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SERMONS

AND

CHARGES,

THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
THOMAS FANSHAW MIDDLETON, D.D.
* * i
LATE LOKD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.
WITH
MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE,
BY
HENRY KAYE BONNEY, D.D.
ARCHDEACON OP BEDFORD.

LONDON.
PRINTED for
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN,
paternoster-row. 1824.

London :
Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode,
New-Street- Square.

PREFACE.

It is probable that the members of the church of
England, and particularly the clergy, expect more
of Bishop Middleton's writings than have already
appeared in print.
A solemn injunction in his will prevents the ful
filment of these expectations ; and all that can now
be offered, is a collection of his sermons and charges,
&c. which were made public by himself.
The remaining part of his works are " The Country
Spectator," and "The Doctrine of the Greek Article."
The former, not being wholly the production of his
own pen, is omitted in this publication. The latter
is reserved for another volume of his works.
Although the name of the first Protestant bishop
of India, will be handed down to future ages by the
monuments of his piety and exertion which remain
in that country, yet it is thought due to his virtues,
that memoirs of his life should be prefixed to this
volume ; and it should explicitly be stated, that the
information they contain is authentic.
Not only the writer's personal friendship with
Bishop Middleton, but the many valuable papers
A 2

IV PREFACE.
communicated to him by favour of the Rev. H. H.
Norris, of Hackney, enable him to assert this without
hesitation ; and he is only doing justice to the worth
of that zealous member of the church, when he takes
this opportunity of acknowledging, with gratitude,
the kind and valuable assistance which he has afforded
in the prosecution of this work.
King's Cliffe, Sept. 6th, 1824.

MEMOIRS OF
THE LIFE
OF
THOMAS FANSHAW MIDDLETON, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.
By HENRY KAYEBONNEY, D.D.
ARCHDEACON OF BEDFORD.

A 3

.:)..- ?

SCMWAIK.TE

.. .

.*

.#•

MEMOIRS.

1 he effect of religious precepts, varies according to the'
different dispositions of men. The timid are awed by their
importance, whilst the depraved regard them as a heavy re
straint. But when example is introduced to prove how
much, under Divine assistance, has been done by men long
removed from the stage of life, or who have fallen within the
range of our observation, the careless may be roused by
shame, and the apprehensive attracted by encouragement.
Biography is designed to produce this effect. It brings
example into view; and is not less useful as a guide to in
experience, than delightful as a companion to wisdom. The
following memoirs, it is presumed, may lay claim to this
distinction, and shew the effect of religion and learning on
the human character.
Thomas Fanshaw Middleton was the only son of the Rev.
Thomas Middleton, rector of Kedleston in Derbyshire, and
was born at that village, on the 26th of January 1769. *
His mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of John Bott, Esq.,
of Burton upon Trent. The rudiments of knowledge he
obtained from his father, a man of learning and respecta
bility. On- the 21st April 1779, he was admitted into
Christ's hospital, where he was distinguished for serious
1 Letter from Bishop Middleton, 1820. A short account of Bishop
Middleton has been published by Cadell and Davies. See also the Christian
Remembrancer, Rivington'S; Annual Register, and Annual Biography and
Obituary, 1824,
A 4

Vlll MEMOIRS.
reflection and steadiness of conduct ? ' Among his contem
poraries and companions at school, were Sir Edward Thorn
ton, His Majesty's late envoy extraordinary to the court of
Sweden; Dr. Richards, author of " Aboriginal Britons," and
" Bampton Lectures ;" Mr. Coleridge the poet ; Dr. Trol-
lope, who at present presides over that seminary ; and others
who have since risen to distinction.
The advantages of education there liberally bestowed,
were acknowledged with gratitude by Mr. Middleton in( his
progress through life. Even when engaged in the arduous
duties of his bishopric in India, he remembered with feelings
of filial regard the place where he had received so much
benefit. Being desirous to express the sincerity of his
thankfulness more strongly than by words, he, in the year
1821, transmitted to Christ's hospital a donation of four
hundred pounds, and shortly after 2 he was elected a governor
of that excellent institution.
From school he was admitted into Pembroke Hall, Cam
bridge, where his habits were studious and his companions
literary. He took the degree of B. A. in January 1792,
being, in the scale of honours, fourth of the Senior Optimes ;
and in the March following, having been ordained deacon by
the bishop of Lincoln, he entered on the duties of the church,
1 The Rev. James Bowyer was at that time head master. " Thomas
Fanshaw Middleton, a. scholar and a gentleman. The manners of Mr.
Middleton at School, though firm, were mild and unassuming." — See
Christ's Hospital, Five and Twenty Years ago, in a volume styled Elia.
Lond. 1823.
a In Dec. 1821. The letter sent to inform him of this circumstance,
together with the necessary papers for the presentation of a boy to the
school, did not arrive at Calcutta, till the end of August, 1822, after the
bishop's death. The governors have since unanimously agreed, that his
widow should make the appointment. Bishop Middleton, in a letter to a
friend, requested him to send " Wilson's History of Christ's Hospital ;" and
added, " it would be unnatural in me not to have a warm interest in that
institution ; the source, perhaps, of greater good upon the whole, than any
other school in England. I sent the requisite donation to entitle me to
become a governor. And I bless God that I have been enabled to do
somewhat towards the repayment of so vast a debt."

MEMOIRS, IX
as curate of the parish of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.
Here he conducted a small periodical work, called " The
Country Spectator ;" which commenced on the 9th of
October 1792, and closed on the 21st of May of the year
following ; and contained thirty-three papers, most of which
were written by himself.
The following extract from one of these papers, probably
expresses the sentiments of Mr. Middleton at this time of
his life. " I look back to the hours, which I spent at
college, with pleasing fond regret, and in vain sigh for their
return. My feelings at this moment are admirably expressed
in some charming lines of Cowley's dedicatory elegy ; and as
they happily have not been ' blown upon' (to use the
phrase of Addison) by the swarm of learned flies who do
little else than quote, I will subjoin the whole passage, to
gether with a sonnet written in imitation of it.
" O mihi jucundum Grantee super omnia nomen !
O penitus toto corde receptus amor ! '
Ah mihi si vestrae reddat bona gaudia sedis,
Detque Deus docta posse quiete frui !
Qualis eram cum me tranquilla mente sedentem
Vidisti in ripa, Came serene, tua ;
Mulcentem audisti puerili flumina cantu ;
Ille quidem immerito, sed tibi gratus erat.
Tunc liquidis tacitisque simul mea vita diebus,
Et similis vestrae Candida fluxit aquas.
At nunc coenosas luces, atque obice multo
Rumpitur aetatis turbidus ordo mea?.
" Cambridge ! dear name, at whose transporting sound,
A pang of fond remembrance thrills my breast;
O could those hours return, which friendship blest,
Which letter'd ease, the muse, and C******** - crown'd !
' The author of the Country Spectator has not quoted the lines as they
are in the original. Many of Cowley's verses are omitted. See Cowley's
Works, folio edition.
2 The word Coleridge was probably intended to supply the deficiency
in this line. It has been said that Mr. Coleridge's mind was first directed
to poetry, by reading a volume which had been presented to him by his
schoolfellow Mr, Middleton.

X MEMOIRS.
How calm my soul, when oft, at parting day,
Cam saw me musing by his willowy side,
The while I would recite some raptured lay,
Whose ling'ring murmurs floated down the tide ;
Yet ah ! too short is youth's fantastic dream,
Ere manhood wakes th' unweeting heart to woe.
Silent and smooth Cam's loit'ring waters flow :
So glided life, a smooth and silent stream :
Sad change ! for now by choking cares withstood,
It scarcely bursts its way, a troubled boist'rous flood." '
His reputation as a clergyman and a scholar introduced
him to the notice of Dr. John Pretyman 2, archdeacon and
preceptor of Lincoln, and brother of the bishop ; who, m the
year 1 794, intrusted him with the education of his two sons.
The charge reposed in him required his removal to
Lincoln, and afterwards to Norwich, where Dr. Pretyman
resided as a prebendary. Mr. Middleton's talents and ac
quirements soon introduced him to the literati of that city
and neighbourhood; and his eloquence as a preacher was
felt and acknowledged by the congregations whom he ad
dressed ; particularly at St. Peter's Mancroft, of which he
was afterwards the curate. 3
In 1795, the father of his pupils presented him to the rec
tory of Tansor in Northamptonshire, vacant by the promotion
of Dr. John Porter t© the see of Killala in Ireland. His mind
was now intent upon domestic happiness, and in 1797 he
married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of John Maddison, Esq.
of Gainsborough and of Alvington in the county of Lincoln ;
whom he found a companion qualified to appreciate the cha
racter of the man, and to relieve the labour of the student.
She was his amanuensis in transcribing all his manuscripts
for the press ; an employment which, as he declared to his
1 See the Country Spectator, p. 128.
2 It has been reported that Dr. Pretyman turned his attention to
Mr. Middleton, after reading one of the numbers in the Country
Spectator. 3 He became curate of St. Peter's Mancroft in the city of Norwich
about the year 1799.

MEMOIRS. XI
friends, she executed with cheerfulness and accuracy. In
deed, the high sense which he entertained of her virtues, and
of her incessant care to promote his happiness, was mani
fested in every stage of his studious and useful life. A re
markable instance of this is recorded in an inscription written
by him on the blank leaf of the copy of his work on " the
Greek article," which he presented to this estimable person
on the day he completed his thirty-ninth year.1
In 1 802, Mr. Middleton received from the same patron the
presentation to the consolidated rectory of Little Bytham,
with Castle Bytham annexed, which he held with Tansor by
dispensation. His mind and inclination were now directed
to the latter place, where he intended to reside, but the
charge of his pupils, for whose welfare he felt a lively inte
rest, and the solicitation of his friends and parishioners, still
detained him at Norwich.
His fondness for local history, as well as general in
formation, induced .him to make excursions into the coun-
1 To Elizabeth,
his most amiable and beloved wife,
who, with unwearied assiduity,
correctly and elegantly
transcribed the whole of this work
for the Press,
this Copy was presented
by the Author,
on the 26th Jan. 1808,
on which Day
he completed his 39th Year.
That the remembrance of conjugal affection
so honourable, so exemplary,
may not prematurely perish,
the Possessor of this Volume
in future times
is conjured,
by the reverence due to the dead,
to spare,
to preserve, this memorial.
T. F. M.

Xll MEMOIRS.
try-1, in which he was often accompanied by Dr. Sayers ',
whose taste for antiquarian research corresponded with his
his own, and whose character he held in the highest esteem.
But graver studies occupied his chief attention, and parti
cularly the language of scripture. He was now writing his
principal work, " The Doctrine of the Greek Article, applied.
to the Criticism and Illustration of the New Testament," an
elaborate production of distinguished merit. Former critics had
not directed their learning to this part of speech sufficiently to
deliver a full and satisfactory account of it ; and the want of
such a work was justly lamented by all those who knew how
much the meaning of a passage depends upon the article.
Mr. Middleton supplied this deficiency. And when to this
is added the importance of an accurate interpretation of the
New Testament, the learned and acute author merits not
only the applause of the philologist, but also the gratitude of
the theologian.
In the prosecution of this work he had to investigate the
laws of the Greek idiom ; and correctly to ascertain the uses
o fthe article. In order to do this, " he found it impossible
to proceed with any thing like certainty, unless the article it
self were first clearly defined, and its nature well understood.
It was, therefore, his endeavour, in the first part of his vo-
lume, to resolve the question, " What is the Greek article ?"
and to shew that the solution offered would explain its prin-
* The writer of these memoirs is indebted to Archdeacon Wrangham
for the following Greek lines, written by his friend, Mr. Middleton, in the
album at Bracondale Priory, near Norwich : —
Tis ttoV &V, u £e7v , emvlfro-eai ; ^ 6eoae-n\up ;
"Afeo 8j) Trporepris Xetyavov evae^ins'
Ei 5' apx<uo\6yuv ns e(pvs, TvoliSepKeo (puliiv
TloLKL\a 0ajU/39j(ras $pya Trahutyev&oV
E* Sc <p{i<ris KaH6e\£e rehv v6ov, t)vl8' 6 x®Pos
'Aypolepai yivvlai ndwei Kaiar6p.evosm
Ei de ae (plhalo Msira p-tkiirvoos, &v8ea MsVrjs
'EvBaSe fi5) cpSovews, Supa iroS7j7a, (pepeiv.
2 Dr. Sayers died in 1817, beloved and lamented. He was author of
several works; one of which he dedicated to Mr. Middleton.

MEMOIRS. Xlll
cipal uses in the Greek writers. In the second part he ap
plied to the text of the New Testament, the doctrine laid
down in the part preceding." Such is the outline which he
himself draws in the preface.
Before he completed this work, the younger of his pupils,
Henry George Pretyman, a youth of great promise, shewed
symptoms of a rapid decline, and was ordered to the mild
climate of Bristol. But the disorder was too far ad
vanced to admit of cure, and terminated in the death " of his
1 He was buried in Bristol cathedral, where the following inscription,
written by Mr. Middleton, and inscribed on a marble tablet, records his
virtues : — M.S.
Adolescentis praestantissimi
Henrici Geoegii Pretyman,
Viri Reverendi Johannis S.T.P.
Archidiaconi Lincolniensis,
Filii natu minoris.
Indoles adspecta simul et probata est :
Commendarunt animus alacer et erectus,
Inventionis mira facilitas et ubertas,
Judicium subtile et perelegans.
Mores suavissimi, simplices, sinceri :
Officio sibi devinxit suos,
Comitate universos.
Viribus naturae satis fidens
Laborem non est aspernatus,
Egregium daturus specimen,
Si vita suppeditavisset,
Doctrinal, Eloquentiae, Virtutis.
Fide Christiana adeo imbutus est,
Ut sacrosanctam Scripturam
Libenter versaret valens,
iEgrotans inde peteret unice solatium ;
Et velut quem praesentius numen adspexerit,
Quem, ingravescente tabe,
Beatiorem indies sese praedicaret,
Vultu pulchritudinem humanam exsuperans
Animam efflavit
xvn. Cal. Nov. A. C. mdcccvii.
Vixit annos xvn. dies xxn.
Hoc marmor ponendum voluerunt Parentes
Talem lugentes ereptum,
Donatum Dei benigni munere
Grate, pie profitentes.

XIV MEMOIRS.
young friend, on the 16th of October 1807; an event which
deeply afflicted Mr. Middleton, who not only esteemed his
pupil for the endowments of his mind, but admired him for
the qualities of his disposition.
Shortly after this event Mr. Middleton wrote the dedication
of his volume on the Greek Article, addressed to Dr. Prety
man, in which he laments the loss, and commemorates the
virtues of his pupil. This is dated January 1st, 1808; and
the work soon appeared before the public.
The elder 1 of his patron's sons was at this time at Cam
bridge, and Mr. Middleton, no longer engaged in tuition,
felt the obligation of residing on one of his benefices. His
friends at Norwich, desirous of retaining him in their society,
offered to procure for him preferment in that city, but a
strong sense of duty compelled him to decline their proposal,
and he determined to fix his residence at Tansor. Accord
ingly, in 1808, he quitted Norwich and went to Oundle, two
miles from his rectory, and immediately entered upon the
duties of his parish, The same year he took the degree of
D.D. at Cambridge, and preached the commencement ser
mon before that university.
The rectorial house at Tansor being repaired, and fit for
the reception of his family, he removed thither in the spring
of the year following! The congregation now under his care
differing materially from that which he had left at Norwich,
he accommodated his style in the pulpit to the capacity and
circumstances of his audience. And to this, _adding benevo
lence, and hospitality, he gained the affection of his flock
and the esteem of his neighbours.
Early in 1809, he was collated by Bishop Pretyman to a
stall in the cathedral of Lincoln. In June, he preached the
sermon at the visitation of the diocesan at Grantham, entitled,
" Christ divided," which was published in the year following :
1 Now prebendary of Lincoln and rector of Sherrington, Bucks.

. MEMOIRS. XV
and in 1810 he began to act as a magistrate for the county of
Northampton, an office which did not accord with the du
ties of the tutor or habits of the student ; yet, during the
short time he filled this situation, he closely applied his talents
to the cases that came before him, and administered the law
with the strictest impartiality.
In the year following he resigned the livings of Tansor
and Bytham for the vicarage of St. Pancras, Middlesex, and
the rectory of Puttenham, Hertfordshire, and became resi
dent at St. Pancras vicarage in Kentish Town. In April
1812, he was collated by the Bishop of Lincoln to the arch
deaconry of Huntingdon ; and in the May following he vi
sited the clergy, and delivered a charge, which requires no
comment in these memoirs. It will be found in the subse
quent pages.
A larger field was thus open to the exercise of his talents,
and he entered upon it with a mind comprehensive in its
views, and devoted to the cause of religion. The deplorable
condition of the parish of St. Pancras, in which he found a
population of nearly fifty thousand persons with no other than
the ancient and very small village church, with the chapel in
Kentish Town, and the lower classes in consequence excluded
from communion with the church of England, engrossed
his attention and called for his exertions. The legislature
only could afford a remedy for this evil. A bill was therefore
introduced into parliament at his suggestion, and in concur
rence with many respectable parishioners, for power to erect a
new church. His project, however, met with opposition from
several of the inhabitants ; and notwithstanding the arguments
which he produced in a printed address 1, to prove the necessity
of carrying the plan into execution, petitions were procured
against the measure, and the bill was lost in the second read
ing.2 1 See the Address at the end of this volume.
2 Happily for the inhabitants of this populous parish, a subsequent at
tempt to obtain this great and necessary object has succeeded, and a new
and handsome church has been built.

XVI MEMOIRS.
A man of Archdeacon Middleton's character could not
long remain unnoticed by the higher clergy of the metropolis ;
and his exertions in the pulpit were often called for in behalf
of charitable institutions. Dignitaries and prelates now culti
vated his society. With Bishops Tomline, Burgess, and
Law; Lord Kenyon ; Archdeacons Cambridge, Pott, and
Watson ; Mr. Le Bas, Mr. Norris, and Mr. Joshua Watson,
of Hackney, he formed a lasting friendship. To these must
be added, Mr. Ward of the accountant-general's office, the
archdeacon's relative; whose esteem for him commenced in
early life, and was only interrupted by death.
At this time the Rev. George D'Oyly and the Rev. Richard
Mant, chaplains to the archbishop of Canterbury, were pre
paring for the press a Family Bible, under the sanction of the
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ; and Archdeacon
Middleton's judgment was solicited in revising the notes con
tained in the early part of that useful and excellent Work.
About this time also, a new series of the British Critic was
projected ; and it was purchased on purpose to place it in his
hands. The Prospectus was written by him, and he edited
the first number ', but there his superintendence terminated.
In March 1813, Mr. C. A. Jacobi 2 having been recom
mended to the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge,
as one of their missionaries to India, the archdeacon was
requested to deliver a charge to him, previous to his departure.
The charge was received by the society with marked appro
bation, accompanied by a request that it might be published ;
and it is inserted in the body of this work.
The state of religion in India, hitherto neglected, at length
attracted the attention of the legislature ; and in an act for the
renewal of the charter of the East India Company, a provision
was made, which enabled the crown to constitute a bishopric,

' The 1st, 2d, 5th, 7th, and 8th articles in this number, were written by
Archdeacon Middleton.
- See the Society's Report for 1813. Mr. Jacobi, a German divine,
died at Tanjore 22d Feb. 1814.

MEMOIRS. XV11
with such jurisdiction and functions, as should from time to
time be defined by His Majesty, by letters patent under the
great seal of England. The company was charged with
salaries, to be paid to the bishop and three archdeacons ;
Calcutta was erected into a bishop's see ; and Archdeacon
Middleton selected to fill the important station.
At first he shrunk from the magnitude of the charge, and
declined it. But, upon more mature consideration, he thought
it unworthy of a Christian minister to suffer the difficulty
of the office, or dangers of the climate, to deter him from the
performance of a duty, to which Providence seemed to call
him. " You will easily imagine," (he says, in a 1 letter ad
dressed to the writer of these memoirs,) " that in accepting
this office, I have sustained a severe conflict of feelings. I
had even declined it. But when I came to settle the account
with my own heart, I really found that I had little to allege
in behalf of my decision. I began to suspect that I had
yielded to some unmanly considerations, when I ought rather
to have counted my comfort, and my connexions, and my
prospects at home, as altogether worthless in comparison
with the good, of which it might possibly be the design of
Providence to make me the instrument. How far, even now,
I have reasoned rightly, God alone knows ; but I have en
deavoured to view the subject impartially, and I trust in the
Almighty to bless the work in which I am to engage."
He was consecrated on the 8th of May, 1814, by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishops of London,
Lincoln, and Salisbury, in the chapel of Lambeth Palace :
Dr. Rennell 2, Dean of Winchester, having preached the
sermon ; a sermon so highly appreciated by the bishop, that
he regretted it was not published.
The opportunity of extending Christianity in the East, was
thus enlarged by the establishment of episcopacy in Calcutta ;
1 Dated 14 March, 1814.
2 Also Master of the Temple, London, and a friend of Bishop Middleton.

XV111 MEMOIRS.
and the appointment of so zealous a member of the church,
and so firm a supporter of the Society for promoting Christian
Knowledge, as Bishop Middleton, could not fail of being no
ticed by that institution. The committee granted his lordship
a vote of credit to the extent of 1000/., to promote the objects
of the society in India, in such ways as he should deem
most consonant to the society's designs ; and on the 17th of
May he attended a special meeting of the members in
Bartlett's Buildings, to receive their valedictory address,
delivered by Dr. Law, Lord Bishop of Chester, which was as
follows : —
" MY LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA,
" Though I am sensible that many members of this society
would discharge the office I have undertaken with much
greater weight and effect ; yet still, on every other account,
most sincerely do I rejoice that it has fallen to my lot to
offer to your lordship this address, from the Society for pro
moting Christian Knowledge.
" In the first place, we hail the appointment of a bishop in
India as a fortunate and favourable omen to the cause of
religion. The establishment of episcopacy there, will, as we
have reason to think, most effectually check every erroneous
doctrine, stop the. wild progress of enthusiasm, and spread the
knowledge of uncorrupted Christianity over a country of
great extent, and of an immense population. That it is you
who have been singled out for this new and important station
is an additional cause of great and general satisfaction. ' When
it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth.'
" This same event cannot also but be a source of the purest
pleasure to a mind like yours. A wide field is opened to
your talents and zeal. To you is committed the apostolical
charge of diffusing the light of the Gospel, where its rays
have scarcely penetrated ; and of becoming, in the hand of
Providence, as we hope and pray, the blessed means of esta
blishing multitudes in the faith.

MEMOIRS. XIX
" But this our joy, both on a public and private account, is
mixed, as most other gratifications are, with feelings of a dif
ferent and opposite nature. We lose the friend — the zealous
and able advocate of our civil and ecclesiastical establish
ments, — the warm supporter of this excellent institution. It
cannot, therefore, be a subject of surprise or blame, if, on the
present occasion at least, our feelings of this kind too much
predominate. " The circumstances of this day may, perhaps, sometimes
recur to your mind, when on the trackless deep, or in a dis
tant clime. But, whenever they do recur, be assured, that
you are bearing with you the esteem, the gratitude, and the
affection of every member of this society. As to myself, it
will ever be the source of pleasing recollection, that I have
mingled my regrets with theirs, and that I have offered to
you what I never offer but at the shrine of virtue, the tribute
of my respect and regard.
" But I have too long detained you from the immediate
business of this meeting. Let me thep, now, in the name of
this very venerable society, present to you their
"VALEDICTORY ADDRESS.
" The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge desire,
with sentiments of profound respect, to offer to your Lordship
their sincere congratulations on your elevation to the episcopal
see of Calcutta.
" The intercourse of a religious character, which has long
subsisted between this society and the British dominions in
the East Indies, had given us abundant reason to recognize
the indispensable necessity of the establishment of an episcopal
government there, in order to secure, in any competent mea
sure, the due celebration of the ordinances of divine worship,
and the advantages of Christian instruction to the European
inhabitants : and not less frequent occasions have arisen, to
satisfy us, that without this important additional instrument
a 2

XX MEMOIRS.
the endeavours must be, in a great degree, hazardous and
ineffectual to propagate a pure and reformed faith among the
Pagan and Mahommedan nations of that vast empire. It is
with unfeigned satisfaction, therefore, that we saw, in the
recent act for the renewal of the charter of the Honourable
East India Company, a provision made towards the attain
ment of this unspeakable blessing, in the power given to his
Majesty to erect and constitute a bishoprick, with such juris
diction, and functions, as should from time to time be limited
by his Majesty, by letters patent under the great seal of the
United Kingdom.
" The great benefits, which this society has derived'from
your Lordship's counsels and co-operation, in all its under
takings ; and not the least, in that department which relates
especially to the religious concerns of the eastern parts of the
world, require of us to declare, that the measure of our
utmost hopes, in this matter, was amply fulfilled, when we
saw you called, under the special Providence of Almighty God,
by the command of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent,
to this high and arduous office.
" From this moment, therefore, this society looks with
fresh hopes towards the East ; and feels itself under a pressing
obligation to persevere in, and augment to the utmost of its
power, those efforts in which it has been long engaged, in
behalf of the maintenance there, and the farther advancement,
of the kingdom of our blessed Lord and Saviour.
" And, if we may be permitted, on this interesting occasion,
briefly to advert to the nature of those efforts, we would beg
leave to remind your Lordship,
"  That more than one hundred years have elapsed
since the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge first
began to labour in this vineyard.
"  That, in the progress of this interval of time, through
the aid of our missionaries, the consolations and instructions
of the gospel have been extended to many of our country
men placed (otherwise) in circumstances of peculiar spiritual

MEMOIRS. XXI
jprivation and danger ; and that many thousands of the natives
have been converted from idols to the living God.
"  That, even from the earliest date of our connection
with the East, we have made it a special object of our concern
to afford to the natives an opportunity of hearing and reading
the word of God in their vernacular tongues.
"  That the Liturgy of the church of England has
likewise been translated and printed by our missionaries, and
is used by them in public worship.
"  That many other religious books and tracts, in the
English and other European languages, and in sundry of
the native dialects of Hindostan, have been, from time to
time, sent over by this society, or have been translated and
printed there under its patronage, to the incalculable spiritual
advantage of multitudes of our fellow-creatures.
"And, finally,  That, under the persuasion of the essential
importance of engrafting the best principles in the young and
tender mind, this society have ever been anxious to promote
and encourage the erection of schools for the instruction of
the children, as well of Europeans as natives.
" These, in few words, have ever been, and still are, the
objects in which this society is especially desirous to be made
an instrument, in the hands of divine Providence, for the
maintenance and propagation of the Christian religion, in the
British dominions in the East Indies ; and these, we have the
consolation to know, will be among the choicest objects of
your Lordship's solicitude and care, in your weighty charge.
" We entreat, therefore, with all deference and respect,
that you will condescend to honour, with such portion of your
countenance, protection, and superintendence, as they may
seem to deserve, those exertions, which henceforward, by the
blessing of divine Providence, this society may be enabled to
make, in prosecution of the above designs.
" And we beg further respectfully to invite your favourable
attention to certain printed documents, in conformity to
which, diocesan committees, in connexion with this society,
a 3

XXU MEMOIRS.
have been recently established, under the special recommend
ation and patronage of the Right Reverend Prelates of
England and Wales, in almost all parts of this kingdom, and
from which the most beneficial consequences have been
found to ensue. A great eastern institution to be erected
upon this model, and embracing, in friendly combination, the
several grand objects already referred to, has long been a
matter of the earnest and anxious wishes of this society ; and
to the uttermost would all our desires be gratified, if the
establishment of such an institution might be coeval with the
auspicious moment of your Lordship's arrival there, and be
permitted to grow up under the shelter of your fostering wing.
" That the Almighty may bless you with a prosperous
voyage, and crown with ample success your Lordship's efforts
for the advancement of his kingdom and glory, is the earnest
prayer of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge."
To this address Bishop Middleton made the following
reply: —
" MY LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER,
" I cannot proceed to notice the interesting and im
portant matter contained in the • valedictory address, with
which I have been honoured, without having first offered to
your Lordship my sincere acknowledgments for the singular
kind expressions with which your Lordship has been pleased
to introduce it. I shall, indeed, my Lord, to adopt your
Lordship's affecting language, whether ' on the trackless
deep, or in a distant clime,' recollect ' the circumstances of
this day,' and most refreshing will it be to my wearied spirits
in moments of difficulty. and discouragement, for which I must
not be unprepared, to be permitted to believe, on the authority
of your Lordship, that I bear with me the favourable opinion
and friendly regards of the members of this venerable society.
My pretensions to this high distinction, the kindness of your
Lordship's nature has exceedingly over-rated ; but my sense
of its value I cannot exaggerate, or even adequately express.

MEMOIRS. XXU1
In the approbation of this society is conveyed to my feelings
whatever could be due to the best directed efforts, and most
signal services, in the cause of religion, of order, and of peace:
it is the testimony of those who are distinguished by know
ledge, by rank, by piety, and by Christian zeal in the greatest
of Christian nations, and in the proudest period of her
existence. " Impressed with these sentiments of the venerable society,
and persuaded of the vast importance of the objects to which
its labours have been unceasingly directed, I need not hesi
tate to offer it the pledge of my assurance, that in the distant
empire, the spiritual concerns of which the Almighty has
committed to my superintendence, I shall feel it to be my
duty, so far as my ability may extend, to countenance and to
promote the objects of the society, especially those to which
my attention has been called in its address. In common with
the society, I have ever been of opinion, that if the difficulties
of diffusing the light of the gospel through the eastern world
can be successfully encountered, (and the sure word of God
forbids us to despair,) it can be only by establishing, among
our countrymen in Asia, the form of church-government
derived from the apostles, by inculcating attention to divine
ordinances, by unity of doctrine in the teachers of religion,
and by a departure from iniquity among all who name the
name of Christ. That the society has, for more than a cen
tury, unremittingly endeavoured to instil into the minds both
of the natives and of our countrymen in India, sentiments.
favourable to the diffusion of the gospel, is admitted by all,
who are acquainted with its proceedings, and whose candour
is open to the truth. Much of the Christianity, which subsists
in those regions, has been planted under its auspices, and
nurtured by its care : and the exemplary conduct of those
holy men, whom it has sent forth to bear the glad tidings of
the gospel of peace, their temperate zeal, their conciliating
manners, their patience in well doing, and their devotion to
the cause of Christ, have supported the credit of the mission-
a 4

XXIV. MEMOIRS.
ary name, and have contributed to refute the misrepresent
ations of ignorant or interested men.
t "lam not unacquainted with the printed documents to
which the address refers me, in conformity to which, diocesan
committees, under the sanction of the Right Reverend Prelates
of England and Wales, have been established in most parts
of this kingdom ; and I pray for their multiplication, as the
most effectual means of extending the blessed influence of the
society at home. Happy, indeed, shall I deem myself, if
Providence should enable me, by any exertion of diligence
and zeal, to establish an eastern institution, framed upon the
same admirable model, and co-operating with the society in
its -benevolent designs. But whatever be the result of this
and. of my other endeavours, I would only entreat, that the
society will be assured of my earnest desire to promote the
objects which it has this day recommended to me ;', and not
to impute to indifference or inattention any failure or delay,
for which the acknowledged difficulties of my situation may
afford a reasonable excuse. Unfeignedly could I wish, that
so arduous an undertaking had been committed to stronger
powers ; but my trust is in the Almighty, who can call forth
strength out of weakness : already am I deeply impressed with
the awful responsibility of my charge : and in the execution
Of my duties, I shall feel, that under the divine protection, I
possess some security against the mischiefs of an erroneous
judgment, in my firm attachment to the doctrines and disci
pline of the church of England.
" I now take leave of the venerable society, with my
warmest thanks for this and every other mark of its regard,
desiring to be remembered in its prayers."

On the 19th of May, 1814, Bishop Middleton was elected
a fellow of the Royal Society ; and having taken leave of his
friends in the country, on the 8th of June, he and Mrs. Mid-

MEMOIRS. XXV
dleton, and Archdeacon Loring ', sailed from Portsmouth in
the Warren Hastings for Bengal. It is not to be supposed
that a man of the Bishop's acute feeling could leave his na
tive country, uncertain of ever seeing it again, with the indif
ference of a stoic. His friend, Archdeacon Thomas 2, who
attended him to the shore, witnessed how properly the zeal
for the cause in which he was engaged and his attachment
to his connexions in England were blended.
On the voyage the vessel touched at Madeira, and the Bi
shop preached on that island ; being, probably, the first pre
late of the English church who had performed that office
before its inhabitants.
He arrived at Calcutta on the 28th of November of the
same year 3, and was received without any public testimony
1 Three archdeaconries were erected at the same time as the bishoprick,
and persons appointed to fill them. Archdeacon Loring to that at Cal
cutta, Archdeacon Mousley to that at Madras, and Archdeacon Barnes to
that at Bombay.
" Archdeacon of Bath.
3 During the whole of the voyage this exemplary man applied his mind
to such subjects as were likely to be useful in his new station. He read
Hebrew and Persian, as well as theology ; and, above all, he laid down the
following rules for his future conduct : —
" Invoke divine aid. — Preach frequently, and as * one having authority.'
— Promote schools, charities, literature, and good taste : nothing great
can be accomplished without policy. — Persevere against discouragement,
— Keep your temper. — Employ leisure in study, and always have some
work in hand. — Be punctual and methodical in business, and never pro
crastinate. — Keep up a close connexion with friends at home. — Attend
to forms. — Never be in a hurry. — Preserve self-possession, and do not be
talked out of conviction. — Rise early, and be an economist of time. —
Maintain dignity without the appearance of pride : manner is something
with every body, and every thing with some. — Be guarded in discourse,
attentive, and slow to speak. — Never acquiesce in immoral or pernicious
opinions. — Beware of concessions and pledges. — Be not forward to assign
reasons to those who have no right to demand them. — Be not subservient
nor timid in manner, but manly and independent, firm and decided. —
Think nothing in conduct unimportant and indifferent. — Be of no party.
 Be popular, if possible ; but, at any rate, be respected. — Remonstrate
against abuses, where there is any chance of correcting them. — Advise
and encourage youth. — Rather set than follow example. — Observe a
grave economy in domestic affairs. — Practise strict temperance. — Re-

XXVI MEMOIRS.
of respect. But his private reception was such as was due to
him as a bishop. There was no house appropriated to the
see, and his Lordship and his family were under the necessity
of living with a stranger until he could obtain a place of re
sidence fit for his establishment.
Bishop Middleton soon found himself on terms of respect
with the persons in authority ; and received encouragement
from the Earl of Moira, Governor General, at that time ab
sent from Calcutta with the army against Nepaul. The atten
tion of the clergy was naturally directed to him. Some of
them communicated statements of religion and morals in the
remote parts of his extensive diocese ; and he expressed him
self grateful for the result of their personal experience and
local observations. He was deeply sensible of the difficulties
attending the discharge of the duties which Providence had
assigned him ; and he knew not from what source he could
hope to derive more effectual aid, with the divine blessing,
than from the exertions of those who, having been long resi
dent in India, were concerned for the honour of the Christian
name; and who, among other means of recommending it to
the surrounding nations, would maintain, to the utmost prac
tical extent, the holy ordinances and decent rites prescribed
in our national church.1 Such were Bishop Middleton's sen
timents at his entrance upon this important station.
member what is expected in England : — and, lastly, remember the final
account." On his voyage he addressed several letters to his friends in England ;
and, amongst these, one to a very young person, which at once shows him
to have been a man of affectionate and religious feeling. " I am very
anxious, my dear  , that you should employ your time well. I suppose
thatyouare now at school; but, wherever you are, I cannot but be interested
about you ; and nothing will give me greater pleasure in my remote resi
dence, than to hear of your being distinguished by every quality and attain
ment which are requisite to constitute the great and good man. You have,
certainly, sufficient abilities, and you are blest, I think, with naturally good
dispositions ; but remember, that both must be cultivated, or you will not
arrive at excellence either as a man or a Christian. You used to say that
I was always right; I am sure I am right in this." MS. notes.
1 Bishop MWdleton's MS. notes.

MEMOIRS. XXV11
On Christmas Day, 1814, he delivered his first sermon in
the cathedral at Calcutta, from Luke ii. 10, 11. " For behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people," &c. ; a happy choice of subject, enabling him to ex
patiate on salvation, of which he was appointed the distin
guished messenger to the inhabitants of the East.
At this juncture the state of religion in India was deplor
able. The sanguinary rites and debasing superstition of
paganism were practised by the natives, whilst the means for
their conversion to Christianity were comparatively small. A
branch of the Syrian church, indeed, had for ages been
settled on the coast of Malabar; members of the church of
Rome extended their influence from Goa, and the Baptists had
been introduced into Calcutta at the latter end of the lastcentury.
The Presbyterians also had their congregations, and mission
aries of other sects were dispersed in various parts of the Indian
continent. The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge
had not been inattentive to the benighted state of Hindos-
tan, and had stationed missionaries at Tranquebar, Madras,
Cuddalore, Tanjore, and Trichinopoly. But the English in
habitants were so ill supplied with clerical ministration, that
many of them had no opportunity of hearing divine service.
The necessity of attending to the religious concerns of so
large a part of the British dominions was apparent. The
progress of improvement, however, could not be rapid, and
the Bishop found many impediments in the way of projects,
which suggested themselves, from time to time, to his com-
pehensive mind.
On the first establishment of episcopacy in India, it was
difficult for the government of England to define the powers
of the bishop. The ground was to be tried ; and as circum
stances occurred, he found it necessary to seek direction, and
authority to meet them, from the crown which had placed
him in the see ; consequently, the effect of his exertions could
not be commensurate with the advantage he contemplated,
for he had not the means of bringing it to a completion.

XXV1H MEMOIRS.
Still he was assiduous in his endeavours to ascertain the state
of the mind in his extensive diocese, and lost no opportunity
of affording an interview to those who sought a conference.
Amongst these was a person from Bagdad, who brought an
overture from an Arabian convert to Christianity, and a Per
sian letter, in which he furnished the Bishop with an argu
ment against the Koran. This and other circumstances gave
the Bishop an opinion that the mind was at work ; and
that a bishop who could stand forward as the patron of
converts whose sincerity was approved, and who could bear
the expense of printing, as occasion required, might be a
powerful instrument in the hand of Providence to promote a
work which, sooner or later, will be accomplished.
The Arabian expressed a wish that the Bishop would in
vite him to Bengal, that he might openly profess Christianity,
having already been baptised, and might be enabled to obtain
a subsistence equal to what he would relinquish. The Bishop
knowing that further proof of sincerity was necessary before
he put implicit confidence in a person of this description,
and having no immediate prospect of a subsistence for him^
declined giving a direct invitation ; but replied to the Persian,
that in case of his coming to Calcutta on other grounds he
was ready to receive him.
In the January after his arrival the Bishop proceeded to
appoint registrars in the three * archdeaconries, and to for
ward the instruments of institution to the archdeacons them
selves. Having placed the proper officers in the ecclesiastical
departments, other business demanded his attention. A letter
from the archdeacon of Bombay represented to him the irre
gular mode of celebrating marriages in the out-stations.
The Bishop observed, in reply, that the same, irregularities
prevailed, till of late years, in the presidency of Fort William,
from the extreme paucity of clergy ; and that even then
marriage licenses were granted by the supreme court. In this,
1 Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay.

MEMOIRS. XXIX
and in many other instances, there was great need of reform.
The marriage act did not extend to India; and neither the
new charter of the Company, nor the letters patent appoint
ing the Bishop, supplied the defect.
The baptising of infants was another point on which he
was consulted, and he directed that parents should be admo
nished to carry them to church, where there was no reason
able plea to the contrary. He was at this time expecting a
proclamation for a general thanksgiving for the peace, and
was preparing a form of prayer, which was afterwards used,
when he preached a ' sermon on the occasion.
One of the first steps towards improvement in the distant
part of the diocese, was the formation of a school society at
Bombay, and the adoption of Bell's system; which gave
the Bishop great satisfaction, not merely in the mode of teach
ing, but in the use of the catechism and liturgy of the church.
Ou this account he desired to be a subscriber to the society.
His early attention was also directed to the education of
children in the city of Calcutta. The system pursued in the
free school was improved under, his direction : he became its
patron, and projected annual examinations; at which, in
process of time', some of the public functionaries attended.
His Lordship took part in these examinations, and distributed
the prizes. This had its due effect upon the spectators, and,
shortly after, a native waited upon him with a donation of five
hundred rupees. He thus brought into order an 2 institution
which, on his arrival, was seldom mentioned but to furnish an
inviduous contrast to other establishments at Calcutta.
He was soon after requested by the Governor General to
become the visitor of the orphan school, another seminary of
" country-born," amounting to 700 children.
1 See the body of this work.
« This school, in 1820, was increased from 300 to 400 children; consist
ing of 280 boys and 120 girls. When the Bishop entered on the see he
found the school in a neglected state, but the monthly meetings of the
patron and governors, and the introduction of a master from England, ac
complished much for its welfare.

XXX MEMOIRS.
In every institution of a religious character he had to feel
his way, that he might not excite the jealousy of those who
already occupied the ground. A Bible society had been es
tablished before his arrival, and one of his first objects was
the formation of a diocesan committee in conjunction with the
society in London for promoting Christian Knowledge. It
had been intimated to his Lordship, that such a society as
this, embracing so many objects, would create alarm ; but by
a temperate conduct, and the circulation of a short account of
the society, his wishes were at length accomplished : many
of the leaders of the Bible society came into his views : he
himself became the president, and the meetings were held at
his house.
In the summer he began to exercise some of the functions
peculiar to his order. Early in July he held a confirmation,
for which the minds of the people had been prepared by a
sermon, preached by Archdeacon Loring, at the Bishop's
desire. About this time the Bishop was involved in some perplex
ity by the claims which were set up by the respectable mem
bers of the church of Scotland resident at Calcutta, to a
community of privilege with the church of England. To the
Bishop's clear and comprehensive mind this equality of pri
vileges to two churches in the same state appeared an ano
maly from the ordinary principles of legislation, and even the
mutual interests of the bodies concerned. He was well
aware that the articles of Union secured the ascendancy of
the kirk in Scotland, but he knew also that it conferred no
pre-eminence in England ; and that in London, for instance,
the frequenters of the Caledonian chapel ranked as dissenters
from the church as by law established. He naturally
conceived that the case would be the same in Calcutta,
or wherever a bishop of the established church was regu
larly appointed ; and, therefore, although it seemed that
some persons concerned in the management of Indian affairs
took a different view of the subject, he felt that he could not

MEMOIRS. XXXI
surrender these rights of the church which had been solemnly
committed to his hands. He did not think that he was as
serting any new claim, still less indulging any petty and un
warrantable spirit of bigotry; but with perfect charity to the
persons of those whom he opposed, he still felt himself bound
to contend, that in his deliberate judgment they were infring
ing the just rights of the venerable church to which we be
long, and of whose principles he had been made the first
depositary and guardian in the continent of India.
The conduct pursued by himself, and recommended by
him to his archdeacons, was mild and benevolent. In all
proceedings nothing was to be forced or carried on with os
tentation. Whether with reference to the formation of dis
trict committees or schools, a quiet course was prescribed and
adopted, and it had a beneficial effect. In every establishment
proposed he attended to the minutiae. The selection of the
elementary books best adapted to the state of the different
denominations of scholars, had an equal share in his attention
with matters of an higher description. His correspondence
with Archdeacon Barnes of Bombay evinces the great care
and moderation of the Bishop, as well as the admirable con
duct of the zealous and judicious head of that archdeaconry.
So prosperous were the proceedings of the diocesan com
mittee at Calcutta, that the Bishop was enabled to send, in
July 1815j 620/. to the Society for promoting Christian
Knowledge, two-thirds of which were to be returned in books
and tracts. These were to supply the want of instruction in
barracks, cantonments, hospitals, gaols, regimental and other
schools, and to correct ignorance amongst Europeans, when
ever it appeared.
He preferred the society at Bartlett's Buildings to all other
societies in the extent of usefulness in India. " We give away
Bibles," he said to a friend, " and so far are equal to any
other which does the same ; we give away prayer books, and
tracts upon every religious subject, and are, therefore, superior.
And this is found to be true in fact. The Colombo Bible

XXXU MEMOIRS.
Society has been obliged to abandon its fundamental princi
ple, which is acknowledged in a sermon sent from Ceylon :
and the persons in that island who are most zealous to pro
mote Christianity, have applied to Bartlett's Buildings for a
supply of catechetical tracts, and have received them. There
cannot be a stronger proof that the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge is better adapted than all others for
India." It has been already observed, that the powers of the Bishop
were imperfectly defined in the letters patent ; for although it
would appear from their tenor that it was the purpose of the
crown that the Bishop of Calcutta should have the fullest au
thority over the clergy of the united Church of England and
Ireland in India, yet, there being no parochial clergy in that
country, the Governor General in council demurred upon
the point; and stated, that as the case then stood, all the
clergy were held to be military chaplains ; those attached to
the church in Calcutta being under the control of the Gover
nor General in council, and those in other quarters receiving
their instructions immediately from the Commander in Chief.
At the same time the Governor General in council addressed
a letter to the Bishop, concurring in the anxiety which the
Bishop expressed in a communication made to the Vice Presi
dent on the 19th. of June, 1815, for carrying into effect, at
an early period, the objects contemplated by the legislature in
providing an episcopal establishment for British India, and ex
pressing a desire of affording every facility to his Lordship in
the execution of that important duty. Accordingly, orders
were issued for a proclamation, containing an extract from
the letters patent, granted by His Royal Highness the Prince
Regent on behalf of the King, dated 2d May, 1814, de
claring that the general control over all chaplains of the
united church of England and Ireland, attached to the presi
dencies in India, in spiritual matters, had been transferred to
the Bishop, and that the clergy throughout the diocese of
Calcutta were to take notice of and conform to it.

Memoirs. xxxni
But the Governor-General, in the above-mentioned letter,
further observed, that the Bishop's functions would still be
confined to the superintendence over the moral conduct of the
chaplains, and his authority would, consequently, be exer
cised only in the unpleasant part of its character ; namely, in
censure or inhibition, where misconduct might require it,
whilst the pleasing duty of giving to persons deserving of
distinction preferable stations would be withheld from him.
The Governor-General in council, therefore, with a view of
freeing the episcopal functions from so invidious a check, and
to remove the obvious objection which arises from a concurrent
jurisdiction, resolved, that the nomination of chaplains to
particular stations should hereafter originate with the Bishop,
and he requested His Lordship to communicate to the local
governments of the presidencies such arrangements as he
might think proper to make, in order that the necessary in
structions for the pay and allowances of the chaplains might
be made in the usual manner.
At the same time an order was issued by the council that
all clergymen appointed in future to the situation of chaplains
in India should, on their arrival, report themselves to the
Bishop, or, in his absence, to the archdeacon of the presi
dency at which they landed. The Bishop was also furnished
with a complete compilation of the existing rules and orders
for the guidance of the chaplains, for the purpose of enabling
him to prepare such new regulations as he might deem expe
dient for the better management of the ecclesiastical establish
ment.1 But the Court of Directors were dissatisfied with that part
of the regulations of the supreme government which em
powered the Bishop to nominate the chaplains to their sta
tions, and ordered it to be rescinded ; so that, as matters now
stood, the archdeacons had only to examine letters of orders,
> Letter of the Chief Secretary to the Bishop of Calcutta, 1st Nov. 1815.
b

XXXIV MEMOIRS.
to administer the oaths, &c. and to send to the Bishop an at
tested certificate from the register that every thing had been
regularly done which fell under their cognizance.
The Court of Directors assented to the other regulations ;
but the appointment of chaplains, they averred, interfered
with their patronage ; and on that view their letter passed
through the Board of Controul. They enjoined the govern
ments to co-operate with the ecclesiastical authorities, but
' in no case to grant any allowances without special order.
The Bishop was attentive to the propriety of ecclesiastical
proceedings as well as to the welfare of the church in other
respects. Of this we have a proof in the following anecdote.
A clergyman in one of the presidencies established a lecture;
but did not deliver it in the church. In informing his
superior of this circumstance, he alleged that he acted from
the best motives, and from a regard to the welfare of the
established church. For this the Bishop gave him credit ;
but added his regret that he had commenced it in a private
house, as such a proceeding was quite irregular and liable
to censure.In December 1815, he held his primary visitation at
Calcutta, which was attended by ten of the clergy, the
rest being absent at the distance of many hundred miles
from that city: and on the 18th of the same month. His
Lordship, accompanied by his family, quitted Calcutta to
make the primary visitation of his diocese ; an undertaking
not to be accomplished under 5000 miles. He was conveyed
to Madras on board the Cecilia, and landed at that place on
the 26th, under a salute of fifteen guns from the fort. The
Admiral's house was prepared for his reception. On the
Sunday after his arrival he preached at the new church
dedicated to St. George, which he consecrated on the 8lh of
January, 1816; and on the day following held a confirm
ation consisting of 278 persons, including many adults.
The church of St. George is a handsome structure, standing
in the midst of a field of six acres, and surrounded by a

MEMOIRS. XXXV
treble or quadruple row of palm trees, a splendid emblem of
Christianity in the East. '
His visitation was attended by ten clergymen ; more than
had been seen together at Madras. On the Sunday fol
lowing, he preached in two of the churches to almost the
whole settlement. But his chief labour was in reducing into
order the confusion in which he found ecclesiastical matters
involved. The Armenians sent him a deputation of their
body ; and he was visited by a Brahmin 2, with a request that

1 The churches in India, previous to the erection of the bishopric of
Calcutta, had been consecrated under a commission from the Archbishop
of Canterbury, without any endowment or previous donation of the churcli
or church-yard. The Bishop was in doubt how to act on such occasions.
In some places he required deeds of donation from the local government, in
which the church and church-yard were conveyed to trustees, to be held
in trust, as consecrated and set apart for ever. And in others, he was
satisfied with the written consent of the government, the founders, that he
should proceed to consecration. The rest of the ceremony was in con
formity to the rules laid down in Burn's Ecclesiastical Law.
a See a letter dated at sea in the Bay of Bengal, 21st Dec. 1815,
addressed to the Lord Bishop of St. David's, and published in the Annual
Biography and Obituary for 1824. in which Bishop Middleton makes
the following observations : — " The Brahmin is a man of great learning
for an Asiatic, of great acuteness, and an anxious inquirer after the true
faith. He has renounced idolatry, together with some hundreds of his
dependants ; and I am not without hope, that I may be destined by a
gracious Providence to baptize them all into Christ's religion. What a
day would that be for the Christian world ! But there is yet much to be
done ; and, unfortunately, I have been obliged to leave him for six months,
to go on my visitation. I pray that God may bless it to the ends for
which it is undertaken." The bishop proceeds to state that the Brahmin had
called upon him, to request that he would print the sermon which he had
preached the day before ; and on his declining it, the Brahmin prevailed
on the Bishop to read it to him and to expound it, which was done. But
beside verbal instruction, His Lordship assisted him with useful treatises on
the elements of Christian knowledge, and gave him a copy of the " Easter
Catechisms," which the Bishop of St. David's had published, and pre
sented to Bishop Middleton. The Brahmin, according to his own ex
pression, found it " most useful, a perfect guide, and a collection of those
authorities for which he had been seeking." — "I have a peculiar plea
sure," says the Bishop of Calcutta, " in mentioning this circumstance,
because it must be highly gratifying to Your Lordship to know, that at
least in one single, but memorable instance, your labours have been useful.
b 2

XXXVI MEMOIRS.
he would read to him and expound a sermon, which the
Brahmin had been told that the Bishop had preached the
day before.
Here he was present at a meeting of the district committee
of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. They
were pursuing a good course, and confining themselves ex
clusively to European objects for the present, and gaining
strength every day. There were already members of the
society from Delhi to Cape Comorin; and the Bishop was
gratified by finding that the subject was taken up by military
characters, who were anxious to supply their poor soldiers
with Prayer-books, &c, by which the donors would be bene
fited as much as those who received the gifts.
He passed the morning of the 26th January at the college
at Madras, in a very interesting manner, at an examination
of the natives in Hindu law of descent and inheritance,
carried on in Sanscrit recitation, or rather singing of verse in
Persian, Tamul, and Teloogoo. When he reflected upon
the scene he had witnessed, it struck him that very much was
to be done, before we can subvert Hinduism.
From Madras, which he quitted on the 31st of January,
the bishop proceeded on his visitation1 by land; and his
mode of travelling he represented as patriarchal. His party
consisted of his whole establishment, attended by a military
escort. After journeying fifteen or twenty miles, they pitched
their tents before the sun was high. Their baggage was
conveyed on camels, whilst the Bishop and bis family, accord
ing to the custom of the country, were conveyed in palan
quins. On the following morning he reached the Seven
Pagodas, and entered through a Palmyra tope, amidst the
singing of birds, into that vast assemblage of mis-shapen
Indeed,, I do not know of any elementary book so well suited to those
who are dissatisfied with idolatry, of which we have here many thousands,
and who are almost persuaded to become Christians," &c.
* The account here given of the Bishop's travels is grounded on the
authority of a MS. sent to the writer of these memoirs by Mrs, Middleton.

MEMOIRS. XXXV11
masses of rock and ancient sculpture. These, and indeed
every other object of interest which came in his way, he ex
amined with the eye of an antiquary and philosopher. As
the Sunday recurred, he constantly took part in the perform
ance of divine service. The Syriac and Persian languages
occupied part of his attention; and thus he relieved his mind
from the labour of his journey. Passing near Alumbura and
by Conjameer, he arrived at Pondicherry on the 7th. Here
he saw the Jesuits' college and Capuchins' church. In the
library of the former, he found the books in bad condition,
but some of them on very good subjects. The Christians of
the Romish church sent him a deputation, who appeared
respectable men, some of whom presented books to him.
He quitted Pondicherry on the 9th of February, and
reached Cuddalore on the same day. There he visited Mr.
Holzberg, the discharged missionary, who gave him an
account of the low state of the mission, and to whom he
afterwards sent a present of money, to be divided between
the poor of his congregation and himself. Whilst he was
sitting in his tent in the evening, he observed two or three
persons who were beating a tom-tom, and playing a pipe,
and behind them two others leading a sheep, exactly as
sacrifices are represented in ancient sculpture; and such it
was. Some of the Bishop's party watched the procession to
a neighbouring temple, whence the animal was brought back
after being slain.
On the 10th, he moved from Pondicherry to Periahcoopum,
and on the 12th reached the great pagodas at Chillumbarum.
The latter part of the road was interesting, leading by the
side of a river, with the gateways of the pagodas in the
distance. These he visited in the evening, when the
Brahmins were assembled to receive him, who were very
ready to show every part of these edifices of eastern super
stition. There were at least five hundred persons present,
chiefly Brahmins, who pressed forward to observe him.
b 3

XXXV111 MEMOIRS.
They eyed him narrowly, and asked for money to repair
their pagodas. To this, of course, he paid no attention.
He afterwards learnt that some Mussulmans at Madras
had endeavoured to represent his journey as an introduction
to compulsory measures for the conversion of the natives j
but the Brahmins expressed no alarm. They were astonished,
however, at finding that the English had a head of their
religion, or any thing like a 'church-establishment. Upon
being asked what they thought of the Bishop's entrance into
the village, without a procession of musicians, &c, as is usual
when the collectors enter, they replied, that " they supposed
him to have renounced all worldly enjoyments." This was
the best possible construction.
On the 14th of February he proceeded to the Danish
territory, two miles from Tranquebar, where many persons
were on the road to meet him. On entering the town, which
stands within a fort, the guns were fired and the walls were
crowded with spectators; the same curiosity was shown by
the people in the streets.
The Bishop and his attendants were met by Admiral Bille,
the governor, at the door of the town-house, and were con
ducted into a room, where the principal persons of the place
were assembled. On a subsequent day he visited the mission
church and the library, which was in very bad condition.
He borrowed a small Syriac volume which proved to be a
compilation upon the sufferings and death of Christ, from the
Scriptures, by Benjamin Sultan, formerly a preacher of the
Gospel among the Syrians. The Bishop was the means of
saving, by his credit with the Society for promoting Christian
Knowledge, this mission from ruin. ' By the failure of re-
' The Bishop, in a letter dated at Negaarater, near Tranquebar, 17th
February, 1816, represented to the Society for promoting Christian
Knowledge, that in the course of his visitation through that part of India
in which only Christianity had made any progress among the natives, he
had availed himself of the vote of credit granted to him by the Society.
Before his arrival at Tranquebar, accounts had reached him of the dis
tresses of the Danisli mission, and of the failure of its resources from

MEMOIRS. XXXIX
mittances from the parent country, it was on the eve of disso
lution. The Bishop quitted Tranquebar on the 1 7th of February,
and halted at Myaveram, where he received letters from the
Resident at Tanjore, inviting him to his house, and intimating
that the Rajah purposed to send his minister to meet His
Lordship on his approach to that country. Some of the
Christians of the deputation of Tranquebar, who had followed
him for the purpose of conveying the thanks of the Danish
Christians for the benefit he had conferred upon them, waited
at Myaveram, and attended service in his tent on the Sunday.
The Duroga, also, of the Romish church, was of the congre
gation ; and John, one of the Danish Christians, after giving
a good account of the sermon delivered that day by the
Bishop, expressed his determination to proceed with him
to Tanjore.
Passing through Tynga Rajah Ponam, he continued his
journey to Combacoonum. Mr. Kohlhoff was there to meet
him, having come from Tanjore on purpose ; a man of the,
most primitive simplicity of appearance, who expressed him
self cordially to the Bishop, and assured him (alluding par
ticularly to what had been done at Tranquebar) that his
Lordship's arrival in those parts was a blessing to all Chris
tians. On the following morning (the 21st), he accompanied
Mr. Powney and Mr. Kohlhoff to see the village, and par
ticularly a small English school, consisting principally of
Hindus, under the care of Mr. Kohlhoff. On their way they
stopped to view the great Tank, where once in twelve years,

Denmark. The mission had contracted debts, for the payment of which
the creditors had become urgent, and which it could liquidate only by the
sale of property indispensable towards carrying on its designs. More than
one hundred children had been dismissed from school, for want of means
to support the teachers. In this state of things, the Bishop thought it
right to grant to the Danish mission on the part of the Society, the de
sired assistance.
b 4

xl MEMOIRS.
when Jupiter enters Leo, the Hindus from all parts of India
come to bathe. Seven hundred thousand have been known
to be assembled on the occasion. They believe that the
Ganges secretly communicates with the Tank. It is sur
rounded with buildings for resting places ; and the whole of
the village of Combacoonum, which is of vast extent, consists
of tanks, pagodas, and ancient buildings. He stopped also
to see a palace of the Rajah of Tanjore. The walls of the
rooms were covered with mythological paintings, representing
the marriage procession of Vishnu ; and in the garden was a
large bungalo, surrounded by a moat. When he reached
the school, he found the little Christian congregation as
sembled, and also the children, who in a set speech addressed
him, asking his protection. He heard several of them read
the Psalms, and examined their writing. To each of the
children he gave a double fanam, and made a present to the
catechist and schoolmaster.
Thence he proceeded to Tanjore, and on the 22d received
the Rajah's minister ; and accompanied Mr. Kohloff to see
the mission. They walked along the principal street of the
Christian village, to the mission schools, the library, Schwartz's
chapel, and the burying-ground, where he noticed Jacobi's
grave. The next day he went to visit the Rajah. A great con
course were near and in the fort. The Rajah descended
from his throne, and received the Bishop at the steps of the
durbar. He opened the conversation by expressing his hap
piness at seeing the head of our religion in his country,
recollecting the great benefits he had received from Schwartz,
whom he regarded as a father, and at the same time declared
his high respect for Mr. Kohlhoff and the other missionaries
who had resided at Tanjore. This gave the Bishop an
opportunity of thanking His Highness, in the name of the
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, for the kindness
and protection which he had shown to the missionaries. The
Rajah assured him that the friendship of such men as the

MEMOIRS. Xii
missionaries did him the highest honour ; and he reverted to
the character of Schwartz, reminding the Bishop, that although
the Company had erected a monument to the memory of that
excellent person at Madras, yet he had been the first to show
him respect, by sending to England for the monument, which
is now in the fort-church at Tanjore. His Lordship replied,
that the English were deeply sensible of Mr. Schwartz's
merits ; but that posterity in recounting them would not fail
to mention, that they were such as to have called forth so
extraordinary a mark of regard from a native Prince.
The Rajah afterwards assured an English officer, that since
he sat on the throne he had not received greater satisfaction
than from this visit: and that, although the Bishop's residence at
Tanjore would be short, he intended to keep up a correspond
ence with him. The conversation being ended, he showed the
Bishop and his attendants the interior of his palace, and his
library, which contained many books and pictures. Among
these were portraits of the missionaries, from which he selected
a portrait of Schwartz and presented it to His Lordship.
The library contained many good books, of which several
were English, on the subject of anatomy. There were also
some family-pictures by native artists, and an ivory skeleton,
which takes to pieces, and which the Rajah appeared
thoroughly to understand. After examining the contents of
the library, the Rajah led the Bishop to a statue of His High
ness, placed on a large slab, which had been there from time
immemorial, and was used as the pedestal of the throne
of the Gentoo dynasty, whom his Mahratta ancestors dis
placed. On the 24th of February, the Rajah returned the Bishop's
visit with unusual state. The procession was grand and im
pressive. Six or eight elephants, two of them of enormous
size, especially the state elephant, outriders, cavalry, infantry,
and a band of musicians, preceded the Rajah and his son, who
were mounted on English horses, superbly caparisoned, and
attended by his minister and several nobles of the court ; the

xiii MEMOIRS.
whole concourse amounting to between two and three thou
sand. Colonel Blackburn and the Bishop received His Highness
as he dismounted ; and, after the custom of the country, led
him to the sofa, sitting down on his left hand. They con
versed on various subjects. Speaking of English history, the
Rajah called it " the Generations of the Kings of England ;"
which is the oriental form of expression, and exactly the
Hebrew Tolidoth. The Mahratta history he acknowledged
to be very defective in dates ; and that the people of Hindustan
talked of " many thousands of years," &c. whilst our historians
always gave the precise time.
In the evening, the Bishop visited the church in the fort,
and saw the_ monument erected by the Rajah's order to the
memory of Schwartz. A remarkable anecdote1 of that ex
cellent man was mentioned. When he was on his death-bed,
and supposed to be dead, and his feet were cold, Gericke
sung over him a stanza of a funeral hymn, which he was fond
of while in health ; Schwartz appeared to pay no attention to
it, but went on with the second stanza, clearly and articulately,
and then was heard no more. Mr. Kohlhoff presented to
the Bishop the Hebrew Psalter which Schwartz always carried
in his pocket when he travelled ; a memorial which was justly
estimated. •
From Tanjore the Bishop reached the Ariseut on the 27th,
where he was met by two gentlemen from Trichinopoly, who
had pitched their tents to receive and entertain him. He
arrived at Trichinopoly on the following day, and, having
transacted some ecclesiastical affairs, visited Mr. Pohle and
his mission. He found the venerable man, his congregation,
and his school assembled in the church to receive him.
During the two succeeding days a church and two burying
grounds were consecrated, and one hundred and five persons,
many of whom were officers and soldiers, were confirmed by
1 This anecdote is mentioned in " Diary of a Tour through Southern
India, &c, by a Field Officer of Cavalry," p. 39.

memoirs. xliii
the Bishop. The planning of a church-library for Trichino
poly was another point which occupied his attention. His
assistance in the pulpit was afforded here as at other places ;
on the 3d March he preached twice, and afterwards had a
long conference with Mr. Pohle and Mr. Kohlhoff on matters
connected with the mission ; particularly with the latter, on a
subject which he had mentioned at Tanjore ; namely, a school
for the education of the children of the Society's missionaries.
The Bishop suggested the propriety of admitting native
children, and making it a seminary for Christian teachers ;
thus providing for the instruction of the people, as the country
shall become Christian. Mr. Kohlhoff earnestly requested
him to keep this project in mind, and assured His Lordship
that all the children of the Society's missionaries would readily
embrace the tenets of the church of England.
On the 4th the Bishop ascended the rock ; and his attention
was arrested by the sound of native music, performed by
persons in a procession with the morning offerings of fruit, &c.
to the Swamy in the neighbouring pagoda. Descending, he
passed the mosque belonging to Wallajah's palace ; but saw
only the exterior, the attendant Mussulman requiring the
party to take off their shoes,' which could not be complied
with. Afterwards they proceeded to the pagodas at Sering-
ham : they are situated on an island, which is twelve miles in
extent, and are thirty-six in number. The Bishop and his
attendants entered the principal gate of the great pagoda,
and observed the enormous door-posts of single stones. The
Brahmins displayed all the trapping and jewels of the Swamy,
which appeared to be of great value. But that which most
attracted* attention, was the choultry, with its thousand
pillars. On the eve of the Bishop's departure, Mr. Kohlhoff brought
him a message, full of respect and regard, from Mr. Pohle,
who " expected not to see him again in this world ;" and
pronounced upon him a blessing. The Bishop (according to
his own expression) could -not but feel, considering Mr,

xliv

memoirs.

Kohlhoff's character, " that the less was blessed of the
greater." From Trichinopoly the Bishop pursued his journey by
Nagamungulam to Veeramally, in Tondiman's country, and
encamped opposite to a pagoda on a rock, the most beautiful
object he had seen in his progress. Here he received some
of Tondiman's people. They brought him a plentiful supply
of fruit, with a respectful message from their master ; who had
orders from the governor to take care that every thing should
be prepared for the Bishop's passage through his dominions.
Thence he removed on the 7th, and pitched his tents in a
jungle surrounded by woody and rocky mountains. Here
the Zemindar, formerly the Polygar of Tourancourchy, a
neighbouring village, came to pay his respects, and brought
the accustomed present. He was a young man of about
twenty-two years of age, and had under him seventy villages,
all of which he represented as poor and ruined.
The Bishop pursued his course to Perambutty, where he
was joined by David, a Christian schoolmaster of Tanjore,
who came to be his amanuensis. He reached Toombaputty
on the 9th, and visited the adjoining village. The houses
consisted of cones of thatch upon cylinders of mud, the usual
form in that part of the country. Here he received letters
from Tanjore, arid a present from the Rajah of His Highness's
picture. Through Vellahputty he went to Madura, and
saw Timul Naik's choultry, and the remains of the palace,
the pagodas, the court-house, and the choultry, ornamented
with paintings, of about fifty years' date, representing the
arrival of the English. Passing the great rock of Secun-
dermally, Terramungalum, Verdupettah, and Weypulpettah,
he came on the 1 7th to the banks of the Sartoor, and pursu
ing his journey by Coilpettah to Cayetoor Fort, he passed
through a country abounding in Asiatic objects, which, like
those already described, attracted his attention.
On the 21st March he arrived at Said Khan's choultry,
where three different parties of people waited on him. The

memoirs. xiv
first was merely the daroga with a present ; the next were
Brahmins, complaining of the loss of their pagoda lands, and
danger of starvation ; and the third, a body of Christians,
headed by their native priest, under Mr. Kohlhoff, who pre
sented themselves to ask his blessing and protection. The
Bishop exhorted them to persevere in the right way, and to
bless God, who had called them to a knowledge of his truth,
amidst surrounding darkness. They had with them their
Malabar psalters ; and sung part of a psalm to a well known
tune, in excellent time and melody. It was an affecting
scene ; and the Brahmins, who were in the field, saw all that
passed. On the 22d the Bishop reached Palamcottah, where he
visited the school, consisting of forty-one children, and the
mission-church, built chiefly at the expense of a Brahmin
lady, who was converted by Schwartz. The native priest, or
the catechist, performed the service in Malabar every Sunday
morning, and the military officer read the service in English,
and a sermon to the families of the settlement. The children
of the school practised the Madras system with more original
simplicity than His Lordship had ever observed. In the course
of his visit, he took an opportunity of recommending to the
head of the district the native Christians, who are very nume
rous in that part. It seemed to be the opinion that they
would do well for writers in offices.
After having halted at Nagancheery, he proceeded by
Poonamgoodie, near the foot of the False Cape Comorin, a
magnificent mountain, but not the last of the Ghauts, and
reached Arambooly-Pass on the 27th ; and found his camp
erected at the bottom of a basin, inclosed by stupendous rocky
mountains. The spot was the bed of a tank, then dry. Part
of his time here was occupied in reading papers respecting
the Romish and Syrian Christians in Travancore, and in re
ceiving a deputation of Christians, lately under the charge of
Mr. Kingelturbe, missionary from the London Society.
Mr. Everett was at the head of the party. They were in

xlvi

MEMOIRS.

number about eight hundred, and seemed much inferior in
manner and appearance to the native Christians of Tanjore.
After them came a crowd of natives, being the principal men
of twelve villages. This interview ended, he went to see the
Lines, (or rather ruins of them,) a stupendous work. The
pass is not two miles wide. The works had been very strong,
and were defended by an impenetrable jungle and double
ditch. In 1 809 they were manned by 30,000 military, and
attacked by 4000, all sepoys, who succeeded merely by
sending about twelve men to the summit of the rock to the
eastward. They sounded a trumpet, and were supposed to
be part of a large force ready to pour down on the rear of the
besieged, who thereupon took flight. Before this invasion,
Travancore [proper] had never been the scene of warfare in
the memory of any man living.
By Ordagherry, Nagracoil, Cutchaizy, and Nyaltengherry,
through a country abounding in magnificent features, he ar
rived at Trevandram. Thence, on the 3d of April, he
proceeded to Calicootum, Attengherry, and Shatenoor, and
encamped in view of the sea ; where the Christians and native
judges came to pay their respects to him. Whilst he remained
in this part of the country, he visited one of the Syrian vil
lages, distant about a mile and a half. He found the houses
neat and well built.- The Christian judge, who went with
him, pointed out one inhabited by the grand-daughter of the
person who built the church about fifty years before. In
front of the edifice, in the church-yard, stands a lofty cross, to
which is an ascent of steps. Before the Bishop arrivjgd at it,
the kashusha, attended by several persons, came out to meet
him, and showed him the church. Lights were burning at
the altar. His Lordship expressed a desire to see their Syriac
books, with which they complied. They were all liturgical ;
and one contained the office of the mass. Another, which
they had possessed about eighty years, was brought from
Antioch. The church had a crucifix, and two small altars
with crosses, and an Ecce Homo in tapestry ; and a large part
9

MEMOIRS. Xlvii
of the wall was covered with inscriptions in Malabar, said to
be an account of all the saints, with the dates of their deaths.
The Bishop enquired whether any service was performed at
the cross in the churchyard, and was answered that the office
was said there on Good Friday ; and that there were proces
sions to it on other occasions. Tfrey were anxious to know
the cause of the Bishop's visit. Upon hearing who he was,
that he was the friend of all the Christians in India, and
wished to serve them, their apprehensions vanished, and they
commended themselves to his protection.
On the 6th of April, the Bishop and his attendants arrived
at Quilon, and were kindly received by the commanding offi
cer ; from whom he learnt, that Joseph Rambar was then
the Syrian bishop ; that Mar Thomas, who underwent a sort of
mock consecration from the dying Mar Dionysius, had died
about two months before ; and that Joseph had been conse
crated by a former and legitimate bishop, some years previous
to that event. He also learnt, that the Christians who are
not in connexion with the church of Rome are called the
new or separate Christians ; and that all of them have, in a
greater or less degree, been forced into that communion at
different times ; which will account for the mixture of Romish
rites in their religious services. It was reported, that they
had been supplied with books from Antioch within the last
fifty years, and would be willing to give Bishop Middleton.
any thing they possessed ; that no person but their bishop
had the whole of the Syriac Scriptures ; and that the " Gospel
of the Infancy" (or St. Thomas's) was still among them.
Whilst the Bishop was at Quilon he visited the school of the
80th regiment, and found that it was not conducted on the
Madras system, which it much wanted. Afterwards he re
ceived a visit from the ecclesiastical governor of the arch
bishopric of Cranganore, a decrepid old man, said to be of
excellent character, who professed great readiness to show the
bishop whatever the library contained at Cranganore, and the
college belonging to it. The ecclesiastical governor told Bishop

xlviii MEMOIRS.
Middleton that he had come to Quilon to answer a complaint
made by the Propagandists at Verapoli* that he received
under his protection churches which properly belong to the
Propagandists, and which have revolted. He stated, that all
the power which the Verapoli people possess had been ac
quired by intrigue and encroachment, and that the seceding
churches had been cruelly treated. Next came the vicar-
general and Father Prospero from Verapoli. After some con
versation on the press belonging to the Propaganda at Rome,
and the many works which had issued from, it, the Bishop ad
verted to the difference that had taken place between them and
the church of Cranganore, which they excused, laying the
blame on the latter. The Bishop, before his departure from1
this place, requested that measures might be taken for the at
tendance of all the soldiers at divine service every Sunday ;
and the commanding officer promised that it should be done.
His Lordship observed, with regret, that the poor Syrian
fishermen had had zeal enough to build themselves a church,
whilst the English were obliged to perform service in the
public rooms for want of a sacred edifice.
Quitting Quilon in a boat, he reached Aleppie on the 10th,
and the next day arrived at Balghatty, the residency, opposite
Cochinj where he was received by the judge ; and in the
evening went ofer to the town. Here he found some of the
principal edifices neglected ; the Dutch church was shut up
for want of a clergyman, and the school in the fort destroyed_
In short, it appeared that neither religion nor education ex
cited the public interest. He had much' conversation' with a
gentleman' who was to be the interpreter between the Syrian
bishop and himself, and who gave him an account of the
population, of European origin, then at Cochin. It was
estimated at a thousand, one third of which were Protestant :
the presence of an English clergyman would reclaim many, .
who joined other denominations of Christians from necessity:
the children were not baptzied, and the sick could not receive
the sacrament ; for thev had been without a Dutch minister

MEMOIRS. xllX
fifteen years. The town was taken by the English in 1795,
but the fort was not demolished till 1803, when it was ^dis
covered that by the treaty of Amiens, it was to be given up
to the French. The Dutch church escaped demolition by
the interference of the judge. The pure Syrians were repre
sented as not very pure. At , Tripoontorah near this place,
the pure and Romish Syrians had their separate services in
the same church. Just as the interpreter was taking leave,
the arrival of the metropolitan on the other side of the water
was announced ; and the following morning was fixed upon
for the interview between the two bishops. In the evening
Bishop Middleton went to the Jew Town, a remarkable
place. The houses were neat, and the streets narrow, but
well illuminated, it being the time of their passover. He saw
some part of the service both of the white and black Jews ;
and afterwards had the opportunity of looking at their books,
kept in a closet at the end of the synagogue : the boxes were
adorned with crowns of gold, and jewels hanging from them.
They had been presents from different rajahs and other
persons. He was shown into the house of one of the rich
inhabitants, where he saw the paschal supper set out, and
covered with a cloth bearing an inscription from Exodus
xii. 42. " It is a night," &c. in Hebrew.
At ten o'clock on the following morning, the Syrian bishop
visited him, attended by several of his clergy, bringing a small
number of Syrian books. He spoke of the desolate state of
his churches, and requested the Bishop's favour towards them.
At the same time he produced a copy of Schaasi Syrian
Testament, and said that it was the one used in all his
churches. Bishop Middleton mentioned the Philoxenian
version, (of which the Syrian seemed to know nothing,) and
presented to him the four volumes of White's edition, which
he had brought for the purpose. Directing his attention to
the Lord's prayer, Mar ' Dionysius found that it agreed very
i Mar is the Syrian title for bishop.
c

I MEMOIRS.
closely with the other version. A Syriae inscription, written
by Bishop Middleton was then produced, to be inscribed in
the book, purporting that it was presented to Mar Dionysius,
by Mar Thomas the first bishop of Calcutta, at his primary
visitation at Cochin. : The liturgy of the Syrian church was
the next subject of conversation; and a volume was opened
containing a portion of that used in the Syro- Romish church;
but, as stated by Mar Dionysius, not used in his congregation.
Bishop Middleton concluded that it must have once been so
used, or it would not have been found in the same book.
The Syrian promised a complete transcript of the ritual of
his church, and also a copy of " the Gospel of the Infancy."
About the latter there was some hesitation, until the bishop
assured him that he knew it was not used by his church, and
had been sent thither by the Manichees. In his account of
the ritual 2, he stated that there are in it both Nestorian and
Jacobite prayers ; the latter of which are in use with him.
He acknowledged the seven sacraments, and remarked that
children were usually baptized on the eighth day. The attire
of Mar Dionysius was very handsome, being formed of crim
son satin, with a green velvet mantle over the shoulders ; a
crimson mitre ornamented with gold was on his head, and a
crosier was borne by one of his attendants, whilst another
carried a cross df jewels.
On the 15th of April, when he was preparing to leave
Cochin, Napthali Rottenberg, the Jew, called upon him with a
copy of the Jewish Plates; and the Bishop had much convers
ation with him. He said that they had an account of their
arrival in that country after the destruction of Jerusalem by
Titus; but that it was lent to Dr. Buchanan, who carried it
away with him. They had still among them Maimonides
and several books, of which he promised the Bishop a list, in
order that he might select such as he might wish to purchase.

1 The book is now deposited in the Syrian bishop's library.
•' He called his liturgy, Liturgia Apostolorum,

MEMOIRS. Ii
Before the Bishop left Cochin, Archdeacon Loring l admi
nistered the sacrament to forty persons, and received inform
ation, from which he learnt that it had not been administered
at that place for twenty years.
On the same day in the evening the party set sail, and on
the 1 6th and 1 7th proceeded slowly along the coast with light
and unfavourable breezes, and on the 21st Archdeacon Loring
went on shore, on his return to Calcutta by way of Madras.
The Bishop reached Cannanore on the day following, and
landed, in order to license the church ; where he was attended
by many of the principal inhabitants, who showed him great
respect. From this time till his arrival at Bombay he did
not leave the vessel2, which anchored in that harbour on the
14th of May. The archdeacon and clergy with the governor's
aid-de-camp came on board to welcome him ; and he landed
in the evening under a salute, General Cooke, Colonel Grif
fith and other gentlemen meeting him at the pier-head.
Hence he was conducted to the government-house, where Sir
Evan Nepean, (the governor,) Sir Miles Nightingale, (com
mander-in-chief,) and the members of the council were assem
bled to receive him.
On the 20th he had an interview with the Armenian bishop.
They had much conversation respecting the Armenian church
and literature. The Armenian bishop represented the history
of his establishment as beginning in the middle of the fourth
century, since which time his church has not undergone any
change. The language of the Armenian version is perfectly
intelligible to scholars, but is slightly different from the
common idiom. He spoke of many books still in manuscript
in their language, consisting of history, lives of saints, and
even poetry.
Here the Bishop held a visitation and confirmation, and
1 Archdeacon Loring accompanied the bishop on his visitation.
2 In the voyage to Bombay he made himself well acquainted with the
Syriae, and rend a portion of the new testament in that language every
day. c 2

Iii MEMOIRS.
consecrated the church. l It had been built one hundred
years ; but had not been consecrated, though application had
been made at its foundation to Dr. Robinson, Bishop of
London, for the purpose ; as appears from Cobbe's account
of the church, &c. at Bombay. The reply was, that it re
quired the Bishop's presence, and therefore could not be
done. The chaplain was directed to open it at once.
During Bishop Middleton's visit, which continued through
the whole monsoon, the clergy dined with him every alternate
Thursday; and he lived with them on the most friendly
terms. He preached thirteen times to attentive and numerous
congregations : and his incessant attention to his episcopal
duties, as well as hospitality, seemed to produce the effect of
attaching the people to their prelate ; which was manifested
by the great respect that was paid him by the whole settle
ment. 2
The rain was now almost incessant, so that with the ex
ception of a visit to Elephanta, before the monsoon, and
another to Tannah at the close of his visitation, he saw
nothing of the adjacent country. His excursion to the latter
place, in the island of Salsette, was made in the beginning of
September, where he was received into the judge's house, in
the capital of the island ; and there met, amongst other per
sons, with Mr. Sharpe, who had resided in Persia, whither
he was on the point of returning, as surgeon to the residency
at Bushire. He offered his services in that country to the

' It was consecrated 7th July 1816, and dedicated to St. Thomas.
2 Soon after the bishop's arrival, he had a visit from Moulla Ferose
the learned Parsee. The conversation turned principally upon the ancient
language of Persia ; and it appeared plainly to the bishop, that the Pehlevi
was nearly allied to Hebrew and Chaldee. The Moulla was very learned
in Pehlevi, and being asked the names of many things, he gave words, of
which the bishop could generally have guessed the meaning from that
resemblance. The Zand appeared to be totally different, and to be rather
of the Sanscrit class of languages ; but many traces of both of these are
found in the present Persian, which indeed is for the most part a compound
of the two. MS. note.

MEMOIRS, liii
Bishop, who gave him a commission to procure for him
Syriae Manuscripts of the Horreum Mysteriorum of Greg.
Bar Hebrasus, and the Liber Apum of Solomon Bishop of
Bussora. Mr. Sharpe thought it not unlikely that he might
procure them from the convent of Echmiatzin, near Mount
Ararat, where he had seen a large quantity of manuscripts on
various subjects.
Having spent his time at Bombay with benefit to the
Christians under his charge and satisfaction to himself, he went
on board on the 17th of September, including in his party
Archdeacon Barnes, whom he had invited to accompany him
to Calcutta. The vessel touched at Goa, where he was
honourably received by the governor, and conducted to the
convents, the cathedral, and other places of interest to persons
on their travels. He had expected to find some books of
value in the libraries, but was disappointed. The city, how
ever, was not without objects worthy of attention. From the
Viceroy he received information respecting Old Goa. It
once contained 300,000 inhabitants, but is now deserted,
except by the different orders of the religious ; and had been
depopulated partly by the climate, and partly by the inqui
sition, now happily abolished.
On the 23d, the Bishop, Mrs. Middleton, and the attend
ants re-embarked, and landed at Cannanore on the 30th,
where he inspected the school, and held a confirmation.
The persons who received that rite on the present occasion,
added to those who were confirmed at other places in the
visitation, amounted to one thousand. After having made an
excursion to the house of Mr. Wilson at Dermapatam, he
proceeded to pay a second visit to Cochin, in order to have
another interview with the Syrian Christians.
He landed at that place on the 4th October, and the next
day went to the synagogue of the white Jews. He found,
that according to their chronology, that was the year of the
world 5577, and the 13th of the first month. The Exodus
was A. M. 3129. The white Jews had been removed to this
c 3

llV MEMOIRS.
place from Cranganore 303 years, at the time when the
Bishop saw them. They follow the customs of the Portuguese
Jews, but have their books from Amsterdam. They say that
they are from the kingdom of Judah, and that they left the
Holy Land after the desolation of Jerusalem by Titus. The
Bishop received a promise from them of a present, containing
a Jewish ritual, their service for the fast of the desolation of
Jerusalem, and an almanack. In the evening, he obtained
information of the manner in which the transcription of the
Syriae ritual was proceeding, and learnt that the transcribers
(Syrian catenares1) had been retarded by a permission given
to the priests to marry. This proceeding originated with the
Resident, who had offered a premium to those who should
abandon celibacy. The Syrians, considering celibacy as
essential to the clerical character, hesitated to give their
daughters in marriage to the catenares ; but their scruples
were gradually giving way.
At the close of the following day, the Bishop, walking by
the water side, came to a small oratory2, in which a solitary
worshipper was engaged in his devotions, and seemed to pay
little attention to him or his companions, till he had finished.
The oratory was made of wood with a cajan roof, about ten
feet by six, with a large crucifix at the further end, said

' The title of the Syrian priests.
2 This account will readily bring to the memory of the reader the passage
of Scripture, Acts xvi. 13., wherein is related, that " on the Sabbath the
converts to Christianity went out of the city by a river side, where prayer
was wont to be made." The word irpoo-evxn here translated " prayer" has
been differently rend.ered by some commentators, and taken to signify
" the place of prayer ;" and Schleusner has given the preference to this
mode of interpretation. Sic legitur in N. T. Acts xvi. 13., 'E{qA.0<yic>r Qu rrjs
w6\eus Trapa irarajibv ou ivo/j.i£ero irpoaevx^ ehai : egressi sumus ex urbe ad
fluvium, ubi ex antiqtio institute proseucha erat. A learned friend, to
whom these memoirs were shown in manuscript, speaking of the resem
blance between the Indian proseucha and that recorded in scripture,
observed, that the Jews were wont to seek retired places for devotion, out
of the walls of a city, to avoid the notice of the heathens; and they chose
them near a river, probably for the sake of performing ablutions.

MEMOIRS. IV
to have been brought from Verapoli, constructed by this old
man, with the assistance of some others, for the purposes of
daily devotion. There were three small lights burning upon
an iron-rod dependent from the roof. The devotee told the
Bishop he was sixty years of age, and on Sundays went to
church. On the same evening the priest of the white Jews called,
and presented the two books which the Bishop wanted. A
conversation took place on the subject of the black Jews, and
particularly, whether they had any language, or the remains
of any preserved in single words, unintelligible to the white
Jews, or Malabars ; he thought they had, and the interpreter,
who was present, was of the same opinion. In the meantime
the black Jews came in, with some of their books. His
Lordship tried them upon this question for some time ; but
they persevered in maintaining that they called every thing by
the same name as others did, and that as to any language
which the interpreter did not understand, it was only Hebrew.
He then asked the names of many things, and their replies
accorded with the Hebrew of scripture. They profess to have
been in India longer than the white Jews, though, in their
attempt to prove this, they made themselves only of the same
supposed standing in that country. Their statements were
much confused ; and they affirmed that all that was known of
them, is contained in a record of 200 pages ; of which there
is no copy. It probably embraces nothing that has not been
repeatedly examined. The Bishop purchased of them a
small Hebrew MS. containing a portion of the Pentateuch.
These Jews, though called black, are as fair as the Malabars,
and, perhaps, as fair as the Abyssinians. Enquiry was made,
if they knew any thing of the Falashes \ but they had never
heard of such a people.
On the 7th the Bishop proceeded to Tripoontera. The
church at this place is sixty feet by twenty ; and was built by
1 See Bruce's Travels.
c 4

lvi MEMOIRS.
the Romish and Old Syrians conjointly, the nave by the
former, and the chancel by the latter. The chancel in these
churches seems always to be vaulted and semicircular in its
eastern termination. The ceiling of this part is in small
square compartments, which are in some instances coloured;
and the roof of the nave is pointed, and generally covered
with cajan. The Christians are in number about 800, con
sisting of Romish and Syrian ; but the former are the most
numerous. There is one small school for Malayalim, taught
by a person of the Romish church.
The Bishop next went to Curringacherra, and afterwards
to Burnloe, belonging to the Rajah of Cochin, where he dined.
In the evening the catenares, who had been directed to
attend, came in, and were joined by four laymen. The con
versation lasted for two hours'and a half; and to questions
which the Bishop had prepared, they gave answers which
were recorded.
On the 8th, he continued his excursion to Moluntoorty or
Molundurte, so often mentioned by La Croze ; and then to
Condernaad (Condanada), where he received the present of an
old book of hymns, said to have been brought from Antioch.
They requested the Bishop to give them a book in return,
and wished him to build them a cross, which of course he
declined. Thence he visited the celebrated Qadiampoor
(Diamper), which is entirely Romish, and returned to Bal
ghatty by water.
On the 9th of October, George, the catenare, whom the
Syrian metropolitan had directed to attend him during his
visit, gave the Bishop further information respecting his
church, and impressed his Lordship very favourably with his
knowledge of such matters, considering the disadvantage of
his education. When he had retired, the Romish malpan
came to pay him a visit. He was at the head of a seminary
at Calipuam, near Cranganore, and brought with him two
vicars, one from Oadiampoor. He promised the Bishop two
Syriae grammars, which he afterwards sent, and desired in

MEMOIRS. lvii
return a copy of the new SyriaC gospels, which he had lately
seen, and wished to possess.
On the next day he left Balghatty in order to visit Auga-
mallee, and despatched a messenger to order the service at
eight o'clock at Aganarumba. Their canonical hours are
from six in the morning to twelve o'clock. The church at
this place suffered from Tippoo's invasion in 1791. The
Bishop reached Aganarumba in time for the service, and was
received with the music of the country, and a great concourse
of people. The service being ended, he went to the catenare's
house adjoining the church, and found him to be a man of
some learning, who possessed several MSS., with which he
was not disposed to part. He was disappointed in his ex
pectation of what he should meet with at Augamallee, and
returned again to Balghatty.
From Balghatty he proceeded, on the 1 4th of October, to
Coteaum to visit the metropolitan, and landed amidst a mul
titude of catenares and went to the seminary, where the Syrian
bishop received and conducted him up a narrow staircase into a
room, in which, notwithstanding the crowd of persons assem
bled, he held a conversation for two hours. He afterwards
went over the seminary, saw the other bishop from Chawgaut
(Mar Philoxenos) and then proceeded to the church, which is
a large and good building. Here George presented to him
a Syrian MS. containing hymns, psalms, and a treatise on
the Trinity, in return for a palanquin which his Lordship had
given him.
The Bishop and his party slept that night in a boat, and
the next day reached Aleppie, where he met Mr. Norten, a
church missionary, who had been educated, with some others,
by Mr. Scott. He appeared to be invested with extraordinary
powers in regard to the Syrians, and told his. Lordship that
he had issued an order or notice to the laity to pay their dues
more regularly to the catenares, which had been attended
to ; and that the metropolitan had given him leave to preach
to the Syrian churches, as soon as he should have made some

lviii MEMOIRS.
progress in Malay alim. It was the opinion of the Bishop
that he ought to proceed with the utmost caution, for it ap
peared easy to divide the Syrians, and then the result might
be very different from what was expected.
This gentleman and Mr. Walcot, whose business, as a de
puty conservator of the forests, led him very much into the
hills, gave several interesting particulars of the country ; and
stated, that the mountaineers are a wild race, whom it is diffi
cult to approach, as they avoid all intercourse with Europeans,
and hide themselves. Their mode of dealing is by barter;
laying what they wish to dispose of in a well-known spot,
and taking away what is left in lieu of it. The sagacity of
the elephants is very conspicuous. Mr. Walcot had seen
them feeling their way with the branch of a tree in their
trunks, to prevent their falling into pits. The bigotry of
the Brahmins in this part of Malabar surpassed any the Bi
shop had heard of. Near some of their temples they have a
path for themselves, and another for the Coolies, &c. A tra
veller being overtaken by a storm had sought shelter in a
pagoda where a quantity of rice was deposited. His presence
was said to have made this unclean and useless, and he was
required to pay for it, but refused.
On the 16th the Bishop and his companions went on board
the Aurora, and sailed for Colombo, which they reached
without any remarkable occurrence during the passage. He
landed on the 21st of October, and was received by the go
vernor, Sir Robert Brownrigg, and his staff on the pier,
under a salute of seventeen guns, and proceeded in palan
quins to the king's house.
On the following morning, having gone with the governor
round the cinnamon garden, he received the civil and military
gentlemen of the settlement, and afterwards conversed with
Mr. Armor, Mr. Christian David, and Mr. Pereira, all of
them Protestant teachers, much patronised by the governor
and clergy.
The attention of the governor was unremitting, both in

MEMOIRS. Hx
exhibiting whatever curiosities were in his collection, and in
introducing to him the characters most worthy of notice ;
among others, George Naderis de Silva, the converted Bhud-
dist priest, a man of uncommonly intelligent appearance.
He read to the Bishop a portion of a Cingalese and also of
an English book, in which he had made some progress.
From his way of reckoning, the Bhuddish era seemed to date
from about 500 years before the Christian, which will make
Bhoud contemporary with Pythagoras, according to the re
ceived opinion.
As soon as this interesting character had left him, he had
a visit from all the principal natives. One of them had a son
in England, who was educating at the university, and. was to
go out as a clergyman. After these came Theophilus, a
Mahometan convert; Petrus Panditty, and one or two others.
The Bishop particularly explained to Theophilus that the
Koran, though Mahomet professed to come with a revelation
from God, tells us nothing new, except what respects Maho
met himself; a strong presumption that he had no divine
commission. The interpreter made him perfectly acquainted
with this argument, from which he seemed to derive much
pleasure. During his visit the Bishop went with the governor and his
party to see the Bhuddist temple at Callangcabash, seven
miles from Colombo. The way was by land, till they came
within a mile of the temple, when boats were ready to receive
them, and they proceeded up the Callany. The temple is a
building of no striking appearance, resembling a house. The
priests received them, dressed in yellow gowns, having the
right arm and shoulder bare, as is seen in the figure of
Bhud. The image was fixed against the wall in a small
room, having a table before him with flowers upon it. On the
head is something like a flame issuing, which the priests call
a head leaf: the face is round and unmeaning, but intended
to express abstraction. This figure was said to have been
made 400 years, and the temple to be very much older. In

IX MEMOIRS.
an adjoining room is another figure of this idol, in a similar
position, sitting cross-legged, but with a face rather express
ing sloth and voluptuousness. At the back of the temple is
the daguba, a large building, said to contain parts of Bhud ;
some in the top, some in the middle, &c. In the front of
the temple is a room, where the priests read the Bana ; that
is, preach ; and near it are some old stones, on which are en
graved grants of land, &c. One of these inscriptions was
sung by the priest, and the Bishop afterwards saw a transla
tion of it. On one of the external walls a curious legend
was painted, of which his Lordship afterwards received an
account. He visited the Wesleyan mission. They were printing our
Lord's discourses, the miracles, &c. in Cingalese. The Ma
labar school, founded and supported by Lady Brownrigg,
and the seminary for Cingalese, also attracted his attention ;
and he called at the house of George Naderis, who showed
him some of his Birman curiosities, particularly a zodiac on
silk, drawn by the Birman king.
On the 29th his party attended on him to Mount Lavinia,
the governor's country house. About a mile short of it is a
large Christian village of Galkrese, where the governor at
that time was building a church. On the day following,
having visited tne military and orphan schools, he dined with
the governor, and after many expressions of esteem and re
gard, took leave of him at the pier, and embarked.
This visit to Ceylon the Bishop declared was one of the
most gratifying circumstances of his life. He found it an
island highly gifted by Providence, and wholly possessed by
the British crown, rapidly advancing to civilisation and
Christianity under the fostering care of a governor, who ap
peared to have no other wish or principle of action but the
temporal and eternal happiness of the people committed to
his rule. Here persons talked of diffusing knowledge and
religion with as little reserve as they do in England. Schools
were established, churches were built, books were disseminated,

MEMOIRS. Ixi
and converts made, and all without a syllable being uttered
about alarming the natives. Two or three such governors
in succession would Christianise a great part of the island.
The people seemed to be of a different character from those
on the continent, in having more of confidence and cheerful
ness, arising, probably, from a better acquaintance with Eu
ropeans. The Bishop particularly observed, in going to
Mount Lavinia, that the people at their doors, instead of
gazing upon the party with a vacant stare, mixed with appre
hension, welcomed them with smiles, and seemed to recognise
the governor ,as a friend.
The Cingalese have the distinction of caste among them,
but it has nothing to do with religion. The Bhuddist priest
is taken from any order of men indiscriminately, and all that
is required is a suitable education ; but, politically, the dis
tinction of caste is carried to the utmost excess. In the schools,
and even at church, the Vallales and the Challias will not sit
together ; and the lower classes are not permitted either to
wear the comb, to tile their houses, or to have the tom-tom
beat at weddings. Aristocracy is no where so intolerant as
in Ceylon. The governor intimated to his Lordship that he
should strongly recommend to the crown that this island
should be placed 2 under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Calcutta. Bishop Middleton thought that episcopal super-
intendance, and the discharge of episcopal functions in this
part, would certainly be productive of great benefit. The
natives have evidently a natural bias towards order and rule ;
and if they perceived that there was a power which could
ordain clergy, consecrate churches, and confirm youth, and in
general exert authority, the scales would clearly turn in fa
vour of the church. The clergy and missionaries of all per
suasions, except the Americans, who are puritans, called upon
the Bishop. The missionaries attend the service of the
church, and were present when his Lordship delivered a dis-
i This, was afterwards done.

lxii MEMOIRS.
course that was afterwards published.1 Here he laid the
foundation of a committee of the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge, in addition to the committee which he
had already established in the three presidencies.2 His Lord
ship, Mrs. Middleton, and his attendants returned to Calcutta,
where they arrived on the 10th of December, and, on land
ing, were received with marked attention by the clergy.
Relieved from the labours of the visitation, he was enabled
to apply his mind to the concerns of the city, and resumed
his share in the duties of the pulpit. On Christmas-day, 1816,
he preached to a congregation of nine hundred persons, of
whom one hundred and eighty received the sacrament from
his hands. On New-year's-day, 1817, he also preached
upon Gal. vi. 15., and took the opportunity of disclaiming
those mischievous and absurb inferences, which are supposed
to be deducible from the doctrine of regeneration ; as, that
baptism is sufficient to salvation, and is a remission of all sins
which are afterwards committed ; that the opus opcratum is
every thing, &c. ; with which he had reason to believe, that
some of his hearers, who had been exceedingly hurt at the in
ferences contained in the commentaries upon some tracts then
recently published in England, felt great satisfaction. For it
appears that the consequences of all the controversies in
England reached India, and were doing injury to the Christian
cause. Nothing was wanting to complete the mischief, except -
an intemperate spirit on the part of the Bishop. But he pur
sued a different course. At the same time he made no unjust
sacrifice to popularity.
The Bishop, whose attention was always- directed towards
prevailing opinions, soon found that the mere distribution of
i See the sermon in trie body of this work.
1 The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, at the time of the
Bishop's arrival in India, were as active to disseminate Christianity in the
East as their means and information afforded; but the appointment of
Dr. Middleton to the see of Calcutta opened a field for greater exertion;
and the establishment of these committees enabled them to ascertain with
greater accuracy in what manner their efforts might be beneficially ex
tended.

memoirs. lxiii
the Scriptures would produce little effect in promoting Chris
tianity among the natives. When his Lordship was at Bombay,
a Parsee (one of the adherents to the religion of Zoroaster)
told a clergyman, that he supposed, as the Bishop was
come, they must all think of being Christians ; but he hoped
that the Bishop would not give them " great books, but small
ones to begin with, for they could not understand a great deal
at once." His lordship considered the remark generally true :
and that little advantage could be expected, except by schools
and tracts. Of the latter, very few then in India were suited
to the state of the country.
Bishop Middleton's mode of life after his return to Calcutta,
exhibits his incessant diligence. He rose at an early hour,
and was generally on horseback before the sun appeared.
Then he retired to his library, to keep up a correspondence
with his archdeacons in the distant provinces, with the go
vernor-general, and with the board of control in England.
To this was added, the composition of sermons, which he
was now in the habit of preaching every third Sunday, and
which he continued through the year. Some part of the
morning he was necessarily engaged in paying and receiving
visits. The first and third Monday, in the month he invited
the clergy to dinner. And thus, with an hour for exercise
before that repast, which was at the hour of seven, his day
was occupied.
But amidst the various and arduous duties which continu
ally engrossed his attention, he did not suffer his feelings x
1 A remarkable proof of this, and of his devotional frame of mind, is ex
hibited in the following Prayer, composed by himself, and used in the daily
service which was performed in a private room in his house, fitted up for
that purpose : —
" Almighty Father, whose Providence hath conducted us to these distant
shores, we implore thee to prosper all our undertakings, which have for
their object the welfare of our brethren, and the glory of thy holy name.
Thou hast brought us to a land, where all who are sincerely devoted to
thy service, may find occasions of doing good, and where the single talent
may be usefully employed. Grant, O Lord, that whatever our hand findeth
to do, we may do it with all our might. Save us from the effects of in
dolence and indifference : awaken our zeal, quicken our exertions, and

lxiv memoirs.
towards his friends in England to lapse into indifference.
Frequent letters were despatched to each of them, filled not
only with an account of his proceedings, but with expressions
of pleasing recollection of persons and scenes which he had
left in his native land. * These were occasionally interspersed
enable us to persevere steadily and consistently in those endeavours which
thy Holy Spirit may suggest to us. We beseech thee also, to vouchsafe us
such a portion of health, as may be necessary to the discharge of our active
duties, without suffering us to forget our dependence upon thee ; or, if it
should please thy Providence to afflict us, teach us to bear our sickness
patiently, and turn it to our spiritual improvement. And while we implore
thy mercy on ourselves, we commend to thy especial protection our rela
tives, and all who are dear to us, in our native land. Bless them, O Lord,
and let them remember us in their prayers. And to as many of us as thy Pro
vidence shall permit to return to our country, grant that we may find those
who shall remain to us, increased in every spiritual grace, and advancing in
the way of holiness ; that so we may employ whatever further portion of life
thy wisdom may assign us in the endearing charities of kindred and holy
friendship ; and exhorting one another to good works, as the day ap-
proacheth, we may all pass to that better country, which thou hast pro
mised to those that love thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
1 The Bishop seldom failed to impress the mind of the person whom he
was addressing in his epistolary correspondence. On one occasion, I find
him writing in the following manner : — " Before this time, you are I
imagine, in orders ; and though moderate attainments in theology, when
accompanied with what is beyond all attainments, will make a clergyman
respectable ; yet, where there is ability, I am of opinion that something
more is required. I wil! even add, that a clergyman seems bounden, by
the very tenor of his engagements, to dedicate his talents to the studies of
his profession ; not meaning, however, that he should confine himself to
the Scriptures, or to the languages and writings which illustrate them,
though these should be primary objects, but that all his studies, more or
less remotely, should have in view the advancement of religion, and the
glory of God : and this, I conceive, is compatible with pursuits, which give
acuteness and vigour to the understanding, or which expand the imagin
ation, or which store the mind with facts ; arguments, and eloquence, and
knowledge, may be brought to bear upon a given point, by the advocate of
eternal truth.
" I have often lamented, that young men who have gained credit at the
taking of their first degree (at Cambridge), act afterwards as if they were
exempted from all exertion ; the honours which they may have obtained
at the age, perhaps, of twenty-one, fully satisfy their ambition, and they
seem determined to rest upon them for the remainder of their lives;
whereas in truth they are intrinsically nothing ; though, considered as
letters of recommendation, and facilities afforded to success in the real
business of life, they are of the highest value, and really deserve the pains

MEMOIRS. lxV
with reflections on the speed with which he perceived his
lamp of life was burning, and the alteration of his appearance ;
and, consequently, the small chance of his again enjoying
the society of his distant friends. But such thoughts, indi
cating the tenderness of his heart, were comparatively but of
an hour. The great cause in which he was engaged, soon
recalled the energy of his mind, and carried him along the
path of duty with dignity and effect.
bestowed in acquiring them. But it is one of the instances in which men
mistake means for ends, which I suppose to be the great practical error of
human life."
On another occasion, he gave his opinion on the study of Hebrew : —
" I wish," he said, " that a certain quantity of Hebrew learning were made
indispensable in all candidates for orders. It is best learnt, I think, with
the points : not that I ascribe to them a high antiquity, or believe that they
constitute the ' Hebrcea Veritas ;' quite otherwise ; but without them, we
have no system of pronunciation at all : we must make our own points;
and considering that the same three consonants, accordingly as we point
them, may be either a verb or a substantive ; and if a verb, of different
voices and moods ; without some system, we must get into endless con
fusion. I know, indeed, that the variety of meanings which the same
consonants admit is made an argument against the Masoretic punctuation ;
but this is only saying that we will have nothing to do with a rule, which
is not infallible. So far as I have observed, the Masoretes agree generally
with the Septuagint, where the latter have any agreement with the present
Hebrew text ; for where they differ, the Masoretes have generally given
the more probable sense. It is something, too, that the memory of the
learner of a dead language should be aided by a settled system of pronunci
ation, and one which admits a great variety of sounds, distinctive of the
different uses of what the Anti-Masoretes would call the same word : e. g.
saphar, he wrote ; sopher, a scribe ; sepher, a book ; is still merely sepher :
this surely cannot be meant to facilitate the progress of the learner. By
the way, what do you make of the gnain or ain ? All the old grammars
give it the power ofgre or ng: but, if we may trust the modern Jews, who
are strongly supported by the Septuagint, and by the use of the same letter
in the cognate languages of Arabic and Syriae, it is little more than a
breathing ; and in the beginning and middle of a word is scarcely percep
tible. The Septuagint sometimes omit it in the Greek, and sometimes
represent it by a gamma. The word Baal-Peor furnishes an instance of
both. I have little doubt that this letter was the parent of the Greek
digamma." The above extracts were made from letters addressed to the Rev. Has
tings Robinson, of St. John's College, Cambridge.
d

Ixvi MEMOIRS.
Naturally zealous and alive to every occurrence that opposed
the progress of the establishment of which he was the head, it
might be expected that painful feelings would be excited in his
breast, which in a less eminent person might have been dor
mant. Among the many and great difficulties which attend on
a man in a high and responsible situation, are those of ascer
taining the truth of the reports made to him, and rectifying
misrepresentations. These retard the course of ministration.
Such was the lot of Bishop Middleton ; but, however much
they agitated his ardent mind, their effect was soon counter
acted by his benevolence and rectitude.
In his official capacity he was not inattentive to. external
appearances: and if in this respect it be thought that he
exceeded the bounds of Christian simplicity, the motive should
not be overlooked. In a country habituated to ceremony and
splendour, he conceived, that the importance of his station
could not be conveyed to the public mind, without some
appearance of the state which surrounded other officers of
distinction. The well-regulated mind, indeed, requires no
higher excitement to veneration, than the weight of the epis
copal commission ; yet, on the inconsiderate and unenlight
ened, the appearance of a moderate external dignity may have
a beneficial effect.
About this*time it appears that he received documents
relating to a doubt entertained by the chaplains of the presi
dency-church at Madras, respecting the right of the archdea
cons to the use of the pulpit. The chaplains remonstrated
against further submissions injurious to their rights ; and
declared, that they esteemed the pulpit to be as entirely their
own as it is the right of a rector or vicar in England ; and
solemnly protested against the archdeacon's occupation of it
at will. To this the Bishop replied, that the whole of the
proceeding was founded in a misconception of the nature and
tenure of the situations which English clergymen hold in India.
These documents, not merely in one of the passages to which he
had referred, but generally and throughout, were framed upon
21

MEMOIRS. lxvil
the assumption that the East India Company's chaplains were
to be taken as parochial incumbents. It was his earnest wish,
as a friend to every measure which could add to the respect
ability and increase the usefulness of his clergy, that he might
live to see them put upon that most desirable footing; but
till that should be accomplished, all reasoning founded upon
the rights of the beneficed clergy in England must evidently
be fallacious ; and could only tend to confusion. A rector in
England is, indeed, " persona ecclesice" in full possession of
all the rights of a parochial church ; his spiritual rights are
conveyed to him by institution, and his temporal rights by
induction ; dut in India, except in the case of the archdeacons*
there is neither institution or induction, nor any oath against
simony, but the whole tenure is simply a nomination from
the local government, in consequence of a general appointment
by the Court of Directors, upon which the Bishop is autho
rised to grant his licence, if he see fit. To license the chap
lains, is all the Bishop has to do ; he cannot give them
institution. The licence granted is the same, which in Eng
land is granted to stipendiary curates on their nomination by
an incumbent, and the effect of the licence is not only to
authorise the chaplain to officiate, but to prevent his removal
against his will, unless the Bishop shall see fit to revoke the
licence ; and certainly to give him an exclusive right to his
pulpit against all other chaplains, not authorised in like manner
to assist him in his duties.
But after the original misconception, the Bishop was not
surprised that the presidency-chaplains did not perceive the
ground of the archdeacon's claims. They remarked, indeed,
very truly, that it was not by the archdeacon, that the law
had provided for the duties of the pulpit. The thing is in its
own nature impossible both in England and India : in Eng
land, it is by incumbents, or those to whom they delegate
their duties, and with respect to India, the law has recognised
the right of the East India Company to send English
clergymen to officiate at the stations, to which they shall
d 2

lxviii MEMOIRS.
be appointed and licensed. But these stations are not
parishes, and of course they have no parochial churches : and
it seems not to have been considered that the case of the
principal church at Madras and at Bombay is, if possible, still
further removed than the others, from the analogy of a church
in an English parish.
But still the question remained, in the present instance,
" What were the rights of the Archdeacon of Madras, with
respect to the presidency church ?" The chaplains admitted,
without reserve, his claim to the oversight of the duties of the
pulpit, and to watch and enforce the due performance of them;
and the Bishop added, that all matters of regulation, which
would fall within the province of the Bishop, if he were upon
the spot, belong to the archdeacon, subject in case of doubt
or dispute to the Bishop's revision.
With regard, however, to the archdeacon's duties in the
service of the church, the Bishop saw no reason to depart
from the tenor of a former letter which he had addressed to
the archdeacon. He therein gave it as his judgment, that the
archdeacon ought to preach on the principal festivals, and at
other times occasionally, about which he certainly did not
foresee any chance of dispute. The presidency chaplains,
however, observed, that in that letter the Bishop did not
advert to the law of the case, or the custom of the church ; and
they expressed concern, in which he heartily participated, that
on that occasion his sentiments had not afforded them full salis-
' faction. He, however, suggested to them, that when they
asked for laws, and canons, and customs of the church strictly
and verbally applicable to such cases as that under consider
ation, they asked for what not only does not, but cannot exist.
. All these suppose, with respect to the clergy, the existence of
parishes, and with respect to dignities, that of a cathedral
within a practicable distance, to which such dignitaries
are to repair at stated times, and to take their portion
of duty. But their dignities are not usually their only
preferments ; an archdeacon, especially, has commonly

MEMOIRS. lxix
a benefice within the limits of the archdeaconry, where
he at once attends to the ecclesiastical concerns of his juris
diction, and discharges, within the limits of his parish, the
duties of a parochial incumbent. Now nothing of all this
applied to the state of India, for neither could the Archdeacon
of Madras be expected to go at stated times to the cathedral
at Calcutta, neither had he any cure exclusively his own within
his archdeaconry, nor indeed any where ; so that according to
the view of the subject taken by the presidency chaplains of
Madras, the archdeacons of Madras and Bombay could
never be heard from the pulpits of their respective churches,
unless by asking leave of the chaplains. It was impossible in
the Bishop's opinion, to suppose that the legislature intended
any thing so humiliating to the archdeacons, or that they
would have created an appointment, which thus, instead of
tending to give dignity and consideration to the established
religion, would rather involve it in discredit from the apparent
supineness of the higher clergy in maintaining and advancing
Christianity. His Majesty, by his letters patent, had directed,
that in future the archdeaconries should be given, as they
become vacant, to chaplains of the Company ; intending no
doubt the encouragement and reward of superior learning and
piety ; but if clergymen, thus honourably recommended, are
to be ipso facto silenced by their appointment, a regard for
the interests of religion ought perhaps to lead the Bishop to
select for his archdeacons persons of inferior qualifications.
The Bishop, therefore, had no scruple in considering the
right of the archdeacons to take part in the duties of the
principal church in their respective archdeaconries, to be a
right intended and implied in their very appointment, and
virtually conveyed to them by their institution ; and that, even
though the presidency chaplains were " persona ecclesice," (if
indeed the definition of that character, as cited' from Black-
stone, will allow us to suppose two " personce" in one and
the same church,) his Lordship was still of opinion, that this
would be no bar to the right of the archdeacon to a certain
d 3

1XX MEMOIRS.
participation in the use of the pulpit, inasmuch as the chap
lains could not hold their rights by a fuller sanction, than that
upon which the archdeacon grounded his claim.
But the Bishop did not think it necessary to insist upon
what, in his diocese, was merely hypothetical : in that country
there were neither rectors, vicars, nor parishes, and he con
ceived that the share, which the archdeacon should take
in the service of the principal church within his archdeaconry,
was entirely matter of episcopal regulation.
In Bombay, he assigned to the archdeacon the same Sun
days and festivals for his turn in preaching, which he had
given to himself as bishop in the cathedral, viz. the morning
of the Circumcision, Septuagesima Sunday, Mid-Lent Sunday,
Easter-day, Whitsunday, the first Sunday in Advent, and
Christmas-day. These occasions he wished the archdeacon
to consider as his proper turns, to be taken, however, by the
chaplain, whose turn it would otherwise be, if the archdeacon
be sick, or necessarily absent. But he still thought, that an
archdeacon confining himself to his appointed turns, would
hardly be actuated with the earnestness and zeal which might
reasonably be expected from his station. On the other hand,-
he was aware that rights pushed to extremities, or exercised
in an uncourteous or inconsiderate manner, frequently be
come wrongs : «and he should not approve any needless or
vexatious interference of an archdeacon with the chaplains in
their reasonable claims. In general, if the archdeacon wished
to preach occasionally, he would not exceed his just partici
pation in the use of the pulpit by preaching once in a month,
in which he had not an appointed turn.
This wise and temperate decision did not fail to have con
siderable weight with the clergy at Madras : but when the
Bishop visited that presidency at a subsequent period, it
appeared that it had not been received by them with that
entire approbation which it deserved.
On the 7th of August, 1818, the Bishop laid the foundation-
. stone of the church at Dum Dum, the station of the artillery,

MEMOIRS. lxxi
which he afterwards consecrated, and in which he confirmed
several persons, chiefly soldiers of the station.
Soon after this occurrence, he had an acquisition to his
domestic circle in his chaplain, Mr. Hawtayne, of Exeter
College, Oxford, whose worth the Bishop duly appreciated.
The time for a second visitation of his diocese was fast ap
proaching ; and the interval between his return to Calcutta
and the present period was much employed upon a work on
the Syrian ritual, which unhappily was never brought to a
completion. On the 10th of February, 1819, he embarked in the
Stanmore to visit his diocese a second time, being attended
by Mrs. Middleton and his chaplain, Mr. Hawtayne,
and anchored in Madras roads on the 27th of the same
month. He landed on the following morning, when he was
received by the archdeacon and clergy. In the evening,
Mrs. Elliot, wife of the governor, died ; and the Bishop
offered to perform the last offices at her funeral. On the
Sunday he preached at the fort church, in which she was
interred, expressly on the occasion.
Whilst he remained at Madras, he preached every Sunday
at St. George's, and once more at the fort ; he attended two
meetings of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ;
the consequences of which he hoped would be the restoration
of the Vepery press to more than its former activity. Pie
visited the Vepery mission ; and wrote to the Parent Society
in London generally on its affairs, and particularly on an
increase of missionaries. With the native Christians he had
a long conference, and pointed out the impropriety of their
retaining heathen processions with tom-toms, &c, at their
weddings, contrary to the order of their head. Three hun
dred and seventeen persons received the rite of confirmation
from his hands : they were composed of all ranks, from the
son and daughter of the governor, to the children and orphans
of the common soldier. After the service, he exhorted them
at considerable length, and distributed amongst them his
d 4

Ixxii MEMOIRS.
address, which had been previously printed. The visitation
of the clergy and delivery of a charge to them, occupied a
portion of his time. He looked into the system of teaching
at the Male Asylum, and used his influence to put that in
stitution upon a system of greater regularity. He also
Consecrated the fort burying ground, and the church and
burying ground at Poonamalee; and wrote to the Madras
government, pressing the necessity °f the erection of a church
at Vepery, and an increase in the number of chaplains.
Having attended to every point of importance, and spent
the Easter at this presidency, he embarked on the 14th April
for Penang. On the voyage, the ship encountered rough
weather, and passed so near the shore of Car-Nicobar island,
as to afford a view of the huts of the inhabitants, which re
sembled bee-hives, being somewhat of that shape, and stand
ing on piles. The inhabitants of this island are a race of
savages. The remainder of the voyage had the prospect of
not being more favourable than the beginning. For a ship
appeared which was supposed to belong to a pirate, and
preparations were made for an action, but in the end the
vessel was discovered to be a merchantmen ; and the Stan-
more anchored at Penang on the 29th without further alarm.
The day following the Bishop landed, and breakfasted with
the governor at Suffolk.
On the 2d of May he preached at the New church ; a
subsequent day was occupied in examining the children of
the Free School; and on the 8th he held a confirmation, when
twenty-six children received that rite in the presence of a nu
merous congregation ; to whom he delivered and distributed
an address, as he had done at Madras. On the following
Sunday, he again preached with reference to the death of
Queen Charlotte. ' The consecration of the church and bury-
ing-gr6und, and administration of the sacrament to twenty-five
1 In 1818 the Bishop preached a very impressive sermon on the death
of the Princess Charlotte. It is much to be regretted that it was not
published, and that it was destroyed with his other papers.

Memoirs. lxxiii
persons, (being a much greater number than had ever been
known at the celebration of that sacred ordinance in the island,)
as well as the formation of a district committee of the Society
for promoting Christian Knowledge in conjunction with Ben-
coolen, also occupied his time and attention. The Bishop
held the first meeting of the society before he left Penang, which
received great encouragement from the governor and persons
present. He preached a sermon on local matters, which the
governor requested him to publish. * It derived its chief
interest from its being delivered by an English "prelate in the
straits of Malacca, on an island, where, forty years before,
monkeys and tigers held their undisturbed dominion. It was
intended only to convey pastoral instruction adapted to the
circumstances of the inhabitants, and an affectionate farewell
to a small community, which the Bishop had no prospect of
ever seeing again. After attending to every circumstance
which promised benefit to this remote part of his diocese,
and receiving the marked attention and thanks of the govern
ment, he returned to the vessel, which weighed anchor on
the 20th, on her return to Calcutta.
Their course lay along the northern shore of Sumatra,
which they coasted as far as Acheen Head. The remaining
part of the voyage was impressed upon the Bishop's memory ;
and he described it to a friend in the following terms. " Off'
Acheen Head lie several islands, which, with the Golden
Mountain on the coast of Sumatra, form an assemblage of
grand scenery. Through these we passed in a fine evening,
with smooth water and a gentle breeze. The setting sun
•exhibited the whole to the greatest advantage, by throwing a
mild yet steady light upon parts of the scene, and leaving the
rest in * darkness visible.' " The Bishop had never, either
in nature or art, seen the contrast of light and shade so finely
marked, or displayed on so large a scale. In the morning
the ship had made its way into the bay of Bengal, and the
1 See the body of this work.

lxxiv memoirs.
scene was completely changed. Stormy weather succeeded.
Provisions were beginning to fail, and for four days the sun
was so obscured, that no observation could be made to ascer
tain where they were, or direct them to the pilot-station : and
without a pilot the ship could not enter the river. Happily
they made the station, and were carried into the river ; where
they arrived on Sunday the 1 3th June, and joined in divine
service with feelings of peculiar delight. Immediately after
wards boats came with a supply of fruit and vegetables, and
they ate their repast " with gladness and singleness of heart."
The Bishop, being arrived at Calcutta, found that sectaries
of all denominations were landing in the country, which
might distract the opinions of the natives, and prevent the
progress of religion according to the tenets of the Church of
England. But he considered the raising of that church in
India practicable, if all the clergy under his jurisdiction con
curred in his views. In this he was often disappointed. Still
he was determined to exert his utmost ability to obtain this
great object. He preached every third Sunday, and delivered
his lectures on the litany every alternate Sunday evening.
Besides this, he allotted to himself seven Sundays and
holidays in the year, and the same number to the arch
deacon. Every Wednesday during Lent, the children of the
boarding-schooli were catechised by the chaplain, except in
Passion week, when he himself undertook to hear the best
proficients, and examined them in Bishop Mann's exposition.
At the same time he delivered to them an address, which he
afterwards distributed among them.
The bishopric, totally undefined as to its powers, was a
difficult and almost an unmanageable undertaking: and in
the progress of his efforts, it was not surprising that the emi
nent person who filled it, should find himself impeded in
various quarters. A Scotch church had been erected at
Calcutta ; a missionary of the independents set a subscription
on foot for an Union Chapel ; and the Baptists used unre
mitting endeavours to disseminate their tenets, and erected

MEMOIRS. 1XXV
schools for the natives. They conceived that their pretensions
to notice were considerable, having been established at
Calcutta and in the provinces nearly thirty years ; and they
solicited the attention of the Bishop to their design ; but, as
might be expected, he declined embarking in their enterprise.
Bishop Middleton, though a man of the most acute feeling,
was too firm a character to suffer either the principles or the
government of the church to be compromised. He felt as
the first Bishop of Ephesus must have done, when he received
the epistle of St. Paul, that it was not for him to give way to
opposite opinions, however charitably he might deal with
them. When we consider the dreadful superstitions of the natives,
the contending sentiments of sectaries, and the obstacles
thrown in the way of discipline, we may form an adequate esti
mate of the mental labour of this zealous and upright prelate.
Some time before his second return to Calcutta, the Bishop
had sent a proposition to the board of control, that he should
have the power of assigning salaries of from 2001. to 3001.
each, to not more than four persons, Europeans or " country-
born," ordained by the bishop of Calcutta, and capable of
preaching to the natives, Portuguese, and " country-born,"
in the languages of the East. These were not to be precisely
missionaries, but designed to bring into the communion of
our church, a large class of stragglers at the several presi
dencies. But the project did not take effect. All these things
the Bishop felt were against the cause entrusted to him,
namely, the settlement of the church in India. The situation
was trying, and he almost sunk under its pressure. He
endeavoured to act, and prayed to God to direct him in all
things for the best ; but he seemed as a man turned adrift
upon the ocean, without either sail or oar.
To increase his anxiety about this time, Mr. Pcezold and
Mr. Pohle, missionaries from the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge, died ; and the trust was left in the sole
hands of Mr. Kohlhoff, a person advanced in. life, and unable

lxxvi MEMOIRS.
to sustain the weight of duty. The Bishop saw that, unless
the mission were strengthened, it must cease ; and he made
a strong representation of the case to the parent-society in
London. Other hopes were blighted; a distinguished Hindoo, of
whose entire conversion to Christianity reasonable expect
ations were formed, now appeared approaching to deism, and
there was little chance of his being established in the faith.
The buildings of the Free School of which the bishop was
patron, and for which he had obtained masters from England,
had been enlarged, and an increase of scholars was expected ;
the population of Calcutta was rapidly extending, and espe
cially the class who would be benefited by the school. This
was a pleasing circumstance, but he lamented that he had not
the means of being useful on a more extended scale. Institu
tions are every thing in the East. A prelate to be efficient
in this respect must be a founder ; for there piety and mu
nificence are almost synonymous. Every Brahmin of high
rank is a sort of grand almoner. They have often vast funds
¦for this purpose ; and this in fact is the ground of the great
consideration attached to their functions.
The Bishop explained his views to persons in England
connected with India affairs, and stated that whatever was
allowed for the extension of his jurisdiction to Ceylon, (a
•measure then in contemplation,) he wished to appropriate
to the interests of religion in that island.
Two points appeared necessary to the diffusion of Christi
anity in the East; the sending out of missionaries by the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and a power
vested in the Bishop to ordain ministers to officiate to the
" country born," or native congregation. On the latter, it
was necessary that the Bishop should obtain the opinion of
-some civilian in England, and on the former, the certainty of
jixed stipends for such as should be ordained.
Four stationed committees had been established in the
archdeaconry of Calcutta; one as far north as the neighbour-

MEMOIRS. IXXvii
hood of Delhi ; and the Bishop's mind, which had been long
depressed by the feeble state of the missions, revived upon
receiving information of the liberal grant of the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel for their support.
The society, in consequence of a representation from the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the president, invited his Lord
ship to co-operate with them, and to suggest such measures,
as might appear to him best calculated to promote their
designs. Bishop Middleton rejoiced in the opportunity thus afforded
him, of discharging more extensively the momentous duty of
his diocese ; and recommended the establishment of a college
in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta.
Whilst this plan was in agitation he received an account of
the death of Archdeacon Mousley, at Madras, a person whom
he held in the highest esteem. The Archdeacon was so much
respected and beloved, that great deference was paid to him,
even by those who, on some points, differed from him in opin
ion. He was a good divine, and an eminent Orientalist. In
the latter character he was well known at Oxford ; and went
to India chiefly to prosecute that line of study. To perpetu
ate the momory of so estimable a person, the Bishop wrote
the following inscription for his monument : —

1 xxviii MEMOIRS.

Hoc marmore
Viri venerandi Johannis Mousley, S. T. P.
Collegii Balliolensis olim Socii
Primi Archidiaconi Madrasensis
Memoriam servandam voluit
Suamque pietatem tradendam posteris
Ccetus Christianorum Madrasensium
Is fuit oris vultusque habitus
Ea sermonis et gestus verecundia
Quae divinius quiddam et vere Christianum
Prae se ferebat. '
Eruditio varia •
In Uteris sacris sane magna
In orientalibus summa.
Ad vitam umbratilem natura comparatus
Ad negotia tamen nee segnis nee inhabilis
Judicium sanum exquisitum perspicax
Mens constans rectique tenax
Ecclesias, Anglicanse si quis alius
Fidus alumnus.
Cujus jura et auctoritatem
Ea sustinuit comitate et prudentia
Ut apud invidos invidiam non conflarit
Faventes acriore studio devinxerit.
Lethali ingravescente morbo
Summis doloribus affectus
Nihil se pati professus est
Nisi quod juvante deo
Saluti conduceret aeternae.
Animam Christo reddidit,
Die xxxi Augusti
Anno Redemptoris mdcccxix
^Etatis xlvih.

In November, 1 820, the Bishop laid the foundation-stone
of a church at Calcutta, in the centre of a numerous European
population, who had no means of attending divine worship.
Mr. Hawtayne offered to serve it gratuitously; and, since
the Bishop's decease, has been appointed by the Marquis of
Hastings to be the permanent chaplain. Near this sacred
edifice, which is dedicated to St. James, a school was erected
for the use of the Christian poor ; the expense of which was

MEMOIRS. lXXiX
defrayed by a legacy bequeathed to the Bishop by an officer ',
aided by a donation from the Bishop himself.
But to advert to the college, which now occupied his mind.
He had expressed its object in the letters which he transmit
ted to England ; and the plan was worthy of the projector.
It designed the education of youth in sacred knowledge, in
sound learning, in the principal languages used in the East,
and in habits of piety and devotion to their calling, that they
might be qualified to preach among the heathen.2 The at
tention of the learned persons connected with it, was to be
directed to accurate versions of the Scriptures, of the liturgy,
and other religious books : it was to endeavour to disseminate
useful knowledge by means of schools, under teachers well
educated for the purpose ; and it was to aim at the combining
and consolidating, as far as possible, into one system, and the
directing into the same course of sentiment and action, the
endeavours which were making to advance the Christian
cause. The favour and patronage of the public in England was
eminendy shown towards the projected institution. The
King's letter, granted to the Society for the propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, was productive beyond all
former example ; and other religious societies and public bo
dies munificently aided the work.
In December 1820, the plans and estimates for the build
ing were matured, and a plot of ground on the bank of the
river, within three miles of Calcutta, containing twenty acres,
had been granted by the government for the site of it. To
this, C. T. Metcalfe, Esq., the resident at Hyderabad, con
tributed a piece of land adjacent ; by which the estate was
greatly improved. The Societies for the propagation of the
Gospel, and promoting Christian Knowledge, gave each
5000/., to which the Church Missionary Society added a si-
' The late Captain Henry Oake.
« See a sermon preached by the Bishop at Calcutta, 3d December 1820,
in the body of the work.

1XXX MEMOIRS.
milar donation. The Bishop contributed 400/. l for the
fitting-up and embellishment of the chapel, and Mrs. Middle -
ton a handsome set of plate for the communion table. Thus
prepared, on the 15th of the same month, his Lordship, with
much solemnity, laid the foundation-stone.2
The college was founded for a principal and two professors3,
and for as many students as its funds shall enable the society
to maintain ; and as can afterwards be provided for as mis
sionaries, schoolmasters, and catechists, at the stations to
which they shall be appointed : these stations to be under the
episcopal jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical or spiritual, and
subject in other points to the visitor of the college. As the
object of the institution is definite, no students can be admit
ted who are intended for secular situations in life. The de
sign of the institution is as comprehensive as it is benevolent.
It extends to such parts of the continent and islands of Asia,
as are under the protection and authority of Great Britain.
The whole arrangement of the building was planned
by the Bishop, assisted in the selection of the ornaments
by his chaplain, Mr. Hawtayne ; and the statutes were drawn
up by his Lordship. The building occupies three sides of a
quadrangle, and contains every requisite for a college ; a hall,
chapel, library, and press. The centre is 1 50 feet in length,
and the two wings are each 150 feet. It stands in a prominent
situation, on ground adjoining the Company's Botanic Gar
den, opening to the South, and commanding a fine expanse
of water, over which every vessel must pass in going to
Calcutta; and is a marked object in approaching the capital
of the East.
1 In addition to this contribution, the Bishop bequeathed SOOl. to the
college at the decease of his widow, and 500 volumes out of his library ;
which are now there.
3 The service performed on the occasion will be found in the body of
this work.
> On the 16th December, 1822, the Society for promoting Christian
Knowledge voted 6000^. to be placed at the disposal -of the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel, and recommended that five scholarships
should be founded in this sollege, to be called Bishop Middleton's Scholar
ships.

MEMOIRS.

Ixxxi

Having thus accomplished in part what his mind had dwelt
upon with intense interest, in January 1821 he embarked to
visit Bombay, which he had not reached in the former part of
his second visitation.
He arrived at Bombay in the latter end of February.
Though free from bodily disease, the Bishop at this time did
not feel the elasticity of spirit which he once possessed, and
was sensible that he was unequal to the burden of his duty.
He, however, held a visitation of his clergy ; at which Mr.
Robinson preached a sermon, that was highly, approved by
the Bishop, and published at his request. He confirmed
also one hundred and twenty persons, and consecrated two
churches. On his return from Bombay, on the 19th April, 1821, he
went on shore at Cochin, in order to have an interview with
the Metropolitan of the Syrians. He conceived this to be a
point of some importance ; because in the Missionary Register
were passages which seemed to imply, that the church mis
sionaries were introducing the English liturgy, and that this
ancient branch of Christianity was coming over rapidly to the
church of England. It occurred to the Bishop, that if this
were true, he ought to know it from authority ; and therefore
he resolved to accomplish an object so nearly affecting the in
terests of the church. The next day he had an interview
with the Syrian bishop, and spent two hours with him, hav
ing no other person present than an interpreter, on whom he
could rely. The result was, that he found the Syrians in the
same state as that in which he left thm on his former visit
ation, and without any visible approximation to the church of
England; and that if ever there should be, it would be com
municated to the Bishop of Calcutta. 1 He ascertained that
the church-missionaries did, indeed, expound the Scriptures,
in the churches of this part of the peninsula, to all who would
hear them, and that it was well received by the people, to
whom it was somewhat new ; but the Syrian bishop assured
> See an extract from Principal Mill's Letter, in the Appendix.
e

IXXXU MEMOIRS.
him, that nothing was done of which he had any reason to
complain. He said that he then resided at the Syrian college,
where the missionaries were professors, and that they had not
begun to print. Bishop Middleton observed, in reply, that
there would be a Syrian press at the college at Calcutta, and
asked if one of the Syrian clergy would go to assist at it.
The Metropolitan smiled, and said, he did not think that any
of them could be prevailed upon to go to such a distance, be
ing all unwilling to quit their own churches for more than a
day at a time. Bishop Middleton still hoped that one might
be prevailed upon to give his assistance, and that the Calcutta
press would print in Syriae as well as in all the learned lan
guages. He looked forward to the time, when the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel would be as famous for its
learned publications, as any other in the world.
After this interview he again went on board ; and on Easter-
day, being then off Cape Comorin, the most southern point
of the Indian continent, he performed the whole service,
preached and administered the sacrament to Mrs. Middleton,
who accompanied him in all his visitations, and to as many
Protestants as there were in the ship. His feelings, always
alive to devotion and to local circumstances, were im
pressed more than usual, though but few were gathered
together. From Cape Comorin the Bishop proceeded to Ceylon, and
spent more than a month at Colombo. Plere a special meet
ing of the District Committee of the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge was held at His Lordship's request,
which gave a new impulse to its proceedings ; and there was
every reason to belieye that the efficacy of the society would
in consequence be greater than it had been. The Bishop,
besides a handsome donation from himself, gave the committee
300/. sterling, which was granted to him by His Majesty, for
the support of religious institutions. This was accompanied
by a particular desire on the part of the Bishop, that the
money might be applied to the exclusive purpose of translating
16

MEMOIRS. JXXXIU
the Society's tracts into the native language of Ceylon, and
printing them for the use of the inhabitants. '
On his return to Calcutta, he found there Mr. Mill, of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and Mr. Alt, of Pembroke Hall,
who had arrived from England on the 13th of February pre
ceding, during his absence; the former to fill the office of
principal, and the latter that of a professor in the college.
He found also that diocesan business awaited him. He
had instituted a consistory court at Calcutta, and steps had
been taken to erect the same at Madras: but doubts of its
legality were started, and the case was referred to Sir S. Toller,
Advocate-General at Madras ; who, to the surprise of the
Bishop, decided against the measure.
Sir S. Toller stated that he had perused the papers sent to
him, with attention, and that on recurring to the letters patent
on the subject, and to the statute on which they were founded,
he was of opinion, that they do not confer any legal authority
for the establishment of such a court.
By the statute 53 Geo. III. c. 155. sect. 51., it is provided,
that the bishop shall not have or use any jurisdiction, or
exercise any episcopal functions, either in the East Indies,
or elsewhere, but only such jurisdiction and functions as shall
be limited to him by the letters patent.

1 See letter to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge from the
Rev. C. J. Lyon, chaplain to the forces at Colombo, 31st May, 1821. The
Society stated in their report for 1816, that through the active superin
tendence of the Bishop, the designs of the Society, in the establishment of
diocesan and district committees, were carried into full effect. The
primary meeting of the Diocesan District Committee was formed at Madras
on the 21st August, 1815, at Bombay on the 8th June, 1816, and at Colombo
in the same year. On the settlement of the committee at the last place,
the Bishop availed himself of the vote of credit granted by the Society,
considering this a favourable opportunity to promote the printing of a
Cingalese version of the Book of Common Prayer, which would be very
useful, and could not be otherwise accomplished. He engaged a com
petent person to make the translation, without expence. This book had
been printed in the Tamul language, at Madras, towards which govern
ment gave 200/., and the Bishop 40/. —See Society's Report, 1816.
. e 2

IxXxiv MEMOIRS.
By. sect. 52. His Majesty is empowered by letters patent, to
grant to the bishop such ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the
exercise of such episcopal functions, in the East Indies, as
His Majesty shall think necessary for the administration of
holy ceremonies, and for the superintendence and good govern
ment of the church establishment in the East Indies.
By the uniform tenor of the letters patent, His Lordship
is, conformably to the statute, empowered to exercise no other
jurisdiction than spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction in his
diocese. They authorize him to grant licences to officiate, to
all ministers and chaplains of all churches and chapels, within
his diocese, belonging to the church of England ; and to visit
such clergy with ecclesiastical coercion ; as also to call before
him, or his commissary, at such times and places as shall
seem to him convenient, the aforesaid clergy; and enquire by
witnesses, to be sworn in due form of law, and by all other
effectual means, concerning their morals and behaviour. They
also empower him and his commissary to administer Oaths,
according to the ecclesiastical laws of England, and to punish
and correct the clergy according to their demerits, whether
by deprivation, suspension, or other ecclesiastical censure, or
correction, according to the ecclesiastical laws aforesaid. They
confer on him the power of collating to the office of archdea
con, after the 'death or avoidance of the present archdeacons.
They declare that each of the archdeacons shall, within his
archdeaconry, be assisting to the bishop in the exercise of
such episcopal jurisdiction and functions, according to the
duty of an archdeacon, by the said ecclesiastical law. And
they declare that each of the archdeacons shall, within his
archdeaconry, be taken to be without further appointment
the commissary of the bishop, and shall exercise jurisdiction
in all the matters aforesaid, according to the duty and function
of a commissary ; and they enjoin the court of directors, and
their governors, officers, and servants, and His Majesty's
governors, judges, and justices, and others within the parts
aforesaid, to be aiding and assisting to the said bishop and

MEMOIRS. 1XXXV
archdeacons in the execution of the premises : nevertheless,
declaring and ordaining, that in all grave matters of correction,
which are accustomed, and according to the practice of the
ecclesiastical laws of England, to be judicially examined, the
same shall in like manner be judicially examined, and pro
ceeded in, before the bishop, or his commissary, in the arch
deaconry in which the party to be proceeded against shall
reside; and all such causes shall be proceeded in to final
sentence in due form of law.
The letters patent then direct, that the bishop may appoint
a registrar to act in each archdeaconry; and further, they
ordain, that if any person, against whom a judgment or decree
shall be pronounced by the bishop or his commissary, shall
conceive himself aggrieved thereby, he may appeal to His
Majesty's commissioners delegate, consisting of the judges of
the supreme court at Calcutta, and the members of the council
at that city ; and further, that the person appointed to act as
the registrar of the archdeaconry of Calcutta, shall act as
registrar of the commissioners delegate ; and that in case any
proceeding shall be instituted against any archdeacon, such
proceeding shall be original, and carried before the commis
sioners delegate ; and in case any archdeacon, or chaplain
duly appointed, shall be, for any cause whatever, deprived of
his said office, or suspended therefrom, or inhibited from
preaching or exercising his holy office within the presidency
to which he shall have been appointed, or shall be subjected
to any ecclesiastical punishment, or censure, by the bishop,
or by the commissary, a copy of the sentence in such case
promulgated and given, setting forth the causes of such de
privation, suspension, or other ecclesiastical punishment, or
censure, shall without delay be certified and transmitted by
the bishop, or his commissary, to the governor-general in
council, or the governor in council of Fort St. George, or
Bombay, as the case may be ; and that the supreme court at
Calcutta, or Madras, or the recorder's court at Bombay, as
the case may be, shall have the like jurisdiction and power of
e 3

IXXXvi MEMOIRS.
interfering by writ of prohibition or mandamus, subject to the
same laws, restrictions, and rules of practice, as is or has been
exercised by the court of king's bench, in regard to pro
ceedings in the ecclesiastical courts in England ; regard being
had nevertheless to any special provisions or exceptions con
tained in the letters patent, and to any other laws and regu
lations, specially applicable to or concerning His Majesty's
territories in the East Indies.
The letters patent then, in the most express terms, save the
jurisdiction of the supreme courts of judicature, and recorder's
court respectively, so far as it does not appertain to the cor
rection of clerks, or the spiritual superintendence of ecclesi
astical persons ; and preclude the bishop or archdeacons
from any authority or jurisdiction whatever in matters now
cognizable in the said courts, except as therein last excepted.
And the letters patent further declare, that nothing therein
contained shall limit or abridge the power of the governor-
general in council, or governors in council of Fort- William,
Fort St. George, and Bombay respectively, as to the residence
of any person whatsoever within the territories under the
government of the company.
Now, according to the sound construction of those letters
patent, Sir S. Toller conceived that they by no means war
ranted the ereetion of the court in question. For, he argued,
it is to be observed, first, that they are altogether silent in
regard to any such form of judicature. If they had meant to
establish it, its constitution would surely have been minutely
and specifically described, with all its incidents. Its officers
would have been all enumerated. The supreme court is
described with the utmost particularity in the charter of judi
cature. But the letters patent are so far from comprising any
such description of a consistory court, that it is not even
mentioned. The only ecclesiastical persons who are therein
specified, besides the bishop, are the archdeacons and the
registrars of the respective presidencies ; and the letters patent
are so far from contemplating any addition to the persons thus

MEMOIKS. lxXXVii
auxiliary to the exercise of such ecclesiastical jurisdiction, that
they not only declare that each of the archdeacons within his
archdeaconry shall be taken to be without further appoint
ment the commissary of the bishop, and shall exercise juris
diction as such, but with a singular particularity they direct
that the person appointed as registrar within the jurisdiction
of Calcutta, shall also act as registrar of the commissioners
delegate. A provision which strongly indicates a jealousy of
such ecclesiastical officers being on any pretence augmented.
Secondly, The letters patent expressly require a deviation
from the ordinary course of ecclesiastical judicature in Eng
land, by directing (although they ordain the see of Calcutta
to be subject and subordinate to the archiepiscopal see of the
province of Canterbury) an appeal from the bishop's sentence,
immediately to the commissioners delegate ; whereas, in Eng
land, the appeal from the consistory court is to the archbishop
of the province. The letters patent, also, when they ordain
that the supreme court shall have the like jurisdiction and
power of interference by writ of prohibition or mandamus
subject to the same laws, restrictions, and rules of practice,
as is or has been exercised by the court of king's bench, in
regard to proceedings in the eccelsiastical courts in England,
at the same time cautiously direct, as is above stated, that
regard should be had to any special provisions or exceptions
contained in the letters patent, or to any other laws and
regulations specially applicable to or concerning His Majesty's
territories in the East Indies ; justly considering the ecclesi
astical jurisdiction in the East Indies as being on a very
different foundation from that of England.
Thirdly, The basis for the establishment of such a judica
ture in India is much too narrow in respect both to the subject
matter of it, and to its objects. The letters patent, in the
most distinct terms, save the jurisdiction of the supreme court,
in all ecclesiastical matters, so far as the same does not apper
tain to the correction of clerks, or the spiritual superintend
ence of ecclesiastical persons. The jurisdiction, therefore, of
e 4

lxxxviii MEMOIRS.
a consistory court in the East Indies, instead of taking cog
nizance of the several matters to which the jurisdiction of a
consistory court in England extends, would be limited to such
correction or spiritual superintendence. And who would be
the objects of it ? A body of men very inconsiderable in point
of numbers, a few chaplains, almost all of whom are military,
and under military commands, and therefore the less likely to
require the coercion of ecclesiastical authority, independently
of the consideration, that men of so sacred a profession,
selected and sent out by the court of directors, on the most
ample testimonials, in regard to their character and qualifi
cations, can scarcely be contemplated as objects of spiritual
censure. A bishop in India will not probably once in a century
have to exercise so unpleasant a part of his functions as the
pronouncing of such a sentence ; and Sir S. Toller observed,
that His Lordship's letter to the governor-general in council,
dated 29th October, 1818, expressed his hope, that proceed
ings of that kind would not be frequently called for. Nor
was it to be forgotten, that in case of any flagrant breach of
professional duty, or of decorum, or of morality, on the part
of those chaplains, if it can be supposed to occur, the govern
ment is armed with the power of applying a very efficacious
and summary remedy ; he meant, that of sending them out of
the company's territories. A power, which the letters patent
have expressly declared shall not be limited or abridged by
any thing therein contained.
In regard to the regular keeping of registers to which His
Lordship, in his speech on opening the consistory court at
Calcutta, alludes, as a benefit to be derived from such a
judicature, Sir S. Toller observed, that it is not necessary to
erect such a court for such a purpose. It is the special duty
of the bishop's registrar to take care of that object.
In respect to the decorous dress of the clergy to which
His Lordship on that occasion also referred, which doubtless
ought not to be neglected, it may (he supposed) also be
effectually enforced, without the erection of a court for the

MEMOIRS. lxxxix
purpose, as well as their obligation to reside at their stations,
and to use the liturgy entire.
It is true that the letters patent ordain that all grave matters
of correction which are accustomed, and according to the
practice of the ecclesiastical court of England to be judicially
examined, the same shall in like manner be judicially examined
and proceeded in, before the bishop or his commissary,' and
all such causes shall be proceeded in to final sentence in due
form of law. But Sir S. Toller thought, that, according to
the true construction of those words, and taking the whole of
the letters patent together, and having, as they express it,
" regard to the special provisions and exceptions contained
therein, and to other laws and regulations, specially applicable
to or concerning His Majesty's territories in the East Indies,"
the meaning is, that His Lordship, or his commissary, is
judicially to examine and decide on such grave matters as are
specified in his camera, in his chamber, as an arbitrator, and
to publish his award or sentence, like any other arbitrator:
He saw no reason why the bishop, or his commissary, might
not call before him, in such domestic form, the aforesaid
clergy, and enquire, by witnesses upon oath, concerning their
morals and behaviour ; or why His Lordship's judicial ex
amination and sentence, or that of his commissary, in this
mode, should not be as valid and effectual, and why it might
not be affirmed to be as much in due form of law, as if all the
cumbrous and expensive machinery of the court, then proposed
to be established, should be resorted to ; for which there does
not appear to be any necessity whatever. 
Upon the whole matter, SirS. Toller concluded, that so
far from its being obligatory on the Bishop to constitute such
a court, His Lordship had no power to do so, according to
the true intent and meaning of the instrument, from which
his authority was derived.
This opinion threw the Bishop into considerable embarrass
ment; for about two years before, the advocate-general at
Calcutta had declared that His Lordship could not proceed

XC MEMOIRS.

against any clergyman but in his consistorial courts ; one of
which was accordingly erected in that city. He was applied
to on the present occasion, and still maintained the sentiment
which he had formerly expressed ; but advised, that as there
was such a diversity of opinion, the matter should be settled
in England.
Bishop Middleton's care was much increased by the
death of Mr. Jones, with whom he had contracted for the
building of the college. He could not immediately find a
person capable or willing to carry on the engagement, and
therefore anticipated much additional expense ; a point of the
utmost importance in the present instance. At length he
found an officer of the engineers, Captain Hutchinson, who,
though incapable, by military regulation, of contracting, un
dertook to carry on the work. This was a great relief to him.
But still the business of the bishopric, attended with diffi
culty, and often with vexation, continually pressed upon his
mind; so that, when the fatal blow was given, which occa
sioned the decease of this excellent man, it fell upon nerves
disposed to accelerate its dreadful consequences. On the
8th June, 1822, he wrote to a friend in England, and ex
pressed himself in terms which proved how much the diffi
culties under which he laboured had operated upon his feel
ings. He reminded his friend, that it was that day eight
years since he embarked at Portsmouth, when Archdeacon
Thomas accompanied him to the boat, and was the last of his
acquaintance whom he saw in England. " It was exceedingly
improbable," he added, " that we should meet again ; and,
perhaps, all things considered, it was hardly to be expected,
though he was the older man, that I should be the survivor :
but so the Almighty had ordained it. I sometimes wonder
at the manner in which, amidst the continual havoc around
me, I have been preserved, and my wife also, without whom,
in solitude and destitution, I should be as nothing."
From the most authentic sources of information it appears,
that on the Monday preceding his death, the Bishop received

MEMOIRS. XC1
the clergy at dinner, having recently returned to his own
house, which had been long under repair. And, except that
he was much agitated in the early part of the evening, by in
formation respecting a very improper proceeding of one of
his clergy, he was unusually cheerful and animated.
The next day he went down to the college at an early hour
in the afternoon ; from which his physician, who happened to
be in the house in attendance on Mrs. Middleton, endeavoured
to dissuade him, but in vain. He promised, indeed, that he
would not go again at so early an hour. Little did he think
that he was visiting that favourite spot for the last time !
On Wednesday, he was occupied during eight hours in
writing to government, on the subject of a suit in the supreme
court ; and, at length, declared himself quite exhausted ; but
proposed to Mrs. Middleton, who, from ill health, had not
been out for several days, that she should accompany him in
the carriage before the sun was gone down. "
They had not proceeded far, when, at a turn in the road,
the descending sun, which is always dangerous, and especially
at the damp season of the year, shone full upon him. A
slight cause from without, added to the present agitated state
of his nerves, was sufficient to produce serious effects. The
Bishop immediately declared that he was struck by the sun,
and returned home ; but refused to receive medical advice,
and took what was offered, him by Mrs. Middleton. When
he retired to rest, symptoms of fever, and irritability of mind,
increased. On the following night he was with difficulty re
strained from rising and pursuing the business that, pressed
upon his attention.
On the Thursday, the fever had increased so much that he
wrote to his physician, Dr. Nicolson, a person in whom he
had implicit and well-grounded confidence. The Bishop
now indeed appeared sensible of the extent of his disorder,
and said that he thought himself seriously ill, and knew not
what would be the consequence. He sent a letter to his
chaplain, to desire that he would take his place in the pulpit

XC11 MEMOIRS.
at the cathedral on the Sunday. But neither in this, nor
in any other communication to his friends, was there any in
timation of the extreme illness which now oppressed him.
They were unconscious of the dreadful event which awaited
them till two hours before he expired. The archdeacon, the
senior chaplain, Mr. Trotter, whom the Bishop had distin
guished by his friendship, Mr. Hawtayne, and the physician
were with him. He lay for some time exhausted by the vio
lence of the disorder, and breathing violently, till just before
his departure, when an expressive smile spread itself over his
features. So tranquil was the last moment, that it was not
marked by a single motion.
Thus expired Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, at eleven
o'clock, on the night of Monday the 8th July, 1822, in the
fifty-fourth year of his age, and ninth of his consecration, to
the great loss of the Christian church.
The death of this excellent prelate was announced by a
government gazette extraordinary, issued by the Governor-
General in council ; a marked testimony-of respect, expressed
in terms * no less honourable to the feelings of the council,
than just to the character of the deceased. The last offices
were performed 2 over the remains of Bishop Middleton on
Friday the 12th July, amidst the lamentations of all ranks of
society ; and on the following Sunday, a funeral sermon was
preached by Dr. Loring, archdeacon of Calcutta.
, Anxious to show respect to the memory of their departed
Bishop, the archdeacon of Calcutta and other clergy, imme
diately after his decease, resolved to enter into a subscription
for a monument, to be erected to his memory in the cathedral.
This was followed by Archdeacon Barnes, and other friends,
as soon as the information of the afflicting loss which the
church had sustained, had reached Bombay. And at a special
.meeting of the diocesan committee, held at Calcutta on the
.24th July, 1822, W. B. Bayley, Esq. proposed resolutions
to the members present, for a subscription towards the in-
1 See the Appendix. s See the Appendix.

MEMOIRS. XCIH
tended monument, in a speech expressing the highest venera
tion and regard for the virtues of the late Bishop ; which was
followed by the unanimous adoption of the measure. Similar
resolutions were passed by the diocesan committee at Madras ;
which were moved by the Hon. Sir Charles Grey, knt,
in an address, bearing testimony to the esteem in which the
memory of Bishop Middleton was held in that presidency.
No sooner was the sad event known in England, than the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ' passed resolu
tions in honour of his memory; and for the purpose of enter
ing into a subscription for a monument, to be erected in the
cathedral of St. Paul.
Thus, beloved abroad and at home, departed the subject of
these memoirs. It remains that they be closed with an ac
count of his person and disposition.
In person, Bishop Middleton was above the ordinary sta
ture of man ; strongly formed ; of a florid and commanding
countenance ; animated and energetic in his manner. In dis
position, he was sanguine and zealous ; ambitious of distin
guishing himself amongst the wise and good ; warm and
generous to his friends ; placable and benevolent towards all
men ; unbending in his principles, but charitable to those who
differed from him in opinion. As a husband, he was affectionate
and exemplary. As a prelate, he was apostolic in his views,
vigilant in his government, and anxious for the diffusion of
the gospel, even unto death.
It is much to be lamented, that in his last will 2, dated
19th January 1821, he ordered all his manuscripts to be de-
1 See the Appendix.
4 The will expressed, that all his sermons and other writings in MS.
should be forthwith burnt. That there were some of them, which, if Pro
vidence spared his life, he was disposed to revise for the press ; but in their
then state, the best of them were very unfit for publication. It was, there
fore, his earnest wish that none of these should be preserved; and that his
executrix (Mrs. Middleton) would consider a strict compliance with this
injunction to be due to his memory.
The following inscription written by him, and considered by its author
one of the best of his productions in this kind, is in the Botanic Garend

XC1V MEMOIRS.

stroyed; amongst these were his admirable lectures on the
litany, which were ready for the press. Bishop Middleton
died without issue, and without any near relations ; Mr. Seth
Stephen Ward, of the accountant-general's office, already

near Calcutta, to which I have subjoined a hymn, composed by Bishop
Middleton, and always sung on new-year's-day, by his desire : —
Inscription for the Botanic Garden.
Quisquis. Ades.
Si. Locus. Suavitate. Mentem. Permulcet.
Aut. Admonet. Ut. Pie. Sentias. De. Deo.
Habendus. In. Konore. Tibi.
Roxburghius.
Horum. Hortorum. Olim. Praefectus.
Vir. Scientia?. Botanices. Laude. Florens.
Idemque. Amcenitatum. Agrestium.
Summus. Artifex.
Conservat. Cinerem. Patria.
Hie. Viget. Ingenium.
Tu. Fave. Et. Perfruere.
B. M. P. C. Superstites. Amici. A. D. MDCCCXXII.

The Hymn.
As o'er the past my niem'ry strays,
Why heaves the secret sigh ?
, 'Tis that I mourn departed days,
Still unprepared to die.
The world and worldly things beloved
My anxious thoughts employ'd ;
And time unhallow'd, unimproved,
Presents a fearful void.
Yet, Holy Father, wild despair
Chase from my lab'ring breast ;
Thy grace it is which prompts the pray'r,
That grace can do the rest.
My life's brief remnant all be thine !
And when thy sure decree
Bids me this fleeting breath resign,
O speed my soul to Thee !

MEMOIRS. XCV
mentioned, a descendant of the maternal grandfather of the
Bishop, and the children of Mr. Ward, being the only
persons allied to his family who survived him.
The Bishop, in his will, directed that his remains should be
interred in the vault under the college chapel, if it were con
secrated ;. and left an inscription to be engraved on a tablet in
the chapel. But that edifice not being completed at the time
of his death, the following variation of the inscription, left
also by himself, in case he should be interred elsewhere, is to
supply its place : — In. hoc. Sacello. '
Nomen. meum. servandum. volui.
Thomas Fanshaw Middleton. S. T. P.
Primus. Dioeceseos. Calcuttensis. Episcopus.
Hujusce. Collegii. ^Edificandi. Suasor.
Et. pro. viribus. adjutor.
Jesu. Christe.
Lux. mundi. peccatorum. salus.
Prseconibus. tuis. hinc. exeuntibus,
Optima, quaeque. dona, elargiaris.
Et. miserescas. animae. mese.

Obiit. anno. Redemptoris. mdcccxxii.
.flStatis. tin.
Episcopatus. ix.
Voluit. Elizabetha. uxor, conjunctissima.
Eodem. marmore. insigniri.

1 If the chapel had been consecrated, and the Bishop's remains interred
in it, the inscription was to have run thus : —
Prope hunc locum
Mortales exuvias reponendas volui
&c. &c.

APPENDIX.

An extract from a letter addressed by the Rev. W. H. Mill, Prin
cipal of Bishop's College, to the Secretary of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, dated Ajmeer, July
29, 1822.
" Being supplied with letters from His Lordship (the Bishop)
to Cochin, and to Archdeacon Barnes, at Bombay, I embarked at
the end of October last year, and arrived at the former port in
November, with the intention of visiting the Christians of
St. Thomas, as they have been very generally called in the interior.
" A church subsisting like theirs, if not from the apostolical
age, (a tradition justly suspected,) at least from the ages imme
diately succeeding, whose members have been recognised as a
distinct and respected class of the community, in the very heart
of Hinduism, for more than fifteen centuries, is a phenomenon
which cannot but claim the attention of every one engaged in the
propagation of the Gospel in this country ; and is itself a most
satisfactory answer to the many who contend, that its permanent
reception by any class of respectable natives is an impossibility.
" The Christians of St. Thomas, though evidently Indians
themselves in origin, as in complexion and language (which is the
Malayalim), have received their orders, with their liturgies and
ecclesiastical traditions, from the more ancient parent church in
Syria. Accordingly, (notwithstanding the inaccurate later ru
mours concerning them, which seem with many to have super
seded the excellent and laborious accounts of their former
history, given by Dr. Michael Geddes, and by La Croze,) they
resemble, in their form of government, every other ancient church
of which we have any knowledge, by which Christianity has been
planted in the midst of idolaters : neither in the three orders (to
which they have superadded many of confessedly inferior autho
rity) do they differ from the Western church, except that the

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. XCVll
deacons exercise fewer of the proper functions of the Catanars
or Presbyters, than custom has allowed them among us. It were
happy, if with this apostolical regimen, of which they are most
carefully tenacious, they had preserved uniformly unimpaired the
fundamental articles of the Christian faith ; but the unhappy dis
putes respecting the person and natures of our Lord, which be
ginning with verbal questions, ended with dividing the Oriental
churches into two opposite erroneous confessions, have extended
their evil influence to the church in Malabar. It is evident,
from the accounts that La Croze has detailed with his usual
candour and sagacity, that at the time when the Portuguese were
forcing the Romish tenets upon them, they were, like the see of
Babylon to which they adhered, Nestorian. And it is evident
also, that those bishops and priests from Syria, by whose assist
ance, half a century after, they were enabled, for the greater part,
to throw off that usurpation, and recover their ancient ecclesiastical
independence, were from the see of Antioch, the most opposed
to that heresy, being Jacobites. And this is, accordingly, the
creed of all the independent parts of the Syro-Malabaric church
at this day, who are under a metropolitan bishop of their own
nation. These correspond with the church in Antioch : like
them have the anti-catholic expression (to say the least) in use, of
the two natures forming one nature, and unanimously hold the
Nestorian duality of persons in the utmost detestation. The
other great division of this church, who remain under subjection
to the see of Rome, though they have still priests of their own
nation, and their liturgy in Syriae, printed at Rome for their use,
have all their superior governors sent to them from Europe, and
are in a singular state of schism ; the Portuguese Archbishop of
Cranganore, as suffragan of Goa, still claiming them as his charge,
while this right is denied by the Propaganda Society at Rome,
who have constantly sent out Italian vicars apostolic, and now
latterly, an Irish Bishop, residing at Verapoli, to rule them.
These unfortunate churches, still sufficiently proud of their an
cient character to feel their present degradation, yet under the
terror of the exclusive pretensions to Catholicism and infallibility,
submit partly to the one, partly to the other, of these opposite
claimants. - " It is the former and happier division of this singular people
to whom wp look with the greatest interest and hope ; as those
f

XCV111 APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
whose recovery and rise to their early primitive character will,
as we may confidently expect, bring with it the emancipation of
the rest. From their venerable Metropolitan, Mar Dionysius,
who is exerting himself in various ways for the improvement of
his clergy and people, I had the happiness of hearing very warm
expressions of respect and attachment to the churcli of England,
and our late regretted Bishop ; whose interviews with himself,
and mutual presents, he evidently remembered with great satis
faction.'' " The persons to whom I was chiefly indebted for my inter
course, both with the priests and laity of this extraordinary
people, (of whose Indian language I was ignorant,) were three
clergymen of the church of England, resident at Cottayam, in
Travancore, and actively employed in superintending the college
and the parochial schools ; the former of which, by the grant of
the heathen government of that country; the latter, by the desire
and contribution of these Christians themselves, have been re
cently established in their community. Singular as such a superin
tendence may appear, and almost unprecedented, there is nothing in
it, as exercised by these clergymen, which opposes the order, either
of that episcopal church they visit, or, as far as I am capable of
judging, of that to which they themselves belong. For the
former, they certainly do nothing but by the express sanction of
the Metropolitan consulting and employing them : their use of
the Anglican service for themselves and families at one of his
chapels, is agreeable to the Catholic practice of these Christians
(who allowed th,e same 250 years ago to the Portuguese priests,
as to persons rightly and canonically ordained, even while_ they
were resisting their usurpations), and is totally unconnected with
any purpose of obtruding even that liturgy upon the Syrian
church ; while their conduct, with respect to those parts of the
Syrian ritual and practice, which all Protestants must condemn,
is that of silence, which, without the appearance of approval,
leaves it to the gradual influence of the knowledge now dissemi
nating itself to undermine, and, at length, by regular authority
to remove them. For the latter, which involves the more imme
diate and far more sacred duty of the two, though no opportu
nity for the display of this has yet existed in this native govern
ment, without the Company's territory, and the limits of the
operation of our Indian church establishment hitherto, yet I be-
16

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. XC1K
lieve they fully acknowledge the episcopal relation and jurisdic
tion to which they, equally with myself, or with any chaplain of
the company, are spiritually subject."
" In stating these points respecting the Syro-Indian church,
I do little more than repeat what I had before stated, at greater
length, to Bishop Middleton ; and it is not amongst the least of
the losses that I have sustained, from his lamented and unfore
seen departure, that I have been deprived of hearing from him
self an opinion on these subjects ; on some of which he alone was
competent to decide, and on all of which his interest in this
people, and extensive acquaintance with their concerns, ancient
and modern, enabled him to decide so well."

f 2

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.

CALCUTTA GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
EXTRAORDINARY.
Fort William, Wednesday, July 10. 1822.
With sentiments of the deepest concern, the Governor-General
in council notifies to the public, the demise, on the night of Mon
day last, of the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Calcutta,
His Excellency in council, adverting to the unaffected piety,
the enlarged benevolence, and the acknowledged moderation of
the late Bishop, conceives that he only anticipates the eager and
unanimous feeling of all classes of the Christian inhabitants of
this city, when he announces his desire that every practicable
degree of respect and veneration should be manifested on this
most distressing occasion to the memory of this excellent and
lamented prelate.
His Excellency in council is pleased, therefore, to request, that
the principal officers of government, both civil and military, will
attend at the melancholy ceremony of the Bishop's interment ;
and that every other public demonstration of attention and re
spect, consistent with the occasion, be observed on the day ap
pointed for the funeral. By command of His Excellency
The* Most Noble the Governor-General in council,
C. LUSHINGTON,
Acting Chief Secretary to the Government.

The following account of the ceremony which tool: place at the
funeral of Bishop Middleton was printed in one of the Calcutta
papers. Friday evening (July 12, 1822) having been fixed upon for the
solemnity of the funeral of our late respected Diocesan, the day
was spent in making such preparations as would be suited to the
dignity of the illustrious dead, and, at the same time, consistent
with that decent plainness, which it was his own desire should be
observed on the occasion.

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CI
The honourable and gratifying tribute of respect and regret
which the government had been pleased to afford by the publica
tion of the Extraordinary Gazette, was followed by other demon
strations of the high sense entertained by them of the character
of the late Bishop. The flag at Fort William was hung half-mast
high during the whole day. About six o'clock, the leaden coffin
having been screwed into the outer case, which was covered with
rich black velvet, handsomely finished with gilt ornaments, was
removed into the hearse. At twenty minutes before seven, the
procession moved from Chowringhee, consisting of the hearse,
attended by the mutes and plume-bearers, and followed by the
late Bishop's carriage ; and five mourning coaches, containing the
clergy, the pall-bearers, mourners, &c. with a numerous train of
the carriages of the principal inhabitants of Calcutta ; while mi
nute guns were discharged from the ramparts of Fort William
from the moment of the departure of the procession until it
reached the cathedral. Here the hearse and coaches drew up
within the church-yard, in order to allow space for forming the
procession. The entrance of the procession into the church, which was
handsomely hung with black, and lighted, was marked by a so
lemn dirge from the organ. The proper psalm was read by the
Archdeacon, and the lesson by Mr. Corrie ; after which was sung
an anthem from Handel : — " When the ear heard Him,- then it
blessed Him ; and when the eye saw Him, it gave witness to Him.
His body is buried in peace, but his name liveth evermore." The
body was then lowered into the grave, within ' the communion
rails, while the Archdeacon concluded the solemn service.
1 Bishop Middleton was the first person interred in the cathedral, by the
special permission of the government.

f 3

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN
KNOWLEDGE.
Bartlett's Buildings, 16th December, 1822.
At a very numerous meeting of members of the Society for Pro
moting Christian Knowledge, convened for the purpose of con
sidering what measures it might be proper for the Society to
adopt, on occasion of the lamented death of the Lord Bishop
of Calcutta ; —
The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London in the Chair ;
The following Resolutions were unanimously agreed to:
" That this Board having received, with feelings of the deep
est regret, intelligence of the death of the Right Reverend
Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, D.D. Lord Bishop of Calcutta, do
sincerely deplore the sudden termination of that long and inti
mate connexion, which subsisted between His Lordship and the
Society. " That this Board feel it their duty thus publicly to express
their lively sense of that rare union of wisdom, activity, and firm
ness, which marked the character of the late Lord Bishop of
Calcutta, and qualified him, in an eminent degree, to accomplish
the arduous undertaking of establishing in the East a branch of
the apostolical church of England ; an undertaking, which, under
his prudent and energetic management, was in the most promising
state of advancement ; but the completion of which, under the
divine blessing, must be looked for from a similar combination of
talent and piety in those who may hereafter be called to the ex
ercise of episcopal functions in India.
" That this Board, recollecting the solemn and affecting address,
in which the Bishop, upon the eve of his departure for India,
took leave of the Society, and adverting to the pledge which he
then gave, of promoting to the utmost of his power the objects of
the Society, within the sphere of his spiritual influence, are de
sirous of expressing their grateful sense of the zealous and effec
tual manner in which that pledge has been redeemed.

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. C1U
" That with a view to a more durable expression of the esteem
and regret of this Board, measures be taken for the erection of a
monument to the memory of the late Lord Bishop of Calcutta, in
the cathedral church of St. Paul; the expence to be defrayed by
the individual subscriptions of members of the Society for Pro
moting Christian Knowledge ; and that books be forthwith opened
at the Society's office, and with the secretaries of the diocesan
and district committees, for receiving the names of subscribers.
" That this Board feel a melancholy satisfaction in adopting a
suggestion made by the late Lord Bishop of Calcutta, in his last
letter to the Society, relative to the foundation of five scholar
ships in Bishop's College at Calcutta ; and accordingly agree to
place the sum of 6000/. at the disposal of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for the purpose of
endowing five scholarships, besides affording a salary for a Tamul
teacher, in the same college, with such reference to the sons of
the missionaries of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
as the statutes of the college may allow ; and that this Board,
anxious that the piety and zeal of the late Lord Bishop of Cal
cutta should be honoured with an appropriate memorial in the
country, where they were most conspicuously and beneficially
displayed, do recommend that the said scholarships be founded,
and henceforth calledby the name of Bishop Middleton's scholar
ships. " That this Board, having a well-grounded confidence that the
venerable Archdeacon Loring will, during the vacancy in the see
of Calcutta, use his best endeavours to promote the several im
portant designs for the advancement of Christian knowledge in
the East, which occupied so large a portion of the late Bishop's
time and solicitude, do invite the Archdeacon to enter into a cor
respondence with the Society ; and do assure him, that any sug
gestions which he may think proper to offer, in furtherance of
those designs, will obtain the Society's most favourable consider
ation. " That, as a mark of the high esteem entertained by this Board
for the character and virtues of the widow of the late Lord Bi
shop of Calcutta, a copy of the resolutions adopted at this Special
General Meeting of the Society, handsomely written on vellum,
be presented to Mrs. Middleton, immediately after her arrival
in England.
" That a committee, consisting of nine members of the Society,
viz. The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, (president); The
Lord Bishop of London ; The Lord Bishop of Llandaff, (dean of
f 4

Civ APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
St. Paul's) ; Lord Kenyon ; the Archdeacons of London, Middle
sex, and Colchester ; Dr. D'Oyly, and Joshua Watson, Esq., be
appointed to superintend the erection of the monument, and to
take all such steps as may be necessary for carrying the resolu
tions of this meeting into effect.
" That the contributions towards the erection of the monument
be limited to the amount of each member's annual subscription to
the Society.
" That the resolutions adopted by the Board at this special
meeting of the Society be published, under the direction of the
committee. " Agreed unanimously, that the thanks of this meeting be given
to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London, for having
taken the chair ; and for -the very obliging manner in which he
has conducted the business of the day.''

December 27, 1822.
At a second Special General Meeting, convened for the purpose
of receiving and taking into consideration an application from
the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts, " for permission to co-operate with the mem
bers of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in the
erection of a monument to the memory of the late Lord Bishop
of Calcutta in the cathedral church of St. Paul, and thus to
perpetuate their feelings of gratitude for his services, and ad
miration of his talents ;"
The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury in the Chair ;
The following Resolutions were unanimously agreed to:
" That this Board gladly acknowledge the cordial union that
has so long and so happily subsisted between the Society for Pro
moting Christian Knowledge, and the Incorporated Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in as much as the
two Societies arose from the same stock, were founded on the
same principles, and act under the same president.
" That this Board, therefore, however anxious they may have
been to reserve to the members of the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, the honour of offering a suitable tribute to
the memory of the late Lord Bishop of Calcutta, cannot resist
the earnest request that has now been made by the sister Society,

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CV
to be permitted to co-operate with them in the erection of the mo
nument proposed to be placed in the cathedral church of St. Paul.
" That two members of the Incorporated Society for the Pro
pagation of the Gospel, viz. the Rev. H. H. Norris and the Rev.
J. Lonsdale, be added to the special committee which has been
appointed to carry this design into execution.
" That the Archdeacon of London be requested to furnish the
Board with a copy of the admirable address delivered by him at
the last Special General Meeting, for the uses of the Society.
" Agreed unanimously, that the cordial and respectful thanks
of the meeting be offered to His Grace the Archbishop of Can
terbury, for presiding on this occasion.
" GEO. GASKIN, D. D.
" Secretary.''
The Archdeacon of London's Address to the Board of the Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge, on moving the Resolutions
for the Society's adoption, on occasion of the lamented death of
the Lord Bishop of Calcutta.
" My Lord,
" Having had the honour to fill the chair of your committee,
when we were called to deliberate upon a subject of so much
general concern, and of such special interest to this Society, I
should not discharge what is due to that committee, if I did not,
in moving their resolutions, endeavour to express the common
feeling of those delegated members. They have, indeed, made
this declaration in a way entirely proper and becoming in the
'minutes which were framed at that time, and which will now be
submitted to Your Lordship and to this Board. They have ren
dered thus a cordial testimony of respect, esteem, and admiration ;
of regret and affliction for the loss sustained, and of the strong
desire which is felt, I may safely say, by every member of this
Society, to offer a suitable and lasting tribute to the memory of
one who was so highly valued, and is now so much lamented.
" Your committee, indeed, approached the subject, as they would
have gathered round the honoured bier of him to whom their
thoughts were directed, if his native land, and the train and at
tendance of his nearest friends, had been the scene allotted for
his funeral obsequies ; and standing now in this "room, where I
have so often heard him lend his voice to our counsels, and where
he gave the last assurances of co-operation with the views of the
Society, which were conformable, in all respects, with his own I

CV1 APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
may be permitted, from my own experience, to say a word which
may borrow its excuse from feelings which I find it difficult, at
this moment, to control.
" It cannot be needful for me to remind Your Lordship, whose
vigilant attention is never wanting to promote the influence, and
to aid and direct the deliberations of this Board, that the Society
enjoyed, in an eminent degree, the confidence of the distinguished
prelate, of whom I now speak, and whose image fills my mind.
But there were those who had still nearer opportunites, from ha
bits of familiar intercourse, to learn the sentiments and motives
which, under Providence, induced him to accept a charge which
could not fail to expose him to more than an ordinary measure of
the risks and difficulties to which the devoted servant of Christ
Jesus stands bound in every case.
" There are not many who had better opportunities than I had,
on the eve of his departure from us, for collecting from his own
mouth the prompt expression of his thoughts. There is one who
had a closer intimacy with him, and deserved it more, — your
excellent treasurer, now present, to whom the public owes
more than it can ever repay, except by continuing to be the ob
ject of those services which carry with them their own recom-
pence, in the benefits which they produce ; and to him I can
appeal, were it needful now to put the question, whether he has
ever witnessed purer motives operating in the mind of any man,
than those which swayed the resolutions of his friend, and deter
mined him to count all things little in this life, in comparison
with the charge which was devolved upon him.
" I do not pretend to say that there have not been those
whose zeal may have induced them to make more violent
and extraordinary sacrifices in the same cause ; but I confess
that I am not disposed to measure zeal itself, as it should
lead to the best degrees of wisdom, virtue, and well-doing,
by the single standard of a voluntary sacrifice. If I did, I might
be led to place the pattern of a Loyola above that of him whose
zeal kept pace at all times with its occasions, and prompted him
to employ the fittest methods for accomplishing the best designs.
" I have heard him say, in the warm effusion of his heart, that he
had revolved the subject which had been placed before him by
the wishes of those who, with so much judgment, selected him
for this charge, and that having, without eagerness of mind, or
overweening confidence, surveyed the matter on all sides, and
having lent an ear to the call, he thought that it remained for
him to cast every care behind him, and to address himself with an

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CV11
humble trust in the good providence of Almighty God to the
work to which he was appointed.
" I had occasion to see something of the course of study in
which he was then occupied, which was various in its objects, but
directed to one end. I had often felt the power and energy of
his comprehensive mind, the compass and sagacity of which have
since been so signally displayed ; and I may, I hope, be allowed
to say, that the church of England, by the care of those who
preside in it, with whose advice and approbation we must all
feel convinced that the new-formed diocese received its first ap
pointed pastor, discharged a weighty trust with singular discre
tion. If the guides and rulers of our apostolical church, and all
in her communion, felt the common wish to set the first pattern of
episcopal government in a suitable manner in that distant land,
which has of late years proved a field for the display of various
talents above most others — if such were the purpose, as indeed
it must have been, I do not doubt that the voice of those
whom I have now the honour to address will concur with me in
declaring that the purpose was effected ; that the choice was well
and wisely exercised, and that the consequences have been an
swerable, fulfilling every pledge that had been given, and crown
ing every hopeful expectation which was raised. I am quite sure,
likewise, that we must all feel, that the resolutions which are now
about" to be proposed to Your Lordship and the Board for your
adoption, will mark at once the great importance of the seat now
vacant, and will describe the same solicitude with reference to its
further supply, that what has been so happily begun, may be as
successfully pursued. The tribute which is to be rendered to the
memory of one who so faithfully discharged an arduous duty, will
thus become a source of further benefit, whilst it contributes, in
some measure, to perpetuate his name ; until they who share with
him in their respective stations, and in their proportion in the
service of the same Lord, shall enter with him into the joy and
kingdom of that Lord."
Upon its being resolved at a subsequent meeting, that the Arch
deacon of London be requested to furnish the Society with a copy of
the preceding address ; and upon such resolution being communicated
to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, then in the chair, the
Archdeacon replied in the following terms : —
" I cannot feel myself at liberty to withhold my compliance
where the commands of Your Grace, and the wishes of this

CV111 APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
Board, are signified ; although I must confess I have since thought,
on recalling what was spoken by me on a former day in moving
the resolutions of the committee, that what was said was many
ways defective. If it had any claim to attention from the Board,
it could not be for what was generally known and felt concerning
one so excellent ; but from what I had it in my power to state,
from the private intercourse of domestic friendship, in which the
inclinations of the mind and thoughts appear most readily, and
are expressed without reserve. I can never cease to retain the
full effect of one such conversation, though I am well aware that
I could not convey to the minds of others, those impressions
which remain so deeply fixed upon my own. I could not de
scribe the manner, tone, and spirit, with which those spontaneous
feelings were then marked. They will never be effaced from my
remembrance. " But in one respect I have had occasion, on reflection, to tax
myself with an omission, when the opportunity was offered, which
was quite unpardonable. My mind was so carried away with the
deep sense of regret which I felt, and which was shared by all
around me, that I omitted what should have been offered on the
score of consolation.
" It is, then, to the public services of that excellent prelate, so
far as they have been accomplished, that we must look for the
grounds of consolation. He who put his hand to the plough,
never once removed it, never once looked back, unless it were
for aids and succours from this quarter : and we have the satis
faction to reflect, that they were never wanting on the part of
this Society. The good effects have followed. I will not detain
Your Grace and the Board further than to say, that indeed the
services effected were worth the life of any man, however highly
valued, however dear to others, and whatever, under other cir
cumstances, might have been the term of its duration."

Although the injunctidn laid by the Board is thus fulfilled, and
any word that can be added must want that sanction, and require
apology as a freedom not commonly permitted, yet, in returning
this sheet to the press, it is impossible to disguise the sense of its
inadequacy ; and more particularly, as no thought existed of the
address surviving the occasion by which it was produced.
It must now remain for others to trace, more ably and dis
tinctly, the several stages of that prosperous and well finished
course, which took its commencement from the bosom of this

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CIX
country, and its central city, in which the distinguished prolate,
the subject of this short address, had his early and successful
culture ; and where he exhibited the first earnests of his genius,
his great capacity for every good attainment, and his blameless
conduct. It will remain for others to trace the rising strength of his en-
creasing years and more mature acquirements, to the rank which
he obtained in the church, in whose ministries and service every
effort of his mind and soul was so happily expended.
It will remain for others to follow him with an heedful eye to
a distant and far-severed clime, where every generous quality of
his cultivated mind, and each particular of his rich attainments,
found their full scope, and were displayed with such large results
of solid benefit and permanent esteem.
It will remain for others to track his progress through long
leagues of travel, both by land and sea, in his several visits to
remoter parts of his extensive diocese ; and to contemplate him
in the fixed scene and circle of his customary residence and un
remitting pains.
They will behold him forming, at once, and with the outline
and the true proportions of a master's hand, the noble plan of a
college, which may from henceforth be regarded as the seed-plot of
every good and profitable plant which may be trained, and fitted,
and set out in the soil in which they are to flourish through suc
ceeding generations. They will observe him forming, with equal
skill and foresight, the statutes for that great establishment;
which may thus appear to have sprung up almost at the first step
placed in India by one who was soon to pass to an everlasting
mansion, but whose temporary labours were thus calculated for
endurance, even on this transitory globe.
One thing, however, remains yet for the mover of the resolu
tions here alluded to ; and before this sheet, which must not tarry
for enlargement, returns to the hand which must give it to the
public, it may furnish some amends for what is here defective and
inadequate, to express an earnest hope, that the last transmitted
fruits of an enlightened mind and solid judgment, the two con
cluding charges delivered by the Bishop to his clergy, may find
a more general circulation, by multiplied and numerous copies,
through his native land. The view presented in those exquisite
discourses of the provisions made by the Great Author of our
common hope for planting and perpetuating his church, with the
steps which followed thereupon in the first ages of the Christian
era, and the pattern there drawn of the sacred bond of fellow-

CX APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
ship and concord ; of faith, discipline, and practical proficiency,
are calculated, as all his labours were, for the general advantage
of the Christian world, and should have as wide a range. Should
this suggestion be regarded, and this wish be fulfilled, in any
manner, it will compensate for defects in what is thus given to
the public ; and will establish a more effectual, and a thousand
fold more precious monument to the memory of this exemplary
prelate, than that which is so properly projected for him by the
two Societies, to which for the best reasons he was so faithfully
attached. It will also satisfy the cordial spirit of concern, (more
promptly felt than testified,) which served at once both to excite
and to restrain expressions, which, at the moment of delivery,
could not endure the seal of silence, but which touched with dif
fidence a subject that surpassed its powers.
St. Martin's Vicarage,
January, 1823.

The following character of Bishop Middleton appeared in the
Christian Remembrancer for January and February, 1823.
In no man was there a more singular union of all those various
qualities which were each so essential to the success of the first
Indian prelate. His mind was naturally ardent and excursive,
but it was always under the controul of the most disciplined and
calculating discretion. He had a masculine and a practical under
standing : he rapidly conceived the most extensive plans, and
would digest with facility even their most circumstantial details ;
but he never anticipated their season, or hurried their execution :
he waited with patience, till in the course of passing events a
favourable opportunity should arise, and when at last it presented
itself, he marked it with decision, and he seized it with effect.
So singular, indeed, was his judgment, that amidst the various
difficulties with which he was daily and hourly doomed to con
tend, he never made a step which he was afterwards obliged to
recall. His talents and attainments were of a superior order ;
he was a sound and accurate scholar ; and in the prose depart
ment of Greek literature he was, perhaps, without a rival. His
conversation was vigorous, sometimes even playful ; his style was
luminous and forcible ; not abounding in imagery, but rising per
petually into a manly and a chastened eloquence. As a preacher
he was powerful and convincing ; his mind was theological, and
his expression scriptural.

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CXI
The leading points, however, in his character, which threw a
clearness and a brilliancy over every other, were the singleness
of his views, and the simplicity of his heart. In the course of
his Indian career he had but one object, — the advancement of
the cause of Christianity in the East : to that he dedicated his
days and his nights, his hopes and his fears, his money and his
influence. Labours so disinterested, and services so pure, were
not rejected; the blessing of the Almighty was upon them, and
the work of the Gospel prospered in his hand. The prejudices
with which at his outset he was overpowered on every side, were
rapidly giving way ; and during his short residence among them,
more was done by his single instrumentality, to prepare the way for
the conversion of the heathen, than during the whole previous
period of the British dominion in the East.
His notions of duty were strict and severe. He was incapable
of casuistry or of excuse ; he knew no middle line between right
and wrong, truth and falsehood, exertion and neglect. With an
income far below the necessary expenses of his station, he stinted
only his own comforts and himself. To the call of liberality or
of charity he was always open, even to his own distress ; inso
much, that after eight years' residence in India, his savings will
be found to amount to nothing.
The admiration of his personal character in the East was uni
versal ; and this admiration was the more valuable, as it was pur
chased by no sacrifices either of duty or of principle. Never, in
the slightest degree, would he condescend to court popularity:
he conducted himself with a conscious and a commanding dignity,
and never would he resign any right or privilege which was at
tached to his station, although he might have converted the resig
nation into a source of private favour or personal interest. It was
his aim to lay the foundations of the Indian church deep in the
rock, and to cement them with so much anxiety and caution, as
to make the future erection of a superstructure a rapid and an
easy task. He was, indeed, a master-builder in the temple of
Christ ; he built for strength, not for show ; for others, not for
himself. His remains were interred on the evening of the 12th of July,
within the walls of his own cathedral, with all the solemnity due
to his character and station. In ordaining that his ashes should
rest in the land of his high and holy exertions, Providence would
almost appear to have placed his heavenly mark upon their
worth. He has left no children behind him to lament his loss ; but in

CXll APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
the person of his widow, he has left a sacred legacy to his coun
try; a legacy that we trust will be accepted and cherished. Of
this amiable and excellent woman the Bishop, in a private letter,
spoke in the following affecting words : — " Mrs. Middleton is
nearly all that I have to rest upon in India, particeps omnium con-
siliorum meorum, et pro viribus adjutrix."
Dear is the name of this great and good man to those that
knew him best and loved him most ; and precious will his memory
be in the sight of those whose hearts are engaged in the advance
ment of the Redeemer's kingdom upon earth. — " His body it
buried in 'peace, but his name liveth for evermore." Millions and
millions of those who shall hereafter be added to the church of
Christ in the regions of the East, shall bless in pious gratitude
the memory of him, who was the first and great instrument of
the Almighty in their conversion ; and among them shall his name
be had in honour, till time itself shall be no more.
If there be in heaven, as we believe in humble confidence that
there is, an exalted lot for those apostolic men who have sacri
ficed every tie of kindred and of country to the call of heaven,
and have gone forth to plant the church of Christ in distant lands,
among these holy spirits shall the great founder of the Indian
church be numbered for ever, and in the presence of the Re
deemer, enjoy with them the consummation of his everlasting
reward.

Dr. Maltby, the learned editor of Morell's Lexicon Gneco
Prosodiacum, and preacher at Lincoln's-Inn, who was a contem
porary and friehd of Bishop Middleton at Pembroke Hall, bears
this honourable testimony to his character.
" Let me be indulged with permission to add the humble tri
bute of my own praise to that of the Society, when they appeal
to the discretion and zeal of him who has been appointed to the
important task of superintending the national church in India.
From long and early acquaintance with the character of this
learned and excellent prelate, it is gratifying to me to assure you,
that the confidence reposed in him will be rewarded by the good
and plenteous fruits of faith rooted in knowledge, of pious ardour
moderated by benevolence ; that the funds you may entrust to his
discretion will be wisely and faithfully applied ; and that, from
the exercise of his diligence and piety, as well as from the influence
of his example, the happiest effects may reasonably be expected
to that cause, in aid of which I am sure that your hearts are en-

APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS. CXlll

gaged, and that your bounty will liberally flow." — See Sermon for
Propagation of the Gospel, in Sermons by E. Maltby, D. D.
Vol. ii. p. 297.

Dr. Kaye, Lord Bishop of Bristol, in his sermon, preached
before the Society for Propagating the Gospel, adverting to the
adverse events which hinder the progress of Christianity in the
East, concluded with this testimony of respect for the character
of Bishop Middleton.
" To one of those adverse events I feel it now my duty to call
your attention ; to the unexpected death of the pious and able
prelate, to whom the charge of superintending the Indian esta
blishment was committed. To me he was personally unknown ;
I must, therefore, leave to others the pleasing, though melancholy,
task of delineating his private character, and recording his do
mestic virtues. But his public conduct has been open to general
observation ; and, assuredly, the tribute of our praise is not more
justly due to the wisdom of our rulers, in giving a church esta
blishment to India, than to their judgment in selecting the indi
vidual whom they placed at its head. In him appear to have
been united all the qualifications requisite for the successful dis
charge of his high office ; a temper at once firm and conciliatory ;
an ardent yet enlightened zeal ; a superiority to passion and pre
judice ; an entire dedication of his thoughts and exertions to
the cause of the Gospel ; and, above all, a just sense not only
of the arduous nature, but also of the pre-eminent importance
and dignity of the work in which he was engaged. He felt that,
compared with the object which he was pursuing, the loftiest
speculations that can occupy the statesman's mind sink into in
significance. He felt that on him depended the success of the
first national attempt to communicate the blessings of Christianity
to eighty millions of his fellow creatures ; and the consciousness
of this awful responsibility, which would have bewildered and
overwhelmed a common mind, seemed only to strengthen his re
solution and animate his efforts. Stedfastly fixing his eye on the
bright reward which would crown the end, he disregarded the
difficulties which threatened to oppose the progress of his labour.
In no circumstances of the visible church could the loss of so
distinguished a prelate fail to be lamented as a great calamity.
How much more severely must it be felt in the case of a new
establishment, like that of India ! Yet, while we feel the severity
of the dispensation, let us not be insensible to the mercy by

CX1V APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIRS.
which it was tempered. He might have been cut off at an earlier
period of his career, when the infant church would have been
less able to withstand the shock. Thankful, then, ought we to
be that the blow was delayed, till he had in some degree matured
his plans ; till he had imparted to the new institutions their
present consistency and strength ; and, what is most important,
till by his instruction and example he had rendered others ca
pable of regulating and directing the movements of the vast ma
chine to which he had himself given the primary impulse.
Most arduous still will be the duties of him who has succeeded
to the superintendence of the Indian diocese, but he will not
be compelled to begin the work anew ; he will find the foundations
of the building already laid ; and his only task will be accurately
to fill up the plan which has been traced by the commanding
genius and skilful hand of his predecessor.
But I will trespass no longer on your patience. In paying this
tribute of respect to the memory of the first Protestant bishop of
India, I have consulted at once my own feelings, and what I con
ceived to be the expectation of the audience before whom I
stand. To human applause, if it were at any time the object of
the deceased prelate's solicitude, he is now no longer sensible ;
nor do I hope, by any praise which I can bestow, to add lustre to
a name, which will be handed down in inseparable connexion
with the rise of our ecclesiastical establishment in India, and be
pronounced with reverence by multitudes in after times, when
that which was but now a small seed, and is still a tender plant,
shall become a mighty tree, and all the inhabitants of our East
ern empire shall rejoice beneath its shade.

CONTENTS.

SERMONS.

I. The Blessing and the Curse : a sermon preached at the cathe
dral church of Norwich, on Thursday, November 29th, 1798.
The day of the General Thanksgiving  Page 5
" I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I
" have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing :
" therefore choose life; that both thou and thy seed may live :
" that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou
" mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto
" him : for he is thy life and the length of thy days : that thou
" mayest dwell in the land, which the Lord sware unto thy
" fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
Deut. xxx. 19, 20.
II. Christ divided : a sermon preached at the Triennial Visitation
of the Lord Bishop of Lincoln at Grantham, June, 1809. 21
" Is Christ divided?" 1 Cor.i. 13.
III. National Providence : a sermon preached at St. John's cathe
dral in Calcutta, on the 13th April, 1815; being the day ap
pointed by proclamation of His Excellency the Right Hon. the
Governor-General, for a General Thanksgiving throughout
the Hon. Company's Territories in India, for the great and
public blessings of peace in Europe  43
" And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
" all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times be-
" fore appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that
" they should seek the Lord." Acts xvii. 26, 27.
IV. Righteousness and Salvation : a sermon preached at Colombo,
at the church in the Fort, Sunday, October 27th, 1816.... 61
" For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's
" sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth
" as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burn-
" eth." Isaiah lxii. 1. R 2

XVI CONTENTS.
V. A Sermon preached at St. George's church in Prince of Wales's
Island, on Sunday, May 16th, 1819  Pagesl
" Only let your conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ ;
" that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may
" hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with
" one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel."
Philippians i. 27.
VI. A Sermon preached at St. Thomas's church, Bombay, before the
Society for the Education of the Poor, on the 18th March,
1821; being the second Sunday in Lent  95
" Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruc-
" tion." Matt. vii. 13.
VII. The manifold Wisdom of God made known by the Church :
a Sermon preached at the cathedral church of Calcutta, on
the 3d day of December, 1820; being the first Sunday inAdvent. 109
" To the intent, that unto the principalities and powers in hea-
" venly places, might be known by the church the manifold
" wisdom of God." Eph. iii. 10.
CHARGES.
I. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Hunt
ingdon, at the Primary Visitation, on the 13th, 14th, and 15th
of May, 1812  149
II. A Charge delivered before the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, on the 23d March, 1813, to the Rev. C. A. Jacobi,
then about to proceed, as one of their Missionaries, to India. 169
III. A Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Calcutta, at
Calcutta, 7th December, 1815; at Madras, 11th January; and
at Bombay, 13th June, 1816; at the Primary Visitation, &c. 189
IV. A Charge delivered to the Clergy at Calcutta, Madras, Bombay,
and Colombo, in 1819 and 1821. ,  213
V. A Charge delivered to the Clergy at Calcutta, in December, 1821. 231
ADDRESSES.
I. An Address to the Children of the several Schools in Calcutta,
who were catechised in the Cathedral during Lent, 1817. 251

CONTENTS. CXVU
II. An Address delivered to the Persons confirmed at the Triennial
Confirmation, holden in the cathedral church of Calcutta,
1818  Page 265
III. An Address delivered to the Persons confirmed at the Triennial
Confirmation, holden in the cathedral church at Calcutta, on
18th December, 1821  277
IV. An Address to the Parishioners of St. Pancras, Middlesex, on the
subject of an Application to Parliament for a new Church, &c
1812  293
V. A Letter addressed to the Rev. Anthony Hamilton, Secretary
to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts  315

PLATES.
Bishop Middleton  toface ike Title.
The Rajah and Schwartz  p. xii. Memoirs.
The College  p. xc. Memoirs.

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE:

A
SERMON, i
PUEACHED AT THE
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF NORWICH,
On Thursday, November 29. 1798,
THE DAY OF THE
GENERAL THANKSGIVING.

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL
JOHN BROWNE, ESQ. MAYOR,
THE SHERIFFS,
AND THE ALDERMEN,
OF THE CITY OF NORWICH,
THE FOLLOWING SERMON
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY THEIR VERY OBEDIENT AND HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR

B 2

NORWICH.
At a Court of Mayoralty, held the 1st of December, 1798,
Resolved — That the Thanks of this Court be presented to the
Reverend T. F. Middleton for the Sermon preached by him at
the Cathedral on Thursday the 29th of November last, being
Thanksgiving Day. And in conformity lo the unanimous wish
of the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen then present, he is requested
to print the same. By the Court,
DE HAGUE.

A
SERMON.

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
" I call heaven and ea?-th to record this day against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing, and cursing :
therefore chuse life ; that both thou and thy seed may live : that
thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest
obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him :for he is
thy life and the length of thy days : that thou mayest dwell in
the land, which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them" — Deut. xxx. 1 9, 20.
In the former part of these words, the lawgiver proclaims
an awful truth, which had a reference to the happiness, not
only of his own immediate followers, but of the whole human
race. It is true both of men and nations, that they are, in a
considerable degree, the authors of their own fortunes. Before
individuals at their entrance into the world, and before com
munities in their political career are set life and death, a
blessing and a curse. To both of them prudence and virtue
afford a reasonable hope of prosperity ; and both of them by
folly and depravity, are menaced with ultimate ruin.
It is certain, nevertheless, that not only the natural but
the moral world is subject to the agency of disturbing causes.
It is these, which in the former sometimes render fallacious
our nicest computations, and in the latter disappoint our
fairest hopes. Our own good conduct is not always sufficient
to ensure our success. In society, men are connected with
each other by common interests and endless dependencies.
The misconduct, or even the misfortunes of one man may be
pregnant with consequences fatal to many ; and we can never
affirm, that we are secure in the possession of any temporal
good, merely because we have used every precaution, which
probity and prudence suggest. — If such be the condition of
B 3

O THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
individuals, still more is it that of communities. Exposed to
all the consequences, with which private happiness is threat
ened, they have not, and they cannot have, the same power of
restraining the violence and injustice of each other, which is
afforded the individual by the laws. It is essential to their
independence, and even to their existence, that they should
remain insubordinate among themselves, no less than that their
internal subordination should be complete. Societies, there
fore, obnoxious to the caprice of their ambitious neighbours,
have no tribunal, to which they can appeal ; and neither the
wisdom nor the moderation of their rulers may be able to
rescue them from war, ever calamitous in its progress and
doubtful in its issue.
This remark has been strongly exemplified in the history
of the last few years. An event has taken place, which has
involved the interests, and disturbed the tranquillity of this
quarter of the globe. It has given birth to a power, of which
ambition has been the master-passion, and destruction the
vital principle. The mild philosophic mien, which at first it
endeavoured to preserve, was soon ruffled by its innate ferocity :
and hypocrisy has at length vanished from the catalogue of
its vices. As its object is unexampled in magnitude, so have
the measures adopted to ensure its attainment been novel
and formidable. Force, which had hitherto executed the
decrees of usurpation and tyranny, has been but an inferior
engine of its malignity. It has devised a system of policy,
calculated to lull into indifference, or to engage in active
friendship, the wretch, whom it has doomed to destruction.
It cannot be denied, that the authors of this policy were,
in the language of tbe Gospel, " wise in their generation."
It cannot be doubted, that they possessed an extensive ac
quaintance with mankind, at least with the most corrupt of
the species, and a profound insight into the human heart,
under the dominion of its worst propensities. With acute-
ness to avail themselves of every advantage, they discovered
that the happiness and independence of nations were access
ible by a path untrod before. Superstition, they well knew,
had repeatedly been made the instrument of overbearing
domination ; and men had been often animated to exertion
by the generous fervors of mistaken piety: but never had
their energies been awakened by an appeal to their criminal

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. 7
passions, or by an attempt to obliterate their fixed concep
tions of good and evil. For this age was it reserved to rise
to that tremendous sublimity of wickedness, by which man
kind were to be persuaded to divest themselves of religious
obligation, to level the mounds of morality, to stifle the ad
monitions of conscience, and to deride the terrors of a future
retribution. It is true, indeed, that atheism and infidelity
are by no means of modern growth. A few solitary specu-
latists have at every period been disposed to scepticism ; but
never till of late has it been recognized by a legislature^ or
directed to a political end. But history delights in parallels
and contrasts. The valour and enthusiasm of the middle
ages were turned against the infidels of Palestine : we have
witnessed an infidel crusade against the liberties and religion
of Europe.
To the attentive observers of mankind it was evident, that
this singular enterprize would, for a time at least, be crowned
with success. It is the weakness of our nature, that they,
who cannot be intimidated by threats, may yet be soothed by
flattery; and that delusion is often practicable and effectual,
where force would be impotent and fruitless. Herein, then,
lay the mystery of this political iniquity. It addressed itself
to those of every nation, whose characters and habits entitled
them to be considered as natural allies, or who could by
sophistry be brought to a belief, that their interests were
connected with its own. The proselytes, as might be ex
pected, were not few. The uninformed were overcome by
the boldness of opinions, whose solidity they could not
examine, and whose pretensions to novelty they could not
overthrow. The ardour of the young kindled at the prospect
of glory and promotion. To blasted ambition was again
offered a theatre for the display of its talents. The attention
of envy was directed to the affluence and the honours of the
rich. The poor felt a generous gratitude to the benevolence
which affected to sympathize with their sorrows. The pro
fligate and abandoned, of whatever class, could require no
solicitation; and the enchanting sounds of freedom and phi
losophy had powers of seduction, which almost shook the
firmness and integrity of the wise and good. Thus was
victory ensured to the armies of a government, which has
overwhelmed with ruin a considerable portion of the Christian
b 4

8 THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
world. Whole nations at this hour groan beneath its yoke.
The progress of its adherents has every where been marked
by rapine, lust, and cruelty ; and it has shewn itself the most
destructive minister of vengeance, by whom the Almighty
ever scourged a guilty world.
But not in the spirit of rancour and revenge do we descant
on the crimes of our enemy. The duty, which we are this
day called upon to discharge, requires that we should well
examine the danger, with which we have been threatened ; that
we should ascertain its magnitude by its mode of operation ;
and that we should estimate the value of our deliverance, by
a comparison of our own situation with that of others. In
gratitude, odious as it is deservedly accounted, less often
proceeds from stupid insensibility or reluctant acknowledge
ment, than from culpable inattention. The ordinary bless
ings of Providence pass almost unheeded. They are enjoyed
by multitudes in common with ourselves ; and they follow
each other in continual succession, till the cause is scarcely
noticed in the frequency of the effect. It is thus that ingra
titude becomes a habit : and its influence sometimes chills the
heart, amid the most signal interpositions, of Omnipotence.
Among these it is, that we ought to number the recent pre
servation of this island. Placed by nature at the very foot of
the volcano, we have been enabled to brave its fury ; and our
plains still flourish in their wonted exuberance, unhurt by its
eruption. There was, indeed, a time, and still it is present
to the recollection «of most of us, when our political horizon
tvas less bright ; when clouds and darkness hovered around
us ; and the storm, which had burst upon other lands, seemed
to bend its course to these shores. The temporary delusion,
which has infatuated mankind, had then attained its crisis.
It appeared, as if the fountains of opinion had been poisoned,
and the bane had vitiated every part of the moral system.
Justice began to falter in her decisions ; fortitude to shrink
from the impending conflict ; and piety to droop under the
pressure of dismay. But her fears were vain ! The Almighty
has enabled us to endure the shock ; and He, who is faithful,
hath not forsaken us in the hour of our distress.
To ascribe an independent efficacy to the agency of second
causes, is as little consistent with genuine philosophy, as it/ is
with the very idea of Religion. Piety and wisdom concur in

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. 9
regarding them but as so many modes of Providence, as
means destined to accomplish the purposes of Almighty
power. We deny not, that they have been ordained most
remarkably to co-operate to our national security. Prudence
and tempered firmness have guided the counsels of our so
vereign. The great body of the people have unequivocally
testified their attachment to the constitution. Legions of our
brave citizens are associated in its defence. Our army has
spurned at the sophistry which was meant" to seduce it from
its allegiance. The militia has extended the limits of its
stipulated services ; and our navy, long since the admiration
of the world, has, by the daring genius of its commanders,
and the heroism of the seamen, eclipsed the ancient splendour
of its own illustrious name. In speaking of its late achieve
ments, it is difficult to repress the rising vanity of patriotism,
it is difficult to restrain the intemperance of triumph. By
them has confidence already been inspired into the powers of
Europe ; and already have persecution and intolerance as
sumed a feebler tone. To such manifestations of the Divine
favor must our internal security at this hour be attributed.
Hence is it, that our laws are still made and executed with
out foreign intervention ; that the wealth of our merchants
has been exempted from requisitions ; that the labours of the
husbandman have been preserved from devastation ; that do
mestic happiness has remained unsullied by the licentiousness
of the invader ; and that the temples of our religion have not
yet been profaned by mockery and folly : — in a word, that
we are insulated in our political, as in our geographical
situation. If such, then, have been the mercies vouchsafed to us by
the Almighty, we can have no difficulty in ascertaining the
nature of the blessing, which is set before these kingdoms.
We have been maintained, contrary to human probability, in
the possession of whatever is most dear to us, as Christians
and as men ;~ and, we trust, we are not guilty of impious pre
sumption, if we conclude, from all we know and feel, that we
are a favored people. Yet let not a consciousness of our
singular felicity lead us into error. While we yet stand, we
should take heed lest we fall. The Israelites had not less
cause than ourselves to rely on the Almighty protection. A

10 THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
blessing was set before them : and yet they chose the curse ;
and they no longer dwell in the land, which the Lord sware
unto their fathers. To imagine, that we are ever authorized
to relax our vigilance, is alike to misconceive the moral
government of God, and the primary constitution of our na
ture. It deserves to be remembered, that extraordinary aid,
as it is seldom granted us, should in wisdom and humility
never be expected : that the ordinary course of Providence is
to act by second causes ; that these causes in his moral ad
ministration are the voluntary actions of mankind : that virtue
and happiness are never so secure, but that corrupt passions
may effect their fall : that the abuse of our talents, and the
neglect of our duty, generally constitute our curse ; and that
while the Almighty preserves to us the fruits of our exertion,
and shields us against the natural effects of those disturbing
causes, in the operation of which our own misconduct has
had no share, so long are we in the actual enjoyment of the
only blessing, for which reason and Revelation permit us to
hope. Religion, indeed, considers the Divine favor as the
greatest good : but to regard it as appropriated and unalien
able, or as superseding the necessity of human efforts, is the
character of genuine superstition.
It will become us, therefore, to employ the moment of our
success as a season of reflection ; and we should anxiously
enquire into the nature of the curse, to which our prosperity
is obnoxious : in other words, — what are the habits and
dispositions, which by their tendency might conduce to , our
ruin ?
Of these, no one would be more destructive than a decline
of public spirit. This evil, wherever it generally prevails, is a
sure and alarming prognostic. It is, indeed in the life of
nations, what old age is in that of man. The same languor,
indifference, and imbecility, are the characteristics of them
both: in both of them the feelings are not unfrequently absorbed
by the same sordid passion ; and they both lead inevitably, by
an easy descent, to the termination of existence. Far distant,
we trust, is our own nation from this awful crisis : it displays the
vigour and the warmth of youth ; and its general aspect is that
of health and longevity. And yet, were we to judge from a few
partial instances, we might augur less favourably of its condition.

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. 11
When men of characters otherwise irrepoachable will consent
by artifice to evade the debt, which they have contracted with
society, it cannot be dissembled, that the appearance is in
auspicious. It gives us reason lo apprehend, that the period
may arrive, when the practice shall be common and unregard
ed; when private dishonesty shall be held more infamous
than public frauds ; when the burdens of the state can no
longer be borne from their unequal distribution ; and when
avarice shall not hesitate to call perjury to its aid. Of such
a people it might safely be pronounced, that their hour was
come. A secontl evil which might terminate in our destruction,
would be a general spirit of wild speculation and political ex
periment. The present, it is true, is not a period, when this
evil is at its height. The torrent which threatened to inun
date the social world is beginning to subside and to return to
its proper channel. The mischiefs it has already occasioned
might, indeed, teach mankind to guard against its rage, and
to employ the aid of past experience in checking its future
deviations. And yet there is amongst us a class of men, with
whom experience passes for nothing. With them, history is
not " philosophy teaching by example :" their philosophy
disclaims example, and teaches by hypothesis. They in
variably reason as if there were every thing to create, and
nothing to destroy. It is easy, without doubt, to imagine a
situation, in which their conduct would not be unnatural. A
party of savages 1 meeting in a desert, and impelled by their
common wants to devise some mode of society, might fairly
be presumed to enter on the debate without preference or pre
possession. But where is the parallel ? Surely not in a coun
try, where society has long been established, improved, and
refined ; where rights have long since been recognized, have
been confirmed, and are still protected ; where property has
effaced every vestige of primaeval neutrality ; and where the
ties of interest are so nicely interwoven and so widely extended
' It is not here meant to be conceded, that mankind ever actually existed in
what is called the state of nature, a state antecedent to all government whatever.
There are many objections to such an opinion : among others, the subsequent
origin of government ; which is considered by the Bishop of Rochester as " an
iinphilosophical creation of something out of nothing." It is, however, in such
a state only, that we should expect that absolute political apathy, which we some
times witness.

12 THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
that no institution can be touched, but that thousands must
perish in its ruins.
But to these and other obvious truths is opposed an un
ceasing clamour against prejudice. This proceeding is for
midable ; as it is addressed to a passion, which every man
feels in some degree, and which is always his most sensitive
part. Prejudice implies weakness or folly ; a disgraceful im
putation, from which vanity revolts. But what is the specific
meaning of the term in question ? The savage (to revert to
the same supposition) who should come to the enquiry already
determined in favor of some particular species of polity, of
which he had barely heard the name, without knowing any
thing whatever of its merits, would exhibit an unexceptionable
instance of prejudice. And the case must be strictly limited
by these conditions : for if he possessed a knowledge of its ex
cellence, though that knowledge were but inconsiderable, and
obtained only from credible report, much more if it were
possible, by the nature of the case, to be the result of actual
experience, his conduct would no longer deserve the stigma
of prejudice, but would be an act of the soundest reason.
Neither are we prejudiced, if we avow an attachment to those
national establishments under which we have for centuries
flourished, and may flourish for centuries to come. It is
strictly rational to prefer security to danger, certainty to pos
sibility, and possession to hope. It is, however, incalculable
what mischief has been effected by unmeaning generalities and
insidious ambiguities in terms. In all ages they have been
employed by the wicked against the weak, and of late against
the good sense of this country with a success, which will
justify caution.
Finally, and above all, let us beware of apostacy from that
Being, who no less in a political than in a scriptural sense is
our life and the length of our days. The distance between
the decay of religion and tli3 decline of empires is never
great : a general profligacy of manners is the only interme
diate step. That morals, indeed, are indispensably requisite
to the existence of states is never questioned. Even the
legislators of antiquity, who cannot be suspected of excessive
refinement, assent to the position. But whether a similar
relation subsist between morals and religion is occasionally a
subject of dispute. There are those, who would seduce us

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. IS
from our faith, on the plea, that we need not its aid. They
insinuate, that neither was a revelation necessary towards es
tablishing a rule of conduct, nor an appeal to religious hopes
and fears towards enforcing its observance. Their known
dogma, that " virtue is nothing more than self-interest well
understood," deserves to be considered.
Whatever professes to render simple that which was
hitherto thought complex and abstruse, will always be favour
ably received, and often without sufficient examination of its
tendency. Of this kind is the principle now before us.
Strictly true in itself, it is calculated to mislead, because the
abuse of it is far more easy and obvious than the use. To
apply it, indeed, as it ought to be applied, is hardty the intent
of those who refer to it : for so understood, it is nothing else
than a recognition of the design and utility of the Christian
dispensation. Christianity is an appeal to the real and most
important interests of mankind ; and, undoubtedly, he who
obeys its precepts, is not, either in a spiritual or a temporal
view, chargeable with the neglect of his own well-being. But
since this maxim is most frequently resorted to by those,
whose object is any thing rather than to recommend the
Christian faith, it must evidently be otherwise interpreted ;
and, indeed, it is liable to a very different construction.
With an air of accuracy, it requires that interest should be
" well understood ;" and yet the great question, whether he
best understands his interest, who regards immediate or dis
tant good, is passed over in cautious silence. It intimates,
however, that the nature of virtue is very easily ascertained,
being not less so, than that of self-interest ; of which few
persons, if any, believe themselves ignorant. It will be con
cluded, therefore, that virtue is only the result of that plain
good sense, which is daily exerted in the business of life ; and
hence every man's judgment, whatever it may be, will become
the rule of conduct, by which he is to be directed in his in
tercourse with society. But the rule of life, whencesoever
derived, should possess the following recommendations. It
should be plain, because it is intended more especially for
the use of those who are least qualified for abstract enquiry.
It should be impartial, so as not to favor corrupt propensi
ties ; for then it would fail, where it most was wanted. It
should . also be universal : for else, mankind would have no

11 THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
common standard, to which they could have recourse, and
life would be embroiled in endless disputation. Lastly,
it should be sanctioned by the highest authority ; because
nothing short of that authority has any claim to regard, in a
question of the highest importance. But the rule of life
meant to be established by referring every man to his private
judgment, would be defective in each of these particulars. It
would not be plain, because it would lead him through a
labyrinth of metaphysical deductions, before it could be found,
even if he should find it at last. It would not be impartial ;
because impartiality is rarely attainable, where passion inter
feres. It would not be universal ; on the contrary, of several
enquirers scarcely two would arrive at the same conclusion.
And it would by no means be authoritative, possessing no
higher sanction, than that of the weakness and fallibility of
man. Let Revelation be tried by the same criteria : — it is
impossible not to anticipate the contrast.
The definition, however, was obliged to admit, that self-
interest is not always " well understood :" a concession, of
which the consequences are extremely important to the cause
of Christianity. For whence does this misunderstanding arise ?
Immediate interest is in general perfectly well understood ;
and it cannot be urged, that we are indifferent to its call. It
appears, then, that to ascertain immediate advantage is not
the whole which is required ; and remote consequences must
be taken into the account, if we wish to attain to virtue. Reli
gion asks no more* For on what conviction, on what security
will men be persuaded to endure the penance of self-denial,
to resist the solicitations of desire, to relinquish opportunities,
which may never return, of possessing whatever excites the
wish of avarice or ambition? On any other belief, than that
a future state awaits us, attended with the consequences
recorded in the Gospel, forbearance would be weakness, and
abstinence were folly : " to-morrow we die."
For this reason, philosophy abstracted from religion is of
little or no use in the regulation of human conduct. Men do
not act upon half-principles. The will must be absolutely
determined : the bias must be decisive. But such a bias can
never be communicated except through the medium of our
hopes and fears. Reason is but one of the avenues to the
heart; and that, perhaps, the longest, the narrowest, and

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. 1,5
most difficult of approach : and even he, who has gained
admittance by this avenue, must still work on our hopes and
fears, if he would influence the will. He would otherwise
betray the cause, for which he is an advocate, by using feeble
persuasives, when stronger are within his power : a species of
treachery the more fatal to the interests of virtue, inasmuch as
it is never practised by the advocates of vice.
But after all, what is the real and ultimate design of those,
who would establish a rule of life unconnected with Chris
tianity ? They are not so absurd as to contend, that morals
would be advanced by being rendered independent of the
sanctions of religion : they profess only to expect, that mo
rality would be practised just as it is at present. But is this
an object likely to be pursued with so much warmth ? For of
all men, infidels are the most zealous : is this the source of so
much ardour and so much industry ? It cannot be : reason
forbids it : every effect has its cause ; every action has its
motive ; and theirs is left to our conjecture. The task, per
haps, is not arduous. It was justly remarked in another
country, " If you wish to accomplish a revolution, you must
begin by the overthrow of the Catholic faith." :
To conclude, then, let us advert to the condition, in which
Providence has been pleased to place the people of this island.
A blessing is set before us ; and we feel its benign effects. A
curse likewise hangs over us ; though the period of its fall,
we trust, is far remote. Even now does the Sovereign Dis
poser of events seem graciously to withdraw from us its
menacing form. Yet let us not forget that grace acts not
by compulsion ; but that the will is free : and that if by sel
fishness, folly, or impiety, we once renounce the blessing, it
may be vain to deprecate the curse.
1 " Si vous voulez une Revolution, ilfaut decatholiser la France." Mira-
beau. It can hardly be contended, that this was meant only against the errors
of Popery : Mirabeau has no pretension to be classed with Luther or Calvin.

CHRIST DIVIDED ;

SERMON,

[•REACHED AT
THE TRIENNIAL VISITATION
OF TI-IK
LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN,
At GRANTHAM, in JUNE, 1809.

TO
THE RIGHT UF.VERF.MD
GEORGE, LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN,
&c. &c. &c.
THE FOLLOWING SERMON,
PUBLISHED
WITH THE SANCTION OF HIS LORDSHIP'S APPROBATION,
AND AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLERGY PRESENT,
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
HIS lordship's MUCH OBLIGED
AND VERY DUTIFUL SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
Tansor Parsonage,
March 27. 1810.

C 2

CHRIST DIVIDED:

VISITATION SERMON, &c.

Is Christ divided ? — 1 Cor. i. 13.
They, who have examined the venerable remains of the
early Christian writers, must have noticed expressions main
taining the unity of the church, and condemning those who
denied it in their teaching, or impaired it by their practice.
We find Ignatius enjoining the Magnesians, " Let there be
nothing among you, which may give rise to divisions, but be
united to your Bishop, being subject to God through him in
Christ." 1 Clement of Alexandria observes, " The excellence
of the Church, as being the principle of conjunction, consists
in her unity2 :" and Cyprian, in a treatise written expressly
on the subject, asks, " Does he, who holds not the unity of
the Church, believe that he retains the faith ?" 3 The Church
he elsewhere defines to be "a people united to their Bishop,
and a flock adhering to their Pastor." 4
Modern times, however, in this as in other instances, have
introduced laxer habits of thinking ; and a duty, on which in
the better days of the gospel such stress was laid, is either
altogether disregarded, or considered as of inferior obligation-
Separation from the Church is placed on the footing of things
indifferent, in which every one may yield to the dictates of
his own humour, or is viewed without any of the scruples
arising from the consciousness of violating a positive com
mand. '•>
1 Vid. Cotelerii Pat. apost. vol. ii. p. 58. « Stromat. lib! vii.
' De Unitate Ecclesia?. « Epist. 69. Edit. Fell.
5 Above a century ago, in the controversy between the Church and the
Dissenters, it was admitted on both sides, that Schism is a damnable sin ; and
that it consists in separating from a Church, which imposes no unlawful terms of
Lay-Communion. These concessions seem not to be any longer recognized,
though they have not been formally retracted, C 3

22

CHRIST DIVIDED :

My text is one of many passages of the New Testament,
which condemn the then nascent schisms of the Church, or
explain and enforce the duty of unity. St. Paul in the same
epistle, observes, that " by one. Spirit are we all baptized
into one body, and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit J :" thus clearly asserting the unity of the Church
arising from the same baptism of its members, and preserved
by their all holding communion in the sacrament of Christ's
blood. The first mention of the infant Church in the second
chapter of the Acts is to the same purport: the converts,
already spoken of as having been baptized, " continued
steadfast in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in
breaking of bread and in prayers."2 In the epistle to the
Ephesians we are told, that Christians have " one Lord, one
faith, one baptism3;" and the Apostle had exhorted his
readers " to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace."4 To the same purport is that prayer of our
Saviour, " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall beheve on me through their word; that they
all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee,
that they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe,
that thou hast sent me."5
We have here, then, a duty founded on the authority of
Christ and the Apostles r but a question may arise as to the
nature and limits of Christian liberty, and what extent of
meaning may be conceded to the term Church. Even so
early as the time of the Apostles, we read Of various Churches,
as the Church of Jerusalem, of Ephesus, of Antioch, and
others ; whence it is manifest, that there may be as many
Churches of Christ, as there are distinct nations and districts
in the Christian world. We read, indeed, of very small con
gregations privately assembled being so denominated, as the
Church in the house of Nymphas, and elsewhere ; and henee
some would infer, that the name may be applied to every
assembly of professing Christians among ourselves : they
allege, that the term has nothing in it exclusive, meaning
simply a Christian congregation : but they do not observe, or
studiously overlook, the obvious difference in the case of

1 Cur. iii. 13. s Acts ii. 42. s Jiph. iv. 5.
Eph.iv. :;. '> Si. John, *vii. ?<>, L'J.

A VISITATION SERMON. 23
persons assembled together in private devotion, but holding
communion with the great body of Christians, and even re
ceiving the greeting of the Apostles 1, and in that of others,
who fly to the conventicle, because they abhor both us and
our doctrine. In short, all pretences of professing Christians,
that they are members of a church, with which they pertina
ciously refuse communion, are futile and absurd2: the ends
proposed by Almighty Wisdom in having a visible church
on earth, can be furthered only by its visible members ; and
as the power of discerning spirits no longer exists, they only
can be known to be its members, who are so in outward acts.
The scriptural notion of the church is, that it is one, having,
indeed, many branches, which are separated by distance
of place, but not by discordancy of doctrine, or breach of
charity.3 Hence it is evident, that national churches legitimately
constituted are branches of the one true church of Christ ;
and that to separate from the church to which we properly
belong, while its sacraments are duly administered, and while
it engrafts not on the pure word of God the traditions and
corruptions of men, is to renounce the church in its full and
primitive acceptation. A Christian, who should be converted
to Judaism or to the religion of Mohammed, so far as respects
the question of separation, could only withdraw from his par
ticular church : I do not say, that he would not recede further
' Col. iv. 15.
a Neither against the Novatians in the third century, nor the Donatists in tho
fourth, was heterodoxy alleged, even by their adversaries ; they adhered to Epis^
copacy and the received creed ; yet on different grounds, the one from affectation
of greater austerity, the other on pretence of informality in the appointment of a
Bishop, they refused to hold communion with the Church : they have, therefore,
uniformly been deemed Schismatics, in every age of Christianity.
3 This truth is enforced by Cyprian with so much variety and beauty of illus
tration, that I translate the passage. " The Church is but one, though with
continually increasing fecundity she become a multitude : so the rays of the sun
are many ; yet is there but one light : the branches of a tree are many ; yet hath
it but one strength founded on the tenacity of the same root : or though many
streams issue from one fountain, and being plentifully fed diffuse their waters
far and wide, yet is unity preserved in their source. Pluck a ray from the body
of the sun, its unity admits not the severance of light ; break a bough from the
tree, it will no longer put forth shoots ; cut off a stream from its source, and it
will presently dry up : so the Church scatters its divine radiance through the
whole world, yet is there but one Light, which penetrates every where ; nor is
the unity of her body divided : in luxuriance of growth she stretches her branches
over the earth, she expands more widely her copiously flowing streams ; yet is
there but one head, one source, one mother rich in the succession of' her pro
geny." Dp ITniratP Ecclpsise, p. 108. C 4

'2i CHRIST DIVIDED :
from the truth, than does the professor of the worst perver
sion of Christianity ; I contend only, that the separation from
the visible church of Christ is, in either case, complete.
This remark, however obvious, becomes important, when
there exists a disposition to distinguish between the church
of Christ, and that which has the sanction of the civil govern-
ment; when we hear men speaking of the established religion
of their country, as if it were a political institution, and as if
its doctrines and discipline were human inventions, deriving
their validity from the legislature. With such prepossessions
men introduce into the question of conformity doubts and
difficulties, with which it has no concern. We desire, then,
that the case may be distinctly stated, and as distinctly un
derstood : we desire it to be recollected, what is the nature of
the connexion between the national religion and the national
government, which is sometimes so grossly misapprehended.
Is there, we may ask, a single dogma of our church, we will
not say originating in this connexion, but which it at all
modifies or affects ? Is our liturgy framed with any reference
to the system of civil government ? 1 Or has any doctrine of
the gospel been rejected from the articles or formularies of
our church, as being deemed unfavourable to the views and
interests of the secular power ? We believe that nothing of
this kind is seriously alleged ; and that, on strict inquiry, this
suspected connexion must be resolved into the encouragement
and patronage, which the state affords to a system of faith
built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.2 To
the ministers of this faith it secures' a maintenance not de
pending on popular caprice or popular indifference : it holds
out inducements to an order of men to devote themselves
wholly to sacred studies and duties : it gives dignity and lustre
to a profession, from the contempt of which religion itself
would suffer : it endeavours to promote an uniformity of doc
trine and worship, with its consequences, peace and charity :
while it tolerates the wildest dreams of phrensy, it distin
guishes with its favour the professors of tried and approved

1 A cavil is sometimes directed against our praying for the Royal Family, the
Nobility, and the Magistracy ; but we may confidently refer the objector, among
other passages, to 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. reminding him, that tills epistle was written,
when the world was under the dominion of Nero.
2 Eph.ii. 'M.

A VISITATION SERMON. 25
tenets; and, in some measure, it incorporates the laws of
Christianity with the law of the land. In all this we perceive
not any thing which can excite mistrust, unless in those, in
whom piety is a weaker principle than political prejudice, and
who are ready to withdraw their reverence from divine ordi
nances, when confirmed and aided by the authority of man.
Still, however, something may be said on the subject of
Christian liberty. It can hardly be imagined, that an exact
uniformity in the sentiments of Christians was in the contem
plation of the founder of our religion. Some diversity was
to be expected from the different conformation of the human
mind in different individuals ; from the more or less sanguine
complexion of their tempers ; from the varying circumstances
of education and early habit: andv even from the unequal
means vouchsafed us of attaining to the true sense of Scrip
ture. With regard to faith, the latitude allowed to Christians
does not appear to be very great. St. John in his first
Epistle ', written at a time when questions of this kind began
to be agitated, makes it essential to the character of a
Christian to believe that Jesus is the Christ. This belief
must be explained to signify faith in the doctrines of Jesus,
whether moral or speculative, in the efficacy of his sufferings,
and in the certainty of his promises ; for we have no idea of
the title Christ, but what we collect from the Scriptures, in
which these doctrines, sufferings, and promises are recorded.
To believe in his divine mission on the authority of Scripture
(and on no other is it possible), and yet to deny what the
same authority has recorded of Christ, must be, wherever
that record is plain, .a glaring absurdity, and one, which, if
it were not practised at the present day, might seem incre
dible : I say, where the record is plain ; on the obscurities of
Scripture I need not here insist : they are best known to those
who have studied the Scriptures most : but the doctrine, that
Christ is God of God, that his death was a vicarious satis
faction for the sins of mankind, and that he will finally judo-e
the world at a general resurrection, must, I think, appear to
every impartial reader of Scripture to be incontrovertible
truths, and to be necessarily included in the belief, that Jesus
is the Christ. Socinianism, however, disdains to travel in the
' 1 John, v. 1.

26 CHRIST DIVIDED ;
ordinary track of the human understanding : we have lately
seen its alleged improvements in the version and exposition
of the New Testament1 ; its gratuitous deviations from phrase
ology familiar to our childhood ; its disingenuous evasions
and suppressions ; its laborious perversion of the most obvious
constructions ; its parallelisms destitute of all similitude ; its
figurative solutions of literal assertions ; its metaphysical em -
barrassment of what is plain ; and its popular elucidations of
what is mysterious. What mercy the Almighty may be
pleased to show to prejudices so stubborn, it is not for us to
determine ; we fear that if our gospel be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost2: but of the church, as the depositary of
the faith once delivered to the saints, it is the bounden duty
to state that faith unsophisticated by theories, unmutilated,
unperverted. In an attempt, however, to ascertain the latitude of Christian
faith, it may be right to say something of enthusiasm : the
character of which, that I may not be thought to represent it
unfairly, I will take from a writer, who was not only a pro
found philosopher, but a zealous Christian, and who cannot
easily be suspected of coldness in the cause of the gospel.
Religious " enthusiasm,' ' says Hartley, " may be defined a
mistaken persuasion in any person, that he is a peculiar
favourite with God ; and that he receives supernatural marks
thereof. The vividness of the ideas of this class easily gene
rates this false persuasion in persons of strong fancies, little
experience in divine things, and narrow understandings, by
o-iving a reality and certainty to all the reveries of a man's
own mind, and cementing the associations in a preternatural
manner. It may also be easily contracted by contagion, as
daily experience shows ; and indeed more easily than most
other dispositions, from the glaring language used by enthu
siasts, and from the great flattery and support, which enthu
siasm affords to pride and self-conceit." 3 It is impossible to
' " The New Testament in an improved version, upon the basis of Archbishop.
Newcome's translation ;" and having in the title-page a motto from Archbishop
Parker ! Nothing can be more imposing : this is indeed to comply with Pindar's
precept, ap%op.evovs 5 epyov, Tp6ffanov
Xpil BefievrriKavyes.

'} Cr. i\.

On Man, Vol. i. p. 490. Edit. 1791

A VISITATION SERMON. 27
read this passage at the present day, and not to be reminded
of the pretences and proceedings of a class of seceders from
our establishment. I am far, indeed, from intending to fix
the offensive charge of enthusiasm upon all, who feel a more
than ordinary degree of solicitude for the salvation of their
souls : if any conceivable temper of mind have the sanction of
right reason, it is an awful sense of the infinite moment of
religion. That enthusiasm, however, as it is thus described,
does actually exist among us, will not be denied, any more
than will the prevalence of indifference and infidelity. To
what else can we impute it, that mechanics and peasants
desert their callings to become preachers of the gospel, as if,
like the first promulgers of Christianity, they were miracu
lously " endued with power from on high ?" J To what else
can we attribute the extravagance of their doctrines, their
want of candour2, their spiritual pride, and their otherwise
amazing success in bewildering the minds of the illiterate and
simple ? Of their faith, however, we may safely affirm, that it
is not the true faith of the gospel : it is as truly essential to
evangelical faith to believe that our salvation will depend
upon our own virtuous endeavours assisted by divine grace,
as that Christ died to atone for the sins of fallen creatures.
The mercy to be shown to man through Christ can be exer
cised only at the day of judgment ; and yet we have Christ's
own declaration, that at that day he will " reward every man
according to his works."3 It is true, that these persons
strenuously deny their intention to injure Christian morals :
they are not, in general, avowed Antinomians ; and probably
they believe themselves guiltless of the charge : the strong
delusion by which they are actuated, obstructs the exercise of
the understanding : else we might ask them, is not such the
manifest, the inevitable tendency of their writings and dis
courses? The doctrine of the atonement is assuredly the
basis of the Christian scheme ; and properly understood, it is
full of comfort to human weakness, and the strongest stimulus
to virtuous exertion : it is a check upon presumption, and a

1 St. Luke, xxiv. 49.
" There seems to have been in every age of Christianity, abundant foundation
for the remark of St. Austin : " Charilas Christiana nisi in Unitale Ecclesice ntjir
potest cuslodiri." Adv. lit. Petil.
3 St. Matt. xvi. 27,

28 CHRIST DIVIDED :,
preservative against despair. But when the merits and the
all-sufficiency of diis sacrifice are the preacher's unvaried
theme ; when the promise of salvation is holden out on die
condition of mere believing; when every thing exalted is said
of faith, and works are never mentioned, unless. in the. lan
guage of disparagement1 and contempt; we cannot but feel
alarm for the interests of Christian morals, we cannot allow
to such preaching that it discovers an evangelical spirit. In
proof that St. Paul was not an enthusiast, it has been well
remarked2, that he every where lays a great stress, on moral
observances : there is not one of his epistles, of which this.
may not be affirmed : of the epistle to the Romans, which
treats principally of justification by faith, at least four chap
ters are wholly devoted to the enforcement of social duties..
I need not refer to the teaching of our Saviour, a great part
of whose parables, and whose sermon on the Mount, authorise
us, while we preach on faith, to be preachers also of moral
righteousness.3 Yet we are told, that we shun to declare the
whole counsel of God, and that we handle his word deceit
fully : if there be indeed any of us who thus act, in reverence
for my brethren I would not be their accuser ; but in the

i Of these preachers it is the favourite dogma, that " works have no merit."
This proposition, though unquestionably true, is one of those, which require
some caution in the manner of propounding them. It is true that works of
themselves will not save us : there is no necessary connexion between good works
and salvation : " when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants,"
Luke xvii. 10. and " by grace are we saved," Eph. ii. 5. There is, therefore,
in good works no inherent merit ; and hence, boasting is excluded, Eph. ii. 9.
On the other hand, we read of " a resurrection of life to them that have done
good," John v.. 29. ; " that our works follow us," Rev. xiv. 13. and of " those,
who shall be accounted worthy to obtain the future world," Luke xx. 35. : and
our twelfth article describes good works, as being " pleasing and acceptable to
God in Christ." It is plain, therefore, that good works, notwithstanding their
natural worthlessness, have, when they proceed from faith, an imputed merit ;
and this is, surely, a sufficient ground for preaching them. Dr. Foley's distinc
tion (Sermon XX.) is nearly to the same effect; that the death of Christ is the
cause of our salvation, and a good life the condition. It is not probable that
either of these distinctions should occur to illiterate persons, on hearing simply
that works have no merit.
2 Foley, Horce Paulina, p. 411.
3 One would imagine that nothing could be more easy or more obvious : yet
we frequently find, that where a proposition is made up of two dissimilar parts,
the parts will have their respective advocates, while the tenor of the whole will
be overlooked. It was thus in the early ages of Christianity with the union of
the two natures in Christ. One class of heretics made him to be mere man,
another to be mere God. One man sees in Christianity nothing but faith ;
another resolves the whole into morality. Human nature is so perverse, that it
will not attend to both sides of a question.

A VISITATION SERMON. 29
fear of God I should tremble to be their apologist. The
charge, however, may probably be retorted with greater jus
tice : it is the very nature of sectarism, especially of enthu-
siastical sects, to have partial views of Scripture : a gloomy
temperament, the preaching of sectaries themselves partial,
ignorance of Scripture from the defect of early education, and
in many instances an alarmed conscience, are causes which
lead men to catch at the particular declarations of religion,
which seem to favour their respective preconceptions, and to
disregard the rest. Perhaps it may be affirmed, that no
sectary ever held the whole of Scripture in equal estimation :
his business is not with the whole, but with the parts which
countenance his creed ; and this creed not being formed on a
comprehensive examination of Scripture *, on the sentiments
of the early Christians, or on a comparison of the tenets of
the contending parties, which have since arisen, will, of
course, for its credit and support rely on detached texts.
The case of the establishment, we think, is different : creeds
framed from the whole of Scripture soon after the promul
gation of the gospel, and articles drawn upon the downfall of
papal corruption, though confessedly the works of man,
promise, so far as is possible, to secure an uniformity of doc
trine, and to display the genuine and catholic spirit of the
gospel. We hold that " all scripture is profitable" unto
salvation; and it is our happiness, that " from children we have
known the Holy Scriptures."2
On the whole, it appears that the only latitude allowed to
Christians in matters of faith is confined to points on which
the Scripture is either silent, or which it has not revealed ex
plicitly : of this kind are the manner in which the prescience
of God may be reconciled with human free-will ; the state of
departed spirits between death and the resurrection ; the kind
of happiness reserved for the blessed ; and whether the good
shall be known to each other in a future existence. On all
i It might not be unserviceable to the cause of genuine Christianity to collect
the scriptural texts on which different sects respectively rest their tenets, and to
examine their import by the ordinary helps of criticism, by the context, by a
comparison of parallel passages, by explaining the Scripture idiom, and by re
ferring to the prevailing opinions of the times, when the N. T. was written; The
result might be the lessening of division, wherever it arises from mere misconcep
tion : certainly it would place in the clearest light the moderation of the prin
ciples and the soundness of the doctrines maintained by our Church.
* 2 Tim. iii, 15, 16.

30 CHRIST DIVIDED :
such questions every one is at liberty to use his judgment,
provided he make not his own deductions the means of public
discord. But though the latitude, which the Gospel allows in Chris
tian doctrine be not great, more is conceded in the government
and discipline, by which Christian societies are to be regulated
and restrained. A religion destined by its author to be dis
seminated over the whole earth, evidently needed to recom
mend itself in this particular by its accommodating temper :
and yet certainly it has manifested a decided preference of
that form of ecclesiastical polity, the counterpart of which in
civil government has the sanction of history and experience.
Already in the age of the Apostles we read of the institution
of episcopacy ; in the same age we have distinct mention of
the three orders of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons ' ; and
in the period immediately succeeding, we find all the Chris
tian churches under the same regimen. The converts enter-
. tained no petty jealousies on account of the pre-eminence of
those who were invested with spiritual distinction ; they acted
like men, who know that the division of supreme authority
defeats its own purpose ; that no security is thus gained to
the impartial administration of justice ; that the natural ten
dency of all power is to settle in an .individual ; and that
while it is still vibrating in uncertainty, oppression will be
most severely felt. There is not in the whole of Eusebius's
history a single recorded instance, in which the presbytery
presumed to aspire, to independent authority2, or in which
the laity, so far as appears, would have favoured such an at
tempt. That individuals occasionally, .as in the case of Arius,
were disposed to be contumacious, affords no exception from
the truth of the remark; neither can it be objected, that in
some instances we find an Anti-bishop set up by a faction ;
for the factious did thus recognise the validity of episcopal
jurisdiction. It must, however, be admitted, that a different form of
church government from that which prevails among our
selves, has been found to answer the great ends of order and
1 Beveridge's Cod. Can. (ap. Cotelier) Lib. II. cap. xi. '§ 9.
2 The revolt of Felicissimus and the five Presbyters, spoken of in Cyprian's
epistles, was not deemed of sufficient importance to be noticed by Eusebiua, nor
was it followed by any lasting consequences.

A VISITATION SERMON. 31
piety ; and indeed it is not easy to conceive, considering the
relation between the civil and ecclesiastical government in
nations, how a prelatical hierarchy could conveniently subsist
with republicanism in the state. It might, therefore, be the
wisdom of Divine Providence to leave this point undetermined
by any positive command. In this country, however, there
is happily no such pretence for rejecting the ordinance of the
Apostles : still less is there even the shadow of authority for
fanatical notions of independency and anarchy to be found
in the gospel of that God, who is the author not of confusion,
but of peace, in all churches of the saints. x
The rites to be observed in the church of Christ it is much
more difficult to collect from Scripture, than the form of its
government. If we except those which appertain to the two
sacraments, and the imposition of hands in conferring the
Holy Spirit, little can be deduced from the directions of
Scripture or the practice of the Apostles. Decency and order
are the only standards, to which rites are to be referred. It
might, then, have been hoped that on this ground the church
of England would have had no cavils to encounter : her
ceremonies are few, but significant; she is not either attrac
tive by her pomp, or offensive by her negligence ; she is
equally averse from papal pageantry and Calvinistic gloom ;
she seeks not to dazzle the imagination, while she is careful
not to repulse the feelings ; she recognises the power of asso
ciation over the human mind, at the same time she remembers
the propensity of the mind to acquiesce in mere external
impressions, when the appeal is made to the senses rather
than to the heart. Yet we know with what acrimony, in one
period of our history, our rites have been condemned, and
the prejudice against them has hardly yet subsided : a plea
1 1 Cor. xiv. 33. This remark may be extended to the writings of the Old
Testament, with especial reference to the Jewish theocracy ; many of the insti
tutions of which, in respect of church government, bear no remote analogy to the
form which was adopted by the Apostles. From independency it seems to have
been most abhorrent : " In antient time every man performed the office of a
priest in his own family ; but that liberty was taken away by the law of Moses,
because it had been abused to idolatry ; and every man was bound to bring his
sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle, to be offered upon the altar, where none
but the sons of Aaron could officiate, and every thing was done under the eye of
the ministers of religion and the governors of the people." Lewis's Heb. Antiq.
vol. ii. p. 483.

'32

CHRIST DIVIDED

for separation has been founded on our position of the com
munion table, on the use of the ring in marriage, or the
wearing of a hood or a surplice.
The way, then, is prepared for our resolving the question,
whether any degree of blame attach to those " divisions of
Christ," which unhappily subsist among ourselves. We re
cognise the principle oif Christian liberty ; and far be it from
us to cherish uncharitable feelings towards those, who use it
to its fullest scriptural extent. Sincere and conscientious
dissent must command our reverence, while it will excite our
regret. If any man, after mature and dispassionate deliber
ation, believe his salvation to be endangered by his remaining
in the communion of the Church, he certainly does well to
separate from us without delay : all that can be required is,
that such deliberation be actually exercised ; that no consi
derations, but those which exclusively regard his salvation,
be allowed to interfere ; and that he use not his liberty as a
cloak of maliciousness, but as the servant of God. 1 Reli
gious, no less than political liberty, may degenerate into
licentiousness ; its exercise may be needless, or petulant, or
indiscreet ; it may be caused by misconception or misrepre
sentation, or it may proceed from unworthy motives, so as
entirely to be divested of the circumstances, which alone
make it innocent in the sight of God, or even respectable in
the eyes of men. How far, then, do these or similar causes
vitiate the purity of modern separation ? Now some or all of
the following fapts must have struck the most superficial ob
server. There is frequently among those, who secede from
our communion, a love of novelty : this, indeed, many of them
virtually admit by regularly exchanging the ministers who
have taught them for a limited time. In many instances,
political feelings have had -their weight ; insomuch that the
political bias of individuals may sometimes be inferred from
their religious connexion. Many disdain to listen to preachers
whom they themselves have not appointed ; for the love of
patronage is not confined to objects of high importance.
With some, religious instruction is a subject of taste and
criticism ; and the preference is given to an impassioned deli
very or a flowery style. The simple are seduced by unpre-

> 1 Pet. ii. 16.

A VISITATION SERMON. 33
meditated effusions, which they mistake for the eloquence of
inspiration ; and the rigid are imposed upon by specious pro
fessions of superior sanctity. These and a multitude of
similar facts display the character and spirit of secession : but
of this spirit, however it might occasionally operate, the pre
sent extensive influence may be traced to the following causes ;
a prevailing inattention to the origin and obligation of church-
communion, and an erroneous estimate of what may be ex
pected from the ministers of religion.
The benefits which Christianity derived from the reform
ation are so generally acknowledged, that it may seem in
vidious to represent it as accompanied with a portion of evil,
however small : it broke the chains of tyranny, and dissolved
the spells of imposture : it diffused light, where all was dark
ness, and exhibited the gospel as the gift of God, and its
worship as a reasonable service. 'But to hope for good
unmixed with evil, is not authorized by any analogy in the
moral government of God. At that era the principle of
union in the Christian world received a shock, from which
it has not since recovered : a blind adherence to the church
gave way to a captious and disputatious spirit : the necessity
for reform, which had been made so evident, left an impres
sion on the minds of many, that much was yet to be done ;
and the proceedings of the reformers were too temperate and
judicious, to extinguish the thirst of innovation. Thence
forward the obligation to unity was decried as the fiction of
a corrupt theology, which sought only the security and ag
grandizement of its professors ; and new factions in religion
have continued to arise, not agreeing in any common prin
ciple, but that of enmity to the establishment. The diffusion
of literature in more recent times has strengthened and ex
tended the evil, by giving birth to a swarm of half-thinkers
and sciolists, whose crude and inconsistent theories on reli
gious subjects have served only to multiply division.
There have, however, been many, who, while they deny
not the obligation to church-communion, have formed an er
roneous judgment of what may be expected from the ministers
of religion. Their error consists in not sufficiently distin
guishing between the visible and the invisible church. * They
' On this subject we have a masterly treatise by Dr. Rogers, 8vo. 1719, which
ought to be generally read, especially by the lmty, as contaimng a doctrme very
n

34 CHRIST DIVIDED :
have conceived an idea of purity in life and perfection in doc
trine, which cannot be realized in our present state of being.
Like theorists in the science of civil government, they profess
unbounded reverence for a phantom of their own creation,
which they set up as the standard of practical excellence ; and
not finding that the actual administration of religion will abide
their test, they forsake our communion with expressions of
regret, yet insist that they are still members of the church.
To those who are in pursuit of visionary good, it is vain to
offer arguments founded on the unalterable condition of
things : experience alone can dissipate their delusion ; and
when they shall have learnt that evils of some sort exist in
other religious societies in at least an equal degree, if disap
pointment and disgust have not obliterated all regard for
religion, they may possibly return to us with kinder feelings
and juster views. But to those that still adhere to our estab
lishment, we may, without maintaining that it is perfect, pro
fitably suggest the means of grace and salvation, which it
affords : we may remind them how much, in every condition
of the church, must depend on their own sincerity and earn
estness ; and we may venture to add, that sacrifices to peace
and good-will are assuredly not unacceptable to the Father
of Jesus Christ. That they may attain only to the holiness
of life and hope of glory, which are compatible with church-
communion, is, perhaps, as benevolent a wish as charity can
conceive, and as pure a prayer as piety can utter.
But in this staje of things, what is the conduct more im
mediately incumbent on the clergy ? That the crisis is im
portant, requires no proof: " Christ is divided :" and the
divisions which exist, while they threaten the destruction of

" necessary for these times." Towards the conclusion he observes, " that a great
part of the dangers and distractions that have either befallen or threatened this
church for some ages past, and which particularly alarm our apprehensions at
present, may be ascribed principally to the confusion of these two ideas, will
appear to any one, who will trace the several attempts that have been made upon
our peace and constitution back to their principles. The judicious Mr. Hooker
saw plainly how dangerously this stumbling-block lay in the way of men's in
quiries into the nature and constitution of the church." Even Richard Baxter,
the great apostle of division, in his Life written by himself, observes, " I am not
too narrow in my principles of church-communion, as once I was : I more
plainly perceive the difference between the church, as congregate or visible, and
as regenerate or mystical." See Dr. Wordsworth's " Ecclesiastical Biography,"
Vol. v. p. 576.

A VISITATION SERMON. 35
our revered establishment1, strike ultimately at the vitals of
all true religion. They who overleap the pale of our church,
go they know not whither : they become the sport of angry
passions and of fluctuating opinions : emancipated from re
straint, they are ready to make trial of every scheme of
Christianity which holds out the requisite allurements, and
rarely find a fixed resting-place for their faith or hope. On
so momentous a subject, and before such an audience, it is
impossible that 1 should offer any suggestion without extreme
mistrust. The result of our inquiry, if it be correct, will not authorize
the expectation, that the conduct of the clergy, however
exemplary and judicious, would entirely remove the evil : it
arises, in great measure, from causes over which we have no
controul ; but if in any degree our exertions may avail to so
important an end, we cannot withhold them without incurring
the heavy displeasure of God.
Of the morals of the clergy I am not aware that the com
plaints are loud : casual irregularities will, of course, be heard
of; and we ought not to hope for any extenuation of their
enormity : they have, indeed, let us confess it, a more than
ordinary degree of criminality, whether we consider our
sacred obligations, the force of our example, or the advan
tages we possess from education.2 But it cannot be dissem
bled, that a mere abstinence from acts of immorality, and an
outward decency of demeanour, fall far short of the character
to which we ought to aspire. In no profession must he who
would adorn it be satisfied, if he do not disgrace it : he must
enter fully into the importance of its objects, and find his
chief pleasure in the discharge of its duties; and this is more
1 It is not to be imagined, that such an event is in the contemplation of all
those, who countenance the cause of separation : yet it behoves them to consider,
whether they may not be accessary to evils, which they would be among the first
to deplore. Their virtues are the quota, which they unthinkingly contribute to
the work of division : great revolutions are rarely effected but by the monstrous
coalition of the upright with the wicked ; of the unwary, who have principle,
with the unprincipled who have talents. " It grieves me," says Hoadly, " to
see a church torn to pieces, its members divided from one another, discord
triumphing upon the ruins of unity, and uncharitableness reigning without con
troul ; and all this brought about by men of seriousness and consideration, men
that profess they desire nothing more than the edification and perfection of this
very church." Reasonableness of Conformity, 3d edit. p. 149.
- Our twenty-sixth article maintains the efficacy of the sacraments, though
administered by men of immoral lives : at the same time it passes a censure on
ministers, whose conduct may give offence and disgust to serious Christians.
D 2

36 CHRIST DIVIDED :
especially the case in our own. A clergyman is to be distin
guished by his pursuits, his studies, his sentiments, his habits,
his amusements : if ever these become wholly secular, he
forfeits the veneration of the wise and good, and abridges, if
he does not destroy, his utility. Neither ought we to lament,
that our virtues are frequently of that retired and obscure
character, which withholds from them popular applause. The
world hears little of the economy, which with slender means,
decently, perhaps liberally, educates a numerous offspring ; of
the patient.condescension, which adapts itself to the untutored
understandings of the poor1; of the charity, which is neces
sarily confined to the narrow limits of a parish ; or of studies
prompted by the modest motive of self-improvement : these
have their reward in heaven. '
With regard to the soundness of our doctrine, I would
hint the danger to which it may be exposed by the circum
stances of the times. Independently of that idiosyncrasy,
which leads different men to view the same truths in different
lights, we are liable to contract prejudices from the contro
versies of the day : to these we cannot, and we ought not, to
be inattentive ; but it is difficult for those, who are shocked
with the extravagance of a party, not to run into the opposite
extreme. There was a time when practices, in themselves
innocent and laudible, were reprobated, because they had
been used by papists : and in the reign of our second Charles
a spirit of false shame so far prevailed, that men were afraid
of being known* to exercise the most rational devotion, lest
they should be thought to be infected with the fanaticism of
' To this condescension it is impossible to give too much praise. Men learn
edly educated, and rarely conversing but with men of education, have no ade
quate idea of the low state of intellect among our peasantry. Our language
abounds with sermons distinguished by eloquence, erudition, and depth of
thought ; but of those, which have hitherto been printed, few, comparatively, are
more intelligible to a common labourer, than is a Homily of Chrysostom in the
original Greek. In behalf of such a hearer one is ready to exclaim,
tt<os; e p.av0dva>'
afia6es-ep6v reus elire Kal (Tatpes-epov.
What is wanted is not merely plain language, but plain reasoning ; and even this
must be sparingly employed : ^ familiar exposition of Christian doctrines and
duties, with a solemn and earnest injunction to believe the one and to practise
the other, is in many cases the only method of preaching usefully. And after
all, preaching is but a part of the instruction, which the necessities of the illi
terate require at our hands. 5

A VISITATION SEUMON. SJ
puritans and independents. There is reason to apprehend
that similar causes in our own age may be attended with
similar effects. In conversing with the laity, we may occa
sionally remark a disposition to stigmatize doctrines and
practices which have heretofore been deemed inseparable
from genuine Christianity ; opprobrious epithets are indis
criminately applied to all, who carry their notions of religion
beyond the observance of external ordinances ; no imputation
seems more to be dreaded than that of piety ; and the growing
neglect of family prayer, indeed of all prayer, may perhaps
be attributed to this prejudice. It can hardly be doubted
that our more extensive acquaintance with the scriptures,
with the history of other and better times, and with the
writings of such men, as Hall and Taylor and Scott, will
enable us to distinguish the everlasting truths of the gospel
from the errors of a fleeting enthusiasm.
I will conclude with a few words on the subject of zeal .
and I confess, that the danger of our failure in this particular
appears to me to be so considerable, as to merit our especial
attention. In addition to the general contempt, into which
religious zeal has fallen, from causes already alluded to, there
are other disadvantages with which we have to contend.
Retirement is apt to induce languor ; besides that it frequently
conceals 'from us the urgent necessity for exertion : and stu
dious pursuits, from the great hold, which they take of the
mind, as well as from the importance which we properly
attach to them, may produce a habit of thinking, where we
are called upon to act. The frequent repetition of official
instruction may abate in some degree, with respect to our
selves, the force of the admonitions, which move and impress
others : or the little effect produced by them on others may
operate to our discouragement. But these are subordinate
considerations : it is vain to dissemble that there is in the
very nature of establishments, political as well as religious,
a certain tendency to supineness and security : they rarely
possess the activity and vigour of the factions by which they
are assailed : their adherents are apt to acquiesce in the dis
charge of stated duties ; and they do not advert to the sacri
fices and exertions, which extraordinary emergencies demand.
The time is arrived, when the faithful servants of Christ and
his church must think nothing done, while any thing yet
D 3

38 CHRIST DIVIDED.
remains to be effected by their vigilance and zeal. If in the
present divided state of religious opinion it shall appear to
those who are entrusted to our charge, that other teachers
are more deeply interested in their salvation, we must not
expect that they will uniformly examine the soundness of the
doctrines propounded to them, or the pretensions of the pro
poser : we must not wonder, if ignorance prevail against
learning, if fanaticism triumph over truth and soberness, or
the want of regular appointment be overlooked, in the con
fident asseverations of a call from God. Let us, therefore,
obviate, as far as is possible, every plea for separation founded
on our apparent indifference to the spiritual welfare of our
flocks : let us habitually meditate on the momentous obliga
tions which we have voluntarily and solemnly incurred : let
our talents, our leisure, our authority, our benevolence, be
devoted to this sacred cause : above all, let us remember, that
whatever be our natural powers, we are not sufficient for the
great task in which we have engaged, unless God shall bless
our endeavours with the aid of his Holy Spirit.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE:

A
SERMON,
PREACHED AT
ST. JOHN'S CATHEDRAL IN CALCUTTA,
On the 13th April, 1815;
BEING
THE DAY APPOINTED BY PROCLAMATION OF HIS EXCELLENCY
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE GOVERNOR GENERAL,
FOR
A GENERAL THANKSGIVING
THROUGHOOT THE HONOURABLE COMPANY'S TERRITORIES IN INDIA,
FOR THE GREAT AND PUBLIC BLESSINGS OF
PEACE IN EUROPE.

D 4

TO
THE HONOURABLE
N. B. EDMONSTONE, Esq.
VICE PRESIDENT IN COUNCIL,
&c. &c. &c.
THE FOLLOWING DISCOURSE,
MADE PUBLIC AT HIS REQUEST,
IS WITH THE HIGHEST RESPECT AND ESTEEM
INSCRIBED BY
HIS MOST OBEDIENT
AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
T. F. CALCUTTA.
May I. 1815.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE:

SERMON.

"' And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell
on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times
before appointed and the bounds of their habitation ; that
they should seek the Lord." — Acts xvii. 26, 27.
St. Paul had now arrived at Athens to preach Jesus and
the Resurrection. A doctrine so new to a people, who were
curious upon even the most trivial topics, and taught in a
city, where philosophical inquiries were prosecuted with ar
dour, could not fail to attract attention : the Epicureans and
the Stoics immediately encounter him ; and wishing to hear a
declaration of his principles without interruption from the
populace, they conduct him to the hill of Mars. The dis
course which St. Paul there delivered, has always been ad
mired for its eloquence ; but it has recommendations, which
are sometimes not included under that term : it is peculiarly
adapted to the character and condition of the persons to
whom it was addressed ; it has regard to their well-known
views and prejudices ; it appeals to their own literature in
support of a fundamental truth; and the errors, which it
opposes, while they are such only, as prevailed among the
hearers, it yet corrects without the intemperance of an indig
nant zeal, and even without any expression which might
reasonably give offence : the censure, which our common
translation makes the Apostle to pronounce upon the Athe
nians, of being " in all things too superstitious," conveys in
the original nothing more, than that they were much addicted
to some sort of religion ; a very natural inference, when he

44- NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
observed, in every quarter of the city, temples and altars to
the unknown Gods, and to the numberless Divinities of Pa
ganism. In these points of view, indeed, the address of St.
Paul is a model, which the Christian missionary in every age
will do well to imitate : while it declares unequivocally and
fearlessly the first truths of natural and revealed religion, one
Creator, one Providence, and a final judgment by a risen
-Saviour, it is marked with a spirit of moderation, of propriety,
and of good sense, which the character and conduct of the
Apostle of the Gentiles show to be compatible with Christian
zeal, and with devotion to the cause of the Gospel.
The portion of his address, which I have selected to assist
your reflections at this festive solemnity, has evident marks
of that fitness and propriety which I have ascribed to the
whole. The assertion, that all nations are of one blood, was
opposed to a favourite notion of the Athenians, that they
themselves were a peculiar race, the offspring of the earth
which they inhabited : the doctrine of a Providence was equally
adverse to the tenets both of the Epicureans and the Stoics ;
the former of whom maintained, that the world was the sport
of chance, while the latter adopted the opinion of a blind
fatality : and the inference that men should hence learn " to
seek the Lord," is levelled at the ignorance, which professed
not to know the nature or the attributes of the object of its
adoration. On the position, however important, that the
human race is descended from the same progenitor, I mean
not to occupy your time : it has, indeed, been assailed in the
theories of sceptical philosophers, and certainly their purpose
has been answered by calling it into question ; for independ
ently that the truth of Scripture is pledged to the fact, it in
directly involves the scheme of human redemption : a common
remedy provided by the Almighty for our common corruption
supposes that corruption to proceed from a common source.
But such an inquiry is foreign from my present design : rather
would I on this day preach to you the Providence of the God
of empires ; of him, who hath determined the times before
appointed of their duration, and the limits of their power,
with reference especially to the signal mercies which we now
commemorate. A general notion of Providence is inseparable from every
idea of God : we cannot imagine this wonderful frame of

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE. 45
things to have been called into existence, but at the command
of a Being infinite in power, in wisdom, and in goodness ;
and no less difficult is it to conceive, how it could be pre
served in the harmony and perfection in which we behold it,
unless the same power and wisdom and goodness were every
moment operative in maintaining it. The natural tendency
of every thing is to decay and dissolution : we perceive the evi
dences of this truth in all which our own power produces, and
even in those works of God, to which the manifest purposes
of his wisdom assign not a long duration : our most skilful
contrivances require to be continually renewed and repaired,
and even thus, after a few years, they cease to be effective :
institutions, originally conceived by policy or benevolence,
and maintained with zeal, imperceptibly lose their vigour and
sink into the imbecility of age : and man himself, admirably
as he is endowed, finds his mental powers subside into decre
pitude, while his body, fearfully and wonderfully made, sub
sists, as it were, only by a miracle every moment renewed, till
the hand which sustains it is gently withdrawn, not in weak
ness but in mercy, to point to a better world. The doctrine,
therefore, of a superintending Providence presents itself in
every view of nature : it meets us in our reflections, and it
crosses the mind in all its paths. — But it may not, perhaps,
be quite so easy to form an idea of the disposing Providence
of God : which, however, is the particular view of it insisted
on by the Apostle, and to which I would therefore call your
attention. By a disposing Providence is meant that mys
terious power of the Almighty, by which he has arranged
from the commencement of things the long series of causes
and effects, which constitute the course of events in this lower
world; According to this attribute, nothing can happen,
which has not been from eternity in the contemplation of
God, and what is much more, which he has not contemplated
as a mean conducing to a given end. In the scheme of a
disposing Providence, nothing which is brought to pass is
without its consequences : in all which God does, and in all
which he permits, there is design : incidents which seem to
be absolutely independent, are linked together by a secret
connexion ; and one regular consistent plan is going on amidst
the apparent distraction and confusion of sublunary concerns.
It is easy to perceive, that this account of God's government

46 NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
of the world is directly contrary to the Epicurean notion, that
all things are left to chance; but it may not immediately
occur to you, that it essentially differs from the fatality or
necessity of the Stoics ; and a clear understanding of this
point is the more important, because it is intimately connected
with some pernicious misconceptions, which subsist at the
present day. To speak of man, as a mere machine actuated
by motives without the power of choice, is to dishonour God,
however unintentionally or unconsciously this has sometimes
been done by persons who sincerely embrace the Gospel.
Ill indeed should I employ your time, if I were to lead you
into the intricate disquisitions, by which theologians have
endeavoured to reconcile a disposing Providence with the
freedom of human action : nor am I aware, that a nice ad
justment of such difficulties is any part of our Christian call
ing. I would merely observe, that these difficulties are not
wholly on one side of the question : if the mind labours to con
ceive how God can foresee the conduct of an agent, who is
actually at liberty, it is, on the other hand, as difficult to
understand how our freedom can be disturbed, or our actions
influenced, by a prescience, which imposes on us no sensible
constraint, and of which we do not even know the tenor.
Those, whom God hath predestinated, we are assured that
he also foreknew1 : and the great difficulty seems to be re
solvable into man's inability to conceive the foreknowledge of
God; a vain and presumptuous attempt, less suited to our
finite faculties, than to be humble and adore. Sufficient for
Us it is to know, that while we are instruments in the hand of
God, (and it were repugnant to our reason no less than to
our faith, to suppose the independence of created beings,) yet
the Almighty in every page of his holy word addresses us as
rational and moral agents unfettered by any necessity, and
propounds to us his laws, as to those who may either obey
or disregard them. Whatever be the metaphysical subtilties
attending questions of this sort, happily they have nothing to
do with practice, nor are they practically felt. How, then,
shall we distinguish between a blind fatality and a disposing
Providence? Fatality excludes every idea of justice and of
mercy : the attribute of wisdom does not belong to it ; it rests
i Rom viii. 29.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE. 47
solely and entirely upon power, or, more properly speaking,
upon force ; which it supposes to be inherent in the nature of
things, and not to be spontaneously directed by a superin
tending and controlling goodness. Such is fatality ; but the
disposing Providence of God, as received by the Christian, is
a grand system resulting from the combination of all the
attributes, which we ascribe to the Almighty, conspiring to
the best of ends : in that system his justice invades not human
freedom ; his mercy and his grace assist human weakness ;
his wisdom is engaged in plans of ultimate and eternal good ;
and his power is exerted in their accomplishment. The
notion of such a Providence differs from that of fatality, as
the stern decrees of an inexorable tyrant differ from the
tender mercies of a parent : a subjection to fatality chills every
generous feeling of the heart, thwarts every fair and noble
purpose, and blasts every hope ; while the doctrine of a Pro
vidence is full of consolation, whispering peace to those, who
know, that all things, whether prosperous or adverse, work
together for good, to them that love God. l
If these remarks, then, be just, and have been clearly ap
prehended, they seem adapted to lead the mind to no vain
contemplation of that magnificent display of wonders deve
loped by the Apostle. Let your imagination place before
you in succession the kingdoms of the world. Observe their
beginnings, their progress, their revolutions, and their sub
version ; and then reflect, that a disposing Providence deter
mined the times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation to all nations of men that have dwelt upon the
face of the earth. Scarcely had the waters of the deluge
subsided, when Nimrod went forth, as the Scriptures express
it, " a mighty hunter before the Lord2;" and Ninus and Se-
miramis consolidated an empire, which included the principal
nations of the East : and yet of Babylon the traveller finds
only the fragments of foundations, and of Nineveh he seeks
the site in vain : so true was the prophetic word, " Babylon,
the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha 3 ;" and
of Nineveh it was foretold, with an exact allusion to the
manner of its destruction by an inundation of the Tigris,
1 Rom. viii. 28. - Gen. a. 9. 3 Isaiah xiii. 19.

48 NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
" The Lord with an over-running flood will make an utter
end of the place thereof."1 Where also is the greatness of
Egypt, her science and her arts? Where is the power of
Sesostris, of Necho, and of Amasis ? The successive revolu
tions of that state have been the subject of prophecy ; and
Ezekiel has declared that " there shall be no more a Prince
(a native Prince) of the land- of Egypt'2:" a few massy piles
are all that remain to mark the grandeur and the vanity of a
dominion of eighteen hundred years. Pursuing the same
train of thought, we meditate amidst the ruins of Persepolis :
we trace the march and the achievements of Alexander ; we
admire the monuments of the literature and wisdom of impe
rial Rome ; and we contemplate with reverence the affecting
spectacle of fallen greatness on the throne of the Moghuls :
but from these and from the long catalogue of political vicis
situdes the inference is the same, that all power is of God ; —
that he hath appointed to the nations of the earth their times
and the bounds of their habitation; — that where the limit is
fixed, or when the period is expired, valour and policy and
the splendour of a name are alike unavailing ; the timid be
come warlike, the rude submit to discipline, and the oppressed
break their chains : and the wisdom, by which empire has
been acquired and maintained, seems at once to dwindle into
fatuity. Contemplating such changes the mere children of
the world would resolve the whole into the operation of
second causes; or if these, as it frequently happens, be found
insufficient to sojve the difficulty, they cut the knot at once,
and ascribe the whole to chance : but chance has no place in
the philosophy, any more than in the creed, of the Christian.
-He neither overlooks the operation of second causes, neither
does he forget, that these are nothing more than means
employed by the Almighty for accomplishing his purposes
through the instrumentality of men : he will not exclude the
great first cause, for that is Atheism ; nor will he deny that
in the ordinary course of Providence, second causes may be
expected to produce their proper effects ; for that leads to an
expectation of continual miracles, which is the folly of the
enthusiast : but he will observe in this complicated system of
things, how admirably, how beautifully, it has been ordained,
' Nahum i. 8. 2 Ezek. xxx. 13.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE. 49
that second causes for the most part, under the Divine per
mission, shall be efficacious, without which, mankind could
not be induced to persist in the course of action assigned them
by the Creator, and that they sometimes shall fail, that we
may not acquire a presumptuous confidence in the powers
entrusted to us," but may be reminded " to seek the Lord."
Impressed with these convictions, the statesman will pursue
the measures, which an upright policy suggests, and which
the experience of ages has, on the whole, approved : but he
will not rely upon their success, independently of the Divine
blessing, nor will he fail to recollect, that " there is no wis
dom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord." 1 The
history of empires is no other than the history of the Provi
dence of God.
Among the events which are thus ordained to dispense the
lessons of wisdom and piety to the sons of men, those which
we ourselves have witnessed are perhaps as instructive and
as awful as any which the annals of the world record. It
has been our lot to behold the exaltation of an individual of
very humble origin to an eminence of power, which has not
had its parallel in the modern history of Europe. Out of
the ruins of the empire of Charlemagne a system of social
law arose, by which Europe has been visually governed.
Legitimate sovereigns were frequently ambitious, and they
exercised an indirect influence over weaker states : but other
monarchs equally powerful opposed their views, and made
the idea of universal sovereignty impracticable and hopeless.
But Providence in its wisdom had permitted the barriers and
boundaries of liberty to be swept away, as if it had been only
to open to an adventurer the path to the empire of the world.
Every thing conspired to his aggrandizement. A once flour
ishing nation, convulsed by the anarchy of a tremendous
revolution and bleeding under the cruelties of successive
tyrants, was glad to seek a refuge from its misery by placing
him at its head. The libertine and impious opinions, to
which that revolution had given courage and currency, had
in some degree infected all classes of society through the con
tinent of Europe : his ambition leads him to seek the subju
gation of the neighbouring states : from the want of concert,
1 Prov. xx. 30.
E

50 NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
from cowardice, or from treachery, he finds them an easy
prey : in the removal of competitors no feeling of remorse, no
compunction of conscience, is allowed to interfere : the most
secret plots for his destruction are always frustrated by timely
discovery : the abhorrence of his crimes is almost extinguished
in his unrivalled successes : he becomes acknowledged as a
legitimate prince r the venerable head of that Church, which
he had renounced, and profaned, invests him with the imperial
diadem ; and, as if it were to consolidate and transmit his
power to the latest posterity, he acquires the alliance of the
most illustrious of the houses of Europe. From that moment
the short-sighted calculations of human policy inferred that fur
ther resistance was vain; while some, who could distinguish the
hand of Providence only in the disasters and humiliation of
their country, represented it as wicked. It was thus, that
the energies of the brave were enfeebled, and a virtuous ab
horrence of oppression and wrong was mitigated into a feeling
of acquiescence ; and the throne of a tyrant, which already
possessed every other support, seemed in some measure for
tified by the opinion of serious and reflecting men.
There were, however, persons, who, while they contem
plated with awe the appalling scenes, which were passing on
the earth, humbly hoped, that the cause of justice and hu
manity should yet be permitted to triumph. Without pre
suming to fathom the counsels of Omnipotence, and still less
to impute to the Almighty their own partial views, they
deemed it an act of genuine piety to trust in his mercy, how
ever delayed, and to wait with patience, till in his own good
time he should remember to be gracious. The people of
God, as the Prophet hath expressed it, " entered into their
chambers, and shut their doors about them, and hid them
selves as it were for a little moment, until the indignation
were overpast."1 Acknowledging their own unworthiness
and that prevailing wickedness, which had provoked Almighty
wrath, they still ventured to hope, though against hope, that
the oppressor would finally be humbled, and that the afflicted
nations of the earth would once more be permitted to dwell
in safety. And their prayers have been heard. An event
has been brought about, which the ordinary operation of
i Isaial), xxvi. 20.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE. 51
natural causes is wholly insufficient to explain. Within the
short term of eighteen months, the Corsican dynasty of
France had reigned with paramount sway over the fairest
portion of Europe, and before its expiration, it was confined
within the limits of a rock in the ocean. This consum
mation, I repeat it, is not to be accounted for from the ordi
nary operation of second causes : it was produced by a
combination of causes, every one of which, humanly speaking,
was unlikely to be brought into action. Secure in the frozen
wilds of the north, the Czar seemed to have little interest in
the affairs of southern Europe ; nor could he have penetrated
thither, had not the common enemy by an act of infatuation
prepared for him the way : Prussia, had. fallen into degradation
and had become a petty state : Austria had. connected herself
with the oppressor by the ties of affinity : the ruler of Sweden
had combated by his side : and ages had elapsed, since the
banners of England had been unfurled in the fields of France:
but concurring improbabilities, which in human computation
make it reasonable to conclude that an event will not happen,
are no impediments in the counsels of God : with him every
thing is certain, whatever be our view of it, which he wills to
be. The sovereigns of Europe lead forth their confederate
hosts : the jealousies which had dissolved former coalitions,
are laid to rest : they conquer, and what is more, they pre
serve a spirit of magnanimity and moderation : the destroyer
is not humbled, but hardened by adversity : he disdains to
accept a kingdom, which legitimate sovereigns had considered
as among the fairest on the earth : onward he presses to his
ruin : his resources fail him, his skill forsakes him : and he
retires without dignity, awakening no sentiment but that of
contempt. My brethren, if in such a series of events we
discern not the agency of him, who hath determined to the
dynasties of the earth the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation, we are fitted to be disciples of that
atheistical philosophy which has convulsed and desolated the
world. But I am not to suppose that these signal manifestations
of Almighty Providence are without effect upon you ; the
only remaining part of my duty is to direct the reflections, to
which they have given rise, into their proper channel ; and
this, as we learn from the Apostle, is " that men should seek
e 2

52 NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
the Lord." The injunction is of wide extent : as applied to
the Athenians and' to all idolaters, who are capable of such
deductions, it must be taken to signify, that they should hence
infer the existence of an over-ruling power, " if haply," in
the words of the Apostle 1, " they might feel after him and
find him :" in the case of Christians, who already know him
in his works and in his word, the inference is much more
general ; it goes to almost every point of faith and duty : but
I will confine your attention to a few prominent particulars.
I. Considering you as Christians, I would urge you to
seek the Lord in a spirit of uniform devotion to his will. It
is commonly remarked, that the scheme of Providence is
imperfectly understood. The observation is one of those,
which, accordingly as we understand it, may coincide with the
views either of scepticism or of piety, and is either false or
true. If we regard it as referring to the ends of Providence,
it is false, and it is mischievous in the extreme ; for they are
as clearly understood as Revelation can make them : we are
abundantly assured, that God wills the happiness of his crea
tion : " the Lord is loving to every man, and his mercy is
over all his works."2 But if we apply the remark to the
means adopted for the accomplishment of his ends, it is most
just, and it suggests the very course of conduct which I
would inculcate. The scheme of Providence is imperfectly
understood. Though the Almighty in all his dispensations
proposes and will assuredly produce good, yet we are little
capable of perceiving the fitness of the instruments employed,
or of estimating the progress which is made. It constantly
happens, that in our partial view of it the work is standing
still, while in truth it is making rapid strides towards its
completion ; and we see nothing but evil, where perhaps a
multitude of causes, some of them indeed productive of evil,
when partially considered, are conspiring by a nice adjust
ment to great and universal good. In a future state of being
we have reason to expect, that we shall know even as we are
known : and with such an enlargement of our powers, how
shall we be moved to the adoration of God, when we are
permitted closely to inspect the complicated machine of his
moral government and administration of the world ! What
1 Acts, xvii. 25. 2 Psalm cxiv. 9.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE. 53
shame will cover the presumption, which arraigned his pro
ceedings ? What gratitude will be poured from the bosoms
of those, who though allowed to see but little of the system
here, in that little were enabled by Divine grace to discern
the hand of God ! But the Christian will not forget, while he
reposes in Providence, that he has more to do, than simply
to acquiesce. We have seen that in that stupendous scheme
the instrumentality of man is an important feature : we are to
regard ourselves as the servants of God and the ministers of
his pleasure ; and we are to labour with all our power to
promote his declared and known purposes. The world in
which we live is continually disturbed by the passions of the
wicked, the tyranny of the strong, or the phrenzy of the
deluded ; and yet in the Providence of the God of empires
we cannot doubt that the great ends proposed are order and
piety and peace. True it is, that God permits conspiracies
and rebellions and heresies and schisms to involve nations
in civil discord, and for a while to desolate the earth : yet in
his hands they become the means of good, if it be only in the
punishment of such delinquencies, and in warning future
generations against the dangers of being misled by faction
and turbulence and pride. Of the last two centuries each
has become memorable by a warning of this kind ; and that
which we have recently witnessed will probably for some
time be felt. The sacrifice of two millions of human victims
(I speak within the truth), which has obtained for France a
constitution certainly not better than that to which her af
terwards murdered sovereign would have acceded without
Joss of lives, has placed in a dreadful point of view the mis
chiefs to be apprehended from wild theories of government
and political abstractions. But the warning, which our own
history holds out to us, against the evils of religious divisions,
seems from its remoteness to have lost its effect. The cla
mour for religious liberty was never louder, nor heard with
less alarm, than at a time, when all doctrines are taught
without restraint, and when men may go forth, pretending
to a commission, of which they exhibit no proofs, to vilify
whatever is venerable and to impugn whatever is established.
But we trust that the Providence of God will still watch over
our church and nation, and dispose the hearts of the serious
and sober to further his merciful designs : that he will " illu-
e 3

54 NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.
minate the clergy with true knowledge and understanding of
his word, and give to his people increase of grace to hear it
meekly and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring
forth the fruits of the Spirit ;" and that he will impress on the
minds of all, " how good and joyful a thing it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity."1
II. But in another view of the dispensations of Providence,
I am to urge you " to seek the Lord." It was foretold by
Noah, that " God should enlarge Japheth, and he should
dwell in the tents of Shem2 :" how amply and how clearly
has this prophecy been fulfilled ! How hath Japheth, the
ancestor of Europeans, been enlarged by their establishment
at different periods among the descendants of Shem, the
father of the nations of Asia ! but most signally in that widely
extended dominion, which hath been given by Providence to
a distant island in the west: But the gifts of God, whether
national or personal, carry with them corresponding obliga
tions : we greatly err, if we imagine that empire is conferred
upon nations merely to gratify their avarice or their ambition :
we should rather apprehend, that if the tree bear not fruit,
it will be cut down as cumbering the ground. 3 But we hope,
that the period may yet arrive, when the nations, which
surround us, shall have derived from our intercourse benefits
which the vicissitudes of the world and the revolutions of
empires shall not be able to efface : our legislature has hu
manely declared, that " it is the duty of our country to pro
mote the interest and the happiness of its subjects in useful
knowledge and in moral and religious improvement4 ;" pre
serving, however, a strict regard to those principles of toler
ation, which are inseparable from the spirit of the Gospel.
Under these restrictions, what a field is opened to benevo
lence, and how powerful are the motives by which it is
impelled ! Who of us has not been struck with horror at
the exhibition of the last few days?5 What Christian has not
praised the, Disposer of Events, that he is blessed with a know
ledge of the Gospel ? How deeply has he felt the truth of
that declaration of his Saviour, "' My yoke is easy and my
burthen is light*" 6 With what gratitude does he reflect, that

1 Psalm cxxxiii. 1. & Gen. viii. 27. 3 Luke, xiii. 7.
* 53 Geo. S. c.155. 5 The rites of Seeva. 6 Matt. xi. 30.

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.

55

" a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction hath been once
made for the sins of the whole world !" and how ardently
does he wish, that to all the world this saving truth were
known ! then would pilgrimages and penances, and self-
inflicted tortures, and all the modes of individual expiation
fall into disuse, and men would adopt a reasonable service :
they would " repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins 1," and they would worship
their Maker " in spirit and in truth."2 For this glorious
consummation we must patiently and humbly wait; in the
mean time recollecting the part which, in the scheme of Pro
vidence, is assigned to ourselves. It was said by an early
apologist of our religion, that " the Christian is the same
every where3 ;" meaning, that wherever his lot may be cast,
he professes the same faith and acts upon the same conviction.
In the second century, no doubt, this praise was well-merited
and just: we might even conceive that Christians, living
among Gentile nations, were, if possible, more oircumspect
in their behaviour on that very account : they wTould feel that
they had to support the character of Christ's religion, and to
establish its efficacy in reforming the morals and the hearts
of men. It -were too much to affirm, that Christianity, even
where it is most free from corruption and decay, still retains
all the marks of its early vigour ; and still less ground is there
to believe, that Christians, in their intercourse with the un
converted, regard themselves as living under a heavier re-
ponsibility. It is, however, most awfully important, circum
stanced as we1 are here, that we should exceed that measure
of Christian' righteousness, which in the laxity of the times is
frequently thought sufficient : a degenerate Christianity will
make but few converts from an inveterate and strongly for
tified superstition. Let immoral habits, however common
and in whatever form they subsist among us, be renounced :
— let the day of rest be generally, not partially, dedicated to
God : — let the public worship be regularly, not occasionally,
attended, when there is no reasonable impediment : — let it
be seen, that we have -a religion and a church : — let its
ministers, of whatever rank, where they act worthily of their
sacred calling, be had in reverence and esteem : — let charit-
• Acts, ii. 38. " John, iv. 24. 3 Tertullian de Corona,
E 4

.56

NATIONAL PROVIDENCE.

able institutions be multiplied, and, where they are appli
cable, extended beyond our own pale : — let it be manifest,
that the Gospel regards as " of one blood all the nations
of the earth :" — let us cultivate a friendly and instructive
intercourse with those who acknowledge our superior ad
vantages : — let useful arts be introduced and encouraged :
— and let the evidences of our religion, the only religion
which has evidences to produce, be exhibited in their sim
plest form : — individual duty does not extend beyond these
limits ; but having discharged it thus far, we may, without
presumption, commit the issue unto God.
III. Lastly, as an acknowledgment of what we severally
owe to Providence, and in commemoration of great public
blessings, I am to urge you to seek the Lord in an act of mercy
and compassion. I need scarcely inform you for what class
of the unfortunate I wish to plead : I am to conduct you
into the gloom of the prison ; I am to show you wretchedness
without alleviation, and poverty pining in despair. Your
bounty on such an occasion will doubtless set at liberty many
a captive, and restore to many a disconsolate family the
husband and the parent. 1 And for the accomplishment of
so much good, what is the sacrifice required ? With most of
you it is that, which never can be felt, or which those who
feel it will remember with delight when the transient indul
gence, which might otherwise have been obtained, would
have been totally forgotten. Give, therefore, as a disposing
Providence may have prospered you ; and it shall be returned
tenfold into your bosom. At the tribunal of Christ, before
which we must all appear, various are the acts performed in
this life, on which he will pronounce a blessing ; and yours
will be, " Inherit the kingdom, for I was in prison and ye
came unto me : for inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."2
Let this declaration sink deep into your hearts, and may the
Spirit of God direct you !
1 A collection was made for the liberation of debtors in the gaols of Calcutta,
«xceeding 800/. sterling.
J Matt. xxy. 40.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION;

A
SERMON,
FEEACHED AT

COLOMBO, AT THE CHURCH IN THE FORT,
Sunday, Octobei- 27.1816.
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

TO
HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUT.-GENERAL
Sir ROBERT BROWNRIGG, Bart. G. C. B.
GOVERNOR OF CEYLON,
&c. &c. &c.
THE FOLLOWING DISCOURSE,
MADE PUBLIC AT HIS EXCELLENCY'S REQUEST,
IS, WITH THE HIGHEST RESPECT
FOR THE WISDOM AND BENEVOLENCE OF
HIS PUBLIC MEASURES,
AND THE TRUEST ESTEEM FOR
HIS PRIVATE WORTH,
INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION:

SERMON.

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth
as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that
burnetii. — Isaiah, lxii. 1 .
It must be evident to all, who are acquainted with the
writings of the Prophets, that in speaking of their religion
they mingle with their commendations of it the future and
more resplendent glories of the church of Christ. The
partial revelation already vouchsafed to the people of God
was, indeed, when compared with the idolatry and superstition
of the neighbouring nations, sufficient to justify them in
making it a theme of exultation : it conveyed to them a know
ledge of the unity and the perfections of the Creator : it en
joined a reasonable worship : it gave them a summary of
moral duties : it imparted to them statutes and ordinances,
such as no other nation in the ages of antiquity possessed ;
and they were entrusted with the custody of those oracles of
primeval truth, to which even at the present day we are in
debted for the only consistent account of the origination of
all things, of the creation of man, and of the causes of that
weakness and corruption which pervade his moral system,
and have led to consequences so momentous to the whole
of the human race. Let any man turn over the pages of the
Pentateuch, and examine it with a view to the several sub
jects of theology, history, morals, and jurisprudence, and then
compare it with the sacred books of the Pagans : or let him
yield his heart to the pure, the holy, the majestic strains of
the Psalmist, and then turn to the eulogies of some fabulous
divinity in the most admired of heathen hymns ; and after

62 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
such an experiment he will not wonder, that enlightened
members of the Jewish church should speak of their reli
gion in the tone of triumph, and bless God for the marvel
lous light which beamed upon the sons of Israel. Still,
however, their sacred books abound with expressions so
glowing, with descriptions so circumstantial, (yet in many of
the circumstances applicable only to a different state of things,)
and with predictions, of which in the proudest eras of the
Jewish church there has been no appearance of fulfilment,
that to us, who are blest with a knowledge of the Gospel, it is
immediately manifest, that the spirit of prophecy was " shew
ing things which should be hereafter." J Unconscious, per
haps, of the full import and distinct application of all which
they delivered, " the holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost2 :" committing themselves to the
sacred ecstasies, which possessed their souls, they were borne
along on the tide of inspiration into remote developements of
the wisdom and the mercy of God ; and future ages were to
admire and adore the power, which could thus establish its
claim to our faith and awe.
Conformably with this account, we find the Prophet Isaiah,
in a multitude of instances, speaking of a dispensation, which
he characterizes as one of " righteousness and salvation."
It is worthy of remark, that these are terms which he com
monly employs ; and they occur principally in those passages
which the Jewish commentators generally understood as pre
dictions of a Messiah, and which the Christian, therefore, needs
not hesitate to apply to the coming of Jesus Christ. I will not
here detain you to inquire, to what person, in the scenic repre
sentations of prophecy, the present declaration may most fitly be
assigned ; whether the Prophet be speaking as from himself, or
in the person of the expected Messiah, or whether (which I hold
to be the best opinion) we should assign it to the leader of a sa
cred band of teachers, who in after-times were to publish the
truths of the everlasting Gospel. The context and the general
purport of the prophecy favour this interpretation ; and in
another place3 Zion and Jerusalem are designated as the
sources of Gospel truth. Sufficient, however, is it for my
present purpose, that this is the event contemplated, whatever
be the character of the speaker, and not an extension through
1 Rev. iv. I, ° 2 Peter, i. 21. 3 Isaiah, xl. 9.
8

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 63
remote regions of the imperfect revelation, which had
already been vouchsafed to man. Righteousness and salva
tion were, indeed, of the Jews, " of whom, as concerning the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." l But
in no other view of the subject could their claim to the pas
sage be established. The righteousness which came by the
law, was exceedingly defective, when compared with that of
the Gospel, and the salvation, which it held out was no other
than an obscure anticipation of the mercies and the merits of
him, who " by one offering hath perfected for ever them that
are sanctified." 2 I know not, then, that I can afford more
useful employment to your present leisure, than by calling to
your notice the leading excellencies of our holy faith under
these two points of view, in connection with the exercise of
that Christian zeal, which endeavours to extend its influence
and its blessings. If the religion, which we profess, be
righteousness and salvation, in a sense, which is not true of
any other mode of faith, we shall not rest, till they " go forth
as brightness, and shine as a lamp that burneth ;" and we
humbly hope that the blessing of God will be upon our Zion,
from which such irradiations of Divine light shall beam upon
a benighted world.
I. The view, then, under which we are first to consider
the religion of Jesus is, that it is righteousness. The original
term in the language of the Prophet and the other writers of
the Old Testament is of wide extent, and is used in various
acceptations : but they are all of them of kindred import, and
seem capable of being traced to one primitive meaning ; and
that is truth. In this very Prophet3, we find that the
truth of God is called his righteounsness : " I the Lord speak
righteousness : I have sworn by myself: the word is gone
out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return ;" and
the Psalmist has said of the false tongue, that " it hath loved
to talk of lies more than of righteousness."4 Closely con
nected with the truth of God is the justice of his dealings with
mankind; a connection which is marked in that exclamation of
the Psalmist, " The judgments of the Lord are true and right
eous altogether."6 But righteousness is also the homage paid
to the Divine perfections in the exercise of piety and virtue : as
1 Rom. ix. 5. 2 Heb. x. 14. s Isaiah, xiv. 19. 23.
4 Psalm Iii. 4. * Psalm xix. 9.

64 v RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
when " sinners" are spoken of in contradistinction to " the con
gregation of the righteous." 1 We also find the term used to
signify compassion ; as when it is said, " Zion shall be redeemed
with judgment, and her converts with righteousness2 ;" where
the LXX have explained the latter term by a word, which in
the New Testament is used to express charity and alms. In
like manner, alms are denominated by St. Paul the " fruits
of righteousness." 3 But an eminent sense of the- word is
one, which is purely prophetic, and of which the full import
could not have been known, unless prophetically, till after
the appearance of Christ : I mean that in which the Prophet
Jeremiah announced, that God would raise up to David a
righteous Branch, whose name should be called " the Lord
our righteousness4;" the same, who, according to the Apostle,
is " made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifica
tion, and redemption."5 One character, therefore, which
the Prophet has in my text assigned to the Gospel dispens
ation, may be taken as comprising its strict congruity with
the truth, the justice, and the mercy of God, displayed in one
grand and perfect law of faith and obedience propounded to
his rational creatures; and in default of their, compliance
with it, a remedy against the natural consequences. I should
not have troubled you with any thing of so little general
interest, as an inquiry into the' meaning of a word, if it had
not seemed likely to open to us some interesting views of our
holy faith.
First, I would* entreat your attention to the righteousness
of the Gospel, considering the term as equivalent to truth.
Amidst this bewildered and bewildering scene of human life,
where without Revelation man is left in utter ignorance of
what it most concerns him to know, it might seem to be the
first object of his heart to discover God ; to have access to
the fountain of light and truth ; or at least to be favoured
with a transient glimpse of order and design, in what must
otherwise appear to resolve itself into destiny or chance.
What am I, and whither am I going ? For what end was I
sent into existence, and what is the condition of my being ?
What is it within me, which thus inquires, and hopes, and
fears, and feels ? In what relation do I stand towards him,
' Psalm i. 6. " Isaiah, i. 27. 3 2 Cor. ix. 10.
4 Jerem. xxiii. S, e. 5 1 Cor. i. 30.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 65
from whom this wondrous scene of things must have first
proceeded ? Or am I in any measure an object of his care ?
Such questions it might be imagined could hardly fail to press
themselves on our unaided reason, even where there were
little hope that they would ever be resolved. But of these,
and of many similar enquiries, the solution is offered us in the
Gospel ; and all that is requisite is, that we be fully persuaded
of its truth. Consider, then, what are its pretensions to this
character. It is the boast of Christianity, that it is the reli
gion of the most enlightened portion of the human race ; of
the inquisitive, the acute, and the learned : who may be ex-.
pected to require better evidence for their faith than such as
would satisfy the slaves of superstition, under whose withering
influence the very germs of intellect are blighted, and enquiry
is forbidden. Nor is such evidence of the truth of the Gospel
withholden from those who seek it. To enter into a detail
of it, is plainly incompatible with my present limits or design :
all, which they admit, is only to offer you a few general
remarks on its peculiar character and extent. You will ob
serve, that the character of the evidence is peculiar : we do
not maintain, that the Bible is true, because it is so ancient,
that nothing is recorded or known of its original ; nor does it
rest on the authority of any individual, however pure his life
and doctrine, professing to have been favoured with visions
from God. But we say that it is true, because we know the
history of it from the beginning ; a history, which is abund
antly corroborated by collateral testimony ; and because, if
any single book of it could be shown to be partially corrupt,
or even wholly spurious, the main fabric would still subsist in
all its strength. But this supposition in the case of the Bible
can hardly have place. The Scriptures are not a collection
of rhapsodies couched in unmeaning generalities, so contrived
as to elude every ordinary test of truth : almost every page of
them refers us to persons, to time, and to place : the Bible is
much too circumstantial in all its details, and deals too much
in facts and things, to be consistent with imposture. But it
is not merely on historical support that the genuineness and
authenticity of the Scriptures, and the truth of our religion,
rest. Whence came the lessons of original wisdom conveyed
in the teaching of Christ and his apostles, if not from God ?
Say not from man, if invention confessedly human has never
F

66 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
produced any thing at all comparable or similar. — How is it
that the books of Scripture, though written by so many
authors, extending through a period of fifteen hundred years,
all relate to one great design, which pervades the whole, and
is gradually developed from the fall of Adam to the coming
of Jesus Christ ; unless one directing and controlling spirit
had influenced their minds ? — Whence happens it, that the
Jews, though dispersed through every region upon the earth,
and retaining nothing of their former state, but their customs
and their religion, are still preserved, unless as witnesses to
the genuineness of those writings, which predict the coming
of the Messiah, though a judicial blindness prevents them
from perceiving, that the " Man of sorrows," on whom the
Lord was " to lay the iniquity of us all V is already come ?
Again, look at the conduct of the apostles before and after
the resurrection of Christ, the ignorant, the weak, and timid
fishermen, who forsook him and fled, and the enlightened,
the eloquent, the intrepid preachers, who went into every
nation as witnesses of Christ's resurrection, not advocates of
an opinion, it is important to recollect, but as eye-witnesses
of a fact. — But further, what would their preaching have
availed against the prejudices, the interests, and the passions
of mankind, unless it had been assisted by mighty works
and signs following ? The descent of the Holy Spirit on the
day of Pentecost is not more strongly attested by the histo
rian of the Acts of the Apostles, than it is by the whole
history of the planting of the Gospel, as deducible from pro
fane records, and by the then circumstances of the world.
— Or, lastly, if our religion clear up all the difficulties and
embarrassments, which had perplexed the duties and desti
nies of man ; if it may be truly said that life is an enigma,
and the Gospel the solution ; if it explain the moral pheno
mena of our condition, in a manner far more satisfactory
than any, which had hitherto been attempted, and to which
explanation eighteen centuries have added nothing, what is
the inference, but that this solution came, as it professes to
have come, from God ? The Bible, it is true, has its difficul
ties, and they were reasonably to be expected ; though there
are some, who allow their faith to be shaken, if they meet
1 Isaiah, liii. 3. 6.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 67
with any thing which they cannot explain : but I will venture
to remind them, that there is one difficulty much greater
than any to which they object, and to which the ingenuity
of scepticism ought first to be directed: that, which I al
lude to is, how are we to account for the existence of the
vast body of evidence, or if they please, of presumptions, in
behalf of Christianity, unless we admit religion to be true ?
Has there ever been known in the world, or can the mind
conceive, a falsehood supported by such a variety of argu
ments and illustrations, of proofs both direct and incidental,
generally independent of each other, yet all tending to a
given point ? If any man shall profess to believe, that all this
is mere accident, we have a right to conclude that the weakest
and most irrational credulity is that of unbelievers.
But I pass from the righteousness of our religion consi
dered as a system of truth, to that character of it which is
derived from the justice of God's dealings with mankind, and
the homage due to the Divine perfections in the exercise of
faith and obedience ; in other words, as it is a system of
piety and morals. It is, indeed, not unusual to regard these
as subjects wholly distinct and independent ; a mode of treat
ing them which has been highly injurious to both. The
piety, which is habitually negligent of any moral observance,
cannot be genuine and sincere, nor have we reason to believe
that it will finally be accepted : the same authority which
enjoins the love of God enjoins us to love our brother also. 1
On the other hand, there is no real foundation for morals,
but genuine piety and faith in Christ. Men may be told of
the fitness, and propriety, and beauty of virtue ; but in these
there is no obligation to practise it, even where it is most
easy, and certainly they afford no adequate motive to en
counter inconvenience and self-denial. We know but im
perfectly what is right, except from the word of God, and we
have no sufficient reason to comply with it, except we be
actuated by an earnest desire of pleasing the best of Beings,
from a reverence for his infinite perfections, from feelings of
gratitude and dependence, and from faith in the promises of
his Son. Let me, then, present to you, under one aspect, the
piety and the morals of our holy religion, as they are com-
i 1 John, iv. 21.
F 2

68 RIGHTEOUSNBSS AND SALVATION.
bined, and beautifully harmonize, in the features of the
Christian life. In the character of him who takes the Gospel
for the standard of duty, and has deeply imbibed its spirit
in his heart, there will be no visible distinction made in
favour of such observances, as may happen to fall in with his
natural temperament, or be more especially insisted on in the
world : the religious and the moral habit will be distinguish
able from each other, only by the objects to which they are
specifically directed : both will proceed from the same prin
ciple, and be exerted under the same influence, in one uniform
course of action and sentiment. The Christian will be con
sistent with himself; and whatever he may do or meditate,
whether it refer to its secret intercourse with the Father of
Spirits, or to the ordinary duties or business of life, the in
fluencing principle will be the same, and in all the various
applications of it will be resolvable into self-devotion to the
revealed will of God.
It can hardly be requisite to press upon your attention the
exclusive advantages which the righteousness of our Zion,
thus considered as a rule of life, possesses over the celebrated
systems of paganism. Not to insist upon their utter want of
evidence as systems of truth, they are equally defective as
systems of faith and moral obedience. This assertion might
be established at much greater length than the time will per
mit; but there is one difference, by which they are distin
guished in their mode of operation, from the Christian faith,
which, as pervading all of them, may deserve your notice ; I
mean, that under whatever form they exhibit the Divinity,
he is still merely an object of terror : fear is the only prin
ciple which actuates the worshipper ; fear it is, which offers
the sacrifice, and piety is but penance and suffering : the
delight experienced in the contemplation of the Divine
mercies seems to be unknown : and after all our researches
into the sacred books of the heathen, which seem indeed to
be directed by Providence to the confirmation of our faith in
Christ, it will probably remain peculiar to the Gospel to have
declared, in the comprehensive sense of Scripture, that " God
is love."1 The religion of the Old Testament was in some
measure a religion of fear ; and with reference to pagan
systems, in more than one of the ancient languages, fear and
I 1 John, iv. 16.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 69
superstitious worship, having been observed to be kindred
feelings, are designated by kindred terms : idols were deno
minated Terrors ' : whereas it is the privilege of the disciples
of Christ to " serve God without fear, in holiness and
righteousness before him all the days of their lives." 2
Consider, then, what is the natural operation of this de
fect of paganism upon the mind and heart of the worshipper.
Under every mode of religious belief, the character of man
will greatly depend upon his notions of God ; and the devo
tion paid to the gods of paganism will differ from that of the
Christian, as the obedience extorted by the dread of a gloomy
and capricious despot will fall short of the cheerful service,
which anticipates the wishes of a master whom we love.
Under the influence of mere terror, the virtues of man
will be rather negations of what may be supposed to' provoke
displeasure, than a warm desire to obtain favour by running
in the path of positive commandments. Fear will endeavour
to hide itself from God, while love will seek communion with
him, and to be " like unto him3," and will desire to be admitted
to his presence. " Be ye perfect, even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect 4," could never be preached with effect
or meaning to the votaries of a thrilling superstition. It is
true, indeed, that fear is among the motives by which the
Gospel would retain man in a sense of duty ; but it is only
a restraining principle, and is no where represented as that
which principally operates on the heart of the children of
God. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom 5,"
and there are many who never advance beyond it: but " per
fect love," as the Apostle assures us, " casteth out fear 6,"
and is gradually matured in that " spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father." 7
A third view of the righteousness of the Gospel is that
in which righteousness is equivalent to charity and mercy ; in
which it embraces the wants and the weaknesses of the
human race, without reference to nation, or climate, or lan
guage, or caste ; and is as comprehensive in its views as we
should expect a religion to be, which emanates from the
truth of God, and. offers to mankind a perfect rule of life.
1 See 2 Kings, xvii. 16. xviii. 14. xxiii. 6. 13., in the Syriae version.
s Lute, i 74. 3 1 John, iii. 2. 4 Matth. v. 48.
* Prov, ix. 10. 6 1 John, iv. 18, 7 Rom. viii. 15.
F S

70 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
It may indeed be affirmed that Christianity is the only reli
gious system, which from its nature and spirit is adapted to
universal reception; and this very circumstance, if it be estab
lished, is of itself no slight presumption, that it alone came
from God: of course I except the Mosaic law, which was
only a shadow of things to come. One prevailing mode of
faith neither seeks nor admits converts, as if mercy were not
interested in diffusing what it supposes to be truth ; while
another has made converts by the sword, as if truth super-;
seded the feelings of mercy : but in the faith of Jesus, and in
it alone, " mercy and truth are met together, righteousness
and peace have kissed each other." 1 View your religion,
then, as concerned for the happiness of all who live : view it
as dispensing knowledge to the ignorant, health to the sick,
food to the hungry, and consolation to them that mourn ; re
quiring no observance, which is not practicable in every
clime and in every age, under every form of government, and
in every condition of mankind ; not interwoven with particular
civil institutions or local habits, apart from which it cannot
subsist, but seeking all, loving all, and suited to all.
These are the characters of truth, of mercy, and of univer
sality ; and let it be remembered, that they subsist together
only in the religion of Jesus Christ.
The last sense which I assigned to the original term trans
lated " righteousness" is that in which we become righteous,
only through the obedience of Jesus Christ. 2 In this sense,
however, the subject is so intimately blended with the method
of salvation, that I shall at once proceed to that remaining
character of our holy faith assigned to it by the Prophet, and
consider the two together.
II. Under this head a very different view is opened to us
of the condition of man. We have considered our religion
as a system of truth, as a rule of life, and as peculiarly
marked by charity and mercy : but truth might have been
limited to the present scene of things ; a rule of life, however
perfect, might have had no reference to any thing beyond it ;
and mercy and charity might have been inculcated, to soothe
the sorrows of a transient existence, and have led to no fur
ther results. Thus imperfect would have been our religion,
1 Psalm lxxxv. 10. 2 Rom. v. 19.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 71
however admirable in other respects, if it had not brought
immortality to light, and made known to us the method of
salvation. Suffer me, then, while I compress into a narrow
compass a few of the most important truths which relate to
the doctrine of the righteousness which is by faith, or salva
tion through Jesus Christ : a doctrine to which the whole of
the Christian revelation tends, and beyond which the mind of
man can hardly conceive that any revelation can be requisite :
the Divine Author of our faith was also its finisher *, and has
left no plea of its imperfection, or the possibility of further
improvement, to any who should come after him, asserting
the character of being commissioned to impart a further reve
lation from God.
The doctrine of our salvation by Christ alone, is founded
entirely on the weakness and corruption of human nature ;
and these ought to be so evident to our understandings, as to
be admitted without hesitation. Are the truths of relieion,
however clearly apprehended, readily received into the heart ?
Is the pure and perfect law of the Gospel, while we admit and
proclaim its excellence, uniformly obeyed ? Or are charity
and mercy, while every tongue is telling of their praise, con
sistently practised ? If in any of these the best of us are found
to fail, to what shall we impute the failure, if not to our
weakness ? To that strange and perverse principle within
us, which knows what is right, yet does frequently what is
wrong ; which resolves, and forgets its resolutions, and re
pents, and sins again.
There is, then, no reasonable plea for the self-sufficiency
of man : and to talk of our own merits as a title to eternal
happiness, impious as it must appear to the Christian, is
scarcely less inconsistent with the condition of human nature.
What have we, which we did not receive ? And of that,
which we have received, what has been the application ? It
were endless to detail the weaknesses of the heart, in ne
glected opportunities of doing good, in slighted means of
grace, in the omissions of duty, and the breach of positive
commandments, in thanklessness for mercies received, and in
contempt of warnings, and in the thousand failings, which
force themselves on the notice of every man, in moments of
' Heb. xii. 2.
F 4

72 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
severe reflection. In this state of things, the rational as well
as the pious mind, in seeking to be delivered from the body
of death, will, with the Apostle, " thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord 1 :'' he will adore the justice, he will bless
the mercy of the Being, who has thus reconciled a world
unto himself, superseding sacrifices, and pilgrimages, and pe
nance, and the whole train of unavailing expiations, to which
a consciousness of guilt had driven the natural fears of man,
by one efficacious and universal atonement.
It is, then, the glory and the crown of Christianity, that it
teaches the doctrine of salvation ; and the method by which
this is to be obtained is through the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. By faith in his atoning sacrifice, his righteousness
becomes our own : through his merits our sincere, though
imperfect, obedience, is accepted of God ; and we are encou
raged to hope that our frailties will be forgiven, if we sin not
" that grace may abound." 2
To which of the masters of pagan wisdom shall we have
recourse for discoveries so important and conclusive, as those
which are contained in a few sentences of Scripture ? " Christ
bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being
dead to sins should live unto righteousness."8 " Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
curse for us."4 " God hath made him to be sin (that is, a
sin-offering,) for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him." 5 What declarations are
these, brethren, arid what views do they open to us of human
life ? Before them the unsubstantial speculations of mere
philosophy, the theories of the acute and the disquisitions of
the learned, the pride which is prompted by our boasted
strength, and the despair suggested by our conscious weak
ness, at once vanish from the mind and heart, and leave them
to be occupied by admiration, by gratitude, by devotion, and
by love. And thus it is, that the righteousness, to which
man attains only by faith in Christ, instead of being, as some
vainly imagine, distinct from obedience, becomes a principle
deeply operative on the human character, and while it saves
us through the power of God, purifies us and subdues us to
his holy will. Neither in the achievement of the work of our
1 Rom- ™. 24. a Rom. vi. 1. 3 peti ;j_ 24.
4 Gal. iii. 13. s 2 Cor. v. 21.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION. 73
salvation are we left to ourselves. The same revelation,
which has proclaimed to us a Redeemer, has assured us of a
Comforter and a Guide : the gracious assistances of the Holy
Spirit are vouchsafed to all who ask them in fervent and
humble prayer, dispensing a benign though secret influence
through the human breast, restraining the corruption and
sinfulness of our nature, suggesting to us good desires, in
creasing in us true religion, and drawing us daily nearer unto
God. In behalf of a faith, so well established by the evidences of
its truth, so beneficial in its influence, so sublime in its dis
coveries, and so comprehensive in its views, the holy Prophet
has expressed his zeal in the fervid language of my text : —
" For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jeru
salem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go
forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that
burneth." It were not easy to find a Christian assembly more capable
of feeling the force of this sentiment than that which I now
address : the efforts which are now made, within the limits of
this government, for propagating the faith of righteousness and
salvation are probably, in proportion to the means afforded,
without a parallel in the modern history of the East.
It is not, then, to excite in you a disposition, which already
subsists, that I advert to this topic, but merely to offer you
some suggestions in relation to it, with which I will conclude.
The different nations, to whom this island has at different
periods been subject, to say nothing of the zeal which at pre
sent animates all classes of Christians in the mother-country,
have naturally introduced among you very different denomi
nations of Christianity ; all of them, however, actuated, no
doubt, by the same desire of diffusing truth. To honour and
esteem those who may differ from us in particular points,
yet " love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity 1," is a duty,
which needs not be inculcated upon any, who are themselves
of that number. Still, however, there are dangers, from
which, in this state of things, the cause of the Gospel is not
secure. Our National Church has no tenets either of doctrine
or of discipline which are peculiar to herself: they are held
i Eph. vi. 24.

74 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION.
in common with some or most of the existing churches, arid
may all of them be traced to the primitive ages of the Gospel :
a little more, or a little less, in this or that particular, is for
the most part all that is demanded by those who differ from
her. In the utter impossibility of adapting herself to the
views of every class of Christians, it is still a subject of satis
faction to reflect, that the moderation of her principles render
her, upon the whole, so fit to be the basis, on which you may
rear in these regions the fabric of the Christian faith. I am
not contending for the violation of principle, nor for the
abandonment of what any man, on deliberate and deep en
quiry, may hold to be essential and indispensable to the
preaching of the Gospel : but if there be any thing more es
pecially to be deprecated, it would be, next to the violation
of principle, the insisting on what is not really essential, and
exhibiting to the people around you the differences and con
tradictions which usually belong to the character of falsehood,
rather than the consistency and unity of truth. For the
present, proselytes might be made, perhaps, to almost any
denomination of Christianity : but the time must come, when
Christian converts will compare their opinions ; and if they
discover any remarkable disagreement in what they severally
have been taught, they will infer that even yet all is not right
with them, and will either relapse into their former unbelief,
or cause divisions in the church of Christ. My counsel, to
you, then, is that of the Apostle ; " Take heed, lest by any
means this liberty e>f yours become a stumbling-block to them
that are weak." x " Speak the same thing ; be joined toge
ther in the same mind and the same judgment." 2 And I
offer it not from any conviction that already it is needed, but
in the way of prevention, and in the spirit of conciliation and
love. The righteousness of our Zion will go forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a lamp that burneth, so long as her
doctrine shall shine with a steady lustre, which is neither
dimmed by the mists of error, nor misleads by a change of
position, nor distracts by multiplicity.
Lastly, let me remind you, that independently of direct
and avowed efforts to extend the faith of righteousness and
1 1 Cor. viii. 9. 9 1 Cor. i. 10.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SALVATION, 75
salvation, one thing is still indispensable to their success : the
general habits of society, and the force of individual example,
must aid the labours of the preacher and the missionary, or
it will be in vain that they " dispute and persuade the things
concerning the kingdom of God." x The most fatal discre-
pancy which the native could detect would be a disagree
ment between the doctrines and the practice of our religion ;
and no zeal in contributing to Christian institutions would at
all compensate for the want of Christian example, or any
prevalent irregularities in life and deportment, in those who
name the name of Christ. The righteousness of our faith
must not resemble the coruscations of a meteor, which is
viewed for a moment with the gaze of admiration, and then
is lost in darkness ; it must rather be a pure and placid light,
emanating from the heart, which is devoted unto God, and is
warmed and illumined by his Holy Spirit. Let it, then, be
manifest in every one of you, beloved, that you sincerely
embrace the righteousness of the Gospel, its truth, its morals,
and its mercy, and that you trust for your salvation to the
" Lord our righteousness," even Jesus Christ. With these
precautions the cause of your Redeemer will prosper in your
hands : all things manifestly conspire to its success ; zeal,
exertion, liberality, and (what I cannot allow myself to sup
press) the sanction of the highest authority and the encou
ragement of a bright example. May the Almighty bless
these means, which he alone could have supplied, and make
you instruments of revealing to those, who are still in dark
ness, the glory of our Zion, that so it may radiate from this
favoured spot, and be visible throughout the Eastern world !
1 Acts, xix. 8.

A
SERMON,
r-BEACHED AT
ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH,
IN
PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND,
On Sunday, May 16. 1819.
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

TO
THE HONOURABLE
JOHN ALEXANDER BANNERMAN, Esq.
GOVERNOR OF PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND
AND ITS DEPENDENCIES,
THE FOLLOWING SERMON,
MADE PUBLIC AT HIS REQUEST,
IS, WITH MUCH RESPECT AND ESTEEM,
INSCRIBED BY
HIS OBEDIENT
AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
T. F. CALCUTTA.
Calcutta,
July 26. 1819.

SERMON, &c.

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of
Christ ; that whether I come and see you, or else be absent,
I may hear of your affairs, that ye standfast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.
— Philippians i. 27.
Philippi, a town of Macedonia, was the first place at which
St. Paul preached on the continent of Europe ; and there,
finding numerous converts, he was enabled to establish a
Christian church. To this community the present Epistle
was addressed. The Apostle was then a prisoner at Rome :
the Philippians, sensible of the blessings, which they enjoyed
under the Gospel, and actuated by feelings of gratitude and
commiseration towards him, from whom they had derived
these blessings, sent a messenger to administer to his neces
sities : and to acknowledge this act of kindness was the Apos
tle's immediate object in writing to the Philippians. It was,
however, to be expected from such a man as St. Paul, that
he would avail himself of the opportunity thus afforded him
of giving them fresh proofs of his regard, by endeavouring to
confirm them in their faith, by enforcing anew the doctrines
of the Gospel, and by offering them such pastoral admoni
tions, as he conceived their present state to demand. It was
highly probable, that he might never see them again ; to this
circumstance he refers in my text ; but present or absent, he
should feel a solicitude for their Christian welfare : and he
gives them in the mean time such counsel, as their welfare,
in his judgment, required.
Different as are" the circumstances of the Christian world
in modern times, especially in countries where our religion is
fully established, it is yet difficult for us to read such passages

82 A SERMON PREACHED AT
as my text, and many others in the writings of the aposlles,
without some application of them to the condition of the
church in India. We are here, for the most part, small so
cieties dispersed through a territory of vast extent : the
Christian churches already existing in the lifetime of St. Paul
probably did not occupy so wide a field, as do our English
churches in this quarter of the globe : there is, indeed, one
point of difference, which is sufficiently obvious ; the former
arose and subsisted under every discouragement, and were
exposed to hostility and persecution ; while we, on the con
trary, have nothing to dread from the heathen around us, but
are ourselves the ruling power. This difference, however,
though in other points of view, it carries with it important
considerations, affects not the application of my text ; to you
at this moment, as it was then to the Philippians, every clause
of it may be suitably addressed : prosperity and independence
have their trials, as well as adversity and depression : and I
may fitly exhort you to " let your conversation be as it be-
cometh the Gospel of Christ," that so I may hear of your
" standing fast in one spirit, and with one mind striving
together for the faith of the Gospel."
There are, however, circumstances in this Christian settle
ment, which impart to it, if things always infinitely important
admit degrees, a more than ordinary interest. What was
this island only a few years since, but a blank in the moral
creation ? Its hills and its forests served only to exhibit to the
mariner a scene pf wild and cheerless grandeur, as he passed
the inhospitable shore : no associations dear to the mind were
awakened at the approach ; the charities and the arts of civi
lized life were here unknown ; here man, even in his rudest
state, had as yet no fixed abode. How altered is now the
scene ! a numerous and increasing population ; — an active
and beneficent government ; — streets resounding with the
occupations of industry ; — cultivated fields and thriving
plantations : — residences bespeaking comfort and opulence ;
— our arts, our language, and our laws introduced into this
remote corner of the East ; — these surprising changes invite
reflection, and cannot be contemplated with indifference.
But, what it is even more to my purpose to remark, and
without which all else were unsubstantial, our holy faith is
here established, to guide those, who know the truth, in the

PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. S3
way of salvation, and to be a light to lighten the Gentiles
around, if haply they may be turned from their vanities to
the Living God: and you have here an edifice fully adequate
to your Christian population, and in point of decency, and
even of elegance, worthy of the flourishing and powerful
body, by whom it was erected ; it is now dedicated unto God ;
and some of the most solemn ordinances of religion have
already been administered within its walls. '
In a state of things, then, in which the dispensations of
Providence are so remarkable, I cannot forbear to press upon
you the counsel, which the blessed apostle offered to his
Philippians ; and you will best be enabled to comprehend
and to apply it, by considering it in its separate clauses : his
exhortation is generally, " Let your conversation be as it
becometh the Gospel of Christ :" but this he subsequently
explains to refer more particularly to their " standing fast in
one spirit, and with one mind striving together for the faith of
the Gospel :" in other words, he makes a conversation worthy
of the Gospel to shew itself more especially in Christian unity
and Christian zeal.
What, however, is the conversation, which becometh the
Gospel of Christ ? The meaning of the apostle is not given
in our common translation with the utmost precision : the
term here employed is wholly different from that, which is
elsewhere used to signify demeanour or conduct ; as a " holy
conversation," (2 Pet. iii. 11.) "a conversation without co
vetousness," (Heb. xiii. 5.) and other similar expressions :2
and the difference is not unimportant : the strict meaning of
the apostle is, " Be ye such members of the community to
which ye belong, as your religion requires you to be ;" or,
" Let your society be actuated by principles worthy of the
Gospel of Christ :" he is not here addressing the Philippian
converts as unconnected individuals, but in their collective
relation to each other : and this exactly agrees with what fol
lows : that so he may hear of their " standing fast in one

, ' A confirmation was holden at Prince of Wales's Island on Saturday,
8th May.
2 In this epistle iii. 20. we read in our common version " Our conversation is
in heaven." Beaa and others, including Schleusner, would render it " our
citizenship;" which is certainly right : but the original of this passage differs from
that of the text, only in using the noun for its cognate verb.
R 2

84 A SERMON PREACHED AT
spirit, and striving together for the faith of the Gospel." He
is, therefore, in this place contemplating the Philippians as a
Christian society, who should in all respects act, as becomes
such a society, especially in the particulars of unity and zeal ;
and it is in this, the true sense of the text, that I mean to
apply it on the present occasion.
I. We shall have formed but a very inadequate notion of
the influence of religion, if we do not perceive, that a truly
Christian community will have its appropriate character, its
own distinctive marks. Societies may, indeed, be formed
upon any of the principles, which appeal to the reason or the
passions of man ; and common principles and common laws
are all which are required to hold them together. But a
Christian community differs from all others, in respect of the
principles, by which its members are actuated, and the laws
to which they yield obedience. To be, then, a community
such as becomes the Gospel of Christ, you have only to
inquire, what are the principles, which distinguish our reli
gion, and what are those holy and beneficent laws, to which
it would subdue the human heart !
The basis of all Christian society must be faith in Christ :
the heart must be sensible of its weakness and its wants, and
of the utter insufficiency of man to his own well- being : the
conscious need of a Saviour, and a thankful acceptance of
pardon and peace as offered in the Gospel, are indispensable
to the genuine Christian character, and of course to qualify
and dispose men to be members of a really Christian com
munity. It is true, indeed, that this faith will not be equally
strong and active in all, who have been admitted to the
Christian covenant : and in the visible church of Christ, there
will be many, who as yet know not the things, which concern
their peace. Still, faith in the Son of God was the principle
on which Christians were first brought together : and they in
whom this principle is weak or wanting, though found within
the Christian pale, are not of the class of persons, by whom
Christian communities were originally formed, nor of those,
by whom the objects of such a community can be fully appre
ciated. And in close connection with faith in a Saviour is
our conviction, that we need the succours of the Holy Spirit :
both rest alike on the word of God, and of both the necessity
is made npparent by a consciousness of human corruption.
4

PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. 85
But in the train of this faith, and of a cordial adoption
of all that is revealed and enforced in the Scriptures, I
beseech you to consider what has followed : the same faith
has united men in the same form of discipline and worship :
churches were built, in which they might profess their com
mon belief, and offer a common homage to the Father of
Jesus Christ ; and thus were they brought to live together
under the same spiritual guidance and government, having
the same Gospel preached to them, profiting by mutual
edification, affording a mutual ' comfort and support, and
cemented together by an intercourse of charity and love.
It were, indeed, too much to expect that any Christian
community at the present day, except in circumstances re
sembling those of the primitive Christians, should exactly
correspond with such a model : men are brought together by
motives in which Christian considerations have little or no
share : they go to the spot, to which Providence calls them.
as interest or connection points (he way. Still it will be use
ful to keep in view the principles, on which Christian societies
were originally formed, if we would clearly apprehend, what,
even in the ordinary circumstances of the world, should be
the character of a community, such as " becometh the Gospel
of Christ." It is certain that the Gospel will not be honoured,
where its excellence is not illustrated and exemplified, or its
influence is but partially felt. Is there a Christian commu
nity, in which its grand and leading truths are depreciated,
or but imperfectly understood ? In which moral decency and
common integrity pass for religion ? In Which men •confound
the laws of civil society with the more operative and extensive
injunctions of the Gospel, and narrow the range of revelation
to the limits of human reason ? In such habits and sentiments
wherever they prevail, the faith of the Redeemer is not ho
noured, but disparaged : it is not perceived or felt, that the
mercy, the power, and the justice of God have been wonder
fully exerted, and were actually required, in the salvation of
a fallen race. In like manner, is the Sabbath desecrated,
and the house of prayer deserted, while business or recreation
occupies the hours, which should be given to the worship of
God and to holy meditation ? Are the prevailing habits irre
gular and worldly, if not absolutely dissolute and depraved ?
Are men, though living together in the same place, uncon-
o 3

86 A SERMON PREACHED AT
nected with each other by tlie ties of good-will and charity ?
In short, is any community in great measure deficient in those
characters of piety and mutual benevolence, which are inse
parable from a sincere profession of the Gospel ? It is plain,
that in all such instances there is much need of reform. It
may be said, indeed, that I am here speaking of Christian
communities, as having for the most part a prevailing cha
racter : I conceive this to be the fact ; especially where, as in
this country, they are separated from the mass of Christians :
every where a great diversity will be found among indivi
duals ; but still there will be a prevailing character either of
good or evil ; the general aspect of such communities will be
either that they are Christian in faith, in life, and in deport
ment, or .the contrary : a few exceptions will not change it.
The opinions, the habits, and the example of those, who take
the lead, are no where without effect, and least of all in such
bodies of men as those, to which I have alluded. What,
then, is a community, generally speaking, such as "becometh
the Gospel of Christ ?" To convey to you an adequate idea
of it would require me to expatiate on the power of religion
upon the habits, die sentiments, and the tempers of men. In
such a society the excellence of our faith will be illustrated in
the lives of its professors : the benevolent observer will find
with delight, that there the truth is received and honoured
" as it is in Jesus ;" Eph. iv. 21 : that all holy ordinances are%
revered, while secular duties are not neglected ; more espe
cially, that men forsake not the table of their Redeemer ; that
the Sabbath is really solemnized as a day of holy rest ; that
they enter the house of God with awe, and that decency and
order are not violated by listless inattention, or irreverent and
idle gestures : that they who rule are just and beneficent,
while the governed yield a cheerful submission ; that the re
lation between the Pastor and his flock, one of the most en
dearing relations in society, is maintained in a parental vigilance
on the one hand, and in an affectionate respect on the other ;
that the rich are liberal and the poor thankful ; that institu
tions for the relief of misery are well patronized, and what is
much less common, well superintended ; that a neighbourly
and friendly intercourse prevails among all of the same class
and habits of life ; and that men of every condition endeavour
faithfully to discharge the duties assigned them by Provi-

PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. 87
dence, whether these be eminent or humble. I say not that
such a community is every where to be found ; still any thing
far short of this becometh not the Gospel of Christ.
II. But following the example of the apostle, I am to
speak upon one or two points more particularly: he was
especially anxious to hear of his Philippians, that they " stood
fast in one spirit." Powerful as is the influence of the Gospel
in reforming the dispositions and tempers of men, yet the
corruption of our nature still remains ; and societies profess
edly Christian are not unfrequently at variance in themselves,
and divided into parties and sects : among the devices of the
enemy of man, none perhaps has been more effectual or more
pernicious: selfishness in all its forms, as pride, vanity, false
honour, a quick sense of wrong, and a love of power or as
cendancy, is a principle which is easily roused into action :
and wherever these operate, Christian communities exhibit a
spectacle little becoming the Gospel of peace.
Foremost in the sad catalogue of divisions stand those
which turn upon questions of religion : some men revolt from
every thing connected with order and establishment : some,
who have need to learn, are more ready to teach : some seem
to derive consequence from being the leaders of a party : and
others are actually deceived, believing interpretations of Scrip
ture, which are unsupported by the letter, or by the general
tenor of the word of God, to be the true, though hidden
sense, revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. Under this
head happily, so far a3 I am informed, I have nothing to
apprehend for you at present : but if my solicitude for you be
in any thing predominant, it is that this " little flock" of
Christ, this infant colony of the Church of England, may
ever " stand fast in one spirit, and through God's grace resist
every attempt, should any such be made, to divide it : every
hope of good to be derived from it hereafter would be de
feated by a difference among yourselves. But then, beloved,
let me caution you against the easy mistake, that you are
standing fast in one spirit, if in truth you are sunk into indif
ference : men are apt to believe that they agree in religion,
and even take credit to themselves for the agreement, when
the subject does not sufficiently interest them, to afford any
cause of dissension. Unity is, indeed, precious in the sight
of God, and lovely in the eyes of men : but remember, that
g 4

88 A SERMON PREACHED AT
religious unity supposes that we are really religious : in no
other case does it deserve the name : and in candour I must
admit, that better are differences, where all are in earnest,
than the mere semblance of Christian agreement, where the
great and vital doctrines of the Gospel are little regarded.
Happily, such a state of things, however it may incidentally
arise, is not induced or promoted, far otherwise, by the sys
tem of faith and worship adopted in our National Church.
Our liturgy is a luminous comment on the Gospel ; its devo
tions breathe the spirit of the Gospel ; the great and saving
truths of the Gospel are prominent in every page of it : you
are in no danger of becoming lukewarm as to the doctrines
of redemption and grace, while you hold fast to the liturgy ;
and as little are you exposed to the danger of division,
while you reverence the primitive form of discipline retained
in our church.
But in the collisions of human society, differences will
sometimes arise, where weighty questions do not come into
discussion, upon matters of little moment. With regard,
however, to you, I hardly know what these can be ; I have
good hope that none such at present exist : and my counsel
for the future will be, that you cultivate generally a spirit of
forbearance, of concession, of courtesy, of mutual kindness ;
that you abstain from evil speaking, and from unwarranted
suspicions ; that you be candid to real faults and failings, and
remember, that even injuries must be forgiven. I cannot
contemplate such* a society as yours otherwise than as one
family, among the members of which there is really but little
collision of interest, and nothing which needs greatly disturb
the gentle current of brotherly love.
III. But Christian unity is not the only object, to which
the apostle particularly turns your attention : he insists upon
the duty of Christian zeal; for this virtue cannot be more
forcibly enjoined than in the expression of " striving together
for the faith of the Gospel." Christians, indeed, cannot be
in earnest, they cannot really appreciate the blessings of reli
gion, or at any rate cannot be actuated by benevolence, if
they have no wish to extend those blessings to others : nay
more, they must be strangers to that great and holy principle,
the desire of promoting the glory of God. He who knows
nothing of these things, has abundant cause to ask himself,

PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. 89
whether he be really influenced by any sentiment of reverence
to the Almighty, or of love towards man. Mere zeal, how
ever, without regulation or restraint, is but a capricious and
dangerous thing : to be useful, it must act upon system, and
be tempered with sobriety : the wild sallies of individual
warmth are often mischievous : we are commanded " to strive
together:" and I cannot do better than to advert to the points,
which seem in your instance to be most effectual to the end
in view.
You cannot more usefully strive together for the faith of
the Gospel, than in the open and consistent profession of it :
this is indispensable, whatever be your other exertions : and
where is this profession to be made ? Chiefly, though not
exclusively, within these walls : here you prove to each other,
that you take an interest in the maintenance of religion ; that
you are solicitous to uphold its cause ; that you yourselves are
sensible of the blessings dispensed by it ; that you hear the
word of God with satisfaction, and join in the devotion of the
church with comfort ; that you hallow the Christian Sabbath,
in one of its most sacred obligations ; and that however it
may be desecrated by others, you yourselves are on the side
of Christian piety and social order, and are ready to give to
both the weight of your influence and example. It ought,
indeed, to excite in you feelings of gratitude to Almighty God,
that in this remote and secluded spot you have the means
of thus assembling in all the decency of our national wor
ship: how many of our countrymen are denied this privileo-e?
for a privilege it will be deemed by those, who have not yet
learnt to live without God. Great, therefore, would be my
regret to hear, that after all which has been done, the attend
ance at this place was irregular and partial : nor would the
mischief rest with yourselves : surrounded as you are with
those, who as yet have no knowledge of Christ, you must
make your religion visible : and of nothing will they be more
easily informed, than whether you repair on every seventh
day to the house of the living God, or whether this sacred
edifice has been dedicated to him in vain.
Another object, to which I would direct your Christian
zeal, though out of this it originated, is the provision, which
with the liberal aid of the government, you have made for
the instruction of youth. In no other way do Christians

90 A SERMON PREACHED AT
more effectually " strive together for the faith of the Gospel,"
than in training the children of the poor in " the nurture and
admonition of the Lord." From an institution, which is still
in its infancy, and has been subject to local difficulties, very
much perhaps was not yet to be expected : some good has
assuredly been done, and more is in progress : and I know
not of any permanent impediment to its exhibiting hereafter
all the improvements, the arrangement, the facility, the pre
cision, and the benign moral effect on the minds of the scho
lars, which are so conspicuous in the National System, as now
practised in England. I commend, then, this institution to
your continued patronage and care : let it be an object of your
warmest zeal : it is not easy to estimate its eventual import
ance : at any rate, great blessings will assuredly be imparted
to the children themselves : but its influence may be of wider
extent : this island is an advanced post of civilization to the
eastward : from this little seminary it may be the purpose of
the Almighty, in his own good time, to send forth those, who
shall disseminate a knowledge of his attributes and of the
way of salvation ; we presume not, indeed, to fathom his
counsels : but we humbly hope for his blessing, while we em
ploy the appointed means, leaving to his wisdom the issue.
There is but one other point of this nature, to'which I will
advert, and on which the .little I have to offer, is less in the
way of exhortation than of acknowledgment. I have thought
it my duty to suggest the formation at this place, of a District
Committee of the ^Society for promoting Christian Knowledge,
similar to the committees established in other parts fcof this
diocese : and the suggestion, I am bound to add, has been
received with a cordiality, which while it demands my thanks,
promises the happiest consequences. I am not, then, asking
for this establishment a more general support than has already
been pledged to it : my wish is only to declare its objects,
and to make it more efficient, as these become generally
known. By means of this ancient society and its distant
committees, not only bibles, but prayer books, and approved
elementary treatises and easy tracts upon all subjects con
nected with the doctrines, the ordinances, and the duties of
our religion, are provided for those who need them. It is
true, that the field of operation for such an establishment is
not here as yet very extensive ; yet will it not be without its

PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. 91
use. Every poor Christian will be an object of its regard : if
any be sick or in prison, he will demand especial attention :
the school will be supplied with all the books used by the
National Society : every English soldier, who may be quar
tered on the island, and every English sailor, who visits your
shores, may be benefited by the committee's bounty, and pos
sibly may date, as many have done, the commencement of an
altered course of life from the day when his thoughts were
thus first turned to the subject of salvation : and the diligent
exertions of individuals, whether members or not, to ascertain
where books are wanted, will be in the truest sense, " a
striving together for the faith of the Gospel." Much, how
ever, of what I have remarked of your school, will apply to
this institution: its position will give it a more than ordinary
importance : it will be the society's remotest station to the
eastward : and it may look with the Divine blessing, to further
openings and a wider sphere : already I am authorized to
indulge these hopes in the prompt and unreserved support of
the highest authority at a neighbouring settlement. 1
It is now time that I take my leave of you, although some
topics, connected with the present occasion, may remain
untouched : all Christian graces and virtues, indeed, all which
belongs to faith, to piety, to order, and to peace, must work
together in forming a Christian community, which shall do
honour to the Gospel of Christ. To all these I beseech the
the Being, " without whom nothing is strong, nothing is
holy," to incline your hearts ; and that he will " nourish you
with all goodness, and of his great mercy keep you in the
same." Vast as is the extent of this diocese, and various as
are the duties imposed upon me, I must not hope, even if
life be spared me for some years to come, to be an eye-witness
of your progress ; but though absent, I shall endeavour to
" hear of your affairs ;" and I trust, that what I shall hear,
will afford me satisfaction and comfort ; that so my visit to
this place may be associated in my mind with something
even more gratifying than your personal attention and kind-
I The Prince of Wales's Island and Fort Marlborough District Committee of
the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, held its constituent meeting on
Tuesday, the 18th May. The Governor of Prince of Wales's Island consented
to become its President, and" presented, on behalf of the government, a very
liberal contribution to its funds : a similar donation was afterwards received from
the honourable Sir T. S. Raffles, the Lieut. Governor of Fort Marlborough,

92 A SERMON, &C.
ness ; I mean your advancement as a Christian community,
and the probable extension, through your means, of the
kingdom of Christ. We will now proceed to the table of
our Redeemer : to which, as being on the point of leaving
you, I have called you by a special invitation, there to draw
still closer these ties of Christian love, and to ask the suc
cours of Divine grace, that we may in all things approve
ourselves unto God our Saviour.

SERMON,
PKEACHED IN
ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH, BOMBAY,
BEFORE THE SOCIETY FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR,
On the 18th March, 1 821,
BEING THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT ;
BY
THE RIGHT REVEREND
THOMAS FANSHAW,
LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

Resolved. — That the cordial thanks of the Education So
ciety be presented to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of
Calcutta, patron of the institution, for the very appropriate
sermon preached by him in its behalf on Sunday last ,- and that
his Lordship be requested to allow the same to be printed.
H. DAVIES,
Secretary.
March 19. 1821.

SERMON, &c.

Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction. — Matt. vii. 1 3.
To the reflecting mind hardly any truths are more deeply
interesting than such as relate to the general condition of
human life : in these every feeling bosom seems to participate,
and every heart, not hardened by sin or sensuality, finds
something which comes home to itself. The general condi
tion must be more or less our own : who can be reminded,
that the world is full of wretchedness, and not consider that
he is destined to pass in that world all the days of his mortal
life ? or who can listen to observations on the shortness and
uncertainty of our present being, and forget, that he himself
is standing on the very same precipice, from which daily and
hourly so many are seen to fall ? The thoughtless and the
obdurate may, indeed, be proof against all such applications ;
and there is a sophistry, by which men persuade themselves,
that they at least are exempt from the common lot : but this
is not the sane and sober state of the heart and understand
ing ; we are formed by nature to feel ; and in the contemplation
of the scene around us, self love, left to its natural operation,
will teach us to feel for ourselves : every sigh extorted from
the wise and good in every age for the condition of humanity,
does in fact attest our inherent interest in all that relates to
human life : and our sympathies, as the very term implies, are
but involuntary acknowledgments, that • whatever concerns
our common nature, touches some chord within ourselves;
some emotion is awakened within us, when the system is not
greatly disordered, whenever solemn truths are enounced,
which apply not simply to individuals, but universally to man.
It Should seem then, that no heart not altogether become

9(3 A SERMON.
callous, can be unmoved with the awful declaration conveyed
in the text, proceeding as it does from perfect wisdom, and a
divine insight into all which respects our condition. Ac
cording to this oracle, what a world is it, in which we are
placed ! We are journeying, it seems, either to life or to
destruction ; to happiness or to eternal perdition : but " strait
is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it ;" whereas " wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there
be which go in thereat :" through one or other of these gates,
however, all must pass ; the entrance by the one is difficult,
while that by the other is accomplished without effort : the
" way is broad, and the gate is wide," and the number of
those who enter thereat, is declared to be proportionate. And
can any of us regard such a representation of human life
without concern ? It is obvious, and it should seem almost
impossible not to ask ourselves, whether we are travelling on
the wide road at our ease, or labouring along the narrow
path, which alone conducts us to life ? Independently of in
quiry, the probability is that we have not found the path of
hfe, as this is the lot of few : but inquiry may be expected to
confirm the apprehension : is there any thing of conflict in
our religion ? Have we laboured to gain the mastery over
ourselves ? Have we struggled with our natural corruption ?
Are we conscious of any actual danger ? And do we habitually
seek the aid of God in fervent prayer ? If nothing of this has
yet been done, we may be assured, that we are journeying on
the broad and easy way, that leadeth unto destruction : and
be the inferences what they may, we cannot help pronouncing,
with respect to the great majority of mankind, that such is
really the fact : there cannot be any thing deserving the name,
or possessing the efficacy of religion, into which a deep and
sometimes a painful solicitude for our salvation does not
enter : and yet how few are there comparatively, who view
life in any other light, than as a period for the enjoyment of
the world, so far as their means extend, or who ever think of
prosecuting any other way, than that which points to their
worldly interests, or which invites them by the gaiety of its
prospects, and appeals to their love of ease.
But let it not be thought, that this state of things authorises
any inferences unfavourable to the goodness of the Almighty.

EDUCATION OK THE POOR. 97
It is, indeed, to be inferred from the Scripture, and even
from what we may observe in the world, that human life, as
life is very commonly used, will not ultimately turn out to
have been a blessing : it is, in truth, an awful thing to live ;
charged as we are with the responsibilities attending this
state of being, and so little disposed to fulfil them. But this
is not the original constitution of things ; life, can have been
no other than the gift of a merciful God, intent upon calling
into being creatures capable of exalted happiness, and on
enabling them to attain it, unless through their own perverse-
ness and abuse of their natural freedom. Our Saviour, in-
' deed, tells us, that " narrow is the gate ;" but this is not to
affirm, that any are excluded : on the contrary, all are com
manded to " strive to enter in:" (Luke, xiii. 24.) and when
it is added, that " many will seek to enter in, and shall not be
able," it is intended only to warn us against deferring our
repentance, till the door is closed against us in death. We
are sure, on the explicit authority of Scripture, that God
" would have all men to be saved," (1 Tim. ii. 4.), and that
he is " long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance," (2 Pet. iii. 9.)
These declarations are sufficient to convince us, that the
spiritual dangers, which are attendant on life, however real
and extensive they are, must not be sought in the original
constitution of our being : they can only be ascribed to a su
perinduced corruption : and thus they tend to illustrate, as
do almost all the results of our inquiries into human nature,
the scriptural doctrine of the fall, and the consequent need of
a Redeemer : if that doctrine be once admitted, we instantly
perceive that the goodness of God is not impeached in the
blindness of men to their real interests, or in any conse
quences, which may thereupon ensue. All was good as it
came from the hands of the Creator ; and life was designed
to be a blessing, and the source of blessings, although man
so frequently converts it into a curse.
Still, however, we must look at our condition, as it ac
tually is, whatever be the cause which has brought us into it :
the way, on which the greater part of the species are journey
ing through life, is the broad one that leadeth to destruction :
we know this fact upon the unerring authority of our Saviour:
we cannot but acknowledge, that the statement is alarming,

98 A SERMON.
especially as the presumption, which it furnishes, is strongly
against ourselves : but alarm is in every case unavailing, if it
does not lead us to consider by what means the danger may
be avoided: our first and immediate care, no doubt, if we take
the alarm, will be to look to our own safety ; to review our
lives, to examine our hearts, and to question ourselves as to
the foundation of any hope we may entertain, that we our
selves are safe : and if, as will too frequently be the case, when
the scrutiny is impartial!}' conducted, our security turns out
to be little else than indifference, and we are not really living
in the faith and the fear of God, but travelling onward with
the multitude, with scarcely a thought about our final destin
ation, we shall surely trace back our steps, and hasten, how
ever late in life, to find the narrow path. — But what will be
our next concern ? if we are not destitute of pity for our
brethren and of zeal for the glory of God, we shall direct our
attention to the state of those who are still pursuing the way
we have left, or are likely to pursue it hereafter ; and trusting
that, by the grace of God, we are ourselves in the right path,
we shall seek to snatch others from destruction, we shall in
vite and implore thein to accompany us in the narrow way,
which alone leadeth unto life.
It appears, then, that the awful truth contained in the text
supplies a motive to the discharge of two, the most mo
mentous of our Christian duties ; we are to be solicitous for
own salvation, and to inquire whither we are going : we are
next to be car^iil for the salvation of others, and to guide
them, if possible, in the right way. Considerations arising
out of the former of these are, indeed, peculiarly well adapted
to the present solemn season : but the latter seem to prefer
even a stronger claim to your attention, when we advert to
the especial object of this address.
A general concern for the salvation of all men, however
unconnected with us, is the Christian frame of mind : it is, in
fact, the highest and holiest charity, combined with a zeal for
the honour of religion and the glory of God. It is hardly pos
sible to imagine any man to be in earnest in his Christian
profession, and at the same time indifferent, or even lukewarm,
when he sees the multitude around him pressing forward to
destruction ; ignorant, perhaps, although living in a Christian
land, of what is required for their salvation; or, more probably,

EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 99
never laying the subject to heart; but resolving to live un
disturbed while they may, and to abide their destiny, as they
consider it, whatever it may be. In the discharge of the
pastoral office, or even in the exercise of private friendship,
or public charity, we must never despair of reclaiming the
obdurate, even though they be far advanced in life; for
nothing is impossible to the grace of God : but it were too
much to admit, that the task is one in which experience holds
out encouragement : inveterate habits become a species of
nature : connexions long established are not easily dissolved :
and the mind has acquired a rigidity, which renders it inca
pable of adapting itself to a new course of action and senti
ment, and to those altered views of life and of eternity, which
the gospel will imperiously require. It is, therefore, to be
feared, that of the multitude, who have long been travelling
on the " broad way," few can be persuaded to leave it : the
duty, indeed, of attempting to persuade them remains in all
its force ; it is one of those instances, in which despondency is
forbidden, even though we discern not much ground for hope.
But very different is the case of the young ; of those, who
as yet cannot be said to have commenced their journey, either
in the broad or the narrow way, but have yet to choose : and
though their choice of the path of life cannot positively be de
termined by any exercise of the wisdom or the charity of
others, it may be influenced to such a degree, as to ensure
almost a moral certainty, that they will decide aright : we
cannot force them into the right way, but we can train them
in such habits and sentiments, and cherish in them such
dispositions, as will generally lead them to prefer it. Of
the thousands, in fact, who are pursuing the way of destruc
tion, whether in high or in humble life, we may generally pro
nounce, that they have not enjoyed the benefits of a truly
Christian education : of the one class it will probably be found,
that they were diligently instructed in what are called accom
plishments, and of the other that they were utterly neglected
in their youth : but of both alike, that no care was taken to
imbue them with Christian knowledge and principles, or to
rescue them from their natural corruption.
Education, then, is the instrument committed by Provi
dence to the' hands of the Christian, who moved by the
alarming declaration in the text, that the majority of mankind
h 2

100 A SERMON.
are pursuing the road to death, would interfere to save some :
and if we can conceive a case, in which it is especially in
cumbent upon Christians to exert themselves in such a work
of charity, it is surely in the country which we now inhabit.
The situation of the children of the poor in England, with
all the dangers which attend it, (and they are not few,) is a
state of security compared with that of poor European children
in India. At home, to say nothing of the stupendous im
provements recently introduced by the National Society, there
have for many years been schools in most of the populous dis
tricts, in which the elements of Christian knowledge might
be acquired ; and employments for those who were indus
triously disposed, might always be found in agriculture, in ma
nufactures, or in trade : there, too, children bereft of their
parents have probably other relatives, who, though unable to
render them effectual aid, can still afford them some protec
tion : and the system of parish relief, little as it is adapted to
the present state of the country, so materially changed in its
circumstances since that system was first established, is yet
such as to provide that none shall actually perish. Besides
all this, there is what may be denominated a Christian influ
ence, which powerfully operates in a Christian land : the
charity of individuals supplies, in some measure, any defect in
the public Institutions. How many children of faithful ser
vants have always been sent to school by the benevolence of
their employers ! and even they who have not been regularly
trained in Christian principles, are yet within the reach of
them ; they cannot be thrown into a situation where the name
of Christ is unknown ; and the division of the whole country
into parishes, in most of which there is a resident clergyman,
and where the offices of religion are regularly administered,
affords, if not a guarantee that all shall be trained in Chris
tian knowledge, at least an opportunity of acquiring it, to all
who from any cause shall be prompted to desire it.
But how stands the case with respect to India? It ex
hibits a gloomy contrast to the state of things, which has now
been detailed to you, bad as we are accustomed to consider it
at home. Schools adapted generally to the reception of poor
Christian children, were, till lately, unknown in the distant
provinces, and still are few : the employments open to the in
dustry of those who are wholly without education, must, of

EDUCATION OF THE POOH. 101
course, in a country where the agriculture, and manufactures,
and much of the trade are in other hands, be very limited and
precarious : a child, too, who is here bereft of his parents, has
probably not a relative or friend in the country : and it often
happens that of the two supports, which nature has given to
helpless infancy, the one, which is frequently found in Eng
land to be the more efficient, is here nearly useless, or some
times even worse than useless, in a Christian view : through
the influence of native mothers, the daughters, at least, and
sometimes the sons, of Europeans, have been lost to the faith
of Christ. There are cases, too, in which the father is ordered
to Europe, and must leave his children behind him : the
camp, or the barrack, or the bazar is their only place of re
fuge : there have, indeed, been instances of the most generous
and exemplary humanity exercised by persons, on whom the
orphan has had no natural claims, and whose means of doing
good have been exceedingly circumscribed : the ebullitions of
truly Christian pity will burst forth, whenever the feehng is
excited : but its operation must be partial and fortuitous,
where public institutions are wanting, and charity is not
organized into system. In this country, moreover, the ob
jects of charity, of whom we are speaking, are exceedingly
dispersed : their distresses, unless there be a motive to inquire
for cases of distress, in the hope of relieving them, are not
easily brought to light ; the casualties and misfortunes, which
befal the poor, are scarcely heard of: in a Christian neigh
bourhood nothing which deeply affects its meanest member
is unknown, or altogether without interest; but the state of
society is here very different : in its most favourable circum
stances, from its fluctuating nature, we hardly attain to an in
terchange of sympathies between the different classes, and but
rarely between persons of the same class. And as to a gene
rally pervading Christian influence, it is not to be expected :
Christianity is not here sufficiently advanced : it covers too
small a space : it is not always well established in the minds
of those who come hither from a Christian country : the pro
bability is not very great, that it will afterwards gain an
ascendancy over them : we have here, speaking with reference
to the extent over which our countrymen are scattered, but
few churches, few clergy, and few Christian institutions: and
Christian associations, strongly as they are felt in some minds,
h 3

102 A SERMON.
derive, for the most part, but little aid from local circum
stances. Paganism is in possession of the millions, who con
stitute the people : and it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to
suppose, that it has not influences of its own, from the oper
ation of which even Europeans are not altogether exempt.
It was in such a state of things, and probably from the con
templation of circumstances such as those which have now
been detailed, that your Education Society was first esta
blished, and commenced those labours of love, which appear
thus far to have had the blessing of Almighty God : the in
stitution has, indeed, been munificently supported by the
Christian community throughout this presidency : and it ap
pears, as its merits are more generally understood, to be con
tinually gaining strength. It might seem, then, superfluous to
dwell upon its excellencies : at the same time, I should hardly
fulfil the object of this day's solemnity, if I contented myself
with general commendation, and abstained from all notice of
the specific benefits which, with the continued blessing of
God, these schools may be expected to produce.
Chiefly, then, no doubt, and most obviously will benefit
redound to the individuals who are the objects of your care.
View them only in their present state, and in connexion with
the prospects which are opening upon them, and then con
trast with it what they probably would have been, if aban
doned to their natural condition. The mind can hardly
imagine any thing more wretched : poverty, and ignorance, and
vice, and habits perhaps little removed from those of the lowest
and most depraved of the natives, would, in the natural course
of things, have been their portion : but what is the state in
which you have actually placed them ? It has nothing in it
which, in the estimation of the proud and the luxurious, might
redeem it from contempt : but, in a Christian view, it is all
which the well-being and even the happiness of man can re
quire : food and raiment suited to their condition ; — Christian
instruction, and that elevation of mind and character, which
it almost invariably tends to inspire ; — habits of attention and
industry ; — the practice of early piety ; — and such of the
elements of useful knowledge as may fit youth of both sexes
respectively for subordinate, though useful, stations in life; —
these are the benefits, which you confer upon all whom you
take under your protection. — Without presumption we in-

EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 103
dulge a hope, that the seed thus sown will, in very few
instances, be thrown away : similar institutions, which have
been sufficiently long established to furnish the result of ex
perience, have been blessed with abundant fruits. All ex
perience, indeed, tends to prove, that education is the most
powerful, and at the same time the most manageable, engine
of good, which has been committed to man. In the fulfil
ment of prophecy respecting the coming of Christ's kingdom,
we may especially apply to the influence of Christian educa
tion that saying, that " the desert shall rejoice and blossom
as the rose." (Isaiah xxxv. ].)
But the benefits which such an institution confers, are not
confined to the individuals for whom they are immediately
intended : the state will be a gainer in every instance, in
which your labours of love shall not have been wholly inef
fectual. On this point, indeed, I am well aware, that the
fears of some, and those too, good and enlightened men, will
not allow them to concur with me without considerable re
servation, at least in the circumstances of India : it is, how
ever, in those circumstances especially that I would plead the
cause of education. It is said, indeed, and truly said, that
knowledge is power : but is it necessarily hostile power ? and,
further, may we not expect, even if we withhold knowledge,
that power will still exist; and that, too, decidedly and in-
veterately hostile to those interests which we are most soli
citous to maintain ? To the former of these questions it may
be answered, that the power conveyed by knowledge is not
necessarily hostile : mere knowledge, indeed, unaccompanied
with any principles which shall regulate or restrain it, is a
tremendous implement of evil ; and how to convey these prin
ciples is the problem which perplexes us with regard to the
education, or, more properly, the instruction, of the natives ;
for education is a different thing : we can give them know
ledge, but we are for the present precluded from giving them
religion. But this difficulty applies but very partially to the
present institution : in these schools religion and useful know
ledge are blended together : the mischiefs attendant on mere
knowledge are neutralized : they are more, I trust : know
ledge in minds, which have been trained in Christian prin
ciples, constitutes a power which will generally be subservient
to good. But even if we withhold knowledge, will not power
H 4

104

A SERMON.

be created without our aid ? and what will be its character ?
we know that at this moment the most noxious opinions, as
they relate to religion, to morals, and to politics, the very
opinions which threaten to subvert our constitution at home,
are disseminated through every part of India : and on what
class of persons are they calculated more immediately to
operate? Not surely upon educated English gentlemen ; nor,
in the first instance, upon the natives : for they are hardly in
a state at present to enter into such discussions, though they
are advancing to it : but primarily and directly upon that very
class of society, the children of which you are here training
up in piety, and order, and submission to authority, and in
grateful attachment to their benefactors: and many of whom,
unless by such means we take care to have them with us, will,
in any hour of trial, almost certainly be against us : to shut
them out from all knowledge, if it were your policy, is not
within your power : such policy, indeed, could hardly be re
conciled to any liberal or humane feeling : but we have not
the means of adopting it : the children of the class, to which
I refer, will acquire a knowledge and a power of evil, if we
train them not in a knowledge of good. Causes are in oper
ation, over which we have no other control, and the question
seems to be, whether, when our bark is launched into the
ocean, and the tempest begins to blow, we shall endeavour to
steer the vessel through all dangers, or let it drive ? You are
adopting the former course : you give knowledge, indeed,
which is power : it is the force which impels the vessel, and
without which it were stationary and useless ; but you labour
to conduct it to the haven where it should be, by placing
religion at the helm.
But there is one other view, in which your labours may be
regarded, and which should be briefly noticed. You do not
probably consider yourselves as directly advancing the Chris
tian cause among the idolaters around you : directly, indeed
you are not ; but indirectly, I conceive, and largely are you
contributing to this desirable and blessed end ; and in a way,
too, to which the most cautious and timid cannot possibly
object : you are reforming the lower order of Europeans : and
it cannot be doubted, that the habits of Europeans of the
lower class, as well as those of their superiors, have had a
considerable effect in retarding the progress of the Gospel.

EDUCATION OF THE POOR. 10.5
How, indeed, can we expect, that the heathen will forsake
their idols, overpowered by the beauty of the Christian system,
where they see it disfigured, and distorted, and rendered al
most disgusting ? With what consistency or common sense can
we attempt to persuade them to believe in Christ, when pro
fessed believers are acting as if they were the most hardened
of infidels ? Or how shall we gain a hearing for the evidences
of our faith, while we are strengthening, as much as we can,
the prejudices against its truth ? In the early ages, it was not
by preaching alone, even after the cessation of the miraculous
powers, that paganism was induced to take up the cross of
Christ. It was by observing the surprising effects produced
by the Gospel in the hearts and lives, not merely of eminent
saints and preachers, but of the lowest among those, who had
embraced it : the Christians had a distinguishing character :
they believed in Christ, and they bore in their habits the
impress of their faith: they were more honest, more tem-
-perate, more peaceable, than the pagans, with whom they
were liable to be compared: men were not, indeed, thus to
be immediately converted: but the tide of prejudice was
turned, and they were ready to listen at least to the advocates
of the Gospel, and to listen favourably : the inference was
natural and just, that what was thus excellent in its effects
might probably be true : we shall have cause to bless God, if
the day arrive, when the same presumption shall operate in
favour of the Gospel in India : we may then presume to
hope, that " the redemption of this people draweth nigh."
But while I touch upon these collateral topics, let me not
depress in your estimation the importance of that to which I
first adverted, and which alone is your immediate concern ; it
is the saving of the souls of poor children for their oWn sakes,
and for the sake of Christ. Their whole case is contained in
the declaration of my text : they are cast into a world, where
wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction ; but under your
parental guidance and love, they are directed to seek the narrow
path ; and by God's blessing they shall find it. But while
you exult in these happy expectations, and thank the God of
all mercies for having used you as his humble instruments,
let me remind all who hear me, that delightful as is the
spectacle now before us, a very different one may be witnessed
in the world. What are these children, numerous as they

106

A SERMON.

are, to the hundreds, who are still without ? Before them the
broad way and the wide gate are open still; and most of
them will enter thereat, if there be none to divert them from
their course. Labour, therefore, to increase the resources of
this Christian establishment. Give of your abundance, if
God hath blessed j'ou ; or withhold not of the little which he
may have committed to your stewardship. Some trifling
gratification, not essential to your happiness, and of which not
a vestige would on the morrow perhaps remain, is the utmost
sacrifice to be made in the amplest contribution. You are
now called upon to make some sacrifice, whatever it may be,
as an " offering for a sweet-smelling savour" unto Christ your
Redeemer, who will graciously accept it, and place it among
your " treasure in Heaven."

THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD MADE
KNOWN BY THE CHURCH :

A
SERMON,
PREACHED AT
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF CALCUTTA,
On the 3d Day of December, 1820,
BEING THE FIRST SUNOAY IN AOVENT.
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD MADE
KNOWN BY THE CHURCH:
A SERMON, &c.

To the intent, that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God. — Eph. iii. 10.
Although the passage recited is properly the subject of what
I have now to offer, the two verses preceding it must be
placed before you to render it sufficiently intelligible. What
was it, which was done with the intent declared in the text ?
" Unto me," says the Apostle, " who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make
all men see, what is the fellowship of the mystery which from
the beginning of the world had been hid in God, who created
all things by Jesus Christ : to the intent, that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known"
(or, more correctly, made known) " by the church the mani
fold wisdom of God." The event, therefore, brought about
with the intent signified in the text, was the calling of the
blessed apostle to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to proclaim the eternal purpose of God
to abolish in due time all national distinctions, extending
to all the kindreds of the earth a knowledge of Salvation
through the same Redeemer.
In the declaration, then, of the end proposed in the grace
thus given to St. Paul, and we may add, in the divine ap
pointment of the Christian ministry, three topics offer them
selves to our reflexion.
1. What is the manifold wisdom of God ?
2. Why should it be proclaimed to the Gentiles? and.

110 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
3. What are the means, by which the work may and must
be carried on, till all the kingdoms of this world are become
" the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ?" (Rev. ii.
15.) A discussion, such as this, will easily connect itself
with the solemn season of advent ; while it will afford me the
means of adverting to a kindred and local topic, to which,
when viewed in the same relation, some interest will, I trust,
attach. 1 . In the first place, I am to speak to you of " the manifold
wisdom of God :" the very phrase, however, seems to over
whelm us by the variety and weight of the topics, which it
immediately suggests. Manifold, indeed, is that wisdom ;
infinite in its conceptions and modes of operation, even as ap
prehended by the faculties of man : and what then must it ap
pear to sublimer and heavenly intelligences, although even
they, as the text plainly intimates, are as yet but scholars and
novices in the knowledge of the divine dispensations. Even
man, however, with all his feebleness of faculty and corruption
of heart and attachment to the things of the world, when he
can calmly bring himself to reflect upon the themes of cre
ation, and Providence, and grace, discerns enough to fill him
with sentiments of the deepest adoration and awe.
In creation, the field which displays the divine wisdom, is
absolutely immeasurable : into whatever district our curiosity
or piety leads us, there we discover the wisdom of the Al
mighty, whether the object of research be a plant or an insect,
or the system, by .which worlds revolve ; whether it be the
instinct of animals, or the reason of man ; whether it be the
structure of the human frame, or those faculties and powers,
which constitute the activity inherent in mind. And then
what a countless multitude of subjects are either too great or
too small to be grasped by our feeble vision ! What regions
he beyond our reach, of which we but dimly descry the con
fines ! There is no boundary to what we see : we discern
not the termination of any thing : there is always something
beyond, seen more and more indistinctly, till it is lost in dis
tance : the whole circle of human knowledge in comparison
with all the subjects of knowledge, with all which might be
known by an infinite intelligence, and therefore is known to
God, is probably but as a single leaf torn from the middle of
some vast volume, filled indeed with references or allusions

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. Ill
to what has preceded, or with faint anticipations of what is to
follow, and therefore but imperfectly understood, yet leading
the mind to lofty speculations, and admiration of its Author :
we understand just enough to be instigated to thought and
inquiry, and to be convinced, from the little we comprehend,
that wisdom must have dictated the whole. For how many
benevolent ends do we discover in all the realms of nature,
and in every work of God ? What mighty effects are ac
complished by means the most simple, and apparently the
most inadequate ? What provision is made to meet what in
human mechanism we should consider as insuperable diffi
culties, but which, in the divine workmanship, serve only to
evince the operation of one pervading mind ? and what ad
justment in a system inconceivably complicated, so that there
is no collision or interference, where all at the first superficial
glance would seem to be confusion ? Our limits will not per
mit us to illustrate these general remarks by individual exam
ples : but they will be verified by every inquiry into the works
of the Creator.
But what shall we say of Providence ? The evidence
under this head would probably be more striking, than under
that of creation, if we were equally capable of deducing it :
which, however, seems not to be the case. In creation much
may be inferred from the contemplation of the single parts,
and those the most obvious and familiar to our apprehension.
A blade of grass or an ear of corn, though, indeed, we detect not
all its contrivances, is yet sufficiently complete for the purpose,
and exhibits indubitable and connected proofs of profound de
sign ; but in the system of Providence proofs are not easily
drawn from parts : we are required to contemplate and com
prehend the whole. We cannot sever a link from the midst
of a chain, but the chain is broken. In Providence we have
to consider a long series of causes and effects, of purposes
and results, which in that view of the subject, exist not but in
connexion. The results, indeed, are apparent, but not so
the process : we cannot always clearly connect the first cause
with the final effect : the intermediate steps elude our investi
gation. Let it not, however, be thought that this difficulty
at all invalidates the doctrine of Providence, as evincing
the wisdom of God. It is as if we beheld some vast river
discharging its waters into the ocean, but were not permitted
to trace it upwards to its source : we catch, indeed, glimpses

112 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
of it at distant intervals ; but mountains and forests frequently
intervene. Still we are sure, that it has its source somewhere,
however distant or inaccesible. And so it is with all the
good we enjoy in the world, with all the provision made
for our wants, with all our deliverances from danger ; in short,
with all that is incident to men or to nations : events are
brought about, good is accomplished, and evil averted, not
only through means quite inadequate to the end, as we esti
mate these things, but frequently in opposition to natural
causes, of which we see the full force and efficacy, and are
quite at a loss to understand how they have been defeated.
And what is the inference ? It is, that what is not of man is
of God: it is, that an overruling power directs all things.;
influencing the wills of those, who serve him, to what is ulti
mately good ; and in those, who by corruption are biassed to
evil, averting the consequences, if not to themselves, at least
to others, or even converting them to his purposes.
Here, however, we pass to what our text chiefly contem
plates, the manifold wisdom of God in the dispensation of
Grace and in the scheme of redemption. This wisdom, in
deed, is not so easily discerned by minds, in which religion
has made but little progress, as that which beams forth in the
works of creation, or as that of which the proofs are more
slowly deduced from God's moral government of the world.
To be in any degree appreciated, it requires a prepara
tion of the mind and heart ; it requires us to divest ourselves
of pride and prejudice, and to be deeply sensible of our con
dition. The mere philosopher is very capable of discerning
facts, which establish the doctrine of final causes : or the meta
physician may be driven by the necessities of his argument to
acknowledge a pervading and over-ruling mind : but to gain
even a glimpse of what the apostle had called in the context,
" the unsearchable riches of Christ," you must be in principle,
in heart, and in sentiment already Christian : the first step
in your progress must be humility ; humility, however, not as
prompted by unreasonable despair, but as founded in eternal
truth. Look, then, at the natural condition of the species ;
of man without religion, meaning faith in a Saviour and Re
deemer : what is his confidence, or even his hope ? We are
evidently in the situation of those, who have violated a law
fortified by penal sanctions, without any power of satisfying

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 113
the penalty. Sceptics, in the pride of their hearts, may cavil
at this comparison ; but they have never adduced any evi
dence to shew, that it is not strictly applicable. If they will
only admit the being of a perfectly just and holy God, all
substantial consequences, which the Christian claims, will in
evitably follow : it will follow, that the wisdom and mercy of
God were in some way to be exerted for the restoration of
violated order and the indemnity of man. — But even reason
should revolt at the very groundwork of the deistical scheme,
if scheme it can be called, which has no consistent application.
In what a light does deism, if closely examined, place the
deity ? It leaves him in possession of perfect attributes,
which are, however, but imperfectly exercised : it recognises
his sovereignty, but would suspend his functions : it admits
and even insists upon his mercy, but in a way which forbids
us any longer to consider him as infinitely just, and which
affords us no means of asserting his holiness. It represents
him as the author of a law, the sanctions of which can
never be abrogated, and the dignity of which can never
be maintained. It acknowledges him to be the eternal source
of purity and truth, although if the language may be endured,
he acquiesces in falsehood and connives at iniquity. These
results are inevitable, if Christ hath not " appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Heb. ix. 26.)
It is also allowable to ask of those, who profess to admit
no test but reason, whether life is rational without religion ?
rational to the receiver, and rational in the giver ? capable of
being directed to such ends, as reason pronounces to be sufficient
for a creature so endowed, or consistent with any adequate
design of an all-wise creator ? In relation to the former of
these questions, what is this state of ours, uninformed by the
Views and hopes of the gospel, but a scene of vanity ? in
which the enterprises of the brave, and the levities of the
trifling, the studies of the learned, and the schemes of the
ambitious, are all reduced to the same level of insignificance?
They are but different modes of pastime, not equally, indeed,
respected in the world, but equally leading to nothing : and
yet the mere pride of reason, one would imagine, if not
the energies of immortal spirits, Would teach men to look
for something at least beyond the graye. — But still more
shall we be at a loss to reconcile this gift of life with the attri-

114 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
butes of God, if it be not intended, as the gospel represents
it, to be a period of discipline in the school of Christ. Why
else have we in our fallen state, these powers of blessing
and adoring the Almighty, of comprehending truths which
have no relation to our present existence, of being warmed
by piety, of delighting in holiness, and of aspiring to happi
ness far beyond what the world can give, if the only sys
tem, by which these feelings are cherished and matured, be
not of God ?
It may be right, however, to state more distinctly in what
particulars especially our reason discerns the wisdom of God
in the scheme of human redemption : and to judge of it ade
quately we should keep in view, that the end proposed was to
repair the mischiefs occasioned by the fall. Now certainly
we perceive, though our reason could never have suggested
the expedient, that the assumption of our nature by the god
head (great as is the reverence with which we should discuss
such subjects) does really meet the difficulty. It seems to
present a method of atonement, which is at once sufficient to
satisfy the offended majesty of heaven, or, more correctly
speaking, to maintain the sanctions of the divine law, while
the benefits of such atonement all redound upon offending
man : it is at oiice, from its infinite dignity, adequate in the sight
of God, while, being offered in our fallen nature, it extends its
efficacy to every son of Adam. Christ died, indeed, but once:
but for every individual expiation is made, through the oper
ation of " the* righteousness which is of faith." (Rom.
ix. 30.) It seems, therefore, that even our reason should
assent to that doctrine of our creed, " the taking of the man
hood into God." In philosophy we readily admit as true,
whatever serves to solve a difficulty not otherwise to be ex
plained ; and the discovery of such solutions is its highest
triumph. Discovery is here out of the question : but shall
reason presume to reject a doctrine, which reconciles, what
else were at variance, the justice with the mercy of God ; at
tributes which we are sure must co-exist, merely because it is
revealed ? Unless we are prepared to deny altogether the
weakness and the pride of man, it must be conceded, that in
this instance they render him irrational, if indeed his reason is,
in questions of religion, to be submitted to the same test as
in matters of science, or in the ordinary conduct of life.
But there lurks in some men a degree of prejudice against

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 115
what they denominate speculative truths, and a proportionate
disposition to treat them as of little importance: such will
not very readily discern in the scheme of our redemption any
proofs of the wisdom of God. There cannot, however, be a
more unjust or more dangerous distinction, than that which
is thus attempted. All the speculative truths of religion,
which are revealed in Scripture, (and no others deserve any
serious regard) are, in their inferences and consequences and
relations, highly practical : they are in truth the very basis of
all practice ; and none is more extensively so, than the doc
trine of our redemption through Christ. What motives to
holiness can our reason supply, which are not weak and un
availing, compared with the awful consideration of the sacri
fice which infinite justice has required for sin, or with that
adoration and love of God, which arise from the contempla
tion of his mercy ? Or if discoveries were to be made, in
tended to affect mankind in their habits and views and sen
timents, so as to operate upon the whole course of life and
action, through what channel could they have been conveyed
with the same effect, as when they are promulged by him,
to whom all heavenly subjects were familiar, and who had
glory with the Father, before the foundation of the world.
(John, xvii. 5.) If holiness was to be taught by example,
what character has the mind of man conceived, approaching
to the purity and simplicity of Christ ? If pride was to be
abased, what condescension could the world exhibit, resem
bling that of the Son of God ? If despondency was to be
raised and comforted, to what asylum could it flee, com
parable with an all-powerful Saviour ? Or if authority were
requisite, as assuredly it was, to give effect to the lessons of
the teacher, where could it be found in the same degree, as
in him, whose mission was confirmed by miracles, and whose
future advent had been announced from the moment of man's
first disobedience ? Nor are these considerations to be treated,
as merely authorizing an expectation of practical conse
quences, which are no where actually exemplified : the case
is remarkably otherwise : we do find, through all the walks of
human life, and in every region of the earth, that faith in a
Divine Redeemer is the groundwork of the severest morality:
and that no virtue, judged even as the world judges of virtue,
from its benign effects on social happiness, can in point of
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116 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
efficacy or extent be compared with the graces of the Chris
tian. It may truly be affirmed, that the advent of Christ has
in its consequences ennobled our nature ; and where happily
men are living under the influence of the Holy Spirit, has
visibly restored it to the semblance of something divine : the
ideal standard of human excellence, formed before our Sa
viour's appearance, falls very far short of what is attainable,
and is really attained, in the school of Christ.
These reflections, capable however of being pursued through
a thousand channels, may prepare us to form some imperfect
estimate of the wisdom of God in the work of our redemption.
Mysteries, it is true, envelope the doctrine theoretically con
sidered : but in a practical view nothing can be more intelli
gible. Our nature, in its inconsistencies and contradictions,
in its weaknesses and in its strength, in its elevation and de
pression, conspires with Scripture to bear witness to our
primeval fall , and the wisdom of God has been exerted in a
scheme for our restoration through Jesus Christ ; a scheme,
in which mercy is the moving principle, — in which holiness
is vindicated, — in which justice is satisfied, — in which our
weakness is upholden by divine support, — in which holy
desires are instilled into the heart, — in which sorrow is com
forted, — in which repentance is efficacious, — in which sin is
pardoned, — in which God is reconciled, — in which the
world is overcome, and in our last hour Death is deprived
of his triumph. It is to such a scheme more especially, that
the apostle refers, when, he speaks of the " manifold wisdom
of God :" and its complicated characters of power and wisdom
we are able to a certain extent to appreciate, even with our
faint perception of things divine. In no speculation merely
human have such difficulties ever been proposed for solution ;
still less can it be said that they have been solved upon prin
ciples at once so coherent, and at the same time so sublime
in their objects, so simple in their operation, and so effectual
in their result. The greatness of the Deity and the misery
of man had been the theme of sages from the earliest times :
but who had ever suggested, as among things possible, a
theory, by which, while God should be vindicated, man
should be saved ? Consider these points, as they deserve to
be considered, and you will probably conclude, that the
method of redemption, as revealed in the Bible, is one

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 117
among the various and independent proofs, that that book
was inspired of God.
II. But it is time that I proceed to the second question
suggested in the text, why should the manifold wisdom of
God be proclaimed to the heathen ? The inquiry is at any
rate important to those, whom Providence has called to so
journ in a heathen land. You will not, however, expect that
I should be able, within the narrow limits prescribed, to enter
into all the considerations to which such a question might
lead us ; as the correction of morals, — the diffusion of arts
and knowledge, — the abolition of cruel superstitions, — and
the improvement of the general aspect of society under the
humanizing influence of Christianity. I must confine myself
to the topic employed by St. Paul, when he urges the preach
ing of the Gospel, in order that " the manifold wisdom of
God" might thus be made known " to the principalities and
powers in heavenly places." You can hardly require to be
reminded, that this is an appellation of those superior intelli
gences, the different orders of Angels and Spirits, which sur
round the throne of God. It may seem, however, that this
motive is too abstracted to be generally operative : it might
even have been thought, that the holy Angels would not
need to be instructed on such a subject, if the contrary were
not expressly declared : but there are depths in the dispensa
tion of grace, which, as St. Peter tells us, " even the Angels
desire to look into:" (1 Pet.i. 12.) the whole extent of it is
not seen at once even by celestial Spirits. But what an idea
does this convey to us of the scheme of our redemption !
With what awe should we contemplate it ! How should we
adore the wisdom, which conceived it from the beginning of
the world ! And how should we tremble, if we are conscious
of neglecting so great salvation, or " of crucifying to ourselves
the Son of God afresh !" (Heb. vi. 6.) The inference, how
ever, is certain, that in the progress of divine truth and the
triumphs of the Gospel, even the holy Angels themselves
gain a clearer insight into the will and the purposes of the
Almighty : still it may be thought that this consideration is
not such as to operate generally, as an inducement to the
diffusion of Christianity. They who feel this objection, it
may be suspected, are not really impressed with that most
efficient of all motives, a zeal for the glory of God. The
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118 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
edification of the heavenly Spirits may not, indeed, imme
diately present itself to our minds : the idea is not sufficiently
familiar to us : our intercourse is with God or with men : but
the motive assigned, being taken thus high, comprises all
lower degrees of it : that men may glorify God when they see
our good works, is a consideration perfectly level to our views
of duty : and this consideration is not weakened, but rather
strengthened, when we recollect, that even the Angels them
selves give glory unto God, when they behold the advance
ment of his purposes through the piety of their humbler fellow-
servants. Consider, then, what is the notion of a zeal for the glory
of God. It is founded in a deep feeling and a practical re
cognition of the Divine perfections, and in a desire that all
men should know them, as we ourselves do. We are con
vinced that the law of the Almighty is holy, and wise, and
good : we are firmly persuaded, that happiness is to be found
only in obedience to it : we are grateful for that portion of
comfort and support, which we ourselves have derived even
from a very imperfect compliance with the will of God : in
love tq our brethren and in pity to the ignorant, we wish
that they could be persuaded to make an experiment of a
religious life : we are sure, that to honour and to love God
is the only true felicity ; and we believe, that the more deeply
the name and the greatness of the Almighty are revered, the
more completely will men fulfil the ends of their being. But
even though the world should be deaf to our arguments, or
scorn our notions, we ourselves, under the influence of these
convictions, shall take care to give no occasion to the enemies
of religion to blaspheme ; on the contrary we shall endeavour
so to regulate our conduct, that even they who deride our
scruples, as they will call them, or pity our weakness, shall
reluctantly admit, that religion is the parent even of the
virtues, which the world respects, although it refuses to lower
its standard to the levity or laxity of the age.
A zeal, then, for the glory of God, if its lineaments have
now been correcdy portrayed, will be forcibly directed to
the state of those nations, in which the Gospel is not merely
undervalued, but utterly unknown. Where, for instance,
shall its energies be excited, if they are dormant in the land,
which we now inhabit ? In what other region of the known

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 119
World is the glory of God more effectually obscured, and
His truth, to allude to the Apostle's saying, more palpably
" turned into a lie ?" (Rom. i. 25.) The case of ruder
nations furnishes no answer to this question : refinement,
when corrupted, may be worse than barbarism ; and system
has a power of evil beyond simplicity. Where else too,
we may ask, do we find more evident vestiges of that
fall from primeval uprightness, which the Gospel was de
signed to repair ? From the dislocated strata and confused
position of heterogeneous substances in the bowels of the
earth, the geologist attests the breaking up of the vast deep
in times remote, if he yield not implicit faith to the Scrip
tures : and here, in like manner, does the Christian trace
indubitable evidence of that wreck and ruin of the moral
world, which the same Scriptures record : the best qualities
or tendencies of our nature and their opposite defects are
found in immediate contact : the fear without the knowledge
of God ; — courtesy without brotherly love ; — profuseness
without public spirit; — lowliness without humility; — a con
sciousness of sin without the want of a Saviour ; — fortitude
without feeling or resignation; — and a contempt of death
without a thought of immortality; — these are among the
inconsistencies and perversions of original goodness, which
every day's observation may exhibit to our notice : and who
can contemplate these appearances, and not lament them?
or who, that laments them, can be backward to employ the
remedy? I mean not, of course, in any way but that of
affectionate and Christian solicitude, and by teaching and
" persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God."
(Acts, xix. 8.)
There have been, however, and even yet perhaps they
are not extinct, certain prejudices against all endeavours
to disseminate Christianity in this country. With those
which are purely political I have no other concern than to
remark, that all policy is, to say the least of it, very question
able, when it is manifesly opposed to the purposes of Him,
" who ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom
soever He will." (Dan. iv. 17.) No policy, in fact, in a case
like the present, can be openly avowed, which does not
profess to keep in view the real interests and permanent
happiness of the governed : and thus the question will be
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120 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
reduced to the very simple one, whether the temporal and
eternal good, one or both of them, of the nations around us,
would not be promoted by a gradual development to their
minds and hearts, of the truths of the Gospel ? I say,
gradual, for he who should attempt or expect more than
this, would in the attempt do mischief and in the expectation
evince little knowledge of the actual state of things.
With respect to the question of temporal advantage, it is
difficult to reply to objections, which assume no fixed or
tangible form : we hear it, indeed, sometimes hinted, that
these people are already in a condition, which perhaps may
be deteriorated, but cannot easily be improved. If, however,
the prevalence of liberal knowledge, habits of industry,
mutual confidence in the transactions of life, a respect for
the basis of all moral integrity, I mean truth, the absence of
those social distinctions, which serve only to depress the
great mass of the species, the elevation of the female part of
society to their proper dignity and influence, and the pos
session of that liberty, wherewith Christ has made men free,
(Gal. v. 1.) and which is really the principle, however over
looked, of all national greatness and prosperity in modern
times, — if these several particulars, enter largely into the
theory of the well-being of any people, it were surely too
much to abandon all established maxims and the dictates of
our common feelings, in mere courtesy to supposed interests
or secret predilections. For the want of such national bles
sings, as those which are here enumerated, no equivalent can
be pleaded, and no compensation made.
But we cannot, as Christians, consent to rest the whole
argument upon the prospect of temporal advantages. The
Advent of Christ is no Advent to the people around us : we
presume not indeed to say, that in their present unconverted
state they derive no benefit whatever from the incarnation
and death of a Saviour: it should rather appear from the
Scriptures that the contrary is the truth, in a question of
much difficulty and perplexity. We read that the Almighty
" is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe."
(1 Tim. iv. 10.) The discussion of such a subject might
alone occupy a volume : but it requires no discussion -to
establish, even admitting the salvability of the heathen, that
great spiritual advantages do attend, and are confined to, an

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 121
actual belief in Christ : the passage last cited recognises the
fact: why else do we read, that he who would have all men to be
saved, would have them also " come to a knowledge of the
truth." (1 Tim. ii. 4.) Why else is Christ called the Way,
as well as the Truth and the Life? (John xiv. 6.) Why else,
in short, to pass over a multitude of passages bearing upon
this subject, should our Saviour have commanded his Dis
ciples to " preach the Gospel to every creature"? (Mark
xvi. 15.) He says of himself that he " came into the world
that He might bear witness to the truth :" (John xviii. 37.)
but He is no witness of it to them, who know Him not,
nor can they believe in His name. It is, in short, the general
tenor of the New Testament, illustrated and confirmed in the
lives and sufferings of the Saints and Martyrs, who went
forth under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that great, if
not fatal, disadvantage attends on those, who know not the
" way of Salvation ;" and it may be, though our limits will
not permit us to go into the proofs of this opinion, that they
are rarely seen to live in that " Spirit of Faith" (2 Cor. iv. IS.)
which God possibly, for the sake of Christ, may be pleased
to accept; and that the highest happiness to which they
can attain hereafter is inconsiderable, compared with that
which is reserved for the enlightened and humble believers
in Christ. Any apparent inequality in such a course of pro
ceeding may be vindicated by obvious analogies, and by a
becoming attention to the principle, that all which we receive
in things temporal or spiritual is freely of the Grace of God.
There is one other point connected with this head, which
must not be entirely overlooked : it is the universality pro
fessedly intended and promised to the faith of Christ ; and of
course the duty, which thus is imposed upon all Christians,
in their proper spheres of action, to promote and extend it.
But this is not all; men may not perceive that this principle
of universality is among the characters, which distinguish
Christianity as a revelation of divine truth. It is possible,
indeed, and in one instance it is exemplified, that the founder
of a false religion may stimulate his followers to universal
conquest under the pretence of exterminating infidelity, and
doing honour to God. Such a spirit, however, is not easily
confounded with the mild and beneficent genius of Chris
tianity : its victories are all bloodless, and its trophies are

122 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
the prevalence of the love of God and man, and of a reason
able and acceptable worship, in regions where barbarism or
superstition till then had reigned. We should recollect,
however, that though an impostor might, in the mere spirit
of carnality and ambition, seek the propagation of his tenets,
an inherent impossibility in any mode of religion, that it
should become universal, is a certain proof, where that
religion is not a mere " shadow of things to come, while the
body is of Christ," (Col. ii. 17.) that it cannot be from
Heaven. If God is one, so also must be his final purpose
respecting man : if the Saviour be but one, so also must be
the method of salvation : if the Holy Spirit be but one, He
can never have inspired or suggested all the jarring systems
which divide mankind. And though this argument does
not of itself enable us to decide which of them is the true
one, it effectually invalidates the claims of those, which
confessedly are partial and incapable of extension. In other
words, the system of faith, which prevails in this country,
even if it had any shadow of evidence in its behalf, would be
completely disproved by its wanting the principle of dissemin
ation and diffusion : and its defence is virtually abandoned,
when its adherents are driven to profess, that the Almighty
is delighted with variety in the systems of human belief, and
that all, therefore, may be acceptable ; as if truth and sal
vation and the will of God were but modes and fashions to
be adapted to the convenience or caprice of the believer.
Nor is the subtesfuge more availing, when to avoid this
difficulty the plea is urged, that the sacred books of all
nations do really and in spirit teach the same thing : if it be
urged in ignorance, it may excite our pity; but certainly it
is not true, that any book, except the Bible, teaches that which
is the object and the essence of the Bible, and to which all
else is collateral, salvation through the Son of God. It is a
triumphant consideration, therefore, in all such questions,
that Christianity not only professes to be designed for uni
versal acceptance, but moreover is fitted, without any accom
modation or sacrifice of its purity, to be the religion of the
civilised world : that it humanises where it does not find
humanity ; and that allowing for and retaining a difference
of usages in things indifferent, it is adapted to combine in
one scheme of faith and hope the whole family of man. As

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 123
St. Paul expresses it, " there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond
nor free : but Christ is all and in all." (Col. iii. 11.)
3. But lastly I am to remind you of the appointed means,
by which the glory of God is to be advanced upon earth,
and indeed, as we have seen, in Heaven. St. Paul says
expressly that the manifold wisdom of God, should be made
" known by the Church." This declaration surely conveys
the idea of a high privilege, that of being the authorised
channel of diffusing through the world a knowledge of the
divine greatness in Creation and in Providence, but especially
in Redemption to be extended to the whole of the human
race : and it is in somewhat of a kindred spirit, that the
church is elsewhere denominated the " pillar and ground
of the Truth." (1 Tim. iii. 15.) Lofty as these expressions
may appear, there is nothing in them figurative or hyper
bolical: they correspond with the actual glories of the church,
as they have been exhibited from its first foundation down
to the present hour. What is the difference between the
state of the world at present, and as it existed two thousand
years ago ? It is the difference which has been made by the
preaching of the Gospel. If any doubt this assertion, let
him turn his eyes to the condition of those regions, on which
the Sun of Righteousness has not yet arisen. Some profess
to expect all improvement from a natural expansion of the
human powers : but is it not constantly affirmed and believed,
that the state of this country is precisely such, as it was in
the days of Alexander ? unless, indeed, there be reason to
suspect that it is somewhat deteriorated. On the other
hand, do we not know, that the highest degrees of knowledge
and holiness, -of civil liberty and of social happiness, do
actually exist, where at that period, a state of things pre
vailed, as bad perhaps in all respects as any which we now
contemplate? To reclaim our ancestors from their idolatrous
and cruel superstitions was apparently as difficult, and cer
tainly as benign a task, as any which the church would now
accomplish. And thus it is throughout the world: nations
become enlightened and happy precisely in proportion to
their Christian knowledge, and to the purity in which they
have received and maintained the faith of Christ : or in the

124 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
words of my text, in proportion as the church has made
known to them the manifold wisdom of God.
Consider, however, in what sense St. Paul in speaking of
the church, may be supposed to apply the term ; it can be
only in the apostolical acceptation : we find that even in
those early times the name was abused ; there were divisions
and heresies, all claiming to be of the church : but the
dividers were to be marked, (Rom. xvi. 17.) and the heretics
to be rejected. (Tit. iii. 10.) Not all, therefore, who bore
the Christian name, were of the church : and the term
could be meant only of those, who " continued steadfast,"
as it is said in the Acts (ii. 42.) " in the Apostles' doctrine
and fellowship." In short, the " one Catholic and Apos
tolic Church" of Christ, which in our creed we profess to
believe, is the church which St. Paul means to designate as
" the pillar and ground of the truth," and as the appointed
channel for diffusing through the earth the blessings of light
and the tidings of salvation.
To this church, then, of which there are many branches,
" abiding in Christ, the true Vine," as we trust, and " bearing
fruit," (John xv. 5.) it cannot be questioned by any, who hold
to the Apostolic model, that the Church of England pre
eminently belongs : her government is primitive, being of the
form which alone was recognised during the early ages ; her
doctrines are Scriptural, her liturgy, breathing, throughout,
the purest spirit of the Gospel ; and her worship is at once
reasonable, decent, -orderly, and edifying, removed alike from
childish and superstitious pageantry, and from irreverence
and rude familiarity towards the Creator: she has, indeed,
been admitted even by those, whom local circumstances have
fixed in other communions, to be the queen of protestant
churches and the bulwark of the protestant cause. I would
add, that no church can be better adapted to receive and to
retain converts in the Eastern world, when once their minds
shall have been brought to be satisfied with the simple de
cencies which are the proper garb of truth. Nor ought it to
be overlooked, in a view of the question, which may hereafter
be found important, that her principles are those of order
and attachment to our national establishments. Strange in
deed would be an indifference as to the political prepos
sessions of those, who undertake to be the teachers of the

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 125
people, especially in an empire so circumstanced as the Bri
tish empire in India.
It cannot then be imagined, that in the work prescribed to
the church of Christ, that branch of it to which we belong
has no part, nor even a subordinate part to fill. It should
seem, indeed, if her duties are to be measured by her means
and opportunities, that no church since the days of the
Apostles has been called to such high destinies. To what for
tuitous coincidence shall we impute it, that at this moment
her clergy are exercising their ministry in every quarter of
the globe? In America flourishing churches have grown up
entirely under her patronage. (A) In Africa a colony has
been planted, by which her doctrines and discipline are
brought into contact with the superstitions of ignorant and
barbarous tribes. In New South Wales she has a field be
fore her nearly equal in extent to the whole of Europe. And
what shall we say of Asia ? A vast empire has been given
us, or rather imposed upon us ; and wherefore ? He who
can reconcile such a consummation even to philosophical
views of the ways of God, without reference to the purposes
of His manifold wisdom as revealed in Scripture, and can
believe it to have been brought about merely for the gratifi
cation of our avarice or vanity, cannot have advanced very far
in the knowledge which sound philosophy might teach him :
it is not merely unchristian, it is unphilosophical, it is un
reasonable to believe that God ever works in vain, or even
brings about mighty revolutions with a view to results com
paratively mean and trivial.
I cannot conclude, however, without briefly adverting to a
topic closely connected with our present discussion, and not
unfitly introduced at the present season. Out of the zeal of
our church and nation, appealed to by royal authority, and at
the instance of an ancient and chartered society (B), to make
known the manifold wisdom of God, an institution (C) is likely
to arise in this vicinity, calculated, as we trust, under Provi
dence, to advance the glory of God and the highest interests
of man. It is designed to be strictly collegiate (D) in constitu
tion, in discipline, and in character: its objects will be the
education of Christian youth in sacred knowledge, in sound
learning, in the principal languages used in this country, and
in habits of piety and devotion to their calling, that they may

126 THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD
be qualified to preach among the heathen : the attention of
the learned persons connected with it will be directed to
making accurate versions of the Scriptures (E), of the liturgy,
and of other holy books : it will endeavour to disseminate
useful knowledge by means of schools, under teachers well
educated for the purpose ; and it will aim at combining and
consolidating, so far as may be, into one system, and directing
into the same course of sentiment and action, the endeavours
which are here made to advance the Christian cause, The
favour and patronage of the public in England have been
eminently displayed towards the projected institution : the
king's letter, granted to the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, has been productive beyond all ex
ample; and other religious societies and public bodies have
munificently aided the work. (F) It will be evident, however,
when the objects (G) are considered, that more abundant
means will still be requisite to give to such a plan all the effect
of which it is naturally capable ; nothing perhaps equally
comprehensive has yet been attempted by any protestant
church; yet I doubt not that the members of our own,
wherever dispersed, will be ready to afford it their assistance,
and more especially in India. With a degree of impatience,
for which the motive is an ample excuse, some have wished
that the established church would show herself more promi
nently in the great work of diffusing the light of the Gospel
through the Eastern world. This duty, though not hitherto so
fully discharged as may have been desired, has never been for
gotten. ( H) In the present endeavour she avails herself of means
and opportunities, which until now had been withholden.
For their efficacy we trust in the Almighty: at the same time
beseeching him to put it into the hearts of all, to whom the
appeal (I) shall be made, to further and support an institution
having no object but his glory, in making known by the
church his manifold wisdom to those who " have the under
standing darkened, and are alienated from the life of God."
(Eph. vi. 18.)

MADE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH. 127

NOTES.

Note (A) p. 125.
Nova Scotia and Quebec are dioceses, forming branches of the esta
blished church of England ; both of them, but the former especially, are
deeply indebted to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Fo
reign Parts. In Nova Scotia the clergy are appointed and maintained by
the Society ; to whom also whatever is found of episcopacy within the
United States may in great measure be attributed. The bishops there
preside over churches formed out of the wreck and remnants of congrega
tions, which had been established by the society, and which their mission
aries were obliged to abandon in the public commotions, which terminated
in the separation of the greater part of the colonies from the British
crown. These churches appear to be increasing in numbers and import
ance, although they have not, more than any other religious community,
support from the state. It cannot, indeed, be matter of surprise, that
reflecting Christians should, in a country where religion is abandoned to
anarchy, fanaticism, or neglect, flee to an asylum, where primitive order
and sober piety prevail. Note (B) p. 125
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was
incorporated by royal charter in the thirteenth year of the reign of His
Majesty William III., a.d. 1701. some further particulars will be found in
the Appendix. On the petition of the society that His present Majesty
(then Prince Regent) would graciously be pleased to enable them to
extend their operations to the continent and islands of Asia, a royal letter
was granted, dated the 10th February 1819, directed to the archbishops of
the two provinces, and authorising a collection to be made in the churches
throughout the kingdom, in furtherance of this charitable design.
Note(C) p. 125.
The foundation stone of the college of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, was laid on Friday, the 15th December
1820, on a piece of ground on the bank of the river, about three miles
below Calcutta, and adjoining to the Honourable Company's botanic
garden, granted to the society, in the name of the Honourable Company,
by the most noble the Marquess of Hastings, governor general in counciL
The following were the prayers used, and the proceedings which took
place on the occasion : —
Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thy humble
servants, before we enter upon the work, which we are now assembled to
take in hand, implore thy grace and blessing. We know that the designs
of man avail not to thy glory, unless they are accepted for the sake of thy
Son, and are aided by thy Holy Spirit. The offerings of the rich and the
counsels of the prudent are alike unprofitable, if Thou, in whose hands are

128 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
the issues of all things, withholdest the brightness of thy presence. Vouchsafe
then, O Lord, to look down from heaven, in the abundance of thy mercy,
on our hearty desires to advance the kingdom of thy Son. Behold us here
surrounded by millions of our fellow-men, who know not the name of
Him, by whom alone they can be saved, having their understandings
darkened, and being sunk into sin and sensuality. Moved with compassion
at this their state, and desiring to impart to them the blessed knowledge
and saving faith, which Thou hast mercifully revealed to ourselves, we ask
thy favour to an institution, adapted, as we believe, under thy gracious
providence, to the diffusion of truth and of consolation in a Saviour. In
thy goodness, then, prosper this our undertaking, that so it may redound
to thy glory and to the salvation of souls. Vouchsafe to all, who shall
belong to this seminary, thy especial guidance and blessing. Let those
who shall govern it be ever mindful of the solemn trust committed to
them, and labour to maintain within its walls sound discipline, and Chris
tian holiness. Let those, who shall be instructors, especially direct the
minds of youth to the objects of their sacred calling. Let the students
grow up in grace, and become daily more and more disposed to renounce
all secular allurements in the hope of being accepted instruments in ad
vancing the kingdom of thy Son. Let its learned men be mighty in the
Scriptures, and so skilled in languages, that they may faithfully and intel
ligibly propound thy Holy Word. Let its missionaries go forth in meekness,
in patience, and in love unfeigned, as faithful apostles of Jesus Christ : and
may all, who shall in any way be admitted to its benefits, be actuated by
unity of spirit, and speak the same thing : let no schisms, or heresies,
or divisions, defeat the end of their calling, or give occasion to the enemies
of Christ to blaspheme : but let primitive truth and apostolical order and
unwearied labours of love be evidences, that Thou art with them, and that
thy Spirit has deigned to rest upon the spot, from which they were sent.
O Lord, we pray thee, accept this place unto thyself: let it be a school of
pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the
body of Christ ; increasing more and more, until this land of darkness be
illumined in all its fecesses with the light of the everlasting Gospel, and
the Gentiles, sitting down together in the kingdom of their common Re
deemer, shall glorify God for his mercy. Hear us, we beseech Thee, for
the sake of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
O Lord, who alone puttest it into the hearts of sinful men to seek thy
glory, we thank Thee that Thou hast been pleased to stir up in our church
and nation that zeal for the honour of thy name, of which this institution
will be, as we trust, among the blessed fruits. Our fathers saw not in
their day these manifestations of thy kingdom. More especially we bless
Thee for all the labours of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; and particularly for the extension of their
charitable designs to this quarter of the globe. We thank Thee that it
hath pleased our most gracious sovereign to authorize the collection of
the alms of the pious throughout our native country, in aid of a desire to
diffuse the light of the Gospel through those parts of the continent and
islands of Asia, which are subject to British authority. We acknowledge
it to have been of thy goodness, that other religious societies and public
bodies have munificently contributed to the furtherance of this Christian

NOTES. ¦ 129
enterprise. We recount with gratitude, that the supreme government of
British India has, on behalf of the Honourable East India Company, and
for the purposes of this institution, granted and assigned this spot, well
adapted to the cultivation of sacred studies and to holy retirement. And
we forget not to praise Thee for every manifestation of good will to this
design, whether it be from the rich and powerful, or from those who can
only pray for its prosperity. Suffer not; O Lord, this zeal to abate, if, as
we trust, it be of Thee, and has been kindled by thy Holy Spirit: that
when we, who behold the beginning of this work, shall be gathered to our
fathers, they, who shall come after us, may gladly support and extend it.
Raise up to this house, we humbly beseech Thee, a never-failing succession
of benefactors, who shall be animated with the spirit and views of its
founders ; and whose names may be perpetuated through all generations
as of blessed memory, and their good deeds be accepted at the throne of
grace through the sole merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen. O Lord Almighty, who hast promised to be evermore with thy church,
militant here on earth, we commend to thy especial guidance and pro
tection that apostolical branch of it of which we are members, and which is
now established in this country. And herein we pray for our most gracious
sovereign lord King George, and the whole of the royal family ; for the mi
nisters and dispensers of thy word and sacraments, wherever dispersed, and
for all congregations committed to their charge. More particularly, as we
are in duty bound, we ask thy blessing on the Honourable the East India
Company, and on the government of this great empire ; on the Most Noble
the Marquis of Hastings, the members of the Supreme Council, and on
all who act in authority under them ; on the judges of the Supreme Court ;
on the magistracy, and on all ranks and orders of the people j grant that
in their respective stations they may be influenced by an unceasing regard
Tor the improvement and happiness of the less favoured children of the
same Creator; and so dispdse their hearts, that the renown and dominion
in these eastern regions, to which thou hast wonderfully exalted our na
tion, may be found to have been among the counsels of thy providence for
the diffusion of thy saving and eternal truth. And suffer not, O Lord, this
end to be retarded by any habitual violations of thy gospel, among those
who profess and call themselves Christians; but teach us all to feel, that
we are required to be examples to the unbelievers in purity, in piety, and
in charity. Furthermore, we ask, that thy choicest graces may be vouch
safed to those who are called and sent to bear the tidings of salvation to
the Gentiles. Endue them, O Lord, with that power of thy word, with
that holiness of life, and singleness of heart, and freedom from the dis
traction of secular and party views, which are the endowments of the true
missionary, and which alone can call down thy blessing on his endeavours.
Increase the number of those, who in this spirit are ready to devote them
selves as apostles of thy blessed Son; and may the house which we now
build, be the fruitful parent of thosev who having converted many to
righteousness, shall shine as the stars for ever. Lastly, we commend to
thy Holy Spirit ourselves, who are here assembled: in this, and in every
work of charity, may we find our hearts more deeply and surely engaged
in thy service, and more indifferent to the perishable concerns of the world.
K

130 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
Let every day bring us nearer unto Thee : let a more fervent love of Thee,
a more profound adoration of thy greatness, and a warmer zeal for thy
glory be the encouragement and reward of our imperfect endeavours to
exalt thy name : nor let us forget that, a little while, and all which shall
remain of our earthly career, shall be the fruits of our faith in Christ, and
those works which follow us. These prayers we offer unto Thee through
the sole mediation and merits of Jesus Christ, in whose blessed name and
words we sum up our petitions : —
Our Father, SfC.
Then the following inscription was read from a brass plate : —
INDIVIDtLE. ET. BENEDICTS. TRINITATI. GLORIA.
COLLEGII. MISSIONARII.
SOCIETATIS. DE. PROPAGANDO. APUD. EXTEROS.
EVANGELIO.
EPISCOPALIS. AUTEM. NUNCUPANDI.
PRIMUM. LAPIDEM. POSUIT.
THOMAS. FANSHAW. EPISCOPUS. CALCUTTENSIS.
PRECIBUS. ADJUVANTE. ARCHIDIACONO. CjETERO-
QUE. CLERO.
RESPONDENTE. ET. FAVENTE. CORONA.
DIE. XV. DECEMBRIS.
ANNO. SALUTIS. MDCCCXX.
BRITANNIARUM. REGIS. GEORGII. IV. PRIMO.
PRINCEPS. ILLE. AUGUSTISSIMUS.
QUUM. REGENTIS. MUNERE. FUNGERETUR.
LITERAS. SOC1ETATI BENIGNE. CONCESSIT.
QUIBUS. PIORVM. ELEEMOSYNAS.
PER. ANGLIAM. UNIVERSAM. PETERE. LICERET.
HOS. IN. USUS. EROGANDAS.
IN. EOSDEM. VIR. NOB1LISSIMUS.
FRANCISCUS. MARCHIO. DE. HASTINGS.
REBUS. INDICIS. FELICITER. PROPOSITUS.
AGRI. SEXAGINTA. BIGAS. BENGALENSES.
AD. RIPAM. GANGETIS. PROPE. CALCUTTAM.
NOMINE. CCETUS. HONORABILIS. MERCATORUM.
ANGLICORQM.
CHARTULIS. ASSIGNAVIT.
SOCIETAS. VERO. DE. PROMOVENDA. DOCTRINA.
CHRISTIANA.
PARTICEPS. CONSILII, FACTA.
GRANDEM. EST. LARGITA. PECUNIAM.
ILLA. ITIDEM. MISSIONARIA.
CUI. NOMEN. AB ECCLESIA. DUCTUM.
NE. TALI. TANTOQUE. DEESSET. INCEPTO.
PAR. MUNUS. ULTRO. DETULIT.
CHRISTI. NON. SINE. NUMINE.
LiETA. HiEC. FUISSE. PRIMORDIA.
CREDANT. AGNOSCANT. POSTERI.
AMEN.
Then the plate was deposited, and the stone was laid, and the bishop
pronouncing : —
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, one
God blessed for ever, I lay this the foundation stone of the Episcopal

NOTES. 131
Mission College of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, to be commonly called and known^as " Bishop's
College, near Calcutta."
O Father Almighty, through whose aid we have now commenced this
work of charity, we bless Thee that we have lived to this day; O prosper
the work to its conclusion ; and grant that so many of us as thy provi
dence shall preserve to witness its solemn dedication, may join together in
heart and in spirit in praising thy name, and in adoring thy mercy, and in
supplicating thy favour to this house evermore ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. The peace of God, &c. &c. Note (D), p. 125.
The intention is to make the discipline and studies established in our
English universities, with so much benefit to the cause of true religion and
sound learning, the basis of the constitution of the College near Calcutta ;
and to raise upon them such a superstructure, as the circumstances of this
country and the particular destination of the students may require. The
site of the college ensures seclusion and freedom from interruption : the
students will be constantly within their own walls or grounds, except by
special permission, and be subject to a system of order and restraint ; and
the chapel, the hall, and the lecture rooms will claim their regular attend
ance at specified hours. In their studies, theology, with all that is subsidiary
to it, will form the prominent employment of those who are designed for
the ministry; combining with the study of the Holy Scriptures, Hebrew
and the learned languages, ecclesiastical and profane history, the ele
ments of natural philosophy, and so much of mathematical knowledge as
may tend to invigorate their minds and facilitate all other acquirements.
They who shall be destined to be school-masters, will have their studies
in like manner directed to their future efficiency : they will be well
grounded in classical learning, and be furnished with all those branches of
knowledge which may conduce to open the minds and dissipate the preju
dices of the native population of India. By both classes of students, however,
the Oriental languages, those especially used in the districts, which may
be expected to become the scene of their future labours, will be cultivated
with the greatest application; and all will be familiarised with the prin
ciples which attach British subjects to their national establishments, and
be trained in feelings of respect and deference for the constituted au
thorities in India : and it is hoped, that with the divine blessing, early ha
bits of piety and industry, and self-control, combined with an affectionate
remembrance of the place of their education, will give to the students a
character of mind and sentiment which they will never lose, and by which
they shall be marked and known in all future life.
Note (E), p. 126.
Some of the latest periodical publications announce, that the offer of a
considerable sum of money has been voted to the college in this specific
department of its proposed operations, but no official intelligence to that
effect has yet been received.
K 2

132 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
Notc(V), p. 126.
The royal letter is understood to have produced about 4 7,000/., or
nearly 48,000/. : on any former occasion the sum raised never actually
reached 20,000/. The late collection includes a grant of 500/. from the
university of Oxford, and several liberal contributions from other public
bodies and from opulent individuals. Of the proceeds the society antici
pated 5,000/. by a vote to that amount, to the bishop of Calcutta, to enable
him, in any way which he might deem advisable, to extend the operations
of the society to the East, and this sum has been applied to the erection
of the college. The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge having
been invited to co-operate with the sister society, also placed the sum of
5,000/. at the bishop's disposal, to be applied to the purposes of the col
lege ; and the Church Missionary Society immediately voted to the bishop
an equal sum in furtherance of the same object.
Note(G), pA2G.
The objects of the college, as originally projected, were enumerated in a
letter addressed by the bishop of Calcutta to the secretary of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts : of that letter a very
' large impression was distributed in England, and it found its way into most
of the periodical publications which notice religious proceedings. It may be
right, notwithstanding, to state briefly that the college is founded for a prin
cipal and two other professors, and for as many students as the funds of the
society shall enable them to maintain in college, and whom they can after
ward^ provide for as missionaiies, schoolmasters, or cate'chists at the sta
tions to which they may be appointed ; such stations to be under episcopal
jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical or spiritual, and subject in other
points to the visitation of the visitor of the college. As the object of the
institution is definite, no students can be admitted who are intended for
secular situations in life ; and some assurance will probably be required at
admission, that the candidates are sent thither with no other view than to
qualify themselves for duties contemplated in the institution, on con
dition of being maintained in the college for a certain period, and provided
for afterwards from the college funds, or, perhaps, from other funds de
stined to the same objects, and equally well secured ; and some probation
may be requisite to ascertain the disposition and abilities of the candidates,
who might otherwise be wholly unfit to advance the objects of the institu
tion, while its resources would thus be diverted from their proper and
productive use. The statutes, however, will define more precisely several
points which cannot so well be taken into consideration, until some pro
bable notion may be formed of the actual revenues of the college, or of
its reasonable expectations.
It has been already stated, that abundant means will be required to
carry this plan into full effect. By much the greater part of the three
several sums of 5,000/. each will be necessarily expended in completing the
college, including the offices and printing-house ; and, probably, but little
will remain when the printing-house shall have been supplied with presses
and types, and furniture shall have been purchased for the hall, the library,
the dormitories, and the lecture rooms, and the books most wanted shall

NOTES. 133
have been bought for the college library, Of the sum collected under the
royal letter, if the whole shall be funded as a permanent endowment, the
interest will not be more than sufficient to defray the salaries of the emi
nent and learned men who may be appointed to the college professor
ships. Provision is still to be made by the society for the maintenance of
students in the college, and for their support after they shall have left it.
With regard to the comprehensiveness of the design of the institution,
the views of the society may be ascertained from the royal letter, wherein
they are stated to be desirous to extend the range of their labours to
" such parts of the continent and islands of. Asia as are under the royal
protection and authority." Persons, therefore, who may be required as
instruments for diffusing truth and knowledge in any of the languages
principally used through those wide regions, in Hindoostanee or Bengalee,
in Tamul or Teloogoo, in Mahratta or Guzerattee, in Singhalese or in
Malay, may be severally prepared and qualified for the undertaking, so
soon as students from the several districts, in which those languages re
spectively prevail, can be maintained by the society, and missionary sta
tions shall find the means of support in the several countries from which
such students came. There is, in fact, no district within the limits of the
British possessions in the East, to which the benefits of the'college may
not eventually be extended. Moonshees, skilled in those languages re
spectively, must of course be retained ; who will be further wanted in the
department of translations to be used at the stations, at which such
students shall be employed on their return to their native country.
Every station will be served by an English missionary (a clergyman), as
sisted by persons (either natives, or of European parentage,) who have
been educated in the college. Note (H), p. 126.
The success which has attended the labours of the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge in the south of India, where several thousands of
Christians, the converts, or the descendants of the converts, of their
missionaries, are now living in a manner which carries back the mind to
the early ages of the Gospel, sufficiently attests, that the church of
England has not been altogether regardless of the Heathen ; and at the
same time it proves, that the difficulties which lie in the way of conversion
are not absolutely insuperable. Note (I), p. 126.
The appeal is now made in the diocese of Calcutta, by the partial
distribution of the preceding sermon and of the statements annexed to it,
in the hope that they who are zealous for the diffusion of truth and
knowledge, through the eastern world, such especially as are solicitous
that the established churcli should maintain its just rank in this great
undertaking, will find enough in the present attempt, to merit their en
couragement and patronage. It may be proper, however, in reference
to an institution, of a character in some respects so new in India to
point out in what Way, they who may be generally disposed to promote
it, may appropriate their benefactions; at the same time suggesting in
K 3

134 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
what departments of the college expenditure, their aid will, for the
present, be most urgently required. The whole may be classed under the
heads of 1. Missionary Stations.
2. Scholarships in College.
3. The College Library.
4. The College Press.
5. Christian Schools.
6. Native Schools.
7. The Fabric Fund.
8. General Purposes.
I. The society for founding the college, contemplates the establishment
of missionary stations, wherever an opening shall seem to present itself for
accomplishing their benevolent purposes. To supply such stations with
missionaries and their proper assistants, and to keep up a never-failing
succession of them is their primary object ; to which every thing else is
collateral and subsidiary. But before this can be effected, it is obvious
that students must be maintained in the college and duly prepared for
their allotted labours. It may seem, therefore, that the question of sup
plying stations is posterior to that of maintaining students, and may thus
be for the present postponed ; it must be considered, however, that the
admission of students into the college must in great measure be regulated
by the prospect of a provision for them afterwards ; and such provision
will be generally (although not invariably in respect of schoolmasters,) by
their appointment to some missionary station. It is, therefore, of the
greatest importance, that the public benevolence as applicable to this
head, should shew itself early, and in truth it is the point, to which above
all others, the society may be presumed to wish, that attention should be
directed : benefactions, therefore, made specially applicable to this depart
ment will be suffered to accumulate, until such stations can be actually
formed. 2. The foundation of scholarships is only second in importance to the
preceding head, and even prior to it in actual operation. A scholarship,
it is computed, taking the average on the difference of expence in main
taining European students, (or those of European habits,) and natives,
and reckoning on a moderate rate of interest, may be founded and
endowed for 5000 sicca rupees. On the interest of this sum one student
at a time may be constantly educated in the college, free of every charge :
and every scholarship so endowed will, as in our English universities,
be for ever denominated from the name of the founder, who moreover
will have the privilege of recommending the first scholar, being a youth
duly qualified according to the statutes, and to be subject in all respects
to their operation. Other sums, however small, being directed to be
appropriated to this object, will be applied to the maintenance of a
student, when the aggregate shall be found sufficient.
5. The college library is calculated to receive nearly 5000 volumes. It
will be desirable to store it with the most approved works in theology,
especially of the great divines of the church of England ; in biblical cri
ticism ; in ecclesiastical and general history; in Oriental literature,
including dictionaries and grammars ; with classical authors, and with a

NOTES. 135
few books of science ; the purchase of all which will obviously be attended
with considerable expence.
4. The college press will, it is hoped, embrace an important and effi
cient department of the college labours. For the expence of printing
versions of the Holy Scriptures, if a statement already alluded to may be
credited, provision for some time will probably have been made ; but for
printing versions of the liturgy, of short religious treatises and tracts, such
as those of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, of elementary
books of science, and of school books, a considerable fund will in time be
required ; and from the very commencement of the college labours, some
thing may be attempted in this way.
5 & 6. Both Christian and native schools are within the contemplation
of the society. One of the former kind will be indispensable to every
missionary station, and such might be established to great advantage in
some instances, where no missionary station could conveniently be formed.
In native schools the elements of useful knowledge and the English
language will be taught, wherever it may seem desirable, without any
immediate reference to Christianity. In either case, it will be among the
objects of the college to supply masters well qualified for the undertaking.
The provision for such while they remain in college, will fall under the
second head of expenditure ; and for those who should be attached to
stations, under the first head: all other schools would form a distinct
concern. 7. Great inconvenience has been sometimes snstained by collegiate and
similar institutions, where no provision had been made to preserve the
fabric, or to restore it when fallen into inevitable decay. The college
buildings, it is expected, will be of as durable construction, as any which
have lately been erected in this country ; but the expediency is manifest,
especially considering the ravages made by the climate, of having a small
fund in reserve, the accumulations of which would remove all appre
hension. 8. Under the head of benefactions to general purposes, must evidently
be understood sums applicable, according to the intention of the donor, not
only to any of the objects already specified, such as in the judgment of the
society and the college authorities may be deemed most conducive to
carrying on the designs of the institution, but generally to any expences
which may arise, and are unavoidable in such "an establishment, as to the
payment of the salaries of moonshees, pundits, and servants : every thine, in
fact, which is implied in an appeal to the public liberality, is comprised under
this head; and the minute enumeration of the proposed branches of
expenditure is intended, partly to exhibit more fully the objects of the
institution, and partly, where there may be a strong feeling of preference
towards any one of them, to allow it the means of shewing itself, and thus
of stimulating others in the same course of benevolence. At the' same
time, it is suggested, that although all the objects enumerated will be es
sential to the institution in that state of activity and extensive usefulness
which through the blessing of providence its founders hope it may attain
yet some of them are identified with the very commencement of its
labours, and on the accomplishment of these its further exertions must
depend. It remains only to be noticed, that benefactions in support of
K 4

136 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
the college will be received by the venerable the archdeacons within their
respective archdeaconries, or may be transmitted through any other
channel to the bank of Bengal, or other the treasurer for the time being,
to be placed to the account of the Incoiporated Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in aid of the funds of their missionary
establishment, called Bishop's College, near Calcutta, under the head
of . All such benefactions shall be thankfully acknow
ledged and recorded in the Annual Abstract of the Society's Proceedings,
published in London, of which copies will be distributed in India : and of
all benefactions and legacies of more than ordinary amount, the remem
brance will be perpetuated in the Commemoration of the Founders and
Benefactors to be solemnised annually in the college chapel.
The college is already indebted to the benevolence of several indi
viduals, who have afforded it, in various ways, valuable and gratuitous
professional services, which, however, may be better alluded to, than
distinctly specified, in this place.
The benefactions are at present, from
The Bishop of Calcutta, towards the fitting up and embellish
ment of the college chapel, Sa. Rs. - - 4000
C. T. Metcalfe, Esq., the resident at Hyderabad, a piece of land,
on the river bank, by which the estate is greatly improved, mea-
" suring one biggah and three cottahs -
Major General St. George Ashe, for general purposes - 500

APPENDIX. iqj

APPENDIX.
As but little, comparatively, can be known in India of a society which is
now only beginning to extend its exertions to this quarter of the globe
may be useful to reprint from a very interesting and instructiv! work
called Propaganda •, a table, serving to show the range and magnitude
o ts operations in those fields of labour, in which it has been so long and
td. con ,n„es to be occupied, together with the author's XemarTs%0t

Attributed to the Reverend Josiah Pratt.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, FROM 1718 to 1818,
or THE
STATIONS, NUMBER, AND STIPENDS OF THE MISSIONARIES AND SCHOOLMASTERS.

CO

&05

¦a

¦8 s

1
g

1 s

•

s
1

s .
s -o
1

SI

8s

4 c
1

3

•4*
I'l 1

8.1

e -j
fc 8
J g

o (a

1*

Salary.

1718
1719172017211722
1723 1724
172517261727 1728
1729173017311732
173317341735
1736
173717381739

43347
7 9 99
1011121214
1315171918
2020 19

14131011
12101111111213131516
1716
19 18
17
1717
17

55 33
4554455555
54666
6
65

3344
544435455
4 5688
88
88

222 1 11111
2

33
5 7
5 77889
10 99
88 9
1010 9
10 9
10

2
1
I1
2
3129273034 34
3736364243
4446 4748
51 63 6462 65 64
£. s.
1526 0
1396 0
1261 0
1346 0
1596 0
1630 0
1790 0
1720 0
1720 0
1985 0
1989 0
2070 0
2165 0
2185 0
2295 0
2415 0
2965 0
3015 0
3015 0
3050 0
3020 0
3090 0
x
dO§
o*Joc a
>d zo3
APPENDIX.

139

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142 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.

REMARKS ON THE PRECEDING TABLE.

The early years of the society were engaged in investigating the scene
of its intended labours, and in thus laying a solid foundation for its future
exertions. Before missionaries were appointed to particular places, it was
resolved to send a clergyman to travel through the several governments of
British America, and to preach therein, in order to awaken the people to
a sense of the duties of religion.
The Rev. George Keith left England, with this view, in April 1702. In
two years he travelled through ten distinct governments, extending 800
miles in length, and was both diligent and successful. In these labours
he was greatly assisted by the Rev. John Talbot, who was chaplain of the
ship in which Mr. Keith sailed, and became his associate in his travels.
This good beginning was followed up by other exertions ; missionaries
being sent out to New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
North Carolina, and South Carolina: of the establishment and early his
tory of which missions, Dr. Humphreys has given copious details. To these
states the labours of the society, as will be seen by the table, were limited
till 1754, when they were extended to Georgia and the Bahamas; in 1736,
to Newfoundland ; and, in 1749, to Nova Scotia.
In 1767 the support of the missionaries in South Carolina, which had
been gradually diminishing, was wholly withdrawn, the state having made
provision for their maintenance : this mission was, however, partially re
sumed in 1770, when a missionary was sent for the particular benefit of
certain palatines from Germany, who resided in that state.
The exertions of the society had been gradually increasing as the British
colonies in America advanced in population. A little before the time of
the declaration of independence on the part of the present United States,
these exertions had reached their height. In the troubles which ensued,
they gradually declined; and in the year 1799, suffered a very sensible di
minution. In 1784, soon after the acknowledgment of the independence
of the states by this country, the missionaries were reduced to a very
small number : in that year, indeed, the society allowed, besides the sti
pends to missionaries mentioned in the table, the sum of 695/. to nineteen
missionaries who continued to officiate in the Independent States; and
the further sum of not. to seventeen others then unavoidably unem
ployed. Canada, New Brunswick, and the island of Cape Breton, now began to
claim the attention of the society ; and its exertions increased in New
foundland and Nova Scotia; into these provinces various missionaries
removed from the United States. Both into those states, and into the
British provinces, the Episcopal government of the church has been since
happily introduced : an object which the society had contemplated from
the beginning ; and it now reaps the reward of its persevering labours in
the present promising state of religion in those countries.

APPENDIX. 143
It will be seen by the table that a missionary was sent to Guinea in the
year 1751; it was intended that he should itinerate among the negroes :
after a few years this was relinquished, but the attempt to benefit the ne
groes in Africa was resumed in 1 766, by the appointment of the Rev. Phi
lip Quaque, a native, educated in England, at the expense of the society,
as missionary, catechist, and schoolmaster to the negroes on the Gold
Coast; in which office he continued till his death, a period of about fifty
years, when he was succeeded by the Rev. W.Phillip, chaplain to the Afri
can Company, who is also since dead. In 1787 a teacher was appointed
to attend the negroes sent to Sierra Leone, but returned after a few years,
on account of ill health.
But besides these attempts to benefit the negroes which appear in the
preceding table, it is manifest, from various extracts given in this work,
that the negro slaves in the British colonies were very early an object of
the society's anxious care. All its missionaries were instructed to promote
the good work of their conversion; nor did they labour in vain, numbers
being brought to an intelligent communion with the church. The earliest
attempts of this kind were made in the state of New York; and of these
Dr. Humphreys has given a particular narration. . In order to engage the
masters of the slaves to promote their conversion, the society dispersed in
the colonies u great number of copies of Bishop Fleetwood's sermon,
preached in 1711 ; that sermon forcibly setting forth the duty of giving
Christian instruction to the slaves. In 1725 this sermon was reprinted,
and large numbers of it again distributed. Bishop Gibson became a se
cond advocate for the conversion of the negroes : he addressed a " Letter
to the Masters and Mistresses of Families in the English Plantations
abroad," in which he exhorted them to encourage and promote the in
struction of their negroes in the Christian faith : his lordship addressed a
second " Letter to the Missionaries in the English Plantations," exhorting
them to give their assistance toward the instruction of the negroes within
their several parishes : soon after, the bishop wrote " An Address to Seri
ous Christians." with a view to stir them up to assist the society in carry
ing on this work. These pieces are printed in Dr. Humphrey's history,
and show the bishop to have been an able and zealous advocate of this
good cause. The eminent services since rendered to it by Bishop Porteus,
and now continued by Bishop Howley, have been already mentioned.
The aborigines of America were another object of the society's care.
Dr. Humphreys gives a full account of the attempts of the missionaries to
convert the Iroquois Indians, then bordering on the colony of New York.
These attempts were extended, as circumstances offered, to other tribes ;
and many curious particulars respecting them are scattered through the
annual abstracts of proceedings. In 1768, as will be seen in the table, a
mission was begun in Florida : this was, in fact, the appointment of a ca
techist for the Indians on the Mosquito shore. The next year a mission
ary was added ; and this attempt was continued, till it sunk, with others,
under the change of political circumstances.
In 1796 the society began to make some allowance to schoolmasters in
New South Wales, and afterwards granted 20/. per annum to two teachers
in that colony, and the same sum to two others in Norfolk Island.
Of the number of missionaries, &c. mentioned in the table, seldom so

144 THE WISDOM OF GOD MADE KNOWN.
many as a fourth were catechists or schoolmasters previous to the inde
pendence of the States, the rest being missionaries; but, on occasion of
the society's exertions in the British provinces, a greater proportion of
schoolmasters and catechists was found requisite, being frequently more
than a third of the whole number ; and latterly, as may be seen by the
subjoined list for the year 1818, constituting nearly half of the whole.
The salaries of these teachers are comparatively small, varying from 5l. per
annum to 20/., as other advantages attend the appointments.
Besides the missionaries and schoolmasters enumerated in the table, the
society maintained for many years several teachers in Barbadoes, out of
the produce of an estate left to it in that island by General Codrington, in
the year 1705.
The average expenditure of the society has much exceeded its regular
income. Application has in consequence frequently been made for royal
letters, authorising collections of charity, from house to house, throughout
England and Wales, in furtherance of the society's designs. Such letters
were accordingly granted at various times, as stated in the king's letter
lately issued, and which forms the first article in this work. A collection
which was thus made in 1741, amounted to somewhat more than 15,000/.;
another, in 1751, to nearly 20,000/.; and another, in 1779, under the au
thority of His present Majesty, to 19,474/. 12s. sd. His majesty contribut
ing 500/. toward that sum.
Grants have latterly been made by parliament in aid of the society. It
will be seen from the table, that in 1785 the expenditure rose to nearly
double that of the preceding year ; a grant from parliament having been
obtained in support of the expenses of the society, more particularly in
Nova Scotia, in virtue of which the salaries of the missionaries in that
province were raised to 200/. per annum, having been before from 35/. to
100/. In the year 1816 parliament granted 5750/. in aid of the expenses
of the society in the North American colonies generally : the stipends of
all the missionaries were, in consequence, raised to 200/. ; and some few ,
under particular circumstances, still higher. In 1817 the grant was 7860/.,
and in 1818 it amounted to 8126/. 5*.

CHARGE
DELIVERED TO
THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDEACONRY
OF
HUNTINGDON, AT
THE PRIMARY. VISITATION,
On the 13th, 14:th, and 15th of May, 1812.
By T. F. MIDDLETON, D. D.
ARCHDEACON OF HUNTINGDON,
AND VICAR OF SAINT PANCRAS, MIDDLESEX.

THE REVEREND
THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDEACONRY
OF
HUNTINGDON,
THE FOLLOWING CHARGE,
HONOURED BY THEIR APPROBATION, AND PUBLISHED AT
THEIR REQUEST,
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
THEIR FAITHFUL FRIEND
AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
St. Pancras Vicarage,
15th June, 1812.

L 2

CHARGE, &c.

MY REVEREND BRETHREN,
1 he partial judgment of the distinguished prelate, who has
for so many years, to the great benefit of the Christian cause,
presided over this diocese, has called me to a station, in which
it becomes my duty to address this venerable assembly. In
no circumstances of the church could I proceed to the per
formance of such a task without feelings of apprehension and
mistrust : the topics, which on these occasions are offered to
your attention, are always important, and they deeply affect
the responsibility of him who is required to discuss them ;
but at the present period they are unusually momentous, and
some of them are involved in more than ordinary perplexity :
at no era since the revival of religion has error on the part of
your advisers threatened more serious mischief, and at none
have impending dangers been more likely to bewilder the
judgment, or has prejudice been more unfavourable to the
discovery or reception of the truth. Endeavouring to guard
against the operation of whatever may mislead myself or you,
I would direct your notice to some particulars intimately
connected with the present condition of our church, as form
ing the fittest subject of this primary address.
Christianity, purified from the corruptions of popery, and
uninfected with the dogmas of modern fanaticism, has been
established in this realm ; it has been incorporated with the
civil government : it has its formularies of faith and worship,
L 3

150 A CHARGE TO
its discipline, its priesthood, its hierarchy : it has provided for
the maintenance of its ministers, for the uniformity of their
doctrine, and for the instruction of youth in its own religious
tenets.1 The integrity of this constitution has been protected
by legislative sanctions ; and in specified cases the state has
refused to entrust her safety in the hands of persons profess
ing a faith different from her own. Such is the established
church of England ; and it originates, not in metaphysical
abstractions or the fervours of a persecuting zeal, but in wis
dom resulting from experience and a knowledge of the human
heart. It has been found indispensable to the peace of so
ciety that some species .of religion should be invested with
ascendancy, and ascendancy can be maintained only by ex
clusion. It is desirable that the religion thus preferred
should exactly accord in doctrine and discipline with the
Scriptural standard; and in this particular no species of
Christianity admits so easy and complete vindication as that
of our church ; yet even this is not essential to an establish
ment which is founded, not in theological truth, but in politi
cal expediency.2 If, indeed, demonstrable and acknowledged
truth were made the condition, to no species of faith would
this pre-eminence be conceded : the professor of the worst
perversion of Christianity must maintain that his own creed
is the true one ; and instead of an establishment forming a
permanent bond of peace, we should have only the temporary
domination of the strong, and the subjugation and persecution
of the weak. Christians, however, who are partially ex
cluded from civil advantages have still important claims : if
political expediency require an establishment, justice demands
' The 77th, 78th, and 79th canons treat of the qualifications and duties of
schoolmasters ; and the 59th requires the clergy to catechise, and the people to
send their children and dependants to be instructed,
2 On this point there appears to be some misapprehension. We do not main
tain, that because our religion is established, it is therefore true : at most this is
only a presumption founded on the Scriptural knowledge, the great piety the
moderate views, and the tried constancy of our excellent reformers : its truth can
be certainly deduced only from its agreement with Scripture. But though we
do not argue that what is established must be true, we hold it to be even more
unreasonable to infer, as some appear to do, that because it is established it is
false : we deprecate unfounded insinuations against what is sometimes contemp
tuously called a state religion ; as if it were a contrivance to uphold political
abuses, or in any degree derived its character from that of the government
however unimpeachable. In this country, happily, the established religion needs
not shrink from the test of Scripture, and of the practice and interpretation of the
pHmitive ages ; and we desire only that it may be referred to such a standard

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 151
toleration : violence is not to be offered even to erroneous
conviction : the exercise of religious worship when uncon
nected with political purposes or tendencies, falls not within
the cognizance of the magistrate ; he is to leave it where he
found it, in the breast of the worshipper, and under the eye
of God. The limits of this indefeasible right, though attempts
are daily made to obscure them, are clearly defined : the
criterion is an appeal to the conscience : Am I required to
profess opinions, or to adopt a practice repugnant, as I be
lieve, to the Word of God ? My conscience revolts at the
impiety, and is not to be coerced : Do I insist on being ad
mitted to the civil distinctions which the state has reserved
for the professors of other tenets ? The plea of conscience
fails, and gives place to that of ambition. So distinguishable
to the unprejudiced understanding are the boundaries between
toleration and establishment.
There is, however, a stage in the progress of public
opinion, at which the wisest enactments of human policy are
liable to be swept away in the torrent of innovation. The
sanctions of law lose much of their strength when their fitness
is overlooked in the tumult of the passions, or the numbers
of those have greatly increased who are interested in subvert
ing them. To that stage we appear to be rapidly advancing :
if ever there was a time when our church derived an adventi
tious security from popular predilection, that period is past :
the current is turned against us : its legitimate claims are not
readily acknowledged : — the usefulness of the clergy is in
danger of being depreciated : — religious liberty has dege
nerated into licentiousness ; and in the present state of religi
ous worship in a great part of the metropolis, the people will
soon cease to know what are the distinguishing tenets of our
church. In attempting a brief illustration of these several
positions, I shall not seek to suppress or palliate unwelcome
truths, believing that in a just estimate of our danger is our
only safety.
Discussions have arisen, and are still going on, in which
the claims of the establishment, though they are not the point
at issue, are deeply and inevitably involved. Nothing, indeed,
has happened which might not have been foreseen. The his
tory of coalitions does not authorise us to expect a long con-
l 4

152 A CHARGE TO
tinuance of cordial co-operation ; and their expediency can
not subsequently be agitated without forcing into notice objects
which were studiously kept out of sight when first the coali
tion was projected. A difference of views and interests is
implied in the notion of such an alliance ; and the seeds of
discord are sown inadvertently, at the moment when we
are sacrificing our fears and jealousies to a common cause.
In a religious controversy thus generated, it is evident that
the church cannot be a gainer : its claims, if not urged, will
certainly not be recognised : and yet the superiority, which is
not felt and acknowledged, it is invidious to assert. In such
a dilemma are we now involved : establishment implies ascend
ancy : it makes the church the rule, while it classes the sects
as exceptions : prerogative is incommunicable, or it is no
thing; yet these principles are overlooked in the proceedings
of the day, and are but faintly maintained in the writings of
our controversialists. It is the practice tacitly to assume that
all Christians are on the footing of equality, not only as
Christians, which they unquestionably are, standing in one
general relation towards God, but also in their relation to a
church enjoying certain civil sanctions, and professing certain
peculiar doctrines : but this is obviously untrue ; and not less
so is the consequence deduced from it, that all Christians,
without dereliction of interest or consistency, may further the
views of any sect or sects engaged in a commendable under
taking. The views of churchmen and dissenters cannot be
absolutely the same, however true it may be that they have
somewhat, and even much, in common; and the engagement
not to propagate peculiar tenets, even when strictly adhered
to, has more of the semblance of an equitable compromise,
than it has of the reality. In fact the parties do not meet
upon equal terms : the sects are some of them of a negative
rather than a positive character, and even in point of doctrine
have not much to give up ; while others may calculate on the
power of private zeal to compensate the effects of public for
bearance ; they may prudently submit to temporary incon
venience in the hope of future aggrandisement ; and they
possess, in every controversy with the church, the singular
advantage, that they are not bound to any definite principles,
but can relinquish, at least for the moment, the ground which

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 153
is found to be untenable.1 The case of the church is diffe
rent ; and so far from lamenting this circumstance, we regard
it as an argument in behalf of an establishment : the church
has no power to abandon its tenets, and it has no right to
suppress them : its positive doctrines, and the public profes
sion of them, are parts of the charter by which it holds its
existence. These reflections, you will readily perceive, have been sug
gested by two recent institutions. It must, however, be ad
mitted, that the Bible Society, and what are called the Lan-
casterian schools, though connected by a manifest analogy,
stand on somewhat different grounds. Every churchman
must wish for the dispersion of the Bible, but he will wish
for something more, and the deficiency may possibly be sup
plied : it is possible that every subscribing churchman may
accompany his gift with explanatory treatises and comments ;
perhaps, it is possible, that the sectaries may not extend their
liberality beyond their own pale, in the hope of making pro
selytes ; but in the case of the schools, even these saving pos
sibilities are excluded by the very condition of the question :
there the sacrifice on the part of the church is not contingent,
but certain ; it is preliminary to the whole proceeding ; the
abandonment of religious instruction and of our church cate
chism, the great outwork of our church, is the basis on which
we are to treat ; its ascendancy is not merely not recognised,
it is disclaimed "2 ; and the method pursued is the most effect-
1 This privilege has not been overlooked in modern times : the Unitarians will
not be regarded as Socinians, though they go far beyond the impiety of the Ra~
covian catechism : and the " Refutation of Calvinism," which has exhausted
all the stores of erudition and argument applicable to its subject, is asserted to
have little or no reference to existing errors ! " Quo teneam vultus mutantem
Frotea nodo?"
* " If any particular sect," says Mr. Lancaster, " obtained the principal care
in a national system of education, that part would soon be likely to possess the
the greatest power and influence in the state. " Here the national church is by
implication made to be a sect ; and we are tacitly cautioned against the conse
quences of its ascendancy. More explicit is the language of a late resolution, in
which thanks are voted " to the first city in the world for its approbation and
sanction to those principles of toleration, the universal application of which forms
the distinguishing features of the Lancasterian institution." It cannot fail to
strike even the dullest understanding, that whatever is in its nature favourable to
toleration such as is here plainly intended, must be prejudicial to the establish
ment. It cannot mean the liberty to worship God according to the dictates of
conscience, for that is not in question : the toleration here spoken of is a forbear
ance to produce any early bias in favour of the national church; to say, in favour
of any system of belief whatever, is not enough, since toleration always supposes
power, which resides only in the establishment : we never speak of Quakers to-

154 A CHARGE TO
ual which ingenuity could have devised for accomplishing its
destruction. If this desperate empiricism had continued to
engross the public patronage, in another generation the prin
ciples of our church, however they might have been preserved
in the dead-letter of our liturgy, assuredly would not have
lived in the hearts and associations of the people.
Another circumstance, to which we should advert, is the
growing opinion, that the word of God is sufficiently intel
ligible without the aid of interpretation. If this be true,
a learned clergy has no duties to perform, which are not
merely ministerial; and we must relinquish much of the
estimation and the means of usefulness, which we have
hitherto enjoyed. On such a subject I am aware that it
is necessary to proceed with the most guarded moderation.
To maintain that the Scriptures are utterly unintelligible
to the great mass of mankind, is, in its consequence, a plea
for restoring the fallen fabric of papal infallibility : but
there is danger in the other extreme, which goes directly
to authorise all the extravagance, which has disgraced
Christianity and distracted the world, and to set up a worse
than papal infallibity in every man's own judgment, or
more frequently his own imagination : it is to give confi
dence to ignorance, to administer to pride, and to multiply
division to infinity. But neither the language of Scripture
nor the institutions of Christianity countenance such an
opinion. We are reminded, indeed, of our Saviour's declar
ation, " If any man will do the will of God, he shall
" know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, [or, whether
" I speak of myself." 11 Our Lord herein asserts, what
abundant experience has verified, that the great obstacle
lerating Unitarians ; the church, therefore, is the party whose forbearance is to be
the foundation of the benefits projected by the society ; and what Mr. L. had
endeavoured to represent as a perfect neutrality towards every species of Christian
faith, is now found to be a pointed hostility towards that which is established.
The resolution, indeed, speaks of the universality with which the principles of
toleration are applied in the Lancasterian institution : but this circumstance, if
the term toleration has been rightly explained, will hardly recommend the insti
tution to the patronage of churchmen : such universality is no other than the dis
position universally manifested by sectaries to take advantage of the forbearance
of the church, when it consents to abandon the only means of preserving its ex
istence. See Resolutions of the Lancasterian Society, at its meeting on the 9th
of May.
1 See Mr. Dealtry's examination of Dr. Marsh's inquiry, p. 7. Mr. D. has
not cited the clause included in brackets ; which, however, is necessary to the
true exposition of the text.

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 155
to the reception of the Gospel would be found in the
unwillingness of men to relinquish their sinful habits for
evangelical holiness. You will not, probably, in this de
claration see any thing which bears upon the question.
Neither is it a legitimate inference, that if the Scriptures
are not generally intelligible, " Infinite Wisdom has not
" furnished us with the most perfect means of instruction." '
The fallacy lies in assuming an imperfection in the mode of
inculcating divine truth through the instrumentality of man :
yet, perhaps, it will be found, so far as we are capable of
deciding on such a question, as What are the best means
which providence can- employ for effecting its purposes ? that
the contrary is the truth. It might, indeed, be sufficient to
observe that such instrumentality pervades every other part of
the divine economy in the moral world. Analogy would lead
us to expect the same in this particular instance : and the
whole of this proceeding is easily resolvable into God's be
nevolence. He' appears to have uniformly acted on the
principle of making us members one of another, and of con
necting us by the ties of mutual dependance ; and, perhaps, it
is in the instruction of the ignorant, and in unfolding to them
the Volume of Salvation, that the best sympathies of the heart
are awakened, and that we especially feel, how much " more
blessed it is to give than to receive." But we may appeal
to scripture and the history of the primitive church. The
treasurer of the Ethiopian princess, being a proselyte on his
return from Jerusalem, appears not to have been more than
ordinarily incompetent to read the Scriptures ; and yet we are
told, that to the question, Whether he understood a passage,
in which Isaiah predicts the sacrifice to be made by the
Redeemer? he replied, " How can I, unless some man
" should guide me ?" Our Saviour, too, after his resurrec
tion, " expounded in all the Scriptures the things relating to
" himself." We know, also, from a contemporary Apostle,
1 Mr. Dealtry, ibid. He has, indeed, farther on, p. 14., reminded the reader,
that in this country we. have an established priesthood and a regular parochial
service, and that therefore the people are not unassisted in the interpretation of
Scripture. Is this fact adduced in order to annul, or only to qualify the effect
of his preceding argument? If to annul it, then was the argument gratuitous;
if only to qualify it, its force in some degree remains, and it is open to refutation.
In either case his reasoning is similar to that which we frequently hear from
persons less capable of stating it with precision, and not at all disposed to object
to its consequences.

156 A CHARGE TO
that the Suo-voV* of St. Paul, " as well as the other Scrip-
" tures, may by the unlearned and unstable be wrested to
" their own destruction." Our Saviour is recorded to have
given to the world pastors and teachers " for the perfecting
" of the saints and for the edifying of the body of Christ ;"
and among the gifts imparted to these were " the Word of
Wisdom and the Word of Knowledge," which were deemed
important even to inspired teachers. A regular ministry was
the superstructure, which the apostles raised upon this found
ation ; and the homilies of the fathers, which are still pre
served to us, consist, in great measure, of expositions of
Scripture : they felt the difficulties of these writings, and
they scruple not to avow it a ; and it were well, if their prac
tice of familiar exposition were more generally retained. —
It will not be imagined, that this reasoning is at all adverse
to the great protestant axiom, That the Scriptures contain
all things necessary to salvation : we are not advocates for
the glosses and traditions of the Targumists and Talmudists
of Rome : we pretend not to any exclusive right to the study
of the Sacred Volume, but profess our warm gratitude to
learned laymen for many admirable treatises maintaining the
doctrines, and enforcing the duties, of our common Chris
tianity 2 ; in asserting the usefulness of a regular clergy as
expositors of Scripture, we acknowledge that we are forbidden
to add unto the Word of God, or to diminish aught from it ;
we are " not to have dominion over the faith " of our flocks :
we are only to be " helpers of their joy."
A third topic, which appears to be of importance in form
ing a just estimate of the condition of the established church,
is the present state of toleration. The well-known act was
passed at a period, when the accession of a foreign prince to
the throne of England, especially after the bigoted reign of
James II., made it prudent, as well as just to grant every safe
' Scriptural non in legendo consistunt, sed in intelligendo. Hieron. adv.
Luciferianos sub fin.
Etiam quae plana videntur in Scripturis, plena sunt quaeslionibus. Idem,
Comment, in Matt. xv.
9 The memory of Addison, of Lord Lyttleton, of Gilbert West, of Jacob
Bryant, of Granville Sharp, and of many other laymen, will ever be cherished
by the clergy of the church of England ; and it is gratifying to be assured, that
for the " Earnest Exhortation to a frequent reception of the Holy Sacrament,"
we are indebted to a gentleman of high rank in the profession of the law, James
Allen Park, Esq , king's counsel.

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 157
indulgence to non-conformists. The preamble of that act
sets forth, that " some ease to scrupulous consciences in the
exercise of religion may be an effectual means to unite their
majesties' protestant subjects in interest and affection." The
act, therefore, was plainly intended to strengthen the state ;
but its modern operation seems to be principally to weaken
the church. Something, indeed, of this very early appeared ;
and various attempts were made to pass efficacious bills
against occasional conformity. Of " scrupulous consciences,"
I should be sorry to speak, otherwise than I feel, without
profound reverence and awe : but we may surely regret, that
many, who avowedly have not any scruples, communicate
with the scrupulous, as if it were merely to thin the ranks of
the national religion1 : It is very well known, that a large pro
portion of those, who have ceased to communicate with the
church, profess to receive our Creeds, our articles, our whole
liturgy ; they sometimes assure us, that they are of the church,
notwithstanding that an apostle has made communion to be
the only criterion in questions of this kind 2. It will not,
however, be urged, that the act of toleration was intended to
hold out an asylum to seceders of this description : it was
said by a very learned and liberal judge, Chief Justice Holt,
within a few years of passing the act, that it was not made
for professed churchmen, whose consciences allowed them
sometimes to go to meetings 3- Yet a difference has been
remarked between the original and the modern construction
of the statute, which, as some contend, is now too rigorously
interpreted 4. If it be so, some apology may be found in
the looseness of its language, as well as in the modern abuse
of it. It proceeded on the supposition that secession implies

' In the case of the justices of Derbyshire, it was contended by Morton and
Blackstone, that it might be a serious question, how far methodists, not being
dissenters from the church of England, but only pretending to observe her doc
trine and discipline with greater purity than their neighbours, are objects of the
toleration act, and privileged to meet in conventicles. Burn's Eccl. Law, vol. ii.
p. 205. ed. 1797. Yet that they avail themselves of the act is admitted in the
recent case of the King v. Agar.
« I John ii. 19. " They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if
they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us."
3 Burn's Ecc. Law, vol. ii. p. 201. edit. 1797.
4 See " A Legal Argument on the Toleration Act, by a Barrister at Law,
of Lincoln's- Inn, 1812;" and the able " Answer" to it, published since this
charge was delivered, " by a Barrister of the Temple," Geo. Wharlon Marriott,
Esq.

158 A CHARGE TO
dissent : in the controversies of that day, any other secession
was rarely heard of: sinful terms of lay-communion were
admitted to be the only lawful pretext for separation from the
church; and very frivolous objections, as the wearing of
surplices, and the cross in baptism, were thought more decent
than an acknowledgment, that the separation was altogether
gratuitous. But whatever may have been the intent or the
abuse of the act of toleration, the extension of its indulgences,
and still more the entire abolition of the test, merits the most
dispassionate consideration, not only of the friends, but of the
enemies of the establishment. The latter cannot hope, under
any other ecclesiastical government, for a greater degree of
religious liberty, than they at present enjoy ; for the ascend
ancy of some religious denomination would be the inevitable
consequence of the overthrow of the church. It may not,
perhaps, be candid to suppose, that such an event is in their
contemplation, and that a strict equalization of political ad
vantages is contended for with the hope of establishing a
superiority ; and yet history in some measure countenances
the suspicion. The Romanists, not the most tolerant of
religionists, were, in the reign of Charles II., zealous advo
cates for a general toleration, evidently with a view to their
own aggrandisement 2 : and according to the historian and
apologist of the puritans, even they objected not to an esta
blishment, provided it were modelled upon their own princi
ples 2. But whatever be the views or the dangers of others,
our own course is plain : the few remaining legal checks
are our only barrier against the renewal of tumult and
tyranny : they are the only security, which distinguishes our
I It was admitted by Colman, the popish emissary, " Possibly I might be of
an opinion, that popery might come in, if liberty of conscience had been
granted." Trial, p. 101. " When the declaration for toleration was published,
great endeavours were used by the court to persuade the non-conformists to
make addresses and compliments upon it : but few were so blind, as not to see
what was aimed at by it." Burnet's Own Times, vol. ii. p. 525. edit. 1725.
8 " Both parties (the court party, at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, and
the puritans) agreed too well in asserting the necessity of an uniformity of public
worship, and of calling in the sword of the magistrate for the support of their
several principles. The standard of uniformity, according to the bishops, was
the queen's supremacy and the laws of the land : according to the puritans, the
decrees of provincial and national synods allowed and enforced by the civil ma
gistrate." Neal. vol. i. 147. edit. 1733.
And in the reign of Charles I. in 1641., says the same writer, the puritans
" proposed to settle an uniform model of government for the church of England,
to be confirmed by parliament. " vol.ii. p. 468.

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 159
condition from that of our ancestors two centuries ago : and
if we would not recal the days, when the use of a prayer book
in a private family was punishable by fine and imprisonment,
we shall not willingly forego them \
The last circumstance, to which I would call your attention
in this brief survey, is the state of religious worship in the
metropolis. With this, it may be thought, that you have
little concern ; yet, perhaps, of all the evils which we have to
deplore, this is the most generally alarming. The want of
churches is often complained of, but the extent of this mischief
is not always known. In two parishes, of which the popula
tion somewhat exceeds that of this whole archdeaconry, the
poor are almost altogether excluded from communion with
the established church 2 : they have little or no accommo
dation.:, the parish churches are so small, as to be suited only
to ordinary villages ; and ihe chapels are private property,
and are appropriated to the convenience of the rich. The
same evil, in different degrees, exists elsewhere : the conse
quence is unavoidable; that the poor are either driven to the
conventicle, or they live without the public exercise of religion.
It is chiefly to be ascribed to this great cause, that the lower
classes throughout the capital appear to be losing the distin
guishing principles of the national faith : the less informed
do not always perceive what is meant by being of the church
of England : they annex to the term little more than an
abhorrence of the corruptions of popery : this feeling happily
remains unextinguished ; but here they stop : they suppose it
to be sufficient that they are protestants 3 : they are not aware,
that it-is of much importance what place of protestant worship
they attend, but they frequent the church or the meeting, or
both, as their curiosity, or taste or convenience may lead
1 Blackstone's Comment, vol. iv. p. 53. edit. 1787.
2 At the late census, the parish of St. Mary-le-bone returned a population of
more than 75,000 ; and that of St. Pancras 46,333, with an average increase
(supposed to be much below the present) of 1,400 per ann., during the ten pre
ceding years. The parish church will not contain 200 persons.
• 3 " Our predecessors in legislation were not so irrational (not to say impious)
as to form an operose ecclesiastical establishment, and even to render the state
itself in some degree subservient to it, when their religion, if such it might
be called, was1 nothing more than a mere negation of some other, without any
positive idea either of doctrine, discipline, worship, or morals. The church of
Scotland knows as little of protestantism undefined, as the church of England
and Ireland do." Mr. Burke's Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe. Works,
vol.vi. p. 316. 318.

160 A CHARGE TO
them. Parochial communion, on which the reformers laid
so much stress \ is not considered as having any paramount
claims: Parochial limits are not always known, and when
known are not always regarded : the offices of baptism and of
visiting the sick are not unfrequently performed by aliens ; and
in numerous instances there is reason to fear, that they are alto
gether neglected. It were a delusion to imagine, that the influence
of these evils does not extend beyond their immediate sphere
of action : the indifference which they produce towards the
establishment, must sooner or later be felt in the remotest
corners of the kingdom.
If such, then, be the present state of our church, it
becomes us well to consider, what are the means still left us
of maintaining its stability. It is frequently alleged by
those, who have withdrawn from us, that if the clergy were
more zealous in the discharge of their duties, there would
be no seceders. Many of them may be deeply persuaded of
the truth of this opinion : there are among them numerous
instances of sincere piety, of active benevolence, and of steady
loyalty ; and we have greatly to lament, that the weight of
their personal example is not given to the cause of Christian
unity and peace. We know, and we can demonstrate, that
fervent devotion and holiness of life are attainable, if any
where, in communion with our church : we might refer to
living authorities ; we might cite the annals of the dead: and
it cannot be unknown, that the most bigotted adherents to
what are usually denominated high-church principles, the
non-juring clergy and laity, were distinguished by piety,
some of them so rigid, that in these days it might be deemed
enthusiasm : the names and the writings of Ken, Kettlewell,
Dodwell, Nelson, and Law, will immediately recur to your
1 It is usual with some, who would vindicate their deviation from the practice
or doctrine of the established church, to appeal to the Reformers. If by the
reformers be meant the persons, who corrupted the pure doctrines of the English
reformation by opinions imbibed at Frankfort or Geneva, our church is not
much interested in defending their orthodoxy. In the yuar 1548 we find
Cranmer visiting his diocese ; and among the articles which related to the laity,
inquiries were directed to be made concerning " such as contemned their own
parish church, and went elsewhere." Strype's Cranmer, fol. p. 183. We read
also in the same historian, " Now that the liberty of the gospel began to be
allowed, divers false opinions and unsound doctrines began to be vented with it.
Several of these heretics were convented before Cranmer, Latimer, and others,"
and abjured their errors v among which are enumerated the leading doctrines of
calvinists, socinians, and baptists. Strype, p. 178 — 181.

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 161
recollection. But it cannot be doubted, that this defence of
secession is much too unlimited. In what era of the Christian
church have there not been seceders? In the primitive ages,
when the bishops and clergy lived the lives of ascetics, and
died in the cause of Christ, we read of separation ; and
even in the days of the apostles the work of division had
begun. In truth, the passions operate on the side of non
conformity : the love of liberty finds its gratification in a
supposed independence of opinion : ambition, lost amidst a
crowd of competitors, has obtained distinction in a sect ; and,
doubtless, not unfrequently, in the deceitfulness of the heart,
pride under the aspect of abstraction from the world has
passed for Christian humility, and vanity, soothed by popular
applause, has imagined that it was actuated by a zeal for
God. Notwithstanding this extenuation of the charge, that
secession is wholly imputable to the negligence of the clergy,
we are impelled by every motive, which can apply to our
interest and our endless responsibility, to ask ourselves
seriously, What is our especial duty at the present crisis ?
It is consoling to observe, that if we have heretofore been
chargeable with inattention to the general interests of our
church, our energies are at length called forth. The venerable
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge has, within the last
year, received an accession of strength and activity far greater
than in any similar preceding period: it has become the
rallying point of those who would preserve our constitution
in church and state ; and its deliberations are the most im
portant to the maintenance of the true principles of our
establishment, of any which have been holden since convoca
tions fell into disuse. It is, however, needless to pursue this
topic. Your sense of its high character has been marked
by your formation of a district committee in connexion with
the parent institution; and it is impossible that I should
suggest any hint for its conduct, which is not comprised in
its own resolutions. — Next, and scarcely second in import
ance, are the means now adopted for training the children
of the church of England in the principles of the national
faith. It were exceedingly to be desired, that in every
market-town, or even considerable village, assistance were
lent to this great undertaking : without such co-operation, it
is impossible that the scheme should ever be productive of
M

162

A CHARGE TO

the benefits proposed : the education of the poor on such a
plan is necessarily local ; and schools cannot be conducted or
established, unless by those who reside in the vicinity.
After all, it must not be dissembled, that the maintenance
of onr church and of true religion, which is involved in the
issue, will greatly depend on the personal estimation of the
clergy; and we ought not to imagine, that this estimation
will altogether be withholden from the conscientious and
zealous discharge of our duties. It is right that we should
be informed of the dangers of our situation, and of the
difficulties which obstruct our career ; but the end should be
rather to stimulate our exertions, than to induce despair or
apathy. Our observation must convince us, that there still
exists among mankind a disposition to reverence the clerical
character, wherever it is suitably maintained : in truth, this
feeling is intimately connected with the approbation and love
of Christianity ; for in no condition of human society is its
excellence as a rule of faith and. manners displayed to greater
advantage than in the life of a truly Christian pastor. ' Piety
fervent, yet untinctured with fanaticism ; zeal regulated by
discretion; benevolence directed to the instruction of the
ignorant, the consolation of the afflicted, the allaying of
animosities, and to the temporal and eternal happiness of
man; and, above all, a proof from our consistency, that these
are not merely official, but are the fruits of our faith in Christ,
and that we expect to be saved only by the means which we
prescribe to others, r— such are the powers with which we
still are entrusted, of conciliating the affections of our people:
and in their effects they will far exceed any abstract disquisi
tions on the beauty or the truth of the Gospel. In this age,
especially, every thing is assuming a practical character : in
science this may be regretted, as introducing sciolism, and as
tending to lower the standard and to narrow the range of
intellectual exertion : but it is not so in religion : this is
every man's concern ; and its ministers cannot propose to
themselves a higher object of their calling, than to guide the
feet of the poor and simple into the way of peace. In the
country, you will permit me to add, from my ownvexperience,
that the clergy enjoy facilities of usefulness, for which their
brethren in the metropolis cannot reasonably hope. A village
pastor knows, and is known to, all his parishioners : he may,

THE CLERGY OF HUNTINGDON. 163
ascertain their peculiar wants and weaknesses ; he may in
terpose his counsel without incurring the painful charge of
presumption or officiousness ; he is generally equal in rank,
and superior in education, to all around him ; and his task,,
for the most part, is the easy one of condescension. These
advantages we shall not surely suffer to be lost : we shall
regard them as the precious talent committed to our care, and
as a sacred trust from that Being, of whose mysteries we are
the ministers and stewards. We shall thus at least, through
the Divine assistance, work out our own salvation, and we
ought not to doubt that we shall become instrumental in the
hand of Providence to the maintenance of that church, which
in our nation is the only sure " pillar and ground of the
truth." Its cause is not lightly to be abandoned J : it has
still the sanction of law, which requires only to be strength
ened by that of public opinion : it has still a well-educated
and a learned clergy, who may accomplish much by activity
and perseverance: and it has friends, who are anxious to
plead in its behalf, if we will not supply arguments to their
opponents by our own secularity or supineness. In itself it
presents no difficulties to its advocates : it is established
with a view to Christian edification and the public tranquillity;
it is tolerant and even liberal towards all who differ from it;
in its discipline it is apostolical, and its doctrine is of God.
1 In conclusion, I would suggest to those whom it principally concerns, the
following sentiment of one who cannot justly be charged with intolerance -.
Quanto magis decet sic aflfectos esse Christianos, et principes et doclores, ut
cupiant posfteris relinquere ecclesiam recte constitutam et tranquillam. Nee
verb ullius- rei cura potior et antiquior esse magnis viris debet, prsesertim iis,
qui sedent ad gvbemacula ; qui utinam in tantis ecclesiae calamitatibus aliquando
sibi hanc honestissimam vocem subjiciant, avafiKtyufiev opBois 8fifi.affw, onro&quep
to7s eiriyiyi/o/ifvois THN 'EKKAH2IAN. Melancthon. Ep. 109. lib. 1.

M 1

CHARGE
DELIVERED BEFORE
THE SOCIETY.
FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
On the 23d March, 1813,
TO
THE REV. C. A. JACOBI,
THEN ABOUT TO PROCEED AS ONE OF THEIR
MISSIONARIES TO INDIA :
BY
T. F. MIDDLETON, D.D.
ARCHDEACON OF HUNTINGDON.

M 3

TO
THE VENERABLE
SOCIETY
FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
THE FOLLOWING CHARGE,
DELIVERED BY THEIR APPOINTMENT, AND PUBLISHED AT
THEIR UNANIMOUS REQUEST,
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
THEIR MOST OBEDIENT
AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.

M 4

CHARGE, &c.

REVEREND, AND BELOVED IN CHRIST,
In compliance with the commands of this venerable Society,
and in conformity with an usage suggested by feelings of
brotherly affection and of Christian zeal, I am to address you
on the interesting relation which you have contracted with
us, and on the momentous duties to which it has given birth.
The performance of such a task in the presence of persons
pre-eminent in our nation for their knowledge and their
piety, might impress the most presumptuous with a sense of
his own insufficiency ; yet such is the occasion of this day's
solemnity, that it can hardly fail to awaken the most torpid
to congenial feeling and reflection. The character in which
you stand before us, it is impossible to contemplate with in
difference : as a stranger, you are entitled to our courtesy ;
as a Christian, to our benevolence; as a scholar, to our
respect ; but you have higher pretensions than these : we
regard you as invested with the functions of an apostle ; you
are known to us, as one animated with the desire of extending
the light of the blessed Gospel to those, who still sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death : with this view, you
have renounced the ties of kindred and of country, and
prospects highly flattering to youthful ambition ; you are
ready to encounter the perils of the ocean, and the danger of
disease in a foreign clime; you are prepared to contend
against the sophistry of the subtle and the malice of the
wicked ; and you have solicited our assistance in the prose
cution of your holy purpose, seeking only food and raiment,
and resolving to be therewith content. With such preten
sions you prefer your claim to our reverence and admiration ;
and I doubt not that I faithfully express the sentiment of

170 A CHARGE TO
this august assembly, when I declare, that, in the bosom of
every individual, the magnitude of your undertaking and the
sanctity of your character are most honourably appreciated
and deeply felt.
The remote region, which you have selected as the theatre
of your exertions, does indeed loudly call for the labours of
pious and disinterested men. Amidst all the darkness, which
still envelopes the Heathen world, the superstitions of Hin
dustan are calculated to excite in the mind of the philosopher,
as well as of the Christian, in a peculiar degree, emotions of
pity and horror. Very far removed from a state of barbarism,
retaining even the vestiges of ancient science and refinement,
gifted with faculties, which culture might elevate to the
proudest eminence of intellectual attainment, mild in their
nature and humane in their deportment, the Hindus present
the most lamentable spectacle of religious depravation, and
serve to demonstrate how weak and wretched is human
nature in its most favoured circumstances, unblessed with a
knowledge of the true God and of His reasonable service.
You are doubtless well acquainted with the horrid rites of
the religion of Brahma : you know the practice of exposing
infants, or offering them to the Ganges: you are not ignorant
that the widow, perhaps in the prime of life, places herself on
the funeral pile of her deceased lord, or, according to the
superstition of a particular caste, is buried alive with him :
you have read of the awful scenes at Juggernaut, where the
country for miles around exhibits the bones of voluntary
victims slain beneath the wheels of the car of an idol J ; and
you have contemplated with disgust the variety of tortures
which the deluded devotee inflicts on himself, in order to
merit the favour of his gods. What practices more repugnant
to natural feeling and unperverted reason have the annals of
the most savage superstition brought to light ? What more
atrocious enormities have obtained among the most ignorant
and ferocious islanders, on whom the light of science never
beamed, and whose faculties are little elevated above the
instinct of the brute creation ? It should seem, indeed, not
only that the natural powers of the human mind, however
cultivated, are incapable, without a Divine Revelation, of
1 Buchanan's Christian Researches, p. 19, &c.

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. 171
attaining to a knowledge of the will of God, but that the
progress of refinement, unaccompanied with instruction in the
ways of the Almighty, serves only to lead man further from
the simplicity of Divine truth : it should seem, that in the
absence of the True Light, science serves only to multiply the
delusions, on which he is ever ready to rest his hopes :
primeval traditions become gradually more and more dis
torted by the perverseness of human ingenuity ; and the wild
conjectures of the philosophy of paganism are embellished
and consecrated in the verse of its poets.
To dissipate the darkness of the Heathen world, — to in
struct mankind in the ways and in the will of God, — and to
unfold to them the mysteries of redemption, — our Saviour
pronounced to His chosen followers the memorable injunc
tion, " Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
" name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
" Ghost." In furtherance of this end, the apostles were endued
with miraculous powers : yet even they were not taught to
expect that their path would be smooth, or that their courage
and constancy would not be subjected to severe trials. In
an undertaking similar to theirs, you are now to engage ; you
cannot, however, hope, though we doubt not that in such a
work God will be with you, that the same assistance which
was vouchsafed to the apostles, will be also extended to you ;
while you may reasonably apprehend, that in the difficulties
which you will have to encounter, you will more closely
tread in their steps. Were I at once to proceed to the
brighter and more animating part of your prospect, without
urging you to prepare and fortify your mind against inevitable
discouragements, I should ill discharge my duty, whilst I
might seem to derogate from the strength of your holy reso
lution. It must be admitted, that the progress of Christianity in
India has not been such as might have been expected, con
sidering at how early a period the name of Christ was carried
to its shores. Whether Pantasnus in the second century
proceeded to India, or went no farther than the happy
Arabia 1, it is certain that the peninsula possessed a know
ledge of Christ early in the fourth century : no doubt is
1 Mosheim, vol. i. p. 149.

172 A CHARGE TO
entertained, that Frumentius, the apostle of Abyssinia, became
an Indian bishop ] ; it stands upon record, that the primate
of India was present and subscribed his name to the proceed
ings of the council of Nice '2 : and the Mohammedan writers
admit, that Christianity prevailed in India, before the intro
duction of Islamism. 3 From that period, however, it de
clined ; and though it was never extinct, having been pre
served, if no where else, at least in the Syrian churches 4,
little appears to have been attetnpted for its diffusion, till the
time when the Portuguese extended their commerce to the
East. But the genius of Popery has never been favourable
to the legitimate propagation of the Gospel. To do evil,
that good may come, is a dangerous violation of Christian
morality, and vainly seeks its apology in the extent and
benevolence of its views : but the missionaries of Rome,
while they have employed corrupt means, have not always
proposed the purest ends. Not only have they had recourse
to false signs and lying wonders 5, not only have they pre
tended to miraculous gifts, and in some instances have im
posed themselves on their converts in the acceptable cha
racter of Brahmins 6 ; but even the object sought by these
artifices has been something very distinguishable from the
disinterested promulgation of the Gospel. The power and
the pomp of the see of Rome have evidently been their aim :
the number of professing converts has been regarded, rather
than the soundness of their faith or the purity of their prac
tice: baptism has been administered to those who would.
receive it, without fully understanding its sacred obligations ;¦
and the splendour of ceremonies 7 has for the moment at
tracted proselytes, who could not easily be reconciled to the
scandal of the Cross, and the worship of God in spirit and
in truth. It is asserted by St. Francis Xavier, that he
baptized upwards of a million of infidels 8 : of which pre
tended conversion, however, very small remains are now
visible. Neither was the conduct of the missionaries of Rome

1 Sozomen. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. 24.
* Asiat. Researches, vol. x. p. 70. s Ibid. p. 79.
4 The extraordinary inattention shown to the Syrian Christians has called
forth a censure from Gibbon. Hist. vol. viii. p. 349.
5 Bishop Douglas's Criterion, p. 72. 6 Mosheim, vol. v. p. 11.
' Society's Report for 1776, p. 81.
8 Tennant's Thoughts on India, pp. 172. and 230.

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. 173
towards their fellow-Christians at all calculated to illustrate
the benevolent character of the Gospel : one of their first
acts was to violate the freedom and to vitiate the purity of
the primitive and happy Syro-Indian Church 1 ; and the
establishment of the Inquisition at Goa in all its horrors still
remains to stigmatize the Christian name. But if the church
of Rome, from its spirit and the tendency of its proceedings,
was little adapted to the diffusion of Christianity, we should
also consider how inadequate have been the efforts of Pro
testants. Little more than a century has now elapsed since
the commencement of the Danish mission to Tranquebar, and
its subsequent connexion with our Society. Of the labours
of that mission, of the piety, the zeal, and the learning of the
persons, who have generally composed it, the records are in
our hands. Their numbers, however, when we consider with
what difficulties they have contended, have been insufficient
to produce any very extensive effect. They have frequently
complained, and not always, it is feared, without reason, that
the lives of the bulk of European Christians have counter
acted and in great measure defeated the most zealous labours
of the mission. 2 They have found it of no avail to show
that the precepts of Christ inculcate whatever is holy and
good, while the practice of Christians has been marked by a
more than heathen contempt of religious obligations. To as
little purpose was it to urge, that the persons, whose examples
were thus pernicious, were placed in circumstances unfavour
able to Christian faith and morals ; that they had left their
native country, before their religious habits and convictions
had been fully established ; that they were early introduced
into all the dissipations of an enervating climate ; that they
had sometimes no other view than the rapid accumulation of
wealth ; and that even if their habits had originally been
those of regularity and piety, they had little means of con
firming and preserving them in a country, where their na
tional religion has often no visible representative, and where
the Christian Sabbath is distinguishable only by the appear-
1 See the preface to Danish Conferences, 1719.
2 " Who knows," says the excellent Swartz, " but God may remove some
of the great obstacles to the propagation of the Gospel ? Should a reformation
take place among the Europeans, it would no doubt be the greatest blessing to
the country." — Swarxz's Apology, Society's Report, 1795.

174 A CHARGE TO
ance of the British flag.1 Enlightened candour might know
how to make allowance for these disadvantages; but we could
not expect it in the Mohammedan or Hindu, when those
among ourselves, who alone have power to remedy the evil,
have not yet thought it of sufficient magnitude to demand
their interference. 2
But it is not merely in the neglected and depressed state
of public worship among the European Christians of India,
that you will encounter obstacles to the success of your en
deavours. You will find the Hindu possessed with inveterate
prejudices in behalf of his own superstition : he will tell you
of its remote and inscrutable antiquity, of the mystic sanctity
attached to his sacred books, and of the austerity and excru
ciating penances of fakirs and- devotees : you will find him
imputing a high degree of merit to self-immolation and other
practices which Christianity forbids : the appalling spectacles
and thrilling rites of his own faith have deeply impressed his
imagination ; and to the almost total want of Christian ob
servances he will naturally oppose the powerful associations,
which his mind derives from the celebration of a hundred
festivals in the year. 3
Perhaps, however, the most formidable impediment to the
favourable issue of your undertaking, will be found in the
consequences which follow upon conversion. „ ' The loss
of caste is among the most alarming punishments which
social ordinances have ever devised. To be interdicted from'
the ordinary intercourse of life ; to be regarded as unclean
and abominable in the sight of his nearest relatives ; to be
supposed to communicate pollution by the mere touch 4 ; and
to be cut off from all the resources of honest industry 5 ; such
is the condition of the Christianized Hindu with respect to
his countrymen ; and unhappily he finds but insufficient
encouragement in the new society by which he is adopted.
It has rarely been the policy of our Indian government to1
patronise converts 6 ; and the Christian societies, which have
1 Buchanan's Memoir on an Ecclesiastical Establishment in India, p. 4.
0 Since this was written, the question of the expediency of an ecclesiastical
establishment for India has been agitated in parliament.
3 Buchanan's Memoir, p. 51. 4 Crawford's Sketches, vol. i. p. 124.
5 Society's Report for 1776, p. 87.
6 Buchanan's Christian Researches, p. 89. It is otherwise in Ceylon : the
Dutch, while in possession of that island, never gave an official appointment to

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. 175
hitherto been formed, are scarcely in a condition to compen
sate such sacrifices, or to furnish abundant employment.
Causes, such as these, have, notwithstanding the length of
time during which the Gospel has been known in India,
retarded and circumscribed its progress; and it must
be admitted, that if no countervailing sources of encourage
ment presented themselves, you might feel that you were
engaging in an almost fruitless task : but these, I trust, are
by no means wanting ; and by the blessing of God they will
be sufficient to stimulate and reward your exertions in His
holy cause.
Permit me, then, to call your attention to the interesting
fact, that, notwithstanding every discouragement, the Word
of God is found to prevail, and the number of native Chris
tians in India is observed to increase : a recent estimate makes
them amount to 900,000 persons1 ; and what perhaps is more
to our present purpose, the immediate fruits of that mission,
with which you are associated, are becoming more apparent.
Some years have elapsed since our Society was presented with
the sermon of an ordained convert from Hinduism '2 : we hope
that other equally honourable specimens of the sound Christian
knowledge, the simple eloquence, and the genuine piety attain
able by Hindus, will be laid before us ; and we have learnt with
satisfaction that four other Tamul catechists have lately been
called to the ministry in the presence of the aged Sattianaden.3
It is from the labours of ordained converts, that we expect
the most favourable results ; and the paucity of such as have
been altogether fit to receive ordination might have been
numbered among the impediments to the wider diffusion of
the Gospel. For the use of such it is gratifying to be in^
formed, that Tamul books, explaining the elements of Chris
tian knowledge, abound. They are the instruments by which,
under the guidance of God, His holy faith will find its way
to the hearts of the heathens ; and an interesting memoir,
just received, assures us, that the natives have lately shown
a more than ordinary readiness to be instructed. We know

any native who was not a Christian ; which practice is continued by His Mar
jesty's government. Ibid.
1 Martyn's Christian India.
2 See the Sermon of Sattianaden, published by the Society in 1792.
' Society's Report for 1812, p. 183.

176

A CHARGE TO

from the respectable missionary, Dr. John, that his schools
are crowded by children of both sexes, who are eager to
receive the rudiments of useful learning : the prejudices of
their parents, with regard to religion, are, indeed, still awake ;
but to the removal even of these the introduction of European
knowledge is a most important step. Neither do these pre
judices appear to operate against all our sacred books : the
Psalms especially are learnt with avidity and repeated with
delight. 1
A further circumstance, which will probably lead to the
happiest consequences, is the progress which has lately been
made in Hindu literature. There are two distinct views,
in which the benefit presents itself to our observation : it
promises to furnish us with the means of proving to the un
converted Hindu how widely his practice differs from the
precepts even of his own religion ; and it will enable us to
show him how much of the genuine doctrines of his religion
is but a corruption of Divine truth as contained in the volume
of the Christian Scriptures. With regard to the former of
these points, it is now well known, that the enormities prac
tised by the Hindus are wholly unauthorised, or but faintly
countenanced, in their sacred writings : of which, however, a
profound ignorance has generally prevailed. If of the four
great castes only one is admitted to the reading of the Vedas,
and another is permitted only to hear them read, while the
other two, by far the most numerous, may have only the
sastras or commentary read to them 2, it cannot be matter of
just surprise, ever had the fountain been more pure, that the
stream should have been exceedingly corrupted in its pro
gress. But in truth even the Brahmins themselves seem not
generally to have known the real doctrines of their religion,
except from tradition; and it is a singular fact, that their
reluctance to communicate the contents of their sacred books
had never been overcome till within these few years. We
are told, that the Emperor Akbar 8, in the plenitude of his
power, could not obtain what is now freely granted to the
curiosity of every British enquirer. Let us hope, that this
surprising change of sentiment is destined to some important
1 Dr. John's letter, lately published by Messrs. Rivington.
2 Crawford's Sketches, vol. i. p. 129.
3 Butler's Horse Biblica?, vol. ii. p. 1C7.

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. 177
purpose. The advocate for Christianity will now be able to
lay open the weakness of the Hindu superstition by shewing
that its most exceptionable practices have not even the sanc
tion of its own founders ; that they are merely acts of will-
worship ; that they have originated in ignorance and error ;
and that they are utterly irreconcilable with that purer
morality and those sublime conceptions of the Deity^ which
it cannot be denied that the Vedas occasionally develope. —
But it is not the negative argument alone, which the Christian
missionary is now enabled to employ: he will further ob
serve, that much of what is really inculcated in the Hindu
sacred books, bears a strong though disfigured resemblance to
the leading doctrines of the Gospel. For some time it has
been known that their most ancient writings maintain the
unity of God in Three Persons ; and various incarnations of
these persons, especially of Vishnu or the second in the Triad,
are believed to have taken place ; but more recent inquiries
have brought to light further and very important particulars
respecting this subject. It appears that the expectation of
some mighty deliverer prevailed long before the coming of
Christ even among the Hindus. We are told, that in the
Puranas, the earth complains of her being ready to sink be
neath the accumulated iniquities of mankind; while Vishnu
comforts her, promising to put an end to the tyranny of the
demons : that for this purpose he would be incarnated ; and
the followers of Buddha unanimously declare, that this in
carnation in the womb of a virgin, was predicted at least a
thousand years before it came to pass. ] The Hindus main
tain, that these prophecies were fulfilled in the person of
Crishna, in like manner as many of the Samaritans, to elude
the prophecies respecting Christ, explained them of Joshua. 2
It may reasonably be hoped, that as the genuine doctrines
and traditions of Hinduism shall be more fully ascertained,
they will furnish positive and direct arguments, by which the
Hindus may be brought to know the only true God, and
Jesus, whom he hath sent.
Neither should you despair that the great stumbling-block
in the way of conversion, the irregular lives of many of our own
countrymen in the East, even if it still exist, may be speedily
1 Asiat. Researches, vol. x. p. 27. - Ibid. p. 34.
N

178 A CHARGE TO
removed. Already, indeed, if we may trust to the evidence
pf persons who have recently returned from India, the man
ners and conduct of our countrymen in that quarter have un
dergone considerable improvement : and such a result was to
be expected from the provision now made for the education
of the youth destined to fill important stations in the service
of the government. The cause of religion is, it is true, still
unsupported by public authority ; but even for this radical
defect the remedy, we trust, is at hand ; the attention of the
legislature having lately been called, in a manner which can
scarcely be ineffectual to the establishment of an English
episcopal church in India. Without it, indeed, the labours of
missionaries cannot operate on a very extended scale ; and
the want of it is so urgent that it cannot, consistently with
our Christian character or national honour, be much longer
deferred. The church of Rome has her ecclesiastical esta
blishment in various parts of India, and even in one of our
own presidencies.1 Her influence, however, is said to be on
the decline : the funds of the propagandists were destroyed
by the French devastations in Italy'2; and we are assured that
genuine Christianity is now more acceptable to the natives,
than the spurious and corrupted doctrines of Rome. The
Mohammedans still form a considerable part of the population
of Hjndostan : the Moslem conquerors did not fail to establish
their religion wherever they consolidated their power; but
their power in India is completely extinguished by the subju
gation of the Mysore. The Hindoo Rajahs of Tanjore,
though they never have been converted, have evinced a more
than tolerant spirit towards the members of our mission.
Several years have now elapsed since one of them appropri
ated a yearly revenue to the support of the Christian mission
aries within his dominions 3 ; and the homage more recently
paid by the Rajah to the venerable Schwartz, when, at the fune
ral of that apostolic man, he wept over the bier of him whom
he denominated his father and his friend, demonstrates that
in the sight of even prejudice itself, " beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings
of good things." Of these propitious circumstances whether
1 Bombay. See Buchanan's Memoirs, p. 5.
s Tennant's Thoughts on India, p. 208.
3 Society's Report for 1788.

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. lf()
or not our Christian country shall take immediate advantage,
by establishing the church of England in the East, they will
not at least be lost upon you. Whatever be the difficulties
which you may have to surmount, you will at least reflect
that they are inconsiderable, compared with those which your
early predecessors in the same career cheerfully encountered,
and in great measure overcame. When they first visited the
shores of India, the name and office of the protestant mission
ary were as yet unknown ; he was viewed with suspicion ra
ther than welcomed with confidence ; his Romanist rivals
were active in prejudicing the natives against him ] ; there
was not a single printing-press in that quarter of India ; and
the Scriptures were as yet wholly untranslated into the Ta
mul tongne : but the labours and learning of Ziegenbalg,
snatched away as he was in the flower of his age, produced
the Tamul Bible ; and happily for the interests of the Chris
tian cause, his companions and successors in the mission have,
for the most part, been men of the same unwearied zeal and
examplary deportment. With the labours of Ziegenbalg those
of Plutscho and Grundler are still associated in tradition ; the
virtues of Schwartz and Gericke are still had in affectionate re
membrance ; and we trust, that by the blessing of God, the
name of Jacobi may not be forgotten by those who shall
hereafter trace the progress of the Gospel in Southern India.
That your pious purpose may be fully accomplished, and
that your labours of love may be rewarded with abundant
fruits, permit me in conclusion to offer you a few suggestions,
which your future experience will correct or improve, but
whiqh, in the interval, it may not be wholly useless to re
volve in your mind. It is obvious that your enterprise will
require you to pursue a course of study, in which it cannot
be expected that you should yet have made any great ad
vances. The field of knowledge which the East throws open
to an ardent and excursive mind, is so delightful, that care
must be taken to restrain curiosity within the bounds of use
fulness. Without the languages of the country in which you
shall reside, you would be but as a barbarian unto the people,
and they barbarians unto you. These languages are princi
pally the Tamul and the Portuguese : many other dialects
1 Niecampii Hist. Missionis, p. 106.
N 2

180

A CHARGE TO

are partially spoken ; but you will perhaps find it useful,
without loss of time, to direct your attention to these, and
even to make them in some degree vernacular, before you
shall attempt other languages, if you shall attempt them at
all. You will consider, that it is not merely in preaching to
the natives what you shall have premeditated that your use
fulness will consist, you will find it necessary to converse
with them familiarly on every subject which may present it
self; to enter into their sentiments, feelings, associations, and
prejudices; and to be altogether such as they are, except only
in their ignorance, their superstitions, and their vices ; but
this cannot be attained by a knowledge merely of words and
phrases suited to a topic which we ourselves have chosen, but
it supposes us to be able to think, as it were, in their lan
guage, if it be possible for foreigners to attain so nearly to
perfection. Every idiom, perhaps, if we accurately examine
it, is distinguished as much by the peculiar turn of sentiment
to which it is accommodated, as it is by its grammatical struc
ture; and this remark is true more especially of the Oriental
tongues, the images and combinations of which have had their
origin in habits of life and modes of thinking so widely dif
fering from our own. Your other studies will probably be
such as are immediately or collaterally connected with the
objects of your mission. You will endeavour to acquire an
intimate acquaintance with the prevailing tenets of Hinduism,
with the arguments by which they are defended, and with the
reasoning by which they may be refuted. You will cultivate
those branches of knowledge which you find to be popular
and likely to recommend you to the natives. You will diligently
review the records of the mission and the labours of your
forerunners, considering well to what causes their success has
been chiefly attributable, and to what their failure, and re
solving to profit by their experience whilst you emulate the
bright example of their virtues. Above all, you will make
the Sacred Volume your meditation by day and by night;
both as it will enable you to establish Divine truth in the
hearts of your hearers, and (which is indispensable to that
great end) to preserve it pure and vigorous in your own.
To knowledge and learning you will add discretion. You
are doubtless animated with the noblest zeal for the salvation
of souls : I would not damp the sacred fire which is kindled

THE REV. C. A. JACOBI. 181

je

in your bosom by the Blessed Spirit : I trust it will be
tinguished only with your latest breath. Let your zeal, how
ever, be so regulated that it fail not of its object : attend to
times and seasons and opportunities : a degree of jealousy,
fatal to your views, might be excited by your imprudent inter
ference with an inveterate superstition. But it is not merely in
officiousness and temerity that zeal may err : it appears in a
still more reprehensible form when it has ceased to be in
genuous. Beware then of holding out delusive representations
to those who may be disposed to listen to you : avoid every
thing which may be construed into a subterfuge or suppression
of the truth : inculcate the doctrine of a crucified as well as
of a glorified Redeemer : exhibit the Man of Sorrows in his
meekness and lowliness : point out the necessity of an offering
for sin ; and let your endeavour be less to make a multitude
of pretended proselytes, than that they, who shall profess the
faith of Christ, shall profess it in truth and sincerity. It is
admitted, I think, by all who have preceded you, that your
hopes of making genuine converts must rest, in great measure,
upon the instruction and education of youth. In this depart
ment much has been done to lessen your labour by a distin
guished member of our society, who has greatly improved
the method, which he brought from Madras, by giving it a
more systematic arrangement and a more extensive appli
cation. You will not fail to avail yourself of this powerful
aid : in conveying the elements of European knowledge, you
will insensibly prepare the way to the adoption of our religi
ous tenets ; and these you will avowedly and strenuously in
culcate, wherever it can be done without violating your good
faith with the parents of the children committed to your care.
Finally, let me remind you, that under the guidance of
the Blessed Spirit you must ultimately rely for your success
on those Christian graces which are the proper fruits of the
Spirit ; they must live in your life, and breathe in all your
actions ; humility, patience, kindness, devotion, charity, and
peace are the virtues of the Christian apostle ; by these you
will adorn and recommend the doctrine of God your Saviour.
That the Almighty may accord to you these assistances, and
whatever else may further the work to which He hath visibly
called you, that He may make you the instrument of good to
thousands, and through those whom you shall instruct, bring
N 3

182 A CHARGE TO
tens of thousands from the power of Satan unto Himself, i*
our most fervent prayer. We shall take a lively interest in
all your, proceedings : we shall be thankful to God for all
your successes : we shall rejoice in your joy. For the pre
sent, accept this our cordial greeting and farewell ; and may
the God of love and peace be with you evermore.1
1 To this charge Mr. Jacobi made the following reply : —
The indulgence of this respectable meeting will, I trust, lend a patient ear to
the accent of a foreigner, who deeply regrets his not being able to speak well the
language of a nation for which he has the highest esteem. It is a long time since
a meeting of this venerable society has been held on an occasion like the present,
and I feel a peculiar pleasure in beholding such a number of venerable and re
spected characters now assembled for the purpose of again sending a missionary
into a field where labourers indeed are wanting ; and it is to be pitied, that it has
been hitherto impossible to supply this want more plentifully. The reason of
this lies not so much in the interrupted intercourse with the continent, as in the
actual want of proper subjects for such stations. The pestilence of French prin
ciples, unbelief, confusion, and wisdom falsely so called, has also infected the
German universities ; and even with the better part of the students it has such an
influence, as to make their spirits ill disposed to forsake all earthly pursuits, and to
sacrifice every thing for the cause of true Christianity. The Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge, and especially its excellent German agent, the celebrated Dr.
Knapp, in Halle, has therefore used the utmost caution in the selection of mis
sionaries ; acting on the principle, that it is better to send none at all than bad
subjects. Owing to the above-mentioned bad principles, and the distressed situ
ation of my unfortunate country, the missionary spirit has much subsided, so that
even on a proclamation of one of the most learned and eminent men to the stu
dents of divinity in all German universities, to offer themselves for the East India
mission, not one appeared.
I think myself indeed highly favoured to be the first, after so long a time, who
is sent out by this venerable society, whose missionaries, with Schwartz and Gericki
at their head, have experienced peculiar blessings of the Lord in seeing their la
bours crowned with such abundant success, that it may be said of the Society for
promoting Christian Knowledge, their missionaries have done more than those of
all the other societies together. And yet this society is far from coveting the
applause of men, but chooses rather to be known hereafter by its fruits, than to
be praised by the present generation for great things yet to be undertaken. There
is no doubt but it must be both an honour and a blessing to labour under the
protection of such a society.
I think it now my duty to give some account of my life, together with the
motives that induced me to deliver myself, with body and soul, up to this parti
cular work of God.
When a boy of seven years my father, one of the most learned and pious mi
nisters of the church of Saxony, telling me something about this country, said,
" Behold, God has certainly yet great designs with England, and it is a mighty
instrument in His hands to establish His kingdom on earth." He then telling
me of the missions, I felt so deeply touched that I cried out, " Father, I will
one day go to England, from thence to be sent out among the Gentiles ;" and
from that time all my thoughts were filled with this design. Childish as this
might appear, my father kept these words in his heart; and when I afterwards
had been four years at the college, and the hour of his death approached, he wrote
me, that I might tell him, before he died, what my resolution about my future
state of life was. I answered, that I was determined, if it pleased the Lord, to
follow what I thought my calling to the mission. I was then sixteen years of
age. My father, answering to this, exhorted me to look carefully on the ways of
God with me, not to presume to guide my own fate ; but as he had no objection

THK REV. C. A. JACODI. 183
to my determination, he wished me the blessing of God to it. Alas ! this was,
his last letter; the last words of which were, " May the Lord finish his work."
He soon after died, and thus took my promise to be a missionary with him before
the heavenly throne.
When eighteen years of age I left college for the university at Leipsic, where I
studied two years upon my own fortune. Here many temptations assaulted me
from all quarters : the allurements of sensual pleasure were easily overcome ; but
a more formidable enemy, the modern Divinity (if I may so term it), had very
nigh caused my foot to slip in the path of faith. The lectures of the professors
represented the Bible as a mere human book : in a word, infidelity was recom
mended , and preached from the pulpit designed for the preaching of faith. I had
a hard contest, but it pleased God to establish my heart again, and to open my
eyes more fully upon the wonders of his word. I then burnt all my manuscripts
of the new method of divinity, and visited these lectures no more : I retired, and
gave myself entirely to private study. Another temptation then arose to make
me an apostate to the Lutheran church ; but after having closely examined the
doctrines of the party that wanted to make me a proselyte, I thanked God that I
had not left my church ; and I am very happy to understand that the church of
England considers the Lutheran church as a faithful sister. By the particular
providence of God I became acquainted with the Rev. Dr. Knapp, who invited
me, by letter, to come to him, and to finish my studies in Halle. I accordingly
left Leipsic, and Dr. Knapp showed me the kindness to take me into his own
house. This last year in Halle every thing seemed to conspire to deter me from
my design to become a missionary : many lucrative livings were offered to me in
Saxony, Austria, and Russia ; my own friends and relations began to urge me
to accept such comfortable situations ; they represented my intention to go on a
mission as fantastical, and my reliance on God in this point as a chimera. At
last it had the appearance, on account of the present war, as if my hope should
never be realized, and my enemies, and those that scoffed at me, began already to
triumph, when all at once, and unexpectedly, I received the call of this blessed
society; and from the very moment I accepted it, till the present, the Lord has
been with me in a peculiar manner in so many respects, that I clearly see it is
His good pleasure, and firmly trust in Him that I shall safely arrive at the place
of my destination in India.
Before I conclude, I beg the venerable and respected society kindly to accept
my most hearty thanks for the kind reception I have met with, the attention
shown to me, the care which has been taken to make my sojourning here, as well
as my passage over the ocean comfortable. May the Lord reward the society for
all this, by guiding me safely to my destination, by sending down His Spirit upon
me, that I may be enabled soon to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation in Christ
Jesus unto those that sit in darkness and under the shadow of death ; and cause
them to bless a society that thus took pity upon the poor benighted Gentiles. Yea,
there are already crowns of thousands of saints, once Gentiles, prepared for those
happy members of this society that have gone asleep in the Lord ! and may I be
privileged to prepare a crown for.Aose that now send me off, and accompany me
with their prayers ! I promise" to prove a faithful servant in the cause of the
mission, to continue instant in praying for the grace of my Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, to adorn His doctrine by my whole life and conversation, to endea
vour to have always a good conscience both towards God and men. I depart
with the prayer, that the Lord may vouchsafe to look down with his pleasure upon
this venerable society, and to cause the same to remain for ever blessing and for
ever blest.

tst 4

CHARGE DELIVERED TO
THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE
OF
CALCUTTA, AT
Calcutta the 1th December 1815, at Madras the 11th January,
and at Bombay the \3th June 1816 ;
AT
THE PRIMARY VISITATION,
By T. F. MIDDLETON, D. D. F. R. S.
LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

'Ei rav v(p' ri/ias reXoMw mpiyiveuOai fii) Svmfi(6a, ras rb (rofiujibv inttvo
no! tyaixwov ZQvos i.ito rSiv iSluv eflhww airoffrrjffai SwriffSfteOa ;
Petrus Antiochenus Orkntis Patriarcha, apud
CotelerU Mon. Eccl. Grceca, vol. ii. p. 157.

TO
THE REVEREND
THE CLERGY OF
THE CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN BRITISH INDIA,
THE FOLLOWING CHARGE
IS, WITH GREAT REGARD, INSCRIBED,
BV THEIR AFFECTIONATE
FRIEND AND BROTHER,
T.F. CALCUTTA.
Bombay,
24th June, 1816.

CHARGE, &c.

MY REVEREND BRETHREN,
The occasion of your being now assembled is not unim
portant in the annals of the Christian Faith. The day has
at length arrived, when the purest and most powerful of
protestant churches is completely established in a vast region
of Asia ; her clergy, hitherto a small number of detached
individuals, acting without concert, and not subject to any
local superintendence, are henceforward members of a com
pacted body, and united under the regimen, which every
where prevailed in the primitive ages of the Gospel : from
the first planting of Christian churches by the preaching of the
apostles, till we reach the period of modern innovation or
neglect, wherever there were Christians, there were clergy to
instruct them ; and wherever there were clergy, a bishop was
placed among them, to advise, to encourage, to admonish, to
preserve unity of faith and worship, and to perpetuate a holy
priesthood. It is superfluous to inquire to what causes we
should impute, in the present instance, the delay of a measure
so consonant with Christian practice and of such obvious
utility : our immediate concern will be rather to consider,
now that the deficiency no longer subsists, in what way we
may give effect to the important purposes, which the legisla
ture contemplated, when it made provision for an episcopal
establishment in British India.
I am fully aware, that in proceeding to the consideration
of these points, I am entering upon a subject of no common
difficulty : I am deeply sensible of the difference, which sub
sists between the condition of Christianity in these regions,
and the order and stability, which it has long attained in
England : I am ready to admit, that the duties of the clergy

190 A CHARGE TO
are here to be performed in circumstances somewhat peculiar ;
that the public feeling is to be considered and conciliated ;
and that the suggestions of Christian prudence no where re
quire to be observed with stricter care : but the inferences,
which arise from this state of things, must be drawn with
discrimination, or they will lead to consequences, which in
stead of removing our difficulties, could only tend to increase
them. You are not to infer, where an object is definite, and
legitimate, and accompanied, as we cannot doubt, with God's
blessing, that impediments, however formidable in the outset,
can in their nature be permanent : it would be wrong to
infer, that schemes of improvement are not to be prosecuted
with ardour, because hitherto they have been scarcely thought
of, or under every disadvantage have failed; and admitting
the existence of difficulties to the utmost extent, I will venture
to remind you, that the just conclusion is the necessity of a
ready and conscientious co-operation under one head ; upon
whom, after all, (and I feel it to be no light responsibility,)
the blame of failure must principally rest. And when we
recollect, that those who have been most forward to allege
the peculiar circumstances of this country as arguments
against improvement, have usually been persons not remark
able for their attachment to the Christian cause, 1 trust that
the last to insist upon impediments, and to shelter themselves
behind anomalies, will be the English clergy. We have no
natural impediments to contend against, but the manners and
habits incidental to an enervating climate : and yet there is
no region on the earth, where the religion of Jesus, if due
care be taken to plant and to water it, will not flourish. The
most dissipated city of the East became one of the earliest and
most distinguished seats of the Gospel. We know that " the
disciples were called Christians first at Antioch ;" * and that
a branch of the church of Antioch has subsisted for cen
turies, under every discouragement, amidst the mountains of
Malabar. An unavoidable delay in the promulgation, by the supreme
government, of His Majesty letters patent, has induced me
to postpone, for so long a period, the exercise of certain
powers vested in the bishop, and especially the very important
1 Acts xi. 26.

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 191
measure of licensing my clergy. The new system, however,
is now in full force ; and I am enabled to inform you, in what
light you are henceforward to consider yourselves, as well as
to afford you a sketch of some particular obligations.
I wish that I could announce to you, that you were in all
respects placed upon the footing of parochial incumbents ;
that each of you was to have his parish church, to which he
was to be regularly instituted and inducted, and that he was
to be assisted in the superintendence of his flock by church
wardens and overseers, as the parochial clergy are in England.
In time, no doubt, beneficial changes will be gradually intro
duced : for the present, however, you are required to make
the best of the circumstances in which you are actually
placed ; and they are such as to justify the expectation of
your discharging the duties of clergymen with a high degree
of usefulness and effect. You are many of you still, by the
nature of your duties, military chaplains ; but by no means
subject to all the inconveniences, which the name seems to
imply. You are placed completely and exclusively under
ecclesiastical jurisdiction : you have fixed and permanent
stations, to which you are henceforward to be nominated by
myself; and your correspondence on all ecclesiastical matters
will be carried on with myself or my archdeacons : the rules
prescribed for the regulation of your conduct will be precisely
the same, except where local circumstances render it imprac
ticable, with those which subsist at home : my letters patent
direct me to administer the ecclesiastical laws, as they are
received in the realm of England : and they evidently contem
plate no other discipline, than that under which our church has
been favoured with such manifestations of the divine blessing,
and still continues, notwithstanding the cavils of bigoted or
ignorant men, to be the great depositary of scriptural know
ledge and sacred truth, and, under Christ, the main support
of Christian piety throughout the world.
It is needless, I trust, in any circumstances, to employ
much time in reminding Clergymen of the obligations which
they contracted, when they solemnly devoted themselves to
their holy calling ; to bring to their recollection, that they
promised, by the help of God, to " give faithful diligence
always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, and the
discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this

192 A CHARGE TO
church and realm hath received the same :" ' and that " in
the pubhc worship of God they will use the form prescribed in
the Book of Common Prayer, and none other :" 2 an engage
ment, which precludes addition, and omission, and every
alteration whatever. And yet, perhaps, in the peculiar cir
cumstances attending the situation of the clergy in this
country, one great danger, to which they have been exposed,
has been that of falling into habitual neglect of canonical
regularity : some practices of this kind have, in truth, come
to my knowledge, of which, in the reliance that they will not
be persisted in, I would much rather suggest the excuse, than
pronounce the censure. I am ready to admit, that the clergy
have hitherto been placed in a condition by no means favour
able to the correct and regular performance of their duties*
It is doubtless a high advantage enjoyed by your brethren in
England, that their attention is so frequently drawn to every
topic connected with their profession. Episcopal and archi-
diaconal visitations afford the means of instruction and advice,
as well as of a ready and frequent intercourse among the
clergy of the same district: the example of an incumbent of
revered character and approved judgment silently yet power
fully operates on his younger brethren, who are placed in
his immediate neighbourhood : and occasionally, the penalties
inflicted on the grosser derelictions of duty, and sometimes
even on the omission of forms, will not suffer any to fall into
a general inattention to subjects of this nature. In the utter
absence of these helps and restraints, it cannot be matter of
surprise, if uncanonical practices have sometimes been ad
mitted ; especially in a country, where the laity themselves,
little conversant with such subjects,- have not exacted from
the clergy the same attention to established order, which is
generally expected at home. These considerations seem to
demand, especially at this our first meeting, that I should
somewhat enlarge upon the topic of discipline.
The age in which we live, is not generally chargeable with
any want of zeal in behalf of religion. The value of
Christianity is felt and acknowledged by the great mass of
Christians; and very praiseworthy efforts are made for its
diffusion. Much, however, of this zeal is destitute of regu-
' Ordination of priests. 2 S6th Canon.

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 193
lation, or is directed only by the private views and notions of
those, by whom it is cherished ; and while those notions are
so discordant, and are sometimes inculcated with so little
regard to any recognised authority, it is to be expected, that
the obligation to order in religious proceedings should be little
attended to, and, in consequence, not generally understood :
there seems even to be a prejudice against it, as if it were in
jurious to zeal, by having a tendency to cramp its exertions
and to narrow the range of piety. It may be supposed, that
an order of men, who have voluntarily adopted the sober
views of the church of England, and who know the grounds
on which her discipline is established, and have had experi
ence of its use and necessity, will be little liable, on such a
subject, to be affected by the fluctuating opinions of the day ;
and yet, perhaps, it is too' much to hope, that any of us, espe
cially in such circumstances, should be wholly exempt from
the influence of prevailing sentiment : human nature is too
weak to adhere invariably and inflexibly to principles, which,
however solemnly adopted and powerfully established, are yet
disparaged in the public estimation, and not always observed
in practice. I would remind you, then, that the order and
discipline of our church are an integral part of its constitution,
considering it as an instrument in the hands of God for the
maintenance and diffusion of truth. The inculcation of sound
doctrine is perceived by the most superficial, to be the highest
object and aim of religious instruction ; but it is not always
remembered, that sound teaching can be maintained only by
salutary discipline ; and that the unity of truth must be pre
served by a reference to some particular interpretation of
Scripture. Neither can provision be generally made for the
maintenance of religion, but through the aid of an ecclesiastical
polity ; not necessarily, indeed, enjoying the sanction and pro
tection of the state, but sufficiently strong to maintain and
enforce its regulations against opposition: which, however,
in the present condition of society, is scarcely supposable to
any great extent, without the assistance of the temporal
power. And such appears to be the actual constitution of
the church of England. Its government and discipline ori
ginally emanate from higher authority than any human
enactments, or the power of princes; even from the word of
God, and the promises of Christ, and the practice of bis

194 A CHARGE. TO
apostles : its liturgy and its articles, though of human com
position, are yet interpretations of Scripture by persons, to
whom was committed the ministry of the word: and the
rubric, which it has framed to preserve a decency and pro
priety of worship, and the canons, by which it has provided
for its government, are the results of piety and experience
applied ' to these particular subjects : the part which the state
has taken in these proceedings, has been only to adopt and
to sanction them, and to secure to the clergy, who teach in
conformity with such principles, the emoluments, which a;
Christian state will appropriate to the maintenance of the
Gospel, together with certain immunities and honours, to
uphold them in the eyes of the world.
If this statement, then, be just, nothing can be more un
founded than any prejudice against the order and discipline
of our church, as tending to interfere with a salutary zeal ; I
mean, supposing such prejudice to subsist among many of its
members. With respect to others, the case is more intelli
gible, though it hardly deserves our notice : it is natural for
those, who have no idea of sacred truth beyond the narrow
views of the sect or party, • with which they happen to be
connected, to cherish a hope, that if the established interpret
ation of scripture were divested of authority, and order and
system could be brought into disrepute, their opinions would
meet with less opposition : but with such we have at present
no concern. For us it is sufficient to be convinced, that all
the undoubted verities of Scripture are maintained and in
culcated by our church ; that it furnishes the most ample
means of grace, and well-founded hopes of glory ; that its
rites are primitive, and decent, and edifying ; and that it
imposes no restraints on zeal, but such as are necessary to
order and peace, and to the maintenance of that establishment,
under which the purposes of genuine piety are most easily at
tainable ; and if any occasional inconvenience seems to result
from the operation of the rules, which it has prescribed, it
will be right to consider, though I cannot imagine a case, in
which the inconvenience can be shewn, that in this, as in
other instances, particular must give way to general good.
But , in- considering the unreasonableness of the prejudices
against ecclesiastical discipline, it were unjust to rest its de
fence upon abstract principles, or even upon the constitution

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 195
dT the church of England. The primitive church, if we may
rely upon the records of its earliest proceedings, was not
more remarkable for the zeal and intrepidity of its preachers,
than for their strict conformity to order, and their care to in
culcate respect for discipline on the minds of their converts.
To imagine that the first Christians bore any resemblance to
the wild fanatics, who act as if it were a mark of piety to
" despise dominion and to speak evil of dignities," ' would
indicate an utter ignorance of the history of our religion. It
is well known, that the order and discipline, the foundation
of which had been laid by the apostles, was a subject of un
remitted attention in their immediate successors. Not only
is this apparent from the writings of the apostolical fathers,
but still more so, if possible, from the history of the
early councils, and the care to provide for every emergency
in the government of the rising church. Many of the canons
decreed at these councils refer to doctrine, and scarcely
fewer to discipline : and though it is admitted, that the work
which has come down to us, under the name of " apostolical
canons," -did not actually proceed from the apostles, it has
been shewn to be of an antiquity little posterior to the
apostolic age, and in the judgment of Bishop Beveridge has
merited the appellation of " the Code of the Primitive
Church." 2 The truth appears to be, that the zeal of the
early Christians went hand in hand with order and submission
to authority ; and whatever may be alleged of the influence
and splendour* which the church acquired by the conversion
of Constantine, it is certain that the jurisdiction of the
hierarchy had been fully recognised from the earliest times ;
and that the great body of Christians evinced a conscientious
obedience to laws enforced under no other penalty than that
of spiritual excommunication, and deriving no support from
the state.
.' It is difficult, however, to speak or to think on the present
subject, in this quarter of the globe, without connecting it in
some degree with the possible extension of the Gospel. We
are aware, indeed, that this is a topic from the mere mention
of which some persons shrink with alarm : and unquestionably,
if we could be supposed to cherish the thought of propagating
1 Jude 8. 2 Vide Cotelerii Patres Apostolicos, Vol i. p. 432.
O 2

196 A CHARGE TO
religion by force, not only ought the subject to be proscribed
by common consent, but the idea should be rejected with
horror. We bless God, however, that persecution on ac
count of religion is alike abhorrent from the faith of Pro
testants and the temper of the times : the only armour of
an offensive kind in the Christian panoply is " the sword of
" the Spirit, which is the word of God." 1 But if, in the
general dissemination of knowledge, the excellence of Chris
tianity should be more fully displayed ; — if a faithful and
affectionate exhibition of the truth, as it is in Christ Jesus,
should impress the minds of some, who cannot discover either
the grounds of their present faith, or the reasonableness of
their worship; — or if a strict attention to divine ordinances
and to Christian duties among ourselves should produce the
effects, which so abundantly followed it in the early stages of
the Gospel, and should bring in willing converts to Christ, I
know not that " any man can forbid water, that these should
not be baptized." 2 And the prophetic word enjoins us to
look to such an event, though it has not defined the precise
mode or the time of its accomplishment. In this view, then,
the church in India may be only in its infant state : it may
be destined to receive gradual yet continual accessions of
strength ; and it may ultimately, in the unseen methods of
Providence, be made the means of dispensing knowledge and
consolation to the descendants of millions, who are yet with
out its pale: " the kingdom of God," as we are assured, cometh
not with observation" 3 or " outward shew. 4 With reference,
therefore, to such a consummation, however remote, the
attention will be naturally directed to the church establish
ment, as the centre from which the whole body of converts
must derive its unity and consistency. In every supposable
state of Society, except in a temporary coalition of adverse
and discordant prejudices, where the object is political power,
the religion which is established by authority, will maintain
its just preponderance : and that preponderance, in the pre
sent case, while it will be seen to be in favour of a discipline
derived from the primitive ages, and having therefore the
sanction of antiquity, would also be found to be most con
genial with-the habits and the character of the people. It may,
i Ephes. vi. 17. 2 Acts x, 47. 3 Luke xvii .20, •• Marginal reading.

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 197
therefore, be reasonably expected, that the government of the
future church, whatever be its extent, should be that which
was in force at the time of its foundation ; or in other words,
should be episcopal : that the decent and dignified order of
our establishment should be the model, which Christian con
gregations would adopt ; and that from whatever quarter the
tidings of the Gospel may first have come, and however im
perfectly or partially conveyed, all diversity of practice or
opinion should gradually subside in the doctrine and the
discipline of the church. A small society of Christians, may,
indeed, be formed upon almost any of the various schemes
which caprice may suggest ; and such societies may be pre
served from dissolution, so long as an establishment diverts
the jealousy of rival sects : but nothing which has any re
semblance to independency is adapted to the maintenance of
religion amongst a numerous people, and least of all perhaps,
when we consider their peculiar character amongst the nations
of the East. Abstract theories of religious liberty would be
hardly intelligible, where no real or supposed right was felt
to be infringed : and the unbiassed judgment would declare
for Christianty in that form, in which the fullest provision
should be made for piety, and order, and peace.
In offering you, however, these remarks, I am duly mindful
that I am not addressing missionaries, but the stationary
ministers of an established church. I might, indeed by re
verting to an act of the legislature in the reign of King
William, recognise the two characters in union : it was then
enjoined, that " such ministers, as should be sent to reside
in India, should apply themselves to learn the native lan
guage of the country, the better to enable them to instruot
the Gentoos, who should be servants of the company or of
their agents in the Protestant religion : 1 and among the
missionary proceedings of the present day I have met with
none, which have been conducted with a happier combination
of zeal and judgment, than one of your own body has dis
played- 2 It were perhaps to be wished, for various reasons,
that missionary efforts had been exerted principally in the
same channel : it should seem to be easier to add converts to
an established congregation, than to form one where none
i Charter of the East India Company, A. D. 1698.
" The Rev. Mr.-Corrie, of Agra.
0 3

198 A CHARGE TO
existed : and on the ground of unity the advantage is so
manifest, that it were needless to insist on it. But this
system seems to have been only partially acted upon ; and
though, I believe, it has not been formally abolished, a very
¦different one has grown up in its place. My object, however,
in this part of my address to you, has been, not so much to
revive it, especially as you have more immediate and peculiar
duties, as to enforce an attention to discipline, with reference
to an eventual extension of Christianity, by whatever means
and whenever it may be accomplished. Every consideration,
which can be urged in behalf of our national church,
clearly supposes it to be well administered, and that the
clergy, each in his station, be observed to discharge their
allotted duties with regularity and regard to system. We
otherwise become unconnected individuals, and cannot pos
sess in the public estimation any advantage arising from our
peculiar fitness to form a general standard. Even with a view
to our making converts by the mere force of example, the
effect of such regularity can hardly fail to be felt. In the
early ages, unbelievers, in endeavouring to account for the
rapid progress of the Gospel, laid great stress on the regu
larity and order of the clergy ; and Sozomen 1 has preserved
to us a remarkable letter of Julian the apostate to the hio-h
priest of Galatia, in which he urges the priest to engraft on
paganism the laws and usages, by the observance of which
the Christian clergy had been so successful. Bat in the
lowest view of the subject, and supposing that in the plan of
providence other means should be chiefly effectual in dis
seminating the truth, if the doctrines of our church are ulti
mately to be received as the preferable interpretation of scrip
ture, they must be diligently and consistently inculcated ; and
if her discipline is to be the model, it must be exhibited in all
its strength. This is our proper 'vantage-ground : and if we
are verily persuaded, that the purest principles of the Christ
tian faith are those which we are pledged to maintain, and
that our church is really built on the foundations of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone, we shall not abandon our ground by remissness,
by irregularity, of by specious attempts at accommodation.
''Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 16.

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 199
In the course of my connexion with you, if providence
should spare my life, I shall endeavour to keep in view the
general principles here laid down, and apply them to circum
stances, as these may arise. For the present, under this
head, I will content myself with urging you to a strict con
formity with the rubric and the canons of our church : they
have the same force in India that they have in England : and
they are equally to be observed, wherever they are not plainly
inapplicable : of which I shall be enabled to judge. Your
dress, minute as the subject may seem, is by no means to be
disregarded ; and I am not aware that even the climate can
require us to divest ourselves of any of the external marks of
our profession : where, indeed, the clergy are so few, it is
more especially necessary, that they should be distinguishable,
and should maintain respect. The same remark will apply
to every feature of your deportment and conversation : and
in truth, whenever I consider these points, I am convinced,
that the responsibility which attaches to your situation, is
even, if possible, {greater than that which belongs to incum
bents in England. The ministers of the Gospel are every
where ordained to be lights in the world; but here, in a
world of thick darkness : and if any of you hide is light, there
is no one at hand to supply his place, or to keep alive the
sacred fire of divine truth in a region of wide extent ; the
charge is committed to a single individual, on whose fidelity
and vigilance every thing must depend. Under the same
head of admonition, I would remind you of the propriety,
wherever there are churches, of using them in the performance
of such offices, as the rubric does not authorise in any other
place. The practice which has been admitted in some in
stances, of performing the marriage service' at all hours of
the day, and in private houses, even where a church is within
a convenient distance* I cannot sanction or allow : and even
where there is no church, the decency and solemnity, which
have prescribed certain hours for the purpose are quite as
deserving of regard in this country as in any part of the
world. So likewise in the administration of the office of
baptism, the attendance of sponsors is to be required in the
manner which the rubric directs : it is a salutary institution,
both with respect to the provision, which it makes, for bring
ing up children in the nurture of the Lord, and as it tends to
o 4

200 A CHARGE TO
connect individuals, who are not joined by any necessary tie,
in the bonds of Christian love. There are, probably, other
topics of this kind, which may deserve notice : but what has
been said will, I trust, be sufficient to convey my notions
generally, as well as to shew the stress, which I lay on the
specified particulars.
I will conclude the present head with observing, that the
subject of discipline to a certain degree, involves the laity as
well as the clergy ; who, though they are not compellable to
act in defiance of their obligations, and at the hazard of cen
sure, will be naturally anxious to conciliate their flocks, and
to gain them over to a cheerful compliance with order and
propriety, if these in any instance have usually been violated.
What, then, is the course which you will pursue ? Evidently,
I think, you will endeavour to explain the reasons and the
fitness which have guided our church in all her proceedings :
it may sometimes be requisite to do this from the pulpit: and
I am persuaded that a temperate and discreet appeal to good
sense and good principle, will never be made in vain. In
your sermons the prevailing topics will be the grand truths
of the everlasting Gospel : the method and the terms of
human salvation : the natural weakness and insufficiency
of man, unassisted by the blessing of God ; — the alarm
ing consequences of irreligion and indifference ; — the obli
gation to adorn and recommend the doctrine of God our
Saviour ; — and in short, whatever has a tendency to give
not only to your.hearers, but to those " who are without ',"
" access through Christ by one spirit unto the Father." 2
But while you are advocates for the doctrines of Christianity
and for holiness of life, I should not think it expedient to
inculcate them in such a manner, as indirectly to countenance
the neglect of any established ordinance : at home, such con
duct would be highly prejudicial, and in this country it would
be fatal, to the interests of the cause in which you have
engaged. With respect to our own people, there can be but
little danger, for the present, of their attributing too much to
rites and forms in religion, where many of them for years
together have never seen a clergyman : and with reference to
the surrounding nations, visible ordinances are the only
proofs that we entertain a reverence for God : nor can you
' Col. iv. 5. 2 Ephes. ii. IS.

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 201
require to be told, that it is to the too frequent absence of
such ordinances, that we are to impute much of the prejudice,
which subsists in this country against the Christian name.
It appears to me, therefore, that you will but imperfectly
discharge your duty, if you do not occasionally insist upon
externals ; not as superseding, or at all interfering with, the
sanctity of the heart and the affections, and the worship
of God in spirit and in truth, but as means conducing to an
end, and without which in ordinary cases that end would not
be attained.
From subjects connected with the general discipline and
good order of our establishment, it is time that I should pro
ceed to topics more immediately of a practical character, as
relating to your ordinary duties : and these I cannot plaee in
any point of view more interesting or more useful, than by
bringing them into as near approximation as possible to the
duties of parochial clergy. The model which I would pro
pose to you, is that of the English parish priest ; — the
guardian of morals, — the instructor of youth, — the com
forter of the afflicted, — the promoter and director - of
works of charity and love — and the guide of all, who are
entrusted to his charge, in the way of peace : and I antici
pate every objection arising from the different state of society
and the circumstances of the country, in the reply, that this
is still the standard, to which you should endeavour to make
all difficulties gradually yield : as a general rule of conduct I
cannot offer you any, which is so likely to carry you to the
object, which I must suppose you to have in view, the religious
and moral improvement of the people committed to your
care. Without denying, that there are difficulties, arising
in some measure from the fluctuating state of society, in some
instances from a long disuse of religious habits and associ
ations, and generally from your not possessing that prescrip
tive influence which attaches to the clergy, wherever they are
numerous and have been long regarded as an order of the
community ; admitting these difficulties, I am still of opinion
that you will not want encouragement in your endeavours to
establish a pastoral influence, especially if it be attempted by
your taking the lead in plans of benevolence and usefulness,
which cannot any where originate so properly as with your
selves. That they should proceed from the laity, while a

202 A CHARGE TO
clergyman is actually on the spot, is scarcely to be expected,
however it may be desired ; and from every thing which I
can learn, your lot can hardly be cast, where you will not
find a considerable portion of Christian zeal to co-operate
with you in any laudable design. The habit of thinking,
and still more of acting according to your views, may not,
indeed, be already formed ; but if the priDciple be in exist
ence, you will only have to appeal to it, and to lead it to its
proper object. These remarks, however, suppose you to be
animated with a sincere desire of doing good : they suppose
you to be attentive to the spiritual and temporal wants of
your people ; to be vigilant observers of every thing, which
is amiss ; and in short, to have your hearts in the work of
your holy calling. And in truth, I can hardly imagine, in
what manner clergymen, especially in situations remote from
the presidencies, can pass their time, except in pursuits
relating to their appointment. In every part of the world, a
kind Providence has connected our happiness with our duty;
but in no condition is the remark more just, than with respect
to clergymen in India. Here I cannot suppose any medium
between habitual attention to duty, and habits of indolence
and voluptuousness. In England the case is different : there
the clergy are induced to employ their leisure, and some
times perhaps more than their leisure, from their proper
duties, in various pursuits more or less honourable and
useful, and worthy of active minds: they engage in the
labours and cares of the magistracy ; or they cultivate their
own glebe : or literature has attractions which are here un
known : and happily for the country, the education of the
youth of the higher and middle classes of the community, is
almost exclusively in their hands. . From ,all such engage
ments you are necessarily precluded ; and this circumstance
justifies the supposition, that here you can have no other
pursuits, than the duties and the studies of your profession.
Among the objects, then, which fall under the head of
duties, I would recommend to your particular attention the
state jof the military : . who, indeed, in some instances consti
tute nearly the whole of your flocks. There cannot be a
class of persons more in need of. pastoral superintendence,
and of instruction in the truths of our religion : too fre
quently, it is to be presumed, that the common soldiers were
brought up in habits of profligacy, and still more frequently,

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 203
that whatever of good they learnt in their childhood, has
been lost from long disuse. You cannot, then, be engaged
in a more Christian object, than in seeking to reclaim them ;
in awakening them to a sense of their danger; in urging them
to receive instruction ; in visiting them in their sickness ; and
in dispensing to them the consolations of our holy faith.
And scarcely, if at all, less valuable, will be your labours in the
conduct of regimental schools: in which agreeably to the design
of His Royal Highness- the Duke of York, the principles of
the Church of England are to be inculcated on the plan of
the National Society. x It is not to be expected that the
masters of such schools should be always sufficiently ac
quainted with the system, to carry it on with the fullest effect;
and in no case can it be supposed, that the superintendence
of a resident clergyman, who interests himself in the good
order and the religious improvement of the children, can be
unavailing or superfluous. In the furtherance of these objects,
and I will add, of almost every object, which I can imagine
you to have at heart, I rejoice that you will henceforward be
furnished with most effectual assistance. By the blessing of
God, a diocesan and two district committees are already esta
blished, of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ;
a society, which has been honourably known in India in one
of its departments for more than a century, and will now I
trust, be actively employed in disseminating Christian know
ledge in the East among our own countrymen. The atten
tion of the committees will especially be turned to the con
dition of the European soldiery in barracks and cantonments,
and in short, wherever vice or ignorance is found to subsist
among the British in India. I consider the want of such an
institution to have been hitherto a great impediment to the
success of your labours. Of bibles, notwithstanding the ex
ertions of another society, there is not, I believe, any redun
dancy ; prayer-books are exceedingly scarce : elementary
tracts, such as you could properly use, have but rarely found
their way to . this country ; approved books for the use of
schools appear to be in great demand ; expositions of the
church catechism are not commonly met with ; and instruc
tions for those who are to be confirmed, may be imagined to
' General Orders, 1st. Jan. 1 81 2.

204 A CHARGE TO
be little known : but these, and in short every thing which
can be useful in aid of pastoral instruction, will now be easily
procurable. Of these committees, all the clergy, I believe,
who have heard of their formation, are already members ; and
I should be negligent of my duty, if I did not suggest to
you the propriety of recommending them to notice among all
who value Christian knowledge, and who would promote it
amongst their brethren in a foreign land.
To the subject of your studies, it might seem superfluous
to advert : and yet with reference even to this particular, I
cannot forbear to offer you one or two suggestions. The
Christian clergy in the primitive ages were placed in circum
stances not essentially different from your own : they were
often the pastors of very small flocks surrounded by Pagans,
with whom they were obliged to have frequent intercourse,
and towards whom to observe the greatest circumspection :
and many of the earlier canons and constitutions were framed
expressly with a view to this state of things. You cannot
suppose me to ascribe to them any authority, where they have
not been adopted by our church ; but as they were the dic
tates of primitive piety and of practical experience in situations
often analogous to your own, I cannot but be of opinion that
the study of them, as well as of the manners and habits of
the first Christians, and especially of the clergy, may be re
commended as an appropriate employment of your leisure.
The Christian Antiquities of Bingham will alone supersede a
multitude of volumes relating to the subject in question : as
comprising a vast collection of facts respecting the early
history of our religion, and calculated, on many accounts, to
afford you valuable hints for the regulation of your conduct.
Another study, which I would particularly recommend to you,
is that of the evidences of Christianity. 'The flimsy scepti
cism, which prevailed in England some years since, among
those who knew little of religion, except from cavils and ob
jections, is, I have reason to apprehend, not wholly unknown
in India : and it is possible that even a learned divine, whose
studies have proceeded "upon a conviction loiig since esta
blished, that the Gospel came from God, may not be always
prepared to convince the gainsayer, or to meet a fallacy with
all the force of truth. But it is not, perhaps, to the mis
chievous zeal of Deists in Europe, that we should ascribe all

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 20,5
the scepticism, the symptoms of which may be detected in
India. There are circumstances attending a long residence
in this country, which without any extrinsic aid must operate
against a clear and decided belief of revelation. The total
disuse of public worship, not unfrequently occasioned by ne
cessity, might of itself be thought sufficient to create indif
ference : but when persons, who see little or nothing of their
own religion, are almost daily spectators of the rites of super
stition ; — when they are told that it has descended with all
its usages from the most remote antiquity ; — when they ob
serve that millions appear to believe in it, and rigidly adhere
to its injunctions, and that these are generally regular in their
lives and peaceable in their deportment ; — when extravagant
commendation is given to passages in their sacred books, as
conveying no unworthy notions of the Creator ; and when the
mind is called to witness the various ways, in which men do
homage to the Supreme Being ; — in such circumstances, it
certainly requires a deeper acquaintance with the true state
of the question than is usually to be expected, to be proof
against inferences which are formed almost imperceptibly, and
which, we know, have sometimes led to opinions avowedly
hostile to the exclusive claims of the Gospel. It is not con
sidered, that antiquity is not even presumptive evidence of
truth, besides that it is not peculiar to one mode of faith ; —
that millions may be kept in error, where knowledge is pre
scribed and forbidden ; — that the peace of human societies
is by no means the only, or the ultimate object of true re
ligion, and that morals are not merely something negative,
but are a positive and active compliance with the authenti
cated will of God ; — that sublime conceptions of the Deity
are attainable without inspiration, and that when they are
blended with the absurd fancies of a disgusting mythology,
it may well be suspected, that both have not been derived
from a common source ; — and that after all, the evidences
of Christianity are peculiarly its own : I allude not merely to
prophecies, nor to miracles, nor to the character and doctrines
of Christ, nor to the moral effect produced on his apostles by
His resurrection and by the Descent of the Holy Spirit : I
mean that it is an historical religion : the history of the whole
dispensation is before us, from the creation of the world to
the present hour : and it is, throughout, consistent with itself

206 A CHARGE TO
and with the attributes of God ; gradually developing one
vast design through a progression of ages, which makes it
impossible that our faith can have been fabricated by the
collusion of many, or by the artifice of a single impostor. Of
its two competitors, the one has no history to produce, but in
the place of it refers us to inscrutable antiquity ; while of the
other, all that can be told, lies within a narrow compass, and
furnishes its best refutation.
You will not then be surprised that I recommend to your
particular attention the study of the evidences of our faith.
The writings of Grotius, of Stillingfleet, of Leslie, of
Lardner, andof Paley, contain,. probably, the substance of
all which has been written on the subject : you will, of course,
store your memory with those reasonings especially which are
most applicable to the circumstances ; and it is not impossible
that you may sometimes be led by local considerations to
pursue very profitably, and to extend reflections on which
those great writers were not required to dwell. These stu
dies will be well rewarded if they enable you to reclaim one
gainsayer, or in a single instance, to relieve the anxiety of in
genuous doubt ; and this you may hope, with the blessing of
God, will be the usual result. The evidences of Christianity
are so various in their kind, so peculiar in their character,
and so independent of each other, that, considering them
merely as a combination of moral probabilities, they lead to a
conclusion little short of mathematical certainty, and of which
the parallel cannot Ije produced in behalf of any falsehood
which has ever been imposed upon mankind.
I have detained you at this our first meeting somewhat
longer, ¦ probably, than can ever be requisite hereafter ; and
yet I am aware that many important topics may still remain
untouched. It is to be supposed, that in so vast a charge I
am yet only commencing my inquiries ; and in order to facil
itate them, and to ascertain the precise points which especially
demand my notice,' I have directed that a circular letter should
be sent to all of my clergy, desiring distinct answers to the
several questions proposed, as the only method of becoming
at once, in some degree, acquainted with the condition of a
diocese, to the actual visitation of every part of which, within
the compass of two or three years, no ordinary strength is
equal. The result pf these our joint endeavours, I trust, will

THE CLERGY OF CALCUTTA. 207
be the establishment of Christian order and piety wherever
the principles of our faith are professed through the British
empire in the East. Your numbers, indeed, are at present
inadequate to the spiritual wants of the people ; and I regret
that in a country, where the professors of other modes of
worship offer a visible homage to their Maker in the proudest
monuments of native art, our Christian edifices are rarely
such as to mark our zeal in the service of God, and are much
fewer than the clergy. Still, however, you are required to
make the best use of your present means ; and so soon as I
shall be enabled, from a full acquaintance with the state of
my diocese, to represent its wants, it cannot be doubted that a
Christian government will readily attend to the first of its
Christian duties.
I now, my reverend brethren, dismiss you with my fervent
prayer, that the succours of the Holy Spirit may be abun
dantly vouchsafed to all of us ; that we may be actuated by
a patient zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of human
souls ; and that we may each of us, in his allotted station,
hourly and habitually remember the account which we must
one day give at the judgment-seat of Christ. In the various
allotments of human duty, by which Providence is pleased to
make trial of man's obedience and love in this probationary
state, I can hardly imagine any condition in which fidelity or
neglect leads to consequences more momentous in time and in
eternity. In that awful day, when these consequences shall
attach to each of us, may we severally be invited to enter into
the joy of our Lord.

TWO CHARGES

DELIVERED TO

THE CLERGY IN THE DIOCESE OF
CALCUTTA :

THE FORMER
At Calcutta and Madras in February and March 1819, and at
Bombay and Colombo in March and April 1821 ;
AND THE LATTER
At Calcutta in December 1821.
By T. F. MIDDLETON, D. D. F. R. S.
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

THE VENERABLE THE ARCHDEACONS,

THE REVEREND THE CHAPLAINS,

DIOCESE OF CALCUTTA,
THE FOLLOWING CHARGES
ARE INSCRIBED
BY THEIR AEFECTIONATE BROTHER
AND SERVANT,
T.F.CALCUTTA.

$• 2

A CHARGE

DELIVERED TO
THE CLERGY AT
CALCUTTA, MADRAS, BOMBAY, AND COLOMBO,
In 1819 and 1821.

MY REVEREND BRETHREN,
J\ otwithstanding that our attention may be presumed to
be given, in a pre-eminent degree, to the immediate concerns
of our calling, we cannot, as men of ordinary reflection, or
even as observers of the ways of Providence, be wholly un
moved by the events passing in the world ; especially in that
part of it which the Almighty has been pleased to allot as the
scene of our duties : we are required, indeed, in connection
with those duties to discern, if possible, " the signs of the
times ;" a knowledge of which is not more important to the
statesman or politician, than it is to the faithful and zealous
servant of Jesus Christ. I cannot therefore have any scruple
in the opening of this address, to remind you of the extended,
if not new relation in which our country has been recently
placed with respect to the nations of India. To the wisdom
and energy by which British supremacy has been established
over one of the fairest portions of Asia, or even to the en
lightened and benevolent views which have illustrated the
career of success, no tribute can here be paid but in the way
of transient allusion ; and it is, indeed, upon other grounds
that I would turn your reflections to the subject : it is, that
in the revolution of ages, no event has apparently been more
propitious to the interests of the Gospel than the acquisition,
by a Christian state, of the sovereignty of Hindoostan : I do
not except the discovery of America ; especially when I re
collect how corrupt were the doctrines which were thus dis
seminated, and how unchristian the violence with which they
were enforced. In any consequences, however, to be augured
p «

214 A CHARGE TO
from this source, I need hardly, I trust, with respect to you
at least, disclaim the notion of any effect to be expected from
the exercise of power: God forbid that the most zealous
among us should look to any power, but " the power of God
unto salvation." l Yet even in this, the only Christian view
of the question, external circumstances have their weight ;
second causes are visibly instruments in the hands of God ;
and it is not presumptuous to believe, rather are we forbidden
to doubt, that this unparalleled and unforeseen exaltation of
the British name is directed to objects not within the ken of
avarice or ambition. It is hardly conceivable, that among the
millions of unbelievers now subjects of a Christian state, none
should be led to the obvious reflection, " Surely, this great
nation is a wise and understanding people." 2 Here, as else
where, it will be natural to ask, what are the proximate causes
which have led to such stupendous results ? it is not mere
victory which prompts the question ; it must be seen that the
advantage of physical force is not on our side : our know
ledge, our institutions, our habits of thinking, and our moral
superiority must be perceived to enter largely into the theory
of our progressive ascendancy, and they cannot fail to become
subjects of closer investigation : and among a people to whom
religion, at least in the abstract, presents questions of the
highest interest, it is hardly to be supposed but that many
will be anxious to ascertain what is the faith professed by
such a nation, and what are the pretensions on which it rests.
It were to disparage* the faculties of a people not naturally
dull, to imagine that they never analyse opinions and associ
ations so widely differing from their own ; and as little were
it to do honour to the Gospel, to believe that a candid exa
mination of it, assisted by the appointed means, will not,
under the divine guidance, lead some to conviction, and ulti
mately to conversion. In such an enquiry they cannot advance
far without discovering, that hitherto they " have believed in
vain 3 :" the deformity and weakness of error may escape ob
servation, while it engages the undivided attention of the
human mind, but it cannot abide the test of a contrast with
the beauty and consistency of truth.
I have not, however, offered you these remarks without an
1 Rom. i. 16. 2 Deut. iv. 6. 3 1 Cor. xv. 2.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 215
especial reference to the proper business of our meeting. My
wish is to impress you with a principle resulting from our na
tional successes in this quarter of the globe : it is the increased
and increasing responsibility of the English clergy. Without
any extension of the cure assigned to each, fresh demands
are made upon the ministers of religion in a heathen land, in
proportion as the faith which they inculcate is from any cause
likely to become an object of interest with the natives, and
any opening appears to be offered by Providence for the dif
fusion of the Gospel. You will have formed a narrow esti
mate of your office, and have thought unworthily of that
scheme of mercy, which you were ordained to preach, if any
prospect of moral good to the people around you, to say no
thing of spiritual blessings, excite in you no emotions of zeal,
and serve not to remind you, that in such a work you are
each of you called upon to bear a part. I cannot, in short,
dissociate objects like these from the concerns of the esta
blished clergy.
Before I proceed, however, to call your attention to your
share and, interest in the work, I will remark upon the col
lateral means which are here employed for the diffusion of the
Gospel, and from which, as being expressly intended for the
purpose, success is more generally expected ; I. allude to
Christian missions, a subject which it is becoming every day
more difficult to detach from discussions like the present. It
is certainly to the credit of our country, and of the age in
which we live, that so much concern is felt for the condition
of the heathen world ; it is in fact peculiar to the religion of
Christ to be influenced by a regard for the spiritual welfare
of man : paganism has never thought of making converts,
•unless perhaps in the rivalry between contending sects ; and
•Islamism appears not ever to have been actuated by any sen
timent allied to sympathy, but merely to have been impelled
by the zeal of conquest, and to have considered its proselytes
as subjects and abettors of its power. That Christianity is
secure against this imputation will be admitted by those, at
least, who dread the extension of the Gospel, as tending to
dissolve the ties of allegiance among a people who acknow
ledge our sway.
But allowing that missionary zeal among Christians may
be generally imputed to the benign spirit of the Gospel, we
p 4

216 A CHARGE TO
cannot observe, without feelings mingled with regret, that it
is not always so regulated as to produce the highest degree of
good ; and what is passing before our eyes will furnish matter
for reflection. To judge from the manner in which this sub
ject is sometimes spoken of, we might imagine that the primi
tive ages had returned, and that little was wanting but the
miraculous powers then vouchsafed, to further the successes
of the Gospel : on looking, however, into the records of those
ages, I cannot acquiesce in a conclusion so gratifying, if it
were but just, to every Christian mind : on the contrary, I am
convinced, that hardly any two things, which are ever sup
posed to have a close resemblance, are more dissimilar.
To any man who will take the trouble to ascertain this
point, by examining the history of early Christianity, the re
mark will probably suggest itself, that he finds but little in
the ecclesiastical historians which treats professedly and dis
tinctly of its propagation ; and that after the apostolic age,
ecclesiastical history is rather that of churches already planted,
and of the catholic church as a whole, than that of missions ;
but if, nevertheless, Christianity, as we know, was continually
extending itself, yet had not, in less than five centuries, sub
verted idolatry in the ancient world, what is the inference ?
It is, that the diffusion of Christianity was not considered as
an object altogether distinct from its general maintenance
among believers, but that in some way or other, both were
provided for in one common system of discipline ; and this
appears to have been actually the case. The first preachers
of the Gospel contemplated its extension to the uttermost
parts of the earth : but this extension was to be effected
through themselves, or through persons whom they or their
successors should commission ; and in this way the propaga
tion of religion would be only an expansion of the catholic
church : in other words, it was so arranged that the esta
blished principles of Christian order should be taken to apply
not merely to those who, at any given period, were within the
Christian pale, but that all who might enter it should acquire
their knowledge of Christ in conjunction with those principles,
and be received through the instrumentality of persons who
were themselves in the unity of the church.
That I may not, however, rest a fact of so much import
ance upon mere assertion, I will state to you very briefly (for

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. '217
briefly it must be) what appears to have been the method in
which Christianity was disseminated in the primitive times. I
have remarked that early ecclesiastical history, after the apos
tolic age, is not what, according to modern ideas, we might
expect to find it, much engaged in the subject of missions.
The command of Christ, " to baptize all nations 1," may be
considered as the authority under which Christians are re
quired to be solicitous for the diffusion of the Gospel ; the
command, however, was given to the eleven, and to those by
implication, as well as by the especial assurance of divine
aid 2, who might be joined with them, or succeed them in the
work; to say nothing of the case of St. Paul, whose commis
sion, though subsequent to that of the twelve, was directly
from Christ. By the apostles themselves and their associates,
as some have gathered from the apostolic writings, about se
venty churches were founded, reaching to Babylon, eastward,
and westward, as far as Spain 3 ; if indeed St. Paul ever ac
complished his meditated journey thither 4, and if St. Peter,
in speaking of the church at Babylon b, meant the ancient
capital of Chaldea, neither of which seems probable. At any
rate, Christianity was planted in the apostolic age in most of
the regions subject to the power of Rome, though the con
verts were almost every where but a small part of the whole
population. It does not, however, appear that any churches
were planted except by the apostles, or by persons acting in
connexion with them : the work of conversion began in unity,
whatever were the divisions which arose afterwards ; and
these divisions were never so great as to obliterate the effects
of the order in which conversion commenced. What then
was the course pursued ? Of the proceedings of the apostles
I need not speak ; it is sometimes said that they were mission
aries, as the name applies : missionaries they were indeed ;
going forth in the power and the spirit of Christ, and, as was
to be expected, teaching the same doctrines and establishing
churches, the members of which could meet in conscientious
communion, knowing of no other separation or distinction than
that of place. If the apostles, however, required assistance,
as we know that they did, still more would their successors:
i Matt, xxviii. 19. s Matt, xxviii. 20.
3 Fabricius, Lux Evang. cap. 5.
< Rom. xv. 24. 5 1 Pet, v. 13.

218 A CHARGE TO
something analogous to a missionary system was indispens
able, and this was supplied, partly by the persons denomi
nated evangelists, and partly by catechists. Evangelists were
missionaries in the strictest sense ; their business was, as we
learn from Eusebius \ to preach Christ to those who had not
heard of his name, and to deliver them to the Gospels. It is
asserted, however, on the same authority, that these men
were disciples of the apostles ; that they laboured not merely
to found new churches, but to confirm and consolidate those
which were already planted ; and that even at the time of
which the historian is speaking, the reign of Trajan, the
Holy Spirit still wrought mighty works by their hands : of
course they were under His especial guidance, and thus was
the original purpose of edification and unity, and a knowledge
of the truth, fulfilled ; for St. Paul declares that all offices in
the church, including that of evangelists, were designed " for
the edification (the building up) of the body of Christ, till we
all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God unto a perfect man."2 These evangelists,
therefore, though they seem not to have been confined in
their mission to any certain spot longer than the occasion re
quired, were yet recognised members of the church, and
amenable to its discipline. Upon this subject Mosheim, a
Lutheran, and not a strenuous asserter of episcopacy, has re
marked, that " in early times it was undoubtedly the custom
for such members of any church as might be desirous of imi
tating the example of the apostles, and propagating the Gos
pel among the heathen, to apply to the bishop for his " license
and to enter on their travels under his sanction." 3 Order, it
seems, was not then thought incompatible with enterprise or
with holy influences, but rather, perhaps, to have been among
the tests and evidences of a commission from God.
The other provision to which I alluded for the extension
of the Gospel, was in the appointment of catechists. As the
evangelists were sent among barbarians, to whom possibly
the name of Christ was unknown, the catechists were to bring
into the fold of Christ the heathen who resided in the neigh-
1 Eccl. Hist. 3. 37. Knpbrleu/ rov Xpizbv <pi\oti[ioo'ij.*vol, /col rty ruv ®elwv
' ~Evayye\lo>v vjapaSiooi'at ypa<p$jv
2 Eph.iv. 12.
3 Commentaries on the Affairs of the Christians, translated by Vidal, vol.i. p. 803.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 21f>
bourhood of any Christian church : the conversion of these
was an object contemplated in every Christian establishment :
all who expressed a desire to be acquainted with the doctrines
of the Gospel, were considered as standing in a certain rela
tion to the church ; not a close one indeed, till they had given
evidence of their being in earnest, but yet one which was
publicly avowed : places contiguous to the church were set
apart for their instruction ; catechisms were compiled for their
use ; catechumens were allowed to be present in the church
during the sermon, and while certain prayers were offered for
their illumination 1, in which they were required to join ; and,
if I mistake not, even the heathen who had not openly pro
fessed a desire to be instructed in our faith, were not alto
gether excluded.
These then appear to have been the missionary proceedings
of the first ages ; but all antiquity abounds with circumstances
tending to show, that the propagation of the Gospel was in
close connexion with order and discipline. Churches were
built under the bishop's sanction, signified by his visiting the
spot and fixing a cross 2 ; no clergyman could be ordained
but with a specific and local charge 3 ; a convert could not be
admitted to the orders either of priest or deacon, till he had
brought over his whole family, whether infidels or heretics, to
the catholic church 4 ; and one of the canons of the council
of Chalcedon provides for the consecration and subordination
of bishops in foreign parts.5 Regulations such as these may
be thought trivial in the laxity of modern times, still this was
the system under which our faith was disseminated, and which
had manifestly the blessing of God.
We may, however, be asked, were there then no consider
able schisms in the primitive ages ? It is easy to reply, that
there were several, and that thus the Scripture was fulfilled :
but if it be required to estimate the degree in which they re
tarded the progress of the Gospel, the task would lead me
far beyond my limits into curious and difficult research.
Briefly, however, I would observe, that no where do we find
in Scripture that these are matters of little moment ; they are
1 Bingham's Christian Antiquities, xiv. 5. 3.
2 Beveregii in Pandectas Canonum annott. vol.ii.. p. 168.
3 Bingham, iv. 6. 1,
4 Bingham, iv. 3. 13.
5 Canon xxviii. apud Beveregium.

220 A CHARGE TO
spoken of in terms of reprobation as evidences of a carnal
spirit; and we read, that the fomenters of division should be
" marked," and, after due admonition, " rejected :" still, how
ever, many such were found, and the truth prevailed, not
through them, but against them. And why then, it is said,
may it not be so now ? Far be it from us to doubt of the
final issue, but we deprecate what may intervene ; and there
are circumstances, perhaps, which made the divisions of early
times less adverse to the propagation of the Gospel than those
of the present : I allude not merely to the miraculous powers
and influences which prevailed for a while in the church, and
through which the Gospel was firmly established notwith
standing all impediments : it may be added, that the points
in dispute were generally of a nature in which the learned
only, or pretenders to learning, would take an interest ; they
were not so much practical questions on which all must de
clare themselves : and even in those differences the same
tenets, however erroneous, were for the most part maintained
in the same district, so as to exhibit to the neighbouring-
heathen the appearance of unity. The history of Montanism,
of Donatism, and even of Arianism, though the latter two did
not appear till the beginning of the fourth century, will fur
nish more or less an illustration of these remarks : and pro
bably it may be true, that controversies upon any point had
then less hold upon ordinary minds, when as yet men were
not led by the enjoyment of political freedom to confound the
maintenance of theological opinions with the exercise of civil
rights. But what would have been the case, if in any of the
provinces in which a ministry was already exercised by per
sons duly commissioned and ordained, and the catholic doc
trines were taught, what would have been the consequence if
teachers had appeared impugning the form of church govern
ment till then universally received, and promulgating new
opinions as to the sacrament by which men are admitted to
the Christian covenant ? Though we cannot estimate amidst
varying circumstances the force of the resistance which such
obstacles might have opposed to the progress of the Gospel,
we may venture to affirm that more pernicious questions could
not have been agitated in a heathen land : under what form
of church government Christian societies shall live ; what is
the authority of their teachers, and whence derived ; and

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 221
whether infants can or cannot be brought to Christ are prac
tical controversies, if any are practical, and they necessarily
produce a diversity and a collision, which the heathen (I speak
it of my own knowledge) do not fail to observe. It is, indeed,
in this point of view, and not merely for the sake of institut
ing a comparison between primitive and modern missions
that I have adverted to the subject ; and. on this head, if we
have any interest in Christian proceedings connected with this
country, there is somewhat to regret. Under a system which
liberally allows to all denominations of persons permission to
settle in India, for the purpose of imparting to " the native
inhabitants religious and moral improvement '," it is surely to
be. wished that the terms of the grant were more strictly ob
served : the " native inhabitants" are not benefited by the
preaching of missionaries in English ; nor do purely mission
ary objects account for that preference which is so frequently
given by missionaries to a residence among Europeans, though
it is obvious that the numbers and influence of a sect may
thus be increased much more rapidly than by patient, and
often ineffectual labour, bestowed upon the heathen. Still the
true missionary will consider, that to encounter and overcome
difficulties is actually his calling; and he will account it a
greater work to have imparted to a single pagan the know
ledge of a Saviour, than to number a hundred Christians
among his proselytes. The success, however, which has at
tended the preaching of missionaries among Europeans, makes
a prominent figure in some of their details : there have even
been instances, at some stations, of direct interference with
the chaplain; nor have the most diligent of the clergy beer.
altogether secure against intrusion. To consider a system,
of which such proceedings should form a part, as the best
adapted to the conversion of the heathen, would be not
merely to renounce the wisdom which the Almighty so sig
nally prospered, but to substitute what has hardly the cha
racter of common prudence.
Still it may be asked, is there no way in which the different
sects, now unhappily dividing the Christian world, may es
sentially and unexceptionably contribute to the propagation
of the Gospel? I should shrink from such a conclusion,
i J3Geo.3. s.3S.

222 A CHARGE TO
however legitimate were the process, by which it might seem
to be deduced : I should hesitate to believe for a moment,
that laborious and pious and benevolent men, of any religious
denomination, could be altogether disqualified for furthering
such a work : if they would turn their attention chiefly to
the elementary instruction of youth, — to the dissemination
of European knowledge and arts, — to the improvement of
morals, — to facilitating the acquisition of languages, — to
bringing us acquainted with the opinions, and habits, and li
terature of those whom we wish to convert, and generally to
breaking up and preparing the soil for the seed of the Gos
pel, they would indeed be valuable auxiliaries in the Christian
cause ; and the most inconsiderable sect might thus attain a
degree of usefulness, if not of worldly renown, which the most
prominent cannot hope for in the present state of things.
It will, however, immediately occur, that this is more than
can be expected in the actual circumstances. There are
strong indications, to some of which I have already alluded,
that influence and power are among the objects which some
times actuate sectarian zeal. What next, then, should we
recommend? So long as these objects shall be disclaimed, it
will be only to act consistently with the disavowal of them,
and of all views, except those of compassion for the heathen,
which alone are professed ; to avoid, instead of seeking col
lision, with the established church, or even with any sect which
has accomplished so much, that it may be said to be already
in possession. Th§ practicabiUty of adopting this course of
conduct cannot, for the present, be questioned. What im
measurable tracts still remain untrodden by believers in
Christ ! What a field is still open in three out of the four
quarters of the globe to him who is a missionary indeed ! to
the man who is content to forego the comforts of European
society, and to live among rude or superstitious tribes, seek
ing only to humanize and enlighten them, and to show them
" the way, and the truth, and the life." By such a course of
proceeding the work of conversion would be more rapid than
it is at present: and though nations might thus be gained
over to modes of faith, which we could not in all repects ap
prove, yet convinced that Christianity in any of its forms is
beyond comparison better than paganism, we should bless
God for the result : nor would our satisfaction be subject to

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 22.'^
the abatement which must ever attend it, when in the partial
successes of various sects, all cultivating the same soil, we
see the foundation of divisions and disputes, which must one
day dishonour the Christian name.
Before I dismiss this topic, let me announce to you, what
cannot be heard with indifference, that the chartered Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts consider
ing that the establishment of episcopacy in this country is
favourable to the design, are turning their thoughts to the
founding of Eastern missions ; and with this view they have
solicited royal authority to collect contributions in the churches
throughout England and Wales. Their object, I have no
doubt, will be to tread, as closely as the times and circum
stances will allow, in the footsteps of the primitive church :
and if we look to their labours in other parts, it is not pre
sumptuous to hope that here also they will have the blessing
of God.1
But though it be time that I proceed to speak of the im
mediate duties of the clergy, the view which I have taken of
a collateral subject is not foreign from the present occasion.
The propagation of Christianity among the heathen, and its
maintenance among those who profess it, though distinct in
their immediate object, are connected in their ultimate results :
and the best allies which the true missionary can desire are a
body of active regular clergy. The heathen, when they are
urged to embrace the Gospel, will naturally enquire into the
lives of Christians, or rather, without enquiry, they will exer
cise their own observation : and if it be possible to conceive a
situation in which zeaL piety, and, perhaps, talents, are thrown
away, it is that of the preacher to the heathen, who is labour
ing to make them believe in opposition to what they see.
" By their fruits ye shall know them 2," is a test which the
Gospel cannot evade : it is the test which itself has esta
blished, not indeed of its divine truth, for that would be the
same, though not a knee on earth should bow at the name of
Jesus, but of the reception which it may expect in the world.
Here then is the proper sphere of clerical exertion : in the
most restricted notion of your duties, if you go not beyond
1 The Society's College, near Calcutta, was founded on the 15th December,
1820. 12 Matt. vii. 20.

2 24< A CHARGE TO
the limits of your flocks, you are called upon to take care, so
far as may be, that there be nothing within your own fold
which can cause the heathen to blaspheme. But what does
even an approximation to such a state of things suppose ?
Surely, nothing less, than that every one of you have a just
conception of his office ; and high is the dignity, higher than
in any worldly sense, of an authorised and faithful minister of
the word. To be a teacher, an adviser, a comforter, a
dispenser of ordinances, which Christ instituted as means of
grace, an interpreter of Holy Writ, an example to believers,
an advocate of the truth against them who would gainsay or
pervert it, an ambassador for Christ, and a minister of recon
ciliation with God ; to be, in short, set apart by the Holy
Spirit to rescue men from the snares of passion and illusion, and
so to conduct them through things temporal, that they finally
lose not the things eternal, — these are the functions of the
Christian pastor : and where there is a prevailing sense of their
importance, with an earnest though imperfect devotion to the
cause of Christ, they extort the tribute of reverence even from
the children of the world. But then, be it remembered j that
all this is personal ; that the high distinction is not merely
lost, it is converted into a subject of reproach and dismay,
when men invested with the sacred character falsify or even
forget it. What member of society has less claim to respect
than the clergyman, who; unmindful of the most solemn en
gagements, has no pleasure or apparent interest in his duties ?
who is satisfied if be escape official censure ? who calculates
how he may best consult his own ease ? who sanctions a sus
picion, that he regards his profession merely as a mainte
nance ? and who betrays his weariness of what he feels to be
its restraints ? Whatever be the light in which any man may
himself consider these things, I would tell him in the words
of St. Austin, speaking of this very character, " Nihil apud
Deum tristius, et miserius, et damnabilius."1
But not to advert any further to a case, which it is hoped
is every where of rare occurrence, there may still be in the
clergy, especially in this country, indications unobserved by
themselves, of a want of due consideration as to the import
ance of their functions. In England, for instance, no parish
1 Tom. ii. p. 19. edit. Benedict.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 22.5
is left for. a day without provision for the duty ; but the same
feeling does not prevail in India. I readily admit, that here
the circumstances are different : but it is the mischief arising
from this difference, which I would counteract. It is true,
that here, however urgent the cause of absence, no assistance,
generally speaking, can be had : the nearest clergyman is
probably at the distance of one or two hundred miles. What,
then, is the point to which 1 would advert ? It is an error
into which all of us very easily fall ; that of excusing or under
rating mischief, which might be avoided, by recollecting that
it cannot be avoided always : the mind thus becomes recon
ciled to it, as if it were a reasonable consequence, that there
cannot be much to deprecate in what must sometimes be
endured. I would remind you, then, that the evil, though
sometimes unavoidable, of leaving a station for months toge
ther, is one of the heaviest inconveniences and severest
checks, to which religion is exposed in this diocese. In the
absence of the chaplain, the Lord's Day may indeed be ob
served as a day of rest and private meditation ; though this,
probably, would not long be the case, where it was not pub
licly and visibly distinguished ; but that must be the utmost :
and as to other duties, lay-baptism will intrude under the
plea of necessity, and laymen must officiate at the interment
of the dead ; to the Holy Communion none will have access,
however urgent their desire to receive it ; and the sick and
dying will be left without spiritual support or advice: in
short, every Christian association must be violated, and every
Christian habit lost : and I can hardly conceive by what pro
cess they can soon be restored. In all cases, therefore, of
application for leave of absence, necessity alone should be
considered as a justification: in the event of sickness requiring
a removal, a medical certificate will of course be transmitted
to myself, or in my absence to the archdeacon : and in other
cases, where the necessity is not apparent, or the time re
quired seems needlessly long, it should be considered as the
discharge of an invidious duty, if any difficulty be made m
granting the request.
Connected with this subject is the absence of chaplains
from their stations, when they are invited to solemnize mar-.
riages at a distance : where this is great, it seems but reason
able, that the parties applying should attend at the station of
S

220 A CHARGE TO
the clergyman, or at least within such a distance of it, that
their private convenience shall not involve any neglect of his
public duties ; in which I include, not merely those of the
Lord's Day, and at military stations the visiting of the hos
pitals, but all others, which really appertain to his office : and
I will add, that it becomes the clergy to discountenance the
strange notion, which some seem to entertain, that to give
vahdity to the marriage contract is the most important of
their functions.
It may also be proper before I dismiss you, to notice a few
other points connected with your ordinary duties : some of
these admonitions I repeat from my primary charge, and
others are founded upon the returns then made to my articles
of inquiry. I am to remind you, then, that marriages must
be solemnized in the church or chapel, if there be one within
a reasonable distance, and at any rate within the canonical
hours ; and that the clergy have no authority to marry without
the publication of banns, unless this be superseded by a
licence : the sixty-second canon is explicit, both upon the
law and the penalty. — Another rule to be observed is, the
punctual half-yearly return of marriages, baptisms, and
burials, to the registrar of the archdeaconry : the object, how
ever, of this rule will be defeated, if the entries be not regular
and complete : in some parts of the diocese they have been
very defective. There have too been cases, in which it was
discovered, that children have been baptized by one name and
registered by another ; and in some, that there had been no
registration at all ; such negligence in a point of such import
ance is inexcusable : where the register is not at hand, a
memorandum should be taken on the spot, and the registration
be made with the least possible delay. — Another duty of pri
mary importance, is visiting the sick soldiery at military
stations ; and I cannot think it sufficient, that the clergyman
should attend occasionally, or merely when he is sent for : this
would be to suppose that the ignorant, and possibly the pro
fligate, are the best judges of their spiritual wants. In an
order upon this subject, issued while the chaplains were
under military authority, I find it directed, that the military
hospitals shall be visited twice in the week.1 It is impossible
1 Circular Letter, by command of His Royal Highness the Commander in
Chief, dated. 8th November, 1811.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 227
not to honour the benevolence which suggested this regula
tion : and I should be sorry, if a laxer discipline were now to
prevail. But let the visit be made in the true spirit of such
a duty : let the sick be invited to confidence, and feel that
they have a friend : listen with sympathy to the sad tale of
past neglect of God : if it be necessary, forbear not to display
" the terror of the Lord a ;" and seize upon the moment of
contrition to unfold the doctrines of pardon and peace, and
the efficacy of sincere repentance and amendment of life,
through a Saviour. To be cold or indifferent in duties like
these is to lose one of the fairest opportunities of doing good,
while it would indicate in any clergyman a general unfitness
for his work. — On the subject of schools I should not think
it necessary to make any remark, if a total silence might not
seem to disparage an object of the first importance. In some
parts of the diocese, the clergy, to their honour, are doing
much in this way ; and wherever there is a chaplain, it may
fairly be expected that there will be a well-conducted school.
I will only add, that the books used by the National Society
may be obtained on application to the several committees of
the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and that the
system is now practised and may be learnt at any of the three
presidencies. — Lastly, let me once for all remind the clergy,
that whenever any thing is wanted for the decent and due
performance of divine service, as proper books, a surplice or
sacramental plate, to apply for them through the accustomed
channel of correspondence : it is not excusable to be without
them, where they may so readily be had. I would not here
observe, if some indistinct notions on the subject had not
gone abroad, that the clergy are in all matters connected
with their official concerns to correspond with myself, or in
my absence, with the archdeacons ; and that they are in all
respects under ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
After having thus called your attention to various particu
lars connected with the regular performance of your duties,
I need not enlarge generally upon the topic of regularity
and discipline : still I must repeat, till the admonition be
absolutely superfluous, that order and system must in all
things be maintained : there is, especially at the present day,
2 2 Cor. v. n.
8 2

228 A CHARGE TO
a tendency in the world to neglect or to decry them ; but
they are of God : they prevailed in the church in apostolic
and primitive times, in a degree which would now be stigma
tized as superstition : without them, even in the affairs of the
world, nothing great and good can be accomplished : they
are the principles which hold together the works of the
Creator ; we find them distinctly recognized in his word : in
matters of religion they are especially required ; God is not
the author of confusion in the churches of the saints : x we
solemnly pledge ourselves to observe them, in our ordination
vows: in this country the natives have no notion of any
religion without them : they form, in short, the strength, the
whole strength, of false religions ; and the want of them is the
weakness of the true one. Impressed with these truths, you
will not fail by precept, as well as by example, to uphold the
constitution of the church, in which you were ordained : nor
is it bigotry, which I would recommend, unless, indeed, in
that sense in which every thing is so denominated, which is
opposed to a torrent of undistinguishing generalities, or to
the dogmatism of some aspiring sect. They, if such there
be, who are not verily persuaded, that in doctrine, in disci
pline, and in worship, our church is framed after the model
of Scripture and of the primitive times, have indeed placed
themselves in a painful conflict between conscience and
solemn obligation : but they who are so persuaded, as I
doubt not are all of you, will maintain it against opposition;
not, however, in* a spirit, which serves but to indicate the
weakness of a cause, but learnedly, charitably, calmly, and
firmly : and though even thus we may not escape the charge
of prejudice, still the abandonment of principles, to which we
are pledged, might subject us to worse imputations : and as to
the consequences, it may be sufficient to observe, that if there
be any laxity upon points of this kind, it is only among our
selves. In conclusion, it would afford me the highest satisfaction,
if I could announce to you, that the wants of this diocese,
noticed by me on a former occasion, were in great measure
already relieved : in the archdeaconry, however, of Calcutta,
to which they are principally confined, much may be confi-
1 1 Cor. xiv. 33.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA, &C. 229
dently expected: the supreme government have concurred
with me J in the expediency of recommending to the Honour
able Court of Directors, a large increase in the number of
chaplains ; the want of whom in that archdeaconry is indeed
very great ; and the commencement of one church of becom
ing appearance, and the preparations for erecting another
within the same district, are, I doubt not, the forerunners of
similar works, tending to advance the credit of our religion
and the glory of God. The present moment, indeed, is not
one in which we can have cause to despair : something may
be looked for from the condition of the church at home ; for
though it is assailed by various enemies, yet has more been
done for its security and advancement within the last few
years, than at any period for a century preceding. The act
enforcing the residence of incumbents, and providing for the
better support of stipendiary curates, with sundry provisions
relating to the duties of the clergy, seems wisely calculated to
remove evils, which had become inveterate : and the munifi
cent grant of parliament for building churches, aided by a
powerful society having the same object in view, will open
to the population of the country free access to the established
worship, and leave to the cause of dissent or schism, those only
who approve its principles. Nor ought we to forget, that the
pastoral character has, at no period, been higher among the
English clergy, than it is at the present day : never has more
attention been paid to lowly duties, or greater activity evinced
in doing good. For these things all who love our Zion,
however dispersed through the wide world, will give praise and
blessing unto God ; but I cannot believe that we shall derive
no actual advantage from this increasing interest in the main
tenance of religion at home : the propriety and the duty of
upholding it in a splendid dependency of the empire will be
' felt in a proportionate degree : and if ever there be a crisis
when this branch of the national church can have little to
apprehend from neglect, it is, surely, when Providence for its
own good ends has committed to British stewardship the
riches and resources of the East.
But, after all, my reverend brethren, be the means afforded
what they may, to you must I look, under Providence, to
1 In a letter dated 25th September 1818.
8 3

230 A CHARGE, &C.
give them full effect. I call on you, therefore, I solemnly
conjure you to " take heed unto the ministry, which ye have
received of the Lord, that ye fulfil it2;" to reflect on its
endless importance to yourselves as well as to your flecks, and
even to those who as yet know not the way of life. A body of
clergy, though not very numerous, acting on common princi
ples, breathing the same spirit, and speaking the same thing,
combining zeal with the love of order, courteous without
secularity, sedate without being austere, respectable from
their education and attainments, and revered as living exam
ples of the power of the Gospel over the heart, — such men can
never be without influence in any region of the civilized world :
they possess, indeed, an efficiency, which is not properly their
own, but is rather the operation, in and through them, of the
Holy Spirit. Commending you, therefore, together with
myself, to his guidance in all things, I pray that we may be
enabled to render true and faithful service to the great Head
of the church ; and that having contributed in our several
stations, by fidelity to our engagements, by soundness of
doctrine, and by holiness of life, by zeal, by knowledge, and
by charity, to promote His glory upon earth, we may, in
life's last retrospect, give the praise unto Him, and with no
reliance but on His merits, hope to be received to mercy.
a Col.iv. 17.

A CHARGE

DELIVERED TO

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA,
In December, 1821.

MY REVEREND BRETHREN,
This is the third time that I have been permitted to call you
together for the purposes of these triennial solemnities. It is
hardly possible, under any circumstances, to reflect on the
lapse of such intervals of human life, without something of
serious emotion : but in the country, in which Providence has
appointed us our respective tasks, it will be to all of us, and
especially to those who are advanced in years, a subject of
solemn thought and thankfulness, that we have been pre
served, amidst the ordinary havoc made by the climate, and
even amidst the wide devastations of an epidemic disease,
still to offer unto God the tribute of our humble services,
still to labour for the good of souls, and to work out our own
salvation ; to be still telling of the goodness of God among
our brethren, to grow stronger in the faith, to gain fresh ac
cessions of light and knowledge, and, which is the proper use
of these, to be enabled to impart them to those around us,
who have not enjoyed the same opportunities, or been equally
blessed in their work.
It is, however, on the presumption that we have been not
merely mindful of the general uses of life, but especially and
pre-eminently of the sacred trust committed to us, that any
o 4

232 A CHARGE TO
reflections on our past preservation can be unaccompanied
with pain : the mercies of God cease to be mercies, whenever
they are abused : to have lived idly and unprofitably should
be with all, who think, a subject of regret: but with ourselves
the case will be stronger : we have been separated, (let us
never forget it,) and solemnly set apart unto God : has he
purposes to accomplish in respect to our brethren ? we have
pledged ourselves to be His instruments : has He given
to them a revelation of His will ? we are, within our proper
sphere, its constituted interpreters : has He designs of mercy
to be gradually communicated to the whole human race ? we
are to encourage the hope, and to stimulate the desire, of
such a consummation : has He appointed us to be as lights in
the world ? if that which should illumine and cheer and
comfort, be found to be darkness, how great must that dark
ness be ? To have neglected these high considerations, must
implicate us in a degree of guilt, of which we cannot be self-
convicted without feelings of remorse and anguish, as having
betrayed a trust delegated to us by God's Holy Spirit, under
sanctions the most awful, and involving consequences both
to ourselves and to others, which may reach through all
eternity. It is, therefore, among the salutary provisions of our
church, that the clergy are periodically called together by
authorities, which they recognise at the time of their ordina
tion, to have their attention immediately directed to their
duties and concerns ; to the state of things in the Christian
world, and more especially within their own sphere of action;
to be admonished, if any thing be amiss; to be encouraged
to persevere against difficulties; to be warned in what quarter
danger is chiefly to be apprehended; to be reminded where
good may be attempted with the fairest prospect of success ;
and to be brought, as far as possible, to that unity of senti
ment and action, which should distinguish the clergy of the
same establishment.
There is, however, something peculiar in our condition and
circumstances : we stand in the same general relation to our
flocks, as do the bishops and clergy of dioceses in countries
wholly Christian : but moreover we owe something to the
millions among whom we dwell, and to whom the name, or
at least the faith of Christ, is unknown : we are brought,

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 233
therefore, into contact with objects, which our brethren in
England view, not indeed with indifference, but at a distance,
which precludes actual and direct participation : and though
our ordinary relation to our Christian brethren remains in
full force, it is not perhaps wholly unaffected by circumstances
which are extraneous. We owe, in fact, the same solicitude,
both in measure and in kind, to our countrymen ; but in the
discharge of the duties to which it will prompt us, we shall
hardly lose sight of the connexion which subsists, between
the advancement of faith and holiness among Christians, and
the possible interest which may thus be excited in those, who
are without : in other words, the parochial character of the
clergy, so far as in the condition of the country this character
is attainable, will not be wholly unmixed with that missionary
interest, which, in such circumstances especially, will be cre
ated by zeal for the religion of Christ. If, then, in this view
of the case I am -generally correct, it seems proper on all such
occasions as the present, to advert to the condition of the
heathen around us, as well as to the immediate subject of
these solemnities, the positive and appointed duties of the
clergy. The train of thought into which I am led, requires
that I should first speak of that, which, though important,
is only collateral to the main design.
Unquestionably, within a very few years a change has taken
place in the sentiment of the people around us. It was once
hardly known, even by the better informed among them,
that we possessed any system of religious belief, or indeed
that there were any considerable modes of faith existing
among men, except the two, which divide, though unequally,
the population of Hindoostan. They viewed their conquerors
as men of enterprise and talent and bravery, skilled in the
arts of war and government, and, if just and equitable in their
administration, owing these virtues to something national or
constitutional, or even to self-interest, rather than to the fear
of God. Of our views upon subjects connected with religion,
little could be known : though we did not practise idolatry,
we were not in general very forward to condemn it : policy
and interest, not even yet perhaps so effectually disclaimed
as might be wished, seemed rather to recommend that it
should be numbered among harmless prejudices, and treated
with respect : and any intercourse with the natives, tending

231-

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directly to religious discussions and aiming at their conviction,
was probably extremely rare. It cannot be necessary to
insist at much length, upon the contrast exhibited in the
present state of things. Curiosity is awakened to ascertain,
what opinions we really hold upon the most momentous of
all questions ; and the inquisitive have learnt, that we have a
religion, which we not only believe to be true, but to be the
only truth : they perceive that we are even anxious to impart
it to them, considering them as lost in darkness and delusion :
and that we are forward to show the reasons and grounds of
our faith, while they themselves have nothing to allege but an
obscure and exaggerated antiquity, believed but not recorded,
or the absurd pretence, that intrinsically there is little differ
ence between us, as if their books really inculcated, or even
hinted at, the doctrine of salvation through the Son of God.
Of the change, however, which has taken place, the most
prominent evidence will be found in circumstances of recent
occurrence. Sanguine as have been the expectations of a
few, and cautious as were the many in speaking to the natives
upon the subject of religion, who could have believed, that
any would have been found among them thus early to provoke
religious discussions, and openly to impugn the fundamental
doctrines of Christianity ? to cavil at its mysteries, to deny
the atonement, and to attempt to reduce the, stupendous
scheme of Revelation to some, not all, of the Divine sayings,
which it ascribes to Christ ; teaching that these are sufficient
unto salvation ? and all this with an air of research and learn
ing borrowed from our biblical criticism 1 : while others in a
lighter way publish their objections to our holy faith, or their
misconceptions of what it teaches, and challenge us to reply.
It is impossible for us to know precisely, in what way, or
by what combination of means, God in his secret counsels
may purpose to establish his truth: we may, however, humbly
hope, that these are favourable symptoms. The religion of
Christ is not, indeed; to be propagated by the mere exercise
of human reason : the appeal must be as much to the con
sciences of the heathen, as to their understandings : they can
" believe unto righteousness," (and no other belief is worth
inculcating) only " with the heart." 2 Still it is somewhat to
'. In sundry tracts by Bam Mohun Roy. 3 Romans x. 10.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 235
remove the obstacles, by which the avenues of the heart are
closed : to gain over the understanding to our side, convicting
it of ignorance or prejudice, and thus to teach humility. It
were, indeed, contrary to the character of our religion, and
even to scripture, to believe, that argument is wholly useless
in its propagation : it is supported by evidences peculiar to
itself, or rather it is the only faith in the world, which has any
thing like evidence to produce ; but it cannot be supposed,
that of this no advantage should be taken : we are directed
to " be ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh us the reason of our hope." 1 We find our Saviour
continually arguing from prophecy : and that St. Paul
" mightily convinced the Jews, shewing by the Scriptures
that Jesus was the Christ. 2
We cannot, therefore, view with indifference the disposition
which has appeared among us, to examine and even to
impugn Christianity : we are thankful that we have lived to
witness this crisis, notwithstanding the gross misconceptions
and perversions, to which at first it may give rise. It proves,
at least, that an interest is excited, and that the most for
midable impediment hitherto opposed to our religion, that of
apathy, is giving way. We may lament, indeed, and must
lament, the attempt to raise a new sect among us, divided as
we are already in the midst of a heathen land : we must
lament that the faith, even of a single individual, in the great
doctrine of our Saviour's divinity, should be at all affected by
the opinions of one, who without disparagement must be
considered as a novice in Christian researches. We have,
however, nothing to apprehend as to the general result : the
Socinian heresy, though the most Anti- Christian of all
heresies, is perhaps the least to be dreaded at the present day.
It appeals to what few comparatively feel, while it disappoints
all the wants and weaknesses of the human heart. The event,
indeed, serves to shew, to what endless aberrations the mind
is subject, when the " old paths" and the " good ways" are
forsaken, as we follow them in our national church, marked
out to us from the primitive times, and men treat religion as
a newly-invented science, in which as yet there are no fixed
principles, and all is to be settled by experiment.
1 1 Peter iii. 15. n- Acts xviii. 28.

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In speaking, however, of favourable changes, more may be
said. Idolatry is certainly disavowed by many, in principle
at least, in whose minds, but a few years since, no doubt on
the subject had been raised : and it appears that the natives,
wherever there are schools, are willing that their children
should receive instruction : which, if it be not Christian, can
hardly be afterwards made subservient to the false views of
nature and of theology, contained in their sacred books. It
is easy, however, to attach to these and to all other favourable
symptoms, more importance than really belongs to them :
and there is reason to apprehend, that this, in some instances,.
actually happens, especially in England, among those who
readily believe what they wish, and who have not the means
of correcting their judgment by actual observation. And if
this be true to any great extent, the mischief is apparent :
there will be, at no distant period, a recoil of public feeling :
the sanguine, when they are disappointed, are the most subject
to despondency. The tide at present runs strongly in favour
of almost every attempt to disseminate Christianity, from
whatever quarter it may proceed, and without much inquiry
into its probable results : but if it shall be found, that facts
were not impartially stated, and that undue expectation was
raised by the suppression of difficulties, it will be no longer
easy to obtain support for the soberest and most legitimate
enterprises. The truth therefore is, on all accounts, to be
told unreservedly : and they, who are solicitous for the dif
fusion of the Gqspel, while they duly estimate the magnitude
of the undertaking, should be satisfied with the reasonable
hope, that though the consummation may be distant, their
labours of love, with the divine blessing, will not ultimately
have been in vain.
It were, indeed, contrary to all which is recorded* in the
early history of the Gospel, to suppose that its establishment
through these vast regions may be accomplished, within the
term of any human life. We are apt to lay great stress upon
the rapidity with which the religion of Christ was dissemi
nated in the course of the first century ; at a time, however;
when the hand of God was visibly put forth to show that he
aided the work. In about seventy years from our Saviour's
Ascension, the Christians, at least in the northern parts of
Asia Minor, should appear, according to the well-known

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 231?
statement of the younger Pliny, to have constituted a great
majority. About this time, however, the miraculous powers,
if not absolutely withdrawn, began to be more sparingly dis
pensed : we do not afterwards find, that the progress of the
Gospel was at all proportionate to this rapid increase ; and
some centuries elapsed, before it became generally prevalent
throughout the Roman empire. It has been computed,
though not from premises which admit of any exactness,
that at the commencement of the reign of Diocletian, about
fifty thousand persons constituted the whole of the Christian
community at Rome. 1
The question, then, will obviously arise, whether the diffi
culties, which Christianity had to encounter in the early ages,
were greater, upon the whole, than they are at present, with
reference to the state of India ? To enter at large into such
an inquiry would far exceed my present limits ; but a very
brief comparison may perhaps assist the judgment : the ad
vantages we possess, positive or negative, may be the follow
ing. In the primitive times Christianity had to contend
against the grossest misrepresentations : its professors were
charged with licentiousness and atheism ; they were in fact, for
the most part, obscure persons, of whom any thing might be
said with impunity, and with little chance of refutation : the
very reverse is the case with Christians in this country. —
The early Christians were also confounded, and almost iden
tified in public opinion, with the Jews ; whose very name was
associated with ridicule and opprobrium. Philosophy too and
learning were every thing in the estimation of the ancient
Pagans; whereas the Christians were not only for the most part
unlesrned, but were represented as the enemies of all learning
by their very profession. Here again the contrast is manifest :
the Hindoo learning bears no proportion to that of the
ancient Greeks, nor is the little possessed held in the same
esteem : while Christians in this country are not only learned,
at least as a people, but evidently show, that the dissemination
of knowledge is a part of their system. — Again, among the
subjects of the Roman empire, the worship of the gods
was generally considered as connected with the stability of

1 RoutH's Reliquiae Sacra;, vol. iii. p.

43.

238

A CHARGE TO

of the national greatness : a Rome had been founded in Pa
ganism, and had prospered under it; and as Christianity
advanced, it was found to decline. But national glory is
not an idea familiar to the minds of Hindoos ; nor in any
supposed desertion of them by their gods could they sink
into deeper depression. — Moreover, it may be observed, that
in the early ages Christianity was an experiment : if its effects
were visible on a few, it was not yet known how it would operate
upon nations ; whereas now it is seen to be the parent of virtue,
of knowledge, and of freedom ; in short, the firmest bond of
states, and the surest pledge of their greatness. In the last
place, it may be remarked, that the early Christians had not
the means of diffusing their tenets by the use of printing : it
might seem that this gives us an immense advantage ; but,
perhaps, it may be over-rated : the want of other means of
conversion to any great extent enforced the necessity every
where of oral instruction and of preaching, which doubtless
would be far more efficacious, and which, so far as we can
judge, will always be found indispensable ; and the minds of
catechumens were well initiated, and men came prepared to
the reading of the Holy Scriptures.2 It appears, indeed,
that in the early ages, versions of the Scriptures were made
principally, if not entirely, with a view to the wants of those
who had already embraced, or professed a desire of embracing,
Christianity : the services of the church could not well pro
ceed without them.3 Still it will not be disputed, that the use
of printing must be numbered among other advantages; espe
cially if more be not expected from it than is reasonable, so as
to create disappointment. It exceedingly facilitates discussion
with the heathen, who are at all interested in ascertaining
what the Gospel is, and what it requires : and the Scriptures,
especially in separate portions, and tracts upon Christianity,
may be found, with the Divine blessing, to awaken curiosity
at least among some, to whom preachers have not been sent.
Thus far it might appear, that the impediments to the
progress of the Gospel in this country are small compared
1 By Libanius in his Oration for the Temples ; and by others. See Lardner's
Works, 8vo. Vol. VIII. p. 459.
2 Eusebii Praep. Evang. XII. 1. Bingham, X. 1.7.
3 Sender de Christianorum Statu. Vol. I. .p. 60.

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 239
widi those, which were opposed to its early teachers : but
the balance probably will not be found to be much in our fa
vour, if we examine the other side of the statement. One
of the most obvious differences is, that, instead of our being
here an obscure and persecuted people, we are the domi
nant power. In the manner, however, in which hitherto our
rule has been exercised, (and the same moderation, it is
hoped, will always be continued,) our power is evidently of no
use in the propagation of the Gospel : no boon or encourage
ment has ever been holden out, or any preference shown,
to converts: it may be thought, perhaps, that political ap
prehensions have operated rather the other way ; it were idle
to dissemble, that persons, neither few in number, nor incon
siderable in influence, have thought, that our interests in a
splendid possession are best secured by letting every thing
remain in its present state. But without insisting on this
point, I would remark the advantage, for such it was, which
the cause of Christianity in the early ages derived from per
secution : that it suffered much, is true, and even that it
seemed at one period to be nearly extinguished : an imperial
inscription is still preserved, in which the triumphant ex
pression occurs, " Nomine Christianorum deleto."1 But
this was only according to man's judgment : persecution had
been from the beginning, under the superintending provi
dence of God, one of the most fruitful sources of conver
sion : the fortitude and constancy of Christians had a power
beyond that of preaching. Among the earlier and most emi
nent converts to the Gospel was Justin Martyr ; who, amidst
much admiration of its doctrines, confesses that the spectacle
of the calm endurance of suffering for the sake of Christ
chiefly determined him to become a Christian.2 It is further
to be considered, and it is remarkable, that the heathen, who
were converted in early times, had no sacred books profess
ing to be divine revelations; the Sibylline books need
hardly be excepted, as being of a political character : they
endeavoured to learn the will of their gods through oracles
and divinations; much too uncertain, however, to be ap
pealed to as a general standard. There was nothing at all
corresponding with what we hear so much of, as the doc-
1 Gruteri Inscript. Antiq. p. 280. - Opera, Ed. 1686. p. 50.

240

A CHARGE TO

trine of the Shastras. It may be added, that the lives of
Christians at the present day, as exhibited among the hea
then, are not such as to excite observation by extraordinary
piety or purity, so as to induce a belief that their faith is
exclusively from God. — In respect of church order and
discipline, we can hardly pretend to a comparison with the
early Christians; the doctrines which they held on these
points, largely as they contributed to the success of the Gospel,
are now in disrepute : their divisions, moreover, various as
they were upon questions in which the heathen could feel no
concern, did not, for the most part, present the externals of
discord; and they did not in a single instance, before the
middle of the fourth century, touch the subject of church
government, or call in question the principles, on which the
church, as a society instituted by Christ, is founded. — And
not least among our difficulties must be mentioned that of
caste : In early ecclesiastical history we find instances, no
doubt, of uneasiness and displeasure in heathen families at
the conversion of any of their number, but nothing which
precluded all further intercourse with the convert, or even
the interchange of accustomed charities : on the contrary, we
read of cases, in which conversion produced no alienation,
except in the rites and exercises of religion. We know it to
be otherwise here ; and yet it has been found, that even the
terrors of the law of caste may be defied and despised : and
in every such instance we cannot doubt, that it loses a portion
of its influence, and that when Christian converts of any con
sideration shall be sufficiently numerous to form a society
among themselves, it will be a mere deacTletter.
On the whole, then, it will probably appear that the work of
conversion at the present day, and in this country, does not
yield, in point of difficulty, to the task of the earlier Christian
teachers. But it cannot be supposed that this result is given
for any purpose of discouragement; little, in fact, has yet
been attempted in any regular way. Whatever is the will of
God, (and we are sure that He wills the coming of Christ's
kingdom, sooner or later, among all nations,) can never be
impossible ; and all which we call difficulties are resolvable
into our ignorance of the means (for means must be employed)
which God will graciously prosper: if this could be ascer
tained, the whole problem would be solved and the business

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 241
done. Now certainly we may hope that the course of pro
ceeding which God will bless will be that which, allowing for
the difference of circumstances, comes the nearest to the
practice of the primitive times. The difficulty lies in the
adaptation, though such adaptation does not appear to have
been much a subject of enquiry. Independent experiments,
recommended perhaps in some measure by their novelty, have
the ascendancy in the public mind. I would not speak of
any of these with disrespect, nor yet with unnecessary re
serve. To the use of the press, in a religious view, I have
already adverted. Some, however, appear to lay great stress
on the diffusion of mere knowledge and science, which, though
it will assuredly undermine idolatry, will hardly prepare the
way for the doctrine of Christ. Men do not usually become
more humble as they learn to feel the force of their natural
powers ; and they who shall have extracted from Christianity
all that exalts and ennobles life in reference to the world, will
be apt to be satisfied with their attainments and proceed no
further. Others have thought, that an extensive study of Sans
crit literature would be productive of great effect, as it would
enable us more fully to argue with the heathen out of their
own books. This seems, however, to be a concession in limine
to the authority of those books ; and besides its being neces
sarily a slow process, it would rather, if successful, establish
our religion as a species of philosophy, and would thus pervert
it ; as was the case in the second century among the Christians
who emanated from the school of Alexandria : their faith was
a forced agreement between Christianity and Platonism.
Much difference of opinion has also arisen respecting the
medium of communication with the natives, whether it should
be in their own languages or in ours, although the question
should hardly seem to turn upon the preference, supposing
both to be equally practicable : the former will obviously be
necessary at the outset, while the latter, surely, is the result to
which we should unceasingly direct our efforts. It seems adr-
mitted on all hands that the languages of the country are far
below the level of the ideas which we have to impart. A
competent acquaintance with the English tongue would at
once lay open to the minds of the natives, not only the trea
sures of our religion and knowledge, but our habits of thought
and feeling, and thus form a bond of union between them and

242

A CHARGE TO

us, far stronger, probably, than any which at present exists.
The first teachers of Christianity had a great advantage in
the prevailing use of the Greek tongue ; and we ought, as
much as possible, to disseminate our own, with a view to the
possession of similar facilities.
Upon the course of proceeding in this great question in the
primitive ages, I took occasion to speak at some length when
I last addressed you ; and if I mistake not, I showed distinctly
that the diffusion of Christianity was not effected so much by
independent efforts, and unauthorised experiments, as by the
gradual expansion of the catholic church. It was thus that
the work began : " As they went through the cities they de
livered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained
of the apostles and elders* which were at Jerusalem : and so
were the churches established in the faith, and increased in
number daily."1 It may, therefore, be expected that nothing
would more effectually contribute to the object in question
than a considerable church establishment among us, which
should at least make our religion conspicuous and procure
for it respect, while it countenanced the operations and gave
a character to the labours of those who should be employed
in the work of conversion. I am not, I need hardly observe,
supposing the regular clergy to be missionaries ; they have
other duties to perform, and almost every where, if they be
performed with diligence, sufficient to occupy their time,
though no reason can be given why they should not avail
themselves of their Christian opportunities to receive converts
within the pale of their respective congregations : nor can
there be any thing more Christian in its aspect than the spec
tacle which, I am told, may be seen, of a number of native
converts joining with our own people in the service of the
church. Missionaries, therefore, acting under proper autho
rity, and subject to control, as in the primitive times, must be
employed ; and schools in connexion with our missions must
be maintained, in which elementary knowledge shall be taught
preparatory to the sowing of the seed of the Gospel. Still
the prevailing sentiment among the established clergy, on
questions of this kind, will always have great weight : mis
sionaries will effect comparatively little if it be not seen with
i Acts xvi. 4, 5,

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 243
what they are connected, or whence they are sent ; and any
enormous disproportion between the provision which may be
made for the maintenance of religion among ourselves, and for
the teaching of it to the heathen, will carry upon the very face
of it a confession, that the subject altogether is of less import
ance in the judgment of some among us than of others. It is, in
truth, a question in which much, in the commencement at least,
must depend upon externals : as the minds of these people are
constituted, and perhaps most minds not habituated to abstrac
tion, they must see before they can understand, or will even en
quire. If we err, it should not be on the side of simplicity. In the
early times, as we learn from Origen ', the heathen would ask
the Christians, where were their temples ? which were compa
ratively few and mean. The answer might have been, that the
Christians then were poor. Whatever has been done among
ourselves in this way, has undoubtedly contributed to the
change of sentiment among the heathen ; and a proportionate
effect may be expected from what may be done hereafter.
The Christian measures of Constantine, on his conversion,
may be ascribed to the influence of his adviser Eusebius ;
they were, therefore, such as the judgment and extensive
experience of that great man recommended, and they were
principally the building of churches 2, and a provision for the
better observance of the Lord's day.3
The question, then, of our church establishment brings us
upon our proper ground. At our last meeting I had occasion
to notice the signal successes by which this portion of the
British empire had been extended, and its power and resources
consolidated ; and I ventured to express a hope that this cir
cumstance, added to the increased interest upon the subject
of religion at home, would be found propitious to the ecclesi
astical establishment of British India. At that moment, too,
it was known to be the wish of our illustrious ruler to erect a
structure which would have been not unworthy of this splen
did and daily improving capital, and would have impressed
the nations around us with some idea of the honour paid to
religion in Europe. The, debt of gratitude due to the design
is not lessened by its indefinite postponement. Of religious
1 Contra Celsum, p. 389. Ed. Spencer.
*. Theodoret, Eccl. Hist. i. 15.
3 Eusebius de Vita Const, iv. 18.
E 2

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A CHARGE TO

edifices, however, destined for common use, several have been
raised, or are in progress in this archdeaconry and in that of
Bombay; and none of them, perhaps, is more important than
one, of which the work is now far advanced, together with a
school to be attached to it1, in a populous quarter of this city;
yet I have still to lament the want of chaplains in this part of
my diocese. It is something to my individual feeling to be
conscious that I have not failed to represent this want as my
duty required 2 : this, however, is no alleviation of the public
evil; we have considerable bodies of Christians, and those too
our own countrymen, who are at this moment without the sa
craments or the common offices of religion. Things are, in
deed, in some respects worse that at the period of my repre
sentation : a vast accession of territory has been naturally the
occasion of forming new stations, for which, however, no re
ligious provision, so far as appears, has been made.
On every account, then, both as it respects ourselves and the
heathen, ought we to be zealous for the strength, and effi
ciency, and credit of our establishment. With respect to our
own people the case is plain : if Christians any where need a
regular ministry, and the public offices of religion, and the
checks and restraints which arise from a diligent inculcation
of the Word of God, and the appointed means and aids by
which divine truth, ever open to the inroads of sciolism, and
indifference, and voluptuousness, is maintained in the mind and
heart, it is assuredly in India : and with repect to the natives,
much as theynow hear of our religion, they will look to autho
rity; and if they observe that the church is either weak or
supine, deficient in its means, or remiss in its duties, they will
draw the obvious conclusion, and act accordingly. The esta,-
blishment, therefore, must be, if any thing, as the heart or soul
of our religious system, from which Christians may derive
a warmth and energy, to be gradually diffused by its genial
influence amidst all around them.
In what, however, will your zeal consist ? The zeal I would
.recommend is nothing more than what arises out of our so
lemn engagements; out of the choice which we have made of
our profession ; out of conviction of the truth of the doc-
1 St. James's school is buiit out of funds placed at the disposal of the Bishop of
Calcutta ; especially, a legacy of 500/. from the late Captain Henry Oalcc.
- See former Charge,

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 245
trines to which we have subscribed, and of the authority of
the discipline which we have pledged ourselves to maintain ;
in short, out of the common integrity which disdains to receive
the wages of a service not cordially performed and approved.
And how shall it be exercised ? I might say briefly, in
maintaining its principles, and in exhibiting their connexion
with the great work of promoting order and charity in this
world, and salvation in another ; for this alone is consistent :
or if there be any who are zealous for the maintenance of our
establishment, without reference to the true object of all esta
blishments, the general well-being of Christians who live
under them, they will never, with God's blessing, find in me
an apologist. But to speak more distinctly as to the mainte
nance of what are usually called church principles : there may
have been times and places in which it would have been su
perfluous to enlarge upon such a topic, but I cannot think
the exception applicable to the present time, or to the country
in which we live. What, in fact, is generally known here
upon the subject, or can be known, but by a temperate and
discreet inculcation of it? All sects and denominations of
Christians among us receive an encouragement and support
which is nearly indiscriminate. Little distinction seems to be
made in respect of the church, except that it is established by
law : it is not sufficiently considered, that such establishment
is incidental, not essential to its pretensions ; or that its claims
to acceptance rest entirely upon its being a true and apostoli
cal branch of the church of Christ. We hold, that all men
may not administer the sacraments, or authoritatively expound
the Word of God ; and if not all, then they only to whom the
commission was given or transmitted. In short, following
Scripture and the primitive records, we distinguish the church
as a society from merely voluntary societies in which they, who
would accomplish any purpose, may appoint and create their
own officers, and subject themselves to their rule. This dis
tinction will not need to be maintained among those who have
attended to the constitution of the church as founded by
Christ ; but subjects of this kind are not always familiar even
to cultivated minds ; by some, as we know, all difference in
the two cases is openly denied, and the perplexity which they
thus occasion they want not the worldly wisdom to turn to
their own account. r 3

24G

A CHARGE TO

But, then, what is to be said for charity? for much, no-
doubt, is due to it ; and no conclusions can be right which do
not recognize its claims. All apprehensions on this score
must surely arise out of misconception, as if charity were as
sociated with laxity of principle, or were even a part of it ; the
very contrary of which is the fact. Charity is good, and de
serves the name so long as we hold it in the truth ; but as the
truth becomes indifferent to us or doubtful, what we take to
be charity loses its virtue as one of the Christian graces, and
even its very nature : it is no better than the prodigality of
those who give away to any who ask what they themselves do
not value. It is preposterous to talk, as some do, of the
charity and liberality of men, who hold that all churches
and all sects rest upon much the same credentials, though
such, no doubt, will be lenient even to the worst of errors.
Charity, in the very idea of it, is that which makes some sacri
fice : this will hold universally, and, of course, in questions of
religion : if it " believeth all things," it is candid in its allow
ance for early prejudices and disadvantages; which still, how
ever, it considers to be such : if it ". hopeth all things," it still
feels that much is at present wanting ; and if it " endureth
all things," it guards against being betrayed into ill-will to
wards persons, while it laments their principles; but these
sentiments have obviously no place, where there is not in the
mind a settled system of what it reveres as truth.
But I have remarked, that our zeal will not be shown to
any good purpose in the maintenance of principles, if we do not
exhibit their efficacy in our practice, and their connection with
the objects, for which Christ founded his church upon earth :
and this leads me to speak to you very briefly, in conclu
sion, on the subject of your duties. The general character,
and estimation of the clergy, small as is their number, is still
a matter of incalculable importance : and on this, probably,
more than on any other cause, the wished-for increase of our
establishment, will ultimately depend. Already, as I am well
assured, a desire is felt by many of the residents at stations,
where there is no chaplain, to have the services and so
ciety of a clergyman ; though this feeling be not so gene
rally expressed, as perhaps were to be wished. Indepen
dently, however, of this circumstance, I must remind you,
what duties devolve on those, who are actually employed,

THE CLERGY AT CALCUTTA. 247
and also who are the objects to be benefited. It should
seem, indeed, hardly possible to overrate the importance of
a zealous and pious clergy in England ; but yet in some
measure they seem to be even more needed here. At home,
the system by which religion is dispensed ..through the
country, and morals inculcated, and social order maintained,
has acquired a momentum: and if they, whose duty it is
to keep it in action, should for awhile relax their efforts, it
would not immediately stop : but here the system is hardly
in operation, we have to communicate to it the first impulse,
and to overcome its inertia ; and the impediments to the
establishment of that order, without which nothing consi
derable can be accomplished, are peculiar and embarrass
ing: I am entitled thus to speak, when I so deeply feel them.
It should be considered, moreover, what classes of persons
are frequently the objects of your care : they are not the
inhabitants of parishes, as in England, where perhaps there
has long been a resident clergyman, where the population
is stationary, and among whom religious associations have
taken root; but a fluctuating society, with some of whom the
very foundations of religion are to be laid. Among the
seniors there are many, who arrived in the country when
the subject had not attracted much public notice, and who
may not since have had frequent opportunities of hearing
it discussed, or been prompted to private enquiry : of the
juniors, some have experienced neglect in that part of edu
cation, however well they may have been qualified for their
particular branch of service; and happy are they, if they
should here have the means of repairing it. But especially
do a large body of soldiery, whose habits cannot be presumed
to be religious, call for the unremitting exertions of the
chaplain : at a military station, the public service of the
church, and the common offices of religion, will be the
lightest part of his duty : it is in the hospital, if any where,
that he will appear as the messenger of peace, and as an am
bassador of Christ. Nor ought I, in any of these Addresses,
to overlook the paramount subject of schools : a Christian
school for the children of the poor, and in connexion with the
church, if well conducted and superintended, is among the most
valuable institutions with which this country can be blessed.
You would, then, my Reverend Brethren, exceedingly
r 4

248 A CHARGE, &C.
mistake your situation, and ill appreciate what it demands of
you, if you could for a moment suppose it to be compatible
with listlessness and indifference, or one which it is easy ade
quately to fill. The qualities, in fact, to be desired in the In
dian clergy, are such as are not any where commonly found
in combination ; — sincere and consistent piety, — laborious
and patient habits, — a talent of holding Christian con
versation with persons of all classes, — a clear and compre
hensive view of the evidences of religion, — attachment to
order and discipline, — and a competent acquaintance with
the history of the church of Christ, and with the constitu
tion of our own : to say nothing of those scriptural attain
ments, which are every where to be expected in the clergy,
though here, from the circumstances of the country, they are
more particularly needed. Let me, then, beseech you to
measure yourselves by some such standard, and if any fall
far short of it, that they endeavour to reach it : I am confi
dent, that it is not taken too high, if here you would really
and essentially serve the cause of Christ. But you will not
mistake me so far as to suppose, that I would cast you, even
in thought, upon your own sufficiency : if the grace of God
be ever needed, (and human weakness is the great lesson of
human life,) it is surely by ourselves : humanly speaking, every
thing is against us ; we are called upon to work a change in
the habits, the hearts, and the very nature of men, in cir
cumstances of peculiar difficulty, and to build up a Zion unto
God in the wasj;e places of the earth. But for these things
who is sufficient, unless the Spirit of God be with him?
Prayer, therefore, habitual prayer, is to you and to myself the
only resource ; prayer that God will enlighten and strengthen
us, and fill our hearts with the love of Christ, and zeal for His
glory, and enable us to give an account of the souls com
mitted to us, in the hope of mercy on our own.

AN
ADDRESS TO
THE CHILDREN OF THE SEVERAL SCHOOLS
IN CALCUTTA,
WHO WERE CATECHISED IN THE CATHEDRAL
DURING LENT 1817.
DELIVERED
On Wednesday in Passion- Week,
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

ADDRESS

THE CHILDREN OF THE SCHOOLS IN
CALCUTTA.

CHILDREN BELOVED IN JESUS CHRIST;
You are now to be dismissed for the present season, from
further attendance in this place, for the purpose of being ,
questioned and instructed in the Catechism : but I am so
well satisfied with your general progress, and with the,
answers which most of you have given to the questions put to
you by your ministers, respecting the meaning of what you
have been taught, that I wish for your encouragement to
notice it thus publicly, and to express to you my approbation.
I consider you, indeed, though a small, yet an important part
of my charge : my interest in your behalf is greatly excited
by your tender age : our blessed faith is never more amiable
than when its holy truths are heard to proceed from the lips
of the young : " God," we read, " hath out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings perfected praise:" (Matt. xxi. 16.) His
merciful dealing with a fallen race is never more visible, than
in leading children to feel their dependence upon Him, to
supplicate his protection, to endeavour to learn his will, and
thus to lay the foundation of their future welfare, both tem
poral and eternal. I will then, with God's blessing, without
which neither you nor I can do any good thing, offer you
some admonitions, relating to the work in which we have
been engaged : and this it is my wish to do in the plainest
language and most familiar way, that so you may all of you,
with the exception perhaps of the very young, be able to
understand me.

252 AN ADDRESS TO THE CHILDREN
You have said in repeating the Catechism, that " you
heartily thank your Heavenly Father for having called you to
this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ your Saviour : and
that you pray unto God to give you his grace, that you may
continue in the same unto your lives' end." In these words
so much is contained, and it is so easy at your time of life to
repeat them without fully considering what they mean, that I
am anxious to impress them in all their force on your under
standings and your hearts ; being convinced, that if you
perfectly comprehend them, and deeply feel all which they
are intended to convey, you will, with God's help, learn to
love the Gospel of Christ, and be constantly thankful to God
for having given you a knowledge of it, and will not fail
regularly and unceasingly to pray for the assistance of His
Holy Spirit, to keep you in the way, unto which God's
mercy hath called you.
You say, then, that you thank your Heavenly Father, for
" having called you to this state of salvation, through Jesus
Christ." Now let me desire you, my good children, to con
sider what these words mean. It is very plain from them,
that by having been baptized, you were brought into a state
of salvation ; for when you speak of this state of salvation,
you mean the state in which you were placed at your baptism.
You had not been speaking of any thing else, but still you
may not have considered what such a state of salvation means.
Let me remind you, then, that by nature you were not placed
in a state, in which we have any assurance of God that men
should be saved and brought unto life eternal. The Scrip
ture has revealed to us, that the fall, as it is called, occa
sioned by the perverseness and disobedience of our first
parents, whom God had created to innocence and happiness,
has entirely altered the condition of mankind : it has reduced
them to a state of misery and ruin : their natural lot is now
sin and death : the heart of man is become corrupt, and is
strongly inclined to evil; and the natural consequence of
evil is the anger of a just and righteous God. You must not
suppose, that any of us are by nature in a better condition,
than that which I have described to you. " The Scripture,"
as St. Paul remarks, " hath concluded all under sin," (Gal.
iii. 22.) that is to say, it has taught us, that we are all to be
considered, as being by nature in a sinful state, and that we

OF THE SCHOOLS IN CALCUTTA. 253
can only expect to be dealt with accordingly. And in another
place he tells us, (1 Cor. xv. 22.) that " in Adam all die;"
meaning, that through the corruption of our nature derived
from Adam, which inclines us to sin, we have all become
subject to death ;" and that it is through Christ alone, through
what he has done for us, and our being permitted to partake
in its benefits, that we can any of us hope to be " made
alive." When you say, then, that you thank God " for having
called you to this state of salvation through Christ" by
baptism, which is a sacrament ordained by Christ himself,
and blessed by Him, as we trust to the purpose for which he
ordained it, you mean to thank God for having taken you
from the miserable condition, into which you were actually
born : you mean to thank him for having snatched you from
impending ruin, and embraced you with the arms of his
mercy. You acknowledge that he has placed you in a state,
in which you have been saved from the danger of the past,
and may be saved from all future dangers, if it be not your
own fault. The state, into which you have been thus admitted,
gives you very great advantages ; it has brought you into
covenant with God : you have become more immediately His
children : you are made partakers of His grace : the state in
which you are placed, leads you to a knowledge of your
duty, and offers you assistance in the performance of it ; and it
gives you an interest in the benefits arising from Christ's death :
so that if you steadfastly believe in Him, and show your love
of Him by keeping His commandments, (John xiv. 15.) you
will be found at the last day in the number of those, who have
been saved by His precious blood.
But it often happens, that the_best way of explaining any
thing, especially to young people, is by illustration or simili
tude. You- are all acquainted with the history of the flood
or delugs, and the manner in which Noah and his family were
saved in the ark. The service, which was used at the time
of your being baptized, speaks of your being " admitted into
the ark of Christ's church:", this similitude is borrowed
from Holy Scripture: (1 Pet. iii. 20.) and there cannot,
perhaps, be a better way of conveying to your miiids, what it
is, for which you profess to be thankful. We read in the
history of the deluge, that " all flesh had corrupted his way

s

254 AN ADDRESS TO THE CHILDREN
upon the earth;" (Gen. vi. 12.) but that notwithstanding,
" Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord :" (Gen. vi. 8.)
he and his family were admitted into the ark, and escaped
destruction from those waters, which swallowed up the rest
of the world. — Another similitude, which was used upon
the same occasion, and is also borrowed from Scripture,
(1 Cor. x. 2.) is that of the passage of the children of Israel
through the Red Sea, which is said to " figure baptism :" for
though the sea was " on their right hand and on their left,"
and destroyed the whole host of Pharaoh, yet the Israelites
went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground. (Exod.
xiv. 22.)
You see, then, Christian children, how the merciful provi
dence of God can deliver us in the midst of the greatest dan
gers, when we conform ourselves to his will and follow his
guidance : but no dangers are so great, as those which assail
the souls of men ; and it is from these, and not from any harm
which may hurt the body, that your Saviour offers to deliver
you, and to conduct you through " the waves of a trouble
some world." Having called you to baptism, he has received
you into the ark of his church : but do not suppose, that you
have therefore nothing to do on your own part, or that
because you have been called to a state of salvation, you are
therefore actually saved. This would be a fatal mistake ; it
is no such thing : God has called you to a state, in which
there are many helps to salvation, if they be duly applied and
used ; and in which you may assuredly be saved, if you
heartily desire and earnestly strive after salvation ; but no
thing more. God hath taken you under his protection ; He
has received you into the ark, but you yourselves may make
his mercy to be of none effect : he, who is admitted into the
strongest ship, is liable to perish in a thousand ways, while
the ship itself sustains no harm : and we know, that though
the children of Israel passed the Red Sea without any loss,
yet that many of them afterwards offended God, and " were
overthrown in the wilderness." (1 Cor. x. 5.) Nothing, but
the continual grace of God, can save you from the like dis
asters : the voyage of life is before yoii : you have still a wide
wilderness to pass, before you can reach the promised land :
yet the same Divine Mercy, which has thus far favoured you,
especially in. making you members of the church of Christ,

OF THE SCHOOLS IN CALCUTTA. 255
may and will be prevailed upon, by continual supplication for
Christ's sake, to preserve you in a state of salvation unto
your lives' end. But this leads me to explain to you what is
meant, when you are taught to answer, that you pray to God,
that he will give you His grace, that you may be thus pre
served. You are to know, then, my good children, that unless the
same Almighty Being who has called you to baptism, and has
watched over the years of your helpless infancy, and who has
brought you up thus far in his " nurture and admonition,"
still continue his goodness towards you, all which has been
done, will be lost : you will be no better for it, and you may
even be the worse : for God will judge us all by the advan
tages which he has afforded us ; and he who throws them
away, will be brought to a much severer account than he
who never had them. You ask, then, for the grace of God :
may you never cease to use this prayer ! and to this end
consider what that grace is, and how much you need it. I
have already spoken to you of the corruption of our nature,
as strongly inclining us to evil : and how many temptations
and inducements to evil present themselves in the world !
At your tender age you cannot be acquainted with a thou
sandth part of them : and I pray that the Almighty may
never suffer you to be exposed to any severe trials : yet it is
but right to put you upon your guard, and to give you notice
of the dangers which threaten you. Already, indeed, you
are aware, that even children' are very apt, and are often
tempted to do what is wrong : they are sometimes addicted
to improper language, to falsehood, to ingratitude, to cruelty,
and to bad habits of different kinds ; all of "which shew you,
that even children cannot do what is right, without the grace
of God. But if this be the case at your time of life, when
the corruption of your nature has not acquired its full
strength, and you are under the guidance and control of
persons, who are constantly endeavouring to keep you in the
right way, you may well imagine, that you will be exposed to
much greater danger, when you enter into the world : you
will then probably be left much more to yourselves, and you
will have least of direction and advice, when you shall need
it most ; you will meet with people, who perhaps were never
taught ; to think much upon God and. the concerns of the

256

AN ADDRESS TO THE CHILDREN

soul ; and the little, which they learnt in their childhood,
they will have nearly forgotten. You will find them living
without any appearance of religion ; and given up to such
habits and practices as usually follow, when men think of
nothing but the present life. Such persons you should en
deavour to avoid: but yet in the actual condition of the
world, this may not always be possible. Every man may,
indeed, choose his particular friends and companions ; and he
will generally fix upon such as most nearly resemble himself:
but hardly any one is so independent, as not to be obliged
to have constant dealings, and to be much in company with
persons, whose lives and opinions he very much disapproves.
They are, perhaps, fellow-labourers, who are joined with him
in the same duties ; or they may even be connected with him
by still nearer ties, and be of his own kindred. Thus, then,
it may be your misfortune to be daily exposed to the influence
of bad example ; from the effects of which no one can be long
preserved, unless good principles have been deeply planted in
his mind, and his resolution be much stronger than it can be
by nature : from such influence nothing can save you, but
the more powerful influence of the grace of God. Wicked
advice is not half so dangerous as wicked example ; and in
general it has little effect, till wicked example has prepared
us to receive it. You would be offended and shocked, perhaps,
by being at once advised to commit a crime : but you could
hardly need to be advised to it, when you had been accus
tomed to see the crime committed by others, and especially
by those with whom you were in any way connected. You
would fall into the same habits, almost without knowing it ;
and when you had once contracted them, you would feel but
little uneasiness under them, and might never think of shak
ing them off. So great is the danger from bad example.
But besides the perils, to which you will be exposed from
the wickedness of others, you have almost as much to
dread from yourselves : you may not understand what I mean.
Recollect, then, what I said to you of the naturally evil dis
positions of the heart. You feel, perhaps, and may think
that you shall always feel, a desire to be good and happy ;
and so long as you shall really desire it, and ask God's blessing
to assist you, you will be in little danger : but how easily do
such desires give way to others of a different kind ! Men

OF THE SCHOOLS IN CALCUTTA. 257
are apt to think that they may be happy without being good,
or even endeavouring to be so : they think that riches will
make them happy, or the being great and admired, or indulg
ing themselves in luxury, pleasure, and intemperance : and
the moment they form these notions, they begin to drive away
from their minds all thoughts of God. They soon forget to
" commit their works unto the Lord," according to the advice
of Solomon, " that their thoughts may be established,"
(Prov.xvi. 3.) or to pray to Him, that His "will maybe
done:" (Matt.vi. 10.) They set up their own will against
that of God ; and if they do not pray, (for they may not have
so much folly and presumption,) they secretly wish that their
own will may be done : and thus quitting the guidance of
Him, who alone can know what is really good for us, they
follow their own inventions and imaginations, and never find
out, till perhaps it is too late, that these do not lead to any
real happiness. You are all of you, I am aware, too young
to see that this is the true state of the case : you cannot at
present really know how deceitful the heart is, and how men
are misled to their ruin : but you are most of you old enough
to have observed, that those who are older than yourselves,
know a great deal more than yourselves ; and when you have
every reason to believe that they wish you well, you should
earnestly listen to their warning voice, and be thankful.
The danger, then, of which I have been speaking, is not so
much from evil example, though that will greatly increase it,
as it is from yourselves ; from the evil . principles and wicked
desires which lurk in every breast, unless they be subdued
and driven away by Divine grace. A man, who lives_ apart
from the world, (which few persons, however, have the means
of doing, nor is it to be desired that they should,) if he be
ill disposed, may be as wicked, though he cannot be so mis
chievous, as if he lived in a large society. He will do less
harm to others, but may do quite as much to himself: he
may live iii utter forgetfulness of God, neither thanking him
for any benefits he has received, nor trusting to him for pro
tection, nor performing any acts of kindness and • charity to
his neighbours, but caring only for his own ease and indulg
ence, as if he had not a soul, which required to be saved.
Men may fall into this dreadful state, without being misled
by bad advice, or seduced by bad example: it is' quite
s

258 AN ADDRESS TO THE CHILDREN
enough, that they once fall into a habit of disregarding God,
and forsake their only all-powerful Friend ; for if we forsake
him, he will also forsake us, and leave us to the natural
consequences of our own folly and ingratitude.
I now hope, that what has been said, has been sufficient
to show you, that there is the greatest necessity for praying,
as you do, that God would keep you in this state of salvation.
You see how easily you may fall away from it : you are not
safe for a day nor an hour, unless God should watch over
you, and shield you from harm : from without and from
within you are exposed to danger : your natural dispositions
are directly contrary to your duties. You may compare life
to a river, upon which you are required to proceed towards
its fountain-head or source : naturally the current carries
you downward ; but you are required to struggle against it,
and to overcome it ; which, however, you cannot do, without
great strength and unceasing efforts. So also will you find
it in your Christian course : if you are not supplied with suffi
cient strength; — if you are not constantly encouraged to ex
ert it; — if you are not supported and refreshed under your
fatigues; — if you are not cautioned against the rocks and
shoals which he in your way; — and if you are not animated
with the hope of finally attaining your object, you will make
no progress, but will rather go back. But this strength, this
encouragement, this refreshing support, this providential
protection, and this animating hope, are all of them, my dear
children, from*God: they are all of them but so many differ
ent ways, in which his Holy Spirit carries us through
temptations, and trials, and sorrows, and enabling us to
overcome the world and our own hearts, conducts us to the
source of life and happiness, even unto God.
What is it, then, which I would have you to do ? I would
have you to pray constantly and earnestly for God's grace
and for such assistances as those which I have just described ;
and let me assure you, that prayer, sincere and humble, yet
earnest prayer, is the only way of obtaining them : our blessed
Saviour has taught and commanded all men to pray ; and no
•good thing will be given to those who will not ask it. I have
no doubt, that all of you, at your several schools, have
morning and evening prayers : but let me entreat you not to
regard them as a matter of form, and still less as a task.
16

OF THE SCHOOLS IN CALCUTTA. 259
Consider what' they really mean : if you do not understand
them, desire to have them explained to you ; and then you
will be qualified to join in them with all your hearts and
souls. It is thus that by God's grace you will acquire good
dispositions, and grow up in them : you will gradually feel
the comforts of religion : it will make you contented and
happy, whatever be the station to which God may call you :
and while so many are growing up in the practice of vice and
wickedness, you will be learning every dayto fear and to love
God, and to conform yourselves to his will, and to trust to
his mercy, through Christ. With such habits early formed,
and growing continually stronger under the fostering influence
of your Heavenly Father, you will live and die in that state
of salvation, to which he hath called you, and be forgiven all
your sins, and be happy for evermore with your Saviour.
If Providence should spare my life another year, I purpose
to hold my second Confirmation in this place : and I shall
expect that many of you, who appear already to be of suffi
cient age, will avail yourselves of such an opportunity, and
take upon you your baptismal vows. What is more particu
larly intended by that rite, and what you will be required to
know and to do, you will be told in sufficient time ; and every
assistance will be afforded you. For the present let me only
desire you, my good children, to attend to and to remember
my advice : pray unto God, and endeavour to live in that state
of mind and heart, which prayer supposes and requires; —
shun and detest every bad habit ; — do nothing which you
know or believe to be wrong;— be dutiful and affectionate to
your parents and friends, obedient to your teachers, rever
ent to your ministers, grateful to those who do you any
service, or even wish you well, and kind one to another, and
to all with whom you have any concern : but in this and in
every good purpose, you will still recollect, that you must
pray for help from God.
Before I conclude, I should acknowledge to the masters and-
mistresses of the several schools my high satisfaction with
the regular and numerous attendance of the young people,
as well as with the pains which must have been taken to
produce so much proficiency : though I doubt not that their
own gratification in the result has been felt by them to be no
light reward, and it certainly must far surpass in value any
s 2

260

AN ADDRESS TO THE CHILDREN, &C.

human commendation. After this proof of their attention to
the subject, it would be superfluous to detain them with re
flections upon the vast importance of the religious instruction
of youth : it is plain that they have not fallen into any of the
prevailing errors upon this point, but are fully sensible that
the only method, upon which any reliance can be placed, of
bringing men generally to the knowledge and practice of the
Gospel, is to train them in its principles while they are young.
The summary of Christian faith and duty in which the pupils
have now been, instructed, is excellently adapted to the pur
pose : it explains the mode and the terms of their admission
into the covenant of grace : it sets before them what God has
required them to believe, and has commanded them to do : it
teaches the most perfect form of prayer; and it enters into the
subject of the Christian sacraments, as far as is suited to the
capacities of the young. The Church Catechism is, therefore,
an epitome of Christian knowledge: and young persons pos
sessing that comprehensive acquaintance with it, which some
of the pupils have shown, are well prepared for any further
pursuit of religious studies, to which the blessing of God may
lead them, while they are already provided with the best
preservative against vice and irreligion, which human care
can supply. I beseech the teachers, then, to persevere in
this salutary course of duty, not doubting that He " who
giveth the increase," will crown their labours with abundant
fruits. Their pupils, we may hope, will thus become a com
fort to their friends, and to all with whom they are now, or
may hereafter be connected ; and their temporal and eternal
welfare will be most effectually advanced : but the good, which
will be done, may not rest there : in the present state of this
country, if there be any thing which may be expected, with
the blessing of God, to produce extensive effects, it is to be
sought in the steady piety and Christian habits of the com
paratively few, who have happily been called to a state of
salvation, through Jesus Christ.

261
A PRAYER,
WHICH MAY BE SAID BY A CHILD AT ANY TIME.
Almighty God, my Heavenly Father, I fall down
before thee to thank thee for thy goodness, which has pre
served me through my helpless infancy to the present day :
but especially, that thou hast called me to a state of salvation,
through Christ my Saviour, and hast given me a knowledge
of my duty, and hast taught me to approach thee in prayer.
O Lord, make me ever to know and to feel, that I am na
turally corrupt and sinful, and that I can do no good thing
but through thy merciful assistance. Do thou, then, by thy
Holy Spirit, vouchsafe to be present with me, and to succour
me, while I shall live. In my childhood direct my thoughts
to thee, my Creator and Protector : suffer me not to fall into
wicked habits, or to indulge in any wicked thought : turn
away from me whatever may endanger my salvation : teach
me to dread thy displeasure, and to seek thy favour above
every thing which the world can bestow : suffer me not to be
corrupted and seduced by evil example, and deliver me from
those temptations, which might lead me into sin. And if it
shall please thy providence to preserve me beyond these the
days of my childhood, grant that in every succeeding year I
may grow in grace and in the knowledge of my Lord and
Saviour, in the faith of a Christian, and in the practice of
whatever is acceptable in thy sight, until it seem good to thee
to call me away from this mortal state : and then receive me,
O Lord, unto thyself, forgiving me all my sins, through the
only merits of Him, who died for the sins of the world, Jesus
Christ, my Redeemer. Amen.

s a

AN

ADDRESS

DELIVERED TO

THE PERSONS CONFIRMED AT THE
TRIENNIAL CONFIRMATION,
HOLDEN IN
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF CALCUTTA,
A. D. MDCCCXVIH.
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

s 4

AN

ADDRESS, &c.

BELOVED IN JESUS CHRIST,
On an occasion like the present, when you have been en
gaged in one of the most solemn acts of your lives, and your
hearts may be supposed to be sensible to all the impressions
connected with it, I cannot but avail myself of the oppor
tunity, before I dismiss you, of offering you a few words of
affectionate admonition. None of you, I trust, after having
been presented to me as duly prepared to receive confirm
ation, can need any further instruction as to the meaning and
object of this rite. You all of you know, that you came hither
to ratify, in your own persons, the vows made for you at your
baptism, and to bind yourselves here in the presence of the
church, to believe and to do whatever was promised for you,
when you could not promise for yourselves : and in this holy
work, as the appointed minister of the ordinance, I have in
voked on you the Divine blessing, and have endeavoured to
assist you with my prayers. All these things you know: but
what we know and understand, we do not always sufficiently
feel ; we do not suffer it to sink into our hearts ; we do not
stop to reflect upon it ; we are content to understand it ; and
we act, as if nothing more were required.
My object, then, in thus addressing you, is to prevail upon
you, if happily by God's assistance this may be done, to con
sider deeply and seriously within yourselves, how much you
will have to answer for before God, if you do not earnestly
endeavour to fulfil the solemn engagement into which you have
this day entered ; if you treat what has been done as a form
or ceremony, in which your hearts have no participation. I
hope better things of you ; and I pray that God may render
this work, which cannot be considered as a ceremony,
conducive to your eternal salvation.

266

AN ADDRESS

Reflect, I beseech you, that you have this day personally
entered into covenant with your Maker : you have bound your
selves to certain conditions, on which alone through Christ you
hope for his mercy: you have virtually declared, that unless you
shall renounce the devil and all his works; that unless you shall
beheve the articles of the Christian faith, and unless you shall
keep God's commandments, you cannot ordinarily hope for his
favour, however after failing in any of these points you may
obtain forgiveness by repentance: you acknowledge, indeed,
that it is only through the merits of your Redeemer, that the
best services of your faith and obedience will be accepted :
but you also acknowledge, that these services are entirely due,
and you solemnly pledge yourselves to offer them, praying to
God for help.
Seeing then, beloved, that you have made an engagement to
this effect, with that great and awful Being, " who is not
mocked," (Gal. vi. 7.) and "who is able to destroy both body
and soul in hell," (Matt. x. 28.) let me offer you a few words
of advice, in the plainest manner I am able.
I. In the first place, let me suggest a few hints upon the
subject of good resolutions. If ever we can be supposed to
resolve upon our conduct for the future, it will probably be
at the time of, or previously to confirmation : but in what
way are good resolutions formed ? We seem sometimes to
make them, when in fact we do nothing more than feel a mo-
mentary uneasiness respecting our condition. We are conscious
that all is not right within us : we perceive that our lives do
not accord with the law of God : we are convinced that we
cannot hope for his favour without great amendment; and
that the course we are pursuing must, in the end, make us
miserable. People, who entertain, though it be but for a
moment, such thoughts as these, easily persuade themselves,
that they have made resolutions, which will entirely alter
their future habits and course of hfe, and carry them safely
through dangers and temptations. But let me assure you,
that if your resolves go no further than this, they will avail
you nothing. All that has past within you is the mere com
mencement of the work : you have not resolved upon amend
ment; you have merely reflected in a transient way, that
amendment is required. How, then, shall I counsel you in
this momentous crisis ? The counsel of man is unavailing, if

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 'J()7
it move you not to seek the Divine assistance ; to cast your
selves on the Divine mercy ; and to surrender your hearts and
wills and wishes to the Divine disposal ; to resolve without the
grace of God is as vain, as the attempt to stem a torrent
without muscular strength, or to fly without wings ; it is to
say, that we will surmount insuperable difficulties. We know
from the apostle, that " it is God which worketh in us both
to will and to do of his good pleasure :" (Phil.ii. 13.) And we
are also assured, that he will " give the Holy Spirit to those
that ask him." (Luke xi. 13.)
To form good resolutions, therefore, is not merely, as some
of you may imagine, to think seriously on the subject of amend
ment, but it is in humble and hearty prayer to give ourselves
up unto God ; to beseech him to subdue within us every evil
desire and propensity; to strengthen whatever is good and holy ;
and to be evermore our Father, our Guide, and our Com
forter; so to influence our wills, that they may accord with
his will, and that our affections may be weaned from the
world, and amidst the changes and chances of life be fixed
upon a happier existence. To form good resolutions, is to
abhor and renounce all that is evil within us, beseeching God
to give us strength to struggle through all our trials, and
finally to overcome the world through faith in Christ. All
resolutions, which come short of this, are vain and fruitless,
and serve only to delude you into a belief, that you have
done something in the work of your salvation, when in truth
you have done nothing.
II. But, in the second place, let me caution you against
the notion, that the best resolutions (and many such, I trust,
have been formed this day) are at all to be relied upon, unless
they are continually renewed. Let me advise you to con
sider the business of religion, and of all that relates to it, as
one, in which your diligence must never be relaxed. As well
might you expect that the body should be kept in health and
vigour without a daily supply of food, as that religion can be
maintained in the soul without the constant succours of Divine
grace. You must, therefore, live in uninterrupted intercourse
with God : you must be regular in the habit of prayer : you
must not suffer the morning or the evening to pass without
asking help and imploring forgiveness ; without acknowledg
ing past mercies, and deploring your own unworthiness.

268

AN ADDKESS

Whenever men forget to pray, they evidently forget God and
themselves ; they forget his power, his goodness, his right to
their prayers ; and, on the other hand, their own dependence,
their wants, and their duties. To forget to pray, is to forget
what it is most important to us to remember, that we " live,
and move, and have our being" (Acts xvii. 28.) in God, and
have no hope of happiness, either temporal or eternal, but
through his mercy. But perhaps it will be found, that they
who have ever been accustomed to regular prayer, never for
get this duty, till they have frequently allowed themselves to
omit it, on some frivolous pretence of wanting time for its due
performance. It is certainly desirable to enjoy leisure, and
retirement, and composure of mind, to enter into full com
munion with God ; but where men want these opportunities,
he will doubtless accept their shortest prayers, provided they
ask with fervour for such things as their welfare really de
mands. It is not the length of our prayers so much, as
the frequency, to which we should attend. But the want of
leisure to pray is a pretence, which you should never allow to
divert you from this duty. Such a plea, when offered by per
sons who find time for every thing else, must be highly offen
sive to God, and can never have any foundation in truth.
What is every day, which dawns upon us, but a portion of
that life, which is given us by our Creator ? And what are
the duties and occupations which can claim our attention to
the exclusion of prayer ? Of acknowledgment to him, who
has assigned us our duties, and who alone can bless our oc
cupations, and without whom the former have in truth no
object, and the latter no use? But it is difficult to suppose
a case, in which, if you deeply feel the obligation, you may
not offer your devotions to God. If all other seclusion is
denied you, you have probably the retirement of your place of
rest ; or in circumstances the most unfavourable, where privacy
is impossible, there is nothing which can restrain your secret
aspirations unto Him, " which seeth in secret." (Matt. vi. 6.)
Let me advise you, then, to resolve, but not to rest upon your
resolves, as having in themselves any permanent strength :
the best are good and availing, only when they are connected
with a habit of regular prayer. When this is neglected, from
whatever cause, be assured that religion is losing its influence
over you ; its duties have become irksome, or, at least, indif-

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 269
ferent; whereas they ought to be, and really are, to all who
love God, comfortable and delightful. Let every neglect,
then, of prayer, be regarded by you as a certain proof of a
decay of actual piety ; as a proof that the pleasures or the
cares of the world are gaining an ascendancy in your hearts,
which nothing can prevent from being fully established,
but your return to the practice which you have forsaken.
Commencing and concluding every day of your life with
prayer, and this with all sincerity of purpose and humility of
heart, though still you will be far from perfection, you will be
living unto God ; the purpose of the morning and the retro
spect of the evening will embrace the hours that intervene ; and
the piety of the one, and the penitence of the other, will
impart a measure of sanctity to every passing day.
III. But while 1 am speaking of prayer, let me, in the
third place, remind you, that, as Christians, cherishing a zeal
for the name and honour of Christ, and also for the welfare of
your fellow-men, you will not content yourselves with any
measure of retired and secret devotion. This is one of the
things' which must be done, while other things must not be
left undone. (Matt, xxiii. 23.) Let no attention to private
prayer seem to excuse you from attendance on the service of
the church'. You will sometimes, indeed, hear' it said, with
out thought or meaning, that you may pray as fervently at
home. Whoever tells you this, will tell you what indeed is
true, and may yet, if you listen to him, lead you into a fatal
error. They who talk in this manner, cannot surely under
stand the design and the use of public worship. Do they
consider, that when we meet together in the church, we not
only are acting as becomes Christians in their individual
capacity, but we are professing (what it is important for
others to know) our faith in Christ? Our religion could
not be maintained among men without public assemblies.
What effect can be produced upon others, by the secret
prayers of the most devout, or how can it be known, that
they are offered ? What distinction is there, visible to the
world, between those, who pass the hours assigned for the
service of the church, in pious and secret meditation, or in
secular studies and pursuits ? All that can be known is,
that they are of the number of those who, . contrary to the
Apostle's injunction, " forsake the assembling of themselves

270 AN ADDRESS
together," (Heb. x. 25.) and few will doubt that secular bu
siness is the cause. But the public profession of our faith is
by no means the only object of public worship ; it conduces to
brotherly love and charity ; it not only brings together the
high and the low in the presence of Him who is the
maker of both, (Prov. xxii. 2.) but it connects by closer ties
the pastor and his flock ; it keeps up a sense of Christian
order ; it has a peculiar blessing from Christ, who has pro
mised to be in the midst of those who are gathered together
in his name ; (Matt, xviii. 20.) and without it the doctrines of
the Gospel could not be effectually taught, or men be ad
monished of their duties. Be assured, therefore, that there
is no substitute for regular attendance on the service of the
church ; it has its distinct and proper uses ; and you should
consider yourselves as not being alive to the interests
of Christianity, or actuated by benevolence to your brethren,
if you can be absent from the public worship, where it
may be had, without regret and sorrow: you should feel
that you have lost one opportunity, (and you know not
how few may be vouchsafed you) of promoting the glory of
God, your own improvement, and the welfare of your fellow
men. IV. But, fourthly, there is another subject, to which it is at
this moment peculiarly proper that I should draw your atten
tion. You are now permitted by the rubric of the church to
partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper: let me urge
you, therefore^ to avail yourselves of that privilege as soon as
may be, and henceforward to your lives' end to be frequent in
your attendance at the table of your Redeemer. Recollect
that this is a solemn ordinance instituted by Christ himself,
and imposed on all Christians without exception ; and which,
therefore, would be- binding on us all, though we saw but very
indistinctly its design and benefits. But this is by no means
the case : nothing is better understood by us than the intent
and the uses of this holy sacrament. If there be any doctrine
of our religion more prominent than all others, it is that of
the atonement made by Christ for human guilt; in truth, this
doctrine is so important, that all others centre in it. Religion
is but the method of salvation, and we are saved through the
merits of Christ. Now to this great doctrine of atonement
and redemption, the sacrament immediately refers; being

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 271
ordained to perpetuate, by a solemn and affecting rite, the
remembrance of the death of Christ, to impress us with ab
horrence of sin, which has required to be expiated by the
sacrifice of the Son of God, and to move us to sentiments of
adoration and praise for this wondrous act of love. The
Lord's supper, therefore, though among the highest and
holiest of the mysteries connected with our religion, is yet
plain and practical in its uses, and may be brought, in this
respect, within the compass of the humblest understanding.
Do we really rest our hopes of salvation on the merits of
Christ ? We have no other ground of confidence : but yet
we can hardly have a lively sense of the efficacy of the atone
ment, we may even be suspected of trusting in " the broken
reed" (Jer. xxxvi. 6. J of our own deservings, if we habitually
neglect this expression of our faith in Christ. It seems not
to be natural, that any of us, who really rest our hopes of
salvation on the sacrifice of the cross, and who consider our
best performances as acceptable to God only through Christ,
should be backward in signifying that such are our hopes,
and in seeking to be strengthened in this faith. But the
sacrament is not confined to a mere commemoration of the
death of Christ, nor to a " shewing of the Lord's death till he
come," (1 Cor. xi. 26.) It draws down upon us, when wor
thily received, fresh supplies of grace : it calls us frequently
to the important business of self-examination and repentance :
it moves us to new resolutions, or it strengthens those already
made ; and it brings us together on terms of mutual charity
and love : so that all the great objects of our religion seem to
be combined in this benevolent and simple institution. Be
not deceived, then, by the excuses of the many, who are seen
to neglect it : there cannot be any sufficient reason for dis
obeying the command of Christ. If any, indeed, are living in
the practice of deliberate sin, they are unfit to approach the
sacred table : but with this consciousness of their infirmity,
why do they not repent? What will it avail them in the day
of judgment, that though they did not profane the sacrament,
yet they would not prepare themselves to receive it? You
will endeavour, therefore, through the grace of God, to avoid
all habits, and that course of conduct, which may involve you
in these perplexities and dangers : following the precepts
which I have now given you, you can never have cause to

272 AN ADDRESS
hesitate in a matter of so much importance. The best, in
deed, should approach with humility and a sense of their own
unworthiness : but humility is quite distinct from despair ; and
a sense of unworthiness can be productive of no good, when
we seek not to lessen it, and to render ourselves, though still
very imperfect, yet acceptable to God through Christ.
V. Another topic of importance to you, who are setting
out in life, is the forming of connexions and friendships : much
of your happiness in this world may depend upon it, and still
more in the next. Where good principles are deeply fixed
and matured by years, there is little need of this caution:
men of irreligious and wicked habits are so offensive to those
of a contrary character, that no intercourse is likely to subsist
between them, beyond what arises from necessity. But this
is not the case with the young. There is an easiness of tem
per and a warmth of heart at that early period, which are
easily won by the first offers of friendship or kindness : and
the vivacity natural at that time of life brings persons into
habits of intimacy, between whom, perhaps, except in vivacity,
there is really but little resemblance. Now here I would put
you on your guard : it will be your duty to be courteous to
all ; but form no intimacies, where you have not reason to
believe, that there is some foundation at least of Chris
tian principles, and still less, where you observe the want
of them in vicious acts or dispositions. It is almost impos
sible, that in such society your good resolutions should not
be forgotten, "and your religious habits impaired. You will
find them perhaps ridiculed, but at any rate discouraged:
and if there be any thing which can endanger your religious
condition, it will be the constant, though silent influence of
bad example.
VI. But, in the last place, let me close these few admonitions,
with exhorting you to cultivate, according to your means and
opportunities," religious knowledge. I do not forget that I am
addressing persons of very different degrees of education, and
destined to very different stations of life : but I would urge
you all without exception to improve yourselves by reading,
and to endeavour to extend your knowledge of Christian doc
trines and duties beyond those rudiments, which the present
solemnity requires. A Bible,, a Prayer Book, a Preparation
for the Sacrament, and a few plain Helps to Piety and

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 273
Christian Knowledge, seem to be indispensable to all of you ;
and those, who cannot afford to purchase them, may probably
be supplied gratuitously, with a part of them at least, out of
the stores of the Diocesan Committee, by application to me
through the clergyman, from whom they received their ticket.
Religion will be better practised and be more endeared to
you, the more fully you understand it : and, indeed, in this
country especially, ought we to be acquainted with the excel
lence, and to cherish the profession of our faith. How many
of you may be thrown into situations, in which the manners
and habits of those around you will not contribute to establish
you in the good principles, in which you have been brought
up ! On the contrary, you may meet with open and avowed
indifference on the subject of religion ; and your lot may even
be cast, .where its solemnities and decencies are wholly un
known. But in more favourable circumstances, there is much
which should put you on your guard. Various modes and
forms of faith are practised around us, all of them with ap
parent sincerity, and confidence that they are pleasing to
God : and the effect of this upon Christians, is, I fear, not
unfrequently, however unobserved by them, that they forget
how destitute of Divine sanction is all which they behold ;
that Christ only " hath the words of eternal life ;" (John vi.
68.) that " He is the true light, which lighteth every man,
" that cometh into the world ;" (John i. 9.) and that they who
have not seen that light are still in darkness. Let me caution
you, then, beloved, against indifference ; and not less against
that distraction of mind, which seems to see much good in
every thing bearing the name of religion, and settles at last in
nothing. Hold fast your faith without wavering, according
to that "form of sound words," (2 Tim. i. 13.) which ye have
received : and when you observe the thousands around you
worshipping the works of their own hands, and seeking the
atonement of sin in some vain and childish superstition,
O bless the Being, who hath called you to this state of sal
vation through faith in Christ ; applying those words of the
Psalmist, " This God is our God for ever and ever: — He
shall be our guide unto death." (Ps.xlviii. 13.)

AN

ADDRESS

DELIVEBED TO

THE PERSONS CONFIRMED AT THE
TRIENNIAL CONFIRMATION,
HOLDEN IN
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH AT CALCUTTA,
On the 18th Bay of December, 1821.
By THOMAS FANSHAW,
BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.

T 2

ADDRESS, &c.

BELOVED IN CHRIST,
You have come before me generally for the purpose of rati
fying your baptismal vows ; and this all of you have done,
though not placed in precisely the same circumstances. You
consist, for the most part, of young persons, who are just
entering on the period of life, when they must begin to act for
themselves : while some of you are of maturer age, although
for want of opportunity, or from other causes, you have not,
till now, made a public profession of your Christian engage
ments. In the case of the former, much gratitude is due to
the zeal of their pastors, and to the affectionate solicitude of
their parents and friends: and with respect to the latter, I
cannot but rejoice, that their own conviction and sense of
duty, and their readiness to conform with the order of the
church, have led them to repair their past neglect, or, it may
be, to avail themselves of a benefit, which had hitherto been
denied them. It is, indeed, most fit and reasonable, that all
Christians should, as soon as possible, after they attain to years
of discretion, come forward in the face of the church to avow
themselves members of Christ, to acknowledge and ratify
their Christian engagements, and to pledge themselves, by
God's grace, to persevere in that course of faith and obedi
ence, which those engagements imply : nor is it to be con
sidered as altogether unimportant, that we call down upon
them the succours of the Holy Spirit in the manner prescribed
by the example of the apostles, and with all the sincerity and
fervour compatible with the weakness and unworthiness of
those whose duty it has since become to administer this
holy rite.
But different as your circumstances , may be, not only in
point of age, but of education, connexions, and prospects in
hfe, the solemnity, in, which we have been engaged, affords
me the opportunity of offering to all of you a few words of
t 3

278 AN ADDRESS
exhortation. They ought, indeed, to be adapted more espe
cially to the condition of the younger part of you, as the
objects more immediately contemplated on the present occa
sion; and, in charity, perhaps to those among them, who
seem designed by Providence for the humbler walks of life :
yet to none of you, I trust, will they be found altogether in
applicable. Amidst all the differences created by our respective
conditions in life, we stand in the same relation to God, and
look unto the same Redeemer ; and as for those of you, of
whatever class or rank, who may have passed the period of early
youth, your time will not be misspent in receiving wholesome
counsel : if you are in the right way, it may happily encourage
you to persevere ; and if otherwise, you are called upon to
consider ; to pray unto God, that He will forgive and ob
literate from his remembrance all that is amiss in you, and
permit you under happier circumstances to begin life again.
No opportunity will ever occur more favourable than the
present : nor do I despair, that the counsel, which I shall
offer to those who hear me, though of necessity it will be
general, will, by the divine blessing, be brought home to the
hearts of all by particular and individual application.
I will not, then, suppose, that you have not, according to
the measure of your understandings, deeply reflected on the
work, which you have had in hand. I have confidence in
those, whose duty it has been to prepare you for this holy
ordinance, that they would not have suffered you to present
yourselves in a state of ignorance as to the principles of our
holy faith, or without instructing you in the nature, and im
pressing you with the benefits of confirmation. Still I ought
not to doubt, that the effect already produced on your minds
may be en creased, at a moment of such interest as the present:
religion is a practical thing : it may indeed be made intelligible
to those, who will not join in its solemnities ; but its actual
exercises give it life and energy ; they awaken the feelings,
and warm the heart ; and in the whole course of the Christian
life there is not any religious exercise better adapted to this
end, than that in which you have now been engaged. Con
sider, I beseech you, what has really taken place : having
attained to years of discretion, and being brought to under
stand the method devised by a merciful God for the salvation
of sinners, in which number all that live are included, you

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 279
have here assembled to a make a public profession of your
faith in the Redeemer, and to pledge yourselves to fight
under his banners, as long as you shall live. But what is it
to be a soldier of Christ ? It is to engage in an unceasing
warfare against the world, the flesh and the devil ; against
every thing which may entice you to sin and forgetfulness
of your Saviour ; and to live in holiness of habit and purity
of heart, in the love of God, and in faith in a Redeemer,
and to regulate your views and actions and desires by
the standard of the gospel. And this profession has been
made by you at a time of life, when the heart is sus
ceptible of deep impressions, and by all of you, I would
hope, before it has been greatly polluted by the corruptions
of the world. Surely, then, I cannot err, in believing, that
many of you are seriously affected with what has passed ; that
you consider yourselves as now entering on another state of
life ; that childhood with its ignorance and indifference has
vanished from your sight ; that your imaginations represent
to your view the cares and duties and dangers, which belong
to maturer years ; that you feel yourselves under a new and
more awful responsibility; that you are fearful, lest you should
not fulfil your vows unto God ; and looking forward to the
end of your probation, lest at last you should fail of your
reward : while, on the other hand, your hope is in God, and
you view religion as requiring little more than a continuance
of that fervent feeling, with which you are at the moment
actuated, and which you cannot believe will be easily ex
tinguished. In this you may be mistaken. Such reflexions,
however, may well be supposed to arise in the breasts of the
young, who are piously disposed, on the occasion of these
solemnities. Presuming, then, that this is actually the state of mind with
many of you, I proceed to address you in reference to it : or,
where it does not already exist, something resembling it
may perhaps be produced by the train of thought, into
which it will be my endeavour, with the Divine blessing, to
lead you.
It is undoubtedly true, then, that you have now entered on
a new responsibility : you have avowed your faith in Christ,
and your solemn determination, with the grace of God, to
live as persons, who expect to be judged by His holy law,
t 4

280 AN ADDRESS
and have no hope of eternal salvation, but in His mercy. I
need hardly remind you, that much is implied in such a pro
fession : of the many thousands who have made it before you,
with more or less of serious intention, how many are now
Hving, as if nothing of the kind had ever entered their thoughts !
and how many more, continuing to the last in the same state
of unconcern, have passed into eternity ! You are, therefore,
embarked in an undertaking, in which, to say the least of it,
it is easy to fail ; and in which you cannot hope to succeed,
but by the diligent use of all the precautions, which wisdom
and experience recommend.
I. The first requisite, perhaps, is, that you be impressed
with a just idea of the dangers of life, and especially of youth:
when that period shall have been passed, not merely in inno
cence, but in Christian improvement, little is afterwards to be
apprehended, though not so little, as to excuse you from
vigilance and anxiety for your spiritual state. In youth you
are by nature exposed to a combination of dangers, resulting
from the violence of the passions, and from evil example, and
from easiness of temper, and from want of experience, from
precipitate decisions, from fascinating views of the world, and
from a vain confidence, that as it will never be too late,
abundant opportunity will be afforded you hereafter, of making
up your minds on the subject of religion, and of living as it
may require : in the mean time, if you conform to the received
usages of propriety and decency, you will hold it to be suf
ficient for the present, and set your consciences at rest. It is
my duty to warn you of the grossness of such delusion : un
questionably God may bring us to reflect and to inquire, at
any period of our lives : but the question to be considered is,
whether He will do this, when we have deliberately and per-
severingly treated the matter as of little importance, compared
with the worldly objects, on which we have set our hearts ?
The way, indeed, in which He usually brings such persons to
reflect, if at all, is by some severe affliction ; by the loss of friends,
pf health, or of fortune ; by some change in their outward cir
cumstances, which strips the world of its allurements, and
impels them to seek a refuge with God. You will not say, that
such an alternative is to be regarded without alarm : but some
thing worse may happen. It may be that their delusion may
continue to the end : year after year may roll away, without

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 281
bringing any signal warning; and the hand of death may be
upon them, before they have examined their state. You
have, therefore, no security but that of beginning well, and
persevering in the right way : your safety lies wholly in your
sense of the danger which threatens you on every deviation.
And far easier is it to keep in the path of religion, than to
recover it, when once it is lost : other paths will be pleasant
to you for a time, and you will desire to quit them. True
wisdom, therefore, will prompt you to resist the first solici
tations of sin ; you cannot listen to them, and preserve your
powers of resistance unimpaired.
It is fit, however, that you should know the nature of such
solicitations; for they are not confined to what the world
condemns : you must appeal to a purer standard : the tempter
assails the innocent and unsuspecting most formidably, when
he would draw them into practices and indulgences, which,
though they are at variance with the spirit of the gospel, are
not, perhaps, subjects of common censure or remark. Be
that as it may, there is mischief in every thing which has a ten
dency to the relaxation of genuine religious principle ; in every
thing which would oblige you to give up, or even to be remiss
in habits, inculcated and prescribed by religion ; in every
thing which requires you, before you can give assent to it, to
tamper with the conscience, to argue with yourselves from
the practice of others, or to efface or soften down any virtuous
and Christian impression. Whatever is really good and
right, recommends itself at once to minds not corrupted by
the world. This moral feeling is invaluable ; and is therefore,
by all means, to be retained : and thus it is, that a correctness
of principle and a certain firmness of character will be found
indispensable in your Christian career.
II. But then, in the second place, it were vain to talk to
you about religious principle and Christian firmness, if you
are to be left to suppose that they are absolutely within your
own power. There could not be a more fatal error. In our
fallen nature, " nothing is strong, and nothing is holy," but
through the grace of God : we owe our knowledge, and still
more our love, of what is good, to the sanctifying influences
of the Holy Spirit : and our power of persisting in the practice
of holiness is derived from the same source. No truth is more
clearly laid down in the Scriptures ; and it is illustrated in our

282 AN ADDRESS
own experience. It will be, therefore, to little purpose, that
you shall resolve to lead Christian lives, unless you will
maintain a continual intercourse and communion with God.
I do not exceed the truth, when I affirm, that prayer is as
necessary to the well-being of the soul, as food is to that of
the body. We have no spiritual strength without it : we are
left to our natural weakness : for what confidence can we
place in the divine protection, unless we seek it ? or how can
we expect to resist evil, if we take not the means to confirm
ourselves in the love of that which is good ? But these effects
flow from prayer : we are sure that God will hear us, if we
earnestly ask, that He will enable us to fulfil his command
ments, and teach us to love his law : and as little can we doubt,
if we believe in a gracious Providence, that He will direct us
aright, when we submit ourselves entirely to his disposal.
The very habit, indeed, of prayer is salutary to the soul : it
keeps alive within us whatever is pure and holy ; it creates in
us an abhorrence of sin ; it gives us an interest in the service
of God; it dispenses a sanctifying influence, and places us
above the world ; not above the duties, or the charities, or the
wants of life ; that were, indeed, a delusion ; but above its
vicissitudes, its fashions, its corruptions and temptations. In
the constant practice of prayer our nature is gradually changed:
we are benefited by frequent and intimate intercourse with
men, who are eminently good. How, then, can we fail to be
improved, and even transformed, by the habit of holding
communion with God ? Let, therefore, the good resolutions,
whatever they may be, which you have this day formed, be
connected and blended in your minds with the need of Divine
succour: our best resolves are, that we will do what we know to
be right, with the help of God : but a part of every such pur
pose will be, that we will seek for that help, and cease not to pray
for it from day to day, while we remain in this state of trial.
III. In the next place, however, let me remind you, that
though our secret and individual wants should be the subject
of private prayer, (and they cannot be fully represented in
any other,) the religion of Christ could not be maintained in
the world without the public service of the church : and to
imagine that either supersedes the use of the other, is to mis
take the proper objects of both. The uses of private prayer
may be gathered, in some measure, from what has been

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 283
already said : but the service of the church is a public and
continually renewed profession of our faith in Christ, and that
not merely for our own sakes, but for the good of our brethren.
If I might venture to make such a distinction, I would say, that
self-examination, and contrition, and gratitude for especial
mercies, are the principal features of secret devotion ; which,
however, refer chiefly to ourselves : whereas of public prayer,
the prominent character will be, that it proclaims " glory to
" God in the highest, and good-will towards men." We
meet in this place to offer to the Almighty the tribute of our
common homage, to give evidence to others of our faith in the
Redeemer, and to show, that however some may think or act,
*we are " on the Lord's side ;" that in a conflict between
religion and irreligion, such as exists in the world, we throw
our weight, whatever it may be, into the scale of the former ;
that we acknowledge our deliverance from sin and misery to
be only through Christ ; that we delight in beholding others
making the same profession ; that we can cordially join with
our brethren 'in calling doWn on our common frailties the
mercy of God, and his common blessing on our endeavours
lo serve him ; and we attest, what in an age of religious em
piricism and causeless separation is not unimportant, that we
are in the unity of the church. It is not, however, my mean
ing, that social worship has no relation to private and
individual wants ; and as little should it be supposed, that in
our most secret devotions our brethren are altogether over
looked : I speak only of these leading distinctions of the two,
with the view, of showing you, that both are necessary to the
Christian. Let it, therefore, be your care to lose no oppor
tunity of joining in the service of the church. Let your attend
ance be not casual, but regular. No measure of secret piety
will excuse yyou. What you need not for yourselves, you will
in charity ask for your brethren, and assist them in their
prayers. Above all, you will feel it incumbent upon you, espe-?
cially in this heathen land, to bear testimony unto Christ, It
is, indeed, deeply to be lamented, that many of you may be
thrown into situations, where religion is not publicly main*
tained : if, hqwe.ver, you shall feel the privation, (and such it
must be to e^ery Christian mind,) you will he the more anxious
to avail yourselves of the public worship, whenever it may be
had. It might, indeed, be expected, that they, who have

284

AN ADDRESS

resided at stations, where no religious provision exists, would,
on the first opportunity, direct their footsteps to the house of
prayer. We do not, however, always find this to be the case :
and we account for it by the melancholy truth, that men may
live without religion, till they cease to think of it, or perhaps
regard it with disgust. From this fact I will derive one word
of advice, which however I would press upon you with all
earnestness ; that if God has blessed you with religious im
pressions, cherish and mature them by all the means which
He has graciously afforded you, or they will become weaker
till they are effaced for ever.
IV. But under the head of your religious obligations, I
must not, especially on such an occasion, overlook the sacra
ment of the Lord's supper, to which you are henceforth to
be admitted. I need not, indeed, explain to those, who have
been competently, instructed in the Church Catechism, the
nature of that solemn ordinance ; the ends for which it was
instituted, or the blessings which it dispenses. You know it
to , be for a perpetual remembrance of the death of Christ,
whereby we obtain redemption, and that in the worthy par
ticipation of it the spiritual principle within us receives fresh
supplies of strength. It combines, in fact, all that is sublime,
and tender, and humble, and holy in the character of religious
adoration ; self-examination, the confession of sin, pious
resolves, thankfulness for our Saviour's love to us, the com
plete surrender of ourselves, " of our souls and bodies," to
his service, and an acknowledgement of our faith in his blood,
all of them co-existing' in our minds and hearts with brotherly
love and charity.
. It is, however, a subject of deep regret that so many are
found to excuse themselves from the table of their Redeemer.
Some are unfit to appear there, as perhaps they themselves
allege ; and while they lay great stress upon the sin of receiv
ing the sacrament unworthily, forget;. that they are guilty of
the greater sin of not renouncing the course of life in which
alone . their unworthiness consists ; while others seem to con
sider this sacrament as something which is left to their op
tion, whether they will receive it or reject it : and yet our church
has pronounced, that both the sacraments are "generally ne
cessary to salvation ;" meaning, no doubt, where they may be
had. Both, indeed, are intimately connected, with the great

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 285
object of the Gospel dispensation, " the remission of sins :"
it was for this end that St. Peter called upon the people to be
baptized; (Acts ii. 38.) and our Saviour, when at the institu
tion of the other sacrament, he gave the cup to his disciples,
declared it to be his " blood of the New Testament, shed for
many, for the remission of sins;" (Matt. xxvi. 28.) and it is
hardly possible to understand otherwise than in relation to
the same sacrament, though not then instituted, that most
awful saying of our Saviour, " Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you ;" (John vi. 53.) It must not,
indeed, be taken to mean the mere act of eating and drinking
the sacred elements, but the spiritual use and application of
it; in which, however, the act is supposed. But indepen
dently of these considerations, it may be enough for you to
know, that this sacrament was ordained by Christ himself as
a standing memorial of the one Great Sacrifice for sin : it can
not, therefore, be innocent, or even a matter of little moment,
that any man shall deliberately refuse to bear testimony to the
merits and the efficacy of that Sacrifice in the manner pre
scribed : it is, in truth, however it may be meant, little less
than a denial of the Lord that bought him, (2 Pet. ii. 1.)
V. But among the topics of advice respecting your conduct
in life, I must not be altogether silent on the subject of your
worldly occupations. Religion, strictly so called, cannot en
gage all your thoughts, and the world has claims upon you in
your several stations and callings : and yet even into your se
cular duties religion will enter, if they be discharged in a
Christian spirit, and in due subordination to the law of God;
with diligence and fidelity and integrity, and without suffering
them to encroach upon religious principle, or to interfere with
those obligations which have a distinct and immediate reference
to the Almighty. This, however, is the great error into which
persons of industry and enterprize are liable to fall : they at
tach too much importance to their secular pursuits, because
these, are useful to the world; and, probably, much more, be
cause they are profitable and lucrative, they would make at
tention to business a plea for the neglect of every thing1 else.
They seem to ascribe to it a merit, which supersedes religious
obligations, as if religion were not enjoined on all men alike ;
as if it were required only from persons who have abundant

286

AN ADDRESS

leisure, and who cannot otherwise occupy their time. Absurd
as are all such pretences, they operate to a great extent. What
is more common than the neglect of private and of family
prayer; and even the desecration of the day of holy rest,
upon the plea of the urgent demands on time ? There can
not, however, be a plainer confession, that of such men the
world is really the idol, to which they pay the homage due to
God alone ; nor do they consider, that wealth or reputation,
or even secular usefulness, will avail them nothing to the par
don of sin, or that they cannot thus acquire the habits, and
sentiments, and desires, which alone will prepare them for
eternity. It must not, however, be dissembled, that with a portion of
our Christian population the disposition to excess in laborious
employments is by no means prevalent : against bodily and
manual labour there is even a prejudice : it is thought dis
reputable, and to be resorted to only in the case of actual ne
cessity. Here, then, is an error of an opposite character;
and though it operates very differently from the former, its
effects are not less injurious. Idleness is incompatible with
religion, as being the parent of vice and folly, and those pur
suits are not favourable to it which require but little active
exertion : they produce a general listlessness and indifference,
which relax the mind, and render it as unfit for the practice
of religion as for every thing else which demands resolution-
and firmness. It is true, that all cannot choose their occupa
tions, and that all the offices of human life must be filled ;
but I would abate, if possible, the prejudice against manual
employment : it is allied more nearly than some suspect both
to virtue and to happiness : health and cheerfulness follow in
ks train ; its habits are generally frugal and simple ; the vi
gour of the body gives a tone to the mind, and its intervals
of rest are periods of real enjoyment. Such a state is not ill
adapted to the service of God : it is connected with humility
and thankfulness for the measure of good vouchsafed, and
with that teachable disposition which is the proper soil to re
ceive the seed of the gospel.
VI. But let me not forget that many of you are removed,
by the gifts of Providence, from the necessity of actual toil ;
and even they who will be most engaged, will have short in
tervals of time at their own disposal. In offering yon advice,
16

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 287
therefore, for the conduct of life, something should be said
upon the proper use of leisure. With respect, then, to those
of you who may have much, I would earnestly recommend to
you to consider it as a trust for which you must account. It
is a plea in frequent use, and sometimes it is truly urged, that
men have not spare time to do much good to others, or to
advance their own improvement so far as they really wish ;
but where this plea cannot justly be used, there is a propor
tionate responsibility ; and certainly they who are exempted
from the necessity of close occupation, should consider that
their privilege is rather in the choice of their employment,
while others have their particular course of duty marked out
for them, and absolutely enjoined. Our time, in fact, is Our
Hfe ; and it is not to be spent unprofitably, unless it Can be
supposed to be venial to live in vain. Consider, then, you
whom Providence has favoured, (I speak to persons of either
sex,) what opportunities are open to you for the exercise of
benevolence ; nor is this to be considered as confining itself
to almsgiving, but as exerted in a general solicitude about the
miseries of mankind, in patient thought how they may most
effectually be mitigated, and in ascertaining and establishing
the merits of those who have fallen into distress. Half the
suffering in the world would be relieved, if the deserving
could be distinguished from the worthless, and wretchedness
could assert its claims free from the suspicion of imposture.
There is one use, however, of leisure, whether it be much
or little, on which I should earnestly insist : I allude to your
advancement in Christian knowledge. There cannot be a
greater error, common as it is, than to suppose that religious
studies may be allowed to terminate with the discipline of the
school, or are dispensed with after confirmation ; or, at the
utmost, need be prosecuted no further, than by listening to
instruction from the pulpit. With respect to the religious
knowledge conveyed to us before the usual period of confirm
ation, it is necessarily very limited ; and with regard to the
instruction delivered from the pulpit, the improvement to be
derived from it is much retarded by that scantiness of religi
ous information which unhappily prevails in most Christian
, assemblies. Where a multitude are to be addressed, consist
ing of persons of very different attainments, and all of them
to be in some measure benefited and improved, a competent

288 AN ADDRESS
acquaintance with Scriptural subjects is requisite, even in the
least informed.
My counsel, then, to all of you is, that you cultivate reli
gious knowledge, according to your opportunities, especially in
the study of the Holy Scriptures, assisted by the valuable
and various helps which the divines of our church have pro
vided : there is not, in fact, any doctrine or any duty taught
by our religion, which they have not powerfully enforced, or
any difficulty, except it be such as eludes our finite understand
ings, which they have not satisfactorily explained. I feel it, there
fore, to be a cause of thankfulness, that the tracts and larger
treatises of the Society for promoting Christian' Know-'
ledge have, of late years, been abundantly supplied to every
part of the diocese. The means of improvement are thus
within the reach of all who really desire it, and whose wants
shall be made known, as they easily may be, to any one of
the members of the respective committees. It is, moreover,
to the praise of that ancient society, as tending to enlarge the
wide sphere of its usefulness, that it now adopts and dissemi
nates books of general information, adapted, however, with
the Divine blessing, to promote the glory of God. The age,
indeed, in which we live is remarkable for a prevailing dis
position, among almost all classes of people, to devote some
part of their time to reading. It were, however, an error to
suppose, that there is a proportionate advancement in Scrip
tural, or even in other knowledge. Much of the time spent
in this way is utterly lost, as to any valuable purpose. It serves
only to amuse, while, probably, it perverts the minds of those
who can find no rational employment. Still it is not my
meaning that Scriptural reading, or what is closely connected
with it, should alone engage your leisure, if it be abundant;
but I should not fulfil my purpose, in alluding to this subject,
if I did not strongly urge the importance of your assigning
the first place to that knowledge which will make you " wise
unto salvation ;" and let me add, of abstaining from such
reading, as is at least frivolous, and, if it does no other harm,
will give you a distaste for higher and better things. You,
however, whose lot is humble, and who can have little time
tc^ spare from worldly occupations, will do well to keep
to the Bible, and to the best helps to the true understanding
of it ; blessing God that He has afforded you a measure of

TO PERSONS CONFIRMED. 289
education, whatever it may be, and seeking to advance both
your knowledge and your love of the Scriptures by a holy
and a Christian life.
VII. In the last place, let me not dismiss you without ad
verting to the circumstances of the country in which your lot
is cast. Among the nations around you the God of Christians
and the Saviour of the world are unknown. Few of you can
be ignorant of the endeavours which are made to bring the
the heathen to a knowledge of the truth ; but the truth will
never beam upon their minds in its genuine lustre unless it be
found to influence the lives of those who profess it. I cannot,
indeed, repress the thought, how great the effect would be if
all, or even the greater part of those, who from time to time
are the objects of these solemnities, would through life re
member their sacred engagements, and would think of the
day with holy awe, when they pledged themselves before God
to fulfil their baptismal vows. We should then see persons
in various ranks of life, and in considerable numbers, going
forth through these wide regions, not, indeed, actually to preach
the doctrine of God their Saviour, but to adorn it ; to exhibit
in their lives and conversation the meekness, arid the purity,,
and the charity of the Gospel, and to bear testimony to the
truth of what is affirmed of them, that their hope of salvation
is in Christ. Let, then, this idea, beloved, be realized in you:
consider yourselves to be severally responsible, so far as the
example of each of you may extend, for the opinion which the
heathen may form of the religion of Jesus Christ, and for its.:
consequent success in the world. To every one of you, va~
rious as your conditions in life will be, is assigned a part in
the greatest work which God has ever delegated to man, the
bringing of the nations out of darkness and the shadow of death
into the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer. May the Holy
Spirit keep these things in your remembrance, and " stablish
you in every good word and work !"

ADDRESS TO
THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS,
MIDDLESEX, ON
THE SUBJECT OF AN APPLICATION TO PARLIAMENT FOR A
NEW CHURCH, &C.
BY
T. F. MIDDLETON, D.D.
ABCHDEACON OF HUNTINGDON? THE VICAR.

" Speaking the truth in love." Eph. iv. 15.

u 2

AN

ADDRESS, &c.

MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN^
Vr hen the proposal for erecting a church in my parish waS
first promulgated, it was my intention, without delay, to ad
dress you on this important subject from the various pulpits,
I regarded it as a topic, not ill suited to the most solemn apr
peal to your reason and your feelings. I viewed it, not as
limited to a single point of scriptural doctrine, or of Christian
duty, to which the discourses of the clergy are, for the most
part, necessarily confined, but as embracing, within its compass
every doctrine and every- duty; that, without which, neither
can the one be expounded, nor the other enforced, — the means
of public instruction. In a parish, in which these are so re
markably withholden, especially from the poor, I conceive
that I should be wholly negligent of the great trust reposed
in me, if I did not endeavour to impress upon your minds
the alarming extent of this evil, and your obligation to admi
nister the remedy. .
Circumstances, however, have subsequently arisen, which
have made it impossible that I should adhere to my first
purpose. In the dearth of argument against the proposal,
recourse was had to a proceeding, which is always easy and
not often unsuccessful ; and that is, to impeach the motives of
the person, who may easily be represented as the author of
the project. The original resolutions of the meeting at the
church were scarcely published, when the merits of the ques
tion were nearly overborne by the popular remark, that the
plan had little else in view than the aggrandisement of the
vicar. This assertion obtained credit the more readily, ber
cause the interests of the vicar, though in conjunction with
those of the parish, were really contemplated at the meeting :
for it might easily be shown, paradoxical as it may at first
t> 3

294 AN ADDRESS TO
appear, that such a conjunction of interests is not only possible,
but that where it does not actually exist, in that parish some
thing must be wrong. But the turn thus given to the ques
tion, as well as the heat and animosity excited by other
causes, made it wholly unfit for discussion in a Christian as
sembly. I will never consent to desecrate the pulpit ; it is
appropriated to themes of high and universal importance : the
passions of a party, and the selfishness of an individual, are
alike beneath its dignity. The possible imputation of being
influenced by such feelings, is sufficient to restrain the Chris
tian preacher : it is among the unrivalled precepts of Gospel
morality, to " abstain from all appearance of evil."
From these considerations, I am induced to address you
through the medium of the press: I will dispatch the topics
which respect myself, as briefly as possible, that I may pro
ceed to others, which are more worthy of your attention.
In connexion with the plan for erecting a church in the
southern and m&st populous district of the parish, it is pro
posed to sell the present vicarage house, and to build another
near the future church, when it shall be completed. I forbear to
repeat, and still more to refute, certain insinuations respecting
my views ip this particular. It has always been considered
as highly expedient, that the minister, especially of a large
parish, should reside where his duties require his presence.
The present vicarage house is at the average distance of two
"miles from the great mass of the population, and one mile
and a quarter from the parish church : it has been truly,
though unfairly replied, that it is near the centre of the pa
rish : the proposed plan, however, of providing a residence
for the vicar near the intended church, will place him in the
centre, not indeed of the 2,600 acres, of which the parish
consists, but of the 40,000 inhabitants, who occupy less than
a fifth of that space, near the southern extremity. It will
immediately occur to you, that in expressing my readiness to
remove to that quarter, I am not consulting my own ease :
the calls of business will be increased tenfold : the portion of
leisure which I now enjoy, I owe to the inconvenient distance
of the vicarage house from the far greater part of my parish
ioners ; the occasion must be urgent, which will induce them
to go two miles from home. I should also add, that I cannot,
on my own account, desire to quit the part of the parish, in

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 295
which I at present reside : it is recommended to me by the
healthfulness of the situation, and by exemption from noise
and interruption : but, more than all, by the friendly atten
tions of the inhabitants of the village, who uniformly consider
and treat me as their pastor, and between whom and myself
there exists, and I trust will long exist, a feeling of mutual
regard. On the subject of the commutation of the vicarial tithes and
Easter offerings, I will endeavour to be equally brief. The
revenues of this benefice have been long in a state of dilapi
dation ; so that, unless the vicar will expose himself to the
odium of living in hostility with those, whom he must wish to
regard as friends, his emoluments must sink to the level of
an ordinary rectory in the country, while the duties
and responsibility in the latter (not to insist on the expenses
of living) shrink from all comparison. In the commutation
of the tithes, only a few individuals are concerned; and the
annual amount which they admit to be due, is very incon
siderable : but Easter offerings, as is well known, are payable
by all adults. Of the extreme difficulty of collecting these ; —
of the wanton trouble, in some instances, given to the col
lectors; — and the refusal of many others to pay them at
all, without a summons from the magistrate ; — I am unwilling
to speak particularly : the subject is painful and degrading.
I leave it to enlightened men to judge, whether this be a de
sirable mode of providing for the minister of such a parish as
St. Pancras : their knowledge of the world will enable them
to decide, whether a clergyman can be eminently useful
where he is not respected, and whether respect be consistent
with a state of vexatious dependence: and their sense of pro
priety will determine, whether it be not high time, that a
parish with a population of nearly 50,000, should enable the
head of their ecclesiastical department to live amongst them
in a manner suited to his station, or should, as has here
tofore always been the case, compel him, by an inadequate
provision, to dedicate a great part of his attention to other
objects, and to make the second cure in the metropolis a
subordinate concern. By a statute of Henry VIII., the
London clergy, in very many parishes, are entitled to a rate
of 2s. 9d. in the pound on the actual rental ; and the preamble
to that act shows, that the circumstances which gave birth to
u 4

296 AN ADDRESS TO
it, were precisely similar to those which now exist in St. Pan
cras. Those parishes, indeed, are generally of small extent :
but it has been suggested, that an adequate provision in your
own parish, would not be less than one penny in the pound
to be paid on the rental in lieu of Easter offerings, and of all
vicarial tithes whatever. But I speak of these things reluct
antly, and gladly dismiss them. Among a variety of remarks
reported to me by the collectors, there is only one which I
am desirous to repeat to you : it is a question, which I am
assured has been asked ; in every quarter of the parish :
" Why have we not a church?" This question, together
with a few considerations arising out of it, is the subject of
the present Address.
It is only within a few years, that the parish of St. Pancras
has risen to very great importance. Within the memory of
some of you, the most populous part of it was the then small
village of Kentish Town. Camden Town, Somers Town,
and the multitudes of streets and squares on the southern side
of the New Road, had no existence : the whole parish did
not contain 800 persons. For the religious wants of such a
population, the wisdom and piety of our ancestors had made
ample provision : the parish church whT accommodate about
200 persons, and the ancient chapel of ease at Kentish Town
held, perhaps, nearly the same number: the rebuilding of the
latter about thirty years ago, though upon much too small a
scale, and with some aid from the trustees of the church
lands, is every thing which has been done in this parish,
during many centuries, for the maintenance of parochial re
ligion. The other places of divine worship for the members
of the establishment, are three proprietary chapels, a chapel of
ease to St. James's, Westminster, and the chapel of the
' Foundling Hospital. It might be sufficient to say generally
of these, that were they appropriated to the parishioners of
St. Pancras, and open to the rich and the poor indiscrimately,
they would still be insufficient: but that is by no means the
case. The chapel of the Foundling Hospital, standing nearly
on the boundary of St. Pancras, may be supposed to receive
within its walls as many aliens as inhabitants of the parish, in
which it happens to be situated : the laudable object of the
governors requires them to accommodate those, who are will
ing to contribute to the charity, from whatever district they

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 297
may come: parochial considerations form no part of their
Concern. The chapel of St. James's is of a different cha
racter: it is parochial, though not so with regard to St.
Pancras, in which it stands : its connexion is with a parish
to which St. Pancras is not even contiguous ; and it differs
not, I beheve, from other chapels of ease, except in the
anomaly, that it is frequented, and must be so from its situ
ation, almost entirely by the inhabitants of one parish, who
can receive instruction only from the ministers of another. —
Of proprietary chapels, whatever praise may be due to the
zeal and talents of the clergy, who officiate in them, I do not
profess myself to be friendly to the principle. Wherever
they exist, they have arisen out of the deficiency of our paro
chial establishments ; for which, however, they afford but a
very inadequate substitute, while they contribute to perpetu
ate the evil : they cannot but render the more opulent parish
ioners, in many instances, indifferent about wants, which they
themselves no longer feel. The principle, to which they owe
their origin, is no other than that of commercial adventure.
A builder observing that the spirit of Christianity is not
wholly extinct, invests a portion of his capital in erecting a
place' of public worship. To what particular description of
Christians it is to be appropriated, needs not be determined
beforehand : trade is not fastidious about the opinions of a
purchaser : and such is the tenure, that it is not permanently
confined to the church, even though a churchman should be
the first to license it : in the failure of success, it may be sub
sequently applied to any other more profitable purpose,
whether sacred or profane.
I am afraid, however, that the evil does not always rest
here ; I am afraid, that even while buildings of this kind are
in the hands of churchmen, the system has tendencies, which
are greatly to be deprecated. Whether the proprietor be a
layman or a clergyman, while his emoluments depend upon
the letting of the seats, he is under a strong temptation to give
to divine service attractions, which do not properly belong to
it, and which, while they recommend it to those, who are in
quest of amusement, degrade it in the estimation of the serious
and reflecting. Christianity, in its native and noble simplicity,
addresses itself not to the taste or the imagination, but to the
understanding and the heart : it is not studious to adapt itself

298 AN ADDRESS TO
to the variable standard of popular sentiment, but is, like its
author, " the same yesterday and to-day and for ever." In
this view, nothing can be more conducive to the maintenance
of its true character, than that independence of principle and
practice, for which our establishment usually provides. A
clergyman, who does not labour under the consciousness, that
it is his interest to attract hearers, has to blame himself alone,
if he deviate from the track of solid and sober instruction.
The system has also other tendencies, which are not to be
desired. The great variety of preachers in some of these
chapels, while it stimulates the religious appetite, cannot fail
to deprave it; nor is public instruction productive of the
greatest possible good, where little or nothing is known of the
preacher, except from his sermon. I might also add, that
these chapels sometimes interfere with the province of the
parochial clergyman : the parishioners are not always aware,
that the preacher of a proprietary chapel has no connection
with them beyond the duties of the pulpit, and avail them
selves of his ministrations to the exclusion of their constituted
pastor, and the extinction of order and regularity.
In this part of my subject, I desire to be understood as
every where speaking of the system and its tendencies. In my
own parish, these chapels appear to be very well conducted : in
my occasional visits to them I have found them most respectably
attended ; and I have constantly rejoiced that some at least of
my parishioners have such a resource : but it will be remem
bered, that whatever is good in these chapels is the peculiar
merit of the proprietor, while that which is objectionable is
connected with the system, and that the one is changeable,
while the other is permanent.
Of the three proprietary chapels in St. Pancras none is
unusually large, and two of them certainly accommodate a
great proportion of aliens. From the nature of them, it is not
to be supposed that they afford any considerable convenience
to the poor: it is not reasonable to expect that individuals
should gratuitously do much to mitigate an evil, which whole
parishes are backward to remove on account of the expence.
There is not any free-chapel in St. Pancras ; neither do
such chapels, though undoubtedly suggested by the purest
benevolence, seem to answer all the ends of public worship :
whatever tends to separate the rich from the poor in the

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 299
presence of Him, who is the maker of both, is so far excep
tionable : let them, at least on one day in the week, " meet
together:" to the rich it teaches humility, while it inspires
the poor with confidence ; and it serves to unite both in the
bonds of mutual dependence and esteem.
In truth, the objects proposed are attainable in all their
variety and in their full extent, only in a parish church. It
makes religion visible ; it invests the service of God with
dignity and veneration ; it connects the pastor with his parish
ioners, and the parishioners with each other ; and it helps to
stimulate the exertions of all, in what it has made a common,
cause : it excites an interest in that, to which in independent
congregations the attention can be but rarely directed ; I mean
the concerns of a parish ; in its order and good govern
ment ; in its regulation and improvement ; in the support of
its charities, where it has such as might be expected, and in
the foundation of them, where they are wanted : in short, the
practical and civil results of Christianity must be looked for
in the influence of the parish church. I press this point the
more earnestly, from observing a prevailing prejudice in
favour of chapels. It is commonly alleged, that two chapels
would afford the accommodation of a large church ; but accom
modation is not all, which is desired ; you want much more ;
you have as yet no parochial character, no pervading sentiment,
no common feeling directed to a given end : you require not so
much to be divided and distributed; as to be brought together.
Christians are to be viewed not merely as worshippers of their
Maker, but as members of society : and in society the lowest
civil subdivision is a parish. In districts so populous as
St. Pancras, I mean not to deny that parochial chapels are
necessary, nor that proprietary chapels, in the existing cir
cumstances, have their use : I contend only, that chapels of
the latter description have arisen out of the want of the
former, . and that the former should not be adopted, except
from the inconvenience of distance, or the insufficiency of the
most spacious parish church. The great Christian principle
is unity ; unity not only of faith and fellowship, but to the
utmost practicable extent, unity of worship, and a consequent
unity of benevolence.
With these sentiments, I cannot be supposed to have been,
during the short period of my incumbency, an indifferent

300 AN ADDRESS TO
spectator of the condition of my parish. When indeed I was
honoured with the offer of the cure, I observed little, which
could encourage me to accept it: the first images, which pre
sented themselves to my mind, were those of division and
confusion : I saw a parish, which had grown enormously
populous within half a century, at least a whole century be
hind in improvement. The lure of interest was out of the
question : in quitting my country preferments, I should not
increase my emoluments ; while in point of ease, independ
ence, leisure and tranquillity, the balance would be largely
against me. Yet I reflected, that a clergyman not far ad
vanced beyond the prime of life, and attached to the studies
and duties of his profession, ought not, especially in these
days, to shrink from difficulties ; and I thought that I dis
covered in the charge of such a parish, whenever those
difficulties should be removed, a field for honourable and use
ful exertion. Whether these views were visionary, it rests
with you to determine.
¦ Of the proceedings, which, have already taken place, I will
not disclaim any share of the responsibility, which properly
belongs to me, nor will I arrogate to myself the praise, which
is more justly due to the excellent persons, who have made
me their coadjutor. To the meeting at the church I was
certainly a party ; and whatever may have been said against
the origination of such a measure among a few, in a parish,
in which there are above 6,000 householders, it is that very
circumstance, which in the judgment of all of us justified the
proceeding : and many of those, who have objected to it, must
know, if they will calmly consider the , question, that in no
other conceivable method could the project assume any thing
like form and consistency, or avoid being stifled in the birth.
But it was only the origination of the measure, which the
meeting had in view : its modification, its arrangement, its de
tails, its improvement, its completion, and the means by which
it was to be carried through every stage of its existence, were
all to be submitted to parochial revision. For the present,
the resolutions of the meeting were published ; and, to save
the session, notices were inserted in the Gazette. This, it was
hoped, would be all, which considerate men would require :
yet more was done ; immediately, on the appearance of hos
tility, a proposal was made to the adversaries of the measure, to
14'

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 301
suspend their animosity for a very short period, till its friends'
could fully digest their plan, pledging themselves in the mean
time to desist from all further proceedings. But the proffer
was instantly rejected; and it was resolved to appoint a
" committee for opposing any and every application to parlia
ment." It requires but little' sagacity to ascertain what coun
tenance the friends of the measure were to expect, if before
they had formed the mere outline of their plan they had
solicited the opinion of the vestry.
It is, however, the object of this address, to conciliate:
Among our opponents there are some, who from their high
consideration in the parish, their character, their property,
and their attachment to the established church, were entitled
to our especial regard. We should, indeed, have derived
great benefit to our cause from their counsel and their in
fluence ; but many of them were absent from town ; and to
others the access was not so easy, as we might have wished,
especially in the eastern division of the- parish, which has few
representatives at the board of directors, and appears to take
but little part in parochial concerns. I have the greater
reason to regret this circumstance, when I am told, that there
are persons, who : scruple not to admit the expediency of the
measure in all its extent, but who have joined our antagonists1,
avowedly because they were not among the first, who were
consulted. I confess I hear such an argument with pain : it
is distressing to reflect that private feeling should avail against
an acknowledged public good, and that a little more of ex
ternal respect, though the means of shewing it were not always
obvious, might have secured a friend, where the want of it
has armed an enemy. But I cherish the hope, that their
resentments have by this time subsided : at the crisis of their
indignation they were enlisted into the ranks of the opposition;
but -their passions, not their reason, approved the service :
'they will surely withdraw, or at least, if they cannot do this
consistently, they will be passsive observers of the contest.
But a transient and excusable feeling of jealousy is not the
only principle, against which the promoters of the bill have
to contend. Self-love is more deeply rooted; and its fears
have been excited to a feverish height, by unfounded state
ments ; -while in some instances the uninformed and unsus
pecting have been purposely imposed upon, and sent forth to

302 AN ADDRESS TO
propagate their credulity. It was hot to be expected, that
an object of such magnitude, as the erection of a spacious
church, could be accomplished without any perceptible bur
then : but when I admit that it will be perceptible, I hope that
I have described it by its most unpopular epithet. It is
clearly ascertained that a structure worthy of such a parish
may be completed at no heavier: expence to the parishioners
than a rate of sixpence in the pound s and that at the end of
about four years, when the fourpenfly rate for liquidating the
debt incurred to build the workhouse will have ceased, the
whole amount of the church and poor's rates in. this parish
will, be only ttsoo shillings and sixpence in the pound: you are
probably aware, that this will be below the present burthens
of almost every other parish in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis : any objection, therefore, to, the proposed measure,
on the ground of expence, supposes in the objector a degree
pf parsimony, which, if it be felt by a few individuals in other
parishes, as probably it may, at least is not there suffered to
obstruct the general good. It is, indeed, alleged, that how
ever light the burthen may be in ordinary cases, it will press
omequally. I know of scarcely any burthen, against which
the very same objection may not be urged : few general laws
can be made to operate without partial inconvenience ; but in
the present instance, from what does this partial pressure
arise ? Is it, that the objector is engaged in some extensive
mercantile concern? is it, that some profitable enterprise re^
quires him to Occupy much more than a dwelling ? is it, that
wealth and prosperity have enabled him to "join house to
house, and to lay field to field ?" 1 do not perceive the vahdity
of any adverse inference derived from such premises. Every
burthen imposed upon men in a state of society, must be in
proportion not merely to their wealth, but to the means
which they withhold from others, of obtaining wealth. In
the country, for example, if one man should occupy 1000
acres, it is. surely reasonable that he should be charged to
wards the repairs of his parish church, and to other parochial
burthens, the whole of the sum which would have been due
from any number of renters of the same land : the. burthen on
great occupiers is only positively, not relatively, unequal : for
their profits are, or ought to.be, proportionate The very
supposition that an objection founded on such an inequality,

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 303
as that which I have imagined, has any weight, is pregnant
with monstrous mischief: the prosperity of individuals, in
stead of being a blessing to society, would be a calamity, if it
were ever to be made the bar to public improvement ; and in
works of charity men might justify their ingratitude towards
God on no better plea than the exuberance of His goodness.
In considering the expediency of building a church, there
is another topic, which, however unwilling I may be to meddle
with it, I am not permitted to pass over without notice. The
parish of St* Pancras has long been known, as the abode, in
a pre-eminent degree, of persons, who dissent, or at least
secede, from the establishment. I will not enter into any
discussion of the points at issue between the church and
those who have left it : there is no subject, more likely to
irritate feelings, which I would gladly allay : nor do the cir
cumstances of this parish permit me, if I were so disposed, to
charge the evils of separation altogether upon the separatist.
That these evils are, in my judgment, most alarming, I will
not suppress ; and secession in the abstract, I mean without
reference to the particular motives and pleas of the seceder, I
cannot have any scruple in pronouncing to be foreign from
the spirit of Christianity, and from the views of its founder.
Of the religionists in question, many have my esteem : but
we must not suffer our reverence of persons to warp our
judgment of things. The excellence of these men consists in
their piety, their zeal, and their active benevolence ; virtues,
however, which, together with all others, they might, if I
mistake not, have practised to the same extent, and with
greater effect, in communion with the church. In a state of
division, Christianity loses half its worth and alfits beauty.
On this part of the question I will advert only to one or
two points: they have no connection with theological con
troversy. I have said, that I consider the separation from
the establishment, to afford some ground of alarm : I do not
see how it can be contemplated with indifference by any
friend to his country. I am ready to admit, that no mischief
is intended or foreseen by the great majority of those, to
whom I allude : in general they may not be men, whom
education, experience, or habit, has led to reflect on tendencies:
they may only follow the multitude ; they are naturally grati
fied by attention ; they are struck by the impassioned gestures,

304 AN ADDRESS TO
or won by the familiar address,- of the preacher ; they do not
look forward to possibilities, nor do they look backward to
realities ; they are, for their purpose, more wisely employed ;
they are seeking salvation, where alone, as they believe, they
shall find it. It is to little purpose to say, that these are
religious, not political, proceedings ; some particular mode of
faith and worship, unless we would live in perpetual anarchy,
must have an acknowledged ascendancy ; in other words,
must be established ^ and an establishment connects the h>
terests of the church and the state. Rebgious divisions, if
there be any reliance on history, the record of experience,
invariably lead to political convulsions ; and the process is
very intelligible to every observer of human nature. Success
in making proselytes generates a proud confidence in the
truth of the principles: — numbers constitute strength; — and
strength cannot be employed more legitimately than in ex
alting truth. The gradation is perfectly natural, ¦ and the
reasoning, for all practical purposes, sufficiently conclusive :
a few consequences are easily overlooked in the logic of
ambition. I would further suggest, that the religionists in question,
however, they may be classed in vulgar apprehension among
the adherents to the church, cannot wish to countenance the
mistake : honourable men not only disdain imposture, but are
anxious to correct the error from which they may derive ad
vantage : when this anxiety has once been evinced, the blame
of the mistake is entirely with those who are deceived through
want of enquiry. It is commonly remarked, that many who
have seceded from the church still retain its liturgy, and
hence it is supposed that they are still in communion with the
establishment. It is much to be regretted that even unedu
cated men are not better informed on a point of so much mo
ment. The identity of a church consists not merely in its
liturgy, but also in its discipline ; and if it is to be inferred
that every man is of the church of England who adheres to
its doctrines, it may as well be argued, that every man is of
the church of Rome who is attached to episcopacy : the doc
trine and the discipline must both be considered in speaking
of a particular church. Our church knows nothing of the
ministrations of persons not episcopally ordained.
In offering these observations, nothing can be further from

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 305
my intention than to give offence to any class of Christians j
my subject requires me, it even compels me to discriminate.
We must not be told, when we are seeking accommodation
for the poor, that to a considerable degree they already have
it. They have it not in this parish, if they wish to remain in
communion with that church whose discipline it is my duty
to support, and whose preservation I sincerely believe to be
inseparably connected with the piety, the morals, and the
peace of England. In short, if to the class of Christians to whom
I allude, I have any thing to object, independently of theo
logical considerations, which I studiously avoid, and Of poli
tical consequences, to which I think the well-disposed among
them not sufficiently attentive, it is, that they are, on the
whole, theoretical rather than practical men. I can hardly
be misunderstood ; I mean not to say, that they do not prac
tise, as much as other men, what they profess, but only that
their views of what is practicable are not warranted by any
fair experiment. They seem to require in the aspect of society
the purity of manners, and the holiness of demeanour, which
are exceedingly to be desired, but which can hardly prevail
in large bodies of men brought together fortuitously, however
a certain degree of seriousness may be generally maintained
among persons who congregate from similarity of sentiment
to communicate their disgusts, and to lament, what indeed is
every where visible, the corruption of human nature.
But though I have thought it my duty to offer some ob^
servations on the general character and mischiefs of division,
I am ready to acknowledge that in this parish little or no
blame attaches to the seceders ; they may plead that they have
no alternative. Are they to live without the public exercise
of religion, and to bring up their families in heathen igno
rance, because it is their lot to reside in a parish which has
not provided for the religious wants of the members of the
establishment? They are clearly required to sacrifice the
weaker scruple to the stronger. It is the duty of every Chris
tian to make public profession of his faith in the Redeemer;
and if he cannot do this according to the method which his
conscience prefers, and in the society of persons with whom
he agrees in all essential points of doctrine and discipline, he
is permitted, and even bound to join that congregation to
whose tenets and practice his conscience is least repugnant.
x

306 AN ADDRESS TO
I am well assured that such has been the reasoning of manv
among you, whose faith and virtues no longer illustrate the
excellence, or support the credit of our national church. I am
not, indeed, incbned to believe that the public attachment to
the established religion, however discouraged by our neglect,
is deeply impaired. Your own parish church is usually
crowded long before the commencement of the service, and
numbers are constantly seen to retire for want of accommod
ation. It is reasonable to infer that these frequent disap
pointments deter many others from a similar attempt; and
that the same excellent disposition would operate in propor
tion to the encouragement afforded it by a suitable church
placed in a more convenient situation. In the out-parishes of
the metropolis all the churches are well attended, especially
by the poor, where they have room.
But while we vindicate the persons who are thus constrained
to make ' " divisions among us," what is to be urged in behalf
of those " by whom the offence cometh ?" To toleration,
understood in any practicable sense, I am as much a friend
as any man ; but toleration supposes an establishment, as the
exception supposes the rule; and in what manner are the
poorer members of the established church treated in this pa
rish ? Not content with tolerating those who differ from us,
we persecute those who agree with us ; unless the withholding
from them the mode of worship which they actually prefer,
and compelling them either to embrace another, or else to
live without any, deserve a milder appellation. It does not
lessen the disgrace of this proceeding, that it is peculiar to
the members of the establishment. It was stated at a late
meeting, that the sectaries of various denominations within
this parish have rather more than twice the accommodation in
their places of worship that we have in our church and cha
pels. I believe the statement to be much within the truth ;
but who would ever have anticipated the inference, that there-
fore we have little need of a parish church ? Has not this
disproportion arisen in great measure from the want of pro-.
vision for parochial worship, and especially of seats for the
poor ? But if such an argument have already some weight,
in twenty years time it will be absolutely conclusive : the dis
parity will then be very much greater. Our population ap-.
pears, from the returns to parliament, to be increasing at the

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 307
rate of 1,400 persons yearly; and if no provision be made for
these in the established church, the argument will then be,
that the sectaries have thrice or four times the accommod
ation enjoyed by the members of the church. Even then I
should not think more highly of such reasoning, whatever
might be my surprise, if it were not to prevail.
But it is not merely accommodation for adults which is re
quired in St. Pancras : serious inconvenience arises from the
want of a church in the education of children. This parish,
like most others in the neighbourhood of the metropolis,
abounds in schools. In an age in which so much has been
written on this subject, I need not urge the necessity of incul
cating religious principles in early hfe : I would, however,
suggest, that it avails but little to inculcate such principles in
private, unless they be matured into a habit ; and that in a
creature so constituted as man, religious habits, even if they
be acquired, will not long be retained without the aid of pub
lic example. The lessons of the nursery must derive their
efficacy from the service of the church. Of the boarding-
schools in this parish, I have observed the children of several
in the different chapels ; though I have reason to know, that
more of them would attend the service of the church, if they
could any where find room. One of the first applications
which I received on coming among you, was on this very
subject. But of the children of the poor, it is impossible
to hope that many of them are educated in the principles of
the national religion. Of those at the workhouse, a portion
attends at the parish church; the whole of them would oc
cupy too much room : but the intended appointment of a
chaplain will afford religious instruction to all of them ; and
I rejoice that such an appointment has af; length been thought
expedient. The children of the female charity-school have
seats assigned them at Fitzroy Chapel by. the kindness of the
very liberal proprietor; and the ladies of Kentish Town have
most humanely established a day-school for girls who regu
larly attend the village chapel. Of the remaining poor chil
dren of my parish, who amount to some thousands, I neither
know, nor can know, any thing : many of them, I would
hope, attend the service of the dissenting congregations ; but
many more, I fear, have never been accustomed to attach any
idea of sanctity to the seventh day, but pass it in idleness, if
X 2

SOS AN ADDRESS TO
not in vice and profaneness. It is with the view of affording- a
remedy to evils like these, that the National Society is endea
vouring to give efficacy to the admirable system of Dr. Bell ;
but unhappily that system cannot be introduced among us in
the present state of this parish to any considerable extent. It
is the object of that great instructor, not merely to teach the ele
ments of useful knowledge, but to inculcate the principles of
piety and order: not merely to enable the children of the poor
to become more skilful mechanics, or more intelligent servants,
but to make them the sons and daughters of their countiy, and
to attach them to its venerable institutions by the force of
early association. That they may " hear and hold fast the
form of sound words," he does not commit them to chance, or
to what is little more to be depended upon, the care of igno
rant or irreligious parents, but he sends them to the parish
church, wherever there is one in which they can be assembled,
and places them, where our canons suppose them to be placed,
under the eye of their parochial pastor, that they may be cate
chised, instructed, and confirmed in their Christian faith.
I feel, however, that I have trespassed on your time, and I
hasten to conclude. I am sufficiently sensible, that where
things have for some time been wrong, it is difficult to im
press the mind with the necessity of amending them : in learn
ing to endure, we at last become indifferent. But from this
state of indifference, if unhappily we have reached it, it is
time that the most torpid should "awake. Of the parishes in
the immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis, St. Pancras
is marked by its backwardness in improvement ; and two of
the contiguous pai'ishes have recently afforded it an instructive
and salutary example. Marybone has. obtained an act for
building a church and two or more chapels ; and of Islington it
is impossible to speak in any other terms than those of ad
miration. With a population of less than a third of that
of St. Pancras, and with a spacious parish church, which
till lately was adequate to its wants, it has procured an act,
authorising a rate of Is. 6d. in the pound (though the whole is
not yet required) for building a chapel of ease, and for an ad
ditional burying ground. I am well aware that so splendid an
example is not the best suited to communicate the first im
pulse to emulation; but it is no less obvious to ask, what is
there in the condition of a parish possessing a rateable rental

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 309
of two hundred thousand pounds, which can require it to shrink
from comparison with the humblest of its neighbours ? In
what does St. Pancras differ from other parishes, except in its
health, the lowness of its poor's rate, and the want of parochial
establishments ? But I trust that the era of our improvement
has at length arrived : if not, younger men than myself may
despair of living to see it. The same objections will continue
to be urged, and the same interests exerted to defer it : but of
these interests every year will augment the strength, and the
objections it will be still more difficult to refute when they have
been once triumphant. These reflections I earnestly recom
mend to all who would listen to the advocates for delay.
To the " details of the plan," which have already been
submitted to you, I am not aware that much can be added :
the luminous and comprehensive mind from which they pro
ceeded, was not likely to overlook any thing of importance. I
would only observe, that the proposed situation of the new
church will be such as to afford the desired convenience in
the highest conceivable degree. Supposing it to adjoin the
New Road near the Bedford Nursery-Ground, it will be
central to 35,000 parishioners, of whom the most remote will
be within five furlongs of their parish church : besides, that
the new and yet unfinished buildings are principally within
half that distance. The present idea is to make the church
capable of accommodating 2000 persons, leaving about half
the seats open, and also to reserve a certain number for the
use of the different schools. To such a church it is objected,
that it will contain but a small proportion of the inhabitants :
but it ought to be remembered, that this accommodation will
be in addition to that which already exists ; and that a church
which accommodates twice on every Sunday 2000 persons, is
adequate to the actual exigencies of a population of at least
five times that number. In speaking of a congregation, we
must omit the very old and infirm, the very young, the sick,
persons absent from home, at least one servant in every fa
mily, the careless and indifferent, and those who attend other
places of worship. With such a church, therefore, as that
which is proposed, and with the enlargement of the chapel at
Kentish Town, every cause of reasonable complaint will be
effectually removed.
In conclusion, I request you, to accept my solemn assur-
x 3

310 AN ADDRESS TO
ance, that in the whole of this proceeding I have been actuated
by a regard to the welfare of those whom Providence has
committed to my care. I scruple not to confess the pain with
which I contemplate the present state of this most important
parish. My notions of what is right in matters of this kind
may perhaps exceed what is actually practicable : it is possible
that my temper may be sanguine ; and in quitting my situation
in the country, I may not have relinquished certain ideas of
pastoral superintendence which do not altogether accord with
the powers of a clergyman in the metropolis. These con
cessions, however, do not materially affect the question. No
argument is weaker than that which maintains, that we should
not attempt what is possible because we cannot accomplish all
which may be desired. The condition of this parish is ca
pable of almost incalculable improvement ; and the foundation
of that improvement must be laid, if any where, in the act for
building a parish church. This will make you members of
a new community : — it will excite a feeling for the common
good : — the rising generation will be early trained to habits
of piety : — the rich and the poor will assemble together be
fore the Universal Parent : — you will acquire an interest in
the honour and dignity of your parish : — parochial charities
will start into existence ; and the tablets which shall record your
virtues, preserved to your descendants in the sanctuary of the
Most High, will teach them lessons of piety and benevolence
through the force of hereditary example. For myself, I de
clare, that whatever portion of health and activity a merciful
Providence may yet reserve for me, it is my wish to devote it
to your service. I cannot, if you will but enable me to be
useful, desire a fairer field. I came among you with this in
tent ; it was the only advantage offered me : it was not to be
purchased without heavy sacrifices; but if I can obtain it,
I shall feel no regret. To those who promote this great un
dertaking by their counsel, their influence, or their pecuniary
aid, I offer my warmest thanks. In the midst of vehement
and angry debates, I have to acknowledge, that scarcely in
any instance have I been treated with personal disrespect : a
few misrepresentations I can cordially forgive. I have found
encouragement where I had least right to expect it; and some
of those who have disappointed my hopes, have increased my
esteem by candid and manly explanation. It is my earnest

THE PARISHIONERS OF ST. PANCRAS. 311
prayer, that the Almighty may prosper the exertions which
are directed to your temporal and eternal good ; and that
those of us, who are now estranged from each other by con
trariety of sentiment, may yet " walk together in the house of
God as friends." I am, my Christian brethren,
With great respect and regard,
Your affectionate and faithful servant,
T. F. MIDDLETON.
St. Pancras Vicarage, Kentish Town,
25th November 1812.

x 4

A
LETTER FROM
THE RIGHT REVEREND
THE LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA,
ADDRESSED TO
THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON,
SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF
THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS.

LETTER, &c.

Calcutta, 16th Nov. 1818.
REVEREND SIR,
I have received your letter, conveying to me a copy of the
proceedings of the Society in the month of March last, on the
subject of India missions ; from which it appears, that the
Society have placed at my disposal the sum of 5,000/., and
invite my more particular suggestions as to the most prudent
and practicable methods of promoting Christianity in this
country. The Society may be assured, that I have been much
gratified by this communication, and that I shall, with the
Divine blessing, heartily co-operate with them in an enterprise
so honourable to our established church, and commenced
under auspices which give it the character of a national effort
to disseminate in these regions our holy faith in its purest
form. In offering to the Society my opinion as to what may be
prudent, with reference to the safety of the measure, I can
feel no embarrassment: the danger, generally speaking, of
attempting to propagate Christianity in this country, is not
the difficulty with which we have to contend : ordinary dis
cretion is all that is required : and every proceeding I should
consider to be safe, which did not offer a direct and open
affront to the prevailing superstitions. In any attempt to
enlighten, to instruct, or to convince, experience has abun
dantly shown that there is not the smallest ground for alarm ;
and this, I beheve, is now admitted by many, who once re
garded such attempts with manifest apprehension. A more
remarkable change of sentiment has seldom been effected
within so short an interval.

316 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
The question, however, what may be practicable, so as
most effectually to further the Society's views, is much more
comprehensive. Experience does not hold out much encou
ragement to efforts, which rely for their success entirely on
the effect to be produced by preaching ; they seem rarely to
have excited any interest beyond that of a transient curiosity :
the minds of the people are not generally in a state to be
impressed by the force of argument, and still less to be awak
ened to reflection by appeals to their feelings and their fears :
and yet preaching must form a part, a prominent part, I ap
prehend, in any scheme for the conversion of these people :
what is further required seems to be a preparation of the
native mind to comprehend the importance and truth of the
doctrines proposed to them : and this must be the effect of
education. The Scriptures must also be translated, and other
writings conducive to the end in view.
To embrace and combine these objects, therefore, I would
have the honour to recommend to the Society the establish
ment of a Mission College, in the immediate vicinity of this
capital, to be subservient to the several purposes : —
I. Of instructing native and other Christian youth in the
doctrines and discipline of the church, in order to their be
coming preachers, catechists, and schoolmasters.
2. For teaching the elements of useful knowledge and the
English language to Mussulmans or Hindoos, having no
object in such attainments beyond secular advantage.
3. For translating the Scriptures, the liturgy, and moral
arid religious tracts.
4. For the reception of English missionaries to be sent out
by the Society, on their first arrival in India.
It may be expected that something should be offered in
explanation of my meaning, under each of these heads.
1 . One object proposed in this establishment is the training
of native and Christian youth to be preachers, schoolmasters,
and catechists. Such, I have no doubt, might be found in
sufficient number, when it was understood that they would
be fostered in a respectable establishment, with the assurance
of an adequate provision upon leaving it : and I am clearly
of opinion, that though native teachers by themselves will
never effect much, our religion will make little' progress in
this country without their aid : the native Christian is a
20

TO THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON. 317
necessary link between the European arid the Pagan : these
two have little in common : they want some point of contact ;
the European and native mind seem to be cast in different
moulds : if the Hindoo finds it very difficult to argue as we
argue, and to view things as we view them, it is scarcely
more easy for us to imagine ourselves in his condition, and to
enter into the misconceptions and prejudices, which obstruct
his reception of the truth : the task is much the same as that
of a man, who, in the full maturity of understanding and
knowledge, should endeavour to divest himself of these, and
to think as a child.
It may have been observed, that I have mentioned the
education of native and other Christian youth : in which I
include a class of persons who, though born in this country,
are to be distinguished from natives usually so denominated,
being the offspring of European parents : and I had more
especially in view the sons of missionaries, who might be
glad to avail themselves of this opportunity to bring up their
sons to the same profession. It may not, perhaps, be improper
to add, that, when I was in the south of India, specific pro
posals of this kind were made to me by missionaries of the
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.
2. Another of the objects proposed is to afford to native
children instruction in useful knowledge, and especially in
the English language, without any immediate view to their
becoming Christians. It seems now to be generally believed,
that little effect can be produced by preaching, while super*
stition and extreme ignorance are the prevailing characteris
tics of the people. We have not here, indeed, to encounter
barbarism : the impediments to conversion are probably much
greater than really rude and uncivilized life ever presents :
the progress of our religion is here opposed by discipline and
system ; and by these alone, with the Divine blessing, can it
ever make its way : the tenets of superstition are inculcated
in early life : the popular writings are generally tales fami
liarising the mind with the achievements of Hindoo divinities ;
and the Brahmin possesses an almost unbounded influence
over the people committed to his care. While this state of
things prevails, the truths of the gospel are heard unheeded :
they are not perceived to be truths, nor is there much dis
position to examine them : they appeal to no recognised prin-

318 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
ciple, and they excite no interest : the Hindoo, if he reflect
at all, finds atonement in his sacrifices, and a mediator in his
priest. It is conceived, therefore, that one great instrument of the
success of Christianity will be the diffusion of European
knowledge : it seems almost impossible that they, who in
their childhood shall have been accustomed to use their minds,
can ever afterwards be capable of adopting the absurdities
and reverencing the abominations now proposed to them
as truth, and the acceptable worship of God : it is hoped that
by enlarging the sphere of their ideas generally, we shall
teach them to enquire at least upon subjects, on which we
do not professedly instruct them : and that they, who have
been emancipated from superstition, may in time be brought
to a knowledge of Christ.
I have, however, laid particular stress upon the teaching
of English : if this were generally understood through the
country, it would, I doubt not, entirely alter the condition
of the people : it would give them access to our literature and
habits of thinking ; and the familiar use of it would tend very
much to dissipate the prejudices and the indifference, which
now stand in the way of conversion. Our language is so
unlike every thing Oriental, not merely in its structure, but
in the ideas to which it is made subservient, in imagery, in
metaphor, and in sentiment, that a competent acquaintance
with it seems unavoidably to lead the mind of a native into
a new train of«thought, and a wider field of reflection. We,
in learning the languages of the East, acquire only a know
ledge of words ; but the Oriental, in learning our language,
extends his knowledge of things.
The introduction of our language, however, into this coun
try to any great extent, is, in the present state of things, to
be wished for rather than to be expected. To the acquisition
of it there has not been much inducement. ' For almost every
purpose of intercourse with the natives, we have learnt their
languages, instead of inviting them to learn ours : the effect
of which has been, that they have hitherto known little more
of our religion, our science, and our institutions, than may
have transpired in an intercourse which had other objects in
view. Still, however, parents are found, who are anxious
that their children should acquire our language, especially in

TO THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON. 319
the neighbourhood of the presidencies ; and this disposition
is increasing : a knowledge of English is found to facilitate
the intercourse of the natives with the commercial part of
the community, especially since the opening of the trade ;
and it is useful in some of the public offices. Of this dis
position, we should avail ourselves as far as we" can : neither
is there a backwardness to attend schools for instruction in
general knowledge; the only restriction is, that we do not
introduce the Scriptures, or books directly inculcating our
religion ; and even that is by no means rigidly enforced.
3. In the third place, I would make the Mission College
subservient to the purpose of translations. Much has, indeed,
been done or attempted in this way; but by no means, as
I have reason to believe, so much and so well, as to make
this department of missionary labour superfluous or unim
portant. We still want versions, which, instead of being the
work of one or two individuals, should be the joint produc
tion of several, taking their allotted portions of Scripture,
submitting their tasks to approved examiners, and sending
the whole into the world under the sanction of authority.
Rapidity of execution, and the carrying on of many versions
at the same time, should not be among the objects aimed at :
it is not to be expected, that standard works can be thus
produced. To the same department would be committed
translations of our liturgy, that thus copies of the prayer-book
might accompany the Scriptures : hence also might emanate
translations of useful tracts, or original ones better adapted
perhaps than any which yet exist, to the use of the natives :
and it would be proper to include under this head what pro
bably has not yet been attempted, I mean something which
might convey to converts an idea of the nature of Christian
society, and the constitution of the church. Success, how
ever, in this department, evidently supposes the College to be
well established, and great progress to have been made in
the languages by the persons connected with it) and at no
period, perhaps, could it supply the number of labourers
required : but it would doubtless receive assistance from
without from persons- abundantly competent to afford it, and
be a point of union for the exertions of all, who would wish
the native Christianity of India to be that of the established
church.

320 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
4. In the last place, I consider the College as affording
great advantages to missionaries coming from England, upon
their first arrival : they would here live in the society of per
sons, whose minds were directed to the same pursuits : they
would have in the moonshees attached to the institution every
facility for acquiring the languages : they would have the use
of books, and they would acquire a knowledge of the manners
and opinions of the natives, before they proceeded to their
destined scene of duty. Every missionary must, in fact, have
been a year or more in the country, before he can be at all
efficient ; and no where could he pass this interval so profit
ably as in such an establishment.
It is obvious, however, that this plan will require conr
siderable funds. The 5,0001. already voted will probably be
sufficient to defray the expence of all requisite buildings, in
cluding the purchase of land. The annual expence of the
establishment is a subject of separate consideration : in the
beginning we should require at least two persons, and after
wards three, to be permanently attached to the seminary, as
professors or teachers : and these should be clergymen of the
church of England. The salary of the senior could not be
well less than 400 sicca rupees per month, or 6001. per annum;
and thai of his colleague or colleagues 300 sicca rupees per
month, or 450/. per annum ; and I should hope, that men
well qualified for the work, and really actuated by zeal in such
a cause, (without which all other qualifications would be use
less,) might be. induced to accept the appointments : in addi
tion to the salary, a residence capable of accommodating a
family would be assigned to each. Two moonshees or native
teachers would cost together about 100/. per annum. Ten
students, as above described, might be fed and clothed for
about 500/. per annum ; and a small establishment of servants
would require about 100/. per annum. These different heads
of expenditure' make up an annual sum of 2,100/., supposing
three professors; or 1,650/. with two. Besides this, a print
ing establishment would in a few years require to be supported;
and native schools would also be attended with some expence
(about 36/. per annum) for every school of one hundred
children, besides about 20/. for building a room or shed ;
but for this I have little doubt, that the liberality of the Indian
public would in great measure provide, as has lately been

TO THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON. 321
done with respect to the schools of the Calcutta Diocesan
Committee. I do not know of any contingent expences^
except repairs, which in the case of new and substantial
buildings could not amount to any thing considerable for the
first twenty years.
But we are to recollect, that our institution has for its lead
ing object the education of persons who are afterwards to be
maintained as missionaries, catechists, and schoolmasters, and
to act under and in concert with missionaries to be sent out
from England. I suppose every missionary station to be the
residence of an English missionary (a clergyman), one or two
missionaries educated in the college, and who might perhaps
be ordained, or a missionary and a catechist, and a school
master, all from the college. This would be the state of things
when the system was in full action, and any considerable
progress had been made. The English missionary would be
indispensable to direct the course of proceedings, and to give
respectability and energy to the mission : while the native
missionaries would be necessary not only for the tasks assigned'
them, but to give the English missionary easier access to the
natives, and to assist him in encountering opinions and habits
with which an European must be less conversant. It is diffi
cult to determine, or rather to conjecture, how many stations,
thus constituted, the college, with the proposed number of
students, might in any given period supply : much, of course,
would depend upon the age of admission and the time re
quired for their studies, according to which the succession
would be quicker or slower : but the admission might be so
regulated as to supply any demand not beyond its actual
power, which demand would be limited by the funds appli
cable to the support of missionaries, &c. brought up in the
college. Upon any reasonable supposition, however, a college
of ten students would very soon supply all that could be
required for three missionary stations constituted as already
described ; after which, if necessary, the admissions might be
reduced. With respect to the English missionary, who
should be a clergyman, he would require a salary of 250/.
per annum, and his assistants from the college from 150/. to
80/. each, according to the class of persons to which they
belonged; or among them 350/. per annum, — and small

322 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
dwellings, or bungalows, as we call them in this country, should
be provided; of which, however, the original cost is little, and
it could not frequently recur. Independently of this charge,
and of a small chapel at each station, to be built in due
time, which might cost perhaps 500/., we should have three
missionary stations well provided, at the expence of 600/.
each, or 1800/. for the three; and if these should have
the blessing of God, and means were found to extend the
system, it might be done almost indefinitely with a moderate
addition of expence within the college ; without any, in fact,
till it should be found necessary to increase the number of
students. But in this detail of annual expenditure, which I should
hope does not exceed what may be expected from the public
benevolence at home, when appealed to by the highest au
thorities, and assisted perhaps in India, I should observe,
that some time must elapse, even in the most prosperous
commencement of the work, before the funds required can
be nearly so considerable as I have here supposed. The
expence, which is to accrue without the walls of the college,
could not arise for some time ; and even the whole of the
charge for students would not be immediate, inasmuch as
the professors or teachers must devote some time after their
arrival to the acquisition of the languages, before they could
instruct pupils unacquainted with English. The establish
ment would at first consist of the two English professors,
perhaps a very few pupils acquainted with our language, two
moonshees, and a few servants. In process of time, indeed,
such an institution might, if blessed by the Almighty, multi
ply its labours and extend its operations through so wide a
field as to baffle all present calculation of its future wants : but
the Society, I apprehend, will not consider this remote con
tingency as an objection to such appropriation of any resources
which Providence may place at their disposal.
No funds, however, can ensure a reasonable prospect of
success in such an undertaking, unless the persons selected to
execute it have the requisite qualifications. The clergymen,
sent out to conduct the labours of the college, must possess
considerable endowments, he, of course, especially, who is to
be at the head of it : they should be, if not distinguished for
general scholarship, at least respectable divines, acquainted

TO THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON. 3^3
with the Scriptures in the originals ; of frugal and laborious
habits ; and possessing a talent for languages : and without a
certain ardour of character, a deep feeling of the importance
of the duties committed to them, and a disposition to value
success in such an enterprise more than that in any other
human pursuit, they would not, I fear, answer the end pro
posed. The senior should not, I imagine, be more than thirty
years of age, and his colleagues might be somewhat younger.
With respect both to the professors and the missionaries, I
would observe, that temper and manner are here of the
utmost importance : the natives require in their teachers great
patience and mildness : they do not feel strongly themselves,
and they are easily disgusted by any thing like asperity or
irritation. I hardly need add, that they should be men of
sedate habits and of serious piety : the natives look for these
qualities in all, who seem to them to set up for teachers,
though they do not find it, or perhaps expect it, in their
hereditary priesthood. Vacancies in the professorships should,
I conceive, be filled up from among the missionaries, not
with reference merely to seniority, but to merit and qualifi
cations. You will observe, that I have supposed the college to be
in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta : several considerations
make this expedient. The time appears to have arrived,
when it is desirable that some missionary endeavours at least
should have a visible connection with the church-establish
ment : the natives have a preference, all other things being
equal, for that which is countenanced by authority; and this
seems to point out the propriety of placing this establishment
within the bishop's reach (I speak for myself and my succes
sors), that they may in some measure superintend its proceed
ings, and make it apparent that the propagation of our religion
is not a matter of so little interest with us, as to be left entirely
to persons whom none of the constituted authorities avow.
Supposing the college to be in or near Calcutta, the bishop
might act as visitor ; but he could not otherwise, in any degree
which could be of use.
Another circumstance, however, seems to indicate the
propriety of the proposed situation : I speak with reference
to the literary labours connected with the college. Trans-
y 2

S24 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
lations will require a concentration of all the learning which
can be brought to bear upon the subject ; and here, if any
where in India, is this aid to be looked for : besides, that
translators will here have access to books which the col
lege-library might not for some time supply. To these
considerations I will add what is, indeed, but an indirect ad
vantage, yet ought not to be wholly overlooked, that such an
institution in or near to Calcutta will attract the observation
of our countrymen, serving continually to remind them of
the great object to which it is directed, and to interest them
in promoting it.
Upon the subject of the vote of credit, I ought to observe,
that at the present, and I believe the usual rate of exchange,
I should draw upon the Society's treasurer to great disadvan
tage : at this period the loss would be from 12 to 15 per cent.
The most advantageous mode of remittance to India is con
sidered to be by the transmission of dollars, when they do not
bear a very high price in London.
I have thus, Sir, complied with the request of the Society
in offering them my sentiments upon the subject of their
inquiry. In conclusion, 1 beg leave to add, that the crisis is
such as not to admit any delay, which can conveniently be
avoided. I regret, indeed, exceedingly, that from my igno
rance of the Society's further views, and future resources, I
cannot immediately avail myself of their vote of credit for the
purposes here detailed : a year is of great importance, and
yet a year must be lost. It may appear perhaps that the
plan, which I have recommended, is somewhat extensive : no
scheme, however, which is narrow in its first conception, or
not capable of an almost unlimited expansion, is suited to the
temper of the times, or to the circumstances of this country.
Our power is now established throughout this vast peninsula
in a degree which, but a few years since, the most sanguine
did not contemplate : civilization and religion may be ex
pected in the ordinary course of Providence to follow the
successes of a Christian state ; and in every view, religious or
political, ought we to desire, that the faith adopted, and the
opinions imbibed, may attach the people to our national in
stitutions, and more firmly cement the connection of India
with the British crown. 16

TO THE REV. ANTHONY HAMILTON. 325
I request you, Sir, to assure the Society of my cordial
desire to forward their benevolent designs to the utmost of
my power, and that I pray the Almighty to direct them in all
their deliberations. I am, Reverend Sir,
Your most obedient and faithful servant,
(Signed) T. F. CALCUTTA.

THE end.

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