The National Register. — London, England, 1811-01-13 00:00:00

,~.,~ .., - . 2g ebe Pulpit. No. XXXI. " At our several ordinations of a Deacon and a Priest, the candidate sub mits himself to the examination of the Bishop, as to his proficiency in Martine; he gives the proper security of his soundness in the Faith, by the subset iptions a hich are made previously necessary; he is required to bring Testimonials of his virtuous Conversation daring the three preceding yeare; and, that no mode of inquiry may be omitted, pub!ic notice is given is the pat ish-ehureh where he resides, and the people are solemnly galled upon to declare if they know any impediment for which he ought not to he admitted. At the time of Ordination, too, the same solemn call is made on the coogregation then present."--Correspondence of the Arch bi►hops and Bishops of England, with the Committee of the General Con vention at Philadelphia, 1256. RE V. •••••••1111.1••••••• RICHARD POVAH, L.L.D. 01r St. JAMES'S CDURCII, IN DURE's PLACE. Consh'erable attention has recently been excited towards the clergyman whose pulpit talents it will be the object of this pa per to investigate. He is of the number of those who, borrow ing the language of one correspondent, belong to that system, cvinsgelically denominated, which, it should seem, " is so shamefully persecuted in this day If so, he may safely glory in this just cause. He is not alone as to this. Let him make up his mind to stand, and boldly stand, the toil and heat of the day. He who hopes to wear the crown, must take up, and bear, the cross. The author of ' Hints for the Security of the Established Church,' addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, proposes such measures as he thinks " might check that spirit of indis criminate schism which nuw threatens, not merely the estab lishment, but even religion itself;" " thereby not only securing to the people vigilant pastors of their own communion,but pro bably excluding also intruders on their ducks." Full of these projects and prospects, concerted with the " amiable, conscien tious, and vigilant predecessor" of our existing Primate, " we must," affirms this author," secure an efficient priesthood, and a vigilant epi=copacy : the former, seriously impressed with the importance of their obligations, competent to defend their as sailed faith, and reco:nmending it to their flocks by their earn est, moral, and pious demeanour ;—the latter, watchful in their superior and most important calling, as lights, not only to their own particular church, but to the world." Experience must atlow,that the ends here proposed are excellent; but what will be thought of the means, by which it appears these results are to be obtained ? Who would readily have supposed that " certain re gulations (i. e. restrictions) of the Toleration Act" were the means to be employed in order to check " the growing evil," since it is one, " of indisCriminate schism," by thus " securing to the people vigilant pastors of their own communion ," and that these means, followed up by persecuting the most ortho dox and efficacious of her ministers, were to " secure an effi cient 'priesthood" to the establishment ? Respecting any re striction on the " regulations of the Toleration Act," whatever conclusions may be indulged, upon this point, by the author of the Writs for the Security of the Established Church, " regula tions" of th t description are not likely soon to obtain the concurrence of the most respectable of the Dissenters." No such thing. Let this sanguine churchman only turn to the Protestant Dissenters' Almanack for the current year, 1811, conducted. by those whom be world reckon amongst " the most respectable of tht'stisienters," and he will be convinced, netwitbstancling his ;anticipations, .that " the most respectable of th - tblssenters" are not in the leasnlikely to give their " con currolnes-.'eto any measures, however - deired, which may tend to inlenge . tlQ Privities enjdyed by them under the - Toleration Act. What would our ecclesiastical establisilmcnt , THE NATIONAL REGISTER. • gain by this ?—Adverting to measures of the kind now under review, " the Gallican church, no doubt, looked upon it as a signal triumph," remarks another writer, " when she pre vailed on Louis the Fourteenth to repeal the Edict of Nantes, and to suppress the Protestant Religion. But what was the consequence ? Where shall we look," continues this writer, " after the period, for her Fenelons and her Pascals? where, for the distinguished monuments of piety ary.'; !earning which were the glory of her better days! As for piety, .s'ae perceived she had no occasion for it, when there was no lustre of christiap holiness surrounding her; nor for learning, when she had no longer any opponents to confute, or any controversies to mail!. taro. She felt herself at liberty to become as ignorant as seem. lar, as irreligious as she pleased; and, amidst the silence and darkness she had created around her, she drew the curtains-se and retired to rest! The accession of numbers she gained, by suppressing her opponents, was like the small extension of length that the body acquires by death : the feeble remains of life were extinguished ; and she lays as a putrid corpse, a pub. lic nuisance, filling the air with pestilential exhalations." When will establishments derive information from tune? Can any religious churchman hope the " excluding of intruders • on their flocks," not, as we see, or soon may find it, by "Secur ing," but by exclud i ng the most " 4 vigilant pastors" of hii church ? Now, the truly " vigilant pastors" of the Church ot: England, pastors dear to the hearts of the people, who instruct and who reform them, and whom therefore " a vigilant episce. pacy," zealous for piety, must be intent on 0 securing" to them, these are the pastors which now seem, unhappily for our rens • gion, to be peculiarly obnoxious to those who could best advance and rotect them. Here will be found the beam which is new in the eye of the Church! Surely vigilant pastors, pastors who do credit to their church and are loved by the people, demand adequate reward. Reject such pastors, and you reject the peo ple ; reject the people, and your churches are empty. What means all this contest between " high and low Church ?" Is it a contention for' the faith once delivered to the saints 'Tis the reverse of this. Perchance that faith is less strong, and its zeal less warm, and hence springs all the contest. •" The time shall never be," declared the late Bishop Horsley, although no lover of the religionists, " when a true Church of Godshall not be somewhere subsisting on the earth; but any individawl Church, if she All from her firsl love, may sink into ruins. Of this, history furnishes but too abundant proof, in the examples of churches, once illustrious, planted by the Apostles, and wa tered with the blood of the first saints and martyrs, which are now no more. Where arc now the Seven churches of Asia, whose praise is in the Apocalypse? Where shall we now find the successors of those earliest archbishops, once Stars in the Son of Man's right Hand ? Where are those boasted seals of Paul's apostleship, the Churches of Corinth and Philippi? Where are the churches of Jerusalem and Alexandria ? But ie there need that we resort," demands the Bishop, " for salutary warning, to the examples of remote antiquity? Alas! where, at this moment, is the Church of France ?—her altars demo lished—her treasures spoiled—her holy things profaned ;—her persecuted clergy, and plundered prelates, wanderers on the earth ! Let us take warning by a visitation that Is come so near , our doors. Let us not defraud must Ives of the benefit of the dreadful example, by the miserable subterfuge of a rash judfl ment upon our neighbours ; and an invidious comparison of their deservings, with our own. Let us not place a vain confl• deuce in the purerworship, the better discipline, and the sounder ,faitft, which, for two centuries and an half, we have en- ' joyed. These things are not our merits; they are . corkgifti;. • and the security we may derive from them, will deisirid upon the use we make of them, Let us (Ministers of theEstahlisheA mtelt.) not abate—let us, rather, add to -Our 'fed; for the props.f: gation of the Gospel in distant pdrts 3 tut let us'not forget 7 tbit we have (Laic nearer homc. Let *s, of the ntinistry, give heed . • 1