The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-20 00:00:00

TH.E COUNTRY.

Tl'vo powrarrs froin the. Rev. A‘ OTALLAGI-1t1N..5
ilioughts on the Tendency of BIBLE SOCIETIES; 410

affecting the- Established Church, and Christianity itsel

as Reasonable ServicZ.'"

(From ?lie J_ourtiz4)

PORTRAIT

• 7'he Disenting Party. and Caleknists. within .the
.7. pale of the Establishment.
" Every EStablished Church most, in the na-
, • titre of things, he an object of jealousy or dislike
to those who dissent front it. Alen hate to be
, periodioally called upon for a portion of 'their pro-
, pecy, for the support of a. system ot
.doctrine and
discipline of which they disapprove, and from
alr;clt are. tinconselotis of deriving, any be-
nefit.. From an establishment therefore, as from,
an incm»hrance, they wish to be relieved; and
would set up 'their own system in its place, or
have no. establishment at all. This is quite natu-
ral ; and to censure a dissenter for it, is just as
reasonable as to blame him for being a man. It
is, however, sufficient to justify some suspicion
and vigilance on the patt of the -Establislimt
When, therefore, we behold a great association
com-irehending not only members of the Church,
dissenters of every denomination, acting to-
gether, in closenuion, for years, in promoting a
certain specific object, and that of a religious na-
- tore, such an extraordinary moral phenomenon
trio only excites our but suggests the
policy of his e'tigating the.aohable eonsequenc,es,
to the Church Establishment, of sorb-an mlatto.
nsattend to the farts of the case.
The dissenters, if the British and Foreign Bible
' ‘f•J'ociety did not originate with them, were fore-
wost,'or among the foremost, to press forward
with their 'sehscriptions anti Contribotions. 'ln-
. chiding the Calvinists within the pale of 'the Es-.
trthli•hruent,. ho are, substantially, though not
nominally, dissenters ; they are the most active
members of the Institution, and forward its views
• with ao alacrity and zeal,: which ..cast into the
bade the more slow and measured proceedings of
their brethren. The Eoangelical Ministers,' par-
tienlarly, are. indefatigable. With an obliging
fraokness they tender their services as Secretaries
to the different Bible Societies; and ,never forget
to inform the public that these Services are gratui-
tous. With an ardour which neither sickness can
obstruct, or business -can damp, they make long
journies, they Organize affiliated branches, and
Bible AssoCiations ; before the fOrmer of which
they mate long speeches in scripture phrase, and:
before some of the latter, often consisting of fe-
males, they, read awful narratives of provideiftiA
interferences, of sudden conversions wrought on
low profligates by short passages of scriptures, to-
gether with well-4oritten letters of thanks, from
convicts, under sailing orders to Botany Bay, ac-
knowledging 'the receipts Of Bibles and Testa-
. mews, and imploring blessings .11'1) Bible Socie-,
tics. For the parent Society, and her notnerOus
progeny, they draw up edyfying Reports, in,
a piercing eye can occasionally discover the half-
obliterated attack of Caltinistn. In gaining.new
members for the parent Association, 'or its auxi-
liary branches, their efforts are unremitting.—
. Though repeatedly realised, they still return to
the enarge ; and it is scarcely safe fir any man in
the middle ran/c of life to refuse his ,name and sub;
striatum. He is plied with verbal and written
. applications, exhortations, invitations to attend
Bible Society Meetings; and, if these fail, with
,
, Bible Society Reports, ptilitely and gratuitously
sent for his perusal. If he still holds out, his cha-
racter is'gradually and delicately whispered away;
and be soon finds himself regarded, by Many of
, his neighbours, as one of your mere moral
men—an enemy to the Bible and vital
giou.' Indeed, 'it is not uncommon to hear
it asserted, from the pulpit, by a gospel
preacher,' that no' ft lend to Christianity would
withhold his mire from an institution, whose ob-
. jeet is the general diffOsion of the word of
God 1' and this unwarrantable and uogenerous
sonbiim is echoed in the reports of the Bible
Society —To -from the poor, part of their
. hard earned pittance, penny-a-week societies have
been instituted ; and so well has the project suc-
ceeded, that the parent association boasts, in its
reports, that these miserable' confederacies are
frequently more productive than the auxiliary
lir;eches in the same districts. These peney-a-
eek contributions are likely to be considered,
in a short time, as infallible passports to heaven,
among the lower class of Protestants, as indid-
geocles were,' formerly, among the Roman Ca-
tholics. Be this as it rnay, these numerous as-
sociations give the Calvinistic ministers oppor-•
tueities, eagerly seized, of 'mingling everywhere
IA it it the. mass of trite Pt °testa!) t population,,
which they impress Wth a conviction of their
Oet n 'extraordinary piety, by manifestations of
slrrior zeal in circulating the Scriptitres.—These
.intotines lead 'to closer intimacy in 'private;
and the influence.t bus acquired over men's minds,
is dlily'coufirmed and extended by the most dex-
terourmenagement.."

PORTIIAIT 2.
rim of the EstaLlisked Churrh.
" The church is already in a state of blockade:
the Arminian and- Calvinistic methodists have
rhypien their lines of circumvallation about her ;
numerous desertions are daily taking place, antl.
ti'eaclie,y is busy in the • heart of the garrison.
There the intern Calvinists, witlr. the ,c gospel
roioisterk• at their lived, have taken their station.
It is;againSt these men, theieleiinning, their
terity, their, profeisigns ti^ attachment, their
extiljor; tnieeadrig activity. and
ru4te+fi mgcntization, that the vigilance of the
Estirbirshed Chinch i•hould- be principally direct-
; ett;/--lbey have already gut posseit§ion of Many_
~hof our, Pulpits; and wherever they Obtain a foot-
jog, teach the profile to despise the received ex-
jrlanatitrtis of the Church Catechism,.. the hest
commentators-, on scripture, the setmons.of our,
ableSt divines; and exhort them to read Ti(.,
bOok•whatever;except their own religious tracts,
• aitif:f4 the Bible without note or coati-twit:—
Against puma:) learning they are perpetually ex.
thimiog, as the worth species of ignorance, and
the greatest obstacle to religious knowledge. Re-