Phi II potts

18+5 PS

CHARGE
CLEEGY OF THE DIOCESE OF EXETER
AT THE TRIENNIAL VISITATION
IN
JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST, 1845,
HENRY, LORD BISHOP OF EXETER.

PVBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLERGY.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1845.

PRINTEP BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND 30N3,
3TAM KJRD "aTRBBT.

A CHARGE,
Sfc. Sfc.

Reverend Brethren,
You will readily believe that I meet yeu on this day
with feelings of far deeper interest than at any one of the
four preceding occasions on which I have been permitted
personally to communicate with you. The incidents of last
winter, which have given to this diocese, and especially to
this city, an unhappy notoriety, not only throughout England,
but also throughout Christendom, cannot have failed to make
a deep impression upon all of us. May it please God that
the result be, as His mercy designs it to be, for the per
manent benefit both of ourselves and of the people whose
highest interests He hath intrusted to us !
In order that we may more clearly understand and more
largely profit by these incidents, let me briefly remind you
of their origin and their progress.
Your Bishop found himself embarrassed in the adminis
tration of his diocese by disputes .subsisting in several of its
most populous parishes between the clergy and the people,
relative to the performance of tJie differ^it offices of Divine
worship ; the clergy, on the one hand, laudably anxious to
fulfil their own solemn engagements by a revival of ob
servances which their predecessors had in too many in
stances suffered to lapse into desuetude ; and the people, on
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the other hand, reasonably jealous of innovation, at a time
when innovations elsewhere prevailed, at once unauthorised,
and indicating an inclination' to favour some of the worst
errors of the Church of Rome. Lii.i,' ¦ i,;
In this state of things, I took that course which on calm
and deliberate retrospect appears to. me to have been the
best], I had almost said the only, course whiphjit became
me to pursue. I sought the counsel of my clergy ; — not be
cause I shrank from the responsibility which belonged tD me,
but because I wished to profit by their judgment! whoj were
best entitled to advise me ; from a sense of duty, in short,
both to my office and to those over whom, but for whom, its
powers are always to be administered.
The advice which I received coincided with, my; own
judgment, that the due medium to be observed in the order,
which existing difficulties rendered indispensable, was to
require the uniform observance of the Church's, ritual law
in all particulars in which it could be observed, and to, dis
countenance and forbid every innovation which was not in
strict accordance with that law.
I need not go into the painful detail of the events which
followed. Suffice it to say that, it having soon transpired
that the advice which I received was not the advice of a
unanimous council, popular prejudice — seizing on this dif
ference of judgment among my advisers.; goaded too by the
daily efforts of a powerful portion of the public press, whiph,
having received its own impulse from that prejudice, com
municated to it in return a violence, and intensity of which
it could not else have been susceptible; and, lastly,, finding
a ready and active ally in that spirit, partly puritan and
partly lawless, which for more than two centuries has never

ceased to actuate a numerous party in too many of our
great towns — burst forth in excesses which no decent person,
even of those' who had most largely contributed to cause
them, failed ultimately to deplore:
These lamentable occurrences excited, at the time, the
more surprise, because the inhabitants of the city in which
they mainly occurred had long been believed — and I doubt
not believed themselves — to be distinguished by their zeal
for the Church. Now this very consideration does, in truth,
carry with it a most important practical lesson. It tells us
what is commonly the churchmanship of those who bear the
name as the designation of their party. In too many of
such men, it implies all the ignorance of the Puritans of
the first Charles's time, without their zeal, and all the for
malism of Romanists, without their devotion. It is, in short,
in religion, what is sometimes said to be a prevailing vice in
the secular politics of these days — .a negation or oblivion
of principles, and an adherence (so long as it is convenient)
to things that are, simplyi because they are. In the eyes of
such Churchmen, an innovation of twenty years' standing
bears as reverend an aspect, as any usage of the a,ge of the
ApCstles. Any attempt to depart from it, and to return to
the ascertained practice of our own reformed Church in its
best days, is clamoured against as the real innovation.
Accordingly, this spirit, during the late disorders, was
seen to exert itself most energetically in the very particulars
which most exposed its ignorance. The surplice, a vestment
never used in the pulpits of Rome, and generally used in
the pulpits of this very diocese, within the memory of living
men, was no sooner required to be worn by all, in order to
prevent the wearing of it by any as a party-badge, than a
B 2

cry of " No Popery" was raised, -a-cry *) lotid as to startle
the whole' Church-^so potential, as for a while to paralyse
the law and disarm Its" ministers. The Puritansof old^ if
they had not muchbf reason on their side,' had at least
some consistency. They dbjected ^ to the surplice alto
gether — io them it was a mere'' abomination, "a sacrament"
of abomination" they called it ; " the garment spotted by
the flesh," defiled and tainted by Etssociationi with the
idolatries of Rome. They were not so absurd a6 to de
nounce the nse of it as Popish, when used %here Papists
never used it, and yet to cherish- and honour it in the self
same service, in which alone Papists had always used it.
They did not, in short, proscribe it as Popish in the pulpit,
and rever^ce it as Protestant in the desk. This is an ex
travagance which was reserved for the enlightened age in
which we' live, and pre-eminently for our own diocese ; 'and
your' Bishop's fault has been, that he gave credit to the
peiople for such a measure of intelligenefe, at least, if not of
church-feeling, as would have pjfotected them from falling
into so gross an error. The truth is, that' the isui^hce ifiay
be considered as a signal illustration 'of the spirit in which
our Reformers proceeded. They honoured the practices of
pure antiquity, though they renounced . the'-iimoTisitionsi of
Rome. Therefore, while they swept away? a heap of conse
crated' vestments, which had been introduced in times t)f
Popery, they retained this plain linen garment, which was
of ancient date even in the fourth century, foi^ itis /^oken
of as the accustomed hafeit of the minister, in Divine service,
by Jerome* and Chrysostom.f . ; i - . , .
' * Hiefon. in 44 Ezeoh., cited by Hooker, E. P., v.i2a.
' t Chrysost. ad Pop. Antioch., Horn. V. Sbrmt>60. "I > '

,t .Again — ^let me take, the two rubrical observances which,
beyond all others, were most, strenuously resisted. ."The
Prayer for the Churchi Militant here on Earth "bears, in its
very title, to men oft ordinary information, a protest against
one of the foulest corruptions of Rome, the doctrine of pur
gatory — the very doctrine, be it rememibered, which, with its
kindred practice of " indulgences," was actually the imme
diate cause of the Reformation. Yet, the injunction of the
use of this prayer — one of the very few which we did not
derive from the ancient Church through Rome itself— a
prayer which is truly English — almost the only, one in our
Liturgy which embodies a direct protestation against Rome
— a prayer, the very title of which, I repeat, is exclusively
Protestant — was clamoured against as an overt aqt of a con
spiracy to bring back- the Pope., ,,; ;i
V Once more — the use ofthe o^er^ory,, both, in our own
diocese sand elsewhere, experienced the same, fate, or rather
a much worse. For, resistance to this part, of my order
enlisted on its side not only prejudice and conceit, but other
affections far more ipowerful^ — selfishness and avarice. Ac
cordingly, the oiertory, too, was branded as rank popery —
above all,, as priestcraft ; though the collection of money for
any other uses, than those of the priesthood,, is( the peculiar
distinction of the English oSevfuovy, in. Hqemtradistincfion to
that Tof Rome; and though the objects foBijWjwfh>the,use of
it was commended by me to' my clergy were, those only of
the purest piety and most necessary charity .*.t/;.
* From the iniserable cavils wliich we hear in ' sb intoy quarters against
encouraging this blessed practice of offering to GodSof out substance, it is
refreshing to turn to the dying words of David, recorded by the inspired his
torian, we cannot do.u})t«."!fp)! an ensample,", ^' written for our admonition
upon whom the ends ofr the world are come." After saying, " Because he

6
It was, indeed, argued by persons, who ought either to
have known better, or not to have argued against their better
knowledge, that the law of Queen Elizabeth" fi)r levying 'a
rate for the rehef of the poor, not only superseded the
necessity of using the offertory, but virtually repealed' the
Rubric which enjoins it. One very high authority (of
whom I must presently say something more) went so far as
tosaythat "the phrase ofthe poor man's box,' wAzc/s occwr*
in the Rubric, can have reference only to that box which
was used to be placed in all our churches to receive the
alms of the charitable for the benefit of that particular
parish;" and this statement was adduced, for a twofold
purpose : — ^first, to show that since the enactment of the Poor
Law, there needs not be any collection for the relief of the
poor in church, except when the sacrament is administered
had set his affection to the house of his God, he had given of his own proper
good of gold and silver to the house of God " most largely, he invited the
people to join him in the pious work. " Then the people rejoiced for that
they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to
the Lord : and David the king also reijoiced with great joy.
" Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation : and
David said. Blessed be thou. Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and
ever. " Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, aud the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty : for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is
thine ; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all-
" Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all ; and
in thine hand is power and might ; and in thine hand it is to make great,
and to give strength unto all. • ,¦ .
" Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.'
" But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so
willingly after this sort ? for all liings come of thee, and of thine own have
we given thee.
" For we are strangers before thee aiid sojourners, as were all our fathers :
our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
" O Lord Our God, all this store that we hav& prepared to build thee an
house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all. thine own." —
1 Chron. xxix. 9 — 17.

(an exception which ill accords with the argument itself) ;
and, secondly, to exclude all collections for any other pur
pose. To those who know how high the authority is which.
made the assertion, and know not the real facts of the case
on which it was made, it may seem incredible, that tlie
assertion itself.is not only not true, bnt, the very con
trary to what is .true.,,, The. phrase of ."the poor mail's
box " is not in the , Rubric ; it was struck out at the last
review by the authorities both of Church and State, sixty
years after the Poor Law was enacted; but words were
introduced, in its stead, for the very purpose of securing a
collection both of the " alms for the poor, and other devotions
ef the people," which, when not specified by the giviers, are
to be " disposed of to such pious and charitable uses as, the
ministers and churchwardens shall think fit, or, if they, dis
agree, as the ordinary shall appoint."
That the practice of the Church long continued to be. in
, conformity with its rule is manifest from a cloud of witnesses
too numerous to be adduced. I will refer to one only.
The apostolic Bishop Beveridge, a name never to be men
tioned without honour, in his work on ' The Necessity and
Advantage of Frequent Communion,' tells us what was the
practice in his time, the reign of Queen Anne. "After
sermon," says he, " the priest returns to the Lord's Table,
and then begins the offertory, reading some sentences of
Holy Scripture chosen out on purpose to excite and stir up
the people to give, every one according to his ability, some
thing to pious and charitable uses. And while these sen
tences are in reading, the deacons, churchwardens, or some
fit persons appointed for that purpose, gather the alms and
other devotions of the people, and bring them to the priest.

wh& humbly presents and placeth them upon the. ^ Lord s
Table, as devoted to Him ; and then begins th^ .prayer for
the whole state of Christ'^ church militant her^^^ji^^r^j,"
He coiitinues, " Thus much of the communion-^eryj^e, f %^n
froin the beginning of it to the end of the_afoi;es3Jd,pray€!i; ,
for Christ's Catholic Church, is to be said, upon SimdaySp, ,or .
other holy days, althpugh there; .be no communion",* j^i,
This holy Bishop deplores, indeed, the infjfequency of the
offerings actually made by the people ; but, he bears wj,l}i^e§s,^^
to the practice, and urges the reason, pi c^lling.^m.tjli^rn to.,'
offer. "Here," says be, "is the Offertory and chqipcf sen
tences of Scripture, read to stir up people jp offer mp.God
something of what He hath given them, as their Eiqknpw-
ledgment that He gives them all they have, and that they
hold it all of Hiln ; which, howsoever it be now generally
neglected, except there be a communion, yet people,. ought
certainly to be put in mind of it, at least upon all holy days,
and espeicially upon the Lord's own day, according to Hi^ \
own order, Written by His apostle St. Paul, 1 Cor. xxi: 2 '4^,;,
(p. 23S).
* ("JThe Eubric to the " Form of Solemnization of Matrimony " makes it
quite clear that the " Sentences of the Offertory " must have been always
read— ^toiihe year 1754, when the Marriage Act appointed that banns sliould ,
be published "during the tune of morning service or "of evening service (if
there be no morning service in such church or chapel), iipm^diately o/Jer the
second Lesson." ' The Eubric prescribes, that " the banns mijst be published,
in the church three several Sundays, or Holy-Days, in tfie "time of Divine
service, immediately before the Sentences of the Offertory." So long, there
fore, as the Eubric was in force, as it must have been , till the, statute , of
26 Geo. II., the Sentences of the Offertory must have been read! Long after
that statute had passed, the same Eubric was printed in all Prayer-Books
until the year 1809 (or thereabout), when the Curators of l^e Press at Oxford *
took upon themselves to accommodate it to their construction ofthe Marriage
Act, a construction which might perhaps admit of question. So far as pub
lication of banns in the time of morning service is concetmedf,.

Now, if the'^pibusi' the charitable, the truly evangelical
usage, of offering to God of our substance, which had, it
seenib',' become 'genera//?/ neglected even in Bishop Beve-^
ridge's time, has fceen since almost universally abandoned,
is that a reason why an attempt to revive the performance
of this great Christian duty should be met by a yell of
popular and vulgar fiiry, which the populace and the vulgar
have 'of themselves too much good feeling to exhibit, till
they ''&iS' duped and corrupted by those who call themselves
their superiors ? Is there to be no attempt made by that
high officer in the Church, who has to give account for the
souls of air within his diocese, so far as, with God's blessing,
he can influence them for good — ^is there,- 1 ask, no attempt
to be made hf him to recall his people to something better
than the everyday practice of a corrupt world ? Shall not
the' clergy be permitted, without insult, to forward sjich.an
attempt ?' Are they Christians who so treat the ministers
of Christ ? Are they Churchmen who thus outrage their
Bishop ?
But my order, it is said, was put forth to favour the
Tractarians. Now, so far as my own recollection goes — and
my recollection is confirmed by that of others — there is in
those Tracts no recommendation \\^hatever, either of the
general observance of the Rubrics, or of any one of the
matters which I specially enjoined. . This plea, therefore, is
absolutely without foundation.
Why do' I dwell on these things ?, Is it to obtain a miser
able triumph over a ibygone clamour ? I shotild be ashamed
of wasting your time, and abusing the opportunity of our
present meeting, to so idle, and worse than idle, a purpose.
No ! triumph is not the feeling which becomes any of us on

10
such an occasion; and least of all becomes him, whose sdspe-
cial duty it is to moiuTi for the errors of the people^ andj in
mourning for them, seriously to a-sk himself whether he may
not have contributed to, cause them. My object, therefore,
is not to triumph, nor to teach any of you to triumphi, over
others, but over ourselves — to point, to i our own faidts-^to
remind you and me of the consequences of our long-continued
neglect of impressing on the people (must not I add, and on
ourselves ?) the duty which befengs to us and them, as
members of the Catholic Church. One of these conser
quences (a consequence which every faithful Christian must
deplore) is the proved impotence of pastoral rule amongst us.
And impotent it must be, so long as men are not taught, to
see in their spiritual Ruler a character more sacred than
that of a mere functionary of an Establishment, and there
fore to obey and revere his directions, as bearing on them
a higher sanction than the penalties of a written law.
This, permit me to say, is the real lesson, which we ought
to deduce from the occurrences of the last six months-rT«,
lesson, which we have all much needed, and which we cannot
suffer ourselves to neglect j without grievously departing
from our duty to Him who " hath made us overseers, to
feed* the Church of God, which He hath purchased with his
own blood."
To myself I take shame for having ignorantly relied on a
strength of Church feeling, and an acquaintance with Church
principles, which, during my own period whether of minis
terial or of episcopal service, I, in common with others, haVe
taken too little p&ins to inculcate.
In some of you — while I thankfully acknowledge the
* Eathcr, " to be shepherds to," TToijxad'eiv, Acts xx. 28.

11
faithfuhiess and alacrity of by far the greater number, the
affectionate and ardent zeal of not a few — yet, in some, I
have to complain of the (not unkind, for of unkindness I
experienced nothing, but of the) timid, hesitating, faltering
support afforded to me. A Bishop, calling on his Clergy—
with tbe authority of his sacred office — not put forth rashly
and imperiously, but after taking counsel with those whom
the laws of the Church have constituted his counsellors —
calling On them, I say, to discharge duties which they had
themselves expressly and solemnly undertaken — was entitled
to expect from all a cheerful and steady obedience. He
ought not to have been told, as I was told, by those of one or
two Deaneries, that they would defer consideration of my
order, till other Bishops and other Dioceses should have
dehberated on the same matters ; by those of another (who
had at first testified a readiness to comply), that in the
declared resistance of a clamorous party among the people
they found a sufficient reason for retracting their own implied
promise of obedience ; by those of one other — I rejoice to
say, of only one other, and by the vote of only a bare
majority, as I have been informed, in that one, against the
indignant remonstrance of the rest — ^that, called on to obey
their Bishop, they chose rather to advise and remonstrate
with him. These things ought not to have been, could not
have been in any church whose ministers had duly learned
their o-wn duty to their own appointed ruler, or who had
ventured to teach the people the duty which they owe to
their pastors.
And here one particular presents itself, which I would
gladly pass over, if necessity were not upon me that I
should notice it. It is unhappily, notorious (and this noto-

12
riety' alone induces fine here to remark on it) that'>sotnd of
my Clergy— very few, I rejoice to knbw^^seu'gh'8'theiopinibn
of counsel, to advise them whether, if they chose to disobey
the order for th^ use of the surplrCe, they would ^ incur
any legal ' penalties. Where could such clergytnWhave
picked up their notions of the authority of a Bi^hoJ)' in the
Church of Christ? Not in their own solemn en'ga^6iflent,
when 'they took upon them their ministerial office, for they
then' vowed that thfey would " reverently obey him, following
with a glad mind his godly admonitions, and subinitting
themselves to his godly judgnients ;" not in their oaths at
institution, for they then swore that they would "pay due
and canonical obedience to him in ail' things lawful and
honest ;" not in the precept of the Apostle, or thfe 'practice
of apostolic' men, for there they would have Been the dutj* of
obedience carried to an extent to which you never will be
asked to go' by me.
Will an^ of you, then, resort to practitioners in Doctors'
Commons or Wfestriiinster Hall ? make them interpreters of
your oath and vows? No; rather consult your own con
science, iri" the fear of God ; ask that inWard monitor whether
what your Bishop orders is "lawfiil and honest," and act
faithfully oh the answer.* For myself, I can hardly con-
Ceive'what authority, beyond the merest letter of the written
law, ^ a presbyter can recognise in his bishop, if he refuse to
• .'-'ifli'., j'..'u:i. J.J . , /.ii.rit... , . L.-.-ryiq-z^t
* The advice of Basil, commended to us as it is hy our own judicious
Hooker^ in gelation to this very niatter of the surplice^ it might be hetter for
such ministers to observe, than to be seeking for the safest means of opposing
tlieir Bishop :, " Let him which approveth not his governor's ordinances,
either plainly (biit privately always) show his dislite, if he haVfe a^^ov
iaxvpiiv, strong "aiid invincible i^easoii. against them, according to th% true
will and meaning of Scripture ; or else let him quietly with silence do what
is enjoined" (Hooker, E. P. v. 29).

15
let hjm^ prescribe uniformity of vesture in the pulpit, 4>r the
sole^and ,expr^s§d purpose of removing, ,a .notorious Symbol
qf party differences.,: ja'o.'.v "' i ^ .,
i.jBftlieve me,, that I speak. not; th^s in anger, but in sorrow.
I have, I repeat, notliing pf personal disrespect tocgmpl^in
ofliiiiany among you, and much, very, much, to,3,pknowledge
mostith^^fully, of,kindness, 4» myself and of reverence ^r
my office, rl., recur to, these matters fOJ?. ith^ sake ;pf our
common! good, for tl|e admomtion of, me with you and of
you with me,, in respect .to'.the great, but much neglected,
duty of keepmg alive in ourselves and in our people a sense
ofiwh^t the Church- is, by whom appointed, for what eiid
appointed, what .blessings it is the channel toi convey, what
its union is with Christ-its head, its spouse^what, as it is a
body, i&it? divinely constituted polity, what the duties, which
severally attach to us all, as flowing, from that constitution.?
True it is that ours is not the only part pf ther,Churd3( in
which. these truths .seem to have been forgotten. Recent
occurrences throughout England all tend to the,sa,me ppint,
all prove ^e universal need of the same instruction. It is,
indeed, but justice to the people of this dip<?e^BitQ;Say,,tha.t
they were stimulated in their excesses npt only by vestri^
and church wardensf of other; parts,. b,ut also by some , more
elevated personages, .^hQi could,, have little intended to, pro-
duccisijohian effect, and from whom it was least to,, jbe
expected. In particular, the Bishop of another diocese, to
r^ .n-. (/'. T-r. -;'.". ... - , , . .,, -;J-J •
* " The institution of the Church," says Bishop Stillingfleet (one whom
no one will charge with ordinarily leaniiig towards too high opinions on this
subject), " the, instiftitibn of the Church is a great part of the Christian
religion, the sacraments and promises, the remission of sins and eternal life,
being confined to the communion of the Church " (Vindication of Defence,
1S9). '

14
one of whose statements I have already referred, in the ex
ercise of- the discretion which indisputably belonged; to him,
thought fit, at that very peculiar season, publicly to" address
his candidates for holy orders (not usually so addressed in
public by other bishops) on the very points which were the
main subject of clamorous contention here : and pointing <to
this contention (though doubtless wishing to abstairtfrom all
interference in it), he advised them to take the opposite
course to that which I had directed, grounding this advice
on reasons which, if they are Well founded, would prove not
only that I was rash in all that I had enjoined, but that in
one important instance, at least, my injunction was contrary
even to law.
Such an allegation,, made by such an authority, under
such circumstances, was welcomed by the disaffected as con
clusive. I answered it not at the time, for no answer would
then have been heeded ; but you have a right to expect that
it should receive its answer now : and it is the more neces
sary for me to answer it, because individuals of high station
in my own diocese have likewise thought fit to put forth the
same position ; and still more, because it relates to a matter
in which all our Church societies, and all other institutions
which demand the aid of voluntary contribution, nay, the
practice and usage of every man amongst you, are imme
diately concerned. For, if the allegation which I am going
to examine is correct, not only your Bishop, but all of your
selves, and with you every member of every religious or
charitable society in England, are in thfe constant habit of
violating the law.
The particular to which this allegation is directed is "the
use ofthe offertory" for any other than strictly parochial uses.

15
' Now, I . agree with the Bishop whose words I am ex
amining (and I had so told my clergy), ithat it is not desir-
alieitiaat this should .be done "without the consent of the
congregation." But I do. not agree with him in discou
raging the .clergy from seeking to bring their congregation
to consent toithem in this (as I considjer it) work of; Chris
tian dove. i;
- But his Lordship further expresses his "intimate con
viction, tiiat no collections can be legally made in a church
during tiie reading, of the Offertory, except for the poor of
the parish, or under the authority of the Queen's letter,"
And he says, " A very curious decision of Sir Littleton
Powys, in the reign of George I., has been lately pubhshed,
which sets this matter at rest; for it is therein distinctly
stated, as the law at that time (and it does not appear that
any adverse decision has been since made to reverse it),
that no collections can be legally made in churches during
the Offertory, except for the poor of the parish, but by the
leave and permission of the Crown. If, therefore, you think
fit to restore the use of the Offertory, you will bear in mind
that all the money so collected can only be legally applied
to the, relief of the poor of the parish." He adds : "¦There
can he no,ol^ectim to collections being made for other purposes,
in cases where the. congregation themselves are consenting
poirties to th&n." In other .words, that such a collection is
illegal can be no objection to it ! .
Now this, I must stake, leave to say, is not only to con^
tradibt' himself, but is also in the very teeth of Sir Littleton
Powys's decision, of which he has just said that it "sets this
matter at rest;'.' That learned Judge's decision did not at
all proceed on the non-consent of the congregation. Bes they

16
consenting or dissenting (in "the case befwerhim^ it ajqjeared
that^. the great body of them were not only vonsenting, bM
eager and forward to contribute), he decided that::* the. cal-
lection for any purpose, but the relief of the poor of life
parish, without the king's letter, was illegal; " I4-;thCTeforei
his decision is to be taken at all, it must be takenf tiot Jsfcly
sof&irr as may be convenient tothoBe who ad'dmdetit^but'adB®
as. far as it really goes;; and liiis, in SirMittlcton's own
words, is as follows :— ¦"¦.¦ ." T.'i.-iii:i,.;, i<-^'..> ¦>-¦., -I •,,''•¦ '
" Here, in England, no collection, even for charity (urilieg^
for the poor of the. same parish), is, by law,', to be'niade,
but; by the leave and permission of the king';\ga'thetii'ig'ot
moiieylbeing so nice a matter, that it must not be donfe,'
even for charity, without his leave, in the most compaS^
sionate cases." This was the great principle of law lait!^
dbwnrby Sir Littleton Powys — this was hisMecision on th^
point' actually before him ; for the constructioii of th^
Rubftc was dealt with incidentally,* and only as it might
-ITi; l-i'," ,f'-\\.'; ¦'.••!,¦¦.. . ',.-•.¦ .I'i'.i ' ¦ ¦'¦' ' J""V • ,.1 'i.iiMii 1,..---
* It ^pears fliat one of the witnesses fpr the defendant ha4 ,yeferxefl to fbf
EuDTJi respecting the offertory, as authorizing the collection in this case,
which none of the numerousooansiBl, lliree or four on each side, had doBE!.'
Upon this, the judge, .gave his opkiic^n, respecting the j^ubrjc, aud. wrote tijus
upon it to the lord keeper: "I hope your Lor^hip, on reading that part of
tl^R-uhric at the end of the cmrnimnion service, will be of my opinion, which
I. then suddenly. declared, as to the implication, and do not since alter, ntil6B&
otheimiseconviiicedi''. , .
Now, If he had adverted to the Eubric after the sentences at the offerton/^^'
" wjiilst these sentences are in reading, the deacons, &c.^ shall receive the
alms for the poor, and other devotions of the people " — he probably would not '
have even "suddenly, dedafed" that these w«rds meant " no other devotions
of the people," biit those which were first designated as " alms 'for the po6T.'' '
If, too, instead .of " suddenly declaring'' his opinion, formed on the perusal
(rf-a portion of the ejustiag Eubric, he had informed himself of the'
ori^n of the Eubrie, and of what it had superseded— that in the forifieiK'
Book of Common Prayer the words were, " Then shall the Churchwardens,*
&c., gather the devotion of the people, and put the same intWIAe poST )hhn*s

17
present an exception to his general prinei^e. Now, of this
principle, is it too much to say, that it has received its con-
tJadictkin in the pra)Ctice, the deliberate practice, of every
Judge who has ever sat on any bench of justice in England,
since /the putting forth of this redoubted decision ?"
But it hiES.. been 'contradicted not only by practice, but by
a most formal and authoritative judgment, which judgment,
as it ie exhibited in the report of the decision itself, could
hardly have been unknown to any of those who cited it
agafest me. j > ,:
...Atrthe trial of the rebel Lords in 1746, it appeared it
had been urged by several gentlemen in different counties;
t]aait„;th& voluntary contrihutioas (not by authority of Par
liament, nor by the King's licence), for loyal purposes, were
illegal (as they would have been, if Sir L. Powys's decision
were correct). Upon this, Lord Hardwicke, in his speech'
as lord high, steward, said, "Men of property of all ranks:
BiUd orders crowded in with liberal subscriptions, of their
own motion, beyond the examples of former times, and un-
compelled by any law ; and yet in the most legal ami uxtr-^
ratable manner, notwithstanding what has been ignormvtl^
oaA. presumptuously suggested to the contrary."* ,
box; but that in the Rubric of 1662 l^e words are enlarged,, as has been
stated above, into " alms for the poor amd other demtions of the people,'' he
could hardly have ruled that the plain words so added were intended to hai^e
no gleaning.
Lastly, if he had looked into the Preface ofthe Book of Common Prayer,
he w&ijld hate seen that in case of a doubt " concerning the manner how to
understand, do, and execute tbe things contained in the Book of CommeDr '
Prayer," the Act of Uniformity has ordered that " the parties that so doubt
shall, alway resort to the Bishop of ihe dmeese, who, by his discretion, shall
taibie order for the quieting and appeasing of the same ;" in other words, that
he,^r Littletou Powys, Aarf rio jmisddction in construing such words, if they
were indeed doabtfol.
¦? 18 Howel, State Trials, 501. , 0

18
Happily, therefore. Sir Littleton Powys's decision haM not
" set the mlatterr at rest.')' But Lord Hardwieke's deGision
has: set it at rest the tother way. There! may *bet eoBectioifls
for county hospitals, for propagating the Gospel, for Church
Missioilary, Pastoral Aid, ajid addiiticmal Curates' Fund,
for Conversion of the JewSj and othet'Socielaes, withdutihe
Queen's letter; which there could not be, if i thai learned
Judge^sr decision had settled- the matter in thei way whieh
has been asserted.; ¦ .i
I have dwelt thus at length on the alleged authority ;of
Sir Littleton Powys, because of the great importanee whieh
has been ascribed to it. I must now add, that I can hairdly
conceive any decision of any court less, commended to our
respect by the circumstances under which it. was given — at
a time of extraordinary political excitement,: justf' after] the
rebelUon of 1715 — in a case in which tiie very indictment
involved party interests, and stimulated party feelingS'-r-by
a Judge, who, even on the bench of justice, gave vent to
those feehngs, in a manner- scarcely paralleled by, a Soco^gs
or a Jefireys.* ftrlft-ow
1" Though not a particle of evidence was given to sustain the charK. of a
ierfi'fe'oto conspiracy and diaqffection to the Government, nor a wdM-^bout
Cardinal Alberoui, yet this judge thought fit to t«ll the jury, that " ha was a
little suspicious that Mr. H. (the preaclier) had^ Cardinal AlberQ^i's l^^ye, as
well as' the ' Bishop of Rochester's (Atterbury),' to' mate this collection, to
carry on worse designs, and was confirmed in this suspicion, because the
manner of collecting had some resemblance to that of the .Cardinccl's in Spain'^'
Cardinal Alberont at that time, ^.d. 1719, being notoriously eniployeddin
exerting all the'po'wer'an'd influence of Spain (where he was prime miuisfifr)
to place the Pretender on the throne of Ehgland!  '(
This same judge, in the same letter in which he reports hisxymdnisbon
this trial to the lord keeper, boasts of some oilier of his achievements on'lJie
same circuit, viz., " A man at Roohester^'w(>tih liothiiig, was coa^Jcted Jjefore
me of drinking the Pretender's health. I ordered him to "beo whipped- 4n
open market twice, till his back was bloot^ M^th a month' -between the first

19
Before I altogether leave this subject, it is right forme
'to remind those who oppose; ihe collection of the offertor^^,
that this is I one of the particulars which were adduced by
itiie more moderate old Nonconformists of the early .part', of
the seventeenth century, to- proVe that " the Churches- {i. e.
parish Churches) of England are the trtie Churches of God."
In respect tO' the alleged want of essential discipline in our
Church, they answered the advocates for separation by say
ing, " That the substance of discipline is preserved among
us; in which they reckon Preaching of the Woird and Ad
ministration of Sacraments, as well as the Censures M
Admonition, Suspension, Excommunication, and Provision
for the Necessity of the • Poor ; which, said they, by law
ought to be: in all our assemblies" (or meetings' together for
Divine worship) ; " and therefore we cannot justly be said to
be without the discipline of Christ."^ Now, whatever be
thought of the principle here affirmed, we at least see in it
an attestation to the fact of such collections being made in
those days at all our assemblies, i. e. meetings- for Divine
worship. But the Bishop to whom I have referred was not the only
external authority arrayed against ine. ' '
The Chancellor of a distant diocese had puldtejied, a
and second whipping. At Lewes a man was convicted- before me of drinking
• the health of King James the Third, saying, lies knew; no such man as. King
George. He had) nothing but an annuity of SOL per annum. IJlaedMm,
100/., and committed him till it was paid, and that he should findcpflapd
'^i.swretiea for three years. I told him that by paying 1O0.Z< to King George,
he would certainly know there is' such a persoui" TMs is tiie judge, whose
decision -must, it seems, be, taken as having "set at rest 'J the matteii re
specting the ofifertoly. l ; I •' •, ; .
.* Stillingfleet, Unreas. Sep.- 44. -,.o: iv,. , ,. , is ,
c 2

20
Charge^,. fi;9|p which, what professed to be an qx^ot,
was circulated j Itlii^oughout this diocese, aiidi.sent,'! I .^ber
Jieye,- to. the churchwardens,, qf every parishv,., In ifchftf
document, bearing thus the stamp of grave f judicial/ ajlt
^horjty, were matters, of ,,the most exciting, . and, I must
ta]^ leave to say, of the most schismatic character, Qu^
ofi.]^tae:!it):'aordinary positions is, tha,t.." the Jajty are "— not^
as we would join with him in calling them, a main part, or
rather the great body, ofthe Church, but — "the Church;'^'
and ";the clergy,", he says, "are," — not as our Catechism'
tells ,us, " spiritual pastors and masters;" not, as, the, apostle
to , the,Thessalonians calls them, " those who are set over
you in; the Lord?" * and concerning whom. he bids the laity
of Corinth (1 Cor. xvi. 16), "To such submit yourselves;"
a.iid again to the Hebrews (xiii. 17), "Obey them that have
the jiil^i oyer you, and submit yourselves ;" but — ."nothing
more thaij ministers "—" ministers " — not of Christ, as St.
Paiil bids " every man account of us," but—" of the
Church," that is, of, the laity (as he has in the same
sentence declared), " not exercising any authority of our
own "—which is quite true (or, rather, a mere truism) in
one sense— ^authority of our own right — but' qnite false in
another, and the only sense, which the occasion admits — :
authority of our ovf Repossessing, in right of Christ, who hath
given it to us. For, so the Spirit of Truth himself hath
agaiji, and again declared: " Ai my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you." " All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth: go ye, therefore, — and, Io ! J am with
you alway, even to the end of the world:''t "God hath
* trpotffTafji^povs .ifiiav ^v Kvpi^, 1 Thess, v. 12.
,, t John XX. ,21; Matt.,xisviii. 18-20. These texts are applied by the
Church to the consecration of bishopsii
..i.'M, , .. ' ..' .• '..¦' •¦ - " ' This

21
^V^^to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that God
Wals ik Christ, reconciling the world unto Hiinself, not im
puting ^their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed to mS
the -^ofd of reconciliation. Now, then, we are Ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us ; we pray
you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." * So, too,
the 26th Article of our own church explicitly sets forth,
and' the 36th by necessary implieatioii, which Articles this
ecclesiastical judge has not only repeatedly declared to' be
" agreeable to the Word of God," but is bound by the
sacred obligations of his high office to vindicate and uphold ;
nay, to decree deprivation t' against any beneficed clergyman
who shall contradict any one of them, unless he revoke his
error. And let it not be supposed that his strange description of
" the Church," which I have just cited, fell from him in ia
moment of heedlessness, and, therefore, may have been not
intended by him. For, unhappily, the 'same position is
afterwards repeated, in still more' authoritative terms: —
" I must remind you that the laity form the Church." J
This writer cites 1 Pet. v. 3, " Not as lords over Gbd's heritage," as equi-
yalent to " exe;'cising no a'uthority of our own,'' in his sense of the phrase ;
but the passage from St. Peter does in fact prove, that the Christian ministry
has the same aiithority as he himself had : for he bids the Presbyters, wjiom
he is addressing, " Feed " (or, rather, tetid, be shepherds to — jroi/ici>'aT€-)'"'fiie
flpokof (Grod, which is among you," v. 2, in ajmostthe very words in which
our Lord gave to him his own charge. John xxi. 16.
L f ,2 Cor. V. 18-20. ¦ '' ' " '' t ISElizi c. 12.
^J He elsewhere says, " "To the Church" (of which I have just, cited his
description) " we dp not hesitate to require your allegiance, ^nd Ijkewis,^
the dutiful Subinissioh of your private opinion in doctrinal matters ; and we
feel,that,we are justified in,, requiring thisasidtte ;to the authority of the
Church as being by law established." Of course, therefore, this master in
our Israel would " not hesitate to require the allegiamoe of his churfehw'ar-
^ns, .and likewise the .dutifiJ. submission of their private opinion in doctrinal
matters, as dae to the authority of any other Church,''' i. e. "laity," be^it
^gpish, Jewish, Turkish, provided only it be " by law established." A cer-

22
'MftSn this 'was not all. Speaking ofthe oflfertbi-y*, he is^
rVp"resented, in "the Extract," to have said, in contradiction
to the law which he is bound to administer, as well as to the
, ' , - . ^ , 1
tain bodk, to which some attention was wont to bepaid, especially by tM6W
Who exult in the title of Protestants, tells: us that .the: Church to, ^biph we
owe the dutiflil submission of our private opinion in doctrinal matters, is.
"T)uilt on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets; Jesus Christ himself
being the Chief cornerrstone." But_this modem apostle founds it on establish^,
ment by law. He adds, indeed,.T-but as a secondary oonsi4era^on,—" and
likewise to the character which it bears, as a pillar and ground of the
truth— a character which three centuries of controversy have only strength
ened and confirmed." Such is his exhibition of ^t. Paul's declaration rer
spgcting the Church, that it is " the ground," ISpaiw^a— stabilimentam, the
stay-^/Aa/ which gives stability to the Truth.
The manner, and the occasion, of St. Paul's use ofthe phrase, are well worthy
of remark, in contrast with this writer's loose statements respecting the
Church, and Church-authority. It occurs in the midst of his instructing
Timothy what things, being set over the Church at Ephesus, he was to
"command and teach," iTim. iv. 2. "These things write I unto thee,
tjiaf thgu m^iyest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House oJf
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground ofthe
truth." '-} Tim. iii. 15.^
J It is .painful to dwell on the tissue of disingenuous insinuation which this
"Extract from a Charge" presents. But the exposure is due to the laity of
my own di9cese, ampjigst whom the Tract has been largely spread. I turn,'
therefore, to another passage, in which the writer warns his Churchwardens
against "ah inclination which may be manifested to arrogate for the Minister
what used to be claimed ty the Priest."
Upon this, we have a right to demand, whether he disclaims for the Christian
Ministry Me ofiice^ of Priest, apd the awful powers annexed to it? If he
dqes not, wh^t honest reason can he assign for using words which have no
oijiev intelligible meaning ? — But, if he does, how can he justify his own
acceptance of the ministerial Charge, in the terms in which it was given ?
" Receive the Holy Ghost for the ofiSce and work of a Priest, now committed
unto you by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they
are forgiven'; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained: and be thou
a faithful dispenser of the word of God, and of his Holy Sacraments : In the
liaihe of the'Pather, and of the Son, and ofthe Holy Ghost!" Did he qualify
himself for holding his Church Preferments by pretending to seek and accept
these powers at the hands of the Bishop, while he at the same time did not
believe that the ISishop was commissioned by God to* confer them ? — What
is to " lie to the Holy Ghost," if this be hot ? Again,

23
f^pt§^mUph,hme been already adduced, that " the,,<?9ll^ction
fcj^thepooK is ,^upqrse(ied by *hp_ Poor Law;" and to have
ad^edi that the ,Chiirph's order, respecting it, and the,, prayer,
for the Church Militant, is worse than useless, inasmuch as it
115(^1, ipterfe^u with the effort^ of the pi:eac|j(pr., For thus he,
pr(&«)eeaBj'-"In the monlentous" object which the preacher has
in^l^g^^Jiif winning souls to Christ, his eiforts might oft^n be'
dead^liedsf) and the effejet of his preaching lost, if almsgiving:
wejre, made the invariable conclusion. Or 'if ' the pray^i' f(^?,"
Christ's Church Militant on. earth were to be always, intro^
diiced at the close of his sermon."
When we remember that this bold exaltation of preach,T
in'^ abdve prayer — above that very prayer which the Church
offers up to God, in express obedience to the Apostle's pre-
Agaiu, he says, " You may hear a new tone of preaching from your pulpit.
Yj^u may hear of the Church, where you had beep accustomed to hear of
Christ. You may hear privileges or powers asserted, as belonging to our
ordinances, which do not seem implied in the language of their services :¦ —
If, therefore, you perceive that there is a departure in the tone of preaching from ,i^
standard of doctrine laid down in ihe Articles,''^ &c.
.¦yy^hat is meant by these mysterious suggestions? What else, biit to niake
^is, Churchwardens suspicious o^ the soundness of the preaching of their
Minister — and to bid them attend to him .not as hearers, but as critics' and
informers? , Is it thus, he would enforce the duty of the Christian Laity to
thpir 'pastors? , ' _ _  '' , . , .
'' 'T.nie, it undoubtedly is, that if the preacher does indeed " preach aiy othei^
Gfospel"than that which Christ' and his Apostles preached, tlje Chiircfi-
wardens are," bound to interfere "" by remonstrances, in the first place,'w
the minister," — " and, ifthese, fail, then by complaints to the Bishop himselS"
But is this a sufficient, reason for the Chancellor of a Dioeefee, in his " dharge
tp the, Churchwardens,*' advising them to be making it their every-day wbr^
^a tft-watching for that, which it can, only as are extreme case, be fit and, de.c^nf
for them even to contemplate?. .Such' suggestions, thrown out ,^t random by
a) great Church-officer — without any pretence of their being, necessary— for
he expressly says, "I do not think the§e thing's probable in this Diocese,"^
is fti? most astounding instance of rash and mischievous indiscretioij (I wil
lingly use the mildest word) it would be easy to produce. ,: ' "

.2.4
cept, that ". Supplications,; prayqjif,,^yiterc^ssioi;i^,(#ndigiMg
of thanks, be,;m£tdp for all m^n,"— as..WS^ln:aso-J^e9iCithbr
matters which I have cited — is the official ,.i^tj5jiig|aeft0ofrf»
Chancellor of a great diocese, formally deli-^gygdalOYthe
churchwardens, "in order," as he himself - expregsqsait,
"that they may vindjiofite, , the rights of. fithftclaityii+^Ml
maintain the integrity of the Qhurch,'vrmt&#Oia(|^ea;r^,+ to^
much reason to apprehend the existence),, .-ando the, r^etivity,
even, in very high places, of .that fanatical;) spiijit aWehritsiSO
centuries ^go, overthrew , .the , Church, ..anduwith itothe
monarchy... , ,, , . ,:/,;i ¦¦}..-
The truthi is, thftt the religious tumults which disgraced
so many parts, of England in the last winter, however they
may have originated, were almost- everywhere encouraged,
aggravated, a!nd embittered, by the secret, but ;^ery ac<tive,
influence of the same spirit — a spirit which, professing to be
of thdChilrch, is yet ever anxious fo extinguish its authority
and to pervert its teaching. I have, therefore!^ little doubt
that the outbreak of popular fury against my own order to
ob^y the Rubric, , was the, symptom rather than the diaea^
— the form, in which Schism chose to disguise its genuine
chctracter. I have, little dquht, that, among many, of the
real instigators of those disturbances, it was' the known ad
herence of their Bishop to the undiluted and unpervetrtgd
doctrines of the Church, rather than his attempt to enforce
its ritual, that roused the hostility which sought to overwhelm
him. If I had surrendered, or if I had liot taken all occasions
to proclaim and to .enforce,, the distinguishing, principles of
the Church's teaching — the Apostolic Si;^ccession of the
Christian ministry (the only ground on which any valid com-

25
iateiiari '«?an be cMni€d'by tiS*)^tbe' tr&s6fehd§^tiriiii1)i"tdfiec
•efllithe; two -gr^at Saeramenttf ordained if Chi4t "hiMtififl-
4hfe^8Sl«tft%i6C^sit^to salvation of both of theto^Wheifte^
'WiAyolelhada-the spiritual new bi^h^gJ^en hy Go'd 'in "^^
JfenSpsaMd^- ordiiaarily, in baptism on/?/— the r8ar,'''ttett^'h
»iysti^l,icoHiinunion of the bddfand blood of Cltfist'gi^en
tnUhe'-iiSJihterSa'Crametft^if such had not beeii my 'oVrti
teaeI&g,''siuch,'-on^ all occasions, my eariiest eiidedVour to
¦make'it'to be-^as I rejoice to know it generally isj^^youi^
also— I might with impunity, and soon, I dare say,^#ith
complete success, have ordered the surplice, the offertory;
and every other lawful observance which it had pleased me
1 '* I am 'glad to subjoin the'following interesting- and edifying passage from
the, eyapgelical Bishop Hprn© ; — . , ,.. - [¦• ,i,ii.';rio .• /.Uu v^jib
"'The Constitution, and use of the Churph of Christ is^anpthej.' .siibiect.rPP
which' our principles, for some years past, have been very unsettled^ andTour
knowledge jB-ecarious and superficial.. Ignorance isdangeisaus'here; bSeailse
tl^ere s^^e so many whose interest it is to flattej; us in it, and. .tal^e adv#njtaee
ofit. The definition of the Church, contained in our Articles, was purposely
less definitive- than, it might have been, to avoid' giving-fu-Mhei^loMnijPfe
tho^e, i^hpm ye rather wished, to reconcile. , But it doesn^t>aj^eayfj^af^-^hp
Church hath gained anything by its moderation ; it hath ratl|erk)st; ^because,
in virtue of that moderation, it hath been pleaded ffgainst'us, that'ecMfesia&iS&l
,unity,4nay be dispensed with, and that all .our difieriences in titi6jiaattep|.are
only problematical and immaterial. 5^
" ButsalvationisagiSft of grace; that fe, itis-kfree gift, to whietf WMve
no n^^ijraJ, g(aim. , It is not tp-be, conceived within oilTselvesi.toatJ'taibfeere.t
peiyed, in consequence of our Christian calling;, froni God himself, through
the me'ahi of his ordinances. ' ' '•
, •1^1 These fiauj no.man administer to effect, but by God's own appointinent j^at
first by his m»!f(&'a<e .appointment, and, afterwards, by, ^cessiep and-deriyaj-
tion frbm thence to the end of the world. Without this rule we are open,to
imposture, and can be sure of nothing ; we cannot be sure that our mini^tt^
is^effec^ve, and thaj our sacrana.epts are realities,. ,, We are Terj^rj^gn^bl^ the
spirit of division will never admit this doctrine ; yet the spirit of charily
Jnust never part wSth it. Writers and teachers who niake% .d'i}mni*t6 giiJ-e
no offence, treat thepe .thiugs -^j&T^^tfndex^ ,-_bift|,ivfhQ,;in,. ceft|ini^^fes> gives
men no offence, will have for that reason given. them no instruction.';!—
Bishop Home's Charge to tkS C»^i/ofNor'aiich,'i7'9l'{ 'Wo'rks, YV^i^^^'

26
to enforce. -Sfeere weresuflScient indications qf this ^tate, of
feeling, in the coij^e of ,the,,fionfliGt, to justify .siigh a con
viction. Several pf the,- lay theologians, who wgjre .ipQS)^,
bi^y, openly declared or hardly dissemhled it; y j'/afT
^.Jn, particular, the great, the, cardinal point ^^g^Jhc^,
teaching — spiritu^; regeneration in baptism — .that doctrine,
which was never denied nor questioned. , in, thgj^|| ^tegn>
centuries of the Christia,n,era, which.our ownChuirch^unds
on ilhf;. plain words of Scripture, and sets forth in every way
in which doctrine can be set forth — by direct and dogmatical
teaching, by repeated and incidental .refepeinjce,, by embo-^
dying it in its offices, by consecrating, it in its prayers —
that doctrine, we all know, is, by a, large and powerfud party,
(among them, I sincerely add, by many pious and devoted
professing members of our Church) either expressly denied,
op holden so faintly and. with such reserve, as is little bett^..
th^n denying it; kept altogether out of sight, or out of
teaching ;. or, if dealt with at all, dealt with as of no prap-
tJG«|.l operation ; whereas it is a doctrine pre-eminently an4,
essentially practical : for, above all other parts of Gospel
truth, it warns ns pf the high duties, whioh; flow from thp
high privileges of our Christian state ; of the greatness (j-i
the spiritual grace vouchsafed to us, and, in consequence, of
the, awful responsibility which we thereby incur : in one
word, that, as we have received from Heaven a new nature,
we,fh#ll be judged according to the holiness^.pf that nature,
thuSigiven to us by ,<^od, ,/.,.., ..., i.
One or twp bolder spirits, indeed, have^g^ne yet ftirtherr;
admitting, or ratljeTrP'^oclaimhigjthsit: jthj§ g^^^'t tenet i^
asserted !a,nd required by our Churpli— tliat the only mean
ing which the plain words of its Articles an4,Qffip[ea wjU,

27
a*mt; is 'the direct assertioliWit^they yet deny its truth ;
aiid; thus denying, still retaJfi'''aieir stations in the Church,
aiid 'betray the mother which has borne and feeds them.
Thank God !' this open treachery is not exhibited in our
oMdioCeSe ;— but there have been some too near approaches
toitl^'Elttd while I believe, that in no other portion of our'
Church is soutld dbctrine more generally prevalent, yet the
instahcies of tampering with conscience, on this particular,
\idye been sufficiently numerous,' to compel me to remind
you of a duty, which Ought to be too plain to all to require
many %ords to enforce it— I mean the duty of a strict and
rigid observance of our engagements made to the Church
in our subscriptions, and in our vows.
When I last met you, on an occasion like the present, I
felt it necessary to expose', so far as my feeble powers en
abled m 6 to expose, and to reprobate with all the severity
^n the judgment of some, indeed, with more than all the
severity) which I could properly use towards one who was
not under my jurisdiction, the disingenuoiis attempt; then
recently made, to conciliate subscription to the Articles of
the Church of England with adhesion to the doctrinal de
crees of Trent.
Experience of three' years has shown the' tendency of such
attempts, to iiifect the minds even' of those whom no candid
observer will dCny to have had, and still to have, strong
claims on Pur respect — to corrupt their sincerity, to pervert
their understanding, to defile their conscience. Some Pf^
these are said tobe now leaving' us. Fetter far*, that t6ey
should go whither their convictions carry them, than that
they should remain, where they have no longer an honest
standing-plac'e as ministers, no longer an'; altar at v^hich

28
they can offerja pure sacriflnd, -no longer a right lotake
sweet counsel together with their former^ companions, iiOr to
walk with them in. the t house of God as friends. Peace to
allsuch! They are our brethren, and to be mourned 'ov©^
as ibrethren. ; May they find, in their present path df sifl'i
cerity, that rest to their souls, which, while striviHg-againit
conviction, they could not have ! no ' -
But are these, and such as these^ the oniy partid^j' who
have trifled with their vows, and paltered with their con
science ? I say it in all seriousness, for I stey it with much
pain, ithat the backslidings; of these men, their unfaithfulnes'^
t© the doctrines of our Church while they were its ministers,
appear to me not more inconsistent with their most solemn
engagements,, than the insincerity of those, who, having sub
scribed our Articles, and having declared their " assent and
consent" to all that is contained in our Book of Coinmon
Prayer, do yet both deny, and teach others to deny, the
great doctrines to iwhich I have just now referred. Do I,'
then, bid them also depart? God forbid! We would not
willingly, we cannot, without a rent too fearful to contem
plate, lose them. But I bid them, as they value objects of
incomparably higher worth i than preferments or party-tri
umphs, search jfirst the Book of God (praying His Holy
Spirit to be with them in the "search) whether those things
be so," as their preconceived opinions have assumed. Let
th,^j% next, compare these opinions with- the formularies of
oyTjChurch, with the standards of faith and worship, to which
they .hafve solemnly engaged before God, and man, to conform
their ministry. If the result be an 'honesty undoubting, filll
conviction, that iheit- tenets are those not only of the Bible,
but of the Articles, and of the Prayec Book, then, but only

29
then, o let them feel ; themselves at liberty ; to ^ continue' to
minuter. amongst usr . . •'
r,^ lyieanwhile, it cannot but be matter of grave consideration
to all who are concerned for the soundness and purity of
th^ir-,Church-n-espe(ially to those, the duty of whose office
requires them to watch over the teaching of its ministers,-^
that one of the most powerful inducements to desertion of its
epmmunion,. and submission to Rome, is proved by ex|)e-
rience to be the diversity which exists in that teaching — not
on lighter matters, on which men may difier, without im
pairing, on either side, the integrity of the faith, but — on
points affecting its very substance ; in particular, the nature,'
the obligation, the grace, ofthe Christian sacraments.
¦ •While I am making my circuit among you, a clergyman
of an' adjoining diocese, who had testified the sincerity of his
former attaohment to our Church by devoting a large por
tion of his worldly goods to its uses, hasi sought for himself
a refuge and rest in Rome — driven from us, as he himself
says, by " the variety of doctrines and teachersjiall claiming
to, be .heard as teachers, sent by God." Surely, such an
occurrence (whatever may be thought ; of the individual
himself) must make a deep impression' on all, who suffer
themselves to, reflect on. what' is passing around thiem:
Viewed in conjunction with other incidents, it warns all' who
bear authority, to give strict attention to "the unity of the
faith," that they "take heed unto themselves, and unto'*Ae
do(?trine,"* the doctrine "which hasbeen committed to ^ their
tpust,", that they may" commit the- same to faithftd inen,
whPr shall be able to teach othei-s also."t ' '
The great evil of our times, to which I am now referring;
, i-lTim.vi. 20. '^"'tl 2;Tifli:'il. 2.

30
that which has been the abundant source of most- ofiovjrdjjjjgr
evils, is the oppogitiou; of teaching respecting ffte,iS««t«»-
ments/ especially, on that .great and, fondami^ntal ^Stklp,
the new birth, without which " we cannot see, thesiMi^daBi
of God."* Among its many mischiefs, it is not; 4©ilgftst,
that it has largely Contributed io produca a^^nKrakwanti of
due and thankful reverence for the Church. In truth, there
is an intimate and manifest connexion betweejac >thes©;jt^(a)
particulars. He who acknowledges; thatrj Baptism is not
merely the seal of a new covenant, but is also^jGod's jmethod
of giving to us a new nature, -wherein we are born of the
Spirit, and are thus really, though mystically, made one
with Christ, and, through Christ,, with the .Father-^will
also be ready to acknowledge^. that the. Church, the. bljessfid
company of all faithful people, into which baptism brin^ us,
is the mystical body of Christ, quicken^ by his Spirit; aiud
so is ithe. channel, through which all spiritual graces flow
from its Divine head to every "member in parti(3jlar."t
They will therefore feel, and bought to teach others ta.fgel,
the dutiful necessity, or rather^tiie transcendent blessedness,
(for duty and blessing are here one,) of continuing members
of that " one body,'' if they would continue to havei ttet
"one spirit"' — of reverencing its. vmity — of sustaining its
order — of conforming in all things to its lases.;,.. . . jjj^oq
But, while some among our clergy deny thE.?spiritiiial
birth in baptism (with all the blessed inferences, from that
great truth), respect or tenderness for them, has induced too
general arelaxation of sound teaching respecting, the. Chuieh,
even. among those who do not agree with them in thek ;rassr
of baptism, por the latter have hesitated: and foriome to
¦• John iii. 3.' , f 1 Cor. xii. 27:? :'

31
bring forth truths, which condemn so many of their brethren,
TThom, 6h other grounds, they justly revere. The conse
quence is, that the sacred nature of the Church, not being
ifiaade the subject of the teaching of its ministers, has been
suffered to acquire but little hold on the understanding, and
therefore on the hearts, of the people. For, if the Church is
commonly regarded as scarcely -better than one of several
sects or denominations of Christians, whose fault is this?
Ought' we to be surprised, when we never tell the people
what the Church. is, — what the duty, what the inestiinable
privileges, the rest, the support, the comfort of abiding
within its bosom — in other words, when we never teach
Church Principles — ought we tobe surprised that the people
are profoundly ignorant of them ?
This ignorance is exhibited not in the multitude only,
but in all ranks and degrees of men ; and most prominently
in those whose station is most exalted; Can it be deemed
"a strange thing that churchwardens and vestry.*men rebel
against the authority of their Bishop, when eveuby statesmen
the Church seems to be- regarded merely as an establishment
— ^an useful gradation of ecclesiastical offices, to preach todif-
ferent orders and degrees of men— teaching thepeople to be
" subject for conscience sake"; — in one word, a sort of spiritual
police, having no powers independent of the State, no rights
of its own, no authority derived from its Divine Head ?
This representation will not be deemed; too, strong, mai^
less uncalled for, when I state» to yPu, that in the present
session of Parliament a noble Lord; who long' presided with
igreat distinction in the Court of Chancery, introduced -Ta
Bill, entitled "An Act to consolidates the Jurisdiction ofthe

32^
several Ecclesiastitsft! Courts in Englaiid knd Wal^ i^ttf'
one Court, and to enlarge the Povv-ers and^AufliSHtre^Bf
such Court ;" in which Bill the whole contehtiouS '^frituiSl
jurisdiction in England, except the coTi'Setiofif Of Clerks lattd
one or two other ^edfied particulars, — ^but nof^ki/^ij^hM^
cognizance of heresy, — ^was given to a new Coin't,^ffiS''Jfii3g^^
of which is to be called "the Judge of H^^Mijfeit^^Court
of Probate." More than all 'this ;^ by a'lightlof 'Ei'ii^''
tianism, which no testimony; short of o'ur b>li teiJ^-Mght;'
could have rendered credible, thi^'htew' Court,' tdWcrea^^^
by Act of Parliament, was to have p6w^r'*' to ¦prl&dffli^'or
declare any person or persons tobe exS^mtAiiMWf'sMch
sentences or decrees being pronounced a.s spiHtudl iiihmlt'eP
for offences of ecclesiastical cognizance." i ii'>.:i J
That such a Bill could not have been thought of in the '
times^ — ^I will not say of the Egertons or the Bacoils of'
former days — ^but of Ae Hardwickeis, or of Pur own Elddh,—
it 'is 'uiflieeSssai^ to observe. Lord Eldon, indeed; once '
prevented thedntroduction of a Bill, simply because it pro- -
fessed to do, what he knew and declared could ntrt be done
by any temporal legislature. Yet such has been the'^rapifl
declension of the knowledge of what the Church is/ 'ktid '
therefore of all feeling of duty towards it, that one' who is
entitled to rank among the most eminent of 'his^predie<iegSorgf,"
as' a judge; was actually not- aware of the inability of Qileen, '
Lords, and Commons-^even if they should haVe the t^ish-^'
to confer the' poW'er' which his Bill professed to givfe**
Surely; these noble and learned legislators are riding thdit*
favourite principle of the omnipotence of Parliament A little
too hard : they forget that although, by the incorporation of
the Church into the State, all ecclesiastical jurisdiction (so

33.
%i?!^ J^^pms , Ihe oM/worc? tractive exerqise of it) iS' suborn
^^i^nlPiLi Ai4;ii™ite,ble by, th^- Supreme Civil Power,
y^i.^®(^J''^'J?ft5W'tdivert that jurisdiction into any other ,
•^^W^i-I^J other- words, cannot .take, to itself, nor transfer to,
^iIir*SfeS^:4eri'ringfcoia-it, the pognizance of matters, nor
*teS5?/^i®^ of powers,, -wH/^&veipjJiively .spiritual.
^.j^Jt^^ may Jbfl^thpj form .which this- Bill will assume, if it
®^iyr:S^^.F P^ss jptP an Act, I do not presume to guess ; but
ther^ p one important class of Causes, which, as a church-
man, ^^e^^pstly hope/>Yill not be transferred to the ju-
¦"W^ifift.rP.^i'^Py Gpurt .of merely lay authority — I mean
]V^g.J5^mQ^i3,l -Causes. Of marriages contracted before superr
iij|e^^d,^ registrars, or other ,the, like officers, I do not speak.
If contracted between parties who own the revealed Word of
God, those marriages come iijdeed under, the sanctions of
that .revealed Word:,, but, since members of the phurch
cannot, r so contract .without sinftd disobedience,, to the
CJiji^ph's law, the Church, claims not any cognizance of them.,.
Bjjt, in marriages which have been solemnized by the Church,
npj^B^thpfriity, but;pf the Church,, can, on any sounjj) principle,
a^jidge„!|he,, parties to live separate: for; (I speak in, the
emphatiK wprds of no less anauthority.thanjSirW- ScQtt),.*(,
"podrhij^Pilf has. been made a party to the contract,, and
th^, iCiPOl^Rt . of the individuals pledged to each ipj|]gr)i has
been rati%d, and iponflfmed by a vowtp.Godj", whifij^.vpw
hatl^,;]b§ei;, received by the Church m Hi?, name.: and there-
ugpnofch^jChurch Jhp|.|;h pronounced,, that, they be " mania,n(il,.j
wife,;together, in, the name of the Father, and jof thfi,jion, and
0^!%|3 Hply..Ghp^t.'' . .in. . ,'¦ I,' '>i,!i' .''¦:] -^ihrio','.?,!
},.Wei^,potdeny, that,, -.g^,i"coBspnf,,ti^,liy^iii,we(llg^3,',,
., i ,,;!-„ . , ,*_ ]:WKsrj!njple',c.' Dalryfcple, 2 Hagg.! 62. , , ,( i-,;f,,n .sr!.!
D

34
constitutes marriage, whether religious sanctions accompany
it or not, the State may, if it think fit, forbear to, require
any religious sanctions to make the marriage , lawful, and
valid. Our own legislature, for the ease of persons whp
are not members of the Church, has done tMs,, for the first
time, by the statute which legalizes marriages contracted in
the Registrar's Office. Over such marriages, I repeat, as
over all marriages contracted by parties out of its com
munion, the Church has no inherent right to jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction which it may exercise over them, as well
as that which it has hitherto exercised over external mar
riages in general, has been trusted to it by the State for its
own convenience, and may be withdrawn whensoever the
State shall think fit to withdraw it. But jurisdiction over
marriages contracted by members of the Church, within the
Church, according to the Church's law, the State cannot
withdraw, though it may withdraw all civil support from its
decisions. To go further than this — to affect to give to a
tribunal, not deriving its authority from the Church, a power
to separate members of the Church, so married, would be a
mere usurpation on the inherent authority of the Church,
utterly inconsistent with that recognition of the Church,
which is a fundamental principle of the English Constitution.
The great importance of the matter which we are upon,
will justify me in detaining you with a summary view of the
Office of Matrimony, which our Church has framed on the
principle, that marriage, within the Church, is not merely
what it is to man out of the Church, to man as man — nor
even what it is to him as member of a civil community — ^but
it has an especial relation to him as member of the Church,
of the mystical body of Christ.

35
The Church, founding and throughout conducting its
Office of Matrimony on the inspired Word, hath monished the
parties of the nature of that holy estate into which they come
to be joined, that it was "instituted by God himself," "sig
nifying unto us " that most intimate and indissoluble union,
" the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church."
The Church hath " required them both, as they will answer
at the dreadful day of judgment, to confess any impediment,
why they may not lawfully be joined together in this holy
bond." The Church hath been the witness of the mutual
consent, following on this its own solemn warning, " to live
together after God's ordinance." The Church, " receiving
the woman at her father's or friend's hands," who thus
resign their former hold upon her, hath given her unto the
man, even as God " brought Eve unto Adam" at the primeval
nuptials, and joined her to him ; and then, as Adam, in the
immediate presence of God, thankfully acknowledged this
his crowning blessing, the " helpmeet for him" whom God had
made, to be no less, than part of himself, " this is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh" — even so the Church hath
prescribed and received the vow and covenant betwixt those
whom she joins, that " from that day forward they will have
and hold each other for better for worse, for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health ;" the husband to " love and cherish"
the wife, the wife to " love, cherish, and obey" the husband,
" till death them do part, according to God's holy ordinance."
The Church, praying that they may have grace to keep the
vow, hath hereupon joined them together, with Christ's awfiil
injunction, " Whom God hath joined together, let no man
put asunder;" and then hath "pronounced them man and
wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
D 2

36
and of the Holy Ghost.*^' Lastly^ the Church hath completed
her blessed work, by hallowing the nuptials with her "holy
benediction. ' i < > 'iis
Why have I thus dwelt lipoii the form of soleinni^ing
Matrimony in the Cliurch amongst li's ? Why thus referred
in detail to a service, which must' be so well known to
all of you ? Because I know not how better to do justice
to the Church's claim, that no authority, less than her oWn,
shall untie the bond, which she, in God's name, has bound.
" Whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
No authority not commissioned, as the Church is, by God
himself, can lawfully pronounce that parties, whom He hath
thus joined, may live separate from each other. The
divorce from bed and board is the great divorce ; that being
duly pronounced by the Church, the State proceeds to
enable the divorced parties again to marry, if the separation
have been made for that only cause', which, by the Word of
God, justifies the separated party in marrying another.
But the real divorce, the real loosening of the bond, founded
on the breach pf an essential condition, it is for the Church,
judging of that breach, and for the Church only, to pro
nounce. Were it not so, what security would there be that
the temporal law of this country shall not interfere, to mul
tiply the causes of divorce, as freely, and as loosely, as they
have been multiplied in other countries?
When once any temporal authority— such, for instance,
as is provided in the Bill to which I refer, " the Judge of a
Court of Probate," — ^a judge, who will not necessarily be a
Churchman, no, nor even a Christian — shall he recognised
as competent to sever that one holy union, which God hath
absolutely forbidden man to sever, — ^where is this presump-

37
¦ .tucfi^^lcixity ,|o stop ? Incompatibility of iemper, as (among
Ij^nPjY not how many other causes) in Prussia; mutual
agreement to part, as in revolutionary France ; all the proi^d
.suggestions of a Milton, or the libertine demands of a
M,adan, may be adopted by the increasing liberalism pf
.,pp4ern legislation, till that blessed union, which is the type
,pf Chi-ist's union with the Church, shall sink into a mere
legalised, concubinage. Let " the spirit of the age" (of
);^hich we heay so high boastings) be content with what it
has already achieved. Be it enough for one generation,
that, there may be, now, that portent in the eye of English
, , la,w, marriage unblessed, unholy ; — that man and woman may
. ,bp coupled together in a Registrar's office, with as total an
absence of all religious sanction, as if one huckster were
joining in partnership with another. Still, let "holy wed
lock" remain holy ; but holy it will not long be, when once
it shall be held dissoluble by any power which the holy
Word of God hath not commissioned.
Another Bill has recently been introduced into Parliament,
pf very high importance, not only to the Church at large,
but to every individual clergyman in his own person. It
has received a first reading, in order that it may be cpn-
. sidered by all of us before the next Session.
Though I have not had leisure for much attention tb its
provisions, yet I have littie difficulty in giving you a general
account of it ; for it is, in truth, neither more nor less than
a revival of the Bill which was withdrawn, seven years ago,
in deferencp to the general feeling of the Church in oppo-
.sition to it.
This Bill, if it be permitted to pass into a law, will
extinguish all episcopal jurisdiction over criminous clergy-

38
men, and transfer it bodily to the Court of Arches. This,
be it borne in mind, is its one main object.
It is entitled, " An Act to repeal an Act of the fourth
year of Her present Majesty, intituled an Act fpr bettpr
enforcing Church Discipline ; and to make better provisions
in lieu thereof" These " better provisions " may be
summed up in the one particular, which I have already
mentioned, — the transfer to Doctors' Commons of the whole
judicial authority of the English episcopate.
But the merits and demerits of the Bill seem to be not
altogether confined to a simple repeal of the existing statute ;
for, while it destroys all that has proved salutary in the
operation of this statute — especially, the power, which is
exercised most beneficially by the Bishop, of doing justice,
with the consent of parties, after a preliminary inquiry ; thus
lessening expense, to an incalculable extent, and mitigating
the severity of the law, where it may be mitigated without
injury to the discipUne of the Church — it carefully preserves
those provisions which have been found, by experience, the
most mischievous. In particular, it first re-enacts the clause
which, to the scandal of the whole Church, gave impunity
to a most disgusting case of delinquency in the diocese
of Peterborough,* by screening from judicial investigation
offences of more than three years' standing, — a provision

" Much undeserved blame has been cast on the Bishop of Peterborough
for not having instituted proceedings against the delinquent. He could not
have done so, because, by the provisions of the statute, the first proceeding,
that of preliminary inquiry, must be taken by the Bishop of the Diocese in
which the offence was committed — the Diocese of London — whose Bishop did
not, and could not, know anything of the matter, until the offender pro
claimed his own shame, and was protected from prosecution by the unhappy
limitation of time in the existing statute— a limitation which is deliberately
reproduced in the new Bill— for it makes the insignificant change of the
term of two, to three, years !

39
unknown both to the common and to the canon law of
England ;^and, secondly, it gives fresh vitality to — ^what
seemed to be already doomed by public opinion — the sadly
imperfect constitution of the ultimate Court of Appeal in
such Causes, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council —
a constitution, which leaves to the judgment of four laymen,
in the last resort, every spiritual matter, even heresy, in
the case of a layman ; and to three lay judges, with one
bishop, every such matter, even in the case of a clergyman.
Should these three lay judges (not one of whom needs
be a Churchman) concur in opposition to the one bishop,
their judgment, on the highest points of Christian doc
trine, would be without the possibiUty of reversal. In
one of the very latest Causes, that of the Rev. Frederic
Oakley, involving the whole question between our own
Church and that of Rome, if there had been an appeal
from the judgment of the Court of Arches, the only bishop,
who could have heard it, is verging on his ninetieth year ;
and of all the lay lords, who could have heard it with him,
two only ever sat in any ecclesiastical court,* — and these are
the judge appealed from, and he from whom the Cause was
sent to be tried by him.
The Bill, of which I have thus given you a short account,
was presented by a distinguished prelate ; but it is due to
him, and consolatory to ourselves, to state, that the Bill was
not drawn by him, but in Doctors' Commons ; and that he is
not, I believe, committed to any of its provisions.
All that I have recounted (would that there were not
* It appears (see Note in 1 Haggard, 483, Cases in Consistory Court of
London) that on an appeal in 'Whiston's case, in 1714, from the Court of
Arches, a commission of delegates was granted, consisting of five Bishops,
three temporal judges, and five members of Doctors' Commons.

40
much m6re,- which want of tintie forbids me to recount !')llus-
trates the truth of what I have already -^id) that rthe ^ea^
th4 pervading, the overpftwering evil of our present "position,
is the want of due attention to Church principles :. in aSi
classes of meh among lis,' and the want of knowledge of
them in almost all. And where is tiiis knowledge' to be
taught? ' - ' ¦ ' "^-rfof" ,.
' I hope, and I doubt not, that in the affltience of theo
logical teaching, which happily prevails in our Universities,
this great particular is now duly enforced, which, I grieve
to remember, it never was in my own days." I hope, too,
and I doubt not, tliat in our great public schools it receives
similar attention; and I ground this hope on the very gra
tifying fact, that two of the most valuable contributions, of
modern times, to this essential branch of Christian instruc
tion, have been made, — one by the late head master of
Haifow, while he held that busy as well as important charge,
— and the other by the present head master of Winchester.
The ' Theophilus Anglicanus ' of the former is a work
which (small as its bulk is) we should have hailed, not only
as of no common usefulness, but also as indicating no
common theological learning and research, even if it had
proceeded from one who had passed his life in the ease, and
beneath the shelter, of Academic bowers. It has been
already adopted by one of tbe most distinguished of living
bishops, as a text-book for candidates for holy orders ; and
I earnestly recommend it to my o'wn. Well may it take its
place beside the great Catechism of Noel, which had, we
know, the authority of both Houses of Convocation, when
the Articles of Religion were finally adopted ; and which,
by the 72nd Canon, ought to be a part of the instruction in
all our grammar-schools.

41
-ai/IFhe' other work is also; small in bulk, and , of .moderate
pEotepsidn j) buti'rich in Scriptural lore, ajid hr^athing the
veryifipirit. of the Church of Christ. It is entitled,"ITie
Sayings of , -ther- Great Forty Days, between the ^Ipsurrp^p^ion
tod Ascension,t.Tegarded as. , the Outlines of the Kingdom
wf God.,' If .my mention of this, little volume .shall cause
any among you to read it, you will not have attended, here
this' day in vain.* ,.:
These works,, I repeat, issuing from such quarters, are a
pledge to us, that, in two of the noblest of our public
schools, Church principles are now duly taught ; and we
cannot 1 doubt, that, in the others, equal faithfulness tp one
of the prime duties of Christian teachers is now, or soon
will be, exhibited.
But the Universities, and the great public schools, educate
only a few ; and therefore, ] although the iij^uence , of the
education which those few receive cannot but!e,xtefld, far
beyond the individuals themselves, yet the main deficiency,
the ignorance which, pervades the masses (as in many other
particulars, so especially in this), must not, be left tp indir|!^t
influences, but must be met by direct, full, personal .teach
ing. To you, my reverend brethren, ,, is this great duty
^assigned by the Church and its Divine , Head. On you I
now call to discharge it, — ^not by arguments, for, the^e must
:be familiar to your own minds — not by n^ptjves, of | which
¦you know the force and value as well as he who , would
recount them to you — but. by the feelings which, are now
stirring in your own inmost souls, and are speaking to you
„ .-, , , - t , , ' ' : - . .
* I have pleasure in bearing testimony to the value of a third excellent
little work, on Confirmation, by Kev. C. Wordsworth, Under Master of
.Winchester College.

42
far more forcibly, than anything which I can pretend ' to
urge. If the Church of our fathers is to be the Church of
our sons ; if the millions upon millions, which this great
country is pouring forth from her teeming womb, are to be
faithful supporters, — ^not of an establishment, which for its
own sake would be little worth supporting, but — of that por
tion of Christ's vineyard, which He hath planted in this
land, that under its shade the fainting soul may be shel
tered, and by its fruit the hungry may be fed ; — if all is not
to be abandoned to the false philosophy and meagre theo
logy of the day ; if that spurious liberahty, which, having
already infected the head, is rapidly spreading over the
whole body, may yet be arrested in its course ; if, in short,
England is to be saved ; it must be saved (under God) by
a faithful, a zealous, a sober, an energetic, a devoted
clergy — by such as many of you, I know, are — by such as,
I rejoice to say, a very large portion of the younger minis
ters of God's word amongst us are, every year, showing
themselves increasingly to be.
Let not my contemporaries, and those who approach our
years, deem this testimony to the zeal and devotedness of
our younger brethren invidious. For myself, on an honest
retrospect of my own ministerial life, I acknowledge,' with
all humility, my own great inferiority to those who have of
late years entered on their pastoral labours. There is now
a higher standard of clerical character and clerical duty,
a standard still rising, and which can never cease to rise, so
long as you are faithful to your charge. It cannot be
stationary — if it rise not, it will fall ; and with it will fall
all that makes ourselves respected, or our ministry effectual.
Well do I remember the almost parting words of the

43
venerable Bishop under whose patronage and friendship it
was my special privilege to pass the first twenty years of
my clerical life. "I," said he, "have lived now nearly
ninety years ; but, old though I am, I am not ' laudator
temporis acti.' So far at least as concerns the Clergy, I
rejoice tp say, that I leave a very different description of
men from those whom I first knew. In every ten years of
my long life," he continued, " I have been able to trace a
marked improvement ; and now, when I am about to leave
the world, I humbly pray God, that this improvement may
continue." More than twenty years have passed, since these words
were spoken ; and he, who now repeats them to you, rejoices
to think, how largely the prayer has been fulfilled.
Do I speak thus to please the young ? To raise in them
inflated notions of their own merit, and to draw them into
unseemly comparison with their seniors? Those among
them, who at all deserve the praise, need not any caution
against so contemptible a delusion. They know and feel —
the best of them know most surely, and feel most deeply —
their own immeasurable inferiority to the pattern, which
God's Word hath traced for them, and to which they may
never cease to aspire to approach more nearly. They know
the superior advantages, which they have had, in all the
means and appliances of education for their sacred office :
they know what an English university now is, and have heard
what it has been. They will tremble, therefore, to think,
how little they have, individually, profited by the change,
and to how much severer a reckoning they will be called.
But I return to the point from which I have strayed — the

44
special duty of the Clergy, as the instructors of, the young.
Let me earnestly implore you, not to be content, if tbeolij^E^ifs
of your population permit,j^till you have personally J»^ipme
acquainted- withi every young person in your parishtwithin
the age of instruction ; till you have ascertained ^3|j,they
have all learned the, Catechism ; and till you Jiave engrafted
upon that stock — ¦ or, rather, have drawn out from the
elements within it^—th&, further teaching of the nature .and
constitution ofthe Church, and of their duties as. members
of it. So, and only so, may we hope, jby. God's blessing, to
arrest the progress «f that fearfiil sin of. Schism, wlM,ph is
the opprobrium, and threatens tp be the downfall, of, our
country. Now, in order that you may be able to do this, you must
take care that in your schools the Catechism shall, be not
only constantly, but intelligently taught, , Ordinarily,, no
surer way of effecting this can be devised, than to connect
them with the National Society, and to place them under the
protection of its rules. This, indeed, is but one step — the
more important and more difficult is, to find and to retain a
proper master ; one .who^is, on principle, a Churchman,. and
will, on principle, teach in due sjrbordination to his. pastor.
I would not dwell on considerations, connected with this
subject, which might savour of jealousy, and might lead to
controversy. Neither you nor I can be fond of a Govern
ment "Council of Education," norofthe visitsof a f Queen's
Inspector of Schools." But there is room enough left, to
you for independent action ; and if things which you mislike
stimulate you to make that action effectual and satisfactory,
you will, as in so many other cases, eduoe good from a sup
posed evil, and make even the enemies of your, teaching

45
(mudb more those who cannot be your enemies) to be ^at
{JPace with you. , ¦
I cannot conclude what I have to say on schools, without
adding, that very extraordinary indeed must be that com
bination of adverse circumstances (I cannot imagine to
myself any), which can justify a faithful clergyman in having
to do with a school, in which the Book of Common Prayer
and the Church Catechism are not regular, necessary, and
main parts of the matter taught.
In saying this of the Church Catechism, I say no more
than the Church says, and you yourselves say, as often as
you administer the holy Sacrament of Baptism ; for, you
then tell the godfathers and godmothers, that they are to
' "take care that" the newly baptized "child be brought to
the Bishop to be confirmed so soon as he can say the Creed,
the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and be
further instructed in the Church Catechism set forth for that
purpose."
' More than this, acquaintance with the Catechism. Js, by
the Church's law, an indispensable condition of ConfirJUfiitipn ;
and Confirmation, or the desire of Confirmation when it canH^ot
actually be had, is a necessary condition of admission to the
Lord's Supper ; and the receiving of the Lord's Supper is
" generally necessary to salvation." Therefore, to connect
yourselves with schools in which the Catechism is not taught,
is to act, as if you believe, either that the qualifying ofthe
young Christian for receiving a sacrament, which is necessary
to his salvation, is not an essential part of Christian education ;
or that the Church hath erred (though you have solemnly
declared ^that you assent and consent to her) in fhplding this
doctrine of the Sacrament, and in making such requirement
of those who are admitted to it.

46
Can either part of this alternative be willingly incurred
by any minister who is faithful to his vows ?
And permit me to offer one brief practical suggestion.
Do not put into the hands of the scholars any " Catechisms
broken into short questions." Such things may be useful
helps to those who have to explain, but they only tend to
confuse and perplex those who have to learn ; or, at best, to
multiply most mischievously the things that are learned by
rote. Here I would conclude : but two matters still remain, of
such great and pressing urgency, that I must not omit them.
They are matters, which, though not necessarily requiring,
would yet be so greatly forwarded by, the regular use of the
offertory, that I hesitate not to advise you now, as I advised'
you before, to strive, in all cases in which your own discre
tion may encourage a hope of success — not in others — to
elevate your people's feelings to a due sense of the high
privilege of offering of their substance to Him who gave it
— to remove the prejudice, which may render some of the
liberal amongst them averse to such a method of conse
crating their bounty — and, above all, to subdue the selfish
ness, which too often covers the unwillingness to give, under
a pretended objection to the mode of giving.
There are wants amongst us, to which nothing short of an
earnest, a sustained, a continued course of Christian bene
ficence — ay, and a willingness to make real sacrifices — can
adequately supply a remedy.
I refer, first, to the necessities of our great Society for
providing thp Bread of Life to those Colonies which we
alone, of all Christian nations, have .thought- ourselves at
liberty to plant in the remotest corners of the East and

47
West, without accompanying them with the means of
Christian Worship and the Ministry of the Word.
In this particular, France, Spain, Portugal, and every
country in. communion with Rome, ay, and Holland and
Denmark among Protestants, have acted on a plain prin
ciple of duty, which it is the ignominious distmction of Eng
land almost to set at nought.*
That we may have a clearer view of this matter, let me
detain you with a few particulars.
The population of the whole world is estimated, on the
best computation which can be made, at about 860,000,000.
''¦ Let me not be misunderstood. I do not think that the Government, or
the Church, at home, ought to be at the permanent charge of a Church
Establishment ifl the Colonies. Every colony, as soon as it shall be able to
provide for itself, ought in this, as in other respects, to be left to its own re
sources. But in the infancy of colonies, while the settlers are struggling
with all the difBiculties which must beset them in providing for their physical
necessities, a Christian parent country may be expected to protect them, at
least from absolute destitution of the means of grace.
Unhappily, this has not been the -view taken of its own duty by the British
Government,' especially of late years. In Upper Canada and Australia — ^the
two great receptacles of our redundant population — but little is contributed
for religious uses by the State ; and, what is most to be deplored, the least is
given where the want is greatest — to the newest settlements. The poor
agricultural labourers, or unemployed artisans, (more than 90,000 of whom
have annually left their father-land during the last five years,) find, at every
port, some " Government Immigration Agent" ready to advise them to what
market they will best carry their strength or skiU, but the spiritual wants of
these men are deemed unworthy of the public care.
In Upper Canada, in the years 1841-2-3, the Government expended for
the maintenance of the clergy of the Churches of England and Eome, and
of the Presbyterian Kirk, about 620/. per annum ; the Society for Propa
gating the Gospel, in the year 1843 (of which only I have an account), ex
pended in the same colony 7573?.
In Australia, during the same period, the expenditure of Government, for
the same objects, was more liberal : it amounted to 3300/. per annum, and
that of the Society to 4470/. . . , f [;, >,.. , .:, "
In New Zealand, in the years 1841-2, the expenditure of tj^e Government
for the IBainterlanceof religion vi^as «»/'; iii'l843, 646/., in which yearthe
expenditure of the Society in ,the same, seWJeHjent, was 2072?.

48
Of these, not fewer thai^ J.30,000v000— more, j^h^q., a, seypnth
part of the whole— are subjects of the British^Crp^n. „,]Bjijt
of these 130,000,000, scarcely 36,000,000 profess T%,,ffi#
of Christ : the rest— rahnpst one-eighth part of the universal
family of man — are heathens. ,,,,,.. . ,.jj,.,j f,; ,,,,
Can anyone amongst us estin^ate thp responalbiljte, w^l^i^h
this simple statement of figures imposes, not on thg^^pvprn-
ment only, but also on the people of this land?,' . .. ,
But this is not all— rwould that it were ! Of. oiir|jOj)fn
countrymen, of our own poor neighbouj-s, of Jih^^.e^^jCes? ic^f
our own population, which, were therf:, jio outlet for ^them,
would be a charge on — ^I will not say our charity, but^Ti^our
poor-rates,— rmore than 60,000 annually, on an average of
.the last twenty years, have emigrated, chiefly to Upper
Capada and Australia. But to these emigrants, tempted,
as they have been, to go forth by public, national, proposals
of facilities of conveyance, no national provision what^p^v^r
is made for, their religious instruction or worship. , Tte
grant of 16,000?. per annum, formerly voted in the annual
estimates, has been, within the last few years, by a Reform
ing Parliament, withdrawn. — The consequence is,^ tha,t, at
this hour, in t^'i'^'' Canada,, peopled with English, there
are tfco hundred arid forty townships without a clergyman of
thC" English Church: while in Australia, the Bishoji re-
norts, that, "he passed through three eniire counties in
^ : ';.Mi/' ;,'!..i.;5i' -.^ ¦-,.'¦ 11°'; . i|,-,..f,v ^-. i;.ili<(t;, -:¦¦¦..,
which there is neither minister nor ordinance of religion, and
through two others, in one of which there i^, only orie church,
and one, clergyman — in the other, not even one church, and
only one clergyinan. '' In the diocese of Tasmania, within
a very recent period, there were nearly 18,000 convicts,
unprovided with o, single clergyman /"
With these facts staring us in the face— branded oh biir

4'9
fifational records — tiiere are men, who, without a blush, pro
claim, that England is the niost religious nation under
Heaven !
To '¦fiflpe out some small portion of this foul stain,— to fill
up, in some poor measure, that fearful void, which it is at
ontle the shame, and the guilt, of the State, to have
left Tinstipplied — and, at tiie same time, to preach the
Gospel to the heathen, with whom commerce or empire
shall connect us, — ^has been, for a hundred and fifty years,
the object, thp truly evangelical object, of the Society for
the Prb|)agation 6^ the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
In 'the prosecution of that object, it has incurred obliga
tions which cannot be satisfied ; it has committed itself in a
Career of holy service, which cannot be carried out to its
full extent, unless an addition of 40,000?. per annum be
made to its funds by the voluntary contributions of the
faithful. This'is oiie pressing demand on the hberality of Church
men". But there is another, a still more crying ahd more dis
graceful •v^a'nt, which demands bur utmost and immediate
exertibhs.., I refer to the spiritual destitution, which pervades
a vdry large portion of our own people at home. There
are millions— ay, I iear I cannot be cohtr'adicted, when I say
millipns — of the population of this country, who are as
much without the knowledge of the God who made them,
of the Saviour who redeemed them, of the Holy Spirit who
alone can. sanctify them, as any ofthe wildest savages, who
butclier and devour their fellows, in New Zealand or
Madagascar. ., The yesult is such as might be expected. ' E

50
: In .the. farimiasi^laasions, ,the^¦ ;pe^etted a^l^idJi^ fli&
maddened^ affections^ the scOrn of all rJefie^Jg/jresitf afe^ ^n^
contemptuous resistance to every other — ^ui pne^fgjij^jif^f
unrenewed hearts, of these our countrymen— rmenff' wjjteut
hope and withoiut (jodrjn, the world" — ithere isil^idj^'ja
stbre of; woes, for, England, 'iflie elements . of ij^ ^jd^^jg-g^
more irreparable, devastation, than any which- the ^l^^i^
man has ever yet recorded. Every year- aggravatpsnthg
danger, 5 Every alternation, of commerGia;l{jgro,^Bejity92|g^
depression brings to the reflecting mind fresh assurances.of
the approaching convulsion.i jsThe very glut asad surfeit jof
natioaWsi^ealth in which we are now, re veiling — rthojun-
parEflMeU' activity of all our manufactures — the growing
demand for labour _^ in all the branches of industry and
every field of specnlation — while they do, indeed, protract
the dayi are only accumulating materials for a more deadly
explosion. , 9/ joifitnoo sdt ol xtuJai iiiw .aoononoh <-&o ft&l
And let it not be thought, as,imany of ,thephilpsophists
of the day-afifect to think, that education — -general ¦education^
as it is called-r^that is, education not excluding religioEi,
it may be, but teaphing it as other things are taught, as a
mere matter of school-knowledge — ^teaching it, |,too, after
some fashion which shall he acceptable to all — let it not be
thought, that, education, such as this will meet the occasion.
Many, of those unhappy beings are as well, instructed in the
arts and sciences, as half . of the empty talkers who re-.
coirfrfnemdfihMfedianics' Institutes," * and "Schools for all," as
the psnaofftjof ^ nation's iUsw^ Xet these talkers go to any
ofthe '*HalJ4. of Science/', so .called ;.i8S»di-&!^ will soon
Jg: ..'. >''.'-- y-an' (I'.'.'ii "t:,.!,. :-,, .,, ..Ltjj-.id -jili • >¦;!¦,>¦,. ,¦ Sajjs^f
* " Mechanics' Institutes" I hold to be .very good things in their proper
pTace. ¦'¦"''¦ raom '..' ,¦:, 1, ..« — ;¦! . '.' 'to n-°''n .ri,'',, . •,, ,j '' . tii ,
S a

51
fiiftfl. ttettf*fel!^esi "left far behind in mathematics^' chfemiBiry,
liiy|- afed'itrastronpmyeand other of the higher fields ' of
g^dlar^knowledge. It is not knowledge, in short, but dis-
ttjtl^bi^the discipline of the heart, the chastening' influence
€f fftie"i!'eligiP»^which alone is wanting^ But; that one want
^fi«w'6^S ^1 'things else. If it be not supplied^if the
^oS^if^ spirit of the Gospel be not breathed upon the
fed^ni^^ and V fermenting masS^-a contest will and must
febine^-^God only knows' how soon — ^a contest of classess
PrbpStty will assert its rights — Will marshal its defenders
t"-wiirwin,^it may-be, mariy^a bloody victory; but so long
as Spiritual dafkneSs' shall be permitted to cover the densest
portion of our population, the perennial source Of evil re
mains. The war -will be again and again i^newed. Toil
tooi^Often ill-requited, misery uncheered, -violence untamed
by religion, and unappalled by any vengeance which man's
law can denounce, will return to the conflict, with ' the 'iin-^
tiring energy of the demon, to whom we have aibkfedAed
them. "JThc' ultimate issue cannot be doubtful— :the over-^
throw of this empire of Mammon by its own serfs— and, with
4t,4h6 eittinction of the fairest forta; of polity*-^ay; and Cf
the richest affluence of spiritual blessings, which the good*
ftesg of God ever yet permitted any people tO' attain, omos
Such must be the end of our blind] our selfish^- our God
less policy,' if we change it not while ypt'We may-^i^whileye't
'^'the Lord'wMiteth tOibe gracious'." d «£ jBeonsioa bna eiiB
^> If ever the dtity of a nation Was plain andMriafeoaalte**
il «ver the eonnexiW'Of its ssity with nts HiflyiisaraSf in
scribed in characters of light^ourSilisi now thH*Ha^e.9J'We
must evangelize the heathen of our own land — we must
carry to them the Word of Life — must give them fears apd
E 2

52
hopes .abovethe low and guiltyscenes, in, which their souls
are now left to grovel andto.peris.h — we mustielevate theia/
to, a sense of their high, destiny, as beings. |brlimmDrtality-^,r
we must supply them with the appointed .jninistemuan^l
means of grace, to make that immortality, by God's mercy,
an immortality of bliss.* . i,/ . l; . i
If facts were necessary to estahlishso plain a truth» as the-
connexion pf the public safety with, sound religion jn the
people, those facts are, abundantly supplied by the, ,,^^peja7 ;
ence of the Autumn of 1842. During the frightful dia-
turh.ances;, of the manufacturing districts at that season,
agitation was supcessful, or unsucci?s^f|il, hi nearly exact. ;
proportion tp the success, or failur e,, of previous, exertions tP
bring each place within the influences of the Church. It ia
statpd, and without contradiction, th^-t amongst the rioters, .
^ It is most gratifying to witness the example' ^ven to all employers of
labour,, on a large scale, by the Directors of the Bikkenhbad Dock Cpjsj-
PANT. Feeling the responsibility imposed'on theln by their relation to their work
men, they are erecting a town, of wihich (b§ its^fiiture splendour what it may
— eyen should it rival t;he great enjporium of England on the opposite side of
the Mersey — still) the highest distinction ¦will ever be, that, even at its 'first
foundation, provision is made— not onjy.fta- all the acsOBunodationswhichi art
and science ca,n supply to ensure the clea,nliuess, comfqrt, ,^fety, and healthj-
fulness, in an unexampled degi-ee, of the numerous workmen o^ that great
establishment+^but also for their spiritual good. In the centre ofthe tovruj
and for the especial b^neflt ofthe workmen,, a cAjjrfl'i is now, erecting, capable.
of receiving 1000 adult worshippers ; atioiisejor ihe clergyman, and a school
for 500 children." .-¦--.>! '.'.ill: ' ..rtli;, ,;j;.' '.,' ,!.-.<
If ,a, 'Watt, ani^ a^ A^^'wjigjit, i^ye. eapif^^e. ^titwde pjf tlieir ,ep|iH}try by
improving the machinery of its manufactures, what are the deservings of
thosSi taen who have thus ^fecdgnized for themselves, and; by their noble
example, have enforced on otlijere;, the duly pfh jch they all, cyyrp, to. ^^p son/^ p^ ,
those whom they ca^l into existence, to enrich them by the labour of theiv
bodies f ' Had the saihe Christian love'and foresight animated the founders
of our manufacturing greatness,, how different would now be the, prospects of .
Kngl^and ! Is it, too l^te for their successors, in however small measure, to
supply the fatal deficiency? "' '' ''"''''_ "^'IJ'"- ^-'i/r,.-..,,.', . i......

53-
was found no one Churchman in, fellowship with his Church.
Affid' the especial hostility of the insurgents to the Clergy,
and the. Church, proved that they knew that Church to be
tlfe> surest support of order and government, and the most
powerful opponent of their rebellious principles.
These facts forced themselves upon the attention of our
rulCrsji-and something, in consequence, was done by legisla
tion; but in the way in which modern legislation is ever
wont to proceed in what regards religion. Unlike the " man
after God's own heart," a British minister of these days is
sure always to seek, first, how the nation may "offer unto
the Lord our God of that which doth cost it nothing."
. Accordingly, in the present instance, the state thought
fit' to commence the discharge of its first and highest'duty to
th6 millions whom it has- called into being for its bwnmoney-
seQ]iing. purposes, by looking about, for some existing fund,
on which it might throw the expense of the work. And it
found one. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were enabled
by .Act of Parliament to resort to the bankrupt expedient of
an|lcipating the fq.,ture means of efiecting their p-wn special
objects, in order that they may endow ministers of' 200
districts, where there is now no church — every district coh-',
taining not fewer than 2000 souls, most of them nearly
double, and many of them more than double that number.
As 200 districts will not suffice, there being at least, 100
others which equally demand attention, the funds of the
commissioners, must be mortgaged. still deeper. The stipend
to every one of these mmisters will be 150?. per annum, but
without anyprpvisipji for a house ; .apil the full ,am,ount of
this' munificent reward of the services of a Christiam.' minister
to several thousand'sbuls, is not to be paid, ^1).' a, church

^aU have been .^tifipli^ by the JrokifataidyfiSisiitldJjIi^
those; who have suflScient zeaUfors the ^iwwtei^fjfi^Vt
ahd love for the! souls of imeHi,ito!ta,kfe4h^iebal'gloispQJf
them. ' .;;j-i,;,? •>¦ .<isa I fi^^¦\'i^^•K
Meanwhile, the State has contributed absodiatel^'Biotlfegtr
It has, however, conferred the power of naming; t&lMMyefisy
in the flrsti instance, on the Crowu^— a BieasuiWJtiii aiife^fi
highly desirable ;: it is only tobe lamented,',. that ^aylsarijealr
did not acquire a clearer right to disposei of the piatefaiagfey
by'first making a national endowment. ;"'^- . ¦ : w ,g9tjff8B9m
In contemplating this recent triumph -jof theUcoifisi^s
principle^ in supplying cheap religion in rJE^laaflp'riti is
impossible to forget the still more recent tMHtaapfaeof aldi%
ferent principle in dealing with similar mattersLe]sawhe^«t
Our ears are even now ringing with loud and etoqueatf
complaints, from: the highest quarters, of the miserable. pa»e
simony of former parliaments, and fiMsmer ministers,. inrftbBiE
treatment of the Royal ofilcdl^gem of Maynopth-^we ar©
assured, that it was the ^tin^ and: niggaardly, spi^l^jin^^^-wlachi
l^t grants ; to thatcSemiBiary were tdoled out, .thafeoaulgdS&ll
theiti$rtffltl^^ and (iiiQipalljyjP'Whiph tofe been laugbb/a99t
fed within it. Be, it so;, but, at- least, letufc profit hgrsflsB
warning; in what concerns us; nearer 'kdta&ileibius'WSwaiiffi?^
lest a far more powerful enemy than s^y we have- had*
to encounter across St. George's Channel, ,.lse,iraisedifdiip
against us by our O'wn unthrifty parsimsSny in our mu
land. • ;.-,jrj„. ., .,' - , ,yi, xisn:^ j':j';ob,& -^jjjisiito 9'ma..j!.i.
After, all, however, if, in the manner in which this case
has been hitherto met, their§:,js much to.dishe.arten, thgsfij^
something also to tiheer and encourage: n*:' It is gomethin^,^
that Parliament, has recognise4thi3.P^§tienp^ S^^.thij^yjife

55
Iheai^asKteMtfrpracfciealj^vi],,! will be bold to say, which ftnjf
?^iiiai,lprQsfegi9«»g to be-iai Christian nation, has^ever yet had
QKcasioHB-telacknpwledge, to deplore, and to redress.^ To
redress, I say, for redress it we may, and, if we may, we
i^atlionTfl' refuse to do so, would be to refuse before Ihe
¦parMsta^ybefore God, to discharge an acknowledged duty
dfc)^emiost:( sacred, -and, even on worldly grounds, of ithe
mestiiBaperioms kind. Let us not doubt, thatithe minister
¦^o-jdeyi^diLthe measure will soon follow it up with other
measures, which shall be necessary to give to this its full
^ect. He has pledged himself to do so. "If,"'saidhe,
in introducing his Bill into Parliament, " If the amount of
gbod done by the partial application . of the means at our
d3q)0sal should completely and convincingly prove, as I
have no doubt it will, the advantages, religious," moral, and
social, to bei derived from the increase of this pastoral care
andisupeaantend'ence, then I do entertain a confident antici
pation, ''that! Parliament maybe induced ito grant further aid
jnorder to 'extendi tiiege advantages."
^bSiich'was the* declaration of the first minister of the
Crown^ on introducing' 'iire measure ; in language less
ardent than, doubtless, would ' have accorded with the
wurmth of his ownjfeeling,*'and with the depth of his; own
conviction, but which will gladly assume a higher and a
Hjobler tone, when he is'bheered by the declared sympathy
ofthe nation. .. He will npt wait tUl the advantages of the
measure already adopted shall be, as he suggests, " cbra-
'** %ir^fe)bert i*eei has given'a'noble proof of tiie sincerity ofthis feeling,
}Sf pterafig 5000/; at the disposal df the Ecclesiastical Cdinmissionei-Si 'tdwaii^
tlj§,<!05tpffrecgngjChu|9he5,in,.{h,^, newly assignedrdis^ljct^i^w^tM
of^giand-wirii which he is ?pe9iaPy connected. Tl>e Bishop of Gkucester
saailStt^ la7giv¥ii%06S%' them for thelike pft^bs^rsom^^'i-S * J6rt.

56
pletely proved :"'' for' Such results milst^'by'their d'tlri'hsi.ture,
be slow. He, and the generation in which he' KVM,"vill
have gone to our account; before that tinie shatf fuliy fe6me.
Meanwhile, the danger tarrieth not ; it is advanciifg'Viih a
giant's stride, and' can be stayed by nothing but Christian
legislation and Christian zeal — ^by zeal firm in fRith ' and
strong in hope, drawing down the 'blessilig ; of Him who
alone can still the raging of the sea, and' the mEldneSs"of the
people. Be it our care; to assist in this righteous work,' by
diligently and zealously performing = our part — by seeking
to avail ourselves of the means which Will be afforded to
our own diocese, in the first instance, and then extending
our aid to those masses of our countrymen, -flrho are suffering
under a. dearth of spiritual privileges, of which we, happily,
have no example.
In ;this diocese, five districts have been already as
signed, twenty-one more are resolved upon, and six others
will most probably soon follow. Of these thirty-two, no
more than eleven are required in Devonshire; and ten of
these, for the great mass of human beings, who are crowded
together in the contiguous parishes of Plymouth, Stone-
house, and Stoke Damerel. The remaining one, in Barn
staple, needs no aid, the funds for its Church being nearly
provided. .Now, let us thankfully' remember how singular ii the
blessing, which this great county enjoys. While absolute
heathenism, and worse than heathenism — intense hatred of
the Christian faith — is raging in many parts of England— in
one section of Devonshire only, and that at its extreriiity, is
felt (thank God ! it is felt ; for the deadliest symptom is.

57
.when, the want .exists and is not felt ; ' but iAere; both exists
,^nd is felt, nfiSh peculiar severity) the most grievous of all
wants — the want of . an adequate supply of the ministry of
iGrgd's ,)yor|d and- Sacraments.. Throughout tbe, rest of
,,D,ey)On,. the destitution which afflicts so rlarge a part of our
common country, debasing the morals of the people, and
.)jhreateniiig,,the .safety, of the State, is almost unknown.
Wh^t.is.the conclusion, which,'if we arcChristians, we ihall
draw frpm this consideration? Is it, that we may sit down
powtented -with our own privileges, and leave others to
relieve their necessities, as they may? Not so, if we
have indeed profited by these privileges^— if " the Word
preached " has been to us anything better than an empty
sound. " Bear ye> one another's burthen, and so fulfil the law
of Christ." " God hath tempered the body together" " that
the members should have the same care one for another ;
and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with
it." "Npw ye are the body of Christ, and members in
particular," (1 Cor., xii, 24^27). Are these among the
truths which we, have learned? If they are, let us prove
that we,, have learned them, by carrying them out in
action. , , , ;
..The necessities of, the three parishes which I have
named, must be considered as the, necessities of the ^ whole
county. ¦'
I am aware, that, it may and will be said;' that %ese
parishes ought to supply their own wants; but to this I have
one short, answer, it is simply impossible. Let, me state the
particulars, of one of them.
The parish, of Stoke Damerel contains a population ' of
34 000 souls. ; it may , be considered as divided into two

58
parts — the part which lies within the trenches, known as
" Devonport," and that which lies without the trenches,
known as "Stoke" and "Morice Town."
The population of Devonport amounts to not less than
20,000 ; and here, exclusive of the Dockyard Chapel (which
is within the yard, and built for the use of that establish
ment), there is no building whatever of the character of a
Church, except two Chapels, in which there is not one
single free seat out of the aisles. In this portion of the
parish, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have formed four
districts, including not fewer than 14,000 inhabitants.
In the part without the trenches, that is, Stoke and
Morice Town, and certain outlying portions of the parish,
there are 14,000 persons.
The parish Church is situated at one extremity of this
part. It is of the same dimensions (now, indeed, much dila
pidated) as when it received all the inhabitants of the parish,
being then, a century and a half ago, purely agricultural.
It may contain 800 persons.
In the difflculty of obtaining a Church-rate, recourse has
been had to the illegal expedient of letting all the good
pews, to defray the absolutely necessary repairs of the build
ing. The result is, that, including a gallery chiefly-occupied
by school children, there are about 300 free seats, as well
as those in the aisles.
Besides the parish Church, there has been recently com
pleted a new Church, capable of receiving nearly 1200
persons, 600 of the seats being free — ^there are, therefore,
less than 1000 free seats for 14,000 persons.
So much for the wants ; — now for their supply.
Of the inhabitants of the whole parish, the larger portion

59
of the higher order are retired officers of the army or navy,
or the widows and orphan families of such officers, living on
incomes which admit not of considerable contributions.
But that in such a cause " to their power, yea, and beyond
their power, they are willing of themselves," experience of
what they have already done sufficiently demonstrates. It
is not for me to state (what, however, I have been assured of
by a most trustworthy informant) how small, how incredibly
small, is the number, out of all the four and thirty thousand
who dwell in this parish, of those who would elsewhere be
classed among the very moderately opulent. Yet when I
add that the new Church, of which I have spoken, has been
erected, mainly, from the contributions of such a population
(there is indeed a large debt remaining), you will need no
proof of what I have just now said, that to require them to
supply the necessary funds for what is further wanted, would
be to require that which is simply impossible.
The parts of Plymouth and Stonehouse, in which the other
districts are to be assigned, are scarcely less unequal to the
charge. They may hope for aid from the wealthier inha
bitants of the town at large ; — ^but when I state that one large
Church has recently been erected, and another is now
erecting, by voluntary contribution, adding also (as I may,
I hope, without indelicacy or offence), that the wealthy
inhabitants of Plymouth are not a numerous class, you will,
I trust, admit that I do not say without sufficient reason,
that the necessities ofthis section of the county ought to be
regarded as the necessities of the county at large.
Now, for the ten districts assigned, or about to be assigned,
ten churches must be supplied, — of ample dimensions,, for they
are, every one of them, required for several thousands of
F 2

60
our Christian brethren ; — of decent decoration, for every one
of them will be a House of God. Less than 40,000?. will
not satisfy the demand. Be it my privilege (when thus
calhng upon others, as the duty of my place requires), be it
my own privilege, here to offer one-fortieth part, and may
God, of his mercy, accept the offering !
To you, my Rev. brethren, I venture to address the word
of entreaty, that you will conjure your people to regard the
work, as one which must have their common support. Let
them givOj as an offering to God, with his Church, and at
his holy table, those who can be brought to feel the value of
the privilege to oflPer imto God of his own ; or, if they
object to such a mode of giving, let them adopt some other
— only let them give-. Let there be, in every parish, some
instituted fund for the supply of the spiritual wants, first, of
our own county, then of England at large. If this be
done, here and elsewhere^ in the fear and love of God, tiien
in His mercy we will trust, that " God may yet be intreated
for the land, and the plague be stayed."

THE END.

i.oNr,ON; William cl6wes and sons, stamtorI) strket.

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