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Untitled Article
higher classes are reformed , the lower will be edified by their example ; and " when the sky falls , we shall catch larks . " The Bishop ' s * ' voice of authority" may sound very thunderingly in tbe ears of such of the inferior clergy as are dependent upon him ; those whom his controul may subject to venations , or to whom his favour may afford the prospect of promotion . Beyond this circle its potency will
scarcely extend . The wealthy and fashionable will not be pamphletized into church-going ; the demon of gaming will not be exorcised by the brandishing of a crozier ; and in the purlieus of St . Giles ' s white lawn will be no match for blue ruin . A bishop ' s voice will not shake the earth . Let him raise it , by all means ; but it is as well to " aggravate it gently ; " and if the vox and the preterea nihil must go together , there is no occasion for a very loud blast of a trumpet to herald their companionship and fix upon it
the world ' s attention . The fact is , that Dr . Blomfield has very inflated notions of episcopal importance , dignity , and authority . He has a propensity to make himself offensive and ridiculous . Apropos ^ the newspaper is just come in , full of his very edifying and gentlemanly correspondence with Mr . Williams . Even the production of the pamphlet before us appears to be considered by him as an act of condescension , and a work of supererogation . It opens with the following pompous announcement :
" Although the relation in which I stand to you , as Bishop of this diocese , does not lay on me any positive obligation to address you upon subjects of religious interest , otherwise than through the medium of the parochial clergy , yet occasions may present themselves , " &c . —P . 3 . Now , however exempt an Episcopalian Bishop may be from the most bounden duties of a Christian Bishop , we would not have his Lordship imagine that his doing the dignified in this way can be of any great service to " the cause of God and his gospel . "
Nor do we expect much , save mischief , from the activity of parish officers , urged on by the clergy , and by the meddling , fanatical people whom his Lordship would encourage to " confederate" for putting down Sunday abuses . The Society for the Suppression of Vice hath left no pleasant odour in the nostrils of the public . Such societies never fly at high game ; they are mere sparrow-hawks ; and the invidiousness of the distinction soon destroys all respect for the purity of their purpose , and leaves little regard
for the rectitude of their intentions . What would it be worth even if they could wage a successful war of extermination against apple-stalls ? Or if they could achieve the more wonderful triumph of blowing up the Richmond steam-boat ? Or even if a renewed application ( one has been made already ) should induce the Home Secretary of State to close the parks against the promenading citizens ? We cannot trust to the prudence of people who trace all the distresses and perils of the nation to our not being sufficiently sabbatical . We cannot confide in their clear-headedness or their
coolheaded ness . Let not the Bishop tempt them to be too meddlesoriie . Let them be warned by his example rather than warmed by his encouragement . Is nothing to be done then ? Yes ; much might be done , if those who can aid in the accomplishment would but set about it properly and heartily . We will venture to throw out a few suggestions , although we cannot speak very hopefully of their prompt adoption . The first preliminary is , that religious people should take the trouble to make themselves acquainted with the subject before they indulge in dccla-
Untitled Article
392 Sunday in London .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1830, page 392, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2585/page/32/
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