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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmAs en commen9ant par la premiAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminent par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — »• signifie "A SUIVRE". le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff«rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciich*, il est film* A partir de I'angle suptrieur gauche, de qauche A droite, et de heut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. Y errata id to It 16 pelure, pon d n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 BRIEF REASONS FOE LEAVING THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT, BY I. D O D S ON, A. M., (Lately Vicar of Cocker ham, Lancashire.) *Buy the Truth, and sell it not." — Prov. xxii. 23. ' Let God be true, but every man a liar." — Rom. hi. 4. SECOND EDITION. «ti TORONTO : PRINTED AT THE EXAMINER OFFICE, KING STREET EAST. KDOOCZLIX. ■10 DEDICATED By the Publisher, but without permission, to John Stracban, who claims to himself the unscriptural and anti- Christian designation of ** The Right Kev. Father in God, John, Lord Bishop of Toronto*'; and who, although the officer of a wealthy community, is a compulsory pensioner on the public chest to the extent of $6000 per annum. *' 1, the Lord, bve judgment -, I hate robbery for burnt offer ing.'*—/«r lips—and^ in some instances, to confirm with an oath, — certain propositions, which I did not then perceive to be, but which I do now perceive to be, indefensible and untenable. It was only through making those subscriptions, that I obtained admission into the orders and benefices of the EstubUshed Church. And it is only through my continued adherence to those subscriptions, through the daily affirma- tion of their truth (implied by, and justly inferred from, my continuance in the Established ministry,) that I am allowed to retain my orders and emoluments. Now the subscriptions referred to, and the propositions involved in ihein, L believe to be false. Those subscriptions involve the affirmation, of what, I believe, cannot with truth be affirmed. Take, for example, the three articles of the thirty-sixth canon. The thirty-sixth canon provides, that " no person shall be received into the ministry, nor admitted to a living, except he shall first subscribe to these three articles following : " 1st. " That the Queen's Majesty, under God, is the only supreme governor of this realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal." Slid. " That the book of Common Prayer and of ordering of bishops, priests, and deacons, contains in it nothing contrary to the Word of God." 3rd. " That every one of the thirty-nine Articles is agreeable to the Word of God." The subscription to the above three articles is directed to be in the following form of words:—" I, N. N., do willingly and ex animo^ sub- scribe to these three articles above mentioned, and to all things that are contained in them." " Ilevolters after subscription," are directed to be "suspended, excommunicated, and finally deposed from their ministry." (Canon 38.) Now those three articles, along with all other clergymen, I have subscribed and affirmed. But I believe them to be false. I believe llio first to be fahe. 1 believe it to be false, that the Queen is, by right, uiiu according to God*s word and will, " the only supreme governor, under God, in all spiritual and ecclesiastical things and causes" within her dominions. On the contrary, I believe that in some things and causes, e. g. in the spiritual and internal affairs of Christian churches, the Queen has no right whatever to interfere. T believe that, in suck " things" the church itself is tlie sole appointed ruler and judge, under Christ. And I, therefore, unhesitatingly deny the truth of that article i, canon 36, so far as it attributes to the Queen that supremacy, which it rightfully denies to the Pope. Then, ^s regards the second article of that canon, though far from objecting to the use of the Prayer-Book, I utterly deny, that "the book ot Common Prayer, and of the ordering of bishops, jpriests and deacons, contains in it nothing contrary to the Word of God.'' I believe for instance, that the rubric, or note at the end of the baptismal office* 6 BRIEF REASONS POR LEAVING *' It if Mrtain, by God'a word, that children which are baptized, dying befpre they commit actnal lin, are undoubtedly saved." I believe that thli it quite contrary to the Word of God. I believe that it contains by neceeiary Implication, a moat momentous untruth ; viz. that infants being baptized, are, as a matter of course, regenerated. Thifl false doctrine cannot, I believe, be separated from that rubric, by the most subtle in* genuity. Ingenious handling may, no doubt, make something of the other parts oT tho baptismal office in a sense opposed to the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. But hero tho moKt refined speciaNpleading must ever be at fault. The doctiine of BnptJHmal Regeneration is ine- vitably and inextricably involved in this sentence. And, therefore, seO' ing that I utterly reject that doctrine, as untjcriptural and pernicious, I must equally reject the assertion that the Prayer-book, which contains it, '• conitiina nothing that is contrary to tho Word of God." I also deny the scriptural character of the form of Absolution contained in the office for Visitation of the Sick. I believe that it would bo altogether an un- scriptural assumption, and a downright imposture, should any clergyman presume to pronounce these words to a fellow sinner, " By Christ's authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins!" And again, i believe it to be awful profuneness, that any bishop or archbishop should use any such language as that, which U, by the Book of Common Prayer, prescribed to be used by them in ordering priests, nnd in consecrat* ing bishops; to the priest, humbly kneeling, "Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands." To the bishop, also kneeling, " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a bishop in tho Church of God, nolo committed unto theeby the imposition of our hands— and remember that thou stir up the grace of God, ichich is given thee by this imposition of our hands. ^^ I consider it to be just blasphemy, that any bishop should be made to speak, as if he had the power of conferring the third person of the Godhead, by the imposition of his hands; or, as if tho Holy Ghost were ordinarily conferred, upon occasion of, or in connex- ion with, any such act. Such, briefly, is my judgment of some things in the book of Common Prayer; whereas, my continued conformity would be a daily testimony to the truth of that subscription, by which I declared, that that book " contains nothing contrary to the Word of God." And then, with regard to the third article of (he thirty-sixth canon, by which I have asserted " every" and all of the thirty-nine articles to be ** agreeable to the Word of God," though valuing those articles, in the main, very highly, I cannot but remember (to mention no other cases,) that the twenty-sixth article asserts, that "evil ministers" "do ni|inister by Christ's commission and authority;" a statement which I hold to be not " agreeable to the Word of God :" and that the thirty-sixth article asserts, that " the Book of Consecration of Bishops, &c., has nothing in it, which is of itself superstitious and ungodly;" which I also deny: and fartiier, that articles, numbers twenty-five and twenty-seven, taken in connexion, involve the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, as Mr. Noel has shown; which articles, therefore, so far, I also deny. All the three ■IrticlM then of thO thirty-siith canon I believe to contain false propositions. THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 7 of an important character. And yet, in tubicibinc them, I affirmed their abiolate truth : and only by that affirmation did I obtain, and ontV by my aupposed continued adherence to it do I now retain my ordera ami benefice. Having then seen the falsehood of those subiicriptions, ihall I continue to affirm them? shall I consent to retain my ministry on these terms? shall I maintain myself in my position by the virtual daily ratifi- cation of a subscriptiun now seen to have been made in error? shall I purchase my orders nnd my benefice by a daily acted falsehood'? I think then, that I am jtistified, in assigning the untenableness of my subscriptions, as my first and foremost reason for secession, from at least the ministry of the Established Church. With my views of the matter of the subscriptioni, continuance m that minisitry in impossible. Not that I must needs have quarrelled with the Established Church, because its Prayer-book contained a few blemishes ; no ! it is tho solemn afiirmation of the scripturol character of those blemishes, which I am required to give every day of my life, it is this, that Heel to be an intolerable burden; this that makes aecession inevitable : / would not be a living lie ! This reason for secession is "instar omnium:" no other is needed. This alone would sufHce. This alone constitutes a prohibition, clear, decisive, and imperative, to remain where I am a single day longer. The same remarks will apply to must of the other subscriptions. I pass on, therefore, to Reasoit n. Which is this, that my views and convictions are inereas- inghj at variance with the system of the Establishment : a reason which apniitis to continuance not merely in its ministry, but in its communion. VVhether iii the officers, or the private members, of any society, loyalty to the system and constitution of that society is demanded. But I cannot be loyal to the Established system. I dislike it. The more I see of it and reflect upon it, the more I find myself ill-affected to many of its main parts. Of its prelatical episcopacy, of its State-supremacyandf government, of its patronage, of its surrender of all pretensions to any exercise of a scriptural discipline over its members, of its tyrannical discipline over its ministers, I can truly say, that in iny heart I renounce them all. I believe those, and other principles of the Establishment, to be essentialy unecrip- tural and anti christian ; and, as such, necessarily most hurtful to the life and spirituality of the Christians connected with them; and a fatal obstruction to the success of religion in the world. I do not vindicate these views at present, but I ask any honest man, how, entertaining them, be they right or wrong, can I belong to the Established system ? Can I maintain a position, in which my actions and my feelings must ever be at variance? Can I outwardly approve and sanction, what I inwardly condemn? Shall I renounce my own judgment? or shall I retain my judgment, and still outwardly cleave to the Establishment, whilst inwardly reprobating it? No ! a dutiful dissenter, with my views, I may be; but a dutiful churchman I can never be. We cannot act dutifully to a system that we condemn, except bjr quitting and openly denouncmg it. We may wear its livery, and eat its bread, but we must needs be betraying it. We cannot defend it against its assailants. We mast abandon it at the 3 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING dnt asiault. And bo, from time to tim«, we ihall be giving most yut oooatiion, to conrorming tractnriani and otheri, tu hold us up, at being, like themielvea. in8incere hypocritea, in allying ourielvei with a lyatem, only (o wound and betray it. But further, as I cunnoi defend the system, so neither can I teork in harmony with it. I have oAen been made to feel this painfully. In baptizing children, in receiving communicants at the Lord's table, in burying the dcnd, and in rejecting or presenting candidates for confirma* tion, I have often been sensible ol painful clashings between my duty as a minister of the Establishment, and my duty as a minister of Christ. [ may indeed, at times, have satisfied myself that any seeming discrepancy between the two was rather apparent than real ; that, if the two systems used a diflferent language, they meant the same thing ; and that, in endeavouring to discharge my duty to Christ, I should always be most nftcctually rendering that which I owed to the Establishment. But then, again, at other limes, and far too often for my comfort, it has seemed to me that to adopt a subtle and far-fetched interpretation of the Formularies, leaving the sense which they carry upon the face of them, was a course hardly reconcilable with 8truight>forward dealing: whilst I could not but perceive that, however such an interpretation might be sustained by argument, it was utterly discredited by the all but universal practice of the clergy ; whether seen in the charges of bishops ; in the mode of conducting confirmations; in the tone of the pulpits; or in the plainly expressed judgment of those around me, (evangelical not less than others) that, in attempting some faint shadow of a return to right practice, in denying the immemorial plea, that a diligent, not to say noHiinal, attendance upon christian instruction confers the right to christian ordinances, I was violating the church's rules, and undermining her interests. In a word I am satisfied that there does exist a serious discrepancy between the two systems, that of the Gospel and that of the Establishment; so that if I will faithfully serve the one, I cannot act in good faith hy the other. But deliberately and systematically to betray the rules of Christ is surely what we may not do : whilst deliberately and systematically, however, surrep- titiously, to betray the rules of the Establishment, wliilst professing to adopt them, is what, upon reflection, one would almost equally shrink from. Such a course could ill be reconciled with common ideas of honesty. What then is to be done? Mow escape from the dilemma? Clearly only one course is open; quit an Establishment which, whilst you remain in it, you can neither condemn nor defend — whose rules you can neither observe nor break, with a safe conscience. Better go out and be an enemy, than stay in and be a traitor. Reason III. My third reason for secession is, that I believe many of the fundamental principles of the Establishment to be ujiscriptural and mischievous. Some v'ill maintain, that this, even if true, is no reason for secession. They will say, that nothing but doctrinal corruption can justify secession. But why not? What is the great harm of secession? Suession is not schism. Th£ Establishmknt is not the Church. In leaving the Establisbment, we do not leftve the Charch. The Cbarcb in England Eitablishi down sou closer th( heart and ment. them in c renouncii ediy, I m in it. B them? same Lot —as man may on t be blame to regard such froi approach as this — £ even sue where is can justif absurd, s Such asc may be If^ one sectiu such an < based up see the j ministry i Church II it is no It light, to I in which separate.^ that priiu up his CI its prospi and to " are indee aiiestionr lought t do so to I importan principle up Chris out of th reokonin •traightfi THE EN0LI8H ESTABLISHMENT. 9 England if the body of ChrUt'i people in England. But, in quitting the Eitablithment, I do not lepnrate from them ; but, rather am throwing down some barriers which separnte me from mnny of them ; and drawing cloaer the bonds which unite me to them. Nor do I even separate, m heart and spirit, from that portion of the Church which is in the Establish- ment. I still love that Heciiou of my fellow christians. I do indeed leave them in one point: I take, as I conceive, a step in advance of themi in renouncing certain practical uviU, to wiiich they adhere. And, undoubt- edly, 1 mny lament un«l condemn tlwfir conduct in this, if they persevere in it. Diit will luve, thercfure, bo lost? Shall I nut still feel at one with them 7 Unduubtedly. I leuve the Eatablis^hinent. But I have still the same Lord,— the same faith, — the snme spiritual baptism, — the same God, —as inaiiy who remain iii the Kstublishuiont. And, therefore, though I may on one point witliHtatid thetn to tho face, and say that they are to be blunied, I t*hall still rej^ard thetn as brethern (however they may choose to regard me), and shall be ready to serve them, and shall neither repel such from my cuiunninion table, nor shrink, upon occasion, from approaching theirt*. Now, what great harm is there in such a separation as this — a separation merely in some external matters 7 I do not say thut even such a separation is desirable, on its own account. But I ask, where is the great hiirtu of it? What harm is there in it, so that nothing can justify it, short of a total apostacy, like that of Kome? The idea is absurd, and most unscriptural. The Establishment is not the Church. Such a separation, iherel'orc, is not necessarily schism. The Establishment may bclrjt, in order to avoid any evilfrreater than that of pussin g over from one section of ChrisVs Church to another section of the same Church. And such an evii may doubtless be found in the fact, that the Establishment is based upon unsciiptural and noxious principles. For example, if we see the govern*nent of the Establishment corrupt and corrupting; its ministry seculurized; its disci[)line dissolved ; and in its comnmnion the Church and the world systematically blended together; we feel then, that it is no longer any matter of doubtful debate, but a duty, clear us the light, to protest loudly and en'i*ctually against these evils, in the only way in which it can be done — by " cowing out from among them, and being separate.^* We feel called to do this — believing that truth is all important ; tli&t principles, not men, are the grand instruments, by which Christ builds up his Church; and, therefore, the grand means, by which we must seek its prosperity ; believing it is our duly to " buy the truth," at every cost, and to " sell it not," for any consideration whatever. Sound principles are indeed too precious, too essential, to be foregone, for the sake of any questionable advantages whatever, which their abandonment might be thought to promise. Such a policy may perhaps promise fair, aad it will do so to those who place an overweening value upon their own individual importance; but it never did, and never will answer. What is bad in principle, can never be expedient; will never be useful ; will never build up Christ's Church; but will rather be found an obstruction, till it be got out of the way. And if it be persisted in, sooner or later the day of reckoning will come, and the fruits of every such deviation from tho ■traightfurward path, will have to be painfully and bitterly gathered io. ^(■^u^iy&i 10 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING a harvest ofsorrow and disappointinent, (hat will be found far to ou(bal4 aAce all its promised but imaginary advantages. Nor does the objection inove us, that in seceding from the Establishment, we shall be leaving our places to the Tractariuns ; and shall soon see them working the Establish- ment to their own advantage, and the deodiv wounding of the cause of truth. If it be so, we cannot help it. We may not " do evil, that good may come." We will not do wrong, to prevent others from doing it. The place is too strait for us. If the Tractariatis do not find it so, they can stay. We cannot. Not indeed that we admit that the Establishment belongs of right to them, any more than to us. The Establishment is not theirs, any more than ours. If we are not at home in it, neither are they. If too many of its practices and principles favour them — its noctriual articles, being in the main Protestant, are against them. This, the honest Tractarians have confessed ; and, aH in duty bound, have become Papists. And so it is: TractarianiS and Evangelical men must alike quit the Establishment, if true to their convictions ; the former, because it is too Protestant, the latter, because it is too Popish. The fact is well known, that our Reformers were Dissenters, from much of the language, which they were led to adopt; and from many of the principles, which they were compelled to sanction. They were great and good men, sincere Protestants, and certainly no Tractarians. Still, whether through fear and secular compulsion, or through human fallibility, they erred. They erred in aiming at too much, attempting what was impracticable, a combination of light and darkness, a comprehension of Protestants and Papists ill one conimuniun. And the result has been what is usual, in such cases of compromise. Principle has been lost, and the good sought by questionahle means has not been gained. Each party has been offended, and neither propitiated. Instead of gaining both, tho Establishment has lost both. The Papists, on the one hand, and the Puritans, Nonconformists, and Dissenters, on the other, renounced the system long ago. And tho same process still continues. Decided men, (call them, if you will, extreme men,) the sincere, fearless, less calculating advocates, whether of truth or error, are still repelled: honest Tractarians are seen following the Papists, and evangelical men from within the Establishment are from time to time joining Dissenters out of it. And so it ought to be, and so it will be, at least as regards the latter, more and more, as principles are more examined, and truth more sought out. If many of the clergy do not quit the Establishment, many of the laity will. If the clergy do not at once quit their places, fewer of the rightminded will step forward, to fill the places which time empties. And then, grant* ing that Tractarians or Papists will flock in to supply the vacancies, what will be the consequence ? Simply this, that the nation will be daily more and mure identified with dissent, and will be advancing in life and strength ; whilst the Establishment will be undergoing an evaporating Ordeal, exhausting its vitality, until, become a mere residuum of Popery and formality, and its unscriptural character and antagonism to the truth being more and more manifested, it will at length fall an easy prey, in some hour of national awakening or excitement, to one or all of those many foet, instigated by love of lucre, or hatred of oppremion, or zeal for truth, whom iti therefore, places in E Uiat their I rep many of tl and misch first to SOI of its relat 1. Establishu regard as The< episcopac, is unscrip appeal to i consequer but in Chi we do ind traordinar have yet i Timothy, pre-emine in this sen be,) were epistles Jo apostles h office conf attested b) it. And f were cons presbyters of their cu the holder commissin Spirit, foi teachers, i witnesses^ or ordinar extraordiii apostles o pre-emine to. In oti all true mi ceaded by Nor That thosi TRB ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 11 whom itf wealth or its corruptions will have arrayed against it. And, therefore, let it be so, that Tractarians and High Churchmen will fill our placed in the Establishment ; we believe that its days are numbered, and tliat their adhesion will only hasten its downfall, I repeat it then, that my third reason for secession is, that I believe many of the fundamental principles of the Establishment to be unscriptural and mischievous. And I now proceed toslTow that they are so: referring first to some of the principles of its internal economy, and then to those of its relation to the State. 1. Amongst the principles upon which the internal economy of the Establishment is based is ila prelacy : an institution, which I cannot but regard asalike unscriptural and injurious. The episcopacy, as it is called, of the Establishment, is not merely an episcopacy or oversight, which might be scriptural; bul a p7'elacy, which is unscriptural. In the Old Testament it is needless to seek for it. The appeal to the Levitical hierarchy, which wns a saciijicial institution, and consequently has its counterpart, not in Ihe officers oi' the Church of Christ, bulm Christ himself, is altogether unmeaning. In the New Testament we do indeed find a considerable variety ofcluirch officers, ordinary and ex- traordinary; but where bishops,in the sense ofprelates, are to be found, we have yet to learn. Bishops, as mentioned by St. Paul to Titus and, Timothy, were certuinly not prelates, (persons possessing power or pre-eminence over their lii.;Jhern,) but simply presbyters or elders. And in this sense, doubtless, ap»£>tles (whose succes.sors our prelates assume to be,) were bishops, i. e., they were presbyters or elders. (See 2 and 3 epistles John, and 1 Peter v. 1.) But, farther, there is no doubt that the apostles had also an extraordinary office distinct from the eldership ; an otHce conferred upon them by special appointment of Christ himself, and attested by the mirnculous gifts and powers exercised in connexion with it. And doubtless their powers and pre'etninence, as holding this office, were considerable, far exceeding those which they possessed as ordinary presbyters. But I believe, and am satisfied, that apostles, and some others of their contemporaries, had those powers conferred upon them, not as the holders of a standing ministry, but as men divinely called, in.^pired and commissioned, personally by Christ, or miraculously and visibly by His Spirit, for a special work ; to be the inspired and infallible founders, teachers, and rulers of His Church, having been, for the most part, eye witnessess of His death and resurrection. So that, whilst, as presbyters or ordinary ministers, they stood on a parity with the rest, and had no extraordinary powers or pre-eminence to transmit to their success; as apostles or special and extraordinary ministers, having such power and pre-eminence, they had, and could have, no successors to transmit them to. In other WGrd.<), aaordinary ministers, the apostles are succeeded by tUl true ministers of the Gospel ; as extraordinary ministers, they are suc- ceeded by none. Nor do the ** angels" of the Asiatic Chnrches help the argnment. That those "angels" atTord con ntenance to prelacy, that they were any 12 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING thing more than ordinary pastors of the Churches, has been freely assumed, but without the shadow of froof from scripture. The " angel" might mean an individual presbyter ; or it might mean the body of presbyters, those of all the churches of one city or district, who might occasionally assemble for consultation ; or it might mean the ruling body of one church, including laity as well as ministers; or the ruling bodies of several churches, whether meeting in council or not ; but there is not the smallest necessity for supposing, that it meant an individual minister, possessing pre-emin- ence, and exercising authority over hisbrethern. In (act, far from the lordly prelacy, which obtains amongst ns. being discoverable in this passage, there caimot clearly be seen in it even that moderate episcopacy, for which some contend, as apostolical and scriptural, an elder presiding over brethern, primus inter pares. Nor are the apostolical instructions to Timothy and Titus more to the purpose. I have never yet been able to discover a single instruction, in any one of those oft-qnoted epistles, which Paul might not have addressed to the congregational missionary, John Williams, on the occasion of bis second visit to the South Sea islands, with the most perfect propriety; and in entire consistency with that missionary'' s own views oj church government, and with his ojfice as a simple elder in the church. But if the New Testament contains little, either in the way of precept or example, in favour of prelacy, it contains much, very much, of an opposite tendency. Christian 'ninistersare expressly taught, that, though *♦ the princes of the Gentiles exorcise lordship," it must not be so amongst them. Christian ministers must never be called " Rabbi," because one is their Master, even Christ. We read of" /lAe chief shepherd," i. e. of one not of many, such. Whilst Peter (designating himself an elder, though an apostle,) expressly warns his co-presbyters, against aspiring to be '* lords over God's heritage." We are, indeed, told of one who affected prelacy in the apostle's times ; but the notice bestowed npon him is far from being favourable to any such pretensions; '*Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence among them, receiveth us not; wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words." Nay, it would seem to be matter for our serious consideration, whether this very institution of prelacy is not formally denounced by St. Paul, 2 Thess. ii., as that feature of the great •' mystery of iniquity," which was even then beginning to be manifested, ver. 7. Prelacy, pre-eminence in the Christian ministry, was certainly then "already working" in the Christian church ; or so many cautions against it would nolhave been elicited. Andiiisequallycertain,that that feature soon grew and increased exceedingly, until it became fully developed in " ihe man of sin," *< who opposeth and exalteth himself asamst all that is called God, or that is worshipped : and that, as it marked the rise, progress and completion of the Romish apostacy, so it has both been a distinguishing mark of that apostacy, in its whole subsequent course, and has been the chief nnne tliatall: w evidenced i in Protesta only towar ana adoptii persecutioi their comri rising spirit horn of ''tl But ho as used in lordship ovi and one mi pernicious numerous % Its of souls, tl appointing party to an whilst the p as passive another prii which I hes No one can at all studi otherwise tl 3. Til so readily a pernicious i as well as ministers ii maintain th starving am as it does, t( of Christian tation of dis 4. Bu Establishme And fii one of the Establishme It is subject! State, that i to appoint t which regul THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 13 ssnmed, " might isbyters, isionally I church, hurches, lecessHy re-emiu- 18. being sven that sriptural, more to tructioi), [lot have on the it perfect views oj h. f precept :h, of an t, though amongst ise one is e. of one loughan e " lords apostle's irable to sniinence !mber his whether Paul, 2 lich was nly then against it lire soon 1 in " the is called resa and guishing been the chief nane and mainstay of all its corruptions and enormitiea. Nor ta tliat ail t we cannot be blind to the fact, that prelacy has too constantly evidenced its close affinity with the Romish system, by its workings even in Protestant communities: — tending, as it almost invariably has done, not only towards renewed alliance with Rome, but towards the introduction andf adoption of the worst parts of her system, secularity, exclusiveness, persecution, and doctrinal declension : thereby proving scarcely doubtfully, their common parentage; and that we may not improbably, regard the rising spirit of preeminence in the apostolic ChurcheS; as the budding horn of 'Mheman of sin." But however this may be, we cannot but consider, that Episcopacy, as used in the Establishment, the exaltation of individual ministers to lordship over their brethren, is an unscriptiiral and anti-Christian device ; and one moreover, which has been, and must be, attended with the most pernicious consequences to the Church of Christ; tully justifying the numerous warnings uttered against it by our Lord and his apostles. 3. Its patronage the method of appointing its ministers to the cure of souls, treatii^g the cure of souls as property, allowing the right of appointing to it, to be transferred as a marketable commodity from one party to another, and to be exercised by the most worldly and ungodly ; whilst the parties whose eternal interests are at stake, are compelled to be as passive during the transaction as negroes in a slave market; this is another principle of the Establishment, universally allowed and recognized which I hesitate not to denounce, as utterly unscriptural and mischievous. No one can pretend to vindicate it as scriptural. Whilst few, who have at all studied the Christian pastorate, will be disposed to consider it otherwise than as a most deadly evil in the Church. 3. The principle oC compulsory maintenance of ministers will not be so readily abandoned; but it is one, which I cannot hut regard as most pernicious to the well understood interest alike of the Church (ministers as well as people) and of the world: tending, as it does, to introduce ministers into a position for which they are utterly unsuited ; and to maintain them in it, whilst its duties are wholly neglected, and souls are starving and perishing around by hundreds and thousands: tending too, as it does, to the oblivion of Christian responsibilities, and the stagnation of Christian feeling in the Churches themselves; and to the vast augmen- tation of distrust, alienation, and open hostility in the multitudes without. 4. But I must now glance at one or two of the principles of the Establishment, in its relation to the State. And first, I would notice the principle of State Supremacy. This ii one of the recognised and daily working principles of the English I' Establishment. The Established Church is essentially a State Church. It is subjected to the State's absolute control and rule. * The power of the State, that is, of Parliament, and those whom it entrusts with its authority, to appoint the chief miniwters of the Establishment, and to make the lawa which regulate, not only its internal government and discipline, bat its M H BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAAINO Terv standards of doctrine and forms of worship ; the power of the State^ to do all this is undeniabit. It is in daily and hourly exercise. The bishops have all been appointed by the State, and hold their office, not by the free choice of the Church, but by the authority of Fariiament. And so all matters of discipline are decided, not by the laws of Christ and the judgment oi Christian men, but by State>made laws and tState-appointed judges. And the very standards and formularies of the Establishment are what they are, simply and solely, because Parliament wills them to be so. Parliament made ihera binding: and Parliament keeps them binding. In a word. Parliament is the supreme head of the Establishment. Men of every religion, and men of no religion are the avowed and allowed arbiters of every mutter, whether in doctrine, government, or discipline, connected with the national Establishment. Men who, under a wholesome state of things, would not be allowed as members of the Church, are sub- mitted to as its rulers. And, to make way for their rule, Christ is practically dethroned. To Christie word, Christ's laws, Christ's people, no deference whatever is paid, in deciding ecclesiastical causes, if they contravene the laws of Parliament, or the maxims, canons, and traditions of Ecclesiastical Courts, derived, as these chiefly are, from the Papacy itself. Now, all this is absurdly impious. It is a truly heathenish state of things. In fact, the principle of (State-supremacy is not only essentially, but actually heathen. It was taken by the popes from the heathen empe- rors, who held the office of Pontifex Maximusor high-priest of heathenism. The Pope borrowed the idea from his pagan predecessors; and constituted himself the Pontifex IVla,j[imus of Popery, as the emperors had been of heathenism. And Henry the Eighth took the office from the Pope becoming, in England, the Pontifex Maximus of Established Protestantism. And now the course of affairs hatj transferred the office from the Crown of England to the Parliament. But Christ is the only rightful Head of the Church. Christians mn^ have no other. In all cinil matters every Christian owes a full and undivided submission to the Queen and Parliament: but in spiritual matters, in matters of faith and worship, and the administration of the internal government and discipline of the Church, he owes the Queen and Parliament no submission. These matters belong, not to Ceesar but to Christ. Christ is the sole head of Christians in these matters. We hear, however, the objection, that, if the State is not to be the head of the Church, in regard to such matters, as well as in purely temporal matters, the consequences will be most mischievous: for a spiritual despotism, a priestly tyranny, like that ofPoperv, will speedily be brought in; and the State will, in a little time, be enslaved to the Church. But this is a chimera, what we contend for is, neither a Prtest-supromacy, as in Rome ; nor a ^ajeci of the State's exclusive favour, and receiving from the legislature various privileges and immunities, pecuniary and otherwise, not conceded to other Christian bodies (as houses of worship, Church-rates, education-grants, chaplaincies, and the like). Whether such an arrangement would be right, it may be well to enquire; although experience sufficiently proves, that this is not, and never will be, under the existing dispensation, a practical question ; for that no State will ever establish a section of the Church, without endeavouring to establish in it its own supremacy. The State, in return for its exclusive protection, will always claim some concession of power ; to confirm and perpetuate which, iit will naturally resort to the approved device of clergy-payment. Let us, however, glance at the arguments for Utate-connexion. The true test of thig, and of every other principle, is nndoubtedly Scripture. And yet, confessedly, this principle, the principle that the State ought to establish and sup|>ort religion in the nation, in fact to provide a religion for the nation, and to enforce religion with its authority, this fundamental principle of the Establishment, I say, confessedly^ derives not a shadow of countenance from tho New Testament! We find there much to discredit the principle, as Mr. Noel has well shown ; but nothing upon which its defence can be rested. This is ominous. We pass, however, to the Old Testament, and what do we find there 7 Much, (doubllese, that may be distorted into theehapeofan argument; but noCAinir fairly to reasoning clrcumsta Thus then it wa a Divine, It was ind the whole sense it w God's lav provision, in such a could obje but a l)i preserving sion and God's trut one, frauM dependeni the servan Bui it is obvious, command an Establi forth to th mere crea depending ment resei may resen ment was conclude t under the ( required. experienc( collecting preached ; Lord is i truth. C they have effectual f appointed impertinei build np ii ofllellsh Nor ( provided of Abraha of Parlian property and at ovisions. whatever, lubjects ; ms ofhis rnth, the lent in its ti regard and the 3 then to ain, is an uriously, rity, and candour, lages are irches,a3 est privil- !reditable ment, the so record nciple of nacy and nacy, and hlishment ion ofthe receiving niary and worship, Whether alihough be, undfir will ever )lish in it ction, will ite which, , Let us. donbtedly I the State provide a ority, this erives not tind there It nothing We pass, * Much, vAwAkvng THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 17 fairly \o (Ae purpose. Such we certainly cannot consider to be any reasoning from Judaism to Christianity, without reference to difference of circumstances. Thus the Jewish religion was, doubtless, an Established religion. But then it was established not by man, but by God. That Establishment wae a Divine, not a human, institution ; a Divine not a ntUional, Establiiihment. It was indeed national, as being for the use ofthe nation, and as including the whole nation, but not national as being the nation's tcork. In this sense it was not a national but a Divine Establishment. It existed by God's laws and authority; and was supported and paid by a Divine provision, and, as such, it was wholly independent of man. There was in such an Establishment therefore, nothing that the sternest voluntary could object to; nothing that tended to corrupt and enslave God'o Church; but a Divine, and to all human seeming, an effectual provision, fur preserving it independent of kingly favour, untainted by kingly decleiH sion and apostacy and faithful, throughout its course, as a witness for God's truth. Such an Establishment, therefore, affords no precedent for one, framed, as our^, by the State ; paid by the State ; and consequently, dependent upon the State; and sure, in the nature of things to beconia the servant ofthe State, instead of being God's servant. Bui it is said, may not what God did, be done by man ? The answer is obvious, man can/tot doit, if he would. God imving given no such command under the Christian dispensation, therefore, if man now erects an Establishment, he must erect it by his own authority ; and it must come forth to the world, not an institution of God's, but a device of man's — % mere creature of man, made by his hands, possessing only his sanction, depending upon his favour, existing at his pleasure. Such an Establish- ment resembles that which existed amongst the Jews as a figure of clay may resemble a living man. In short the external fabric of an Establish- ment was ordained by God under the old dispensation, and hence we conclude that it was necessary. No such institution has been appointed underthe Christian dispeiisatiou, and hence we concbide that none is now required. Nay ! we see other means abundantly provided, and which the experience of all ages has proved to be entirely and alone eflicacious, for collecting and organizing the Church of Christ. The Word is to be preached ; and the Spirit is promised ; and evkry believkr in thk Lord is required to be, in his measure a witness and missionary ofthe truth. Christ has appointed these means: and we are assured, that as they have been found, so they will, if tried and trusted, he found agai*j. effectual for the end proposed. If we do not disparage these divinely appointed means, by bringing to their aid our own unnecessary and impertinent devices, we shall find that Christ is oble, without otiier aid, to build up his own Church and to protect it to the end, so that " the galea of Hell shall not prevail against it." Nor does patriarchial precedent avail more than Jewish. Abraham provided a religion for his household. But, then, the parental relation of Abraham to those about him is indisputable. The parental relation of Parliament to the nation, is on the contrary, altogether denied. Tho B '1 18 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING I k relation of Parliament to the nation is, as has been well observed by Mr. Noel, not that of the piirent to the child, but of the child to the parent, The nation chooses and makes the Farliainent, and the nation in general is toiser than the Parliament in spiritual things : the Parliament, therefore is the child, and the nation the parent. And, therefore, nntil children shall be fonnd generally, compelent to instruct their parents, and to provide a religion for them, wennist donbt the competency of Purliument to choose and provide religiouiii instruction for the nation. When the usual Scripture-props rpfiise to support ihe Establishment principle, history is boldly iippcaled to. But history condemns the principle, uniformly and unequivocally. Wc confidently ask, when did Christianity continue for a longer period, pure and expansive, than during the centuries that elapsed from its rise to its establishment by Conslaiiiine? And what else but growing and overspreading secularily and corruption began to characterize it, from that era downwards? We see the first Christian emperor, extending to the Church his fostering care. But what was the result of his state-nursing ? It proved the Church's greatest bane. The 3tnte-embrace, the support of a professer, affected ippnsed to ng pressed, union, Uie ality ebbed orld itself, it became escape ih^t d with the le bread of gth like an a thousand taught, all Ornish and ther free or whether in a. On the iiftupporled I and fatal nust not be ir inqniriesi rence to its that never e probable, vhut might be allowed 71, and such )umstancGSr i'\ THE ENGLISH ESTABLI9HBENT; 19 The ({nestion of '-^tablishments must be considered in connexion- with existing facts and circumstances. Admitting, therefore, for a moment, that pious kings and states may and should give freely and unconditionally their legislative sanction to God's Church ; what then? we must not forgetthat some kingn andstatesare not pious; and this will alter the whole case. It will be said, indeed, that duties don't chnnge; that they are independent of men's chnraclors; and that what a piitus king is called to do, is equally the duty of an ungodly king. This is true in a sense. But still, who will dt^ny that moral c»ipucily and niornl incapacity make a vast difference in tliis case ? Granting that it is the duly of a pious King to nurse the Church, it does not follow that a king, who is not pious, must be allowed to attempt the same service. It is the duty of the Church to guard her own purity and safety, and to shrink from the touch of a king, whom she sees to be in a state, that morally incapacitates him for his duties with respect to her; and who would be apt, in trying to nurse, seriously to injure, her. The Church's^rsf duty is fidelity to Christ ; and, for this end, to guard her own purity, by shrinking from all worldly contact, and, especially, by confining her government to her own approved members. And ifany of thosa members should be seen to act inconsistently with their Christian profession, instead of continuing them in their ofilice, under the idea, that they have duties, for which they are responsible to God ; and that she may not interfere, to prevent the discharge of those duties; it is her duty, not only to divest them of their ofiice, for which ihey are unfit; but t» emt them from her communion. And thus they will be rightfully debarred from duties, for which God holds them responsible, until they can evidence their capacity to fulfil them aright. And the same measure must be applied to Kings and States. Granting that pious kings have functions as regards the Church, still ungodly kings must be debarred the exercise of those functions. If the king has hit duties; the Church has hers: and she must not allow an impious king or Parliament, to touch the ark which she bears; to interfere in matters, to which they are morally incompetent; she must not be a consenting party to their attempting duties as regards herself, which they are incapacitated from performing aright; and which they cannot even attempt to perform, without iufiicting upon her serious injury. She must, under such circumstances, depose the king from his office as regards herself, if he has any such office. She must, on no account, intrust a helpless infant to the drunken nurse, who would overlay and suffocate it! Such, indeed, would be the consequences of the Church's connexion with an ungodly State. Such have always been the consequences. And ungodly Slates will never want either the will or the power, to invade the l^urity of that Church, which receives their favour, and is dependent upon their patronge. Such a State, not taking Christ's law in alt things for its guide, will inevitably impose upon the Church, as the price of its support, many conditions at variance vvith'that law; such as the surrender of its fight of self government ; the abandonment of a scriptural discipline; thf»» sacrifice of its light to choose its own ministers; and the like. The Stat» ■ I i 20 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING will thuf make iti lupport the priee of the Church'i eubjeetion, and ofher iacrifice of Christ'* righti : and thua the connexion will be found moit hurtlul to the Church ; iuuing in her slavery, oppression, and degrada- tion. But these considerations carry us still further; even beyond thecase of ungodly kings and States. For, if experience teaches, that such has been the general character of kings and States from the beginning, it niust evidently be the Church's duty, to give due weight to this Aict ; and to consider, according to the wisdom given to her. whether, undei any circumstances, it can be either right or safe, to form a connexion, the result of which is likely, in nine cases out of ten, to prove highly detrim- ental to her own purity, and the honour of Christ. Nor let it be said, that it would be an injustice to pious kings, to prevent them from paying; a national homage to God, by affording their iegislHtive support toHis Church. For, admitting, as we do, that, by a Christian State, all real and effectual aid should be afibrded to the Christian Church, and the interests of religion, it still remains an important question for the State to consider, how can it aid the Church, so as not to injure it ? and an important question fur the Church to consider, are the terms proffered by the State eligible? can she accept them, compatibly with her duty to Christ; and Iier own spiritual prosperity ? And thus, even admitting it to be the duty of Christian kings to nurse the Church of Christ, if there should be found ample evidence to prove, that religion flourishes most when let alone; that it grows up most healthy and vigorous when unencumbered with the swaddling-clothes of State-aid ; that statesmen can never touch without marring it: 1 say,t if this should appear, it may, after nil, come to be seen, that there is some truth, in that much-abused dissenting apothegm, that " the true province of the magistrate in religion, is to have no province at all." Surely, it may reasonably be contended, that, since an ungodly State cannot safely or lawfully be allowed to aid the Church, it is expedi- ent, under present circumstances, to debar that province tp statesmen altogether. Nor, in doing so, do we, in fact, after all, tie the hands of pious kings or statesmen ; and hinder them from the discharge of their highest and noblest duties. We desire them indeed to abstain from hurting the Church : and, therefore, we clone up to them one doubtful and dangerous mode of helping her, the mode of direct legislation. But still we invite and charge them, to help her, and to serve her interests, to the very utmost of their power, in safer, and, therefore, more legitin)ate ways; as, by protecting her freedom ; by paying to her every possible public respect; by their g-cneraZ legislation ; and. not least, by their most zeal- ous efforts individually, whether as the Church's ordinary members, or as her regularly appointed officers. Upon the whole, we would abandon the Establishment principle! seeing that, whilst we cannot perceive it to possess the warranty of Scrip- ture, wo do perceive it to be at once incompatible with many csential principles; and utterly condemned by the lesbons of e.xperience, as fraught with imminent peril to the best interests of the church. Reasi nna of the my people of*^ her pluj •mailer Ar lish Estub whilst shd joined iu 1 1. Ur false and t chism, ant being bapi Bible, but upon) in t at the bes two men < proposed, sound doc ous. Ni it satisfuct other peo] not that, > less is it tl whatever assured, t versant w else. In sp ments, an language benefit, a occasiona as being spiritual, the praye upon his thousand been vain and you V which the You will trine ; an tisiug as c ditferent t that notw effect has up the gr Iroyiog d4 and of her und tnoit degrada- id thecaae such ha« inning, it let; and to tndei any exion, the \y detrim* be said, >m paying; irt to His II real and interest! I consider, important the State hristj nnd le the duty J he found let alone; d with the h without be seen, egm, that rovince at 1 ungodly is expedi* statesmen ions kings ghest and irting the iangerovs we invite » the very ways; as, )le public nost zeal- dibers, or principle t of Scrip- ly csential ience, as THE ENGLISH ESTADLISHMEMt. 21 Reason IV. I now come to my fourth reason, which is thif, that thd nn$ of the Establishment compel me to leave her. " Come out of her nnr people, that ye be not partukers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues!" I believe this warning to be just as applicable to the smaller Anglican, as to the larger Roman community. I see the £ng« lish Estubljflhineiit to be guilty of many and crying practical sins; whilst shd exhibits as few signs of repentance and leforoiutiou, as if she joined ia Rome's own claims of infallibility. 1. Under the hr;ad of the Establishment sins, 1 would specify her false and unscriptural teaching ; her teaching, for example, in her cate- chism, and in iiur baptismal and burial offices, the doctrine, thot infante being baptised, are regenerated. Such teaching is not to be found in the Bible, but it is to be found to all appearance (and that is what I insist upon) in the formularies of the Establishment. Those formularies are, at the best, ambiguous and uncertain; so uncertain, that scarcely any two men can agree in tlieir interpretation. Of the varying interpretations proposed, thu hypothetical (wliicli is doubtless the ni08t agreeable to sound doctrine, and may be the true one,) is certaiuly not the most obvi- ous. No small ingenuity, not to say finesse, is required to explain it satisfactorily and intelligibly, even to ourselves, to say nothing of other people. And then, admitting it to be u true one, it is, certainly not that, which one in a hundred, even of the clergy, adopt; and still less is it that, which ever occurs to any common hearer or reader. No ; whatever the language of those otiices was intended to convey, I feel assured, that the ideas which it does convey, to almost all who are con« versant with it, is the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, and nothing else. In spite of the due-drawn explanations that may be given in set aren ments, and adopt which of those explanations you will, say, that the language is absolute or hypothetical, literal or figurative; talk of the benefit, as being actual or contingent, conditional or unconditional, at occasionally, ordinarily, or universally conferred; insist upon the change 08 being one of character, or of mere relation only, as external or ae spiritual, incipient or perfect, defectible or enduring, as depending upon the prayers of the congregation, upon the present state of the child, or upon his future behaviour; adopt, I say, whichever you will, of tho thousand and one conflicting, and often ludicrous solutions, that have been vainly offered to reconcile those ofllces with reason and scripture; and you will still find, that the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration is that which the common sense of mankind persists in gathering from them. You will fliid the mass both of Clergy and laity, still leaning to this doOf trine ; and openly defending it from these very formularies ; and stigma- tising as disingenuous shufflers, all who venture to expound them in a different sense. Nay, more than this, if you look at facts, you will find, that notwithstanding all your explanation of this language, its actual effect has been, in every age, and in every generation, not only to train up the great mass of the English clergy, to be the holders of that soul des- troy log doctrine, but to alienate them from the doctrinei of the Reform** ;;^\ M '^ 1tft BRIEF REASONS POR LEATIITCI lion generally, and to instigate, and greatly to aid their endeaTOun to bring back the Church of England to the embrace of Rome. I clnsfl this Inngiinge, thorefnre, unhesitntingly, amongst the prncticnl tins of the Estnhlixlitnent; not Hinongut her ftiJHe principle!!, for I would allow her the benefit of the doubt, tlint muy be thoii^lit to exist, as to what her meaning reallv is. (of which doubt, however, the Rubric at the end of the baptisiiiul otHce, with articles 25 aurl 27, would seem in all equity to deprive her :) 1 Innk merely at her prnctice, ai ibafaet, that she uses liingungc, nnd has stereotyped it in her forms of wurHliip, which obscures the great doctrines of the Gospel ; and which conveys to iho great mass of the people of these kingdcnns, from one generation to another, notions, wliicii are utterly destructive of their t-piriuiiil and eternal well-being: and, looUitig ut tiiis, I maintain, that the F.Htablishment is corrupt in her Uachhig ; lluil she is not a faithful witness fur the truth of the Gudpcl. 2. Another sin of the Establishment, which, in my opinion, rrndera it the duty of Ciiristains to leave }ier, is her criminal abandonment of one of the nutst imperative of the (liilies, enjoitied by Christ upon his Church, the exercise of Church disciptine. Every Church is bound to guard its own purity ; and, to this end, is required, boih to watch over the conduct of its members, and also to gnnrd, l)y strict regulations, against the introduction into its communion, of unsuitable persons; and, especially, it is its high privilege andduty to bear a prominent and responsible part, in theappoint- uqent of its ministers. But what is the case in the Establishment? In defiance of all Scrip- tnrc precept and example, the Established Church, in ull these matters, ad- ntiis I'he uncontrolled interference of strangers and worldlings (statesmen,- bisho|)s atid patrons); loaving. to those persons, the appointnient of her tninisit^rs ; and submitting to be stripped of every vestige of power, to regulate the admission or rejection of her own members. The Christians of the Establishment, instead of possessing the power, '*to pntaway from among them any notoriously wicked person," any notorious drunkard, or adulterer, or infldel, are compelled to kneel with such at the Lord's table ; whilst the ministers of the L'lstablisliment are obliged, not only passively to admit such, and to baptize their children, but to read at their funeral a ser- vice, which, in suchacase, is (according to the varying intelligence of those who listen to it,) citfier a loickrd cheat or a solemn mockery. And then, again. Christian people instead of being permitted, as they are in duty bound, to " try the spirits*' of those wiio speak to them in God's name, and to reject those who appear not to" beofGod,"andto "count accursed those who bring to them any other doctrme*' than that which the Bible teaches, arc compelled to receive, unresistingly, ail that are sent to them, however ungodly they may be, however blind or however heretical. 1 believe, that, not only is this abandonment of discipline one of the heavy sins of the Establishment against Christ and against the souls of men wbich he will soon require at its hands, and at the hands of those who ■dhare to it, but I believe moreover, that it is an evil of so fundaineuial a tort, M to lishment tc 3. F sins, in wl people : at fellowship its orders, ■he, at th( ministers, to bo merf •' Shoulds " Woe nn Letal to their so 4. C persctutio; those cam against all doing thai where, in i canons; i 'J'her for preaci that ho hr lishment, in costs, t this Prela Christian with ten)] such pr.K Christian Establislii And can them? . of her"? this injur surely be Mr. he wodk course o and, afte Ecclesia^ Olhi can be st and nnh< ened anc of powe larouri to B prnoticnl r I would list, an to brie Rt the eem in ail t, that she ip, which eyn to tho erutioii to riitiiil and bhshment le truth of n, ronder* o/)t of one is Church, ird its own duct of its (roduction is itH high le nppoint- r all Scrip- Dntters. iid* itatesmen,* lem of her power, to Christiiins away from nnkard, or rd's table ; >a$ssively to neral n ser- Ctioftiiose And then, re in duly jd's nnino, t accursed the Bible I to them, iticai. )ne of the ids of men ho^e who lameulal a THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. Jt9 nn, u to render very questionable the title of the Churchei of the Eitab* Itshment to be considered as true churches of Christ. 3. Further, the EiitnbliMhuient IS 9r/it«mr/0Va^ This is another of her •ins, in which I tun most unwilling to ho impiiciitul. She curses God'a people : and blesses his enemies. VVhiNt bIiu hold:) out 4lie right hand of fellowship to the apostate community of Romo, allowini? the validity of its orders, by admitting its* priests to her ministry, withunt re ordinution, she, at the same time, brnndK dissenterii a^ ' <7hi««mi)tir ! (^minting their ministers, though endowed with every miiiiHteri.il gift and Christian grace to he mere laymen, and standing aloof from them tir* 'ilit>ns and enemies. " Shouldst thou help the niigndly, and love them that hate theLordI' " Woe unto them that call evd good, and good evil !" Let all, who would not have the guilt of such unfaithfulnesa cleaving to their souls, flee from this sciiiKUiaticul communion ! 4. One morn sin must he mentioned : it is a crying one :— the sin of persecution. Of this niu the ICstal)li-'him'nt U guilty. J need not speaU of those canons, which, astlu'y eujanated (Vom Kome, breathe its vt.-ry spirit against all who proHume to thinU for themselves, or who venture upon doing that, which the Lord's apostles did at all hazards, " prenching every- tip/tere, in the name oi the Lord Jesus." I need not enlarge upon those canons; it will be siiflicient to note one or two oftheir present oifecls. There is the Rev. I\Ir. Shore, an excellent minister of Christ, who, for preaching the Gospel in an unconserrated place, has. notwithstanding that he has voluntarily reliuipiislied his position as a minister of the ristab- lishment, been ruthlessly pursued with Ingal proceedings, and condemned in costs, to the amnnjitof £1700 ! and is at tiiis moment, as the result of this Prelatical and State-Chutch peri^ecnlion, the inmate of a jail ! Is thia Christian practice? Did Christ or his npostles \)\\tU'*h rvfraclnry prenchen with temporal pains and penalties? Is there the shadow ofa s^aiiction for such pr.iceedings. in tho New Testanjent? Are they not essentially anti- Christian? Coidd Koine herself give a stronger pledge, than tiie English Establishment tints gives, of her disposition, to go farther if she could 1 And can we d«fend such practices ? And if not, dare we countenance them? And how then can we hut proteiit against them by " coming out of her''? Yes! we must " come out," if we would not have the blood of this injured man found " in oiir skirts," in that duy, when inquisition will surely be made into such doings. Mr. Gorham's case is similar. A learned and pious pastor, bocaiiM he wodid not adopt the heresies of his bishop, h is been harassed by a long course of inquisitorial examinations, and protracted legal proceedings, and, after being plentifnlly vilified by the hireling advocates of u so-called Ecclesiastical Court, is in a fair way to be hunted down to beggary. Other cases might be mentioned. But, undoubtedly, the cases, that can be seen and known, are few, compared with those, which are unseen and unheard of. How many murmuring and dependent men are threat- ened and submit! how many hundreds groan in silence, awed by the array of power which faces thetn! and how many thousands nev^r complaio, .1 i' ; if Pi iM 24 BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING find never murmnr, and never feel the oppression ofthe system, becante they have never dared to think ! It has crushed in them the very germs of thought. And so. hke a captive asleep, they never feel their fetters. The system isea^y to them, just because it has mndethem shives. So that ofthe Establishment, we may say, with respect tomany of its warmest sup- porters and eulogists, "fecit solitudincin. appellet pacem." That many are thus persecuted (not n)erely restrained in action, and awed intu silence, but benumbed nnd cruiilied in thought), we cannot doubt; if we only observe the workings of the system in a few cases: but how many they are, and have been during its three hundred years course, will only be kuown in that day. when " the earth shall disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain." . Now I would not be a persecutor: and consequently, 1 would not be a partaker in the i^ins of a persecuting Establishment, by contiruiing a member of it. Some of its prelates may persecute; and the rest may acquiesce in silence; and some of its clergy and laity may loudly applaud, whilst others look coldly on, and withhold every mark of syn*)pathy from the oppressed : but, for myself, I teel, that, ofthe two, I would rather be its victmi than its accomplice. I cannot sanction a system, which can be made to rob Englishmen of their properly and liberty, in the revived spirit of a Gardiner and a Bonner. Nor would I belong to that systeu), which, whilst it elevates a Phillpotls to its posts ofdignity and wealth (with many others, perhaps even more objectionable), persecutes with unrelenting malignity, drives from its communion, and consigns to confiscation, exile, and imprisonment, such men as Shore, Kyle, and Gorhum. Reason V. Further, if we look at the liesults of the Established fystem, we find our judgment of its principles and acts, by no means discredited. The results ofthe system are indeed such, as altogether to confirm me in the conviction, that tlie Establishment is rather a hinderer than a promoter ofthe cause of truth. How indeed can it be otherwise f' Ifthe State is suffered by Christians to usurp Christ's place, if Christ is practically deposed from the government of his Church, can it be expected that he will visit her with many toktns of his presence ? II her principles and practice are erroneous, in so fundantcntal a matter, is it not likely that her spiritual prosperity will suffer a diminution ? If prelates are appointed by worldly statesmen can the stream rise higher than its fountain? Can we reasonably expect, that many of the rulers, so appointed, will prove to be "good men, full of faith and ofthe Holy Ghost," " such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness?" How can we hut expect, to see vvorldliness pervading the Establishment, as the rule and not as the exception, from the episcopal bench down to its lowest members? If prelacy and lordship, amongst ministers, are proscribed by God's word, as opposed to the spirit of Christianity, nay, as part and parcel of *' the mystery of iniquity," can we wonder, if, in praciice, the system is found Ultle conducive to the edifying of the body of Christ 7 If the not a shcid the pastor.' forcing mf ment be, ii Audi tain sounc erroneous how can it spiritual p will, in tht pulpits? Andt in the adn down, ant indiscrimii And i that cirouj AudifCh whilst lhe> of truth, ai result but reasouabl} Lasllj persecutoi in its conn produce u or coucirti!; And, whilst the incalculab the circun five milliu for each c populatio about a th (now 3()( of the re Establishi iu the Est its com mi majority < deride the w'ell awar Btigmatiz< Uierefore conscieut fn, became rery germs leir fetters, s. So that irmest sup* tt many are silence, but \\y observe sy are, and known in nore cover ouldnotbe >ntinuing a e rest may \y Jipplaud, patliy from d rather be lich can be vived spirit em, which, vvith many in relenting Ltion, exile, Established ' no means together to a hinderer otherwise 7 if Christ is >e expected f principles not likely stream rise any of the and of the oiisness?" iblisliment, !h down to I by God'8 i parcel of } system ia THB ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 2$ }f the Establishment's system of patronage, is essentially worldly, if not a shudow of regard is had to Christian character, in those who appoint the pastors of Churches, if interest, and money, and simony, are constantly forcing men into the cure of souls, how can the ministers of the Establish- ment be, in general, spiritual evangelical and devoted men ? And if, further, the Formularies of the Establishment give an uncer- tain sound as regards the truth, nay, if they contain much positively erroneous teaching, at the best placing truth and faUehood side by side ; how can it be, considering the proneness of man to error, but that the spiritual perceptions of thdso, who are compelled to use those Formularies will, in the long run, become dim, and that error will be found rife in her pulpits ? And then again, if all exercise of discipline is criminally abandoned, in the admission or rejection ofits members, if every fence is left broken down, and the wolves and the sheep are allowed to mingle in the fold indiscriminately, what but havoc and ruin can be the result ? And if ungodly persons are compelled to support this system, will that circumstance predispose tlieir minds to receive from it the Gospel? And if Christian dissenters from this system are compelled to support, whilst they conscientiously dislike and condemn it, as Imitful to the cause of truth, and are meanwhile maligned as schismatics and heretics, what can result but murmuriiigs and heart-burnings? Can even g"owrf men be reasonably expected to rest satisfied under such ciicumstances ? Lastly, If prelates are persecutors, if the Establishment itself is a persecutor, as wielded by them, who can imagine that it will either retain in its communion Grid's fjeople, or convi^rt his enemies 7 Can coercion produce union ? Did injustice and oppression, ever command respect, or concifliate affection ? And, accordingly, it does not at all surprise us, to observe, that, whilst the Establishment is powerful for evil, the good, which it effects, is incalculably small, coujpared with its apparent luftans. We cannot under the circumstances, be at all sin prised, to find, that, notwithstanding its five millions of annual income, (equal to a provision of about £300 a year for each ofits 10,000 ministers, a numl)er equal to dividing the whole population of England and VVule? amongst them, by taking each a flock of about a thousand souls,) that, notvvitbsiaiiding this, tlu; masses of the nation (now 300 years after tlie lleforniation) are heathen ; v\ hilst the bulk of the remainder (leaving out the 3,000,000, who dissent from the Establishment,) the ^m/A; of those who have been baptized and educated in the Establishment, and confirmed by its bishops, and who assemble at its communion table, are little better than nominal Christians, the large majority ofits ministers being meanwhile unconverted men, men wito deride the very idea of conversion, as apart from baptism. I am perfectly w'ell aware, that this statement, of the results of the Establishment, will be stigmatized as a calumny : but it ia I believe a fiict. I believe it and tfierefore I have spoken it. And I have so spoken, not only from my conscientious belief, but from lengthened experience and observation. W ' il ■A I , 'If m 26 BHIEF REASONS FOR LEAVINt} Moreover, 1 beliove the fact to be too notorious, to need any attempt to prove it. I speak to honest men. Let such judge. I trace these results to the system. I believe that the Gospel, if not hindered by the system, would produce far better results than these. I know indeed that a system cannot work miracles ; that no system is perfect; that men are but men, after all; and that the best system in men's hands, will be found to go but lamely. Still the Word of God is true. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And vve are Cfirtainly warranted, in looking for great results, froni its being brou'TJit to bear extensively upon the minds and con ciences of men. Not only God's ])ro!ni!5es. but experience, warrants this expectation. What have not various dissentiu'f bodies been instru- mental in effecting, for the population of Eniita5;es, wielded, for centuries, by the National I'^stablishmenl. Judging frotn experience, if any otje of tliose Societies inii{ht dispose of an income derived from voluntary sources, equal to a tiihe of the income of ihe Establishment, what changes might not ll»e world expect to witness? And what is it, vvliich causes this immense diffpronce of result ? Just the system. In one case, there is a irood system ; hnnnn, certainly, in its instnnnenfality. and tlujreforo. far from peifeet ; but still ^ood upon the tnlio/e; well-adapted, in liie main, even humanly speaking, to the end in view; certainly not discorilant, to any daring' extent, eitlier with Scripture or common sense; and hence " the Word of God has free conrse, and is glorified;" and we see a blessing descendinir upon the means employed, out of all proportion to their magnitude. Whilonsiderabl( heart, and to bear a faithful testimony, to deliver a tn:e verdict upor cription un questions at issue, that time is now. And woe will be to that man, who, iaddisinter( to avoid preseiit loss, or obloquy, or trouble, shall consent to occupy a asilv, but wrong position, and so to deliver a false testimony, to the perplexing, -eally are, » discouraging, and uiisleading of others! But I abstain from adding more of my reasons. Enough, and perhaps more tiian enough, has been advanced, to show, that the claims of the National llstiibli-Iiment to our support and aliegiiince, may, with ffliese thin; nsensible. ions of a li nost pleasa »dme appearance of justice, be questioned. Tiioso claims I ujyseU '[^^v,^^ " p'^ altogether reject and repudiate. I feel that other parties possess claims, not otily much stronger than these, but altogether incomj);Uil)le with them. I believe that fidelity to Christ, and duty to his Church, (not oidy out of the Establishment, f)nt in it,) and not only to the Church, but to the nation, and ulliuiairly to the world at large, require me (nn atom it is true, but still an atom invested with responsibilities, m relation to the truth, of which I cannot, if I would unburden mysrlf) to take such a position, with regard to the Establishment, as 1 can reconcile with nty sense of right, and may be able to justify to nsy own couscience, in my dying hour. And such a position, after long, deep, and painful deliberation. I now take; when f dechwe my belief, that the Churcli Establishment of this country is unscriptnrnl in its principles, and in its practice antagonistic to the Gospel ; and as such, an off.Mice to Christ, a burden to the Church, and a mischievous obstacle to the bestinterestsof mnnkind, and, that, such being my judgment of her, I resign her emoluments, decline her ihinistry, and secede from hercounnunion. It the call o snemy to ei >ur flock, \N And th< essly choo! elinquish f( if educatioi hat we can cenes, whi ire hallowoi inly with tl Itempt to ( omparison aking the li And SI iminution. And now, I would only observe, in conclusion, that my motives, in delivering this testimony, have respect to my own satisfaction, fully as re, I joyful much as to that of others. My expectations, indeed, of any results from it, in the way of influencing others, are sufficiently limited. I have small reason to hope, that, standing alone, its voice would either be far heard or much regarded. I do not forget, how greatly the success of such an appeal * "^^ ®^'''" depends upon the personal eminence of the individual who makes it; as Such, I lis own pr Finally .arshly, tho THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. 29 ^80, in some degree perhaps, upon the ability, with which it is nrged. [>niplish theft ud i know, too well, the deficiencies of the present case, in both {hese in Englancf^gpects, to harbour any extravagant expectations. There is, also, confessedly, another drawback. The extent of the lacrifice is, perhaps, hardly such, in the present case, as to afford that ndisputable pledge of overwhelming conviction, which people like to slice, to the cular, were )y (however ihiiient; and absurd and iiister of the lid upon hi : man, who to occupy a !nongh, and t the claim!) inve, on an occasion of this nature. In leaving the Establishment, I do lot of necesssity leave all. I do not exchange, as many, in taking the same itep, would have to do, competeYicyforpenury. Aiui yet, after all, perhaps, Any course, jyen in this case, the sacrifice may be underrated. It is surely something, to ;ed be most iljenate friends, and displease connexions. It is something, to relinquish are commjj, )osition, influence, and honour. It is, perhaps, not mncli, to be voted vain, nd tested, veaU, and crolchetty ; to be charged with wrong and disparaging motives ; as been a md to be reviled as a renegade and apostate, by those who never sought ruth, and know not, and care not, what truth is. To be tluis the object of ionsiderable wrath, bitterness.clamour, and evil-speaking, and even ofpro« PYuct upon cription and persecution in its minor lorms, on the part both of interested ud disinterested inoddlers, — this is what may, doubtless, be borne, not only sasily, but clieerAilly, when we regard such ebulliiious, as, what they perplexing, -eally are, Satan^s formal attestation to the trtiik of our principles. But \ these things are easy to bear, there are otfurs, to which we cannot be so nseusible. It is not an easy matter, to tear from one's heart the associa- ions of a life; and still less, to sever the links of a ministerial connexion, i niav" with ^^^^ pleasant and endeared, of twice seven years. AjkI, least of all, can lis I j'nvself ^® '^^ indifferent, to the awful thought, that, by quirting our post, (though ssess claims '^ ^'^^ *^^'' "' duty.) we may, not improbably, bo opening a door, for an e wit only out of I, but to the oui it is true, th them. '"©"^X to enter in, to the deadly wounding, of those highest interests of mr flock, which we have long learnt to indeniify with our own. And though it is doubtless much easier, it is what few would need- essly choose, to cast away much of their children's patrimony ; to osition, with ise of right, g hour. ation. I now menf of this tagonistic to the Church, id, lliat, such her diinistry, ' motives, in the truth, nl elinquish for them advantages of station ; and to sliade their fair prospects if education and advancement. JNor is it. altogether, without a pang, hat we can abandon the scenes of our brightest, best, and happiest days; cenes, which our own hands have created and eniLellished; and which re hallowed by all our fondest recollections, and dearest associations, not inly with the living, but with many who are departed. Still, I shall not ttempt to deny, if any choose to assert it, that even all this is light, in omparison vvitii the sacrifices, which some would be called to make, in aking the like step. And so far, doubtless, the weight of this testimony must suffer imiiiution. Such, however, as the testimony is, and such as its circumstance^ ion, fully as re, I joyfully leave the result of it, with Him who can, if He will, "perfect results from lis own praise, out of the mouths of babes." Finally, let it not be thought, that, whilst fully satisfied of the rectitude ch anappeal '^^^^ "^^'* course, and firmly vindicating it, the writer is disposed to judge makes it* as >^'sh'y> those who act differently. He has met with too many ministers of I: . ■if, :; ^ ^ m BRIEF REASONS FOR LEAVING, &C. ibertj of the Establishment, who are both much abler, and much better men, tha himself, to entertain such thoughts. He simply believes, that others d( e fx' ^y. not see the question aright as yet,.nor does he much wonder at this. He li | / ^ aware odhe mystijicatiun, thi\t exists upon many of these subjects. He atuitouslj has himself felt the force of prejudice, growing out of education, example, and habits of thought and aciiou, and lias experienced, how slowly i| yields to the progress of conviction. JMoreover he believes, that there aro, amongst the Esttihlished ministers, some, who are really too engrossed i their great work of saving souls, to thinU that they have much time for ill questions here considered. And, at the same time, he cannot hut see] that many otliers are most unfavo jraJ)iy situated, in some importaii respects, fur iorming an unembarrassed judgment, and fearlessly actin upon it. In short, he would judge no one. With respect to others he ii Gontent to say. — as he should be glad that others would he content to saj with respect to him, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.' '' Blessed is he that condemneth not himself, in that thing which he allow elh." Note. — For abundant details, in relation to the matters here adverte; to, the Reader is referred to Mr. Noel's Work. ipon Can ixpeiienc dness of hnt if it hese Coll rovernmt md dange ice to a h nstitution lolony to a final, je played J:i\ REMARKS BY THE PUBLISHER. The )y fraud, Jiat the w mr soil) s nd the in ;^hus vvil liief elen The testitnony given by the author of this work to the im ^*'p measurable evils of the alliance between Church and State, possessei * ' intrinsic evidence of strong conviction, and of a desire to foUov "'^''9 "' , ,, . • ri-i, • • • 1 /» 1 , J . nd religion, truth at all hazards. This testimony is also turther enhanced u„„ch ioii{r,n value by the fact, that he freely relinquished a beautiful Parsonage "{j'^^^j^i "J^. and Glebe, and a livina; in the Estublislinient worth c€G50 sterlini'o*'- We ^ ^ uriite.«, iiiid per annum, rather than continue to countenance, by his presenc( istributcs t and example, such a monstrous and ruinous counterfeit of th( liousuntis o church of Christ. 'oTid^S,!: The anti-Christian alliance of Church and State, which, sinci Issivo. Gcu the fourth century, has been the bane of pure religion, and of th( ""^^^ *^«^ ;er men, thar iberty of the world ; the prolific cause of civil commotion»r and iuhi8 Hei' *^ ^^^ most bloody persecutions and war, the Statesmen of Britahai ubjects. 1I« fatuitously hope, in the middle of the nineteenth century, to rivet ion, example, jpQ„ Canada and the other North American Colonies. The sad o\v sluwlv It :liat there am, experience of the past should have taught them the folly and wick- engrossed in »dness of such an attempt ; and there can be no reason to doubt '""? ,2" hat if it bo continued much longer, the minds of the people of le importaii liese Colonies will be irretrievably alienated from the Imperial rlessly aclin{ Government. There is a point, beyond which reaction is inevitable md dangerous. The high crime of vvantonly denying moral jus- ■onlcnrto'sal'^® ^° ^ '°"S suffering people, by attempting to thrust upon them sown mind.lastitutions which, generally they abhor, had well nigh lost this iiich he allowloiony to the British Crown in 1837, and if persisted in will lead lo a final, if not a violent separation. The drama of Ireland cannot liereadvertet jg played with impunity in Canada, — it is impossible. "The Throne is establishcil by Righteousness." The people of Canada demand that the Rectories, established )y fraud, shall be abrogated on the death of each incumbent, and hat the whole proceeds of the Clergy Reserves (one seventh of )ur soil) sold, or to be sold, shall be invested in public securities, ind the interest be devoted to the support of our Common Schools. Thus will all classes obtain equal and impartial justice, and the :hief element of party strife be for ever removed. lER. •k to the im ite, possesse ire to foUov The following extract from Mr. Noel's work will form an ippropriate conclusion to this : — "TIio union of the Churches with the State is (loomed. Condemned by reason ^ ■ J . ,nd religion, by scripture and experience, Iiovv can it be allowed to injure t!ie nation enhanced II nuch ioniser ? All tlie main principles npuii wliicli it rots are unsound. Its State ■ 1 P rsniniri 'il'i''i'^^i '^^^ supremacy', its patroiuiifo, its compulsion of payments for t!ic support of Ul 1 aiSOUclg piijijoii, are condemned by both tlio preceibuits and the [)rrcepTs of the SVord of £G50 SterlinS '"'"• ^^" havesrcen that it sheds a bli^;hti!lir iiUinence u])0!i prelates, incumbents, * urates, and otlier members oiecr!ites the ordinances of Ciirift, confounds the Churches of the ^orld, fonjcnts schism among- Christians, and tempts the ministers of Christ botli ui , . , . ud out of the Establishment to be ea/er politicians. Further, it embarrasses sue- WlllCll, Sinc< pggjvo. Governments, maintains one chief element of revolution in the country, n and of th( ')'^*^^''^ ^^^ refurmatiou of tiie Auglicou churches hopeless, hiudcrs the progress of 32 ■£ 11!' I' the fospel throughout the kingdom, and strengthens all the corrupt Papal establiMli ments of Europe. Worst of all, it 'ffrieves' and 'quenches' the Spirit of God, y/hl cannot bo expected largely to bless the churches which will not put away their sins.] '*But when it shall bo destroyed, we have reason to hope that the churches will revive in reli^riou speedily. Sound doctrine will tlinn be hoard from most of thij Anglican pulpits ; evangelists will go forth into every part of the land; sciipturaj dibcipliuc will be restored; schism will be mitigated; CliriHtian ntiiii-sters will ceasj to be political parti/.aiis; wo may look for u larger otTusioii of the Spirit of God] and England may become tlio IbromoKt of the nations in godliness and virtue. Led all who love God arise to accomplish this rorormation. Tlie work which our martyred forefathers begun in the fuco of the dungeon and the stake, let us in their spirij complete. "If any one is undecided respecting the principles advocated in this work, Icj him compare the arguments adduced by Hooker iind Warburton, by fy'halmcrs andf M'Neile.by Gladstone a!id Fiorks,ou one side,witli those advanced by Dick and Grahninl by Ballantyre and Condor, by Wardlaw, Vinot, anti (Jasparin, on tlie other. Le| him study the hii-tory of the Free Cliurchcs of Scothnu! and of Vaud. Let bin attentively o.xaniiiio the plicnonieaa of State-churclics ia Scotland, in Switzerland and in Franse. L(!t iiint examine, as thoy arc developed by Mr. ISaird, the granl results of spiiitnul liborfy in tho United States. And let hiia detonniiio his condui without regard to interest, fasliion, or friendship, in loyalty to Christ, and accountable to the heart-searching Cod. "Since many will hold oack from even nn examination of truths which entail momentous consequences to tiiemselves, each disciple of Ciirist, wlio as-ccrtaius tii| separation of th*^ c!uirclics from t!ie Stiite (o be iiis Master's v. ill, must count it honour to serve liini siuirly, if need be, in tins conflict. Great events ia hiifory havJ waited on the aclioas <,f a few iiitroiud men. L'ainj»de!i, by his rotolate resistance tj an act of tyraniiy, awoifc in liis coantrymrn tlie s|>irit wliicli secured our liberties The gallantry of Ciivo saved oar Indiiai empire. Liitlier Ion',' thou'.fIit and labourea almost alone. The erctcn^iva revival of the last century was owin;.', under God, tj Wesley and Whitefichi, with very few companions. Let eacli memlter oftlie Estab lishment, therefore, who comprehends his duty, deteirniiie tliat ho will, withoul waiting for tlie d('(•i^^il)n of others, do his utmost in the name of Ciirist to secure tii| freedom of the An '.lican churc'ies from the fetters oftiio iUate. JMembors of congre gations, who idready iiiaiutain yonr ministers in (loniexion \viih the union, by whici your own functions are abandoned and your i!iiai--lers fottored, release them, ani recover your own sacred nights, by de-laring that you will be frtjo. A few sucj in.stances in Loinlon, Jlanc'iestcr, Liverpool, Leeds, and Binnin^'ham, would uwake] the whole nation to tiioir duty. "With greater coafideuce I arldress my brcthern of tlir free churches. Thcrl should be no h)ii!fer (lisimion or sloth. Imlependents and Baptists, Wcsleyans', nnl members of the I'vcr Churcii of Scotland, let us all, with uiiiied voices, from CaitH ness to Cornwall, cl.iiin, ia tlic name of Christ, the Cliriitiau liberty of the Britisl churches; aid this feneration uiay yel sec accomplished a tecond Kefoiination moij epirilful, and not luss exclusive, than the iirst. "Above all, Irt us take care to ful.il this duty in a Christian spirit. No religioul cause requires inclijious means for its advanceniont. Let us (ii/i^j-raco ourselves hf no railin,'r, condenui l.11 personal invective, and be jiuilty of no exat'ji'eratioii, for thes arc the weapons of llie weak and the unprincipled; but uniting with all who love thl Redeemer, let us reco/nize with gralitude {^Vi'.ry work of the Spirit within thf Establishment as well as without it. And v;ith niurh j)rayer, with constant depenij ence on the Holy Spirit, w ith a supreme desire to glorily God, and with an abundaiJ exercise of faith, hope, and love, which are our a])propriate armour in every conflict let us persevere in our cflbrts, till tho blessing of God renders our triumph a decisiv| «tcp towui'ds the evangclizutiou oftlie world.