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 L I B RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVERS ITY 
 
 or ILLl NOIS
 
 CHARGE 
 
 DELIVERED TO THE 
 
 CONVOCATION 
 
 kWi ©aurt, 
 
 THURSDAY, JUXE 4Tn, 1857, 
 
 BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAXK 
 
 j DOUGLAS : 
 
 31, P. BACKWELL, PRINTER, ATHOLL STREET.
 
 CHARGE. 
 
 My Reverend Brethren, 
 
 Before I attempt to engage your attention 
 in reference to those subjects which I alluded to in 
 my last Charge as deserving of serious consideration, 
 I must revert to our proceedings last year in Convo- 
 cation. 
 
 You then decided unanimously, after a fall and free 
 discussion of the question, that Synodal action in 
 this diocese was desirable; without one dissentient 
 voice, you agreed upon what the constitution of our 
 Synod should be ; you settled sundry details respect- 
 ing the time and place of its meetings, and how they 
 should be commenced. In your decisions I concurred 
 heartily, and in youi' prescribed order for the meet- 
 ings of your synod, I felt that you had done all you 
 could to secure in its deliberations a spirit of humility, 
 charity, and brotherly love. I pray God that by such 
 means the fi-uits of wisdom may be made manifest 
 among us for years to come, — of that '^ wisdom from 
 above " which is promised to all who ask for it "in 
 faith, nothing wavering," which shall manifest to us 
 how we ought to speak and walk towards them that
 
 4 
 
 are without, '' redeeming the time" — which shall 
 constrain us to renounce " Envjdng and strife," pro- 
 ducing, as they always do, " Confusion and every evil 
 work," and keep us "fii-st pui-e, then peaceable, gen- 
 tle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
 fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy," re- 
 membering that " the fruit of righteousness is sown 
 in peace of them that make peace." 
 
 It is needful that I should inform you of one of the 
 first-fruits of our synodal meetings, bearing, as it does, 
 upon the passage in my last charge respecting my in- 
 tention of establishing, in connection with the Wilson 
 memorial Chapel or Cathedral, a Theological College, 
 or School of Pastoral Theology and Practice, wherein 
 young men, after completing their ordinary course of 
 education, might be trained in the special duties of 
 the ministry for service in the Manx Church. I re- 
 minded you that this intention was the. result of my 
 desire to walk, as far as practicable, in the footsteps of 
 Bishop Wilson. Although this decision was announced 
 to you before the appointment in Convocation of 
 the Diocesan Synod, I felt myself in duty bound to 
 court the opinion of the members of th(^. synod in a 
 matter to which I attached so much importance in re- 
 ference to the future interests of our Church; and in 
 accord.ance with an undertaking to report to you the 
 result of all our deliberations, but without publishing 
 the opinions or votes of individual members of the 
 Synod, I shall now only place on record the reason 
 why my declared intention has been abandoned. The 
 entry in our Journal of a meeting held on the 29th of 
 September, 1856, is as follows, " The members of the 
 Synod having severally expressed their opinion that it 
 is inexpedient to attempt the establishment of such an 
 institution, the Bishop expressed his readiness, though 
 with i-eluctance, not to issue the commission referred 
 to in his Charge." Although the members of the Sy- 
 
 .U«JC.
 
 nod have severally pledged themselves not to publish 
 the details of discussions on questions submitted to 
 them for decision, I may be permitted, under the 
 special circumstances of this conclusion, to observe, 
 that in manifesting my readiness to yield to the judg- 
 ment of the most experienced of the Clergy of this 
 diocese, though reluctant to abandon a project which 
 still seems to me to be both practicable and full of 
 promise for the future welfare of the diocese, I have 
 given you proof of the sincerity of my declaration 
 when I took upon myself the official responsibility of 
 your ruler, that I desired to exercise my ministry 
 among you in suggesting and assisting, rather than in 
 authoritatively directing you. My heart's desire truly 
 was, and is, to "strengthen the things which remain 
 that are ready to die," — " to build the old waste 
 places," — to raise up the foundations of many genera- 
 tions," — to be called with you " the repairers of the 
 breach" which the want of watchfulness in a past 
 generation has suffered in our Zion, — to be with you 
 " the restorer of paths to dwell in," such ^s those in 
 which Churchmen walked together, when under Evan- 
 gelical guidance, truly so designated, " they continued 
 steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and 
 in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 
 
 To revert again to our proceedings in Convocation 
 last year. You then confirmed unanimously the min- 
 ute which was read to you of the proceedings of 
 a provisional meeting held September 17th, 1855. 
 Thus you recorded your judgment that beneficial re- 
 sults might be expected fi'om a general visitation of 
 every parish in the diocese, " if conducted by the 
 Bishop accompanied by the Archdeacon, at their joint 
 convenience ; articles of enquiry, to be agreed upon by 
 the Bishop and Archdeacon, having been previously 
 issued to the Clergy by the Eegistrar." This has 
 been done, and it now remains for us to make some 
 practical use of the information that has been collected.
 
 If, my Eeverend Brethren, I sought to please men, 
 and to justify myself in settling down for the sake 
 of an insecure peace among " them that are at ease 
 in Zion," I would not again advert to unpopular sub- 
 jects which I have alluded to in my previous Charges ; 
 and it is now only with the hope and prayer that we 
 may he stirred up to a higher sense of oui- responsi- 
 bilities and oiu' duties in the spiiitual offices to which 
 we are severally called, that I must again advert to 
 the most painful result of the visitation, viz., the con- 
 firmation of all that I have hitherto stated respecting 
 the spiritual and ecclesiastical, the intellectual and 
 moral condition of this diocese. The Church has in- 
 deed lost her hold on the affections of the people ; and 
 her ministry, to all appearance, is powerless in "ban- 
 ishing and driving away all erroneous and strange 
 doctrines contrary to God's word," and in repressing 
 offences which are alike opposed to the will of God, 
 and to the decent order of the " one Catholic and 
 Apostolic Church" of Christ. 
 
 Is such a statement calculated to offend any one 
 among us, rather than to humble all of us in our cor- 
 porate capacity ? — Even if this were sure to be the 
 case, nevertheless I dare not keep silence, and refrain 
 from the discharge of a positive duty, the neglect of 
 "which would place my own soul in peril. No unpre- 
 judiced reader of Scripture can peruse the charges of 
 St. Paul to Timothy and Titus, in their office of Bishop, 
 without coming to the conclusion not only of what are to 
 be regarded as signs of perilous times to the Church, but 
 what is the duty, under certain circumstances, of those 
 who are commissioned in Christ's stead "to set in 
 order the things that are wanting" for the maintenance 
 of sound doctrine and apostolic traditions, and to cor- 
 rect abuses of the law of libertj^ which may, fi'om time 
 to time, arise from without or from within. It would be 
 well for us and for the church, if we more fi-equently
 
 contemplated the nature and extent of oiu* ordination 
 vows, mth special reference to God's unchangeable 
 will, rather than to the fluctuating opinions of the 
 world. Eespect among men is siu'e to be given to 
 ministrations which are zealously carried on in a spirit 
 of faithful subordination to the plain and positive in- 
 junctions of recognized authority ; and God's blessing 
 on the labours of His ministers, in such a course, is 
 sure. My office is thus defined in our Consecration 
 Service — " to maintain and set forward, as much as 
 lies in me, quietness, love, and peace, among all men;" 
 but " such as be unquiet, disobedient, and criminous" 
 I am to " correct and punish, according to such author- 
 rity as I have by God's word, and as has been com- 
 mitted to me by the Ordinance of this Eealm." 
 
 With a view only of promoting " quietness, love, 
 and peace among all men," I have adverted, on for- 
 mer occasions, to the prevalence of schism in this Island, 
 as manifested in those who separate themselves from 
 the communion of the church. I am aware that my 
 spirit in making these remarks has been misrepresented, 
 and my heart's desii'e to promote unity opposed by a 
 display of ignorance which is pitiable, and y^ holly un- 
 worthy of notice, except we take it as an illustration of 
 the lamentable fact that Dissenters, as at present influ- 
 enced, only abstain from open and active warfare with 
 us so long as we are culpably timid and inactive in 
 our own ministi-j^ Eevived energy on the part of 
 Churchmen invariably rouses Nonconformist leaders to 
 vigorous opposition ; and in this respect, their unhal- 
 lowed acrimony may be taken as a measure of our own 
 fidelity ; while, on the other hand, their acquiescence 
 in our mode of proceeding may be taken as a proof 
 that we regard not, as we ought to do, our ordination 
 vows. 
 
 I would have any one of you, my Eeverend Breth- 
 ren, who laments over the continued desertion of his
 
 ilock, strive to trace it to his ovm shortcomings ui the 
 path of duty, rather than attempt to account for it in 
 any other way. We cannot be together too much 
 humbled in our ministry, if only we are thereby im- 
 pelled to imitate in all things the example of our Di- 
 vine Master and Pattern, — if in His name we speak 
 with authority the whole truth in love, with gracious 
 words — if, with Him, we pray to the Father for unity, 
 humbly beseeching Him, that all "who profess and 
 call themselves Christians may be led into the way of 
 truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond 
 of peace, ,and in righteousness of life," — if, doing the 
 work of evangelists, we give full proof of our apostolic 
 ministry in all things which appertain to our spuitual 
 callings, being ourselves ensamples to the flock. 
 
 I have said on a former occasion, " It is a mistake 
 to suppose that Dissenters of any class will be brought 
 back again into the bosom of the Church by the com- 
 promise of essential principles." I have also observed 
 before, that it is unjust to Dissenters to impute to them 
 alone, the divisions and offences which prevail, contrary 
 to the doctrine which we have learned, and to the tra- 
 ditions which we have been taught. Convictions such 
 as these, strengthened by experience and observation, 
 compel me to be just to Nonconformists, whilst I strive 
 to be honest with the members of our own communion, 
 and, lamentable as is the fact, that the Church has, 
 for the time, lost her influence over the still professing 
 admirers of the apostolic "Wilson ; yet I cannot, from 
 any desire for popularity among Churchmen, forbear 
 to express my own honouring regard for the zeal and 
 self-sacrifice which is manifest around us among those 
 who discard our discipline, and conform no longer to 
 the order of our Chui'ch. When first I was an anxious 
 enquirer into the Ecclesiastical condition of this dio- 
 cese, I found it recorded, in the reports prepared by 
 Mr. Horace Mann after the last census, that the Church
 
 9 
 
 proyided '^ sittings" for ''17,210," whilst dissenters 
 had provided sittings for 33,985.* In the expectation 
 that these returns were excessive, I have caused en- 
 quiry to be made respecting the number of Nonconfor- 
 mist places of worsliip in each parish, and, according 
 to yoiu' own retiu-ns, I find that they number ninety- 
 one, whilst our own Churches, Chapels, and licensed 
 school-rooms amount only to thirty- one. And when 
 I look at the apparent concern for the external pre- 
 servation of buildings devoted to God's service, together 
 with the wisdom manifested in their size, and in their 
 locality, by dissenters, I cannot but moiu-n over the 
 comparative want of foresight and discretion which has 
 permitted many of our Churches to continue in a di- 
 lapidated condition, whilst their size, their locality, and 
 their comfortless arrangements betoken a want of that 
 zeal which the Scriptm-es allude to as characteristic 
 of our Eedeemer's regard for the externals of devotion. 
 Whenalso in my journcyiugs thi'ougli the diocese, Ihave 
 witnessed the number and respectability of the congre- 
 gations assembling for, and separating after, their religi- 
 ous services in these meeting-houses, — when I contem- 
 plate the sacrifices they must voluntarily make for the 
 maintenance of their services, and for the provision of 
 their teachers, without seemingly grudging us the im- 
 disturbed possession of comparative wealth, — when, I 
 Fay, I witness these proofs of religious feeling, I cannot 
 butthe more regret that it takes both an unscriptural 
 character and an unauthorized dii'ection, and I pray for 
 guidance in attempts to diiTct it, as opportimity may 
 be granted, in a manner which shall betoken more en- 
 lightened acquaintance with the Scriptures, and a spii'it 
 of greater sobriety. Such however, as it is, under the 
 circumstances which have produced it, I cannot un- 
 charitably condemn it. 
 
 * The total population of the Island is only 52,116, while by this 
 return, seat-room appears to be provided for 51,135
 
 10 
 
 But I must again direct your attention to some ob- 
 servations which I ventured to make to you two years 
 ago — ''Every thoughtful observer of the times must 
 see that there is, throughout the world, a progressive 
 spirit of religious excitement." In our own Chui'ch 
 there is a yearning for such satisfaction as cannot be 
 felt under the influence of teaching, which in matter 
 and stjrle is imedifjdng, and of services which have lost 
 their animating power through ignorance of their 
 Scriptural and highly spiritual character. I have said 
 "If we do not encourage, rather than repress, this 
 craving for something real in faith and service, — if we 
 do not, on the one hand, guard the precious treasure of 
 the faith which is committed to us, from all who would 
 aUoy it with unscriptural traditions ; and if we do not, 
 on the other hand, so occupy the gift till the Master 
 of it comes again, that he may receive His own with 
 usury, and find us prepared to prove our faithfulness 
 in saving souls alive, — God will correct us, and first, 
 by the very hands of those, who, otherwise, would be 
 forward to maintain and defend us. In times, such as 
 ours, of religious excitement, there will be, no doubt, 
 as there ever has been, a tendency to run into extremes, 
 and to be uncharitable. Be it so, oiu' course is clear." 
 
 Yes, my Eeverend Brethren, and whilst it is clear 
 that Holy Scripture prescribes to us but one path to 
 walk in as " stewards of the mysteries of Cxod," " Who 
 hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation," — 
 while in such a ministry it behoves us " to utter by the 
 tongue words easy to be understood," and, in case of 
 peril, to blow the ti'umpet of alarm with sounds of no 
 uncertain character — surely experience teaches us that 
 as it is inexpedient to withold any truths because they 
 may offend ignorant prejudice, so is it fruitless to 
 abandon the external symbols of distinctive worship 
 to avoid slanderous reproach. Where, let me ask you, 
 are the proofs of success in misdirected efforts to promote
 
 11 
 
 unity by the exhibition of a Jesuitical spiiit in the de- 
 velopement of those doctrinal statements which our Book 
 of Common Prayer sets forth ? Where are the symptoms 
 of a desire for unity engendered by efforts to assimilate 
 our places of divine worship to meeting-houses, where 
 preaching is unduly magnified as if it were the one only 
 sacramental means of grace ? What profit has accrued 
 from the banishment from many of our oldest Churches 
 of their ancient fonts, and using them as troughs to feed 
 swine, or ornaments in flower-gardens, or allowing 
 them to remain as useless lumber in our grave-yards ? 
 What profit is manifest fi-om the regulation of the 
 times and seasons of our worship to suit the conveni- 
 ence of others who have appointed the ancient hours 
 of Church Services for their own religious meetings ? 
 What symptoms of concord are gro^dng out of the ab- 
 stinence from teaching that Catechism which our Ee- 
 formers have handed down to us as the standard of 
 our insti'uction ? What feeling, even of personal regard, 
 has been won by clergy of the Established Church, 
 who, in their own persons, or thi'ough their families, 
 have given their sanction in times recent to dis- 
 senting meetings ? Where, in a word, is the encourage- 
 ment given to us by dissenters, for a continued system- 
 atic abandonment of all distinctive principles of 
 teaching, or of service, under the name of compromise 
 for the sake of peace ? Is it not a fact that they have 
 now, for all practical purposes, assumed towards us a 
 dictatorial tone, which, with the authority of numbers 
 to enforce their directions, prescribes to us what we 
 are to teach, and what to do, in order to win from them 
 some occasional attendance on our ministry, not as a 
 duty, but merely as an act of personal courtesy ? 
 
 Is it not to this notorious fact, my Eeverend Breth- 
 ren, and to the seeming hopelessness of attempting 
 any other course than that which you have hitherto 
 pursued, that I must ascribe the direction of your zeal
 
 12 
 
 towards the evangelization of any other people in any 
 other quarter of the world, rather than those of your 
 ancient diocese, and of yonr native Isle ? In my last 
 charge, I alluded to the efforts which are made in this 
 diocese to collect money for religious societies else- 
 where, as compared with similar efforts to render the 
 established institutions of this Island as efficient as 
 they ought to be. In this, I only echoed the senti- 
 ments expressed by Bishop Bowstead in 1839 ; and 
 that such remarks might be justified by the evidence of 
 facts, I then undertook to furnish you, at our present 
 Convocation, with some statistical information respect- 
 ing what is being done in this Diocese for religious 
 societies elsewhere, — hoping thereby to satisfy you 
 that there is need of a caution, lest, in our zeal for 
 distant objects of commiseration, we overlook the fact 
 that infidelity, in some shape or other, is creeping in 
 among our own population. The following table, 
 filled up from your own returns, shews the total sum 
 collected for Religious Societies, during the past year, 
 to be £980 17s lUd. which is distributed as follows,* — 
 Thus we see that for our home Missionary Society 
 only £206 7 11 1 is collected, to which, if we add 
 
 *Diocesan Society £206 7 ll^ 
 
 Church Missionary Society 249 9 2^ 
 
 S. P. G .' 82 6 1 ^ 
 
 Bible Society 118 15 4| 
 
 Curates' Aid Society 1 
 
 Pastoral Aid 121 6 6 
 
 Colonial Church and School 29 8 11 
 
 Jews Society 65 2 Ij 
 
 Isational Society 20 16 1^ 
 
 Irish Church Missions 9 2 
 
 Douglas Scripture Readers' 75 5 4i 
 
 Total £980 17 10 
 
 **These amounts appear in every case to fall belo-\v the sums stated 
 in the printed reports, but I was desirous that the returns should be 
 made by yourselves, and the relative proportion of the sums col- 
 lected remains about the same.
 
 IS 
 
 the £75 5 4 J for the Scripture Readers in Douglas, 
 out of £980 17 10, only £281 13 4 remains at our 
 disposal for Missionary purposes at home. 
 
 But, my Eeverend Brethren, while I am speaking 
 to yon on the subject of associations for religious pur- 
 poses, I must animadvert (and it is with painful reluc- 
 tance that I do so) upon certain proceedings of a section 
 of our Church members who notoriously hold exceed- 
 ingly contracted views of evangelical doctrine, and who 
 desire to curtail the liberty of Churchmen betw^een 
 narrower limits than those which were wisely agreed 
 upon at the Eeformation, 
 
 Till lately, I was in hopes that we might escape the 
 contagion of sectarian strife which elsewhere has mani- 
 fested itself by feverish excitement, and been productive 
 of party divisions and fierce contests. It was essential 
 to our strength and influence in so small a community, 
 that we should act together, as clergy, with one mind 
 and one heart. I was resolved to make any sacrifice 
 of inclination that my conscience would permit me to 
 make, to secure this result with reference to societies 
 for religious objects ; and I at once, and without hesi- 
 tation, accepted office when called thereto, in every 
 association established in the diocese before my episco- 
 pate, save one. This one, I could not conscientiously 
 countenance, because, in its fundameutal rule of action 
 it struck at the hberty of every pai'ochial clergyman 
 who sought its' aid, and improperly interfered with his 
 freedom to consult his own Bishop in the selection of his 
 own assistant curate.* 
 
 *Extract Jrom Report of the Pastoral Aid Society in 1853, under 
 the head of^^ Questions on a case for aid.^' 
 
 " Your special attention is requested to the Vlllth Eegulation, 
 (p.viii.) by which you will see that no Grant is valid unless the 
 person supported by the Society has been duly nominated to and 
 approved by the Committee; which approval must be obtained 
 
 BEFOEE Ayy yOMiyAIION IS iri.DE TO THE BiSHOP BY THE IkCTJM- 
 BEyi, OK AXX EXGAGEMEyi IS COyCLrDED WITH THE XoMIXEE. COn-
 
 14 
 
 But, since we met last year, my hope has been de- 
 stroyed; and, after much anxious dehberation, I feel it to 
 be incumbent upon me both to speak and act in such a 
 manner, as at once to place on record evidence of the 
 fact that an unseemly course of opposition to authority, 
 without any local provocation, has been entered on, 
 against which I feel it to be my duty to protest, having 
 no legal power to protect the Diocese from the conse- 
 quences which I apprehend as the result of such a course. 
 
 I allude, first, to the perseverance which has been mani- 
 fested in advocating the claims of a recently-formed asso- 
 ciation, under the title of "Colonial Church and School 
 Society." 
 
 It is well known that a branch of this Society was at- 
 tempted to be formed in this Diocese against the wishes 
 of my predecessor. My wishes and feelings upon this 
 subject have been equally well known. I have no desire 
 to provoke controversy respecting the operations of this 
 Society. Its declared object is unquestionably good. 
 But it is impossible to disconnect the language of its of- 
 ficers and supporters from the spirit of its operations ; 
 and, when I read in the public report of its proceedings 
 in this Diocese, that it is specially recommended as " the 
 strictly Protestant and Evangelical Society," for planting 
 Churches and Schools in our Colonies, what can I con- 
 ceive to be the conclusions which are intended to be 
 pressed indirectly upon the public mind, but that the 
 " Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 . in Foreign Parts," making our Colonial Empire, as it 
 does, the first object of its missionary work, — though 
 presided over and really governed by the whole bench 
 of English and Colonial Bishops, with many Laymen dis- 
 tinguished for their zeal in works of love — is to be 
 regarded as unworthy of its charter, untrue to its title, 
 
 .ceming whom the fullest information is requested to be furnished, 
 for the guidance of the Clerical members of the Sub-Committee, to 
 Trhom this subject is refeiTed.
 
 not protestant in its principles, and propagating " some 
 other Gospel " than that which the Evangelists have be- 
 queathed to us in Holy Writ ? 
 
 But pertinacity under such circumstances, and the use 
 of such terms in recommending this particular Society 
 to the inhabitants of this Island, is a trifling offence 
 against the order and decency of our Church discipline, 
 compared with the next act of manifest disregard for the. 
 spirit, if not the letter, of Ordination vows. Still is there 
 a traceable consistency in the proceedings of that section 
 of churchmen elsewhere, to whom I have alluded, in their 
 seeming disposition to narrow the hmits of liberty in 
 matters of faith and practice to suit their own contracted 
 views of Ev^angelical truth. Another Incorporated 
 Society is assailed in a manner similar to that which the 
 Propagation Society has experienced, and this, apparently, 
 because in strict conformity with its charter, it promotes 
 " the Education of the poor in the principles of the Es- 
 tablished Church." 
 
 In compliance with the request of our Metropolitan, 
 the Archbishop of York, I have lately called your at- 
 tention to the claims of the National Society, and invited 
 you to make collections in your churches and chapels in 
 its behalf, on the ground of its having provided the means 
 of instruction to upwards of a million of our poorer 
 brethren. It is not for me to call in question the mo- 
 tives or reasons which have induced Her Majesty's 
 responsible advisers to recommend the withdrawal of 
 those Royal Letters, on which this, with two other In- 
 corporated Societies, greatly depended for its continued 
 ability to do good. My simple suggestion to you is met 
 immediately by a reply to the effect that a large body of 
 Clergy and Laity in England had joined in a protest 
 against the substitution of Episcopal for Eoyal Letters. 
 
 My attention is thus unavoidably directed to a docu- 
 ment which, otherwise, I might not have noticed as 
 of any importance to the Church of this Isle. It is en-
 
 16 
 
 titled "A Declaration respecting the issue of Episcopal, 
 in lieu of Queen's Letters." The reason for its issue is 
 given in a letter signed, " "Wilbraham Taylor, in behalf 
 of Lord Shaftesbury," and stating that, in consequence of 
 a circular issued by the authority of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, inviting the Clergy of that province to make 
 collections for the National Society, this declaration had 
 been drawn up and numerously signed. But those who 
 know how signatures to such documents are frequently 
 procured, will not attach much importance to a seemingly 
 • large number of names. What concerns me much, how- 
 ever, is, that it bears the signature of clerg-ymen in this 
 Island-, who have thus evinced a readiness to embroil us 
 in a controversy from which we have been hitherto hap- 
 pily preserved. I cannot tell how soon this step may be 
 followed up by the introduction into this Diocese of a 
 Society, comprising, as it does, many whom I respect and 
 love, and with whom I desire to act, which designates it- 
 self "The Church of England Education Society," which 
 earnestly appeals to the Protestant public to enable it to 
 carry out the great work it has undertaken, viz : — " to 
 provide the children of our poor with a sound Scriptural 
 Education in the protestant principles of the Estabhshed 
 Church." It remains to be seen how soon deputations 
 from this Society may be invited here to disturb our peace 
 and unity by the most reckless accusations against a 
 society to which we owe a heavy debt of gratitude, — 
 falsely representing it as not acting consistently with the 
 object for which it was originally incorporated, — insinu- 
 ating that it is no longer the Church of England National 
 Society, — that it does not provide, or care to provide, 
 for the children of the poor, a sound Scriptural Educa- 
 tion in the protestant principles of the Estabhshed 
 Church. I do not deem it needful now to invite your 
 attention to the origin of this movement in opposition to 
 the National Society, or to point out to you the probable 
 issue of it. But this I will venture to observe, that I
 
 17 
 
 know not how those clergymen who have made them- 
 selves parties to this declaration, can reconcile theii- open 
 avowal of indifference, even to Episcopal suggestions, with 
 the vows which they made at their Ordination, "that 
 they would reverently obey their Ordinary, and other chief 
 Ministers unto whom is committed the charge and govern- 
 ment over them, following with a glad mind their godly 
 admonitions : and that they would maintain, as much as 
 lieth in them, quietness, peace, and love among all 
 Christian people." 
 
 Perceiving the disposition to introduce into this 
 Diocese that hateful party-spirit which prevails elsewhere, 
 and from which this Island has been so happily free, — 
 denied legitimate control over those who invite, and those 
 who attend here as deputations, being the advocates of 
 notoriously antagonistic societies, — I have thought it to 
 be prudent, if not necessary, to withdraw from my position 
 here, in any, save the three great Incorporated Societies, 
 which, from their formation up to a very recent period, 
 enjoyed, and still deserve, the good opinion and confi- 
 dence, the cordial approbation and sympathy of the great 
 majority of the members of our church. 
 
 In reference to the all-important subject of Education, 
 I must venture a few remarks with special regard to the 
 peculiar condition, wants, and prospects of this Island. 
 Even if our time on such an occasion as this permitted, 
 I should not be disposed to enlarge upon questions which 
 now for some years have engaged the attention of public 
 men, -without leading to much practical result. I think, 
 however, we may safely assume that the agitation of these 
 questions has elicited certain facts which are of the first 
 importance, and may influence us in any efforts that we 
 make towards extending the means, and improving the 
 the systems, of popular instruction. And here I would 
 advert, in the first place, with thankfulness, to the many 
 manifest declarations of public feeling as to the attempts 
 which have been made to disconnect altogether religious
 
 18 
 
 from secular instruction. Giving full credit, as I am dis- 
 posed to do, to those who originated, and to those who 
 have agitated this question, for motives of pure philan- 
 thropy, and a desire thus to get rid of the seemingly 
 insuperable objections of religious bodies to any united 
 system of spiritual teaching, I think that it is a matter 
 of mutual congratulation to us as churchmen that such a 
 scheme has been all but unanimously condemned. And 
 if anything were wanting to satisfy us as to the sound- 
 ness of public opinion on this point, we have it in the 
 shape of positive evidence furnished by one to whom the 
 Church of England owes a debt of gratitude for unwearied 
 services and far-sighted policy, in his office, first as Secre- 
 tary, and then as Treasurer of the National Society. 
 Archdeacon Sinclair having undertaken to act as one of 
 a deputation from the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel to the American Board of Missions, which, ac- 
 cording to established usage, assembles during the gen- 
 eral Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church at 
 New York, has pubhshed, in the form of a letter to the 
 President of Her Majesty's most honourable Privy Coun- 
 cil, some remarks on the Common School system of the 
 United States. This system has been strongly recom- 
 mended to us as one that the wisdom of our American 
 brethren has adopted, and thereby solved the great pro- 
 blem whichhitherto has baffled the Educationalists of this 
 country. It is now shewn that under that system in 
 America, a large number of children of the proper age to 
 be in school, are not sent even for secular instruction, 
 and that of those who do attend them, 10, 20, 30, 40, 
 and in some places even 50 per cent of the scholars do 
 not attend a Sunday School, and consequently do not re- 
 ceive religious instruction at all ; and this in a country 
 where we are told on good authority that " five-sixths 
 of the homes of the people are irreligious;" " five-sixths of 
 the parents of America not attending any place of public 
 worship, and being therefore of course unqualified to give
 
 19 
 
 a moral bent and religious instruction to their offspring. 
 This being so, on the testimony of authority which is said 
 to be " of the highest respectabihty and oi great intelh- 
 gence," we need not be surprised to hear at the same time 
 that the system of National Education which makes no 
 provision for the religious wants of the children is found 
 to be " radically defective,"— that it is declared to be" not 
 only injurious to the character of the rising generation, 
 but a benevolent fraud upon the public bounty" — that 
 " general mutterings of dissatisfaction are heard, especially 
 among the Christian population" — "that the foster 
 parents of this system confess to its bearing the elements 
 of degeneracy in its own bosom," and that the cry of 
 America is beginning to be, " Give us Christian schools, 
 schools which have a God, a Saviour, a Holy Spirit — a 
 Bible, a hymn book, a catechism and prayer, a pastor and 
 pious school-teacher — a school between the family and the 
 church — a school which will carry forward the Education 
 of children in the same spirit in which it was commenced 
 by pious parents, — a school that will be a nursery to the 
 church — a school so entirely under the control of the 
 church, that it may carry out the spirit of its great 
 commission in reference to its own children, "Feed my 
 Lambs." 
 
 Thus a voice from America speaks to us in terms of 
 warning, founded on its own experience of a system 
 which by others is described as "a disastrous failure," 
 and proved to be so by the attendant increase of crime.. 
 
 But in the publication alluded to, we have valuable 
 evidence, not only condemnatory of exclusively secular 
 teaching, but also of religious education, on any but 
 some well defined principles of dogmatic instruction. 
 An eminent Ecclesiastic in one of the Northern States, 
 writes, — '' In this State it was once the custom to teach 
 in the ordinary schools the Westminster Catechism to 
 the children of Congregationalists ; and the Church 
 Catechism to those of Churchmen. The divisions of
 
 ^0 
 
 the Congregationalists however, and the fact that many 
 of them became Methodists and Baptists, and sectaries 
 of other names, resulted in so wide-spread an indif- 
 ference in matters of religion, as to put an end to this, 
 so that now, the only relic of this thing of old is found 
 in the reading of the Bible, as an exercise in reading- 
 out merely, in the schools." To such an extent did 
 this system of compromise in matters of belief lead to 
 a practical suppression of all religious knowledge, that, 
 after a while, it was proved by inspection of these 
 schools, that in only one district were any children 
 found who knew the ten Commandments — and in one 
 school where there were no Church children, not one 
 scholar could be found who knew the Lord's Prayer ; 
 and a very intelligent person who desired the office of 
 teacher, could not even tell the names of the first 
 books of the Old Testament, although he is described 
 as '^ well-instructed in other matters." Such a system 
 may well call forth, as it has done, in America, the re- 
 probation of even journalists, by one of whom, in a 
 paper of no mean authority, it is thus described — " In- 
 deed the prevailing school system is daringly and 
 criminally deficient." Yet are we told that the wisdom 
 of our American brethren has solved the great problem 
 which has hitherto baffled the educationalists of this 
 countr5\ 
 
 In the document then, to which I have alluded, we 
 find evidence of the fact, that the system of common 
 school education in America is attended with an in- 
 crease of crime, because "it is the education of only one 
 side of Imman nature, and that not the controlling 
 side ; man's moral and religious natui'e constituting 
 this other and better imdeveloped half." "We may 
 further state," writes a good authority of the same in- 
 teresting country, " that the neglect of moral and 
 religious instruction is a necessary consequence of a 
 system where there are so many persuasions participat.
 
 21 
 
 ing in the instruction, all of whose varying opinions must 
 be respected. Each party is taxed for the support of 
 the system ; and each, however small, provided it be 
 in earnest, pleads, by the sacred rights of conscience, 
 for liberty of opinion, for freedom from religious bias ; 
 and thus every positive element of Christianity must 
 be sedulously excluded." 
 
 But this is not all. Estrangement fi-om church 
 principles and chiu'ch ordinances, among those who 
 retain a religious profession in America, is there ac- 
 counted for by disregard for them, or a lack of moral 
 courage in expressing them, on the part of those who 
 are charged with the training of the rising generation. 
 In support of this allegation, we have the testimony 
 of a very remarkable document, which was published 
 at the request of a synod of the German Eeformed 
 Chui'ch. "It is the seemingly distant and careless 
 " attitude in which the common school system stands 
 " to the church in the education of children, which is 
 ' ' so powerful in weaning theii- hearts from her. It 
 " is not positive opposition, but negative indiiference, 
 "which is the root of the evil. It is in tliis, as in 
 " other cases, distance, coldness, carelessness, more 
 " than all else, that alienates the heart from what it 
 " ought to love, and would love but for that. A child 
 " weaned in early infancy, removed from its mother, 
 " brought up among strangers, not permitted to hear 
 "her name pronounced, except with the uplifted fing- 
 " er of caution, and hearing that it is almost a crime 
 " to praise her virtues, — such a child can never after- 
 " wards have all, if any, of the feelings which belong 
 " to the relations of a child to its mother. It is just 
 " so when we permit our children to be trained out 
 "of the church, where her name is not heard, except 
 "in away which implies that she needs to be watched, 
 *' and that her influence is especially to be deprecated 
 " in the nurture of man's intellectual nature. Thus
 
 22 
 
 '' the Church is, in fact, a man of hideous face, looking 
 " out upon children from, the dark, filling their young 
 " spirits with secret dread, and causing them to go as far 
 '' as possible the other way for fear of hidden evil ; and 
 ^' just as those superstitious fears which are awakened 
 '' in the confiding heart of childhood by thoughtless 
 " parents or injudicious nurses, can be removed by 
 '' neither reason nor philosophy ; so the feelings of fear 
 *' and jealously towards religion, which this false system 
 *' of education inspii'es, will present its repulsive im- 
 '' ages before the spirit, in spite of its better judgment, 
 " to the latest hour of life ! He that — or any system 
 "that — instils into the heart of a child any fear but 
 '^ the fear of God, or raises any doubt or dread but for 
 " that which is evil, has made wrong what he can ne- 
 " ver make right." 
 
 Your ovm experience and observation, my Eeverend 
 Brethren, will satisfy you that there is much truth in 
 the foregoing remarks ; and that they are peculiarly 
 applicable to us, under existing circumstances, in this 
 island. And let me observe to you that, in selecting the 
 evidence to which I have called your attention, I have 
 purposely avoided arguments of my own, supported by 
 illustrations of facts collected nearer home. This I 
 have done, in order that what I advance for your in- 
 formation may not lose its eff'ect from any suspicion 
 of its origin, as coming to you under the influence of 
 any of those party feelings which have so sadly dis- 
 tracted our Anglican Church, and brought us into the 
 peril of which the Lord warns us, under the image of 
 *' a house divided against itself." 
 
 And now, though I have already taxed your patience 
 longer than I intended, I must call your attention, in 
 connection with the subject of education, to our own 
 local position and powers to do the work which is 
 evidently and reasonably expected of us : and, assuming 
 that we are mindful of our commission to feed the
 
 23 
 
 lambs of our Master's flock •with, food convenient for 
 them, it remains for ns either to accuse ourselves of 
 neglect in the use of means which are at our disposal ; 
 or, if we excuse ourselves on the ground that the means 
 are wanting, to make our case known to the Church 
 at large, and cry for help. 
 
 The growing feeling elsewhere is that the State 
 must undertake this -work of education, — that taxation 
 must be resorted to for the supply of the requisite funds ; 
 and that parents must, directly, or indirectly, be com- 
 pelled to have their children educated. What evi- 
 dence does this diocese contribute in support of such 
 a theory ? 
 
 It is provided by the Common law of the Island, that 
 a school should be built and maintained in substantial 
 repair in every parish by assessment upon the inhabi- 
 tants. By the Ecclesiastical constitution of the Island, 
 agreed upon in Convocation, and accepted by the Insular 
 Legislature, it is provided that, "for the promotion 
 of education and good manners, all persons shall be 
 obliged to send their children as soon as they are cap- 
 able of instruction, to the petty (i. e. elementary) school, 
 unless the parent give some just cause of excuse." 
 Those who neglect, upon the presentation of their 
 Minister and Churchwardens, are to be fined one shil- 
 ling per quarter. The Minister and Churchwardens 
 are to send those childi-en free whose parents are too 
 poor to pay for them. In respect of all other children, 
 a scale of payment is pro^dded by law. The parochial 
 schoolmasters are appointed upon the recommendation 
 of the minister and parishioners, and are to be licensed 
 by the Bishop. It is forbidden by law that any man 
 should exercise the profession of schoolmaster whose 
 qualifications have not been ascertained by a compe- 
 tent authority, and who has not been duly licensed. 
 "The principle of state education," remarks Mr. Mose- 
 ly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools in 1847,
 
 24 
 
 '' appears to have received a legal recognition in the 
 Isle of Man," and "if, with a framework of laws such 
 as these, the education of the Island comes short of 
 those results which are to be expected from it, the 
 cause must arise from some administrative neglect. 
 That it should have fallen into the hands of a body 
 of masters of whom a large proportion are, I fear, 
 to be considered inadequately instructed, would be 
 inexcusable, if the salary offered to a master were 
 such as to seciu'e qualified candidates for any vacancy 
 which might occur." " Among the existing masters, 
 there are no doubt some who are to be considered 
 in every way qualified for the office ; there are pro- 
 bably others, who, if a sufficient motive and due en- 
 couragement were afforded, would, in course of time, 
 render themselves so qualified ; and there are perhaps 
 some, whom no such motive or encoui-agement would 
 elevate to the standard of the responsible duties they 
 have undertaken." To the two first classes, the Privy 
 Council Committee on Education have offered, and 
 do offer, the encouragement and the aid they stand in 
 need of, not so as to render local co-operation imneces- 
 sary, but so as to call it forth" — whilst for the latter 
 class my predecessor procured an Act of our Tynwald 
 Court, enabling vestries, or the cess-payers of certain 
 quarterlands constituted into a district for the pm-poses 
 of this Act, to assess themselves in order to provide 
 retiring pensions for inefficient masters. That Act 
 gives, moreover, powers of local assessment for provi- 
 ding school houses and masters' residences, or, where 
 it is needful, for repairing and enlarging such as already 
 exist, and for providing school furnitiu-e and good 
 apparatus for teaching, and for the payment of salaries ; 
 enacting that, for the future, no schoolmaster shall be 
 held to have a vested or life-interest in the school, but 
 be subject to suspension or dismissal for sufficient 
 reason assigned, by a committee appointed by the Act
 
 25 
 
 for the management of the school, and acting in snch 
 suspension or dismissal with the sanction and authority 
 of the Bishop. There has been, then, in this Island, 
 from the year 1704, up to the present time, ample 
 power provided by the TTnitcd consent of Ecclesiastical 
 and Civil authority for Educational pui-poses. More- 
 over, in 1847, Mr. Mosely states in his report, ^'the 
 children whom I examined appeared to me singularly 
 apt, quick, and intelligent, and fond of learning, and I 
 have reason to believe that the parents are desirous that 
 they should be instructed ; that, in short, there is a 
 public opinion generally faA'om-able to education, as 
 well among the industrial classes, as among the farmers." 
 Any person reading such statements as these, and pre- 
 suming that they are true, more especially any of those 
 who now so zealously advocate the necessity of a legal 
 recognition of the principle of state education, would 
 expect to find oiu- Island population remarkable as 
 "a wise and imderstanding people." Is it so? Is 
 it not rather the reverse of this ? Look to the pre- 
 valent religious sentiments and customs of a vast 
 majority of our people, — look for the indications 
 of enlightened ci\ili2ation in their social, domestic, 
 and personal habits, — and what do we find? It is 
 a common observation foimded on practical experi- 
 ence, that '^ extremes meet," and we find just the same 
 results of ignorance among our own people under the 
 operation of latitudinarian principles, as the pages of 
 history inform us, and modern observation teaches us, to 
 be the produce of the Eomish system of training, viz., 
 slavery to the imscriptural assertions of men, as of in- 
 fallible tradition, and superstitious fanaticism, in the 
 place of "a zeal of God" which is '' according to 
 knowledge." What can be more remarkable, when 
 the eternal interests of the soul are concerned, than the 
 confidence which is placed by dissenters over a large 
 portion of this Island, in the declarations and fanatical
 
 26 
 
 statements of a class of self-constituted teachers, many 
 of whom are hardly able even to read the text of Scrip- 
 ture ? What more fearful than the passionate excite- 
 ment which, under the name of a revival, has so lately 
 spread itself over the length and breadth of the Island 
 — under which not a few earnest people have been de- 
 prived, for a time at least, of the exercise of reason ? 
 What is the testimony of those who most love their 
 native Island, and yet are constrained to acknowledge 
 its inconsistencies with a Christian profession? Do 
 they not bemoan just such indications of ignorance on 
 the part of their OAvn countrymen as lead them to ex- 
 press themselves in the language of the prophet of old, 
 when he declared of God's ancient people, that they were 
 "destroyed for lack of knowledge?" Did not the 
 evangelical Wilson allude to certain " great and cry- 
 ing sins, which, if not repented of and forsaken, will 
 certainly draw down God's judgments upon this na- 
 tion, " such as "the sins of drunkenness, tippling, 
 whoredom, swearing, cursing, profaning the Lord's 
 Day, — a mere formal religion, without any visible 
 effect upon the lives of its professors, — a spirit of dis- 
 obedience to government, a disregard for the sanctity 
 of oaths, a too general proneness to litigiousness, and 
 too little regard to justice and honesty betwixt man 
 and man." And have these sins been rendered less 
 prevalent, or otherwise, under a system of teaching and 
 of discipline the reverse of that by which AYilson 
 sought to check them ? 
 
 I cannot now enter into details respecting the 
 course of instruction which should be systematically 
 pursued in our elementary day schools, in order to 
 uproot superstition, and to lay the foundation for 
 spiritual influence, which God may graciously bless 
 to the production of righteous fruits. But, be- 
 fore we part, I must say a few words to you on the 
 subject of our Sunday school system of training,
 
 27 
 
 wherein we are freed from the ordinary hindrance of a 
 want of pecnniary means to secure the services of high- 
 ly instructed teachers. Much has been done, and wisely 
 done, by the Privy Council Committee on Education, to 
 promote, with local co-operation, the spread of science. 
 It is indeed a question whether too much stimulus has 
 not been given to a species of superficial philosophy, 
 which, in times of old, produced the same results which 
 it now seems to be producing in America. Into these 
 questions I will not now enter. But a special blessing 
 seems to be bestowed upon the earnest labours of those 
 who have devoted themselves to the work of Sunday 
 School instruction. As a striking testimony of this, I 
 will venture to give you two extracts only from the 
 reports of Her Majesty's Inspectors ; and these passages 
 I have selected because I happen to know that the re- 
 marks are just. Mr. Watkins says, in 1844, of Sunday 
 Schools, " Of the utility of these schools, even on the 
 " loAvest grounds, as a means of keeping up connexion 
 " with the cliildren after they have left the daily school, 
 " there can be little doubt. And when we consider that 
 "they are the only means of individual religious in- 
 " struction to thousands of young people in our manu- 
 " facturing districts, we shall not easily over-rate their 
 " value. One thing must, I think, be confessed of them 
 " by all persons who have had opportunities of judging 
 " them faii'ly, that their effects are curiously dispropor- 
 " tionate to the means apparently used in them — that 
 " they are much greater, far beyond what might be ex- 
 ' ' pected of them, both in amount and duration. Taking 
 " into consideration the few hours, in some not ex- 
 "ceeding tivo of actual emplofjment, during which they 
 "are at work, the absence of all excitement, the fre- 
 " quent want of method, the simplicity of their oper- 
 " ations, and the seemingly small amount of instruction 
 " imparted, I feel convinced that there is a special 
 "blessing of God on these attempts to give his ac-
 
 28 
 
 '' countable creatiu'es a knowledge of '' Him in whom 
 " they live and move and have their being." In the 
 " best which I have visited, — best, I mean as to in- 
 '^' flnence and permanent effects — the school hours are 
 " not more than one and a quarter in the morning, and 
 " three quarters of an hour in the afternoon. "What the 
 " amount of instruction given may be, I had no means 
 "of judging, at one short visit. But that educa- 
 " tion is proceeding there, the Christian up-bring- 
 " ing of immortal creatures for time and for eternity, 
 " is very evident. My belief is, that the success of 
 "Sunday-schools may be attributed, under God's 
 "blessing, to the heartiness and simple devotion 
 " to their object which the teachers, male and female, 
 " bring with them to their work. It is truly with 
 " them a work of faith and a labour of love. Being 
 " Christians themselves, they desire above all things 
 *' to lead others to their Saviour Christ. Under the 
 ** guidance and in the continual presence of an ear- 
 " nest and faithful clergyman, helping him and being 
 "helped by him, a work is doing by these unpaid 
 " teachers, the value of which will not be fully known 
 " till the great day of account." 
 
 Mr. Thurtell, in 1848, says "The Sunday-schools 
 "in Lancashire supplied, till of late years, most of the 
 " education that the poor received ; and they are still 
 "of great importance, and present some remarkable 
 *' features. The most striking peculiarity is the ad- 
 *' vanced age of many of the pupils. Wherever the 
 " care and influence of the clergy have been fully 
 ** exerted to this end, the attendants on the Sunday- 
 " school include not only the scholars of the day- 
 " school, and childi-en of like age, but also a far more 
 " numerous body of young persons who continue to va- 
 ** lue this opportunity of adding to their instruction in 
 *' the best things, long after the ordinary age of leaving 
 " school. It is quite usual for young men to remain
 
 29 
 
 " in connexion with the Sunday-school till 18 years of 
 ** age, and yonng women till 20 at the least ; some- 
 times men over 30, and women over 40 are found in 
 * regular attendance as scholars. It seems that, among 
 ** the religiously disposed, attendance on the Sunday- 
 " school is considered, and vrith reason doubtless, to be 
 " one of their religious privileges, one of the means of 
 " grace put within their reach. Connected with the 
 " school there are frequently lectui'es to the teachers, 
 *' explanatory of some portion of the subjects on which 
 " they have to give instruction; and these lectures are 
 " often given so as to attract to them others, besides 
 " those that teach or learn in the Sunday-schools. The 
 " lecture of this kind which I heard given by the Vicar of 
 " Bolton-le-Moors, was a remarkably interesting and in- 
 *' structive exposition of Scripture, addressed to a large 
 " general congregation. The Sunday-school in connexion 
 " with the parish-church at Bolton was the most striking 
 " of those I had an opportanity of visiting, consisting of 
 " about 1200 scholars, many of them considerably ad- 
 " vanced in life ; and the Vicar expressed to me that, in 
 " his own view, the instruction to be imparted in a 
 " Sunday-school was altogether subordinated to its re- 
 " ligious and moral influence, its influence in keeping 
 " young people interested about things that concern 
 " their salvation, and in carrying on habits of religious 
 " observance." 
 
 From these Eeports we learn that it is feasible to 
 keep together adults in the communion of the Church ; 
 and this by a voluntary church organization and sub- 
 mission to discipline. If it be God's will, I may take 
 an opportunity hereafter of enlarging upon this subject, 
 in order to put before you in detail the system of man- 
 agement under which such results have been attained. 
 
 But I have already detained you too long. Only 
 bear with me a few minutes longer, that I may, in 
 conclusion, humbly and earnestly beseech you to weigh
 
 30 
 
 well the facts which I have felt it my duty to place 
 before }^ou. Count me not an enemy because, with 
 some boldness, I have put before you the truth. Seek 
 not to attribute the statements I have made to party 
 spirit or to party leanings. But give me credit for 
 one single object honestly pui'sued, viz., the spiritual 
 and ecclesiastical welfare of this ancient diocese, in 
 our joint cure of souls. In promoting this object by 
 every means in our power, we ought to be bound to- 
 gether as one man, governed in all we do by one sense 
 of duty, dependent in all our hopes upon one God and 
 Saviour, '' Who puts into our hearts good desires," and 
 " enables us to bring the same to good effect." If I 
 have spoken of my own disappointed hopes, I have 
 done so with no feelings of bitterness. If I have ad- 
 dressed you in a tone of admonition, I have done so 
 from no other impulse than a sense of duty. If I have 
 suggested to 5^ou the propriety and the policy of some 
 more distinctive instruction in your preaching and 
 teaching, it is from no desire to provoke dissenters to 
 hostility, but to win their respect, and so their love. 
 If I have seemed to desire any restriction of your 
 liberty in reference to religious societies, it is not 
 through any disposition unduly to exercise episcopal 
 authority or influence, but from an anxiet)^ to promote 
 unity and concord among ourselves as ministers of our 
 Church. I am painfully aware of the danger of losing 
 influence, for the time at least, in pursuing the course 
 •which my conscience calls me to adopt. It would have 
 been far more agreeable to myself to have spoken to you 
 in terms of hopeful encouragement, if I could have seen 
 justification for so doing. It is no uncommon thing to 
 iiear a man accused of presumptuous dictation, and of 
 needless interference, when, settling down in a new 
 neighbourhood, he complains of things which he deems 
 perilous to life, and therefore agitates for measures of 
 sanitory reform. Human nature, alas ! engenders the
 
 31 
 
 same temperament in regard to spiritual matters ; and 
 there is, no doubt, in certain localities, under peculiar 
 circumstances, a perilous contentment with things as 
 they are, which indisposes men either to retrace their 
 steps, or to move onward in any path to which they are 
 not accustomed. They wilfully close their eyes to the 
 necessity for reformation of any kind ; they rather pride 
 themselves on their resolution to abide as they ai-e, say- 
 ing that they are not like other men, " given to change,' 
 forgetting all the time that if their forefathers had acted 
 in this spirit, they would themselves be now in thraldom 
 to the superstitious system of Komish faith and disci- 
 pHne. 
 
 Beit our care, then, my Eeverend Friends, to try and 
 convince those who are committed to our care, how dan- 
 gerous a thing it is to be looking for salvation in any 
 other Name but that of our Blessed Redeemer, in any 
 other faith than that which His Gospel sets forth, in 
 any other way of salvation than that which He and His 
 Apostles have prescribed to us in Holy "Writ. And 
 may we ourselves, as their examples, beware of ignorance 
 of " times and seasons," *' knowing perfectly that the 
 Hay of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" — 
 when men around us are saying "Peace and safety" — • 
 then " sudden destruction " may " come upon us, as 
 travail upon a woman with child, and we shall not es- 
 cape." " We are not in darkness that that day should 
 overtake us a thief;" " as children of the light and of the 
 day," " let us not sleep as do others," but " let us watch 
 and be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and 
 love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation, knowing 
 that God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain 
 salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 P£IXTED Br M. T. BACK^ELL, AIHOLL SIREET, DOUGLAS.
 
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