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

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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

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THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

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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 excluding 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 7tbit
we have (Laic nearer homc. Let *s, of the ntinistry, give heed

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