms of Christianity shall the government establish ? Is there to be supposed in kings, queens, and statesmen, a competency to determine these rival claims? If sovereigns and politicians may be supposed enlightened enough to discern the broad differences between Christianity and Paganism, or disinterest- ed enough to eschew the despotic power secured to them by the religion of the Pro- phet ; can they enter satisfactorily into the doctrine of the Trinity, the divine right of episcopacy, and the succession to-the chair of St. Peter ? Or is there a living creature who attaches a religious importance to these tenets at all, who would confide a decision upon them to such hands ? If sovereigns and statesmen did decide, what should we have, but a chaos of blunders ? Or if, as is far more probable, the decision would be made by some courtly priest, then what becomes of the fiction, that " a faith is to be selected " (I use Dr. Chal- mers's words) by the government ? It is plainly impossible that a govern- ment should establish Christianity, with- out adopting one of the Christian sects. And the decision here is as difficult, and the danger as great, as if the choice lay among the varieties of Paganism. Popery and Protestantism charge each other with deadly errors. Trinitarians hold them- selves at vital difference with Unitarians. THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. 17 So that government is in danger of erect- ing a Christian Establishment, of so per- nicious a character, as to be ruinous to the souls of men. What are governors, all un- used as they are to theological studies — what are governors to do in this dilemma? Or what is to be the security of subjects, that even Christian statesmen do not com- mit on their behalf a perilous and irrepa- rable error ? Dr. Chalmers is quite sensible of the difficulty we are insisting on. " We are aware,'' says he, (p. 117,) "of the sum- mary and contemptuous rejection to which this proposition is liable — as if it would transform the senate-house into an arena of theological conflict, and senators into wrangling polemics,who, to be accom- plished for their task, would need to grap- ple with whole libraries, with the tomes of mighty controversialists in former ages, or at least, it may be thought, to be deep read, both in the fathers of the Christian church, and in the fathers of our own re- formation." And what is his remedy ? It is, in the first place, to separate the question he deems most easy of decision, that between Popery and Protestantism, and to dispose of it singly. " This," he tells us, " is a question that might be rightly entertained, and rightly decided, in any assembly of well-educated Englishmen," (p. 117,) not excepting the Houses of Parliament. He assures us, indeed, that he " could not im- agine a more testing evidence of an in- competent and vulgarised Parliament, than that it should not be competent to decide the question between the merits of Pro- testantism and Popery," (p. 118.) Yet he does not seem to be quite sure that the British Parliament of the present age will not "endow Popery ;" for he expresses his hope that, if such a calamity should hap- pen, " there is still enough, not of fiery zeal, but of calm, resolute, and withal en- lightened principle in the land, to resent the outrage — enough of energy, in the re- volted sense of this great country, to meet and to overbear it," (p. 120.) Let me be excused for stoppiug here a moment, to observe, that this is a strange way of designating and receiving, what Dr. Chalmers must acknowledge to be a legitimate use of legislatorial prerogative. He first lays it down that the state should endow Christian ministers ; and then he recommends, that, if they happen to endow one particular set of Christian ministers, the people should " resent " it as an " out- rage," and " overbear it " as a law. He is evidently afraid of his own principle ; the meaning of which, as interpreted by him- self, is, " You may establish Christianity, provided you take my form of it." It is only for every denomination of Christians to follow his example, and then the rulers' prerogative of establishing Christianity, of which he is the advocate, will, upon his own authority, be given to the winds. But, to return. That even a British Parliament, in the nineteenth century, should " endow Popery," is not (in Dr. Chalmers's opinion) quite impossible. What, then, must be thought of the same body in former times ? At how many seasons, and for how long a period, would this have been their certain choice ? Our northern antagonist, it is true, pronounces them, in consequence, " incompetent and vulgarised ;" but they icere the legislators ; and he affirms it to be expedient, that Christianity should be established by the legislature — by a body, that is to say, branded by his own hand with " incom- petency I" So much forour security against Popery, in the formation of a religious Establish- ment, even by a Christian government. But this is only one of the dangers attend- ing such an experiment. Supposing the government to have decided for Protestant- ism, which of the Protestant sects shall it endow 1 " On what principle," says Dr. Chalmers, ' ' ought the selection to he made ? VVc have already seen that the principle is a very obvious one, and respecting which even statesmen, if hut men of large and liberal education, should feel no difficulty, on which to reject that church which would subordinate 18 THE REV. 'J. H the authority of Scripture to the authority of man — or even place the decisions of their own sovereign pontiff on the same level with the declarations of the Bible. But there arc other churches, other ecclesi- astical bodies, that have all agreed in abjuring this corruption, and are alike free from any participation in it. Many, we should say the great majority, of our Protestant sects, hold the authority of Scripture paramount to all other authority ; and are so far agreed in the interpretation of it, as to hold the same fundamental tenets ; and, while differing in circumstantials, to be at one on all the great and essential articles of faith. The government may be at no loss for reasons to eject Popery ; but it may be at great loss for reasons to determine its preference of one shade or variety of Protestantism over all the rest — and that too in very proportion to the near- ness of their agreement with each other," (p. 167.) This question, " full of perplexity " as the Doctor admits it " may seem," he nevertheless thinks may be " easily dis- posed of ;" and he attains this desirable end by declaring that most of the Protes- tant sects — " the great majority " — " nine tenths" of them — are so good, and so much alike, that there is nothing to choose be- tween them. " We hear," says the Doctor, " of their common faith, that is, of their agreement with the church in all vital and essential topics ; and this, in opposition to the bigots within the Establishment, we heartily accord to the great majority of the Dissenters, in both parts of the island. But, if they agree in all that is essential, what is the character of the topics on which they differ ? There can be no other reply to this, than that they must be the non-essentials of Christianity," (p. 174.) And therefore the state may take any one of them indifferently ; any one being good enough for the honours and emoluments of an Establishment, and none so much better than its fellows, as to deserve a pre- ference. This is not very complimentary, certainly, to either of the " party-colour- ed varieties," (I use the Dr.'s epithets,) which have happened to be enthroned in the high places of England and Scotland. According to him, the divine right and apostolical succession of Episcopacy, and the solemn league and covenant of Pres- byterianism, are nothing more than the "caprices, or whimsical peculiarities, in which, in the very wantonness of freedom, . IIINTON, A.M. men have chosen to besport themselves." O tie ! Dr. Chalmers. But the entire statement, (begging the Doctor's pardon,) is an evasion of the dif- ficulty. To be of any force, his argument required him to affirm that not only most, but all the Protestant sects are substan- tially alike. Even if matters of church polity, in which evangelical Protestants differ, might be reckoned immaterial, (in which certainly some of them would not concur) there are diversities of unquestion- able moment; of which the Socinian controversy may supply an example. Dr. Chalmers will not pretend that this (to use his own term) is a " minute" or " paltry" difference. But what is to guide members of Parliament and hereditary legislators to a right decision upon it ? If they manage but badly such profound subjects as the doctrines of the Trinity and vicarious sacrifice, he may again vent his wrath, by pronouncing them " incompetent arid vulgarised ;" but still they are the legisla- tojs, and as such it is expedient, accord- ing to him, that they should establish Christianity. What pledge can he give us that they shall not establish a Socinian Christianity ? But this matter is not one of specula- tion merely — the lights of history are shed on it. When Constantine, whose conduct the Doctor so warmly eulogises, estab- lished Christianity, it soon became a question which of the Christian sects should bask in the sunshine of courtly patronage ; and the verdict of the state was then given in favour of the Arian heresy. Sovereign after sovereign has established Popery, over almost the whole of Europe ; and, that the churches of England and Scotland are not Popish now, has arisen from causes very different from either the piety or the policy of the governing powers. These are the actual fruits of confiding the establishment of Christianity to go- vernments; a measure which, therefore, far from being expedient, either in theory or in practice, is one of tremendous hazard — it may be said, of inevitable mischief. THE REV. J. H. A pure Establishment cannot be secured ; it is better, therefore, that none should be created. II. But, supposing a pure Establish- ment were secured, what are the elements of its power ? This is the second ques- tion we proposed to consider. A reli- gious Establishment pure in doctrine, as those of the British islands are in the main admitted to be, is able, we are told, to carry the light and power of Christianity "through all the families of the land." If we ask by what means, we are referred to its " machinery" — its cutting up the country into parishes, or other sections and consigning the " Christian surveil- lance" of the population of each section, to an endowed minister, charged with their instruction. Now we might question — and we shall hereafter question — the adaptation of this machinery. But, for the present, we will admit its adaptation. And then we say, that at least one condition is necessary to its working out the design — the ministers must be pious men. If, on the contrary, it should happen that some — a large proportion — or nearly the whole — of the teachers should be ignorant of the religion they are to teach, or unconcerned about the welfare of the souls committed to their charge ; if it should happen that they loved sinecures and pluralities more than self-denying labour; or gambling, fox hunting,and politics, more than the preach- ing of the Gospel ; then, I say, that a re- ligious Establishment would be, not a blessing, but a curse. And Dr. Chalmers acknowledges, that an Establishment may be a most effective instrument of convey- ance for evil as well as good, for a corrupt as well as scriptural theology, (p. 18.) We ask, then, Docs a national religious Establishment afford any guarantee that this shall not be the character of her minis- ters ? Who is to appoint them 1 This question might be asked as one of theory. On the principle of a national Establishment,who HINTON, A.M. 19 ought to appoint them ? Doubtless the government, who pay them. And if this were to be the fact, what would follow from it, but what now actually fol- lows to a great and deplorable extent, that ecclesiastical appointments would be made on political grounds, and that men would be made priests, not because of their me- ritorious adaptation to the duties of their office, but as an inducement to political devotion and a reward for political ser- vice? Will any man maintain the ex- pediency of this ? An instructive view of the rules, which, as by a tacit but well-understood conven- tion, are come into operation, in relation to the church patronage held by the govern- ment, is exhibited in the life (recently pub- lished) of the late Bishop of Norwich, by his son, Archdeacon Bathurst. The ve- nerable Archdeacon complains bitterly that the Bishop's political services had not been rewarded by ecclesiastical promotion, not only for the Bishop himself, but for his family also. He, neglected man ! is pining on a preferment of two thousand per annum ! He had a brother who shot himself, and he lays the blame of this upon the " ungrateful " statesmen, who, to a younger son of a political partisan, would give nothing more than a living of five iiundred a year ! Or, if we take the matter, not as it ought to be, but as it is, and look atecclesiasitcal patronage as dispersed through the various hands which now possess it, the result will be similar. Livings in the gift of colleges go in rotation ; so that it is a mere lottery, whether you have a wise man or a fool, with the chances, in relation to spiri- tual wisdom, much in favour of the latter. Livings in the gift of private persons are notoriously held for family aggrandize- ment ; and if there be no son, or other re- lation, to enjoy them, the next presentation is often sold by auction, to the highest bidder. Instances of the faithful and con- scientious use of church patronage are comparatively rare, and form only a small exception to an almost universal rule. 20 THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. Than the unblushing abuse of it nothing can be either more scandalous, or more mischievous, as Dr. Chalmers well knows, and doubtless bitterly deplores. In such a state of things, the ministers of the national church — with whatever ex- ceptions— can, generally, be nothing but a set of worldly men ; at once ignorant and incapable, and not in any respect fitted for the high and holy duties of the office assigned to them. And so it has been in fact. With the very great improvement which has taken place in the Church of England within the last few years, out of her twenty thousand clergy, not more than two thousand are believed now to be evangelical. One in ten is a small pro- portion. But there have been long sea- sons when there was not one in a thousand; when, therefore, to use Dr.Chalmers's own words, the boasted " machinery " " sub- served the propagation of corruption aud error;" "furnished evil with all facilities for its rapid march and full circulation through the families of the land and con- veyed " a moral poison, by which to vitiate the hearts-and habits of the people," (pp. 19, 20.) And yet it is expedient, we are told, that there should be a national Establishment of Christianity ! The corrupt use of ecclesiastical patron- age, is an evil not only great but incurable. It is impossible to put the disposal of fifteen thousand benefices and dignities into safe hands. No parties can be found to whom such a vast trust could be confided, with any security, or with any probability, of its being faithfully employed, or without the certainty of its being abused. Fidelity in such a matter requires a high apprecia- tion of the spiritual interests of men, a solemn sense of responsibility, and a readiness and extent of self-denial, which might not always be found in the sincerely pious, and which is assuredly far above the ordinary level of statesmen and church patrons. No such patronage, therefore, ought to have been created ; or, which is the same thing, there should have been no national Establishment of Christianity. The inevitable abuse of church patronage is a radical and fundamental objection to Establishments, of which no ingenuity can rid them— a millstone about the neck of the Utopian fair one, which may well sink her in the depths of the sea. There is yet another aspect of this case. Concerning the ministers of a national church, we have asked, on the one hand, Who is to appoint them ? we now ask, on the other, Who will be attracted? The men who are wanted are men of fervent piety, self-denying zeal, and untiring in- dustry ; the workman being undoubtedly worthy of his hire. But, in the first place, here is no manner of necessity for the work being done at all. The holder of a living is under no responsibility for per- forming more than a cursory routine of services ; and even these he may perform by a cheaply paid curate. If he likes to renounce the toil and enjoy the income ; to delight himself in the honour of his* clerical station, and to mix in gay or ele- vated society, he may. Nay, if he likes to live in licentiousness and debaucheries, he may ; if he will only avoid those faults of extreme grossness, by which the average tone of morals would be scandalised. Here is nothing, therefore, to repel the un- godly from the clerical office, or to obstruct his entrance into it. Every thing may easily enough be harmonized with his tastes and indulgences. On the contrary, there is much to at- tract men of this stamp. There are gen- teel livings for men who dislike work, or who never could succeed in it; a pass- port through the polite world, and an op- portunity of gratifying every desire, with- out toiling for the means, or being an- swerable for the use of them. The incomes vary from a few scores to many thousand of pounds sterling per annum ; the lowest being prizes to the poor — the highest having attractions for the rich and noble. While some repose in a single benefice, others luxuriate iu several; while some have preferment with cure of souls, others find still more agreeable promotion with- THE REV. J. H. IIINTON, A.M. 21 out it; canonries and prebends afford full " leisure (according to Dr. Chalmers) for pious authorship," (!) (the canon-resident- iary of St. Paul's, and Peter Plymley's Letters, to wit;) some become bishops, and some archbishops, botli being also peers of the realm ; and every man has before him the hope, that, if he plays his cards well, he may rise, from however humble a sta- tion, to the highest altitudes in the church. Now we do not say, that pious men are bound to eschew all these advantages, or to carry the " nolo episcopari " always to a practical fulfilment. Neither do we say, that, in the midst of such circumstances, pious men may not do, or have not done, their duty nobly. But we do say, that such a state of things holds out induce- ments to the ministerial office, which other than pious men are liable to feel ; and that shoals of such men are constantly attracted by them. It appeals directly to the indo- lence,the ambition and the cupidity of man- kind. The church in this aspect, presents an inviting career to men who have none but secular and selfish aims ; and the cle- rical profession, so baited, is eminently adapted to become, what it is known to have become in fact, an incitement to the aspiring among the middling and lower orders, and a resource for the needy — a sort of Refuge for the Destitute — among the aristocracy. High and low, in a word, combine in regarding the wealth of the church as a vast carcase, on which, like birds of prey, they are entitled to gorge themselves, till they can hold no more. And this, again, like the former, is an evil inseparable from national religious Establishments. It may vary in amount, according to the wealth of Establishments respectively, but in proportion to their wealth is the mischief. Here is then, not only uo security for a faithful ministry, but no possibility of a faithful ministry, other- wise than occasionally and accidentally. With such inducements to the clerical of- fice, the clergy generally must be worldly men. And if the clergy be worldly men, it matters not how thickly you stud the Nos. 154 and 155. country with them — they cannot propagat* religion. To the actual existence of such a state of things, not in the church of Eng- land only, but under the influence of Es- tablishments generally, their hardy cham- pion himself may be cited, as an unwilling but decisive witness. With many oppor- tunities and much necessity for it, he no where ventures to affirm the fidelity of a state clergy in a single instance. He no where ventures to deny their universal corruption; but, when he approaches this subject, feeling, it would seem, that he is on tender ground, he carefully asserts that this corruption is " not necessary ;" that state endowments of religious teachers may be consistent with pure motives and self- denying zeal. And this is all on which he can venture ! He tacitly admits the mischievous tendency of the system, and the actual mischievous result; but he thinks the clergy may be saved, " so as by fire." The possibility of miracles we do not deny, but we know of no reason to expect them. It is for us rather to go by experience, a far safer guide than speculation ; and since in all ages, and under all circumstances, a clergy endowed by the state have been corrupt, and are so to the present time — with unfrequent exceptions only — there can be no error in concluding that, in the present condition of human nature, it can- not be otherwise. Let us now sum up the argument. An Establishment can evangelise a country, says Dr. Chalmers, since she can stud it with teachers. We say, on the contrary, an Establishment cannot evangelise a country, since she cannot provide teachers fitted for the task. And let us appeal for a confirmation of our conclusions respec- tively, to the testimony of facts. Whether an Establishment can or cannot diffuse Christianity through a land, surely ought not now to be a matter of speculation. The experimenthas been tried long enough, one would think, to warrant a decision of the question. The pure, apostolical church of England, for example, in its Protestant reformed state, has been adopted by the E 22 THE KEV. J. H. stale for about three hundred years; and if it was one of the properties of such an Establishment to diffuse universally a vital piety, we should surely in such a lengthened period, see some signs of its fulfilment. But we know, on the contrary, that, during the greater part of this time, the progress of religion within and by means of the Establishment was deplorably slow, if perceptible at all ; and that the revival within it, during the last fifty years, is merely the re-action of the revival without. It is not too much to say, that the church, instead of even helping forward the cause of pure and undefiled religion, has been the great bulwark of popular ignorance and vice, and has done more to retard the advance of godliness than all causes be- sides. In Scotland, the case, if less aggra- vated, is not essentially different. But what is it in Ireland ? where Bishops were so thick, that it became necessary to sweep away ten of them by one Act of Parlia- ment; through a great part of which churches and priests are almost as oumer- ousas people to attend on them ; and where yet ignorance, vice, and irreligion stalk abroad like giants, as in mockery of the richest church in the world ! An Establishment can evaneelise a country! Then shame be to ye, Establishments of England, Scotland, and Ireland ! that ye have left the dark places of the land in darkness until now, and in a darkness too often aggravated, alike by the pretensions and the incapacity of the priests ye have endowed ! It might be thought that the case thus made out, not for, but against the ex- pediency of national churches, would appeal with no inconsiderable force to the wise and the good within their pale ; but, however this may be, with such facts before our eyes, it is in vain to call upon vn to believe that national religious Estab- lishments can fulfil the boast which is made on their behalf. And, if they can- not do this, then we become well entitled to speak of the nuisances and mischiefs with which they are connected. For the HINTON, A.M. sake of a country's evangelisation, we might have borne with them; hut, if this cannot be obtained, the only reason for endurance is taken away. Useless as it is for the religious instruction of the people, why should we look with complacency on an institution, which is essentially a tyranny over conscience ; and which, being founded in wrong, scatters public and social mischiefs through the whole sphere of its influence ? For this there is created a privileged sect, a dominant and domineering priesthood, and a spirit of haughty church ascendancy, trampling on all other religious communities, although, according to their own champion, every one of them is as worthy of honour. For this there is extorted from us our money, and wrested from us our civil rights; while our honour even is not left us, untarnished with a gratuitous suspicion of disloyalty. For this there is established a bitter political party — for such a state clergy inevitably become — hostile to popular rights, hating a liberal administration, adverse to all improvement, deaf to all calls of humanity and justice, and cla- morous only when they cry, Give, give ! And because such an institution is called a religious Establishment, it is to be smiled upon and revered ! How much are these mouldering monuments of ancient priest- craft indebted to the artifice of giving noble names, and blessed semblances, to atrocious things! And how truly, when names and things come to be identical, will they receive the unmitigated rebuke of abashed and repentant nations ! THE QUESTION OK NATIONAL RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, CONSIDERED IN THREE LECTURES. £«ture tin C&urfc, Delivered on Wednesday Evening, June 13th, 1838, BY THE R E V. J. H. H I N T O N, A.M., AT DEVONSHIRE-SQUARE CHAPEL, BISHOPSGATE. Having, in our first lecture, discussed the principle of national religious Estab- lishments, we took up in the second their expediency. Their advocates, we found, set up a claim on their behalf, that they are able to evangelise a country, and they alone. We separated the former part of this claim from the latter, and en- deavoured to show, that, whether it could be done by any other means or not, the evangelisation of a country could not be effected by a national Establishment. A most pregnant instance in confirmation o* our argument has presented itself since the delivery of that lecture, in the melan- choly outbreak of religious fanaticism, which has occurred in the neighbourhood of Canterbury. Courtenay, it seems, was a madman; and against the recurrence of such forms of insanity as his there is, of course, no guarantee. But his followers were not insane, nor were they at all be- low the level of general knowledge and religious culture, characterising the agri- cultural population generally, whether peasants or farmers ; not a few persons, however, of both these classes, believed in Courtenay 's divinity, and hailed him as their saviour ! Nothing can be more pro- found,ormore touchingly genuine, than the confidence they reposed in him, and the worship they addressed to him. And who were these people ? Were they heathens, inhabitants of a land immersed in Ma- liommedan or Pagan superstition ? No. They dwelt in a Christian country, within the pale of a national Establishment of that holy religion, under the constant in- struction of well-endowed priests, and within sight, if not under the shadow, of a cathedral, in which was the throne ol an archbishop, together with stalls for prebendaries, and seats for canons and other ecclesiastics, almost without end ! And similar had been the residence of their fathers for ages. But this is the machinery of such mighty power, according to Dr. Chalmers, to carry the light and life of Christianity "through all the families of the land." How comes it, then, we ask, to have answered its purpose no better ? Whence is it, that ignorance and super- stition almost incredible have descended unmodified from generation to generation, so that the fanaticism of the nineteenth century bears an almost exact resemblance to that of the same region six hundred years ago ? Whence is this, but that na- tional religious Establishments are power- less for the diffusion of religion; that gorgeous edifices and rich foundations are to the clergy, what old elms are to the rooks and steeples to the jackdaws, places to breed in, to fatten, and to sleep ; and that irreligion of every kind has no securer nestling-place, or more thriving nursery, than in the very midst of those state-pam- pered dignitaries, whose pious leisure is theoretically devoted to its extermina- tion ? We might here content ourselves. To have established this, is to have de- cided the controversy ; since the capability of national churches to diffuse Christianity is the only ground, on which, with the wise and good, the vindication of them is attempted. It will be present in your recollection, however, that what we have assested of national Establishments, namely, that they cannot effectually diffuse the Gospel, is, by the advocates of those institutions, asserted of all modes of religious exertion besides. 24 THE REV. J. Hi We say they cannot ; they say we can- not. And if both affirmations are true, our discussion places Christianity in this unfortunate dilemma — that its thorough diffusion is impossible, there being no means by which it can be effected. Such a conclusion is not only most melancholy, but incredible. And as, for the sake of avoiding it, we are not at all disposed to revoke the sentence we have passed on Establishments, we are called upon, per- haps, to say, whether we admit the allega- tions of our opponents, when they as- sert the incapacity of a different system. Now we say without scruple, that we do not admit these allegations ; that, while piety cannot be extended "through all the families of the land '' by an Establish- ment, this may (under the blessing of God) be done by other methods, which are at once of mighty energy for their end, and altogether free from those weighty objec- tions which hang, like inevitable doom, about the neck of national churches. We shall most effectually make our way good in this matter, by first repelling the attacks which have been made against unestablished modes of spreading the Gospel; and those made by Dr. Chalmers more particularly, as, at the present mo- ment, urged with the greatest force, and engaging the chief attention. 1. Our northern assailant falls foul, in the first place, of "the system of a free trade in Christianity," which he says the Dissenters have adopted, "as the grand specific, on the strength of which they may dispense with a national Establish- ment of religion,'' (p. 72,) and which he vehemently affirms is not sufficient for such a purpose. Now, really it is quite news to a great many, and perhaps to all of us, that we have adopted " the system of a free trade in Christianity." In all likelihood, very few of us even understand what that sys- tem is. We must be indebted to Dr. Chalmers for explaining it to us, before we can say whether we adopt it or not. Hear, then, his exposition of it. . IIINTON, A.M. " By the system of a free trade in commerce, its various exchanges are left to the pure operation of demand and supply ; and these two, it is thought, should be permitted, without interference, to regu- late and qualify each other. When the demand for any particular commodity increases, it will be the interest of the dealers to provide it in larger quan- tity than before ; or, when the demand is lessened, it will be their care to reduce the supply accordingly — so as that the market shall not be overstocked with any article, beyond the extent to which it is sought after. It admits, we hold, of the clearest demonstra- tion, that it is unwise to interfere with this law of action aud reaction — or, as it may be termed, with this natural law of political economy. The supply rises and falls, just as the demand rises and falls. Government should make no attempt to restrain the supply beneath this point, by means of a prohibition, or to encourage it above this point, by means of a bounty. Such an interference is an offence to all wise and enlightened economists ; and resented by them as a disturbing force, that would violate the harmonies of a beautiful and well-going mechanism." (pp. 39, 4u.) This is " the system of free a trade." But who says this is the system of noncon- formity .' Was this principle laid down by Owen, Baxter, and Howe ? Was it held by Watts, Doddridge, and Kiffin ? Was it the strong hold ofTowgood and Graham? Or has it been put forth by Conder and Binney? It has been broached by none of them ; nor does Dr. Chalmers give the name of a single Dissenter, out of whose mouth it has been heard, through the en- tire controversy. Who is it then that has advocated " a free trade in Christianity ?" The following gentlemen — " Turgot, Smith, and others." (p. 42.) " Turgot, Smith, and others?" Who are these? These are not the fathers of nonconformity — nor are their names endeared to us by fond and hallowed associations. Turgot was a Frenchman, of whom we know nothing. As for Smith, we do know something of the name of Smith; but, gentle hearer, you must not imagine it to be John Pye Smith, nomen praclarum, whom Chalmers has in his eye ; it is a Dr. Adam Smith, from the far north. And for the " others " whom he mentions, they constitute, it seems ignobile pecus, a base herd, whose names are not worth his giving, nor our inquiring after. And I ask not only who, but what are these TUB IlEV. J. II . HINTON, A.M. •J.) men ? Are they Dissenters ? No. Are tliey theologians ? No. What then are they ? Writers and speculators on politi- cal economy ! By what rule, I demand, are these men understood as laying down the basis of dissent, and setting forth the principles of Dissenters '! But let us look at the principle of free trade, now that it is propounded to us, and see whether we do adopt it or not. It is, we are told, that, with respect to articles of commerce, such as tea and sugar, for example, the demand should be left to regulate the supply; and that government should not interfere, either to encourage or discourage the trade, whether by duties or by bounties. " At this rate," says Dr. Chalmers, " the supply, whether as respects its amount upon the whole, or the proportion of it in various places, will be made to suit the taste of the customers. It will betake itself to those places where there is, what economists term, an effective demand for it — that is, where there is wealth enough and will enough, to ensure a remu- nerating price for the expense of its preparation. A free trade in commerce is sure to avoid or abandon those places, where, whether from the languor of the demand, or the poverty of the inhabitants, it would be exposed to a losing trade. By a free trade in Christianity, let the lessons of the Gospel follow the same law of movement ; and these lessons will cease to be taught in every place, where there is either not enough of liking for the thing, or not enough of money for the purchase of it." (pp. 40, 41.) Now we say in a moment, that, if this be the " free trade in Christianity,'' it never has been and never shall be, either our principle or our practice. We repudiate and abhor it. We complain, too, that an act of grosser injustice was never done to an adversary in any controversy, than has been done to the Dissenters by Dr. Chalmers's attempt to fasten the "free trade principle" upon them. But he argues blindfold ; and we will impute it lo no ill design. Yet how could any man imagine it was our principle, who could describe our conduct so accurately, as in the fol- lowing sentences ? "There now seems on all hands a stTong practical sense, if not an explicit and avowed one, of the in- sufficiency of the free trade system, for the supply | of the world with the lessons of Christianity. This has long been acknowledged, or at least acted upon, in the business of foreign missions, or in the busi- ness of supplying foreign parts with the knowledge of the Gospel. Instead of waiting till the demand for Christianity comes of its own accord, from men ready with an indemnifying or remunerating price, to cover all the expenses of bringing it to their shore — the dispensers of Christianity go forth on their missionary voyage, in quest of men to whom they might offer the pearl of greatest value, and on whom to urge the acceptance of it, without money and without price. Instead of discerning in this process any of the methods of ordinary trade, there is here a reversal of all its principles ; and what comes nearer to the point at issue, there is a like reversal of them in the home, as in the foreign missionary en- terprise. We have the Home Missionary Society, that would never have been thought of, but for the ex- perimental feeling of destitution and depravity at our own doors, which required the very same treat- ment with the heathenism of distant lands. * • * * The agents of this Society, the men who labour under them, in the streets of our city or the villages of our country population, are not maintained on the principle of a market — do not receive their ne- cessary hire, in the shape of equivalents from those who are benefited by them ; but in the shape of a bounty from those who employ them. We say that all they who have become parties in such an institu- tion, "(that is, the entire body of Dissenters,) " stand committed * * * agairut the system of a free trade in Christianity." (pp. 71, 73.) The principle of a "free trade in Chris- tianity " being disclaimed by us, all the rhetoric which the Dr. employs on the exposure of its insufficiency is, of course, thrown away. No doubt it is perfectly true, that there is in mankind "no natural hungering and thirsting after righteous- ness;" that they are sunk into a state of desperate and cherished apathy, in rela- tion to spiritual things; and that, left to themselves, they will never seek after a supply of Gospel truth. No inference can be more certain, than that which Dr. Chalmers derives from this stale of things — namely, that, if mankind are ever to possess the Gospel, it must be carried to tliem. But this proves nothing against vs. It is rather our vindication. This is the very principle we have been holding, and the very thing we have been doing. This is " the head and front of our offending," that we have been running every where, preaching the Gospel : re- garding neither the sacred boundaries of parishes, nor the equally sacred slumbers 36 THE REV. J. U. UINTON, A.M. of incumbents. And here, all on a sud- den, and certainly without intending it, our great antagonist supplies us, in the very midst of the enemies' camp, with a triumphant vindication ! We thank him. His argument, however, is far from working equally well for the Establish- ments he wishes to defend. From the acknowledged indifference of men to their spiritual wants, it obviously results, uot only that the Gospel should be carried to them, but that it should be carried to them in the quickest and most copious manner — by all available means, and by all capable hands. This would be an argu- ment for national religious Establishments, if they fulfilled this condition. But they do not, and cannot fulfil it. In the first place, they have no aptitude at perceiving or appreciating a state of spiritual desti- tution They generate, on the contrary, a tenacious disposition to overlook it, and even to deny its existence; inasmuch as it is inconsistent with the theorf of a na- tional Establishment, which assumes that the religious interests of the nation are adequately cared for, and implies a charge of neglect or incompetency, in some of the numerous functionaries on whom this care is practically devolved. And when a state of spiritual destitution is ascertained and acknowledged, the remedial efforts of an Establishment, are exceedingly difficult and tardy. If they move at all, with the inevitable fate of great bodies, they move slowly ; while ignorance and sin, in their work of destruction, are eminently rapid. And, being what they are, even the most vigourous movements of religious Estab- lishments can be of but little avail ; since the instruction they provide, like the teachers they send, is without any guaran- tee of its purity. To all this it must be added, that they have no readiness to avail themselves of co-operation, for the attain- ment of the desired end ; but, on the con- trary, have a tendency to hinder and re- press it. Wherever you may attempt to preach the Gospel, you are within the limits of some parish ; and you are met by rector, vicar, or curate, who says, " I am intrusted with the care of these souls; it is my business, and not yours ; you are intruding on the sphere of my labour, and infringing on my prerogative." This re- monstrance is sometimes very warmly and unceremoniously pressed ; as it has re- cently been, to my own knowledge, in the parish of Aldermaston, in the heart of Berkshire, where popular insult and vio- lence, of the most loathsome and appalling kinds, have been used to second and en- force it. In this manner, the Establish- ment of Christianity extensively prevents the Gospel from being preached to the perishing, and shuts them up in a hope- less darkness. If there were no national church, Aldermaston, and a thousand villages besides, might be evangelised ; but now they cannot — and the only reason why they cannot is, that there is a state parson in each of them ! Certainly auother view of the principle of "free trade" may be taken, besides that with which Dr. Chalmers has enter- tained us. If it means that, by govern- ment bounties, "the market shall not be overstocked with any article, beyond the extent to which it is sought after," it clearly means also, that no person shall be prevented from taking his goods there at his own risk, to see whether he can dispose of them or not. If free trade is opposed, on the one hand, to a system of ! bounties, it is, on the other, equally op- | posed to monopolies. In this view (which ( it evidently did not suit Dr. Chalmers's 1 purpose to explain) we are willing to ad- i mit, that " a free trade in Christianity " I would be very acceptable to the Dissen- ' ters. A state-church is essentially a mo- ; nopoly, and has all the evils of a mono- \ poly, in their most imitating and mis- chievous forms. Although it is not for money, nor for price, yet there is a principle, even in spi- ritual things, on which a demand will create supply- The ungodly, we are told, are careless about religion, and will not pay j for its ministrations. Very well. Then let THIS KEV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. 27 llie men of the world, whose only object i is gain, abandon them. But there are I other men in the world, besides these; i men of heartfelt piety and Christian be- nevolence, to whom necessity and desti- tution— aye, to whom ignorance and ap- athy themselves — make an appeal which cannot be resisted. There are men who will preach the Gospel without being paid for it, otherwise than by the approbation of the God whom they serve. Of how many evidences of this must Dr. Chalmers have been aware ! What warm eulogiums does he in this very volume, pour out on this admirable zeal ! And yet he pleads for Establishments, which forbid its action and fence it in on every side ! A striking example has recently been furnished to us. The public heard with delight of the conduct of some devoted clergy of the church of Ireland, who, panting to save the lost, formed a lovely and noble insti- tution, the Irish Church Home Missionary Society; deeming, as well they might, that, in such a country, and in such an age, the rules of ecclesiastical discipline would not be rigorously enforced against so apostolical a work of faith, and labour of love. But they were mistaken. An incumbent prosecutes his brother priest for uncanonically preaching in his parish, and the ecclesiastical court declares the whole Society, and all its operations, unlawful. This is resisting a free trade in Christianity, with a vengeance ! Here is demand creat- ing supply ; and the monopolists of the state-church keep it out of the market! They will neither give the bread of life themselves, nor let any one else give it ! And this is the system which Dr. Chalmers strives to uphold ! 2. After having disposed of the " politi- cal economists," Dr. Chalmers directs his battery against the " Voluntaries ;" who, he tells us, differ from the " free trade " men, in being ready to convey to their perishing fellow-sinners, by the aid of Christian benevolence, more of the Gos- pel than they might be able or willing to pay for. These persons have lately been making such a noise in Scotland, and have so sturdily resisted the demand for church extension there, that there can be no room to question, either the good will or the intended vigour of the attack. And what think you is the substance of it ? A vehement and laboured affirmation that the abettors of the voluntary principle hold also the very principle of Establish- ments ! You shall have this startling ac- cusation in his own words. " Innumerable are the appeals made by the Vo- luntaries themselves to the generosity of the publio in behalf of their labouring congregations ; and the call is responded to by thousands, who feel that to give for the religious education of the people is the best and most productive of all benevolence — and their contributions, whether from an impulse of piety or of patriotism, are not more willingly made by the one party than they are welcomed by the other. It is not very discriminating, we think, thus to hail the liberalities of private individuals, and to refuse or regard them as incompetent and wrong, when they are congregated in the form of one great libe- rality from the state * • * A parliamentary vote in aid of religious education, is, both in principle and effect, but an example of the voluntary principle." (pp. 91, 93.) So, quoth the champion of Establish- ments, " our cause is practically and sub- stantially gained, for this external volun- taryism, so far from being in conflict with the principle of a national Establishment, is in perfect and precise accordance there- with." (p. 94.) When Dr. Chalmprs speaks of his cause being "practically and substantially gain- ed," he shows the characteristic tact of his country ; since he evidently means, that he has entangled the Voluntaries in such a manner, that they can no longer object to a grant to the Kirk of Scotland out of the national revenue. And we will con- fess that it would have been a triumph warranting a little self-gratulation, hud he achieved it. But we have a word or two to say, before we admit this conclusion. In order to make out his case, he seems to affirm that there is no difference between a grant from the government and the li- berality of individuals. " A parliament- ary vote," says he, " is, both in principle and effect, but an example of the voluu- 28 the rev. j. h. Hanoi, A.M. tary principle.'" Now it might naturally be supposed, that he would rest this asser- tion on an implied comparison between individuals and governments ; to the ef- fect, that, as single persons might give what they pleased of their property, so the aggregate of persons constituting a government, might, as a government, give what they pleased of the property of the nation. It would have been easy to reply lo such a representation, that the national revenues are not the property of gover- nors, in the same way in which an indi- vidual person's property is his own ; that they belong to statesmen only in trust, for the purposes of the nation's welfare, and in accordance with the true design of secular governments. If rulers give, let them give as individuals, that they may give what is their own ; but, if they give out of the public purse, they give what is anothers, what in part is mine, and what they have no business to be liberal with. If Dr. Chalmers, or any other person, wants any of my money in a way of religious bene- volence, I am the person whom he should ask. Why should he ask Lord Melbourne for it ? Or who is Lord Melbourne, that he should presume to give it ? I should call this no sample of the voluntary prin- ciple, but one of violence and robbery. In truth, however, Dr. Chalmers spares us the trouble of this reply, inasmuch as he rests his assertion uponatotally different ground. When his language is closely examined, it is found to be selected with great care, and adapted to a special modi- fication of his general argument. He had been laying down the general duty of go- vernments to endow the teachers of reli- gion. But on this occasion we hear no- thing of the government, but all about the parliament, — one kind of government cer- tainly, but far from being a type of the whole class. And the reason for his using this term is, that he founds his assertion of the identity of a parliamentary grant and a voluntary gift, upon the fiction that Parliament expresses the will of the peo- ple. " For in truth," says he, " the very spirit which prompts the individual gifts, needs only to be strong enough and general enough, to call forth a gift from the treasury. This were but one of the many exam- ples, in which the voice of a country is found to have an influential controul over the acts of a govern- ment. Let the sentiment prevail that is good to pay for the Christian instruction of those who either can- not or will not pay for it themselves ; and a govern- ment, when adding its own great national sub- scription to those of the many individuals who have preceded and pointed out the way to it, is not thwart- ing the sentiment by which they were actuated, but only giving further expression, or larger and more lasting effect to it. There is no fear lest a popular government, liie ours, will award a grant for the erection or endowment of churches, till they an- ticipate a virtual ratification of the deed and a pre- ponderance of feeling in its favour from without — or till encouraged to the measure, if not by the univer- sal majority of tax-payers, at least by that class of them whose larger payments constitute the vast majority of by far the larger part of the revenue of the nation. In as far then as they are concerned, we behold in an ecclesiastical provision by the state, an example of external Toluntaryism, or a willing pub- lic contributing of their wealth to the Christian in- . struction of the common people, through the medium of a willing government." (p. 92.) This sudden deference of the champion 1 of national churches to the feelings of the people is highly gratifying; although, cer- tainly, one can see the reason of it, namely that, in England, the people hold the strings of the public purse. Had it been in the power of Lord Melbourne to endow a few hundred ministers of the Scottish Kirk, without permission of Parliament, the Dr. would no doubt have proved the identity of such a grant with the voluntary principle by a totally different process. But it is well — and somew hat of a no- velty moreover — to hare the feelings of the people regarded at all by the oligarchs of religious Establishments ; nor will we scrutinize too closely the motives of this promising deference. And we think we can tell Dr. Chalmers, that, if the feelings of the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, are consulted and expressed in reference to the scheme of church exten- sion in the north, there is neither " fear " for us, nor hope for him, that the British Parliament will lend themselves to it. Should they do so, it will be in violation of the feelings, and the strong feelings too THE IlEV. J. H. IIINTON, A.M. 29 of a large part — I may say of the majority — of the inhabitants of the three king- doms; and if there be any sincerity in the apparent deference with which he af- fects to treat the feelings of the people — if it is only a gift from a willing nation that he could justify a grant from the trea- sury— we may hope that he will refuse an endowment which they do not sanction, and which to them will be a matter, not of " voluntaryism," but of coercion. We have further to remark on this sub- ject, that by introducing this appeal to the feelings of the people, and pleading for a treasury grant only when, and because, it will be an expression of the national will, Dr. Chalmers entirely shifts the ground of his argument, and overthrows all he has done before. He has previously been depicting the people as immersed in igno- rance, and sunk in apathy, and this to such an extent, that they never could be expect- ed to pay for the ministrations of Chris- tian teachers, nor even to welcome them, when gratuitously pressed upon their re- gard : and hence he inferred the duty of government to " select a faith " for the people, and to endow a host of teachers, necessarily without any regard to the po- pular voice. But a vast change has sud- denly taken place on this same people, as by the wand of a magician. It is now a public, in which " the sentiment prevails, that it is good to pay for the Christian instruction of those who cannot or will not pay for it themselves;'' "a willing public, contributing of their wealth to the Christian instruction of the com- mon people." And it is now only on the ground of such a state of enlightened and fruitful piety among the nation at large, that he pretends to justify an ap- plication of the national resources to re- ligious purposes. " There is no fear," says he, ft that a populargovernment, like ours, will award a grant for the erection or endowment of churches, till they anti- cipated a virtual ratification of the deed, by a preponderance of feeling in its favour from without.'' The decision thus throwu by Dr. Chalmers into the hands ot the people, is clearly, by his own argument, taken out out o/'the hands of the govern- ment, in which he had formerly placed it. We tell sovereigns and statesmen, there- fore, that they are not entitled to " select a faith " for their subjects, and to endow teachers of the faith they have select- ed. They ought to leave it to the peo- ple, and do as they may bid them. Do they ask who is our authority ? — The Reverend Thomas Chalmers, doctor in divinity, and lecturer to the court, bishops, ministers, parliament and royal family of England, "on the Establishment and exiension of national churches." But what now becomes of his accusa- tion, that the abettors of voluntary libe- rality hold the money principle of Estab- lishments? That principle is, and always has been, that rulers may endow religious teachers with public money, whether the people approve of it or not ; to which principle no man can pretend for a mo- ment that the practice of voluntary con- tribution gives the slightest sanction. We do not, therefore, hold the principle of Establishments. But neither does Dr. Chalmers. He will have treasury grants only if the nation be willing. Behold him, therefore, a convert to " Voluntary- ism !" There is indeed a change, and a marvellous one ; but ins not that we have come round to his principle, but that he has come round to ours. Give me " a willing nation," says this chamaeleon of a reasoner; and so say we — give us "a willing nation " — thai is a nation every individual in which is willing, for the public revenue to be so applied — for, if there remained one unwilling, to him it would be an act of oppression and wrong, of which a genuine "voluntary" would never be guilty. But never, surely could a more preposterous notion be entertained, than that an entire " nation " should be " willing " to spend large sums of its money annually in the endowment of a religious sect, privileged at once to slum- ber over the important duty it monopo- 30 THE REV. J. H. HIXTON, A.M. lizes, and, in its waking moments, to scowl and trample on all besides. It is evident that this laboured attack on the voluntaries is directed, not against their principles, but only against their consistency. " You oppose a treasury grant to us," says Dr. Chalmers, " but you ought not ; since you appeal to the liberality of individuals, and we only ap- peal to the liberality of the nation." Now if this is any thing more than hypocrisy, it is an acknowledgment that in principle we are right, and that the Dr. is concur- rent with us. We make a gratifying re- cord of this fact. 3. Our determined antagonist meets us at another point. He proclaims that hearts from without, he should so shape and re- gulate his movements, that, as far as possible, his church-room might all be taken up by hearers from within. It is this peculiar relation between his church and its contiguous householders, all placed within certain geographical limits, that distinguishes him from the others as a territorial minister. And let the whole country be paralleled out into such districts and parishes, with an endowed clergyman so assign* ed to each, and each small enough to be overtaken by the attentions of one clergyman — we should thus as far as its machinery is concerned, have the perfect example of a territorial Establishment." {pp. 142, 143.) He then goes on to say, that in such sections every minister should apply him- self to courteous domestic instruction ; and he takes great pains to assure us of the civility with which such kindly visitations will be received— a fact which, he thinks, voluntary churches cannot " localize," a so far as relates to England at least, was process without which the whole of an ignorant population cannot be " over- taken." Hence he contends for an Establishment, because it may — and should — be made " territorial." Hear his own words. discovered by himself, in the year 1822, when (as he minutely informs us) he made " a small household survey, in the worst part of the parish of St. Giles's in Lon- don, in company w ith Mr. Joseph But- terworth, who then lived in Russell " And first, as to what is meant by a territorial ( Square." Let no one despise these details. Establishment. The circumstance of its being an Great discoveries should always be re- Establishment, involves in it a legal provision for ■ cor(jed ^ fu„ articulars> the clergyman. But, over and above this, suppose, _ . . , that, in return for this provision, this clergyman has 1 Gravely, however, we admit the un- a certain geographical district, whether in town or 1 doubted facility, and the vast importance country, assigned to him; and that he is expected of the kindly visitation which the Dr. has to take an ecclesiastical cognizance of all the fanii lies within its limits. To perfect this arrangement, they must stand so related to his church, as to have a right of preference over all extra-parochial families to the occupation ^f its sittings ; and he, on the other hand, should be so related to his parish, as, if not to have a right of entry into all the houses, at least to be bound in point of duty to make a tender to every householder who is willing to receive him of such ecclesiastical attentions and services as his time will permit him to bestow, and which might be con- ducive to the Christian good of himself and of his family. In other words, he is bound to superadd as far as the people will let him, week-day and house- hold to his Sabbath-day and pulpit ministrations. He is the minister not of a congregation only, as far the greater number of our unendowed ministers are, but he is the minister both of a congregation and a parish." (pp. 135 and 136.) " What we want is to place his church in the mid- dle of such a territory as we have now specified, and to lay upon him a bark, for the accomplishment of which we would allow him the labour and persever- ance of a whole life-time ; not to fill his church any how, but to fill this church out of that district. We so well described. We concur with him entirely in his estimate of the effects which may be anticipated from it. But we marvel much how he argues from these grounds, to either the necessity, or the ex- pediency, of territorial religious allot- ments by the state. These are clearly unnecessary for the end designed. Re- ligious teachers can certainly " make a tender " of their counsels at every house, without being either appointed or paid by the state, and with every probability of being as well received. And it wants no- thing but to act upon a plan, and to act in concert, for unendowed and unappoint- ed ministers to secure the actual visitation of every family that will permit it. The territorial machinery is therefore altogether needless; and this consideration alone should give him the charge over head of one and all i of its families, and tell him that, inoUad of seeking I Ought to be sufficient to set It aside, liut THE HEW J. H. HINTOX, A.M. SI besides being needless, it is also mischiev- ous ; and a brief survey of the evils which it both naturally and necessarily involves will serve to set in a fairer light those voluntary efforts which Dr. Chalmers evidently wishes altogether to supersede. 1. State allotments of the population to religious instructors involve the exer- cise of an authority quite inadmissible. A minister thus placed in a parish, ap- pears before the people in the name and behalf of the government who send him, and as a teacher is armed with the au- thority of the state. He will naturally speak of himself as an authorized teacher, and as authorized to teach them, his parishioners. His authority to teach im- plies, of course, their duty, and their duty as originating from civil governors, to submit to his teaching ; and the absence of any right or authority on their part to refuse or question his instructions. He comes with "the faith selected for them" by the government; to dictate their re- ligion, therefore, and practically to deny and take away the right of private judg- ment in relation to it. All this is wrong — essentially and heinously wrong — and cannot be tolerated for a moment. We acknowledge that a teacher of religion may possess authority ; but when we meet with one who makes such a pretension, we ask him, in the words which were once most justly addressed to the teacher sent from God, "Who gave thee this authori- ty?" If he says, and proves his words, that Jesus Christ has given him authority, I own his credentials ; but if he presents me with an Act of Parliament, to show authority derived from the state, I tear his parchment, and repudiate at once both the sender and the sent, with a re- buke by which presumption not very dis- similar was long ago effectually abashed — " Jesus I know, and Paul I know ; but who are ye ?" 2. Such a method obstructs the salu- tary exercise of the mind. Above all subjects, religion calls for a vigourous ex- ercise of the rational powers. Its appeal is to the understanding, that it may reach i the conscience and the heart. It requires every man to think, feel, aud act for himself. The state-allotment of authorised teachers directly diminishes the force of this appeal, and tends to make it alto- gether nugatory. Instead of being thrown upon the determination of your own re- J ligious views and character, here is " a faith " and mode of piety selected for you by the government — determined to be right, therefore, before you can ask a sin- gle question about it — and a minister sent down by the government expressly to take charge of your religion, according to this method, and do it for you. You have, consequently, neither to inquire, nor to choose, nor to think; but to yield yourself to the hands of the parish priest, and keep to the ways of your parish church — then you are told, all will be well. What a fearful opiate to the heart is this ! What multitudes must live and die — have lived and died — in slumber, under such a system ! 3. The territorial state-clergy scheme brings into operation a class of inferior and unworthy motives. Under it, peo- ple are not left to the influences of truth and consideration, to entertain one or the other view, as such influences may be cherished or repelled by them ; but mo- tives of secular interest are introduced. A bounty is offered on adhesion to the national religion, both as opposed to uo religion at all, and to such other forms of religion as may co-exist with it. If you belong to " the church," you are looked on complacently by all the state authori- ties ; your trade is unobstructed; your re- putation is untarnished ; you ate eligible to offices of honour and emolument, and ad- missible to charities and alms-houses. But will all these things be, if you are a Dis- senter 1 0 no ! The vety reverse, as has often been keenly felt. So that here is a set of worldly motives employed to induce people to be religious, and to be of one ' religion rather than another — or rather, to induce people to profess this religion, 32 THK REV. J. H. IIINTON, A.M. whether they understand and approve it, or not. Truth, and true religion, scorn sucii an appeal. It is a mere bounty on falsehood and hypocrisy. 4. This method, further, is unjust to Christians of other denominations. The secular beuefits attached to the professors of the established sect, are of course with- held from those of all sects besides. Christians of every other denomination, have to bear odium and embarrassment in a thousand forms ; and this not because they are wanting in virtue — for, compared with churchmen in the mass, they are by far the most virtuous part of the commu- nity— but simply because they are Dissen- | teis. They pay a civil penalty for their j religious convictions; and are punished, for their fear of God, and their reverence! of truth. This is substantial persecution,! and does not differ in principle from per- j secution in its bloodiest forms. An Es- tablished church is essentially a persecu- ting church. If I were to invest these in- stitutions with personal attributes, I might say that they have a native thirst for blood ; I and that the only security for religious li- berty lies in their being muzzled with iron, j When they cannot bite, their growl is still heard, in the Acts of Parliament which call our liberty, mangled as it is, toleration. Dr. Chalmers, overlooking the injus- tice thus done by an Establishment to all other communities of Christians, has dwelt largely on that which he conceives to be done to their ministers. He says it is " puzzling to assign " any ground on which they should be excluded, we do not say from the honours, but from the sub- stantial benefits of an Establishment ; or why a na- tional provision should be withheld from the ministers of those Protestant denominations, more than from the Protestant Episcopalians of England. It may be easy to say," he adds, 14 why we should keep out Popery, and let in Protestantism ; but it does not ap- pear easy to fix on the proper reason, why, when there is so little to discriminate between them, we should let in one species of Protestantism, and keep out all the rest. The closer their modes of faith approxi- mate to each other, it does — it may well be thought — aggravate the task of selection, and make it all the harder to specify, why it is that the monopoly of the endowments of a great national institute should have been vested in one alone ; or why its fa- voured disciples should have been admitted mto the bowers of the Establishment, while all the rest have been left on the outfields of unendowed sec- tarianism." (pp. 133, 134.) We thank our brother in " the bowers," for his sympathy ; but we must apprise him that his whole argument, in relation to this matter, proceeds on an erroneous basis. Pie argues as though he conceived that " the honours and emoluments of an Es- tablishment " were the wish of all Chris- tian communities. We know not lespect- ing whom he may be in the riglit, in this supposition; but tor ourselves, we can most truly assure him that he is in the wrong. Difficult as it may be for those who luxu- riate in " the bowers of an Establishment " to believe it, it is nevertheless true that we do not covet, and that we are convinced we ought not to share, their supposed ad- vantages. We therefore want no apology for the state-church not comprehending ourselves. Were a participation of its wealth and power to be offered us, our re- ply ought to be, in the words of an an- cient seer, " Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another." But, if we did wish to share " the hon- oursand emoluments of an Establishment," we confess we should be hardly persuaded by the arguments of Dr. Chalmers on this subject to forego our desire. On the ques- tion of right he makes no stand, but ad- mits that the churches established in Eng- land and Scotland have no claim to be pre- fered over the great majority of Protes- tant sects. Only, says he, the endowed church must be " territorial," and if " ter- ritorial," then only one sect can be en- dowed. Whence hepleads with all other sects to let the one which happens to be endowed possess her supremacy undis- turbed, because there is a great work to be done, which can be done by no other means. Nay, he goes further, and not only complains of sectaries, who, on ac- count of minor differences, will not help an Establishment in its office, but laughs at those who, for what he calls " paltry " and " whimsical " peculiarities, refuse to enter the enclosure and enjoy the "bow- ers." " To the remonstrauces of the ex- cluded sects, why, when we differ so little, do you not take us in V he tells us, "it may well be replied, why, when you differ so little, do you keep yourselves out?" (p. 175.) Now if I were a party against whom these arguments had any bearing, I should reply in two ways. I should say, first, that I do not regard the Establishment as adapted to the work it boasts of; that I look on it rather as an institution essen- tially ill-principled, and actually ill-work- ing; so that no motive exists with me to sacrifice anything to its support. And, I should say, secondly, that the points in which I differ with the Established sect, THE REV. J. II. HINTON, A.M. ihough not " essential," are not " paltry ;" if subordinate to the great matters of saving truth, they are not (as Dr. Chalmers calls them) " caprices, and whimsical pecu- liarities," but matters upon which I think God has made known his will, and upon which I have made a conscientious de- cision. To be asked with a sneer,* why, for such reasons, I " keep myself out " of " the bowers of an Establishment," is but to be asked, in other words, why I am such a fool as not to sell my conscience for a bribe ? Is it the habit, then, of those who enter Establishments to do so ? Or can he be anything but a knave, who asks me such a question ? 5. But to return. The allotment of ter- ritorial rights to state-clergy can evidently be of no use, without a guarantee of their competency and diligence. This we have already seen that an Establishment cannot afford. On the contrary, it is adapted to create, and creates in fact, a ministry pre- vailingly ignorant and unfaithful. To hand over sections of the country and masses of the people to these teachers, is to consign the people to ruin, and to augment, to the utmost possible degree, the mischievous influence of the ministers. They are the very men to whom a territory should not be assigned ; but who should be left to the clear sense and shrewd observation of the people themselves, to be dealt with ac- cording to their deserts. 6. The state-church system, also, places its ministers in a position of serious and insuperable disadvantage. They are placed over their parishioners to fleece as well as to feed them, and appear before the peo- ple as having an obvious interest in the system they uphold. It is the source of " honour and emolument " to them ; and even if they are disinterested in labour, and abundant in self-denials, it is scarcely possible they should be exempt from sus- picion of selfishness in the popular mind. They are entitled to exact money for every thing; money for christening you — mo- * I was present when this appeal was made, and was struck, too forcibly soon to forget it, with the kind of plaudits with which it was received. I have used too gentle a term in saying they were expressive of a sneer ; it was almost a broad laugh. An ebul- lition more indicative of an utter want of principle in those from whom it issued, and of an absolute in- capacity to appreciate it in those against whom it was directed, I never witnessed — one less creditable to the honesty of that courtly audience as church- men, or their urbanity as gentlemen. 33 ney for marrying you — money for church- ing you — money for burying you ; and all this out of your own pocket, besides the much larger sum which the stale pays them for the trouble of taking it from you. It may be said unjustly that they strive to maintain the church as a system of "good things," and religion as " a profitable fa- ble ;" that they preach only because they are paid for it, and that they look out, with an eagle's eye, for promotion — all this may be said unjustly ; but it is said and will be said, and cannot be gainsaid, so long as Establishments exist. The work of the Gospel is thus rendered, not volun- tary, but professional ; not self-denying but lucrative ; and, with so rich a fleece for his reward, the shepherd never can make the people believe, that he cares mainly for the flock. 'We say that this is a serious disadvantage, both to minister and to people ; inasmuch as it takes away from him that aspect of disinterested love, by which, above all other things, he might win his way into their hearts. These natural and inevitable mischiefs are serious drawbacks from the apparent value of the territorial system ; and fully entitle us to claim a preference for modes of exertion independentof such machinery. But, even if the scheme were not mischie- vous, but were, on the contrary, of con- fessedly beneficial adaptation, we might truly say that it is impracticable, at least, without a simultaneous requirement, that every person shall go to his parish church. Dr. Chalmers seems to be displeased with ministers who " fill their churches by the superior attractiveness of their preaching," and would have them do so " out of the district " allotted to them. For ministers to try at this is very well ; but does Dr. Chalmers mean to put a restraint upon the people ; so that either the residents in other parishes shall not come into this, or the residents in this parish shall not stray into another? Why, to say nothing of that awkward tribe the Dissenters, even churchmen themselves would never bear such a bridle as this. No part of the com- munity is more characterised by " having itching ears," than the church-going popu- lation, or more audaciously wander in search of popular preachers. Let Dr. Chalmers mark out the country into terri- torial allotments, stud the land with state- clergy, to the number of one to every two thousand persons, and assign the Chris- tian instruction of each section to its au- 34 THE REV. J. H. HINTOlf, A.M. thorised minister — and the people will stiH forsake iheir authorised instructors in countless droves, and with unblushing effrontery, to fill the churches of Mr. Mel- vill and Dr. Dillon, leaving others to the occupation of the sexton and the beadle. Now we affirm, that, in this way, even churchmen themselves, and the highest of them, adopt and act out the plan often so vehemently condemned by high church writers, of the hearers choosing their own minister ; and that thjy trample in the dust the fancy of territorial allotments. According to the theory of an Establish- ment, every man should go to his parish church ; for there preaches the man, and the only man, whom the state has au- thorised to teach him ; and it is as clear a violation of his duty, and as gross an in- sult to the state, to go to church in another parish, as it could be to worship in a con- venticle. Originally the church of Eng- land enforced this theory, by a law im- posinga penalty upon every person who did not go to his parish church ; and there is no sense at all in Dr. Chalmers's scheme of a minute territorial allotment, without the odious and intolerable adjunct of its revival. Such are our objections to the local- izing of Christian ministers by the author- ity of the state. We say, let them local- ize; but let be voluntary On no other ground does our northern opponent make an attack upon us. If we have repulsed him at these points, we have repulsed him at all those at which he has thought proper to try our mettle. And we remain unscathed in our position. The principle of " free trade,'' which he falsely ascribes to us, we disclaim. The principle of voluntary contribution, which we acknowledge, he admits to be just. And the territorial scheme, which he pro- nounces to be indispensable, we have shown to be needless, mischievous, and impracticable. It remains, then, a senti- ment impregnable thus far, that voluntary efforts as they constitute the only just, are a perfectly sufficient mode of diffusing Christianity. We will not argue their suf- ficiency, however, merely from the failure of the Chalmerian battery; but will add | two or three considerations of a positive j kind, to confirm our conclusion. 1. The sufficiency of voluntary efforts for the spread of the Gospel may be argued from their exclusive rectitude. They are the only kind of efforts which are not un- just. Now, if these be not sufficient, one of two things must ensue ; either that there are 720 sufficient means of accomplishing the triumph of Christianity, or that its tri- umph must be secured by injustice and wrong. We allow our opponents to choose either horn of this dilemma. But, if neither of them can be accepted; then our position cannot be shaken, that voluntary efforts, seeing they are the only ones which are just, must be sufficient for the pro- pagation of religion. 2. The same conclusion may be argued from the confidence placed in voluntary efforts by the Divine Founder of Chris- tianity, lie neither enjoined, recommend- ed, nor sanctioned, any other. He com- mitted " the faith " " to the saints," and left all its triumphs to their fidelity and zeal. And this, too, in the extremes! weakness of his cause ; at a period, when, if ever, it must have pre-eminently de- manded the sheltering and fostering care of governing powers. How was it our Lord did not see, that his Gospel could by no means so effectually be propagated through the world, as by making the Ro- man Emperors successively the head of his church, and directing them to carve the empire into parishes, and endow a teacher" to every two thousand of the po- pulation," out of the imperial revenues ? What could he be thinking of, to entrust such a work to a few poor fishermen, without a single endowment for a rector, vicar, or curate among them — or a single cathedral preferment, to provide leisure for " pious authorship ;" and without any " territorial allotment," except when their feet " were made fast in the stocks," or their hands bound behind them to die? Was this infatuation ? One would think Dr. Chalmers must deem it so. We hold it to be tvisdom ; and avow the methods in which our adorable Master placed hi> confidence, to be worthy of ours. 3. The sufficiency of voluntary efforts may be argued from their comprehending all that is active and powerful in Estab- lishments themselves. Every body who looks at our national religious Establish- ment in its actual working, must be struck with the fact, that is far from working out the theory of its existence. According to this, the care of the nation's religion be- longs to the government, which is 10 en- dow the teachers, erect the churches, di- vide the parishes, appoint the incumbents, THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. 35 and constitute the entire hierarchy, with j all its grades of rank and authority, "se- lecting its faith," and enacting its ritual. Theoretically, there is neither scope tovolun- tary zeal, nor right of private judgment. From first to last, it is a scheme of coer- cion and restriction ; every man's work and duty being precisely laid down and prescribed to him, by the government. This is the theory of a national church; but we all know, that, with respect to our owu, at least, (and I might enumerate others,) this is not the practice. There j has been gradually introduced into it a great deal of what Dr. Chalmers calls "voluntaryism." See it in the Church Missionary Society, in the Bishop of Lon- don's subscription for building churches, (analagous to that of which Dr. Chalmers boasts so loudly in Scotland) ; in the erec- j tion of churches by individual liberality,1 the election of lecturers and other offici- ating ministers by the people, in the Pas- toral Aid Society, and many instances besides. The same spirit was struggling for utterance in the baffled Home Mis- sionary Society of the Irish Church. All these things are exercises of the voluntary principle, as distinct from, and as repug- nant to, the principles and spirit of an' Establishment. These doings are copied f from us. But these are the very life and | power of the Establishment at the present moment. It would perish, in the present state of public opinion, if they were ob- structed ; and it lives only because it has been plastic enough to admit of such ir- regularities, and to yield to such anoma- lous modifications. How can churchmen deprecate that which they so sedulously cultivate, and which constitutes at once the entire vitality of their system, and the sole hope of its stability? 4. The sufficiency of voluntary efforts may be further argued from their early triumphs. For national Establishments were not co-eval with Christianity. This fallacious aid was never presented to it, till the time of Constantine, who became Emperor of Rome, A.D. 330. For more than three hundred years, therefore, this I heaven-born religion struggled alone ; and ' in its native might and maje;>tic simplicity, 1 it achieved triumphs far greater than have i at any subsequent period distinguished its ' course. If that was the time of its help- lessness, give us its helplessness again, and set the quickening spirit once more free from the " machinery " and the trap- 1 pings, which only disguise her loveliness and fetter her hands. Dr. Chalmers, however, tells us that voluntary efforts cannot be trusted. What- ever they may have done in ancient days, in modern times they have egregiously failed. These are his words. " Ere, however, we confide the religion of our people to the growth and multiplication of these churches, we should like to know in how far they have filled up those blank spaces, which, in the course of an increasing population, our national churches have left behind them. In the deficiency of our existing apparatus, the voluntary principle has had ample field for the trial of its energies ; and our desire is to understand, whether in virtue of those spontaneous and expansive properties which have been ascribed to it, the mighty surplus of our unpro- vided millions has indeed been overtaken. In this land of perfect toleration, there has been no want of liberty for the great experiment ; and now, at the end of at least a century, since chapels may, without let or hindrance, have been planted in each vacant portion of the territory, let us be told whether all the national and all the voluntary churches together be commensurate to the exigencies of our augmented population." (p. 80.) This passage exhibits very strikingly one of the effects of people getting into " the bowers of an Establishment." These " bowers " seem to be places where stu- dious men, like poets, live in a world of their own imaginings, and remain almost utterly ignorant of what exists in the real world around them. If this had not been the case with Dr. Chalmers, it is utterly inconceivable how he should have stated, that " in this land of perfect toleration (!) there has been no want of liberty for the great experiment " of voluntary zeal; and that, for "at least a century" past," chapels may without let or hindrance, have been planted in each vacant portion of the ter- ritory." The reverse of this is notorious, and the bruit of it has been loud enough, one would have supposed, to penetrate everywhere — but it seems the northern monasteries must be excepted. For " a century" past! Does Dr. Chalmers, then, know nothing of the times of Whit- field and of Wesley? But I forbear, lest I should be severe. Every body else knows, that the " planting" of chapels has been throughout the whole period, and is to this day, obstructed by the strenuous employment of all possible influences, just and unjust. In this respect the voluntary principle has never had a fair trial in Eng- land. Nor has it had a fair trial in any other respect. And it is preposterous to talk of its having a fair trial, where there ex- ists a national church. The operation of the voluntary principle is thus at once dis- 36 THE REV. J. H. HINTON, A.M. countenanced and embarrassed ; its scope is contracted ; its resources are drained away ; its spirit is broken. It is like pri- vate traders contending with a monopoly. And here, after centuries of patient, though disadvantageous toil, resulting, of course, in only partial success, we have the great monopolist triumphantly and tauntingly saying, " You have had ample trial, and you had better give it up; you see it won't do." We say, Break up the mono- poly, and let us try then. And nerer, till such a trial has been made, can any man underlake to affirm rationally, that the voluntary system would not be a speedy and everlasting blessing to his country and to the world. Considering the difficulties under which it has laboured, every candid person will allow that the voluntary principle has done much. It has done enough to vindicate its character, and to demonstrate its capa- bilities. I am not here to boast of its achievements ; 1 say rather, that it should have done more, and that it should yet do more. It is this very thing that the controversy we are engaged in should teach us, namely, to act out our principles. — It is well to defend them, but it is better to work upon them. We see the vehemence with which they are assailed, and the urgency with which the extension of national churches is pushed on ; and it is not amiss to meet argument with ar- gument. But it will be still better to meet arguments with facts. An eloquent defence of the voluntary principle may do some- thing for us; but the manifest diffusion of the Gospel around us will do much more. Nothing will carry such irresis- tible conviction that it can do good, as the demonstration that it is doing good. And it is not as a theoretical, but as an active principle alone, that it can live. We may as well abandon our cause at once, as be idle. It is the diligent who will be sub- stantially in the right, in this controversy. And the churchman, with all his advo- cacy of the principle of authority, is prac- tically working, to a great extent, the principle of voluntary labour. Let us not fall behind him. Let every man be at work as best he may ; and whatever may be the fate of national churches, the time shall yet come, when we " shall no longer say every man to his neighbour, know the Lord ; for all shall know him, from the least unto the greatest." In thus noticing the lectures of Dr. . Chalmers, I have endeavoured to find the strength of his argument, and to grapple with it fairly ; those who may have heard or read them, will be able to say with how much honesty or effect. If, however, there was little force in his reasonings, there certainly was great staunchness in his courage; and he deserves no little honour for having spoken his sentiments ; boldly, where he must have been sure some of them could not be acceptable — j as in the following passage. " We do not speak of the sin of schism in the ab- stract. There is much said on this subject by cer- tain domineering churchmen, who arrogate a mystic superiority to themselves, while they would consign all others beyond the pale of Christianity — where- with we cannot in the least sympathise. It is not on any pretension of this sort, that we would vindi- cate the Establishment of the churches, either of Scotland or of England. We do not feel it neces- sary for such a purpose, to depress immeasurably beneath us, either the creed or the government of j other denominations. We most willingly concede of sectaries we could name, that they are one with us in all which is vital, and only differ from us in cer- tain minute and insignificant peculiarities ; and yet ' the Establishment, the single, the exclusive Estab- ! lishment, of our existing churches in their respec- | tive countries, might be made to rest, we think, on a 1 firmer because a more rational basis — on a far clearer principle than is alleged by those, who claim for i their ministers the immaculate descent of a pure and I apostolic ordination. We disclaim all aid from anv such factitious argument — an argument which could have been of no avail against the Popery that we re- jected, and should be of as little avail against those denominations of Protestantism which have been left unendowed." (pp. 172, 173.) j Whether the obtaining of this rebuke for the high churchmen was exactly con- templated by the " Christian Influence ; Society," I know not ; nor whether this is ! exactly the commodity for which they are satisfied to have given this northern hunter after treasury grants, the gratifying sum (if report may be credited) of three hun- I dred guineas. But let them not be eha- i grined. So salutary an article is not dear at that price. If they will take it kindly, I and make a good use of it, it may be worth to them in the end, a great deal more than they have unintentionally paid for it. I THE "PROGRESS OF DISSENT;" CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON THE REMARKABLE AND AMUSING PASSAGES OF THAT ARTICLE, IN THE SIXTY-FIRST NUMBER OF THE QUARTERLY REVIEW; ADDRESSED TO THE EDITOR. BY A NONCONFORMIST. To be serious with a trifler,is to crash a moth with a mallet, — yon have only to raise your linger, and the frail creature dies. PURITAN. LONDON: PRINTED FOR B. J. HOLDS WORTH, 18, st. paul's church yard. M.DCCC.XXV. [Price Two Shillings and Sixpence.] t Off DON: PRINTED BY J. S HUGHES, 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. TO THE EDITOR My good Sir ; As I am about to remark on a work over which you preside, I consider myself obliged, in common courtesy, to address myself to you. And, in doing so, I am desirous of conciliating your attention, by assuring you, according to established practice in a correspondence with editorial personages, that I am one of "your constant readers and admirers." Indeed, the publication of the "Quarterly,1' and the "Edinburgh," (pardon the wicked conjunc- tion,) is rather a considerable event to my family; and they are seldom allowed to tarry long in the house without our making their principal contents our own. Your last number, u 2 therefore, had no sooner arrived, than I ar- ranged for an open evening; and, taking my place in the domestic circle around the ex- hilarating fire-hearth, I prepared myself for — I would say, if the quotation were not worn thread-bare, — "The feast of reason, and the flow of soul." It must be admitted, Mr. Editor, your arti- cles, in the present number, are allowed to lose nothing for the want of being well ticketed. I could not avoid imagining, that you had taken a hint from Mr. Renn ell's " homely" observations about the " cheap shops" of Dissenters; and, improving even from the example of your enemies, had deter- mined to defend yourself by the vulgarism of catching titles, and puffing announcements. There is "Memoirs of Scott and Newton." An excellent runniny line this ! Every body would be anxious to know what the Reviewers of the " Quarterly" could say of Scott and Newton, as all the world was curious to know what Southey had to do with Wesley and the Methodists. I expected, of course, no agree- ment of opinion, yet I did expect some manly discussion, and philosophical argument; but, no, — the subject was slurred; the lives of these eminent men were scarcely more noticed 3 than if they had never lived ; there was evi- dently too much cowardice to recognize them either as friends or foes. I was deceived by the advertising title. Then there is "Biddulph, — Operation of the Holy Spirit." Certainly a very catching an- nouncement in such a place ; but it is nothing less than a trick on the reader, for there is no agreement between the treatise and the title. The difficult and important question of divine influence, so far from being canvassed with energy and fairness, is not even mooted; and the seducing advertisement at the head of the page, is only meant to make us the unwilling witnesses of a rude attack on an individual, who has spent his life honourably and usefully in the service of your church, and who is now too feeble to arise in his own defence. He is going down to the grave, and you kick him as he goes. Really, Mr. Editor, this is not quite brotherly. Then came, last, though not least, " New Churches, — Progress of Dissent." Now, Sir, with all my regard for the "Quarterly," I am unhappily a dissentient from the endowed church of my country ; and you may there- fore readily suppose, that of all other interest- ing titles, this was, to me, by far the most piquante and ensnaring. I at once concluded, b 2 4 if not edified, I should be amused; and I will do you the justice to say, that in this conclu- sion I have not been disappointed. And since it happens, that I am one of those many per- sons, who, as they are disposed to bury their griefs in their own bosoms, lest they should grieve others, so do not find their sensations of" pleasure perfected unless they are partici- pated, I shall make you, Mr. Editor, my confidante ; and, as the person next interested to myself, shall hope, by explaining- the sources of my amusement, to contribute, in some measure, to your gratification. My first amusements were decidedly those of the imagination. The title was so craftily put, that it awakened, but did not gratify, curiosity; and I instantly found my mind busied in inquiry. — "New churches," thought I, "what will they say on this ? Will they acknowledge the liberal way in which the Dissenters met the measure? — Hardly. Will they maintain that monies so appropriated have been applied with a wise economy? — Hardly. Are they then preparing the public mind for another gratuity? — Perhaps so. Then the "Progress of Dissent," what will they do with this? Will they make a bold venture, (for nothing is more venturesome or timid as the case may be than the "Quarterly") roundly to 5 deny its progress ? Or will they make it a debateable question, and suspend it in profit- able doubt? Or will they at once concede the point, as no longer tenable, and make the best of their retreat? — I cannot tell, — we shall see." The wanderings of my fancy were checked by the reading voice of our little circle, which had already pronounced to us some of your preliminary observations. The Church Report was every way " highly gratifying," except that more munificent grants ivere wanting. And as to the progress of Dissent, the concession was made without a quibble, in our favour; and, evidently, with the greater readiness, to awaken fear and diligence in certain high places, that subsequent petitions, in favour of a languishing and exposed church, might find proper entertainment. Well, Mr. Editor, your concession, use it as you may, has put me in such excellent humour, that I am half disposed to promise your prayers my best support, though they should be repeated till "the day of doom." At such a time the im- portance of the admission is, in my esteem, very great; and, rightly to conceive of it, we must look, not at the isolated fact, but at ail the collateral circumstances. Had the nation been retrograde in knowledge, and liberty, and piety, while Dissent was advancing B 3 e over the land, I should, I confess, have be- come exceedingly jealous of its principles; but, now, when science has corrected and enlarged the map of knowledge, — when art is clothing itself with the simplicity and the grandeur of nature,. — when valour has subdued the leagued demons of anarchy and despotism, and is reposing at the feet of wisdom, — when liberty has made herself more fully understood, and is more extensively be- loved,^— when religion silently rejoices at the expansion of her dominion over the con- sciences and hearts of men, — when the coun- try is really effecting the march of ages in the compass of years ; — then to be told, that Dissent is making a simultaneous progress, is virtually to be told, that her path is illumi- nated by truth, and that she is borne on her way by the calm, but irresistible, force of evidence ! But we will return to the text. No sooner was the admission fairly made, than I became curious to ascertain how your Reviewer would sustain himself ; for I have a particular in- terest in the movements of the mind under reverses and concessions; and from the days of Xenophon, downward, it has been justly con- sidered more difficult to effect a retreat, than to win a battle. I quickly perceived the critic 7 was not quite to my taste. There was too much whining lamentation, — too many garru- lous professions of truth, principle, and cha- rity,— apparently meant to disguise a spirit of mean and angry retort. Now, Sir, I have a deep sympathy with a spirit, which, in adver- sity, carries itself with gentleness and gene- rosity, and think with the heathen, it is a sight the gods, if gods there were, might look upon ; but, let it become loquacious, noisy, and vin- dictive, and it is very possible it may render itself either contemptible or ludicrous. How- ever, be the issue what it may, I think we shall escape disappointment. Should the Reviewer improve as we advance, we will admire him ; and should even the reverse be realized, we shall find proportionate amusement. Let us enter then, at once, with him on the subject. We find him seeking comfort under the confession extorted from him, by the consideration, that, though Dissent has in- creased, it is a very different thing from what it was. It is a curious paragraph. " Of the three denominations of Dissenters, a few, and but a few, of the old Presbyterians exist; still fewer pre- serve their original Calvinism, and rigid discipline. It is not easy to discern the modern Independents from those Methodists who have formed recent establishments on similar principles. The Quakers are stationary. The great B 4 8 accession to the body of Dissenters has been among (from) the followers of Whitfield and Wesley. But in all the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapels, where the Calvinistic disciples of the former meet, a close approximation is made to the services of the Church of England; while an attempt to establish the Liturgy, as the standing service amongst the Wesleyans, at a Conference in the North, was rejected by no great majority." All this is very consolatory. What a strange compound the comforts of some people are, Mr. Editor! The old Presbyterians are dead, — that is a comfort. If any remain, they are degene- rated to Arians and Socinians, — that is a comfort. The Quakers, unhappy wights, cease to quake, and are " stationary," — that is comfortable. The modern Indepen- dents are just like the Methodists; and the Methodists are just like the Church, — that is comfortable. But, after all, Sir, the whole, Presbyterians Baptists Independents Qua- kers and Methodists, are Dissenters ; and Dissent is increasing — rapidly increasing, — very comfortable, no doubt! Notwithstanding the restorative powers of this elixir, the Reviewer continues to labour under great prostration of spirits, and I almost fear, as is not unfrequently the case, attended by slight incoherency of mind. This is the style of his lamentations : — 9 " We consider, then, the Clergy as trammelled and im- peded in their labour by many difficulties from which they cannot by any activity or zeal emancipate themselves ; and the Dissenters, as possessing certain advantages, which the situation, the character, and the necessary habits of the Clergy, as well as the peculiarity of the Church Establish- ment, render unattainable by its ministers." — page 231. This is passing strange ! What, Sir, is it to be said of the Clergy, the high aristocratic Clergy of this land, who are nourished by the richest emoluments, and guarded by exclusive privileges, whose graduated dignities reach from the cottage to the throne, and power- fully influence whatever they touch, that they are "impeded," " trammelled,'' enslaved, — and so enslaved, that their utmost " activity and zeal cannot emancipate themselves ?" And in the same breath is it to be said, that the Dissenters, unpatronized and unknown, and, if known, known only to be misrepresented, and " every where spoken against," are com- paratively free, are possessors of themselves, and of the best means of benefiting others? Well, the Reviewer may, perhaps, be able to assist our convictions on this subject. It may be possibly in his power to show, that the Dissenting Church, for which the nation has done nothing, has been taught to help herself; and that the endowed Church, for which the 10 nation has done every thing, has reason to complain, like the eastern princess, that she is really trammelled and enfettered by the number and weight of her splendid deco- rations. But we must follow him to his proof. He begins : — " Without question, then, the first and greatest cause of the diminished influence of the Clergy, aud of accession to the Dissenters, has been the enormous increase of local population. Towns of a moderate size have extended them- selves into vast cities, new towns have sprung up on wild heaths, and barren moors, with the rapidity, and under the same agency, as that building which is said in Para- dise Lost, to have 1 risen like an exhalation.' All this extraordinary change has taken place, for the most part, in districts, which, at the time of the establishment of our Church, or rather, when it adopted the parochial divi- sions, and took possession of the existing religious edi- fices at the Reformation, were then thinly occupied by a scattered agricultural population. In the towns, the old capacious church afforded tolerable accommodation to the parishioners, who were not yet pampered into fastidious- ness, by the luxuries of well lined pews and cushions, but were contented to offer up their devotions from a bare bench, or an uninclosed seat in the aisle. In our older cities, and the more ancient parts of the metropolis, towers and spires, and, perhaps, the old massy cathedral, indi- cated, from a distance, that due provision was made for the worship of God, in proportion to the number of build- ings for the use and convenience of man. Nothing is more striking than the absence of the stately tower, and the spire, whose 4 silent finger points to heaven when we 11 look down on these new towns with their wide unbroken uniformity of flat roofs and heavy parapets; or in the western part of London, which displays more strongly the deficiency of which we complain, by the contrast which the City, crowded with churches of every heighth, and every description of architecture, perpetually affords. It is evident, that the Clergy had not the power to supply the increasing demands for increased accommodation, — thus multiplying in all quarters." The first cause then assigned for the pro- gress of Dissent, and the diminution of the Church, is the enormous increase of local population ; and this the Reviewer requires us to take " without question." Nevertheless, Mr. Editor, I have a few questions to pro- pound before T can embrace this amusing proposition. I desire then, 1. To ask, What affinity there can possibly be between empty churches, and an increasing population ? I can readily conceive, if a town or city were gra- dually depopulated, that the church would suffer a reduction in its numbers ; but, when your Reviewer argues, that the population has increased, and therefore the church has diminished, I must beg leave to decline his inference. 2. I would inquire, if the increase of population was really against the Clergy- man, how could it be in favour of the Dis- senter ? Surely this is very paradoxical ! If the 12 growing numbers of the people widened the field of labour to the Dissenter, could it by the same circumstance be narrowed to the Churchman ? But " towns," you say, " sprang up like an exhalation, in districts which were thinly occupied by a scattered agricultural popu- lation." And if this was the case, had not the Church every advantage against Dissent ? Were not her ten thousand ministers already planted over the face of the land, to take the full benefit of these occurrences? Whatever changes might happen, could a town arise, or even an individual be born, in any spot not previously brought within the well-defined limits of some parish ? Had not that parish its priest? And was not the priest then in a state of local preparation to observe the grow- ing wants of his charge, while as yet Dissent and Dissenters were not perhaps known to his borders ? Yet, your Reviewer continues, whatever the priest might have done, church-room would be wanting. But will your Reviewer inform me, if this was to the disadvantage of the Church, how it could be to the advantage of Dissent? The Dissenter was poor and feeble, aud had the tide of general opinion against him ; the Church was wealthy, had a 13 powerful representation in the Court, the Cabinet, and the Parliament, and could tax the whole land to effect her object ; if both parties were, therefore, seeking to afford ad- vancing accommodation as the people mul- tiplied, it is most obvious where all the faci- lities must rest. The Dissenter would have to do it alone, and out of his penury ; the Churchman from his ample resources of wealth and influence. The Reviewer is exceedingly unhappy in the example by which he would illustrate his meaning. To convince us at once that accom- modation was wanted, and could not be pro- vided, he refers to "the western part of London," in contrast with the City, which "is crowded with churches of every descrip- tion." Is it then to be said, that the City had provided sufficient places for the spiritual instruction of the people, and that Westminster could not? That the very spot which contains within its limits, the collective energy and opulence of the kingdom, with nobility in every dwelling, and a mitre in every street, that such a spot, the richest in the world, could not supply itself with the necessary accommodations for the worship of God ! "Without question," Mr. Editor, this is a very amusing way of treating the subject; 14 but I am so little satisfied with its correctness, that I must endeavour to give a new version to the text of the Reviewer. He says, there was a want of accommodation. This I admit. He urges, the Church was not able to supply this deficiency. I say, what the Dissenters have done, the Church could have done, " and much more abundantly." I must refer, there- fore, the continuance of the evil, on her part, not to the absence of power, but of disposition. Indeed, the Reviewer, in his eagerness to mark the motives of the Dissenters, has un- consciously committed himself to the same opinion. " In the mean time," he says, that is, while the population was increasing, and the Church was indolent, " the Dissenters per- ceived and seized their advantage." Yes, this is exactly the fact ; the Dissenters saw, and the Church did not see. The Dissenters did their best to meet the moral and spiritual wants of the nation on this emergency ; the the Church was content to do nothing, was blind to the demands of the occasion, and was only moved into constrained effort by her ultimate jealousy of rival exertions. The his- tory of the last twenty years is " attestation strong," in support of this statement. When the Dissenters, and a few pious Clergymen, originated the Bible Society, the Church first 15 fulminated her wrath, and finding her bolts fell, like the dart of Priam, innoxious to the ground, she betook herself, with better pur- pose, to the revival of the " Bartlett's Buildings Society," and the formation of a " Prayer Book and Homily Society." When the Dis- senters embodied themselves into a " Mis- sionary Society," another slowly followed among the serious Clergy; while the Church, after vain and various resistance, is at last inoculated with the spirit of the times, though the virus has not taken so happily as might be wished, and is sending forth her mitred and unraitred missionaries. When the Dissenters had carried the Lancasterian plans of education over the nation, then the Church formed a " National Society" for the education of the people ; and when the system of the Sunday Schools, by far the least exceptionable for the instruction of the poor, had been used so efficaciously by the Dissenters, many of the Clergy sought to avail themselves of it, but wanting gratuitous and suitable teachers, it has generally amounted to a failure. And finally, when the Dissenters were doing their utmost to provide local accommodation for the worship of the people, and had really done more than their friends or foes expected, the Church was awakened by fear from her 10 slumbers, lifted up her voice in the senate for more, and still more churches ; and her only surprise has been to find, that her appli- cation was deemed so reasonable in its nature, and so late in its arrival. However serious my detail may appear, Mr. Editor, the inference I derive from it, I doubt not, will divert you. It is, that Dissent is necessary to the Church. That they are two elements making one existence, — that the erratic and pungent spirit of nonconformity acts like the galvanic shock on the plethoric habits of the mother church, keeps her among living things, and renders her in advanced age verdant and fruitful ; — that, without Dis- senters, we should have had no National Schools, no Episcopal Missionaries, no new churches, and consequently, that we Dis- senters are the great, original benefactors of the land. Aspersion follows merit, as the shade the substance. It is, I imagine, on this principle, that your Reviewer has indulged us with the passage I now quote. " Many, we have not the slightest donht, were animated in this cause hy the purest and most disinterested motives, the providing spiritual instruction for the poor and ignorant, the bringing home the principles of the gospel, as it were, 17 to the doors of those who were either at too great a dis- tance from their parish churches, or who could obtain no no accommodation there. Many were actuated by the less exalted principles of zeal for their sect or party. Many, we speak from conviction, and therefore will not disguise the truth, from the spirit of commercial speculation, as rinding the building of chapela more lucrative than that of building houses ; while, iu a still larger proportion, the better and baser motives were so mingled and identified, that certainly no outward observer, and scarcely the con- science within, could discriminate the comparative force with which the love of God and the love of wealth operated; or in what degree their combined influence governed the conduct." Thus it is, that in conceding the fact, that the Dissenters had exerted themselves to make room for a growing population, he con- soles himself by branding their motives. Yet here there is something to gratify us. " Many were animated by the purest motives." This is much to say, when we consider who says it. But many were actuated by the principles of zeal for sect and party ; this too, whatever we might have to advance against its truth, is very naturally said by the Reviewer; since the human mind cannot judge the principles of other men's conduct, except by the prin- ciples which regulate its own. Then finally and chiefly, " many were actuated by a spirit of commercial speculation." Strange assumption c 18 this for the Reviewer to make ! and I can only account for its arising so spontaneously to his thoughts, and getting joggled into such a discussion, by supposing that he may have written with a mind under the excitement of some "fearful venture," in the speculating schemes of the day. Perhaps in the " Dairy Company," or the " Steam Washing Com- pany," or the "New Steam Carriage Company," or in the "Anglo-Mexican Mine Company," — or, best of all perhaps, in a little project of his own, a " New Rail Way Company, to facilitate the passage from Albemarle Street to St. James's." Yet he endeavours to make his statement with professional caution. He tells us he speaks " from conviction," not from know- ledge. Really, Mr. Editor, it is not quite fair to make a subject in which others are inter- ested thus intangible. Conviction concerns no one but the person convinced ; there are men who may be convinced of any thing; and it may be impossible to affect their convictions. Happily we have not to deal with these con- victions, but with the grounds on which they depend ; and this I judge to be the reason why your Reviewer chooses to talk of his convictions, when he should speak only of facts. 19 However, for the benefit of more simple folk, it often happens that very cautious persons are too cautious ; they travel in a circle to their object, and are in hazard of breaking down before they reach it. The Reviewer not only states conviction, but would dissect motive, and here we find him most amusingly at fault. He says, that in a large proportion of these speculatists, better and baser motives were so mingled and iden- tified, that certainly no outward observer, and scarcely the conscience within, could discri- minate between them. Then I desire to know, Mr. Editor, if these better and baser motives could not be discriminated by any outward observer, nor even by a man's own conscience, how this Reviewer came to discriminate them ? Ah, Sir, explanations are awkward things to some people. He should have kept to his convictions, then he would have been safe. The reason assigned for this inveterate love of speculation amongDissenters,is, of course, that it affords a high ratio of profit. That " though not actually in the market with Mexican and Columbian Scrip, Tabernacle Bonds are with many as good security, and bear as high a premium as any other medium of exchange;" — that persons who are "possessors of houses, c 2 20 attach to the rent of them the payment for a pew in the conventicle ;" — and that thus " the Clergy have not only to compete with the fair opposition of religious zeal and activity, but with the interested spirit of pecuniary speculation." All this again the Reviewer requires to be taken as " unquestionable." Yet I must be permitted, notwithstanding his rooted dislike to questions, to question every part of the declaration, except that, if "Ta- bernacle Bonds" really exist, they are good security, — yes, I hope so. But I deny that there is any system among- any branch of Dissenters, that can be fairly referred to " a spirit of pecuniary speculation ;" and as to appending the payment for a pew to the rent of a house, I think he must have pleasantly mistaken the practice of his own Church for that of our's. I have never heard of such a case among the Dissenters ; but it is well known to be an ordinary circumstance for the dwelling-house and church-pew to go together ; and, in the sale of property, the right to a pew is often made a valuable con- sideration. That, in the erection of a new chapel, it seldom happens that the first subscription is equal to all the expenses arising, I readily admit ; and in all such cases, the surplus 21 claims must of necessity be met by a loan. This loan, however, has so few temptations, that it is usually participated, not by the men who are looking shrewdly to their own interest, but by those who are decidedly of the more generous and self-denying character. It is often made without interest ; oftener at a reduced interest ; never at an exorbitant interest ; and generally attended by so liberal a dona- tion towards the liquidation of the debt, as to make the whole transaction one of per- sonal sacrifice. Again, those who are accom- modated by the loan, have no idea that its continuance will contribute to their "influence" and prosperity. It is to the interest of the minis- ter, and of the congregation, equally to dispose of pecuniary obligations as quickly as possible. I know many of our churches which have suffered in their numbers and harmony by debt ; but I have yet to learn that any have thriven by it. One word more on this subject. The Re- viewer hints at " wealthy persons, master manufacturers, and wholesale tradesmen," as though some instances of this pecuniary spe- culation were in his eye, and yet he ventures not on giving them. Allow me then to inform you how far particular instances, which have c 3 22 fallen under my own observation, affect this question. I know of one lay-churchman who holds three chapels as a source of emolument and patronage ; I know of no case approach- ing to it among Dissenters. On the contrary, I know of two lay-dissenters who have, per- haps, made more advances for the accommo- dation and religious instruction of their fellow- men, than any other two. The one (they need not be named, their works identify them) observed to a friend, " I have spent sixty thousand pounds in the service of God, and through his goodness I have sixty thousand pounds more to spend ;" the other has been principal, both by energy and property, in erecting several excellent chapels on the nor- thern line of the Metropolis, and though his modesty will not allow us to know the amount actually sacrificed in these generous efforts, sufficient has necessarily transpired, to assure us, that it is such a speculation as the worthy Reviewer would by no means like to have much concern in. No, Mr. Editor ; and though this exposition of the matter was necessary to truth, it is peculiarly an act of self-denial for a Dissenter to make it, and I hope you will think so ; for could he conscientiously have allowed the 23 tempting representations of the Reviewer on the validity, and high premium of Tabernacle Bonds, to have stood, as he solicited " unques- tionable," we might soon have had the pro- spectus of a 46 New Chapel Company," which should take the course with the "New Church Society ;" but, since it has become requisite to supply fact for imagination, there cannot be any hope of so good a result, for no Churchman will henceforth venture into the Dissenting money market ; and the " Church Society" must run her race alone, and at the end of it, congratulate herself alone, that she has won a noble prize by noble exertion, for which none had striven but herself. Then the Reviewer, after having tasked his reason so manfully, and put his imagination beneath such restraint, thinks himself at liberty to close this head of grievance, and lighten the burden of discussion by such fine touches of fancy, as bring before us " all things strange and incongruous." There are plenty of " new churches, — the room they offer has been eagerly accepted, — yet, if they should not be well attended, "the friends of the Church must not be dispirited." To leave the Church is comparatively so easy, — to quit the Dissenters is so difficult, — that, in the next generation, we may expect the C 4 24 greater part to return to the original commu- nion. There is hope now, — but, should there be no present hope, there is hope for the future. The Dissenters are quite changed, their principles are "so relaxed" — bat there is " a rigid jealousy" of separation from them- selves, and a tenacious hold on new converts. " Probablv the difficulty of maintaining their strict surveillance over their flocks, may make against the Dissenters influence" — "it can hardly be expected that the present seceders should return to the fold of the Church,"' — there is such " incessant vigilance to assail all who would abandon them with every denun- ciation that can enchain weak minds." Dissent is "a feud," but without ^hostility." Dissent is a disease, — its " habits are obstinate and inveterate," — yet "it is not an inveterate here- ditary malady," "but a transitory disorder.'' Verily, Mr. Editor, when well digested, (and it needs to be well ruminated before it can be well digested,) this is one of the most striking perorations to the sub-division of an argu- ment that 1 have ever perused. I have cer- tainly beheld with astonishment in my younger days, " the sagacious pig1' make fine play with the letters of the alphabet, TNSK make King ; — but it would be a wicked desecration of the subject to put his skill in 25 comparison with that of our Reviewer in the use of words and sentences. Having found some recreation by this pretty excursion of the fancy, the Reviewer gathers up his strength, and advances to another head of argument. It is to show, that the Church has been seriously injured by " the total revolution in the manners of the people, as regards their hours of rising and going to bed." Unhappy Church ! to suffer alike from the people whether they are up or a bed ! to be seriously affected by the hours at which we choose to breakfast or to dine ! Un- doubtedly, some inconveniencies are felt in social life, by thrusting the duties of the day into the darkness of night ; but that the va- riations in the hours of refreshment and rest should endanger the Church, is, I acknow- ledge, a discovery ; and it is somewhat akin to the discoveries of earlier days, when Church and King were found in a Christmas pie, and when the poison of Popery lurked beneath the crisped surface of a hot cross-bun. But, if the Clergy have really suffered as the Reviewer wishes seriously to maintain, I have still to ask, How is the Dissenter benefited? Has any one forbidden the Clergy to adapt their hours of worship to the cus- toms of the people ? Have they so preserved 26 their primitive and simple habits amidst the corrupt fashions of the world, that they are actually "going to bed," when others are going abroad? Are not the twenty-four hours of the day as much at their disposal, as they can possibly be at the disposition of the Dis- senters? Happily, the Reviewer contributes something towards delivering us from the labyrinth into which he has brought us. "The Dissenters," he says, " have, with their usual pliability and sagacity, adapted their pro- ceedings" to the changing hours of the people. We thank him for his candour; he will even admit that we have virtues, when lie thinks he can make them so equivocal, as to induce a charitable world to consider them rather vices. However, we take the concession as it is given; the man has done his best; and it amounts to something "im- portant." The Dissenters have had " sagacity" to see what was needful, the Clergy have had none ; the Dissenter has considered the peo- ple, the Clergy have considered themselves ; the Dissenters have exercised " pliability" to changes which they could not controul, the Clergy have been unbending and unac- commodating ; the Dissenters, like Dr. Southey, (I use his own words, for they are very apposite,) have moved with the sun, 27 and the Clergy, like Mr. Smith, the heretical member, have stood perversely still, and are left in darkness ! Well, Mr. Editor, I see not how all this is to be helped. The Clergy, by the concessions of their apologist, have chosen to stand firm and unpliant to every change ; they have deter- mined in favour of, not merely things, but times and seasons, as they were; and, should they still persist, it may possibly happen, that they will be preaching when every body is in bed, and will have their lips and churches closed when every body is waiting to hear; yet it will be their choice, and of their own free election it is hardly consistent or mag- nanimous to complain. I perceive but one source of consolation for them, and, as the ground is so barren of comfort, my sympathy will not allow me to suppress the mention of it. It is this, — If the Clergy should, in their scorn of " pliability and sagacity," resolve to resist the wicked spirit of innovation to the uttermost, and to remain stationary while the wheel of fashion is performing its "revolution," they will, like the dial that " stands still," be sure of being right once in twenty-four hours; and really this is no small comfort when one considers, that it is much more than can be said of many a ticking, chiming, noisy 28 methodistical time-piece, which is always going, but never right. There is another head of grievance, of which I shall at once dispose, by connecting it with the subject before us, to which it bears the closest affinity. The Reviewer introduces it briefly, but formally, towards the close of his Essay ; his notices of it are scattered over the whole field of his desultory observations. He complains, not only of the hours of wor- ship, but even of the places for its accom- modation. " The Dissenters," he says, " have great advantage in the strict adaptation of their buildings for the purposes of preaching." Now I am fully aware, that properly to sym- pathize with the Reviewer's meaning in this sentence, I must read it with a curled lip and sardonic sneer, taking care to lay a peculiar accent on the expressions, buildings and preaching; yet I am delighted with the ad- mission, which his hostility makes the more important, that these "buildings are strictly adapted to their purpose" And although he proceeds to denominate these " buildings'' " long brick barns," most " hideous and unsightly" in their exterior, he almost effects an atonement by a second and similar ad- mission, that they are " warm, well-lighted, and commodious within." We have less •29 reason to be offended at this plain dealing, since the Reviewer cannot grant perfection even to the churches of the land. These churches, which have been the theme of so much indiscriminate praise, whose "spires point silently to heaven," whose " towers indi- cate a sanctuary to the wretched," with their fretted ceilings and vaulted roofs, their en- riched altars and painted windows, their " dim religious light and Cicilian harmony," — are really very deeply humbled by the con- fessions he has faithfully recorded. "Beau- tiful as they are," he says, (and we shall find it rather difficult to connect any idea of the beautiful with his statement of fact,) " beautiful as they are," they are "rambling and irregular," with " aisles, galleries, and chapels, crowded together without plan," — they are incum- bered by "long-drawn aisles and deep re- cesses," through which the people are widely scattered, and over which the voice of man has feeble controul, — they " are more adapted for processional services than for preaching ;" and what little accommodation they might yield, is often withheld, for " a large portion of the area perhaps is secured by inclosure and jealously preserved" for the use of those who are seldom or never there. Such is the account made out and presented by the Reviewer. Now, Mr. Editor, let us ascertain whether the balance is for or against us. The Church is large and cold ; the Con- venticle is snug- and warm. The Church is imposing without, but within it is irregular, rambling, and incommodious ; the Conventi- cle has no exterior attraction, but it is adapted to its purpose, and affords the best accommo- dation. In the Church, the people are more painfully reminded of their inequality than in any other place ; in the Conventicle, they are put as much as may be, on a level, as in the presence of Him who is no respecter of per- sons. In the Church, the preacher speaks with the conviction that he is not heard, and the people listen and cannot understand : while in the Conventicle, " the loud and sonorous voice loses none of its effect," and attention finds its reward. With the Church there is the solitary and mechanical music of the organ ; with the Conventicle, there is the animated and " sonorous psalmody" of the entire con- gregation. What is the conclusion then? Just this, — with you there is more pomp ; with us there is more comfort. And I do not know that a Dissenter need express dissatisfaction at the issue to which the Reviewer has brought us, since John Bull must cease to be John Bull, before he can be disposed to prefer pomp and 31 parade to that idol of his heart, and child of his habits, — Comfort. 1 imagine that the soreness of the Reviewer, in being reluctantly brought in his own mind to this issue, has tempted him to apply such uncouth appellations to our places of worship; so that he will really have some claims on our pity. Yet, in our pity, let us be just. If we have contributed little to the ornament of our country by our chapels, I cannot allow that we have put any very " hideous" objects be- fore the eyes of our fellow-subjects; though possibly, to the sight of a Quarterly Reviewer, a Conventicle, if lovely as the Parthenon itself, would still be, from association, a most repul- sive thing. Our many thousand meeting- houses have been erected by private sub- scription, and individual effort ; we have, therefore, had no opportunity to act on any other principle than that of providing the largest accommodation at the least expense. It has not been in our power, by the aid of government grants, to expend, twenty, sixty, or eighty thousand pounds, in raising a place to accommodate one or two thousand persons ; and if it were in our power, I trust it would not be in our inclination ; for, to employ such extravagant amounts for such limited purposes, while so much more accommodation is wanting, 32 is sacrificing principle to taste, and preferring the material embellishment of the country to its intellectual and religious cultivation. Give us better men, if we have inferior churches ; let the love of ornament be chastened by the deeper love of humanity ; let not resources be squandered in decoration, while myriads of our countrymen are without the means of knowing and worshipping God who made them, or our towers, and spires, and porticoes, will live only, like those of the Greek, to tell to posterity the story of our ruin and our shame. There is yet one point which has escaped the Reviewer, but which my interests induce me to put before you. It is only the simple truth, — that these churches, which the Re- viewer is disposed to appropriate, belong as much to the Dissenter as to himself. The Dissenter pays equally with others for their erection or repair; they are the property of the nation ; and they are, therefore, his. In admirius: the distinctive beauties of West- minster Abbey, or Salisbury Cathedral, I do not feel that I am a Dissenter, or regret that I am not a Churchman ; I know that I am an Englishman, and have all the pleasure which the sense of appropriation can bestow. But, here, as in other instances, the Reviewer labours 33 to show the advantage is with the non- conformists. Since all the inconveniencies of a church are within it, the Dissenter does not suffer by it ; and since all its beauties are external, they are always open to his view, to assist the picture under his eye, or gratify the imaginings of his heart. We now attend the Reviewer to another section of his subject: — " But we must not disguise another cause of the progress of Dissent in many large towns, — the poverty of the bene- fices. With this we shall connect, as operating most strongly in the same manner, what we> dare to call the vulgar prejudices against the opulence of the Clergy. Their enormous wealth, and the implied consequence of rapacity and venality, has been the theme of every demagogue, and of every sour and discontented pamphleteer, daring all the recent struggle with financial embarrassments, and ex- cessive taxation. It is vain to detect the grossness of exaggeration, which is as greedily swallowed as it is undauntedly asserted. But though there are some prizes, some situations of great splendour and riches, we scruple not to assert on the other side, that, as a profession, taken generally, none is worse paid." This is certainly very edifying; but it would be still more so, if it was less para- doxical. The Clergy, the Reviewer says, cannot get forward, because their benefices are poor ; yet Dissent is making progress with no benefices at all. This is very peculiar! The D 34 Clergy, he insists, are very poor; yet the people persist in thinking them very opulent. Very strange and provoking this ! It is in vain, he continues, to detect the grossness of exagge- ration, which is so greedily swallowed ; and yet he proceeds to make the attempt imme- diately. Well, we must follow him, and ob- serve what he will make of his argument, with Despair for his companion. " It is not fair to decide on the wealth of the individual by the items of his income. A man in one situation of life is far richer with £500 per annum than another with £1000. In order to estimate this point with justice, then, we must take into the account the great expenditure of the clerical education, as well as the manner in which the Clergy must live to keep up their respectability, we may add, their usefulness." The mode then prescribed for us to judge of the poverty of the Church, is by comparison, for if even it should be found to be wealthy in the positive degree, it might still be shown to be poor in the comparative. Let us ascertain the result. Is the Episcopal Church of Great Britain and Ireland poor in comparison with the Dissenting Church? The question, Mr. Editor, almost offends you. Is it poorer than the Scotch Church ? — Certainly not. Is it poorer than the Catholic Church ? — No. Is 35 it poorer than the Greek Church?— No. Is it poorer than the Mahomedan Church? — No. Then we arrive very pleasantly at one of those enigmatical conclusions, in which your Re- viewer has such dear delight; — that this "poor," "ill-paid," "over-worked" church is only just the richest in the known world. But we are to consider " the manner in which the Clergy must live to keep up their respectability." — Yes, I have deeply con- sidered it; and I fear the Reviewer is attaching to the consideration of it a very vicious mean- ing. In my judgment, a Clergyman, to keep up his respectability, must live " righteously, soberly, and godly in the world ;" must have his life devoted to the discharge of all his official duties, and his heart enlarged by the exercise of all the benevolent affections ; and then, should he be poor as Diogenes, he must still be respectable to every order of the com- munity. The Reviewer's judgment is evidently different. His ideas of respectability are linked to elevated station, fine equipage, extended retinue, equality in means and exhibition, with the wealthy and fashionable who surround him. Really, I have no sympathy with such notions ; we must leave him to them ; — to measure character by station, respectability d 2 3d by appearance, and the mind by the purse ; — and, to be duped for his pains. " It happens most unfortunately, that in our older towns, with some exceptions, the benefices are remarkably small. In general, they were the vicarages held under the abbeys, or other ecclesiastical bodies. Bnt the vicarial tithe is in its nature precarious, difficult to collect, and, usually, lamentably deficient in its amount, to say nothing of its occasional unpopularity. Hence those situations, which require the most eminent talents, the soundest discretion, and, in short, all that can conduce to extensive usefulness, are by no means courted by those whose splendid abilities, and high character, command preferment. It is in human nature, that any man should prefer a country residence, with a comfortable income, and no larger population than he can conscientiously take charge of, to a town-cure, which is at once poorly paid and worked. We are far from the most remote desire of depreciating the labours of many excellent men, who have filled these situations, or as- suming that the duty discharged is influenced by the income received, but we would secure, if possible, the filling of these important situations, with the most efficient of the Clergy, by something like a bonus ; above all, we would have them not forced to take the whole oppressive duties upon themselves, but enabled to maintain one, or more, assistants in the work, as may be necessary." This is really an exposure, and I am too much the friend of the Church not to hope that most of it amounts to a libel. The Reviewer, indeed, timidly remarks that he is far from "the most remote desire of assuming that the duty 37 discharged is influenced by the income re- ceived;" but he, in fact, does more than this.: he not only assumes that it is so, he proves that it is, if his averments are to be trusted. He insists, that those situations "which re- quire the most eminent talents, and soundest discretion, and, in short, all that can conduce to extensive usefulness," are deserted, because they do not command high "preferment;" and that a rural station is chosen, because there is less to do, and a " comfortable income" to enjoy. If language has the power of expres- sion, this is undoubtedly saying, that the choice of the Clergy is influenced wholly by their pecuniary interests. So then, Mr. Editor, if we follow this state- ment, " the most efficient of the Clergy" have absolutely abandoned the spheres of " exten- sive usefulness," for those of ease and retire- ment ; and this, not from taste or habit, but from the very love of lucre; so that if they are to be found at the post of duty, they must be allured to it by " something like a bonus." And these are the men of "splendid abilities, and high character /" High character! in men who are said to prefer their pleasure to their duty, — who ask not what good they can bestow, but what bonus they shall receive, — who will begin to enlighten and save their d 3 38 fellow-men in good earnest, when, and in pro- portion as, they shall be well paid for it! As an Englishman, I say, Sir, Providence keep your church, and our church, and every church, from men of Such " high character, and splendid abilities!" What may not be true of a genus, may yet be applicable to a species ; and I am half disposed to think the Reviewer writes, as he is fond of doing, under some personal " con- viction," that more or less truth is on his side. It was said of certain orations, that they smelt of the lamp, and I have a slight fancy, that this essay, to which we are giving such minute attention, smells of the country. Your Re- viewer may, just by a possibility, be one of a little knotted band, who, though not nonconformists, are decided noncontents ; who are languishing in rural privacy for con- spicuous employment, but are striking for higher wages ; who think themselves persons of " splendid abilities, and high character," and who are soured because their merit has not found its remuneration. You, Mr. Editor, will best know whether I am correct in this supposition ; but should you find me so, allow me, in confidence, to advise, that, when you shall be Lord Chancellor, as no doubt you hope to be, you have nothing to do with them. 39 These men of earth, who will only move as they are moved, and are susceptible of no move- ment but by the impetus of the heaviest of all metals, — be very shy of them ! They will do little, — do that little ill, — and never think it sufficiently requited. If they say bonus now, they will soon cry melior, and if regarded, they will sing- optimus ; — and after all will be malcontents. It is a little singular, in all this mournful, and overweening cant about the poverty of the Church, the Reviewer has taken not the least notice of the only class of its officers, which can really be denominated poor, — its Curates. When I found him venturing on the subject, I of course concluded, that he would endeavour to make out his representation, by throwing the stately Archbishop, the stalled Prebend, and the beneficed Rector, into deepest shade ; while the poor Curate, who is truly " ill-paid and over-worked," would have been brought, emaciated and depressed as he too often is, into the fore-ground of the picture. But, no, — he descends to nothing lower than the beneficed Clergyman ; he has the boldness to place the riches of the Church before us, and then insists that it is not rich enough ! Had he really raised his voice in behalf of poverty, — had he appealed not to d 4 40 some extraneous power to help the Church, but to the beneficed parts of the Church, to assist the unbeneficed, — had he iusisted on something like a fair adaptation of reward to exertion, — it had been magnanimous ; and this, I suppose, is the reason he declined the employ. The Curate is poor and unbeneficed, and what is man, though a Churchman, to this Reviewer, if he be not beneficed? A parenthesis, awkward thing as it is, is sometimes found to contain the force of the sentence to which it belongs ; and so the Reviewer seeks to give pungency to his argu- ment, by introducing a parenthetical para- graph, on his friends, the Dissenters. It is as follows : — •f We speak it to the honour of Dissenters, that their Ministers, considering the sphere in which they move, the situation in life which they have to support, the original expense at which they, or their families, have been at, to qualify them for their duties ; (if, indeed, they have thought any qualification necessary ;) are maintained in decent and respectable comfort. There are instances of large fortunes having been made, with the assistance, probably, of pious donations and bequests. Dissenting preaching, to a young- man who has no alternative between that and trade, and has no very brilliant prospects, or even manual labour, is an excellent speculation. He has but to impose upon the minds of his congregation, by talent, or the appearance of it; to strike, if possible, into a new path, or to humour tbe caprices aud prejudices of men, vain of their judgment, and 11 be is sure of a rich harvest from the weakness of mankind. This is, one of the great evils of the sectarianism of the day, the preacher is perpetually tempted to abandon the bold vantage ground of truth, to conciliate his audience, and flatter their prejudices, on which his maintenance depends; he is not in any respect an independent teacher of religion ; he is a stipendiary expositor of the opinions of his hearers. Snch a system must lead to pride and self- sufficiency in the congregation ; in the preacher, to an ab- ject subserviency to the opinion of the leaders of the sect, and too frequently to an adulatory assurance of their superior righteousness, as individuals. This we assert, without fear of violating the rules of the strictest charity, as a necessary consequence of that infirm nature, of those passions, and that pride, which are the inheritance of men." All this is said to the honour of Dissenters. A Dissenting teacher is a young man who has " no alternative between trade and preaching;" therefore, preaching is " an excellent specu- lation." He "imposes on his congregation, by talent, or the appearance of it ;" — " he strikes into a new path, — and humours the caprices and prejudices of men." — " He is in no respect the independent teacher of re- ligion ; he is a stipendiary expositor of the opinions of his hearers." The system must lead to " pride and self-sufficiency in the con- gregation ; in the preacher, to abject sub- serviency." He labours, however, in his voca- tion, and is "rewarded by a rich harvest," for 42 his pains. All this is very honourable, cer- tainly; but it evidently requires a slight ex- position from the heretical pen of a non- conformist, to make it fully apparent. Let us see what can be made of it. That the Dissenting congregations, accord- ing to their ability, and many of them, after the example of the primitive church, " beyond their ability," contribute to the decent and comfortable maintenance of their pastors, is, I believe, notorious ; that it is, in their cir- cumstances, much to their honour, must be unquestioned; since it can only arise from the influence of an enlightened conscience, and " willing mind." But by what authority does the Reviewer assert, " that large fortunes have been realized from these contributions? I judge, from no better authority than his " convictions." I do not know, nor have I heard, of an instance of a Dissenting Minister amassing, from his ministerial salary, a for- tune ; and if such cases were in existence, I should consider them little either to our honour, or our benefit. If ever it should hap- pen, that " large fortunes" are to be secured amongst Dissenters, Dissent would become, equally with endowed churches, an M excel- lent speculation;1' and all the young aspirants after "snug places and genteel employ," 43 little work and large wages, who are now clamorous for emolument elsewhere, would be tempted to seek " advancement" in the Dissenting Church, and Dissent would spee- dily lose whatever makes it important to differ from our brethren of the great national community. No, Mr. Editor, — patronage and high fortune have been the ruin of your Church, and of the sister Church of Scotland, and (for you admit her legitimacy) of the mother Church of Rome; and the same splendid temp- tations would as surely be the ruin of the Dissenting Church, if ever they should exist. Be it known, therefore, far as the tidings may be beneficial to us, that we have no patronage to confer, — no "large fortunes" to propose. We have no mitres, no caps, no stalls ; no advowsons, no sinecures, no extravagant in- comes. If any young man will labour hard, and live hard, and all for the love of Him who has made him, and of Him who has redeemed him, and of man who is his brother, let him turn in with us, and we will do him good. But if a youth is seeking, by the use of his talents, worldly gain, let him know, that, of whatever description those talents may be, he may make them turn better to his worldly account, in any line of employ than that of Dissent. Our Ministers (apart from all notice of private 44- property) are poor, and willing to be poor. They must be prepared, in the language of one of them, " to do all the good they can, and to receive a good drubbing for it when it is done," in the " Quarterly" or elsewhere. They desire nothing beyond what is needful for suitable maintenance and enjoined hospitality. And all the claims of life being met, and its duties done, they are more than content to to die, adopting the expressions of another of them, with the acknowledgment, — " I owe nothing, — I am owed nothing, — and I have nothing." Our Reviewer having insisted that Dissent is now becoming a " royal way" to good income and " large fortune," proceeds to show, most aptly, how much it is to the honour of Dissenters so to provide for their teachers, by illustrating their character and pretensions. There is a very polite and condescending notice of their original circumstances. The Dissenting teacher has usually " no very bril- liant prospects" before him, — " no alternative between preaching and trade." Very true this. But where is the implied disgrace? Our pas- tors have originally " no very brilliant pros- pects." How should they? They spring from ourselves, and the mighty and noble of this world are not with us, and the Test and Cor- 45 porationand Uniformity Acts are effectually in- terposed between us and " brilliant prospects." They have " no alternative between preaching and trade !" And why should they ? Is it to be endured, that in this land, which owes its greatness to its commerce, the term trade should be employed to slur the condition of any man? Can it affect my real worth to society, whether I am born to five hundred pounds a year, or win it by laudable exertion? Is life less honourably spent in pursuing an honest vocation with industry, than in the ambitious pursuit of ribbons, garters, and coronets ? But this Reviewer cannot appre- hend these things. He is always recurring to his favourite standard ; he must judge of inward worth by visible circumstances ; and he would adore Beelzebub himself, if he should happen to be revealed to him, seated on a woolsack, and clothed in a robe of purple and fine linen. And after all, Mr. Editor, what are the original circumstances of those who pass with most success through your Universities ? Every class is found in them; but is it the wealthier or poorer classes that best succeed ? Is it the youth who feels that he is amply provided for, or the youth who is conscious he must provide for himself, that discovers 46 usually the most industry, becomes the best scholar, secures the best development of his faculties, and is rendered the most useful member of the community? The leading names for exertion and scholarship in the three pro- fessions at the present time, contain the reply to this inquiry. Well then, the Dissenters are chiefly limited to one class for their teachers ; but, in a full experiment on all the classes, it is found to be the very class which qualifies itself most successfully for professional labour. Our instructors are originally in dependent cir- cumstances', in fact, in similar circumstances to those of Henry Kirke White, Dr. Southey, and yourself, and possibly a grade or two above those of the philosophical Reviewer ; they are not seeking the ministry for themselves, but are sought out by others ; and the buoyancy of then- talent and character raises them to their proper level amongst their brethren. I have yet to learn that there is dishonour in such proceedings. But these teachers, who are raised from nothing, are the subjects of " abject subser- viency." They are tempted " to abandon truth, to conciliate the audience, and flatter their prejudices." They are in " no respect independent teachers of religion," and are " stipendiary expositors of the opinions of others." This is certainly, as a likeness, not 47 very amiable; but, as a proposition, it is somewhat diverting. In Independency there is no true independence; and the teachers of the Independents, who necessarily hold the first places, possess the chief talent, and exert the greatest influence in the body of Dis- senters, are in a state of " abject subserviency to their hearers." This is only supposing that the mightiest instruments in a given system are precisely those which are most subordi- nate ; a very sober supposition this, for our Reviewer to make ; especially if it is remem- bered, that having found it needful to repre- sent the Clergy of his own church, as tram- melled and enslaved, it became him to pro- vide for our's some kind of vassalage or other. But what is the language of fact on this subject? I speak not of particular abuses, they are common to every system, and the criterion of none ; but, if our ministers have been uniformly devoted to the cause of rational and practicable liberty, — is this the spirit of slaves? How is it, if they are indi- vidually oppressed, that they do not con- federate; and confederated, do not resist? How is it, that no tale of their abject bondage has escaped them, and that they have not even solicited a friendly hand to effect their 48 redemption ? Their fathers threw up emolument and distinction to be free! they refuse a parti- cipation in these rewards, that they may be free ! And is it to be insinuated, that, rejecting Bondage, when she came to them crowned with " high fortune," and prelatical dignities, they would crouch to her reptile form, when it was stripped of all disguise ? Happily, no mind can advance to such conclusions, except it be like the Reviewer's; and even he so little trusts the slander he would propagate, that it is laughable to find him indulging us in his essay with these two harmonious assertions, — that our teachers are held in most " abject subserviency" by their people; — and that the people gladly "submit to the bonds their teachers prescribe." Any man might entertain one of these declarations as possible ; but I believe there is only one man living who could manage to digest them in conjunction. The Reviewer, however, glances at the principle, and asserts that the system is such as must necessarily produce the results he ascribes to it. Let us examine it. The principle on which the Dissenting pastor is rewarded, is this, — that the people whom he serves, should contribute suitably to his support. To say nothing of the development of this principle in the New Testament, it is the ostensible 49 principle on which the ordinary reciprocities of social life are resting. The physician, the advocate, the sovereign, and the ministers of the sovereign, are all remunerated on this principle ; and if the principle is bad in one case, it must be equally so in every case. If the Dissenting Minister is the " stipendiary expositor of the opinions of others," then so are Messrs. Crokerand Canning; if the pastor is bereft of his independence, because he de- rives his supplies from his people, then so is the monarch. So much for the loyalty of this Reviewer! And so much, Mr. Editor, for en- trusting delicate duty to awkward hands ! I concede that this principle is less re- cognized in the rewards of the Church, than elsewhere ; and, in this respect, she is an anomaly in the Constitution, and an exception from the natural compacts of life. But, is she benefited by the deviation ? Is that inde- pendence, which destroys the salutary con- nexion between faithful service and expected remuneration? Is that independence, which arms the Clergyman with a power to exact contributions in the mode most repulsive to the people of his charge; and which will ever be repulsive, whatever shall be said or sung on the divine and permanent right of tithes? Is that independence,which carries the Clergy- E ,50 man from door to door, half beseeching, as "an offering," half demanding, as "a due," the yearly donation ; and.which is at last met by an acknowledgment, — piteously small, and piteously given ? At least, this is not the independence of Dissenters. Our pastors are our free choice ; we attend them from esteem and affection ; and they are supported by our free contribu- tion ; — free in reference to all legal restraint, but conscientious and obligatory in relation to the sacred rule of our conduct. They ask not their own, seek not their own ; they care for the people, and the people care for them, — care begetting care, and love rewarding love. Their maintenance is a voluntary act of their charge ; and I believe there are few amongst them, who would not rather want it wholly, than receive it from the hand of compulsion. The present head of dissertation is closed by the following paragraph. " We are not aware that our preceding argument is vulnerable on more than one point, the objections to which we wish to anticipate. It may be asserted, that the ex- pensive university education is by no means necessary to form parochial ministers ; and the theological knowledge and usefulness of the Dissenting Ministers may be invidiously appealed to as a corroboration of the objection. But, in the first place, it is certain that all the more eminent of the 51 old Dissenters were educated in the university ; — the Howes, the Owens, and the Baxters; and the succeeding generation, — the Doddridges, Watts, and Lardners, were educated by men trained in the same system, before its spirit or its form had become obsolete among them. That almost all the leaders of the Methodists partook of the same advan- tages is notorious, and Wesley himself is perpetually ascribing his own success to the sound logic he imbibed at Oxford. At present, we have among the Dissenters, men of eloquence, of great natural talents, cultivated with uncommon industry; but nothing less than that complacent self-satisfaction, which identifies the knowledge of Calvin- istic interpretations of scripture, with the highest scholar- ship, and most profound divinity, would place these men in comparison with the Laurences, the Sumners, the Hebers, the Blomfields, and the Marshes, to quote merely a few names which adorn the Establishment. But, the question is not whether a few individuals may not triumph over the disadvantages of the want of the best education, but whether we admit of any lower standard for the whole mass of the Clergy, who are to maintain the character of this country, for sober, rational, judicious theology." In this quotation, the Reviewer professes to notice the " only vulnerable point" of his argument. I consider, that it is just the least vulnerable; and has been introduced here, for the purpose of making a skilful manoeuvre. For, if the question really is, whether we can admit of a lower standard of education for the Clergy of the land, surely, the unanimous reply must be, that, whatever is relinquished, e 2 52 solid learning must be retained. He is aware of this; and by endeavouring to pass the strongest point in his " argument," as the very weakest, he seeks to pretend, he has carried every thing, in carrying what could not be refused ; and he w ould thus artfully screen and assist that highest object of his sublimated hopes, — the good benefice. Even this projected triumph would not do, however, unless he could fetter his enemies, the hapless Dissenters, to his victorious car. Their teachers have no education, compared with the Clergy ; and their learning amounts to little more than a veil to cover their igno- rance, which is so gausy every body sees through it; and unless we would reduce the Church to their own wretched predicament, we must, per force, defend the presentbenefices, and make more. You are quite aware, by this time, Mr. Editor, that your Reviewer has a method, eminently his own, of getting "about and about" his subject, in proportion to its diffi- culty. His peculiar tactics are here brought into requisition. He was conscious that if the education of Dissenters should be made a serious question, the mind even of a candid and well informed Churchman would spon- taneously recur to such names as Howe, Owen, 53 and Baxter, Doddridge, Watts, and Lardner; he, therefore, shrewdly anticipates the evil, and boldly claims them, directly or indirectly, for university-men. Well, this is a most useful mode of argumentation. The original non~ conformists were trained in the university, therefore, we must not boast of them; their successors were taught on the same plans, therefore, we must not boast of them ; and should the Dissenters be wise enough to abide by the same system, to the third and fourth generation, and should eminent men con- tinue to spring from it, they would all derive their greatness from an education, nominally dissenting, but virtually and truly, of the university ! so that we must not boast at all ! "Without question," the Reviewer has only been enabled to compass a conclusion, so comprehensive as this, "by the sound logic which he has imbibed at Oxford." For my part, I have enjoyed no such privilege. I am a plain man, and have a plain understanding; and the worst of it is, that, discipline my thoughts as 1 may, they are always stumbling on such " lame conclusions" as, a Churchman is a Churchman, a Dissenter is a Dissenter, and ten and ten make twenty. But, seriously, Mr. Editor, if the original Dissenters derived their greatest advantage E 3 •34 from a university education, I have to ask, How their successors were found without it ? Have the universities been left accessible to them, and have they ceased to value the bene- fit they can confer ? If so, they are the legiti- mate objects of invidious comparison, and caustic raillery; but, if it shall be admitted, as you are sensible it must, that they are ac- tually and unjustly excluded from the great public schools of the empire, you will, at once, perceive, that our amiable Reviewer is in- dulging in the sport of all vulgar minds, by adding insult to injury. I am as ready, as any Episcopalian can be, to mention the names of Laurence, Heber, Blomfield, and Marsh, and those of many others, equally eminent, though not equally known, with respect, as men of high classical and mathematical attainments; and, I will as readily admit, that in these departments of scholarship, the Dissenters have none who may compete with them. Yet, in making this admission, it should, in all fairness, be re- marked, that it was, and still is, impossible that they should excel in these particular branches of learning. And the impossibility arises altogether from existing circumstances, and not from defective capacities. Talent and industry, no man, as this time of day, will 55 dare to say they want ; and when it shall happen, that their mental energies, by a greater division of labour, are directed to one exclusive object, with all the facilities for attaining it, which are now the subject of monopoly, they will not consent to be second to the highest name in the brilliant calendar of science and literature. At present, we necessarily want the means, both of forming, and of providing for, the superior classical and mathematical scholar. Really, to excel in either department, — not youth, or maturity, — but life must be conse- crated to the pursuit. Our Church cannot as yet bestow this privilege on her sons. She is only competent to provide for pastors ; and her pastors are so occupied by daily duties, and the claims of active benevolence, as to leave them no choice in their pursuits, what- ever may be their tastes. By consequence, supposing the acquisitions were really made, we have not the power of rewarding them. In the Church, success in these particular acquirements, is certainly followed by the highest honours, and the most substantial emoluments ; with us, they tind but an in- different market. We have no valuable master- ships, fellowships, or professorships, to dis- tinguish them; the very tutors of our e 4 50 ministerial seminaries, have, almost without exception, to nearly the present time, been compelled to amalgamate as they could, the somewhat conflicting duties of the professor and pastor. However, every thing must have its growth. The " two universities" were once no way better than what our seminaries are now. Dissent is making a simultaneous pro- gress with light and freedom; and, as it ad- vances, the facilities for every class of scholar- ship will be increased. We may be assisted by no government grant, for the encouragement of college learning, like the Catholics; we may be still shut out from the great national well-springs of knowledge, and be obliged to contribute towards their support ; and yet we may realize, equally with the most privileged, whatever can be desirable to a wise and good mind. Nor is it improbable that the "Quar- terly" may aid us in a more speedy arrival at the goal. It was by the " Quarterly's" mean ridicule of the American navy, that it was made respectable; and it is possible, (for we Dissenters are not quite perfect,) that the same dignified and gracious carriage towards the nonconformists, may hasten them, by a few degrees, in condensing their too scattered means and energies, to supply the existing defects in their body; and the good-humoured 57 Reviewer may, probably, have the gratification of seeing, instead of contracted and separated academies, which scarcely meet his eye, a "hideous and unsightly" Dissenting univer- sity, thankfully acknowledging its precocious existence to the subscriptions, not of his purse, certainly, but of his pen. Before our Reviewer's conclusions can be entirely disposed of, there is one question he has avoided, which it is needful to settle. It is the simple inquiry, — What is education? I would define it, as the discipline of the mental and moral powers for their especial uses in after life ; and it is obvious that the best education is that which is most successful in effecting the proposed object. Then, it is to be remembered, that the Reviewer is discussing not education generally, but the education of the ministers of religion; and we shall quickly find the subject coming before us in a very different aspect. A man of capacity, by close training and continued application, may un- questionably be formed into a fine classic, a profound calculator, or a subtle metaphy- sician ; and it is of the highest consequence that the country should always have a regular supply of such men ; but how can these ex- clusive acquisitions qualify a person to be the useful and efficient pastor ? Theology is the 58 science of the minister of religion. Whatever is fine in taste, or profound in numbers, is to be pursued, not solely and for its own sake, but only as it shall assist him in the elucidations of biblical truth, and the study of divine things. If, therefore, his studies shall not have been subordinated to his proper duties, his excel- lence in one line of knowledge, may prove his deficiencies in another, — his intimacy with the classics may have occasioned his estrangement from the scriptures ; he may be admirably fitted to do what it will never be his duty to perform, and every way disqualified to answer the claims of his daily vocation. Whatever may be the present defects in the education of our teachers, we conceive they have a decided advantage in the adaptation of their pursuits to their prospects. They may not be so familiar as some with a particular segment in the circle of general science; but they have a better acquaintance with the ivhole; wherever they may be superficial, they are not so in theology; and although the Re- viewer is resolved to refer it to " nothing less than complacent self-satisfaction," we have no hesitation in declaring, that the Dissenters have names among them equal to the highest in his community, for " profound divinity ;" and that, on the average, the pastors of the 59 Dissenting Churches, in theological attainment and ministerial qualifications, are every way superior to the pastors of the Episcopal Establishment. The Clergyman is frequently, first educated, and finally inducted to a be- nefice, with little or no regard to the duties of his office; hence we often have, speakers without a voice, orators without persuasion, devotionalists who cannot pray, and divines who have not an ordinary acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and the material discus- sions which have arisen from them. On the contrary, the nonconformist teacher is no- thing, unless he is physically and mentally prepared to discharge the functions of his ministry with efficiency ; hence, in the course of twenty years, I have known many, who, for want of talent, or want of its adaptation, have utterly failed among the Dissenters ; and who, having found admission to the endowed Church, have, by the help of printed manu- script sermons on the one hand, and the liturgy on the other, continued in an employ for which they were never meant, and withheld from one in which possibly they might have been useful to the world. Not many years since, I passed some time in one of the university cities. I had leisure; and 1 willingly sought improvement and gra- 60 tification in other places besides those of my denomination. I entered one of the principal churches; it was a venerable and imposing structure, and the portion appropriated to worship was comfortably filled, and by per- sons of plainer habits than one had reason to expect. I waited for the commencement of service, expecting, as I had a right to do, in one of the strong holds of episcopacy, that every part of it would be observed with more than usual efficiency. The liturgy began, but it was read with false cadence, false accent, with indecent hurry, and untimely pauses. The psalmody intervened ; but nothing was to be heard, except the rattling sound of the organ, and the shrill cries of a few noisy children. The preacher ascended to the pulpit. He had an intelligent and pleasing- appearance; and, without doubt, was an accomplished man. He opened a manuscript book, and read for about twenty minutes. The little treatise was correct in style, and care- fully composed. But it was an essay, rather than a sermon ; and better fitted for the " Senate House," than the Church. Distinc- tions were made too nice to be appreciated by the audience ; points were put in dispute, and left in doubt, on which it is unwise as unsafe to disturb the common mind ; and the til whole was read with that set voice, and phi- losophical indifference, as to make it a ques- tion, whether the reader had any definite object before him, beyond the occupation of an allotted period of time. It was too limited for a disquisition, and too refined for a popular lecture ; and whatever it contained, might have been known and repeated, though the Saviour of men had never come, and the Apostle Paul had not been inspired. The next service I attended, was at a meeting-house, but not of my own deno- nomination. Here was no busy chattering of beadles, door-keepers, and parish clerks, up to the very moment of opening the de- votions; nor any gay bowing and curtesy ing from pew to pew in the congregation. There was a manifest seriousness, as if coming under the common observation of a superior Being The pastor was not in his place, but a young man, who had recently completed his edu- cation, took the pulpit as an occasional supply. The psalmody was without any in- strumental accompaniament ; it was simple and animated, because congregational. A free prayer was offered with much earnestness of manner, and comprehension of petition. A freshness was given to our ordinary wants and desires, by the varied mode of expressing 62 them, and the attention was thus kept awake to regard them. The preacher announced his text with seriousness. A slight flush on his cheek, and as slight a tremour on his accents, told you that he was the subject of strong, though controlled, emotion. The people were silently waiting for his words, and he must address them for a considerable period so as to promote their edification. He felt that his sentences were to be tried by no negligent hearers ; that he had no manuscript to lounge on ; that in the solemn duty to be discharged, he was thrown entirely on his own resources of mind and heart, and he was with the people, like Luther and Paul, "with fear and trem- bling.'' He passed onward to the exposition and application of his theme. As he advanced, whatever fear might have possessed him, "which hath bondage," was cast out; and the " burden of the Lord" alone oppressed him. The raised countenance evinced the sympathy of his heart with his subject; and, as he got clear of necessary explication, and approached the close, he proceeded with holy and heavenly fervour to press its most solemn inferences on the consciences of all present. The fixed attention of the congregation, the spirit with which they sung the final hymn, and the quiet manner in which they retired 03 from the house of God, were sufficient indications of the interest they had taken in the worship. Stranger as I was to the people and the preacher, I participated in their serious en- joyments; and I sought, in a rural walk beyond the skirts of the town, a period for reflexion. It was impossible to avoid a mental comparison of the individuals I have slightly described. "Here are," thought I, "two men casually put before me as the representatives of two churches, and neither of them undue specimens. The one has been bred in schools, matured in colleges, and distinguished by the highest honours of the university ; but he has not one qualification of mind, or heart, or habit, for his most important and daily duties. The other, probably, has but a subordinate knowledge of scientific and polite literature ; but he has studied his Bible critically and devotionally. Whatever he has, is available for the pulpit'; and he is to be described, not as a classic, nor as a mathematician, nor as an antiquary, but as a " minister of the word of life." Judge the individuals by their voca- tion, and there is no comparison ; and, not- withstanding the high patronage and worldly influence of the endowed Church, Dissent must necessarily spring up in the very shadow to invert the order of a sentiment, which, for its wisdom, has become an aphor- ism among us — by demanding "in things in- different," unity, and by granting " in things necessary," liberty. It was remarked of the King of Prussia, in the late war, that he had taste in the uniform of his soldiers, but none in the tactics of the field; so the Church has been r%id in external conformitv, but has been h 4 104 negligent of truths and principles; she has raised before us an imposing and colossal figure, but, like that in the prophecies, it is composed of incongruous materials, — clay, iron, brass, and gold, — its bulk is its weak- ness, the higher its elevation the more hazardous its standing. Having traversed the mazes of the Re- viewer's argument, we now arrive at his in- ferences, which are any thing but inferential. His first and grand inference from the entire discussion, is, that, "on the whole, the Church is most admirably adapted to the circum- stances of the country." A very desirable con- clusion, undoubtedly; but on what premises is it actually resting? On none other than the advantages of the Dissenters over the Church ! His proposition is, that the Church is labouring beneath great comparative disadvantages ; his inference is, therefore the Church is admirably adapted to the people! He has shown that our places of worship are better adapted to the comfort and accommodation of the worship- pers ; that our periods of worship are more sagaciously adapted to the habits of the people ; that our teachers are decidedly more adapted to be heard and understood than those of the Church; and that our system of doc- trine is much more adapted to the general 105 mind, as it is not composed, like that of the Church, of " nice and subtle distinctions," but of "broad and strongly traced" truths, which are " clear and definite." He urges, that, with no benefices, our plans have more adaptation to provide comfortably for our pastors, that they are more adapted to call forth the ener- gies of the human character; and equally well adapted to provide suitable places of worship as they are needed, since they have furnished as many, in a given number of years, as the Church is likely to supply in as many ages. And yet this incomparable Reviewer tum- bles down as plumply, and with as much naivete as possible, on the conclusion, — that the Church is on the whole the most admirably adapted for the country ! I remember a Right Honourable Secretary not long since opposed a proposition for Reform, by attempting to show that the machinery of the Commons' House "worked well;" and, that, therefore, on the whole, it was well adapted to the cir- cumstances of the country ; but here is a pleader " abler far," who, at Oxford, or else- where, has found out a "royal road" to logic; for he insists, that whatever the Church may boast, its system does not "work well;" and then infers, that it is best adapted to the people. 106 An eminent Italian professor, who was the subject of that modesty which waits on genius, was once listening to a pupil who was making such " sweet discord," and looking such sweet complacency while she did it, that he invo- luntarily exclaimed, "I wish, Miss, I had your assurance /" In the closing paragraph, the Reviewer seeks to be very consolatory. However he may have winced, and whined, and blustered in the under-part of the little scene in which he has acted, he would end it with a grace, — if he must make his exit, he would do it as Caesar did, — like a gentleman. The Dissenters, he has no doubt, think well of the Church, — the Church must endeavour to think well of herself, — Dissent is as variable as the weather, — the Church is permanently the same ; — if she should be in danger, her Articles will support her, — if she should become " indolent and lukewarm," her Formularies will revive and warm her, — her cause is good, better, best, — she will be maintained as she deserves, in her dignity as well as usefulness. Well, Mr. Editor, we have no objection to have it said, that we think well of the Church. We do think well, exceedingly well, of what- ever within her pale is wise, and pious, and devoted, and scriptural ; we only object to 107 her frailties and faults ; and no good Church- man would desire us to say more. That she has been useful we admit; that she may be abundantly more so, by her exertions at home, and influence abroad, we eagerly desire. What may contribute to her real dignity and welfare we readily allow; and even where change may seem to us most desirable, we would not ask it from any source except the calm, deliberate, concurrent opinion of the nation. But seriously, if the Church is to maintain her dignity and usefulness, as the Reviewer predicts, it must not be by following his pre- scriptions. He says, the Church has the protec- tion of her creeds ; and then contrasts her state with the decay of the old Presbyterians, as if they were strangers to creeds and catechisms, and leagues and covenants ! Then he says, enrich the benefices of the Church; as if her wealth had not already made her a snare and a prey to worldly minds, whom no creeds can bind, and no sanctions terrify. Then he insists, that the Church has suffered mainly by her superior liberality ; and that she can only meet her adversaries in equal strife, by assum- ing a more menacing attitude. Vile nostrums all ! which, if they are meant to be toothsome to the patient, would infallibly aggravate the 108 disease. He either cannot or may not touch on the real necessities of the case. Hear then the truth ; and though from a Dissenter, yet not from an enemy. Let the Church lower herself something from her aristrocratical elevation, and put herself on a closer footing of intercourse with the peo- ple. Let her nobly renounce for herself the anti-protestant pretensions to divine rights, legitimate succession, and the power to decree rites and ceremonies ; and the equally papis- tical and overstrained reliance upon creeds and formularies. Let her at last, without reservation and without addition, avow that the Holy Scriptures alone are our guide and authority ; and that she has no power, except to accomplish their plain and literal instruc- tions. Let her relinquish her vain dream of an- tiquity,— death and sin are more antique than she, — lest she should be found antiquated in the end. Let her shape her services, not ac- cording to the ritual of the Old Testament, which has " vanished away," but after the directions of the New Testament which " con- tinueth for ever." Let her carry forward the work of the great Reformers as they com- manded ; and obliterate from her formularies those corruptions which are derived from the 109 Romish superstition. Let her disclaim her right by any voice of scripture, to the enjoyment of tithes, and let her commute her conven- tional right for a fair and honourable remu- neration. Let her adapt herself as much as may be to the manners and customs of the people; let nothing be bound on the con- sciences of her followers, which God hath not bound ; and let her not insult those beyond her community, by pretending to yield them the benefits of Toleration. — Toleration! the power to tolerate involves the power to with- hold toleration, — and we deny both to any Church under heaven. Instead of craving more wealth, let it be understood, that the safety of the Church is in her comparative poverty. Let her be jea- lous of worldly patronage, as of the plague. Let the benefices be equalized ; and let them be disposed of, not at the clamour of interest, or the bribe of gold, but to men of sound worth and pastoral character. Let the man who actually takes the care of souls, have the attached reward; and let us have no lonarer the disgraceful contrast of the luxurious in- cumbent, and the starved curate. Let the ener- gies of the people be elicited towards their Church; let their offers of supplying local accommodation be met on a liberal footing; 110 and let them hold a sanative veto on the ap- pointment of their spiritual instructors. Let us hear no more of the nonsense of baptismal regeneration, and salvation by the mere performance of sacraments. Give us less of Bellarmine and the Fathers, and more of the Apostles ; less of Seneca, and more of Christ. Talk not, at this date of the world, about " legitimate ordination," " the sin of schism," and exclusive privilege ; preach the gospel in all the latitude of its chartered mercies, and all the force of its unutterable obligations. As your ministers have to speak, see that they can speak ; as they have to pray, see that they are " men of prayer ;" and as they have to persuade, see that they themselves are per- suaded of the truths to which they would win others. Let the Church especially see that her ministers are in earnest, — deeply in earnest. Let her renounce those lifeless, school-boy, automaton services, which may make the witness of them an hypocrite, possibly an infidel, hardly a Christian; and let us have the heart-stirring truths of our redemption an- nounced with corresponding feeling. Let her ministers be men who stand in the counsel of the Most High ; who are raised at once by the nobility of christian principle above the influence of honour or wealth ; and who are Ill possessed with the richest chanty to man. Let them be men, not of this world, but ano- ther ; breathing of heaven while on earth ; and who, in making their pilgrimage through this vale of tears, are chiefly concerned, that them- selves, and those in their guidance, may safely reach the celestial, — the eternal City! This, Sir, is my remedy for the evils with which the Church is now " oppressed ;" and if it shall be applied, I make myself responsible for its efficacy. Her "flesh shall return as the flesh of a little child ;" she shall be green in old age; she shall stand as high in excellence as in station; she shall be blessed, and shall be a blessing ; and the Dissenter, if Dissenter there then shall be, shall be among the fore- most in a generous exultation in her improve- ment and felicity. But my remedy is not palatable, and I fear, though there is life in it, on that account it will be rejected ; besides, it is presented by a non-conformist, and who would accept of health or life from illegitimate hands? Well, I wish she would try it, I am sure it would do her good ! I have now nothing remaining for observa- tion, except the professions of the Reviewer, in the management of his subject. No man can complain in being tried on his own pro- fessions ; and the Reviewer less than any 112 one, since he has so explicitly and ostenta- tiously placed them on the head of his essay. His first profession is, that he will discuss principles; " our views," he says, " are general, and will not descend to particular cases ; we discuss the principles of different systems, not the acts of individuals." Now, Sir, is it not palpably evident that this review is any thing rather than a discussio?i of princi- ples ? Is it not made up of particular allusions, loose assertions, invidious comparisons? The subject under his hand was the progress of Dissent; — to treat it as he professes, he must have brought forward the principles on which Episcopacy is grounded, and those on which the Dissenter rests his cause, for strict, but fair examination. But there is scarcely a distinct reference to the principles of either Church. This Reviewer having chosen Dissent as a popular article to write upon, for the benefit of the " Quarterly," had, no doubt, a right to choose his mode of treating it; but he could have no right to flatter the prejudiced reader, and to delude the careless one, by introducing a gross discrepancy between his pretensions and performance. He did not mean to discuss principles; he knew that the "periodical" for which he was writing, did not dare engage in a calm and honest inquiry on the broad 113 principles of Dissent. There have been innu- merable philippics in that work against the Dis- senters ; but there has been nothing approxi- mating to a free examination of their principles. The simple mention of some of our elemen- tary principles will be sufficient to show that these assertions are correct. They are these : — that God has endowed man with a rational and conscious existence ; — that to guide his opi- nions, and his worship, he has bestowed on him a revelation which is amply sufficient to instruct him in what he ought to believe, and what he ought to do ; — that he is separately and abso- lutely to judge for himself of the contents of this revelation, and is at perfect liberty to profess those opinions, and offer that worship which he conceives it to enjoin; — that, as far as these are religious rights, they are not conventional, not prescriptive, not alienable; that they are therefore not cognizable by civil or ecclesi- astical power; and that the man, or body of men, who shall venture to controul the reli- gious faith and worship of any one, by ignomi- nious tests and privations, are guilty of arro- gating the judgment of the Most High ; and of persecuting a being, who, equally with themselves, is endowed with the right of judging for himself, and is made responsible to his Maker alone ! i 114 We maintain, — that a company of " faith- ful men," assembling together in one place for the worship of God, is a church ; — that this church so assembled, has the right of elect- ing its own officers, temporal and spiritual ; that it has the power of admission or of exclusion ; but that the whole of its power is executive, enforcing only those rules which are clearly developed in the New Testament. That such an assembly of persons with its chosen officers, is a complete church within itself; that it can acknowledge no extraneous authority ; nor can it exercise any over other similar assemblies of persons ; — and that consequently each church, collectively, has an unquestioned right to profess its faith, and present its worship in the presence of all who may voluntarily unite with it, without the least interference of political power, unless these rights shall be abused, to injure the body politic. This, Mr. Editor, is a slight sketch of the principles on which we rest our cause. I acknowledge that 1 look on them with calm- ness and confidence. I challenge you to a candid and manly examination of them; and I promise that if you, or the best man of your critical club will fairly try them by any legi- timate mode of argument, and demonstrate 115 their fallacy, then I will be a Churchman, I, at least, am not a Dissenter because my father was one ; nor because I am smitten with its temporal honours and rewards ; nor be- cause I find any satisfaction in differing from my brethren of mankind. I desire to know the truth, and knowing it, to embrace it, cost what it may. If Dissent is only the nursling of political discontent, the sophism of weak headed enthusiasts, the unwholesome gangrene of the benevolent affections, — then let it perish ! But if it is the child of truth, and the parent of liberty, and the friend of piety, beware lest in resisting it, you may haply fight against God! Another profession of the Reviewer is, that he shall meet the discussion in the spirit of charity. "Above all" he says, " we shall study to observe that spirit of charity, which, as it will not condescend to the restraint of fear, lest it should offend by declaring the whole truth, will study to express that truth in a man- ner which ought to give no offence whatever." This is his profession. Now, for the perform- ance. In this essay, so truly devoted to calm and philosophical inquiry, and in which, if truth is stated, it is to be stated in the most conciliatory manner, we are indulged with the following expressions : — Dissent is a i 2 116 " feud," " a disorder," " a narrow sect," a "blind fanaticism; and, in "many places," a " commercial and pecuniary speculation." Dissent is " the spirit of party," — the " sec- tarianism of the day;" its "principle is ex- clusive privilege ;" — its " life is proselytism ;" its " life-blood is detraction from the Clergy ;" its " vital principle is disunion;" (plenty of the vital principle by the bye;) and "difference of opinion is at a premium." Dissenting places of worship are " conventicles," " brick barns ;" — " hideous — " unsightly." Dissenting pas- tors are " preachers of conventicles ;" " no way independent;" "stipendiary expositors of the opinions of others;" and their " princi- ple is to accommodate their doctrine to the humour and prejudice of their hearers." Their preaching consists of " dogmatic assertion," — " exaggerated pretension," — " an appeal to passion and conceit;" and, " perhaps, amounts to the wildest enthusiasm, or the most gloomy fanaticism." And the " low preachers exhibit the fate of Dives, not merely without commise- ration, but with sensations of fierce and bitter triumph, to justify the poor in their hatred of the opulent!" The system of Dissent is described by the detested French phrase, surveillance; it is a "rigid jealousy of sepa- ration among separatists;" it " enchains and 117 enslaves the weak mind ;" " the weakest minds may, without difficulty, dissent from the Church ; but it " requires no little strength of character to dissent from the Dissenters." The mass of Dissenters is composed of the " middle class," more likely to be led astray than either the upper or lower classes! They are influenced by advantages and motives not of a spiritual, but " a worldly" nature, " petty ambition," " management of funds," " voice at elections," " pride of surveillance," " brief authority," and "self-importance;" these mo- tives have made Dissenters, rather than con- scientious objections to any thing in the ser- vices or ministers of the Church !" And, after all, the Reviewer's temper is not to be esti- mated from these separated expressions. In being isolated from their connexion they lose their sting ; and even in their places they do not yield the adequate proof. The spirit of the whole is discoverable, not by a few violent phrases, but mainly by that supercilious con- tempt, that insinuated misrepresentation, that malignant slander, which lives through every sentence, and every paragraph. Yet all this is done and said in " the spirit of charity!" — with " perfect impartiality!" — in a "conscientious horror of infringing, in the least, on the great commandment which for- i 3 118 bids to bear false witness !" — and "with a studious concern to express truth, in such a manner, as ought not to give offence!" Sir, I have no patience with this sub-human hypo- crisy ! If a man has an itching to attack Dissent and Dissenters, let him say so ; and let him do it in open day, and with fair wea- pons ; but let him not pretend to pledge me in a poisoned cup, nor desecrate the tokens of friendship by making them the snares of hos- tility ! Talk of charity! — impartiality! — inof- fensiveness ! — Thou pretty deceiver, how plausi- ble thou art! Thou hast a fascinating eye; thou hast a smooth tongue; thou art fair spoken, and canst talk sweetly of charity, and liberty, and the knowledge of good and evil. Thou art very innocent; for nothing is under that soft tongue but — poison.Thouartvery harmless; for nothing is in thine eye but — death. And even in death thou art merciful ; for, if thy victims must die, thou deliverest them from the anguish of death by beguiling them of their fears ! Thou beautiful creature ! — thou dost never hiss when thou art aboutto bite! Thou canst insinuate an anathema on the separatist, in professing to intercede for the Church, and all so inoffensively! Thou canst seem any thing but — evil; and, be any thing but — good ! 119 I have finally to remark upon one other profession, which is maintained, not merely in this article, but generally by the Review; it is the superior correctness and elegance of its style. The excellency of the work, in this particular, is insinuated, or asserted, in every number which appears; and partly on this account, but principally because occasional articles are introduced, which, by their careful and admirable composition, seem to justify the claim, it is approved and read as a truly classi- cal performance. This very celebrity, however, makes it the more important that it should be read with an eye open equally to its defects and to its beauties, lest the public taste should be corrupted in the very act of seeking refine- ment. My present business is with the article before me; and, unhappily, I have not much to say in its favour as a composition. You shall judge, Mr. Editor, for yourself; I will merely submit to you those passages which have met my observation, when going over the paragraph for other purposes. They are as follows : — " It is not always easy to discriminate the modern Independents, who have preserved the congregational form of worship and the same meeting-houses ever since the time of Cromwell, from those of the Methodists." I 4 120 A loose and incorrect sentence. He means to connect the meeting-houses of the Methodists and Independents ; but he really says, it is not easy to discriminate the Independents from the meeting-houses of the Methodists. I never knew that an Independent Dissenter was like a Methodist meeting-house. "The great accession to the body of Dissenters has been among the followers of Whitfield and Wesley." Query. — How can an accession to one party be among the followers of another party ? This is saying in coming to A I remain with B. It should have been from, not among. " A justification of open attack against the negli- gence," &c. Attack and against, are both expressive of opposition. The phrase is superfluous. It should be attack on, &c. "The appeal to parliament for assistance is only a new proof, not of the zeal of the clerical body, but for an extension of their own patronage." This is nonsense. To make it agree in con- struction, it should be of an extension. Still it would not be sense. Read it then ; — but of a desire to extend, S. ^/7t.^-^^^^ REMARKS. Jersey. 1837. Rev. Sir, The following remarks are occasioned by the repeated language of alarm, as expressed by yourself, and others in this island, relative to the destructive designs of Dissenters towards " the Church" as "The Church of England1' is em- phatically styled. I deeply regret that fears so imbecile and ill grounded, should be entertained by persons of education and reflection, though I doubt not with a strict regard for truth. It is cause for astonishment that the mere adherance, by Protestant Dissenters, to statements of Christian Doctrines of "faith or practice" as derived simply from the Sacred Scriptures ; should excite so much anxiety and distressing fears for what must be considered, as mere frame-work, or as a dignitary of the Church acknowledges human invention, for he justly observes " Civil Ecclesiastical Establishments of Christianity, is no part of Christianity itself''* It is also declared by one of the most talented Evengelical Clergymen, that, " neither Our Lord nor his Apostles enjoined a national religious establishment."f " The Church" of Christ needs not to fear " it has the ' Mu- nition of rocks' for its defence, and no power formed against it shall prosper." The appendages of mere human wisdom, and folly, shall most assuredly be removed,^ and the real glory of the Kingdom or Church of Christ, shine forth in all its moral potency and splendour ; such a consummation every good man must ardently desire. * Dr. Paly's Moral Philosophy, t Dr. Dealtry. % Malt. 15, 13. 4 The Protestant Dissenters of the British Empire claiming, the inalinahle right of private judgment, dissent from every principle of sacerdotal, or secular domination, in matters of conscience; and from a well attested, but painful, testimony of their sincerity and honesty, they have surrendered all con- nection with the privileges, and immunities, of the State cor- poration, called the " Church of England.1' For thus acting, and in defending their views, you «ith others charge them with the " sin of schism," and " a desire to pull down the Church," " enemies to the Church ! V $c. $$c. Feeling myself implicated in the charge ; and having from a deliberate preference, stood connected with a section of the vast and increasing community of Protestant Dissenters, I presume no apology, is necessary for presenting you with a few of those reasons, which dictated that preference, and that it is from an unabated esteem for principles I consider of paramount value, that I am content to sustain the un- meaning and supercilious approbrium of " schismatic," " un- authorised" and merely tolerated teacher of Christianity. By that vile measure of priestly intolerance the " Act of Uniformity," it was enacted. " That if any one shall declare or speak any thing in the derogation or depraving of the Book of Common Prayer, he shall, for the first offence, suffer imprisonment one whole year without bail or mainprize ; and, for the second offence, shall be imprisoned during life." The Canons declare, that " Whosoever shall hereafter affirm that the Church of England is not a true and an apostolical Church ; or, that the form of God's worship contained in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacraments, containeth any thing that is repugnant to the Scriptures ; &c. &c," or, " Whosoever shall affirm, that it is lawful for any sort of ministers and lay persons, or of either of them, to form together, and make rules, orders, or constitutions in things ecclesiastical, without the King's authority, and shall not sub- mit themselves to be ruled and governed by them ; "let them be excommunicated ipso facto, and not be restored until they 5 repent, &c." So that according- to the unrepealed decrees of what its advocates represent as the most tolerant and Catho- lic of Churches, the whole body of the English Dissenters lie under one sweeping* sentence of excommunication, as wicked persons, deserving- to be visited with the vengence of the civil power !" Under the sanction of the above iniquitous law, and the Canons of your Church, thousands endured cruel per- secutions." It is the State only that has become tolerant. No act of the Church has reversed these decrees ; they still formally survive in the exclusive reg-ulations of her colleges, the obligation of her ministers, and the provisions of her ritual."* Bishop Morton justly observes that " The Non- comformists have suffered what is next to death, and too many have suffered even unto death : of whom then shall their deaths be required ?" In addressing you Rev. Sir, be assured it is not from any wish to increase your fears, or your pftttttrbation of mind, which 1 grieve to perceive, and hear to be expressed, on the appre- hended danger of your Church.t Many of your brethern also, and those too, of whom better things might have been expected, indulge opinions, vague and illiberal, respecting the religious character and intentions of men, they know, will * See more especially, Canon. 27. t The exclusive language frequently employed, such as " our Church" &c, is exceedingly inappropriate. The Church establishment is national and includes all the various sects, who dissent from it, — mere separation from its worship, is no cause for exclusion, from any of its benefits or managing its affairs, when it may be deemed suitable to any subject of the realm to participate in either. It is pitiful conduct in any — but much more so in professed Christians striving to promote the mere pur- pose of parly, under the plausible pretence of promoting the interests of religion — " which is tirst pure then peaceable.'" The excitement on Church rates, &c, in England, is created by just views of supporting the cause of religion, which can only be reasonable, on the principle of participating in its services in that form adopted by the individual. — I acknowledge the "danger" in which all compulsory modes of maintaining religion are placed, but for religion itself, — I dare entertain no fears, when "He who is head over all things for the Church ever liveth and reigneth " Within the last 18 years not less than between forty and fifty thousand pounds have been expended by the different religious bodies in the erection of Chapels in every parish throughout the island, — And all the result of the voluntary principle! — this may serve to shew the importance and safety of leaving the interests of religion to the free will offerings of the people. When the population and their resources are considered, the efficiency as well as the sufficiency of the voluntary principle, when applied to the maintainance and extension of Christianity, is amply illustrated and confirmed. (i sustain a comparison for patriotism and useful citizenship, with any portion of the body politic. I am aware of your early associations, and limited means for obtaining- information of the dissenting- body, or their pub- lications, and which circumstance I conceive will justify the following brief view of the controversy between your Church and those dissenting from it. My long and intimate ac- quaintance with your estimable character, and conscientious discharge of ministerial duties ; press upon my mind too strongly, to admit the use of any expression, except that of sincere respect and Christian esteem : — but you know how important it is in the pursuit after truth, particularly divine truth, that " we know no man after the flesh,1' or in the words of an heathen. " Amicus Plato, Amicus Socrates, sed magis arnica Veritas." In directing your attention to the subject of these remarks, allow me to express a hope, that no preconceived opinion will be suffered to suppress the force of any truth, elicited by the following observations ; however opposed to your former or present opinions ; In our attainment of knowledge, how many favorite notions, are found by subsequent investigations inadmissable and worthless ! In religious inquiries, you admit, all must be tested by the unerring standard of inspired truth ; — but no task more difficult to that mind, sincere in its attach- ment for what may be valued as religious acquirements, than the abandonment of even any prejudice, cherished as religious truth, when discovered to be such.* " Let us," says an eminent writer, " maintain the sole authority of Scripture in all matters of religious truth and duty, otherwise there can be no end of discussions." The moment we substitute any other authority than God himself for the doctrines we hold, or the religious duties to which we are obliged, we come under our Lord's censure. " In vain do they worship me, teaching for doc- trines the commandments of men." " God's word is the sole standard of revealed truth, and the entire rule of christian * Vide. A Pamphlet on « The Unity of the Church," by Baptist W. Noel, M. A. 7 duty, and woe be to those who either add to it or take from it.1'* The right of private judgment necessarily follows from the supremacy of God's word.'1 For as there is no authorized infallible interpreter, to follow any fallible authorities would be to dishonor the word of God by making- them supreme. Being fallible, their judgment may therefore, in some points, oppose the doctrine of Scripture ; and if in those points we take their views instead of the Scripture for our guide, we should oppose it too, — God has given to no man, and to no set of men, this right of supreme decision, so derogatory to the Bible." " Each of us will be judged by that alone.''t The self-denying truths of the Gospel are too pungent, for the mere nominal professors, and hence the fondness for those views of Christian profession, which are easy of attainment, and which tend to worldly advantage and aggrandisement. Such inadequate ideas of the design of the Gospel system, may I fear be assigned, as the chief cause of the vociferous and unmeaning cry " the Church is in danger;1' — a clamour the more suspicious, inasmuch as it is raised on the side of so vast a preponderance of worldly influence and immunities. The following language of a profound writer'! may perhaps be more pertinent ; at least, it expresses much more forcibly my own views. " It has frequently," says he " been said that the Church is in danger." What is meant by the Church'? Or what is endangered ? Is it meant that the episcopal form of Church government is endangered ; — that some religious re- * Rev. 22, 18, 19. t It is refreshing to peruse sentiments so congenial with reason and revelation, the writer of which is one of the most gifted and useful ministers of the Church of England, The doctrine pointedly opposes the high-toned claims of a class of " fierce" men arro- gating to themselves the prerogative of infallible interpreters of God's word, and whilst they themselves are declaiming against the alarming and increasing influence of Popery ; yet are the verriest slaves to the most detestable part of that system. — Its Spirit. A general return to the imperative duty of" searching the Scriptures" and cleaving to them as the only " authorized" guide in religion, will ultimately subvert the crafty encroachments on religious freedom, whether made by a mitered and powerful hierarchy — a Presbyterian Synod — a Wesleyan or other conference — or the more insulated dissenting congregational minister — all must submit to the rule of Christ, as revealed in his word, the code of laws, which is alone binding in his own Kingdom or Church. + Jonathan Dymond. s volution is likely to take place, by which a christian commu- nity shall be precluded from adopting that internal constitu- tion it thinks best ? This surely cannot be feared. The day is gone by, in England at least, when the abolition of prelacy could become a measure of state. One community has its conference, and another its annual assembly, and another its independency, without any molestation. Who then would molest the English Church because it prefers the government of Bishops, &c, to any other ? Is it meant that the doctrines of the Church are endangered, or that its liturgy will be pro- hibited ? Surely no. Whilst every other Church is allowed to preach what doctrines it pleases, and to use what formu- laires it pleases, the liberty will not surely be denied to the Episcopal Church. If the doctrines and government of that Church be Christian and true, there is no fear for their stabi- lity. Its members have superabundant ability to defend the truth. What then is it that is endangered 1 Of what are those who complain of danger afraid? Is it meant that its civil immunities are endangered, — that its revenues are endan- gered 1 Is it meant that its members will hereafter have to support their ministers without assistance from other Churches ? Is it feared that there will cease to be such things as rich deaneries and bishopricks % Is it feared that the mem- bers of other Churches will become eligible to the legislature, and that the heads of this Church will not be temporal peers 1 In brief, is it feared that this Church will become one amongst the many, with no privileges but such as are common to good citizens and good christians ? — These surely are the things of which they are afraid. It is not for religious truth, but for civil immunities ; Tt is not for forms of Church government, but for political pre-eminence ; it is not for the Church, but for the Church establishment. Let a man then, when he joins in the exclamation, " the Church is in danger," present to his mind distinct ideas of his meaning, and of the objects of his fears. If his alarm and his sorrow are occasioned not for religion but for politics, — not for the purity and usefulness of the Church 9 but for its immunities — not for the offices of its ministers, but for their splendours— -let him be at peace. There is nothing in all this for which the Christian needs to be in sorrow or in fear. And why ? Because all that constitutes a Church as a Christian community, may remain when these things are swept away. There may be prelates without nobility ; there may be deans, and archdeacons, without benefices and patro- nage ; there maybe pastors without a legal provision; there may be a liturgy without a test. In the sense in which it is manifest that the phrase, " the Church is in danger," is ordi- narily to be understood, that is " the establishment is in danger" — the fears are undoubtedly well founded ; the danger is real and imminent. Supposing the doctrines and govern- ment of the Church to be sound, it is probable that its stabi- lity would be increased by what is called its destruction. It would then only be detached from that alliance with the state which encumbers it, and weighs it down, and despoils its beauty, and obscures its brightness. Contention for its al- liance will eventually be found to illustrate the proposition ; that a man's greatest enemies are those of his own house- hold, who is the man that as a Christian, regrets its danger or would delay its fall 1 He may wish to delay it as a politi- cian ; he may regret it as an expectant of temporal advan- tages, but as a Christian he will rejoice. He is the practical enemy of the Church who endeavours the continuance of its connexion with the State. Let him, then, who can discrimi- nate between the Church and its alliances, consider these things. Let him purify and exalt his attachment. If his love to the Church be the love of a Christian, let him avert his eye from every thing that is political, let his hopes and fears be excited only by religion ; and let his exertions be directed to that which alone ought to concern a Christian Church, its purity and its usefulness." The length of the foregoing- ex- tract, will be excused when the importance of its design is considered. It places in a true light the " danger" the appre- hension of which afflicts so many worthy persons, and may, I hope tend to calm those fears, and reduce the cause of so much unnecessary anxiety. The origin of the English esta- blishment is papal. The political alliance of the Church is similar now to what it was in the first years of Henry 8th. When Henry countenanced the preachers of the reformed opinions, when he presented some of them with the benefices which had hitherto been possessed by the Romish clergy, and and when at length these benefices and the other privileges of the State religion were bestowed upon the " reformed" only, — no essential change was effected in the political con- stitution of the Church. In one point indeed the alliance with the State was made more strict, because the supremacv was transferred from the Pope to the Monarch. So that the same or a kindred political character was put in connexion with other men and new opinions. The Church was altered but the establishment remained nearly the same ; or the dif- ference that they did obtain made the establishment more of a State religion than before. The origin therefore of the English establishment is papal. It was planted by papal policy, and nurtured by prevading superstition ; and as to the transfer of the supremacy, but little credit is due to its origin or its motives. No reverence is due to our establishment on account of its parentage. The Church is the offspring of the reformation, — the Church establishment is not. It is not a daughter of protestantism but of the papacy, — brought into unnatural alliance with a better faith ; unhappily but little anxiety was shown by some of the reformers to purifv the political character of the Church when its privileges came into their own hands. They declaimed against the corrup- tions of the former Church, but were more than sufficiently willing to retain its profits and its power." " Our forefathers did great things, and we cannot be sufficiently thankful for their labours, but much more remains to be done." Dr. Hartly says, of the Ecclesiastical powers of the Christian world. — " They have all left the true, pure, simple religion, and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. They are all mer- 1 1 chants of the earth, and have set' up a kingdom of this world, ^hounding- in riches, temporal power, and external pomp." " Cranmer, Bucer, Jewel, and others never considered the re- formation which took place in their own times as complete." Long- after Cranmer's days, some of the brightest ornaments of the Church still thought a reformation of the^ Church was needed. Tillotson, Patrick, Tennison, Kidder,^ Stillingfleet, Burnet, and others, endeavoured a further reformation though in vain. " We have been, says one, contented to suffer our religious constitution, our doctrines, and ceremonies, and forms of public worship, to remain nearly in the same un- f urged, adulterated, and superstitious stale in which the ori- ginal reformers left them." Simpson's Plea. The protestant dissenters from the State Church there- fore, only carry out more perfectly the principle of the reformation, originated by men, who sought a more pure form of the undefiled religion of Christ, than the papacy presented, they say in the words of the great Chillingworth — " The bible, the bible a lone, is the religion of protestants." The History of Nonconformity, is in fact, a mere narrative of suf- ferings endured by a noble minded band of men of whom the age was not worthy, but they resisted4to the sacrifice of life and property, the polluting alliance of the truth of " Christ's Gospel" with the crafty policy of a cruel spiritual domination over mind and conscience. When the word of God became more generally diffused, the " rule" of Scripture, though but partially adhered to, led to more resistance, to the abomina- tions of the " Man of Sin," and the real friends of God and truth, were through a long and trying period involved in a fearful contest ; the most important it is true to the world, but calamitous to themselves.* Much remains to be accom- • See Brook's Lives of the Puritans, and Palmer's Nonconformist's Memorial. Tlie Revd. Mr. Scott, the Commentator, has made a declaration on this subject which does him the highest honor. Many of the Puritans, lie remarks " were factious, ambitious hypocrites ; but I must think that the-tree of liberty, sober and legitimate liberty, civil and religious, under the shadow of which, we in the establishment, as well as others, repose in peace, and the fruit of which we gather, was planted by the Puritans, and watered, if not by their blood, at least by their tears and sorrows. Yet it is the modern fashion to feed delightfully on the fruit, and then revile, if not curse, those who planted and walered it." On Seperation, &c, 8 vo. London, 1817 2 12 plished, ere the pure and simple system of Christ, is disen- gaged from the errors and corruptions of a system imposed on the world, as the pure doctrines of the revealed mind of Christ, to his Church. The spirituality of Christ's kingdom they contended for, as the highest act of integrity to him, and their lives were not reckoned too dear as a testimony to then fidelity.* " No power," says Bishop Warburton, " or legislation can be admitted into Christ's Church without making- it a worldly kingdom," and Dr. Whitby observes that "The government of the Christian Church is intirely committed to the Lord Jesus Christ ; and he as supreme Head and Lord of all — governs both it, and all thing's in earth and heaven for the good of it." Such are the views which protestant dissenters embrace, and which justify in their minds, their separation from the Church of England as it is constituted, and taken into union with the State, having a political head.t But the following statement will place before you more distinctly their views relative to those things, incorporated with the episco- palian Church and which are not approved by other Churches, — viz : — the Scotch Church, and the foreign reformed Churches — are equally opposed to the episcopalian form of Church government, as the protestant dissenters. " Modern Church Reformers," in seeking the emancipation of the Episcopalian Church from its state alliance, are only aiming- after her real usefullness and purity, they " will carry their point only by peaceful and constitutional means — by en- lightening the minds of the public — and by rightly employing their political influence. They are for wronging- no man, — defrauding no man — nor inflicting pain on any man. They seek only justice, equality, and the glory of Christ — and those who assert otherwise do but grossly malign them. MJ * Matt. 23, 10. t See an excellent work on the Union of Church and State, by the Revd. Mr. Thorn, of Winchester. % Ibid. 13 With most writers in defence of the Hierarchy it is usually the fashion to represent the security of the throne to depend on the existance of the Church establishment. ' Pro aris et focis" is the motto for " the cracked tocsin'' of alarm, calling up all the ignorance, avarice and superstition, their own in- difference have created and perpetuated in the country, by their resisting plans for ameliorating its condition morally and religiously. The danger to the Church, is still proclaimed to be greater than ever, but its real nature is now more clearly perceived; hence the intelligent, and consequently the calm portion of the people, feel their interests as citizens to be more firmly based, than on the " Union" of any religious sect, with the admirable constitution of King, Lords and Commons. " This essential union of Church and State has been denied, not only by Milton and the puritans, but by Mr. Justice Foster and some other great legal authorities, who maintain that the Ecclesiastical establishment is no integral part of the British Constitution, — that the Ecclesiastical authorities are wholly dependent on the civil, — and that all the temporal power assumed by churchmen, was introduced in the gross darkness which formed the atmosphere of Popery ; and is as illegal, in reference to our ancient constitution, as it is unchristian in reference to the Bible.*'* The unhappy period in our own History when with the extinction of the Monarchy, the Epis- copal Church as an establishment, was involved in the same fate, is usually referred to as the result of enmity to the esta- blished Church, being necessarily connected, with disap- probation of the monarchical mode of Government. Such reasoning only shows how regardless some men are of histo- ric facts, when determined to promote party purposes. " The execution of Charles," say an eloquent writer, "was the deed of a faction condemned by the great body of the Puritans, as a criminal severity; but whatever blame they may be sup- posed to have incurred on account of their conduct to Charles, * T. Williams' Essays on Religious Liberty. Ess. 5wn. 14 the merit of restoring Monarchy in his sou was all their own. The entire force of the empire was in their hands ; Monk himself of their party ; The parliament, the army, all puri- tans ; yet were they disinterested enough to call the heir to the throne, and yield the reigns into his hands, with no other stipulation than that of liberty of conscience, which he violated with a baseness and ingratitude peculiar to his character. All the return he made them, for the recovery of his power, consisted in depriving 2000 of their ministers, by the intole- rant act of uniformity, and involving the whole body in perse- cution, by which not less jhan ten thousand are supposed to have perished in imprisonment and want; but their patrio- tism was not to be shaken by these injuries.'-* Long before the final catastrophe which issued in the King's death, the nation was excited by his own unconstitutional notions of kingly prerogative, and greatly exasperated] by the high- churchmen's acts of prelatical cruelty, through that iniqui- teous engine — the Star Chamber, — increased in its atrocity of crime — by the ungodly temper of Archbishop Land. The cause of real religion, however, was evidently not forgotten during- that awful struggle for civil and religious libertv, — at the restoration, — the irreligion and frivolity introduced by Charles and his- court, met with a noble and mag nanimous re- pulse bv those men of God who when an attempt was made by the " Book of Sports" to legalize the desecration of the Lord's day, and thus hazarding the best interests of the coun- try,— chose rather to suffer a variety of afflictions, fwith their pious and courageous friends, than bow to the time-serving of a Monarch, whose dynasty soo:: became extinct, to the unspeakable benefit of these realms.t Such a display of sincere and disinterested attachment to vital religion, was of immense advantage to the country, in demonstrating to the people, that " the Kingdom of God was not in word only. * Mr. Robert Hall, t Vide Vaughan's " Stewart's Dynasty." 15 but in power." The salutary influence of such conduct is still felt, by the perpetuation of those principles, called dis- sent, or rather the life-giving- influence of Scriptural know- ledge emboded in those voluntary exertions throughout the empire, and in this island in particular, and which have origi- nated those institutions, essential for adequately suppling- the moral and spiritual necessities of the people. It is well known that our, " Bible Societies," "Religious Tract Societies," Missionary Societies," " Sunday Schools," &c, sprung up from a zeal not enkindled by these who pos- sessed the largest share of worldly patronage and means of " doing good,"* excuse me in quoting the following observa- tions, by one evidently versed in those exertions necessary for promoting the philanthropic institutions in England, and may I not add elswhere? " I refer," says he, " to a sort of in- * Who first planned and have since supported the principal missionary associations in England and other parts of the Empire ? The Morr. ;ans, the Baptists, the Inde- pendents, the Methodists. Who followed slowly in the rear of these exertions ? The Church of England. Who first organised schools for the general education of (he poor? Joseph Lan- caster, a Quaker, and the British and Foreign School Society, supported by the Dissenters. Who followed the example, when education appeared in danger of becoming wholly sectarian ? The Church of England, who adopted Dr. Bell's system, and called her schools the National Schools. Who carried Sunday-schools to the greatest extent in the first instance? The Dissenters, who still persevere largely in the same good work. Who originated and chiefly sustained that noble institution, the Bible Society 1 A Dissenter, — and the Dissenters in general zealously support it, while in many places the Churchmen and clergy rarely take a share in its meetings. Who began the Tract Society"? A Scotch Dissenter, and it is still mainly carried on by Dissenters. Who began and carried forward the most persevering opposition to Slavery 1 The Society of Friends, assisted by Wilberforce and others. Who have been the most strenuous in endeavouring to procure the mitigation of thepcnal laws ? The Society of Friends, who even now never suffer the subject to sleep. . Who have mo^t societies for the relief of the sick in their districts ? The Dissenters, and especially the Methodists. Who have translated the Scriptures into most languages ? The Dissenters, parti- cularly the Baptists at Serampore. Who have evangelized the South Sea Islands, and Caffraria and other places ? Chiefly the Independents. Who have made the most successful efforts preparatory to Christianizing China ? The Independents. Who have been most successful in instructing the West India Negroes' The Baptists and Methodists. Who have made most efforts to Protestantize France? The Continental Society, composed chiefly of Dissenters. 1 6 stinctive recoil from new measures that are designed to pro- mote the intellectual, the moral, or the religious improvement of the public. I appeal to the experiance of those philantro- pic men who spend their time either in their own neighbour- hood, or in "going about, doing good,'1 whether they do not meet with a greater degree of this recoil from works of phi- lantrophy, amongst the teachers and members of the State religion than amongst other men, — and whether the recoil is not the strongest amongst that portion who are reputed to be the most zealous friends of the Church. For when our Phi- lanthropist applies to the members of another Church, their only question perhaps is, will the projected institution be useful to mankind? But when he applies to such a member of the State religion, he considers, — How will it affect the establishment'? Will it increase the influence of dissenters'? May it not endanger the immunities of the Church'? Is it countenanced by our superiors 1 And when all these and other considerations have been pursued, he very commonly finds something that persuades him that it is most "prudent" not to encourage the proposition." I adopt this delineation not to irritate but to admonish^ against a spirit and conduct, that cannot but be injurious to the cause of piety and phi- lanthrophy, wherever it prevails, and Sir T am sure that in our different spheres, something more is needed, than the narrow exclusive principle of seeking' the interest of a mere party ; the state of our teeming population, calls for union of effort in lessening the ignorance and crime growing upon us, — and surely the ministers of religion ought not to be found in hos- tility to the diffusive benevolence of our common Christianity, which inculcates forbearance and love; as members of the same family, united professedly to the Saviour, by a vital faith, breathing the same spirit, and walking in the same steps. The views entertained by protestant dissenters are the result of a free exercise of judgment in the examination of ihe Scriptures, and though opposed to the constitution of your 17 Church, cannot, or should not, preclude the utmost cordiality in spirit and action in works of benevolence and moral improvement. " They hold," says a prelate of your own community, " that no Church has a right to impose an article of faith on any other christian community. / believe from my heart they are right at least if they be not, he that can refute them is a much abler man than myself. Now, my Lords, these are men that deserve our esteem for their science, their litera- ture, their critical study of the Scriptures, and for their ex- cellent writing's either in defending or teaching common Chris- tianity ; and my Lords, they have of late stood almost alone in defence of the natural and religious rights of mankind."* This honest and unbiased testimony, " I believe from my heart" to be true, and no Jess so the following. " If we will open our eyes, we should see that we are beholden to the dissenters for the continuance of a great part of our theolo- gical principles. For if the high churchmen had no checks, they would have brought in popery before this time. So that if there had been no Dissenters, the Church of England had been long since ruined."'!' It is certain that Dissenters hold sentiments inimical to a state establishment of Christianity, as is forcibly expressed by a Clergyman of the establishment itself. " Religious establish- ments," says he, " in general have been productive of more dismal effects to society and mankind, than could possiblv have arisen from an absolute disregard to religious opinions by the civil magistrate, and a total silence of the law upon that head.";}; Protestant Dissenters object to, as contrary to the New Testament, " most of your officers as being' of Popish origin, such as Arch-bishops, and twenty-four Baron-bishops, besides Deans, Prebendaries, Canons, Minor Canons, Chancellors, Proctors, Vicar's-General, Commissaries, Officals-Surrogates, &c, &c. These officers not being appointed by Christ, nor * Bishops Shipsley's Speech in ihe House of Lords, t Revd. Dr. Edward's Preacher. 2 vol. X Rev. Mr. Foster, Rector of Colchester. 18 in any way sanctioned by the inspired records are rejected in the constitution of dissenting- Churches — they are of opinion that it is a congregation or voluntary society of believers, who commonly meet together to participate in Gospel ordinances. Rom. 16,5, i Cor. 16, I, Philemon 2. Hence they think every such society has a right to transact its own affairs, ac- cording to the judgment and conscience of every member thereof, independently of any other society of men whatsoever, or without being accountable to any but Jesus-Christ, or res- trained by any laws but his. The Church of Eng land differs from this, in that it is not a voluntary society, the whole na- tion being- considered as members of it whether professedly so or not. Tn ecclesiastical affairs the people have no voice, being obliged to an absolute uniformity in faith, worship, and discipline. It is framed by human authority; its laws are founded on Acts of Parliament, and enforced by civil sanc- tions, and the chief magistrate as such, is its supreme head. Dissenters think with the Reformers, that there are only two officers in a Christian Church, viz. Bishops and Deacons. Phill, 1,1. The Bishops mentioned in the New Testament were pastors of particular Churches or congregations and are often called Elders and Presbyters. The Deacons spoken of in the Scriptures, are not Ministers of the Gospel exclu- sively, but temporal officers, appointed to take care of the poor, Acts 4.* Dissenters are of opinion that every man who is qualified for the ministerial office, by ability and piety, has a right to exercise it in any society that calls him to it, and that ordina- tion is by no means necessary to the useful discharge of it, but they think it right when they are about to settle with any people as pastors, to have the approbation, the prayers and advice of some of their brethren, who pretend to no authority * The testimonies of Cranmer and Tyndal, Lambert and Baines, who sealed the reformed faith with their blood, are extant in the "Healing AUempt." They are to the following effect : that " there were but now two officers of Divine institution in the Church, viz. elders or bishops to feed the flock, and deacons to minister the charity of the Church to the poor and needy." The bishops and priests were at one time, and were not two things, but both one office in the begining of Christ's reli- gion" Archbishop Cranmer 19 to constitute them pastors ; that being- derived solely from Christ, and the choice of the people. They therefore, object to the dominion assumed by the Bishops, over the other Mi- nisters,— to the pomp and parade observed in clerical ordina- tion,— to the pretence of conferring- the spirit by the imposition of hands, saying- <: Receive the Holy Ghost." Dissenters prefer free or extempore prayer, therefore their Ministers use no Liturgy or prescribed form of prayer. On several accounts they object to the Common Prayer Book, because, 1st. They think it tends to promote indolence in Ministers, so far as it prevents the exercise of their faculties. 2nd. The constant repetition of the same things tends to deaden the affections of the worshippers, and promotes forma- lity. 3rd. Liturgies cannot be adapted to all the circum- stances of different societies, and the several events which may occur, and which oug-ht to be noticed in public prayer.* Dissenters disapprove of the imposition of ceremonies in divine worship, which are of mere human invention, because they consider nothing is binding- upon them to believe or to observe, but what is injoined and practised in the Holy Scriptures. They deny the authority which the Church of England assumes in her 20th. Article, " to decree rites and * " Far be it the insinuation, that the use of forms is not perfectly compa- tible with the most exalted spirit of devotion ; but when, in self-defence, the advocates of extemporaneous services are called upon to vindicate their preference of a method against which are brought so formidable objections, it becomes necessary to institute a comparison between the respective tendency of the opposite modes. The public services of the Nonconformists, may not be in all respects acceptable to men of taste; nor is it, perhaps, possible, or even desirable that they should be, since men of taste form a very inconsiderable proportion of those who receive the Gospel of Christ. But we may be well assured, that neither the prevalence of prayer, nor its spiritual efficacy is, in the slightest degree, affected by such a circum- stance as this. The mere emotions of taste have, on the contrary, no similar connexion with the moral principles of our nature. Thoy terminate upon self. The pomp of gothic aisles, the dim religious light, the thrilling chaunt and deep underswell of the organ, " the painted altar, and the white-robed priest" — all that constituted Popery, the religion of poetry and of the arts, — all that Protestant Episcopacy still cherishes in her Cathedrals, — these solemni/c the imagination ; but do they encourage one benevolent feeling i Do they not rather tend to abstract the individual from those around him, to elevate him in all the self-sufficiency of intellect above the distasteful sphere of ordinary realities, to enclose bim within his own feelings, so as to counter- act the design of social worship ? And is not the Prayer-Book, in too many cases, an necessary to that refined sentimental semblance of devotion, with which individuals love to soothe their consciences, who would startle at the unaccustomed tones of genuine prayer?" Cornier on Nonconformity. 3 20 ceremonies in divine worship," and consider themselves therefore bound to refuse compliance with them — of this des- cription are — 1st. Worshipping- towards the East. 2nd. Bow- ing at the name of Jesus. 3rd. Signing with a cross in baptism. 4th. Particular gestures in Worship, especially kneeling at the Lord's Supper. They object also to the wearing of particular garments by the Clergy* — observing certain days as holy, — the distinction of places said to be consecrated, &e. &c. In the office of Baptism, expressions are used concerning the efficacy of that rite, as naturally leads persons to conceive that it is a saving ordinance, that the child is regenerated — * Protestant Dissenters as a bod)', have abandoned the use of gowns or any dis- tinguishing dress, as ministers of the Gospel ; and the partial use of them, indeed the writer, is convinced, tends only to foster ignorant prejudices, and weakens the general argument of prolestants against popery ; from whence they undoubtedly originated. The meretricious arts of the " Old Lady" " arrayed in purple and scarlet" may appear in character, but let not her sturdy opponents, ape any part of her vain and abominable hypocrisy. How the least semblance to her antichristian deformity, could be tolerated by a community, recognizing a delineation the most minute and determined by the Fathers of their Church, is passing strange! See the third part of the Homily against Idolatry, page 216, 4th Ed. Oxford. Bishop Hooper, objected strongly to the " trappiugs of public worship" and " Cranmer" had he entertained more correct views of religious liberty, would have opposed his being sent to the "Fleet" seeing " the man" could not be brought to any conformity deeming as he did " that nothing could be safely adopted without the sanction of Scripture." A modern high Churchman remarks with an air of sufficient flippancy on the above circumstance : — " According to our modern notions" he says "theonly way of dealing with such an incorrigible non-conformist would be, to give up all further thoughts of making the man a bishop."* The " nolo-episcopari" was, in Hooper's case, not the utterance of " fained lips" or " voluntary humility" as in " modern" days. The manner and spirit manifested by the writer alluded to, on the dissenterism of the " incorrigible non-conformist" is strongly indicative of the temper with which the "incorrigibles" would be treated, if the strong arm of the civil power did not restrain the persecuting tendencies of a State Clergy. A writer who could mention the venerated name of " Bishop Hooper" the Martyr, with a supercilious contempt for the conscientious scruples of " the man" who sealed the truth with his blood, evinces a partiality for " conformity" that utterly disqualifies him for the office of discriminating and deve- loping those pure principles and motives, that guided and influenced those holy men ; who iived amidst the compromising and time-serving hirelings to a corrupt and anti- christian system of policy, in the union of Church and Slate. Cranmer evinced little or none of that intrepid, and unflinching boldness in the cause of his divine master, which Hooper, Latimer and Ridly so admirably displayed ; — He loitered on the road to martyrdom being encumbered with the vain but paramount desire of obtaining royal clemency, and the forlorn aid of " canon law ;" but his three more noble coo- temporaries went chearfully on under the influence of a holy and simple confidence in God and truth, — " Come on brother," says one when going to the stake, " we shall light a flame in England this day, which shall never be extinguished !" an almost prophetic truth — more and more developed, as biblical knowledge gains ascendency over the reign of spiritual despotism and ignorance, in the vain and inglorious cru- sade against the civil and religious liberties of mankind. * The Revd. C. Webb Le Brass, M. A. Life of Archbishop Cranmer. 21 and, therefore made by baptism " a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven." A sentiment it is to be feared, destructive to the souls of thou- sands. Many expressions in the " Burial Service''' are seriously objected to, being- used for all without distinction of character. " I am afraid" says the learned Abraham Tucker " that the expressions employed in the Catechism leave a notion in some people of something divine infused into the elements." From these reasons you will perceive that the Dissenters seperate from the Church of England not from a fondness for singularity or caprice ; but the extention and further efficiency of those principles, cherished by the reformers, and for which thousands have suffered the loss of life and "all things," and the Church of Christ can never shine forth in her own glory, until disentangled from the impure interferences of unsancti- fied wisdom and carnal policy. " The history of the last eighteen centuries does, indeed, afford, in various ways, a strong presumptive evidence, that the cause of true christianity has very materially suffered in the world, in consequence of the connexion between the Church and the State. It is pro- bably in great measure the consequence of such an union that the Church has assumed, in almost all christian countries, so secular a character, — that Christianity has become so lamenta- bly mixed up with the spirit, maxims, motives, and politics of a vain and evil world. Before its union with the State, our holy religion, flourished with comparative incorruptness ; after- wards it gradually declined in its purity and its power, until all was nearly lost in darkness, superstition, and spiritual tyranny."* If Dissenters, as some do " slanderously" affirm, are in league with infidels and radicals in their objecting- to all compulsory support of religion, and to the principle of a state religion altogether ; it can only be, as the simple system of Christianity, is discovered to be totally silent on the subject, and indeed destitute of any the least sanction, to a state reli- * See Dymond's Essays on Principles of Morality, kc. 2 vols. 22 gion.* The man of no prediction for divine revelation, is as competent to discern a biblical fact, as he may be the correct- ness of any proposition, presented to his mind. It is my deli- berate conviction that the crisis is fast approaching- when the " ignorance of foolish men," — the infidelity peculiar to" a form of Godliness, without the power;"t — " bred in the stagnant marches of a corrupt Christianity,'' will receive its final rebuke and ultimate confusion by that invincible demonstratiou,present- ed by the voluntary and disinterested labours of those, who "willingly" stand forward " against the mighty"' in the defence and extension of the simple unadulterated truths of Christ — having their minds imbued with a powerful sense of their paramount value to a guilty world. Such an unsophisticated testimony, will alone command a grateful and unreserved es- teem for a divine revelation. This moral i fluence will be sufficiently powerful under God, for saving- from its appre- hended destruction : the real Church of Christ ; composed of those only who are drawn unto Him as their Redeemer by the constraining influence of the Holy Spirit ; when the corrupted systems of Christianity shall be swept away as "wood, hay and stubble," being mixed up with the only divinely appointed means of renovating the world — " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God" — the " pure waters of life" for the healing of the nations. In closing, I must just remark,that much evil is entailed on the cause of Christianity from various writers of Christian theology leaving the New Testament for their sole guidance in reference to the Church of Christ — supposing that the Jewish dispensation of a burdensome ritual is still intended to aid in the form and * " The State has naturally no concern with religion" observes Bishop Warburton ; which remark though startling to many, is clearly explained by Mr. Locke, who says " The business of law is not to provide for the truth of opinions, but for the securitv and safety of the commonwealth : for Truth certainly would do well enough if she were left to herself. She never has received, and I fear never will receive, much assistance from great men, to whom she is but rarely known, and more rarely welcome. She is not taught by laws, nor has she any need of force to procure her entrance into the minds of men . Errors, indeed, prevail by the aid of borrowed and foreign succours ; but if Truth makes her way into the understanding by her own light, she will be but the weaker for any borrowed force which violence can add to her." t 11 Tim. 3. 5. 23 construction of Christian Society * But as the excellent Mr. Scott observes, " God has now unhinged the whole civil and ecclesiastical state of the Jews, and abolished the Mosaic dispensation, in order to make way for the Kingdom of Christ." " Commentary on Heb. 12,26, 69. See also the learned Dr. John Erskine's Theological Dissertations/' Diss. 1 and 2, and Abraham Booth's Essay on the Kingdom of Christ. The unity of the Christian Church, does not consist in a mere circumscribed circle of Sectarian rules, there may be unity without uniformity, which many confound. The Church of Christ knows nothing of unity, but what flows from a person- al reception of Him as the only head of his Church, " which is his mystical body." The Visibility*!" given to its reality, is by a conformity to his laws. " Ye are my friends if ye do what- soever I command you," " hereby shall men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another.''^ The liberal, but scriptural language adopted by the present Bishop of Nor- wich^ is worthy of notice. " Let no man," he observes, * A Pamphlet recently published by the Revd. Ph. Filled, M. A., on the "in- divisibility of the Church,'' goes upon the erroneous principle of assuming, that as the peculiar national form of the Jewish Church, which was a Theocracy, or in other words a government over which God presided himself, was once divinely established, it is sufficient authority for adopting it, as the model of the Christian Church, — notwithstanding the positive declaration of inspired truth, to the contrary. Heb. 8, 13.— Gal. 5, 1.— John 4, 19—24. t The notion, says a sensible writer, of a visible Catholic Church, as a political institution, was the offspring of that monstrous system of errors, which so soon began to overspread the Church of Christ, after its alliance to secular power, and which ended in nearly extinguishing the light of Christianity. The Church of Rome dealt largely in visibilities. It had a visible head, and therefore a visible unity under that head ; visible alters, visible sacrifices ; it made the Saviour visible ; nay it ventured so far in impiety, as to represent in the painting which adorned its temples, the Deity himself as visible !'. " They be two things," remarks Lord Bacon, " urrily and uniformity, with regard to the "Catholic or Universal Church, absolute uniformity is a thing impossible" — again ; " neither outward rites nor forms of polity, nor human creeds, in respect of which this uniformity is required, belong to the essence of religion, or to the essential nature of the Church as a visible religious Society." Seeing, says the jitdicious Hooker, " that Church is a word devised to sever and distinguish that society of men which professeth the true religion, from the rest which profess it not, we must define the Church, which is a religious society." The true dissenting definition of a Church. '-'There is far less diversity of "religious opinion among the orthodox dissidents from the Church of England, than among those who subscribe to her standard of uniformity."* * " Conderon Protestant Nonconformity ." t John 13, 35. Ibid 15, 14. (j Dr. Stanley. A Sermon preached at his recent Installation. 24 " think himself free from schism because of outward form ; there might be unity of spirit, without unity of form ; let no man accuse his neighbour of schism because he was a dis- senter from his creed ; he alone is the schismatic who creates feuds in the Church of Christ." — " He who separated from the Church in consequence of conscientious belief was no more guilty of schism, than he who conscientiously remained a member of it, — and before they complained of schism, they must 6rst learn what schism was."* Such sentiments will if . generally cultivated, be as a healing remedy for the unhappy temper and conduct created and inflamed by " men of corrupt minds" " bearing false witness," to subserve the mere in- terests of party and their own unhallowed designs. The publications of such unprincipled scribblers, — are I fear too much encouraged by those who I fee! persuaded are not aware of the men, or the full extent of mischief produced to the sacred cause of piety and christian charity. Let the fol- lowing, be the model of our spirit and conduct, — and I am sure our lives, will dien promote the legitimate object of our high vocation in the world and in the Church of Christ. " Let us bear in mind" sa}'s the eminent Clergyman of your * No two words have been more cruelly tortured than the terms "Schism" and " He- resy." They have been the ecclesiastical scarecrows for ages, and made subservient to the vilest propensities of a studied hypocricy and spiritual despotism, — tempers the most " sensual and devilish" have been cherished, whilst professing an anxiety for the salva- tion of souls ! — a motive the most sublime — but which as been appropriated to the un- godly purpose of perpetrating deeds of cruelty revolting to humanity itself. A mass of gross corruptions and impiety, have thus been accumalated, — the discovery of which, now agitates and disgusts the enlightened and thinking portion of the population of all Christendom. The learned and judicious Dissertations on the words "Schism" and " Heresy" by Dr. Campbell, claim from every biblical student the most careful perusal, and cannot fail of imparting correct views of their scriptural application, and remove errors too commonly entertained on subjects of great importance to understand. If the following closing remarks of the learned critic, were adopted, expressions the most remote from inspired truth, would be withdrawn from the vocabulary of chris- tian ministers. " I shall conclude," he says, " with adding to the observations on the words schism and heresy, that how much" soever of a schismatical or heretical spirit, in the apostolic sense of the terms may have contributed to the formation of the dif- ferent sects into which the christian world is at present divided ; no person who, in the spirit of candour and charity, adheres to that which, to the best of his judgment, is right, though in this opinion" he should be mistaken, is, in the scriptural sense, neither schismatic or heretic, and that he, on the contrary, whatever sect he belongs to, is more entitled to these odious appellations, who is most apt to throw the impu- tation upon others. Both terms, for they denote only different degrees of the same bad quality, always indicate a disposition and practice unfriendly to peace, and harmony." 25 own Church already quoted " that God has, in his word, told us plainly who are his children and who are not. To deny, against the evidence of Scripture, those to be his children who really are so, is to be guilty of the sin of schism. If a dissenter bears all the foregoing- marks of a child of God, and I, overlooking* them all, pronounce him to be no member of Christ, because he is no episcopalian, I am, in the sight of God, a schismatic ; I introduce an unscriptural test of Chris- tian character, and am responsible for all the divisions and heart burnings in the Church of God which must follow from mv bigotry. As Christians, they have a right to my esteem and brotherly love : they may demand that I honour them, aid them, vindicate them from unjust aspersions, and do all the kind offices which naturally flow from brotherly love. They are dear to the great Head of the Church, and if, instead of all the esteem and love which is their due, J treat them with unkindness, He who once said to an impetuous enemy of the Gospel, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me'?" will not fail to notice a similar bigotry in one who has less excuse for it." " Let us not condemn our brethren for a faithful obedience to what they believe to be the will of Christ, as revealed in Scripture. " If we see in others the marks of grace, we ought, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to believe that, in forming their opinions, they have examined Scripture with as much of care and candour, of humility and love of the truth, as we have ourselves, and consequently are no more criminal for their errors than we are for ours ; perhaps not so much. And since whatsoever is not of faith is sin, they are bound to act according to their conviction of the meaning of Scripture, and instead of blaming them for differing from us, we ought to honour their fidelity. When the missionary Judson, after much examination and prayer, came to the conclusion that infant baptism is contrary to the will of Christ ; and therefore, to be faithful to Christ, hazarded the displeasure of all his 26 dearest friends, renounced the salary which was his only means of support, and threw himself on the care of God* by joining- the Baptist body, he was surely entitled to the admi- ration and love of his Christian brethren, and instead of being- cut off from the Church on that account as a heretic, he ought to have been more esteemed as faithful, and beloved." " A dissenter, for instance, of devoted piety, may entertain decided objections against the principle of an Establishment. To impute to him, on that account, a hatred to the Church of Eng-land, especially if he disclaims it, may be most unjust. He may wish to see the Episcopal Church flourishing- in piety and numbers, and may yet hate its connexion with the State because he believes the church to be vitiated, and religion dishonoured by that connexion." " We should seek friendly intercourse with the best men, of every name. Nothing more tends to exasperate our pre- judices, to narrow our minds, and make us deformed and dwarfish creatures, in whom nothing- great is to be found, except a swollen and inflamed bigotry, than to read only books of one side, see only men of one party, and collect facts of one complexion. Let us seek the friendship of wise and good men wherever we can find them : let piety alone be a suffi- cient passport to our hearts. And when we find more worth, wisdom and devotedness than we possess ourselves, in per- sons of various parties, in high-churchmen, low-churchmen, and dissenters, differing from each other and from us in many of their opinions, v\e necessarily become humble and tolerant; and can love them as we ought, though they may in some things widely differ from us. " Let us act with all our brethren in doing what all acknow- ledge to be right. To circulate the Bible, for instance, at home and abroad, is a work so entirely right, that few pious persons could object to it. To refuse then to associate with our bre- thren in the discharge of that duty, not because the work itself is wrong*, but because men of various denominations combine in it, seems to me a violation of Christian unity. It 27 is not endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace : it is refusing to testify the brotherly love by which we ought to be known as Christ's disciples ; it is essentially schismatical. " But we may do more than this. It tends still more directly to unite Christians, if they associate in the diffusion of acknowledged truths. Real Christians hold many doctrines in common. Let the world see, by their uniting to proclaim them, that they do so far agree. The Religious Tract Society illustrates this. There men, of various denominations, all maintaining various great truths of the Gospel, have in perfect harmony, for many years, laboured to diffuse the knowledge of those truths in which they are agreed ; and they deserve well of the Church of God for their labours. On the points controverted between them they say nothing. On the forms of Church government, and on infant baptism, for instance, they are silent ; nor are they called to mention them. They have an object as distinct and definite, as have the founders of an hospital, or of a provident society. Their known object is not to teach all the truths of the New Testament, for the world well knows that they differ on various points, but to teach those great truths on which they are agreed. Each, separately, may, by other channels, maintain his separate views on controverted points. He conceals no sentiment; he compromises no truth. But the maintenance of his denomi- national opinions is not his business there. In this way we may promote Christian unity. By the joint diffusion of all the truths on which we are agreed with our brethren, and by the separate promulgation, in a spirit of moderation and love, of those on which we differ from them ; by which, while no truths are kept from the world, it may yet see in how much Christians are agreed.'' " Lastly, let us pray for all our brethren, for their pros- perity, temporal and spiritual, for themselves, their families, their churches, and their missions. Their gain will be our gain. The more every part of the Church of Christ manifests 2b his spirit, the more truth will triumph ; the more Christians will be united ; controversy will lose its bitterness, and error its artificial supports. Rejoice then, my Christian reader, with all your heart, in the g race of God, wherever you may witness it, and pray that the Holy Spirit may speedily render the whole Church of God resplendent in every land with wisdom, holiness, and love ; which may God, of his infinite mercy, grant, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ !*" We have to contend Sir with a mighty foe to our efforts in the cause of benevolence and religion. An inordinate " love to the world and the things of the world" prevade our population, and the increase of ir religion and vice in every form cannot but alarm the friends of virtue and philanthropy, for our peace and happiness as a community. Nothing but " God's saving health," which, is his word, will suffice to effect a radical change. — We literally cannot, and ought not to find time to define ecclesiastical rules for action, but let us go forward, in all the unrestricted benevolence of the Gospel, and if Christ be but preached in purity and simplicity, — therein let us rejoice, and resolve to lend our aid to every humble agent in the great work, of " winning souls" to the common Saviour of the human race. The " state of the world," observes good Mr. Cecil, "is such, and so much depends on action, that every thing seems to say loudly to every man, " Do something"—" Do it" — " Do it." « Wishing you increasing success in your ministerial labours. J remain, Reverend Sir, Yours respectfully, T, J. * The Revel. Baptist W. Noel, M. A., on "The Unity of the Church." The tracts published by this gifted Clergyman cannot be too extensively circulated. The Causes and Reasons of the prefent Declenfion among the Congregational Churches in London and the Country, I N A LETTER Addrefled to the Paftors, Deacons and Members OF THOSE CHURCHES. BY ONE OF THAT DENOMINATION. Jnterfporfed with Refle&ions on METHODISM and SANDIMANIANISM. (Actlx, £< en tS 0e2 Irw — I John iv. I. LONDON: Printed for J. Johnson and B. Davenport, in Pater-nofter-row. 1766. A LETTER,^. Brethren, THERMIT one of your hearty friends, J to fet before you, the general ftate of your denomination. He has no other view in writing this epiftle, than the revival of that faith and difcipline, which he thinks moil conformable to the New Teftament. The true congregational church order, is what he thinks moft conformable to the gofpel, beft calculated to fupport true liber- ty, and beft fuited to the edification of Chriftians in faith and holinefs. Let me befeech you then to read my Letter pati- ently, and if I have, upon the whole, given B a jufl a idft reprefentation of things among us, let me be heard, if not, condemned. Your affemblies in London and the coun- try are much mattered ; I apprehend by two fects, the Methodifts and Glaflites. In fiveraj% fenerations have already taken place, in more the contention is begun. So that between thefe two monfters, you are very near being devoured. Some of your minifters have already left you, more are branded with the mark of the northern herefy ; and the violent mea- fures purfued againir. them, will oblige them, if not flopped, to drop all connexions with you. Thefe, let me tell you, are not fome of the leaft confiderable for integrity and a- bility neither, as many of you know. Be- fides this, numbers of the moft fenlible lay- men among us have their eyes open to con- viction— read and examine, and are appre- henfive, they have been too long in the clouds of MylKcifm and Quakerifm, and are now defirous of breathing in a clearer air. Our [ 3 ] Our artful priefts perceive the leaven operating and fpreading in town and country, in fpite of their folemn cenfures, and moft violent attempts to reflrain it. Their intereft and influence is in danger. Their popularity affected with a deep and dangerous wound ; and indead of endea- vouring to heal it, by the gentle remedies of acknowledgment, argument, and convic- tion, they apply the defperate caufiics of paflion and anathema. Amidft thefe debates, the Glaflites ftrive with the malecontents ; tell them, the apo- ftolic authority can only be followed a- mongfl themfelves, and that there is no fuch thing as walking according to the com- mandments of Jefus Chrift, in any other focieties but their own. And after applying certain palfages of the revelation to them- felves, they maintain, that they are the only perfons who keep the word of God, and the teftimony of Jefus Chrift; and that all other miniilers and churches but theirs are antichriitian. As foon as the candidates have heated themfelves with a blaze of B 2 zcal3 [ 4 ] zeal, which the oppofition they have met with is good fewel for, to condemn all o- ther Chriftians, (the principal and moft dif- tinguifhing qualification required) they be- come ftanch Glaffites; and are likely to continue fo, as they can worfhip with no other Chriftians, without being excommu- nicated ipfo facto. A fine maxim of po- licy ! — Whether thefe remarks are true or not, I leave the Glaffites and you to judge. I can prove they are, from facts, or elfe I never was more miftaken. But to my point Upon reflection, it appears to me, that thedeclenfion, ficklenefs, and confufion, which have taken place a- mongft us, are owing chiefly to the follow- ing caufes. Firft, To the influence of Methodifm. Whatever people may fay to the contrary, this has been very injurious to the diffenting intereft. By the diffenting intereft, I mean a feparation from the eftablifhed church for confeience [ 5 J confcience fake, and out of regard to cer- tain principles and practices, which appear to us fcriptural. And I apprehend it can only be maintained, by a full conviction of thofe principles and a ftricl: obfervance of thofe practices, in united aiTemblies *. Metriodifm, as far as I am able to judge, in every form of it, is quite oppofite to this conviction and unity. Mr. J— n W— y's prin- ciples asprofeffedinfeveraltowns of this king- dom, are nothing lefs nor more, one thing alone excepted, than Quakerifm veiled, and I fear, with no ilender covering of jefuiti- * As for thofe diffenters who confider their denomination a; a political faction, I leave them to defend it. Many of the dilTenting minifters have complained bitterly, in many of their performances, of the feverity of admifTion into the eftablifhed church, by fubfcription and a folemn oath. Es- pecially as the articles now Hand. I object to all manner of human impofuion as much as they. But when I fee them exprefiing their wilhes, that the terms were more mo- derate, I think 'tis no difficult matter to underftand them. They want livings, to be independent of their people. But are thefe the fons of liberty, that would deprive the people of election or rejection ? cal [ 6 ] cal policy *. That this grand leader of a feci; is not fincere, I would not take upon me abfolutely to affert, as God only is judge of the heart. But how he can approve of fuch works of grace upon the foul, as I can demonftrate by the moft indubitable e- vidences he has approved, treating them as the genuine productions of the Holy Ghoft, I am at a lofs to reconcile, in him a man of fome learning and acutenefs, with any prin- ciples of common honour or honefty. But 'tis to himfelf whether he Hands or falls in the judgment of a higher being, to whom I leave him. I would not hurt a hair of his head. Let him, I fay, have his full li- berty to go on profelyting. 1 will maintain my right of judging of every man's overt actions and fayings. As for Mr. W— f— d's party, and his ad- herents among the clergy, they are moft * The thing excepted above is priertcraft. And if pofi- tivity, imperioufnefs, fubtilty, impatience of contradiction, and an avowed right of dictating in every thing concerning his preachers and focieties, be prieitcraft, reader, I can tell thee of no character that abounds more with it. certainly t 7 ] certainly a fet of people, more governed by ftrong feelings than plain fcripture fenti- ments. Their faith appears too evidently to be fomething different from a belief of fcripture truth, and their edification, placed too much, in ftrong bodily fenfations. The fcripture of truth, is treated by them as a dead letter, a vain ineffectual thing ; and regeneration, as nothing more than a pofitive infufion of a certain fome- thing within ; which, like Robert Barclay's divine light, is felt, but cannot be explained. It will juftly be demanded, how I came by this opinion of Methodifm ? I anfwer, by reading the writings, hearing the fer- mons, and converfing with the followers, of the two great leaders of this feci. I have al- ways obferved the latter to be, a fure method of knowing the fpirit and tendency of the religion profeffed amongft any party. In their books it appears in its moll favourable and engaging afpect ; but in converfation with their fteady adherents and warmer!: fupporters, it is difcovered in its morning drefs and true flare, undifguifed : Efpecially when [ 8 ] when one converfes not only with the weak, but the ftrong, which, in juftice to every- party, we ought. But whether this account of them be true or not, their irregularities in attending divine worfhip, are too manifeft to be denied. The novelty of a voice — the multitude of attendants — or the geftures of a noted preacher — thefe, thefe are the grand rules of edification. Their ftated places are left on a Lord's day, they run hither and thither, juft as report or fancy lead them and 'tis very feldom you can find them fettled in one place, to one people, and one miniftry, for any continuance. The whole of religion feems with many of them to confift, in a few devout rap- tnres, the hearing of two fermons every day, a good deal of goffipping about converfions, manifeftations, the heavenly gift, Pifgah views of Chrift and glory, and the con- demning other Chriftians for dulnefs and lukewarmnefs. Whilft at the fame time, reading the bible, inftruding their children, regulating their houfehold, the being dili- gent [ 9 ] gent in bufinefs ferving the Lord, and the cultivating the temper and character accord- ing to the commandments of Chrift in the feveral relations of life, are rather deemed low and trifling things, of no great moment in the Chriftian profellion . The writer of this letter appeals to the London minifters for the proof of thefe ob- fervations. He dares venture to affirm, that they have long mice difcovered, the things he has mentioned, to be truly characleriftic of Methodifm in general. And he might prefume to aik them, whether they have not known fome confiderable congregations blown into irreconcileable parties by the impetuous wind of methodiftic zeal ? Have not many of your hearers left you, and as many been rendered inconftant, by this mo- ral contagion ? You mud know, many of you, that it has devoured your affemblies, like a defperate confumption, and left you but a mere fkeleton of a church and con- gregation. For more than twenty years pail, it has thinned your auditories, broke in up- on the order of your churches, and infected C number? [ io ] numbers of your hearers with a phrenfical kind of zeal, that has raifed them above fentiment and instruction. I doubt not but there are numbers of fe- rious perfons among the Methodifts, and am affured that their preachers have raifed deep concern in vaft numbers, who were thought- lefs about God and futurity. But I am as certainly affured, that this concern and ferious attention, have been directed in general, to the cultivation of a different religion from that contained in the New Teflament. Secondly, Another reafon of that declenfion and con- fufion which fublifts in our affemblies, is the noify-empty popularity of fome of our preachers. Sound, without fenfc — gefture, without meaning — heat, without light or fentiment — and a peculiar favoury canting tcne, that affects numbers of ignorant people in the fame powerful manner, as the By oh ! of the nurfe does the infant in the cradle thefe, c t ti ] thefe, thefe have been the diftinguifhing qualifications of fome of the moft popular men amongft us, efpecially in the great city. We fee the eftecl: of this kind of preach- ing, not only in the characters of the zeal- ous hearers, whilft their favourite man lives, but it is more vifible ftill, if he happens to die. Then they are fcattered hither and thi- ther, having loft the charm ; and a man of the very fame principles and of better learn- ing, fenfe, and a more uniform character, is totally difregarded as not having the fpirif, becaufe God has not given him the fame brazen lungs as his predeceilbr had. Thirdly, The fyftematic Ariftotelian way of preach- ing, is another caufe of our diforder, I know every man muft have a fyftem. Paul evidently had in his epiftle to the Ro- mans. But every man of fenfe will fee that his is of a very different form, from that of a Mark or a Turretine. In his there is nothing metaphyseal. Nothing of occult qualities. C 2 No [ 12 ] No curious diftinctions about the order of nature and order of time. No abfurd de- finitions and fplrttings of the indivifible principle the foul and its operations. Not a fyllable of acts and myftic principles within. No diftinctions without a difference. But all is plain, popular, and in language that is eafy to be underftood. In his writings we never find the filly dif- tinction between the knowledge of the head, and that of the heart, as if man had two fouls, one in his head and the other in his belly. Nor does he infift much, or at all, upon the Ariftotelian diftinction of fpeculative and practical knowledge. In the view of the a- poitles, if men that profefs the Chriftian re- ligion do not walk as (Thrift walked, the truth is not in them, neither fpeculatively, nor practically, nor myftically *. None of the important doctrines of the gofpel are uninfluential. They are not * Can we believe any principles really and fully, without being affected by them, (whiht the attention of the mind is fixed upon them) according to their real nature and tenden- cy ? Let every man examine his cwn mind, and he'll foon determine this queftion. viewed C '3 1 viewed aright, but corrupted, if they do not purify the confcience. There is, as the ce- lebrated Bengelius fays, in his Gnomon, a falutary virtue always goes with them: If they are from God, they muft be doc- trines according to godlinefs. Befides, according to the fyftematic way of preaching that I am exploding, the preacher has a principal regard, when he takes his text, to what his favourite fyftem fays, and not to the fcope and intention of the facred writer. His proofs and arguments are from thence, and the grand deiign of the infpired para- graph is focn loft, if ever mentioned. In fhort, when I hear a man that has drawn his fentiments from his own perufal of the fcripture, concerning the univerfal degenera- cy of human nature, and our reftoration to the favour and likenefs of God, 'by the in- fluence of the Holy G hod through the con- viction of gofpel truth, there appears to me to be as much difference between his flyle and manner of rep:efenting fubjects, and that of the fcholafric fvlrematic, as there is (pardon the compariLn) between the walk of [ H ] of the moft eafy unaffected young gentleman in St. James's Park, and that of a decrepit old prifoner, crawling and twifting along within the walls of Newgate with his chains trailing after him. I forbear to mention the confounding multiplicity of divifions — the fpinning out a plain fubject to a moll tedious length — the dry verbal criticifm — the lifelefs and UrifF delivery — all which are too common and notorious in many of our preachers. I pafs on to another caufe of our prefent diforders. Fourthly, The neglect of our difcipline. Our churches are like fields, or cities without walls. The terms of admiffion have been neither fcriptural, diflinguifhing, nor calculated to promote unity or mutual edification. A long ftory about the dealings of God with the foul — in the breaking of jack-lines— lofing and getting in trade— in the overturning of hackney coaches— in vi- lions — dreams — fee ret whifpers of the fpirit to [ *3 1 to the foul— in the powerful impremon, hut prefumptuous application, of texts of fcrip- ture— in deep debafmgs and high exaltings of the foul, and then, to add no more, in its finally rolling itfelf upon Chrift by a won- derful effort : a relation of this kind, I fay, which any defigning perfon could imitate, has been the grand criterion of church com- munion. Not that I would have you think I defpife the leaft incidents in life, which pro- vidence might ufe as excitements to ferious attention, and as introductory to the know- ledge of the truth. Nor would I be under- ftood to defpife all feeling and fervor and heart work in religion. What I reject and contemn, is the laying a ftrefs upon any cir- cumftances or inward feelings whatfoever, fhort of the faving knowledge of Jefus, and the genuine influence of it upon the heart and life. Inflead of afking candidates, What views they had of themfelves and the redemption of Jefus, and what the influence of them upon the temper and life? the grand ftrcfs has [ i6 ] ilas been laid upon inward workings and certain kinds of feelings. Now any man that has ever thought at all about futurity, let him be ever fo ignorant of Chriftianity, will have a long ftory to tell, about his qualms and fears, his reftraints and falls, his elevations and hopes. A Jew, or Turk, or Pagan, that has his God and his ftandard of worfhip, will ever have fome- thing of this kind to relate. And according to his agitations and elevations, or his de- preffions and coolnefs, he'll think himfelf better or worfe, influenced by the fpirit of his God, or not. Therefore any kind of in- ward workings whatfoever, without the knowledge of the truth as in Jefus, ought not to be a proper term for Chriftian com- munion, The workings of mens hearts are befl known to us by their profeffed faith and practice. The neglect of church difcipline has been too manifeft alfo, in the partiality that has been fhewn to the rich. A rich man, a great fubferiber, has never been reproved for [ 17 ] for his irregularities. His meafures and conduct, let them have been ever fo con- trary to the laws of Chrift, have been con- nived at for fear of lofing the fubfcription. One or two of thefe in a church, have by degrees carried all before them. Minifters have made them their principal counfellors. Hereupon, perhaps, they have enlarged their contributions. Next they have become of- ficers. Then they have commenced devout Bamaws, " This meafure muit not be fol- lowed, that muff." A poor brother of fenfe, foundnefs in the faith, and of a good cha- racter, calmly remonftrates, " He is fiucy and impertinent, quarrelfome and litigious, and is aflted, What he fubfcribes ?" As if it was taken for granted, that the influence and authority of a man in a Chriftian church, fliould be juft in proportion to the weight of his purfe. Am I defcribing a fact or a fiction ? Are there any fuch inftances or not ? Judge ye, my brethren. That law of Jefus, Matt, xviii. 15. and following verfes, without which chriftianity can never be fupported in churches, has D been [ i8 ] been almoft totally neglected. Hence have arifen fufpicions, reproaches, parties, repa- rations, and confulion. The unruly have not been duly warned, the wandering; and J * O unfceady exhorted, nor the feeble and dif- coniblate ftrenethened and comforted. There has been no union of fpiritual in- terefts. The chief bands of our focieties have been family connections, the promotion of trade, large finances, or fome c?rher world- ly ties. — Not the love of truth, not a mu- tual affection terminating in the fcripture hope of Chrifl's fecond coming without fin unto falvation. Give me leave alfo to mention the irregu- lar [attendance of church-members. Is it not a notorious fact, that numbers in Lon- don are never feen with the church, but one afternoon in the month, to partake of the Lord's fupper ? The other fundays in the month are devoted perhaps promifcuoufly to a M— d— n, a R_m— n, a W— f— d, orelfeto a country excurfion, or fome other enter- tainment, which bufmefs would not ad- mit on any other day of the week. How- ever [ '9 ] ever it cannot be known to the fociety, what the fpirit, temper and character of the per- fon are. There can be little harmony and love in peoples eating a bit of bread and drinking a fup of wine together, if they are ignorant of each others views and intentions in doing it. I'll not dwell upon the cha- racters of your half-day hearers, your ora- tor-admirers, and heretic-hunters. Til trou- ble you no more with thefe things, your own acquaintance with the congregational church- es in London, will afford you more inftan- ces than I have touched upon. I'll only obferve, that a fociety of men, although feparating from a national church, governed by the rich and politic, principal- ly fuppcrted by the generous donations of the deceafed, tied together by family con- nexions, adorned with their beft clothes, and meeting once a week to hear a man whom they refpect, is no more calculated to hold up the purity of Chrift's doctrines and precepts to the world, than any corporation- club in the kingdom. 'Tis a very faction, a mere worldly fociety, and there are no D 2 traces [ 20 ] traces of a Chriitian church in the form and policy of it. Who can ever think they are defirous of forming themfclves accord- ing to the New Teftament ? FiftMf, The abfurd method of education, that has pre. ailed in our academies, appears to me to • be another caufe of ourprefent declenlion. As if divine principles could not be fuf- ficiently learnt fiom revelation, the fy-ftem of fome dull metaphyseal divine, muft firfl be introduced, and made forfooth the text. 1 dont fay the ftandard, though fome think it. There is no ridicule can be too ftrong, or fatire too keen upon this practice. What, is not revelation clear enough, now the ca- non of fcripture is compleated, to make the man of God perfect ? Has God infbired any profeftbr of the former or prefent age, to write a clearer revelation, than that in the New Teftament ? Or has he authorized any one to write an appendix to it ? Is it not as abfurd to introduce pupils fijrft to a human fyftem, [ 21 ] fyftem, that they may underftand the will of God, as it would be, to tell a perfon that wanted to know what kind of water ran from fuch a fpring, that he muft go miles down the rivulet, and tafte it as it runs through fome dirty channel ? What is all that the moft accomplished tu- tors can dictate, to confti nite divines, in com- parifon with the teaching of the Holy Ghoft by his own revelation ? Let pupils be made well acquainted with the languages, antiqui- ties, geography, cuftoms and hiftory of the nations and times where the infpired men wrote let them be well read in the fa- cred volume itfelf and let them know the particular and grand defign of each wri- ter from their own perufal of them and then you may truft them without fear, to what commentators and polemical writers have faid. But till then, 'twill be ridiculous to perplex and muddle them, with any hu- man fyftems whatfocver. The man that underftands and breathes the fpirit of the New Teftament, muft be a good Chriftian and an excellent divine There [ ] There is nothing elfe neceifary to qualify him for public ufefulnefs, if he has but a tolerable (hare of natural abilities, but the ble fling of God. His being well verfed in fyftems, creeds, fathers, will never qualify him without this. With thefe he may be well acquainted, and yet either greatly or totally ignorant of the fp'.rit of our Lord's fayings, and the apoftolic writings. Another extreme on the other hand, is the dwelling too long upon ethics, and the external evidences for chriftianity. Thefe I am fenfible are both highly important. But after years reading upon thefe fubje6ts, I am of opinion, men have been •unnecefTarily prolix upon them, in the inftruction of youth. I deny not the expediency and ne- cemty of the hiftorical and external evi- dences for chriftianity, and I value much the indefatigable labours of the great Lard- ner upon this fubjecl: but it appears to me, that the marks of divinity impreifed on the contents of God's own revelation, as upon all his other works, are more ftriking, con- vincing, full and compleat, than what arifes from [ n ] from external evidence. As to moft fyf- tems of ethics, it would be eafy to mew, that they contain opinions quite repugnant to the character of God given in the fcrip- tures, and the very being of vice and vir- tue, as they are there delcribed. But this is not now my province. As to both thefe methods of education, the refult of them is this. The pupils of the former, if they follow their tutors, which genius and integrity, I own, will feldom fuffer them to do, come out fyftem-mackled, perr, fcholaftic, dogmatical, very much un- acquainted with the fcriptures, ignorantly orthodox, mere zealsts for a party, the butt of deifts, and the fcorn of new-fchemers. The pupils of the latter, are continually clamouring about virtue, liberty, and the eternal nature of things. So that one would think at firft there was no right think- ing, nor true liberty, nor genuine virtue, but with them. And for thefe young gentle- men's charity, one cannot but be in love with it. How does it hang upon their melo- dious tongues ! 'Tis the emphatical word al- moil [ 24 ] molt in every fentence. What mall I call it ? 'Tis a goddefs, or 'tis the lummum bo- num, or 'tis the very quinteffence of hea- ven upon earth. Their charity, in fhort, is lb good-natured a lady, that lhe neither frets herfelf about any fentiments, nor de- fpifes any. There is but one character upon earth that is offenlive to her, and that will put her in a pafiion. That is, the man who infills upon it, that revelation was intended to convey fome ideas to the mind, which are important to the hope, holinefs and hap- pinels of finful creatures. And as he is ftre- nuous in profelTing thefe, and cannot think a man right that rejects them, though he allows him boundlefs liberty to think and act in his own way, yet madam charity, whenever me meets him, never fails to be in a violent paflion with him. Thefe young gentlemen talk mightily too about freedom of inquiry. 'Tis important, 'tis the glorious privilege of Britons ! True it is, and may it ever be fo. But why is this fo great and ineftimable a privilege ? Why 'tis anfwered, becaufe of the difcovery of t 25 ] 6f truth. A proper anfwer. But how can Miftrefs Truth, and that Lady Charity a- bove-mentioned, be reconciled ? Indeed, gentlemen, they are not fit companions — they'll never agree. And if you keep one company and worfhip her, vou mult, in- deed you muft, abandon the other. Truth is venerable, folemn and pointing to the con- fcience, as well as comforting and fup- porting to the mind. But the Charity before defcribed, allows of no attention to be paid to it in this view. I fubmit it to the confederation of every judicious Chriftian, whether any thing can be taught better for the fupport of poor guil- ty diilrelfcd fouls, than what is repeatedly inculcated by the apoftles in the Acls ? And where can any one know more clearly, the import and full meaning of the principles there taught, concerning the perfon, offices, righteoufnefs, and comoleat redemption of the Son of God, than by reading his ftory in the Evangelifts ? And is it pofnbie for any profeflbr, to difcover to us, by any new fyftem, how chriftuus mould better live' B- ehriflianity [ 26 ] diriftianity in private in every relation of lire, and how they mould profefs and main- tain it in their iociecies more conformably to the will of (Thrift, than by rending the apo- ltolic epiftles to the churches r Here, here, we may fee, how Jefus and his apoftles would have chriftianity observed. The Ger- man f/ftematic, and the mere ethical di- vine, will certainly fall then vaftly fhort of him, who fetches his materials from the forementioned divine writings. The flaviih practice of writing lectures, and after too, fometimes, mere novices in literature and divinity, is highly abfurd, as bcoks are fo eaiy to be come at, now print- ing is come to fuch perfection. It has a ten- dency to deaden the fpirits, and unnerve a pupil for application. And I have this to cbierve again ft it, that of all who have been thus brought up, that I am acquainted with, not one has ever made any good ufe of them after he has left the academy. Bat mod have thought with indignant refentment on the time foent in them, and have looked upon it as totally loft. If [ 27 ] If a divinity tutor be not a great philofo- pher, an eminent mathematician, a deep civilian, it may be difpenfed with. But if he be not well acquainted with the languages in which the fcriptures were firfr. wrote, the cuftoms, manners, and hiftory of the times and nations where they were firft published, a pretty ready ecclefiaftical hiftorian, and a man of good natural fenfe, he is by no means equal to his office, I am fenfible thefe ac- complishments are nothing, without the up- right heart, the fair character, and the truly chriflian fpirit in all its various parts. But I am as fenfible, the latter without the for- mer, will never anfwer the end of fuch a profefhon. Finally, I would mention the ignorance and enthufi- afm that have prevailed in our aifcmblies. I know very well our focicties are not more lb, than others, where there is a kind of zeal among them. But I do not addrefs myfelf to them. Neither will I fay this is the E 2 ftate [ *« ] ftate of our focieties univerfally, but I will fay 'tis too- generally fo. I am acquainted with many of them in town and country. The Bible neglected. 'Tis as great a rarity almoft, to find a common profeffor, fo acquainted with the main fcope and contents of the facred books, as to evince to us he has his leading fentiments from thence, as the appearance of a comet. No, any thing muft be read on a Lord's day evening but the Bible. This is not favoury e- nough. Every man and family too have their favourite authors, as the Quakers have their Robert Barclay, and a new feet their Giafs and Sandiman. Thefe favourites are thumbed over from beginning to end, whilft the poor Bible lies by as a fealed dry book and dead letter ; and the greateft refpect that has been mown to it, is to let it (land impe- rilled upon the (helf to be fed on by fpiders. Or if it be now and then looked into, 'tis onlv as we would look at a riddles to fee how fome ingenious man has interpreted it. From [ "-9 1 From this impious neglect of the Bible, has arofe a zealous attatchment to human phrafes, more than to the phrafeology and fenfe of the facred volume. This vice I am now fpeaking of, has been countenanced by our never reading the New Teftament and important parts of the Old, regularly in our public affemblies. A bafe omiffion in perfons, that particularly pro- fefs to have their doctrines and rules of ac- tion from the New Teftament. In the more private afTemblings of the brethren, it has too generally been left out, and the vileffc cant about unmeaning feelings fubftituted in its ftead. What, is the Bible the rule of faith and practice or is it not ? Can he be a bad Chriftian who knows and feels and lives agreeably to that ? If fo, the fcripture is not pur only rule. Does the Holy Ghoft reveal any thing more, than is in his -own word, to profefTors now ? Does faith ever come but by hearing or fome means of information ? Is there any fuch thing, as what we may call a metaphyseal infpiration in the prefent age, whereby fentiments are immediately infufed [ 3° I infufed into the mind without the ufe of the bodily fenfes r Nay, was there ever r 'Tis preemption, 'tis blafphemy to pretend to it. Whims about faith. Then a^ain there have been fuch works made with poor faith, that one lcarcely knows wThat to call it. One while 'tis the mouth, or hand, or wing, or feet of rege- neration. Then again 'tis confidered as a kind of etherial infurlon, which is denomi- nated the principle. This infufed principle is reprefented as producing acts upon rets, in a vail variety of diviiions and fubdivilions. — A poor man, who was diftrefled in his mind about his falvation, came not long fince to me, and told me his complaints. I heard him with attention and concern. In my re- ply, I told him he had formed wrong noti- ons of chriltianity, and ftated to him fome paflages of the New Teftament, which the apollks had delivered to men under the fame kind of concern. He heard me, but feemed furprifed at my counfel. I told him I 1 3' 1 I could give him no better advice than that, and if he underftood and believed it, it would give him fome kind of fatisfaction. and relief directly. Oh! fays he, 'tis the fcripture, and I believe all that. And dont you then, faid I, find it glad tidings, truly gofpel to you ? No, fays he, I am afraid I have not the faith that is faving. Pray then, replied I to him, what do you apprehend faving faith to be? Why, fays he, I may compare it to a pipe for the reception of Chrift, as that inilrument does the water. Now, adds he, I dont find this within me. Then I anfwered, you expect to feel it, do you? Yes, Sir, faid he. Why then, I added, if I could now make you underftand and believe all that Jefus and his apoftles faid, you would not expect to be relieved by it, would you? No to be fure, fays he, with- out faith in the heart, and the receiving ChriiVs perfon as well as his word. I leave the reader to make his own re- marks upon this. I could produce numbers of inftances more of the fame kind. 'Tis no queflion at all with me, that thefe grofs and t 32 ] and dangerous notions of faith, came origi-' ginally from the writings of thofe learned doctors, who hwe laboured with all their criticifm and fkill, to make an effential dif- ference between believing the word and tes- timony of Jefus, and the believing in his perfon and offices. What, does not he that believes Chrift's words, believe him? Does not he that abides in them, abide in the Fa- ther and the Son, or rather they in him ? Then the fcriptures fpeak not truth. What was Chrift's word or teftimony a- bout, but his perfon, offices and redemption ? Every body knows what it is to believe,* confidering its fimple fenfe, as well as what it is to think. And any attempts to explain either, would be to confound them. And if perfons do not know what it is to believe the gofpel favingly, 'tis becaufe they are ig*- norant of, or fee not the evidence for, its glorious contents. I could refer you to num- bers of ancient as well as modern authors, who confidcr faith in this fame fimple plain manner. But I'll only mention Mr. John Erfkine's effays, and a late performance of Mr. t 33 1 Mr. Rotheram's, preacher at Oxford, and, if they are iufpedted of Sandimanianifm, I cannot help it. I am fure what they fay a- boutit, is fcriptural, and fenfible, and believe every unprejudiced peribn will think fo *. Silly notions of Regeneration. 1 forbear to dwell long upon the grofs no- tion of regeneration, that has been too com- monly entertained. Though the moft cele- brated writers upon that fubject, of ortho- doxy and fenfe, have abfolutely difa vowed the communication of any new natural powers, yet it is too commonly thought, and too much countenanced by minifters, that it is fomething of a natural and impuliive change of the mental powers, by the almighty ener- gy of the Holy Ghoft, without the instru- mentality of Gofpel truth. Than which I think nothing can be more contrary to the fcriptures. " Begotten again by the incor- * I would not be underftood to approve all Mr. Rother- am's opinions, though I admire him much. 'Tis notaQuef- tion with me, whether he lunges a man's acceptance with God, upon what he believes? 'Tis plain he does not. F ruptible t 34 1 j-uptible feed of the word"