On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
for * # * G fe £ ^ : Ji | ter ^ t « v of , tl * e . l p $ er& , ^ o d ai ^ e \ fo e < W&ni > h * £ ^ . subservient to the ^ ecMlai' v itjws ^ individuals and families . Aad tbey pr , esent an excitement to enter into the holy nriflistry , with too great an admixture of worldly motives , and with a spirit often falling short of that pure and disinterested ardour which supremely aims at the promotion of God ' s dory and the salvation of mankind .
"The connexion thus constituted entirely independent of the choice or wishes of the congregation , is held entirely independent of them . And such are the gross and lamentable obstructions to the exercise of discipline , from the complicated provisions and forms of their
ecclesiastical law , that common and even serious clerical irregularities are not noticed . In a case of recent notoriety , abandoned clerical profligacy could not be even tardily subjected to discipline , but at an immense pecuniary sacrifice on the part of the Bishop who attempted to do that to which his consecration vows
solemnly bind him . " The mode o f support by tythes , though perhaps , as part of the original tenure of property , not unreasonable nor oppressive , is still calculated to prevent , in many cases , cordial and affectionate intercourse between minister and people . Indeed , even where clerical duty is conscientiously discharged , the state of things does not invite that kind of intercourse
subsisting among us , which leads the pastor into every family ^ not merely as its pastor , but its friend . " I need not observe how superior , in all these respects , are the arrangements ( doubtless not without their
inconveniences , for no human system is perfect ) of our Church / To the congregations is secured the appointment of their clergymen , under regulations that prevent , in episcopal supervision and controul , the choice of heretical or unworthy persons , and his support arises from their voluntary contributions : —the connexion is thus one of choice , and therefore of confidence and affection . The provisions for ecclesiastical discipline can arrest the progress of the unworthy clergyman and put him away from the congregations he
» s inj uring and destroying , and the Church which he is disgracing ; and happy are the effects in the general zeal and purity a » d exemplary lives of the clergy , and Uic affectionate intercourse that subsists between them and their flocks . Often j ] . ye I taken pride and pleasure in exci the astonishment of those who ^ ipposed and contended that the volunldl'Y act of the people would not adcjj uatcl y provide for the clergy , by stating 11 my own case ; the continuance of wy
Untitled Article
salary ^ the . provision for , njv j ^ rpc hjal dujty , aacl ? Uje ample fuifdg ' by ipfypzn I was enabled to leave my cojagregatipii and my diocese . cc Advance higher in the relations that subsist in the Church , to those which conuect a Bishop with his diocese . The commission of the Bishop , his Episcopal
authority , is conveyed to him by the Bishops who consecrate him . But the election of the person to be thus consecrated is nominally m the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral of the diocese , and theoretically in the King , who gives the Dean and Chapter permission to elect the person , and only the person , whom he names ; and thus , in the actual operation of what is more an aristocratical
than a monarchical government , the Bishops are appointed by the Cabinet or the Prime Minister ; and hence , with some most honourable exceptions , prin - cipally recent , the appointments have notoriously been directed with a view to parliamentary influence . Almost ail the
prelates that have filled the English sees , have owed their advancement not solely , as it ought to have been , and as iu our system it must generally be , to their qualifications for the office , but to a secular interest , extraneous from spiritual or ecclesiastical considerations .
* Advance still higher—to the Church in her exalted legislative capacity , as the enactor of her own laws and regulations and canons . The convocation , the legitimate legislature of the Church of England , and the high grand inquest of the Church , has not exercised its functions for more than a century . And the
only body that legislates for a Church thus bound by the state and stripped of her legitimate authority , is parliament , with unlimited powers—a House of Lords , where the presiding officer may be , and it is said has been , a
Dissentera House of Commons , where many are avowed Dissenters , and where , whenever chtirch topics are discussed , am pie evidence is afforded that the greatest statesmen are not always the greatest theologians .
" Let me not be misunderstood—I am not speaking disrespectfully of Dissenters , nor entering into the question of the propriety of their participating iu the civil government of England . But what business have Dissenters with legislating for a Church from which they dissent , and to which they are conscientiously opposed ?
" I need not remark to you how superior are the arrangements of our ecclesiastical constitutions . These provide in Diocesan Conventions , consisting oi the Bishop , the CJergv , and the delegates oi
Untitled Article
rV ^ £ >^ 545
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1826, page 545, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2552/page/37/
-