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32

ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS STATISTICS.

I am convinced tlie cliurclies of Scotland are capable of dealing successfully with these great and growing evils. I will not attempt to point out the way. It is enough if I arrest and fix attention on them, they are these: Irreligion, drunkenness, commercial dishonesty, pauperism, crime, ignorance, and the disordered relations between employers and employed, or labour and capital — I would only add, ecclesiastical divisions and disputes, mean defeat and ruin to our best schemes. Dogmatic discussion of the minor points of difference will deaden our spiritual life, and neglect of the perishing around us will not only be destruction to them, but to the church and the nation disaster and decay.

On the other hand, let those whom we have showm to be respon- sible, combine, or in a Christian spirit, co-operate

1st. To discover by careful statistics the parts of the country in which there is a real want of the ordinances of religion; and

2d. Combine or co-operate to supply that want by a living localized ministry, and by the blessing of God on such wise and Avell-directed efforts, originated and sustained by the spirit of love to God and man, we might hope to see another Reformation in Scotland — the parochial system of Knox adapted to the altered condition of our population — the pious aspirations of Chalmers for "territorial charges in our large towns" realized, and the prophetic anticipation fulfilled, " Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for evei", the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified."

GLASGOW: \V. G. BI.ACKIE AND CO., rKINTEKS, VILLAFIELD.

THE UNION

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CHURCH AND STATE

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THE UNION

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CHURCH AND STATE.

BY THE LATE

REV. J. J. BLUNT, B.D.

MARGARET PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, CAMBRIDGE.

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THE

UNION OF CHUECH AND STATE.

1 Thess. v. 21. ^' Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good."

A FEW YEAKS AGO it would have been deemed superfluous to have offered a word of apology for the union of Church and State, as it is called, and to have pointed out some of the many obvious advantages which were believed to accrue from that relation.

It was taken for granted that it was a triumph of Christianity when kings became its nursing-fathers, and queens its nursing- mothers ; that it was still improving its posi- tion as it advanced through poverty, through neglect, through persecution, up to the seat of power ; that it was a step in the right direc- tion when it passed on from the centurion to those of Caesar's household ; that its functions became more effective, as its functionaries be- came more and more men under authority.

6 THE UNION OF

Certain it is that St. Paul, in his instructions to Timothy for the guidance of the Church, and probably (from the wording of the passage) for the guidance of the public service of the Church, expressly exhorts that " first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; ... for kings . . . that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty ; " * and no less certain that traces of such a clause as is here suggested, present themselves amongst the very earliest we have of a Li- turgy ; as though it was a leading object with the apostles, and with the first followers of the apostles, to establish a friendly feeling, so to speak, between the Church and State. In- somuch that an objection which has been sometimes alleged against our Prayer-Book, that its character is too courtly, is in fact derived from its still retaining this feature amongst so many others, of its primitive origin — a desire to bring the secular powers into cordial alliance vdth the ecclesiastical.

But another spirit seems now to be coming over us; once disposed, as we were, to rest content, perhaps even passive under certain defects of our Church system, defects arising

* 1 Tim. ii. 2.

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CHURCH AND STATE.

out of this alliance, for it is not to be denied that such there are, and to represent it as more perfect than it is ; we are now in danger of rushing to the other extreme, of settling our thoughts upon those defects alone, and having hit the blot, seeing nothing besides.

Accordingly, Separate Church and State is now the cry, started certainly in most instances by those who wish well to neither, but not altogether disapproved, it should seem, by others who are amongst the Church's most earnest friends ; who would make any personal sacrifice to strengthen it; but who regard it as in the condition of Israel amongst the task- masters, and think that they are in fact serving it best by endeavouring to get the people thence.

I shall not dwell at any length on the ne- cessity there is for mutual forbearance in the carriage of the secular and ecclesiastical powers each towards the other, if their union is to be of advantage to either. It is like that mys- tical one of marriage, which sheds blessings unnumbered upon both parties where they are satisfied to be somewhat blind to each other's faults ; but which turns to a bitter curse for either when self-restraint is forgotten.

Without meaning to vindicate any stretch of its authority, supposed to have been as-

8 THE UNIOX OP

Slimed of late years by the State in its deal- ings with the Church ; and which, by touching the consciences of some, has created heart- burnings which seek relief in the rejection of a yoke esteemed by them intolerable, at all hazards ; I would nevertheless, on the other hand, suggest that it is not a matter for wonder if the State watches with solicitude the work- ing of a principle of such prodigious force as the religious ; so irresistible, so uncontrollable, when once effectually roused to action ; and yet, sacred as it is, not incapable, it must be confessed, of misapplication and abuse ; more especially when that principle has at its com- mand considerable endowments ; an organised constitution ; and the advantage of close con- tact with every spot however conspicuous and however obscure, through the length and breadth of the land : that though such jealousy may spring out of the mere vulgar ambition of a worldly spirit, which cannot bear to see power deposited in any hands but its own, yet that it may also arise out of a dread of ecclesi- astical encroachment honestly entertained, and which has been entertained, as we know, by- statesmen zealous for the true interests of the Church beyond all suspicion : that whilst men and not angels have to wield the influ-

CHUECH AND STATE. 9

ences of the Church, other motives for the direction of them may enter in, besides such as are purely spiritual ; and whilst men and not devils have to wield the influences of the State, other motives for the direction of them again, may have a place, besides such as are purely sublunary.

In the dispassionate temper, then, prompted by these reflections, let us turn to some of the practical advantages which the Church derives from its present connexion with the State, and consider whether we should risk them in heat and in haste, and before the very last eflbrt has been made to redress by less violent means such inconveniences, as may, no doubt, accom- pany it too. It is idle to expect any estate in this world to be without alloy ; the matter is, so to frame and dispense it as to exclude from it the utmost possible.

I will put, then, the extreme case, as being the ultimate issue to which an agitation of this kind tends however it may be modified ; as serving best to expose the inconveniences which attach to it, however short it may in fact stop of realising them all ; and as accordingly cal- culated to forewarn us effectually of the nature of the experiment on which some are disposed to venture, and so to forearm us whilst the

10 THE UNION OP

crisis is distant. I will understand by the separation of Churcli and State the abdication of its present social position by the Church : I will understand that the Bishops shall be se- lected by the Church, and appointed to their dioceses without any interference of the State : that the Clergy shall labour in the districts assigned to them by these Bishops, no longer as the sole rightful occupants of our parish- churches, but as missionaries within the limits prescribed to them : and that all, both Bishops and Clergy, shall be supported, as in primitive times, when necessity dictated this mode of maintenance, and the impression produced by the miraculous gifts of the Church as well as other causes promoted its efficacy, by the volun- tary contributions of a Christian people.

It is not to be denied that under such circum- stances the Church would have it in its power to select for her rulers those in whom she had the most confidence ; that she would be able to call synods for the adjusting of her Articles of faith and practice at her pleasure ; and that she would be in a condition to enforce discipline both on her ministers and congregation, so far as discipline can be enforced by the influence of opinion independently of law ; great benefits, no doubt, all of them ; and however imperfectly

CHURCH AND STATE. 11

secured, it may be suspected, under such provi- sions, still taking effect, we will suppose, in some degree. But, on the other hand, let us consider what we may have to relinquish in this Refor- mation, before we strike the balance. I cannot but believe that one fallacy pervades the whole of such a scheme — the fallacy of supposing that under this or any such new arrangement the Clergy and the Congregation will remain substantially in the same position and relations as at present ; that things in other respects will go on much as they do now, and yet the Church be relieved of various weights which now de- press her ; that the Ark, in the main what it is, but lightened of its load, will float higher upon the waters, and thus ride more safely on the troubled seas which now beat around her ; in short, that the Church will lose nothing, and gain much.

But will the Clergy be the same after this or any such revolution ? Will they be the learned body they now are when the temporal incentives to learning are withdrawn ? I say withdrawn, for who can believe that spontaneous ofierings will long fill the place of fixed and substantial endowments such as ours ; especially with the fact before us, that such offerings have not nearly sufficed to supply even the shortcomings

12 THE UNION OP

of those endowments ; and that with far from a grudging and niggardly spirit abroad, it has been hitherto found impossible to overtake the spiritual destitution of the country, and furnish adequate religious instruction to districts the most desolate ? not to speak of the case of col- leges and schools, those most necessary foun- dations for a Church that is to flourish, but requiring a strength for their achievement which even as things now are we cannot at all command — numbers of such institutions unex- ceptionable in themselves, and having for their object undeniable benefits to the Church, lan- guishing for want of means at this moment ? A burst of enthusiasm might effect wonders for a while, but enthusiasm is an unsafe basis on which to rear a structure that is to be lasting. Do I need excuse for drawing attention to the fiscal view of a subject so exalted? Alas ! how soon does the fiscal question of necessity combine itself with the progress of the Gospel ! It is true, in the very first in- stance, the Apostles are enjoined to go forth *^ without a purse," lest, perhaps, they should invite aggression whilst the cause was yet ten- der ; " but now," says our Lord again, when the time came to organise the Church, and bring the world into subjection, " let him that

CHURCH AND STATE. 13

hath a purse take it." I only reach the fourth chapter of the Acts, and am still within a few months of the day of Pentecost, when I read of the possessors of lands and houses selling them, and bringing the price, and laying it at the Apostle^s feet, and of " distribution being made to every man according as he had need." And from that time forward the Gospel History never allows me to lose sight of the question. It enters almost immediately afterwards into the sternest exercise of St. Peter's miraculous powers. It is at the bottom of the murmuring of the two sections of the infant Church, and the institution of a permanent order in the Church to silence it. It is the subject of much solicitude and many regulations both with respect to collection, distribution, and ob- ject, with the Apostle Paul. We need not be more transcendental than that Apostle ; who, if he tells of his translation into the third hea- ven, and his admission to hear unspeakable words, tells also of the manner in which " the gatherings " were to be made ; the elders and widows to be supplied out of them ; the Fund, in short, to be raised, dispensed, and protected from misappropriation. And if there be one thing more than another which seems to have been felt to be an active engine for good in the

14 THE UNION OF

working of the sub-apostolical Church, it is this same Fund or Offertory ; and if there was one duty thought to be more imperative than another upon its officers, it was the creation, continuance, and management of it.

To proceed, then, with my argument. Will parents be prepared to consecrate the talents of a hopeful boy to a life of virtuous poverty, and humble station, when other callings, they, too, honest and honourable and gainful withal, are soliciting them on all sides? In a Church where there is no settled provision, and even liberal provision, will there be leisure? and where there is no leisure, will there be scholar- ship ? The very term " School," significant of leisure ? Are we prepared to give up the field of our National Theology, the glory of our literature, and instead of emulating the labours of a Jewel, a Hooker, a Pearson, a Sanderson, a Bull, reduce ourselves to a condition which shall be incapable of even appreciating them ? Are the controversies in which our Church is likely to be engaged such as can be conducted with success by raw and unlettered disputants ? Have we not of late had samples of religious argument maintained by volunteer polemics, laymen many of them, enough to satisfy us that no Church in the world could long survive

CHUECH AND STATE. 15

the aid of such champions ? and would we wil- fully commit our own to none other ?

It will not be contended, I am sure, by any enlightened friend of the Church, whilst musing on its separation from the State, and the consequences, that this sound scholarship, this large knowledge of the Scriptures, and of Primitive Tradition as illustrative of the Scrip- tures, bring no particular advantage to the population at large ; bear no extraordinary part in securing the greatest benefit to the greatest number, the motto of the times ; when the learning of higli places is now taught to find its way through a thousand channels to lower levels, and to trickle, if I may so speak, through all the gradations of our system : and yet, as seems to me, by en- couraging such a crisis, he would be helping to stop the wells which send forth such whole- some waters so freely and so far ; and in effect make common cause with those who care little about ecclesiastical lore ; and think that the lack of it in our divines will not be felt by the class for whom, and for whom only, they are concerned to make provision ; a class who will be content, and more than content, they say (which I do not dispute), to slake their thirst at less pure and more vapid waters, and go

16 THE UNION OF

to the broken cistern as readily as to the whole.

Nor is this all. With the declension of learn- ing amonorst our Clergy, will the Church long retain the hold which it now has, almost exclu- sively, on the education of the people, parti- cularly those classes amongst them who by their station, wealth, intelligence, constitute in a great degree the leaven of the country, and breathe its spirit into the age ? And if the Clergy have not turned this enormous privilege to the account they might, and which if they had done, we should possibly have now been spared the necessity of discussing such a subject as that we are upon; — if, I say, the Clergy in times past have not made the most of this golden opportunity for spreading sound opinions, theological and ecclesiastical, in high and in all quarters, it is not yet too late, whilst our Church-system remains in force, to correct the mistake and do better. Have not almost all the statesmen who have Avielded the des- tinies of England for generations, and often, it must be confessed, vexed the Church by their unfriendly measures, passed through the hands of the Clergy, simply because the Clergy were a learned body; the body in the nation best qualified for imparting to them intelligence

CHURCH AXD STATE. V?

and letters ? and have not even they, after all, been probably withheld from acts more adverse to it, and to which the times perhaps urged them, by early associations connected with the Church, and early impressions received from it ? But let our Clergy be once deposed from the office of communicating liberal education on the scale they now do, and wdll not public opinion soon bear witness to the effect ? Shall we not soon find ourselves livino; in a land which we should scarcely recognise as the land of our fathers ; new codes of thought and action introduced and acknowledged; national cha- racter changed: and sentiments and institu- tions which we should not as yet even dream to be perishable, passing away, to the con- sternation of those who had contributed to the movement in the honesty of their hearts, and now rue their success ?

But if the character and influence of the Clergy would sustain a vast shock by such a disruption of relationship with the State, would not the people suffer in a greater degree still ? We now at least possess a form of Faith, and of Ecclesiastical Constitution, received more or less in every district of the country as astandard; a standard which the members of our Church Avho have a leaning towards separation profess,

B

18 THE UNION OF

I believe, to admit as on the whole representing that branch of the Catholic Church which esta- blished itself in England soon after the Apostles' days, and has maintained its continuity un- broken ever since. They acknowledge the pedigree of that Church ; they seek for them- selves as yet no other ; content with that, when only they shall have released it from certain appliances incidental to it, but not constituting or even affecting its essence. Aberration from that standard as yet goes by the name of dis- sent; the very term significant of a rule ac- cepted and recognised by the country at large from which it has itself departed; its own features and aspect measured by the nature and degree of its divergency from that rule ; the Socinian deviating in one direction ; the Wes- leyan in another ; the Baptist in a third ; but all deviating ; all regarded by the broad eye of the population in general, nay even by them- selves, as secederg from a national confession and usage ; seceders, on the ground that private judgment ought to supersede tradition from the beginning, and that every man can conclude for himself better than the Church can conclude for him. I am not now dealing with this as a matter of charge, but as a matter of fact, and am simply saying that the existence of dissent

CHURCH AND STATE. 19

implies the existence of a rule of prescriptive unanimity ; even draws attention to that rule ; places it in a clear light ; exhibits it in the advantageous posture of a principle which is in possession, and which has been in possession time out of mind ; a posture which in law is thought to be nearly conclusive of right ; and w^hich in all primitive theology is regarded as the strongest argument against the pretensions of heresy. But extinguish your national Church and national confession, and this national stan- dard is removed. The parties who still cleave to it, for many such doubtless there will be, will have their own opinion of their own posi- tion ; but so far as the national verdict is con- cerned, they will be simply one sect of many ; they will dissent from others, and others will dissent from them, and all men will be dissen- ters or none, according to the pleasure of the speaker.

I confess it seems to me that the practical effect of this dispensation would be to stir foundations to a most alarming extent ; to set all principles afloat ; to fill the country with unsanctified strife and debate, to the ruin of quiet and unobtrusive piety, and to the revival of those scandals which are recited in the pre- amble to the Act of Uniformity, and which it s 2

20 THE UXIOX OF

was the object of that Act, passed most eagerly^ under a lively recollection of their magnitude, to put down ; that if we had it for our object to prime the country for infidelity, we could not do it more effectually than by reducing all our religious elements to such a state of solu- tion ; and further, that as such a condition of things would be intolerable for any long period, if we were desirous of deliverinfy the nation again over to the Church of Rome, we could not take surer means ; for who would not be disposed to fly for refuge to foundations that seemed immovable, when all around was heaving ; as in volcanic regions the people betake themselves to their church for safety when the earth rocks, though they may be buried in its ruins? and who would fail to feel a sympathy for a changeless system, be its drawbacks what they might, who was smarting under evils which he thought nothing could exceed, arising out of ceaseless change ?

I scarcely need pursue this part of my

* " There cannot be a better evidence of the general aifec- tion of the kingdon, tlian that this Act of Parliament had s'i concurrent an approbation of the two Houses of Parliament^ after a suppression of that form of devotion for near twenty years, and the highest discountenance and oppression of aJl those who were known to lie devoted or affected to it." — 'The l.ifr of Lord Clarendon, ii. p. 1 -tl.

CHURCH AND STATE. 21

argument into minute details, or picture the ruin of the parochial system which would ensue under those new combinations. The particulars would present themselves at once to every man who has had the charge of a parish himself. The minister no longer mov- ing freely amongst his people as before : what- ever obstacles to his success the action of dissent had thrown in his way multiplied mani- fold : his right of road to every house, that invaluable prerogative of old, lost and gone : the field of his labours, determinate before, now doubtful and ill-defined : the members of his congregation to be picked out by him from amongst numbers, here one and there one : and amidst the various schools of doctrine starting up around him, very many persons, no doubt, indisposed to declare themselves exclusively for any, preferring to be Christians unattached : his commission therefore feeble : his ministerial interposition halting, stealthy, and full of embarrassment : every influence about him tending to irritate him to conten- tion if he be one of the Sons of Thunder, or lull him to inaction if he be fearful and faint- liearted ; and in either case true reliojion the sufferer : his funds, applied hitherto so eftec- tually, so precisely, to the relief of misery, or

22 THE UNION OF

the support of patient merit, known perhaps only to himself, no longer forthcoming : his position, which brings him into the closest contact with the suffering classes, and at the same time enables him to discriminate tho- roughly between honesty and imposture, to discern the spirits in a degree, I scruple not to say, which no other member of society can, no longer capable of being turned to account ; for to what purpose is it that he is most con- versant with the wants of a district when it is utterly out of his power to minister to them ? his thoughts no longer directed to making provision for the lack of service in this neg- lected nook of his parish or that ; for parish he has none, properly speaking ; the charge of its religious welfare once strictly imposed upon him, and binding on his conscience, w^tlidrawn ; and were it otherwise, how is he now with his empty purse to take the lead in stimulating his lukewarm neighbours to furnish the chapel, the school-room, and the pastor ; for which some forlorn corner under his keeping, peopled however with immortal souls, he is well aware, cries aloud ?

Hitherto I have been arguing this question chiefly on prudential considerations — conside- rations, however, which with all reasonable

CHURCH AND STATE. 23

beings ought to have a great influence in determining conduct ; and in the highest and most sacred concerns of all, not less but rather more than in others ; " Be ye wise as serpents," being the injunction of no time-serving tea- cher. But there is another view to be taken of it, which some who might disregard the former, would respect — the moral aspect of it. Perhaps the turn which practically any effort to separate Church and State might take, if it found an issue in any positive result at all, would be a partial secession from the Estab- lished Church, and the creation of another episcopal Church within our own. Could parties who might meditate such an act satisfy themselves of its innocence ? or judging them- selves by the rules of the Primitive Church, could they acquit themselves of schism in any attempt to establish a second bishop in a diocese already in possession of another — and where will they find a spot in England which is not in such possession ? Is there any an- cient canon more express and emphatic than that one bishop, and only one, shall bear rule within his own limits ; insomuch that it is objected by a primitive father against certain heretics of his day, who had set up a bishop of their own, that whilst calling themselves

24 THE UNIOX OP

evangelical and professing to be Purists, they were overleaping a cardinal maxim of Christian polity, and thereby condemning at once them- selves and their cause ? * To introduce, or assent to others introducing, a rival prelate into a field already occupied by one who has received undeniable consecration, and cannot be pretended to have surrendered or forfeited his trust, is surely a proceeding as offensive to his conscience, as to acquiesce in the govern- ment of the actual occupant of the see, even though he does submit to wear some fetters of the State which it mio-ht be well if he could shake off. The conscience of the churchman, it seems to me, -will not be set at ease by this provision, but will only change the subject of its upbraidings, and if it suggested prickings before, will apply stings noAv.

Look to the non-jurors : few persons can revert to the history of that band of brothers, without compassion and respect ; but is the pre- cedent encouraging? Were even they alto- gether happy in their new position, and entirely satisfied with the lawfulness of the step they

* Cornelius, Bishop of Eome, in writing to Fabius makes it a matter of pleasantry that Novatus should have called himself 6 cKSiWTjTTjs tov evayyeXiov (Euseb.vi. c. xliii. p. 312); and yet should not have known that in the Catholic Church there could be only one bishop in one diocese.

CHURCH AND STATE. 25

had ventured to take, or at least to follow up? I think there are symptome: of the contrary. And yet perhaps the provocation to it was greater, and the justification of it less doubtful, than any we can plead. Certain it is that " their counsel and work came to nought," whatever overthrew it ; that starting in their course with much public sympathy, — "it required," we are told, " all the influence of a latitu- dinarian school of divinity, led by Locke, to counteract it ;" * — adorned with much learning, indeed it now constitutes an important shelf of the ecclesiastical library ; and selecting for the prelates men more than unexcep- tionable, men who could not have failed to produce an impression on the Church, had they been in their true place ; the non-jurors, in spite of all this, soon became " a feeble folk; " their literature expiring with the seceders themselves, or their immediate successors ; and ^ their dvvindling hierarchy to be traced only by the antiquary, the last vestige of it a subject \ . of speculative curiosity, such as exercises ; itself amongst naturalists on the ultimate date of a species that has insensibly disappeared. Meanwhile the national Church, deprived in them of its soundest portion, the element

* Hallam, Co7ist. Hint, in. 1-18, quoted by Liithbury, p. 80.

26 THE UNION OP

which would have helped to keep it compara- tively true to primitive and apostolical usage, assumed rapidly that debased and secular aspect which it continued to Avear to our own times, but from which it has been of late escaping ; and much it is to be feared, that if their mantle should fall upon others in the Church, similar calamitous resuUs would ensue ; and that enjoying great power, as such men no doubt would do, whilst they remained within the pale, for effecting good and abating evil, they would carry away with them but little ; whilst their departure would be the signal for extreme opinions to put forth all their strength, effacing from our Church many of those features by which it was known to Polycarp and Ignatius, to Irenaeus and Cy- prian ; and substituting in their stead the unprescriptive novelties of Calvin and Knox, or rather perhaps of Wesley and Whitfield. Should they not take into account this consum- mation before they bid their Church farewell ? Are they, then, it will be said, to seek no redress, and by offering no resistance to acts of political aggression, invite more and worse ? and by expressing no sense of the inconveni- ence of their position imply their entire satis- faction with it ?

I

CHURCH AND STATE. 27

This is not the necessary alternative. They may pursue their object but by other means — means perhaps more circuitous, but more sure cf obtaininii; the end. If the grievances are real they can plead them with effect : what body in the country more capable of it, or commanding more channels for the purpose than the clergy ? Real grievances indeed, when repeatedly and calmly enforced, plead for themselves till they be removed; and if, in the meanwhile seen to be borne with, not in apathy, but on principle, naturally recommend the complainants to the favourable notice of all reasonable people. Vincit qui paiitur w^as the motto of one of our leading churchmen, who effected in his day many changes for the better in the relations of the Church to the State. Have not events transpired of late which may have a tendency to reconcile the State to allowing the Church greater freedom -J of counsel, agreeably to the spirit of the Royal Declaration itself constantly prefixed to the Articles to this day ; seeing that she can use it without indulging in the strife of tongues w^hich had been imputed to her ? And are not others in progress calculated to impress on the State the absolute necessity of putting more trust in the Church, as the bulwark fitted to

28 THE UNION OP

oppose an aggression with which the law seems unable to cope ; and to protect indirectly even the liberties of the land ? Time, not only the greatest, but the safest of innovators, must enter into all prudent calculations of change in such institutions as our Church. How short a period has as yet elapsed since our embarrass- ments, whatever they may be, have begun to be felt and canvassed ; and we are dealing with a foundation for ages. We must be content to wait for the hour and the man ; and believe that God, who keeps watch over his Church, will provide for her both, if it be good for her, and ivhe?i it is good. For it is hard to imagine that He is just now forsaking her ; or to per- suade ourselves that with all her imperfections, she is other than a true Church, when we see her labouring to meet the calls upon her far and near so abundantly as she now does ? covering the land with churches and schools ; giving God speed to the emigrant ; remember- ing the soldier in his barrack ; the sailor in his cot ; the captive in his prison-house ; setting up in the colonies — colonies under the order- ing of God scattered over the world and com- mitted to her — her own Apostolical Form of Faith and Worship ; bearing the Cross amongst the heatlien to the very ends of the earth ; and

CHURCH AKD STATE. 29

grapjiling, in short, Avitli sin and Satan in all quarters ? Do we make a boast of this ? God forbid ! But when the temper of the times, as manifested not by the foes only but by the friends also of the Church, is to rivet the eye upon her peccant parts, and magnify them, it is profitable, it is just, to let her light shine befoie men, that they may see some of her good works too. Moreover it is due to those who are not prepared to put asunder the civil and ecclesiastical estates, and snap the bond or fetter, be it which it may, under which all this good comes to pass, to make it known that it is not in a spirit of contented Erastianism they are acting, or refusing to act, but in a spirit of conscientious caution, which is afraid to ruin this complicated fabric, working in many re- spects so effectually, and dispersing blessings amongst mankind on so great a scale — a spirit of conscientious caution which desires to pause awhile before it cuts off the entail of such an inheritance from generations that shall come after them, and for whom they are in trust ; which proposes to see the line of duty in this grave matter more clearly determined before they take a step so solemn and so irrevocable. Forgive them this wrong ! Sure I am that they will forgive it, who as practical workmen in

28

THE UNION OF

32^

I am CO successful! to point 01 them, they pauperism employers ecclesiastic best schem ' will deade us will lie the nation

On the sible, coml

1st. To which thei

2d. Coi: localized r well-direci to God ai Scotland- condition "territorin anticipatic shall inhe work of n]

oppose an aggression with which the law seems unable to cope ; and to protect indirectly even the liberties of the land ? Time, not only the greatest, but the safest of innovators, must enter into all prudent calculations of change in such institutions as our Church. How short a period has as yet elapsed since our embarrass- ments, whatever they may be, have begun to be felt and canvassed ; and we are dealing with a foundation for ages. "We must be content to wait for the hour and the man ; and believe that God, who keeps watch over his Church, will provide for her both, if it be good for her, and whe7i it is ffood. For it is hard to imagine that He is just now forsaking her ; or to per- suade ourselves that Avith all her imperfections, she is other than a true Church, when we see her labouring to meet the calls upon her far and near so abundantly as she now does ? covering the land with churches and schools ; giving God speed to the emigrant ; remember- ing the soldier in his barrack ; the sailor in his cot ; the captive in his prison-house ; setting up in the colonies — colonies under the order- ing of God scattered over the world and com- mitted to her — her own Apostolical Form of Faith and AVorship ; bearing the Cross amongst the heatlien to the very ends of the earth ; and

GLASGOW. W. G. CI.ACKIE AND CO., l-RINTEKS, VILI.AFIELU.

!

CHURCH AXD STATE.

29

grappling, in short, with sin and Satan in all quarters ? Do we make a boast of this ? God forbid ! But when the temper of the times, as manifested not by the foes only but by the friends also of the Church, is to rivet the eye upon her peccant parts, and magnify them, it is profitable, it is just, to let her light shine befoie men, that they may see some of her good works too. Moreover it is due to those who are not prepared to put asunder the civil and ecclesiastical estates, and snap the bond or fetter, be it which it may, under which all this good comes to pass, to make it known that it is not in a spirit of contented Erastianism they are acting, or refusing to act, but in a spirit of conscientious caution, which is afraid to ruin this complicated fabric, working in many re- spects so effectually, and dispersing blessings amongst mankind on so great a scale — a spiiit of conscientious caution which desires to pause awhile before it cuts off the entail of such an inheritance from generations that shall come after them, and for whom they are in trust ; which proposes to see the line of duty in this grave matter more clearly determined before they take a step so solemn and so irrevocable. Forgive them this wrong ! Sure I am that they will forgive it, who as practical workmen in

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30 THE UNION OP

our Church are entitled to a voice in the mea- sures that affect her ; but whose hands are so full, whose hearts so set on the business before them, that they have little leisure for the con- troversies, the most important controversies, I admit, which agitate more contemplative churchmen. Sure I am that the first thoughts which would cross the men who are facing the difficulties of our colonial Churches — Churches which respond to all the vibrations in our own, — who are encountering perils of waters, in- clemencies of climate, journeyings and watch- ings, cheered, however, by the consciousness that they are going about doing good, would be, that no precipitate act elsewhere might interfere witli their animating toils ; and that the same thought would not fiiil to be upper- most in the minds of many and many a parish priest at home, who, engrossed in the instruc- tion of his ignorant children ; in the appeal to his thoughtless congregation to save their souls alive ; in the visitation of his sick, cheered to hear the sound of his step on their thresholds; is naturally solicitous that these labours of love, the blessed fruits of which he is daily ex- periencing both in himself and in his people, may not be disturbed without the most urgent necessity : and may I not add, that if the pro-

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CHURCH AND STATE. 31

posals on foot for the further extension of these great objects ; for bringing our long-neglected colonies yet more under the action of the Church, and reaching the heathen through them in the way the most availing ; and for lodging within their grasp more effectually the large districts of England that have escaped from it; if these projects of indisputable benevolence might be permitted, under the favour of God, to draw off some portion of our attention from other objects which have detained it perhaps too exclusively, happy might it be for all; for it might abate the irri- tation which almost necessarily springs out of pure controversy, and dispose the minds of all parties to pursue the truth in love. It may possibly be well to release our Church from the State ; but it cannot be ill to win souls to Christ : nor can any better method be devised meanwhile of really augmenting the Church's strength, and thus enabling it eventually to re- assert its rights, if it has lost any, and vindicate its position, if it has been usurped ; than thus advancing its usefulness, extending its sphere', exalting its character, swelling its renown.

Possibly the separation which threatens may eventually ba brought about by its proper promoters. In that case we must do our best

32 THE UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

to mitigate a mischief, if mischief it proves, not of our own creation, and regard it as a visitation for the neglects and abuses of by- gone times, if not of our own ; for God is often long in bending His boAv, and making it ready ; but at any rate we shall not then have to charge ourselves with having promoted the confusion which may ensue, by any impa- tience, intemperance, or inconsideration of ours ; but feel ourselves moving under the impulse of an invisible Hand which is work- ing out ends of its own ; ends hidden indeed for a little time and mysterious, but which will assuredly manifest themselves at the Great X)ay, whatever they may be, to the praise and glory of God.

LORDOX: PRIN-TtD BT

erOTTISWQODK AND CO., NEW-STREET ISarAKa

AKD PARLIAMENT 8TBEE1

DO AWAY WITH DEANS

CATHEDRAL REFORM

BY THE

REV. EDWARD STUART, M.A.,

INCUMBENT OF S. MARY MAGDALENE's CHURCH, MUNSTER SQUARE,

regent's park.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON :

J. MASTERS, 78, NEW BOND STREET.

Price 0?ie Penny.

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