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 A CHARGE, 
 
 Sfc.
 
 THE CASE OF OBEDIENCE TO RULERS 
 IN THINGS INDIFFERENT: 
 
 AND 
 
 THE POWER OF THE OFFERTORY AS A MEANS 
 OF CHURCH EXTENSION, 
 
 BRIEFLY CONSIDERED, IN 
 
 A CHARGE 
 
 DELIVERED TO 
 
 THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDEACONRY 
 OF LONDON, 
 
 ON MAY 18, 1843. 
 
 BY THE VEN. 
 
 WILLIAM HALE HALE, M.A. 
 
 ARCHDEACON OF LONDON. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF SEVERAL OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. Paul's church yard, and waterlog place, pall mall; 
 & B. FELLOWES, LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1843.
 
 A CHARGE, 
 
 Reverend Brethren, 
 
 I might appear to be wanting in respect to 
 the Clergy of this Archdeaconry, were I to permit 
 this, the first annual synod at which I have presided, 
 to be dissolved, without my addressing to the assem- 
 bled Clergy some topic for consideration, or offering 
 to them some word of advice. At the same time, 
 when it is borne in mind how few months have 
 elapsed since the Lord Bishop of the Diocese held 
 his Visitation, and how fully he pronounced his 
 formal and deliberate judgment upon several points 
 both of Doctrine and of Discijjline, to which the 
 attention of the Church has of late years been 
 directed, I think the Clergy here present will concur 
 with me in opinion, that I shall act most prudently 
 in avoiding, as far as possible, those doctrinal ques- 
 tions which were so fully resolved by his Lordship,' 
 and which still are matter of discussion both in 
 public and in private. I am the more induced to do 
 so, because though the Clergy of an Archdeaconry
 
 6 
 
 are generally ready to receive from their Archdeacon 
 the word of exhortation, I consider it to be no part 
 of my office to define controverted doctrines, or to 
 determine authoritatively whether rites and ceremo- 
 nies, which have become obsolete or have been 
 neglected, are or are not to be revived. Such 
 authority belongs to the Episcopal office, and to that 
 alone. Add to this, that when I look around me, 
 and observe in how bitter a spirit many contro- 
 versies are now being carried on ; what a tendency 
 there is to substitute names for argument ; and how 
 the terms of heretic, or schismatic, or papist, are 
 bandied to and fro ; and how charity is almost forgot- 
 ten in contention for the faith, I perhaps too willingly 
 keep aloof from such contests, and would entreat 
 both parties to consider whether, after all, they have 
 not one common object in view, and whether it be 
 not possible that, under the widest difference of 
 expression, they may not intend to declare and to 
 defend the same thing. Many good and pious 
 people are alarmed at the aspect of the times, and 
 fearful of the consequences which may follow from 
 dissensions within the pale of our own Communion, 
 as if the truth itself were likely to perish, and spi- 
 ritual darkness were about once more to overspread 
 the earth. But though it be true, as the Apostle 
 James declares, that all wars and fighting are the 
 offspring of a carnal principle, so that even in our 
 contentions in behalf of what we hold to be truth, 
 we are oftentimes unwittingly the slaves of prejudice, 
 
 ^^*\
 
 secretly influenced by envy, and too often more eager 
 for the renown of victory, than really desirous to be 
 freed from the necessity of contest, it must, how- 
 ever, never be forgotten, that in the mysterious order 
 of God's providence, it is out of evil that good is 
 wrought ; and indeed it may be fairly questioned, 
 whether as adversity, and pain, and trouble, are 
 necessary exercises to fit the soul of man for the due 
 perception of that which tends to its highest good, 
 so also disputes about the truth are not also neces- 
 sary to draw forth the energies of the Church, to 
 excite inquiry, to create interest in behalf of truth 
 itself, and that desire for its preservation and advance- 
 ment which might lie dormant, or become enervated 
 and lifeless, were it not awakened to exertion by 
 the apprehension of impending danger. So that if 
 the blood of martyrs be the seed of the Church, the 
 prevalence of heresies may be a means, under God, 
 of establishing, confirming, and extending the know- 
 ledge of the faith. For what especial end it may 
 have pleased the great Head of the Church, that con- 
 troversies which have almost slef)t for two centuries 
 should once more be rife, it would be vanity to con- 
 jecture, and arrogance to predict ; let us be assured, 
 that out of these discordant elements God can and 
 will produce fertility and peace, provided that we 
 really seek peace and ensue it, and pray for it, tem- 
 pering our zeal by that charity which suiFereth long, 
 and is kind, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, 
 rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ;
 
 beareth all things, believeth all things, ho})eth all 
 things, endureth all things." 
 
 I shall forbear to make any further comments 
 upon the general aspect of the times, or to touch 
 upon any controversies relating to doctrine. But 
 since the office which I have the honour to hold is, 
 in the present state of the administration of the 
 Ecclesiastical law, almost wholly conversant about 
 the temporal matters of the Church, and outward 
 customs, the due administration and observation of 
 which it is the duty of the Archdeacon to super- 
 intend and maintain, it may not be out of place to 
 allude to feelings and principles, which have been 
 called into action by certain Injunctions and Counsels, 
 respecting the mode of performing the public ser- 
 vices, which have been delivered by our Diocesan, 
 both publicly and privately, to his Clergy. 
 
 That the Ordinary has a right generally to require 
 of his Clergy an exact observance of the Rubrics of the 
 Book of Common Prayer, no one here present is, I 
 imagine, willing to deny. But then a question arises, 
 as to what the Ordinary may lawfully require in cases 
 where possibly a Rubric has never been observed, or 
 has become from whatever cause obsolete. I will not 
 conceal my own opinion, that the more perfectly 
 obsolete any law which happens to be of a posi- 
 tive nature has become, the less justified is any 
 private man in undertaking to revive obedience 
 to it ; and that the more importance he attaches 
 to the observance, the more incumbent it is upon
 
 9 
 
 him not to make the attempt, without first ob- 
 taining the sanction and permission of those whose 
 business it is to superintend the execution of laws. 
 On the other hand, it appears to me, that when they 
 who have public authority to enforce laws think 
 proper to do so, it is no due justification of dis- 
 obedience to plead that the law is obsolete ; neither 
 have we a right to think the command to obey 
 that law unjust, merely because obedience to that 
 law has not been before required. Whatever our 
 individual opinion may be, as to the conveni- 
 ence or inconvenience of the revival of what is 
 fallen into desuetude, it is our duty to comply with 
 the command of our superiors silently and respect- 
 fully, if not cheerfully. What though we think 
 the proceeding of our superior to be erroneous, 
 surely public opposition is a greater error still ; an 
 error against duty, and also against prudence ; as 
 shutting out, for the time at least, the opportunity 
 of reconsideration of the command, and almost 
 producing a necessity of enforcing it. Whereas if 
 we patiently submit, one of several consequences 
 must inevitably follow ; either the practice enjoined 
 is found useful, in which case we must take shame 
 to ourselves for our wrong opinion of its effect ; or 
 the practice is found harmless, in which case we 
 shall have vexed ourselves and others without cause ; 
 or it is proved to be hurtful, in which case it is 
 scarcely possible to conceive, that any of those who 
 have the rule over us in the Church would not be
 
 10 
 
 ready at the same time to relax the command, and 
 to acknowledge the conduct of those as most praise- 
 worthy, who, yielding for a while their own judgments 
 to that of their superior, have given the proposed 
 measure a fair and faithful trial. 
 
 It may, however, be said, we would sacrifice our 
 own feelings, but the feelings of our congregation 
 are also to be considered, and we must be cautious 
 above all things of not giving offence to weak bre- 
 thren. We would wear a surplice, or read this or 
 that prayer, but that our people are alarmed, and 
 think that Popery and Superstition are making ad- 
 vances amongst us. Allow me. Reverend Brethren, 
 to discuss briefly this case of conscience, and to 
 suggest the course which any one who finds himself 
 in this dilemma appears to be bound to follow. In 
 the first place, it would be his duty to remember, 
 that admitting his view of the case, as regards the 
 people committed to his care, to be correct, he 
 has before him only the choice of scandal; whe- 
 ther by his obedience to a lawful command the 
 congregation shall be scandalized, or by his dis- 
 obedience the Church at large be scandalized, and 
 others tempted to follow his example of disobe- 
 dience. Permit me further to observe, what great 
 prudence there is in such circumstances, in distrust- 
 ing to a certain degree our own impressions; and 
 how liable we are, when we disapprove any thing, to 
 fancy that the dislike which others have to it is fully 
 as strong as our own ; and thus to strengthen our-
 
 11 
 
 selves in error, by the very prevalence of error in 
 others. The result of which consideration will be 
 this ; that it being certain, that disobedience to a 
 lawful command in things indifferent is a sin ; and 
 it being somewhat more than probable, that the 
 judgment of our superior, given under a full sense 
 of his own personal responsibility, and after mature 
 deliberation, is better than our own ; it becomes 
 our duty not only cheerfully to comply with it, but 
 also to endeavour to persuade others to a patient 
 submission, and to permit the trial to be made, 
 whether the things enjoined by the superior be not, 
 as he believes them to be, on the whole conducive 
 to piety and order, and tending to the general 
 welfare of God's people. O ! what mutual affection 
 and good-will would be produced by such a line of 
 conduct ! what truly Christian meekness on the 
 part of those subject to authority ! what forbearance 
 on the part of those who have to command ! Surely 
 no governor, whether he be prince or prelate, states- 
 man or soldier, parent or master, is so likely to be 
 cautious what he enjoins to be done, as he who finds 
 in the persons subject to his command men resem- 
 bling the soldiers of the centurion, ready instantly to 
 obey. 
 
 You will have understood, that in these observa- 
 tions I have had in mind the directions which have 
 been given by our Diocesan, relative to the announce- 
 ment of the singing Psalms by the Minister; the 
 collection of alms at the Offertory ; the reading of
 
 12 
 
 the prayer for the Church militant ; and the advice 
 not to put off the Surplice at Morning Prayer, if it 
 is obliged to be resumed for the conclusion of the 
 service after the sermon is ended. I have endea- 
 voured, with all due respect to those here assembled, 
 to state with reference to the case of a difference of 
 opinion on certain matters, between the governor 
 and the governed, how it is our duty to act. With 
 regard to the Injunctions themselves, needless and 
 improper as it would be that I should attempt to 
 act the part of an apologist for his lordship's pro- 
 ceedings, still it is but justice to declare, that no one 
 thing has been enjoined, without his having had 
 proof, derived from experience, of its propriety, effi- 
 cacy, and utility. Nor, it may be added, without his 
 having been required by individual Clergymen of the 
 Diocese to declare his sentiments upon the points 
 in question. Let it be recollected, that what is 
 new here may be already old elsewhere, that the 
 custom which is lost in one place may not only 
 have been retained in another, but be giving proof 
 that its presence is a real blessing, its absence, 
 though unregretted, a positive loss of good. 
 
 I have said enough with relation to a state of 
 feeling amongst us which is, I hope, transient ; and 
 about the extent of which we every one of us must 
 form different views, according to the varied condir 
 tion and feeling of the parish, or society, or neigh- 
 bourhood in which we live, or into which we may 
 happen to be casually thrown ; and I must proceed to
 
 13 
 
 state to you what my own views are, with regard to the 
 power of the Ofl'ertory, as ja means of promoting union 
 in the Church throughout the kingdom, and of 
 meeting in some degree the exigencies created by 
 the rapid increase of population, and the concentra- 
 tion of large masses of people. One advantage must 
 immediately follow from the restoration of the use 
 of the prayer for the Church militant, — namely, the 
 drawing attention to the Offertory which precedes it ; 
 and when we consider what a spirit of liberality 
 and of love towards our Church has of late been 
 engendered amongst the highest and wealthiest 
 orders of the community, it is not unreasonable to 
 expect that, should the same spirit continue to pre- 
 vail, the proposal for a weekly Offertory will not fail 
 in the course of a few years to be heartily received. 
 Why should the opportunity of giving alms in the 
 solemn manner prescribed in that service be the 
 privilege only of those who receive the Holy Sacra- 
 ment ? Why are the poor, the clergy, and the Church 
 at large, not permitted to receive the gifts of any 
 but communicants ? It is but a very few years since, 
 when, at the consecration of a new Church in this 
 City, it fell to my lot, as the Chaplain of the Bishop, 
 to read all the sentences of the Offertory. It was 
 probably the first time for centuries that the whole of 
 the sentences had been so read ; and I shall never 
 forget the breathless attention with which the con- 
 gregation then heard those impressive exhortations, 
 which inculcate upon the people the necessity and
 
 14 
 
 duty of contributing to the maintenance of the 
 Clergy ; but which, from a sense of delicacy, and from 
 zeal for the relief of the poor, are not read by us to 
 the people. Indeed, so universally are they omitted, 
 that there is reason to think, that amongst those who 
 habitually receive the Holy Communion, many per- 
 sons might be found who have never read the whole 
 of these sentences, and who know not that it is a part 
 of the ancient discipline of our Church, that they 
 who wait at the Altar should be partakers with the 
 Altar \ 
 
 Let us calculate what the amount of the money 
 collected would be, were it an established custom 
 that every person who went to Church on the Lord's 
 day should give a single penny. If on the average 
 we might reckon on 240 pence from each Church, 
 such a contribution would produce 10,000/. per week, 
 and more than half a million per year. It is, I 
 imagine, by some such system as this, that the im- 
 
 ' I am inclined to believe, that at the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century, either the Clergy actually took to themselves a portion 
 of the offertory money, or that some design vvras contemplated for 
 enabling them to enjoy that privilege as a means of support. This 
 may be gathered from some MS. notes of business, apparently 
 intended to be sped in the Convocation, and which are inserted at 
 the end of a Prayer-Book vfhich is in the British Museum, (MS. 
 Harl. No. 7311.) said to have belonged to Bishop Andrews; 
 amongst various other matters, allusion being made to the sepa- 
 ration at the offertory, of the gifts intended for the Clergy from 
 the alms destined for the use of the poor.
 
 15 
 
 mense sums are collected, as I am informed, in the 
 South of France, and in other Roman Catholic 
 states, which, if report be true, are employed in 
 building Roman Catholic Chapels in this country, 
 and in extending the dominion of the Church of 
 Rome in America. We can hardly hope that any 
 of us should live to see the day, when by the united 
 contributions of our church-going population so 
 large a sum will be collected by the simplest means, 
 unfelt as a burden by any, and accepted by the 
 poorest, as a privilege similar to that which drew 
 from the Saviour himself his blessing, when he 
 beheld the widow's mite cast into the offerings of 
 God ; still it may advance the measure, by God's 
 blessing, to speak of it thus openly. It often helps 
 to bring forth power, to have it known what power 
 exists; and I hail with delight the examples of 
 weekly offertories which have, in this instance, been 
 so nobly set by a few poor country parishes ; and 
 I sympathize most cordially with those who have 
 written upon this subject ; and I pray God to put 
 it into the hearts of our rulers to watch these sym- 
 ptoms of rising energy in the Church, and to cherish 
 the holy zeal which has prompted a few members 
 of our communion to the fulfilment of the apostolic 
 direction of laying by something for God's service 
 at the end of each week ; and which has taught 
 them to apply to themselves the precept of the 
 Law of Moses, not to appear before the Lord empty. 
 Consider, I beseech you, what vast good might be
 
 16 
 
 effected, were half a million of money per year to 
 be thus collected, placed at tlie disposal of the 
 Bishops, and laid out for the welfare of the whole 
 Church. What provision might not be made for 
 superannuated clergymen, their widows and children, 
 how many churches might be built, how many alms- 
 houses for the poor, how many schools. Consider 
 how easy it would be to send forth Bishops to our 
 colonies, and to found new Sees in every quarter of 
 the world ; and let me add, how many Deacons might 
 be employed at home in the service of the Church ; 
 nay more, the Colonial Churches and clergy would 
 not, as now, be liable to the severest privations, from 
 the deficiency of the funds of the venerable Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel ; there would be 
 ample means to meet their wants ; and what is of the 
 highest importance, the very example, thus set by the 
 Church at home, would teach the Church in the Colo- 
 nies abroad the duty and the method of self-support ; 
 not indeed by the members of each parish or district 
 contributing weekly for the support of a particular 
 minister, thus exposing him and themselves to the 
 miserable consequences of capricious attachment, 
 but by a contribution to the common Church Fund 
 distributed by the Bishop to every part of the diocese, 
 the wealthier part of the Colony contributing to the 
 support of the poorer, and the more populous dis- 
 tricts aiding those more thinly inhabited. When a 
 Church is either destitute of fixed endowment, or 
 when, as is the case with the Church in our country,
 
 17 
 
 the endowment is limited, and the demand for an 
 additional number of Bishops, and of Presbyters, and 
 Deacons daily increases, scarcely any alternative is 
 left open to us, but that of reverting to primitive and 
 early usage, the creation of a common fund by the 
 alms of the whole body of Christians. If thousands 
 of people be every year added to the Church by 
 baptism, the very addition of the number ought and 
 might, under a regular discipline to that end, provide 
 an adequate number of clergy for their spiritual 
 instruction. But I must desist from pressing this 
 topic upon your notice at greater length ; only let 
 me ask you to consider with yourselves, not so 
 much the probability of such a system of Church 
 contribution being established, as the efficacy of it ; 
 and, if you feel that there is force and truth in 
 the principles of union which I have suggested, 
 join me in prayer to God that in his own good time 
 He may bring these desires to good effect. 
 
 Intimately connected with this subject is that of 
 the Pastoral Letter recently addressed to the clergy 
 and people of this diocese, recommending a united 
 contribution from them for the purpose of establish- 
 ing the Church in our new settlement on the coast 
 of China. Let not cold calculation damp this effort 
 to offer some recompense to a brave but heathen 
 people, inferior indeed to us in arms, but scarcely 
 inferior in civilization and in arts, for all the injuries 
 and sufferings inflicted upon myriads of our fellow- 
 creatures, in a war which, humanly speaking, has 
 
 B
 
 18 
 
 ended gloriously, but the justice and necessity of 
 which, to say the least, appears to be but doubtful. 
 It may not be in the counsels of the Almighty to 
 open the door of the Gospel to the inhabitants of 
 the vast empire of China for ages to come ; that is 
 no just reason for delaying to plant the Church in 
 its full integrity in our new colony. Let the Church 
 at home make due exertion ; and whether tlie State 
 assist her or not, let it be her care henceforth, not 
 to permit a single new colony to be founded, and all 
 the Officers of government, of justice, and of revenue 
 to be placed there, without founding at the same 
 time an Episcopal see in the colony, and sending 
 forth a Bishop to foster and protect our Church. 
 
 In what I have said. Reverend Brethren, I would 
 hope that I have not appeared to take more upon me 
 in the way of advice, and in the expression of my 
 opinion, than might be expected on the occasion of 
 my first meeting the Clergy of this Archdeaconry. 
 The truth is, that though new in the character of 
 your Archdeacon, I feel that I am really addressing 
 myself to those who have known me during the 
 whole period of my ministry in the Church, with 
 whom I have been accustomed almost daily to act 
 and to converse, and who would be authorized to 
 consider themselves not treated either kindly or 
 respectfully, if I assumed to them the manner of a 
 stranger, or expressed myself as doubting their rea- 
 diness to support and assist me in the discharge of 
 my duty. It is not with any feeling of arrogance,
 
 19 
 
 but with real thankfulness, that I express the 
 opinion, that few of my predecessors have entered 
 upon this arduous oflfice with equal advantage, 
 known as I am already to most of the Clergy, 
 and, which is not the least gratifying circumstance, 
 my truly venerable predecessor having himself made 
 way for my advancement ; thus giving me assurance, 
 that if I imitate him in steady consistency of prin- 
 ciple, in earnest endeavour to promote the welfare 
 of the Church, and in his kindness to all with whom 
 he has been connected ; as I have succeeded him in 
 office, I shall also, in due course of time, succeed 
 him in that place which he occupies in the hearts 
 and affections of the Clergy, and to which, by his 
 meekness, and gentleness, and truly Christian deport- 
 ment, he is so justly entitled. 
 
 THE END.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 
 ST. John's square. 
 
 i