The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-28 00:00:00

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COL ON-tt KEL IT'S SERMON.

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Berkeley attended
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The Stewards' Ordinaries ,were very
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Tuesday, he atknowledged the honour with
much eloquence and animation, in a sermon of
considerable length ; from which we extract tl e
following observations
" Gentlemen—Having had the honour of
acting as one of the Stewards at the establish-
ment of racing in this city, I cannot feel indif-
ferent to its success, and to the results arising
from it ; and, consequently, it was with some
astonishment, not unmingled with alarm, that I
heard that a Clergyman of the Church of Eng-
land, within ten miles of this spot, had denounced
the most terrible anathemas against all who pro-
moted, or participated in races ; and, not con-
tent with the effect vihich this awful sermon

might produce on those who had the good for-
thuardi e
publishedto liea r i it, litsh afito heck
-as "to their temporal interests, in the preface), that
(with was
likewise
a gentle iuforried,
hintt o b
all orthodox Protestants might be benefitted by
' this valuable theological composition. Now, iw
I fairly avow the ignorance under which I labour- •
ed, and still do labour under, of the sin, either
of supporting, or looking at a race, I purchased
this sermon, and there found, that the Incum-
bent of Cheltenham had roundly sent to the
devil all those who frequented either race-courses
or. play-houses. Gentlemen; I cannot believe
this to be the true doctrine of the Church of
England ; and without taking upon myself to -
prove that it is not, I will affirm, that if it is,
the Kings, Lords, (spiritual as well as tempo-
ral) and Commons, of this realm, have more to
answer for than they probably are aware of; 'for,
not only have they been guilty of conniving. at,
and tolerating these strong-holds of Satan, but,
deliberately, and in the plenitude of their legis-
lative wisdom, have they passed Acts of Parlia-
ment for the special encouragement and protection
both of races and play-houses ; and yet no one
Bishop has been found who has even remonstrated
or protested, in the House of Lords, against the
passing of Acts which, according to this
doctrine, can accomplish no other object than the
of consigning thousands of souls to eternal perdi-
tion. If this be true, and that the " Ministers
of God are set as the watchmen of the Church,"
I cannot, will not believe, that, out of twenty-
four Bishops and two Archbishops—among
whom names are to be found as illustrious for

their learning, zeal, and true piety, as for their
detestation of cant and hypocrisy—not one would
come forward, nay, that in a body they would
' not have risen to endeavour, at least, to put down
that which it was their bounden and solemn duty
to crush, by every means in their power. And
this neglect on their part is the more unpardon-
able, as the seats of their Bishoprics are, with
very few exceptions, the scenes of these Races,
and consequently the evils arising from them must
be periodically placed before their eyes. Notwith-
standing which, they have been wholly passive,
arid have taken no steps to save the souls of those
entrusted to their care, from this pernicious in-
fluence. As for his Grace the Archbishop of
York, poor gentleman he ought to look upon
himself as a kind of joint tenant of the See
with Beelzebub ; for, in that city, they have their
Spring Meetings, their August Meetings, &c.
with all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of
Newmarket itself; and yet I have not heard, that
any of the Dignitaries of the Church objected to
a translation to the Archbishopric on account of
the Races, or that, when there, they pointed out
to the venerable, (and, I may truly add, vene-
rated,) Earl Fitzwilliam, the wickedness he was

- guilty of, in running for a King's Plate, or the
still greater enormity that lay at his Majesty,s
door, in giving such plate to be run for. Nay,
if the doctrines of this Clergyman are correct,
there must be a most lamentable laxity of dis-
cipline in the spiritual corps, if the Archbishop
of Canterbury has failed in convincing the King,
.that every time his Majesty commands a play at
Drury-lane or Covent-Garden, (by the bye, the
Proprietors of these two places have letters patent
l g Butte n e
d the
Divines
for the corruption of souls !) or goes to Ascot
Races, to say nothing ofthe danger he incurs him-
self, he is actually giving incitement to the fiend to
teriessnearterulliyispliioegues saiiilbdjecenht aknowthat
well the value ofa race : they know that there is no
animal in the world like the English race-horse :
they know that, without races, there would be no
race-horse ; that without the race-horse, we should
lose that superiority in our breed of hothes, which
distinguishes us from the rest of Europe ; that,
to this superiority, we were mainly indebted for
our successes in the Peninsular-war ; and, finally,
when they returned thanks to Providence for the
glories of the field of Waterloo, they did not for-
get the share the British cavalry had in the events
of that day. For myself, gentlemen, I do not
mean to claim any weight for my own private
opinions. They are, however, totally unswayed
by personal feeling : I support Races solely be-
cause I believe them to be a national good, never
having been master of a race-horse in my life,
nor ever having won or lost 501. on a racing bet.
On the subj.:et of Theatricals, I admit I cannot
plead the same personal indifference : but I am
inclined to think that the great body of the or-
thodox Church of England tlo not apprehend
the same baleful effects from them as de-
nounced in the publication I have men-
tioned. If they do, the Dean and Chapter
of 'Westminster, at least, must live in a con-
tinual state of holy horror, and the former
guardians of the Abbey must have slept on their
posts : for there,
numbered among the illustrious
dead, we find the
names of Ben Jonson, Beau-
mont, Fletcher, Cumberland,
Davenant, Dryden,
and Conreve, recorded all, with one exception,
for having written nothing else but plays ; and,
sleeping in the same solemn sanctuary, are the
mortal remains of Booth, Garrick, and Hender-
son, placed there for no other reason but that
they had distinguished themselves by acting
plays ! I trust, Gentlemen, that you will not
think I have taken up your time with too long
sermon ; but I hope, from the bottom of my
heart, that I shall never see the time when an
Englishman shall be reduced to such a state of
mental degradation, as to believe that he cannot
see a race run, nor a play of Shakespeare acted,
without having reason to dread the vengeance of
offended Heaven.
William Goodrich and W. H
• Hyett,
—sqrs.
arc appointed Stewards for the year ens * uing.---
Cheltenham Chronicle.