A LETTER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HON. & REY. BAPTIST NOEL, M.A.; 
 
 CONTAINING REMARKS 
 
 ON HIS RECENT SECESSION; 
 
 AND PROPOSING CERTAIN MEASURES 
 
 IMMEDIATE AND ENTIRE REFORMATION 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 REY. THOMAS SPENCER, M.A., 
 
 LATE FELLOW Of ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 “ Believest thou? then thou wilt apeak with boldness. Speakest thou boldly? 
 then thou must sufler. Suflerest thou ? then thou shalt be comforted: for 
 faith, the confession of it, .and the cross, do succeed one to the other." 
 
 Hlartin Luther. 
 
 "Oh for an hour of Luther now! 
 
 Once they broke the Papal chain— 
 
 Who shall break it now again?" 
 
 Baptist Noel. 
 
 FIFTH THOUSAND. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HOULSTON AND STONEMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 AND SAMUEL GIBBS, 5, UNION STREET, BATH. 
 
 PRICE TWOPENCE. 
 
 No. 22. 
 
A LETTER TO THE 
 HON. AND REY. BAPTIST NOEL, M.A. 
 
 Deak Sir 
 
 Your recent secession from the Established Church demands the 
 serious consideration of all those of your clerical brethren who, in 
 common with yourself, desire the reform of that Church; and it 
 will not, I trust, he deemed presumptuous in me, if, as one of that 
 number, I express my opinions respecting it. The name of Baptist 
 Noel has been too long identified with all that is earnest and beloved 
 in the Church of England to require from me an assurance that in 
 doing so I shall be actuated only by sentiments of most sincere 
 esteem. I shall make a few observations, as to your poieer to leave 
 the Church of England, if you would ; — as to the propriety of your 
 leaving it if you could;—and as to the duties arising out of your 
 present position. 
 
 I. As TO YOUR POWER TO LEAVE THE ClIURCH OP ENGLAND 
 IF YOU would. —The world regards you as having separated your¬ 
 self from the Established Church. This you have not done, and 
 cannot do. You have given up St. John’s Chapel, and have published 
 an “ Essay on the Union of Church and Statebut this is all you 
 have done. The opinions set forth in your Essay are such as for 
 many years you have been supposed to hold; and which you had a 
 right to hold in that institution which, whilst enjoining conformity to 
 its usages, does not fetter the mind of its ministers, but requires them 
 “by daily reading and weighing the scriptures, to wax riper and 
 stronger in their ministry.” In this study of scripture you have 
 advanced beyond most of your brethren, and are consequently better 
 qualified to say what a church ought to be ; but you have acquired no 
 power thereby to change your position, except by obtaining a change 
 in the law. You are still as much a clergyman as ever, and subject 
 to the discipline of the Bishop of the diocese in which you reside. The 
 Bishop has promised “diligently to exercise the discipline committed to 
 himand if he perform his duty, he will not permit you to preach as a 
 nonconformist minister. You have made solemn promises which are 
 binding, unless you can show the performance to be either unlawful 
 or impossible. Your continuing to discharge your clerical duties 
 until recently, and your willingness to continue them till next July, 
 sufficiently shew that you do not regard the performance of your 
 promises as either impossible or unlawful. At your ordination, the 
 Bishop put to you the-following question:—“Will you reverently 
 obey your Ordinary, and other chief ministers, unto whom is com¬ 
 mitted the charge and government over you; following with glad 
 
3 
 
 mind and will their godly admonitions, and submitting yourselves to 
 their godly judgments ?” And you, at the age of 24, having counted 
 the cost, deliberately answered, “ I will so do, the Lord being my 
 helper.” From this obligation, nothing but a change in the law under 
 which you incurred it can release you. Four years ago I assured Mr. 
 Shore, in his own house at Totnes, that he could not become a 
 dissenting minister. He had then received legal advice to the 
 contrary; hut he has since been convinced, by painful experience, of 
 the indelible nature of holy orders, as the law at present stands; and 
 is now taking the proper course of petitioning the legislature to 
 release him from the cruel tyranny which will neither permit him 
 to preach in the Establishment nor out of it. 
 
 II. As TO TIIE PROPRIETY OF YOUR LEAVING TIIE CHURCH 
 if you could. —The remarks I am about to make, are not intended 
 to imply any disrespect to those persons who are already moving in a 
 separate sphere. I believe that amongst the dissenting ministers 
 and their congregations may he found some of the best men of our 
 day; and that in the congregational system, including Independents 
 and Baptists, a greater amount of liberty is enjoyed, both by 
 ministers and people, than in any other system. In fact, the episco¬ 
 pal churches of the United States more nearly resemble the congre¬ 
 gational, than our own. They have no parishes; each congregation 
 elects and supports its own rector, and gives him leave of absence; 
 and, as the bishop derives neither wealth nor lordly titles from his 
 office, but is obliged to earn an honourable living, by taking charge 
 of a church and congregation, this useful occupation keeps him 
 from officious interference with his clerical brethren. 
 
 As to the ends to be accomplished in our Church we agree; it is 
 only as to the means that we differ. I believe that the clergy 
 ought to he elected, and voluntarily supported by their own con¬ 
 gregations ; that it is a national sin to compel some men to pay 
 for the worship of other men; that all ecclesiastical property belongs 
 to the people, and ought to be appropriated to the public service, due, 
 regard being had to existing incumbents and patrons; that the Bible 
 should be the only rule of faith; that religion most declines when 
 creeds and confessions most abound; that the Act of Uniformity is 
 the chief cause of schism; and that endowments first corrupt the 
 faith, and then by sordid inducements continue to present to the 
 eyes of men the form of godliness, after the power of it has 
 departed. The question, however, still remains—Ought we to leave 
 the Church in which this great work is to be performed, and allow 
 our attention to he engrossed by the building up, and keeping in 
 repair some rival institution ? or ought we to remain in the Church, 
 and devote all that time and energy to the restoration of Apostolic 
 simplicity ? In my opinion, the latter is the proper course. The 
 departure of good men only tends to confirm the abuses which by their 
 united efforts they might have removed. Luther was willing to defend 
 
his theses before the whole world; he was ready to appear before the 
 Pope; he was willing to reason with the princes of Germany; and 
 to preach against Indulgences, and other corrupt practices of the 
 Church of Rome, but he would not leave the Church. These are his 
 words:—“The worse things are going, the more should we hold close 
 to it; for it is not by separation from it that we can make it better. 
 For love can do all things, and nothing is difficult for those who are 
 united.” Bishops Gardiner and Bonner were aware of the importance 
 of getting rid of the more enlightened ministers, when, in executing 
 the order of Queen Mary, to pull down the Reformation, they 
 dismissed three bishops for preaching, and four for being married, 
 and without compensation, out of 16,000 clergy, turned out 12,000 
 for having wives. Charles II. too, who was secretly a Papist, sent 
 away 2000 of the best of the clergy, and left them to contend with 
 hunger and destitution. The emigration of the Pilgrim Fatheis to 
 the United States, and the desertion of many good men since that 
 time, have permitted the Established Church to increase in power and 
 wealth; and never were its priests so active and successful in throw¬ 
 ing the chains of despotism over every locality, as at this moment. 
 Had Cromwell and his friends been permitted to leave England for 
 America, Charles I. might have accomplished his plans of tyranny; 
 but as they were compelled to remain at home, their energy was exerted 
 in behalf of the liberties of their own country. You are endeavouring 
 to depart as Cromwell did, but the laws of the land pull you back, that 
 as a champion of religious freedom, you may do your own proper work, 
 in your own proper place. The shout of rejoicing set up in the Trac- 
 tarian camp, should lead you to suspect the course you would pursue. 
 The clergy think themselves safer by your departure, than by your 
 presence. The English Churchman of Jan. 4, 1849, says respecting 
 your secession: “ It being notorious, that at least one half of the 
 clergy are in the habit of disobeying some one or other plain directions 
 of the Prayer Book, ought not all who think as he does to copy his 
 example? As honest men they ought to cease to minister in a 
 Church, the doctrines of which they do not believe, and cannot con¬ 
 sequently teach.” With the articles and homilies, drawn up by 
 Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, to show us what those doctrines are, 
 and with the 6th article, authorising us to abide by the scripture in 
 all cases of doubt, are we prepared to hand over to these men all 
 the pulpits of the Church of England ? 
 
 The proper place to resist evil is at its source. “Resist the devil, 
 and he will flee from you;” but if you flee from him you will in vain 
 endeavour to destroy his works. Secession stereotypes errors both 
 in Church and State. When dissent is substituted for church 
 reform, ecclesiastical abuses are rendered permanent. When 
 charity is substituted for justice, political grievances are con¬ 
 firmed. Corn Laws, and enormous taxation, would not have been 
 endured one year but for the bribe of poor-rates and charitable 
 
institutions. The poor man’s friend, the advocate of all kinds 
 of relief, sometimes acts from ignorance, but he will usually be found 
 to be identified with existing abuses. He and his class would not 
 extend the suffrage, or encourage independence of spirit amongst the 
 masses ; all they desire is to keep them quiet. For this end, out of 
 the income they receive under the present system of oppression, they 
 are willing to return a few shillings in the pound, in order that they 
 may quietly retain the remainder. The civil and ecclesiastical evils 
 by which men are now grievously oppressed are caused by unjust 
 legislation; and it is only by withstanding unjust legislation that they 
 can be removed. Instead, however, of combined efforts to render the 
 National Church a useful and self-supporting institution, men secede 
 and form voluntary institutions to coexist with it, side by side, and in 
 peace ; and they even allow themselves to be taxed for the support of 
 the worship they have forsaken. At a time when semi-popish priests, 
 for the sake of protestant pay, have got possession of half our parish 
 churches, it can scarcely be right for Protestants to surrender these 
 edifices without a struggle. As Englishmen, they are responsible for 
 national sins; as citizens and taxpayers, they are shareholders in 
 national property; as parishioners and ratepayers, they are trustees 
 to whom Providence has committed the churches and church property 
 which their fathers, at much cost of blood and treasure, had secured 
 for the preaching of the true faith. By quiet submission to this 
 usurpation of their own edifices, and by erecting dissenting chapels, they 
 have incurred the censure which their Divine Master pronounced 
 against the church of Thyatira—“ 1 have a few things against thee, 
 because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a 
 prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants.” 
 
 To demand reform, however, is far more difficult than to secede-. 
 It requires men made of sterner stuff. “The kingdom of heaven 
 suffereth violence, and the violent take it by forceand it is by brave 
 men of this stamp that reforms are to be achieved. The rest are 
 mere creatures of formality and conventionalism: and their religious 
 profession is a mesmeric slumber, in which they fancy themselves 
 walking towards the kingdom of heaven, the gates of which the 
 timid, the effeminate, the fearful, and the unbelieving are not per¬ 
 mitted to enter. Both in Church and State, the palace of the 
 oppressor is defended by strong men, armed with vested interests 
 who, in order to keep their goods in peace, contrive by spurious 
 charity to call off the attention of the destitute from the real 
 cause of their destitution. If, for instance, men complain that 
 they are impoverished by taxes on the necessaries of life, 
 the modern philanthropist provides refuges for the destitute, 
 soup kitchens, ragged schools, female penitentiaries, and lying-in 
 hospitals. Tell him that intemperance is the main cause of 
 pauperism and crime, and that a perpetual stream of rags, and 
 theft, and madness flows from the gin palace and the beer 
 
shop; and, instead of attempting to prevent the evil, by practising 
 and recommending entire abstinence from intoxicating drinks, he 
 discusses with paupers and thieves the question of emigration as an 
 outlet for the paupers and thieves so created. Tell him that the 
 window-tax diminishes light, and air, and health, and domestic comfort, 
 and he will obtain a Public Health Bill, greatly abridging the liberties 
 of the people; and, by thousands of paid officials, and by arbitrary 
 enactments, adding to public expense. If you call his attention to 
 an English newspaper of the price of fivepence, and contrast it with 
 an American paper, of equal value to working men, but of the price 
 of a halfpenny, and shew that the tax on paper, the penny stamp on 
 newspapers, and the high duty upon advertisements effectually exclude 
 useful knowledge from the millions, and leave them exposed to 
 dangerous,errors; he runs to the legislature for increased grants for 
 the education of the poor, and asks for more clergymen, more 
 schoolmasters, and more inspectors. If you reply that we have 
 already universities and public schools rolling in wealth, and abound¬ 
 ing with most valuable libraries, and with endowments sufficient 
 to educate all England, and that these universities and public 
 schools are a monopoly in the hands of the very parties who are 
 expressly excluded by their statutes; instead of a movement for 
 reform of public schools and colleges, he betakes himself to the 
 erection of new schools and colleges, and to the obtaining of addi¬ 
 tional endowments. In all these schemes the mistaken but well- 
 meaning philanthropist is backed by the thousands who are seeking 
 public offices with liberal salaries out of the taxes. 
 
 Thus, when, by deviation from a right course of life, the whole head is 
 sick, and the whole heart faint, the dishonest physician is prescribing pills 
 and mixtures, stimulants and cordials, opiates and narcotics; although 
 he knows that nothing short of a return to air and exercise, simple diet, 
 and the laws of physical well-being can restore the patient to health. 
 The means now in use may postpone the evil day, but it will be the 
 more terrible when it comes; and nothing but an entire reform of 
 Church and State can save the country from the fearful convulsion to 
 which we are rapidly tending. Men may forsake the post of duty 
 when it becomes the post of danger, and they may deceive them¬ 
 selves ; but God is not mocked; and he will hold every man to his 
 accountability as a steward. The Queen may devolve her responsi¬ 
 bility upon her ministers, and commit her conscience to their keeping; 
 the ministers may declare themselves powerless without a parliamentary 
 majority; members of parliament may plead their inability to stem 
 the torrent of abuses unless aided by strong expression of public 
 opinion; and, to get up a public opinion, some must sow the seed of 
 right principles in the public mind, and others must gather up the 
 harvest of petitions springing therefrom; but when this chief 
 duty is to be performed, all with one consent begin to make 
 excuse. One is too good to meddle with politics; another is not 
 
good enough to undertake so great a work. Great minds are busy 
 scanning the heavens; and pious minds are watching the evangeliza¬ 
 tion of the heathen; advocates of liberty are getting freedom for the 
 slaves of Brazil; men of wealth are afraid of agitation ; and men of 
 business fear their employers and customers; and thus the post of 
 duty, the post of danger, on which the eyes of all heaven are fixed, 
 remains deserted. Jezebel, with her painted face, looks out at her 
 window, but when the advocate of Church Reform has exclaimed—■ 
 “Who is on my side ? Who ? ” There have been none to respond ; 
 and they that should obey the call to “ throw her down” are absent. 
 
 Of all the clergy, you are amongst the most clear of the guilt 
 of ecclesiastical evils. But, with great deference. I would ask 
 whether you are quite exempt from blame. When speaking of the 
 Church of England you say—“ Of its 16,000 ministers, about 1,568 
 do nothing; about 6,681 limit their thoughts to small parishes which 
 contain from 150 to 300 souls; while others in cities and towns 
 profess to take charge of 8000 or 9000 souls; and of the 12,923 
 working pastors of churches, I fear, from various concurrent symp¬ 
 toms, that about 10,000 are unconverted men, who neither preach 
 nor know the Gospel.” The Church of England is a vineyard in a 
 very fruitful hill, and much has been done for it; but it appears from 
 this statement that it has brought forth wild grapes. The time may 
 be near when the owner of the vineyard will say—“I will takeaway 
 the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ; and break down the wall 
 thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste; 
 it shall not be pruned nor digged. I will also command the clouds 
 that they rain no rain upon it.” But before the owner of the 
 vineyard sanctions the work of destruction from without, he asks— 
 “ What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have 
 not done in it ?” We have also the prophet’s explanation of the 
 good and the wild grapes; “He looked for judgment, but behold 
 oppression ; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” Instead of a 
 righteous government and a happy people, God saw the cruelty of the 
 oppressors, and heard the cry of the oppressed. You have been sent 
 to work in this vineyard. You saw the oppressors and the oppressed. 
 Before leaving the vineyard, did you ask yourself, “What can be done 
 more to this vineyard that I have not done in it ? ” Let us see. You 
 had an attached and influential congregation ready, as subsequent 
 events show, to co-operate with you in the work of Church Reform. 
 You had relatives amongst the aristocracy, and friends in both houses 
 of parliament, who would have presented any petition you and your 
 congregation might have prepared. You were one of the chaplains to 
 the Queen, and could have communicated your advice to the 
 Head of the Church. You had the esteem of thousands of your 
 countrymen, and the whole nation would have listened to a solemn 
 protest from you against aristocratic oppressors, and to an appeal in 
 behalf of the oppressed. And, finally, you might have given to the 
 
8 
 
 Bishop of London your firm but respectful protest against the pomp 
 of prelacy, and other manifest departures from apostolic simplicity; 
 and if, in return for your fidelity, his Lordship should have withdrawn 
 your licence, and if no other bishop would have allowed you to preach, 
 then you would but have been in the position of Luther, who refused to 
 leave the Church, but was excommunicated by the Pope. You would 
 have placed yourself under the immediate protection of the Divine 
 Being, and the hearts of millions would have sympathised with you. 
 Many talents have been entrusted to your care; and, until you had 
 brought them all into use, I cannot see the propriety of your leaving 
 the Church if you could. 
 
 III. As to the Duties arising out of your present 
 position. —The reformers wished to make the first reformation com¬ 
 plete, but not being permitted, they left posterity to finish their work. 
 In his important history, recently published, Mr. Macaulay says, “The 
 government and the protestants had only one thing in common, 
 hatred of the papal power. The English reformers were eager to 
 go as far as their brethren on the continent. Thus Bishop Hooper, 
 who died manfully at Gloucester for his religion, long refused to 
 wear the episcopal vestments. Bishop Ridley, a martyr of still 
 greater renown, pulled down the ancient altars of his diocese, and 
 ordered the eucharist to be administered in the middle of the 
 churches, at tables which the papists irreverently termed oyster 
 boards. Bishop Jewel pronounced the clerical garb to he a stage 
 dress, a fool’s coat, a relique of the Amorites, and promised that lie 
 would spare no labour to extirpate such degrading absurdities. 
 Archbishop Grindal long hesitated about accepting a mitre from 
 dislike of what he regarded as the mummery of consecration.” 
 Believing that he is the true son of the Church who carries on the 
 work of the reformers, I suggested, whilst holding the living of 
 Hinton, various measures of Church Reform; and the tract, which I 
 sent you seven years ago, entitled “The Second Reformation,” 
 expresses the sentiments which, more than a year after I have 
 resigned that benefice, I still entertain. You promised at your 
 ordination, that you would “ banish and drive away all erroneous 
 and strange doctrine contrary to God’s word.” You regard the 
 doctrine as erroneous that the State is bound to provide religious 
 instruction for the people; and you consider it to be contrary to 
 God’s word that governments, composed of men of every creed, 
 or of no creed, should be permitted to determine what is true 
 religion, and to compel the whole nation to pay for its support. 
 It is your mission, therefore, to banish and drive away these errors; 
 and for this end, to bring public opinion to bear upon the legis¬ 
 lature. For deciding all grave questions, the simple mode which 
 it has pleased God to appoint, is that men shall reason together and 
 persuade each other, and that they who possess some valuable 
 truth shall proclaim the same to all who are willing to listen. 
 
g 
 
 There are, however, men who hate the light, because their deeds 
 are evil; and, if possible, they will keep others from the light If, 
 in conformity with the religion which God hath chosen, you 
 begin “to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, 
 to let the oppiessed go free, and to break every yoke,” you will 
 disturb thousands of oppressors who are feasting on the spoils of 
 the oppressed. They will raise a clamour, and will complain as if 
 you were the oppressor and they the oppressed. If you oppose war, 
 slavery, intemperance, or heavy taxation, you excite the enmity of 
 those who live by war, who hold slaves, who traffic in strong drink, 
 or who live on the taxes. If you come forth, as Dr. Cumming says 
 the Scotch Reformers did, but as the English did not, to destroy the 
 rookeries, be prepared for the most discordant sounds. Every step 
 in that direction will be called political agitation; because, ever since 
 the time of the brave puritans, religious men have been terrified 
 from their duty by this accusation. I allude to this because, perhaps 
 without intending it, you have given some sanction to the delusion. 
 At the banquet recently held at Manchester, the letter of the 
 venerable Dr. Pye Smith expressed regret that he could not be 
 present; but in your letter, whilst rejoicing in the success of the 
 League, you conveyed an opinion that ministers of religion were not 
 generally in their place at political meetings. Yet this was no party 
 strife, but a great moral struggle for cheap bread. When Christ em¬ 
 ployed his Apostles in carrying bread and fish to the hungry thou¬ 
 sands, and then commanded them to “ gather up the fragments that 
 remain, that nothing be lost,’’ he taught them and their successors to 
 use all lawful means to make food plentiful, and to prevent all waste of 
 the Divine bounty. The Corn-Laws made food scarce and dear, and 
 sometimes, by their high duties, caused ship loads of wheat to. be 
 thrown into the Thames. Is the office of a minister of religion too 
 sacred to allow him to assist his fellow men in repealing such laws ? 
 
 The political agitators are the men who, for selfish purposes, make 
 and support bad laws, and not the men who endeavour to repeal 
 them. When Ahab said to Elijah, “ Art thou he that troubleth 
 Israel ?” the prophet answered, “ I have not troubled Israel, but thou 
 and thy father’s house.” And when Isaiah heard the cry of the 
 oppressed, he charged their oppressors with rebellion; he said, 
 “ Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves; every one 
 loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards.” "When, in their love of 
 show, the inhabitants of a well-ordered republic, whose payments to 
 Church and State were small and voluntary, desired a king to rule 
 over them, the prophet Samuel, at God’s command, gave to them 
 and through them to mankind, a political address upon the tendency 
 of kings to take the people’s property and bestow it upon their 
 captains and horsemen, and upon their cooks, confectioners, and 
 servants. If the people had been duly admonished to be on their guard 
 against this tendency, the Financial Reform Association would not 
 
10 
 
 now be required. The political agitators, therefore, are the clergy, 
 who, for political purposes, and for the support of a political Church, 
 have shunned to declare all the counsel of God. When, however, 
 some modern Tertullus says, that you are “ a pestilent fellow, a mover 
 of sedition, and a ringleader of a sect,” be sure your efforts are begin¬ 
 ning to do execution. Touch the wealth of the Church, and they who 
 suppose gain to be godliness will cry, “ The Church is in danger.” 
 An orator at the Council of Basle said, “ Formerly I was of opinion 
 that it would be well to separate the temporal from the spiritual 
 power, but I have learned that virtue without force is ludi¬ 
 crous, and that the Pope, without the hereditary possessions of 
 the Church, is only the servant of kings.” John Wesley, however, 
 accomplished his great works without either power or wealth, and in 
 opposition to both ; and so little did Luther regard riches as essential 
 to success, that he said, “ He who seeks a comfortable life should 
 not be a teacher of religion. He who seeks riches, honour, and 
 good days, is not suited to the sendee of truth.” So far from 
 thinking that virtue without force is ludicrous, Luther said, “ If the 
 choice were given me, I should prefer the labour of a Christian 
 peasant, or servant, or housemaid, to all the great conquests of an 
 Alexander or a Julius Cmsar.” Yet, rather than part with its filthy 
 lucre, the Protestant Church of Ireland will let popery be endowed; 
 and rather than see the wealth of the English Church endangered by 
 the spread of popular liberty on the continent, the parties who have 
 hitheito cried “ no popery,” and “ down with the Pope,” -will urge 
 the government to assist in restoring to the Pope that temporal 
 throne of which his own subjects have deprived him. 
 
 The Church can only be reformed through the legislature; and in 
 your Essay you have well described the duties of legislators. You 
 say, “They should abolish all class legislation, create no unjust 
 monopolies, remove all artificial checks upon industry, make all the 
 subjects equal in the eye of the law, admit as many as possible to 
 the privileges of the constitution. They no less owe it to their 
 Lord and Redeemer to leave his churches free from all secular 
 control, to intrude no ministers upon them, to impose no tax upon 
 the reluctant for the purposes of religion, and to use no coercion 
 whatever in religious matters.” But will a parliament, as at present 
 constituted, listen to your gentle admonitions ? The majority of 
 members in both houses receive vast incomes from the army and 
 navy, possess enormous ecclesiastical patronage, and are deeply 
 interested in all the abuses of Church and State. The working 
 classes, on the contrary, when not corrupted by the bribery of parish 
 pay and charitable gifts, have no interest in abuses; and, therefore, 
 though less educated, they form a more correct opinion; and, if 
 allowed to vote at elections, would send to parliament better men. 
 When unbiassed by their priests and rulers, the common people heard 
 Christ gladly, and would have elected him their king. In France, 
 
11 
 
 Prussia, Austria, and Italy, where the people have had no share in 
 the management of their own affairs, there is little true religion; 
 and, in their recent struggles for reform, they fought because they 
 could not vote. In the free States of America, where the suffrage is 
 universal, the people prosper, churches abound, and religion flourishes; 
 and when the people desire reforms they vote, but do not fight. In the 
 other States, where men of colour have no votes, slavery exists, churches 
 are scarce, religion languishes, and endless precautions are adopted 
 to keep down insurrection. In England, where only one man in 
 seven possesses the franchise, crime and infidelity increase, and 
 poverty and discontent prevail to a dangerous extent. Assist the 
 people to obtain universal suffrage, and you will have an enlightened 
 House of Commons that will reform the Church. Moses chose 
 rather to cast in his lot with his brethren in their affliction, than to 
 enjoy the pleasures of Pharaoh’s court; but before he was allowed 
 to teach the divine law unto the people, he was required to deliver 
 them from bondage;—“ Let my people go, that they may serve me.” 
 And, assuredly, that which is necessary for the accomplishment of 
 a religious object, is itself religious. Till this is done, hungry 
 men who ascribe their poverty to the laws made by the class to 
 which the preacher belongs, are not likely to seek the law at his 
 mouth. “ True it is,” says the judicious Hooker, “ that the 
 kingdom of God must be the first thing in our purposes and 
 desires. But inasmuch as righteous life presupposeth life, inasmuch 
 as to live viituously it is impossible unless we live, therefore the first 
 impediment which naturally we endeavour to remove is penury and 
 want of things without which we cannot live.” 
 
 But the people are said to be too ignorant to vote. The true 
 version of this is that they are too wise ; they would remove abuses 
 and cut down expenditure. When the Prior of Blacltfriars preached 
 before the University of Cambridge against the dangerous tendency 
 of the opinions of Bishop Latimer, and especially with regard to a 
 translation of the scriptures for the use of the common people, he 
 said, “ If that heresy were to prevail, we should soon see an end of 
 everything useful among us. The ploughman, reading that if he put 
 his hand to the plough, and should happen to look back, he was unfit 
 for the kingdom of God, would soon lay aside his labour; the simple 
 man, also finding himself commanded to pluck out his eyes, in a few 
 years we should have the nation full of blind beggars.” On the 
 following Sunday, Latimer replied in the same pulpit; and, fixing his 
 eyes on the bench on which sat the Prior with his cowl about his 
 shoulders, he said, “ A figurative manner of speech is common in all 
 languages, and generally understood; thus, for instance, when we 
 see a fox painted preaching in a friar’s hood, nobody imagines that a 
 fox is meant, but that craft and hypocrisy are described which are 
 so often found in that garb.” The only danger the friar had foreseen 
 was that the people, by reading the scriptures, would become too 
 
12 
 
 wise to submit any longer to priestly power. The late venerable 
 W. Howels, minister of Long Acre Episcopal chapel, with Latimer’s 
 penetration, appeared to see into the character of a prelate since 
 distinguished for his support of surplices, sisters of mercy, and 
 baptismal regeneration. About 18 years ago, a few days after the 
 appointment of Dr. Phillpotts to the diocese of Exeter, in explaining 
 to his congregation the passage—“ 0 Israel, thy prophets are like 
 the foxes in the desert,” I heard him say, “ In former times, prophets 
 and priests were noted for the vulpine quality of cunning;—it is not 
 less so now; a fox has lately been made a bishop.” The magicians 
 of Egypt imitated Moses, not to assist, but to thwart his object; and 
 religious ordinances and educational efforts, under tractarian auspices, 
 whilst pretending to remove popular ignorance and spiritual destitu¬ 
 tion, are, in reality, the enchantments contrived to impede the pro¬ 
 gress of sound learning and true religion. 
 
 Trusting, therefore, that your faith in right principles, and your 
 confidence in an overruling Providence will make you heartily 
 willing to grant to the people political power, and that you will not 
 permit any kind of opposition to deter you from the work of Church 
 Reform, I proceed to suggest a few practical measures which are 
 calculated to accomplish that object. 
 
 1. A Letter to Christian Churches. —Issue an address to pro- 
 testants of all denominations, urging them to lay aside sectarian 
 differences, and to come forth as joint proprietors of all national 
 property, responsible for its right appropriation, and for the righteous 
 use of parish churches and cathedrals. Convince them that whilst 
 they inveigh against the Babylonish connection of Church and State, 
 they are the landlords of the premises in which this intercourse is 
 carried on. Exhort every minister of religion to sot apart a day for 
 calling the attention of his congregation to the abuses of the National 
 Church, and for inviting their earnest co-operation, as citizens, in a 
 simultaneous effort to bring about the second reformation. 
 
 2. A Provisional Committee. —Gather around you a select band of 
 faithful men, living in or near London, to prepare a broad basis on 
 which all honest protestants may cordially act together. Such as, 
 that the Bible only shall be the guide of all proceedings, the public 
 good the end to be aimed at; that church property be appropriated 
 to national uses; that ministers be elected and supported by their 
 own congregations. Into this committee admit no timid or time¬ 
 serving character; rather have open enemies than such false breth¬ 
 ren ; for, whilst ever ready to thrust themselves amongst the leaders 
 of every great movement, they are traitors in the camp—will give 
 cowardly counsels—cause unreasonable fears, and turn their back 
 when real work is to be done. 
 
 3. A General Council. —Let the provisional committee invite all 
 ministers and office-bearers of protestant congregations,. and all 
 earnest Christians who heartily concur in these objects, to meet in 
 
13 
 
 conference to devise the best means of accomplishing them; to 
 make arrangements for future action; to forward petitions to the 
 Queen and both Houses of Parliament; and to prepare an address to 
 all Christians throughout the empire. 
 
 4. A Church Reformation Society. —Let the general council 
 organise a Church Reformation Society; or, in preference to a new 
 association, let arrangements he made with institutions already in 
 existence, whose objects are to obtain religious liberty, and the 
 separation of the Church from the State. Let an appeal be made to 
 all such societies, reminding them of their common interest in the 
 Church of England as a national establishment, and of their duty to 
 promote its immediate and entire reformation. 
 
 5. A Church Reform Gazette. —Let there be established a Church 
 Reform Gazette, and Advocate of Civil and Religious 
 Liberty. Let arrangements be made with some journal already en¬ 
 gaged in preparing the people for “ the good time coming,” the pro¬ 
 prietors of which may be willing to take this new title. In addition to 
 the most important news of the day, and to the special object of the 
 Second Reformation, let its columns be open to all movements con¬ 
 nected with peace, temperance, self-support, and the extension of the 
 suffrage. As an organ of Christian principles, let it he conducted 
 without partiality, and without hypocrisy; demanding justice to all, 
 and defending the rights of all; and especially let it seek the re¬ 
 moval of that most ingenious substitute for slaveiy, indirect tax¬ 
 ation ; by which the hire of the labourer is kept back by fraud; by 
 which nearly ten shillings out of every pound are taken from his 
 earnings by means of taxes placed on tea, coffee, sugar, &c., whilst from 
 the rich it takes only one shilling in the pound; by which those who 
 live on the taxes are enabled to extract more profit from the wages of 
 the labourer, than the slave owner can extract from the labour of 
 his slave; and which thus renders England the most lightly taxed 
 country in the world for the wealthy, whilst it causes men of business 
 and toil to sink under their heavy burdens. 
 
 6. Lectures, Tracts, and Petitions. —Let the society make arrange¬ 
 ments for the delivering of lectures on Church Reform; for the cir¬ 
 culation of tracts bearing upon the subject; for the convening of 
 public meetings ; and for the obtaining of signatures to petitions. 
 
 7. A Bay of Solemn Prayer. —Since the efforts of man are vain 
 unless prospered by the Great Disposer of events, let all congregations 
 throughout the kiugdom, favourable to this great object, be invited to 
 set apart a day for solemn prayer to Almighty God that he would 
 grant success to our united efforts. 
 
 I place prayer at the end, not as implying that in the beginning and 
 continuance of these means it should not be adopted by those who 
 worship God in spirit and in truth, for, at all times, the Father 
 seeketh such to worship him, that he may give them wisdom to direct, 
 the will to act, and the power to execute; but to check the too 
 
14 
 
 common habit of asking God to send upon us peace and prospe¬ 
 rity, and all things needful for us, whilst taking no steps to pro¬ 
 cure the same. There is not in the Bible an instance of God’s 
 doing for man that which man could do for himself. The ravens 
 brought to Elijah bread and flesh, but not water, because he could 
 drink at the brook; and it was not till the brook dried up that the 
 widow’s barrel of meal and cruse of oil were made to furnish an 
 inexhaustible supply. When by his divine power our Lord would 
 raise Lazarus from the dead, he said, “Take ye away the stone;” 
 teaching us that before God will work man must remove the 
 impediments which he himself has placed in the way, and which 
 he himself is able to remove; and when human strength could 
 do no more, he cried, “Lazarus, come forth.” But even then 
 there was to be no excuse for idleness; for when Lazarus came 
 forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes, they were com¬ 
 manded to “ Loose him and let him go.” When Peter was to be 
 set free by an angel, the light shined in the prison, his chains 
 fell off, the iron gate opened of its own accord, hut he was required 
 to gird on his own sandals, to cast his own garment about him, 
 to follow his guide, and when in the open street, where a guide 
 was no longer wanted, he was left to decide upon his own move¬ 
 ments. This is daily seen also in the natural world. If we would 
 obtain food out of a marshy field, it is not enough to offer a prayer 
 for daily bread; we must cut drains to carry off the moisture; 
 we must plough the ground; we must pulverise the soil, and then 
 sow the seed; and God causes his sun to shine, and his rain to 
 descend, and the grain to vegetate. But even when the harvest is 
 ripe, man must put in the sickle, thrash the corn, grind it into flour, 
 bake it into bread, and eat it; and by these means God strengthens 
 man’s heart, and fills it with food and gladness ; but without the use 
 of means the prayer for daily bread is a mockery, and the reliance 
 on supernatural aid a sin. So shall we find that without using some 
 such efforts as those above described we shall in vain look for 
 success; but that whilst we spare no pains or self denial, and whilst 
 we are willing to make any sacrifice on our own part, a day of 
 solemn prayer to Almighty God will be a high day. Then, in 
 guiding the counsels of statesmen, God will work, and our strength 
 for a time may be to sit still. The waters which separate the 
 land of bondage from the land of liberty will divide and make 
 a way for us to pass through. It is recorded -of Cranmer, that 
 in a sermon at Canterbury, he declared that “he had for many 
 years prayed for the destruction of the usurped jurisdiction of 
 the Pope, because it was the occasion of many things being done 
 contrary to the honour of God and the good of this realm; and 
 he perceived no hopes of amendment whilst it continued.” But it 
 was not until he had at acked the Pope’s supremacy in parliament 
 that he was permitted to see the fulfilment of his prayer; nor until 
 
15 
 
 it could be recorded of him that, “ the Archbishop answered all the 
 arguments brought in defence of papal tyranny with such strength 
 and perspicuity, and so solidly confuted its advocates from the word 
 of God, and the universal consent of the primitive church, that the 
 foreign power was abolished by full consent of parliament and 
 convocation.” 
 
 By means such as these the Reform Bill was carried, slavery 
 was abolished, the penny postage obtained, and the Corn Laws 
 repealed. By means such as these wars shall cease, the taxes 
 on industry and kuo wledge be taken off, and religion shall be set 
 free. The great reforms of our day were no more brought about 
 by governments than the invention of gas, the steam boat, the 
 railway, or the electric telegraph. All that governments can do 
 is to give full scope to the energies of a mighty people. In 
 one of these works you took an honourable part. Before the 
 Anti-Corn-Law movement was popular, you stepped into the 
 midst, and, by your well-timed “ Plea for the Poor,” contributed 
 materially to its success. Sir Robert Peel ascribed the abolition of 
 the Corn Laws to Mr. Cobden; and Mr. Cobden lias more than once 
 dated his success from the time when the conference of 650 
 ministers of religion placed the food monopoly before the world as a 
 question of justice and mercy. The Bible was opened, and its voice 
 went forth—“ He that withholdeth corn the people shall curse him,” 
 and trade was set free. Let the Bible be again opened, and the doom of 
 ecclesiastical monopoly shall be pronounced, and religion shall be free. 
 
 Then will the church no longer be identified with tithe proctors 
 and tax gatherers, with gaols and ecclesiastical courts, but with 
 congregations of faithful men saying to the passer by—“Come 
 thou with us and we will do thee good.” The plain mechanic will 
 no longer be repelled by prelatic pomp and priestly arrogance, but will 
 gladly accept the easy yoke and light burden of the meek and lowly 
 teacher. Instead of a kingdom that cometh by observation of 
 numbers of churches, clergy, and incomes of benefices, the progress 
 of religion will be estimated by the numbers engaged in self support, 
 in self culture, in judging of their own selves what is right, in taking 
 heed what they hear, and how they hear, and in bringing forth 
 individual good works. Instead of committing the exercise of bene¬ 
 volence to dry machinery, each will follow the advice of St. Chrysos¬ 
 tom—“ICnowest thou not that God enacteth not almsgiving so much 
 for the sake of the poor, as for the sake of the persons themselves 
 who bestow ? Give not thine alms to those who preside in the 
 church to distribute. Bestow it thyself that thou mayest have the 
 reward, not of giving merely, but of kind service. Give with thine 
 own hands. Be thou a dispenser of thine own gifts. Thine own 
 benevolence, and the fear of God appoint thee to that ministry.” 
 Each will be a light set in a candlestick; each a little leaven 
 leavening the surrounding lump; each visiting the fatherless and 
 
16 
 
 widow, considering the poor and needy, relieving judiciously, and 
 striving to remove the causes of poverty and affliction. Congrega¬ 
 tions of such men will cover the land; and the bystanders, who had 
 refused to be driven, and who would not follow the hireling, will 
 come when they hear the voice of the true shepherd. They will no 
 longer suspect the gospel to be a fable cunningly devised to keep 
 them quiet by the promise of- the life that is to come, whilst it de¬ 
 prived them of the enjoyment of the life that now is. Each congre¬ 
 gation would have its self-supporting institutions for the promotion 
 of education, of temperance, of useful knowledge, and for pro¬ 
 viding for a time of sickness and old age. Those mockeries, 
 compulsory religion and compulsory charity, would disappear. 
 Poor-rates and church-rates would cease. Instead of party strife 
 and sectarian animosity,. men would provoke each other to love 
 and good works. Instead of confining their thoughts to types and 
 shadows past, or to the events of future ages, they would study 
 the signs of the present times, and the duties of the present 
 day; and whatsoever things are true, honest, just, lovely, or of good 
 report, they would think on these things, and thus would shine as 
 lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. 
 
 That you may be so richly endued with the spirit of power, and of 
 love, and of a sound mind, as to be the instrument of bringing about- 
 so.great a change, is the sincere desire of, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 , THOMAS SPENCER. 
 
 Bath, March 5, 1849. 
 
 4gT Each of the following Tracts, {price 2d.) by the Rev. T. Spencer, 
 weighs, with an envelope, less than half an ounce 
 
 1. —THE PILLARS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND . 12th Thousand. 
 
 2. —THE PRAYER BOOK OPPOSED TO THE CORN LAWS. 17th Thousand, 
 
 3. —RELIGION AND POLITICS. 13th Thousand, 
 
 4—PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ON CHURCH REFORM. 11th Thousand. 
 
 5.—REMARKS ON NATIONAL EDUCATION. 11th Thousand, 
 
 li.—CLERICAL CONFORMITY AND CHURCH PROPERTY. 16th Thousand, 
 
 7.—THE PARSON'S DREAM AND THE QUEEN’S SPEECH. 17th Thousand, 
 
 S.-THE OUTCRY AGAINST THE NEW POOR LAW . 10th Thousand. 
 
 9.-THE NEW POOR LAW, ITS EVILS, AND THEIR REMEDIES 4th Thousand. 
 
 10. —WANT OF FIDELITY IN MINISTERS OF RELIGION. 11th Thousand. 
 
 11, 12, 13, 14.—REASONS FOR A POOR LAW CONSIDERED, Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 
 
 15. —THE REFORMED PRAYER BOOK . 5th Thousand. 
 
 16. —THE SECOND REFORMATION. 17th Thousand. 
 
 17. —THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS: AND HOW TO GET THEM. 10th Thousand. 
 
 IS.—OBSERVATIONS UPON THE DIOCESAN SCHOOL RETURN.. 25th Thousand. 
 
 19. —WHAT DAVID DID:-A REPLY TO THE QUEEN’S LETTER.. 31st Thousand. 
 
 20. —JUSTICE TO THE INDUSTRIOUS CLASSES . 6th Thousand. 
 
 21. —EVILS OF UNDUE LEGISLATIVE INTERFERENCE. 5th Thousand. 
 
 22. —A LETTER TO THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST NOEL, M.A. 5th Thousand. 
 
 Any number of the above tracts, for sale or distribution, will be forwarded cn application to 
 the Author, at half price, such application containing an order for payment. 
 
 LONDON: HOULSTON AND STONEMAN, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 BATH: SAMUEL GIBBS, 5, UNION STREET.