The Sun.
London, England, 1834-01-22 00:00:00

ON CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—The important reforms recently effected in the
civil and political institutions of the country, have awa-
kened deep and anxious inquiry into its politico-ecclesias-
tical establishment. Resistance to the payment of tithes
and Church rates, has increased. Memorials have been
addressed to his Majesty's Government, urging an entire
separation of Church and State. In Scotland, meetings,
numerously and respectably attended, have been held, at
Which resolutions, strongly condemnatory of the unholy
alliance, have been passed, while a Magazine, expressly
devoted to this subject, circulates 3,000 copies monthly.
All these are signs of the spirit of the times—Toryism
professes to despise them—but, if they are despicable, why
are the clerical meetings avowing attachment to the
Church? Or why the petitions for Chureh Reform, ema-
nating from them from whose lips the word Reform never
came before, but with the smile of contempt ? Why the
pamphlets daily issuing from the press, in defence, not of
the articles, but of the endowments of the Church ? And
are not all these things symptomatic of churchmen's con-
viction, that their craft is in danger, that " the temple
may be despised, and her magnificence destroyed ?" Under
these circumstances, on the one hand impressed with
the feeling that this excitement originates with many
in partial views of the subject, and, unsustained by the
knowledge of principles, cannot effect its object; and
fearing, on the other, that the bold assertions of pamphlet-
eering Bishops and bullying Editors, may impose o❑ the
credulity of the uninformed, I bur..bly solicit a portion
of your valuable columns for a few letters on this topic,
Which, daily growing in interest, will sink all minor dif-
ferences and complaints, and become the great matter of
controversy between the friends and the foes of liberal
Opinions and institutions.
The question at issue is a tremendously-important one
....whether religion is to depend for its existence and ex-
tension in our country on the native purity and strength
of its doctrines—the convictions and efforts of its adhe-
rents. It is not shall the State Church undergo
some modifications in its doctrines—shall the number of

its Bishops be diminished, and their revenues equalized—

shall pluralities be prohibited, and the residence of the
clergy be enforced—shall a general registration be enacted,
and Dissenters he allowed to be married by their own
ministers; reforms such as these might once have satis-
fied Dissenters—they now come too late. Demands
increase with the denial of conceived rights, and con-
cessions made to the force of public opinion, possess not
the value nor yield the satisfaction of concessions made to
the justice of public feeling. The demand accordingly is
cot for bit-by-bit reforms. These will be received with
the gratitude they deserve; hut it is not to be disguised
that they will not meet fully the desire that the clergyman
should live by them for whom he professes to live.
Nor let it be thought that we wish to destroy the church

properly so called. VWe are indeed so represented as
engaging in an unholy crusade. We protest against the
calumny—a calumny which is often reiterated as a spell to
excite pious passion and prejudice againstn iquiry, and yet
a calumny which is totally unfounded. It would be true if
the Chartered church and the Christian church were iden.
tical. But it is not so—the Church of England possesses
no monopoly of religious character ; and if to-morrow
stripped of her temporalities, would not in such a fall
involve the destruction of the true church. That rests
on higher authority, and is shielded by a greater power
than can be influenced by human arrangements ; and
therefore would the Church of England, as a part of the
true church—as a community of the faithful as a means
of imparting religions instruction--be firm as ever. For
the good she has done in this light we venerate her, and
wish to see her usefulness increased, but not at the ex-
pense of others. Let her priesthood live in the sympathies
and be dependant on the generosity of their disciples alone,
and their instructions will be more efficient and their
success more marked. Let us hear, then, no more of the
cry—" Save the church—the church is in danger." The
Church of England, considered as a section of the church
universal, is no more in danger now than when her faint-
hearted friends, or hypocritical supporters, raised the
signals of distress at the granting of Catholic emancipation,
or on the repeal of the Test Acts: and though the last
relic of her invidious superiority were now cast off, if
strong in principle before, she would be as vigorous still.
But then our sensibilities are appealed to, and we are
called to think of the misery produced by the overthrow
of the establishment among its pious and diligent ministers.
And has it come to this, that that Church which, ac-
cording to its supporters, comprehends the great mass of
the wealth, and learning, and respectability of England,
could not, or would not, support those who officiate at
her altar? What withering blight has passed over gene-
rous Old England, that her wealthy intelligent sons would
not maintain in decent circumstances the guides of reli-
gious opinion, while the Dissenters, poor and insigni-
ficant as they are represented to be, contrive to give
a comfortable subsistence to their Ministers? Or what
influence has been at work in the ministrations of the
priests, that they have not inspired a more generous
spirit into the minds of their hearers, but that, as soon as
deprived of their chartered incomes, they would be thrown
destitute on Society? It is vain to deny it, that the ap-
peal, however strong, when made to tender-hearted people,
is unfounded ; and sure we are, from what we know of
England's generosity, that while the members of its
Church, reduced to a VOLUNTARY CHURCH, would place
none of their Bishops amid the splendour and pageantry of
Lambeth, or continue to the mitred Head of Durham
his princely fortune, they would not permit the humblest
of their Curates w starve, or to eke out a miserable sub-
sistence by the service of three or four congregations, if
be but faithfully and affectionately performed his duty to
them. Englishmen can appreciate labour, and feel kind.
ness, and reward them too.
But it seems that we wish to rob these individuals of
their possessions to enrich ourselves; that the great object
of all the present agitation is to obtain a share of the
" loaves and fishes ;" and that if Government threw a sop
to Cerberus, his barking and snarling would cease. Sir,
are we to judge of the character of those who make such
representations by their judgment of others; and to be-
lieve an account of the prominence which they say the
temporalities have in Dissenters' minds, that the " loaves
and fishes" are ever present in their visions by night, and
their dreamy reasonings by day? They who seek to main-
tain undivided possession of the wealth and endowments
of the Church, should hardly accuse those who are anxious
to be free from its burdens, and least of all should they
accuse them of selfishness, if even they sought a share of
the secular blessings, in case some one more honest than
polite, should whisper—" Physician, heal thyself." We
have formed, however, a higher estimate of both parties,
than to entertain such an opinion of either. Many
churchmen are conscientiously contending, not from self-
interest, but the conviction that with the preservation of
the Church of England are bound up the morality and the
edrution of the people; and among Dissenters is there a
decided hostility to all pecuniary grants hereafter, and a
growing desire that even the little which is allowed as a
regium donunt to some of their brethren should be with-
drawn, as a slur on their independence, and drawback
on their influence. And we doubt not that if Govern.
moot proffered its pecuniarysupport, it would be almost
unanimously rejected by Dissenting
that by its acceptance they Ministers, convinced
would be shorn of their
strength—the veneration and the confidence of their people.
In fine, look, say the advocateswh or)
religion,
leagued for their
reChurchEstabl sir-
ments, to the character of those
all and men of
destruction,—infidels who deny
every shade of religious opinion. ki anted that infidels,
feeling r.ggrieved by the exactions of an endowed system,
are auxiliaries in its overthrow,--but should such a
fact militate against the principle itself? Truth is inde
pendent of the character of those by whom it is defended
or assailed; and though the moral conduct of men may
be adduced as a collateral argument for the moral ten-
dencies of their opinions, yet are these opinions to be
judged of by other tests; and, therefore, though infidels
were found in the ranks of the foes of endowments only,
it could not disprove the justice of their cause, more
than the fact tbat bad men have fought, for freedom
sullies its lustre, or weakens its foundations. Of course
such men are only united with Dissenters, and nothing
but pure and undefiled religion" impelled the Cavaliers
in their struggle for the altar and the throne ; and
among those who in our Representative House stickle for
Church and State, there are none of infidel principles or
practice, but all are honourable Christian men. But
Without retaliating, although the field is open and tempt-
ing enough, is the fact so? In Scotland, the societies
Which have been organized on this matter, exclude all
but evangelical men ; and we doubt not that when a great
movement takes place in England, similar terms of mem-
bership will be adopted.
Having thus referred to some of the objections which
are pretty current, and which have no bearing on the
merits of the question, but on its entertainment, we
conclude the present letter with the hope that it may he
the means of drawing the attention of your readers to a
Subject so big with importance, and in which, as the
subject of an impending struggle, every Englishman—
Churchman or not—should be well informed, and well
convinced._l am, Sir, yours, &c.