sense of right, and to the good feelings of those who have joined in the
cry against it, this appeal is made. There is not any disposition on the
part of the Clergy to ask for undue favour or commendation:—no wish, that
abuses, if they exist, should be spared,—that delinquency, if any case
occur, should escape punishment. But they protest against the manifest
injustice with which they have been treated. The most extravagant
over-statements of a few valuable appointments have been industriously
circulated, as a proof of excessive and overgrown wealth, whilst the
poverty of some high dignities, and a large proportion of benefices, has
been studiously kept back; the failings and offences of a few
individuals, under every form of exaggeration and perversion, have been
dwelt and enlarged upon with evident satisfaction, whilst no just meed of
praise has been bestowed upon the body, to which rather the censure, due
only to some few members, has ingeniously, but wickedly, been made to
attach. All which misrepresentations apparently have in view one
object,—that the charges of excessive wealth and extreme worthlessness
may stimulate and justify spoliation and subversion. And yet no angry
recriminations, scarcely any indignant remonstrances, have issued from
the injured party: when they have spoken, it has been in the calm
language of conscious rectitude; and the great body have forborn to reply
to insult and invective, relying on the goodness of their cause, to which
they feel assured the people of England will, sooner or later, do full
justice. If aught could soften the harsh severity, could shame the cruel
injustice with which the Clergy have been censured, vilified, and
persecuted, surely it should be the Christian meekness and patience with
which they have borne the heavy load of wrong that has been cast upon
them. Full many there are who, unmoved by clamour, unprovoked by
injuries, and unappalled by dangers, are pursuing the even tenor of their
way, in the diligent and faithful discharge of their sacred duties. But
silence under grievous charges is often interpreted into an admission of
their truth, and meekness under heavy reproaches a proof of their
justice. There are times, therefore, when the Clergy should raise their
voice in self-vindication; not merely for their own sakes, but that of
their flocks; for if they allow their office to be degraded, and their
characters aspersed, without maintaining the one and defending the other,
their influence will be seriously weakened, and their usefulness, in the
same degree, diminished. Hence it has ever been the artful policy of the
infidel school to attack religion through her ministers; and such is the
course which is adopted now, and those ministers will aid and abet the
cause of the enemies of their faith, if they repel not the darts which
are meant to reach, through their bodies, the altars of their God. And
would that that portion of the press, which has long assailed the Clergy
with much unmerited severity and abuse, could be persuaded to make a
tardy reparation for the wrong they have done,—for the injury they have
inflicted on society! The public journals now reach the remotest corners
of the island; and in many distant parishes, in which the incumbent alone
spends the income drawn from the soil, alone dispenses his charity,
visits the sick, instructs the ignorant,—even there the blighting
influence of calumny extends, and the work of Christian benevolence and
charity is neutralized by the splenetic effusions, or foul and false
charges of the public press. Oh! that the awful circumstances of the
present times would teach forbearance, if not justice,—would induce
silence, if not commendation. If they love not religion for its own
sake,—if they respect not its ministers for their own sake,—let the value
of both be admitted in stemming that fearful tide of sedition and
infidelity which threatens to overturn the civil as well as religious
institutions of the country. And there is another consideration not to
be forgotten: in times of pestilence, the ministers of God have ever
proved faithful to their trust, and a blessing to the sick and dying:
that scourge of the Almighty is now upon the land; let the press then
seek to heal the breach they have made between the pastor and his flock,
lest by the baleful suspicions and hatred they have caused in the minds
of the latter, they may be the means of intercepting the stream of Divine
mercy,—of darkening the light of Divine truth.
Vain will be all the efforts of the friends of religion and order to
counteract the present evils, which endanger the best interests of
society, and to introduce a better order of things, if a large proportion
of the public journals continue not only to excite the public mind, but
to prejudice it against the Clergy, by imputing to them unworthy motives,
and by bringing against them heavy and unsubstantiated charges. In many
places at present, the plans of the Clergyman for the benefit of his
parish are entirely frustrated; a large proportion of his parishioners
being like men labouring under a fever caused by injudicious
treatment,—the wholesome aliment, which would give nourishment and
strength in a healthy state, injures rather than benefits; and even the
medicines which should cure the disease are rejected, through distrust of
the physician who prescribes them. But let those who have injured the
patient, by supplying stimulants when they should have administered
sedatives, by exciting suspicion when they should have inspired
confidence, endeavour to repair the evil they have produced, and then the
ministers of the Great Physician of souls will recover their proper
influence, and will be able beneficially to exercise their important
functions.
It is impossible to estimate the advantage of the ministerial office to
society, until the aggregate of the services of men, who have all their
allotted field of action throughout the kingdom, be well weighed. Let
any one examine minutely into the benefit which one parish receives from
a resident incumbent, who faithfully discharges the duties of his office;
and if all do not so, it is the fault of the individual, and not of the
system:—let him observe, not merely the general advantage derived by all
from the residence amongst them of a well informed and well conducted
man,—at once the scholar, the gentleman, and the Christian,—but of one
who is the authorized medium through which abuses are to be checked and
corrected, vice discountenanced and reproved, virtue encouraged and
rewarded, relief administered to distress, instruction to ignorance,
comfort to sorrow, and the light of the Gospel diffused amongst all,—its
offers addressed to all, its consolation imparted to all. Then let him
attempt to calculate the amount of instruction conveyed through “the
alacrity, the zeal, the warm-heartedness which the Established Clergy
have manifested for the education of the poor;” {149} of comfort derived
by suffering in its hour of need and sorrow, from its faithful pastor;
and of benefit imparted to all, either directly or indirectly, either
temporally or spiritually, by the appointed and responsible teachers of
the Gospel, throughout the parishes in the kingdom. And then let him
form a judgment as to what degree of confidence is to be placed in the
wisdom, what sense of obligation is to be entertained for the
services,—_not of those_ who are labouring with _earnest_ diligence to
“feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers,”—_of
those_ who by impoverishing the Clergy would deprive them of the means of
affording temporal assistance to the poor and needy; and by calumniating
the Clergy would impede the discharge and frustrate the efficacy of their
spiritual ministrations. Alas! it is because the full value of the quiet
and unobtrusive labours of all ranks in the Church is so little known by
those who are actively engaged in public life, that plans are devised,
which, possessing some plausibility, and coming recommended with much
eloquence, are eagerly embraced by many, who would indignantly reject
them were they aware that, if adopted, they would injure the present and
endanger the eternal welfare of millions. As men, as statesmen, and as
Christians, let all who have inconsiderately joined in the cry against
the Church forbear, until they have ascertained for themselves, by minute
and impartial investigation, whether it is as wealthy and proud, as
grasping and worldly, as bigoted and intolerant, as intermeddling and
domineering, as inefficient and corrupt, as its enemies have represented
it to be. Could it be proved to be such, every sincere Christian,
whether cleric or laic, would at once say, free it from the abuses which
disgrace its character and impair its efficiency. But of the charges
brought against it, the large proportion originate in the hostility,
hatred, and malignity of its enemies; there may be some defects, but they
are incidental, not inherent, and are at present occupying the deep and
anxious attention of the heads of the establishment, who are most
desirous to correct whatever may limit the influence or lessen the
usefulness of that pure and reformed branch of the Church of Christ
established in this kingdom.
If the enemies of the Church, who profess to be the friends of mankind,
are sincere, as we are bound to consider them, in the expression of their
wish to benefit their fellow-men, they must not impede the operation of
an establishment which every where diffuses a knowledge of that Gospel,
the salutary influence of which extends through society, as the only cure
of the ills to which flesh is heir. They may closely watch and severely
scrutinize the proceedings of the Church; but, as men and Christians,
they are bound to do it justice, and give it their support as a powerful
agent, in lightening the load of misery which too often exists in this
commercial country to a frightful extent. “Compare,” says the present
Bishop of Chester, “compare the ignorant and unreflecting peasant, who
moves in the same dull, and too often sinful track, with no ideas beyond
the ground he treads upon, the sensual indulgences which he gratifies,
and the day that is passing over his head;—compare him with his
enlightened neighbour, nay, with himself, if happily he becomes
enlightened, when he follows the same path of active industry, but makes
it a path towards his heavenly Father’s kingdom;—and then perceive, by a
visible example, what the grace of God effects through the agency of man;
or take a case, too common, alas! too familiarly known to many who hear
me. Take the case of those who see their occupation sinking from under
them; their means of support annually decreasing, and little prospect of
its melioration. Suppose that the views of these, and such as these, are
bounded by this present world, what can they be but unhappy, restless,
discontented; defying God, and murmuring at man; distressing the
philanthropist, because he sees no comfort left to them; distressing the
statesman, because he can devise no remedy for their relief; above all,
distressing the Christian, who sees the future prospect far darker than
the present gloom? Suppose the case of one thus circumstanced, having no
hope beyond this world; and then contemplate the change which would be
produced, if any of the means by which grace is communicated to the heart
should inspire the same person with the principles and the faith of the
Gospel; converting him from whatever is evil in his ways, and thus
removing all the accumulation which sin adds to poverty: reconciling him
to hardships and privations as the intended trial of his faith, the lot
of many of God’s most approved servants; and lighting up the darkness of
this world by the rays which precede that which is to come, the earnest
of a brighter dawn.”
May those who have been so far misled as to become either hostile or
indifferent to their Church now do tardy justice to her, which, through
good report and evil report, is still true to her righteous and holy
cause, and dispenses through the land the light and blessing of the
Gospel of peace: may those who love, cherish, and venerate the religion
of their fathers—the Church of their God—approve themselves zealous and
faithful sons; our Zion requires active, stanch, vigilant, and
experienced defenders: her enemies are numerous, persevering, powerful,
malignant, implacable; their attacks are sometimes open, sometimes
insidious, but always skilfully planned, and ably conducted; still,
whilst the Church continues true to God and His Christ, she has nothing
to fear, for “greater is He who is for her than he who is against her.”
“The Lord is her shield and buckler,” and Christ has promised to be
always, even unto the end of the world, with his Church, which is founded
on the rock of faith, and against which “the gates of hell shall not
prevail:” in humble, but firm reliance, therefore, upon Him, of whose
mystical body she forms a portion, the Church of England, amid the
strifes of political changes, amid the distractions of civil contentions,
amid the storms of popular clamour and fury, remains stedfast through
faith, and joyful through hope:
“As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Tho’ round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”
Whilst, however, we rely with firm and holy confidence upon the Great
Author and Finisher of our Faith, for the protection and preservation of
His Church; zeal, energy, and discretion, in defence of religion, are not
the less requisite in believers, who labour under their Heavenly Master
for the furtherance of His Gospel. As the Almighty is pleased to employ
human agents for the accomplishment of His gracious designs towards His
creatures; His faithful servants hoping to prove instruments, in His
hands, of good to their fellow men, must use every means in their power
to frustrate the evil designs of the enemies of the Lord; and to induce a
sinful nation, suffering under a Divine visitation, to put away from them
“the evil of their ways,” which has called down the Divine displeasure;
and humbling themselves before God to implore His mercy, “that the plague
may be stayed from the people.” {154} Let, then, all the servants of the
Lord, at this alarming and awful crisis, “be very jealous for the Lord
God of Hosts;” {155} and pray and labour incessantly for the defeat of
the devices of unbelief; which, whether under the form of an irreligious
spirit seeking to do without Christianity, or under the bolder aspect of
open infidelity, striving to subvert Christianity, is the main cause of
the evils which now endanger the safety of the civil and religious
institutions of the kingdom. We have seen that, in the case of the lower
classes of society, the tide of profaneness has been setting in with a
force and fury which threaten to overturn all the defences of religion,
morals, and laws, which have long withstood their fierce assaults—their
destructive ravages. Can it be that the emissaries of Satan shall be
found more zealous and indefatigable in disseminating the poison which is
to destroy both body and soul, than the servants of God are vigilant,
active, and unwearied, to prevent the bane or supply the antidote? Can
it be that the slaves of sin and darkness, under the galling yoke of him
who is a hard master, will manifest a more willing and prompt obedience,
than the servants of God, in the cause of their blessed Lord, whose
“burden is light,”—“whose service is perfect freedom?” We have seen,
also, that in the middle and higher classes of society there appears to
be an equally effective, though less conspicuous, agent at work—a deep
and silent current, which is gradually, though secretly, undermining that
great foundation of Christianity, that the law of God is to be the rule
of life. This great engine of evil, as more insidious, is, in reality,
more dangerous than the noisy turbulence of infidel assemblies, or the
open circulation of blasphemous publications; the power of the spirit of
darkness, when, “as a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he may
devour,” is less to be dreaded, than when he employs the noiseless
gliding of “the serpent,” which discovers itself only by the sting of
death. Can it be that any of the friends of religion will shut their
ears against these representations of great and alarming danger—delude
themselves with the groundless anticipations of unjustifiable
hope—deceive themselves with the distant plans of culpable
procrastination—or shroud themselves beneath the covering of indolent
supineness and heartless indifference? Too long palliatives have been
employed instead of remedies, expediency has been substituted for
principle, and worldly wisdom has encroached upon the province of Divine
Revelation. As a Christian nation our laws and institutions should be
all essentially Christian; the foreign and domestic policy of the State,
and the public and private conduct of individuals, should be all animated
by a Christian spirit, and guided by Christian rules and precedents.
Let us, therefore, enquire by what means is the predominance of
Christianity to be restored, when it is threatened with still further
depression; when it has great and powerful enemies all plotting its
destruction in this country?
There is one mean—to which reference has been already made, as being the
great object the believer should have in view—which would, with the
blessing of God, upon whom alone dependence must rest for success against
His enemies, be effectual in accomplishing this great end, and that is
the zealous and unanimous co-operation of all Christians for the general
diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge. A very
brief examination into the cause which has contributed largely to the
present state of things, so unfavourable to the interests of genuine
Christianity, may suffice to place this in a clear point of view.
Religious error generally receives its distinguishing features from the
literary character of the age: and an age which abounds with sciolists is
very fertile in sceptics. For it has been always found that the effect
of superficial knowledge is rather to unsettle, of profound knowledge to
confirm, belief in Revelation; as was well observed by that mighty master
in philosophy, Bacon, who says, “a little philosophy inclines us to
atheism, and a great deal of philosophy carries us back to religion.”
And the reason of this is obvious; there are certain difficulties of
every subject which lie upon, or nearly at, the surface; slight labour
and research, therefore, put the enquirer in possession of little more
than those difficulties; whilst if the spirit of patient and accurate
investigation had carried him further, he would have found them gradually
disappear before the light of truth breaking by degrees upon his mind,
and leading him to just and certain conclusions, drawn from a long series
of proofs. Now the present age appears to be characterized by a wide
diffusion of elementary knowledge amongst all classes of society; by a
preference of an extensive, though necessarily superficial, acquaintance
with general literature and the elements of modern science, to an
accurate and profound knowledge of a few leading branches of study; and
by a tendency to elevate the pursuit of physical above that of moral and
religious truth. From the proposition laid down, of the ordinary effects
of superficial knowledge upon the mind in the investigation of religious
truth, we should conclude, that such a system of popular instruction is
calculated to indispose towards the full reception of a Divine
Revelation; that the mind, either bewildered by a variety of pursuits, or
dissatisfied by diversity of opinions, will consider all knowledge
uncertain, and all theories unsatisfactory; or influenced by that
intellectual pride and presumption which are amongst the most bitter
fruits of defective knowledge, deem itself competent to decide summarily
upon whatever passes under its observation. For if it has been found—as
it has been too often found—that minds, otherwise highly gifted, but
destitute of religious principles, when long accustomed to demonstration,
are apt to underrate the value of moral proof; and when long familiar
with natural causes, sometimes forget the great Architect, who formed and
put in motion our globe; sometimes forget the great First Cause, which
gave nature her powers and properties, and now preserves and directs them
to a beneficial end: what must we expect when far inferior minds, without
mental discipline and profound knowledge, those happy results of
laborious and patient study; but with vanity flattered by appeals made to
its judgment, and with pride fostered by the acquisition of a poor
modicum of science, deem themselves competent not merely to decide upon
the most difficult questions of government and legislation, but upon the
most profound truths of natural and revealed religion? The result may be
easily anticipated; if this empty vanity, this presumptuous pride of
intellect, reject not Christianity at once, it ordinarily takes an
heretical direction, and assuming the specious guise of love of
investigation, and value for the powers of reason, it makes the deep and
awful mysteries of our holy faith the subject of crude theories and
daring speculations; and with powers confessedly unequal to the
explanation of some of the lowest wonders of the material world, seeks to
penetrate within the veil drawn around the Godhead, and reduce to the
level of human comprehension the very nature of the Divine essence.
Should it, however, take one step further, and that an easy step, it
rejects the truths it had long distorted, it resigns the shadow of which
it had never known the substance, and declaring Christianity to be “a
cunningly devised fable,” it becomes the advocate of heartless, hopeless
infidelity.