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^ fereii ! Bb es- ^ iiy minister awon g the'I > is ' - sehters , intrude upon the charge of a ; brother-minister , not only v / ithonI leave , hu % in tlefiUhc ^ of all denial ?—J No . These ate perfections of felig * iowszea ^ peculiar to certain elect persons , who have set up this , stnd some othfcv institutions ^ calling themselves serious ChristianSj and Evangelical Ministers .
Serious Christian's ! What ? ¦ Is do mat * in earnest respecting * the mercies of God in the redemption of mankind ? Is no man serious in his faith , and earnest in his religious and moral duties ? Has no > man a regard for the salvation ofsonls , except this party ?
Evangelical Ministers too ! Why more evangelical than their brethren- *—who have received the same apostolical ordination ; profess the same faith ; have taken the same oaths ; use the same form of sound words la the services of the same church , and exercise the same priesthood at the same altar ? I speak to members of the Church of England
( for such , hy the title of the meeting , 1 may fairly conclude all present to be ) : and I ask , in what sense , but as the Shibboleth of © party , this exclusive title of Evangelical can he assumed by ministers of the Church of England over their brethren :
over men in every respect , wbetSier of piety , of morals , or of learning , at least , their equals ? I ask , why I cease to he a true minister of the gospel ? because I disdain to join a Sect , whose disorderly proceedings I disapprove ?
Respecting this Church of England Missionary Society , I heg leave to call the attention of the meeting , to two extraornary circumstances : —First , that on looking over the list of Vice-Patrons , I see the names o f only two bishops : one , the Hon . and Might Rev . Prelate here present : the
other , the Right Rev . the Lord Bishop of Norwich ! Now , if this Society were founded on principles so firm and so evangelical , hy what fatality did it happen that the other bishops did not join it at first ? Nay , how comes it to pass , that they have not come in on conviction ? I can seadil j account for the reluctance of a man to
tread hack the hollow and rotten ground over which lie has travelled : but this reluctance to set foot on firm ground ; on thfc ground of the Church of England ! This is a mystery too deep for me to fathom . Secondly the next extraordinary circumstance is that among tlie list of high persons on the report of tins' Church' of
England Missionary Society for the east , I see not the name of the only person who can give either order or consistency to their proceedings in that quarter ' of the globe . I mean the thuiy £ < gabnje £ d abtw soran Bishop of CAt
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Might Rev . rice-BatrQni 'knows- , the'Ch ' tircfr of England would demand ^—^ w ¥ s that greaC * man solicited id take under his care and confroul the pious missionaries , who shoalol be sent into his diocese from th rs-society ; and did he refuse to receive them ?• " Or
did ^ the steady adherents to tte Church of England , who projected this society , never apply to Siis Lordship for that purpose ? I profess myself utterly ignorant on both these questions . But of this I am certain ^ viz . that a die concerns of the Society in the North -of India ™ are stated in the
report , under the article Mission , to be under no other authority or control ] 1 than u the management of a corresponding ' committee . " A Church of England Missionary Society , under the MANAGEMENT ( that is the word ) of a cor respondin g Committed ! !! I have indeed heard- but
I will not assert it as a fact , a circumstance , that would solve these difficulties to wit , that the leading persons of the London Missionary Sociefiy whicli consists of persons of all kinds of religious persuasions , are on the besti of terms with tlie leading persons of the Church Missionaky Society ' fob-Africa and the East .
Thiscircumstance if true , would also account for other circumstances in the history of restless and disorderly pietists compassjmg ' sea and larad to gain proselytes , and disturbing their own country with religions contention . 4 . I now proceed to the last consideration , viz . that the formation of a Branch
Society in this place would he pernicious . The peace of the city is hardly yet sestored from the confusion occasioned by a religious feud , in which , ( where the blaane lay is no question at present ) , but in which the Rector was not only insulted , grossly insulted , in the performance of his duty in his own parish-chinch : but was
compelled to resort to the police officers to protect him from personal outrage . For my part , I declare nny opinion , that if you proceed to gratify tlie same Party , who generated that feud , with the triumph of a Church Missionary Society , in the furtherance of winch that Party is chiefly
interested , and they too are members of the Church , you will renew the feuds , which anay otherwise sink into oblivion ; and will render Bath , like a neighbouring city , a hot-hed of heresy and schism . And sure I am , ¦ that the mischiefs which you will occasion-&t home , will ' 'never be compensated by iiny good that a society ., so-formed and managed , can do ah road . -
Permit iwe here to observe , th&t if any person supposes me to be--hostile' to the professed object of this Church : Missionary Society , vi £ . ' th ^ uni versal'diffusion of the k now led g « i of the mercies of God * in Christ Jesii $ , tuMotally mistakes both my principles g ^ nd ; my character * Th © professed
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fO Megisti&r of Ecclesiastical DoeuMenU
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1818, page 70, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2472/page/70/
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