XXV.-The Impediments of existing Interests in the Way of Church Reform; by a Layman of the Church of England.

The only head of Church Reform on which the Layman touches, is the application of the provisions of the Act of 1813, relative to the stipends of curates, which he thinks ought to have been immediate, and without exception. He says:

"There is one point upon which the sincere well-wishers of our Church may feel great anxiety, if not alarm,-lest-however sincere and searching the enquiry may be, and however efficient the nature of the remedies devised-the effect of those remedies should be at the very outset neutralized by postponing their application to a future period. This is the more alarming, as it seems to have been considered a necessary concession by even the most zealous of our Church reformers, that what are called existing rights should be untouched; as though the idea of at once acting up to the standard of what they themselves allow to be right and necessary were something extreme, evincing a bitter spirit of enmity instead of reformation. That a widespreading estrangement has arisen from various causes, from within and from without, no one can conceal from himself; and that it greatly behoves all who feel anxious for our Establishment, that her abuses should no longer be allowed to give excuse to some and reason to others, to rank themselves against her, is what the very institution of this enquiry seems to allow; and if we look to the nature of that which is to be rectified, we shall at once perceive, that a future, a prospective remedy, will in little or no degree mitigate the complaint, or draw those, who are now complaining, nearer to us. But we have a most apposite example now before us of such a course of compromising legislation-the Act of Parliament regulating the stipends to curates passed in the year 1813, was unfortunately limited in its operation to persons becoming incumbents after the 20th of July, 1813; by that very restriction has the salutary remedy which that Act intended to afford been robbed of nearly the whole of its beneficial effect upon the minds of the community; the odium of selfishness, avarice, and injustice, still clings to the beneficed clergy as a body, so long as instances are not wanting to support the outcry; and those instances increase in point of aggravation the longer the person availing himself of this exemption continues to reap the fruits of his bargain at the expence of the curate, whose hard-earned pittance, with all the labour attached to it, is continually before the eyes of his parishioners. Upon what principle this exemption was allowed by the Act, it is impossible to conceive, unless it was for the purpose of avoiding the opposition of the persons whose interests would be affected at the time, who might be feared as likely to regard the justice of the Act in a very different light when viewed through the medium of their own interests from what they would through that of their successors.... That this Act has been voluntarily taken as a guide, I am afraid, is true but in a very few instances. Nor is this all; it has thrown the most conscientious of the working clergy into embarrassment, and has given to the less scrupulous an advantage which has been most prejudicial to the interests of Religion and the Church those who look to the principle, and not to the bare letter of the law, consider that to frustrate this beneficial enactment by consulting their own convenience, would be a dereliction of their duty, and that therefore it is not open to them to accept a curacy upon other terms: whilst those who can more conveniently disregard these conscientious scruples are unshackled in their treaty with an incumbent, and can at once underbid their competitor; and what is of still deeper moment, the parish has to suffer the fatal consequences of such competition, and our Church has to bear the scandal.

:

"It may be said, that at this distance from 1813 it is scarcely worth the while now to amend the law to remedy the few and decreasing instances that still remain, particularly as every year must lessen the number; but it will be found upon enquiry that the instances are by no means few; or even if they were, in one sense that increases the expediency of at once putting an end to the evil.... But there are still weightier considerations pressing upon this point; the very term, 'vested interests,' used with reference to pluralities, is a violation of the principle of our Establishment; the interest which she holds sacred is the interest of the soul that is to be saved; whatever throws an impediment in the way of that interest has no claim to be upheld; this is not the case of a pension or a sinecure affecting only the pocket of the community, the continuance of which for a period adds only to the privations of a few temporal enjoyments. Nor is it even the continuing an abuse out of commiseration for the absolute poverty which must be endured upon its withdrawal; if pluralism be a cause of offence, it is so in the hands of the present possessors, by far the best paid of the clergy; it is so because in their hands the religious wants of the people have not been consulted and provided for, because the revenues of the Church have been drained, not to support the pastor that has attended to the spiritual wants of the flock, but too frequently to increase the distance between the beneficed clergy

and their parishioners, and to make them appear merely in the light of foreign taxgatherers." pp. 6-11.

XXVI. The Church its own Reformer; an Invitation to Church Reform; by the Rev. John Sandford, Vicar of Chillingham.

Mr. Sandford mourns, in company with the best friends of the Church of England, over the blemishes that have been permitted to sully and impair an otherwise Apostolic fabric. He believes that, unless removed by timely reformation, these will bring her to the dust; but he has a good hope that God will be gracious to her, that He will yet awake her at the eleventh hour, and that she will arise and put off her weeds, and put on glorious apparel. He says:

"Since the question of Church Reform became a matter of universal interest, and it was obvious that some measure must be adopted to meet the national wishes, the friends of the Church of England have waited in dutiful but anxious expectation, to see what the wisdom of their ecclesiastical superiors might devise. All this time they have marked with alarm the increasing ranks and augmented boldness of their assailants, and noted, with grief and shame, the inefficient opposition that has been made to them. Still they have been buoyed up with the belief that something would at last appear, some elaborate and comprehensive measure, which should remove at once and for ever all just grounds of complaint, and place the Church of England high in the respect and affections of the country.

"Need we allude to the manner in which these expectations have been answered, or dwell upon the weighty lesson which the disappointment conveys?"

"It is worse than idle to attempt to conceal from ourselves the present aspect of the Church of England. Can any thing be more perilous than its situation? Is there a point of the political horizon, which does not seem boding its destruction? If we look at the most popular and influential portion of the public press, which has, at this day, attained a sway over the mind of the community almost despotic, shall we not find it daily assuming an attitude more inimical? If we look at the bulk of the people of England, whose power recent events have incalculably increased, shall we not find that they are becoming daily more estranged from our communion, in consequence of abuses which are acknowledged, without being redressed? If we turn to the Legislature, on which, as a church, we have hitherto far too much leaned for support, do we not perceive, that, even if it had the inclination, it has no longer the power to resist the march of public opinion, or oppose the correction of a single abuse? If we look at our natural enemies, the Papists and political Dissenters, shall we not find them already singing their pæan, in anticipation of our speedy downfall? If we look at our spiritual superiors, must we not acknowledge, that, however conscientiously, on a late occasion, they exercised the legislatorial function with which they are encumbered, they have thereby rendered themselves obnoxious to public displeasure, and involved the Church in their opprobrium? And, lastly, if we revert to our own Establishment, must we not confess that it is, at present, in no condition to stand the brunt of such an attack as is arrayed against it; that its many excellencies are obscured by its staring abuses; that it is encumbered by wealth, which, however advantageous it might prove if more judiciously distributed, serves, by its present allotment, only to excite prejudice and cupidity; that it is cursed by a system of tithes, than which, as was well observed by the highest legal authority of the realm, nothing could be conceived better calculated to injure the interests of religion, by rendering its ministers unpopular?"

"It is quite impossible that any conscientious member of our communion can be an advocate for the continuance of things as they now are. No one, surely, with an enlightened conscience, can contend for the existence of pluralities with cure of souls; can pretend to say that any minister of the Gospel should be receiving emoluments from a flock which he does not feed; or that, while there are many curates starving on a miserable pittance for doing the whole duty of a parish, an absentee should be drawing the revenues of several livings at once." pp. 58.

Mr. Sandford further animadverts upon the extreme disproportion of the episcopal revenues, with its attendant evil of translations; adding: "It is surely time that this should be put an end to; that the Church of England should assume the port and the position which befit her as the spouse of Christ; that her bishops should be the resident and laborious overseers of their clergy, and the clergy themselves the actual and pains-taking shepherds of their flocks; and that both bishops and clergy should found their claims to the respect and affections of their countrymen, not upon their dignity and affluence, but upon their zeal, and usefulness, and Christian virtue. This, and this alone, will entitle them to the venera

tion and love of men, will secure them their rank in society, will tend, by the grace of God, to make them blessed, and blessings."

"But how, it may be asked, are the friends of the Church of England to aid in her recovery? By mutual counsel, and mutual co-operation-by associating together -by allowing no feelings of pride, or jealousy, or false shame, to keep them from the path on which prudence, and principle, and religion, require them to enter. The present is the moment given us to act. Let it not pass by us unimproved." pp. 9—11. XXVII.-Church Rates lawful, but not always expedient: a Sermon on 1 Cor. ix. 11, 12, preached at St. Mary's, Bilston, Oct. 6, 1833, at a Collection towards defraying Expenses usually paid out of the Church Rate; by the Rev. Charles Girdlestone, M. A. Vicar of Sedgley, Staffordshire.

This discourse belongs strictly to publications upon Church Reform, not only from its general tenor, but more especially on account of some prefatory remarks, in which the author expresses his ardent wish for the reconciliation of the Church with the Dissenters, and the reform of the Church itself. The passage is short, and is couched in so lovely a spirit of piety and Christian candour that we feel much pleasure in extracting it. We should be glad to see the excellent author's plan of comprehension more fully developed; and if he shall see fit to make our pages the vehicle of his conciliatory suggestions, he is welcome to their use. For ourselves, much as we have thought upon the subject, we have not been able to determine upon any plan which, abstractedly considered, would appear likely to unite what are called "Dissenters upon principle," with our own or any other national church establishment; their objection lying deeper than any question of machinery or detail; but, practically speaking, we believe that Dissent upon principle would be at a low ebb if there were no causes, real or plausible, for dissent in practice. In matters of liturgical reform, the proposed amendments of 1689 would probably take in all that is requisite, and more than we think is necessary, or in some cases desirable; but it is satisfactory to know, that in the United States of America, where the Protestant Episcopal Prayer-book has been reformed upon that basis, it has conciliated all Churchmen, and prevented any objections upon the part of Dissenters. We should, however, dread to see the review of our Prayer-book committed to some of those into whose hands it might too probably fall at the present moment; and, indeed, one main difficulty in every question of Church Reform is, Who are to be the reformers? Is the King, acting as temporal head of the church by means of a royal commission? Or is a motley Parliament? Or are the Bishops, unassisted by a council of presbyters? Or must a Convocation be called for the purpose, at the risk of all the evils which would too probably attach to the proceedings of such an assembly?-But we are not at present discussing the question of Church Reform ourselves, but only stating the views of others: we therefore pass on, to quote the passage before alluded to from Mr. Girdlestone; a clergyman whom no man will suspect of disaffection to the Church, notwithstanding he has had the courage to express publicly his belief of the necessity of reform, and to point out what appear to him the chief requisites for that purpose. When Whitby-now best known as a commentator-proposed a comprehension with the Dissenters, his book was burned by the common hangman: modern reformers therefore must not be surprised at meeting with a little obloquy in return for their well-meant labours. Mr. Girdlestone addresses his pages as follows, to the various ministers and congregations in his extensive parish :

"Having been invited to preach in behalf of the fund which you are raising to supply the place of a church rate, I have anxiously desired to select a subject, and to treat of it in a manner which may conduce to the increase of goodwill and peace amongst conflicting sects of Christians. You have expressed a wish to read what

was thus written. And I the more cheerfully comply with your desire, because I believe that the more widely these views are circulated, we are the more likely to see that day arrive, when Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.'

"That in this life we shall never be all of one mind may indeed be very justly apprehended. But this affords no sufficient reason for not trying to become so. Else neither must we endeavour to become all sober, all honest, all kind, all pure. No: we must aim at more than we hope to reach. And considering the force of our inborn propensity to evil, such endeavours would have no slight encouragement, if they should prevent us from growing daily more corrupt in our lives, or more estranged from each other in our hearts.

"This is the utmost reward which has hitherto awaited those, who most heartily have laboured in two matters closely connected with each other, the reconciliation of the Church with the Dissenters, and the Reform of the Church itself. And yet some of us may live to see the day when these most important questions, reviewed with sober judgment, discussed with charitable temper, and settled in the fear of God, and out of love for Christ, shall help largely towards the prevalence of the Gospel in the world, and towards its influence in the hearts of professed believers. Let the Church but honestly confess its real abuses. Let it earnestly endeavour to supply its obvious defects. Let it be ready, in things that are indifferent, to concede somewhat to the prejudice of its opponents. Let it first thus render communion less exceptionable, and then open its doors to conformity both more readily and more widely; and we need not doubt that very many who now refuse to enter, would then gladly throng our courts. Let facilities be given for licensing and consecrating places of worship frequented by Dissenters. Let their ministers, after due examination, be admissible to the orders of the Church. And with our ritual somewhat altered, if needful, for their use, or with allowance to omit some few stated portions at discretion, we should have many of the most able and pious of their number adding to our strength instead of crippling our exertions; we should have churches and schools in abundance, ready built, and they chapels ready furnished to their hands, in which we and they together might preach in impressive harmony the glorious Gospel of our Saviour Christ." pp. 3, 4.

In regard to the more immediate object of his discourse-namely, churchrates-Mr. Girdlestone proceeds, first, to shew that the Established Church is entitled to this support from all, including conscientious Dissenters, as having sown spiritual things to all: he then points out why he nevertheless thinks that it becomes the Church not always to use this power, but rather to suffer all things, than to hinder the Gospel of Christ: and thirdly, he adds a few words of exhortation, on the value of that everlasting Gospel, which at all events we must not hinder, and which it must be our heart's desire, at all costs, to promote. First, then, he shews that the Church established in this realm has sown, and does sow, spiritual things to all; and he proposes to prove, that in such a matter as a church rate, provided it be legally made, equitably assessed, mercifully levied, and frugally expended, there are grounds of conscience on which the Church has a right to take it, and on which a Dissenter is also bound to pay it.

"First, I say our Church most truly sowed to you things spiritual, at the time of the Reformation; when in God's hand it was the blessed instrument of breaking in this kingdom the dominion of the Pope, abolishing the enormities of Rome, and reviving, in great measure, the discipline and the doctrine of the primitive church."

"A second reason is this; our Church is established: it is established by the law of the land. Now our Lord has bidden us to render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's. (See Matt. xxii. 21.) And his Apostle has plainly taught us to be subject to the powers that be. (See Rom. xiii. 1.) This therefore should have some weight with a disciple of the Lord, both for conforming to the Church as established, and for supporting it, though he do not conform. For the law of the land is an ordinance of God for the good of the people."

"A third reason, and one of the utmost weight, is this; the Church has also Divine authority. It is established not only by the law of the land, but by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Its ministers have that appointment which at the first came from Him. Its Liturgy and Articles have that sound doctrine which is according to his word. Its parentage and kindred may be traced through every age of Christianity, by its intimate connexion with all that for truth, antiquity, and general consent, is worthy of the name of catholic. And therefore it has the promise of Christ's presence, the cove. nant of his grace, and is entitled to the good will of all who dwell within its borders." CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 383. 4 U

"A fourth reason, one which used to weigh greatly with Dissenters, and which has satisfied for ages the most eminent of that name, in the payment of such a tax as church rate, is this, that our Church has proved itself to be the bulwark of the common faith, the chief means, under the blessing of God, of preserving in this country the principles and practices of the Gospel, though not exactly after the fashion which they might best approve. It has faults, they used to say; and far be it from us, my brethren, to deny it! God grant that we may honestly confess our faults, and diligently labour to amend them! It has faults, they would say; and yet with all its faults, it deserves our prayers, our countenance, our help. Witness its many lights of learning, which have served, and will serve, as long as learning shall endure, both to dispel the doubts of the unbeliever, and to defy that antichristian power which most flourished in the age of darkness! Witness its translation of the Scriptures, acknowledged to be the best existing in the world; the most successful effort of uninspired men, to bring home to the hearts of the existing generation truths revealed by the Almighty in tongues now dead! Witness its zeal in spreading abroad the truth, its detailed provision for the ministry of the Word, not in courts only, and in cities, but in villages, and cottages, in workhouses, and hospitals, in fleets, and armies, to the whole and to the sick, to the rich and to the poor! Witness its precautions, so wisely taken, so often by our own fault frustrated, in the selection and ordination of its ministers; to each of whom it is put to answer before God, whether he feel inwardly called to this holy office, whilst in respect of each it is demanded of the people amongst whom they have usually resided, that if any one knows of cause why they should not be ordained, he should signify the same forthwith! Witness, above all, its many ornaments of piety, men who have rejoiced to practise what they were bound to preach; who have reformed the profligate, comforted the distressed, quickened by their lives and conversation the flames of piety in the hearts of the devout, or rekindled its dying embers in a perverse and adulterous generation.

"One more reason I would add, and that of no small weight, why the Church is entitled to the support of all. And this is, that, compared with other religious communities, it offers in this country the best prospect of that which every true Christian must most earnestly desire, that we all should at length be one. I say not here which is the more guilty in our divisions. I need not here decide whether the Church or the Dissenters were most bound to give up those trifling points, which first set us at variance with each other. But this I urge for the consideration of all reasonable men, whether the best hope of a general re-union lie not in the preservation of the Established Church, in the reform of its abuses, in the extension of its borders, and not in what many of late have rather seemed to wish, its utter abolition?" pp. 9—14.

Mr. Girdlestone, having thus shewn that our Church in spiritual things has sown enough to the Dissenters to be justified in asking of them so much of support as is implied in our reviled church rates, next proceeds to prove, that, though we have this power, we ought to be willing, like St. Paul, rather not to use it, than to hinder the Gospel of our Lord.

"That which makes our brother to offend, causes him to stumble, tempts him to hard thoughts, either of the Gospel or of the Church: this thing, if it be not itself a duty, however lawful or otherwise desirable, becomes by this means not expedient for us to do. (See 1 Cor. vi. 12.) For so St. Paul determined in regard to eating meat offered to idols."

"It is on this principle I conclude that the collection has been proposed, which I have been asked to advocate this day. The ministers, and wardens, and congrega tions of the churches, in behalf of which we are to make collection, are averse to aggravate unkindly feelings, by repeatedly pressing as a right what at this time they do better to relinquish. Whilst their rights are questioned, whilst their intentions are misunderstood, whilst the most mischievous construction is put upon their acts by many who in point of principle or piety are neither Churchmen nor Dissenters, they had rather put up with loss in carnal things, than scandalize the weak brother in things spiritual. These, I trust, are their principles; these, I trust, are the feelings of those who hear me; a charitable compliance with the scruples of the sincere, a charitable concern for the souls of all; not a timid deference to the clamour of the covetousmen whose god is their purse, who would contribute nothing, if they could help it, to any religion at all, whose objections to church rates deserve no more attention, for their own sakes, than if a thief were to protest against being taxed for the building of a prison, or for the maintenance of a judge. Not to these ought we to give place; no, not for one moment. But for the sake of the conscientious Dissenter, who by them might be persuaded that the rate is an exaction, who, if it were voluntarily abated or withdrawn, would be more likely to weigh without hostile prejudice the