msm 
 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Received . . September*. __ __/<?<? 5 
 
 Accessions No. g-S/ Shelf No. 
 
A HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROMISH AND ENGLISH 
 
 HIERARCHIES; 
 
 WITH AN EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 ASSUMPTIONS, ABUSES, & INTOLERANCE 
 
 OP 
 
 EPISCOPACY; 
 
 NECESSITY OF A^EFORMED FA T OLT*H CHURCH. 
 
 BY JAMES ABBOTT, A.B. 
 
 (LATE FELLOW- COMMONER) OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 " Persecution for diversity of opinions, however ridiculous and absurd they may be, is 
 contrary to every principle of sound policy and civil freedom. The names and subordination of 
 the clergy, the posture of devotion, the materials and colour of the ministers' garment, the 
 joining in a known or unknown form of prayer, and other matters of the same kind, must be left 
 to the option of every man's private judgment." BLACKSTONE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM STRANGE, 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 1833. 
 
HARJETTE AND SAVILL, PRINTER*, 107, ST. MARTIN'S IANE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION Origin of the present Work Letter to Dr. 
 Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, containing a caution 
 against acting with prejudice His Grace's Letter in reply 
 Interview with the Archbishop Remarks on the same 
 Letter to his Majesty, as Supreme Head of the Church of 
 England, on episcopal intolerance as connected with ordina- 
 tion His Secretary, Lord Melbourne's Reply Act of Supre- 
 macy Stricture on Lord Melbourne's Letter Design of the 
 work Concluding Reflections. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. The Origin and Gradual Advance of Papal 
 
 Tyranny in England ..... 1 
 II. The Progressive Power and Usurpation of 
 
 Bishops 13 
 
 III. The Inquisition (a digression) Progressive 
 
 Power and Usurpation of Bishops, continued 26 
 
 IV. The Progressive Power and Usurpation of 
 
 Bishops, concluded . . . .41 
 V. Episcopal Power arid Usurpation founded on 
 
 the Weakness of Human Nature . . 54 
 
 VI. Episcopal Power and Usurpation inconsistent 
 
 with the Gospel of Christ ... 63 
 
 VII. Bishops and Presbyters originally the same 
 
 Order 80 
 
 VIII. The Uninterrupted Succession of the Clergy 
 
 refuted 91 
 
 IX. The Uninterrupted Succession of the Clergy 
 
 refuted, concluded ..... 99 
 
 X. History of Tithes , 106 
 
 XI- History of Tithes, concluded . , .118 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XII. The Wealth of the English Church compared 
 with the Wealth of the Churches of other 
 Nations . . . . . .131 
 
 XIII. History of Church Holidays . . .162 
 
 XIV. History of Church Holidays, continued . 171 
 XV. History of Church Holidays, continued . 181 
 
 XVI. History of Church Holidays, continued . 187 
 
 XVII. History of Church Holidays, concluded . 199 
 
 XVIII. Church Ceremonies 211 
 
 XIX. Creeds and Confessions of Faith . . .229 
 XX. The Clearness of Scripture . . .236 
 
 XXI. Remarks on the Liturgy of the Church of 
 
 England 245 
 
 XXII. The Church of England proved to be a Crea- 
 ture of the State 252 
 
 XXIII. The Clergy of the Church of England proved 
 
 to be Creatures of the State . . . 259 
 
 XXIV. A General Idea of Priestcraft, . . . 266 
 XXV. The Force of Education in Matters of Religion 273 
 
 XXVI. Mutual Bitterness and Persecution among 
 Christians, repugnant to the doctrines of 
 Christ, and detestable to a rational Pagan 282 
 XXVII. An Inquiry into Religious Establishments . 290 
 XXVIII. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
 present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
 Church 304 
 
 XXIX. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
 present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
 
 Church, continued 315 
 
 XXX. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
 present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
 Church, continued . . . . 326 
 
 XXXI. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
 present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
 Church, concluded 339 
 
 XXXII. The Peace and Unity of the Church . . 352 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IN submitting to the public the following pages, 
 which are designed to trace out and expose the va- 
 rious abuses and usurpations which exist in the 
 Established Church of England, it will be expected 
 that I should give some account of the origin of 
 an undertaking which some may regard as rash, 
 profitless, or absurd. That the efforts of a private 
 individual to redress public grievances must be 
 limited in their more immediate effect, I am well 
 aware ; and also, that such endeavours incur the 
 risk of misrepresented motives, personal suffering, 
 and angry reprobation. But it is impossible, as is 
 observed by Dr. Johnson, to determine the limits 
 of inquiry, or to foresee the consequences which 
 discovery may produce. It is, indeed, evident, that 
 public attention, in the first instance, must be 
 roused to general activity by individual exertion, 
 however fatal or inconvenient it may be to him by 
 whom it is first made. I pretend not, however, 
 to have discovered any thing before radically 
 unknown, but to disclose facts which accident 
 or the artifice of those who are implicated may 
 have concealed from the public view, and to deduce 
 such inferences as would suggest themselves to an 
 ordinary and unbiassed judgment. 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As a portion of my personal history is connected 
 with the present undertaking, I must present the 
 reader with a brief sketch of the events in which 
 it originated. 
 
 I was educated in the principles and faith of the 
 Established Church, and designed to be numbered 
 amongst her clergy. But, from my earliest ac- 
 quaintance with her mode of government, I con- 
 sidered it to be incompatible with the precepts of 
 the gospel, and subversive of that religious liberty 
 which, as Christians, we ought to profess. I have 
 continued in her communion, however, and endea- 
 voured to enter her ministry, being actuated by the 
 desire of a union between myself and her members, 
 which I regarded as the best means of aiding an 
 intended effort to produce a reform of her manifold 
 corruptions and abuses. During the last fifteen 
 years, I have perceived that a very material alter- 
 ation in her government was demanded by common 
 sense and common honesty ; and thence I have been 
 endeavouring to qualify myself for the execution of 
 the present undertaking. 
 
 To me, titles, dignities, and riches have never 
 appeared as the chief good, or even as essentially 
 constituent of the happiness of the life of man. I 
 have considered them, when weighed with honesty 
 and a good conscience, as dust in the balance. The 
 influence which I also observed them to exercise 
 upon clerical conduct, and the spirit of domination 
 and insolence which their possession generated in 
 prelatical characters, convinced me that their ex- 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 istence in any church must be a source of certain 
 and positive evil. Hence I have conceived that all 
 honour is disgraceful, and all profit vile, which are 
 the result of mean compliances with corrupt sys- 
 tems ; and that obsequious submissions to corrupt 
 and despotical men is a base desertion of the sim- 
 plicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 My general sentiments on the state and cor- 
 ruptions of the church were published in 1821 ; 
 but as they met with much opposition from the 
 clergy, I was induced to withdraw them from 
 public notice till a more favourable period should 
 arrive. At this time, I came into possession of a 
 Chapel atDavington, in Kent. I repaired the dila- 
 pidated edifice, and preached in it for twelve months, 
 to large and respectable audiences. But the fact of 
 my not being episcopally ordained, as well as the 
 large congregations which attended, excited the 
 jealousy of the neighbouring clergy and the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. I was therefore induced to 
 discontinue preaching, and to enter the University 
 of Cambridge, preparatory to receiving episcopal 
 ordination. I subsequently, in a letter addressed to 
 an eminent American Divine, disclosed my intention 
 of attempting a reform in the government of the 
 Episcopal Church. After the lapse of several years, 
 spent in the requisite studies, and having received 
 the necessary testimonials from the College to 
 which I belonged, I applied, in 1830, to the Bishop 
 of Norwich, for the rite of ordination. Strange to 
 say, however, he brought into the field against me 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the secretary of the present Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, and who had been my opponent, in 1821, for 
 my resistance, during the late Queen's trial, to the 
 tyranny of his former patron, Dr. Sutton. The 
 fact of my having preached without episcopal ordi- 
 nation had been recorded by that prelate, a caution 
 was issued against my being admitted into the 
 church, and the Bishop thence refused me admission 
 into holy orders. This, after much inquiry and cor- 
 respondence with the Bishop of Norwich, the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and their secretaries, I 
 discovered to be the cause of my application being 
 rejected. Several letters having passed between 
 me and Dr. Howley on this subject, in which his 
 Grace was dark and mysterious, I was resolved 
 to close the subject, and for this purpose I wrote 
 the following letter to the Archbishop. 
 
 Bracondale House, Norwich, 
 
 Sept. 17, 1830. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 After all the explanation I have given to 
 
 your Grace, relative to my connexion with Daving- 
 ton, ten years ago, and after having taken my 
 degree at Cambridge, I beg simply to know if I 
 am to be precluded from episcopal ordination ? It 
 may be proper, here, to pause. 
 
 It is not for my own sake that I wish your Grace 
 to consider the responsibility of your situation. 
 But I do request your Grace to beware, lest you 
 indulge any emotion of resentment. If I am re- 
 fused ordination, or treated contemptuously by 
 
INTRODUCTION, XI 
 
 your Grace, my case will be delivered to the world, 
 and will not be able to be recalled. The conspiracy 
 against an innocent man cannot alter facts, nor 
 refute arguments ; and I pray that your Grace will 
 not furnish me with materials against yourself. It 
 has been well said, that an honest man, like the 
 true religion, appeals to the understanding, or mo- 
 destly confides in the internal evidence of his con- 
 science. The impostor employs force instead of 
 argument imposes silence where he cannot con- 
 
 vince. I will Only add, 'CV/Aa ^aws xa0o Travra ra 
 
 I am, my Lord, 
 Your Grace's obedient, faithful Servant, 
 
 JAMES ABBOTT. 
 
 P.S. I must again beg the favour of your Grace 
 to forward me the five original documents in your 
 Grace's possession. J. A. 
 
 To the most Reverend 
 LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 
 The following is his Grace's letter, in return : 
 
 Dover, Oct. 2Qt/i, 1830. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In answer to your question respecting ordi- 
 
 nation, I have only to say, that whenever I shall be 
 referred to by any bishop, it will be my duty to 
 inform him of the circumstances which occasioned 
 a caution to be issued by the late Archbishop. 
 I remain, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 W. CANTUAR. 
 
 To JAMES ABBOTT, Esq. 
 
 Bracondale House, Norfolk. 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 On receiving this letter from his Grace, I com- 
 mitted the whole of the correspondence, which con- 
 sisted of forty-three letters, to press ; and the fol- 
 lowing November, having occasion to visit London, 
 I called on Dr. Howley. His Grace received me 
 courteously, but answered me with extreme cau- 
 tion ; indeed, after using my best endeavours, for 
 upwards of half an hour, to obtain some satisfac- 
 tion, I could obtain no other reply than " I have 
 no wish to interfere against you, Mr. Abbott. I 
 must attend to my official duties. If a bishop 
 apply to me, I must inform him, that there appears 
 in the books of my predecessor a caution to the 
 bishops, not to ordain you without reference to 
 him. I can say no more." I delicately pointed 
 out to his Grace the absurdity of such a subterfuge, 
 and the impossibility of applying to a dead man ; 
 and begged to know, if an archbishop had nothing 
 more than his official duty to perform, and if he 
 thought my conduct, in any one instance, deserved 
 the treatment I received ? " I can maks you no 
 other reply than I have done, Mr. Abbott," said 
 his Grace. Finding it useless to altercate, I left 
 the Archbishop, who absolutely refused to look at 
 my printed documents against his predecessor, the 
 Bishop of Norwich, and his clergy. 
 
 There was so much in this interview repugnant 
 to my principles, that I resolved never to seek epis- 
 copal ordination out of the diocese of Norwich. A 
 liberal mind must reprobate the conduct of Dr. 
 Howley, who would evade every argument, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 prevent all discussion and inquiry, that might tend 
 to clear and justify me in opposing the spirit of 
 intolerance and the persecution of his predecessor, 
 and also a bishop who ought long before to have 
 been superannuated. Let it be remembered, that 
 it is the duty of a bishop to endeavour to reclaim, 
 rather than to punish. The scourge and the inqui- 
 sition ought never to supply the place of justice or 
 of argument. Archbishop Sutton chose the for- 
 mer, without using one effort towards effecting the 
 latter. His Grace never hinted to me an objection 
 to my assisting in the duties of Davington ; but, 
 like a despot of the dark and tyrannical ages of the 
 ancient decemviri, or the later Roman emperors, 
 breathing revenge for performing what in my con- 
 science I considered a duty, he issued an edict which 
 was calculated to blast my character and reputation, 
 and which led me into difficulties and embarrass- 
 ments from which I am but just extricated ; and 
 which his successor, with the mildness and com- 
 placency of a Nerva, renewed.* Thus a second 
 
 * Tillemont, discussing the antiquity of Christian churches, 
 informs us that none were erected till the peace of Alexander 
 Severus ;f and Mr. Moyle says, not till the peace of Gallienus4 
 Till this period, we find the Christians held their assemblies in 
 private houses and sequestered places. And though Christ and 
 his apostles were allowed to preach in the Jewish synagogue, 
 
 t Memoires Ecclesiastiques, torn, iii, part 2, pp. 68 72. 
 t Vol. i, pp. 378398. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 persecution was commenced, after the revolution 
 of ten years, by another Christian bishop, who un- 
 blushingly tells us he derives his claims of office 
 from Jesus Christ, though he tyrannizes over a 
 mind he cannot subdue. 
 
 I must confess that, during my correspondence 
 with the bishops, I felt more for their character, 
 than interest for episcopal ordination, for I never 
 thought this essential to the usefulness of a minister 
 of Christ. Indeed, I have always considered it to be 
 a scriptural doctrine, that the work of preaching is 
 not so peculiarly confined to ordained ministers, 
 but that others also, gifted and fitted by the Holy 
 Spirit, and called by the providence of God, may 
 publicly, ordinarily, and regularly perform it. l ' As 
 every man hath received the gift, even so minister 
 the same one to another, as good stewards of the 
 manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him 
 speak as the oracles of God ; if any man minister, 
 let him do it as of the ability which God giveth."* 
 If a man's liberty and sentiments be from God, he 
 
 such is the vast and mighty stride of intellectual greatness in 
 Christian morals, that a man who presumes to follow the exam- 
 ple of his Divine Master and the humble fishermen of Galilee, 
 by expounding the Scripture, even amidst the ruins of a monas- 
 tery or convent, not under episcopal jurisdiction, is persecuted, 
 not by a Jewish or pagan magistrate, but by conciliatory, cha- 
 ritable, and Christian (or should I not rather say, by arro- 
 gant, courtly, and inexorable ?) prelates. 
 
 * 1 Pet. iv. 10, 1L 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 has a divine right to make them known to others.* 
 However, to satisfy myself fully upon the incon- 
 sistency of the conduct of the hierarchy of the 
 church, the same month I drew up, and sent the 
 annexed letter to the King : 
 
 To the King's most excellent Majesty. 
 SIRE, 
 
 I, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subject, 
 Bachelor of Arts, of Queen's College, Cambridge, 
 and resident of Bracondale House, in the County of 
 Norwich, in accordance with your Majesty's paternal 
 regard for the rights and immunities of every indi- 
 vidual subject in your Majesty's dominions, approach 
 your Majesty, with esteem and filial affection, to 
 lay before your Majesty my grievances, and the fla- 
 grant motives and infractions of duty with which 
 bishops and archbishops sometimes discharge their 
 functions. 
 
 The question, Sire, is one in which the religious 
 liberties of your Majesty's faithful subjects are 
 deeply involved ; and should my case invoke the 
 generous sentiments and sympathy of your Ma- 
 jesty, or be instrumental in obtaining emancipation 
 from arbitrary power, that patriotic spirit of inde- 
 pendence, which can appreciate the liberties of my 
 
 * In 1562, an Act was passed, entitled " For Reformation of 
 Disorders in the Ministers of the Church," (13 Eliz. cap. 12,) 
 in which the Parliament admits of ordination by presbyters, 
 without- a bishop. 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fellow-countrymen, would not shrink from the 
 purchase, though I were to fall the victim to epis- 
 copal^ tyranny. 
 
 In 1821, I came into possession of part of a 
 conventual chapel called Davington church, in Kent. 
 This chapel had been built partly under the same 
 roof with apriory, founded by Faulk, A. D. 1153, for 
 twenty-four French nuns,* to whom, among other 
 lands, he gave the manor of Davington, for their 
 support and maintenance.! Their whole income 
 amounted to no more than 211. 13s. Wd. In 
 the reign of Edward III. the poverty of the prioress 
 and nuns was so great, and though the members 
 were reduced to sixteen, they were obliged to pre- 
 sent a petition to the king, representing their inca- 
 pability of meeting his dues 4 The priory after- 
 wards became so insignificant, that, in the reign of 
 Henry VIII., there was neither prioress nor nuns 
 in it, so that it became escheated to the crown. 
 
 The manor, Sire, was afterwards sold, with all 
 its buildings, and has for centuries been in 
 possession of laymen. || In 1625, Richard Milles 
 was permitted to preach in the chapel, by the 
 king's letters patent.lf In 1700, the estate fell, for a 
 short period, into the hands of a clergyman, named 
 
 * Tan. Mon. p. 215. f Somn. Cant. p. 133. 
 
 $ Southouse Mon. p. 147. Jacob's Hist, of Fav. p. 114. 
 || Rym. Fo3d. vol. xviii. p. 647. 
 n Rot. Esch. ejus. an, pt. 5. , alsoHastead, pages 130, 661. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 Sherwin, who occasionally performed service in 
 the remaining part of the chapel.* Religious du- 
 ties have since been permitted, at the will and 
 pleasure of the owner of the estate, as may be seen 
 from a register kept by the late impropriators ; to 
 which, in 1822, I affixed my signature as clerk, 
 curate, and incumbent. f The chapel has never 
 been subject to the control or jurisdiction of any 
 Protestant bishop, archdeacon, or other ordinary.} 
 For seven years previous to my possession of 
 this chapel, no service had been performed in it. 
 The building was hastening rapidly to ruins, and 
 was used as a workshop, and for the timber and 
 
 * Philpot, p. 180. 
 
 f It is the disposition of some men to confine the sense of a 
 word by their own narrow views, to suit their bigoted notions, and 
 to answer their interested purpose. It may therefore be necessary, 
 from a remark lately made to me, relative to these signatures, 
 to direct the attention of those high churchmen, who so bounti- 
 fully exercise that " charity w^hich thinketh no evil," to Todd's 
 Johnson, for the definition of these terms. If such charitable 
 gentlemen choose the authority of a lawyer in preference to a 
 lexicographer, they may turn to " Blackstone's Commenta- 
 ries," for the term clerk vol. i. b.i. chap. 11. They will there 
 find that the term is not confined to a minister or teacher in 
 orders, as their limited minds conceive. The terms were used 
 in strict adaptation to their true import, and in conformity to 
 my character, as lessee of the property, and as assistant minister 
 or curate to the impropriator, to whom the freehold of the 
 chapel belonged. 
 
 + Hastead and Ect. The*. 
 
 b 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 materials of the farm, to which the remaining part 
 of the priory is now appropriated. 
 
 I, your Majesty's dutiful subject, called on the 
 late Archbishop (Sutton) , and informed him of my 
 intention to restore the building for divine service; 
 and I left the palace, with the impression that I 
 should be ordained by his Grace. 
 
 I expended several hundred pounds in repairing 
 this church ; but, unhappily, about this time I un- 
 intentionally offended his Grace, and the neigh- 
 bouring clergy, by successfully advocating the 
 cause of the persecuted Queen Caroline. Party 
 spirit grew high, and I was peremptorily refused 
 ordination, on the ground (as the Archbishop 
 said) of the building's not being within the pale of 
 the Establishment. I made my case known to 
 the Bishop of Norwich, who also refused to ordain 
 me on Davington. 
 
 Having spent my property on this building, 
 and finding, in Eusebius Pamphilius, that the 
 primitive bishops Alexander, Bishop of Jeru- 
 salem, and Theoctystus, Bishop of Caesarea 
 commended Origen for preaching and expound- 
 ing in the church, before he was ordained to 
 the ministry ;* and as it was a natural con- 
 clusion of the mind of your Majesty's faithful 
 petitioner, as well as a position of infallible truth, 
 that where there is no law there is no transgres- 
 
 * Euselx b. vi. c. 19. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 sion, I immediately took the oaths of allegiance, as 
 a clerk or teacher, required by the " Toleration 
 Act/' to qualify myself legally to assist in the re- 
 ligious duties of this place. I read parts of Rogers's 
 " Lectures on the Church Liturgy," every Sunday 
 evening, for a year, to the most crowded and re- 
 spectable auditories ever before or since witnessed 
 in that neighbourhood ; but, unfortunately, to the 
 great envy and annoyance of the surrounding- 
 clergy. This induced me to desist, and to write to 
 the Archbishop, stating, that I was aware how ex- 
 tremely easy it was for men to mistake my motives 
 and to misrepresent my design ; that I felt sorry 
 to give any occasion to let my good be evil spoken 
 of ; and as I had desisted from taking any part of 
 the duties, and intended to obtain a degree at Cam- 
 bridge, I begged to know if, with my degree and 
 episcopal ordination, I could re-attend Davington 
 church, without incurring his Grace's displeasure. 
 The copy of this letter, and his Grace's answer, 
 with several honourable testimonials of high re- 
 spectability, given me on leaving Kent, are now in 
 my possession. 
 
 I beg further humbly to state to your Majesty, 
 that on the receipt of this letter I immediately sold 
 my interest in the church, but, unfortunately, to 
 an unprincipled clergyman, from whom I never 
 obtained a shilling. The loss of this property 
 obliged me to withdraw my name from the boards 
 of my College. I was soon after, in 1824, re- 
 ft 2 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 spectably introduced to his Grace the Archbishop 
 of York, under whose eye I lived till 1827, when 
 his Grace recommended me to return to Cam- 
 bridge to complete my Terms, and condescended to 
 write me the following letter, dated Feb. 13: 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 11 On receiving from you the intelligence 
 of your having taken your degree at Cambridge, I 
 shall have great pleasure in endeavouring to ob- 
 tain for you a nomination to a curacy in this 
 diocese. 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 11 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 "E. EBOK 
 
 " To JAMES ABBOTT, Esq. 
 " Sneaton Hall." 
 
 I, your Majesty's petitioner, was received back 
 to my old college, and the Head Tutor (Mr. King), 
 to whom the whole affair of my former connexion 
 with Davington was known, in a letter, dated 
 February 13th, 1827, to Colonel Wilson, late 
 Member for York, writes " I think it but just 
 to Mr. Abbott to observe, that his conduct in col- 
 lege, during 1822 and 1823, was highly proper and 
 decorous ; and that I always considered the conduct 
 of his enemies, in pursuing him and hunting him 
 down, as harsh and uncalled for." 
 
 I obtained my degree last year, and have sent to 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Bishop of Norwich my college testimonials, 
 with all papers required of candidates for holy 
 orders. Without troubling your Majesty with a 
 detail of circumstances, as vexatious as unjust, 
 which I have experienced; it is with unfeigned 
 sorrow that necessity obliges me to inform your 
 Majesty that the late Archbishop, ten years ago, 
 sent to the several bishops, without informing me, 
 cautioning them not to ordain me without refer- 
 ence to himself. This reference is now impossible, 
 his Grace being dead. The Bishop of Norwich 
 states, that he cannot ordain me unless the present 
 Archbishop of his diocese removes this caution or 
 caveat, which his Grace does not appear willing to 
 do, without the authority of your Majesty. 
 
 I, therefore, earnestly invoke your Majesty, as 
 head of the church, and father of your people, 
 graciously to consider my prayer, to remove this 
 hindrance to my obtaining episcopal ordination ; 
 in order that your Majesty's Royal prerogative 
 may secure to me the privileges and rights of 
 a denizen and of a British graduate. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 I have the honour, with dutiful respect, 
 to subscribe myself, 
 
 Your Majesty's 
 Obedient, faithful, and loyal Petitioner, 
 
 JAMES ABBOTT. 
 
 Bracondale House, Norwich, 
 November 27th, 1830. 
 
XXli INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The following is Lord Melbourne's reply : 
 
 Whitehall, 29th December, 1830. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I am directed by Lord Melbourne to 
 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th 
 instant, and to inform you that his Lordship 
 cannot advise the King to give any command for 
 controlling the judgment of a bishop on the 
 subject of ordination to holy orders. 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 <c Your obedient humble Servant, 
 
 " S. M. PHILLIPS. 
 " JAMES ABBOTT, ESQ. 
 " Bracondale House, Norwich." 
 
 Before I make any remark on this letter, I will 
 give the substance of the Act of Supremacy, with a 
 few quotations from Judge Blackstone : 
 
 26 HENRY VIII. CAP. 1. 
 
 11 Albeit, the king's Majesty justly and rightly 
 is, and ought to be, supreme head of the Church 
 of England, and is so recognised by the clergy of 
 this realm ; yet, nevertheless, for conformation and 
 corroboration thereof, and increase of virtue in 
 Christ's religion within this realm of England, &c. 
 be it enacted by the authority of this present 
 parliament, that the King, our Sovereign Lord, his 
 heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be 
 taken, accepted, and reputed, the only supreme head, on 
 
INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 earth, of the Church of England, and shall have and 
 enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of 
 this realm, as well as the title and style thereof, as 
 all honours, dignities, immunities, profits, and 
 commodities, to the said dignity of supreme head of 
 the said church belonging and appertaining ; and 
 that our Sovereign Lord, his heirs and successors, 
 kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority 
 to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, 
 restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, 
 contempts, and enormities whatsoever they be, which, by 
 any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction, 
 ought or may be lawfully reformed, repressed, 
 ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained, or amend- 
 ed, most to the pleasure of Almighty God, and 
 increase of virtue in Christ's religion, and for the 
 convention of peace, unity, and tranquillity of this 
 realm, any usage, custom, foreign law, foreign 
 authority, presumption, or any thing or things 
 to the contrary notwithstanding."* 
 
 Now, what am I to understand by this Act ? 
 That the king is not supreme head of the Church of 
 
 * Though papists repudiate the oath of supremacy, as in- 
 consistent with their allegiance to the pope, every loyal 
 protestant may conscientiously take it, with the explication, that 
 no more is intended than that his Majesty, under God, has the 
 sovereignty and rule over all persons born in his dominions, 
 either ecclesiastical or temporal, so as no foreign power has, or 
 ought to have, any superiority over them. In this sense, and 
 no other, I willingly take it. 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 England; that he has not power and authority to 
 visit, repress, and redress errors ; that it is not his 
 duty to order, correct, restrain, and amend all abuses, 
 contempts, and enormities whatsoever? It would 
 seem that this is Lord Melbourne's view of it. 
 Let us see what opinion Judge Blackstone enter- 
 tains on this matter: 
 
 " The king is," he says, " considered by the laws 
 of England, as the head and supreme governor of 
 the national church. To enter into the reasons 
 upon which this prerogative is founded, is matter 
 rather of divinity than of law. I shall, therefore, 
 only observe, that, by statute 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1. it 
 is enacted, that the king shall be reputed the only 
 supreme head, on earth, of the Church of England, 
 and shall have annexed to the imperial crown of 
 this realm, as well as the title and style thereof, 
 as all jurisdictions, authorities, and commodities, 
 to the said dignity of supreme head of the church 
 appertaining. And another statute of the same 
 purport was made, 1 Eliz. c. 1. 
 
 " In virtue of this authority, the king convenes, 
 prorogues, restrains, regulates, and dissolves all 
 ecclesiastical synods or convocations. 
 
 " From this prerogative also, of being head of the 
 church, arises the king's right of nomination to 
 vacant bishoprics, and certain other ecclesiastical 
 preferments. 
 
 " As head of the church, the king is likewise 
 the DERNIER RESORT in all ecclesiastical causes ; an 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 appeal lying ultimately to him in Chancery from 
 the sentence of every ecclesiastical judge. "* 
 
 What will Lord Melbourne say to this ? 
 
 Let us further see what the learned lawyer says 
 on the duty of a king : 
 
 " The principal duty of a king/' says the judge, 
 11 is to govern his people according to law. Nee 
 regibus infinita aut libera potestas, was the con- 
 stitution of our German ancestors on the con- 
 tinent.f And this is not only consonant to the 
 principles of nature, of liberty, of reason, and 
 of society; but has always been esteemed an 
 express part of the common law of England. 
 
 " The king of England must rule his people 
 according to the decrees of the laws thereof. But, 
 to obviate all doubts and difficulties concerning this 
 matter, it is expressly declared by statute 12 and 13 
 Wil. III. c. 2. < that the laws of England are the 
 birthright of the people thereof ; and all the kings 
 and queens, who shall ascend the throne of this 
 realm, ought to administer the government of the 
 same according to the said laws ; and all their officers 
 and ministers [mark this, Lord Melbourne,] ought to 
 serve them respectively, according to the same : and 
 therefore all the laws and statutes of this realm, for 
 securing the established religion, and the rights and 
 liberties of the people thereof, and all other laws and 
 statutes of the same now in force, are ratified and 
 confirmed accordingly." 
 
 * Blackstone, vol. i. b. i. c. 7. f Tac. de mor. Germ. c. 7. 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A question asked of the king by the bishop, 
 in administering the coronation oath, is " Will 
 you, to your power, cause law and justice, in 
 mercy, to be executed in all your judgments ?" 
 The king answers " I will ; so help me, God."* 
 
 Again, Blackstone tells us " Justice is not 
 derived from the king, as from his free gift ; but 
 he is the steward of the public, to dispense it to 
 whom it is due. He is not the spring, but the 
 reservoir, from whence right and equity are con- 
 ducted, by a thousand channels, to every individual. 
 The original power of judicature by the funda- 
 mental principles of society, is lodged in the 
 society at large ; but as it would be impracticable 
 to render complete justice to every individual 
 by the people in their collective capacity, therefore 
 every nation has committed that power to certain 
 select magistrates, who, with more ease and ex- 
 pedition, can hear and determine complaints : and 
 in England, this authority has immemorially been 
 exercised by the king, or his substitutes."! 
 
 I now ask any man of common sense, who is not 
 wholly destitute of a feeling of respect for the laws 
 of his country, if the responsible situation of 
 Secretary of State ought to be filled by a man so 
 indifferent to his duty, or ignorant of those laws and 
 institutions which justice demands him to execute 
 and observe, as Lord Melbourne has shewn him- 
 
 * Blackstone, vol. i. b. i. c. 6. 
 f Blackstone, vol. i. b. i. c, 7. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 self to be in his conduct towards me ? How am 
 I to reconcile the treatment I have experienced 
 with the principles of candour and rectitude ? I 
 sent a petition for Lord Melbourne, as Secretary of 
 State, to present to his Majesty. It is required 
 of his Lordship, as a servant of the King and 
 people, to execute with fidelity the duties of his 
 office. My request was for a legal right; it was to 
 remove a grievance, and to reform an abuse, 
 which could not be effected in any other way, 
 without entering into a ruinous Court of Chan- 
 cery. 
 
 Lord Melbourne, I have reason to believe, did 
 not present my petition to his Majesty ; nor did 
 he condescend to answer me, till after a month 
 had elapsed, when I sent him a second letter on 
 the subject. To this the note above given, dated 
 Whitehall, is his Lordship's reply. 
 
 Justice, liberty, and happiness, are the charters 
 of God and nature, which no mortal, however 
 elevated by conquest or inheritance, can annul or 
 violate without impiety. Every king, and every 
 minister, therefore, who will not advance the 
 national right of every individual subject to their 
 control, is a despot. 
 
 " Not even the high -anointed hand of Heaven 
 Can authorize oppression, give a law 
 For lawless power, wed faith to violation, 
 On reason build misrule, or justly bind 
 Allegiance to injustice." 
 
XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I now leave Lord Melbourne, and his character, to 
 my readers.* I consider the affair as closed, and 
 shall give myself no further trouble in a matter so 
 indifferent to the interests of the Church of Christ. 
 So far, I have done what I considered to be my duty, 
 and feel relieved from the shackles in which I have 
 been long held. It appears to be the will of God 
 that I should no longer be ensnared, with a vain 
 desire to submit to the government of the Church of 
 England, till her discipline shall be amended by the 
 legislature, or be united and bound to an authority 
 founded in popery and spiritual slavery ; but that 
 I should at once come forward as the advocate of 
 spiritual emancipation, freed from the spirit of 
 temporizing, which so powerfully possessed many 
 of the bishops in the reign of Edward VI., that 
 after having complied with the impositions of 
 
 * Since writing the above, I find that a petition has been 
 sent to the King, by Mr. Arnold, a speculator in theatrical 
 property, on the right of the patent theatres ; which the Lord 
 Chancellor of England deemed to be of sufficient import- 
 ance to demand more than ordinary consideration. It ap- 
 peared also to his Majesty, that genius and taste, intellectual 
 improvement, and, above all, morality, might be benefited or 
 injured by the result of the inquiry. His Majesty was, 
 therefore, graciously pleased to permit the discussion to be 
 carried on in public, to the end that more satisfaction might 
 be afforded to all who had an interest in the question. 
 This fact, of a private individual petitioning the King, 
 in support of the stage, is of too glaring a nature to need 
 comment ! 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 Henry VIII. , they were desirous of bringing others 
 under the same yoke, and of keeping up an alliance 
 with the Church of Rome, lest they should lose 
 the uninterrupted succession of their office from 
 the apostles. 
 
 Having lately had some leisure hours, I resolved 
 to examine, more minutely than I had hitherto 
 done, the ground on which the authority of bishops 
 rested. I felt that whatever might be urged by 
 them, in support of their dogmas and usurpation, 
 it was certain that the great and eternal laws of 
 truth and justice could not be violated with im- 
 punity. The violation may answer some sordid and 
 temporary purpose, but in the end it must prove 
 injurious, if not fatal, to those who are guilty of it. 
 
 In the prosecution of my object, I have ex- 
 amined Eusebius, Socrates, Evigarius, and the 
 writings of several of the Fathers and reformers 
 of the Church. I have also consulted Hooker's 
 Ecclesiastical Polity, Strype's Annals, Neal's Pu- 
 ritans, Pierce's Vindication, Burnett's History of 
 the Reformation, Clarendon's History, Fuller's 
 Worthies, Mosheim and Collyer's Ecclesiastical 
 Histories, Clark and Fox's Martyrs, Rapin, Hume, 
 Gibbon, and Blackstone's Commentaries ; as well as 
 Le Clerk, Usher, Selden, and Robinson, and others 
 of less note. From various books I have taken 
 whatever subjects suited my purpose, and from the 
 above-mentioned writers I have frequently borrowed 
 with advantage. Whenever I have found their 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sentiments express my own ideas more clearly 
 than my ability could represent them, I have 
 made use of their language in preference to my 
 own. Indeed, the reader may look upon the work 
 as a compilation from others, rather than as a new 
 work emanating from me. 
 
 I have first endeavoured to prove the origin and 
 gradual advance of papal tyranny in England ; and 
 then shewn that in the early ages of the Christian 
 Church, there were only bishops or presbyters, and 
 deacons ; that bishops and presbyters, in the primi- 
 tive Church; were synonymous, or of one degree ; 
 that there were many bishops in one town ; that 
 no bishop's authority extended beyond one city ; 
 that the bishops could ordain no minister, without 
 the consent of the presbyters and Church ; that 
 they could confirm no children, but in their own 
 parish ; that they possessed but one living each, 
 and served the cure ; and that they dealt in no 
 civil government by any established authority.* 
 I have also shewn the unscriptural power of 
 English bishops, that they have no authority on 
 which to establish their power in the Church ; 
 and that archdeacons, deans, and other officials 
 are antichristian dignitaries. I have given the 
 history of fast days, and the history of tithes, with 
 a comparative view of the wealth consumed by the 
 clergy. I have shewn the innovations made onChris- 
 
 * See Collyer's Church History, p. 543. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 tian doctrines and discipline, and that the Church 
 has no right, founded on the authority of Christ, 
 or his apostles, to impose rites or ceremonies 
 on the conscience of any man ; and that the rites 
 and ceremonies of the Church of England are the 
 remnants of popery and the filaments of antichrist. 
 I have closed, with a scheme for the reduction of 
 episcopacy, and the plan for a reformed Church. In 
 doing this, I have followed the dictates of my own 
 judgment and conscience. The principle of duty 
 is the highest law in the soul, and he who invades 
 this freedom in man, aims the deadliest blow at 
 his honour and happiness. 
 
 My anxious desire is, to use my humble en- 
 deavours to promote the cause of Christ, and to 
 defend, to the best of my ability, the simplicity of 
 that gospel, which He himself came to establish. 
 With this view, I have assembled a church in Lon- 
 don, called the REFORMED ENGLISH CHURCH, and 
 intend, with the assistance of Divine Providence, 
 to support the pure doctrines of Christ. 
 
 I am fully aware that my conduct will give 
 offence to those who are possessed of power and 
 patronage ; but I am ready to bear patiently the 
 proud man's contumely, and the censure of the 
 sycophant, whose preferment depends on the pros- 
 titution of knowledge and conscience. During the 
 short period of my sojournwith my fellow-creatures, 
 I will continue, by the Divine assistance, to strike at 
 the bonds of slavish despotism, without paying court 
 
XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to any individual or party. My efforts may appear 
 trifling and inconsiderable to the eye of clerical 
 pride ; but be it remembered, that if what appears 
 little be despised, nothing great can be obtained. 
 All that is great was at first little, and rose to its 
 present bulk by gradual accessions and accumu- 
 lated labours. 
 
 With these remarks, I leave the following pages 
 to my reader. Having been drawn up amidst my fa- 
 mily and professional duties, as a tutor, I do not pre- 
 sume that they will obtain the approbation of all who 
 may peruse them ; for, to conclude in the words of 
 Dr. Johnson, he that has much to do, will do 
 something wrong, and of that wrong must suffer the 
 consequences. If it were possible that he should 
 always act rightly, yet, when such numbers are 
 to judge of his conduct, the bad will censure and ob- 
 struct him by malevolence ; and the good, some- 
 times, by mistake. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 CHURCH HIERARCHY, 
 
 ~~ 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE OF PAPAL TYRANNY 
 IN ENGLAND. 
 
 IT will be admitted, that all power, superiority, 
 and distinction in society, must be derived, either 
 from the positive institutions of God, or from the 
 mutual agreement of men ; whoever, therefore, 
 exercises any authority over others, their goods, or 
 possessions, must support his pretension by such 
 proof as the nature of the claim requires ; and such 
 proof should be examined with the utmost jealousy, 
 when the claims have reference to the spiritual and 
 eternal happiness of mankind. 
 
 It is a severe circumstance which attends those 
 who oppose received opinions, that they must not 
 only contend against popular prejudices and 
 notions long cherished, and against the interests 
 and passions of great numbers of artful and com- 
 bining men, but also against the weight and 
 force of public authority. The labouring oar, too, 
 
2 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 
 
 will always lie upon them. They must disprove 
 what has no proof to support it, and bring argu- 
 ment upon argument, to maintain propositions 
 which are really self-evident. A bare idea of the 
 possibility that they may be mistaken, will be 
 deemed equal to a full conviction that they are so ; 
 and sometimes the clearest demonstration of their 
 case, will be called only carnal and human reason- 
 ing, not to be used about spiritual things. Even 
 when the irrefragable strength of their reasoning 
 forces consent, they will have no thanks for their 
 pains ; but will be often esteemed officious and 
 factious, and be said to disturb points already 
 settled, if, by chance, they should escape the 
 censure of promoting the cause of infidelity. 
 
 However, be the consequences what they may, 
 the claims in the popish and popishly-affected 
 clergy are so enormous, the consequences of them 
 so fatal to real Christianity, and the arguments 
 pretended to be brought from reason and authority 
 for their support, so weak and contemptible, the 
 whole design and current of the gospel being 
 directly against them, that I shall do my utmost 
 totally to demolish the tottering building of anti- 
 christ, and also to shew, that it has no foundation in 
 common sense, or in the scriptures of divine truth. 
 
 It has been justly observed by Blackstone, that 
 religious principles, which, when genuine and pure, 
 have an evident tendency to make their professors 
 better citizens, as well as better men, have, when 
 
OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 3 
 
 become perverted and erroneous, been usually sub- 
 versive of civil government, and been made both 
 the cloak and the instrument of every pernicious 
 design that can be harboured in the heart of man. 
 The unbounded authority that was exercised by the 
 Druids in the west, under the influence of pagan 
 superstition, and the terrible ravages committed by 
 the Saracens in the east, to propagate the religion 
 of Mahomet, both witness to the truth of that 
 ancient universal observation, that in all ages, and 
 in all countries, civil and ecclesiastical tyranny are 
 mutually productive of each other. It is the glory 
 of the true church of Christ, that she inculcates due 
 obedience to lawful authority, and is, in her prin- 
 ciples and practice, unquestionably loyal, in com- 
 pliance with the divine command, ll submit your- 
 selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
 sake ; whether it be to the king, as supreme, or 
 unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him 
 for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise 
 of them that do well. For so is the will of God, 
 that with well-doing ye may put to silence the 
 ignorance of foolish men ; as free, and not using 
 your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as 
 the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the 
 brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King." 
 
 The faithful ministers of Christ, holy in their doc- 
 trines, and aiming to keep a conscience void of 
 offence, are also moderate in their ambition, and 
 entertain just notions of the ties of society, and 
 
 B 2 
 
THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 
 
 of the rights of civil government. As in matters of 
 faith and morality, so in matters of church dis- 
 cipline and church government, they acknowledge 
 no guide to have authority over their consciences, 
 but the scriptures ; though some acknowledge that 
 the king may make laws, for the good ordaining 
 of the churches within his dominions, and that 
 the churches ought not to be disobedient, unless 
 they find such laws contrary to the word of 
 God ; and even in such cases, they are not to 
 resist, but peaceably to refuse obedience, and sub- 
 mit to the punishment, if mercy cannot be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 The horrid devastations arising from fanaticism, in 
 the various ages of the world, the effects of which 
 have been mere madness, or of zeal that was nearly 
 allied to it, though violent and tumultuous, were 
 but of a short duration ; whereas the progress of 
 the papal policy, long actuated by the steady 
 counsels of successive pontiffs, took deeper root, 
 and was at length, in some places with difficulty, 
 in others never yet extirpated. For the truth of 
 this, we might refer to the black intrigues of the 
 Jesuits, formerly triumphant over Christendom, but 
 since universally abandoned, even by the Roman 
 Catholic powers themselves : but the subject of 
 the present chapter is, to consider the vast strides 
 which were formerly made in this kingdom by the 
 popish clergy ; how nearly they arrived to effect 
 their grand design ; some few of the means they 
 
OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 5 
 
 made use of for establishing their plan; and how 
 almost all of these have been defeated, or converted 
 to better purposes, by the vigour and wisdom of 
 our ancestors. 
 
 The ancient British church, by whomsoever 
 planted, was a stranger to the bishop of Rome, 
 and all his pretended authority. The pagan Saxon 
 invaders having driven the professors of Chris- 
 tianity to the remotest corners of our island, their 
 own conversion was afterwards effected by Au- 
 gustin, the monk, and other missionaries from the 
 court of Rome. This naturally introduced some 
 f few of the papal corruptions, in point of faith and 
 doctrine ; but we read of no civil authority claimed 
 by the pope in these kingdoms, till the era of the 
 Norman conquest ; when the then reigning pon- 
 tiff, having favoured Duke William in his projected 
 invasion, by blessing his host, and consecrating 
 his banners, he took that opportunity also of 
 establishing his spiritual encroachments ; and was 
 even permitted to do so, by the policy of the con- 
 queror, in order more effectually to humble the 
 Saxon clergy, and aggrandize his Norman prelates, 
 who, being bred abroad in the doctrine and practice 
 of slavery, had contracted a reverence and regard 
 for it, and took a pleasure in ri vetting the chains 
 of a free-born people. 
 
 The most stable foundation of legal and rational 
 government, is a due subordination of rank, and 
 a gradual scale of authority ; and though tyranny 
 
6 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 
 
 itself is most surely supported by a regular gradation 
 of despotism, rising from the slave to the sultan, 
 yet, however, with this difference, that the measure 
 of obedience in the one, is grounded on the prin- 
 ciples of society, and is extended no further than 
 reason and necessity will warrant ; in the other it 
 is limited, only by absolute will and pleasure of 
 the reigning monarch, without permitting the 
 inferior to examine the title upon which it is 
 founded. To enslave the consciences and minds 
 of the people the more effectually, the Roman 
 clergy themselves paid the most implicit obedience 
 to their own superiors or prelates ; and they, in 
 their turns, were as blindly devoted to the will of 
 the sovereign pontiff, whose decisions they held 
 to be infallible, and his authority co-extensive with 
 the Christian world. Hence his legates a latere 
 were introduced into every kingdom of Europe; 
 his bulls and decretal epistles became the rule both 
 of faith and discipline ; his judgment was the final 
 resort in all cases of doubt or difficulty ; his de- 
 crees were enforced by anathemas and spiritual 
 censures ; he dethroned even kings that were 
 refractory, and denied to whole kingdoms, when 
 undutiful, the exercise of Christian ordinances, and 
 the benefits of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 But though his being spiritual head of the 
 church was a thing of great sound, and of greater 
 authority, among men of conscience and piety, 
 yet the court of Rome was fully apprised that, 
 
OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 7 
 
 among the bulk of mankind, power cannot be 
 maintained without property ; therefore its at- 
 tention began very early to be rivetted upon every 
 method that promised pecuniary advantage. The 
 doctrine of purgatory was introduced, and with it 
 the purchase of masses to redeem the souls of the 
 deceased. New-fangled offences were created, and 
 indulgences were sold to the wealthy for liberty to 
 sin without danger. The canon law took cognizance 
 of crimes, enjoined penance pro salute animce, and 
 commuted that penance for money. Non-residence 
 and pluralities among the clergy, and marriages 
 among the laity related within the seventh degree, 
 were strictly prohibited by canon ; but dispen- 
 sations were seldom denied to those who could 
 afford to buy them. In short, all the wealth of 
 Christendom was gradually drained, by a thousand 
 channels, into the coffers of the holy see. 
 
 The establishment also of the feudal system in 
 most of the governments of Europe, whereby the 
 lands of all private proprietors were declared to be 
 holden of the prince, gave a hint to the Court of 
 Rome for usurping a similar authority over all the 
 preferments of the church. This began first in 
 Italy, and gradually spread itself to England. The 
 pope became a feudal lord, and all ordinary patrons 
 were to hold their right of patronage under this 
 universal superior. Estates held by feudal tenure, 
 being originally gratuitous donations, were at that 
 time denominated beneficia ; their very name, as 
 
8 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 
 
 well as constitution, was borrowed, and the care 
 of the souls of a parish thence came to be denomi- 
 nated, a Benefice. Lay fees were conferred by in- 
 vestiture or delivery of corporal possession, and 
 spiritual benefices, which at first were universally 
 donative, now received, in like manner, a spiritual 
 investiture by institution from the bishop, and in- 
 duction under his authority. As lands escheated 
 to the lord in defect of a legal tenant, so benefices 
 lapsed to the bishop upon non-presentation by the 
 patron, in the nature of a spiritual escheat. The 
 annual tenths collected from the clergy were equi- 
 valent to the feudal render or rent reserved upon a 
 grant ; the oath of canonical obedience was copied 
 from the oath of fealty, required from the vassal 
 to his superior ; and the primer seisins of our mili- 
 tary tenures, whereby the first profits of an heir's 
 estate were cruelly extorted by his lord, gave birth 
 to as cruel an exaction of first-fruits from the 
 beneficed clergy. The occasional aids and tal- 
 lages levied by the prince on his vassals, gave a 
 handle to the pope to levy, by the means of his 
 legates a later -e, Peter-pence and other exactions. 
 
 At length the holy father went a step beyond 
 any example of either emperor or feudal lord. He 
 reserved to himself, by his own apostolical autho- 
 rity,* the presentation to all benefices which became 
 vacant while the incumbent was attending the 
 Court of Rome, upon any occasion, either on his 
 * Extrav. 1. 3. t. 2. c. 13. 
 
OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 9 
 
 journey thither, or on his way back ; and further, 
 such also as became vacant by his promotion to a 
 bishopric or abbey : etiamsi ad ilia persona consue- 
 verint et debuerint per electionem aut quemvis alium 
 modum assumi. And this last, the canonists declared 
 was no detriment at all to the patron, being only 
 like the change of a life, in a feudal estate by the 
 lord. Dispensations, to avoid these vacancies, 
 begat the doctrine of commendams ; and papal pro- 
 visions were the previous nomination to such 
 benefices, by a kind of anticipation, before they 
 became actually void ; though afterwards indiscri- 
 minately applied to any right of patronage exerted 
 or usurped by the pope. In consequence of this, 
 the best livings were filled by Italian and other 
 foreign clergy, equally unskilled and adverse to 
 the laws and constitution of England. The very 
 nomination to bishoprics, which was considered a 
 prerogative of the crown, was wrested from King 
 Henry I., and afterwards from his successor King 
 John, and seemingly, indeed, conferred on the 
 chapters belonging to each see ; but, by means of 
 the frequent appeals to Rome, through the intri- 
 cacy of the laws which regulated canonical elec- 
 tions, was eventually vested in the pope. To sum 
 up this head with a transaction most unparalleled 
 and astonishing in its kind, Pope Innocent III. had, 
 at length, the effrontery to demand, and King John 
 had the meanness to consent to a resignation of his 
 crown to the pope, by which England was to 
 
10 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 
 
 become, for ever, the patrimony of St. Peter ; and 
 the dastardly monarch re-accepted his sceptre from 
 the hands of the papal legate, to hold, as the vassal 
 of the holy see, at the annual rent of a thousand 
 marks. 
 
 Another engine set on foot, or, at least, greatly 
 improved by the Court of Rome, was a master- 
 piece of papal policy. Not content with the ample 
 provision of tithes which the law of the land had 
 given to the parochial clergy, they endeavoured to 
 grasp at the lands and inheritances of the kingdom, 
 and, had not the legislature withstood them, they 
 would, by this time, have probably been masters of 
 every foot of ground in the kingdom. To this end 
 they introduced the monks of the Benedictine and 
 other orders, men of sour and austere religion, se- 
 parated from the world and its concerns by a vow of 
 perpetual celibacy; yet fascinating the minds of the 
 people by pretences to extraordinary sanctity, while 
 their whole aim was to aggrandize the power and 
 extend the influence of their grand superior the 
 Pope. As in those times of civil tumult great 
 rapines and violence were daily committed by over- 
 grown lords and their adherents, the people were 
 taught to believe, that founding a monastery a little 
 before their deaths would atone for a life of incon- 
 tinence, disorder, and bloodshed. Hence innumer- 
 able abbeys and religious houses were built within 
 a century after the conquest, and endowed, not 
 only with the tithes of parishes, which were extorted 
 
OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 11 
 
 from the secular clergy, but also with lands, 
 manors, lordships, and extensive baronies. The 
 doctrine inculcated was, that whatever was so given 
 to the monks and friars, or purchased by them, was 
 consecrated to God himself, and that to alienate or 
 take it away was no less than the sin of sacrilege. 
 
 Had I time, I might here have enlarged upon 
 other contrivances, which will occur to the recol- 
 lection of the reader, set on foot by the Court of 
 Rome, for effecting an entire exemption of its 
 clergy from any intercourse with the civil magis- 
 trate ; such as the separation of the ecclesiastical 
 court from the temporal ; the appointment of its 
 judges by merely spiritual authority, without any 
 interposition from the crown ; the exclusive juris- 
 diction it claimed over all ecclesiastical persons and 
 causes ; and the privilegium clericale, or benefit of 
 clergy, which delivered all episcopally ordained 
 clerks from any trial or punishment except before 
 their own tribunal. But I shall only observe, at 
 present, that notwithstanding this plan of pontifi- 
 cal power was so deeply laid, and so indefatigably 
 pursued by the unwearied politics of the Court of 
 Rome through a long succession of ages ; notwith- 
 standing it was polished and improved by the 
 united endeavours of a body of men, who engrossed 
 all the learning of Europe for centuries together ; 
 notwithstanding it was firmly and resolutely exe- 
 cuted by persons the best calculated for establish- 
 ing tyranny and despotism, being unconnected 
 
12 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE &C. 
 
 with their fellow-subjects, and totally indifferent 
 to what might befal that posterity to which they 
 bore no endearing relation, and being fired with a 
 bigoted enthusiasm, which prevailed, not only 
 among the weak and simple, but even among those 
 of the best natural and acquired endowments ; yet it 
 vanished into nothing when the eyes of the people 
 were a little enlightened, and they set themselves 
 with vigour to oppose it. So vain and ridiculous is 
 the attempt to live in society without acknowledg- 
 ing the obligations which it lays us under, and to 
 affect an entire independence of that civil state 
 which protects us in all our rights, when the laws 
 are properly and duly administered. 
 
13 
 
 CHAP. IT. 
 
 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 
 
 BISHOPS or Presbyters, are two appellations which 
 originally designated the same office and the same 
 order of persons. The one appellation may have 
 denoted their inspection over the faith and manners 
 of the Christians who were committed to their pas- 
 toral care ; the other may have indicated their 
 age, or rather have been expressive of their expe- 
 rience and wisdom. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus informs us, that James, 
 the brother of Christ,was, after the ascension, chosen 
 bishop of Jerusalem, by the apostles, Peter, James, 
 and John ; and Eusebius tells us, that Peter was 
 first seven years bishop of Antioch, and that seven 
 other years he remained about Jerusalem and the 
 eastern region, and became bishop of Rome, A.D. 44. 
 and continued there twenty-five years. We also 
 read in the introduction of the Apocalypse, that 
 bishops, in St. John's time, were instituted under 
 the title of angels, in the seven cities of Asia ; and 
 we know, that since the time of Tertullian, who 
 
14 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 flourished at the beginning of the third century, 
 nulla ecclesia sine episcopo, has been a fact, as well 
 as a maxim. 
 
 Without entering into the various causes which, 
 at first, might have induced the Christians to ap- 
 point from among their presbyters an ecclesiastical 
 governor, it is certain, that the lofty title of bishop 
 soon began, in some churches, to raise itself above 
 the humble appellation of presbyter; notwithstand- 
 ing that the latter was considered to be the most 
 natural distinction, the former was appropriated to 
 the dignity of the president, who continued for 
 some ages to perform the duties of his first im- 
 posed functions. 
 
 It is certain, that the pious and humble presby- 
 ters, who were first dignified with the episcopal 
 title, could not possess, and would have rejected 
 the power and pomp which now encircles the tiara 
 of the Roman pontiff, or the mitre of an English 
 prelate. The original jurisdiction of bishops con- 
 sisted in the pastoral duties and discipline of the 
 church, in the superintendencyof ecclesiastical affairs 
 generally, in the appointment of ministers, and the 
 determination of all such differences as the faithful 
 were unwilling to expose before the tribunal of an 
 idolatrous judge. Their powers were exercised 
 with the advice and consent of the assembly of 
 Christians. They were considered only as the first 
 of their equals, and the honourable servants of a 
 free people. 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 
 
 Such was the simplicity of the primitive consti- 
 tution of the church, by which Christians were go- 
 verned more than a hundred years after the death 
 of the apostles. Every society formed within itself 
 a separate and independent church, and although 
 the most distant of these maintained a mutual, as 
 well as friendly intercourse, by letters and deputa- 
 tions, the Christian world was not yet connected by 
 any supreme or legislative assembly. As the num- 
 ber of the faithful increased, they thought they dis- 
 covered the advantages which might result from a 
 closer union of their interests. 
 
 We find that towards the close of the second 
 century, the churches of Greece and Asia adopted 
 the institution of provincial synods, and it was 
 soon established as a custom, that the bishops of 
 the independent churches should meet in the capi- 
 tal of the province, at the stated periods of spring 
 and autumn. Their deliberations were assisted by 
 the advice of the distinguished presbyters, and 
 moderated by the presence of a listening multitude. 
 Their decrees, which were styled canons, regulated 
 every important point of faith and discipline. The 
 institution of synods was so well regulated for pri- 
 vate ambition and for public interest, that in the 
 space of a few years it was received throughout 
 the whole empire. A regular correspondence was 
 established between the provincial councils, which 
 naturally communicated their respective proceed- 
 ings, and the catholic church soon assumed a form 
 
16 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 and acquired the strength of a great federative re- 
 public.* 
 
 The legislative authority of the particular churches 
 was insensibly superseded by the use of councils ; 
 and many of the bishops having thrown off their 
 primitive simplicity for secular authority, obtained 
 by their alliance a much greater share of executive 
 and arbitrary power. Thus, being connected with 
 a view to their worldly interest, they were enabled 
 to attack, with united vigour, the original rights 
 of the presbyters and people. It is evident that 
 the prelates of the third century imperceptibly 
 changed the language of exhortation into that of 
 command, scattered the seeds of future usurpa- 
 tions, and supplied by scripture allegories and de- 
 clamatory rhetoric, their deficiency of force and of 
 reason. Many bishops had now taken upon them- 
 selves the exclusive privilege of conferring the sa- 
 cerdotal character, and thus invaded the freedom 
 both of presbyterian and popular elections ; but in 
 the administration of the church, they still consulted 
 the judgment of the presbyters or the wishes of 
 the people, taking care, however, to inculcate the 
 merit of such a voluntary condescension. 
 
 Though the bishop still acknowledged the su- 
 
 * See Tertullian de Jejunii. chap. 13, where the African 
 mentions it as a recent and foreign institution. The coalition 
 of the Christian churches is very ably explained by Mosheim, 
 p. 164170. 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 17 
 
 preme authority which resided in the assembly of 
 their brethren, yet in the government of his pecu- 
 liar diocese, each of them exacted from his flock 
 the same implicit obedience, as if the favourite 
 metaphor had been literally applicable to himself, 
 and as if the shepherd had been of a more exalted 
 nature than his sheep. This obedience is proved 
 from the whole tenor of Cyprian's conduct, of his 
 doctrine, and of his epistles ;* it was not imposed, 
 however, without some efforts on one side, and 
 some resistance on the other. The usurped power 
 of the bishops was in many places very zealously 
 opposed by the presbyters, but their Christian spi- 
 rit and patriotism received the ignominious epithets 
 of faction and schism ; and the episcopal cause 
 was indebted for its rapid progress to the labours 
 of many active prelates, who, like Cyprian and the 
 bishops of our day, could reconcile the arts of the 
 most ambitious statesman with the Christian vir- 
 tues adapted only to the character of the faithful 
 minister of Christ. 
 
 The equality of the presbyters and bishops being 
 destroyed, the same causes which effected this, intro- 
 duced among the latter a pre-eminence of rank, and 
 thence a superiority of jurisdiction. As often as, in 
 the spring and autumn, they met in provincial synod, 
 the differences of personal merit and reputation 
 
 * Le Clerc, in a short Life of Cyprian, Bibliotheque Univer-- 
 selle, torn. xii. p. 207378, has laid him open with great free* 
 clom and accuracy. 
 
 c 
 
18 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 were very sensibly felt among the members of the 
 assembly, and the multitude was governed by the 
 wisdom and eloquence of the few. The office of 
 perpetual president in the councils of each pro- 
 vince was conferred on the bishop of the principal 
 city ; and these aspiring prelates, who soon acquired 
 the lofty titles of metropolitans and primates, 
 secretly prepared themselves to usurp over their 
 episcopal brethren, the same authority which the 
 bishops had so lately assumed above the presbyters.* 
 
 It was not long before an emulation of pre- 
 eminence and power prevailed among the metropo- 
 litans themselves, each of them affecting to display, 
 in the most pompous terms, the temporal honours 
 and advantages of the city over which he presided, 
 the numbers and opulence of the Christians who 
 were subject to his pastoral care, the saints and 
 martyrs who had arisen among them, and the pu- 
 rity (in good faith) with which they preserved the 
 tradition of doctrine and discipline, as transmitted 
 through a series of orthodox bishops, from the 
 apostle, or the apostolic discipline, to whom the 
 foundation of their church was ascribed. 
 
 It was now easy to foresee that Rome would 
 soon claim the obedience of the provinces. The 
 society of Christians bore a just proportion to the 
 capital of the empire, and the Roman church was 
 the greatest, the most numerous, and in regard to 
 the west, the most ancient of all the Christian esta- 
 
 * See Dupin Antiquse Eccles. Disciplin. p. ]9, 20. 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 19 
 
 blishments, many of which had received their reli- 
 gion from the labours of her missionaries. Instead 
 of one apostolic founder, which was the utmost boast 
 of Antioch, of Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of 
 the Tiber were supposed to have been honoured 
 with the preaching and martyrdom of the two most 
 eminent among the apostles, and the bishops of 
 Rome claimed the inheritance of whatever preroga- 
 tive was attributed either to the person or office of 
 St. Peter. The bishops of Italy and of the pro- 
 vinces were disposed to allow them a primacy of 
 order and association, for such was their very accu- 
 rate expression, in the' Christian aristocracy. But 
 the power of a monarch was rejected by them with 
 abhorrence, and the aspiring genius of Rome expe- 
 rienced from the nations of Asia and Africa a more 
 vigorous resistance to her spiritual, than she had 
 formerly done to her temporal dominion. Cyprian, 
 who ruled with the most absolute sway the church 
 of Carthage and the provincial synods, opposed with 
 resolution and success the ambition of the Roman 
 pontiff; and connecting his own cause with that 
 of the eastern bishops, sought out new allies in the 
 heart of Asia.* If this war was carried on with- 
 out any effusion of blood, it was owing much less 
 to the moderation than to the weakness of the con- 
 tending prelates. Invectives and excommunications 
 were indeed their only weapons ; but these, during 
 
 * See the sharp epistle from Firmilianus, bishop of Csesarea, 
 to Stephen, bishop of Rome, ap. Cyprian. Epistol. 75. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 the progress of the whole controversy, they hurled 
 against each other with equal fury and devotion.* 
 
 It may not perhaps be thought a digression from 
 the subject, to observe, that the consequences 
 of excommunication were of a temporal, as well as 
 of a spiritual nature. The Christian against whom 
 it was pronounced was deprived of his part of the 
 oblations of the faithful ; the ties both of religious 
 and of private friendship were dissolved ; he found 
 himself a profane object of abhorrence to the per- 
 sons whom he the most esteemed, or by whom he 
 had been the most tenderly beloved ; and, as far as 
 an expulsion from a respectable society could im- 
 print on his character a mark of disgrace, he was 
 shunned or suspected by the generality of man- 
 kind. It appears from Dupin, that the heaviest 
 denunciation rested against him who had the teme- 
 rity to fall under the inexpiable guilt of calumniat- 
 ing a bishop. 
 
 The success of ecclesiastical power gave birth to 
 the memorable distinction of the laity and of the 
 clergy,f which had been unknown to the Greek and 
 Roman churches. Their mutual hostilities some- 
 times disturbed the peace of the infant church, but 
 their activity was generally united to enlarge the 
 limits of the Christian empire. 
 
 * Concerning this dispute of the re-baptism of heretics, see 
 the epistles of Cyprian, and the 7th book of Eusebius. 
 
 f For the origin of these terms, see Mosheim, p. 141; and 
 lrfij Hist. Eccles. p. 633. 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 21 
 
 The bishops were destitute of any temporal force, 
 and were for along time discouraged and oppressed, 
 rather than assisted, by the civil magistrate ; but 
 they realized, according to the beautiful illustra- 
 tion of Hume, what Archimedes so much desired 
 to have found, another world, on which they fixed 
 their machinery, and were thus enabled to move 
 this at their pleasure. 
 
 The community of goods, which at first was 
 adopted in the primitive church, was gradually 
 abolished, having been corrupted and abused by 
 the selfishness of the bishops. Instead of an abso- 
 lute sacrifice, a moderate proportion was accepted 
 by them, and, in their periodical assemblies, every 
 Christian, according to the exigency of the occa- 
 sion, and the measure of his wealth and piety, pre- 
 sented his voluntary offering for the use of the 
 common fund.* Nothing, however inconsiderable, 
 was refused by the bishops, but it was diligently 
 inculcated that in the article of tithes, the Mosaic 
 law was still of divine obligation ; and that since 
 the Jews, under a less perfect discipline, had been 
 commanded to pay a tenth part of all that they 
 possessed, it would become the disciples of Christ 
 to distinguish themselves by a superior degree of 
 liberality,! and to acquire some merit by resigning 
 
 * See Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, c. 89 ; also Tertullian, 
 Apolog. c. 39. 
 
 f See Irenaeus ad Heeres, c. 27, 34 ; Origen in Num. Homen.; 
 Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. Constitut. Apostol. c. 34, 35, with 
 
22 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 a superfluous treasure, which must so soon be 
 annihilated with the world itself. 
 
 The deacon was no longer the appointed steward 
 of the church. The bishop had usurped full power 
 over the stock, and the funds were entrusted to his 
 care without account or control. The presbyters 
 were confined to their spiritual functions, and the 
 dependent order of deacons was now solely em- 
 ployed in the management and distribution of the 
 ecclesiastical property. Justin and Tertulliaii, in 
 their Apologies, inform us of the purposes to 
 which the revenue of the church was applied, and 
 the intention for which it was originally bestowed. 
 A decent portion was given for the bishops, the 
 presbyters, and the deacons ; and a sufficient sum 
 was allotted for the expenses of the public worship. 
 The whole remainder was the sacred patrimony of 
 the poor. According to the discretion of the 
 bishop, it was distributed to support widows and 
 orphans, and to alleviate the misfortunes of pri- 
 soners and captives, more especially when their 
 sufferings had been occasioned by their firm at- 
 tachment to the cause of religion. We find under 
 the reign of Theodosius, that the ancient and illus- 
 
 the notes of Cotelerius. The Constitutions introduce this divine 
 precept, by declaring that priests are as much above kings, as 
 the soul is above the body. Among the titheable articles they 
 enumerate corn, wine, oil, &c. On this subject consult Pri- 
 deaux's "Hist, of Tithes," and " Fra Paolo Delle Materie Bene- 
 ficiarie ;" two writers of a very different character. 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 23 
 
 trious church of Antioch consisted of one hundred 
 thousand persons, three thousand of whom were 
 supported from the public offerings.* 
 
 We here see that the revenue of the church con- 
 sisted solely in alms, and of these alms, the bishops, 
 presbyters, and deacons had only a share ; but that 
 share the bishops have at last converted I had al- 
 most said, feloniously into the whole ; thus deceiving 
 the donors, and robbing the poor. The bishops, 
 whenever they have been left to take what wealth 
 and power they pleased, have seldom thought the 
 whole too much ; nor do I remember an instance 
 where they owned that they had sufficient. They 
 have engrossed the whole of some countries ; of 
 others, the greatest and best parts; and as much 
 as they could of all. Where they have the soil, 
 they have the power ; and where they have both, 
 they have proved unmerciful landlords, and oppres- 
 sive magistrates. Look back on the fine continent 
 of Italy, where bishops and priests have rioted and 
 tyrannized, and there the laity will be seen in poverty. 
 Ought not the laity of England to take warning ? 
 Is it not unnatural and monstrous for laymen to 
 concur with the bishops and clergy in their exorbi- 
 tant claims ? Beside, should not the laity learn 
 from them, to take care of themselves ? The 
 wealth the clergy possess, they derived, and do de- 
 rive, from the laity ; with the power they seek and 
 assume, they would bind and govern the world. 
 
 * Chrysostom. Opera, torn. 7, p. 658, 810. 
 
24 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 Is it natural, or just, or wise, in the laity, to im- 
 poverish themselves, to fatten and enrich bishops 
 and priests to forge their own chains, to exalt 
 their own creatures and pensioners, into tyrants 
 and taskmasters ? Who can forget the insolence 
 and tyranny of Archbishop Laud, the amazing 
 height of power which he usurped, or his aspiring 
 views to raise the clergy above the laity and the 
 law ? Who can forget his saucy declaration, that he 
 hoped to see the time when ne'er a Jack Gentlemen in 
 England, should dare to be covered before the meanest 
 priest ? Do we not know many bishops in the pre- 
 sent day, who think, and wish, and design as he 
 did; men who adore and extol this usurping arch- 
 priest, this prosecutor and tyrant, this instrument 
 and prompter of oppression ? 
 
 The man who contends for the usurped power 
 and authority of the church, is always esteemed 
 and supported by the high priesthood, though he 
 should be unsound both in faith and morals. Should 
 not this be a rule and an example to the laity, 
 and ought they not to prize, and protect, and en- 
 courage every man who asserts the rights and pri- 
 vileges of Englishmen ? It is equally right and 
 honourable to esteem and support any clergyman 
 who is bold and candid enough to maintain the in- 
 terest and independency of the laity against the in- 
 tolerance of prelates. It is foolish, ungrateful, dis- 
 honest, and even cruel, to revile such men ; to 
 abuse and weaken friends is to join with enemies, 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 25 
 
 who would enthral and bring us under their blind 
 guidance. Where the clergy are opulent, are not 
 the people poor ? Where they have power, are 
 not the people slaves? Have we not seen it thus in 
 Spain and in Italy ? Are such teachers Christians ? 
 No: their teaching is false; their doctrines impieties; 
 and their lives unholy. Christianity would undo 
 them ; this they have banished, and, in its stead, 
 have erected the priesthood. " Every one, from 
 the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetous- 
 ness ; from the prophet even unto the priest, every 
 one dealeth falsely." 
 
 This is the effect of usurped power and wealth 
 in bishops, which have proved a curse upon religion 
 and the world ; as if the Almighty from thence in- 
 tended to convince mankind how pernicious and 
 destructive they are to his church and people, and 
 to warn all nations against encouraging and sup- 
 porting them " that the hypocrite reign not, lest 
 the people be ensnared." 
 
26 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION 
 OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 
 
 GREAT power and revenues in the church hierarchy 
 have not only produced and multiplied every mis- 
 chief formerly known in the world, but also pro- 
 duced evils so new and terrible as even the pagan 
 world never before knew. These are persecutions, 
 torments, and death, for conscience and opinion ; 
 wars and national massacres, for religion ; with 
 that mighty compendium of all that is horrid, 
 treacherous, and cruel upon earth, the execrable 
 tribunal of the Inquisition. Paganism had nothing 
 so shocking and horrible, not even human sacri- 
 fices, which were comparatively few, occasional and 
 stated, as to be compared to this. The Inquisition 
 was a continual human slaughter-house ; and in it 
 men, myriads of men, have been immolated, after 
 tedious tortures in dark and frightful dungeons, 
 after unrelenting racks and tortures, with every 
 species of treachery, misery, and terror ; and all 
 this suffering was inflicted for their sincerity and 
 
THE INQUISITION, &C. 27 
 
 piety in worshipping God in the way which their 
 consciences dictated to be the most correct. 
 
 The Inquisition was nothing-more than the highest 
 improvement of persecution. It began with the 
 same spirit which the late Dr. Sutton manifested 
 towards myself, and which the present Archbishop 
 Howley tolerates ; with such negative penalties 
 and tests, it ends in fires and halters. I will 
 enumerate a few of the many cases for which men 
 were subjected to the Inquisition, and it will appear, 
 that they are such that no man, who in the least 
 exercises his faculties, or practises common cha- 
 rity towards his fellow- creatures, or even has 
 common commerce with the world, could avoid. If 
 he had heard a heretic preach or pray, never 
 mind if he were the best and wisest preacher upon 
 earth, if he differed from the extravagancies of the 
 high church ; if, being excommunicated, he sued 
 not for absolution ; if a heretic were his friend, 
 never mind if he were a Bacon, a Newton, or a 
 Locke; if he did any act of kindness for a 
 heretic, visited him, shewed him pity by assisting 
 him or giving him counsel ; if he suspected the 
 truth of the false legends and forged miracles of 
 the priests , if he declared his indifference to meats 
 or to days ; if he interpreted Scripture according to 
 his own, and to common sense ; if he concealedany 
 heresy, or spared father, mother, wife, or child, 
 he was for these, or for any one of these causes, and 
 for any one of a thousand others, liable to the 
 
28 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 unparalleled cruelty of the Inquisition. Let me 
 add, that by heresy was meant every conscientious, 
 honest, rational, and benevolent opinion, differing 
 from the senseless, narrow, barbarous whim and 
 grimace of an ignorant and bigotted priest. 
 
 As a proof of the expeditious havoc such a 
 tribunal must make in a country, Cardinal Tur- 
 quemeda, the first Inquisitor-general in Spain, 
 even in the infancy of the Inquisition, brought a 
 hundred thousand persons into it, in the short 
 period of fourteen years ; of these, six thousand 
 were burnt alive. Observe, too, that when such 
 persons are seized, all that they have is also 
 seized, and their families left to starve, or sent 
 thither also, if they shew pity, or afford as- 
 sistance. 
 
 Let me ask : Can the merciful God, who sent 
 his meek and compassionate Son to lay down his 
 life for men, have any thing to do with such a 
 church, or with such hellish instruments and 
 butchers, impudently calling themselves HOLY, 
 and their scene of butchery, THE HOLY OFFICE ? 
 Wisely did our first reformers disown her being a 
 church. But, alas ! Archbishop Laud and his 
 followers have since laboured to restore her credit ; 
 they have contended for her being a true church, 
 and even derived themselves from her. Yes, they 
 have strenuously endeavoured to shew themselves 
 worthy of her kindred and descent, by assuming 
 her pride and cruelty. And the page of modern 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 29 
 
 history exhibits their numerous imprisonments, 
 excessive fines, whippings, dismemberings, and 
 other barbarities, to their own infamy, to the dis- 
 honour of Protestants, and to the shame of Eng- 
 land. In order to ensnare a man into this dungeon 
 of iniquity, they would travel countries, and cross 
 seas, to become acquainted with him ; they would 
 court, caress, and flatter him ; treat him, make 
 him presents, lend him money, administer to 
 his pleasures, apparently admire and adopt his 
 opinions, rail at the church, curse his persecutors 
 and the Inquisition, and swear to him an eternal 
 friendship. All this was done with a black and 
 murderous purpose, to seize him in a proper 
 place, and to carry him off to the fires and racks of 
 the infernal tribunal. Where the interests of the 
 high church are concerned, villany changes its 
 nature, and becomes meritorious, and the blackest 
 perfidy and even perjury is esteemed and practised 
 as good policy. The pope's legate, at the head of 
 a crusade against the Albigenses, entrapped their 
 protector and general, the Count de Beziers, so- 
 lemnly swore not to injure him, and then seized 
 and imprisoned him ! 
 
 Let me further add, that blasphemy, or any 
 outrageous language and defiance offered to 
 Almighty God was not punishable nor cognizable 
 by the Inquisition. The great crime and pursuit 
 with them was heresy opposition to the trade 
 and false opinions of mercenary priests. Thus, 
 
30 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 any profane wretch might blaspheme God without 
 fear of the Inquisitors, provided he blasphemed 
 like a good churchman, and said nothing against the 
 priests or their church; but if heresy were mixed 
 with his blasphemy, he could not hope to escape. 
 Remarkable and shocking were the hypocrisy and 
 profaneness of these Inquisitors ; for after having 
 long starved in their horrid dungeons the wretched 
 offender ; after having long terrified, misused and 
 tortured him, they at last delivered him over to 
 the secular arm, and had the solemn assurance 
 to beseech the civil magistrate, in the bowels of Jesus 
 Christ, not to hurt his life or limb. Yet would 
 they excommunicate the civil magistrate if he 
 did not burn him alive. Such were the terrible hy- 
 pocrisy and tremendous power of the high church 
 bishops and clergy. 
 
 I am far from thinking that what I have said 
 concerning the Inquisition will be lost upon my 
 readers. That terrible part of popery, or indeed 
 any other part of popery, of which all is terrible, 
 is too little known in England. For some time 
 after the Reformation, a due horror was kept up 
 among the people, by our preachers against the 
 church of Rome ; and it was done like Protestants 
 who knew their duty : the clergy who omit it are 
 unworthy of their office, and know little of the 
 simplicity and power of the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 It is a painful reflection, that soon after the 
 Reformation, the bishops and clergy of England 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 31 
 
 began to contend for dominion and wealth. They 
 found that they could not consistently rail at the 
 church of Rome, and yet follow her example. 
 Their style at last became so far altered, that in- 
 stead of painting and reviling her as " an old 
 withered harlot, the mother of abominations and 
 whoredoms, and drunk with the blood of the saints," 
 it became fashionable to defend her ; indeed, to 
 praise her, and even to punish such as exposed 
 her. Among her friends were Archbishop Laud 
 and his adherents. It is true, that he and some 
 few of the same character, wrote against some 
 parts of popery; but what avails a bishop's writing 
 against papists, if at the same time he is intro- 
 ducing and practising popery at home ? Dr. How- 
 ley should know, that not only cruelty and severity 
 for opinion, but that all authority assumed over 
 conscience and the soul, which was so abundantly 
 done in my case by his predecessor Dr. Sutton, 
 and supported by himself, is popery, by whatever 
 name his Grace may please to call it. It was 
 natural for Archbishop Laud, who was acting as 
 pope himself, to deny the power of the other pope, 
 at least here in his jurisdiction. As to the bare 
 notions, the ceremonies, the grimaces, and mum- 
 mery of popery, they are of little consequence, 
 beyond the evils which they introduce to preserve 
 the power of priestcraft, by creating and conti- 
 nuing delusions among the people. 
 
 Laud and his adherents were notorious perse- 
 
32 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 cutors. Let all bishops take warning from the 
 detestation in which his persecuting character is 
 held; and let them remember that all persecution, 
 in every degree, even the smallest, is popery and 
 an advance towards the Inquisition. I have 
 already shewn that negative penalties are the first 
 degree, so death and burning is the last and 
 highest ; all the steps are but natural gradations 
 following the first degree and introducing the last ; 
 for the smaller implies the necessity of a greater 
 where the former fails, and consequently of the 
 greatest of all, which is the Inquisition. 
 
 It was riot at all remarkable that Laud and 
 his associates were charged with being Papists, 
 when they openly introduced and exerted all the 
 terrible parts of popery church power and perse- 
 cution ; and thus established church tyranny in 
 England, and an Inquisition. It was thus that 
 his bloody court was established, and the same 
 claims and practices will always introduce and 
 establish it. Madam de Motteville, in the ec Me- 
 moirs of Anne of Austria," says expressly, upon 
 the authority of the Queen of King Charles the 
 First, that Laud was a good Catholic in his heart. 
 It is certain that he brought into the English 
 church what was most terrible in popery, its 
 power and cruelty, with not a few of its fooleries 
 and superstitions, the sad effects of which are 
 keenly felt by every real Christian at the present 
 day. Whoever, then, is a tyrant and a persecutor, is 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 33 
 
 a Papist, in the only sense of the word about which 
 English Protestants and English freemen are 
 concerned. 
 
 Let those bishops who claim power to control 
 conscience and opinion, consider this, though they 
 may have hitherto neglected it. Let, also, those 
 inferior clergy and laymen, over whom such power 
 is claimed, consider it, and look upon the bishops 
 who claim it as I do ; that is, as enemies and de- 
 ceivers, who would seduce them, in order to enslave 
 them. How would any Englishman, any Protes- 
 tant, who dares own his opinion, regard the In- 
 quisition ? Most certainly he would abhor it ! Let 
 him then abhor and oppose the ways and practices 
 which lead to it. It is supported solely by the 
 power of a corrupt clergy, which never has, and 
 never can, produce any good. Dominion over 
 thoughts and notions is in itself a monster, the 
 greatest of all monsters ; it must be supported by 
 monstrous means, even by priests wielding of 
 directing the civil sword. Oh, hypocrisy ! profound 
 and execrable, the pretended followers of the 
 humble Jesus, treading upon the necks of his dis- 
 ciples, engrossing their wealth, and spilling their 
 blood ! 
 
 Is any man fond of his liberty, and of examining 
 all opinions, which is his natural right ; would he 
 worship God according to the dictates of his own 
 conscience, without being subject to the insolent 
 rebuke and control of a haughty bishop ; would 
 
 D 
 
34 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 he be exempt from vexatious suits and prosecutions, 
 from clerical curses, followed with civil punish- 
 ments, and, as they say, with damnation ; would 
 he preserve his conscience, his person, his time, his 
 property, and all that is dear to him? he must, 
 then, oppose all arbitrary power in bishops, as 
 being utterly repugnant to whatever is dear to man 
 and to society in general. I never knew or heard of 
 any clerical body that ever possessed power, with- 
 out using it perniciously ; or that could persecute, 
 and did not persecute. Those carnal men who 
 have argued and inveighed the most against perse- 
 cution, when suffering under it, exercised it after- 
 wards, whenever they obtained the rod in their 
 own hands, without shame or remorse. Thus 
 the Catholics acted against the Arians, and the 
 Arians, in their turn, against the Catholics ; both 
 complaining bitterly against persecution, and yet 
 both vehement persecutors. 
 
 St. Athanasius could at one time argue, that the 
 devil uses violence because he has a bad cause, and 
 has not the truth on his side. Christ, on the con- 
 trary, uses only exhortations, because his cause is 
 good. " If any man," says the Saviour, ' ' will be my 
 disciple, let him follow me." He forces no man to 
 follow him ; nor does he enter a house by force 
 where he is shut out. Whence the Father observes, 
 that a persecuting sect could not be of God. So 
 argue all the orthodox upon every occasion, and I 
 think very truly. St. Hilary urges the same argu- 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 35 
 
 ment to an Arian emperor and persecutor, and for 
 this very reason denies the Arians to be the true 
 church. But the orthodox, when they were pre- 
 dominant, changed their tone, and never were 
 there more merciless persecutors, oppressors, and 
 butchers, than they. Hence their own reasoning 
 has been frequently turned upon them, and the 
 heretics have charged them in their turn, as being 
 none of Christ's flock, because they had renounced 
 his spirit, and exercised force and cruelty. The 
 Donatists particularly taunted them upon this un- 
 christian inconsistency. 
 
 No reasoning could ever restrain churchmen, 
 orthodox or heterodox, when they were invested 
 with power, or with the direction of power, from 
 using it violently. The Presbyterians justly ex- 
 claimed against the violence and tyranny of Laud 
 and his brethren for harassing, imprisoning, fining, 
 and persecuting them ; and even driving them 
 from their native homes, to seek peace and shelter 
 and the quiet worship of God, in the woods of 
 America. He had converted the high commission 
 court into an Inquisition ; indeed, every bishop's 
 court was become an Inquisition ; and many of the 
 best churchmen were silenced, fined, and even de- 
 prived, for adhering honestly to the doctrines of 
 the Reformation, to primitive strictness of manners, 
 and to the observation of the sabbath. 
 
 Did the Presbyterians afterwards these very 
 Presbyterians, who had thus groaned and smarted 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 under persecution, and bitterly complained of its 
 injustice and fury exercise charity and forbearance 
 towards others, who dissented from them, when 
 they became masters of ecclesiastical rule ? No ! 
 never was a more bitter and intolerant race, or 
 more rigorous exactors of conformity. Every man 
 who differed from them was an enemy to the state, 
 an innovator, forsooth, whom it behoved the state 
 to suppress. They had forgotten that Laud had 
 brought the same charge against them but a little 
 before, and how unmercifully they had been used 
 as public incendiaries, enemies, and innovators. 
 Thus it is, no set of priests fail to draw down, if 
 they can, the anger of the crown upon any man 
 who has merited their 's. And thus it was that the 
 monks of St. Denis in France, in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, accused the famous Abelard, then amongst 
 them, with being an enemy to the glory and crown 
 of France, only for denying that their founder was 
 Dionysius the Areopagite mentioned in the New 
 Testament. Disaffection to civil authorities is a 
 charge which all domineering priests in the world 
 have ever brought, and will ever bring, against 
 all who offend them, and against all who withdraw 
 from their power, and disown their systems. The 
 Presbyterians, both before and after they attained 
 the predominancy, felt this to be true, and ex- 
 claimed against it ; but did not forget to reiterate 
 the charge without blushing, as soon as they tasted 
 of dominion. 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 37 
 
 The churchmen, who had persecuted the Presby- 
 terians without mercy, the moment they found 
 themselves persecuted by parliaments, made heavy 
 outcries against persecution, and preached and 
 wrote for toleration. It was then that Dr. Taylor 
 published his book, entitled, "The Liberty of Pro- 
 phesying," an excellent book, and one that was 
 extremely applauded by his brethren of the episco- 
 pal profession. But, let me ask, did these church- 
 men, did even Dr. Taylor, after the restoration, act 
 upon his own reasoning and writing for indulgence 
 to dissenters ? No ! It was the great business of 
 the churchmen, when they had resumed their old 
 seats and revenues, to preach, to write, to solicit 
 severe laws, and to urge the execution of those laws 
 against their Protestant brethren, during a long 
 reign. 
 
 All this is strangely inconsistent, as well as 
 strangely unchristian, on both sides. It was also 
 strange madness, as well as wickedness, in the civil 
 power, to gratify the sour and aspiring spirit of the 
 ecclesiastics by plaguing and punishing the people 
 about religion. There is no end of their demands, 
 nor of the unreasonableness of such demands. The 
 high clergy in England, though avowed enemies to 
 toleration, would think it extreme persecution if it 
 were denied to themselves, or their brethren in Scot- 
 land. Aye, but we of the church of England are the 
 true church of Christ, says the English episcopalian: 
 and so says Rome of herself, so says Scotland, so 
 
38 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 
 
 say Geneva, and Greece, and so say all the churches 
 in the world ; and each of them would persecute 
 and abolish all the rest as being false or defective. 
 This is not the spirit of religion, nor of its 
 Author, but an open departure from truth. It is 
 the spirit of faction and fury which utterly blinds 
 men, and extinguishes peace and charity, without 
 which, men cannot be followers of Christ. Did we 
 not see this spirit of intolerance daily, it would be 
 incredible to what extravagancies religious disputes 
 will carry men. Daniel Tilenus, a learned man 
 and public professor, I think of divinity, became 
 so heated in favour of Arminianism in opposition to 
 Calvinism and predestination, that he declared, 
 were he obliged to change his religion, he would 
 turn Turk rather than Calvinist, for he denied that 
 the Calvinists believed in God, but admitted that the 
 Turk did. Grotius, when ambassador for Sweden 
 in France, had two chaplains, the one a Calvinist, 
 the other a Lutheran, who preached by turns. 
 They principally laboured to revile the doctrines of 
 each other, so that their sermons were only invec- 
 tives. The ambassador, tired and ashamed of the 
 extravagancies of these reverend madmen, begged 
 them to explain the gospel without wounding 
 Christian charity. This good advice neither of 
 them relished. The Lutheran chaplain, particu- 
 larly, replied, that he must preach what God in- 
 inspired ; and went on in the old strain. Thus all 
 the ravings of hot-headed divines are fathered upon 
 
AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 39 
 
 God. Grotius at last ordered him either to forbear 
 railing or preaching. The meek preacher turned 
 away in great wrath, and expressed his amazement 
 that a Christian ambassador should shut the mouth 
 of the Holy Ghost. This he thought very severe 
 persecution ; and he published his complaints every- 
 where, that Grotius had shut the mouth of the 
 Holy Ghost ; i. e., the mouth of his chaplain. 
 
 But to return to the consequences of the usurpa- 
 tion of power and the acquisition of wealth by the 
 bishops and clergy. Opulence and dominion were 
 so foreign from the first preaching of the gospel, 
 so little known to its Author and his disciples, the 
 estimation in which they were held was so trifling, 
 and, indeed, so singularly changed in idea, that 
 all was banished but the names. What can be seen 
 of Christ and his humility, of the apostles and their 
 poverty, in the pomp and pride of mitres, in courtly 
 equipages, in splendid liveries, in a word, in all the 
 fierceness and domination of prelacy ? Is any thing 
 of the plainness and simplicity of the gospel to be 
 found in the intricacies of school divinity, or in the 
 endless wranglings and strange distinctions of ec- 
 clesiastics ? Do the bishops bear any likeness to 
 Christ? Does the ambition of the clergy, their 
 avidity for power and rich churches, for which they 
 have contended with blows, bloodshed, and slaugh- 
 ter, come from Christ, or from the genius of his 
 religion? Were the seditions, tumults, and wars, 
 which followed such ambitious pursuits, the effects 
 
40 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER, &C. 
 
 of a Christian or of a clerical spirit ? Were not 
 such evils and calamities derived from an insatiable 
 thirst after grandeur and authority ? Yes ! and 
 the love of power, which under the most hypocri- 
 tical disguises could insinuate itself into the breasts 
 of men, has descended through all ages of the 
 church, to the more enlightened period of the nine- 
 teenth century, as the heirloom to bishops. 
 
41 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 THE clergy of England, as well as of other nations, 
 are always forward to complain of innovations, and 
 of disturbing things that are settled. But pray 
 who have made more innovations than churchmen? 
 Who have more disturbed and changed religion 
 and states by their ambition, their disputes, their 
 turbulent behaviour, and their exorbitant claims ? 
 And who are so much given to change ? What 
 changes, what violent and lawless changes, were 
 there not wrought by Laud and his brethren in his 
 time, and attempted by men of his spirit ever 
 since ? The laity have acted only on the defensive, 
 warding off the attempts and monstrous demands 
 made from time to time by the clergy. What is a 
 great part of ecclesiastical history, but a continual 
 detail and repetition of the efforts of the clergy to 
 govern mankind and to master the world ? Is not 
 this an innovation with a witness, a propensity to 
 change, an actual and alarming change ? Have 
 
42 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 they not been continually attempting to be what 
 they were not, to possess what they did not, still 
 to be richer, and still to be more powerful ? Could 
 there be a greater change, than from the almsmen 
 of the people to become lords and princes ; from 
 poverty and humility to rise to mitres, and dia- 
 dems, and dominion ? Could such a change, a 
 change so mighty and unnatural, be accomplished 
 without turning the world upside down ? 
 
 This is something more than quieta movere, some- 
 thing more than disturbing things that were settled. 
 Did not Laud actually master and abolish the laws 
 of his country, assert the independence of the 
 clergy of the civil power, and terrify the judges 
 from issuing prohibitions, as they were actually 
 sworn to do ? Did the spirit of Laud, for power, 
 independence, and princely revenues, die with the 
 archbishop ? No ! other bishops have improved 
 upon his scheme, and added, if possible, to his 
 wild and enslaving pretensions. A proof that they 
 were the pretensions of the clergy, at least of the 
 majority, we may remark, that the convocation 
 could never be persuaded to censure them. 
 
 Whoever doubts whether the clergy have been 
 the authors of changes in the world of a great and 
 calamitous nature, whether they have themselves 
 changed and degenerated from their patterns and 
 original, need only read history, and compare them 
 with Christ and his apostles. Compare their preten- 
 sions, pomp, luxury, and possessions, with the 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 43 
 
 simplicity, humility, labour, and disinterestedness 
 of the primitive Christians. 
 
 The truth is, when the clergy make this com- 
 plaint, which is very usually done, that it is not 
 safe to disturb things which are established, they 
 only mean to discourage men from disturbing them 
 in their favourite pursuit after power and riches. 
 Whatever is established on the authority of the 
 New Testament, there are but few men to be 
 found with the audacity to disturb. But if the 
 clergy, with a progressively usurped power, make 
 demands which are neither warranted by Christ 
 nor the law of equity, it is right, and our bounden 
 duty, to disturb and even to defeat them. 
 
 Such high pretenders to princely rule and opu- 
 lence are the men who are given to change ; and it 
 is always right and just to oppose usurpation, to 
 redress grievances, to remove nuisances, and to 
 attack fraud, avarice, and nonsense. 
 
 It would be endless to adduce particulars. But 
 suppose any assuming clergyman were so extrava- 
 gant and daring, and had so little regard for con- 
 science and public tranquillity, as to attempt to 
 establish an ecclesiastical tribunal in our colonies 
 abroad, to the terror and affliction of our brethren, 
 many of whom were first driven there by the op- 
 pression and barbarity of such courts here, especi- 
 ally in the reign of such a man as Archbishop 
 Laud ; would not such an attempt tend to a bold 
 innovation, and discover a busy, an arrogant, and 
 
44 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 a dangerous spirit in such a clergyman ? and would 
 he not be a good subject and an honest man who 
 set himself against such a wicked attempt, and ex- 
 posed its flagrant tendency ? 
 
 Suppose another clergyman to be such an enemy 
 to the civil Constitution and to the Church of Eng- 
 land, or such a deserter from it, as to contend for 
 the independence of the clergy, for their exemption 
 from the civil laws; indeed, for trying a clergyman, 
 when he is to be tried, by a jury of clergymen ; 
 would not such a man deserve severe censure and 
 punishment? and would it not be honest and meri- 
 torious to defend the laws and repulse this enemy, 
 this innovator, this papist ? 
 
 Suppose that any other designing priest were 
 found promoting superstition for the ends of autho- 
 rity and gain, abusing the credulity of the people 
 by pretending to transfuse holiness into ground 
 and stone walls, as if earth and stone, or any thing 
 inanimate, were susceptible of sanctity, or their 
 quality to be altered by solemn words ; and all this 
 without any colour or warrant from law or gospel, 
 but in opposition to the spirit of both ; would not 
 such a crafty priest be a false guide, an innovator, 
 one who relinquished truth and the Protestant 
 religion, to promote error, and to introduce popery 
 and delusion ? would not the man who resisted 
 and confuted him be a friend to society, a defender 
 of truth, and a foe to fraud ? 
 
 Suppose, again, that a bishop, so bent upon ex- 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 45 
 
 alting churchmen and their revenue, that he en- 
 couraged designs and schemes for transferring the 
 whole wealth of a nation by no slow degrees into 
 the coffers of the clergy ; would not such a man 
 be a promoter of change, of a universal and melan- 
 choly change, and a declared enemy to the laity ? 
 And would it not be becoming laymen, nay, 
 incumbent on them, to be upon their guard to 
 secure their estates, and to preserve themselves and 
 posterity from poverty and vassalage ? 
 
 Suppose, once more, that a clergyman should 
 have the boldness to declare, publicly, that a bishop 
 still continued a true bishop of the Church of 
 Christ, even though he stood convicted of, and was 
 deprived for, the highest and blackest crimes, viz. 
 perjury, disloyalty, conspiracy, treason, and rebel- 
 lion ; would not such a declaration be highly inso- 
 lent, scandalous, and punishable ? And would it 
 not be equally flagrant to tell those who make 
 priests, that they cannot unmake them; that priests 
 are above the law and the laity ; that the clergy 
 have a power and designation which laymen cannot 
 take away, though the laity and the law actually 
 create them, and confer upon them the only desig- 
 nation they can have, nay, confer their whole 
 office ? Our Constitution does not own or know 
 any character in any subject whatever but what 
 the law bestows ; indeed, all the clergy renounce 
 upon oath all power whatsoever but what they 
 derive from hence. An Act of Parliament might, 
 
46 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 to-morrow, effectually degrade all the bishops and 
 clergy in Great Britain, and reduce them all to 
 laymen. An Act of Parliament could create imme- 
 diately so many priests from the laity, without any 
 other title, apparatus, or ceremony. Whoever is 
 declared to be a priest by any society, is a priest 
 to them, and ceases to be one the moment they 
 declare him none. The singular notion of an 
 indelible character is arrant nonsense and true 
 priestcraft ; nay, it is the ground- work of all priest- 
 craft. Would it be borne by our parliament, by 
 our assembly of law-makers, to have this indelible 
 character, this root of popery, maintained to their 
 faces ? Would it not draw down their indignation 
 and censures upon the bold offender, I had almost 
 said, deceiver? 
 
 I mention these instances as bare possibilities 
 which cannot be tolerated in this free Protestant 
 country ; they are common in popish countries, 
 and are a few of the reigning tenets and practices 
 which support popery. How zealous Laud was, 
 and some of his present supporters are, in such 
 practices and tenets, I leave to my reader to deter- 
 mine. 
 
 It is frequently painful to learn by experience, 
 and I know no lesson more necessary, nor more 
 revolting, than one from the behaviour of the 
 clergy in the reign of King Charles I. At this 
 period they had become wanton with extravagant 
 power, and used it cruelly in persecuting and op- 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 47 
 
 pressing their fellow- subjects. Let us, as English- 
 men, jealous of our privileges, take care for the 
 future, that those who are set apart for the pur- 
 poses of holiness be not spoiled by the unnatural 
 possession and exercise of worldly business and 
 authority. It is profaning holy men as they are, 
 to embark them in secular affairs, in the commerce 
 and occupations of laymen and worldlings. As 
 the clergy miserably misled that unhappy prince 
 King Charles I., let us hope it will serve as an 
 unfailing warning to other princes from being led 
 by them, 
 
 We may infer, that whenever the clergy leave 
 preaching the gospel, and become courtiers and 
 politicians, they are out of their sphere, and become 
 more wild and extravagant, as well as more wicked, 
 and shameless, and false, than other men, as they 
 did in the reign of Charles L, by promoting and 
 justifying all unlawful and merciless imposition 
 upon the laity. They also contended that we were 
 obliged to undergo all servitude, to be tame and 
 passive slaves to the mere will of the prince, and 
 to obey that will as our only law. 
 
 It never could enter into the heart of a layman, 
 that the merciful God authorized iniquity, perjury, 
 perfidiousness, tyranny, and despotism ; and that 
 any miserable wretch, filling the office of a priest, 
 who had all these crying sins to answer for, was 
 still sacred, and the vicegerent of Heaven ; or that 
 God, who hates wickedness, had forbidden resist- 
 
48 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 ance even to remedy the highest and most compli- 
 cated wickedness ; nay, that he would damn all who 
 had sense and virtue enough to do so. 
 
 These positions were monsters, formed by clergy- 
 men out of their sphere, and in high repute with 
 Laud and his associates. It was not very natural 
 for the laity to love and reverence such clergymen, 
 or their monstrous positions. "The Lord said 
 unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name ; 
 I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, 
 neither spake unto them ; they prophesy unto you 
 a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, 
 and the deceit of their hearts." It would be pru- 
 dent to keep all clergymen in future from thus ex- 
 posing themselves to scorn and ridicule, and from 
 promoting mischief and misery among the laity. 
 Their guilt is infinitely more heinous and aggravated 
 than that of the greatest private sinner, inasmuch 
 as it affects and involves whole nations, and is 
 impiously covered with the veil of religion. 
 
 According to this rule, the blackest felon that 
 ever suffered was innocent, in comparison with 
 Laud and those of his leaven. Had Laud con- 
 sumed his time in debauchery, he could have done 
 but small hurt, compared to what he did as a 
 troubler and a seducer of the world. His morals 
 as a private man did but heighten his credit to do 
 mischief. With what an ill grace must men re- 
 buke private vice and the detail of sins, who them- 
 selves vend and commit sins by the gross ! This 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 49 
 
 is, with a witness, to strain at gnats, and swallow 
 camels. Crimes are to be measured by their con- 
 sequences. He who persecutes men, or who 
 misleads and enslaves them, is the most guilty of 
 all criminals. Had Laud been a parish priest, and 
 confined himself to the duties of his cure; or, being 
 a bishop, had limited himself to the duties of his 
 function ; he, who was a man of learning and of 
 morals, might have been an exemplary and a useful 
 man. But, alas ! he and his brethren must rule 
 the court and the nation, in doing which they over- 
 turned both, by an excess of tyranny and oppres- 
 sion ; and they who raised, or at least increased 
 the storm, which at last swept England, over- 
 whelmed themselves in the public ruin. 
 
 These are the men and circumstances proper to 
 be commemorated. From these we are to take 
 our lessons and warnings against a relapse into 
 similar evil days and calamities. If there be any 
 curse still existing from the king's blood, it must 
 justly lie upon the present bishops and their de- 
 pendents, who approve of the men and measures 
 that first rendered the king arbitrary and oppres- 
 sive, and from thence unpopular and distrusted by 
 his subjects. Here the evil began, and from hence 
 it was spread, like a train, which on being ignited 
 explodes. Had the archbishop always ruled in the 
 way he proposed when too late, when men were 
 irritated and enraged and full of distrust, there 
 had been no civil war, no conquering army, no 
 
 E 
 
50 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 Cromwell, and, consequently, no royal blood 
 spilt. Laud's after design and promises to govern 
 better, when he saw that the laws and consti- 
 tution of his country would prevail, have fre- 
 quently been urged in his favour ; but they are a 
 tacit acknowledgment that he had governed ill 
 before. Perhaps the prelate at the eleventh hour 
 listened to the voice of conscience ; perhaps he 
 meant to act better. It is certain his misrule had 
 been bitterly felt ; nor is there any proof, but his 
 word, that he intended to change, a word which 
 had been often and egregiously broken, especially 
 as to the Bill of Rights, which he sacredly and 
 solemnly promised to observe, yet afterwards 
 openly violated. 
 
 How the memory of Charles I. remains popular 
 among many of our clergy, and the laity under 
 their influence, is obvious enough. Charles was 
 a great bigot to the church, to ceremonies and 
 show in religion, and to the power and pomp of 
 churchmen. The clergy he cherished, and exalted, 
 and obeyed. He invested them with his own 
 power, and surrendered to them almost the whole 
 supremacy ; he not only suffered them to enjoy the 
 use of it as a present from him, but suffered them to 
 seize it for themselves, and even to deny his title 
 to it. For such favour and regard ; for supporting 
 them in their persecution of the puritans ; for his 
 overwhelming them with power, and becoming 
 their creature, rather than head of the church ; for 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 51 
 
 these things, they promoted and consecrated all 
 the excesses, oppressions, and lawless measures 
 of his reigri. These violences were exercised over 
 the laity, and the clergy were so far from feeling 
 them, that they shared in his Majesty's domination, 
 and acted the king in their place and turn. It was 
 the King's conduct toward the clergy that is the 
 true source of so much merit and praise being 
 given to him. For this, Charles I. is adored and 
 sainted ; for this, he has often been compared to 
 Jesus Christ in his sufferings ; and for this, the 
 guilt of murdering him has been represented as 
 greater than that of crucifying our blessed Lord. 
 
 These panegyrics are partial and shameful, as 
 well as impious arid profane. The clergy who 
 utter them, care not how a prince abuses his trust, 
 and oppresses his lay subjects, if he will but 
 humour and aggrandize them. This is partial and 
 dishonourable ; nor can there be a greater insult 
 upon the laity, than to desire, or even hope, that 
 they should join in such praises and applause as 
 the book of " common prayer for the church' 1 
 requires. They who feel oppression, cannot extol 
 him who commits it, nor reckon him a good king 
 who uses them as slaves. 
 
 No sort of men are more tender than the clergy, 
 when their own property, or persons, or privileges 
 are touched, or more severe and resenting, or even 
 more unforgiving towards such an interference 
 with either. This was clearly illustrated by the 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 
 
 courteous indignity expressed by Dr. Howley, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, on the subject of Tithes, 
 in the House of Lords, on the 15th of last Decem- 
 ber, when also another conceited high churchman, 
 Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, maintained that 
 no man had a greater right to his estates, than the 
 clergy had to their tithes. I believe that had the 
 clergy been used as the laity have been treated 
 as slaves, and worried by arbitrary power, and 
 grievous impositions they had long ago prayed 
 for the annihilation of the order of archbishops and 
 bishops ; or, at least, continued unceasingly in their 
 efforts to obtain a Parliamentary Reform, with a view 
 to sever the church from the state ; that the abuses 
 and corruptions which for centuries have been 
 shielded under the garb of sanctity, might be 
 destroyed ; that the people might religiously enjoy 
 their birthright, no longer annoyed by oaths ex 
 officio, and by the united tyranny and usurpation 
 of bishops ; but be able to sit under their own 
 vine and fig-tree, and none make them afraid. 
 
 As to those high churchmen who contend that 
 the clergy is a distinct body from the laity, 
 with separate interests and views, they can- 
 not be surprised to find the laity improving the 
 hint and example, and taking care of themselves. 
 It is natural for the people to remember that they 
 alone give and continue to the clergy what they 
 possess, and make them what they are. Bishops 
 have long flourished and domineered ; it is high 
 
USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 53 
 
 time for us to look at these things, to resent such 
 insults, and to mark such insultors. May the 
 people of England awaken from their slumbers, and 
 contend with an unceasing perseverance for their 
 religious liberties and rights, to the condemnation 
 of all the usurpations and extravagant claims 
 of power ; to the abolition of all selfish and popish 
 tenets of English bishops and high churchmen, 
 till they triumph over priestcraft and despotism, 
 the hydra of all our calamities, to enjoy the happy 
 results of an unqualified freedom, and an un- 
 restricted peace ! 
 
54 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION FOUNDED ON THE WEAKNESS 
 OF HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 THERE is not a living creature in the universe 
 which has not some constitutional weakness, or 
 original imbecility coeval with its being ; I mean 
 some inclinations or disgusts, some peculiar desires 
 or fears, that render it an easy prey to other ani- 
 mals, which, from their constitutional sagacity or 
 experience, know how to take advantage of this 
 infirmity. Of this it would be endless to enu- 
 merate particulars. My object is only to shew 
 that all the dignity of human nature, and the supe- 
 riority which the Almighty has given to man above 
 other beings, have not exempted him from im- 
 perfections, which probably were left in his nature 
 to put him in remembrance of his mortality, to 
 humble his pride, and to excite his diligence. 
 
 The peculiar foible of mankind is superstition, or 
 an intrinsic and panic fear of beings invisible and 
 unknown. It is obvious to every one that there 
 
EPISCOPAL POWER, &C. 55 
 
 must be causes in nature for all the good or evil 
 which does, or ever can, happen to us ; and it is 
 impossible for any man so far to divest himself of 
 all concern for his own happiness, as not to be so- 
 licitous to know what those causes are ; and since, 
 for the most part, they are so hidden and out of 
 sight that we cannot perceive or discover them by 
 our own endeavours ; since they are immaterial 
 and in their own nature invisible, we are generally 
 ready to take the ipse dixit of those men who have 
 the dexterity to make us believe that they know 
 more of the matter than we do ourselves. 
 
 To this ignorance and credulity we are indebt- 
 ed for the most grievous frauds and impositions 
 which ever did, or do now, oppress mankind. To 
 these we owe the revelations and visions of enthu- 
 siasts, all the forged religions in the world, and 
 the abuses and corruptions of the true one, as well 
 as all the idle and fantastical stories of conjurers 
 and witches, of spirits, apparitions, fairies, demons, 
 hobgoblins, and fortune-tellers ; the belief in dreams, 
 portents, omens, prognostics, and the various sorts 
 of divinations; all of which, more or less, disturb 
 the greatest part of the world, and have made man- 
 kind the dupes and property of knaves and impos- 
 tors in all ages. 
 
 Every thing in the universe is in constant mo- 
 tion, and wherever we move we are surrounded 
 with bodies, every one of which must, in a certain 
 degree, operate on themselves and us ; and it can- 
 
56 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED 
 
 not be otherwise, that in the variety of actions and 
 events which happen in all nature, but some must 
 appear very extraordinary to those who know not 
 their true causes. Men naturally admire what they 
 cannot comprehend, and seem to do some sort of 
 homage to their understandings in believing what- 
 ever is out of their reach to be supernatural. 
 
 From hence perpetual advantages have been 
 given, and occasions taken by priests to circum- 
 vent and oppress the credulous and unwary. What 
 fraudulent uses have been made of eclipses, me- 
 teors, epidemical plagues, inundations, great thun- 
 ders and lightnings, and amazingprodigies andseem- 
 ing menaces of nature ! What juggling tricks have 
 been, or may be, practised upon the ignorant with 
 glasses, speaking-trumpets, ventriloquies, echoes, 
 phosphorus, magic-lanthorns, mirrors, and innu- 
 merable other things ! The Americans were made 
 to believe that paper arid letters were spirits, which 
 conveyed men's thoughts from one to another ; and 
 a dancing mare was in the last century burnt for a 
 witch in the inquisition in Portugal ! 
 
 Nature works by a thousand ways imperceptible 
 to us. The loadstone draws iron to its embrace ; 
 and gold, quicksilver. The sensitive plant shrinks 
 from the touch ; some sort of vegetables attract 
 one another and twine together ; others grow best 
 apart. The treading upon the torpedo affects and 
 gives freezing pain to the whole body ; turkey- 
 cocks and pheasants fly at a red rag; a rattle-snake 
 
ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 57 
 
 is said to possess a magical power in his eyes that 
 will force a squirrel to run into his mouth ; music 
 will cure the bite of a tarantula ; and the frights 
 and longings of pregnant women will stamp im- 
 pressions upon the babes in embryo. People in 
 their sleep will walk securely over precipices, and 
 the ridges of houses, where they durst not venture 
 when awake. Lightning will melt a sword with- 
 out injuring the scabbard. 
 
 There is a sympathy and antipathy within us, 
 which we all feel, that baffle and get the better 
 of our best reasonings and philosophy. These are 
 shewn in love, in fear, in hatred, in ambition, and 
 in almost every act of the mind ; but in nothing so 
 much as in superstition. Sometimes we find a 
 secret panic, and at other times a strange and un- 
 common energy, a feeling of a mighty power 
 within us ; and not being able to account by any 
 deduction of reason, or by any cause of nature, for 
 such sensations, we are easily persuaded to be- 
 lieve them to be supernatural. Hence great phi- 
 losophers, poets, legislators, illustrious conquerors, 
 and often madmen, have been thought in many 
 ages, by themselves as well as by others, to have 
 been inspired; and even distempers, such as apo- 
 plexies, epilepsies, and trances, have been deemed 
 miraculous. 
 
 Nothing strikes so strongly upon our senses as 
 that which causes surprise and admiration. There 
 are few men who are not affected by unusual sounds 
 
58 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED 
 
 and voices, with the groans of others in misery, 
 the solemnity of a coronation or any public show, 
 the pomp of a funeral, the farce of a procession, 
 the power of eloquence, the charms of poetry, the 
 rich and splendid equipage of great men, or the 
 solemn phiz and mien of an enthusiast. Whoever, 
 therefore, can find out the secret of hitting luckily 
 upon this foible and native imbecility in man- 
 kind, may govern and lead them as he pleases. 
 Herein has consisted the great skill and success 
 of crafty priests in all ages. They have made use 
 of this power to turn us and wind us to all their 
 purposes, and have built and founded most of 
 their superstitions upon it. They have always 
 adapted their worship rather to catch our passions 
 than convince our minds and enlighten our under- 
 standings ; all of which I shall prove is directly 
 contrary to the spirit of Christianity and the pre- 
 cepts of the gospel. 
 
 For this reason the heathens built their temples 
 in groves, in solitary dark and desert recesses, 
 near or over caverns and grottoes, or in the midst 
 of echoing and resounding rocks, that the hideous 
 and dismal aspect, and often hollow and hoarse 
 bellowing of such places, might strike a solemn 
 awe and religious horror into their votaries, and 
 sometimes help their imaginations to hear voices, 
 and see forms, and so intimidate and prepare them 
 for any stories and impressions which they should 
 think it their interest to make upon them. 
 
ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 59 
 
 The popish priests have admirably aped their 
 predecessors, by building their churches dark and 
 dismal, with figured and painted windows, to let in 
 a false and glimmering light ; the structure arched 
 and contrived in such manner as to resound the 
 voice hollow and shrill ; with private apartments, 
 cemeteries for their saints, pompous inscriptions, 
 whispering places, secret chapels for confessions, 
 masses, dirges, penances, and other devotional ex- 
 ercises. Like the heathen, they also build their 
 temples solemn and magnificent, in antic and un- 
 common figures, adorn them with silver and gold, 
 rich carpets, curious statues, and images inlaid 
 with jewels. Their priests appear in gaudy vest- 
 ments and fantastical robes and caps, and perform 
 their worship with music and affected ceremonies ; 
 all which pageantry and farce is calculated and in- 
 tended to attract the eyes, act upon the passions, 
 amuse, lull, and suspend the understanding, and 
 draw admiration and reverence to those who pre- 
 side in these fabrics, and attend this pompous 
 adoration. Their bells, also, which call the people 
 together, are contrived to emit such sounds as affect 
 vulgar minds with a sort of superstitious and 
 pleasing melancholy. 
 
 I remember visiting a clergyman some years 
 ago at Castle-Eaton Rectory, near Lechlade, in 
 Gloucestershire, and my friend, anxious to interest 
 me, took me to a church two or three miles distant, 
 built, I believe, during the last century; at least, it 
 
60 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED 
 
 was erected by Protestants. The windows of this 
 church are unusually large, in proportion to the 
 size of the building, and many in number ; the 
 whole of them are of richly painted glass, but the 
 subjects of several windows are ridiculous in the 
 extreme. One, in particular, 1 well recollect. It 
 represents the jaws of hell, with the devil's assis- 
 tants furnishing materials for the flames, in wheel- 
 barrows and carts ; but how will my reader be 
 surprised when I state the nature of the mate- 
 rials ! They were all of one kind, neither wood nor 
 coals but women ! Not a man is to be seen 
 either in the wheelbarrows and carts, or in hell ; 
 but figures, in the shape of men, are seen dragging 
 women by the long hair of their heads to the 
 flames. The glass of these windows is said to 
 have been seized in an enemy's prize ship, by 
 one of our ships of war, and brought to England ; 
 and the church in question was erected for the 
 express purpose of receiving the glass. Here 
 we have another forbidding and disgusting portrait 
 of our enlightened Protestant bishops, who could 
 apply such materials to the erection of a sanctuary 
 to the God of mercy. 
 
 As Christian priests have become more numer- 
 ous, have received larger revenues and more leisure, 
 so they have greatly improved on the heathens in 
 this art of deceiving; inasmuch that there is scarcely 
 an imperfection or error in human nature which is 
 not adopted into their scheme, and made subser- 
 
ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 61 
 
 vient to their interest. Men of sprightly genius 
 and courage are caught by their ambition, are 
 highly honoured, flattered, and raised up by their 
 general voice to the highest dignities, and then 
 are indulged in all their passions, and gratified 
 by the condescension of dignitaries, who assist 
 them in their ambitious projects. By these arts, 
 those talents which should be nobly employed to 
 free mankind from sacerdotal usurpations, are 
 meanly perverted to support and aggrandize the 
 priestly and antichristian power. 
 
 The hierarchy of the Romish church has always 
 found men of violence and impetuous tempers to 
 execute their tyrannical designs, and to take 
 vengeance of their enemies ; and the debauched 
 and wicked have been made to buy their peace of 
 Heaven by giving money and lands to the priests. 
 But none contribute so much to advance their 
 system as visionaries and enthusiasts. There are 
 in all countries multitudes of people whom igno- 
 rance, pride, conceit, ill habit of body, melancholy 
 and splenetic tempers, unfortunate circumstances, 
 causeless ancl secret fears, and a panic disposition 
 of mind, have prepared to be the objects, as well 
 as instruments, of delusion. Some of these 
 have been thrust or decoyed into religious houses, 
 or persuaded to lead retired, recluse, and austere 
 lives ; to torture and punish themselves with 
 whippings, penances, and fastings, and to walk 
 barefoot, in order to astonish the gaping mul- 
 
62 EPISCOPAL POWER, &C. 
 
 titude, and thereby gain reverence to the priest- 
 hood for their fancied holiness ; whilst the govern- 
 ing ecclesiastics feast and riot in delicious ban- 
 quets, ride in state with coach of four and six, 
 attended by numerous servants in costly liveries ; 
 and earth and sea are ransacked, and heaven itself 
 profaned, to maintain their luxury and pride. 
 How closely those men in England calling them- 
 selves Protestant and Christian bishops pursue 
 their practices, I shall leave my reader to deter- 
 mine, and hasten to shew, in the next chapter, that 
 this artificial devotion, this mechanical religion, 
 has no existence in Christianity. 
 
63 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION INCONSISTENT WITH THE 
 GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 
 
 I CANNOT with my best inquiry discover, that, in 
 the whole Christian religion, there are any new 
 rites or ceremonies appointed, or any new offices 
 erected. Nor in the Gospels, Acts, or Epistles, 
 does any thing like a new institution occur, ex- 
 cept that of deacons; which office, by modern 
 Christians of established churches, is quite laid 
 aside, unless it may be said to be revived by virtue 
 of the Act of Queen Elizabeth, which appoints 
 overseers of the poor. For as to the modern eccle- 
 siastical deacon, he has no resemblance to the 
 scripture officer, who was appointed to serve 
 tables, upon complaint of the Grecian widows, 
 who were neglected in the daily administration, 
 which the apostles were not at leisure to attend, 
 because " of the preaching of the word," and 
 therefore directed the congregation to choose 
 others.* 
 
 * Acts, vi. 
 
64 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 I shall now inquire how the world came to 
 be blessed with such a long train of spiritual 
 equipage, and see what can be found in the 
 Scriptures to warrant or countenance their present 
 pretensions. It is to be observed, that promulgation 
 is of the essence of a law, which cannot be with- 
 out plainness and perspicuity. It must not be 
 expressed in doubtful and equivocal terms. It 
 must not depend upon critical learning or different 
 readings ; nor receive its explanation from the 
 mysterious gibberish and unintelligible jargon of 
 the schools ; but ought to be such, as a plain, 
 open, simple-hearted, sincere man may easily 
 discover amidst the numerous and contradictory 
 schemes of interested ecclesiastics. 
 
 Weak and corrupt men may, through ignorance 
 or design, frame and enact laws obscure and unin- 
 telligible ; but the Almighty cannot intend to mis- 
 lead his creatures, nor can He be deficient in 
 proper words to express his meaning. Even such 
 human laws as enact penalties, or restrain the 
 natural liberty of mankind, are always construed 
 strictly, and extended no farther than the letter 
 expressly warrants ; and it is much more reason- 
 able, that it should be so understood in divine 
 laws, upon which the temporal and eternal happi- 
 ness of the world depends ; not only because of 
 the vast importance of the subject, but as there 
 can be no unwary omission or defect in words 
 chosen by the Holy Ghost. We may therefore 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 65 
 
 rest assured, that whatever is not expressed in 
 Scripture, in language plain and clear to common 
 understandings, was not intended for our instruc- 
 tion, nor can it become a duty. 
 
 With our eyes thus cleared up, we will view 
 those texts and parts of Holy Writ, brought together 
 to support this unwieldy fabric. And here I must 
 anticipate, that my reader will stand amazed, and 
 be at a loss which most to reprobate, the stupidity 
 and acquiescence of the high church laity, or the 
 daring insolence and impiety of their spiritual 
 rulers; that without reason, or the appearance of 
 reason; without Scripture or the colour of Scripture, 
 but directly in defiance of them all, they could 
 be able to form so complete an empire over the 
 bodies and minds of the greatest part of Christen- 
 dom ; rob them of their goods and possessions ; 
 make them instruments of their own ruin; induce 
 them to hug their chains, and mortally hate, mur- 
 der, or ruin every one who would set them free. 
 
 But before I enter upon a particular disquisition 
 of the text produced, I would first inquire what be- 
 nefit can accrue to Christianity by such powers in 
 the Christian clergy. A Roman judge is honourably 
 mentioned by Cicero, for always asking, cui bono ? 
 for what end or advantage an alleged action was 
 done, by which he could form some judgment 
 whether it was done or not ; and if done, who did it. 
 The same is a reasonable proceeding in this case ; 
 for though it is no objection to the truth of what 
 
 F 
 
66 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 God has said, that it is not agreeable to the senti- 
 ments of weak men ; yet, whilst it remains a ques- 
 tion whether God has said it or not, there cannot be 
 a stronger way of arguing used, than to shew that 
 it is unworthy of the Divine wisdom and goodness, 
 who can say nothing which is trifling and imperti- 
 nent, or make any ordinances that are useless or 
 mischievous to his creatures. 
 
 Nothing can come from God but what is god- 
 like; and, therefore, when any number of men, 
 combining together, dare tell me any thing in his 
 name of no use to religion or virtue, and yet of 
 apparent advantage to themselves or their order, 
 I shall always believe it to be an invention of their 
 own, forged to gratify their ambition and avarice, 
 and shall ever vindicate the Almighty from the 
 imputed calumny. 
 
 I would simply ask, of what use is it to religion 
 and virtue, that the clergy should always make one 
 another ? Of what importance, whether the imposi- 
 tion of hands be esteemed barely a ceremony, to de- 
 note a person appointed to an office, or be taken as 
 the appointment itself? Whether he be chosen by 
 laying on of hands, or by any other ceremony ? Will 
 the same person, with the same qualifications, be a 
 better man, a better Christian, or an abler divine, 
 if he receive his orders in a direct line from the 
 apostles, through the medium of a popish, high 
 church, or presbyterian priesthood, rather than 
 from the civil magistrate, or from voluntary 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST 
 
 societies? Or is it possible to believe that whilst 
 he is administering the offices of religion, and doing 
 the duties of the gospel, the devout Christian people 
 will lose the effects of their piety, and the benefit 
 of Christ's promises, from the defect of any cir- 
 cumstance, or any omission or superfluity in his 
 adoption ; things which they could neither pre- 
 vent nor know ? Surely, we have not so learned 
 Christ. 
 
 Can we for a moment suppose that Almighty 
 God should make such an establishment of Chris- 
 tianity, as must eventually destroy religion itself; 
 or put it under the sole guidance and direction of 
 a society of men who will have a perpetual interest 
 to overturn or pervert it, and who have ever done 
 so when they had the power ? 
 
 What can be suggested more absurd, than that 
 our heavenly Father should send his Son to be the 
 great atonement and propitiation for sin, and as a 
 divine exemplar to teach virtue and holiness to 
 men, to manumit and set them free from the 
 superstitions of the Jews, and the idolatries of the 
 Gentiles ; who, whilst upon earth, should not only 
 disclaim all power and dominion himself, but suffer 
 an ignominious death, to free mankind from the 
 fetters of a spiritual bondage; and yet subject them 
 to a yoke, the most arbitrary and tyrannical in the 
 world, without redress, and without remedy; where 
 the governors have constant temptations and mo- 
 tives to oppress, and the governed but few means to 
 
 F 2 
 
68 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 resist and oppose ? For no less than this are the 
 high-church demands upon us, and the inevitable 
 consequences of their wild and pitiful hypothesis. 
 
 If there be an order of men appointed directly by 
 God, and having the government of the church by 
 divine right, in all things which relate to spirituals, 
 i. e. in all things wherein their own interest is con- 
 cerned ; if they are to be sole judges of their own 
 powers, and what doctrines they are to teach ; if 
 the people are to receive them implicitly, and to 
 submit to their determinations ; and if no human 
 authority must control them, all which, as I believe, 
 those whom I write against assert, then it is plain 
 that they are possessed of the most despotic, un- 
 limited, and uncontrollable sovereignty in the uni- 
 verse, and one which must of necessity prove, and 
 actually ever has proved, the most cruel and tyran- 
 nical in the exercise. 
 
 But if the clergy have not this power, they can 
 have none at all, but that which the civil magis- 
 trate or voluntary societies entrust to them; for 
 what is the nature of a power, of which every man 
 is a judge whether he will submit to it or not? Or 
 how can that be said to be divine, which the civil 
 magistrate can control at his pleasure? There can be 
 no medium in nature between another's judging 
 for me, and my judging for myself ; if another is 
 to judge for me, I must submit to his determina- 
 tions, let them be ever so absurd, monstrous, or 
 wicked ; but if I have a right to re-examine them, 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 69 
 
 they can amount to no more than advice, and my own 
 judgment alone must determine my acquiescence. 
 
 As I think I have amply proved that it is incon- 
 sistent with the goodness of God to entrust to 
 men the powers claimed by the high clergy, so I 
 will attempt to prove as fully, that he has, in fact, 
 given them no authority at all. 
 
 Indeed, to speak plainly, the clergy do not pre- 
 tend to adduce any direct texts to their purpose, ex- 
 pressing particularly the powers given to them, arid 
 the persons in whom they are to be vested, as 
 might be reasonably expected in a case so nearly 
 affecting the liberties of mankind, and as was ac- 
 tually done in the Jewish dispensation, where 
 every circumstance relating to divine worship and 
 the priest's office was minutely described. In- 
 stead of this, they gather up scattered and dis- 
 jointed sentences, and place them together to see 
 what may be gained from so inconsistent and in- 
 coherent an arrangement. They argue from types, 
 antitypes, parables, metaphors, allegories, allu- 
 sions, inferences, patterns, resemblances, figures, 
 and shadows. By such means they draw every 
 thing out of every thing. 
 
 The Bible is a miscellaneous book, from which 
 crazed and designing men, by references to ancient 
 customs, and twenty other theological systems of 
 reasoning, may always fetch materials to serve their 
 loose or tyrannical purposes. And thus we actually 
 find a hundred different, and many of them almost 
 
70 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 contradictory, religions are pretended to be deduced 
 from that book. This is done by joining and dis- 
 joining; by various readings; by corrupt or ignorant 
 translations ; by far-fetched interpretations ; by 
 putting upon words in scripture meanings different 
 from what they signify in any other books ; by 
 trifling and knavish distinctions ; by metaphysical 
 subtilties ; by shifting the significations of words 
 as they have occasion ; and by a thousand other dis- 
 honest modes of proceeding. If men would be 
 contented to judge of the meaning of the scriptures 
 by the same rules as they do of other writings ; if 
 they could be persuaded that the Almighty, when 
 he condescends to make use of human language, 
 intends to be understood, and consequently uses 
 words in their common acceptation ; that when he 
 designed to reveal his will to babes and sucklings, 
 i. e. to the ignorant and unlearned, he did not 
 chose to do it in riddles, to make way for interpre- 
 ters, and that the clergy might have a plea for 
 picking the laity's pocket ; then I affirm, that the 
 Bible is the plainest, most clear, moral, spiritual, 
 significant, and intelligible book in the world, in 
 all things in which it is essential for a man, who is 
 destined for eternity, to know ; and in no part of 
 it more so, than in the subject under consideration, 
 which has been rendered so perplexed and intricate 
 by craft and artifice. 
 
 There is nothing in the four gospels to authorise 
 or countenance the union of ecclesiastical and civil 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 71 
 
 power; for as our Saviour disclaimed all worldly 
 authority, so he gave none. He neither used nor al- 
 lowed the use of force and violence to coerce and 
 conquer subjects to his kingdom, which he declared 
 was not of this world. As the religion which he 
 taught was not to consist in outward actions and 
 ceremonies, like the worship of the gentiles, but 
 was to reside in the mind, so he chose proper 
 means to attain his end. He knew that the sword 
 might make hypocrites and slaves, but never con- 
 verts ; he therefore instructed his apostles to win 
 men's affections by love and gentleness, to allure 
 them by example, and convince them by the rea- 
 sonableness of his precepts, and he enabled them 
 to prove their mission by wonders and miracles. 
 All this is directly contrary to the proceedings 
 of Mahomet, whose aim was temporal dominion, 
 and whose religion was imposture. Violence was 
 necessary to propagate both these ; for absurdity 
 can in no way be supported but by tyranny, 
 while truth can always defend itself, and desires 
 nothing but a fair examination, and a free and 
 impartial hearing. 
 
 Christ takes every occasion to caution his apostles 
 against spiritual pride, and the claiming superiority 
 over others, or over one another. The powers 
 which he gave them were of another kind, such as 
 were suitable to overcome the prejudices of the 
 innocent and well-meaning, though misled, people; 
 and to confound the malice and subtilty of the 
 
72 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 governing priesthood, viz. a power against un- 
 clean spirits, and to cast them out, to heal all 
 manner of sickness and all manner of diseases, 
 and to raise the dead. Surely we have no pro- 
 testant bishop or inferior clergyman in England 
 who pretends to these powers. 
 
 Our Lord commands his ministers to provide 
 neither silver, nor gold, nor brass, in their pockets ; 
 nor scrip for their journey ; neither two coats, nor 
 shoes, nor staves ; (much less coaches emblazoned 
 with mitres and arms.) I presume few English 
 clergymen desire these restricted powers. 
 
 Again, Jesus orders his disciples when they 
 come into any house, to salute it, and if the in- 
 mates do not receive them, and hear their words, 
 to depart from that house, and shake off the dust 
 from their feet. The popish clergy are for setting 
 fire to such a house, and for burning and damning 
 every one within it. The protestant priests, not 
 for troubling any house with a call, but for their 
 fees. 
 
 The apostles' commission in St. Matthew, was 
 to preach Christ to all nations ; and in St. Mark, 
 to go into all the world and to preach Him to every 
 creature. The Protestant bishops seldom preach 
 at all. Bishop Latimer says, " there is a gap in 
 hell, as wide as from Calais to Dover, full of un- 
 preaching prelates." 
 
 Those who believed in the apostles, and were 
 baptized, had the power of casting out devils in 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 73 
 
 Christ's name, and speaking 1 with new tongues. 
 They could take up serpents ; no deadly thing 
 which they drank could hurt them ; they laid hands 
 upon the sick, and they recovered. Those who 
 support and believe in the high-church priests are 
 the best friends the devil has ; for these clerical 
 gentlemen, instead of casting him out, for the 
 most part bring him in. They can speak sense 
 with no tongue, nor dare venture on any poison 
 but what proceeds from gluttony and drunkenness, 
 with which they give their votaries diseases, instead 
 of recovering them. 
 
 The apostles were to be witnesses of all which 
 they had heard or seen, said or done by our 
 Saviour ; and who else could be so ? But the 
 clergy have no other means of knowing Christ, 
 than any layman of equal abilities and equal appli- 
 cation; nor have they, generally speaking, any 
 greater motives or inducement to preach him, 
 except the hire, which, as it first suborned their 
 predecessors to betray his person and take away 
 his life, so it has ever since been the occasion of 
 crucifying him anew, by misrepresenting the spi- 
 rituality of his doctrines, and making them subser- 
 vient to worldly ambition and interest ; a practice 
 too general and universal to require from me any 
 illustration. 
 
 Our Saviour himself appointed the seventy dis- 
 ciples, whom he sent before him two by two in 
 every place where he intended himself to go, and 
 
74 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 gave them powers almost equal to the powers of 
 the apostles, even to heal the sick, to tread on 
 serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of 
 the enemy ; and he declared that nothing should 
 hurt them. He was so far from giving any worldly 
 authority, that he tells them, he sends them forth 
 as lambs among wolves ; that they should carry 
 nothing with them ; whatsoever house they came 
 into, they were to say, peace to that house, and 
 were to eat and drink such things as the people gave 
 them ; for the labourer is worthy of his hire. (Tt 
 appears that the people were to judge what wages 
 and hire they deserved.) If any persons refused to 
 receive them, they were to go into the streets and 
 shake off the dust of their feet ; which was all the 
 excommunication they were directed to use, and 
 was nothing more but to leave them to God. 
 
 Whatever is meant by the figurative and ab- 
 struse texts of binding and loosing, remitting and 
 retaining sins, it is evidently confined to those to 
 whom it is spoken, and seems to have relation to 
 the other world alone. I would therefore be glad 
 to know, by what rules of construction the powers 
 now claimed by any order of clergy in the world, 
 can be brought from these texts, or in what sense 
 any clergyman can be said to be a successor of the 
 apostles, more than every layman of equal qualifi- 
 cations. 
 
 If our Saviour had intended to have conveyed 
 any powers to any man, or set of men, it is im- 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 75 
 
 possible to believe but that he would have ex- 
 pressed himself in the fullest and most significant 
 words, and have left no doubt as to what those 
 powers were, and to whom they belonged. No 
 statute enacted among weak mortals is penned so 
 loosely, however, as those relied upon by the 
 clergy. What lawyer in Westminster-hall could 
 have found sovereign power in the precept, " feed 
 my sheep" ? or in our Saviour's promise to assist 
 the apostles, and certainly all Christians in general, 
 in these words, " I will be with you to the end of 
 the world" ? 
 
 The priests of Delphos, uttering their oracles, 
 for the most part, in sorry balderdash poetry, gave 
 rise to a jest among the ancients, that Homer could 
 write better verses than Apollo, who inspired him. 
 But surely no Christian man could be found so 
 profane as to give occasion to the suggestion, that 
 the attorney-general can draw up a clearer and 
 more intelligible commission than the apostles ! 
 
 But, though there is nothing in the gospels to jus- 
 tify or excuse the priestly demands upon the laity, 
 there are many texts expressly against them, in 
 which our Saviour disclaims all authority over men, 
 and forbids his disciples and followers to assume 
 superiority over their brethren, or to censure, judge, 
 or use any one ill, for not receiving, or for oppos- 
 ing them. 
 
 In St. Luke, chap. xii. ver. 13., a man desires of 
 our Lord to speak to his brother to divide his in- 
 
76 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 heritance with him; and his answer is, "Who 
 made me a judge or a divider over you?" In St. 
 John, chap. xii. ver. 47, 48, our Saviour declares, if 
 any man hear his words and believes not, that he 
 will not judge him ; for he came not to judge the 
 world, but to save the world; and in the next 
 verse he leaves him to the judgment of the Father, 
 and tells him what will be his doom. In St. John, 
 chap, xviii. ver. 36, also, Christ was brought before 
 Pilate for speaking treason against Ceesar, and 
 claiming the temporal kingdom of Judea ; but he 
 took that occasion to renounce all earthly sove- 
 reignty, by declaring his kingdom not to be of this 
 world, and gave his reason for it, which so satis- 
 fied the Roman governor, ever jealous of his mas- 
 ter's authority, that he pronounced him innocent, 
 and would gladly have released him if the Jewish 
 priests would have suffered it. 
 
 In St. Matthew, also, chap. vii. ver. 1,2,3, Jesus 
 says to his disciples, " Judge not, lest ye be 
 judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall 
 be judged ; and what measure ye meet shall be 
 measured to you again, &c." In St. Luke, chap, 
 ix. ver. 53, James and John desired of him that they 
 might command fire from heaven to punish the 
 Samaritans for not receiving him ; to which he was 
 so far from consenting, that he sharply reproves 
 them for it, and tells them, "Ye know not what 
 spirit ye are of, for the Son of man is not come to 
 destroy the world, but to save the world." In the 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 77 
 
 same chapter, John said to him, " Master, we saw 
 one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade 
 him, because he followeth not us. And Jesus said, 
 forbid him not, for he that is not against us, is for 
 us." A beautiful and plain precept, for Christians 
 to tolerate one another. 
 
 Through the whole 18th chapter of St. Matthew, 
 our Saviour exhorts his disciples to be humble, and 
 to forgive offences. And in the 15th verse, he tells 
 them, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go 
 and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; 
 but if he will not hear thee, take one or two more 
 with thee, &c. And if he shall neglect to hear 
 them, tell it to the church, or congregation ; and if 
 he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee 
 like a heathen or a publican," i.e. have no more to 
 do with him. In the following verses he shews 
 them what a church is ; viz. ' ' Where two or three 
 are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
 the midst of them." Will an English bishop allow 
 that the presence of Christ shall be effectual to 
 constitute a complete church, though a parson be 
 not of the company ? I leave them to make their 
 own reply. 
 
 Indeed, the whole New Testament is a lesson of 
 faith and morality, of humility, humanity, and 
 charity. The sermon upon the mount breathes the 
 most refined ethics ; and we everywhere meet with 
 precepts and cautions against pride and domination. 
 In the 23rd chapter of Matthew our Lord spake to 
 
78 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 
 
 the multitude, and to his disciples, bidding them not 
 to be called master, c< For one," says he, " is your 
 master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren ; but 
 he that is greatest amongst you shall be your ser- 
 vant ; whoever exalts himself shall be abased, and 
 he that shall humble himself shall be exalted," In 
 St. Luke, chap. xx. ver. 46, he warns his disciples 
 to beware of the Scribes, who desire to walk in long 
 robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the 
 highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief 
 places at feasts (Hear, O ye bishops, priests, and 
 deacons!), who devour widows' houses, and for a 
 show make long prayers. 
 
 In St. Luke, chap. xxii. ver. 24, 25, 26, there 
 was a strife among the apostles, which should be 
 the greatest. "And Jesus said unto them, the 
 kings of the Gentiles exercise authority over them ; 
 and they that exercise authority upon them, are 
 called benefactors. But ye shall not be so ; but 
 he that is greatest amongst you, let him be as the 
 younger; and he that is chief, as he that does 
 serve." The same is found in Matthew, chap. xx. 
 ver. 25, 26, 27, and he enforces this precept in the 
 28th verse, from his own conduct: " Even as the 
 Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
 minister." 
 
 Our blessed Lord did not, like others, preach 
 doctrines to his disciples which he refused to prac- 
 tise, but taught them modesty and humility by his 
 own example ; for in the 13th chapter of John we 
 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 79 
 
 find he washes their feet himself, and bids them 
 wash one another's. Alas ! how different is the 
 character and conduct of Christ and his apostles 
 from the proud and lofty spirit of his pretended 
 successors ! My readers will be satisfied of this by 
 their own experience, without any further remark 
 of mine. 
 
80 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 
 
 ORDINATION to the office of a bishop, did not ori- 
 ginally differ from the ordination of a presbyter. 
 No power was conveyed to a bishop, from which 
 presbyters were secluded ; nor was there any quali- 
 fication required in the office of the one, that was 
 not required in the other. Timothy was not, 
 properly speaking, a bishop. He was ordained by 
 the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.* We 
 have already shewn, that the original of the order 
 of bishops, was from the presbyters choosing one 
 from among themselves, to be stated president in 
 their assemblies, and this, perhaps, first occurred 
 about the third century. Jerome declares, once 
 and again, that in the days of the apostles, bishops 
 and presbyters were the same ; that as low as his 
 time, the bishops had gained no superior authority, 
 but ordination. And Chrysostom andTheophylact 
 affirm, that while the apostles lived, and for some 
 
 * 1 Tim. iv. 14. 
 
BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, &C. 81 
 
 ages after, the name of bishops and presbyters 
 were not distinguished. 
 
 The authority of that very ancient copy of the 
 Bible, now in the British Museum, sent by Cyrillus, 
 Patriarch of Alexandria, to King Charles I. , being- 
 all written in capital Greek letters, was vouched and 
 asserted by Sir Simon D'Ewes, a great antiquary, 
 and in this, the postcript to the epistles to Timothy 
 and Titus are only thus : e< This first to Timothy, 
 written from Laodicea : to Titus, from Nicopolis." 
 Hence, the critic infers that the styling of Ti- 
 mothy and Titus, first bishops ofEphesus and Crete, 
 were the spurious additions of some eastern bishop 
 or monk, at least five hundred years after Christ.* 
 
 It is also clear that presbyters may ordain with- 
 out a bishop. The author of the Comment on the 
 Ephesians, which goes under the name of St. Am- 
 brose, says that in Egypt the presbyters ordain, if 
 the bishops be not present ; so also does Augustine 
 in the same words ; and the chorepiscopus, who 
 was only a presbyter, had power to impose hands, 
 and to ordain within his precincts, with the bishop's 
 licence. Indeed, further, the presbyters of the city 
 of Alexandria, with the bishop's leave, might or- 
 dain, as appears from Con. Ancyr. Carit. 3, where 
 it is said, it is not lawful for chorepiscopi to ordain 
 presbyters or deacons ; nor for the presbyters of 
 the city, in another parish, without the bishop's 
 letter ; which evidently implies, that they might <k> 
 
 * See Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 284. 
 G 
 
82 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 
 
 so with the bishop's letter, and perhaps without it, 
 in their own parish. 
 
 Firmilianus says of those who rule in the church, 
 whom he calls senior es et prapositi, i.e. presbyters 
 as well as bishops, that they had the power of 
 baptizing, and of laying on hands in ordaining. 
 
 Archbishop Usher informs us, in his Letter to Dr. 
 Bernard, " I have ever delivered my opinion to be, 
 that episcopus et presbyter gradu tantum differunt, non 
 ordine, and consequently, that in places were 
 bishops cannot be had, the ordination by presby- 
 ters stands valid ; but the ordination made by such 
 presbyters as have severed themselves from those 
 bishops to whom they have sworn canonical obe- 
 dience, I cannot excuse from being schismatical. I 
 think that churches which have no bishops are de- 
 fective in their government ; yet, for the justifying 
 my communion with them whom I do love and 
 honour as true members of the church universal, I 
 do profess, if I were in Holland, I should receive the 
 blessed sacrament at the hands of the Dutch, with 
 the like affection as I should from the hands of the 
 French ministers were I at Charenton." The same 
 bishop, in his answer to Mr. Baxter, informs us, that 
 the king having asked him at the Isle of Wight, 
 whether he found in antiquity that presbyters alone 
 ordained any ? he replied, yes ; and that he could 
 shew his Majesty more, even where presbyters alone 
 successively ordained bishops than otherwise, and 
 instanced, in Jerome's words, (Epist. ad Evayrium,) 
 
ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 83 
 
 of the presbyters of Alexandria choosing and 
 making their own bishops from the days of Mark 
 till Heraclus and Dionysius.* 
 
 That bishops and presbyters were originally the 
 same, was the opinion even of Bancroft himself ; 
 for when Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Ely, moved that 
 the Scotch bishops elect might first be ordained 
 presbyters, in the year 1610, Bancroft replied, 
 there was no need of it, since ordination by pres- 
 byters was valid ; upon which the said bishop con- 
 curred in their consecration. And yet lower, when 
 the Archbishop of Spalato was in England, he 
 desired bishop Moreton to re-ordain a person who 
 had been ordained beyond sea, that he might be 
 more capable of preferment ; to which the bishop 
 replied, it could not be done but to the scandal of 
 the reformed churches, in which he would have no 
 hand. The same prelate adds, in his Apol. CathoL, 
 that to ordain was the jus antiquum of presbyters. 
 To these may be added the testimony of bishop 
 Burnet, whose words are these : " As for the 
 notion of distinct offices of bishop and presbyter, 
 I confess it is not so clear to me ; and, therefore, 
 since I look upon the sacramental actions as the 
 highest of sacred performances, I cannot but 
 acknowledge that those who are empowered with 
 them, must be of the highest office of the church, "f 
 
 It may further be proved from the writings of 
 
 * See Baxter's Life, p. 206. 
 t V indication of the Church of Scotland, p, 336. 
 G 2 
 
84 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 
 
 the learned Dr. Reynolds, of Oxford, and others, 
 that only two orders of church officers are of divine 
 appointment, viz. bishops and deacons ; and that 
 the superiority of bishops above presbyters was 
 of human appointment, and did not take place for 
 several centuries after the introduction of the 
 church of Christ. Aerius declares and maintains 
 that, " there ought to be no difference between a 
 priest and a bishop ;" and though Epiphanius en- 
 deavours to disprove this, his arguments are so 
 weak, that even Bellarmine, the popish champion, 
 confesses that the arguments are not agreeable to 
 the text ; and though St. Austin, in his book of 
 heresies, ascribes this opinion to Aerius for one, 
 because it condemned the order of the Romish 
 church and created a schism, yet it is a different 
 thing to say, that by the word of God there is no 
 difference between bishop and presbyter, and to say 
 that it is by the order and custom of the popish 
 church, which is all that St. Austin means. When 
 Harding, the papist, alleged these very witnesses to 
 prove that the opinion of bishops and priests being 
 of the same order, was heresy, our learned bishop 
 Jewel quoted to the contrary, Chrysostom, Jerome, 
 Ambrose, and St. Austin himself; and concluded 
 his answer with these words : "all these, and other 
 more holy fathers, together with the apostle Paul, 
 for thus saying, by Harding's advice, must be held 
 for heretics." 
 
 Michael Medina, a man of great repute in the 
 
ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 85 
 
 " Council of Trent," adds to the above testimonies, 
 Theodorus, Primarius, Sedulius, Theophylact, with 
 whom agree Oecumenius, the Greek scholiast, 
 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, Gregory, and 
 Gratian. Besides, all that have laboured in reform- 
 ing the church, for about 800 years, have taught 
 that all pastors, be they entitled bishops or priests, 
 have equal authority and power by God's word. 
 This was first taught by the Waldenses, next by 
 Marsilius Patavinus, then by Wickliff and his 
 scholars, afterwards by Huss and his followers ; 
 again by Luther, Calvin, Brentius, Bullinger, 
 Musculus; then by other learned men, as Brad- 
 ford, Lambert, Jewel, Pilkington, Humphreys, 
 Fulke, and others ; and it is the common judg- 
 ment of the reformed churches of Helvetia, Savoy, 
 France, Scotland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the 
 Low Countries, and now of our own. 
 
 Dr. Reynolds, again adverting to Dr. Bancroft's 
 sermon of January 12th, 1588, in which he main- 
 tains that St. Jerome and Calvin had confessed, that 
 bishops have had superiority over presbyters ever 
 since the time of St. Mark the Evangelist, says, as 
 to Dr. Bancroft's saying that Jerome, and Calvin 
 from him, confessed that bishops have had the 
 same superiority ever since the time of St. Mark the 
 Evangelist, I think him mistaken, because neither 
 Jerome says it, nor does Calvin seem to confess it 
 on his report. Bishops among us may do many 
 other things, besides ordaining and laying on 
 
86 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 
 
 of hands, which inferior ministers and priests may 
 not ; whereas St. Jerome says, " what does a bishop 
 except ordination, which a priest does not?" mean- 
 ing that in his time bishops had only that power 
 above priests, which Chrysostom also remarks in 
 Homily II. on 1 Timothy. Nor had they this 
 privilege alone in all places, for in the Council of 
 Carthage it is said, that, "the priests laid their 
 hands, together with the bishops,* on those who 
 were ordained." And St. Jerome having proved by 
 scripture, that in the time of the Apostles, bishops 
 and priests were all one, yet grants that afterwards 
 bishops had that peculiar to themselves in some 
 places ; but proves nothing else, so that St. Jerome 
 does not say concerning the superiority in question, 
 that bishops have had it ever since St. Mark's time. 
 Nor, indeed, does Calvin confess it ; he says, that 
 in old time ministers chose one out of their com- 
 pany in every city, to whom they gave the title of 
 bishop ; yet the bishop was not above them in 
 honour and dignity; but, as consuls in the senate, 
 propose matters, ask their opinions, direct others 
 by giving advice, by admonishing, by exhorting, 
 and so guide the whole action, and by their autho- 
 rity see that performed which was agreed on by 
 common consent. The same charge had the bishop 
 in the assembly of ministers ; and having shewn 
 from St. Jerome that this was brought in by con- 
 sent of men, he adds, that, " it was an ancient order 
 
 * See Strype's Life of Whitgift. 
 
ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 87 
 
 of the church even from St. Mark ;" from whence 
 it is apparent, that the order of the church he 
 mentions, has relation to that in which he affirms 
 that, "the bishop was not so above the rest in 
 honour, as to have rule over them." It therefore 
 follows, that Calvin does not even appear to ac- 
 knowledge the report of St. Jerome. 
 
 But what is still more to the purpose, the scrip- 
 tures mention only two orders of offices in the 
 church, viz. bishops and deacons; Philip, i. 1. 
 " Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus 
 Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are 
 at Philippi, with the bishops and deacon irio-xoVois- 
 KOU $MHc6volf." The name, office, and work of a 
 bishop and presbyter are the same ; as in Titus i. 
 5, 7, &c. " For this cause left I thee in Crete, that 
 thou shouldest set in order the things that are 
 wanting, and ordain elders (v ?s <r@vTepov<;) in every 
 city, as I had appointed thee. For a bishop (igr/axoTrov) 
 must be blameless, &c." Acts xx. 28, &c. " Take 
 heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the 
 flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you 
 overseers (iTnc-xoWr) &c." 1 Peter v. 1, 2, &c. 
 "The elders (vpzG&ripo'Js) which are among you I 
 exhort, who am also an elder (Vpso-pu^o*) &c." As 
 the apostles were extraordinary officers, so were 
 Timothy and Titus, viz. evangelists, but neither 
 of them, as before said, are called bishops in scrip- 
 ture, much less were they fixed to Ephesus or 
 Crete, but travelled up and down to establish 
 
88 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 
 
 churches in several countries. In the same order of 
 officers there was not any one superior to another, 
 no apostle above an apostle, no presbyter above 
 a presbyter, nor one deacon above another. 
 
 The angels of the churches in the Apocalypse are 
 never called bishops, nor is the word used in any 
 of St. John's writings ; he calls himself a presbyter, 
 from whence we perceive the identity of these 
 offices in scripture, and the equality of the officers. 
 
 From what has been said, it is clear that the 
 governing of the church belongs to the presbyters 
 as much as to the bishops. This also is the more 
 evident from the two words used in the Acts of 
 the Apostles, and the epistle of St. Peter, 7roi//,an/e*v 
 and sTrto-xoTrelv, under the force of which the bishops 
 claim their whole right of government and juris- 
 diction ; and when the apostle Paul was taking 
 leave of the Ephesian presbyters and bishops, he 
 commits the government of the church, not to 
 Timothy who was then with him, but to the pres- 
 byters under the name of bishops made by the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 Hence it may be fairly concluded, that bishops 
 and presbyters are only two names of the same 
 order. The obscurity of church history, in the 
 times succeeding the apostles, might, indeed, in- 
 duce the catalogue-makers to take up their suc- 
 cession upon report ; and it is a blemish to their 
 evidence, that the nearer they come to the days of 
 the apostles, the more doubtful and contradictory 
 
ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER^ 89 
 
 are they. Human testimony on church officers 
 ought to be discharged, and the determination be by 
 scripture only. And here we shall find no distinction 
 between bishop and presbyter, and no mention of 
 archbishops, archdeacons, deans, chancellors, and 
 the modern host of officials ; but simply bishops 
 and deacons. 
 
 I have already shewn that Timothy and Titus 
 were evangelists, i. e. not fixed to one place, but 
 travelling with the apostles, from one country to 
 another, to plant churches. The account of their 
 travels may be sketched from the Acts of the 
 Apostles, and from the epistles of St. Paul. The 
 apostles could no more part with their power of 
 governing than they could with their apostleship. 
 Had they set up bishops in all churches, they had no 
 more parted with their power of governing than in 
 setting up presbyters ; presbyters being called rulers, 
 governors, and bishops. Nor could the apostle 
 be reasonably supposed to commit the government 
 of the church of Ephesus to the presbyters, when 
 he was taking his last farewell of them, and yet 
 reserve the power of governing in ordinary to him- 
 self. It would be very unaccountable if there had 
 been two sorts of bishops, one over presbyters, and 
 the other over the flock, that there should be no 
 mention, no mark or trace of difference, no distinct 
 method of ordination by which they might be dis- 
 tinguished throughout the whole compass of the 
 New Testament. 
 
90 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, &C. 
 
 To assert, then, that the scriptures assign any 
 particular work or duty to a bishop that is not 
 common to a presbyter, is to affirm without 
 evidence. There is, indeed, a succession in the 
 work of teaching and governing ; but none in com- 
 mission or office by which the apostles performed 
 them. A succession may be in the same work, 
 but there is not to the commission ; nor can any 
 such scripture be produced to warrant the division 
 of the office of teaching and governing to two per- 
 sons : it is solely an interested invention of men to 
 obtain the power to themselves. 
 
 Let my countrymen remember that to add to 
 the religion of Christ is sinful, and to enforce ob- 
 servance or respect to these additions by penalties, 
 is to exercise a forbidden jurisdiction in the 
 church. It is our duty, therefore, to make a bold 
 and vigorous stand against all usurpation and 
 arbitrary power ; and he who is as tenacious of his 
 religious, as he is of his civil liberty, will oppose 
 both with equal spirit and equal firmness. 
 
91 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 
 
 SINCE all the most idle and visionary pretences of 
 the Roman and English high clergy have their 
 ends, and their danger, and therefore should be 
 narrowly watched and vigorously opposed, I shall 
 inquire into the validity of a principal claim of 
 their's ; I mean that of uninterrupted succession. 
 We will endeavour to find whether there is any 
 foundation to support this corner-stone of their 
 authority except in their own imaginations. 
 
 A man might reasonably imagine that a doctrine 
 of so much importance to the temporal and eternal 
 state of all mankind, should be expressly laid down, 
 and fully explained in the holy Scriptures, to pre- 
 vent all possibility of mistake about it. But in- 
 stead of this, the thing, as far as I remember, is 
 not once mentioned there, nor any thing equi- 
 valent to it ; so that we are under a necessity 
 of recurring to the clergy themselves for informa- 
 tion. And here, too, we are as much bewildered as 
 
92 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 before, for some of them boldly assert it, and others 
 flatly deny it. 
 
 Besides, those who hate and damn one another, 
 claim it equally to themselves, and deny it to all 
 others. Those who are successors to the apostles 
 in England, disown their brother successors beyond 
 the Tweed and about the Lake ; and they theirs at 
 Greece and Armenia, as well as every where else. 
 Now, all these who so confidently assume the suc- 
 cessorship to themselves alone, are as opposite to 
 each other in sentiments and worship as light is to 
 darkness. They cannot, therefore, all have it; 
 and if only one has it, how shall we know who he 
 is? No man's testimony ought to be taken in 
 his own case ; and if we take that of other people, 
 there are twenty to one against them all. 
 
 If the clergy of the church of England, as by 
 law established, be, of all the reformed, supposed 
 to enjoy this line of entail entire to themselves, 
 pray how came they by it ? Not from the Reforma- 
 tion, which began not till near fifteen centuries 
 after the apostles were dead ; and Cranmer owned 
 ordination then to be no more than a civil appoint- 
 ment to an ecclesiastical office. It is certain, that at 
 that time, this Utopian succession was not so much 
 as thought of by any who embraced the Protestant 
 religion. At present, indeed, and for a good while 
 past, the high clergy contend for it with equal mo- 
 desty and truth. But in order to adopt it, they are 
 forced to pass over the Reformation. 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 93 
 
 This same succession is now deduced from Rome, 
 and the pope has had the keeping of it, who is 
 held, by all who adhere to the Reformation, to be 
 Antichrist and the man of sin. This pope has fre- 
 quently been an Atheist, often an adulterer, often 
 a murderer, always an usurper, and his church has 
 constantly lived in gross idolatry, and subsisted by 
 ignorance, frauds, rapine, cruelty, and all the 
 blackest vices. It is certain she was full of wick- 
 edness and abomination, and void of all goodness 
 and virtue, but that of having kept the apostolic 
 orders pure and undefiled for our modern high 
 churchmen. However, I think they themselves 
 appear to be sensible that it will be a difficult 
 matter to make out, in this way 1 , their kindred to 
 the apostles, without being nearer akin to popery. 
 These churchmen are, therefore, forced to own the 
 church of Rome to be a true church. Nor ought 
 we to be surprised if, in succeeding to the orders 
 of that church, they also succeed to most of her 
 good qualities. I confess it would look a little 
 absurd if, among we laymen, any one should 
 gravely assert, that, though Lais was so filthy a 
 strumpet that no virtuous woman would converse 
 with her, yet that she was, for all that, a true 
 virgin, and that all chastity was derived from her ! 
 
 But such absurdities as these go for nothing 
 among some sort of ecclesiastics. We will, there- 
 fore, inquire what it is which the clergy would 
 succeed to. The apostles had no ambition, juris- 
 
94 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 diction, dignities, or revenues, to which they could 
 be successors. We do not, in scripture, read one 
 word of ecclesiastical princes, popes, patriarchs, 
 primates, and a host of officials. On the contrary, 
 our Saviour himself declares that his kingdom is 
 not of this world. When the young man in the 
 gospel* asked of him what he should do to obtain 
 eternal life ? he answered, that, beside keeping the 
 commandments, he should sell all that he had, and 
 give to the poor. Christ did not bid the young 
 man give one penny to the priests. 
 
 Jn the twentieth chapter of the same gospel, our 
 Saviour takes notice to his disciples, that the princes 
 of this world exercise dominion over them ; " but," 
 says he, "it shall not be so amongst you; but 
 whosoever will be great amongst you, let him be 
 your minister ; and whoever will be chief, let him 
 be your servant." Nay, he says, " that even the 
 Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
 minister." In the twenty- third chapter he con- 
 demns the Scribes and Pharisees for loving the 
 uppermost rooms, and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogue, and their desiring to be called of men, 
 Rabbi ; and he forbids all this pride to his disciples 
 as well as to his casual hearers, and orders them 
 not to call one another, Master; "for," says 
 he, " one is your master, even Christ, and he that 
 is greatest among you shall be your servant." Nor 
 
 * Matt. xix. 16. 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 95 
 
 do I find that while he was upon earth, he laid 
 claim to any power but to do the will of Him that 
 sent him. Indeed, after his resurrection, he tells 
 his disciples that all power is given to him in heaven 
 and in earth ; and he bids them teach all nations, 
 and baptize them in the name of the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost ; but he does not give 
 them the least power or dominion of any kind 
 whatever. It is plain, too, that his disciples under- 
 stood him so. St. Paul tells the Corinthians, in 
 the first chapter of his second epistle to them, that 
 he and his fellow-apostles had not dominion over 
 their faith, but were helpers of their joy. In the 
 fourth chapter of the same epistle, he tells them, 
 that they preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus 
 the Lord, and themselves their servants for Jesus' 
 sake. In the third chapter of the first epistle to 
 the Corinthians, he admonishes them not to glory 
 in man, no, not in himself, nor Apollos, nor Ce- 
 phas ; and tells the people, that even the apostles 
 themselves and all things are their's, and they are 
 Christ's, and Christ is God's. In the ninth 
 chapter he tells them, that though he is free from 
 all men, yet he has made himself servant unto all, 
 that he might gain the more. St. Peter, also, in 
 the fifth chapter of his first epistle, exhorts the 
 elders to feed the flock of Christ, and to take the 
 oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly ; 
 not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; neither 
 
96 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 as being lords over God's heritage, but as being 
 examples to the flock. 
 
 These elders were either clergymen or not. If 
 they were clergymen, their pretended successors 
 may see upon what terms they are to be feeders 
 and overseers of the flock of Christ. But if they 
 were only laymen, then it is plain that no other 
 qualifications were necessary to a spiritual shep- 
 herd, than a willing, disinterested, and humble 
 mind; and all subjection is, in the fifth verse, 
 commanded to be reciprocal: "Likewise, ye 
 younger , submit yourselves unto the elder : yea., all of 
 you be subject one to another, and be clothed ivith 
 humility ; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth 
 grace to the humble." I confess that I am not 
 master enough of any language to find words more 
 expressive, or which can more fully renounce all 
 sorts of jurisdiction and dominion than those in the 
 passages which I have here quoted ; and nothing 
 can be more ridiculous, as well as impious, than 
 to oppose them with equivocal, doubtful, and 
 figurative expressions. If the popish priests could 
 but find out one such clear text on their side, how 
 would they exult upon it ! 
 
 It is clear that the apostles understood our 
 Saviour in this sense ; and it is evident that the 
 first Christians had not the least apprehension that 
 the apostles claimed any power or authority to 
 themselves. They were poor men, of mean, or at 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 97 
 
 least of mechanical professions, who left fathers, 
 mothers, children, families, trades, and renounced 
 all the good things of this world, to wander about 
 and preach Christ. Their disinterestedness and 
 sufferings were powerful arguments for the truth 
 of their doctrines. Had the apostles told their 
 hearers, in the modern high-church strain, that, 
 11 as soon as they became their converts, they 
 became also their spiritual subjects ; that they 
 themselves were ecclesiastical princes, and that 
 spiritual government was as much more excellent 
 than the civil, as heaven was to earth, indeed more 
 so ; that the episcopal honour and sublime dig- 
 nity could not be equalled by the glory of kings 
 and the diadems of princes ; that kings and 
 queens ought to bow down to the priests, with 
 their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of 
 their feet; that they had a right not only to the 
 tenth part of their estates, but of their labour; 
 and that since they (their hearers) administered so 
 many things to a king, who administers peace and 
 war for bodily safety, they ought to administer 
 more liberally to those who administer the priest- 
 hood towards God, and thus secure both body and 
 soul by their prayers, " then, indeed, there would 
 have been some pretence for their claims. But 
 they have not ; though such blasphemous doctrine 
 has been vended by Hicks, Leslie, and almost all 
 the high church writers, and never publicly cen- 
 sured or disapproved by any convocation or body 
 
 H 
 
98 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION, &C. 
 
 of clergy, although the greatest enmity has been 
 shewn towards those \vho have asserted contrary 
 principles. 
 
 Besides, if such language as this had been pro- 
 pagated at the first opening of the gospel, what 
 progress could Christianity have made ? How 
 could the apostles have been disinterested wit- 
 nesses of the truth of the doctrines which gave 
 them such jurisdiction, dominion, and riches ? 
 And how justly would the princes and powers of 
 the earth have punished such usurpations upon 
 their civil and ecclesiastical authority ! The silence 
 of the enemies to Christianity is a sufficient confu- 
 tation of this wicked and black calumny, cast upon 
 them by their pretended successors, but with 
 which their bitterest opposers had more modesty 
 than to charge them, though they ransacked earth 
 and hell for all other sorts of scandaL 
 
99 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 DR. TILLOTSON, in his Sermon against Transubstan- 
 tiation, tells us, that it might well seem strange 
 if any man should write a book to prove that an 
 egg is not an elephant, and that a musket-bullet is 
 not a pike. He might have added, that this was the 
 hard circumstance to which the laity were reduced 
 in their disputes about religion with most sets 
 of ecclesiastics ; and what is still worse, that when 
 they had proved these propositions, they were never 
 the better. 
 
 The greatest part of mankind have learned to 
 judge of religious matters by other faculties and 
 senses than those which God has given them. The 
 first thing they are taught is, that reason may be 
 on one side of the question, and truth on the 
 other ; which maxim being well established, there 
 will be an end of all reasoning ever after. There 
 can be no longer any criterion of truth and false- 
 hood ; but those who, by education and custom, 
 
 H2 
 
100 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 have once got possession of the superstition and 
 fears of the people, may impose upon them what 
 crafty and advantageous doctrines they please. 
 By these means the Christian religion, most easy 
 and intelligible in itself, and adapted to the meanest 
 capacities, is become in most countries a meta- 
 physical science, made up of useless sublimities 
 and insignificant distinctions, calculated to gratify 
 the pride of corrupt clergymen, by making them 
 admired and reverenced by the people for their 
 profound knowledge and deep learning. Religion 
 is consequently wholly left to their care and con- 
 duct, as being infinitely above poor lay appre- 
 hensions ; and to this the world is beholden for the 
 depravation of virtue and morality, and for all the 
 domination, pomp, and riches of the popish priest- 
 hood. 
 
 I hope no one will condemn an undertaking in- 
 tended to restore Christianity to its primitive inno- 
 cence and native simplicity ; to oppose common 
 sense against pompous nonsense, and learned ab- 
 surdity ; and to shew how, and in what meaning, 
 the kingdom of heaven is said to be revealed to 
 babes and sucklings, while it is hidden from the 
 learned and wise. That is, it is easily learned 
 and known by those who make use of their gra- 
 ciously-assisted natural faculties and uncorrupted 
 reason ; but will always be hidden from such who 
 hunt after it in the schools of the philosophers, or in 
 any ambitious and factious assemblies and synods 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED. 101 
 
 of popish ecclesiastics. I shall aim to keep this 
 plain and easy subject clear of all vain philosophy 
 and metaphysical gibberish, with which the adver- 
 saries always attempt to entangle it ; as knowing 
 well, that if they can but make it unintelligible, 
 their authority will decide every question in their 
 own favour. 
 
 I have already shewn that the apostles claimed 
 no jurisdiction, authority, or coercive power, of any 
 kind, over their hearers, but only obeyed the 
 will of their Divine Master in delivering a message 
 from heaven for the infinite benefit of mankind. 
 To prove their mission they brought their creden- 
 tials, viz. the power of working miracles. This 
 miraculous power died with them, however, and 
 the power and right they possessed to perform the 
 duties and offices of Christianity, did not descend 
 to one Christian more than to another, but all 
 were equally empowered to exercise alike the 
 functions of their most holy religion. 
 
 When a command is given from God to men to 
 perform any action, it is not only the right of every 
 one, but it becomes his duty to execute it himself, 
 when he is capable of doing so. Whoever asserts 
 the contrary, is obliged to prove it ; and he must 
 not be surprised if, in a case of this great conse- 
 quence, we should expect plain and direct texts, 
 describing the extent of the power demanded, and 
 the persons to whom it is given. It will not be 
 enough to collect two or three scattered and dis- 
 
102 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 jointed sentences, and, putting them on the rack, 
 torture them till they confess what they never 
 meant, and what is against the whole current of 
 scripture. It must be laid down plainly and directly, 
 and be made obvious to the meanest capacities; 
 not depending upon the criticisms of rabbinical 
 learning; not sublimated from Jewish and Heathen 
 traditions ; nor extorted from doubtful, equivocal, 
 and unintelligible expressions. It is not consistent 
 with the goodness of God to suffer a power, upon 
 which the being of Christianity and the temporal 
 and eternal happiness of the world depend, to re- 
 main in obscurity and darkness ; and, therefore, 
 we may be sure that whatever of this kind does 
 so, is the invention of ambitious and wicked men, 
 and not the will of the great, the good, and the 
 merciful God. 
 
 It will be incumbent on them to shew one clear 
 and direct text, where our Saviour confines the 
 administration of the sacraments to any set of men 
 whatsoever. But the contrary of this is so evi- 
 dent, that there is not, in scripture, one instance 
 where the sacrament of our Lord's supper was 
 ever administered by any one who, in our transla- 
 tion of the New Testament, is styled bishop or 
 presbyter. And it is as plain that the right of 
 baptizing belonged equally to all Christians. 
 
 But to proceed with my subject. If a chain of 
 uninterrupted succession had been necessary, an 
 uninterrupted course of talents, graces, and abi- 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED. 103 
 
 lities, superior to those of all other lay-christians, 
 had been necessary also to have made the clergy 
 resemble those whom they were to succeed in an 
 employment which required the highest. But there 
 is no such peculiar genius or virtue found amongst 
 them. They are qualified by means evidently 
 human for this divine calling. They are sent to 
 schools and universities to learn to be successors 
 to the apostles, and, to use DodwelPs remarks on 
 the Jewish priests, " they make use of wine, 
 amongst other bodily helps, to obtain the prophetic 
 spirit." All men, who have the same sense and 
 opportunities, thrive, at least, as fast as those who 
 are candidates for the priesthood. They might, if 
 they pleased, apply their learning to the same uses. 
 And as to grace, piety, and humanity, I think the 
 modesty of the clergy will not allow them to pre- 
 tend to excel their lay-friends in these endow- 
 ments. 
 
 The apostles were inspired, had the gift of work- 
 ing miracles, could bestow the Holy Ghost, and had 
 the discernment of spirits. They were, consequently, 
 proper judges of the fitness of men for the minis- 
 try. Our modern divines are not inspired, cannot 
 work miracles, nor give the Holy Ghost ; many of 
 them cannot even find out their own spirit, much 
 less can they discern the spirit of other people. 
 
 The apostles were a set of extraordinary persons, 
 appointed by the Son of God to convert all nations, 
 
104 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 
 
 and they had extraordinary endowments given to 
 them for that end. Their pretended successors are 
 a race of very ordinary men, possessed of no ex- 
 traordinary abilities, are sent by no divine authority, 
 but take up preaching as a respectable professional 
 vocation, to obtain a livelihood. 
 
 Minellius and Gronovius have written notes 
 upon Virgil and Livy ; but are they, for that rea- 
 son, successors to Virgil and Livy ? And are the 
 stupid commentators successors to the great Roman 
 orator because they have slept over his works, and 
 darkened them with illustrations ? Is every one 
 who sails to America for gain, a successor to Co- 
 lumbus, who discovered and pointed out the way 
 to the new world ? What must the Jews have 
 thought of a set of hair-brained Israelites, who 
 would have demanded of them vast respect and 
 revenues for succeeding Moses in redeeming them 
 from captivity to Pharaoh, and for leading them, 
 every day of their lives, out of the land of Egypt, 
 eighteen hundred years after they had left it ? Or 
 could any number of Jews succeed Nehemiah in 
 bringing back the captive tribes from Persia and 
 Babylon ? Can any one succeed the Duke of Marl- 
 borough in fighting the battle of Hochsted, and in 
 relieving the German empire ? I presume that 
 every foot soldier is not a successor to Alexander 
 the Great ; nor every Serjeant of the guards de- 
 scended in a military line from Julius Caesar. Even 
 
OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED. 105 
 
 admitting that a succession had once existed, it 
 could undeniably be proved that it has been fre- 
 quently I may almost say, constantly interrupted 
 and broken, under all those particulars which they 
 judge necessary to its continuance. 
 
106 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 TITHES, from the Saxon word Teodo, which signi- 
 fies the tenth part of a thing, have been defined to 
 be the tenth part of the yearly increase, arising 
 and renewing from the profits of land, or from the 
 stock or personal industry of the inhabitants. But 
 let it be remembered, that though the term tithe, 
 or tenth, has more or less impressed every man, 
 from long habit and custom, with that part of pro- 
 perty which has been assigned to the maintenance 
 of the priesthood, yet it literally means nothing 
 more than the tenth of any thing ; and throughout 
 the Greek and Roman writers, is usually applied 
 to the spoils of war, which were occasionally and 
 voluntarily given away in token of gratitude for 
 success. The most ancient work in which we 
 find the word first used, is the Old Testament, and 
 in the sense here given ; from which circumstance 
 it is possible the appropriation of tithes more parti- 
 cularly originated among the various nations of the 
 earth. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. 107 
 
 Abraham, in his return from redeeming his 
 nephew Lot, with his substance and all the sub- 
 stance of Sodom and Gomorrah, was blessed by 
 Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the 
 most High God, and gave him tithe of all. What 
 that all was, is not agreed upon among the learned. 
 Flavius Josephus, a Jew, and others, suppose it to 
 have been the tithe of what was obtained by the 
 war ; i. e. of all that Abraham brought back. 
 
 The next mention of tithes is in Jacob's vow : 
 " This stone," saith he, " which I have set up as a 
 pillar, shall be God's house ; and of all that thou 
 shalt give me, I will tithe and give the tenth to 
 thee." Josephus informs us, that twenty years 
 afterwards Jacob performed his vow ; but into 
 whose hands he gave his tithes is not known, Isaac, 
 his father, being chief priest at the time. Many of 
 the learned have thought, that both Abraham and 
 Jacob were priests when they paid their tithes. 
 
 We have no express mention again of tithes in 
 the sacred writings till the time of Moses. The 
 yearly increase of the Jews were either fruits of 
 the ground, or cattle. In the law of fruits of the 
 ground, the first of the most forward were offered 
 to the priest, in ears of wheat and barley, figs, 
 grapes, olives, pomegranates, and dates ; of these 
 seven, the owner paid in what quantities he 
 thought proper. The next was the therumah, or 
 heave offering, or first-fruits of corn, wine, oil, 
 fleece, and other similar things ; but it was not 
 
108 HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 determined by Moses of what quantity this heave- 
 offering should be. The Jews anciently assessed 
 it at the fiftieth part ; but he who paid a sixtieth 
 part was discharged. Many of the strictly devo- 
 tional Jews offered a fortieth. 
 
 The sixtieth part was not under the quantity of 
 the therumah appointed in Ezekiel, where the 
 words are, " This is the therumah that ye shall 
 offer : the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of 
 wheat ; and ye shall give the sixth part of an 
 ephah of an homer of barley." It is the same as 
 if he had said, ye shall offer a therumah of the 
 sixtieth part of every homer. An ephah being the 
 same measure with a bath, i. e. near our common 
 bushel, was the tenth part of an homer ; therefore, 
 the sixth part of an ephah was the sixtieth of an 
 homer. After the therumahs offered to the priests, 
 every kind being given in season, out of the rest 
 were taken the tithes, which are best divided into 
 the first and second tithe. 
 
 The first tithe was paid out of the remainder, 
 to the Levites at Jerusalem. By the name of 
 tithe it is every where styled ; and out of this tenth 
 received by the Levites, they paid another tenth to 
 the priests, as a heave offering out of their tenth ; 
 which they also called the tithe of the tithe. The 
 priests received no tithes of the husbandman ; but 
 the Levites, who paid their tenths to the priests, 
 did. The Levites could not spend any part of the 
 tenth, until the priests' tenth was paid; afterwards it 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. 109 
 
 might be employed for their maintenance generally. 
 This first tenth being paid, the nine parts remaining 
 in possession of the husbandmen were accounted pro- 
 fane, or for common use ; yet it was not to be spent 
 by the possessor until he had taken from those nine 
 another tithe, which he was to carry, the two first 
 years, to Jerusalem in kind ; or if the distance were 
 too great, to turn it into money, adding a fifth part 
 of the value, (to this tithe the Jews apply that of 
 Levit. xxvii. 30, 31,) and to spend it at Jerusa- 
 lem, at the temple, in feasts, which were similar 
 to the agapa, or love feasts of the ancient Chris- 
 tians. Every third year he was to spend the 
 same upon the poor and Levites within his own 
 gates. After these tenths were thus disposed of, 
 the remainder of the year's increase was for com- 
 mon use. 
 
 Of the cattle of the Jews, the first born was the 
 Lord's, paid to the priest, of clean beasts in kind ; 
 of unclean in money, with a fifth part added. Of 
 the increase, one tithe only was paid, and that 
 only to the Levites. " Every tithe of bullock and 
 of sheep, of all that goeth under the rod, the tenth 
 shall be holy to the Lord." At the tithing, the 
 Jews were accustomed to shut the lambs in a sheep- 
 cot, with a small door to permit but one at a time 
 to escape. A servant stood at the door with a rod 
 coloured with ochre, and as the sheep escaped, he 
 solemnly told the tenth, which he also marked 
 
110 HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 with his rod. Whether male or female, bad or 
 good, it was the tithe, and could not be changed. 
 
 How the payment of these tenths was occasionally 
 observed and discontinued, appears partly in the Old 
 Testament, partly by the institution of more trusty 
 overseers.* After the new dedication of the temple 
 by Judas Maccabseus, until his fourth successor, 
 John Hyrcanus being nearly thirty years every 
 man dulypaid his first-fruits and therumahs ; but the 
 first or second tithes, few or none paid justly ; and 
 that through the corruption of the overseers. Upon 
 which, the Sanhedrim enacted, that the overseers 
 should be chosen out of more honest men. At the 
 time of this act, a heave-offering, or therumah of 
 the tenth of all, was enforced, i. e. that a hundredth 
 part should be given to the priests, and that the 
 second tithe should be paid at the temple ; but no 
 first tithe was to be paid of any such thing. 
 
 From the above act of the Sanhedrim to the last 
 destruction of the temple, it appears from the 
 sacred writings, that the just payment of tithes 
 continued. 
 
 The tithing of every herb spoken of in the 
 gospel, and observed by the scribes and pharisees, 
 was never commanded in scripture, or by the Jewish 
 canon law. There was a tradition of the Rabbies, 
 however, that all things growing out of the earth, 
 
 * Apud Josephus, Ant. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. Ill 
 
 and fit for man's meat, are titheable ; and by this 
 payment of herbs, the pharisees were on the most 
 sure side. 
 
 After the destruction of the second temple,, and 
 the dispersion of the Jews, the law of first-fruits, 
 therumahs, and tithes, ceased ; and the most learned 
 doctors among them determine, that no inhabitants 
 but of the land of Israel were to pay tithes, except 
 Senaar, Moab, Ammon, and Egypt. * The great 
 Joseph Scaliger says, that he asked many of the 
 Jews whether their laws of sacrifices, first-fruits, 
 and tithes would be revived, if they were again to 
 rebuild their temple, as they did after their cap- 
 tivity ? Their answer was, that to build the 
 temple would be to no purpose, because they had 
 no lawful priesthood, there being not one Jew who 
 could prove himself a Levite. It is clear and evi- 
 dent to every disinterested mind, and that from 
 human testimony as well as divine, that God never 
 intended to impose the payment of tithes on any 
 people but the Jews, which being a part of the 
 Theocracy, was necessary to the support of the 
 Levites, who were a tenth of the population, and 
 had no other inheritance. 
 
 The custom of the Gentile nations in giving 
 away a tenth, which is usually brought forward by 
 the supporters of the present system of tithes, is 
 
 * Vide In lad Chazeka Tract, de Therumah, c. 1., and 
 Mikotzi in Praecept. 133, and Eusebius ct7roa. evayyeX. lib. a. 
 cap. a. 
 
112 HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 chiefly to be confined to the Greeks and Romans. 
 The Grecians, under which name the Asiatics, who 
 were of Greek manners, are comprehended, often 
 consecrated their tithes to Apollo, as may be seen 
 from the following inscription at Delphi : 
 
 TS 
 
 ** That we may hang up tithes and first-fruits to the honour of 
 Phcebus." 
 
 The Crotonians, before their war against the 
 Locrians, vowed a tenth to Apollo ;* and the 
 Locrians, to exceed their enemies, a ninth ; the 
 oracle having artfully given it out, that 
 
 41 Rather by excess in vows than arms, the victory sJwuld be gained." 
 
 To the same deity the inhabitants of Siphnus gave 
 yearly the tithe of their mines which they found in 
 the isle.f And after a victory over the Thessa- 
 lians, by the Phocians, they made two statues of 
 the tithe of the spoils for Apollo .J After the victory 
 of Pausanius over Mardonius, the money of the 
 tenth of the spoils was, by consecration, divided 
 between Jupiter Olympius, Neptunus Isthmicus, 
 and Apollo. Xenophon tells us, that Diana of 
 Ephesus participated in tithes. Sometimes the 
 offering was given to Jupiter alone ; sometimes 
 Juno received tithes, as did also Pallas and Mars. 
 
 * Trogus Histor. 20. f Herotlot, lib. y. 
 
 Idem in Urania. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. 113 
 
 The examples among the Grecians, shew that 
 tithes were vowed to the gods in the event of 
 success in an undertaking generally of a warlike 
 nature or otherwise arbitrarily given, or, by some 
 local custom, paid to especial deities. 
 
 The Romans had a species of devotion in giving 
 tithes, but neither yearly nor by compulsory law, 
 as some, through ignorance, have imagined. The 
 more wealthy Romans frequently tithed their 
 estates to Hercules, by spending the tenth in 
 sacrifices, gifts to his temple, feasts to his honour, 
 and other similar modes, as evidently appears by 
 Plutarch's words, in which he seeks to know the 
 
 reason ; A/a n, Says he, TO* 'HpaxXeT Tro^Xoi rwv 7r\ou<riav 
 
 eSexoiTzvov rx$ outr/as ; Why do many of the rich men tithe 
 their substance to Hercules ? Plutarch remarks, with 
 other ancient writers, that the giving of tithes was 
 a special devotion of some of the sons of fortune.* 
 Old Cassius is to be thus understood, where he 
 derives the tenth given to Hercules, from an inno- 
 vation made by Recaranus in the time of Evander.f 
 He says that Recaranus first taught them to give 
 the tenths of their fruits to Hercules, to whom he 
 consecrated an altar under the name of INVENTORI 
 PATRI, after he had regained his herds that Cacus 
 had stolen, rather than give them to the King as 
 he had been accustomed to do ; and then he adds 
 inde videlicet tractum ut Herculi decimam profanari 
 
 * Vide, In Lucullo, alibi et Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. 5. 
 f Apnd Aurel. Viet, in Orig. Gent. Rom. 
 
 I 
 
114 HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 mos esset. From hence it came to be a custom of 
 the laity, as we should say, that they paid a tithe 
 to Hercules ; but it was required by neither the 
 civil nor the pontifical law. A tithe was often 
 given as a thanksgiving after some increase of 
 fortune, and often by a vow previously made ; but 
 was more generally bestowed on the increase of an 
 estate, from money obtained upon sales, or from 
 the spoils of war. Sometimes men are thankful 
 for those things which make considerable acces- 
 sions to their property, which induced Cicero 
 jestingly to remark, neque Herculi quisquam decimam 
 vovit unquam si sapiens factus fuisset ;* (no man ever 
 vowed to Hercules a tenth, in hope of an increase of 
 wisdom.} An example is given in the parasite, of 
 money obtained upon sale, who, after reckoning 
 up his good merchandize, says, he must sell it as 
 dearly as he can, that he may spend the tenth upon 
 Hercules : 
 
 " Hsec voenisse jam opus est quantum potest, 
 Uti decumam partem Herculi polluceam."t 
 
 The Romans not only gave tithes to Hercules, 
 but to other gods. We find the old Pelasgi,J who 
 transplanted themselves into Italy, gave their tenth 
 of gain, from sea merchandize, to Apollo at Delphi, 
 who before told them at Dodona, that being mixed 
 with the Aborigines, fcxarw exvfc^xre 4>o/a>, they shall 
 
 De Natura Deorum, lib. 3. f Plautus in Sticho. 
 
 Dionys. Halicarnass. lib. 1, and Steph. Trepi TroXiy. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. 115 
 
 send their tithe to Phoebus. Camillus vowed the 
 tenth of the spoils to Apollo, and most carefully 
 took his order to perform it by advice from their 
 most learned priests.* Posthumius, the dictator, 
 upon his happy victory over the Latins, tithed 
 the spoils, spent forty talents upon sacrifices and 
 prayers, in honour of the gods, and erected a 
 temple with what remained to Ceres, Bacchus, 
 and Proserpina. f Other deities, beside these, re- 
 ceived occasional tithes, as Fortune and Mercury, 
 being the gods of travellers and tradesmen ; and 
 the deities of the way, or dii semitales, as Vius and 
 others. 
 
 In Italy, the custom to pay and vow tithes to the 
 deities was arbitrary, and continued in use till the 
 later times of the empire, as appears, also, in the 
 law received from Ulpian by Justinian : "si ded- 
 mam quis bonorum vovit, decima non prius esse in 
 bonis definit quam fuerit separata, et si forte, qui 
 decimam vovit, decesserit ante sepositionem, hares 
 ipsius, hareditario nomine, detinue obstrictus est : 
 voti enim obligationem ad hfsredem transire con- 
 stat."\ By this it is manifest, that though the 
 vow, or payment without vow, were arbitrary ; yet, 
 upon death, after the vow was made, the heir or 
 executor of him that vowed was bound to pay. 
 
 * Plutarch, in Camill. Liv. lib. 5. 
 t Vide Dionys. Halicarnass. lib. 6 et 4. 
 $ ff. tit. de pollicit. 1. 2. quis 2. 
 i 2 
 
116 HISTORY OF TITHES. 
 
 To the foregoing instances may be added the 
 example of the Carthaginians, that sent the tithe 
 of their Sicilian spoils to Hercules at Tyre.* The 
 Arabian law may be here remembered, in which 
 every merchant was bound to carry his frankin- 
 cense to Sabota (which the learned take to be 
 Saubatha in Ptolemy, the chief city of Arabia 
 Foelix) , and there offer to their god Sabis the tenth 
 of it, which the priests received. No sale was per- 
 mitted till the tithe was paid. There is little doubt 
 but Sabis Avas the same with Bacchus, Uranus, 
 Jupiter, or Sabazius, under different names. The 
 number of the deities of the Arabians were always 
 accounted but two ;f the god Uranus, known also 
 by those other names ; and the goddess Urania or 
 Venus. It is, therefore, pretty clear that Sabis is 
 the same with Sabazius, which was first corrupted 
 from Zabaoth of the scriptures, an attribute of the 
 only and true God. And as this name, so the pay- 
 ment of tenth, probably came to them from the use 
 of it among their neighbours the Jews, as well as 
 to the Carthaginians from their ancestors the Phoe- 
 nicians, who spake the same language with the 
 Jews, and frequently conversed with them. Nor 
 is it unlikely that the ancient example of Abraham, 
 as I before observed, gave rise to the Europeans 
 to denote the tenth of their spoils of war being 
 
 * Vide Justin, lib. 18. 
 
 ^ Celsus ap. Originem, lib. 2. Arrian. de gest. Alex. . Strabo, 
 lib. 15. Herodot. lib. y. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES. 117 
 
 given occasionally to holy uses ; for it is not un- 
 common to find Jewish customs prevail among 
 the Gentiles, though they may ultimately vary, 
 from the circumstances of time and place. The 
 tenth paid among the Mahometans must be re- 
 ferred to the Mosaic law, which they receive as 
 authentic, but keep according to the imposter's 
 fancy, and the doctrines of his canonists. 
 
IIS 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 No historical fact is more certain than this, that 
 the system of tithes was not introduced into the 
 Christian church till towards the close of the fourth 
 century. The church, as I have before shewn, 
 was, for several hundred years, maintained by 
 voluntary oblations. In the age of the apostles 
 we find that the unity of heart, among those at 
 Jerusalem, was such, that every thing was in com- 
 mon : " As many as were possessors of lands or 
 houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the 
 things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' 
 feet : and it was distributed unto every man accord- 
 ing as he had need."* In Antioch, where the first 
 Christian church was planted, every one of the dis- 
 ciples had a special ability or estate of his own.t 
 In Galatia and in Corinth, St. Paul ordained that 
 weekly offerings for the saints should be given by 
 every man according to his ability, j From exam- 
 ples like these, the course of monthly offerings 
 succeeded in the next ages. They were given by 
 
 * Acts, iv. 34. f Idem. xi. 29. * 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 119 
 
 able and devout Christians, and were carefully and 
 charitably disposed of for the support of Christian 
 worship, for the maintenance of the ministers of 
 religion, for the feeding, clothing, and burying of 
 their poor brethren, widows, and orphans, and per- 
 sons tyrannically condemned to the mines, to pri- 
 son, or to banishment. These contributions were 
 called stipes, a word borrowed from the heathens, 
 by whom it was given to the collections made for 
 their temples and deities. These offerings were 
 not exacted by canon law, but voluntarily given ; 
 as is proved from the testimony of the most 
 learned. 
 
 Tertullian, who lived- about two hundred years 
 after Christ, says, " Neque pretio ulla res Dei 
 constat. Etiam si quod arcce genus est, non de 
 oneraria summa quasi redempta religionis congre- 
 gatur. Modicam unusquisque stipem menstrua die 
 vel cum velit, et si modo velit, et si modo possit, 
 apponit. Nam nemo compellitur, sed sponte confert. 
 H(EC quasi deposita pietatis sunt." He goes on to 
 shew the employment of them in those charitable 
 uses.* 
 
 There are authorities extant to prove, that about 
 this time lands began to be given to the church. f 
 
 * Apologetic, cap. xxxix. et videsis, cap. xlii. 
 
 t Vide Urban. 1. in epist. c. xii. 9. 1. c. xvi. Sed et vide 
 Euseb. eccles. hist. lib. ix. cap. ix. edict. Maximini, et lib. x. 
 cap. v. edict. Constant, et in lib. ii. de Vita Constantini, cap. 
 xxxix. 
 
120 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 The profits of this property formed a treasury, from 
 which, and the monthly offerings, a monthly pay 
 was given to the priests and ministers of the gos- 
 pel, as a salary for their service ; which was distri- 
 buted, either under the care, or by the hand of the 
 bishop, or else of some elders appointed as ceconomi 
 or wardens. Those monthly payments they called 
 mensurna divisiones, as may be seen in the writings 
 of St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who wrote 
 about the year A.D. 250.* The African speaks 
 familiarly on these particulars, and calls the bre- 
 thren who cast in their monthly offering, fratres 
 sportulantes ; the offering being denoted by the word 
 sportula, which, in Rome, signified a kind of run- 
 ning banquets, distributed at the houses of noble- 
 men to those who visited for salutation. These 
 sportulce, of the Romans, were frequently given in 
 money, as may be seen in Martial. The word 
 came, at length, as well to denote the oblations 
 given to make a treasury for the salaries and main- 
 tenance of the ministers of the first ages of the 
 church,! as it signified those salaries, wages, or 
 fees, which either judges or ministers of courts of 
 justice received as due to their situations.! 
 
 * Cyprian, epist. 27. et 34. et vide epist. "36. editione Pain- 
 meliana. 
 
 t Concil. Chalced. A.D. 541. in libell. Samuelis et al. contra 
 Iban. et videsis torn. 3. concil. fol. 231. cap. xxxi. edit. Binii 
 penultima. 
 
 * Papinian. ff. de decurion. 1. 6. . 1. et c. tit. de sportulis. 
 et vide glossas Grsec. juris in 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 121 
 
 Great advantage has been taken of a passage in 
 Cyprian, by the interested clergy, which they have 
 endeavoured to impose upon the credulous in sup- 
 port of tithes. The fact is this : Cyprian is re- 
 proving one Geminius Faustinus, a priest, for 
 being troubled with the office of warden to appor- 
 tion and distribute the offerings to the ministers. 
 He says, that the dignity of a priest should be free 
 from all secular care, like the Levites, who were 
 provided with tithes ; his words are " Ut qui 
 operationibus divinis insistebant, in nulla re avoca- 
 rentur" And then he adds " Quce nunc ratio 
 et forma in clerotenetur, ut qui in ecclesia Domini 
 ad ordinationem clericalem promoventur nullo modo 
 ab administratione divina avocentur, sed in honore 
 sportulantium fratrum, tanquam decimas ex fruc- 
 tibus accipientes, ab altari et sacrificiis non rece- 
 dant, et die ac nocte ccelestibus rebus et spiritua- 
 libus serviant." This plainly agrees with that 
 monthly stipend made from the oblations brought 
 into the treasury, which he compares with that 
 which was received by the Levites. Hence, also, 
 it is manifest that no payment of tithes was in use 
 in the Christian church in the age of St. Cyprian ; 
 though the interested would too rashly infer it from 
 this place. The words tanquam decimas accipientes, 
 which continue the comparison of ministers of the 
 gospel with the Levites, plainly exclude them. 
 
 The laws for the tenths of mines and quarries 
 were made by Gratian, Valerian, and Theodosius, 
 
122 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 Christian emperors, about A. D. 380.* Those who 
 are desirous of reading more upon the subject of 
 oblations, by which the church was alone supported 
 for nearly four hundred years, can consult Marcel- 
 linus,f and St. Chrysostom,j together with the 
 works of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. 
 
 It is painful to remark, that of the present 
 bench of bishops, I know not one who has come 
 forward to oppose the surreptitious canons, de- 
 crees, and pious frauds, as they are termed, which 
 were palmed upon the public during the dark ages, 
 in support of tithes and the craft in general, and 
 which now hang heavily upon religion. Let 
 it be remembered, that he who enlightens the 
 mind and cultivates the understanding, destroys 
 the power of despotism, and contributes to the 
 prosperity and happiness of his fellow-creatures, is 
 a much greater and better man than the conqueror 
 of kingdoms and the ravager of nations. Chris- 
 tianity is of too pure and substantial a nature to 
 lose any thing by an exposure of its abuses. It 
 may appear disgusting and forbidding to the eye of 
 the superficial observer, in the dress in which it 
 has often been made to appear by designing and 
 selfish men ; but let it assume its pristine form, 
 
 * C. tit. de Metallariis, 1. 3, cuncti. et in c. Theodos. lib. 
 10. tit. 19,1. ]0,et 11; 
 f Amm. Marcellin. lib. 27. 
 Tom. 6. edit. Saviliana, pag. 897. onov x 
 &C. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 123 
 
 and it will appear the brightest boon of Heaven to 
 
 man : 
 
 " Soft peace it brings whenever it arrives, 
 It builds our quiet as it forms our lives ; 
 It lays the rough paths of peevish nature even, 
 And opens in each breast a little heaven." 
 
 The constitutions of the church, falsely said to 
 be made by the apostles, and collected by Pope 
 Clement I., expressly support the right of tenths. 
 There we read " Qua secundum Dei mandatum 
 tribuuntur, decimas dico et primitias, insumat episcopus 
 ut homo Dei." And the right of tithes is large- 
 ly argued upon the Levitical commandment. No 
 honest man, however, will believe that this volume 
 was written in or near the age of the apostles, nor 
 till many hundred years after. It carries fraud 
 and imposture in every page, and has been 
 properly branded as counterfeit by many learned 
 Christians. Previous to its present bulk, which it 
 has gained from accessions of canons of later birth, 
 it was considered in an oecumenical council as 
 spurious.* Had these constitutions been the ordi- 
 nances of the apostles, or of the church in the pri- 
 mitive times, Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian, 
 would not have passed them over in silence ; nor is 
 it probable that all the ancient councils during the 
 first six centuries, which, beyond exception, are re- 
 
 * Synod. 6. in Trullo, circa A,D. 690. can. 2. 
 
124 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 ceived as authentic, and which contain the offer- 
 ings, revenues, canons for the lands, and goods 
 possessed by the church, should have omitted the 
 name of tenths, if either such appropriation or 
 apostolical law had preceded them. 
 
 Among the counterfeit canons which some too 
 credulously received as made by the apostles, 
 though they rejected the eight books of Clemen- 
 tine, is one on first-fruits ; but there is no word 
 of tithes.* I fear a similar credit is to be attached 
 to a fourth council held at Rome, about A. D. 380, 
 by Pope Damasus. Upon the testimony of Car- 
 dinal Baronius,f the legend of this pope, which 
 was usually read in the church, is extant, and con- 
 tains, with some miracles, certain decrees said to 
 be his but made in what council at Rome nobody 
 knows. One is, " Ut decimcB atque primitice a 
 fidelibus darentur, et qui detrectarent anathemate 
 ferirentur," as he relates it. But these decrees 
 were never received as canonical, nor were they 
 ever mentioned in the oldest code of the church of 
 Rome, or by Fulgentius, Cresconius, Isidore, 
 Burchard, Ivo, or Gratian. There are some de- 
 crees of Damasus, with epistles and canons of one 
 council of Rome, that were publicly dispersed in 
 the writings of various compilers ; but the subjects 
 
 * Vide Canon. Apost. cap. iii. et iv. 
 
 f Baron. Annal. torn. iv. ami. 382, pag. 399, et a. 384, pag. 
 427. edit, Plantiniana. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 125 
 
 of tithes, usurers, witches, and other things, 
 which Baronius says he alone published to the 
 world, from a MS., do not appear in any of 
 them, though the pope, in his more generally re- 
 ceived writings, speaks of the offerings and obla- 
 tions of the church.* Nor has any volume of the 
 councils, before the edition of Binius, any decrees 
 or councils of Damasus, such as are related by Ba- 
 ronius. Such impositions as those practised by 
 this writer were not unusual among idle monks in 
 the middle ages. Acts and legends of popes were 
 then published, illustrated by fiction and bold in- 
 terpolation, which the interested now acknowledge 
 with reverence, and the unwary, mistaking the 
 antiquity of their character, receive as truth. I 
 will mention one of these legends among many, 
 which was written with a view to establish an 
 authority coeval with the apostles for the payment 
 of tithes ; which, if my reader can, under any 
 suspension or accidental obliquity of his intellect, 
 admit, he will possess as certain and express au- 
 thority for the ancient practice of the payment of 
 tithes, as any church in Christendom can produce. 
 The legend may be seen in the public library of 
 Oxford, bound up at the end of "The Life of 
 Thomas a Becket," by John de Grandisono. The 
 story is this : 
 
 About the year A. D. 600, St. Augustine went 
 
 * C. 10, q. ], c. 15, hanc consuetudinem. 
 
126 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 to preach at Cometon in Oxfordshire. The priest 
 of the place made a heavy complaint to the saint, 
 that the lord of the manor, though often admon- 
 ished by him, yet would pay him no tithes. Au- 
 gustine questioned the lord about his default in 
 devotion ; but he stoutly answered, that the tenth 
 sheaf was, doubtless, his that had interest in the 
 nine, and therefore he would pay none. Presently 
 Augustine declared him excommunicated, and turn- 
 ing to the altar to say mass, publicly forbade that any 
 excommunicated person should be present ; when, 
 suddenly, a dead corpse, that had been buried at the 
 church door, arose and departed out of the limits 
 of the church-yard, standing still without while the 
 mass continued. On its being ended, Augustine 
 came up to this living- dead, and charged him, in 
 the name of the Lord God, to declare who he was. 
 He told the saint, that in the time of the British 
 state, he was Jiujus mll& patronus ; and although he 
 had been often urged by the doctrine of the priest 
 to pay his tithes, yet he never could be brought to 
 it ; for which he died, he says, excommunicated, 
 and was carried to hell.* Augustine desired to 
 know where the priest who excommunicated him 
 was buried. This living-dead man shewed him 
 the place, where the saint made an invocation of 
 the dead priest, and bade him arise, because they 
 wanted his help. The priest arose. Augus- 
 
 * I should think the author meant purgatory. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 127 
 
 tine asked him, if he knew the other who was 
 risen : yes, replied the priest, and also expressed 
 wishes that he had never known him ; for, says he, 
 he was in all things ever adverse to the church, a 
 detainer of his tithes, and a great sinner to his 
 death, and, therefore, I excommunicated him. 
 Augustine then publicly declared that it was now 
 proper that mercy should be used towards him, for 
 that he had suffered long in hell for his offence ; 
 whereupon the saint gave him absolution, and sent 
 him to his grave, where he again fell into dust and 
 ashes. This pair onus being departed, the newly 
 risen priest told the saint that his corpse had lain 
 in the grave above a hundred and seventy years. 
 Augustine would gladly have had him continue 
 upon earth again for the instruction of souls, but 
 could not prevail upon him, so he also returned to 
 his former lodging. The lord of the place standing 
 by all this time, and trembling, was now demanded 
 if he would pay his tithes, upon which he fell down 
 at St. Augustine's feet, weeping and confessing his 
 offence, and receiving pardon, became all his life- 
 time a payer of tithes, and a follower of Augus- 
 tine ! 
 
 This legend is also found in the historia aurea of 
 Johannes Anglicus,* and in the margin of his book 
 are these words : ' ' Hoc miraculum videbitur illis 
 incredebile qui credunt aliquid deo esse impossibile. 
 
 * MS. part. 2. lib. 17. cap. 72. 
 
128 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 Sed nulli dubium est quod nunquam Anglorum 
 dur(B cervices Christi jugo se submisissent nisi per 
 magna miracula sibi divinitus ostensa." It would 
 be an insult upon the understanding, to waste more 
 time in tracing the various modes of force and 
 fraud by which the system of tithes has been en- 
 forced by pontifical, provincial, and imperial man- 
 date, from their commencement in the fifth century 
 to the present day. We have certain, but no less 
 melancholy, evidence of their existence during the 
 dark ages up to the present enlightened period. 
 No mention is made of tithes in the grand codex 
 of canons, ending A. D. 457, which book, next to 
 the Bible, Bishop Barlow considered to be the most 
 authentic in the world. During the greater part 
 of the first five centuries it is certain that both the 
 clergy and the church were supported by the free 
 gifts and oblations of the pious. * Blackstone is 
 of opinion, that tithes in England were contem- 
 porary with the planting of Christianity among the 
 Saxons by Augustine the monk, about the end of 
 the sixth century ;f and that tithes existed by way 
 of offering prior to the year 750, is apparent from 
 the canons of Egbert, Archbishop of York. The 
 payment of tithes is also strongly enjoined in a con- 
 stitutional decree made in a synod held A.D. 786 ; 
 but no law appears to have existed for the enforc- 
 ing the payment of them by civil coercion, prior to 
 
 * See Barl. Rem. 169. t Black. 2 Com. 2o. 
 
HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 129 
 
 the year 794, when Offa, King of Mercia, made a 
 grant to the church of the tithes of all his king- 
 doms, viz. Mercia and Northumberland ; and 
 Ethel wulph, about sixty years afterwards, ex- 
 tended it to the whole realm of England. 
 
 In the Fcedus Edwardi et Guthruni,* the payment 
 of tithes is also strictly enjoined, as it afterwards 
 was by the laws of Athelstan,f about the year 930. 
 And since that period, tithes have been not only 
 fully and generally established, but the payment 
 enforced, as well by the municipal or common, as 
 by the ecclesiastical law. 
 
 As to the propriety of the institution of tithes, 
 there can be but one opinion among all disinterested 
 men. Under the Christian economy it is of human 
 invention. Had it been by divine right and appoint- 
 ment, it would have been clearly laid down in the 
 New Testament, and would not have required the 
 propping up of legends and artful priests. Paley 
 says, that "of all the institutions which are ad- 
 verse to cultivation and improvement, none is so 
 noxious as that of tithes. They are not only a TAX 
 upon industry, but upon that industry that feeds 
 mankind, upon that species of exertion which it is 
 the aim of the all-wise laws to cherish and pro- 
 mote." It is an institution which has supported 
 luxury, pride, and indolence, and done more injury 
 to religion than all the writings of infidels, from 
 
 * c. 6. f s. 6. SeeWilk.51. 
 
 K 
 
130 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 
 
 Celsus to Carlile. The wisdom of the legislature 
 should modify laws as time and circumstances 
 alter, and as the voice of imperative necessity de- 
 mands. I shall have occasion in my future publi- 
 cations to revert to this subject, when I will en- 
 deavour to point out some of the evils which the 
 system of tithes has brought upon mankind, and 
 which every British subject more or less feels. In 
 doing this, I know I shall incur the displeasure of 
 bishops and their underlings ; but I have long 
 known that all mad-men are not in Bedlam. Those 
 who are there I sincerely pity; at those who are 
 not, I shall continue to laugh. 
 
131 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH, COMPARED WITH THE 
 \VEALTH OF THE CHURCHES OF OTHER NATIONS, 
 
 IT would make a carious history, to discover and 
 explain minutely, from what particular men, and 
 by what particular arts and application, every 
 farm, every estate, and every donation, now pos- 
 sessed by churchmen, was at first acquired. I 
 question whether any revenues in the world were 
 ever so wickedly procured ; since, to enrich the 
 church, all means, even murder and every impiety, 
 have been deemed lawful. Father Paul, a transla- 
 tion of whose History of the Council of Trent it is 
 my intention to give to the public, with notes, as 
 soon as time will permit, says, that the church is 
 beholden, for her greatest legacies and donations, 
 to the bounty of infamous women, strumpets, and 
 prostitutes ; or to that of peevish people, who thus 
 gratified their spite towards their own blood and 
 relations. And as the church had no riches but 
 what were freely given to her, or taken and ob- 
 tained by her unjustly, so she had no power but 
 what was either begged or usurped. 
 
 It is well known that assassins and blasphemers 
 purchased protection and absolution ; that tyranny 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 and oppression were warranted and sanctified; that 
 holy snares were laid ; that false terrors were 
 spread ; that miracles were forged ; that God's 
 name was blasphemed ; that Jesus and the holy 
 Virgin were profanely personated by priests, to de- 
 lude enthusiasts to suppose these heavenly beings 
 honoured them with a visit in person, and all this 
 to create wealth for the church. Indeed, it were 
 endless to enumerate all the arts and impieties, 
 impostures and falsehoods, by which churchmen 
 formerly filled their coffers, at the expense and 
 through the stupidity of laymen. But though no 
 possessions were so impiously obtained, I never 
 heard of any instance in which they parted with 
 them from remorse or shame, even when the right 
 heirs, who were thus deprived of their estates, were 
 starving, and the possessors, or rather usurpers, 
 were gorged with more wealth than they could con- 
 sume in their luxury and debauches. 
 
 Whatever was once annexed to the church in the 
 days of usurpation and darkness, however knav- 
 ishly obtained, was held sacred and unalienable ; 
 nay, it became no less than sacrilege to divest her 
 of what she had gained by robbery and fraud. 
 Whatever was once hers, even her frauds and 
 crimes, were holy, and it was profane to censure 
 them. Indeed, he who did so, was atheistical. 
 Whoever found fault with the church was an 
 enemy to the church; and he who was an enemy to 
 the church, was an atheist. Hence the frequent 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 133 
 
 and ridiculous application of the terms, atheism and 
 blasphemy, till these two words grew contemptible. 
 
 As to the quantity of the church's wealth, she 
 never knew any bounds. As long as the laity had 
 to give, she took ; till at last, in some countries, she 
 possessed all. 
 
 Even in this Protestant country, the revenues of 
 the established clergy amount to upwards of NINE 
 MILLIONS, sterling, per annum, as may be seen by 
 the following table* : 
 
 Church-tithe . 6,884,800 
 
 Incomes of the bishoprics 297,1 15f 
 
 Estates of the deans and chapters 494,000 
 
 Glebes and parsonage-houses 250,000 
 
 Perpetual curacies, 751. each 75,000 
 
 Benefices not parochial, 250/. each 32,450 
 
 Church-fees on burials, marriages, christenings, &c. 500,000 
 Oblations, offerings, and compositions for offerings 
 
 at the four great festivals , 80,000 
 
 College and school foundations 682,150 
 
 Lectureships in towns and populous places .... 60,000 
 
 Chaplainships and offices in public institutions . . 10,000 
 
 New churches and chapels 94,050 
 
 Total revenue of the established clergy, .9,459,565 
 
 I believe this revenue to be larger than in the 
 times of popery, notwithstanding the demolition of 
 so many monasteries, and the seizure of their in- 
 
 * Taken from the " Extraordinary Black Book." 
 t The See of Sodor and Man is not in charge in the king's 
 books, and is omitted in this estimate. 
 
134 THE WEALTH OF THE ENTGTLISH 
 
 comes ; for it must be remembered, that the clergy 
 then maintained the poor, who are now supported 
 chiefly by the laity, at the immense charge of 
 several millions per annum. The following is the 
 
 REVENUE OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT IN 
 IRELAND. 
 
 Archbishops and bishops, average income of each 
 
 .10,000 .220,000 
 
 Estates and tithes of the deans and chapters 250,000 
 
 Ecclesiastical rectors, vicars, & perpetual curates : 
 
 Tithes . 590,450 
 
 Glebe lands 91,137 
 
 Ministers' money . . 25,000 
 
 Church fees 250,000 
 
 95fi,587 
 
 Total revenue of the clergy .... .1,426,587 
 
 I cannot omit giving my readers some useful 
 information contained in a work, entitled, " An 
 Inquiry into the Consumption of Public Wealth by 
 the Clergy." The writer observes, that the amount 
 of property held by the Established Church of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, is very far indeed 
 beyond what is necessary for its support to all 
 useful purposes ; and that it exceeds in amount 
 all that is paid to all the Christian churches in the 
 world besides. 
 
 No reason, no policy, no justice, can justify this. 
 Common honesty and ordinary decency revolt at 
 the astounding proposition I One can hardly help 
 wondering whether we are not residing among a 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 135 
 
 race of lunatics, when we see it proved to a de- 
 monstration, that the Christians of France, Ame- 
 rica, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Austria, 
 Switzerland, Prussia, the minor states of Ger- 
 many, Holland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Swe- 
 den, Russia; the Christians in Turkey, South 
 America, and elsewhere, to the amount of nearly 
 
 TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, receive 
 
 something less than NINE MILLIONS ; that is, the 
 Christian world, exclusive of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, pays an average of less than one shilling 
 for each individual Christian per annum ; whilst 
 the Church of England alone, in Great Britain and 
 Ireland, receives a greater sum from a population 
 of twenty-one millions ; which is an average of about 
 ten shillings per head for every British Christian ! 
 Great Britain, doubtless, ought to have the best 
 government, and the best religion in the world, if 
 the quality of either depends upon the price ; for it 
 is beyond all question that she pays the dearest for 
 them ;* though they do not seem to do her much 
 more good than what is obtained by her neigh- 
 bours from articles so much cheaper. 
 
 * It may be well to remark, that a considerable part of this 
 sum is received by lay impropriators, and cannot therefore, 
 in strictness, be taken into account in estimating the cost of 
 religion. But, on the other hand, we have to add to that part 
 of these revenues received by the clergy, all that is voluntarily 
 contributed in the shape of fees, seat-rent, dues, offerings, &c., 
 and also contributions for the support of schools and religious 
 societies. This would materially swell the amount of the funds 
 levied for the support of religion. 
 
136 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 Before we present our readers with the calcula- 
 tions from which these results are drawn, we can- 
 not avoid giving the following appropriate observa- 
 tions upon the propriety and justice of applying 
 the surplus of the church property, after the proper 
 maintenance of its ministers, to the liquidation of 
 what is usually termed the National debt. 
 
 A crisis in the financial concerns of the British 
 Empire, must, in the opinion of many persons, be- 
 fore long take place, when something must be at- 
 tempted ; and the holders of all the real property of 
 the country lands, houses, and so forth and of 
 the/twcfo, must, perhaps, contribute a portion of their 
 property to extinguish a part of the national debt. 
 In so pressing an emergency, it seems extremely 
 probable that the church property will be the first 
 applied to the same purpose. This course has been 
 followed in all Christian nations, where, from the 
 piety or superstition of the people, a large property 
 had been given to the church. In Germany, 
 France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal; in short, 
 wherever a large property had accumulated in the 
 hands of the clergy, although the people were all 
 of the same religion, all such property has been 
 uniformly applied to the service of the nation, and 
 we are now the only people who have a large 
 mass of ecclesiastical wealth in reserve. Even in 
 the papal tyranny of Rome, the church property has 
 been sold to pay the national debt ; so that far more 
 property belonging to the clergy is to be found in 
 any part of England, of equal extent, than in the 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 137 
 
 Roman State. The cardinals of Rome, the bishops, 
 canons, and prebends, have no longer princely 
 revenues. A cardinal, who formerly had thousands, 
 has now only four or five hundred pounds, English, 
 a-year. But then a new, and much more useful 
 set of rich men has grown up, the new landlords; 
 men who purchased the estates, and, living on 
 them, improve them to the best advantage. 
 The purchase-money paid off the whole national debt. 
 In all these cases, the WORKING CLERGY, and the 
 PEOPLE, were in favour of these reforms of the 
 money-matters of the church ; for it was found 
 that the riches were in the hands of men who kept aloof 
 from the people, while the working clergy, who mixed 
 with them, and were their real spiritual pastors, 
 were only allowed a miserable scanty subsistence. 
 These reforms have been followed by a comfortable pro- 
 vision for the working clergy. Whatever we may 
 think of the continued attachment of these nations 
 to the doctrines, discipline, and liturgy of their 
 church, we must give them credit for great good 
 sense, in putting a stop to the excessive con- 
 sumption of public wealth by their clergy, 
 
 These alterations in the revenues of their clerical 
 bodies, though for a long time wished, never were 
 effected but at periods of great national convulsion. 
 Probably, had the clergy consented to a revision of 
 their incomes, before such moments of violent 
 excitement, they might have made much better 
 terms for themselves. Being no friend to a public 
 
138 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 commotion of this sort, I earnestly beg the prelates 
 of our church to take warning by other nations 
 arid states, to prevent that eruption, which other- 
 wise must sooner or later take place. 
 
 The consumption of public wealth by the Esta- 
 blished Church of England and Ireland, is not only 
 greater than that of any other national church ; but 
 her clergymen, as we have seen, receive in the year, 
 more money than all the clergymen of all the rest of the 
 whole Christian world. Should any thing near this 
 be found to be the case, considerable part of her 
 wealth may be very properly applied to relieve the 
 national burthens ; the more so, as of the twenty- 
 one millions of people composing the population 
 of our islands, less than one-third, or seven millions 
 of people, are hearers of the Established Church ; 
 the remainder, or upwards of fourteen millions, 
 being attached to other Christian persuasions. 
 
 Some men consider us engaged in running the 
 race of national greatness and power, more parti- 
 cularly with France and the United States of 
 America; and contend, that we ought not to bear 
 an enormous weight of a church establishment that 
 they are freed from ! They consider, that it gives 
 those nations a great advantage over us ; and that 
 difference, between what we expend on the clergy, and 
 what they do, there would be enough to pay the annual 
 expenses of a war between us. And as some proof of 
 the correctness of this argument, they direct our 
 attention to the glaring fact, '. e. that in 1792, the 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 139 
 
 expenses of the Government, interest of the debt 
 included, was about nine millions. The Esta- 
 blished Church receives more than this sum ! 
 
 The United States of America, after France, or 
 even before her, are, in the opinion of these per- 
 sons, to be looked to as our rivals ; and they are 
 not, like us, burdened with an expensive church 
 establishment. It is contended that our young 
 men now at Eton will see the United States of 
 America surpassing us in the numbers of her peo- 
 ple, and of her seamen, and their navy the most 
 powerful in the world after ours. The armies, 
 influence, riches, and perhaps subsidies of France, 
 in combination with the naval vigour of the United 
 States, will one day demand the full exertion of 
 our power ; and perhaps will render judicious, our 
 ceasing to expend on the clergy of less than one- 
 third of the people, a sum thought to be as great 
 as the revenues of the clergy of all the other Chris- 
 tian nations on the face of the earth. 
 
 With a view of giving information and preparing 
 for further inquiry on this subject, the following 
 tables have been framed, shewing the expendi- 
 ture on the clergy in the various Christian States. 
 Documents exist to give the French expenditure on 
 the clergy with perfect accuracy ; and also to give 
 that of the church of Scotland with great correct- 
 ness. The expenditure in Spain, Portugal, and 
 Hungary, has also been ascertained with consi- 
 derable precision. The guides used in framing the 
 
140 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 tables have been, the data obtained from a knovv- 
 lege of the expenditure of the churches just named; 
 information collected from geographical and statis- 
 tical works, and from the works of numerous re- 
 cent travellers ; documents given in the public 
 papers of England, France, Spain, and Portugal ; 
 verbal communications with natives and other resi- 
 dents, and with recent travellers in each country ; 
 submitting occasionally the tables to such persons 
 for examination, discussion, and correction. 
 
 While some incline to the opinion, that no pro- 
 vision need be made for the clergy, that the 
 English, being at least as religious a people as the 
 Americans, will support the clergy handsomely by 
 voluntary contributions, as is done by the people 
 of the United States, and by more than half the 
 people of our own islands for the pastors of their 
 own persuasion ; others, and the less numerous 
 party, think a liberal, but still reasonable legal 
 provision is most advisable. Many plans present 
 themselves for carrying such provision into effect. 
 
 Such is the introduction to the inquiry, from 
 which the following results are derived. The tri- 
 vial errors that may be detected in the details, can- 
 not very materially affect the conclusions, which 
 forcibly suggest the necessity of an immediate 
 reformation of the Church Establishment of 
 England. 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 141 
 
 EXPENDITURE OF THE CLERGY IN FRANCE. 
 
 Episcopal body and dignitaries, in all about 578 
 
 persons, receive . 86,1 14 
 
 2,886 Catholic Rectors, at 48 per annum 138,480 
 
 22,960 Catholic Curates, at 3U. per annum 701,760 
 
 357 Protestants, at 56/. per annum 19,922 
 
 4,000 for occasional services, at 10/. per annum. . . . 40,000 
 
 3,500 ditto at 8. per annum 28,000 
 
 For uncertain occasional aid is granted 10,000 
 
 Loss on the previous calculations, to keep round 
 
 numbers 25,724 
 
 Total of the French Church Expenditure, .1,050,000 
 
 In France, the Protestant ministers are paid 
 higher than the Catholics, because they are per- 
 mitted to marry, and have wives and families to 
 support ; an instance of liberality, in a country 
 where there are twenty-nine Catholics to one Pro- 
 testant, that shames the persecution of the Ca- 
 tholics of Ireland to a degree at which even an Irish 
 Orange-man might blush. But this is not all. 
 Let a Methodist, a Baptist, an Unitarian, or an 
 Independent of any description, go to France, and 
 bring over to his way of thinking a sufficient num- 
 ber of people to form a congregation, and to erect 
 a place of worship, and he will, by application to 
 the minister of the interior, or home department, 
 get a national stipend for the officiating clergy- 
 man. Every University in France, and every post 
 
142 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 in the Universities, are open to the youth ; and 
 every civil and military employment in the state is 
 open to men of all denominations. That absurd 
 word " toleration," the use of which implies that 
 one man has a right to tolerate the opinions of 
 another, is banished from France, and "equal 
 liberty and equal protection" are the admitted rights 
 of all. 
 
 Previous to the Revolution of 1793, France had 
 nearly 400,000 ministers of the Catholic church ; 
 that is, more than ten times as many as she pos- 
 sesses now ; all the ministers, of all denominations 
 and ranks, amounting at present only to 35,643. 
 Before the revolution, the revenues of the church 
 amounted to 7,400, OOOZ. sterling ; so that, by the 
 revolution, France has gained perfect liberty of 
 conscience ; she has annually saved six millions, 
 three hundred and fifty-two thousand, one hundred 
 and sixty-three pounds ; and sent about three 
 hundred and fifty thousand idle drones, who were 
 accustomed to live upon the labours of others, to 
 earn their own livelihoods by honest and useful 
 occupations. Had nothing else been gained by 
 the French revolution, it would have been a NA- 
 TIONAL BLESSING, and even CHEAPLY PURCHASED 
 by all the bloodshed that was occasioned, through 
 the envy and fear of the crowned despots of other 
 states ! 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 143 
 
 EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 There are 938 clergymen who enjoy benefices ; 
 and of these, 893 have the charge of parishes ; 45 
 have collegiate churches ; and with those who are 
 supported by voluntary contributions, and those 
 not regularly engaged in the ministry, may bring 
 the number up to 1,000; the income of which 
 is - .206,000 
 
 Dissenters from the Kirk, cost - 44,000 
 
 .250,000 
 
 EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH OF SPAIN. 
 
 552 Dignitaries .109,400 
 
 16,000 Working Clergy - - 1,025,000 
 
 Total Expense - . 1 ,134,400 
 
 Previous to the Revolution in Spain, there were 
 in that country, 180,242 ministers and agents of 
 religion, living in more than 3,000 convents, and 
 possessing real property, land, and buildings, to 
 the amount of 186,500,0002., which, at 5 per cent., 
 would yield a revenue of more than nine millions 
 a year ; exclusive of tithes and various other taxes 
 and dues for the clergy. The Cortes, with equal 
 wisdom and justice, put this property on sale, for 
 the benefit of the nation, making a moderate pro- 
 vision for all the parties who were dependant upon 
 
144 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 it. They also reduced the direct tithes one-half, 
 and abolished all other payments to the church. 
 The half-tithe has been found amply sufficient to 
 maintain the reformed church ; so that, upon the 
 whole, Spain has been a greater gainer even than 
 France ; though it is to be regretted, that she has 
 not abolished tithes altogether, and left the mi- 
 nisters of religion to the payment of their flocks, 
 as in America. The American is far preferable to 
 the French mode ; as state-pay makes priests state- 
 hirelings: and to tax any one for the support of 
 opinions which are deemed erroneous, is the gross- 
 est injustice, and the most pointed insult that can 
 be offered to a man of spirit and integrity. It is 
 to compel him to contribute his property to sup- 
 port the propagation of what he thinks error, 
 falsehood, or delusion ! However, it was something 
 of importance to reduce the national priesthood 
 from 148,222 to less than 17,000, which has been 
 effected, and to produce a saving of more than 
 ten millions sterling, per annum ; the difference of 
 which, to the nation, between its consumption by 
 a horde of unproductive drones, and being left to 
 circulate in productive labour, will be immense. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE PORTUGUESE CHURCH. 
 
 165 Dignitaries are allowed - .24,800 
 
 4,300 Working Clergy - 262,500 
 
 Total expenditure - - .287,300 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES, 145 
 
 In Portugal, all church property has been taken 
 into the hands of the government since the late 
 revolution. The following passage, from a paper 
 published at Lisbon, in 1822, will shew how rapidly 
 the public mind has been enlightened upon these 
 subjects, in a country supposed to be the most bar- 
 barous in Europe : 
 
 " The tithe is one of those imposts which, per- 
 haps, is deserving of some modification. It is now 
 universally known, that this contribution, or tax, 
 is not of divine right ; for if it were so, Sovereigns 
 could neither appropriate it to themselves, as is 
 the case in our American possessions, nor divert it 
 to other uses and applications ; nor remit, nor ap- 
 propriate it, as was the case in its appropriation to 
 the breaking up of new lands. By letters patent, 
 or charter, of llth April, 1815, the oblations, or 
 offerings, with which the people in the first ages of 
 the church voluntarily agreed to support the clergy, 
 were, in the sixth century, converted by the people 
 themselves into a regular payment, which was, in 
 general, a tenth of their produce. This free offer- 
 ing became a usage, and this came to be regarded 
 as property ; and so long ago as the eighth century, 
 this tithe is found embodied in the civil laws, and 
 forming a right ! but solely having for its object, 
 the decent support of the ministry of the altar. If, 
 however, the obligation was general, it was not 
 always uniform. On the contrary, in its quota it 
 was as various as are the Catholic nations, and 
 
146 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 sometimes as various as the provinces of the same 
 nation. In some places, a tenth was paid ; in 
 others, a twentieth, a thirtieth, and as far as a forti- 
 eth ! We remember that, in the constitution made 
 by D. Martins, Archbishop of Barga, in 1304, he 
 fixed the tithe in the proportion of one in seventy 
 on the nett product. From all this, we would only 
 conclude, that if it should be thought necessary, it 
 is, without doubt, lawful, to reduce the tithes on 
 those lands where the payment being one part in 
 every ten, the cultivator runs a risk of loss/' 
 
 It is evident that the writer might have carried 
 the conclusion from his premises much farther. He 
 might have shewn the cause of the difference in 
 the rate of the tithe, which, having for its object 
 only the decent support of the clergy, would natu- 
 rally vary in proportion to the numbers of the 
 clergy, the population, and the wealth of the 
 different districts ; a twentieth, or a fortieth, being 
 likely to produce in some places, more than a 
 tenth in others ; and the sums requisite for the 
 decent support of the church being obtained, there 
 is no pretence for levying more under the tax de- 
 nominated tithe. All lay impropriations, or con- 
 tributions, paid in the shape of tithes to persons 
 who do not belong to the church, are gross impo- 
 sitions on the good sense of mankind. 
 
 But though the writer might have gone much 
 farther, they have gone a great way farther than 
 could have been expected in Portugal ; and we 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 147 
 
 should be happy to see as much good sense 
 prevail generally in England. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE HUNGARIAN CHURCHES. 
 
 Hungary contains about eight millions of inha- 
 bitants, divided into several sects, who were tear- 
 ing each other to pieces in the name of religion, 
 until Joseph II. of Austria placed them all on an 
 equality, and enacted a law which declares that no 
 man is obliged to pay a tithe- tax to a religion to which 
 he does not belong. This is the nearest approach 
 to common sense we find recorded of an Austrian 
 Emperor ; and it is unfortunate it should have 
 been so little regarded in the way of example. As 
 all the sects support their own teachers, economy 
 is the order of the day. Nearly 5,500 priests of 
 the Latin Catholic Church are maintained for 
 320, OOO/. at an average of GO/, per annum each. 
 The Calvinistic Church has 1 ,383 clergymen, at an 
 average of 441., amounting to 60,896/. The Lu- 
 theran Church has 456 preachers, at an average of 
 45/. each, which amounts to 26, OOO/. The Greek 
 Catholic Clergy are very poor, but not so poor as 
 the members of the Greek Church. There is no 
 reason to believe the remainder are better paid 
 than those that have been enumerated. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
 Religion, in North America, is left entirely to 
 herself. The State has declined either formally 
 espousing any particular creed, or of resorting to 
 the less credible mode of supporting any. Yet 
 religion is by no means on the wane in America. 
 There are about eight thousand places of worship, 
 supplied by many clergymen of different persua- 
 sions ; but they are maintained at a very moderate 
 expense, as the whole cost of the religious esta- 
 blishment is not more than 560, 0001. But the 
 whole support is derived from voluntary contribu- 
 tions ; and hence the moderate price of religion in 
 the United States, where no man is compelled 
 either to belong to, or to support any church. An 
 assessment on every man for some place of worship, 
 to be named by himself, was enforced for some 
 time in a few of the States ; but even the clergy 
 joined in obtaining the repeal of this law ; for it 
 was found that places of worship and clergymen 
 were more liberally supported in the States where 
 the contributions were left free. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN ITALY. 
 
 In Italy, where the pope has reigned in such 
 splendour as to eclipse that of temporal monarchs, 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 149 
 
 and where the government has been in the hands 
 of ecclesiastics for centuries, one might expect to 
 find religion wallowing in luxury, and its teachers 
 possessed of all the wealth of the land. But the 
 contrary is the fact ; and a population of nineteen 
 millions of hearers, maintains 20,400 clergymen, 
 the pope included, for the comparatively small sum 
 of776,000/., or less than one million; while the 
 Church of England and Ireland, though not com- 
 prising seven millions of hearers, consumes to the 
 value of nearly nine millions and a half sterling of 
 the produce of the country ! The French visit 
 to Italy has produced a variety of good effects. 
 The sales of the church estates have been held 
 sacred ; and even in Sicily, where the English 
 fleet preserved the ancient system, the church lands 
 have since been sold, in consequence of the ex- 
 ample of the benefit to the Italian nation of the 
 transfer of lands from inert possessors to active pro- 
 prietors. But the present clergymen of Italy, 
 whatever other faults they may have, are not greedy or 
 avaricious. The dues of the church are very light 
 throughout Italy. The ecclesiastical tithe is called 
 the quarantese, or fortieth, and is taken in kind. 
 A prosecution by a clergyman for his tithe is 
 nearly unknown. There are no pluralities, and re- 
 sidence is strictly enforced. In Rome, the ordinary 
 income of a cardinal, the next in dignity in the 
 church to the pope ( equal to our archbishops^ , is 
 from four hundred to five hundred a year; and as 
 
150 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 ancient usage entails certain expenses on their rank, 
 when in public, they have very little left for private 
 comforts. The ecclesiastics who serve the churches in 
 Rome, and who are seen clothed in the gorgeous vest- 
 ments of their splendid worship, like many others, who 
 take part in the pompous scenes, retire from them to 
 very humble homes ; and with scanty incomes from the 
 church, engage in tuition and other pursuits, to add to 
 the means of their support. The pope, as a temporal 
 prince, is personally the least expensive one in Europe. 
 It has been said, that five shillings a day pays the 
 expense of his table. What a deplorable want of 
 dignity must this be thought by Dr. Howley and his 
 brother bishops ! 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN AUSTRIA, 
 
 In Austria, exclusive of its Hungarian and 
 Italian subjects, there are about nineteen millions 
 of inhabitants, who maintain 19,000 clergymen for 
 about 950,OOOZ. annually. Joseph II. led the way, 
 about fifty years since, to the suppression of the 
 rich ecclesiastical establishments, and the equa- 
 lization of the incomes of the episcopal and 
 parochial clergy. He did not live to effect all 
 his purposes; but the events of late years have 
 done much towards their accomplishment. The 
 remaining monasteries are few, not rich, and not 
 likely to survive the general example of appro- 
 priating church property to the use of the State. 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 151 
 
 EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Every thing is cheap and simple in Switzerland ; 
 so that we are not surprised to find seventeen 
 hundred ecclesiastics, who are maintained for the 
 sum of 87,000/. annually, or about 50Z. each 
 individual. But what is more pleasing, is the 
 absence of all religious bigotry, which is so com- 
 plete, that in many parts of Switzerland, par- 
 ticularly at Lausanne and Berne, is to be witnessed 
 the truly gratifying sight of the two sects, Cal- 
 vinists and Catholics, using the same church alter- 
 nately at different hours. There is a communion 
 table for the Protestants, and an altar for the 
 Catholics. As one congregation is retiring, they 
 meet the other which is coming to the same house 
 of prayer ; where, with similar sincerity, but in 
 forms and creeds that vary, they offer worship to 
 the same DIVINE BEING. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN PRUSSIA. 
 
 In Prussia, there are about ten millions and a 
 half of inhabitants, who maintain 9,578 priests, 
 for the sum of 527,OOOZ. England boasts of its 
 toleration, most absurdly, while even the despotic 
 state of Prussia sets it a glorious example of free- 
 dom in religious matters. All sects are there upon 
 an equal footing. No sectarian differences oppose 
 the pretensions of persons of superior merit ; and 
 it is a curious thing, that while of ten millions and 
 
152 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 a half of Prussians, there are six millions of Lu- 
 therans, and four millions of Catholics, the King 
 and the Royal Family are Presbyterians, of which 
 faith there are only three hundred thousand of the 
 inhabitants. What a contrast is this to the mise- 
 rable policy of England, which so long rendered the 
 Catholics proscribed dependants, lest the Protestant 
 Church should be endangered ! In Prussia, the 
 regular extinction of the civil power of the clergy 
 is steadily pursued. Frederic the Great began by 
 taxing the bishops fifty per cent, on their landed 
 estates. The canonries of the chapters are still of 
 considerable value ; but, at the death of the pre- 
 sent incumbents, their revenues become the pro- 
 perty of the public. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN THE MINOR GERMAN STATES. 
 
 The minor German States, comprising Bavaria, 
 Wirtemburg, Hanover, Saxony, and twenty-two 
 other Sovereign States, with four cities, contain 
 about twelve millions and a half of inhabitants, 
 and maintain 11,600 clergymen for the sum of 
 765,OOOZ. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND AND THE 
 NETHERLANDS. 
 
 In these countries, five millions of inhabitants 
 maintain 4,500 clergymen, at the annual cost of 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 153 
 
 265,000/., being at the rate of about 80,OOOZ- for 
 every million of people, which is higher^ than any 
 other of the Continental States. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN DENMARK. 
 
 The Danes are Lutherans; and 1,700,000 per- 
 sons maintain 1,586 clergymen, at an expense of 
 119,000/. The revenue of the Bishop is but four 
 hundred per annum. The church property of Den- 
 mark was appropriated to the services of the State, 
 in 1536 ; and the appropriation was so general as 
 to include the temporalities of the bishops. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 
 
 About three millions and a half of people main- 
 tain 3,100 clergymen, for 238,000/. annually. 
 The property in this country which had been 
 accumulated into the hands of the clergy, was 
 appropriated to the service of the State by Gus- 
 tavus Vasa. The expenses of his army involved 
 him in a heavy debt, and he publicly declared, in 
 1526, his resolution of reducing the number of 
 oppressing and idle Priests and Monks, who, under 
 pretence of religion, fattened on the spoils of the 
 industrious people. As the majority of the nation 
 was with him, the property was applied to the use 
 of the state, without much difficulty. 
 
154 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE CLERGY IN RUSSIA. 
 
 The income of the Russian churches Greek, 
 Catholic, and Lutheran amounts to 910,000/., and 
 maintains 74,270 clergymen ; but this sum is very 
 unequally divided thirty-four millions of the 
 Greek church contributing but 510,000/., while 
 eight millions of Catholics and Lutherans pay 
 40,009Z. 
 
 In Turkey, the Priesthood of six millions of 
 Christians is estimated to cost 1 80,000/. 
 
 In South America, fifteen millions are estimated 
 to contribute about 450,OOOZ. annually to the 
 Church. The estimated expenditure on the clergy 
 of the remaining small Christian communities, dis- 
 persed in various parts of the world, is 150,OOOZ. 
 levied upon three millions of people. 
 
 From these calculations, it appears that the people 
 have every where, except in England, cast off the 
 prejudice, that it was necessary to yield up a large 
 portion of their property, and the fruit of their labour, 
 to be consumed by a numerous body of idle and 
 luxurious ecclesiastics. 
 
 We shall give, directly, a Table of the state of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 This is the only grand monument of church 
 wealth remaining in the world, which shews the 
 influence and dominion over the minds and property 
 of men, which the clergy have had the power to 
 exert, in the ages of darkness and superstition, 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 155 
 
 before the art of printing, and the consequent dif- 
 fusion of knowledge and education. 
 
 EXPENDITURE ON THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 AND IRELAND. 
 
 In England and Wales, the number of the 
 hearers of the Established Church is estimated at 
 six millions and a half ; which is a very excessive 
 calculation. The number of clergymen of the 
 Establishment is set down at sixteen thousand, 
 with an income, in ENGLAND ALONE, of SEVEN 
 
 MILLIONS, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS PER 
 
 ANNUM. 
 
 In Ireland, the Established Church has 500,000 
 hearers, seventeen hundred clergymen, and a re- 
 venue of ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY- 
 SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN 
 
 POUNDS per annum. 
 
 The remaining six millions of the population of 
 England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, amount- 
 ing to thirteen millions, pay to 7,448 of their own 
 clergymen, about 836,000/. per annum! which 
 brings the salaries of the Catholic and Dissenting 
 ministers to something near the ordinary average 
 of the rest of the Christian world, if the difference 
 in the value of money be taken into the calculation. 
 The GREAT COMPARATIVE ACCOUNT between the 
 Church of England, and the Christian world, then, 
 
156 
 
 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 stands exhibited in the annexed tables ; and when 
 it is fairly considered, and duly reflected upon, it 
 will be admitted to furnish as extraordinary an 
 instance of rapacity, on the one hand, and of folly on 
 the other, as can be found in the long list of the 
 instances of the presumption of despotism, and the 
 easy credulity of its ignorant and voluntary dupes. 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 Expenditure on the Clergy of all the Christian florid, except 
 the Kingdoms of Great Britain, Wales, and Ireland. 
 
 NAME OF THE NATION. 
 
 Number of 
 Hearers. 
 
 Expenditure 
 on the clergy 
 per million 
 of hearer--. 
 
 Total amount of 
 the Expenditure 
 in each Nation. 
 
 France .... 
 
 30,000,000 
 
 '35,000 
 
 1,050,000 
 
 United States . . . 
 Spain 
 
 9,600,000 
 11,000,000 
 
 60,000 
 100,000 
 
 576,000 
 1,100,000 
 
 Portugal .... 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 300 000 
 
 Hungary, Catholics 
 Calvinists 
 Lutherans 
 Italy 
 
 4,000,000 
 1,000,000 
 650,000 
 19,391,000 
 
 80,000 
 60,000 
 40,000 
 40,000 
 
 320,000 
 63,000 
 26,000 
 776,000 
 
 
 18,918,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 950 000 
 
 Switzerland .... 
 Prussia 
 
 1,720,000 
 10,536,000 
 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 
 87,000 
 527,000 
 
 German Small States 
 Holland 
 
 12,763,000 
 2,000,000 
 
 60,000 
 80,000 
 
 765,000 
 160,000 
 
 Netherlands .... 
 Denmark . . 
 
 6,000,000 
 1 700 000 
 
 42,000 
 70 000 
 
 252,000 
 119 000 
 
 
 3,400,000 
 
 70 000 
 
 238 000 
 
 Russia, Greek Church . 
 Catholics & Lutherans 
 Christians in Turkey 
 South America . . . 
 Christians dispersed else- 
 where .... 3 
 
 34,000,000 
 8,000,000 
 6,000,000 
 15,000,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 15,000 
 50,000 
 30,000 
 30,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 510,000 
 409,000 
 180,000 
 450,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 The Clergy of . 201,728,000 receive 8,999,000 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 
 
 157 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 Expenditure on the Clergy of the Established Church of England 
 and Ireland. 
 
 NAME 
 
 OF THE NATION. 
 
 Number of 
 Hearers 
 
 Expenditure 
 on the clergy 
 per million 
 of hearers. 
 
 Total amount of 
 the Expenditure 
 in each Nation. 
 
 England 
 Ireland 
 
 and Wales 
 
 6,500,000 
 500,000 
 
 1,455,316 
 2,853,174 
 
 9,459,565 
 1,426,587 
 
 TABLE III. 
 
 Expenditure on tJie Clergy of the Established Church of Scotland. 
 
 Number of 
 Heaters. 
 
 Expenditure on 
 the clergy per 
 million of hearers. 
 
 Total amount of 
 the Expenditure. 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 166,666 
 
 250,000 
 
 The value of ENGLISH CHURCH PROPERTY will 
 be found put down at a much lower estimate than 
 the true one ; in fact, if the full produce of the 
 tithes were set down for England and Wales, it would 
 exceed the amount in the Table. The Irish tithe 
 robs the land of more than two millions, though the 
 church may not receive so much, as it is com- 
 pelled to employ an army of proctors, to collect 
 them, which must be fed and paid out of them. 
 Thus, the estimates in these calculations may be 
 confidently relied upon as not exceeding the truth. 
 
 The intrigue between church and state has pro- 
 duced many plagues, and not one benefit ; all its 
 
158 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 offspring are mischiefs. Inmost of the old states, 
 religion is evidently on the decline. In America, 
 on the contrary, it is evidently on the increase ; so 
 that a State religion is proved to be unnecessary on 
 any religious account : and if it be only useful to 
 rulers, as a means of creating a race of political de- 
 luders on political subjects, by hiring the Clergy in 
 support of the government, the sooner such a system 
 is reformed the better. 
 
 We should, therefore, give the amount of 
 Church Property, which can be resorted to, 
 for the use of the State The total value of 
 church property, sold at twenty-five years' pur- 
 chase, is estimated at 204,450, OOO/., or about 
 one-fourth of the funded debt ; but it is evident 
 that such a measure cannot be carried in an 
 assembly of those who are fattening upon the 
 spoil which it is proposed to take from them. 
 The funds of the English church may be con- 
 sidered as the retaining fees of the younger branches 
 of the aristocracy ; as a species of political tax, 
 devised with more than ordinary cunning, and 
 levied in a mode that is intended to disguise its na- 
 ture. In the established church, the priesthood is 
 a regular trade, like the army, the navy, and the 
 bar. The bishop, who is chosen by the crown, 
 has control over all, and can refuse to admit any 
 opposed to his delegated usurpation. Religion has 
 nothing to do with the matter. The father of a 
 family looks about to see were his interest lies, 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 159 
 
 that is, to see what service he can render Corrup- 
 tion, in order to get a portion of the good things 
 that she has at her disposal. If he think he can 
 reach church preferment, he makes one son a priest, 
 as he makes another a soldier, a sailor, or a barris- 
 ter ! It is a very convenient line for a simpleton ; 
 as neither talent nor virtue are requisite for ordina- 
 tion, but an implicit devotion to the " powers that 
 be," which a blockhead is far more likely to pay 
 than a wise man ! 
 
 Sir Charles Wolsely published an excellent ad- 
 dress upon the subject of tithes to the farmers of 
 Staffordshire ; and we have some hopes, that the 
 Parliament will follow the advice he gives, in con- 
 formity with the LEGAL DECISION, that where there 
 is NO PROFIT, there can be NO LIABILITY to the 
 payment of tithes. A steady determination to act 
 upon this principle, would soon induce even the 
 dignitaries of the church, to become friendly to re- 
 form, as the only means of securing their own interests. 
 A bad system of government, by exhausting the pre- 
 sent, and by anticipating the future resources of the 
 nation, has at last reached that monstrous climax 
 of consumption, which renders the land utterly 
 unable to bear the burthens that are imposed 
 upon it. It affords no profit, speaking generally; 
 and in a short period, this will be universally the 
 case. The gross produce of the land of England 
 and Wales, is not more than to the value of 150 
 millions. The government takes fifty millions of 
 
160 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 this sum in taxation. The church takes ten mil- 
 lions more in tithes. The poor's rate, and other 
 local rates, amount to nearly eight millions more ; 
 making a subtraction from the gross produce, of 
 about sixty-eight millions which would be a great 
 deal more than double the amount of the profits of 
 the produce, at prices which would remunerate the 
 farmer. But when it is considered that the culti- 
 vators are now actually LOSING BY THE PRODUCE, 
 and that this SIXTY-EIGHT MILLIONS is to be ADDED 
 TO THEIR LOSS, instead of being taken from their 
 profits, we cannot fail to perceive, that it is utterly 
 impossible for the thing to last ; and that it is the 
 common interest of all to put an end to it as soon 
 as possible, by the introduction of a new and equit- 
 able system. But it is the Parliament that must do 
 this. The payers of tithes must petition for the re- 
 moval of the evil, and shew that they are losing by 
 the cultivation of their land. They must, also, as 
 resolutely revert to the CONDITIONS on which tithes 
 were originally granted ; and endeavour to enforce 
 their application to the LEGAL PURPOSES for which 
 they were granted. 
 
 The clergy have NO CLAIM, by law, to any more 
 than one-third of the produce of the tithes. The 
 length of time during which they have usurped 
 the whole, gives them no more legal claim to the 
 whole, than the diversion of any other charitable 
 fund from its original purpose. When a case of 
 this latter description is brought before the Lord 
 
AND OTHER CHURCHES. 161 
 
 Chancellor, if the parties were to plead the length of 
 time which the funds had been misapplied, he would 
 tell them that they aggravated their case, and must 
 restore to the proper objects what they have been 
 plundering them of; and though it is to be sup- 
 posed that, in the first instance, the dignitaries of 
 the law will be disposed to favour the dignitaries 
 of the church ; yet, at last, law and reason may be 
 found too strong for them all ! 
 
 It is a common practice with some people, to say, 
 that they will go on as long as they can ! Those who 
 do this, will go on till they have nothing left, for 
 which it is worth their while to make any exertion. 
 Why, then, do they say they will go on as long as 
 they can with a system which has, guinea by guinea, 
 taken away all their profits, and which is now taking 
 away all their capital, still more rapidly than it 
 destroyed their profits ? Finally With justice to 
 themselves, with justice to their country, they can 
 go on no longer. They have reached the very edge 
 of the precipice ; and if they do not recede, they 
 must inevitably seal their fate as slaves for ever, 
 and bind their posterity in everlasting chains. 
 
 Let the PAYERS think seriously on these matters 
 before it be too late ! 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 
 
 IT has always been accounted good policy, in the 
 church of Rome, to withhold the Scriptures from 
 the laity, and to perform the public worship of God 
 in Latin, a language unknown to the people. A 
 religion founded on the infallible judgment of one 
 man, and requiring from the rest of mankind an 
 absolute submission to his dictates, ought not to 
 be examined ; for, should the people emerge from 
 credulity, and rise into the exercise of reason, the 
 bold pretender to infallibility would tumble from 
 the pinnacle of pontifical dignity into a gulph of 
 universal contempt. 
 
 That wise and vigorous set of men, the Pro- 
 testant Reformers, broke open the papal cabinet, 
 exposed the pretended titles of the pope to public 
 view, and did all in their power to simplify re- 
 ligion, and to reduce it to its original plainness 
 and purity. They laid open the inspired writings, 
 they taught the right of private judgment, and they 
 summoned all mankind to enter into that liberty 
 with which Christ had made them free. 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 163 
 
 If these men had a fault, it lay in the breadth of 
 the scale of their operations. They aimed to con- 
 vert whole nations at once, and to change their 
 customs in a day. Many religious customs were 
 incorporated with civil rights. It was irreligion in 
 ecclesiastics to exercise civil government, and it 
 became, therefore, essential to the accomplishment 
 of their plan, to call in the aid of secular powers. 
 Secular powers readily assisted them ; but, at the 
 same time, obliged them to keep measures with 
 royal prerogatives, court factions, the intrigues of 
 the old clergy, and the prejudices of the common 
 people. They therefore left the reformation un- 
 finished, and died in hopes that their successors 
 would complete, in happier days, what they had 
 begun. Far from entering into this just and liberal 
 design, we seem to have lost sight of it, and to 
 have adopted principles subversive of the whole. 
 We seem to have discarded piety, and adopted 
 luxury ; and the few who have not given up all 
 sense of shame, endeavour to conceal the scandal 
 under a cover of superstition. Thus, says Robin- 
 son, we affect modesty, and dance naked to hide 
 our shame ! 
 
 Superstition is to religion, says one, what astro- 
 logy is to astronomy the foolish daughter of a 
 wise mother. These two have long subjugated 
 mankind. We have no objection, in general, 
 against days of fasting and prayer ; they have 
 always the advantage of retaining a scriptural form 
 
 M2 
 
164 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 
 
 of godliness ; they are often edifying, and some- 
 times necessary. Nor do we find fault with those 
 Christians who make conscience of observing all 
 the festivals of their own churches. They have a 
 right to judge for themselves, and their sincerity 
 will be rewarded. Neither will we suppose that 
 all the English clergy have been deficient in teach- 
 ing their people, that practical religion divides itself 
 into the two parts of moral obligations and positive 
 institutes ; that the first are universal, unalterable, 
 and eternal ; and that the latter were appointed by 
 the legislature to serve the purposes of the former. 
 But as the cause of moral rectitude can never be 
 pleaded too often, nor the nature of it explained 
 too clearly, as superstition is very apt to invade 
 the rights of religion, and as numbers who have 
 great interest in these articles have not leisure to 
 trace them through folios, it may not be unsea- 
 sonable, and we trust it will not be deemed imper- 
 tinent, to expose to public view, briefly, the his- 
 tory, the authority, the piety, and the polity of 
 church holidays. To discuss one, is to examine all ; 
 and we select for this purpose that day, on which, 
 it is reputed, the Founder of our holy religion was 
 crucified ; commonly called Good Friday. 
 
 Let no one blame an historian who does not 
 begin before his records ; it is not his fault, it is 
 his virtue. Strictly speaking, all documents in 
 Protestant churches should be found in the holy 
 canon ; for the people of each church refer an 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 165 
 
 inquisitive man to their clergy, their clergy refer 
 him to their printed confessions of faith, and all 
 their confessions refer him to scripture. There 
 are many ceremonies in some Protestant churches 
 which do not pretend to derive themselves from 
 scripture immediately ; but they were appointed, 
 they say, by those who were appointed by scrip- 
 ture to ordain them. The examination of this ap- 
 pointment does not fall under this part of the 
 inquiry; it will be spoken of hereafter. It is 
 sufficient to say, that Good Friday is a ceremony 
 of this sort, and that the original records of Chris- 
 tianity say nothing about it. 
 
 No one evangelist, nor all the four together, 
 narrate the whole history of Jesus Christ, nor 
 yet all the circumstances of those parts on which 
 they enlarge most. St. John, the last of these histo- 
 rians, closes his history with a declaration that 
 many things relative to Jesus Christ were not writ- 
 ten. The times of the birth and crucifixion of our 
 Saviour are so written in these authentic records, 
 that nothing certain can be determined concerning 
 them. All who have pretended to settle these 
 periods, are conjecturers, and not historians, as 
 their variety proves. There is only one opinion in 
 the whole Christian world concerning the country 
 of Jesus Christ, and the place of his nativity : all 
 allow he was a Jew, and born at Bethlehem. 
 We should be equally uniform in our belief of the 
 times of his birth and crucifixion. Let us respect 
 
166 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 
 
 the silence of the oracles of God. No argument 
 can be drawn from it to endanger Christianity. A 
 point of chronology is not an object of saving faith, 
 nor is zeal for an undecided question any part of 
 that holiness without which none shall see the 
 Lord. The inspired writers did not design to make 
 laws about feasts, but to enforce the practice of 
 piety and virtue. 
 
 The first congregations of Christians consisted of 
 native Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Pagans of 
 different countries, and of various sects. Each 
 class brought into the Christian church some of 
 their old prejudices, and endeavoured to incorpo- 
 rate them with the doctrine and worship of Chris- 
 tianity. The apostles guarded against this unna- 
 tural union, and during their lives prevented the 
 profession of it ; but after their decease they were 
 made to coalesce, and from this coalition came 
 Good Friday and other church holidays. Chris- 
 tianity affirmed the facts ; proselyte mathemati- 
 cians guessed at the time ; pretended scholars 
 accommodated prophecy and history to the fa- 
 vourite periods ; and devotional men, whose 
 whole knowledge consisted in an art of turning 
 popular notions to pious purposes, began to 
 observe the days themselves. By the austerity of 
 their examples, they gave them a sanctimonious 
 air to others, and recommended them to the obser- 
 vation of all who chose to be accounted pious as 
 well as wise. 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 167 
 
 We hear nothing of Easter till the second cen- 
 tury, and then we find Polycarp, Anicetus, and 
 others, conferring on the time of keeping it, cele- 
 brating it at different times, and exercising a mu- 
 tual toleration, notwithstanding their differences. 
 Jesus Christ was crucified at the time of the Jewish 
 passover. The Christians of Asia celebrated Easter 
 on the fourteenth day of the moon, according to the 
 law of Moses, on whatever day of the week it fell, so 
 that if they kept some years a Good Friday, they 
 also kept in other years a Good Monday, Good 
 Saturday, or Good any day ; for the day of Christ's 
 crucifixion must be at its due distance from the 
 day of his resurrection. These eastern Christians 
 pretended that St. John kept Easter so. The 
 western churches used to observe the Sunday after 
 the fourteenth day of the March moon, and they said 
 St. Peter and St. Paul always did so. If these 
 Christians could not convince one another in times 
 so near to those of the apostles, it is not likely that 
 we should be able to determine the time of Easter 
 at a distance of nearly two thousand years. 
 
 About the year A. D. 190, Victor L, then Bishop 
 of Rome, had the audacity to excommunicate those 
 Christians who kept Easter on the fourteenth day 
 of the moon. The excommunicated pitied his 
 pride, and persevered in their practice. The Ro- 
 man bishops intrigued, caballed, got councils 
 called, and at length the council of Aries, held 
 A.D. 314, having, no doubt, the fear of God before 
 
168 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 
 
 their eyes, and being endued with more wisdom, 
 more power, or more presumption than their pre- 
 decessors, decreed that all churches should cele- 
 brate Easter on the Sunday after the fourteenth of 
 the moon of March, when that moon should hap- 
 pen after the vernal equinox. Eleven years after- 
 wards, the council of Nice confirmed this decree, 
 and the Emperor Constantine enforced it by orders 
 sent into all the provinces of the empire. The 
 council did not think to provide for one difficulty 
 which might arise, and which might produce a 
 new discussion, and throw down that idol uni- 
 formity, which these Christian Nebuchadnezzars 
 had committed so many crimes to set up. The 
 fourteenth day of the full moon in March might 
 fall on a Sunday. It did so. A difficulty was 
 started, and different opinions followed. The 
 eastern churches celebrated Easter on the day of 
 the full moon, when it fell on a Sunday in March. 
 The western churches deferred it to the Sunday 
 following. How could a synod of three hundred- 
 and-eighteen bishops, who were but men, foresee 
 this difficulty? 
 
 In the seventh century, Oswy, one of the petty 
 kings, having been instructed in the Christian 
 religion by Scotch monks, kept Easter after the 
 Asiatic fashion ; while his Queen, who had been 
 taught by a Roman priest, observed it in the 
 western manner. Thus, it sometimes happened, that 
 his majesty was joyfully celebrating our Saviour's 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 169 
 
 resurrection, while the queen was fasting on 
 account of his crucifixion ! To get rid of this in- 
 convenience, the king summoned a council to 
 meet at Withby, to determine the original of 
 Easter. The clergy, on the one side, rested their 
 cause on tradition derived from St. John, while 
 the clergy, on the other, urged that which came 
 from St. Peter. The king was judge ; the balance 
 inclined neither way, and he was long perplexed 
 with authorities quite equal. At length, being 
 informed that however great St. John might be, 
 St. Peter kept the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, 
 the king very prudently took care of the main 
 chance, declared for St. Peter, and Easter has 
 fallen on a Sunday in England ever since ! 
 
 Good Friday had the fate of all other holidays : it 
 had a solemn service composed for it ; and, being 
 established by the civil power, the people were 
 obliged to fast, and to pray, and to sing, and so 
 on to the end of the chapter. 
 
 When Henry VIII. reformed the British church, 
 although he discarded many festivals, he yet 
 thought proper to retain Easter, and Lent, its ap- 
 pendage. The old service was afterwards new 
 vamped ; and during the succeeding reigns of Eliza- 
 beth and the Stuarts, many were persecuted for 
 refusing to comply with it. That inestimable 
 prince, William III., procured a toleration, the 
 present august family protect it, and the inhabi- 
 
170 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 
 
 tants of Britain now enjoy the liberty of keeping 
 festivals, or of renouncing them, at their pleasure. 
 The history, then, is briefly this : Neither Good 
 Friday, nor any other good day, fasts or feasts, were 
 appointed to be observed, by Jesus Christ or his 
 apostles. The time of Christ's birth cannot be 
 made out, and that of his crucifixion is uncertain. 
 Could we assure ourselves of the year, we could 
 not prove that the Jews observed the regressions 
 of the equinox, nor that they made use of accurate 
 astronomical tables. No traces of Easter are to be 
 found in the first century, nor for a great part of 
 the second. When the first observers of it appear- 
 ed, they could not make out evidence of their com- 
 ing honestly by it. Councils decreed that it should 
 not be kept before the 21st of March, nor after the 
 20th of April. Some, however, kept it on the 
 22nd of April, while others celebrated it on the 
 25th of March, others, at times, different from both, 
 and others kept no day at all. Our ancestors mur- 
 dered one another for variety of opinion on this 
 subject ; but we are fallen under wiser and better 
 governors, who allow us to think and act as we 
 please, provided the state receive no injury. Thus 
 the language of scripture is spoken by the laws of 
 our country : " He who regardeth a day, let him 
 regard it to the Lord ; and he who regardeth not a 
 day to the Lord, let him not regard it." 
 
171 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 DULL and uninteresting as this poor subject may 
 be, as an article of history, it becomes extremely 
 important, when it is 'foisted into the religion of 
 Christ, enjoined on all Christian people, under pain 
 of God's displeasure, and considered as the livery 
 of loyalty and piety. In such a case, the disciples 
 of the Son of God are compelled to inquire, whose 
 are we, and whom do we serve ? His we are whom 
 we obey. 
 
 Should a man form an idea of the Christian 
 church from reading the New Testament, in which 
 Jewish ceremonies are said to be a yoke, which 
 neither the Jews of Christ's time, nor their ances- 
 tors were able to bear, in which those rites are 
 called weak and beggarly elements, rudiments of 
 the world, shadows of good things to come, of 
 which Christ was the substance ; should he then 
 behold a Christian church laden with ceremonies of 
 Pagan and Jewish extraction, there would naturally 
 arise a violent prejudice in his mind against such 
 
172 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 a Christian church, and he would be obliged to 
 inquire what Joab had a hand in this alteration ? 
 
 It must be allowed, that consummate wisdom, 
 cool and unbiassed judgment, rectitude the most 
 rigid, and benevolence and power the most ex- 
 tensive, are absolute and indispensable qualifications 
 in religious legislation. The nature of God and 
 man ; the relation of each to the other, and of 
 both to all ; the countless conditions and circum- 
 stances of all the rest of mankind ; the kind of 
 worship, and the manner of performing it ; the 
 necessary requisitions of justice, and the proper 
 effusions of goodness, with a thousand other arti- 
 cles, form one grand complex whole, which would 
 baffle all, except infinite penetration, in forming a 
 system of real religion. 
 
 As an assumption of legislative power in religion 
 is an ascent to the most elevated degree of honour, 
 and as it requires a kind of submission to which 
 human dignity is loth to bow, so, it must be sup- 
 posed, the clearest evidence of a right to exercise 
 it is naturally expected. No blind submission ; 
 no precarious titles ; no spurious records ; no 
 popular clamour ; nothing but clear revelation, 
 interpreted by accurate reasoning, can be taken as 
 evidence here. An immortal intelligence is the 
 noblest production of infinite power and skill ; when 
 it pays its homage to the Deity it is in its noblest 
 exercise; and no mean guide must conduct such a 
 being then. 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 173 
 
 On these just principles I take up church holi- 
 days, where I find them, as part of the established 
 religion of my country ; and I modestly inquire the 
 authority that made them so ? A few old women 
 refer me to the fourth verse of the twelfth chapter 
 of Acts for the word Easter, and I return the com- 
 pliment by referring them to their grandsons at 
 school, who say St. Luke wrote passover. I could, 
 were I inclined to revenge, be even with these old 
 ladies, by telling them the tale of Lady Easter, 
 Ashtar, or Ashtaroth, a Sidonian toast ; but I am 
 too busy, and too placid now, and I take my leave 
 of this goddess, and also of the godly translator, 
 who profaned a Jewish fast, by nick-naming it 
 after a pagan prostitute, and laid the blame on in- 
 nocent St. Luke. 
 
 The established clergy do not pretend to support 
 their festivals by authority of scripture ; but they 
 say, their legal authority arises from that Act of 
 Parliament which ratified the thirty- nine articles of 
 their faith, one of which affirms, " the church hath 
 power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority 
 in controversies of faith." This clause is said by 
 them to mean, that the " governors of the church 
 have power to determine what shall be received 
 and professed for truth among the members of the 
 church, and to bind them to submission to their sen- 
 tence, though they err in their sentence." These 
 are their own words. 
 
 The thirty- nine articles were first produced in a 
 
174 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 convocation of the clergy, A.D. 1562; they were 
 reviewed by another convocation in 1571 ; and were 
 afterwards ratified by Parliament. It is an unques- 
 tionable fact, that the religion of all the good people of 
 the church of England, was, in 1 562, put to the vote 
 of one hundred-and-seventeen priests, many of whom 
 could hardly write their names, and several of whom 
 were not present, and voted by proxy ; and that cere- 
 monies and holidays were carried by a majority of ONE 
 single vote, and that vote given by proxy. Whether 
 the absent member, who had the casting vote, 
 were talking, or journeying, or hunting, or sleep- 
 ing, is immaterial ; he was the God Almighty of 
 this article of English religion, and his power de- 
 creed rites and ceremonies, and matters of high 
 behest ! 
 
 The insertion of the before-mentioned clause of 
 the CHURCH'S power in the twentieth article, was 
 an infamous piece of priestcraft. It is not in King 
 Edward's articles ; it is not in the original manu- 
 scripts subscribed by the convocation, and still 
 preserved in Bene't College, Cambridge, among 
 the papers of Bishop Parker, who was president 
 of the assembly ; it was not in the printed book 
 ratified by Parliament ; it was not in the Latin 
 translation of those times ; nor did it shew itself 
 till twenty-two years after, as Heylin and other 
 high churchmen allow. 
 
 Subscription to this clause is mere mummery ; 
 for what does it mean? The CHURCH powder to 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 175 
 
 decree rites and ceremonies ! An absolute false- 
 hood. One person in this church, and one person 
 only, has power to decree rites and ceremonies ! The 
 common people pretend to none. The clergy have 
 introduced organs, pictures, candles on the com- 
 munion table, bowing towards the east, and placing 
 the communion table altarwise ; and Wrangham, 
 Archdeacon of Cleveland, has introduced, or some 
 one of his predecessors did so, a trumpet, nearly 
 four feet long, I should judge, into his church at 
 Hunmanby, for one of his performers to sing bass 
 through. I made his clerk, when I visited the 
 diocese of York, in 1829, perform on it, and a 
 most ludicrous effect it had ; but they have had 
 no right to do these things ; for, as the " Common 
 Prayer Book" no where enjoins them, they are ex- 
 pressly prohibited by the Act of Uniformity, which 
 says, no rites or ceremonies shall be used in any 
 church, other than what is prescribed and AP- 
 POINTED to be used in and by the " Common 
 Prayer Book." By what effrontery does a priest 
 allow a long trumpet, and fiddles, and organs, in 
 public worship, after he has subscribed to a 
 homily which declares them to be superstitious ? 
 Or with what presumption does he dare, in direct 
 opposition to Act of Parliament, to invade a pre- 
 rogative that belongs to the crown ? Neither a 
 convocation, nor a House of Commons, nor a 
 House of Lords, nor all together, have a power to 
 decree rites, ceremonies, and articles of faith in the 
 
176 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 established church of England ; the constitution 
 has confirmed it as a royal prerogative, and an- 
 nexed it to the imperial crown of this realm. 
 
 In former times, our kings ceded this prerogative 
 to the pope ; at the Reformation they reclaimed it ; 
 and long after the Reformation they refused to 
 suffer the other branches of the legislature to 
 examine or to meddle with it ; but in later times 
 this prerogative was bounded, and now it is re- 
 strained to the national established church. By 
 the Act of Toleration, the crown agreed to resign, 
 and in effect it did actually resign, this prerogative 
 in regard to the nonconformists ; and this cession 
 is become a part of the constitution by the autho- 
 rity of the whole legislative power of the British 
 empire. The mode of restraint, indeed, is not so 
 explicit as it might have been, but the fact is un- 
 deniable. 
 
 The English nonconformists think civil govern- 
 ment to be natural, necessary, and of divine appoint- 
 ment ; they suppose the form of it to be arbitrary, 
 andleft to the free choice of all nations under heaven; 
 they believe the form of mixed monarchy to be the best 
 for England ; but were they in Venice, they would 
 yield civil obedience to aristocracy, in Holland, to 
 a republic, or in Spain, to an absolute monarchy ; 
 the best mode of civil government making no part 
 of their religion. They think that in all states 
 impliedly," and in the British most expressly, there 
 subsists an original contract between the prince and 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 the people ; they believe the limitation of regal pre- 
 rogative to be by bounds so certain, that it is im- 
 possible a prince should ever exceed them without 
 the consent of the people, one of the principal bul- 
 warks of civil liberty ; they think that there are ordi- 
 nary courses of law clearly established, and not to 
 be disobeyed, and they believe that there are extraor- 
 dinary recources to first principles necessary when 
 the contracts of society are in danger of dissolution. 
 They think these principles alone to be the basis 
 of prerogative and liberty, of the king's title to the 
 crown, and of that freedom which they enjoy under 
 his auspicious reign. And these, their sentiments, 
 are those of the wisest philosophers, the ablest 
 lawyers, and the most accomplished statesmen that 
 England ever produced. 
 
 The English nonconformists absolutely deny all 
 human authority in matters of religion ; they deny 
 it to all civil governments of every form ; they con- 
 sider Christ to be the sole head of the Christian 
 church, and the scriptures to be his only code of con- 
 science law. All the articles of their belief are 
 contained in his doctrine ; all their hopes of obtain- 
 ing immortal felicity in his mediation ; all their 
 moral duties in the great law of nature explained 
 by revelation ; and all their religious rites and eccle- 
 siastical law, in Ms positive institutes, unexplained, 
 or rather unperplexed by humancreeds. They say 
 that Christ himself does not require obedience without 
 
 N 
 
178 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 evidence ; that they submit to him as God gave him, 
 as a prophet, a priest, and a king, on the fullest 
 proof; they say that their religion has nothing hos- 
 tile to civil government, but is highly beneficial to it ; 
 that although it is no part of it to determine the 
 best form, yet it is a part of it to submit in civil 
 matters to the powers that be. On these princi- 
 ples they justify the apostles for enforcing Chris- 
 tianity, when earthly governors rejected it ; the 
 first missionaries who subverted established reli- 
 gions by propagating it ; the reformation from 
 popery ; and the revolution that dethroned high 
 church tyranny. For their civil principles they are 
 ready to die as Britons, and for their religious ones 
 as Christians. 
 
 But we have lost church holidays ! no wonder. 
 Good Friday is a libel against the King of kings ; 
 and always when loyal subjects approach him, the 
 traitor lurks behind, skulks among popes and 
 priests, and hides his guilty head in a cowl, mut- 
 tering, The church hath power to decree rites" 
 and ceremonies. Ah, sirrah ! 
 
 The article of authority, then, amounts to this. 
 In that system of religion which proceeds on the 
 principles of the perfection and sufficiency of scrip- 
 ture, and the sole legislation of Jesus Christ, church 
 holidays are nonentities. In those systems which 
 allow human authority, they rest on the power 
 that appoints them. In this happy country, the 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 179 
 
 power that appoints them is constitutionally 
 bounded, and has agreed to spend its force on as 
 many as choose to submit to it, and to exert itself 
 against all who dare to impede others, who choose 
 to renounce it. So that the authority which ap- 
 points a Good Friday ceremonial, has just as much 
 influence over a British subject as he himself 
 chooses to give it. If he choose to be a member 
 of the national church, to which certainly there are 
 many worldly inducements, he allows human au- 
 thority over conscience, and he ought, in con- 
 science (if it be possible for conscience to agree to 
 its own dissolution), to keep the fast : but if he 
 think proper to dissent, to which certainly there 
 are strong religious inducements, he is protected in 
 disowning the authority, and the obligation is void. 
 When human wisdom affects to adorn a religion of 
 divine revelation, it presumes to paint a diamond, 
 or to lace and embroider the seamless coat of one, 
 whose simplicity is his evidence and his church's 
 glory. When such as St. Austin and St. Gregory, 
 primitive manufacturers of trumpery, imported 
 their bales, and offered their wares to the British 
 church, they were objects of pity or contempt ; but 
 when they presumed to use coercive measures, to 
 make the denizens of heaven purchase their trash ; 
 when a pope, like Judas, came in the night with 
 halberds, and swords, and staves, -- Merciful 
 God! couldst thou be angry with our ancestors 
 
 N 2 
 
180 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 for hand-cuffing the felon, and whipping him out of 
 their isle ! The punishment was too little for the 
 crime. They should have burnt even his rags 
 with fire ! 
 
 " The fury fiend, with many a felon deed, 
 Had stirr'd up mickle mischievous despight." 
 
181 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 IP piety be the discharge of duty toward God, 
 there are only two short questions to answer. 
 First, is the observation of an annual fast in com- 
 memoration of the death of Christ, a duty required 
 by almighty God ? Next, how is this duty dis- 
 charged by those who think it to be such ? 
 
 All the duties which God requires of mankind, 
 are contained in the moral law. Moral obligations 
 are founded in the nature and fitness of things. 
 There is a fitness between the care of a parent and 
 the obedience of a child. Filial obedience is, 
 therefore, a moral duty. There is a fitness be- 
 tween civil government and taxes. Governors 
 protect subjects ; and subjects ought, therefore, to 
 support governors. Taxes, for the necessary sup- 
 port of government, are therefore dues, and the 
 payment of them a moral obligation. But nobody 
 ever yet pretended to make the celebration of 
 Easter, a part of the moral law. 
 
 The other class of duties, required of all Chris- 
 
182 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED, 
 
 tians, is contained in positive institutes. (Baptism 
 is a positive institute.) They would not have been 
 obligatory, they would not have been known, had 
 not the Christian Legislator instituted them : and 
 they are obeyed, now they are appointed, in proper 
 submission to his authority. But has he appointed 
 this fast ? Does it not wander about a mere beg- 
 gar, actually destitute of every token of a legiti- 
 mate divine institute ? 
 
 Since the observation of church holidays is 
 no part of piety, then, we are driven, for want of 
 materials to fill up this article in decent guise, to 
 the sad necessity of turning the tables, and of 
 considering the impiety of that black and bloody 
 day, commonly called Good Friday. Were we to 
 collect into one aggregate sum the impious actions 
 that belong to the introduction, the establishment, 
 and the support of ceremonies, one of which is this 
 day ; were we to balance accounts between moral 
 law and human institutes, we should be obliged to 
 charge to the latter a most enormous and ruinous 
 sum. We should set down the unwarrantable im- 
 plication of the imperfection of Christianity as 
 Jesus Christ appointed it ; the incorrigible obsti- 
 nacy of Judaising bunglers, who united a provincial 
 ritual with an universal religion ; the rash enter- 
 prises of minute philosophers, who associated the 
 mummeries of Belial with the miracles of Christ ; 
 the paltry babbling of traditionists, whose imper- 
 tinence put on pretensions to give evidence to wise 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 183 
 
 and grave men, by their senseless repetitions of 
 " I hear say, that he heard say, that she heard 
 say, that they heard say ;" the self-employed and 
 uncommissioned racket of councils ; the daring 
 achievements of those knights errant, the popes 
 of Rome ; the base concessions and self-contra- 
 dictions of their hierarchial squires ; their natter- 
 ing, betraying, befooling, deserting, and assassi- 
 nating emperors and kings ; the subverting of all 
 sound maxims of civil polity, every dictate of right 
 reason, the sacred bonds of society, and the na- 
 tural rights of mankind ; the degrading of magis- 
 tracy, the banishment of thousands, the blood- 
 shedding *##* (Oh, where shall we end !) ***# all 
 these under a mask of hypocrisy, a pious pretence 
 of uniformity, the erection of a godly order in 
 Christen states amonge the holye stock that Jesu boughte 
 with hys owne bloode ! I know I shall be reputed a 
 silly enthusiast for what I am going to say ; but 
 what care I ? When the bells chime to call people 
 to celebrate Good Friday, methinks they say to me, 
 count the cost! ***# thinking Christian, count the cost! 
 I do so, and I weep. **** Am I not a fool ? **** 
 I can't help it. **** I pour out floods of tears to 
 think what human ceremonies have cost all man- 
 kind, and particularly what a dreadful price my 
 native country has paid for them ; and I wish, with 
 Luther, that there were no feast days among 
 Christians, except Sundays. 
 
 All Christians are not of our opinion. Some 
 
184 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 think the observation of this day a duty of religion. 
 Very well. I wish to be instructed. Permit me 
 to see how the duty is discharged. The far greater 
 part of the members of the established church pay no 
 regard at all to Good Friday, nor do some of them 
 know why it is appointed. But there is no piety in 
 professing a religion which is neither understood nor 
 obeyed. The greater part of opulent members of 
 this community pay no other attention to the day 
 than dining on fish, in preference to flesh. This is 
 not piety. Numbers of the clergy read the ritual, 
 and deliver a sermon composed by others ; and this 
 is their whole performance. Most artificers, and 
 people of the lower class, imitate their superiors. 
 Some of them do not observe the day at all; and 
 others, who hate work worse than witchcraft, go 
 in the morning to church, and in the evening to the 
 alehouse, and there deposit piety till Easter Sunday, 
 when they travel the same round again. Should a 
 man lay aside secular affairs, abstain from food, 
 dress in black, go to church, say after the parson, 
 hear the sermon, and close the day without com- 
 pany and cards, who but a fanatic would pretend 
 to arraign the conduct of this man ? And yet, 
 most certain it is, he may do all these without 
 performing one act of genuine piety. 
 
 In short, there are two general parents of reli- 
 gious action custom and conscience. The first ger- 
 minates, and produces a blind, sordid, sorry, crawl- 
 ing lusus, denominated religion, but which is really 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 185 
 
 superstition. The latter, conscience, may be ener- 
 vated by ignorance, sloth, scrupulosity, and secular 
 interest ; and in this ill state of health may pro- 
 duce a weak family of genuine moral virtues, and 
 of silly deformed superstitions ; but, being right in 
 the main, she will always pay her first and chief 
 attention to her moral offspring. Positive insti- 
 tutes, and even human inventions, may be obeyed 
 by people of this kind; but they will never encroach 
 on the rights of natural, necessary, moral law. 
 If the ceremonial of religion supply the place of 
 religion itself, if the former derogate from the 
 latter, if the former divert the attention of the 
 latter, it becomes a reprehensible superstition. 
 
 What, then, shall we say of those whose whole 
 piety lies in the observation of days, and times, and 
 years ? We know what an inspired apostle said 
 to such people " I am afraid I have bestowed 
 upon you labour in vain.' 1 Father of universal 
 nature ! in vain hast thou given us capacity, 
 learning, reason, and religion ; in vain does the 
 knowledge of all antiquity shine around us ; in 
 vain has the law of nature been explained to us by 
 the writers of revelation ; in vain hast thou be- 
 stowed thy best and richest gift the gospel on us, 
 and a government that allows us to judge of it. 
 We live in the open violation of all thy laws ; we 
 curse, and swear, and blaspheme ; we profane 
 thy holy sabbaths ; we are guilty of drunkenness, 
 debauchery, perjury, simony, bribery, impiety, and 
 
186 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 irreligion of all kinds ; our children are unedu- 
 cated in religious principles ; our property is 
 wasted in gaming and amusements, our priests 
 and our prophets exemplify luxury, and we 
 expect to avert all our deserved miseries, and to 
 atone for all our impieties, by saying, Have we not 
 fasted on Good Friday, and feasted on Easter 
 Sunday ? The Jewish priests, at the worst of 
 times, prophesied for hire, but some Christian 
 priests take the hire, and prophesy not. They vote, 
 indeed! But say, ye plundered nabobs ! ye French 
 Candian papists ! ye widows and orphans ! ye de- 
 populated cities, and ruined commerce of rebellious 
 colonists ! say, for what do British ministers of the 
 Prince of Peace vote ? **** They vote that you 
 and your children must fast on Good F riday ! 
 
187 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 BEFORE Christianity was understood in the world, 
 the first apologists for it thought themselves 
 happy, as St. Paul expresses it, when they were 
 called to defend it before equitable civil magistrates 
 in courts of legal judicature. They had great 
 reason to rejoice in these opportunities, for they 
 taught a religion which recommended itself to all 
 just governments, by its perfect agreement with 
 civil polity. Primitive Christianity wanted only 
 to be known it was sure to gain ground by being 
 understood. These divine men were able to say, 
 Is the origin of civil government sacred ? We 
 teach that civil government is ordained by God. 
 Is the well-being of the whole the supreme law in 
 civil polity? So it is in Christianity. Do the 
 states flourish when the people yield a ready obe- 
 dience to civil government, and venerate the dig- 
 nity of magistracy? Christianity inculcates this. 
 Do temperance, industry, piety, and virtue, render 
 states happy ? Christianity forcibly inculcates 
 
188 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 these. Are states happy when discords do not pre- 
 vail, when kind offices abound among citizens, when 
 benevolence and philanthropy pervade the whole? 
 Christianity abolishes party factions and odious 
 distinctions, and curbs the passions that produce 
 them ; and as to universal love, it is the religion 
 of Jesus itself. Do states enjoy tranquillity, when 
 learning and liberty, conscience and virtue, are 
 nourished, and when impartial equity rewards 
 merit, and restrains and punishes vice ? Chris- 
 tianity does all these. Are states safe when they 
 retain a constitutional power of redressing griev- 
 ances, of insuring life, liberty, and property from 
 foreign and domestic invasion, and of reducing all 
 cases to one invariable standard of impartial and 
 universal justice? Christianity inculcates prin- 
 ciples productive of all this. No instance, there- 
 fore, can be produced of our attempting to subvert 
 civil government ; on the contrary, we are en- 
 trusted with a conciliating plan of universal peace 
 between secular and sacred things, by Jesus Christ. 
 The corrupters of Christianity deprived it of 
 this noble feature ; they bartered purity for power, 
 exchanged argument for authority, and made a 
 scandalous truck of all the truths and virtues of 
 religion for the seals of a prince, and the keys of a 
 jail. They invented words of inexplicable mystery, 
 and inflicted penalties on those who could not 
 interpret their dreams. They cast innumerable 
 canons, and with them destroyed the lives, and 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 189 
 
 liberties, and property of their peaceable brethren. 
 They armed priests with secular power, and co- 
 vered their barbarous use of it with infinite pomp. 
 They excited princes to hate, persecute, banish, 
 and burn their subjects for matters of conscience. 
 They thought lay subjects beneath notice, kings 
 above law, and themselves above kings. To their 
 conduct it is owing that most great men consider 
 religion as nothing more than an engine of state. 
 
 We hope that Christianity will in time recover 
 from these deadly wounds ; but healing and health 
 must never be expected from such prescriptions as 
 are made up of the false principles that produced 
 the injury. The great and only object of such books 
 as Hooker's Church Polity, and Gibson's Codex, 
 is the support of the hierarchy. God knows, no 
 positions can be less true, no principles more 
 dangerous than those laid down in these compila- 
 tions. Civilians, sufficiently feed, could build on 
 them the whole fabric of popery ; for the evident 
 drift of them is not only to render the church inde- 
 pendent of the state, but to place the state in a 
 condition of dependence on the church. Their 
 system is false in itself, inconsistent with scripture, 
 incompatible with the British constitution, and 
 destructive of Christ's spiritual design. These 
 writers have wrapped their sentiments in the dark 
 clothing of metaphorical style, and there they lurk 
 in seeming asylum. There is an imaginary being 
 called the church governing, distinct from the 
 
190 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 church governed : this animal has sex, in violation 
 of the English language, and the laws of precise 
 argumentation. She is either married or a prosti- 
 tute, for she is a mother, it seems, and has children. 
 All this may be rhetoric, but it is not reason ; less 
 still can it be called religion, and least of all is it 
 that religion which Jesus taught, and which never 
 diminishes the glory of civil polity. 
 
 The religion of Christ is the most simple thing in 
 the world. His church was not formed on the 
 plan of the Jewish government, either of the state, 
 temple, sanhedrim, or synagogue ; nor on that of 
 any other state, either of Rome or of Athens. The 
 decree of the Christian church at Jerusalem, called 
 by mistake the first council, was not enforced by 
 civil authority. Canons, in the primitive church, 
 were devoid of coercion ; the Emperor Justinian 
 adopted them, and metamorphosed them into civil 
 law. There were, in the primitive church, no 
 coercive powers ; particular churches were united 
 only by faith and love, in all civil affairs they 
 were governed by civil magistrates, and in sacred 
 matters they were ruled by the advice, reasons, and 
 exhortations, of their freely-elected officers. Their 
 censures were only honest reproofs, and their ex- 
 communications were nothing more than declara- 
 tions that the offenders were incorrigible, and were 
 no longer accounted members of their societies. 
 The term hierarchy was unknown, and hierodulia 
 would have been the proper description then : it 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 191 
 
 was a spiritual kingdom, not of this world; it did not 
 injure, it could not possibly injure, sound civil 
 polity. The primitive Christians were taxed with 
 holding seditious principles ; and this calumny 
 they merited for not getting drunk on Caesar's 
 birth-day ; for holding their religious assemblies 
 in the night, when secular business was over ; 
 for refusing to swear by the genius of Caesar ; 
 for scrupling to give him the titles that belonged 
 to God ; for talking of a kingdom of saints upon 
 earth. However, these sons of sedition prayed 
 for Caesar, taught all due obedience to him, paid 
 his tribute, fought in his wars, treated all inferior 
 magistrates with profound respect ; and these 
 things they did, not for prudential reasons of 
 worldly policy, but from examined and ascertained 
 principles of genuine Christianity. 
 
 The whole farrago of a secular religion is a 
 burden, an expense, a distress to government, and 
 every corrupt part and parcel of it is in some way 
 or other injurious to civil polity. Consider a king- 
 dom as one large family, sum up the priesthood 
 into one domestic chaplain, compare what he 
 costs with the good he does, and judge whether 
 the family gains as it ought, or loses as it ought 
 not, by his chaplainship ? 
 
 To come to the point. We apply these general 
 strictures to one article, consisting of fasts, feasts, 
 and holidays. We divide them into five classes, 
 and discharge four of them. In the first, we place 
 
192 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 all those obsolete holidays which were in vogue 
 before the Reformation, such as the Assumption, 
 the Conception, Silvester, Britius, and such like, 
 which were very properly retained in the calendar 
 at the Reformation for law uses, for the ascertain- 
 ing of the times of tenures, and of the payment of 
 dues, or of charitable donations that were dated 
 by these days. In a second class we put all the 
 Sundays in the year, for although some divines 
 hold the morality of the sabbath, and others place it 
 among positive institutes, yet all agree in the 
 necessity of keeping a day, and a pious clergy 
 know how to improve it to the noblest uses of 
 church and state. In a third, we put all red-letter 
 days, as coronation days, birth-days, and others. 
 The suspending of business on these days is a very 
 proper compliment to our civil governors, and the 
 health and spirits of gentlemen confined in public 
 offices require relaxation and exercise. Nobody 
 pretends to make religion of these, and they are on 
 many accounts quite necessary. In a fourth class 
 we put all those Saints' days, and other holidays 
 which the clergy are obliged by their superiors to 
 observe. They ought not to complain if they are 
 required to fast on the 30th of January, for the 
 expiation of a crime which no man alive com- 
 mitted, for they are amply rewarded by many a 
 festival, from which none but themselves ever 
 derived the least benefit. All these we dismiss, 
 and retain only a fifth sort of holiday, which con- 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 193 
 
 stitution and custom engage the whole national 
 church to observe ; the smallest number of these 
 days is TEN. A very little attention will convince 
 us, that the observation of these ten holidays are 
 productive of no real advantage, but, on the con- 
 trary, of much damage to the nation at large. 
 
 As these festivals are generally observed, they 
 hurt the health, the morals, and the little pro- 
 perty of the poor ; they depress virtue, encourage 
 vice, and generate superstition; they clog business, 
 burden the clergy, increase the rates of parishes, 
 endanger the peace of society at large, and perplex 
 magistrates ; in a word, they impoverish the king- 
 dom, in proportion to the extent of their influence. 
 
 To examine only one of these items. Suppose a 
 day labourer to be employed all the year at seven shil- 
 lings a week, that is, at fourteen pence a day ; ten 
 days of his time are worth, to his family, eleven shil- 
 lings and eight pence. Not to earn, is to pay ; and 
 this poor fellow is actually at the annual charge of 
 eleven shillings and eight-pence, for the support of 
 annual festivals. Let us suppose further, that his 
 wife earns sixpence a day, and his four children four 
 pence each, at stone gathering or any other work ; 
 ten days of the woman's time are worth five shil- 
 lings ; ten days of each child are worth three shil- 
 lings and fourpence. So that this man's wife and 
 children pay for festivals, eighteen shillings and 
 four pence a year ! We are further to add the 
 extraordinary expenses of his family on these 
 
194 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 days, for it is all a farce to talk of their fasting ; 
 they have no fasts in their calendar : all are fes- 
 tivals with them, and they never fast when they can 
 obtain food. We may allow the poor man, then, 
 one shilling on each day to spend at the ale-house, 
 and his family one more for tea, beer, nuts, ginger- 
 bread, and so on. We are to add, then, twenty 
 shillings more to his account, and his reckoning 
 stands thus : 
 
 To 10 days' work, at Is. 2d. each .0 11 8 
 
 To 10 days' work of wife, at 6d 050 
 
 To 10 days' work of 4 children, at 4d. each per day. 13 4 
 To 10 days' extra expenses for self and family, at 
 
 2s.perday ^,. 1 
 
 Total.. ,..2 10 
 
 Is not the sum of fifty shillings (enormous for 
 this family) a heavy tax paid for a cargo of idle- 
 ness ? Let us suppose this poor man to enter 
 thoroughly into the pretended design of the day 
 to abstain from food as well as work, to fast, and 
 pray, and spend nothing ; still the fast costs him 
 all the money that he avoids earning, and this 
 simple devotee would pay twenty or thirty shillings 
 a year for the privilege of emaciating himself. 
 
 But the people derive great advantages from 
 festivals ! Good God ! Is religion magic ? What 
 people derive advantages from festivals ? They who 
 never attend them ? It is notorious that the poor 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 195 
 
 are not to be found at church on Easter and Whit- 
 sun holidays. Inquire for the London populace 
 at Greenwich, and for the country people in the 
 various ale-houses. To say, that they might reap 
 benefits, and they ought to pay for the liberty, is 
 equal to saying, that the sober populace might get 
 drunk, and they ought to pay the reckoning of 
 those who do. 
 
 Whatever advantages they derive from church 
 holidays, many of their neighbours derive great 
 disadvantages from their sinking fifty shillings 
 annually to support them. This poor fellow should 
 pay thirty shillings a year rent for his cottage, 
 but the landlord never gets it ; yet he would thank 
 him to pay his rent by ten days' work for him. He 
 can pay no rates to the parish, nor any taxes to 
 government ; yet were he allowed to earn fifty 
 shillings a year more than he does, he could pay 
 both, and save money to buy a pig, or a bullock, 
 and firing too. He owes something to the doctor 
 for physic, and something to the shop for food - 
 debts contracted in lyings-in and illness ; he can 
 pay none of these driblets ; yet he could pay all, 
 were he allowed to earn fifty shillings a year more, 
 and to deposit it for the payment of debts. Besides, 
 he got drunk on the feast of the Epiphany, which 
 he, a heathen, called twelfth-night, set up a score 
 at the ale-house, rolled in the dirt, spoiled his 
 clothes, lost his hat, fought with Sam Stride, who 
 sent him a lawyer's letter, for which he paid six 
 
 o 2 
 
196 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED, 
 
 and eight pence, beside a guinea to Stride to 
 make it up ; and on the same night he gave a 
 girl nineteen pence for the liberty of leaving a 
 bastard to the parish ; magistrates were tormented 
 with warrants, and oaths, and depositions ; peace- 
 able subjects, with the interruptions of riot and 
 debauchery ; the whole business of the parish 
 stood still, and the industrious were obliged to 
 pay, out of their honest gains, the whole expense 
 at last. 
 
 What ! it will be said, would you keep these 
 people in eternal employment, and allow them no 
 holidays ? I would keep them in perpetual em- 
 ployment. Six days they should labour, and do all 
 they have to do; the seventh, being the sabbath 
 of the Lord their God, the clergy should so per- 
 form divine service as to engage them voluntarily 
 to choose to fill a religious assembly ; their children 
 should be catechized; and rational and agreeable 
 pains should be taken to instil the great principles 
 of religion into them ; they should be taught a 
 practice of piety, and a course of virtue. Religion 
 should be unmasked and exposed in its own beauty 
 to their view : at present it appears to them an 
 unmeaning incumbrance of expensive forms ; their 
 infants are questioned and sprinkled ; their wives 
 pay a shilling, and are churched ; they are generally 
 funny at a wedding, and feel no expense but the 
 ring ; they eat cross-buns on Good Friday, are 
 merry at Easter, and mad at Christmas ; they 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 197 
 
 pay small tithes through life, and are buried in 
 form when they die ; and they call this the Christian 
 religion, in the best constituted church in the 
 world, and abuse all who think otherwise as knaves 
 and fools, ignorant of God, and disloyal to the 
 king ! As to holidays, let the poor take as many 
 as they can afford, and their masters can spare. 
 Far be it from me to wish to abridge their liberty, 
 or diminish their little enjoyments of life ; but 
 let us not make religion of their gambols, nor 
 enrol their pastimes among the laws of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 There were, in the ritual of our ancestors, above 
 two hundred festal days, many of them in seed 
 time, hay time, and harvest. Great complaints 
 were made to Parliament. The Church, it was 
 said, would ruin the State. While the people were 
 telling beads, and the priests chanting and preaching 
 away, the corn lay rotting in the fields, cattle were 
 neglected, commerce was at a stand, and the nation 
 was starving. The legislature struck off, first, 
 harvest holidays, and then others, and what remain 
 were left for a decoy to papists, to the great grief 
 of numbers who submitted to them, and who 
 wished to get rid of superstition the rust and the 
 rind of popery. 
 
 If any imagine these festivals necessary for 
 the sake of informing people of the events that 
 are commemorated on them, and of preserving 
 and perpetuating their remembrance, we only 
 
198 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 
 
 beg leave to ask Where was Christianity so well 
 understood as in the primitive churches, which 
 celebrated none of them ? Where is the Christian 
 religion less understood than in the Roman com- 
 munity, where they are celebrated without end ? 
 Who understood Christianity best, our Saxon an- 
 cestors, who had many festivals, or our immediate 
 parents, who had few ? Is religion better under- 
 stood in these reformed churches where they are 
 celebrated, than in those where they are omitted ? 
 Does religion consist in the bare remembrance of 
 a few events in the life of Jesus Christ ? May not 
 all the ends proposed by the observation of church 
 holidays be better answered without it ? Do we 
 not sacrifice many great advantages, and put our- 
 selves to unnecessary inconveniences and expenses, 
 for mere shadows, which never can be substan- 
 tiated without civil coercion ? Is not the likeliest 
 method to make the clergy loathe the necessary 
 parts of their office, the obliging of them to drudge 
 alone in unnecessary exercises ? Many articles are 
 omitted, underrated, and half reasoned; but we 
 have said enough, perhaps too much, on the evil 
 polity of church holidays. 
 
199 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 SHOULD any parish priest of genuine and generous 
 piety (for to sycophants and bigots we have nothing 
 to say,) who loves God, reveres his king, wishes 
 well to his country, and to all mankind, should 
 such a man say, " I mourn for the vices and cala- 
 mities of my country, and I dread those chastise- 
 ments of Providence which national sins deserve ; 
 I wish to contribute my mite to the public good ; 
 but I know no better way of promoting it, than 
 by inculcating the observation of fasts and feasts, 
 and approved rituals ;" I would venture to reply 
 to him thus : 
 
 ' ' Reverend Sir ! I give you credit for being a 
 man too wise to quibble about style, where mat- 
 ters of the highest importance are in hand, and too 
 good to be offended with the honest bluntness of 
 one, whose reigning passion is to wish felicity to 
 all mankind. Pardon me, then, if I take the 
 liberty to say, that the cool, disinterested part of 
 mankind consider a hierarchy as they consider a 
 
200 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED, 
 
 standing military force. In absolute monarchies, 
 where the main principle of the constitution is 
 that of governing by fear, a hierarchy is essentially 
 necessary to the despotism of the prince ; but in 
 free states a hierarchy will always justly be an 
 object of jealousy. Hierarchial powers have found 
 many a state free, and reduced it to slavery ; but 
 there is no instance of their having brought an 
 enslaved state into Christian liberty. Your country, 
 Sir, is almost the only one in the universe, in 
 which civil liberty is the very end and scope of 
 the constitution. You should therefore acquaint 
 yourself well with all the singular polity of this 
 country, which is governed by a system of laws, 
 all tending to the one great design civil liberty, 
 and you should not put off the man, the citizen, 
 and the Christian, when you put on the clerical 
 character. 
 
 " You profess a religion, Sir, which agrees with 
 civil polity ; you know how some of your order 
 have deprived it of this glory by resisting or duping 
 their civil governors in order to aggrandize them- 
 selves. Recover that character to Christianity, 
 which those tools of a desperate cause, Austin and 
 Lanfrank, Dunstan and Anselm, Thurstan and 
 Becket, Longchamp and Peckham, Arundel and 
 Chichley, Wolsey and Bonner, Parker and Whit- 
 gift, Bancroft and Laud, and others of more modern 
 times, have vilely squandered away. Leave secular 
 affairs to secular men. Have no more to do than 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 201 
 
 what you cannot possibly avoid, with commissions 
 of the peace, county elections, commissions for 
 roads, the civil affairs of hospitals, corporations, and 
 so on. You may have rights as a gentleman, but it 
 is not necessary you should lay aside the character 
 of a gentleman for the sake of asserting them. 
 Civil government administered by clerical men 
 always inspires the laity with jealousy, and the 
 poor with contempt. In your office, be no aspiring 
 statesman's tool for filthy lucre's sake. Do not 
 dare to lift your unhallowed hand against the 
 sovereign's title to the crown, and the people's 
 right to liberty, by brandishing the obsolete and 
 execrable doctrines of passive obedience, non-re- 
 sistance, the divine right of kings, and all the un- 
 constitutional positions which the supreme legis- 
 lature consigned to eternal oblivion at the glorious 
 revolution. Your superior may put you on utter- 
 ing what he dare not utter himself, in order to 
 feel the popular pulse ; and he may procure in- 
 terested hirelings to applaud you, and promise 
 that preferment to you which he intends for him- 
 self. If you perish in the attempt, what cares he ? 
 But do not deceive yourself. The present king 
 will never prefer men of arbitrary and unconsti- 
 tutional principles. His Majesty perfectly com- 
 prehends the nature of the British constitution ; 
 and, as he magnanimously aspires at the glory of 
 reigning over a free people, who have confidence 
 in his goodness, it is impossible he should smile 
 
202 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 on those who lay the axe to the root of the con- 
 stitution, and would, by one fatal blow, fell those 
 twin branches his title and his people's liberties. 
 Stir up no strife in your public preaching, nor 
 teach your parish to abhor an inhabitant of it for 
 praying in a barn. Never persecute for religion's 
 sake. Never oppress conscience. Never dis- 
 countenance piety in other communities, lest men 
 should think you not a minister of religion, but the 
 tool of a party. Never condemn denominations 
 in the gross, nor impute principles and practices 
 to them which they abhor. Sow no jealousies or 
 discords in families. Cultivate the general prin- 
 ciples of Christianity more than the peculiarities of 
 your own party, and the rights of all mankind 
 rather than the ritual of a very inconsiderable part 
 of them. 
 
 " You are the minister of a religion remarkable 
 for its morality. Do nothing to weaken this evi- 
 dence of its divinity. 
 
 " Avoid all gross vices, drunkenness, adultery, 
 lying, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking. It is not 
 enough for you to abstain from swearing and 
 lying ; you must not take God's name in vain, nor 
 allow yourself to prevaricate. Abstain from what 
 the scripture calls filthiness of spirit ; pride, levity, 
 hypocrisy, avarice, discontent, distrust, mental 
 immoralities. Practise all the moral duties, and let 
 your flock see as well as hear your doctrine. Have 
 no fellowship with those unfruitful works of dark- 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 203 
 
 ness gaming, horse-racing, frequenting taverns 
 and ale-houses, play-houses, opera-houses, balls, 
 assemblies, and masquerades. Avoid also hunt- 
 ing, shooting, dangling at the heels of Sir Robert, 
 cringing at the levee of my lord, and fetching and 
 carrying for my lady ; all of which, whatever may 
 be said for secular men, are highly improper for 
 you. The minister of Christ must at least appear 
 to be a man of delicate and refined moral virtue. 
 
 " You are a minister of revealed religion. Study 
 the holy scriptures, distinguish the doctrines of 
 revelation from the discoveries of philosophers ; 
 the precepts of Christ from the prudential laws of 
 Epictetus ; the doctrines and laws of his kingdom 
 from human creeds and worldly maxims ; and do 
 not imagine that classics and mathematics, novels 
 and plays, contain a body of Christian divinity. 
 Never turn the sacred truths of revelation into 
 ridicule, nor call " being born again," " fearing 
 the Lord," (( praying by the spirit," the cant of a 
 party. The phraseology of scripture may have 
 been misunderstood, but you should not discard 
 both comment and text ; you have adopted the 
 book, and you ought to explain its meaning. 
 Avail yourself of all opportunities of disseminating 
 scriptural knowledge. Instruct the children and 
 the poor in your parish. Carry religion home to 
 their bosoms. Lay aside the self-important haugh- 
 tiness of a priest, and put on the meek and humble 
 temper of your Master. Go into the cottages of 
 
204 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 the poor. Encourage their meeting together to 
 pray, and read the holy scriptures. Teach them 
 to set up family worship, to perform a course of 
 domestic devotion ; and, above all things, never 
 countenance the profanation of the sabbath, but 
 teach them to reverence and improve it. 
 
 " You are, Sir, a minister in a rich community. 
 Your country gives you good wages, and at least 
 some work is expected. Employ your emoluments 
 to better purposes than those of dress and equi- 
 page, Sunday visits, midnight revels, assemblies, 
 simoniacal contracts, and such like. Detest the 
 miserable disposition of hoarding wealth, and 
 dread being possessed by the lust of rising to 
 preferment. Remember, all church emoluments 
 are fiduciary, and they lapse into the public hand 
 when the services for which they were granted are 
 not performed. Flatter the vices of no patron, but, 
 with a modest boldness, reprove them. Dare to be 
 upright. Despise the shame of singularity. Touch 
 no sinecures. Renounce needless pluralities. Do 
 not plead for non-residence ; and if you must have 
 a curate, let him share both work and wages. It 
 would be tedious to you were I to go through the 
 duties that are annexed to all offices, from the curate 
 up to the Metropolitan of all England ; I will only 
 beg your patience, while I add, in general avoid 
 the six vices that disgrace too many of your order. 
 Destroy the prejudices of deists and infidels ; allow, 
 at least, the probability of some defection, and 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 205 
 
 adopt the course prescribed by the oracles of 
 God. 
 
 11 The principal vices that disgrace the clergy 
 are First, Ignorance of Christian divinity. Second, 
 Perjury, if they subscribe upon oath their belief of 
 propositions, which they have either not examined 
 or do not believe. Third, Ambition, expressed in 
 a haughty reserve in private life, and a vain and 
 pompous parade in public, a pedantic affectation 
 of wisdom of words in their public preaching, by 
 which they sacrifice the edification of a whole con- 
 gregation to the silly vanity of shining as men of 
 genius. Fourth, Insatiable avarice ; being ten 
 thousand times more tenacious of a fourpenny 
 Easter offering than of all the Ten Commandments. 
 Fifth, Time-serving, always pursuing those mea- 
 sures which serve their own interest, surrendering 
 to it philosophy and divinity, the interests of their 
 country, and the honour of their God. Sixth, Hy- 
 pocrisy ; acting a part ; recommending Christianity 
 by office, and establishing Paganism by inclination ; 
 at church in masquerade, and at play in their 
 native character. Such priests as these turn the 
 heavenly manna into poison. They give the ene- 
 mies of religion cause to blaspheme, and are the 
 ridicule of atheists, and the reasons of deism ! Be 
 it your holy ambition, Sir, to wipe off the foul 
 prejudices that deform the face of a weeping re- 
 formed church. Your community is suspected of 
 symbolising with popery, for Parpalio, the pope's 
 
206 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 nuncio, offered, in the pope's name, to confirm your 
 service book. All reformed divines own that the 
 distinguishing characters of that apostate church 
 are three superstition, tyranny, and immorality. 
 Are there no evidences of your possessing these 
 marks of anti-christianism ? Are your morals un- 
 corrupt ? Do you place no religion in habits, 
 places, words, and forms ? Have you resigned 
 that unrighteous dominion over conscience, which, 
 in less inquisitive times, your order unjustly ac- 
 quired? Have you, like other penitents, joined 
 restitution to repentance ? Have you expelled no 
 students for praying, and reading the scriptures ? 
 Denied ordination to no candidates on account of 
 their holding the doctrines of your own articles ? 
 Suspended and persecuted no clergymen for preach- 
 ing more zealously than yourselves ? Have you 
 awed none into silence, who would speak if they 
 dare ? What said you to your petitioning col- 
 leagues ? And what to the dissenting clergy, 
 whom you flatter, and soothe, and call brethren in 
 Christ? Are they freed from oaths, and subscrip- 
 tions, and penal laws ? ** : * : * CHRISTIAN LIBERTY ! 
 Thou favourite offspring of heaven ! Thou first- 
 born of Christianity! I saw the wise and pious 
 servants of God nourish thee in their houses, and 
 cherish thee in their bosoms ! I saw them lead 
 thee into public view ! All good men hailed thee ! 
 The generous BRITISH COMMONS caressed and 
 praised thee, and led thee into an upper house, and 
 
HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 207 
 
 there *** : * : there didst thou expire in the holy laps of 
 spiritual Lords ! **** Allow that it is not impossible, 
 nor improbable, but very likely, that MAY have 
 happened in Christianity, which has happened in 
 law ; multifarious statutes have obscured plain 
 common law. Changing the term law for divinity, 
 I will recite the words of one of the chief orna- 
 ments of the learned profession: The Christian 
 religion has fared like other venerable edifices of 
 antiquity, which rash and inexperienced workmen 
 have ventured to new dress and refine with all the 
 rage of modern improvement ; hence, frequently 
 its symmetry has been destroyed, its proportions 
 distorted, and its MAJESTIC SIMPLICITY exchanged 
 for specious embellishments and fantastic novel- 
 ties. For, to say the truth, all niceties and intri- 
 cacies owe their original, not to scripture divinity, 
 but to additions and innovations, often on a sud- 
 den penned by men, who had none, or very little 
 judgment in divinity. 
 
 " In fine, Sir, feed the flock of God, which 
 he has purchased with his own blood. Covet no 
 man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Warn every 
 one night and day with tears. Serve the Lord 
 with all humility of mind. Keep back nothing 
 that is profitable. Teach publicly, and from house 
 to house. Testify to Jews and Greeks neither 
 worldly politics nor human inventions, but repent- 
 ance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Watch in all things. Do the work of an 
 
208 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry. 
 Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doc- 
 trine. Meditate upon these things. GIVE THY- 
 SELF WHOLLY TO THEM. Do these things, and then, 
 when you are become venerably hoary in the best 
 of services, finish your course with joy ! Take 
 Britain and her colonies, Protestantism and Popery, 
 Canada and China, your own church and other 
 reformed churches, heaven and earth, to record 
 that you are pure from the blood of all men. 
 Quit the world like your divine Master, and 
 ascend to heaven, you blessing us, and we ad- 
 miring you ! 
 
 " But if, on the contrary, neglecting all the duties 
 of your office, and practising all the vices that ever 
 provoked the patience of God and man ; if you 
 enter the church by that door by which Ananias 
 was turned out, professing to be moved by the 
 Spirit of God, while you are actuated only by am- 
 bition or avarice ; if, so far from coming up to the 
 spirit of those qualifications which are required to 
 ordination, you fall short of their very letter, either 
 in learning, morality, or knowledge of theology ; 
 if you subscribe thirty-nine articles, three creeds, 
 the genuine and apocryphal scriptures, the books 
 of prayer, ordination, and homilies, and swear 
 canonical obedience to one hundred and forty-one 
 canons, without having read, examined, and be- 
 lieved the whole ; if you take the oath of supre- 
 macy, and hold, that the church hath legislative 
 
^Bas^- 
 
 'lff-^J^^ 
 
 \X5 
 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 209 
 
 power; if you abjure popery upon oath, and yet 
 hold the principal articles that support it ; if you 
 swear allegiance to his Majesty, and teach anti- 
 revolutionary principles ; if you obtain preferment 
 by simony, direct or indirect ; if you take charge 
 of two thousand souls, and never speak to one 
 thousand nine hundred of them ; if you hold con- 
 tradictory doctrines, while you prof ess uniformity ; 
 if you have a catechism, and never teach it; if you 
 neglectyour duty, to hunt after preferment; if you 
 enjoy the emoluments of a spiritual office in person, 
 and do the service of it by proxy ; if you hate re- 
 formation, and depreciate and persecute those who 
 would reform you ; if you misrepresent peaceable 
 subjects, taxing them with heresy, schism, and re- 
 publicanism, and strive to render their loyalty to 
 the crown, and their love to the constitution, doubt- 
 ful ; if you profane the sabbath, and ordinances of 
 divine appointment; if all your study be to make a 
 fair show in the flesh; if you mind only earthly 
 things, your God being your belly, and glorying in 
 your shame and vainly imagine to cover all these 
 crimes by observing a Good Friday, and so to gull 
 mankind into a persuasion of your sapience and 
 sanctity, know, of a truth, the time may come, 
 when your civil governors may see it as necessary 
 to reform your reformation as their ancestors did 
 to reform the religion of your predecessors. Till 
 then, although the religion of pious spectators will 
 not suffer them to hurt a hair of your head, yet the 
 
 p 
 
210 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 
 
 same religion will oblige them to say of you, "This 
 evil man talks of light while his feet are stumbling 
 on dark mountains : his country and the small 
 remains of his own conscience, the canons of his 
 church and the laws of the state, the liberalities 
 of his prince and the tears of his brethren, the 
 ashes of Burnets, and Hoadlys, and Lardners, 
 the best judgments of Heaven on degenerate 
 priests and incorrigible nations, all call him to his 
 duty, and warn him of the danger of falling into 
 the hands of an angry God. If he will not hear, 
 our souls shall weep in secret places for his igno- 
 rance and pride." 
 
211 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 PLAINNESS and simplicity are not more inseparable 
 marks of any other truth than they are of that 
 religion which wants neither paint nor pageantry 
 to recommend it to the hearts of men. It wins the 
 affections by the force of its persuasions, and the 
 understanding by the reasonableness of its pre- 
 cepts. It abhors violence, as opposite to its nature, 
 and despises art and policy, as below its dignity. 
 Human ornaments may hide and disfigure it, but 
 cannot preserve or improve its intrinsic beauty 
 and divine lustre. Pomp and grimace, as they are 
 in no wise akin to it, so neither are they the effect 
 of it, nor can they render it any advantage. On the 
 contrary, they tend to fill the mind with gross ideas, 
 or sullen fear, and create superstition instead of 
 piety. 
 
 God himself has told us, that he will be wor- 
 shipped in spirit and in truth, which shews that 
 love and sincerity constitute devotion, and that re- 
 ligion resides in the heart. As to bodily religion, 
 
 p 2 
 
212 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 and corporeal holiness, the gospel is silent, leaving 
 every one at full liberty to behave in his own way 
 in the practice of piety. It is justly esteemed the 
 glory and felicity of the Christian religion, that by 
 it we are released from the grievous yoke and bon- 
 dage of ceremonies, which neither we nor our 
 fathers were able to bear. It is a religion of sim- 
 plicity, void of all superfluities and trifling imper- 
 tinences. 
 
 Men cannot judge of one another's thoughts and 
 inclinations but by words and actions ; and because 
 it would be both troublesome and silly to be on 
 every occasion haranguing our friends and superiors 
 upon the profound veneration which we profess for 
 their persons or characters, it has become neces- 
 sary to agree upon some outward forms to denote 
 internal respect. This I take to be the only good 
 reason which can be given for a particular form of 
 address, or ceremony. It is ridiculous, either by 
 sounds or gestures, to tell a man over and over 
 again what he knows already ; and therefore the 
 most intimate friends and old acquaintance make 
 but little use of show or compliment : those who 
 make most, are ever found the least sincere. How 
 senseless and absurd must it be to entertain Heaven 
 with grimaces Heaven, which searches our hearts, 
 and knows our most hidden thoughts, and will not 
 be deceived by outward, arbitrary, and fallacious 
 marks of the inward disposition ! 
 
 It can never be conceived, that the all-merciful 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 213 
 
 and omniscient God should, by the sending of his 
 Son, abolish, or suffer to be abolished, the whole Jew- 
 ish order of ceremonies, though appointed by him- 
 self in person should graciously condescend to 
 establish a new dispensation, destitute of all cere- 
 mony and exterior grandeur, and yet leave it to the 
 ambition of designing men, or to the folly of weak 
 ones, to invent and impose a fresh load of rituals, 
 in opposition to the plain genius of the gospel. 
 This would be for the All-merciful, to be merciful 
 in vain ; for the Creator to resign his power to the 
 creature ; and for God to recall his own injunctions, 
 which he once gave for a gracious and wise end, 
 since ceased, that men may enforce their 's for a 
 weak or a wicked one. 
 
 Nothing is, or can be, pure religion, but either 
 what God commands and tells us he will accept, 
 or what is dictated by eternal reason, which is the 
 law of nature. Whatever is superadded, however 
 dignified by a venerable name, is no part of true 
 religion; which, as has been said, can be supported 
 by nothing but divine revelation, or divine reason. 
 When both these are wanting, we wander in the 
 dark, and worship blindfolded ; being led by the 
 hand of conjecture and invention, which are uncer- 
 tain and endless. This is so true, that where true 
 religion exists, there are few ceremonies ; and, on 
 the other hand, where ceremonies abound, there 
 religion is either utterly lost, or miserably decayed. 
 
214 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 In popish countries, it is more or less visible, ac- 
 cording as ceremonies and bigotry which, like 
 cause and effect, go hand in hand are more or less 
 practised or promoted. Thus, in France, where, 
 through the commerce of that kingdom with Pro- 
 testants, there are still some remains of common 
 sense, and consequently of religion, God is wor- 
 shipped as well as dead men, though not so much; 
 but in Italy and Spain, the saints have deprived 
 their Maker of all devotion ; and the blessed Virgin, 
 St. Dominick, St. Jago, and St. Anthony, are made 
 governors of heaven and earth, and the givers of 
 eternal life ; and consequently are become, next 
 immediately after the priests, the only objects of 
 adoration. If you deprive them of their saints and 
 their ceremonies, there is not the least semblance 
 of religion left amongst them. 
 
 So little has Christianity gained by ceremonies, 
 that a great part of mankind have, by adopting 
 them, banished all true religion. If they were in- 
 troduced, as it is alleged, to kindle piety, I am 
 sorry to say, it has so happened, that this heat of 
 devotion has quite drank up the truth and essen- 
 tials of religion. The blind compliance with a 
 senseless cringe, invented and enjoined by a popish 
 priest, is made of more importance and merit than 
 the possession of all moral and Christian virtues, 
 without it. Religion, good sense, and humanity, 
 are inseparable friends ; but a superstitious fond- 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 215 
 
 ness for ceremonies is a contradiction and an 
 affront to all the three. 
 
 The teachers of mankind have, for the greatest 
 part, been the most unteachable of all men ; and 
 these our guides to peace have been always the 
 foremost to break it. They have seen, from time 
 to time, the violence and ungodly effects produced 
 by their contention for human forms, habits, and 
 decisions ; and yet, where the religious laity and 
 the law did not interpose to restrain this unchris- 
 tian behaviour in churchmen, they have not only 
 still adhered with obstinacy to their inventions and 
 impositions, but frequently made it their business 
 to broach new ones, and to throw about fresh balls 
 of strife and cruelty. Ceremonies were first 
 brought in under a very plausible pretence, viz., 
 that of aiding and promoting religion ; but we 
 have seen, by upwards of a thousand years' expe- 
 rience, that these, its pretended friends, always 
 became its rivals and successful enemies, and, by 
 the help of those whose interest it was to contrive 
 and support them at any rate, never failed to 
 banish it as far away as their power extended. 
 
 It is pretended, that the invention of stated cere- 
 monies and garments, is justified by these words of 
 St. Paul to the Corinthians " Let all things be 
 done decently and in order." But these words are 
 only a precept to avoid immodesty and confusion in 
 religious assemblies. Two, for example, were not 
 
216 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 to speak at the same time. One was not to sing 
 psalms while another prayed. Neither love nor 
 trade was to be the business of their meetings, nor 
 tithes and their own power the drift and business 
 of the preachers. Christ was not to be confounded 
 with Belial, nor pride and dominion with meekness 
 and Christianity. Exhortation was not to be 
 mixed with railing, nor praying with cursing. Nor 
 were the people to be taught to hate one another. 
 In short, God was to be adored with the heart and 
 affections, and not with a fiddle, or a pipe, or a 
 tabor * 
 
 I do not find that the apostle's words were un- 
 derstood in any other sense than this, by those to 
 whom they were addressed. It does not appear, 
 that immediately upon the sight of St. Paul's 
 epistle, the Corinthians concluded that prayers 
 should be said in surplices ; and that the faithful, 
 as soon as the word was given, should kneel, stoop, 
 and stand ; or turn to the right or left, like a file 
 of musketeers ; or that they were to nod towards 
 the east, as if the Almighty kept his court only 
 there. Nor were the Corinthians directed by this 
 text to play popish tricks over the forehead of a 
 babe baptized, as sure and certain signs of regenera- 
 tion ; nor were they commanded to put up their 
 petitions in quavers, and to sing their prayers as 
 well as say them ; nor was that subtle distinction 
 then and there found out, of bowing at the name 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 217 
 
 of Jesus, but not at the name of Christ or of God. 
 All these pretty fashions were unknown to the 
 apostle and his correspondents, and their genteel- 
 ness and significancy have been long since dis- 
 covered by the Romish clergy in later days ; and, 
 indeed, it is now become impossible to make one's 
 court well without them. The words decorum and 
 significancy, which are made use of to justify the 
 celebration of ceremonies, are words of such prodi- 
 gious latitude, that the world does not agree, nor 
 ever can agree, what it is that comes properly 
 under their denomination, and what does not. 
 With the Turks, it is decent to be covered at de- 
 votion ; with us, to be bare-headed. How is the 
 wearing of a wig, or a cap, more decent and ortho- 
 dox than the wearing of a hat ? How is a prunella 
 gown, or a lawn frock, more significant than a 
 cloth coat ? Is God better pleased with a cambric 
 band than with a muslin cravat ? And is an organ- 
 loft more acceptable to Him than plain country 
 piety, that has neither motion nor music in it ? 
 
 If men be at liberty to invent and enjoin one 
 unnecessary ceremony, why not two ? And if two, 
 why not two thousand ? When such a power is 
 once granted, it cannot be easily, nor indeed reason- 
 ably, limited. If the clergy can oblige me to throw 
 my head into my bosom, upon their pronouncing 
 certain sounds, they may oblige me to run it 
 against a stone wall ; nay, what is still worse, 
 whoever has an authority to direct my manner of 
 
218 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 worship, must have also a power to direct the 
 matter of it, and may command me whom, as well 
 as how to worship. 
 
 Superstition in the people, and power in the 
 priests, were the true ends and consequences of 
 creating ceremonies ; for, as to their significancy, 
 it was a mere pretence. Such a plea would jus- 
 tify endless phrensy and fooleries, and every mad- 
 ness would be made a mystery. For instance, we 
 might be made to walk bare-footed into the church, 
 to signify the sanctity of the place ; and to crawl 
 upon all fours out of it, to signify the humiliation 
 of our hearts. A match of cudgel-playing every 
 Sunday might be instituted, to signify our spiritual 
 warfare ; and a game of blindman's buff, to signify 
 the darkness of our understandings. In short, any 
 thing might be made to signify every thing, and 
 any punishment be inflicted upon the profane 
 gainsayer. Upon this principle may be justified 
 all the pagan and popish fopperies that ever were, 
 or ever could be invented, and nothing can be said 
 against all the many garments, and many colours, 
 and many antic gestures, used by the Romish 
 priests at this day. 
 
 It must be evident to every intelligent man, that 
 all this pretty pageantry and raree-show, can never 
 make men more acceptable to God, who will not 
 be gratified or obliged by a jig or a tune. I believe 
 I may safely affirm, that if all the merry-making 
 and jovial devotion in the popish churches do no 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 219 
 
 manner of good, they must needs do harm ; because 
 they divert the mind from deliberate devotion and 
 calm repentance, and can, at best, only work it up 
 to a wild and enthusiastic worship. However, 
 though this pompous parade in piety does no ser- 
 vice to religion, it effectually answers the end pro- 
 posed, and contributes vastly, as every thing else 
 does, to the advancement and grandeur of the 
 Romish clergy. It turns men's thoughts from 
 divine objects to a superstitious veneration for 
 postures, habits, grimaces, cringes, utensils, and 
 other things, all invented by priests, who are 
 always sure to appoint themselves masters of the 
 ceremonies, and to be well paid for their deep 
 knowledge in this momentous science. Besides, 
 it enlists into their service great numbers of 
 people ; organists, fiddlers, singing men, with all 
 the piping and chanting crew, as well as artificers 
 of various kinds. It engages men and women of 
 pleasure in their interests ; it catches the multitude 
 by the ears and the eyes, and sets them a staring ; 
 it alleviates their own drudgery of frequent preach- 
 ing and praying ; and also serves the purposes of 
 interludes in the perpetual tragedies they are act- 
 ing ; which they render less terrible by playing, 
 like Nero, upon their harps in the midst of confla- 
 grations of their own making. 
 
 The pagan religion consisted, altogether, in a 
 great number and variety of strange and senseless, 
 ceremonies ; and being foolish and false, it could 
 
220 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 consist of nothing else. Its votaries had, for their 
 religious task, certain frantic actions to perform, 
 certain wanton motions to make, or certain mad 
 races to run ; sometimes galloping about the streets 
 like lunatics, sometimes half naked, and at other 
 times altogether so, or in a religious antic dress 
 significantly suited to their behaviour. They were 
 to be religious with their heads, feet, and other 
 members. They were also to utter certain harsh 
 and devout sounds which had no meaning, but 
 were prodigiously significant, and being very ridi- 
 culous, were very decent. 
 
 During all this holy exercise, which was edifying 
 in proportion as it was mad, their minds were pos- 
 sessed with a drunken festivity and wantonness, or 
 with craziness and enthusiastic fear. They were 
 either lewd and raving rakes or fanatics. It never 
 entered into their heads, nor did their priests ever 
 put it into them, that religion was a sober thing, 
 consisting in the exercise of reason and the prac- 
 tice of virtue. No ! a spirit of sobriety, or a ray 
 of understanding, would have blown up the autho- 
 rity and dominion of the heathen parsons, and, 
 therefore, the poor lay pagans were not suffered to 
 know that a man might be a religious man with- 
 out being a good dancer, and please God without 
 roaring, and running races. 
 
 This was the godly and wholesome discipline in- 
 vented and instituted by the pagan clergy, for the 
 use and edification of the deluded and idolatrous 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 221 
 
 world. Action and outward show were all they knew 
 of religion ; and therefore their superstition took 
 great delight in building and beautifying temples. 
 They imagined that the doing of a thing which had 
 any reference to religion, was actually a piece of 
 religion ; and that any job of work about a holy 
 place, was, in good earnest, a job of holiness. 
 They might as rationally have believed, that masons, 
 joiners, and plasterers, employed about a temple, 
 derived piety and merit from that employment. 
 Had not pagan ceremonies signified nothing, or 
 rather something very bad, as, indeed, it was evi- 
 dent to every eye that they were either senseless 
 or impious, our Saviour would never have insti- 
 tuted, as he did, a religion without one ceremony 
 in it. The religion of the gospel is as pure from 
 fancies and ceremonies, as from pride and the 
 spirit of dominion. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour knew well, that the crafty 
 and profane priests had, by their shameless inven- 
 tions and filthy ceremonies, polluted or abolished 
 all religion ; and therefore, in mercy to mankind, 
 He founded a religion without priests and without 
 ceremonies. (For it is to be observed, that while 
 the established church of paganism flourished, 
 priests and ceremonies always nourished and in- 
 creased together.) Such was the simple institution 
 of the gospel ; but when popery began to expel 
 Christianity, ignorance and ceremonies were some 
 of the principal engines by which it effected its 
 
222 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 purpose. For, as the meekness of Christians was 
 then converted into the cruelty of barbarians, and 
 the plainness of the gospel into all the detestable 
 fopperies of paganism ; so holiness of heart was 
 changed into holiness of posture ; the humility of 
 soul into bodily bowings ; the worship of God into 
 the worship of bread, and the piping of organs ; 
 and the clergy, as they named themselves, were no 
 longer clothed with humility, but with surplices 
 and other robes. Nor was this mighty revolution, 
 this unnatural transition from the beauty and gen- 
 tleness of Christianity to the unhallowed spirit and 
 abominable rituals of the heathens, at all hard or 
 impracticable. The people had, by the idleness, 
 insufficiency, and debaucheries of the ecclesiastics, 
 become corrupt and blind to the last degree, and, 
 therefore, ran readily and cheerfully into every new 
 absurdity. Whatever the bishop pronounced de- 
 cent, though ever so vile or silly, his conforming 
 flock received as reverend and edifying. A gross 
 and sensual manner of worship suited best with 
 the grossness of their understandings and the sen- 
 suality of their minds. They had no conception of 
 the spiritual nature of the gospel, and of that 
 evangelical grace which operates internally, and is 
 wholly employed about the soul, but produces 
 neither cringes, nor dances, nor grimaces. 
 
 A religion, therefore, of ceremonies, which is no 
 religion at all, agreed well with those carnal Chris- 
 tians who were taught to place all religion in cere- 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 223 
 
 monies. When the ignorant vulgar are once per- 
 suaded that ceremonies are good for any thing, 
 they come quickly to think them good for every 
 thing ; and the more the better ! They are de- 
 lighted with shadows, and mystery, and juggling. 
 Ignorance, like every other habit, is daily improv- 
 ing itself, and increases in strength as in years ; it 
 delights to be still plunging into farther and deeper 
 darkness. The less people understand, the more 
 they stare; and because there is nothing in the 
 gospel but plain piety, plain reason, and plain mat- 
 ter of fact, therefore it can raise no wonder, and, 
 consequently, no popular piety ; but strange and 
 mysterious ceremonies can do this, and, for that 
 reason, have always got the better of religion in 
 all bigoted assemblies. 
 
 Here, then, is a glorious and ample field of 
 gaping sottishness and credulity, in which crafty 
 priests play their tricks, and sow superstition. 
 Indeed, they have exalted themselves in this 
 undertaking with such dexterity and success, that 
 their humble and resigned votaries do not any 
 longer pretend to carry their own eyes or under- 
 standing. Their very palates and noses are priest- 
 ridden, and dare neither taste nor smell without 
 an ecclesiastical licence. Thus, even the invin- 
 cible operations of the animal spirits, and of the 
 five senses, must stand still, when commanded by 
 a priest, who can annihilate the creature and create 
 his creator. As, under the sacred name of God 
 
224 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 and religion, the greatest irreligion and impieties 
 have been propagated, so, under the colour and 
 umbrage of significant and decent ceremonies, the 
 most ridiculous and immodest usages have been 
 introduced. It would require more than a whole 
 chapter to expose all the apish gesticulations 
 of the Romish mass now celebrated almost in 
 every town in England; I shall only run over a 
 few of them. 
 
 The priest, in the administration of mass, must 
 wear a white linen garment, which I suppose 
 must signify whiteness ; for I cannot see a more 
 obvious meaning for it. The same was also worn 
 by the primitive heathen clergy, when they 
 butchered bullocks to appease their deities. As he 
 approaches towards the altar, having great devo- 
 tion in his back-bone, he bows, and bows, and 
 ducks his head, as if he were playing at hop-frog. 
 The altar is also covered with a surplice, or white 
 cloth, which, doubtless, signifies some great mys- 
 tery ; but, in profane eyes, typifies only a damask 
 table-cloth. It also stands towards the east, which 
 most certainly must have a deep meaning, and 
 seems to imply as if the Almighty was either more 
 merciful or more powerful in that quarter of the 
 world, (though he made it all,) than in any of the 
 other three ; or as if he liked that climate best, 
 and all those who bow to it. He then, after many 
 monkish gestures and scrapings, says a world of 
 short prayers, (the whole service being judiciously 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 225 
 
 sliced into pretty little morsels of devotion,) and reads 
 scraps of scripture ; all which prayings and readings 
 would not be half so wholesome any where else, as 
 they are just at the elbow of the altar. Then there 
 is a lighted candle standing by him at noon-day, 
 probably to signify that there is light enough 
 without it. In some churches the altar is only 
 illuminated with dark candles, which, for aught 
 I know, may be equally mysterious and sig- 
 nificant ; but upon this great and essential point I 
 shall pronounce nothing dogmatically. The priest 
 then mutters words over the bread and wine, which 
 immediately starts into omnipotent flesh and 
 blood , and the living Jesus is swallowed wholly 
 in remembrance of the dead one ; the priest 
 makes his Maker, and the people eat him ! The 
 wine, which the priest very naturally keeps all to 
 himself, must not be poured out of a bottle into a 
 glass, which would not be significant enough ; but 
 out of a flaggon, which, being of silver or gold, 
 and holding more liquor, is consequently very sig- 
 nificant. He repeats, l( Lord have mercy upon 
 us!" very often, to signify that he does it more 
 than once; and speaks loudly, to signify that he 
 may be heard. But I am quite sick of this 
 strange significant stuff, before I have got 
 through the tenth part of it. The whole per- 
 formance is perfectly theatrical, and improperly 
 and impiously called a sacrament. It is, indeed, a 
 wretched, unentertaining interlude ; a stupid farce, 
 
 Q 
 
226 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 of which the priest is the chief mimic ; for mum- 
 bling and making mouths do not deserve the name 
 of acting. 
 
 We have had several attempts made to revive 
 among us this infamous mummery in devotion, 
 and these apish ceremonies, which are an affront 
 to common sense, and below the dignity of human 
 nature, much more of religion. But such attempts 
 can never succeed, while we enjoy either liberty or 
 knowledge. Archbishop Laud, when he had be- 
 witched the court, swayed the sceptre, and de- 
 stroyed the liberty of the people and (5f the press, 
 took the best opportunity he could get, to trans- 
 port Rome to Lambeth ; and, having married the 
 harlot, he adopted her trumpery. A sample of this 
 man's genius for popery may be seen in his mad 
 manner of consecrating some new brick and mor- 
 tar which had been used in the repair of St. Cathe- 
 rine Creed church, London, as the same is related 
 at large by Rushworth. At his approach to the 
 west end of the church, the door flew open, upon 
 pronouncing certain words out of the Psalms, 
 11 That the King of Glory might enter." The 
 bishop then entered, and, falling down upon his 
 knees, baptized the ground, or, which is the same 
 thing, pronounced it holy, in the name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He then threw dust 
 in the air, and played some other pious pranks 
 pronounced many curses, and called upon the 
 people to curse with him. He then scattered a 
 
CHURCH CEREMONIES. 227 
 
 basketful of blessings among all the masons, and 
 other holy mechanics, who had helped to make so 
 fine a church. He also went round the church in 
 procession, and told God Almighty and the people, 
 over and over, that that was holy ground. At last, 
 after a bead-roll of prayers, and a hundred-and- 
 fifty bowings, and many wild gestures, some- 
 times advancing, sometimes recoiling, like one 
 affrighted and crazy, he gave the sacrament. Be- 
 sides all this, he removed the communion-table, and 
 placed it on the chancel, altar- wise, contrary to the 
 express directions of the rubric ; which says, 
 that it shall stand where morning and evening 
 prayer is directed to be said. He made pictures of 
 the Trinity, and caused them to be hung up in 
 churches, and was guilty of many other popish in- 
 novations, all tending to create fanaticism and 
 superstition. 
 
 This chapter grows too long, and leaves me no 
 room to do justice to crosses, square caps, and fan- 
 tastical robes ; all which, I warrant my reader, are 
 profoundly mysterious ; though, to carnal eyes, 
 they seem only intended to induce the people to 
 stare ; for every odd sight strikes the imagination, 
 and disposes the beholder either to laughter or 
 reverence. Nor have I time to honour, with a 
 proper encomium, that ingenious and ecclesiastical 
 device, of explaining the sublime mystery of the 
 Trinity by a pair of compasses ; indeed, it is above 
 all explication, and even of conception, unless 
 
 Q2 
 
228 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 
 
 through faith; and of representing the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, by a triangle in a circle, 
 over the communion table. Was there ever such 
 a pretty piece of pious cunning? By the said tri- 
 angle is typified and held forth to us, that the said 
 triangle consists of three angles, which is exceed- 
 ing plain and edifying. By the circle is signified, 
 that the said circle is but one circle, which is pro- 
 digiously good again ! But how a triangle is a 
 circle, and a circle is a triangle, I am at a loss to 
 comprehend. 
 
 I must for the same reason pass over unobserved, 
 the praising of God with organs, which our homilies 
 very uncivilly call superstitious ; engravings in the 
 Common Prayer Book tending to prepare people 
 for idolatry, and pictures in churches, for the 
 same devout purpose. 
 
229 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 
 
 IN our disputes with the Church of Rome, we con- 
 tend, that the scripture alone is a sufficient rule 
 of faith and practice, and our divines have proved 
 it unanswerably ; but when our high church priests 
 argue with dissenters, holy writ is not so highly 
 complimented. It is then very subject to lead us 
 into mistakes, and hard to be understood. It 
 is true, it is infallible, and was given us from 
 heaven to be a light to our feet, and a lamp to our 
 paths ; but still it is dark and insufficient without 
 human aid and explication ; for though it is ex- 
 ceeding plain to the members of the established 
 church of England, and proves them to be right in 
 every article, ceremony, and habit, it is utterly 
 hidden from those who will not accept of our guid- 
 ance, and submit to our authority. If they refuse 
 to believe and obey the supplements and improve- 
 ments of the Bible, therefore, and to accept of the 
 
230 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 
 
 salvation which is to be had in the church of Eng- 
 land and the church of Rome, they shall have no 
 salvation at all. It is fit and orthodox that men 
 should perish for following their consciences, and 
 for understanding the scriptures without the leave 
 of the ordinary ! 
 
 Thus, when they debate with the papists, they 
 praise the scriptures, inveigh against the imposing 
 of opinions, and speak in the style of dissenters ; 
 but when they are pleased to rebuke non-conform- 
 ists, they borrow the language of papists, urge 
 the authority of our apostolic church and her divine 
 right to judge for others, and deal out hard language, 
 and worse usage, to all that take the same privilege 
 which they do. There is, however, this small dif- 
 ference between the conformists and schismatics 
 the one have good pay for being orthodox, the other 
 pay dearly for being in the wrong. If these are not 
 good reasons for delivering schismatics over to Sa- 
 tan, I despair of finding better. In consequence of 
 this power in high churchmen to be the mouthsmen 
 of the Bible, which, if we take their word, cannot 
 speak for itself, they claim a right to make creeds 
 for others, which is what I am now to examine. 
 
 I think it but justice to the goodness of God 
 to affirm, that belief or disbelief can neither be a 
 virtue nor a crime, in any one who uses the best 
 means in his power of being informed. If a pro- 
 position be evident, we cannot avoid believing it ; 
 and where is the merit or piety of a necessary assent? 
 
CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 231 
 
 If it be not evident, we cannot help rejecting it, or 
 doubting it ; and where is the crime of not per- 
 forming impossibilities, or not believing what does 
 not appear to us to be true ? Are men who have 
 good eyes, the more righteous for seeing? or do 
 they offend in seeing too well ? or do blind men 
 sin, in not distinguishing colours ? 
 
 When we clearly see the proof of a proposi- 
 tion, or know that we have God's word for it, our 
 assent is inevitable ; but if we neither comprehend 
 it, nor see God's authority for it, and yet swallow 
 it, this is credulity, and not divine faith, which can 
 have nothing less than divine truth for its object. 
 When we are sure that God speaks to us, we 
 readily believe Him, who cannot lie, nor be mis- 
 taken, nor deceive us ; but when men speak, 
 though from God himself, our belief in them is but 
 human confidence, if we have only their own autho- 
 rity that they had it from God. Their being bishops, 
 their beinglearned, theirmeeting together in synods, 
 all this alters not the case. We can judge of their 
 opinions in no other way than as of the opinions 
 of men; and of their decisions, but as of human de- 
 cisions. When the articles of any creed appear to 
 be contained in scripture, whoever believes that, 
 does, in consequence, believe them ; and then such 
 creed is unnecessary : but when we cannot, or 
 think we cannot, find them in scripture, and yet 
 give equal credit to them, we depreciate and pro- 
 fane the divine authority itself, by accepting the 
 
232 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 
 
 words of man's invention as wiser and more sig- 
 nificant than the words of God's own choosing. 
 
 We are sure that the scripture-phrases were 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost, and as sure that our 
 own forms and injunctions are human, and framed 
 by priests. It is, therefore, strange that the former 
 should be insufficient and unintelligible, and the 
 latter infallible, and to be embraced and obeyed 
 on the pain of damnation ; and that the priests 
 must do what God has, without success, endea- 
 voured to do. Besides, as the imposition of human 
 creeds is contrary to reason, so it is also opposed 
 to charity. They were generally made in a passion, 
 not to edify, but to plague those for whom, or 
 rather against whom, they were intended. They 
 were the engines of wrath and vengeance, nor 
 could they serve any other purpose. Those who 
 believed them already, did not want them ; and 
 those who disbelieved them were not the better 
 for them. But this was not the worst of it ; for 
 they who did not receive them, against their con- 
 science, were cursed, and they who did, deserved 
 it. So that either the wrath of God on the one hand, 
 or the wrath and cruelty of the clergy on the other, 
 was unavoidable. If people said they believed, and 
 did not, they mocked God, and shipwrecked their 
 souls ; and if they did not believe, and expressed 
 their disbelief, though they saved their souls, they 
 provoked their reverend fathers, andwere destroyed. 
 Whenever these dictators in faith had a mind to 
 
CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 233 
 
 be mischievous, and to undo one who gave them 
 signal offence, either by his good reputation or 
 good bishopric, they began his ruin by their 
 great care for his soul, and so invented a creed for 
 him, which ruined him effectually, by giving him, 
 as they said, to Satan, but in truth, to beggary, 
 stripes, or flames. He, therefore, who had any 
 virtue or religion, was a certain sufferer by these 
 systems of faith, which were contrived for that 
 purpose. The man who had no conscience nor 
 honesty, was not worthy of their anger, or 
 which is most likely, was on the orthodox side, or 
 at least, quickly became a convert to it, being, like 
 themselves, able to swallow any thing. 
 
 Thus creeds, as they were the result of revenge, 
 pride, or avarice, were the constant preludes and 
 introductions to ignorance, cruelty, and blood; 
 and the wretched laity were craftily, as well as 
 inhumanly, made the deluded and unnatural in- 
 struments of butchering one another, to prove the 
 infallibility of the faithmakers, who, while they 
 were wantonly shedding Christian blood, and doom- 
 ing to damnation those who called upon the name 
 of the true God, had the shameless assurance to 
 miscall themselves the ambassadors of the meek 
 Jesus. And, indeed, what better could be expected 
 from men so chosen, so unqualified, and so in- 
 terested, as the members of these general creed- 
 making councils for the most part were ? They 
 were chosen from several places by a majority of 
 
234 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 
 
 votes, and they who were most aspiring, factious, 
 or crafty, carried it. They sprung from the meanest 
 of the people ; they were bred in cells, and 
 popped into the world without experience or breed- 
 ing ; they knew little of mankind, and less of 
 government, and had not the common qualifica- 
 tions of gentlemen ; they were governed by pas- 
 sion, and led by expectation ; and, either eager 
 for preferment, or impatient of missing it, they 
 were the perpetual flatterers or disturbers of states 
 and princes.- These were the men, and this their 
 character. 
 
 When these reverend fathers were assembled 
 together in a body, by the order of a prince, or a 
 pope, who, having his necessities, or the ends of 
 his ambition to serve, chose proper tools for those 
 purposes, they were directed to form such creeds 
 and systems of faith as their patrons' views or in- 
 terests made it requisite for mankind to believe. In 
 this new employment, every member, we may be 
 certain, was forward to shew his talents in starting 
 new tenets, or in contradicting those already in- 
 troduced, and so to make himself sufficiently con- 
 siderable for that preferment which he was resolved 
 to earn one way or another. This being the great 
 aim of all, jealousies and harsh language were 
 carried to the most violent extent. There was no 
 end of their wrangling and reviling. Not content 
 to abuse each other by word of mouth, they some- 
 times scolded in writing, and every reverend father 
 
CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 235 
 
 drew up a petition against other reverend fathers, 
 in language more suitable for Billingsgate than for 
 the church. Sometimes, not satisfied with volleys 
 of scurrility, unheard of in assemblies of gentle- 
 men, they had recourse to club-law, and made 
 good their inventions and distinctions with blows 
 and blood. If the truth could not be discovered 
 by scolding, contradiction, and battering, it was not 
 found out at all. Thus, any emperor or pope might 
 have what creed he pleased, provided he would be 
 at the pains and price of it ; and for the rest of 
 mankind, they had this short choice to comply, or 
 be undone ! 
 
236 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 THE Almighty, in revealing his will to mankind, 
 has always taken effectual care that it should not be 
 mistaken, and therefore made it so plain, as to need 
 no farther explanation, in all things which are ne- 
 cessary for us to know. When he would have his 
 pleasure known, it is agreeable to his goodness to 
 make it evident ; when he would not, it is agree- 
 able to his wisdom to make it impenetrable. 
 Scripture was not given to make work for inter- 
 preters, nor to teach men how to doubt, but how 
 to live. The Holy Spirit has made undeniably 
 clear and manifest all those precepts that enjoin 
 faith and obedience, which are the great points of 
 religion. 
 
 I think it is generally granted, that revelations 
 are no more, and that prophecy has ceased. The 
 reason given for this I take to be a very good one ; 
 viz. that God has already sufficiently discovered 
 his mind to men, and made his meaning manifest. 
 If it were otherwise, we should doubtless have his 
 
THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 237 
 
 extraordinary presence still ; but as we have not, 
 it is to be presumed that there is no occasion for it. 
 He appeared himself whilst men were in darkness, 
 but now that he has shewn them his marvellous 
 light, he appears no more. His presence is sup- 
 plied by his word, which being addressed to all 
 men equally, and not to one tribe of men, to inter- 
 pret it for the rest, it follows that all men have in 
 their power the means to understand it. Old re- 
 velation, therefore, does not want the assistance 
 of new, nor has the Almighty any need of prolo- 
 cutors. 
 
 While God is delivering his law to the world, 
 he is plain, even to exactness ; and his orders are 
 full and circumstantial, even about the minutest 
 points. This is eminently proved by his manner 
 of giving laws to the Jews. Every ceremony, 
 and every instrument and garment, used in their 
 worship, is precisely described and directed. The 
 trumpets, the candlesticks, the lamps, the spoons, 
 the snuffers, are all of his own appointment, both 
 as to the materials and the use of them. He 
 makes it impossible to mistake. He calls the 
 priests by their names, points out their persons, 
 and shews them every branch of their office. He 
 limits and governs their behaviour while they are 
 about it, and does not leave it to their wisdom to 
 invent such postures and ceremonies as they think 
 fit to call decent and significant. They had not 
 the privilege to choose their own garments. Moses, 
 
238 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 who was the civil magistrate, had it in his charge 
 to sanctify and consecrate their persons. Their 
 business in the sacrifices is pointed out to them: 
 they are to put their hands upon the head of the 
 beast, and to receive its blood, and to make fires. 
 They are not, as I remember, once made use of to 
 speak God's mind to his people ; that is the duty 
 and commission of the civil magistrate, and Moses 
 performs it. They had not the least hand in cele- 
 brating the passover the Jewish sacrament, to 
 which our's of the Lord's Supper has, it is said, 
 succeeded. As little were they employed in that 
 other of circumcision, the reputed ancestor of bap- 
 tism. In short, their \vhole function was to be 
 servants and operators in the house of sacrifice. 
 
 If the Almighty was thus punctual and particu- 
 lar in the rituals and outside of his worship, can we 
 imagine that he was defective or obscure in de- 
 claring the more weighty points of the law ? No. 
 When our first parents broke the covenant, they 
 did it wilfully, and could not pretend that they 
 understood it not : " Of the tree of the knowledge 
 of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it," was 
 the injunction that was laid upon them. There 
 was no need of a commentator here ; the text 
 might have been rendered more perplexing, but 
 not more plain. 
 
 The covenant which God made with Abraham 
 was not less clear. He was to be the God of 
 Abraham and of his seed ; and every male of his 
 
THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 239 
 
 race, and those that were bought with money were 
 to be circumcised. There were no more words to 
 this contract ; and the patriarch and his issue had 
 but one short system of divinity, most intelligible 
 in itself, and in nowise darkened with glosses. 
 
 The Decalogue, or the law of the Ten Com- 
 mandments, delivered by God himself from Mount 
 Sinai, with great glory and astonishing circum- 
 stances, was little else but the law of nature re- 
 duced into tables, and expressed in words of God's 
 own choosing. And they were worthy of the omni- 
 potent and infallible Author, for they were so 
 plain and indisputable, that not a single person of 
 all the twelve tribes, so addicted on such occasions 
 to contradiction and wrangling, so much as pre- 
 tended not to understand them. Nor was there 
 one man, much less a body of men, set apart to 
 explain them. 
 
 When God spoke to the Jews by his prophets, 
 the same method of clearness was observed. The 
 admonitions given, and the judgments denounced, 
 were adapted to the capacity of every one con- 
 cerned. The Jews, it is true, did not often believe 
 them, at least not mind them ; but it was never 
 pleaded that they did not comprehend them. God 
 inspired, the prophets spake, and all understood ; 
 but neither creeds nor paraphrases were made, for 
 they were not necessary. At last, indeed, the 
 priests and pharisees made void the word of God 
 by their traditions, and very rigidly tithing mint 
 
240 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 and cummin, neglected the greater things of the 
 law, and taught for doctrines the commandments 
 of men. But we know what thanks and character 
 they had for their pains from the Saviour of the 
 world, and what a terrible doom he pronounced 
 against them. Read the twenty- third chapter of 
 St. Matthew's gospel, and see the description of 
 these vile hypocrites, and then consider whether 
 they be at this day without heirs and successors. 
 Indeed, their's seems to me to be the only succes- 
 sion which has not been interrupted. 
 
 The gospel, when it came, as it was to excel all 
 other laws in its ends and usefulness, so was it the 
 shortest and plainest institution in the world. It 
 only added the duty of faith to that of good works, 
 which were the great, if not the only business of 
 the moral law. To believe that Jesus Christ was 
 the only Son of God, was the great principle of the 
 Christian religion. Nor was the practice of this 
 belief attended with the least difficulty, since our 
 Saviour proved his mission and omnipotence, by 
 miracles that were undeniable and convincing. For 
 the truth of them he appealed to men's senses. There 
 was neither mystery nor juggling in his actions, nor 
 did they want any one to explain them. 
 
 All this is further confirmed by the conduct of 
 the apostles. The constant drift and tenor of 
 their lives and preaching, was to persuade mankind 
 to believe in Jesus Christ ; in order to which they 
 worked miracles, and gave the Holy Ghost. The 
 
THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 241 
 
 precept was thus short, and the motives to comply 
 with it were thus irresistible. Hence it was, that 
 sometimes thousands were convinced in a moment, 
 without either commentaries, creeds, or catechisms. 
 Indeed, who could avoid believing a proposition 
 that proved itself? 
 
 The apostles, when they had converted one city, 
 did not stay to establish a hierarchy there, and to 
 tell the same thing over and over again to those 
 who knew it already. No ; when they had planted 
 the faith in one place, they travelled to another, 
 and preached the gospel to the unconverted world ; 
 leaving those already converted to perform Chris- 
 tian worship their own way. If they believed in 
 Christ, and lived soberly, the apostles desired no 
 more. Those were the two things needful, nor 
 were they more needful than clear. 
 
 In this plain manner did the Almighty always 
 discover himself and his will, whenever he dispensed 
 his laws to men. On the other hand, while he hid 
 himself from the heathen world, did their priests 
 ever discover him ? No ; they had deities without 
 number ; they worshipped stocks and stones, trees, 
 rivers, bulls, serpents, monkeys, and garlic. Both 
 their religion and their gods were of the priest's 
 making, and therefore, we may be certain, they 
 were hopeful ones. They created their deities after 
 their own likeness angry, cruel, covetous, and 
 lustful. Their mysteries were full of horror, ob- 
 sceneness, craft, and delusion. The will of their 
 
 R 
 
242 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 god was searched in the entrails and ordure of dead 
 beasts ; and a coop of chickens were his privy coun- 
 sellors. His favour or displeasure depended upon 
 their maws ; if they had puny stomachs, the god 
 was in a fit of the spleen ; if ravenous, he was in a 
 giving humour, and would grant any thing, even 
 to the cutting of the throats of a whole army, the 
 burning of a city, or the plundering of a province. 
 When he was tired of his favourites, he would, in 
 a day or two, do all this for an enemy. 
 
 Upon the whole, when the Almighty reveals his 
 will, he does it effectually ; but when he disguises 
 it in dark and doubtful expressions, it is plain that 
 the time of making himself farther known to men 
 is not yet come, and it is in vain to pry into his 
 secrets. We are certain that the all-merciful God 
 does never require of us that which we cannot find 
 he requires. It is not consistent with his wisdom 
 and goodness, to make that necessary which he has 
 not made plain. He has, with the greatest perspi- 
 cuity, described the candles ticks, tongs, and other im- 
 plements of worship under the Jewish law; and yet, 
 in the gospel, he has not said one word of some doc- 
 trines which we are told are necessary to salvation. 
 Altars and priests are divinely appointed in the old 
 dispensation, but are neither directed nor described 
 in the new ; and yet we know of what importance 
 they are at present held to be, by many of the 
 clergy. The priest's office is particularized and 
 circumscribed, even to the killing of a goat, or a 
 
THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 243 
 
 pair of pigeons ; and yet, under the gospel, it is 
 not so much as hinted that a priest shall admi- 
 nister either of the sacraments. Yet, if we hearken 
 to the clergy, there can be no sacrament without 
 them. In the Levitical law, the sons of Levi are 
 expressly appointed to be priests continually ; but 
 it is not once said in the Christian law, that there 
 must be an uninterrupted race of bishops, or popes, 
 or priests, to the end of the world, and that there 
 can be no church where it is not. But if this had 
 been needful, it must have been particularized. So 
 essential a part of the Christian religion, and so ab- 
 solutely necessary to every man's salvation, could 
 never have been wholly omitted, or so much as left 
 in doubt. 
 
 As, by the law of Moses, the priest's office and 
 duty were minutely described, so their maintenance 
 was ascertained. But by what law of Christ is 
 the priesthood appointed, and where is the certain 
 provision made for them ? It is said, indeed, that 
 the labourer is worthy of his hire ; and I acknow- 
 ledge it to be fit that those who hire the clergy should 
 pay them. But surely this text leaves every one 
 at liberty to choose his own labourer, and to make 
 as good a bargain as he can ; or to do his own 
 business himself. What pretence is there, in the 
 gospel dispensation, of a divine right to just a 
 tenth part, and not only of our estates, but of our 
 stock and industry, too, which, in some corn lands, 
 comes to double the rent that the landlord receives? 
 
244 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 The tribe of Levi, amongst the Jews, were the 
 twelfth tribe of Israel, and, in the division of the 
 lands, had a right to the twelfth share, without 
 any regard to their priestly office. They were, 
 consequently, allowed but a very small proportion 
 towards their hire > much less, I doubt, than would 
 satisfy their pretended successors. I would, as a 
 sincere friend to the clerical order, recommend to 
 their consideration, whether it would not be more 
 advisable to quit their divine right, and be con- 
 tented with the laws of the land ? 
 
245 
 
 CHAP. xxi. 
 
 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 BY Liturgy is understood certain prescribed and 
 limited forms of prayer, composed for the public 
 service of the church, and appointed to be read at 
 all times of public worship. In this particular we 
 wish to prescribe to no man's conscience. We beg 
 only to appeal to the Proclamation of Edward VI., 
 wherein the original of our liturgy is published to 
 the world. The statute mentions four different 
 forms then in use, out of which an uniform office 
 was to be collected, viz., the use of Sarum, of 
 Bangor, of York, and of Lincoln, all which were 
 Roman, rather than Christian. 
 
 If there had been any liturgies in the times of 
 the first and most venerable antiquity, the great 
 inquirers after them would have produced them to 
 the world before this time ; but that there were 
 none in the Christian church, is evident from Ter- 
 tullian, in his Apol. cap. 30, where he says, " The 
 Christians of those times, in their public assem- 
 blies, prayed, sine monitor e quia de pectore, without 
 
246 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 
 
 any prompter except their own hearts." And in 
 his Treatise of Prayer, he adds, " There are some 
 things to be asked according to the occasions of 
 every man." St. Austin says the same thing, 
 (Ep. 121.) " It is free," says he, " to ask the same 
 things that are desired in the Lord's prayer, aim 
 atque aliis verbis, sometimes in one manner of ex- 
 pression, and sometimes in another." And before 
 this, Jus tin Martyr, in his Apology, says, "6 irgxvews, 
 the president, or he that instructed the people, 
 prayed according to his ability, or as well as he 
 could." Nor was this liberty of prayer taken away 
 till the times when the Arian and Pelagian heresies 
 invaded the church. It was then first ordained, 
 that none should pray, pro arbitrio, sed semper 
 easdem preces ; that they should not use the liberty 
 which they had hitherto practised, but should 
 always keep to one form of prayer.* Still, this 
 was a form of the ministers' own composing, as 
 appears by a Canon of the Council of Carthage, 
 A.D. 397, which gives this reason for it : ut nemo 
 in precibus vel Pair em pro Filio, vel Filium pro Patre 
 nominetj et cum altari adsistitur semper ad Patrem diri- 
 gatur oratio, et quicunque sibi preces aliunde describit, 
 non iis utatur nisi prius eas cum fratribus instructioribus 
 contulerit ; i.e. that none in their prayers might 
 mistake the Father for the Son, or the Son for the 
 Father; and that when they assist at the altar, 
 
 * Vide 18th Canon of the Council of Laodicea. 
 
OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 247 
 
 prayer might be always directed to the Father ; 
 and whoever composes any different forms, let 
 him not make use of them till he has first con- 
 sulted with his more learned brethren. It appears 
 from hence, that there was no uniform prescribed 
 liturgy at this time in the church ; but that the 
 more ignorant priests might make use of forms of 
 their own composing, provided they consulted 
 their more learned brethren ; till, at length, it was 
 ordained at the Council of Milan, A.D. 416, that 
 none should use set forms of prayer except such 
 as were approved in a synod. 
 
 The manner of public worship in the times of 
 Justin Martyr and Tertullian, was this : First, the 
 scriptures were read; after reading, folio wed an ex- 
 hortation to the practice and imitation of what was 
 read ; then all rose up and joined in prayer ; after 
 this they went to the sacrament, in the beginning 
 of which the president of the assembly poured out 
 prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability, 
 and the people said Amen ; then followed the dis- 
 tribution of the elements, and a collection of alms. 
 This was Justin Martyr's liturgy or service ; and 
 Tertullian's is the same, only he mentions their 
 beginning with prayer before reading the scriptures, 
 and their love-feasts, which also opened and con- 
 cluded with prayer, and were celebrated with sing- 
 ing of psalms. 
 
 When our Lord taught his disciples a form of 
 prayer, he never designed to confine them to the 
 
248 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 
 
 use of those words only, nor did the primitive 
 church so understand it, as is proved by St. Austin. 
 The pretended liturgies of St. James, Basil, and 
 St. Chrysostom, are of little weight, as being al- 
 lowed by the most learned critics, both protestants 
 and papists, to be full of forgeries and spurious in- 
 sertions. Bishop Burnet says,* that it was in the 
 fourth century that the liturgies of St. James, St. 
 Basil, &c. were first mentioned; that the Council of 
 Laodicea appointed the same prayers to be used 
 mornings and evenings ; but that these forms were 
 left to the discretion of every bishop ; nor was it 
 made the subject of any public consultation till St. 
 Austin's time, when, in their dealing with heretics, 
 they found they took advantage from some of the 
 prayers that were in some churches ; upon which 
 it was ordered that there should be no public 
 prayers used but by common advice. ' ' Formerly," 
 says the Bishop, " the worship of God was a pure 
 and simple thing, and so it continued till super- 
 stition had so infected the church that those forms 
 were thought too naked, unless they were put 
 under more artificial rules, and dressed up with 
 much ceremony. In every age there were notable 
 additions made, and almost all the writers in the 
 eighth and ninth centuries employed their fancies 
 to find out mystical significations for every rite 
 that was then in use, till at length there were so 
 
 * His. Ref. part ii. p. 72. 
 
OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 249 
 
 many missals, breviaries, rituals, pontificals, pon- 
 toises, pies, graduals, antiphonals, psalteries, 
 hours, and a great many more, that the under- 
 standing how to officiate was become so hard a 
 piece of trade that it was not to be learned without 
 long practice." We willingly challenge the present 
 Bench of Bishops to produce any one genuine 
 liturgy used in the Christian church, during the first 
 three hundred years after Christ. 
 
 At the Reformation a new liturgy was intro- 
 duced ; but the Parliament, in 1644, discarded it, 
 and introduced a new plan for the devotion of the 
 church. The reasons for doing this I shall tran- 
 scribe from the parliamentary annals : " It is 
 evident, after long and sad experience, that the 
 liturgy used in the Church of England, notwith- 
 standing all the pains and religious intentions of 
 the compilers, has proved an offence to many of 
 the godly at home, and to the reformed churches 
 abroad. The enjoining the reading all the prayers 
 heightened the grievances ; and the many unpro- 
 fitable and burdensome ceremonies have occasioned 
 much mischief, by disquieting the consciences of 
 many who could not yield to them. Sundry good 
 people have, by this means, been kept from the 
 Lord's table ; and many faithful ministers debarred 
 from the exercise of their ministry, to the ruin of 
 them and their families. The prelates and their 
 faction have raised their estimation of it to such a 
 height, as if God could be worshipped no other 
 
250 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 
 
 way but by the service book; in consequence of 
 which the preaching of the word has been depre- 
 ciated, and, in some places, entirely neglected. 
 
 " In the mean time, the papists have made their 
 advantage this way, boasting that the Common 
 Prayer Book came up to a compliance with a great 
 part of their service ; by which means they were 
 not a little confirmed in their idolatry and super- 
 stition, especially of late, when new ceremonies 
 were daily obtruded on the church. 
 
 " Besides, the liturgy has given great encou- 
 ragement to an idle and unedifying ministry, who 
 chose rather to confine themselves to forms made 
 to their hands, than to exert themselves in the 
 exercise of the gift of prayer, with which our 
 Saviour furnishes all those whom he calls to that 
 office. 
 
 * ' For these and many other weighty considera- 
 tions relating to the book in general, besides divers 
 particulars, which are a just ground of offence, 
 it is advisable and proper to set aside the former 
 liturgy, with the many rites and ceremonies for- 
 merly used in the worship of God ; not out of any 
 affectation of novelty, nor with an intention to dis- 
 parage our first reformers, but that we may answer 
 in some measure the gracious providence of God, 
 which now calls upon us for a further reformation ; 
 that we may satisfy our own consciences, an- 
 swer the expectations of other reformed churches, 
 ease the consciences of many godly persons among 
 
OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 251 
 
 ourselves, and give a public testimony of our en- 
 deavours after an uniformity of divine worship." 
 
 That the present liturgy needs cancelling or 
 revising, I shall shew in Chap, xxix., " On the 
 necessity of a Reformed Church," and intend, at 
 no distant time, to take upon myself to draw up a 
 new Service, for those who are fond of forms. 
 
252 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF 
 THE STATE. 
 
 IN the days of the Reformation, the Protestant 
 high clergy endeavoured to divert the growing 
 spirit of reform in the Christian world to meta- 
 physical and useless speculations, of no benefit to 
 the present or eternal happiness of mankind, whilst 
 they were seating themselves at leisure in the 
 chairs of their predecessors. But far otherwise 
 was it, where it fell under the direction of laymen, 
 who considered it as an opportunity put by Heaven 
 into their hands, to free themselves from the 
 usurpations and unjust domination of the priest- 
 hood. They made no scruple to seize and apply 
 to public uses, a great part of those riches which 
 the Roman clergy had extorted from old women, 
 and superstitious and silly bigots, the com- 
 positions for murders, for public and private rob- 
 beries, the plunder of dying and despairing sinners, 
 and the support of their own idleness, pride, 
 ignorance, and debauchery. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND &C. 253 
 
 A bold and honest physician, whose name was 
 Erastus, at this time started up and told the world, 
 that all these squabbles of the clergy about their 
 own power, were disputes de lana caprina, con- 
 cerning a nonentity, and that none of them had 
 any right to what they almost all claimed ; that 
 the quarrel amongst them was only which of them 
 should oppress the laity, who were independent of 
 them all, for that their ministers were their ser- 
 vants, creatures of their own making, and not of 
 God Almighty's. He shewed them, both from 
 reason and scripture, that every state had the same 
 authority of modelling their ecclesiastical, as well 
 as civil government ; that the gospel gave no pre- 
 eminence or authority to Christians over one 
 another, but every man alike, who had suitable 
 abilities, was qualified to execute all the duties 
 and offices of their most holy religion ; and that 
 it was only a matter of prudence and convenience, 
 to appoint particular persons to officiate for the 
 rest, with proper rewards and encouragements, 
 which persons would be entitled to no more power 
 than they themselves gave them. 
 
 This doctrine, as little as it pleased the clergy, 
 yet prevailed so far with the laity, that most pro- 
 testant states modelled their ecclesiastical polity 
 according to their own inclinations or interests ; 
 and particularly in England, the whole Reformation 
 was built upon this principle, which, till of late 
 years, was esteemed the great characteristic of the 
 
254 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 Church of England. It is, therefore, the height of 
 clerical insolence for a body of men to call them- 
 selves the only true churchmen, at the same time 
 that they deny, and every where exclaim against 
 the fundamental and essential article which dis- 
 tinguishes our's from most other churches ; for as 
 to the rest of the articles, the Calvinists are more 
 orthodox than the churchmen themselves. 
 
 At the beginning of the Reformation, the clergy 
 here in England, conscious of their own enor- 
 mities, and the just vengeance which hung over 
 their heads, were contented to disgorge their ill- 
 gotten, and as ill-used power ; and, in full convoca- 
 tion, they threw themselves upon the king's mercy, 
 acknowledging his supremacy in the fullest and 
 most significant words ; and promised, in verbo 
 sacerdotii, that, for the future, they would never 
 presume to attempt, allege, claim, or put in use, 
 enact, or promulgate any canons, constitutions, or 
 ordinances, without the king's most royal license 
 and assent had thereunto ; and humbly besought 
 his majesty to appoint thirty- two persons, half 
 clergy, and half laity, to examine the canons and 
 constitutions in being, and to abrogate and con- 
 firm them as they should think good. 
 
 This petition was changed into an Act of Par- 
 liament by the 25th of Hen. VIII. cap. 19. But it 
 is there declared, " that the crown and convocation 
 together, shall not put in execution any canons, 
 constitutions, or ordinances, which shall be con- 
 
PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF THE STATE. 255 
 
 trariant or repugnant to the king's prerogative, or 
 the laws of the kingdom." The same statute also 
 gives an appeal from the supreme ecclesiastical 
 court to the king's commission. 
 
 In the same session of Parliament, the manner 
 of proceeding upon the conge-d'elire is directed, 5 * 
 viz., a license from the crown is to be sent to the 
 chapter, directing them to choose or elect an arch- 
 bishop or bishop. A letter missive is sent with it, 
 nominating the person whom they are to choose, 
 which, if they do not obey, nor signify the same 
 according to the tenor of the Act, within twenty 
 days, they are subjected to a pramunire : if the 
 election be not made within twelve days, the king 
 may nominate a bishop, by letters patent, without 
 any election at all, as is now done in Ireland, arid 
 formerly was in Scotland, where their bishops were 
 durante bene placito, 
 
 The next year, the Parliament,! reciting that the 
 king justly and rightly is, and ought to be, su- 
 preme head of the Church of England, enacted the 
 same, and that he shall have full power to visit, 
 redress, reform, correct, and restrain all errors, 
 heresies, abuses, offences, contempts, and enormi- 
 ties, whatsoever they be, which, by any manner of 
 spiritual authority or jurisdiction, ought, or may 
 be reformed, redressed, &c. Afterwards, in the 
 37th year of the same reign, the Parliament, recit- 
 
 * 25 Hen. VIII. cap. 20. f 26 Hen. VIII. cap. 1. 
 
256 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 ing that the Bishop of Rome and his adherents, 
 minding utterly to abolish, obscure, and delete the 
 power given by God to the princes of the earth, 
 whereby they might get and gather to themselves 
 the rule and government of the world, had decreed, 
 that no layman might exercise ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction, lest their false and usurped power, which 
 they pretended to have in Christ's church, might 
 decay, wax vile, and be of no reputation, which 
 power they affirm to be contrary to the word of 
 God, and to his majesty's most high prerogative ; 
 and reciting also, that archbishops, bishops, arch- 
 deacons, and other ecclesiastical persons, have no 
 manner of jurisdiction ecclesiastical, but by, from, 
 and under the king's majesty, enact that laymen, 
 qualified as the law appoints, may exercise all 
 parts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and all censures 
 and coercions appertaining, or in any wise belong- 
 ing thereunto. 
 
 The 2nd and 3rd of Edward VI., cap. 1, enacts 
 the Common Prayer Book, which before was com- 
 piled and drawn up by the king's authority, and 
 makes it a law. The 3rd and 4th of Edward VI., 
 cap, 12, appoints such form and manner of mak- 
 ing and consecrating archbishops, bishops, priests, 
 and deacons, and other ministers of the church, 
 as by six prelates, and six other men of this realm, 
 by the king to be appointed and assigned, or by 
 the greater number of them, shall be devised, &c., 
 and none other. These two Acts were confirmed, 
 
PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF THE STATE. 257 
 
 with some alterations, in the 5th and 6th year of 
 the reign of George II. 
 
 The 1st of Queen Elizabeth, cap. 1, establishes 
 and enacts, that all jurisdictions, privileges, supe- 
 riorities, and pre-eminences, spiritual and ecclesi- 
 astical, at any time lawfully used or exercised, for 
 the visitation of the ecclesiastical state, or persons, 
 and for the reformation, order, and correction of 
 the same, and of all manner of errors, heresies, 
 schisms, abuses, contempts, offences, and enormi- 
 ties, shall be annexed to the imperial crown of this 
 realm ; and gives power and authority thereto to 
 appoint any persons, being natural born subjects, 
 to exercise all sorts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; 
 and declares, at the same time, what, and what 
 only, shall be deemed heresy. The oath of supre- 
 macy, which is an assent to these laws, and obliges 
 those who take it to assist and defend them, is 
 appointed in this Act ; which oath all ecclesiastical 
 persons, as well as any others, who shall be pro- 
 moted and preferred to any degree or order in the 
 university, are to take, under severe penalties. 
 
 The 8th of Elizabeth, reciting, that the Queen 
 had in her order and disposition, all jurisdiction, 
 power, and authority, ecclesiastical as well as 
 civil, and had caused divers archbishops and 
 bishops to be duly elected and consecrated, con- 
 firms all the said elections and consecrations, as 
 also the Common Prayer Book, and the orders 
 and forms for the making of priests, deacons, and 
 
258 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &C. 
 
 ministers, which were added to it in the fifth and 
 sixth years of Edward VI. These Acts are all 
 now in being, and in full force, and are sworn to by 
 all the clergy, who are subjected to a pr&munire if 
 they contradict them. Thus, our parliaments, soon 
 after the Reformation, whilst the memory of sacer- 
 dotal oppressions remained with them, were re- 
 solved to curb the insolence of the clergy, and not 
 leave it in their power to corrupt religion any more. 
 For this purpose, they put it under the care of the 
 civil magistrate, who could seldom have any inte- 
 rest in perverting it. 
 
259 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 THE CLERGY OP THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND PROVED TO BE 
 CREATURES OF THE STATE. 
 
 IN the last chapter, it was shewn what is meant by 
 the supremacy of the crown of England, by virtue 
 of which, our kings, sometimes with, and some- 
 times without, the Parliaments, have governed 
 and modelled the ecclesiastical state ever since the 
 Reformation. Bishops, as well as inferior clergy- 
 men, have been often suspended and deprived by 
 the king's authority ; and, in the instance of 
 Archbishop Abbot, during his pleasure. The 
 popish bishops were all deprived by Queen Eliza- 
 beth ; some thousands of the parochial clergy 
 were rejected by the Act of Uniformity ; and 
 many, also, of all orders, were deprived at the 
 Revolution. 
 
 I shall now proceed to shew what have been the 
 opinions and practice of the whole body of the 
 ecclesiastics, since the making of these laws ; in 
 doing which, I shall take notice only of their 
 
 s2 
 
260 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 public and authentic acts ; for as to the caprice 
 and whims of private doctors, I think them of so 
 little weight, that I should be ashamed to quote 
 them on either side of the question. 
 
 Upon the clergy's acknowledging the king as Su- 
 preme Head of the Church, at the Reformation, all 
 the bishops took out commissions for exercising 
 their ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; which were again 
 renewed upon his son's coming to the throne. 
 In these commissions, all ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 is owned to proceed from the crown, as from a 
 supreme head, and fountain, and as the spring of all 
 magistracy in the kingdom. They acknowledge that 
 they executed their jurisdiction formerly only ex 
 precario, and that now, with grateful minds, they 
 accepted the favour from the king's liberality and 
 indulgence, and would be always ready to yield it 
 up again, when his Majesty pleased to require it. 
 
 These commissions recited, among other par- 
 ticulars of spiritual power, that of ordaining pres- 
 byters, and of ecclesiastical correction. 
 
 The 2nd canon excommunicates every one who 
 shall endeavour to hurt or extenuate the king's 
 authority in ecclesiastical cases, as it is settled by 
 the laws of the kingdom ; and declares he shall not 
 be restored till he has publicly recanted such im- 
 pious errors. 
 
 The 37th canon obliges all persons, to their 
 utmost, to keep and observe all and every one of 
 the statutes and laws made for restoring to the 
 
PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 261 
 
 crown the ancient jurisdiction it had over the 
 ecclesiastical state. 
 
 The 12th of King James's canons declares, that 
 whoever shall affirm that it is lawful for the order 
 either of ministers or laics to make canons, 
 decrees, or constitutions in ecclesiastical matters, 
 without the king's authority, and submits himself 
 to be governed by them, is, ipso facto, excom- 
 municated, and is not to be absolved before he has 
 publicly repented and renounced these anabaptis- 
 tical errors. 
 
 Archbishop Bancroft, when at the head of all 
 the bishops of England, delivered articles to King 
 James, for increasing the ecclesiastical courts, 
 and for annexing all ecclesiastical, as well as 
 civil power, to the crown. This may be seen 
 at large in Lord Coke's third institute, which 
 I would recommend to the perusal of every one, 
 as a specimen of the difference held to exist between 
 ecclesiastics and laymen. 
 
 I think it necessary here only to add, that 
 the clergy have never presumed, by any public 
 act, directly to controvert this prerogative, or 
 indeed, even to nibble at it, unless in one instance 
 during the reign of Queen Anne, which she highly 
 resented, and made the convocation know, by a 
 letter to the Archbishop, that, " she was resolved to 
 maintain her supremacy, as a fundamental part of the 
 constitution of the church of England." This, then, 
 
262 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 is the supremacy of the crown ; these are the 
 genuine principles of the Church of Great Britain, 
 which, whoever denies, may be a papist, a pres- 
 byterian, a dissenter, or any thing but a mem- 
 ber of the Church of England. This doctrine and 
 these opinions have been acknowledged and sworn 
 to by every ecclesiastic since the Reformation ; and 
 we daily see that they are all ready to swear them 
 over again, upon any fresh motives of advantage. 
 Surely, no man will suggest, that the whole clergy of 
 England have lived in a state of perjury for nearly 
 three hundred years. I am sure, if this be the 
 case, it is not their interest to let us know it. 
 
 We have it here upon oath, that all jurisdiction, 
 power, and authority, spiritual or ecclesiastical, of 
 what kind or sort soever it be, flows from, and 
 is derived from, the king's majesty. The clergy 
 have been always delighted at distinctions and 
 discoveries : if they can find out any power or 
 authority, which is of no kind or sort whatever, I 
 think they ought to have it for their pains. I wish 
 them much joy with it, and shall own it always to 
 be sacrilege in any one who shall attempt to take it 
 from them. But if there be any such thing, it is 
 plain that it belongs to them as governors of the 
 invisible church, and is of a nature of which we 
 know nothing. 
 
 It is certain, then, that archbishops and bishops 
 are creatures of the civil power, and derive their 
 
PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 263 
 
 being and existence from it. They are chosen by 
 the direction of one Act of parliament, and ordained 
 and consecrated according to a model prescribed 
 by another. Those who officiate in the service, 
 act only ministerially, and all other methods of 
 choosing them which the clergy can devise, are 
 declared to be void and ineffectual. They have no 
 spiritual power to induce any clergyman to pay 
 submission to the choice, should he not like the 
 man ; or if he did, provided he thought he should 
 lose any thing by his choice. If the bishops have 
 no power but what they derive from the crown, 
 they can convey none, but of the same sort, to the 
 inferior clergy. 
 
 I durst not have incurred the imputation of ca- 
 lumny, in charging any of the present clergy with 
 principles or practices directly in defiance of their 
 notorious and frequently repeated oaths and sub- 
 scriptions, if I had not authority to bear me out. 
 In an appeal of Dr. Wake, then, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, he says, " a new sort of disciplina- 
 rians are arisen up from among ourselves, who 
 seem to comply with the government of the church, 
 much upon the same account as others do with that 
 of the state ; not out of conscience to their duty, or 
 any love they have for it, but because it is the 
 established church, and they cannot keep their pre- 
 ferments without it. They hate our constitution, 
 and all who stand up in good earnest for it ; but 
 
264 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 
 for all that, they hold fast to it ; and so go on to 
 subscribe and rail." 
 
 To such practices as these we owe the present 
 disaffection to the clergy, and most, if not all the 
 calamities and public disturbances which have hap- 
 pened since the Revolution ; and yet, lamentable 
 to say, they have prevailed so far among the cor- 
 rupt part of the clergy, that I wish we could find 
 more, even of those who are called " evangelical," 
 who dare thoroughly to renounce these impious and 
 anabaptistical errors, as their own canons call them. 
 
 Dominion ! Dominion ! is the loud cry, which, 
 as it has already produced the cruelties and absur- 
 dities of popery, is still teeming with, or bringing 
 forth, new monsters. What other issue, indeed, 
 can be expected from so unnatural a union 
 as that of the Christian priesthood with worldly 
 power ? 
 
 To this we are beholden for all the corruptions 
 and follies brought into religious worship, as well 
 as the ill-shapen and ungainly brats of passive 
 obedience, the divine right of kings and bishops, 
 the uninterrupted succession, the priest's power 
 of the keys of binding and loosing, remitting and 
 retaining sins the real presence in the sacrament, 
 the altar, and unbloody sacrifice upon it, the 
 giving of the Holy Ghost, excommunication, 
 the consecration of churches and church-yards, 
 persecution for opinions, the tritheistical cha- 
 
PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 265 
 
 rity, and a long train of monkish fooleries, no 
 part of which could ever have entered into the 
 heart of one layman, or clergyman either, if no 
 earthly advantage had been, by them, to be ob- 
 tained. 
 
266 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 A GENERAL IDEA OP PRIESTCRAFT. 
 
 I HAVE, in the twenty-first chapter of this work, 
 endeavoured to vindicate the Almighty from the 
 imputation of obscurity, in revealing his will to 
 mankind ; and shewn that He is plain, exact, and 
 even circumstantial, when He delivers his precepts 
 to them. I shall now expose the contrary method 
 of weak and corrupt men, by giving a general 
 idea of the principal arts by which the designing 
 priests of all religions have kept their craft and 
 impostures from a discovery, and made the truth, 
 as far as they could, inaccessible to the people. 
 
 Every bad action or principle in religion and 
 government, must have some apparent cause as- 
 signed for it, calculated to amuse the people, and 
 to conceal the true cause. Mankind, as tame as 
 priests and tyrants have made them, will not be 
 satisfied to be deceived or butchered, without 
 having a reason for it. The pope, who assumes a 
 power to judge for all men, and devotes whole 
 nations to massacre and damnation, and sends 
 
A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 267 
 
 people to heaven or hell in colonies, just as their 
 money or disobedience determines him, acts a very 
 consistent part in tying the keys of both worlds 
 to his girdle, and in styling himself, God's absolute 
 vicar general. These are his reasons ; and the 
 Catholic and more orthodox parts of Europe are 
 perfectly contented with them. 
 
 In former reigns, when many of our English 
 clergy thought proper to tie us hand and foot, 
 and deliver us over to our kings, as their proper 
 goods and chattels, to be fed or slayed according 
 to their sacred will and pleasure, they told us that 
 it was the ordinance of God, that one man might 
 glut his lust, or his cruelty, with the destruction 
 of millions ; and if we kept out of harm's way 
 we were assuredly damned. These were their 
 reasons then. Of late, it is true, many of them 
 have changed their doctrine and behaviour. We 
 are, it seems, at present, living in the guilt of 
 rebellion, which is a damnable sin ; and so we are 
 to rebel, upon pain of damnation, to free ourselves 
 from the damnation which follows rebellion. These 
 are their reasons now. 
 
 Formerly, when certain persons were satis- 
 fied to be Protestants, the Church of Rome was 
 the spiritual Babylon, and the scarlet whore, and 
 Sodom; and the pope was anti-Christ, for he sat 
 in the temple of God, and exalted himself above 
 all that is called God. But this was truth, and 
 could not hold long, considering into whose hands 
 
268 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 
 
 it was fallen ; and, therefore, in a little time, when 
 they wished to get into the pope's place, and to 
 do and say as he did, the Church of Rome became 
 all of a sudden a true Church, and an old Church, 
 and our mother Church. In short, the old withered 
 harlot, and mother of whoredoms, grew a great 
 beauty, and her daughter, here in England, re- 
 sembled her mamma more and more every day she 
 lived, and gave the foregoing reasons for her 
 belief. 
 
 From hence it is evident, that though for every 
 imposture some cause must be assigned, yet often- 
 times a very indifferent one will serve the turn. 
 The bulk of mankind are dull and credulous ; few 
 make any inquiries at all, and fewer make success- 
 ful ones. It is, however, still best if the cheat 
 stands upon such a foundation, that it cannot be 
 searched nor examined by any human eye. 
 
 When Numa Pompilius told the Romans that 
 he conversed familiarly with the nymph Egeria, 
 which of them could pay her a visit, and ask her 
 whether the prince and she were in earnest such 
 very good neighbours ? When Mahomet took 
 such a wide range upon his nag Elborach, and told 
 wonders at his return, there was neither man nor 
 horse in all Arabia that could take the same journey 
 to disprove him ; nor did I ever hear that when he 
 was pleased to be thought conversant with the an- 
 gel Gabriel, the angel signed a certificate that they 
 were unacquainted. The quack, who had found 
 
A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 269 
 
 out the true fern-seed, and the green dragon, 
 thought it would be, no doubt, a hard matter to 
 prove him a liar. 
 
 In the heathen temples of old, neither the sybils, 
 nor any other priests or fabricators of prophecy, 
 male or female, were answerable for the oracles 
 and dark sayings which they uttered. They had 
 what they said from a god, who never once contra- 
 dicted them ! It was impossible to come at him 
 for personal information, and was a very profane 
 crime not to believe his priest. You had nothing to 
 do but to subdue your reason to your faith, and 
 swallow the verbum sacerdotis. If you did not, 
 the judgment of the god, i. e. the anger of his 
 priest, was sure to pursue you. 
 
 The same policy has been ever practised by the 
 deluders of mankind, in all names and shapes. They 
 have always intrenched themselves behind the ram- 
 parts of mystery, uncertainties, and terrors. The 
 Romish clergy maintain all their pretensions and 
 power by doctrines which are calculated to make 
 the people either wonder or tremble. When a man 
 has lost his courage and his understanding, he may 
 easily be cheated or terrified into as tractable an 
 animal as the creation affords. The doctrines of 
 purgatory, and the power of the priests to forgive 
 or damn, are alone strong enough to frighten most 
 men into what liberality and submission the church 
 thinks fit to demand of them ; and we all know 
 that she is not over-modest upon such occasions. 
 
270 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 
 
 " Bring me all that thou hast, and follow me" is her 
 style of speaking. 
 
 I wish we could keep these impostures and wild 
 claims altogether out of England, and confine them 
 to popish and infidel countries. But that which is 
 obvious and avowed cannot be hidden. Many of our 
 high clergy aim at dominion by the same wicked 
 means, and hood- wink and alarm us all that they 
 can. They lead us out of the road of reason, and play 
 their engines in the dark ; and all the illumination 
 we can get from them is, that we are all in a mist. 
 Without their guidance we go astray, and with it 
 we go blindfold. All their arguments are fetched 
 from their own authority. Their assertions are no 
 less than rules and laws to us, and where they lead 
 we must follow, though into darkness and servi- 
 tude. If we grow wilful, and break loose from our 
 orthodox ignorance, we are pursued with hard 
 names and curses. Doubting is infidelity ; reason 
 is atheism. What can we do in this case ? There 
 is no medium between a blockhead and a schisma- 
 tic. If we follow them blindly, we are the first ; 
 the second, if we leave them. We want faith if we 
 will not take their word ; if we do so, we want un- 
 derstanding. They, indeed, give us a sweetmeat, 
 and refer us to the Bible for proof of all that they 
 say. But, in truth, this privilege, if we examine 
 it, will be found none at all, but, on the contrary, a 
 gross absurdity; for w r hen they have sent us to a 
 text, will they allow us to construe it in our own 
 
A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 271 
 
 way? No! they have fixed a meaning to it, and 
 will permit it to bear no other. You may read, 
 provided you read with their spectacles ; and examine 
 their propositions freely, provided you take them 
 every one for granted. You may exert your reason 
 to its full extent, but be sure it must be to no pur- 
 pose ; you may use your understanding independent- 
 ly, under their absolute direction and control. How 
 astonishing that these men should have the impu- 
 dence to impugn the church of Rome for locking 
 up the Bible in an unknown tongue ! 
 
 The continual war which the clergy wage 
 against reason, which they use just as they do 
 scripture, is founded upon good policy \ but it is 
 amusing to observe their manner of attacking it. 
 They reason against reason ; use reason against the 
 use of reason ; and shew, from very good reason^ 
 that reason is good for nothing. When they think 
 it on their own side, then they apply all its aids to 
 convince or confound those who dare to think with- 
 out their concurrence ; and therefore, in their con- 
 troversies about religion, they frequently appeal to 
 reason. But we must not accept the appeal, for if 
 our reason be not their reason, it is no reason at all. 
 They use it, or the appearance of it, against all 
 men ; but no man must use it against them. But 
 as there is no such thing as arguing and per- 
 suading without the aid of reason, it is a little ab- 
 surd, if not ungrateful, in these gentlemen, to 
 decry it, at the same time that they are employing 
 
272 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 
 
 it ; to turn the batteries of reason against reason, 
 and make it destroy itself. 
 
 Neither scripture, therefore, nor reason, by these 
 rules, signify any thing till the clergy have ex- 
 plained them, and made them signify something. 
 The word of God is not the word of God, till 
 they have declared its sense, and made it genuine. 
 
 From what has been observed, the following 
 conclusions maybe fairly drawn. Such clergymen 
 as I have been describing, prove every thing by 
 asserting it, and make any pretence support any 
 claim. They build systems upon pretended facts, 
 and argue from propositions which are either highly 
 improbable, or certainly false. When they cannot 
 convince, they confound ; when they cannot per- 
 suade, they terrify. We have but two ways to try 
 the truth of their doctrines, and the validity of their 
 demands, viz. by reason and revelation; and they 
 would deprive us of both, by making the one dark, 
 and the other dangerous ! 
 
273 
 
 THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN MATTERS OP RELIGION. 
 
 How far the force of example influences nature, 
 and enlarges or restrains the human passions and 
 appetites, is evident to all who compare different 
 nations, and the several ranks of men in the same 
 nation. Custom, which is a continued succession 
 of examples, warps the understanding, and, as it 
 is observed or neglected, becomes the standard of 
 wisdom or folly. Men cannot bear to see what 
 they themselves reverence, ridiculed by others ; nor 
 what they ridicule, reverenced by others. It is a 
 common thing to educate men in a veneration for 
 one sort of folly, and in a contempt of another, not 
 worse, nor so bad ; in a high esteem for one kind 
 of science, and in aversion to another full as good ; 
 to love some men because they have good names, 
 and to hate others for their best qualities ; to adore 
 some objects for a bad reason, and to detest others 
 against all reason. 
 
 In Turkey, they have as good natural understand- 
 
274 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 
 
 ing as other people, and yet, by their education, they 
 are taught to believe, that there is a sort of divinity 
 in the utter absence of all understanding. They 
 esteem idiots and lunatics as prophets. They think 
 their raving to be celestial, because it is nonsense ; 
 and their stupidity instructive, because unintelli- 
 gible. If, upon the article of religion, you offer or 
 expect common sense, they revile you, and knock 
 you on the head ; but if you be a natural fool, 
 your words are oracles, and phrensy is saintship ! 
 
 A papist laughs and shakes his head at this reli- 
 gious sottishness and fury on the Turks, but burns 
 you if you laugh at him for doing the same things. 
 There were never greater sots or madmen than 
 many of the Roman saints ; nor are they the less 
 worshipped for that, but the more. As they were 
 enthusiasts in proportion to their lunacy, they are 
 adored in proportion to their folly. St. Francis, 
 for instances, was an errant changeling; St. Antony 
 was distracted ; yet who is of more consequence in 
 the Roman breviaries than these two saints ? They 
 are daily invoked by many devout Catholics, who 
 never earnestly prayed to God in their lives. 
 
 That all this wild and astonishing bigotry is the 
 pure effect of example, or of education, which is 
 the same thing (being only some men setting ex- 
 amples to other men) , may be learnt from hence, 
 that no man bred without superstition, any par- 
 ticular form of it, can rarely ever be brought into 
 the vanities of a strange devotion at once. People 
 
IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 275 
 
 must be seasoned in it by time, by steps, and by 
 reiterations. After certain periods in life, examples 
 come too late, or with small force. It is a saying of 
 the amiable Jay, of Bath, that there are two things 
 equally difficult, "to raise a dead man, and to con- 
 vince an old one." A grown Spaniard can hardly ever 
 become a Frenchman, or a Frenchman a Spaniard. 
 We see men who will fight and die for certain prac- 
 tices and opinions, and even for follies and fopperies, 
 which, had they been bred to others, they would have 
 despised, and perhaps have died for such as they 
 now despise. 
 
 It is plain from the accounts given by the 
 missionaries, of the progress which they make 
 in converting the natives of the East and West 
 Indies, that their proselytes are very few, and 
 those few fickle, not half made, and luke-warm ; 
 still fond of their old superstitions, and, upon 
 every terror or temptation, ready to revolt to 
 paganism, which they had scarcely forsaken. I 
 believe this is almost universally true of the 
 elder sort. I doubt not but they are almost all 
 like father Hennepin's old woman, who, when 
 all other arguments were unconvincing, yielded to 
 be baptized for a pipe of tobacco, and having 
 smoked it, offered to be baptized again for another. 
 It is certain that the Chinese converted the Jesuits, 
 who, at least, civilly met these obstinate heathens 
 half way, and went roundly into paganism, to 
 make the Pagans good Catholics, a union not 
 
276 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 
 
 unnatural, though it is to be lamented, that the 
 peaceable heathenism of Confucius should be 
 polluted by the barbarous spirit of popery, 
 which has not only, from the beginning, adopted 
 the ancient gentile idolatry, but disgraced it by 
 added cruelty. 
 
 I am satisfied that Dr. Blomfield, the present Bi- 
 shop of London, is a very sincere and keen church- 
 man ; but I am equally satisfied, that, had he been 
 educated in the Mosaic law, he would have been 
 as fierce a Jew ; or, bred at Athens, in the days of 
 Socrates, as clamorous as the rest of the rabble 
 against that wise and moderate man, who was 
 most certainly a heretic as to the doctrine and 
 discipline of the Athenian priests. If in this con- 
 jecture I have offended the Doctor, who, they 
 say, is a man of warm spirit, I will give him com- 
 petent revenge, by declaring my equal belief that 
 many a stern Calvinist, zealous in his way, would, 
 with different breeding, have been as zealous an 
 Arminian. I could wish that, from this conside- 
 ration, both sorts would learn to bear with one 
 another, and with all men ; that at least they 
 would be as angry at Mahomet as at any one of 
 our dissenting preachers, and learn not to attack 
 heresy through the sides of charity. But, in this 
 very thing, the force of example, of which I am 
 writing, is against me. 
 
 By this force, men may be brought to renounce 
 every glimmering of common sense, every impulse 
 
IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 277 
 
 of piety, and be transported with every degree of 
 madness and inhumanity. In many countries, the 
 death of a snake will cost you your life ; and those 
 people who would murder a man and eat him, 
 would tremble at the thought of hurting a serpent, 
 for which pernicious reptile they have a religious 
 regard. The unnatural mercy which superstition 
 teaches them is the only mercy that they have, and 
 is exercised upon a creature that is a known enemy 
 to human life. 
 
 The Iroquois, not satisfied with putting their 
 enemies to death in coldblood,burn them alive, after 
 other tortures, cut off pieces of their raw flesh, and 
 eat them, and give the children the blood to drink, 
 to season their young minds with the like sangui- 
 nary spirit. Thus the cruelty is continued by 
 example from father to son, and grows natural 
 by habit. Their enemies serve them the same 
 way ; but this consideration reclaims neither. It 
 is heroism to be barbarous, and the fiercest can- 
 nibal is the bravest warrior. Yet these savages, in 
 their own clans, may be copied by the Christian 
 world ; they are merciful and good natured to one 
 another, and they live together in remarkable inno- 
 cence, simplicity, and union. 
 
 American nations, who thus destroy one another, 
 are very thin of population ; there is more than terri- 
 tory enough for them all ; nor is husbandry any of 
 their arts. There are woods large enough for many 
 more to hunt in, and rivers for many more to fish in. 
 
278 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 
 
 The inhabitants live from hand to mouth, and 
 though they do not much regard property, yet 
 inveterate quarrels are handed down from ge- 
 neration to generation, and daily inflamed, which 
 perpetuate their mutual ferocity and rage. 
 They often watch many days, in hunger and 
 cold, to circumvent their enemies, though nothing 
 is to be expected at last but blood lost or 
 obtained ; but blood, on whatever side shed, is 
 glory. 
 
 In some parts of Peru this savageness is still 
 improved. Their chief ambition in war is to make 
 women captives. These they make their slaves in 
 a strange way. They breed from them, and eat the 
 children so bred at the age of ten or twelve years, 
 having first well fatted them. The women, when 
 they can breed no longer, are eaten also. Among 
 these people the sense of shame seems entirely ex- 
 tinguished, or rather never known. Their prosti- 
 tutions, natural and unnatural, are as public as 
 their eating and drinking. Some of them account 
 virginity a great blemish, and the young women 
 must be beholden to their friends and relations to 
 get rid of it before they can get husbands. Their 
 women ran openly after the Spaniards, in all the 
 transports of female rage, begging the gratifications 
 of gallantry. But what is still most monstrous 
 and incredible, there are, of those people, who 
 have public temples for the practice of sodomy, as 
 an act of religion ; for, with all these abomina- 
 
IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 279 
 
 tions, they have a religion, which is part of them ; 
 and here we see into what excesses mistakes in 
 religion can run. They believe the immortality 
 of the soul ; they have offices for the dead ; they 
 worship the sun ; they believe in a Creator of all 
 things ; they offer sacrifices to their idols, and 
 sometimes human sacrifices. Will any of our 
 casuists say, that it were not better they had no 
 religion, than one that teaches them such hideous 
 crimes and barbarities ? I wish that these brutal 
 heathens were the only instances where reason 
 and humanity are made victims to religion. But 
 customs of religion and honour, right or 
 wrong, as both are commonly vilely mistaken 
 and abused, are apt to take an inveterate hold 
 of the human soul, and to master every natural 
 faculty. 
 
 It would be a hard, if not an impossible thing, 
 to convert these Peruvian savages. There is no 
 weaning them from their horrible but delicious 
 banquets of human flesh, alive or dead ; and 
 while they themselves have such a relish of man's 
 blood, they will always think it acceptable to the 
 gods. Men every where imagine that the Deity 
 loves and hates just as they do ; and their com- 
 mon way of going to God is to bring God to 
 them. 
 
 It is as easy to bring an Englishman into the 
 way and life of a Hottentot, or Greenlander, as to 
 bring them into his. Both are impossible. The 
 
280 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 
 
 Hottentot is filthy and naked, and lives or starves 
 upon filth ; the Greenlander lives in piercing and 
 inhospitable regions of snow, in a country made 
 desolate by nature, where no comfortable thing 
 appears, but all covered with darkness or the rage 
 of the elements ; yet both these miserable barba- 
 rians miserable, at least, in our eyes are invete- 
 rately fond of their own cares and miseries ; 
 nor could all the delicacies and allurements of 
 Europe ever reclaim one of them. Their cap- 
 tivity in the midst of plenty, conveniencies, and 
 kind usage, either broke their hearts, or at- 
 tached them more violently to their own more 
 amiable barbarity, indigence, and garbage, when 
 they returned. 
 
 What shall we say to all the strange propensi- 
 ties of mankind strange, but natural ? They are 
 the effects of education, habit, and prepossession, 
 from which no man is wholly free, and by which 
 almost all men are wholly governed. I have seen 
 them strongly marked in servants and persons of 
 inferior birth, who were exclusively attached to 
 the society and habits of those whose education 
 and character were low and grovelling like their 
 own. From all this, let us learn a lesson of mu- 
 tual forbearance; let us throw off those prejudices 
 of education which prevent the growth of our in- 
 tellectual powers, and interrupt us in our moral 
 and spiritual course. Let us no longer be fettered 
 with the bonds of priestly intolerance, nor follow 
 
IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 281 
 
 the biblical interpretations of an interested priest- 
 hood. Let us rather learn wisdom from the 
 wickedness and folly of past ages, and earnestly 
 look up to God alone for the teachings of his 
 Holy Spirit, knowing that our redemption draweth 
 nigh. 
 
282 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 MUTUAL BITTERNESS AND PERSECUTION 
 
 REPUGNANT TO THE DOCTRINES OF CHRIST, AND DETESTABLE 
 TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 
 
 REASON is not the only thing in which men exceed 
 brutes ; their passions, as well as their reason, are 
 stronger than those of the dumb creation, and 
 prompt them to commit more abominable things. 
 To qualify and restrain those passions is the busi- 
 ness of religion ; and when it has contrary effects, 
 it is either a bad religion, or they are very bad men 
 who profess it. By this rule all men may know 
 what sort of Christians they are: " Except ye 
 love one another," says our Saviour, " you cannot 
 be my disciples." How different is this from the 
 style of many who call themselves his successors ! 
 Unless you hate, kill, and destroy one another, 
 you cannot be our followers, say they ! 
 
 The only end of Christianity, as to this life, was 
 to teach men peace, charity, mutual forbearance, 
 and the forgiveness of injuries. This was the 
 " new commandment," which Jesus Christ gave 
 
MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 283 
 
 to his apostles, and to all Christians. How ill it 
 has been observed; or rather, how impiously it 
 has been violated ! Let those whose duty it is 
 more especially to see it obeyed, consider whether 
 they have not inflamed, instead of calmed, the 
 natural heat and foolish passions of men? and 
 whether, far from instructing them to forgive inju- 
 ries, they have not taught them never to forgive 
 things which were no injuries, viz. the opinions of 
 one another ? 
 
 If a man halt in his understanding, how is any 
 one injured by his intellectual lameness, more than 
 by the lameness of his limbs ? If his opinions be 
 crooked and wild, what offence is that to another 
 more than if he squinted, or had a wild look? 
 Error is an infirmity of the mind, as pain, halting, 
 and crookedness are of the body ; and why should 
 internal, any more than external defects, pro- 
 voke any rational man ? Would not he who went 
 about to persecute or invent penalties for crooked- 
 ness, be looked upon as a monster equally cruel 
 with those savages who drown all their innocent 
 new-born babes whose make does not please their 
 eye ? And is not hating, hurting, or killing, for the 
 natural or habitual weaknesses of the soul, equally 
 monstrous and savage ? What is it to any man 
 what I think of colour, and whether I like or dislike 
 white or black ; or what sentiments, which are the 
 colours of the mind, fit mine best; or what actions 
 or gestures they produce in me, provided my ac- 
 
284 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 
 
 tions and gestures hurt not him ? Does he, by 
 hating or distressing me, fulfil our Saviour's com- 
 mandment of loving one another ? Are his own 
 notions right ? Let him enjoy them, he is happy. 
 Are my notions wrong ? I am unhappy ; why does 
 he persecute me? Perhaps fortune has been 
 kinder to him than to me, and he is richer and 
 handsomer. Why does he not chastise me for this 
 fault, too, for I cannot force fortune more than na- 
 ture ? The truth is, none persecute but the worst, 
 the most ignorant, or the most barbarous men. By 
 this mark we know a Nero from an Antoninus, 
 and a fatherly pastor from a bloody inquisitor. 
 
 The perverting of no one thing upon earth is so 
 bad, and so sinful, as the perverting of Christianity, 
 because Christianity is the best thing upon earth. 
 He, therefore, who makes use of Christianity to 
 raise heats, feuds, and hatred among men, is a 
 much worse man than he, who, having no Chris- 
 tianity, can make no ill use of that which he does 
 not use at all. It is like turning the best medicine 
 into poison ; and a physician who does so, is worse 
 than a peasant who knows not the nature and use 
 of physic. It is a strange and astonishing thing to 
 see a man in a rage, with the New Testament open 
 before him, justifying his rage out of the Scrip- 
 tures, and raising in his hearers, from thence, a 
 cruel and angry spirit like his own. And yet such 
 sights are far from being rare. I have frequently 
 heard a text from the holy and peaceful gospel 
 
DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 285 
 
 quoted and explained to rouse all the most bar- 
 barous and unsocial passions, and to authorize all the 
 worst and most inhuman effects of those passions. 
 This has been confidently called preaching the 
 gospel; and this herald of wrath, a preacher of the 
 gospel, and his raging hearers, a religious assembly. 
 
 I have sometimes fancied to myself, what a 
 sensible Chinese would think of the gospel upon 
 reading it ; in what manner he would conceive it 
 must be preached, and what consequences he 
 would expect from that preaching. " Here," he 
 would say, "is the most benevolent system that 
 ever appeared in the world ; a system contrived 
 to root out the roughness, malignity, and selfish- 
 ness of human nature, to extinguish or restrain 
 all its sour passions, to destroy, for ever, all the 
 seeds of strife, anger, and war, and to make all 
 men friends. Happy are they who receive this 
 system ! Most happy they among whom it is con- 
 tinually preached and inculcated ! Here is no pre- 
 tence for divisions, at least for quarrelling about 
 them. Here all the pomp and tyranny, affected by 
 men over men, are expressly forbidden ; and love, 
 even to our enemies, is strictly enjoined. This is 
 admirable ! Without doubt, it is from God. The 
 Divine Being, in pity to the ill-natured, jarring, 
 and tempestuous world, has here offered them a 
 divine calm, and restored them to a state of per- 
 fection and innocence, by giving them these celes- 
 tial rules for bearing and forbearing all manner of 
 
286 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 
 
 evils. Would I could be a witness of the happy 
 state of Christendom !" 
 
 I have fancied this same Chinese to be in Christen- 
 dom; and first in Rome, the centre of Christendom, 
 the residence of his Holiness, and the seat of all 
 abominations, poisonings, assassinations, unnatural 
 lust, pride, ambition, divisions, tyranny, luxury, 
 poverty, and oppression. There he sees an old 
 friar, who calls himself the vicar of the meek Jesus, 
 covered with all the ensigns of savage tyranny, 
 supporting his monstrous and motley domination 
 with dark intrigues and every pious and worldly 
 fraud ; holding his own subjects under severe fet- 
 ters and famine ; scattering, every where, firebrands 
 and the spirit of slaughter and war amongst Chris- 
 tians ; animating sovereigns against their people, 
 the people against their sovereigns ; and giving 
 his apostolic benediction to human rage and malice. 
 The Chinese asks if his Holiness be a Christian 
 according to the gospel? Yes, he is answered ; he 
 is what he is from the gospel, and all that he does 
 is from it. The Chinese blesses himself, and the 
 more Christian spirit of good old Confucius. He 
 is just ready to return to China, to a happier peo- 
 ple, and more virtuous paganism, but meets with 
 a Protestant, who tells him, that all the wickedness 
 which he finds at Rome, is the abuse of religion, and 
 the natural effects of the pope's lying pretentious 
 and usurpations, and begs him to visit protestant 
 countries, which abhor the pope, and all his doings. 
 
DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 287 
 
 The Chinese, ravished to hear that the gospel 
 does not fare every where alike, and in hopes of 
 beholding societies of men who are Christians ac- 
 cording to the gospel, travels through part of the 
 empire, where he finds Lutherans and Calvinists, 
 headed by their guides, at mortal enmity. They 
 both believe the gospel, but rail at one another out 
 of it, hate one another for it, and are only re- 
 strained by their princes from contending, even to 
 blood, about words which are not in it. In Den- 
 mark and Sweden he finds the Lutherans still 
 fiercer, and suffering no sort nor name of Chris- 
 tianity among them but their own, and treating all 
 others with the highest pitch of fury and ig- 
 norance. 
 
 The Chinese, who thinks the Lutheran popes as 
 little justifiable as the Romish popes, since they alike 
 set up for spiritual dominion, which the gospel 
 gives to no man upon earth, once more praises 
 old Confucius ; and, resolved to find, if he can, the 
 spirit of Christianity in some Christian country, 
 sails away for Great Britain, and lands in Scot- 
 land. There he beholds a rigid gravity in the 
 countenance of the Kirk ; she affects great sanc- 
 tity, has an eminent conceit of her own righteous- 
 ness, but finds righteousness nowhere else ; she 
 has a very strong stomach for dominion, but 
 sweetens it with a soft name, and calls it dis- 
 cipline, which she exercises with little tender- 
 ness upon such as offend or gainsay her ; and 
 
288 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 
 
 towards all other churches and opinions, her 
 looks are sour and unforgiving. She talks much 
 of the Lord, and contends that nothing is to 
 be done, by any man, without God's grace moving 
 in him, and assisting him, which is in no man's 
 power. But, for all that, if you want that grace, 
 of which she is judge, or if you do not derive it 
 from her, and submit implicitly to her, though she 
 be not the giver of grace, you will find that she 
 asserts a claim, as well as his Holiness, to chastise 
 wrong faith and obstinacy, as Mr. Fletcher, of Moor- 
 fields, can assert. For though the pope, being the 
 man of sin, has no such right, yet she, who is the 
 daughter of Zion, is entitled to it. 
 
 The Chinese cries, that here is much loud and 
 warm zeal, very long prayers, a world of bitterness, 
 but no charity. In England, says he, there is 
 more knowledge and freedom ; I will try Eng- 
 land. He finds here great liberty of conscience, 
 and rejoices in it ; but he sees those who 
 should be most for it, most implacable against it. 
 He sees churchmen nobly provided for, but many 
 of them not satisfied ; on the contrary, claiming 
 ten times more, and blindly supporting those claims 
 by the gospel, and by the example of cheating and 
 usurping popish monks. He sees them railing at 
 private conscience, damning all who exercise it, and 
 calling for the temporal sword to destroy them. 
 Here he finds archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, 
 deans and chapters, and chancellors, all fattening 
 
DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 289 
 
 in dignities and honours, violent in politics, and 
 jobbers in secular and state affairs. He sees many 
 of the Dissenters, who, after much suffering, enjoy 
 a precious liberty, setting up the same antichris- 
 tian spiritual domination, as that against which 
 they have protested ; and taking, as far as they 
 can do so, the blessing and protection of the law 
 of mercy from one another. 
 
 The Chinese, therefore, sees and applauds the 
 wisdom, gentleness, and Christian spirit of the 
 Legislature which restrains the irrascibility of 
 these professing Christians. He finds the chief 
 human security for the gospel to be in an Act of 
 parliament, which gives to every man the privilege 
 to read, understand, and apply the Scriptures in 
 his own way. " This," says he, " is Christianity 
 according to the gospel, which, I find by observa- 
 tion, can only subsist where all sorts of consciences, 
 the strong and the weak, are equally protected ; 
 where no sort of power is exercised over the mind, 
 and where every man is left to understand and 
 interpret with security the words of Christ and of 
 Paul, as he judges Christ and Paul meant them. 
 No two things not heaven and hell, or good and 
 evil are more opposite than force and faith. The 
 one is only from the wise and beneficent Creator ; 
 the other from the worst passions of the worst of 
 
 men." 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 So various and contradictory are the opinions and 
 reasonings of men, that no voluntary society or 
 assembly can long act or hold together, but by 
 establishing certain rules and orders among them- 
 selves, regarding the common interests and conduct 
 of the society, and appointing persons whose duty 
 it shall be to see those orders put into execution. 
 If any member does not think it lawful or ex- 
 pedient to submit to the public regulations, they 
 must have a right to exclude him ; or, in other 
 words, to excommunicate him from their body, if 
 he do not choose to separate himself. 
 
 If the design of the society be to worship God, 
 to join in the same prayers, and to exhort and edify 
 each other, which assembly is called a Church, 
 there must be time and place appointed, when and 
 where they are to meet, and also persons to prepare 
 and keep in order all things necessary for their 
 meeting. There must be one or more appointed 
 
INQUIRY INTO RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 291 
 
 to read those prayers to the congregation in which 
 they are to join, and to do all those offices which 
 can be performed only by single persons ; and if 
 the society would avoid the loquacity and inter- 
 ruption of ignorant and conceited members, they 
 must confine exhortation to one, or to a few 
 persons, of approved gravity and wisdom. There 
 must also be some means of conferring and agree- 
 ing together, to support the common expenses of 
 building, repairs, utensils, and so on; and, con- 
 sequently, there must be debates, which cannot be 
 well carried on without a president, chairman, or 
 prolocutor, to regulate them, collect their voices, 
 and pronounce their resolutions. Without these 
 precautions, the members will be more likely to 
 fight than to pray. 
 
 If several of these churches, residing at too great 
 a distance from one another to meet together, 
 should esteem it their duty or advantage to join 
 in the same form of worship, and unite in a com- 
 mon interest to support it, they must find out 
 some means of communication, and contrive some 
 cement of their union ; otherwise they would again 
 soon separate. This may be done by choosing 
 deputies to represent them, and to concert common 
 measures ; or by submitting themselves to the con- 
 duct and determinations of one or more persons, 
 chosen by common consent, in all such matters as 
 do not interfere with their duty to God. The 
 persons so chosen can have no more power, nor 
 
 u 2 
 
292 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 for a longer duration, than their principals think fit 
 to give them. 
 
 If such churches should think it their duty or inte- 
 rest to enlarge their foundation, and make converts, 
 they cannot take a more effectual method to do 
 so, than to choose, appoint, or ordain discreet and 
 honest men, who are acquainted with their way 
 of worship, their ordinances, and the reasons 
 of them ; and send them forth to teach, persuade, 
 and convince others ; to exhort them with meekness 
 and love, and afterwards to preside and watch over 
 them, for preventing their straying and apostatizing. 
 
 This was the case at the commencement of 
 Christianity, before national churches were esta- 
 blished ; as it is also the present case of independent 
 voluntary societies. The apostles' commission was, 
 to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature. This was impossible for them to do 
 in their own persons, and, therefore, as they made 
 converts, they exhorted them to convert others, 
 as may be seen in Acts viii. 1, 4. When the 
 apostles were left at Jerusalem, the church was 
 scattered abroad throughout all Judea and Samaria, 
 and those who were scattered abroad preached the 
 word ; see Acts xi. 13, 14. They who were scat- 
 tered abroad upon the persecution which arose 
 about Stephen, travelled as far as Phcenice and 
 Cyprus, and preached the word to none but the 
 Jews only ; and some of them, when they were 
 come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preach- 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 293 
 
 ing the Lord Jesus Christ. From chap. iv. ver. 4. 
 we find that Peter and John converted five thousand, 
 They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
 spake the word of God with boldness, ver. 31. 
 
 The apostles were enabled to prove their mis- 
 sion by having the power of working miracles ; for 
 we read, Mark xvi. 17, 18, that these signs were 
 to follow those who believed in Christ's name. 
 They could cast out devils ; they could speak with 
 new tongues ; they could take up serpents ; no 
 deadly thing could hurt them ; they could lay 
 their hands on the sick, and recover them. In John, 
 chap. xiv. ver. 12, our Saviour says to his disciples, 
 " Whosoever believeth in me, the works that I do 
 shall he do, and greater than these shall he do 
 also ;" which gifts would have been unnecessary, 
 if they were to have made no use of them. By 
 virtue of those general powers, given to all Chris- 
 tians, Philip and Stephen who were chosen by 
 the congregation to the menial office of serving 
 tables preached, baptized, and did many wonders 
 and miracles, as maybe seen, in Acts, chap. vi. ver. 
 8, and chap. viii. ver. 7. 
 
 But besides the common right which every man 
 had to preach Christ, and propagate his kingdom, 
 the apostle prevailed upon particular persons to 
 undertake it, and make it their business. These were 
 to assist and oversee the brethren, as a shepherd 
 does his sheep. Having the gift of discerning 
 spirits, they knew who w r ere best fitted for the same 
 
294 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 employment, and who would engage in it with- 
 out sinister views. But it is plain, they conferred 
 no gifts or advantages above other Christians. 
 They could not give the Holy Ghost, which power 
 was confined to the apostles, and, as far as ap- 
 pears, was bestowed, without distinction, upon 
 all who believed and were baptized. The power 
 of speaking with tongues, was given to all 
 believers ; which appears to be, in scripture, one 
 constant and inseparable mark of having received 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In Acts ii. ver. 4, it is said, " The Holy Ghost 
 fell on the apostles, and they spake with tongues.'' 
 In Acts x. ver. 46, " While Peter spoke, the Holy 
 Ghost fell on all who heard the word, and the 
 Jews were astonished when they heard the Gen- 
 tiles speak with tongues." Chap. xix. ver. 6, 
 " Paul laid his hands on certain disciples, and the 
 Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with 
 tongues, and prophesied." Acts xi. ver. 35, Peter 
 justifying himself to the Jews for preaching to 
 the Gentiles, says, "And as I began to speak, 
 the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the 
 beginning. Then remembered I the word of the 
 Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized 
 with water, but ye shall be baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost; forasmuch, therefore, as God gave 
 them (viz. those who believed) the like gift as he 
 did to us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 what was I, that I should withstand God ?" We 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 295 
 
 learn here, from the mouth of Peter himself, that 
 the Gentiles, who believed, had the same gift as 
 the apostles. Chap. viii. ver. 14, " When the 
 apostles at Jerusalem had heard that the Sama- 
 ritans had received the Holy Ghost, which they 
 had not received before, though they were bap- 
 tized by Philip." In chap. ii. ver. 38, Peter says 
 to them of Israel, " Repent, and be baptized, every 
 one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
 remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy 
 Ghost;" and ver. 41, "They gladly received the 
 word, and the same day were added to them three 
 thousand souls," who must have all, consequently, 
 received the Holy Ghost. In chap. viii. ver. 8, 9, 
 Paul, speaking of the Gentiles, says, " God, which 
 knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving 
 them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and 
 put no difference between them and us, purifying 
 their hearts by faith." 
 
 It appears plain, that all who believed, espe- 
 cially through the apostles* ministration, received 
 the Holy Ghost, and could perform miracles ; and, 
 consequently, the persons before mentioned, by 
 whatever names they are called, were not designed 
 to be an order of men distinct from other Chris- 
 tians, with different powers and privileges. They 
 received a burden, not a sinecure. They were 
 better and poorer than other people, not their 
 lords and masters ; nor is there a word in scrip- 
 
296 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 ture, from which we can imagine that they were 
 intended to be successors to the apostles, much 
 less that the successorship was to continue to 
 the end of the world. It is evident, indeed, that 
 there were no such successors appointed, because 
 the power of giving the Holy Ghost, and, in conse- 
 quence, of performing miracles, soon ceased in the 
 church. With this in view, let us examine the 
 Acts and the Epistles. 
 
 Acts xiv. ver. 23, Paul and Barnabas ordained 
 elders in every city; and chap. xx. ver. 17, Paul 
 calls the elders of the Church of Ephesus together; 
 and ver. 28, tells them their duty "Take heed 
 therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over 
 the which the Holy Ghost hath made you over- 
 seers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath 
 purchased with his own blood." Here, indeed, the 
 word, enurKoirovf, is translated overseers, and not 
 bishops, because it is explained in the text, to 
 import no more than to feed the Church of God, 
 i. e. to assist them, to preach to them, to exhort 
 them, to advise them, and to give them good 
 examples. But all this implies no jurisdiction ; nor 
 had the apostles any to give. 
 
 Ephesians, chap. iv. ver. 7, 11, " Unto every one 
 is given grace, according to the measure of the gift 
 of Christ. And he gave some, apostles ; and some, 
 prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pas- 
 tors and teachers." And in the next verse he tells 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISPIMENTS. 297 
 
 us for what purpose, viz. " for the perfecting the 
 saints (i. e. all the faithful), for the work of the 
 ministry, and for the edifying the body of Christ." 
 
 Romans, chap. x. ver. 14, 15, " How then shall 
 they call upon him, in whom they have not 
 believed ? And how shall they believe in him, of 
 whom they have not heard? And how shall they 
 hear without a preacher? And how shall they 
 preach unless they be sent?" This relates plainly 
 to the teaching of the apostles, who were sent to 
 preach the gospel to the unconverted world, that 
 otherwise could have known nothing of it ; and 
 possibly in a larger sense it may be extended to all 
 Christians, who had the power, as well as the 
 means, to preach the gospel, and consequently 
 might be said to be sent to do it. But I should be 
 glad to know, by what skill it has been discovered, 
 or how it came to be guessed at, that the clergy of 
 the many nations in Europe, as by law established, 
 were the persons meant ; or, if only one kind of 
 them, which kind that one is ; when it is plain that 
 they have no other means of knowing Christ than 
 the laity have, and, for the most part, can tell them 
 no more than they knew before. 
 
 Hebrews, chap. xiii. ver. 7, "Remember them 
 which have the rule over you, who have spoken 
 unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, 
 considering the end of their conversation ;" and, 
 ver. 17, " Obey" (by others translated, " be per- 
 suaded by") them that have the rule over you, and 
 
298 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 submit yourselves ; for they watch for your souls, 
 as those who must give account." Here, it seems, 
 the editors of our English Bible did not think proper 
 to stand to their translation ; for in the margin, 
 against the words, " rule over you," in both verses, 
 they have inserted the word guides, which does not 
 give us altogether so frightful an image. 
 
 The word translated obey in the last verse, is ex- 
 plained by the word remember in the first ; and the 
 reason given in the one is, because you are to con- 
 sider the end of their conversation ; and in the other, 
 because they watch for your souls. So that the 
 Hebrews were exhorted to remember, hearken to, 
 or be persuaded by, their guides, who had spoken 
 to them the word of God, which was the end of 
 their conversation, and who watched for their souls. 
 I think all good Christians ought to continue to do 
 so, i. e. as soon as they know where to find them, 
 and the clergy have agreed among themselves who 
 they are. 
 
 At the latter end of the second Epistle to Timothy, 
 in our edition of the Bible, he is said to be the first 
 bishop of Ephesus,* by which, we are to under- 
 stand, if we please, that he was in possession of 
 the authority and dignity of a modern prelate ; but 
 the text says no such thing. Indeed, Paul's first 
 Epistle, chap. i. ver. 11, says that the glorious 
 gospel of Christ was committed to his trust, i. e. 
 he was entrusted to preach it. And, ver. 18, he 
 
 * See the beginning of the seventh chapter of this work. 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 299 
 
 commits the same charge to Timothy; but in chap, 
 iv. ver. 12, 13, he tells him what he is to do; he is 
 to be an example to the believers in word, in con- 
 versation, in charity, in faith, in purity ; and till 
 he comes himself, he is to give attendance to read- 
 ing, to exhortation, and to doctrine. The rest of 
 the epistle is employed in telling him what doctrine 
 he is to preach. 
 
 In his second Epistle, Paul says unto him, " and 
 the things thou hast heard from me amongst many 
 witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, 
 who shall be able to teach others also ;" which he 
 expresses summarily before, in these words, " lay 
 hands suddenly on no man," a ceremony always 
 used among the Jews, to denote a person appointed 
 for any purpose, as well as on many other occa- 
 sions. So that Paul himself knew, by inspiration, 
 who was fit for his charge, and Timothy was to 
 make good inquiry after faithful men. No power 
 is given here, however, but to preach the gospel, 
 and to employ others to do it ; which I have shewn 
 every one was at liberty to do, though all had not 
 an equal call, or were equally qualified for it ; and 
 therefore it was certainly good advice to endeavour 
 to find out such as were, and prevail upon them to 
 undertake it. 
 
 In the Epistle to Titus, who, it seems, was another 
 bishop, he is directed to set in order the things 
 which are wanting, and to ordain elders in every 
 city, as Paul had appointed him ; which alludes to 
 
0> 
 
 300 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 private directions before given, and proves nothing 
 but that Paul took measures to propagate Christi- 
 anity by reducing his converts, in every city, into 
 orderly, though voluntary societies, by finding out 
 and appointing discreet and honest men to assist 
 and superintend the rest. And it cannot be doubted 
 but the people who knew him to be inspired, would 
 be advised by him, accept his recommendations, and 
 be directed by the wisdom of a person so powerfully 
 recommended. This respect and deference has 
 been always paid by every sect in the world, to their 
 first founders, and for the most part, also, to their 
 subsequent leaders. 
 
 These are all the texts that I can at present 
 remember, which are usually brought to support 
 the priestly claims, except such as plainly relate to 
 our Saviour himself, or to his apostles. 
 
 But what has all this to do with a formal and 
 solemn institution and established form of govern- 
 ment ; a political economy ; or, in ecclesiastical 
 language and style, a spiritual hierarchy ? What! 
 must sovereign and independent power (without 
 which, as I have shewn in Chap. VI., there can 
 be in this case no power at all) depend upon figu- 
 rative expressions, and allusions to seniority of age, 
 as elders, to mean and low professions, as guides, 
 shepherds, pastors, teachers, overseers, notably 
 translated bishops? Or upon the critical know- 
 ledge of ancient eastern terms of doubtful and 
 disputed significations, which would put it in the 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 301 
 
 power of the very few men, said to be skilled in 
 the oriental tongues, to settle what establishments 
 or religion they please ? 
 
 The prophets and evangelists often speak after 
 the manner of eastern nations, which was, for the 
 most part, figurative; where, " for ever," " to 
 the end of the world/' and such like language, was 
 frequently used to denote a long space of time. 
 General expressions in scripture, therefore, are 
 not always to be taken strictly; as, ''covetous- 
 ness is the root of all evil," " swear not at all," 
 " children and servants, obey your parents and 
 masters in all things," " take no care for the 
 morrow," " take no thought for your life, what 
 you shall eat, what you shall drink, or what 
 you shall put on," " whatsoever ye shall ask the 
 Father in my name, he will give it to you," "sub- 
 mit yourselves one to another," " ye younger, be 
 subject to the elder ; yea, be subject to one an- 
 other," and, " there were many other things 
 which Jesus did, the which if they should be writ- 
 ten, the whole world could not contain the books," 
 and more than a hundred others of the same 
 kind. When such passages occur, we must con- 
 strue them by the rules of eternal righteousness 
 the reason of the thing, and the general tenor of 
 scripture ; and then we cannot mistake their 
 meaning, unless it may be in such cases as are 
 of no consequence whether we do or not. 
 
 Besides, almost all words vary their meaning by 
 
302 AN INQUIRY INTO 
 
 time ; and every one, of the least reading, knows 
 that there is scarcely a word, except the proper 
 names of persons, places, and things, that is an- 
 swered by any other in a different language, so as 
 to comprehend exactly the same number of ideas. 
 Nor is it probable, that any two persons of the 
 same nation ever used one such word precisely to 
 the same purpose ; if they were asked to give an 
 adequate definition of what they meant by it, they 
 would differ in some particular. It is, therefore, 
 absurd to suppose, that men's duty and eternal 
 salvation should depend upon the nic signification 
 of single Hebrew arid Greek wo/ds languages 
 so long since dead, or out of common use. 
 
 The Almighty is too merciful to his creatures to 
 leave them in such uncertainties, which is, in 
 effect, to let them throw at chances for their reli- 
 gion. When he makes an establishment, and gives 
 laws to mankind, he always expresses himself in a 
 manner not to be misunderstood. Thus he did in 
 the Jewish dispensation, where there was no dis- 
 pute about the meaning of the law. 
 
 Though there is nothing in scripture, then, to 
 countenance these pretensions of erecting religious 
 establishments on civil authority, yet the gospel, 
 almost everywhere, forbids them, as I have already 
 shewn; as well as clearly proved that the pastors, in 
 the first ages of Christianity, were always chosen by 
 the people, and lived upon their alms. By what 
 means of impiety and forgery they came to be lords 
 
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 303 
 
 of so great a part of the terrestrial globe, I need 
 not repeat. I will only add to what has been said, 
 that it is not necessary for any particular religion 
 to be incorporated into the constitution of the state. 
 Religion and civil government are distinct things. 
 Religion may be the support of a civil government, 
 and it is the duty of the civil magistrate to protect 
 his subjects in the free exercise of their religion ; 
 but to incorporate any particular religion into the 
 state, and to make it a part of the common law, and 
 to oppose or punish those who dissent from it, is to 
 tolerate despotism, and support the reign of an- 
 tichrist. True religion in the first ages, before 
 Cons tan tine, had not, nor required, any such sup- 
 port ; nor does it at the present day. I have 
 opposed, and always will oppose, any imposition 
 upon my conscience, and resist all party distinc- 
 tions. The Bible alone is the standard of religious 
 truth, and it is opposed to spiritual tyranny and 
 oppression. 
 
304 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
 NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 THE present form of episcopal government was 
 brought in by antichrist, and has let in all kinds of 
 superstitions into the church. It has been the in- 
 strument of displacing and removing the most 
 conscientious men from the communion of the 
 church, whenever they discovered any unwillingness 
 to comply with her superstitious inventions and 
 ceremonies. Episcopal government has destroyed 
 the very life and power of godliness, and supported 
 unrighteousness. It has done what 'it can to bind the 
 laity in perpetual slavery, and to tolerate the observ- 
 ance of superstitious inventions. Episcopal go- 
 vernment, as it now exists, is prejudicial to the civil 
 liberty of our country. The doctrine of arbitrary 
 power is taught by the members of the church. The 
 Protestant religion must always be in danger while 
 it is in such hands, nor can there be much hope for 
 reformation, either in church or state, while bishops 
 have votes in Parliament. The fruit being so bad, 
 
THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C, 305 
 
 the tree must be bad, and the only remedy is, to 
 cut it down, as a cumberer of the ground. 
 
 If episcopal government has been the chief im- 
 pediment to the reformation and growth of religion, 
 it ought to be taken away. It is, in fact, so rotten 
 in the foundation, that if we pull it not down, it will 
 ultimately fall upon those who are propping it up. 
 
 It would be a waste of time to give a historical 
 account of the infamous character of bishops, in the 
 times of popery, from Cyprian to Pius X. or to De 
 Domus ; of their treasonable and rebellious conduct 
 towards their sovereigns ; of their antipathy to the 
 laws and liberties of their country ; of their igno- 
 rance, pride, and attachment to the pomp of this 
 world ; of their neglect of their spiritual functions ; 
 and of their enmity to all methods of reformation, 
 to the present day. I dare not ask in what parti- 
 cular our Protestant bishops excel. 
 
 It has been ignorantly asserted that episcopal 
 government is of divine right. This is contrary to 
 the statute 37. of Henry VIII., chap. 17, which 
 says, that bishops have their episcopal authority, 
 and all other ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever, 
 solely and only by, from, and under, the king. To 
 argue that the crown is dependent upon episcopacy 
 must appear extremely ridiculous to any man of 
 common reading, who knows that the kings of 
 England were long before bishops, and may readily 
 depose them. 
 
 It has been said, that episcopacy is a third estate 
 
306 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 
 
 in the government ; but this I deny, for the three 
 estates are, the king, the lords temporal, and the 
 commons. Kings of England have held several 
 Parliaments without bishops. King Edward I., in 
 the 24th of his reign, held a Parliament excluso clero ; 
 and in the Parliament of 7th Richard II. there is 
 mention made of the consent of the lords temporal 
 and the commons, but not a word of the clergy. 
 The hierarchy, therefore, is but a mere human in- 
 stitution, and, even as such, has not always existed 
 in this country. 
 
 The baronies of bishops are merely of the king's 
 favour, and began in this kingdom in the 4th of 
 William theConqueror, by virtue of which they have 
 had place in the House of Peers in Parliament ; but 
 in the 7th Henry VIII.,* it was resolved, by all 
 the judges of England, that the king may hold his 
 Parliament by himself, his temporal lords and 
 commons, without any bishop ; for a bishop has 
 not any place in Parliament by reason of his spi- 
 rituality, but merely by reason of his barony. 
 Accordingly, Acts of Parliament have been made 
 without bishops, as 2nd Richard II, , chap. 3, and at 
 other times : nor were they ever called spiritual 
 lords in our statutes, till 16th Richard II., chap. 1. 
 But to enter upon the subject more at large : 
 The spiritual powers of a bishop are those usurped 
 powers which raise him above the order of a pres- 
 
 * 1846, Ket. 
 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 307 
 
 byter. And here may be considered, first, his 
 authority over presbyters by the oath of canonical 
 obedience, by which he may command them to 
 collect tenths granted in convocation, according to 
 20th Henry VI., chap. 19 ; secondly, his office, 
 which is partly judicial and partly ministerial ; by 
 the former, he judges, in his courts, of all matters 
 ecclesiastical and spiritual within his diocese, and 
 of the fitness of such as are presented to him, to be 
 instituted into benefices ; by the latter, he is dedi- 
 cated to divine service in sacred places. By the 9th 
 of Henry VI., chap. 17, he is to provide for the offi- 
 ciating of cures in the avoidance of churches, on 
 neglect of the patron's presentation. He is to cer- 
 tify loyal or lawful matrimony, general bastardy, 
 and excommunication. He is to execute judg- 
 ments given in quare impedit, upon the writ ad ad- 
 mittendum clericwn. He is to attend upon trials for 
 life, to report the sufficiency or insufficiency of 
 such as demand clergy ; and lastly, he is to ordain 
 deacons and presbyters. 
 
 These powers being usurped, or given to bishops, 
 jure humano, they may, for just reasons, be taken 
 away ; for it has already been proved, in Chap. VII, 
 that, according to scripture, a bishop and presbyter 
 is one and the same person, their duties being men- 
 tioned as the same ; the bishop being to teach and 
 rule his church (1 Tim. hi. 2, 5), and the presbyter 
 to do the same (1 Pet. v. 2, 3). Presbyters also, in 
 scripture, are said to be bishops of the Holy Ghost 
 
 x 2 
 
308 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 
 
 (Acts xx. 28), and St. Paul charges the presbyters 
 of Ephesus, to take heed to the flock over which 
 the Holy Ghost had made them (bishops or) over- 
 seers. Other bishops the Holy Ghost never made. 
 Among the enumeration of church officers, in Eph. 
 iv. 11, of which three are extraordinary, and 
 have ceased, there remain only the pastor and 
 teacher, which is the same with the presbyter. 
 The bishop, as he is more than this, is no 
 officer given by God ; and it is an encroachment 
 upon the kingly office of Christ, to admit other 
 officers into the church than he himself has ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 Episcopacy, then, as far as it exceeds the pres- 
 byter's office, and not being of divine appointment, 
 should be destroyed, and presbyters restored to the 
 right of ordination, and liberty to preach the whole 
 counsel of God, without restraint from a bishop. 
 Presbyters should have this share in the discipline 
 and government of the church. In a word, all 
 superiority of order between bishops and presby- 
 ters should be taken away. 
 
 Bishops should be deprived of their baronies, 
 and all intermeddling with civil affairs. Institution 
 and induction, the jurisdiction of tithes, causes 
 matrimonial and testamentary, and other usurpa- 
 tions of the ecclesiastical courts, should be restored 
 to the civil judicature, and be determined by the 
 laws of the land. 
 
 That bishops ought to be reduced to their primi- 
 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 309 
 
 tive state is evident, because their attendance on 
 secular affairs, not relating to the church, is a great 
 hindrance to their spiritual functions. " No man 
 that warreth," saith St. Paul to Timothy, " en- 
 tangleth himself with the affairs of this life;" be- 
 cause it is contrary to his ordination vow ; for 
 when he enters into Holy Orders, he promises to 
 give himself wholly to that vocation. Councils 
 and canons in several ages have forbidden bishops 
 meddling in secular affairs ; because the twenty- 
 four bishops depend upon the two archbishops, 
 and take an oath of canonical obedience to 
 them ; because their peerage is not of the same 
 nature with the temporal lords, being but for life ; 
 because they depend upon the crown for transla- 
 tion to greater bishoprics ; and because it is not 
 fit that twenty-six of them should sit as judges 
 upon complaints brought against themselves and 
 their order. 
 
 It has been argued, that bishops have for cen- 
 turies voted in Parliament. Let it be remembered 
 that time and custom ought to be of no weight with 
 law makers, on the behalf of things which are 
 allowed to be inconvenient. Abbots voted as an- 
 ciently in Parliament as bishops, and yet their 
 votes were taken away. It has been said, that the 
 bishops' voting is no considerable hindrance to 
 their spiritual functions ; and that though no clergy- 
 man should entangle himself with the affairs of this 
 life, the apostle does not exclude him from inter- 
 
310 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 
 
 meddling. But if the episcopal functions be well 
 discharged, the diocese of every bishop is suffi- 
 ciently large to employ all his thoughts and 
 labour. The design of St. Paul was, most certainly, 
 to exhort Timothy to withdraw himself as much as 
 possible from the affairs of this life, that his 
 thoughts might be more entire for his evangelical 
 work ; and, therefore, in another place, he exhorts 
 him to give himself wholly to these things. 
 
 It has further been observed, that clergymen have 
 always been in the commission of the peace, from 
 the first planting of Christianity, and that they are 
 the best qualified for it. To this it is answered, 
 that they are most unfit for this employment, be- 
 cause it has a direct tendency to hinder their use- 
 fulness in their ministerial character. Besides, the 
 office of magistrate has not been perpetual and 
 coeval with Christianity. The first clergymen who 
 were justices of the peace, or who had power in 
 temporal jurisdiction, were the bishops of Durham 
 and York, 34th Edward III. ; for before the Act 
 of Conformity, 1st Edward VI., the clergy were 
 not put in commission for the peace ; and the rea- 
 son of their being then admitted was, that they 
 might persuade the people to conformity. But if, 
 in conscience, they held it to be inconsistent with 
 their spiritual calling, they might refuse. 
 
 If it be judged that the taking away of one whole 
 branch from the House of Peers would be a bad 
 precedent, and might encourage the Commons, one 
 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 311 
 
 time or other, to cut off the barons, or some other 
 degree of the nobility, it must be recollected that 
 the peerage of the bishops does not stand upon 
 the same footing with that of the rest of the 
 nobility. Their honour does not descend to 
 their posterity, and they have no right to vote 
 in cases of blood. If they had the same right of 
 peerage with the temporal lords, no canon of the 
 church could deprive them of it ; for it was never 
 known, that the canons of the church pretended to 
 deprive the barons of England of any part of their 
 inherent jurisdiction. 
 
 It has also been said, that if the bench of Bishops 
 were deprived of their votes, they would be left under 
 very great disadvantages ; for while the meanest 
 commoner would be represented in the lower 
 House, the bishops would be deprived of this benefit. 
 Besides, if they have no share in consenting to the 
 laws, either in their persons or their representatives, 
 what justice can oblige them to keep those laws ? 
 It is answered, that the bishops have the same 
 share in the legislation with the rest of the free- 
 holders of England ; nor is there any more reason 
 why the bishops should be a part of the legislature, 
 than the judges or the lawyers, as such, or any 
 other incorporated profession of learned men. 
 
 The chief and last argument urged in favour of 
 the bishops, which I shall notice, is, that they 
 are one of the three estates of the realm ; 
 that, as such, they are the representatives of the 
 
312 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 
 
 whole body of the clergy. To turn them out, it is 
 said, would be to alter the constitution, and to 
 take away one branch of the legislature ; the 
 Parliament would not then be the complete repre- 
 sentative body of the nation, nor would the laws 
 which were enacted in their absence be valid. This 
 is easily answered. The bishops do not sit in the 
 House as a third estate, nor as bishops, but only 
 in right of the baronies annexed to their bi- 
 shoprics, 5 Will. I. All the bishops have ba- 
 ronies except the Bishop of Man, who is as much a 
 bishop, to all intents and purposes of jurisdiction 
 and ordination, as the others ; but he has no place 
 in Parliament, because he does not hold per integram 
 laroniam. It must be admitted, that in ancient 
 times, the lords spiritual are sometimes mentioned 
 as a third estate of the realm ; but it could not be 
 intended by this, that the clergy, much less the 
 bishops, were an essential part of the legisla- 
 ture. If so, it would follow that no Act of Par- 
 liament could be valid without their consent; 
 whereas various Acts are now in force, from which 
 the whole bench of Bishops have dissented, as the 
 Act of Conformity, 1 Edw. VI., and the Act of 
 Supremacy, 1 Eliz.* If the major part of the 
 Barons agree, and the House of Commons concur, 
 any Bill may pass into an Act, with the consent of 
 the King, though all the bishops dissent, because 
 
 Nulson's Collections, vol. ii. p. 50'2, &c. 
 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 313 
 
 their votes are over-ruled by the greater part of the 
 Peers. 
 
 In the Parliament of Northampton, under Henry 
 II., when the bishops challenged their peerage,* 
 they said, " Non sedemus hie episcopi sed bar ones," 
 " We sit not here as bishops, but as barons." 
 We are barons, and you are barons here, therefore 
 we are peers. Nor did King Charles himself ap- 
 prehend the bishops to be one of the three estates ; 
 for, in his declaration of June 16, 1642, he calls 
 himself one, and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
 and the Commons, the other two. In ancient times, 
 the prelates were sometimes excluded the Parlia- 
 ment, as in 25 of King Edward I., when they 
 would not agree to grant an aid to his Majesty in 
 the Parliament at Carlisle; and before that time 
 several Acts had passed against the oppression of 
 the clergy, of which the entry in the record stands 
 thus: " The King having consulted with the 
 earls, barons, and other nobles, or by the assent of 
 the earls, barons, and other lay people ;" which 
 shews that the bishops did not consent, for if they 
 had, they would have been first named ; the order 
 of nobility, in all ancient records, being prelates, 
 earls, and barons. f 
 
 When the convocation had cited Dr. Standish 
 before them, for speaking words against their 
 
 * See Fuller's Appeal. 
 
 f Rush worth, part iii. vol. i. p. 396. 
 
314 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 
 
 power and privilege, in the 7th of Henry VTIL, it 
 was determined by all the judges of the land, in 
 presence of the king, that his Majesty might hold 
 his Parliament without calling the bishops at all. 
 It appears, therefore, from hence, that the bishops 
 never were accounted a third estate of the realm, 
 in such a sense as to make them an essential 
 branch of the legislature. Nor are they the repre- 
 sentatives of the clergy, because then the clergy 
 would be twice represented in the Houses of Parlia- 
 ment. Besides, none can be properly called repre- 
 sentatives of others, but such as are chosen by them; 
 the bishops not being chosen for this purpose, can- 
 not, therefore, properly be the representatives of 
 the clergy in Parliament. They sit there, not in 
 their spiritual character, but by virtue of the baro- 
 nies annexed to their bishoprics, and if the King, 
 with consent of Parliament, should annex baronies 
 to the courts of justice in Westminster hall, or to 
 the supreme magistracy of the city of London, the 
 Judges and Lord Mayor for the time being, would 
 have the same right of peerage. 
 
 " Cuncta prius tentanda ; sed immedicabile vulnus 
 Ense recidendum est, rie pars sincera trahatur." 
 
 The ambition of prelates will not let them see 
 how inconsistent two contrary functions are, in 
 one and the same person. 
 
315 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
 NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 
 
 BY the law 'of England, the church establishment 
 may always be reformed by the civil magis- 
 trate, without the concurrence of the prelates 
 or the people. But when princes or magistrates 
 are negligent of their duty, God may stir up the 
 subject to perform this work. If otherwise, what 
 reformation can be expected in France, in Spain, or 
 in Rome itself, for it is not to be imagined, that the 
 pope or prelates will consent to their own ruin. 
 The Reformation of Henry VIII. was very defective 
 in the essentials of doctrine, worship, and govern- 
 ment ; it proceeded with a Laodicean lukewarmness. 
 The supremacy was transferred from one wrong 
 head to another, and the limbs of the anti-christian 
 hierarchy were visible in the body. The imper- 
 fection of the English Reformation has been the 
 complaint of every judicious and wise Christian. 
 It has occasioned, from its defects, more schism 
 
316 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 and separation than ever was known to the other 
 reformed churches of the Continent. Episcopacy 
 cannot make out its claim to apostolical appoint- 
 ment. When the apostles were living, there was 
 no difference between a bishop and presbyter ; no 
 inequality in power or degree, but an exact parity 
 in every branch of their character. We have 
 already shewn that there is no mention in scrip- 
 ture of a bishop being superior to other pastors. 
 
 An attempt to support the government of the 
 Church, from its practice subsequent to the third 
 century, or from the writings of the Fathers, is 
 fallacious or uncertain. Some there are who unite 
 the word of God and antiquity, while others make 
 the scriptures the only rule, but antiquity the 
 authentic interpreter. The latter fall into a greater 
 error than the former ; for the papists bring 
 tradition no farther than to an equality of autho- 
 rity with the inspired writings ; but the former 
 make antiquity the very ground of their belief 
 of the sense of scripture, and by that means exalt 
 it above the scripture, for the interpretation of 
 the Fathers is made the very formal reason why 
 they believe the scriptures in such a sense. Thus, 
 contrary to the apostle's doctrine, their faith 
 must stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the 
 power of God. But the law and the testimony must 
 be the only rule. Indeed, the practice of the primi- 
 tive Church, in many things, cannot certainly be 
 known. Even in the apostles' time, Diotrephes 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 317 
 
 moved for the pre-eminence, and the mystery of 
 iniquity began to work ; after which, ambition 
 and weakness quickly made way for a change in 
 Church government. 
 
 No man of discretion will deny the lawfulness 
 of the ministry, and the due administration of 
 the sacraments in those reformed Churches abroad, 
 where there are no diocesan bishops ; for it is 
 evident from scripture, as well as confessed by 
 many champions for episcopacy, that presbyters 
 may ordain presbyters ;* and it is clear that his 
 Majesty is not bound by his coronation oath to 
 support episcopacy ; for, as relates to the Church, 
 when the formal reasons of an oath ceases, the 
 obligation is discharged. When an oath has a 
 special regard to the benefit of those to whom the 
 engagement is made, if the parties interested relax 
 upon the point, dispense with the promise, and 
 give up their advantage, the obligation is at an 
 end. Thus, when the Parliament agrees to the 
 repealing of a law, the king's conscience is not tied 
 against assenting to the bill ; if it were, the altering 
 of any law would be impracticable. It is certain that 
 the English Reformation has not perfectly purged 
 out the Roman leaven, but has rather depraved the 
 discipline of the Church, by conforming to the 
 civil polity, and adding many supplemental offices 
 to those instituted by the Son of God. 
 
 * See 1 Tim. iv. 14. 
 
318 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 We are told, by Strype, that the pious scholar, 
 Clarke, in a sermon before the Heads, at St. Mary's, 
 Cambridge, boldly declared that the hierarchical 
 orders of Archbishops, Patriarchs, Metropolitans, 
 and so on, were introduced into the Church by 
 Satan. What Christian can sanction and support 
 the temporal dignities and baronies annexed to the 
 office of English bishops ? Who can admire their 
 engaging in secular employments and trusts, tend- 
 ing to exalt them above their brethren, and being 
 incompatible with their characters as ministers of 
 Christ, and inconsistent with the due discharge 
 of their spiritual functions ? What man, who is 
 a believer in the New Testament dispensation, can 
 uphold the titles and offices of archdeacons, deans, 
 chapters, and other officials belonging to cathedrals, 
 which have no foundation in scripture, or in the 
 first ages of the Christian Church ? 
 
 The non-conformists, under Archbishop Parker, 
 bitterly complained of the exorbitant power and 
 jurisdiction of the bishops, and their chancellors in 
 their spiritual courts, as derived from the common 
 law of the pope, and not from the word of God, 
 or the statute law of the land. It was said by the 
 Rev. T. Cartwright, B.D., Fellow of Trinity Col- 
 lege, Cambridge, and Lady Margaret's Professor, 
 of whom the great and celebrated Beza declares 
 that he thought " there was not a more learned 
 man under the sun," that the names and functions 
 of archbishops and archdeacons ought to be abo- 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 319 
 
 lished, as having no foundation in Scripture. The 
 offices of the lawful ministers of the Church, says 
 he, viz. bishops and deacons, ought to be reduced to 
 the apostolical institution, the bishops to preach 
 the word of God, and pray, and deacons to take 
 care of the poor. The government of the Church 
 ought not to be intrusted with bishops, chancellors, 
 or the officials of archdeacons ; but every Church 
 should be governed by its own minister and 
 presbyters. Ministers ought not to be at large, 
 but every one should have the charge of a certain 
 flock. No man should ask, or stand as a candi- 
 date, for the ministry. Bishops should not be 
 created by civil authority, but ought to be fairly 
 chosen by the Church. I would here ask, what 
 would this learned professor say were he living at 
 the present day ? Methink I hear him exclaim : 
 " Come, ye bishops, away with your superfluities, 
 yield up your thousands, be content with hun- 
 dreds ; let your portion be priest-like, and not 
 prince-like ; let the government have the rest of 
 your temporalities to assist to pay oft 7 the national 
 debt, which you and your forefathers contracted ; 
 let every parish have a faithful preacher, and every 
 city a bishop ; live the remainder of your days 
 honestly, and not pompously ; let your future good 
 conduct atone for your past offences. This cannot 
 be done unless your lands be dispersed and be- 
 stowed upon many, which now feed and fatten 
 one. Remember that Abimelech, when David in 
 
320 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 his banishment would have dined with him, kept 
 such hospitality, that he had no bread to give him 
 but the shew-bread. Where was his superfluity 
 to keep your pretended hospitality ? A bishop, 
 says St. Paul, should be blameless, of good be- 
 haviour, no brawler, nor striker, nor greedy of 
 filthy lucre. The servant of the Lord must not 
 strive, but be gentle to all men, patient in meek- 
 ness, instructing those that oppose themselves, that 
 they may recover themselves out of the snare of 
 the devil. Shall the liberties and property of 
 mankind be trampled upon by a despotic power ? 
 " For both prophet and. priest are profane; yea, 
 in my house have I found their wickedness, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 The greater part of the people who call them- 
 selves churchmen, are ' ' perishing for lack of know- 
 ledge," while the bishops and incumbents are in- 
 dulging in luxury, idleness, and sloth. I know a 
 bishop, not many hundred miles from Norwich, 
 who has spent a great portion of his evenings at 
 cards with his secretary and clergy. I know a 
 minor canon, not far from the same city, whose 
 life and soul is in a game of whist. I know a 
 beneficed clergyman, (a favorite with his diocesan) 
 who is an organ-builder and a notorious infidel. I 
 know one parson who is a Socinian, another a Swe- 
 denborgian ; one who sent his servant to London 
 to lie-in, where she was taken up under sus- 
 picion of murdering the infant. I could go on 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 321 
 
 to enumerate instances of even greater evils com- 
 mitted by clergymen of the Church of England ; 
 but I forbear, as inconsistency in their conduct is 
 too frequently seen in the various parishes of the 
 country. The name of parson has become a bye- 
 word for hypocrisy, lust, and intolerance ; ex- 
 action is characteristic of the order, and leanness 
 is in the train of its votaries. The day is past 
 and gone, when the mere possession of clerical 
 orders insured outward respect and inward vene- 
 ration. Cock-fights, coursing, and fox hunting, 
 frequently place them on a footing with the lowest 
 and most profligate of the neighbourhood. These 
 things ought not so to be. I would new model 
 the Church ; but by enlarging the terms of com- 
 munion, not substituting new ceremonies in the 
 room of those already burdensome. In intro- 
 ducing a new discipline, if episcopacy be re- 
 tained, let the spiritual jurisdiction, which is both 
 arbitrary and oppressive, be for ever abolished. 
 Let insufferable insolence and intolerance chil- 
 dren of the <c man of sin" unprofitable drones, 
 or, rather working locusts, consuming thou- 
 sands a year without profit to the Church of 
 Christ be for ever banished from our view. The 
 Church of England has -too long been the harbour 
 of the idle and time-serving hypocrite, whose pre- 
 bends and livings should immediately be given 
 up. Those men who traffic with deaneries, 
 double benefices, pensions, advowsons, reversions, 
 
322 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 and so on, should give up their charge as unpro- 
 fitable servants ; as being those of whom, " Thus 
 saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shep- 
 herds ; and I will require my flock at their hand, 
 and cause them to cease from feeding the flock ; 
 neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any 
 more ; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, 
 that they may not be meat for them : for thus 
 saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, will both 
 search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shep- 
 herd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is 
 among his sheep that are scattered ; so will I seek 
 out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all 
 places where they have been scattered in the 
 cloudy and dark day." 
 
 The sixteenth epistle of the first book of Horace, 
 the thirteenth satire of Juvenal, and the second 
 satire of Perseus, appear to contain the petitions 
 of our modern prelates, being expressive of their 
 anxiety for temporal good, and their indifference of 
 a future life. It is certain that their attachment to 
 the pageantry and splendour of office, their fond- 
 ness for arbitrary power and consequence, their 
 vanity for honour and title, and, above all, their 
 thirst for the mammon of unrighteousness, occupy 
 the greater part of their time and their talents. 
 How much such sticklers for court favour, for 
 secular pomp and parade, must inwardly despise 
 the humble Jesus, the son of a carpenter, and his 
 disciples, the poor fishermen ! 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 323 
 
 This insolence and pride of a bishop impressed 
 me most particularly the other day, in a place 
 where we would least expect it ; where all the 
 partakers of this frail and mortal state should 
 appear in a state of equality, I mean at church, in 
 the immediate presence of Him who made high 
 and low, rich and poor, and where the gilded and 
 painted ornaments on the walls seemed to mock 
 the folly of all human pride. The pew of this 
 " Reverend Father in God" is raised above the 
 others, though its elevation is an obstacle both to 
 the eyes and ears of those who are placed in its 
 vicinity. It is furnished with rich curtains, 
 adorned with linings, and accommodated with 
 cushions ; servants in livery walk in his train, 
 open the door of his luxurious seat, and one 
 carries the burden of a book ! Those who did not 
 bow at the name of Jesus, bent with all lowliness 
 to his Lordship. The whole of his behaviour led 
 me to conclude, that this self-important being 
 would scarcely deign to enter heaven, any more 
 than he does the church, if he must be reduced to 
 an equality with the poor vulgar of the congrega- 
 tion. Such men, consistently with their arbitrary 
 principles, though they may be indifferent to reli- 
 gion, are zealous for the church. But for what 
 purpose, I would ask ? They consider the church 
 as useful, not only as providing for them, but as 
 giving them power to keep down such contemners 
 as myself, who will not yield the servile submission 
 
 Y2 
 
324 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 they require. We read, that Satan offered our 
 Saviour all the kingdoms of this world, and their 
 glory, if he would fall down and worship him; and 
 there is reason to fear, that such idolaters of the 
 kingdoms of this world, and their glory, would 
 apostatize from Him, who said, cc My kingdom is 
 not of this world," if the same evil being were to 
 make the same offer. The temporalities and 
 splendours of the church triumphant endear it 
 to them ; but if it continued in its primitive state, 
 or in the condition in which it was when poor 
 fishermen were its bishops, they would soon 
 side, in religious matters, with the hirelings 
 of Judas. While they can possess mitres and 
 stalls, and be the promoters of arbitrary power 
 and principles, they honour the church, though 
 they know nothing of Christ; they stickle for 
 the bench, though they abandon the creed. An 
 ally like the church, possessed of great power 
 and influence, must be cherished; though they 
 would be the first, if they knew they must lose 
 it, to question its rights and accelerate its sub- 
 version. 
 
 Farewell, then, all that truly ennobles an Eng- 
 lish bishop. Pride, pomp, and tyranny domineer 
 without control ! Gold rules absolutely ! Reason, 
 law, and liberty, repose in the tomb with the de- 
 parted simplicity of the gospel of the humble Na- 
 zarene ! The sun of the spiritual world is extin- 
 guished, and my country is overshadowed with 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 325 
 
 darkness and death. Better had it been for a man 
 not to have been born, than born in a country 
 where religion is prostituted to the unchristian 
 purposes of political artifice and the sycophantic 
 associations of pulpit placemen. The Tindals, the 
 Collins's, the Bolingbrokes, the Humes, the Gib- 
 bons, the Voltaires, the Volneys call them, if you 
 please, the miscreant philosophers of France, 
 never did these men so much injury to the cause of 
 Christianity as those English bishops and clergy, 
 who, under the cloak of religion, prostitute the 
 church and the cure of souls to the corruption of 
 a venal senate. 
 
326 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
 NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 
 
 IT has already been proved, that, in the ancient 
 church, bishops could do nothing without the con- 
 sent of the clergy ; nor, in cases of excommunica- 
 tion and absolution, without the whole body of the 
 church to which the delinquent belonged, as ap- 
 pears from the testimonies of Tertullian and St. Cy- 
 prian. Dr. Howley, and his brother bishops, have 
 been challenged to find, in all antiquity, any autho- 
 rity for their delegates, such as proctors, commissa- 
 ries, and others, who never received imposition of 
 hands. These offices were not known in early times, 
 and no instance can be produced of their being 
 held, by either laity or clergy, for above four hun- 
 dred years after Christ. Even supposing that in 
 the third or fourth century, bishops were a dis- 
 tinct order from presbyters, yet, let it be re- 
 membered, even these men differed very widely 
 from the bishops of the church of England. The 
 primitive bishops were elected by a free suffrage 
 
THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 327 
 
 of the presbyters, but our's by a conge d'elire from 
 the king. 
 
 The Parliament, so late as the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, thought it right, to deprive the bishops and 
 clergy of all secular power, which ceased by an 
 Act passed and signed by Charles I. The Act runs 
 thus : 
 
 " Whereas, bishops and other persons in holy 
 orders ought not to be entangled with secular 
 jurisdiction, the office of the ministry being of 
 such great importance that it will take up the 
 whole man ; and that it is found, by long experi- 
 ence, that their intermeddling with secular juris- 
 dictions has occasioned great mischiefs and scan- 
 dals, both to church and state, his majesty, out of 
 his religious care of the church and souls of his 
 people, is graciously pleased that it be enacted, 
 and by authority of this present Parliament be it 
 enacted, that no archbishop, or bishop, or other 
 person, that now is, or hereafter shall be in holy 
 orders, shall, at any time after the 15th day of 
 February, in the year of our Lord 1641, have any 
 seat or place, suffrage or vote, or use or execute 
 any power or authority in the Parliament of this 
 realm, nor shall be of the privy council of his ma- 
 jesty, his heirs, or successors, or justices of the 
 peace of oyer and terminer, or gaol delivery, or exe- 
 cute any temporal authority, by virtue of any com- 
 mission ; but shall be wholly disabled and be inca- 
 pable to have, receive, use, or execute any of the 
 
328 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 said places, powers, authorities, and things afore- 
 said. 
 
 " And be it further enacted, by the authority 
 aforesaid, that all acts from and after the said 15th 
 of February, which shall be done or executed by 
 any archbishop or bishop, or any person whatso- 
 ever in holy orders ; and all and every suffrage or 
 voice given or delivered by them, or any of them, 
 or other thing done by them, or any of them, con- 
 trary to the purport and true meaning of this Act, 
 shall be utterly void, to all intents, constructions, 
 and purposes." 
 
 The passing of this Act was attended with public 
 rejoicings. 
 
 Of the various schemes offered for the reduction 
 of episcopacy, perhaps that of Archbishop Usher 
 may be considered the most mild. He was for 
 reducing it into the form of synodical government, 
 received in the ancient church, in which he sup- 
 poses, that of the many elders that ruled the 
 church of Ephesus there was a stated president, 
 whom our Saviour calls the angel ; and whom 
 Ignatius, in one of his Epistles, calls the bishop, 
 to whom, in conjunction with the elders or pres- 
 byters, the whole government of the church, both 
 as to doctrine and discipline, was committed. He 
 therefore proposes, that those be continued ; and, 
 for a regulation of their jurisdiction, that suffragans 
 should be appointed to hold monthly synods of 
 presbyters, from whom there should be an appeal 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 329 
 
 to diocesan, provincial, and national ones, and 
 more particularly, 
 
 1. That the rector of every parish, with the 
 churchwardens, should admonish and reprove such 
 as live scandalously, according to the quality of 
 their offence ; and if by this means they are not 
 reclaimed, to present them to the next monthly 
 synod, and in the mean time debar them the 
 Lord's table. 
 
 2. Whereas, by a statute of 26 Henry VIII., 
 suffragans are appointed to be created in twenty- 
 six several places of this kingdom, the number of 
 them may be conformed to the number of the 
 several rural deaneries into which every diocese is 
 subdivided ; which being done, the suffragan may 
 every month assemble a synod of the several rec- 
 tors or incumbent pastors within the precinct, and 
 according to the major part of their votes conclude 
 all matters that should be brought into debate 
 before them. 
 
 3. A diocesan synod might be held once or twice 
 a year, where all the suffragans, and the rest of 
 the rectors and incumbent ministers, or a certain 
 select number out of every deanery within that 
 diocese, might meet, with whose consent all things 
 might be concluded by the bishop or superinten- 
 dant, or, in his absence, by one of his suffragans, 
 whom he should appoint as moderator in his 
 room, and here the transactions of the monthly 
 synods might be revised and reformed. 
 
330 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 4. The provincial synod may consist of all the 
 bishops and suffragans, and such of the clergy as 
 should be elected out of every diocese within the 
 province. The primate of either province might 
 be moderator, or in his room one of the bishops 
 appointed by him. This synod might be held 
 every third year ; and, if the Parliament be sitting, 
 both the primates and provincial synods might join 
 together, and make up one national synod, wherein 
 all appeals from inferior synods might be received, 
 all their acts examined, and all ecclesiastical affairs 
 relating to the state of the church in general esta- 
 blished. 
 
 The religion of the papists is incompatible with 
 any other religion ; it is destructive to all others, 
 and will endure nothing that opposes it. There 
 are other religions that are not right, but not so 
 destructive as popery ; for the principles of popery 
 are subversive of all states and persons that op- 
 pose it. 
 
 Let any man read Archbishop Laud's conference 
 with Fisher, the Jesuit : " Another church," says 
 his Grace, " may separate from Rome, if Rome 
 will separate from Christ ; and, so far as it sepa- 
 rates from him and the faith, so far may another 
 church separate from it. I grant the Church of 
 Rome to be a true church in essence, though cor- 
 rupt in manners and doctrine. And corruption of 
 manners, attended with errors in the doctrines of 
 faith, is a just cause for one particular church to 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 331 
 
 separate from another." His Grace then adds, 
 with regard to the Church of Rome, " the cause of 
 the separation is your's, for you thrust us from 
 you, because we called for truth and redress of 
 abuses ; for a schism must needs be their's whose 
 the cause of it is ; the woe runs full out of the 
 mouth of Christ, even against him that gives the 
 offence, not against him that takes it. It was ill 
 done of those, whoever they were, who first made 
 the separation from Rome, I mean not actual, but 
 causal ; for, as I said before, the schism is their's 
 whose the cause of it is ; and he makes the sepa- 
 ration who gives the first just cause of it, not he 
 that makes an actual separation." What will 
 Archbishop Howley say to these concessions? 
 
 Although I admit, that the Church of England 
 is by no means so corrupt as the Church of 
 Rome, it is obviously as lawful to separate 
 from the corruptions of one church as from those 
 of another. Indeed, it is necessary to do so, when 
 those corruptions are imposed as terms of commu- 
 nion. We may not use things in idolatry " And 
 there they burnt incense in all the high places, as 
 did the heathen whom the Lord carried away be- 
 fore them ; and wrought wicked things to provoke 
 the Lord to anger."* 
 
 Eusebius, St. Austin, Calvin, Bucer, Musculus, 
 Peter Martyr, Beza, Zanchy, Jewel, Pilking ton, 
 
 * 2 Kings, xvii, 1 1 . 
 
332 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 Bilson, Humphrys, Fulk, Andrews, Sutcliffe, and 
 others, protest against conformity with idolaters. 
 The cross has been abused to superstition and 
 idolatry, to drive away devils, to expel diseases, to 
 break the force of witchcraft, &c. 
 
 Kneeling (at the sacrament) before the elements, 
 believing them to be the real body, &c. This ce- 
 remony was not introduced into the church till 
 antichrist was at its full height, and is idolatry. 
 
 The primitive Christians, according to Tertul- 
 lian, thought it unlawful to kneel at the Lord's 
 table ; and the first Council of Nice, A. D. 327, 
 made a solemn decree that none may pray kneel- 
 ing, but only standing, on the Lord's day, because 
 on that day is celebrated the joyful remembrance 
 of our Lord's resurrection. To kneel is a gesture 
 of sorrow and humiliation, but he that prays stand- 
 ing shews himself thankful for the obtaining some 
 mercy or favour. Eusebius,* speaking of a man 
 that had been admitted to the communion, says, 
 1 ' he stood at the table, and put forth his hand to 
 receive the holy food." The gesture of kneeling 
 is contrary to the nature of the Lord's Supper, 
 which is ordained to be a banquet and a sign of 
 the sweet familiarity that is between the faithful 
 and Him, and of that spiritual nourishment we are 
 to receive by feeding on his body and blood by 
 faith. The disposition of mind at the Lord's table 
 
 * Hist. Ecc, lib. vii. cap. viii. 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 333 
 
 is not so much humility as assurance of faith and 
 cheerful thankfulness for the benefits of Christ's 
 death. 
 
 Among many other bishops, Sandys, Archbishop 
 of York, had no great opinion either of the dis- 
 cipline or ceremonies of the church, as appears 
 by his last will and testament, in which he ob- 
 serves, " But I am now, and ever have been per- 
 suaded, that some of these rites and ceremonies 
 are not expedient for the church now ; but that in 
 the church reformed, and in all this time of the 
 gospel, they may better be disused by little and 
 little, more and more urged."* Such a testi- 
 mony, from the dying lips of one who had been a 
 severe persecutor of honest men, for things which 
 he always thought had better be disused than 
 urged, deserves to be remembered. 
 
 Hooker, the most learned defender of the Church 
 of England, in his " Ecclesiastical Polity," says, 
 ' ' The positive laws of the church, not being of a 
 moral nature, are mutable, and may be changed 
 or reversed by the same powers that made them. 
 Is there not a necessity now for a change ?" &c. 
 
 The church has no discretionary power to ap- 
 point what ceremonies, and establish what order 
 she pleases, though she may possess some things 
 common to human societies which have this 
 power, viz. to appoint the time, place, and order of 
 
 * See Maddox's Vindication. 
 
334 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 public worship. If she had a power to appoint what 
 she thought fit, the rites and ceremonies of the 
 Church of Rome may he tolerated, for she consi- 
 ders them necessary and consistent with the laws 
 of Christ ; but, after all the arguments used by the 
 supporters of church rites and ceremonies, it is 
 ridiculous and absurd to say that this polity has 
 been established by the Church of England. 
 Every common historian is aware, that the rites 
 and ceremonies of this church originated with 
 princely authority, that they have changed with the 
 caprice and will of kings and queens, that they 
 have been ratified by parliaments, corrupted by 
 pensions, overawed by prerogative, and are now 
 a part of the statute law of the land. But 
 the Church of Christ is not a mere voluntary so- 
 ciety ; it is a congregation formed and constituted 
 by Christ himself, who is the sole king and law- 
 giver of it, and who has made sufficient support 
 and provision for it, even to the end of the 
 world. I defy the whole bench of bishops, to- 
 gether with all their dependents, to prove, from 
 the New Testament, that this church is empowered 
 to alter or amend the constitution of Christ. 
 Archbishops, archdeacons, deans, canons, and 
 other officials, have been appointed for this pur- 
 pose. The true church is spiritual, and her ordi- 
 nances, her privileges, and her censures must be so 
 too. Those who view her in this light, must see 
 that she has no concern with civil rites, property, or 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 335 
 
 estates, nor any power over the conscience, by 
 the infliction of pains and penalties. The laws 
 of the New Testament are amply sufficient for 
 the direction of the Church, and in cases of no 
 particular rule or injunction, the prophets, evange- 
 lists, pastors, and teachers the officers appointed 
 by Christ for the perfecting of the saints, and for 
 edifying his body will, with mutual forbearance, 
 appoint, without the necessity of human authority. 
 As Neal justly expresses it, as far as any Church 
 is governed by the laws and precepts of the 
 New Testament, so far it is a Church of Christ; 
 but when it sets up its own bye -laws, as terms of 
 communion, or works the policy of the civil magis- 
 trate into its constitution, it is so far a creature 
 of the state. 
 
 I cannot, upon any human principles, account 
 for the spirit of infatuation which has induced the 
 bishops and clergy of the Church of England to 
 change the doctrines held in the reign of Eli- 
 zabeth as essential to eternal salvation, and yet 
 retain inviolate the rites and ceremonies which 
 were at that period, as well as the present, con- 
 sidered by the wise and good as the remnants, and 
 symbols of antichrist. The doctrines then held I 
 will subjoin : they were drawn up and subscribed to, 
 by Dr. Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury ; Dr. 
 Hutton, Archbishop of York ; Dr. Hitchen, Bishop 
 of London ; Dr. Young, Bishop of Rochester ; 
 Dr. Vaughan, Bishop of Bangor, and many other 
 
336 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 learned divines, and were reduced into nine pro- 
 positions , commonly called the ' ' Lambeth Articles , ' ' 
 to which the students in the Universities were 
 strictly enjoined to conform : 
 
 1. That God from eternity has predestinated 
 some persons to life, and reprobated others to 
 death. 
 
 2. The moving or efficient cause of predesti- 
 nation to life, is not foreseen faith, or good works, 
 or any other commendable quality in the persons 
 predestinated, but the good will and pleasure of 
 God. 
 
 3. The number of the predestinate is fixed, and 
 cannot be lessened or increased. 
 
 4. They who are not predestinated to salvation 
 shall necessarily be condemned for their sins. 
 
 5. A true, lively, and justifying faith, and the 
 sanctifying influence of the Spirit, is not extin- 
 guished, nor does it fail, or go off either finally or 
 totally. 
 
 6. A justified person has a full assurance and 
 certainty of the remission of his sins, and of his 
 everlasting salvation by Christ. 
 
 7. Saving grace is not communicated to all 
 men, neither have all men such a measure of 
 divine assistance, that they may be saved if they will. 
 
 8. No person can come to Christ unless it be 
 given him, and unless the Father draw him ; and 
 all men are not drawn by the Father, that they 
 may come to Christ. 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 337 
 
 9. It is not in any one's will and power to be 
 saved. 
 
 In the reign of Charles I. the House of Com- 
 mons made the following protestation : 
 
 " We, the Commons in Parliament assembled, 
 do claim, protest, and avow for truth, the sense 
 of the articles of religion which were established 
 by Parliament in the thirteenth year of our late 
 Queen Elizabeth, which, by the public act of the 
 Church of England, and by the general and cur- 
 rent exposition of the writers of our Church, have 
 been delivered unto us. And we reject the sense 
 of Jesuits and Arminians, and all others that 
 differ from us." 
 
 This protestation, as Dr. Blackburne justly re- 
 marks, is equivalent at least to any other resolu- 
 tion of the House. It is found amongst the most 
 authentic records of Parliament ; and whatever 
 force or operation it had the moment it was pub- 
 lished, the same it has to this hour, being never 
 revoked or repealed in any succeeding Parliament, 
 nor containing any one particular, which is not 
 in perfect agreement with every part of our pre- 
 sent constitution, civil and religious. If it should 
 be affirmed, by our present Arminian bishops, that 
 no interpretation of the Articles, contrary to that 
 which they maintain, has ever been given by 
 authority, and should further object to the power 
 of laymen to make such interpretation, we have 
 only to refer them to the above. Here we find 
 
338 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 
 
 the Parliament declaring that the current sense 
 of expositors up to the reign of Charles I. was 
 in opposition to the modern interpretation of 
 Jesuits and Arminians. And the same authority 
 that empowered laymen, in the thirteenth of Eli- 
 zabeth, to establish the articles as the doctrines of 
 the Church of England, gave power, in the time 
 of Charles, to interpret them. 
 
339 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
 NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 
 
 I SHALL here give those views which many great 
 and illustrious Christians, in all ages of the church, 
 have entertained upon religion and Church govern- 
 ment ; and which are in full accordance with my 
 own : 
 
 OF RELIGION. 
 
 1. The Holy Scriptures are absolutely perfect, 
 both as to faith and worship ; and whatsoever is 
 enjoined as a part of divine service, that cannot 
 be warranted by the said scriptures, is unlawful. 
 
 2. All inventions of men are to be excluded 
 from the exercises of religion. 
 
 3. All outward means, instituted to express and 
 set forth the inward worship of God, are parts 
 of divine worship, and ought, therefore, evidently 
 to be prescribed by the word of God. 
 
 4. To institute or ordain any mystical rites or 
 ceremonies, and to mingle the same with the 
 rites and ceremonies of God's ordinance, is gross 
 superstition. 
 
340 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. Every congregation or assembly of men, 
 ordinarily joining together in the true worship of 
 God, is a true and visible church of Christ. 
 
 2. All churches are, in ecclesiastical matters, 
 equal, and, by the M'ord of God, ought to have 
 the same officers, administrations, orders, and 
 forms of worship. 
 
 3. Christ has not subjected any church or con- 
 gregation to any other superior ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction than that which is within itself; so that 
 if a whole church or congregation should err 
 in any matters of faith or worship, no other 
 churches or spiritual officers have power to cen- 
 sure or punish them, but are only to counsel and 
 advise them. 
 
 4. Every church ought to have her own spi- 
 ritual officers and ministers resident with her, 
 and those such as are enjoined by Christ in the 
 New Testament, and no other. 
 
 5. Every church ought to be at liberty to choose 
 their own spiritual officers. 
 
 6. Ecclesiastical officers or ministers in one 
 church, ought not to bear any ecclesiastical office 
 in another ; nor are they to forsake their call- 
 ing without just cause, and such as may be ap- 
 proved of by the congregation. 
 
 7. A church, having chosen its spiritual go- 
 vernors, ought to live in all due obedience to them, 
 agreeably to the word of God. 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 341 
 
 8. The laws and orders of the churches, war- 
 ranted by the word of God, are not repugnant 
 to civil government, whether monarchical, aristo- 
 cratical, or democratical ; and we renounce all 
 jurisdiction that is repugnant or derogatory to 
 any of these. 
 
 OF MINISTERS. 
 
 1 . The ministers of particular congregations are 
 the highest spiritual officers in the church, over 
 whom there is no superior minister, by divine 
 appointment, but Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. There are not, by divine appointment, or 
 in the word of God, any ordinary, national, pro- 
 vincial, or diocesan ministers, to whom the minis- 
 ters of particular churches are to be subject. 
 
 3. No minister ought to exercise or accept of 
 any civil jurisdiction or authority, but ought to 
 be wholly employed in spiritual offices and duties, 
 to that congregation over which he is appointed. 
 
 4. The supreme office of the minister is to 
 preach the word publicly to the congregation ; and 
 the people of God ought not to acknowledge 
 any for their ministers who are not able, by preach- 
 ing, to interpret and apply the word of God 
 to them. Consequently, the long list of epis- 
 copally-ordained hunting, coursing, cock-fighting, 
 pugilistic, and gambling parsons, are to be de- 
 cidedly rejected. 
 
 5. In public worship, the minister only is to be 
 
342 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 the mouth of the congregation to God in prayer ; 
 and the people are only to testify their assent 
 by the word, Amen. 
 
 6. The church has no power to impose upon 
 her ministers, or officers, any other ceremonies or 
 injunctions than what Christ has appointed. 
 
 7. In every church there should be a teacher 
 to instruct and inform the ignorant, in the main 
 principles of religion. 
 
 OF THE ELDERS. 
 
 1. By God's ordinance, the congregation should 
 choose, as well as the minister, other assist- 
 ants in the government of the church, who are, 
 jointly with the minister, to be overseers of the 
 manners and conversation of all the congregation. 
 
 2. These are to be chosen from the gravest 
 and most discreet members, who are also of some 
 note in the world, and able to support themselves. 
 
 OF CHURCH CENSURE. 
 
 1 . The spiritual keys of the church are commit- 
 ted to her spiritual officers, and to no others. 
 
 2. By virtue of those keys, church officers are not 
 to examine and make inquisition into the hearts of 
 men, nor molest them upon private suspicions, or 
 uncertain reports, but to proceed only upon open and 
 notorious crimes. If the offender be convinced, they 
 are not to scorn, deride, taunt, or revile him with 
 contumelious language, nor to procure proctors to 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 343 
 
 make personal invectives against him ; but to use 
 him brotherly, and, if possible, to move him to 
 repentance. If he repent, they are not to proceed 
 to censure, but to accept his sorrow and contrition 
 as a sufficient satisfaction to the church, without 
 imposing any fines, or taking any fees, or enjoining 
 any outward mark of shame, as the white sheet, 
 so ridiculously used in the Church of England. 
 If the offender be obstinate, and shew no sign of 
 repentance, and if his crime be fully proved upon 
 him, and be of such a nature as to deserve a censure 
 according to the word of God, then the ecclesias- 
 tical officers, with the free consent of the whole 
 congregation, and not otherwise, are first to sus- 
 pend him from the sacrament, praying for him at 
 the same time, that God would give him repent- 
 ance to the acknowledgment of his fault ; and if 
 this does not humble him, they are then to de- 
 nounce him to be as yet no member of the kingdom 
 of Heaven, or of that congregation, and so are to 
 leave him to God.* 
 
 * This is all the ecclesiastical jurisdiction that any spiritual 
 officers are to use against any man for the greatest crime that 
 can be committed. 
 
 If the offender be a civil superior, or a supreme governor? 
 they are to behave towards him with all the reverence and civil 
 subjection that his honour or high office in the state may re- 
 quire, and to go in a humble manner and acquaint him with his 
 faults. If he voluntarily withdraw from the communion, they 
 have no further concern with him. 
 
344 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 
 
 1 . The civil magistrate has supreme civil power 
 over all persons within his dominions. 
 
 2. All ecclesiastical officers, as well as other 
 persons, are therefore punishable by the civil 
 magistrate for civil offences. 
 
 3. The pope is an antichrist, because he sup- 
 ports idolatry, and usurps the supremacy over 
 kings and princes. All who defend and support 
 the popish faith and deception are enemies to the 
 king's supremacy. 
 
 4. No church officers have power to deprive the 
 king of any branch of his royal prerogative, much 
 less of his supremacy, which is inseparable from 
 him. 
 
 5. No ecclesiastical officers have power over 
 the bodies, lives, goods, or liberties, of any person 
 whatever. 
 
 6. If a king, after he has held communion with 
 a Christian church, shall turn apostate, or live in a 
 course of open defiance to the laws of God and 
 religion, the church governors are to give over 
 their spiritual charge and tuition of him, which by 
 calling from God and the king they did undertake, 
 and more than this they may not do ; for the king 
 still retains his supreme authority, as entirely, and 
 in as ample a manner, as if he were the most 
 Christian prince in the world. 
 
 7. We are so far from claiming any supremacy 
 to ourselves, that we exclude from ourselves all 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 345 
 
 secular pomp and power ; holding it a sin to 
 punish men in their bodies, goods, liberties, or 
 lives, for any merely spiritual offence. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 In 1653, the solemnizing of matrimony, being 
 considered a civil contract, was put into the hands 
 of justices of the peace, by an ordinance which 
 enacts, "that after the 29th of September, 1653, 
 all persons who shall agree to be married within 
 the commonwealth of England, shall deliver in 
 their names and places of abode, with the names 
 of their parents, guardians, and overseers, to the 
 registrar of the parish where each party lives, who 
 shall publish the banns in the church or chapel 
 three several Lord's days, after the morning ser- 
 vice, or else in the market-place three several 
 weeks successively, between the hours of eleven 
 and two, on a market day if the party desire it. 
 The registrar shall make out a certificate of the 
 due performance of one or the other, at the request 
 of the parties concerned, without which they shall 
 not proceed to marriage. 
 
 1 ' It is further enacted, that all persons intend- 
 ing to marry shall come before some justice of 
 the peace within the county, city, or town cor- 
 porate, when publication has been made as afore- 
 said, with their certificate, and with sufficient 
 proof of the consent of the parents, if either party 
 
346 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 be under age, and then the marriage shall pro- 
 ceed in this manner 
 
 " The man to be married shall take the woman 
 by the hand, and distinctly pronounce these words 
 I, A. B., do here, in the presence of God, the 
 searcher of all hearts, take thee, C. D., for my 
 wedded wife ; and do also, in the presence of God, 
 and before these witnesses, promise to be to thee 
 a loving and faithful husband. 
 
 11 Then the woman, taking the man by the hand, 
 shall plainly and distinctly pronounce these words 
 I, C. D., do here, in the presence *of God, the 
 searcher of all hearts, take thee, A. B., for my 
 wedded husband ; and do also, in the presence of 
 God, and before these witnesses, promise to be 
 to thee a loving, faithful, and obedient wife. 
 
 " After this, the justice may and shall declare 
 the said man and woman to be, from henceforth, 
 husband and wife ; and from and after such con- 
 sent so expressed, and such declaration made of 
 the same, as to the form of marriage, it shall be 
 good and effectual in law ; and no other marriage 
 whatsoever, within the commonwealth of England, 
 after the 29th of September, 1653, shall be held 
 or accounted a marriage, according to the law of 
 England.' 7 
 
 I shall now add a few propositions, to which I 
 earnestly beg the attention of my countrymen : 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 347 
 
 1. In reforming the Church of England, it is 
 necessary to reduce all things to the apostolical 
 institution. 
 
 2. No man ought to be admitted into the minis- 
 try, but who is capable of preaching. 
 
 3. None but such a minister of the word ought 
 to pray publicly in the Church, or administer the 
 sacrament. 
 
 4. Popish ordinations are not valid, (conse- 
 quently, the ordinations of the Church of England 
 are not.) 
 
 5. Only canonical scriptures ought to be read 
 publicly in the Church. 
 
 6. The public liturgy should be so framed, that 
 there should be no private praying or reading in 
 the Church, but that all the people attend to the 
 prayers of the minister. 
 
 7. The care of burying the dead does not 
 belong more to the ministerial office than to the 
 rest of the Church. 
 
 8. Equal reverence is due to all canonical scrip- 
 tures, and to all the names of God ; there is, there- 
 fore, no reason why the people should stand at the 
 reading of the Gospel, or bow at the name of Jesus. 
 
 9. It is as lawful to sit at the Lord's table, as to 
 kneel or stand. 
 
 10. The Lord's Supper ought not to be admi- 
 nistered in private, nor should baptism be admi- 
 nistered by women, or lay persons. 
 
348 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 1 1 . The sign of the cross in baptism is super- 
 stitious. 
 
 12. It is reasonable and proper, that the parent 
 should offer his own child to baptism, making a 
 confession of that faith he intends to educate it 
 in, without being obliged to answer, in the child's 
 name, " I WILL," "I WILL NOT," "I BELIEVE," 
 and so on. 
 
 13. In giving names to children, it is conve- 
 nient to avoid paganism, as well as the names 
 and offices of Christ, angels, &c. 
 
 14. The present mode of marriage is papistical, 
 and, in these times, intolerable. 
 
 15. The observation of Lent, and fasting at par- 
 ticular times, are superstitious. 
 
 16. The observation of saints'-day festivals is 
 unlawful. 
 
 17. In ordaining of ministers, the pronouncing 
 those words, " Receive thou the Holy Ghost," is 
 both ridiculous and wicked. 
 
 I do not dispute the lawfulness of a form of 
 prayer, provided due liberty be given to the mi- 
 nister to exercise his own judgment on this sub- 
 ject. But who will sanction the superstitious 
 observance of saints'-days, fast-days, church fes- 
 tivals, and church holidays ; the chanting of 
 psalms, and all the paraphernalia of cathedral 
 worship ; the sign of the cross in baptism, the 
 baptism of midwives, the use of godfathers and 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 349 
 
 godmothers to the exclusion of parents from 
 being securities for the education of their children; 
 bowing only at the name of Jesus, and not at that 
 of Christ ; the symbol of the ring in marriage, the 
 unholy lives of ministers and bishops, the un- 
 scriptural mode of ordaining libertines to the 
 ministry ; the system of pluralists, non-residents, 
 tithes, lay patrons, &c. &c. ? These are all the fila- 
 ments of popery and priestcraft It should be, 
 and it is, the duty of every Christian man and 
 woman to endeavour to trace the origin of all 
 these abuses, and seek the best mode for their 
 annihilation. 
 
 * ' Feed the flock of God which is among you, 
 not as lords over God's heritage." 1 Peter v. 2, 3; 
 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; Acts xiv. 23. 
 
 A subscription to any liturgy, human creeds, 
 or articles, is, however, a grievance ; for it is 
 next to impossible to frame many propositions in 
 human language, to which a country or nation can 
 give their hearty concurrence. Some may agree to 
 the doctrines, but object to the words or phrases; 
 others, who admit the chief doctrines of the gospel, 
 may question the more abstruse points of specula- 
 tion. Good and illustrious men may entertain dif- 
 ferent views of a subject ; and to require subscrip- 
 tion to human inventions, may disturb peace of 
 conscience, while it proves no barrier to the igno- 
 
350 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
 
 rant and unprincipled. If the fundamental ar- 
 ticles of our faith were drawn up in the language of 
 holy scripture, or if those who were appointed to 
 examine into the learning and other qualifications 
 of ministers, were to be judges of their con- 
 fessions of faith, it would answer a better pur- 
 pose than subscription to human creeds and ar- 
 ticles ; for of what advantage is uniformity in pro- 
 fession without an agreement in principle ? 
 
 There is no need that I give further proofs of 
 the necessity of a Reformed Church, or of a pro- 
 per form of discipline. The fact, that numbers are 
 admitted ministers of the Church of England, whose 
 lives and conversation are infamous, stare us daily 
 in the face. Cant, infidelity, ignorance, and hypo- 
 crisy, fill the greater number of our pulpits ; and 
 yet these are the men tolerated by the bishops, 
 while the people are perishing for lack of know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Let the people, who have hitherto been regarded 
 as members of this establishment, but who, till now, 
 have omitted examining her claims, withdraw im- 
 mediately from her communion, and no longer be 
 the dupes of corrupt priests and despots. Let every 
 man and woman explode papistical folly and ty- 
 ranny- Let them unite to enjoy liberty of con- 
 science, and support that Church Reform which is 
 conducive to general spiritual health. I wish to 
 see a Reform of the Church of England made as per- 
 fect as human ingenuity and religion can render it ; 
 
FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 351 
 
 but I would effect this reform without injuring the 
 person of the most obnoxious individual who now 
 supports the tyranny and corruptions of the 
 church. I would recommend to men in power, 
 measures of conciliation. Let them come among 
 us with healing in their wings. Let them concede, 
 with cheerfulness, whatever cannot be denied 
 without straining the sense of scripture. Let them 
 shew themselves real friends to true religion and 
 man. This will remove all grievances, satisfy 
 all demands, and turn the spirit of despotism 
 to the spirit of Christian philanthropy. 
 
352 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 THE PEACE AND UNITY OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 BISHOP STILLINGFLEET, in his lt Irenicum" goes to 
 prove, that no form of church government is of 
 divine right, and that the church has no power to 
 impose things indifferent. The design of our 
 Saviour was to ease men of their former burdens, 
 and not to lay on more ; the duties he required 
 were no other but such as were necessary, just, 
 and reasonable. He that came to take away the 
 insupportable yoke of Jewish ceremonies, certainly 
 did never intend to gall the necks of his disciples 
 with another instead of it ; and it would be strange 
 should the church require more than Christ him- 
 self did, and make other conditions of her com- 
 munion than our Saviour did of discipleship. 
 What possible reason can be given why such 
 things as are sufficient for eternal salvation should 
 not be sufficient for communion with the 
 church? And certainly those things are suffi- 
 cient for that, which are laid down as the ne- 
 cessary duties of Christianity by our Lord and 
 
PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 353 
 
 Saviour in his word. What ground can there be 
 why Christians should not stand upon the same 
 terms now, that they did in the time of Christ and 
 his apostles ? Was not religion sufficiently guarded 
 and fenced in then ? Was there ever more true 
 and cordial reverence in the worship of God ? What 
 charter hath Christ given the church, to bind men 
 up to more than himself has done ; or to exclude 
 those from her society who may be admitted into 
 heaven ? Will Christ ever thank men at the great 
 day, for keeping such out from communion with 
 his church, to whom he will vouchsafe not only a 
 crown of glory, but it may be aureoltf, too, if there 
 be any such thing then ? 
 
 The grand commission the apostles were sent 
 out with, was, only to teach what Christ had com- 
 manded them. There is not the least intimation of 
 any power being given to impose or require any thing 
 beyond what himself had spoken to them, or they 
 were directed to, by the immediate guidance of the 
 Spirit of God. It is not whether the things com- 
 manded and required be lawful or not ; it is not 
 whether indifferences may be determined or no ; 
 it is not how far Christians are bound to submit to 
 a restraint of their Christian liberty, which I now 
 inquire after : but whether they consult the church's 
 peace and unity, who suspend it upon such things. 
 We never read of the apostles making laws but of 
 things necessary, as in Acts xv. 19. It was not 
 
 2A 
 
354 PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 enough with them, that the things would be neces- 
 sary when they had required them ; but they looked 
 upon an antecedent necessity, either absolutely or 
 for the present state, which was the only ground 
 of their imposing these commands upon the Gen- 
 tile Christians. But the Holy Ghost never thought 
 those things fit to be made matters of law, to 
 which all parties should conform. All that the 
 apostles required as to this, was mutual forbear- 
 ance and condescension towards each other in them. 
 The apostles valued not indifferences at all ; and 
 those things they accounted as such, which were of 
 no concernment to their salvation. And what 
 reason is there why men should be tied up so 
 strictly to such things, which they may do or let 
 alone, and yet be very good Christians ? Without 
 all controversy, the main inlet of all the distrac- 
 tions, confusions, and divisions of the Christian 
 world, has been by adding other conditions of 
 church communion than Christ has done. Would 
 there be ever the less peace and unity in a church, 
 if a diversity were allowed as to practices supposed 
 indifferent ? Yea, there would be so much more, 
 as there was a mutual forbearance and condescen- 
 sion as to such things. The unity of the church is 
 an unity of love and affection, and not a bare uni- 
 formity of practice and opinion. There is nothing 
 in the primitive church more deserving our imita- 
 tion than the admirable temper, moderation, and 
 
PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 355 
 
 condescension which was used in it towards its 
 members. It was never thought worth the while 
 to make any standing laws for rites and customs 
 that had no other original but tradition, much less 
 to suspend men from her communion for not ob- 
 serving them. 
 
 My proposals, then, are, with the bishop That 
 nothing be imposed on the Reformed English 
 Church, as necessary, but what is clearly revealed 
 in the word of God. 
 
 That nothing be required or determined, but 
 what is sufficiently known to be indifferent in its 
 own nature. 
 
 That whatever is thus determined be in order 
 only to a due performance of what is in general 
 required in the word of God, and not to be looked 
 upon as any part of divine worship or service. 
 
 That no sanctions be made, nor mulcts nor penal- 
 ties be inflicted, on men for their opinions. 
 
 That religion be not clogged with ceremonies ; 
 for when they are multiplied too much, though 
 lawful, they eat out the heart, life, and vigour 
 of Christianity. 
 
 I close by entreating every individual who is 
 anxious to walk in the path of truth, that he con- 
 tinually prays for the direction of the Holy Spirit, 
 that he values his Bible, that he daily reads it, and 
 searches himself for those treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge which it contains ; and that he be ever 
 
356 PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 jealous of trusting- his temporal and eternal happi- 
 ness to the judgment and conduct of others, who, 
 for the most part, from imbibed prejudices or evil 
 designs, represent the most ridiculous, chimerical, 
 absurd, and contradictory opinions to be funda- 
 mental articles of the Christian faith. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Harjette and Savill, Printers, 
 107, St. Martin's Lane, Charing Cross 
 
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