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diff --git a/old/62232-0.txt b/old/62232-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 88724a9..0000000 --- a/old/62232-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1909 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A letter to a country clergyman, occasioned -by his address to Lord Teignmouth, by John Owen - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A letter to a country clergyman, occasioned by his address to Lord Teignmouth - - -Author: John Owen - - - -Release Date: May 25, 2020 [eBook #62232] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN, -OCCASIONED BY HIS ADDRESS TO LORD TEIGNMOUTH*** - - -Transcribed from the 1805 J. Hatchard edition by David Price, email -ccx074@pglaf.org, using scans from the British Library. - - [Picture: Pamphlet cover] - - - - - - A - LETTER - TO A - _COUNTRY CLERGYMAN_, - OCCASIONED BY - HIS ADDRESS - TO - _LORD TEIGNMOUTH_, - PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN - BIBLE SOCIETY. - - - * * * * * - - BY - _A SUB-URBAN CLERGYMAN_. - - * * * * * - - “Unum gestit interdum, ne _ignorata_ damnetur.”—TERTULL. APOL. - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - PRINTED FOR J. HATCHARD, BOOKSELLER TO HER MAJESTY, - NO. 190, OPPOSITE ALBANY HOUSE, PICCADILLY. - - 1805. - - * * * * * - - - - -A LETTER, &c. - - -REV. SIR, - -ONE of those good-natured friends with which the world abounds, took an -early opportunity of conveying to my hands a copy of your Address to Lord -Teignmouth as President of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and I -can really assume you, that its effect upon my nerves was almost as great -as that which his Lordship’s circular letter produced upon yours. “The -emotions of my mind,” too, “upon the receipt of it, were such as I am not -inclined, for several reasons, to describe.” {1} - -You must know, Sir, that it had been my fortune to fall into the same -ugly snare as the worthy Nobleman whose eyes you have so graciously -endeavoured to open. I too had been drawn into the horrid Bible-plot, -without dreaming that there was any plot in the business; and, to tell -you the honest truth, before your pamphlet reached me, I had actually -lent all the name I possessed, and all the money I could spare, in order -to assist in carrying its designs into execution. - -Judge then, Sir, what must have been my feelings upon learning from you, -that our Noble President, instead of being, as I thought, most loyally, -usefully, and religiously employed, had “bestowed his patronage and -protection upon every description of the church’s enemies;” that he had -deserted “the cause of sound religion;” and that he was actually -“confederating with persons openly labouring the destruction of all that -is sober and established.” {2} - -The inference was too much against me to leave me at rest. I called to -my recollection, how prone the world is to say, “like master, like man;” -and in the first paroxysms of my fear, had half a mind to send a line to -the Secretary, and request that my name might be withdrawn. This seemed, -however, too strong a measure to be adopted in so early a stage of the -business; besides, though I could not wholly suppress my alarms, yet I -had some little scruple about proclaiming them publicly to the world. In -these moments of irresolution, it occurred to my mind, that you might -perhaps, without any malicious design, have overstated the mischief; that -the evils which you predicted as likely to follow from this unhallowed -project, might in reality have nothing to do with it; and that, at all -events, your frightful statement exhibited only _one side_ of the case. -Perhaps, thought I, some “liberal-basis’d” {3a} gentleman will overthrow -this high-church reasoning, and try to bring this bilious Country Priest -to a better temper: I may then be inclined to wish, that I had paid less -homage to that ex-parte evidence by which he sought to discredit a noble -cause. - -Unluckily for me, the printers had scarcely struck off the large -impression of your Address, when they came to a resolution to print -nothing further. {3b} Now though I did not suspect any confederacy in -the business, yet I could not help thinking that _you_ were much obliged -to them. However that may be, it was evidently in vain to wait for -Replies: if fifty had been written (and I suppose that at least as many -were expected), not one could find its way before the public. At length -I hit upon a project; and what do you think it was? But _you_ would be -the last to guess. It was that of _reading your pamphlet over again_. I -had observed that the birds in my garden who were scared away by the -first sight of my man-of-straw, would, after a second view, pursue their -instinctive robberies with as much composure as if they had really -discovered how little mischief he could do them. I was pleased with the -thought, and anticipated much the same consequences. Well, Sir, I made -the experiment; and the event, I assure you, exceeded my highest -expectation. I rose from the _second_ reading of your Address with -feelings so different from those of conviction or alarm, that if I did -not think it would ruffle a temper so irritable as yours, I could almost -find it in my heart to tell you what they were. However, as I shall have -occasion to speak my mind pretty freely in the course of this Letter, you -will have no difficulty in discovering what I ultimately thought both of -you and your performance. - -But now, Sir, to business. You open your Address to Lord Teignmouth with -a preamble, which sets forth, that you are “not inclined, for several -reasons, to describe the emotions of your mind upon the receipt of his -Lordship’s Address, as President of the British and Foreign Bible -Society.” There is an air of mystery in these words, which recommended -them strongly to my notice; and if you do me the favour to turn back to -my first page, you will find that I have employed them as you have done, -_in fronte operis_. I am, however, upon reflection, inclined to think -that “there is,” to use your own words upon another occasion, “more of -sound than sense” in this affectation of reserve on both sides. For, to -say the truth, I have already revealed _my_ emotions, and I am sure you -have taken no pains to conceal _yours_: and yet it must be manifest that -if each of us had not been _inclined_ to do it, neither of us would have -done it. However, the preamble has its use; for it invites the reader to -believe, that we are both of us men of peace and charity, and very -unwilling to injure the feelings and reputation of our neighbour: an -assumption which, in your case, it was the more necessary to make; as -otherwise the reader of your pages might, innocently enough, have -concluded the reverse. - -This brief exordium dispatched, you enter, pell-mell, upon the matter of -your indictment, and prefer your charges against the Noble Lord with as -little ceremony, as if you had borrowed the robes of his Majesty’s -Attorney General, and were prosecuting the Noble delinquent at the suit -of the Crown. But let us hear the accusation opened. His Lordship (you -say), by taking the presidency of the Bible Society, has “bestowed his -patronage and protection upon every description of the church’s enemies.” -Now here I doubt the accuracy of your representation: I am strongly -inclined to think that you do not mean to affirm quite so much as you -say. The church’s enemies are so numerous, and some of them so little -known, that I think it very probable many descriptions could be -mentioned, which have never obtained a place in your enumeration. I have -_your_ authority for setting down all the individuals who dissent from -the church’s communion as her decided enemies, for they wish to a man to -blow up the national establishment, “clergy and all:” you know they -do—“_one_ of them said” so. Such evidence as this, to be sure, must not -for a moment be questioned; though I should have thought better of it, if -your informer had shown his instructions for saying so much in the name -of the rest. But if I concede to you that _these_ are the church’s -enemies, I cannot admit, what I suspect you wish to imply, that these are -the _only_ enemies with which she has to contend. What think you of -“those men of influence and consideration, who continue to revile the -church, and still think proper to remain nominal members of her -community?” {6a} Into what class do you throw those “men of the world, -who, in their sober moments, think it more creditable to be accounted -members of our venerable church, than a subscriber to the meeting-house?” -{6b} And lastly, where do you place those partisans, whether priests or -laymen, who, while they contend for the church as the “chaste spouse of -Christ,” {6c} confound most unwittingly both her pretensions and her -character, with those by which that spiritual harlot is known, who has -committed fornication with the kings of the earth? {6d} For my part, I -recognise among such _false friends_ as the two first descriptions, and -such _injudicious __advocates_ as the last, some of those enemies, from -which the church has most to fear. But I think I do you no injustice -when I say, that it does not seem to have been your intention to include -such characters as these within those “descriptions of the church’s -enemies,” upon which his Lordship is blameable for having bestowed his -patronage and protection. - -But, waiving these considerations, let me ask the Country Clergyman, -wherein he designs to make the Noble President’s guilt consist. It -cannot be in the _bare and simple act_ of bestowing his patronage and -protection upon every description of “the church’s enemies.” For such an -_act_ his Lordship has the highest precedent, and the least questionable -authority. For every time the several denominations of Christians meet -to worship God according to their various rites (and they may meet just -as often as they will), they enjoy the patronage and protection of that -exalted Personage, who, as the guardian of the constitution, is present -wherever there are rights to protect, and laws to protect them. Upon -this point, therefore, no controversy can arise: and the main question -between us will be, whether the _object_ for which this patronage and -protection are bestowed be of a nature to favour the assumed hostilities -of the different denominations of Christians against the established -church. Now that object, as defined by his Lordship, is, “to promote the -circulation of the Scriptures at home and abroad;” and this you admit “is -an object in which every one, who professes the religion of Christ, must -feel a deep interest.” I am glad to find you admitting as much as this; -and I hope I do not misunderstand you. Indeed I am so desirous of -tracing an agreement between us, wherever I can find a ground for doing -it, that I will endeavour to persuade myself, though the delusion should -prove never so short, that the circulation of the Scriptures is not among -the points on which we differ. But you question whether _this_ be the -object; since “the object of a society is not to be known from its public -declaration in print;” {8} and yet, shrewd as this remark appears, I -cannot but think that “the declaration in print,” of a large body of men, -subscribed with their names, is rather better authority for judging of -their specific object, than _the insinuation in print_ of an anonymous -individual: and I believe that most of the world will be of the same -opinion. I know indeed that declarations in print are not to be credited -merely because they are _made_: but yet I cannot think that the mere act -of _making_ them is a reason why they should be discredited. For, if the -rule were established for interpreting every “declaration in print” into -its opposite, I should be justified at once in concluding that _your -object_ is to become a member of this obnoxious Association; _merely_ -because you declare in print, “I cannot join myself to your Bible -Society.” {9a} - -Surely, Sir, as a Country Clergyman, you must have heard of the vaccine -inoculation. Now there is an association in the metropolis to which that -ingenious invention has given birth, and which is publicly known as the -_Jennerian Society_. I see no reason why it might not as properly be -called “the British and Foreign Vaccine Society,” since its object is “to -promote the circulation of vaccine matter at home and abroad.” Now -indulge yourself for a moment with the supposition, that when this -Society had printed their “object, their principles, and their reasons,” -and solicited the countenance and support of the faculty and persons of -every denomination, some country physician had stepped from his -obscurity, and opened a smart attack upon them. Suppose him to have -contended with all the gravity in the world, “that the object of a -Society is not to be known from its public declaration in print;” {9b} -that Societies which afterwards found their way “to the Old Bailey, or -the Maidstone assizes,” had announced themselves to the world by “printed -declarations of their reasons, objects, and principles;” {9c} and that -for his own part, though he saw in their President a nobleman, “for whose -head and heart he had the highest respect,” and among their supporters -“many respectable names, with which he should be happy to place his own;” -{10a} yet because they received guineas from quacks and empirics, as well -as from regulars and licentiates in medicine, he considered the whole -Society as a dangerous combination against the health of the community, -and a conspiracy for effecting the diabolical design of poisoning his -Majesty’s subjects. What, Sir, would you think of such a worthy -gentleman? You would not question his sincerity, for no man who was not -“horribly afraid” {10b} would intimate suspicions for which he was likely -to gain so little credit among mankind: but I think you would feel -yourself at liberty to question something about him, which if it did not -provoke your resentment, might deservedly enough excite your compassion. - -I am glad to find, as I advance farther into your pages, that things are -not quite so bad as I had apprehended. “Far be it from me to say,” you -tell his Lordship, “that you preside over an association of men combined -for designs altogether bad; that you patronize and protect a Society, -whose objects and principles are wilfully nefarious.” {10c} Now though -this apology for insinuations which might as well have been withheld, is -not wholly purged from bile, yet I confess it gives me pleasure to see it -made at all; because it delivers _me_ from the logical difficulty of -proving a negative, and _you_ from the logical disgrace of requiring it. - -At present then it seems, that the majority of this Society, though weak -and deceivable, are not Jacobinical or designing men. It is not within -their _present_ intention to “pursue an object of an evil tendency in a -close and clandestine manner, under favour of a public declaration of -different, and” even “a contrary character.” {11a} Nay, so little are -they suspected of being _as yet_ “wilfully nefarious,” that if his -Lordship can give you such a security as you require, for the maintenance -of its original intentions, you think the Society “will be what it -proposes,” and you “shall be proud to rank” your “name, and make exertion -under his protection.” {11b} - -I do assure you, Sir, that my jealousies on this particular are quite as -much alive as yours can be. I know how apt Societies are to depart from -the principles upon which their original association was formed; and I am -half inclined to think, that in this and other parts of your pamphlet you -are reading a lesson to some Societies in the metropolis, that I could -name. However, I do not absolutely affirm that such is your intention; -for though I might take advantage of your own axiom, and suspect your -“declaration in print” to be _one_ thing and your real object _another_, -yet I should think it scarcely decorous to say so. Besides, it is very -possible after all, that the whole may have been the result of accident; -and that you had no design whatever of publishing the _actual_ state of -one Society, when you were merely predicting the _future_ state of -another. - -But, Sir, let me ask you now, in the best humour in the world, what -security you would require for the maintenance of an original object -which the Bible Society has not already given you. I grant, if you had -been invited to join a Society, whose object was the promotion of -Christianity, the reformation of manners, or the suppression of vice, you -might reasonably enough have doubted whether the nature of the object -sufficiently explained the views of the associators, and gave you any -competent pledge for the purity of those measures which they might in -process of time adopt. You might then have argued with some show of -plausibility, that “the _real object_ will take its colour from the -opinions and pursuits of those _effective members_, who shall contrive, -either by an actual majority, or an _assiduity and activity equivalent in -force to the power of a majority_, to give direction to the energy of the -association;” {12} and the event, in certain cases, would have proved, -that you were not very greatly mistaken. But in the case under -consideration, the object is definite. For the Bible (_which_ and which -_alone_ constitutes that object) is specific; and is further secured, by -its authorized translation into all the languages of the United Kingdom, -against the possibility of losing its specific character. Now since the -Society are bound, by a law of their constitution, to circulate the -_authorized_ version of the Scriptures, and that _alone_, their object -must remain so uniform and determinate, that no deviation from it can -occur, without a perceivable, an obvious, a felonious sacrifice of -justice, honor, and good faith. Of such departure therefore, if ever it -should be attempted, the public will most infallibly be apprized. For -those respectable characters _at least_, with whom you would be proud to -rank your name, will be the witnesses, the opposers, and (if unsuccessful -in their opposition) the reporters of such apostacy; and I hardly need -remind you that the efficiency of their exertions under all these -characters, will be diminished in the same proportion, in which you may -contrive to reduce their numbers, and discredit their association. - -So much for that security which the object of the Society affords. But -let us hear what sort of security you, in the exercise of your -moderation, are disposed to require. “If Lord T. will pledge himself -that the six hundred members of his Society are, like himself, honourable -and upright men, who speak what they mean, and practise what they -profess, who abhor duplicity and deceit, and know no discordance between -the object they _profess_ and the object they _pursue_—if Lord T. can -assure me this, I shall be proud to rank my name, and make exertion under -his protection.” {14a} - -And are these really, Sir, the lowest terms upon which the benefit of -your name can be obtained for the British and Foreign Bible Society? If -they are, I must fairly own, humiliating as the confession may appear, I -have no hope of hearing that the Secretary has been called upon “to -insert your name and accept your donation.” {14b} No Sir; his Lordship -cannot go such lengths as you require. I dare say he would do every -thing in his power to satisfy you; but I think I may venture to say, -without consulting him, that this exceeds his power. His Lordship is a -student of human nature, and the situations which he has filled, have -afforded him opportunities of pursuing his favorite study. How he has -employed those opportunities, and what fruit he has derived from them, I -need not tell you. I dare say you have not lost your respect for the -biographer of Sir William Jones, in your resentment against the President -of the Bible Society. But, with all his powers of discrimination, his -Lordship has his limits as well as _other_ men; and I hope you would not -wish him to vouch _for_ or _against_ a large class of individuals, as you -may have found some people inclined to do, merely on account of certain -peculiar specimens which he has seen, or some indistinct reports which he -has heard. - -But surely, Sir, I may be excused for doubting whether you “be in jest or -earnest,” {15} when you meet his Lordship’s proposition with such -exorbitant demands. Did you ever know a President who could engage for -quite so much as you require? Or did you ever see “six hundred” names -together, that stood for nothing less than so many “honorable and upright -men?” I am sure I venerate every useful Society throughout the kingdom, -from the Society for _promoting Christian Knowledge_, down to the Society -for _superseding the Necessity of Climbing Boys_; and yet I should not be -surprised if their respective Presidents should decline bearing their -testimony to the individual characters of the first _six hundred_ members -of those several Societies upon which I might choose to lay my hand. -Besides, Sir, consider—a rule for _one_, in such a case is a rule for -_all_. What you require _before_ you subscribe your name, others may -think themselves justified in requiring _after_ you have subscribed it. -And what will be the consequence?—His Lordship will next be called upon -to pledge himself for _you_; and though I dare say he could do it with -perfect safety, yet I think he might have reasons for wishing to be -excused. - -The object of this extravagant demand at length comes out; and it seems I -was perfectly justified in doubting whether you were in jest or earnest -when you advanced it. “All (you say) that I here assert” (and questions -of a certain description are the strongest of all assertions) “is this; -that your Lordship, for whose head and heart I have the highest respect, -appears to have undertaken the patronage of you know not whom or what.” -{16} Now, Sir, there is but one portion of this _assertion_ to which I -have any objection. His Lordship certainly does know _what_ he has -undertaken to patronize; for to the circulation of the Scriptures, the -Scriptures as printed by authority, the Scriptures without any addition, -deduction, or variation, both his patronage and that of the truly -venerable characters associated with him, are restrained. The rest of -the assertion is perfectly harmless. His Lordship has undertaken the -patronage of he _knows not whom_: this is strictly true; nor would it be -less so, if his Lordship filled the chair of any other Society, or if the -Country Clergyman and his friends occupied the place of the six hundred -members over whom his Lordship _actually does_ preside. - -It seems, however, that if his Lordship does not know over _whom_ he -presides, the Country Clergyman can tell him. Lord T. does not know “the -men and their communication” to whom he has joined himself; but you, it -should seem, can explain them both. No sooner do you cast your eye over -the List of Subscribers which his Lordship has sent you, than you see “a -very large proportion” of persons “with which, as an honest man,” you -“can have nothing to do;” men of whose company you “have hitherto always -been horribly afraid, being frightened at the idea of having the national -establishment blown up, as one of them said, clergy and all;”—“wolves,” -who design to worry your “poor sheep;”—“crafty beasts;” and, finally, -“those who openly and fairly avow that their object is to eat up both -sheep and shepherd.” {17} This is indeed, Sir, a very alarming -discovery; and I could almost wish, for the honor of the Society, it had -never been made. However, though I love the Society much, I love truth -more; and therefore, whatever sacrifice it may cost me, I trust it will -always prevail. - -But now, Sir, though I make no doubt you believe every thing you say, -what ground have you for expecting that I should? If you tell me you -have seen a ghost, and that he frightened you out of your wits, I may -have the best reasons in the world for believing that you have seen a -ghost; and yet I may doubt all the time whether there were a ghost to be -seen. In like manner, though I dare say you are a devout believer in the -threats of these incendiaries, the howlings of these wolves, and the -voracious declarations of these cannibals; yet, I may after all have -liberty to doubt, whether such stories are entitled to a moment’s regard. -Travellers, you know, Sir, with the best intentions in the world, often -play a trick upon us; and I think it very possible, that a Country -Clergyman, with no worse intentions, may be led to do the same. When -Bruce described the Abyssinian as cutting a steak from the rump of a -living animal, and then driving him on as if nothing had happened, the -world smiled at the easy credulity of the honest traveller, and did not -believe one particle of the matter: I am inclined to think that the -marvellous tales of the Country Clergyman will scarcely meet with a -better fate. - -But let me, Sir, expostulate with you for a moment. I know how -unreasonable a passion fear is, and I think it is always worth while to -take every honest method of getting rid of it. - -As a Country Clergyman, I dare say, you are a pretty good horseman; and -though I do not suspect you of appearing upon a race-course, or galloping -after the hounds, yet I suppose you are no enemy to a pleasant ride. Now -it must have happened to you, at least once in your life, as well as to -inferior horsemen, to be in imminent danger of breaking your neck by the -sudden and unaccountable starting of your horse. Irritable and -overbearing men will, you know, under such circumstances, make a furious -application of the whip and the spur to the back and sides of the -terrified animal. The consequence is, that if he was afraid of the -object at first, he will be “horribly afraid” of it ever after. You and -I know a better way; and that is, to lead the animal up to the object -which occasioned his alarm, and to give him an opportunity of forming a -more correct judgment of it. I cannot help thinking, that if you had -adopted some such steps, under your first impressions of alarm at the -Subscribers to the Bible Society; if, without _venturing yourself_ “into -the company of men of whom you have hitherto been always horribly -afraid,” you had yet _ventured yourself_ near enough to them, to see -whether they were likely men to blow you up in the air, or bury you in -their stomachs; you would have been saved from the humiliating necessity -of soliciting “the charity of the Noble President to pity your weakness -and excuse your unconquerable fears.” {19} - -But let me tell you a story—A friend of mine (who by the way is a Country -Clergyman as well as yourself) was lately invited to dine with a Mohawk -Chief, of whose visit to this country the provincial papers have -doubtless informed you. My friend was very much in your situation. His -head was full of stories against this “denomination” of people. He had -been credibly assured, that they were “the enemies of all that is sober -or established;” that they enjoyed nothing so much as pulling men’s -scalps over their ears, and eating them up, _clothes and all_. He could -not therefore, for some time, be induced to _venture himself_ “into the -company of men of whom he had hitherto been always horribly afraid.” At -length, however, he was prevailed upon to accept the invitation; not -without some apprehensions on his own part, that he “should feel uneasy, -and be illiberally, perhaps, looking towards the door.” {20} How he -actually behaved, I am not told; but what do you think was the event of -his visit?—Why, he returned from the interview, with his flesh upon his -bones, his scalp upon his head, and not a single mark of the tomahawk all -over his body. Add to this, he received so favorable an impression of -this “denomination” of people, that he resolved hereafter to consider -them as _brethren_, and to co-operate with them in every object which -might promise to promote their common welfare, without interfering with -their separate, local, and independent interests. I leave the Country -Clergyman to use his discretion about trying such experiments as these; -but, whether he try them or not, I make no question, that, in many cases, -they would be attended with similar success. - -It seems, however, that such Associations are forbidden by that least -forbidding of all the Christian graces, _Charity_. “Christian charity -(you tell us) no where recommends associations of discordant principles, -combinations of men professedly at variance and in hostility with each -other: but Christian charity enjoins that which renders all these -elaborate societies useless; it teaches and _obliges_ Christians to be -_like-minded_, to have one faith, one baptism, one speech, and one hope -of their calling.” {21a} Now, Sir, though I am far from thinking that -you are singular in your notion of Christian charity; for the church of -Rome entertained the same opinions, and does, I dare say, entertain them -to this day—yet I think you will have a difficulty in turning this notion -to any important use. The fact is, that Christian Charity, much as she -may _enjoin_ an uniformity of opinion upon questions of a controvertible -nature, cannot succeed in effecting it without the aid of those -_compelling_ means, of which she has been so long deprived. From the -time that some prototype of Lord T. prevailed upon the church “to throw -away that natural defence” of whips, and screws, and faggots, “which God -Almighty had given her,” {21b} Christian Charity has assumed a new -character, and taken up an employment the very opposite to that in which -she had been for ages before engaged. Her attention is now turned from -the _heads_ to the _hearts_ of men; and when she cannot succeed in making -them _like-minded_, she tries to make them _love one another_. She is -said to have actually disclaimed all the sentiments and measures which -were ascribed to her during her alliance with the Holy Father. The -account which is given of the matter, is plausible enough; and as it does -not appear to have reached your ears, I will give it you just as I -received it. - -Somewhere about the time when the churches of the West came under the -dominion of the Holy See, the successor of St. Peter was observed to cool -in his regard for _Charity_, and to withdraw his affections very sensibly -from _her_. The cause of this decline in his attachment was at length -discovered. A rival, not unknown for many ages before, had now acquired -a very formidable ascendancy in the breast of the Holy Pontiff; and the -new attachment was not a little cherished by the leading members of the -subjugated church. The influence of the favorite rapidly increased, and -that of _Charity_ proportionably declined; till at length, matters went -so far that the latter was deposed and imprisoned, and the former -enthroned in her place. The name of _Bigotry_ (for so she had been -called from her birth) was against her, and so was her countenance. The -first of these difficulties she got over by assuming the name of her -disgraced predecessor; the latter, it is said, remains a difficulty to -this very day. In the mean time, _Charity_ continued immured in the -closest confinement; and when the monasteries were pulled down at the -Reformation, this queen of all the virtues was found pale and almost -lifeless in a subterraneous cell. Her health had been so much impaired -by confinement, and her character misrepresented by the artifices of her -rival, that it took her a great deal of time to regain her strength and -make herself properly known. In both these respects she has now to a -great degree succeeded: and though the Pope denies her rights, and many -persons, who ought to know better, continue to question them, yet her -countenance and temper most clearly identify her with that heavenly -original, whose office it is to sanctify the confidence of faith and the -fervor of hope; and to make them the instruments of promoting glory to -God in the highest, and peace and good-will among men. - -Now though this looks very much like an allegorical account of the -matter, yet I think it accords so well with the fact, that I trust both -you and I shall be the better for the moral of it. I am sure if I -thought that uniformity of opinion upon the details of Christianity, -could be brought about among those who agree in the fundamentals of it, I -should rejoice to contribute my proportion to the advancement of so -desirable an event. But I do not expect, what in the present -constitution of human nature I believe to be impossible. I think that -the nearest advances to such uniformity may be made by resolving to unite -as far as we are _like-minded_, and to be reciprocally forbearing where -we are _not_, and thus to fulfil our Saviour’s commandment of loving one -another. I am sure that if every Country Clergyman will substitute this -species of Charity for the adulterous idol which you have set up (and I -have little doubt but they will), the church will then maintain herself -in vigour, usefulness, and beauty; “and the gates of nonconformity” {24a} -will not prevail against her. - -I have hitherto been reasoning upon the presumption, that circulating the -Holy Scriptures was an act upon the excellence of which no question could -arise between us; but it seems that I have been mistaken: for his -Lordship is cautioned (and every member of the Society through him) not -to be “deceived with the notion, that the _bare act of distributing -Bibles_, _is the act of disseminating truth_.” {24b} - -This species of caution, and the reasons by which it is supported, have -acquired so much the air of novelty by having been shut up for more than -two hundred years, that I confess I was not a little struck with them; -and I dare say, the feelings of most of your readers will be in unison -with mine. But I will give the passage at length: - - “Be not then deceived, my Lord, with the notion that the _bare act of - distributing Bibles is the __act of disseminating the sacred truth_. - The word of God in itself is pure, and perfect, and more to be - desired than much fine gold; but as the finest gold may be turned to - base purposes, so may the Scriptures. For, alas! through the lusts - of men and the covetousness of the world, the precious book of life - is made the instrument of error as well as of truth; of much evil as - well as of infinite good. When it is remembered that to the - Scriptures, not only the true church of Christ appeals for - confirmation of its divine doctrine; but likewise that every sect and - heresy, by which it ever was defaced, has regularly pretended - likewise to produce its error; when we observe the Papist, and - Puritan, the Socinian, and Calvinist, the Baptist, and Quaker, all - appealing to the Bible for the truth of their principles, and - pretending to prove them thereby;—it will not be maintained, I think, - that the _mere distribution of Bibles_ under the present - circumstances of the times, is likely to spread the truth. On the - contrary, it is to be expected that each member of your heterogeneous - Society will draw his portion of books for the promotion of his - particular opinion; for it is easily seen, that a Bible given away by - a Papist, will be productive of Popery. The Socinian will make his - Bible speak, and spread Socinianism; while the Calvinist, the - Baptist, and the Quaker, will teach the opinions peculiar to their - sects. Supply these men with Bibles (I speak as to a true - churchman), and you supply them with arms against yourself.” {26} - -Really, Sir, in reading over this extraordinary morceau, which I do -assure you I have done again and again, I have found my astonishment -continually increase, and am now as much at a loss as ever, to account -for your raising up again those notions, which have been buried by public -authority for so many ages. An old parishioner of mine, who scarcely -reads any books but the Bible and Fox’s Martyrology, was ready to swoon -when she came to this part of your pamphlet; and I could not, for the -life of me, prevail upon her to go any farther. She was utterly -astonished at my being able to smile at what she was pleased to call, the -_rankest Popery she had_ ever read. I told her, it could not be Popery; -for it was written by a Country Clergyman: she said, the whole was a -trick; and that the Papists abounded in such tricks. It was in vain that -I repeated to her my conviction, that the author was a Protestant -Clergyman, and that, I feared, he was not singular in holding these -opinions: I could not get her to believe one syllable of either. She -persisted in her declaration, that, whatever you might call yourself, you -were some Romish Priest in the interest of the Catholics; and that you -only wanted to prepare the people for parting with their Bibles. - -Now, Sir, though I by no means go the same lengths as my orthodox -parishioner, yet I am free to confess, that I agree with her in the main. -I dare believe, that you have no more intention of bringing back the Pope -than I have; and yet I do not know how you could have written more to the -purpose, if you had wished to accomplish such a measure. The dangers -which you point out as accompanying the perusal of the Holy Scriptures by -the unlearned, were matters of constant anxiety to his Papal bosom all -the time that he acted as visible head of the English church; and many a -Country Clergyman was employed, under his direction, to enforce upon -Lords and Commoners that prudent caution against _distributing Bibles_, -which you so earnestly press upon the Noble President of the British and -Foreign Bible Society. Our forefathers, however, were too much of his -Lordship’s way of thinking to yield to such considerations: having -derived so much benefit from reading the Bible themselves, they would not -endure the thought of refusing it to others; and they were, therefore, -among the foremost “to promote the circulation of the Scriptures at home -and abroad.” - -I lament with you that “the Holy Book is made a nose of wax;” I, too, am -“_sadly_ experiencing” this, “daily before my eyes;” {27} and, the -strange interpretation which you have given of “Christian Charity,” is -another proof of the _sad_ extent to which this practice has spread. But -I could not consent on that account to deprive _you_ of your Bible, nor -even to refuse you another if you wanted it. Indeed, Sir, the conduct -which you blame, and of which you have condescended to become an example, -is a grievous evil: but the remedy which you propose, and which the -Council of Trent proposed before you, is abundantly worse than the -disease. - -By the way, Sir, I wonder you were not a little afraid of venturing such -sentiments abroad, without first consulting those of your friends who are -better acquainted with the principles of the Reformation than you appear -to be. You talk of _the church_, in the same language, with the same -pride of appropriation, and with the same prerogative of limiting the -course and interpretation of Scripture, as if you had never heard that -the church of Rome disputes all these things with you, or as if you had -never heard of a separation from her. Had no such separation taken -place, your observations would have been perfectly in order. You might -then have followed them up too with this precautionary proposition, that -Bibles should be suppressed; and that every subject of the empire should -engage (in the language of the Douay Catechism) to “believe whatsoever -the Catholic church proposes to be believed.” This would certainly (if -it could have been carried into effect) have rendered “all such elaborate -Societies” as confine themselves to “the _bare act of distributing -Bibles_, useless;” and consequently the growth of _heresy_, _error_, and -_delusion_, impossible. - -But, Sir, you and I must take things as we find them: and it does so -happen, that things _are not_, in the church established in these realms, -as they _once were_. Whether it be a wise or an unwise measure to open -the Scriptures to the people at large, it is now too late to dispute: to -the people at large they _are_ opened; and their distribution is -legitimated both by canon and precedent, as an act of the strictest -justice, and the purest benevolence. - -Indeed I must take upon myself to tell you, that your fears for the -church, from “the circulation of the Scriptures,” are not calculated to -do her any honor in the world. She either does not think with you, that, -in supplying the different denominations of Christians with Bibles, she -is really supplying them “with arms against herself;” or if she does, she -has the magnanimity to promote their salvation, though it were at her own -expense. I dare say you will set me down for no “true churchman,” when I -say this; but I will give you an authority to this effect, which has much -weight with me, and which _you_ will scarcely venture to dispute. In a -little tract, called “Questions and Answers concerning the respective -Tenets of the Church of England and the Church of Rome,” I find the -following passage: - - “Question. Why do you find fault with the church of ROME for not - suffering the common people _to read the Bible_? - - “Answer. 1. Because in so doing they act contrary to the command - Christ gives to _all_, ‘Search the Scriptures,’ John, v. 39. - - “2. Because what they forbid, the Apostles commend, as we see in the - example of the Bereans, who are _commended_ for reading the - Scriptures, Acts, xvii. 11. - - “3. It is contrary to the practice of the primitive church, in which - the fathers _earnestly exhorted_ the people to an assiduous and - diligent reading of the Scriptures. - - “4. It agrees not with St. Paul’s counsel and exhortation, 1 Thess. - v. 7. ‘_I charge you_ that this Epistle be read to all the holy - brethren.’ - - “5. It was a duty of the Jews to have the law in their houses, and - to read it to their children, Deut. vi. 7, and therefore must be much - more the duty of Christians to read or peruse the Gospel, as being a - people living under a greater and richer economy. - - “6. Whereas it is pretended that the Scriptures are obscure, and - that this prohibition is _to prevent heresies_: _we_ answer, that the - Scriptures are not so obscure, in places relating to things necessary - to salvation, but that they may be understood by the laity: and as to - the plea of _preventing heresies_, that is only a pretence, no - argument, since _they __might as well forbid people to eat and - drink_, _for_, _fear they should abuse that liberty_.” - -Now, as this tract is issued by the Society for promoting Christian -Knowledge, I cannot but think it a misfortune, that, as a _Country -Clergyman_, you should not have seen it before you wrote your Address to -Lord T.: you would scarcely then have challenged the Noble Lord to show -that he was “a true churchman,” by fearing and restraining the -circulation of the Scriptures. As it is, you can scarcely, I should -think, expect to escape rebuke. Like that “officer of the Society,” {31} -whose secret history you seem to have studied so well, you have stepped a -little out of your regular line, and, like him too, have been guilty of -some “indecorum towards the church and its spiritual superiors.” - -But supposing, Sir, that I could admit your dubious proposition, that the -dissemination of truth did not depend upon the _Bible_ which was given, -but upon the _hand_ which might give it; a proposition, which, if true to -the extent of your statement, would prove equally, that the effect of -your pamphlet upon the interests of the Bible Society will depend less -upon the merits of your work, than upon the hands through which it may -pass;—what expedient would you propose, in the exercise of your sagacity, -for providing against the consequences you fear? I am aware of your -answer—“_Dissolve the Bible Society_.” Suppose that done; though there -would, I think, be difficulties in the way of doing it: still the tares -are sowing in a thousand directions, and the business of prevention is -scarcely yet begun. Your expedient must provide for putting Bibles into -the hands of churchmen _only_, or of those who will _infallibly_ become -churchmen by reading them; or it will never succeed. But what will you -do with those wholesale Bible-mongers, the universities of Oxford and -Cambridge, and his Majesty’s Printer, and all their subordinate agents -and instruments, the book and Bible sellers throughout the country? -While such merchants as these may dispose of Bibles _ad libitum_ as an -article of trade, and such bodies as the Society for promoting Christian -Knowledge, and others of the same description, will continue to favor the -traffic, I cannot see how you will contrive to dam up the waters of life -to any orthodox purpose; or to prevent their irrigating those lands that -are alienated from the established church. - -Perhaps it might forward your purpose to put the printing and -distributing of Bibles under some new and more definite limitation. As -the members of the church of England do not exceed four fifths of the -population of the country, and the chance of converting a sectary is -scarcely worth the risk of supplying him with “arms against yourself,” -what think you of a petition to the Legislature against uselessly and -dangerously multiplying copies of the Holy Scriptures? I will suppose -your application successful, and that only four Bibles are printed for -every five individuals upon the records of the population. I will also -suppose, which is quite as necessary, that these Bibles, when printed, -are consigned to an ecclesiastical depot, of which the whole and sole -custody shall be vested in the Country Clergyman; and that not a single -copy of the Bible shall be issued but under his direction. And now, Sir, -do you really think, that, “old as you are in the business,” you would be -able to detect all _the dogs_ that, under various disguises, would be -seeking _the children’s meat_? If you find in the little range of your -own parish such “hard work with these crafty beasts,” how much would your -work be increased, and your difficulties multiplied, by the daily care of -all the churches? - -But you must go farther, Sir, or else you had better not have begun.—You -must interdict the free circulation of all “Apologies for the Bible,” all -dissertations upon its authenticity and evidence, and particularly all -discourses upon its excellence and usefulness. You must prevail upon the -many venerable prelates, archdeacons’, and priests, of the present day, -who have done themselves so much honor by advocating the cause of -Christianity, to expunge from their writings all unguarded commendations -of the Holy Scriptures; or to provide for their works, if they know how, -an exclusive circulation in ecclesiastical channels. Nor is this all: -you must invite, solicit, and (if you can find the means) compel, all the -different denominations of Christians, to deliver up forthwith the Bibles -they possess into the hands of the nearest parish priest. When all this -is accomplished (and until it is, your end will be very imperfectly -obtained) it will only remain for those well-meaning Societies, in -connexion with the established church, to ask a bill of indemnity for the -degree in which they have contributed to the propagation of error, by -their incautious distribution of Bibles; and to bind themselves over to -commit no more such acts of ecclesiastical suicide. Your business, it -shall be supposed, is now accomplished; and what is the result?—Why, you -may now congratulate yourself upon having withdrawn the _antidote_ and -left the _poison_ in circulation; for the different denominations of -Christians are still in possession of the privilege of multiplying -_tracts_ ad infinitum, and you have deprived their readers of the only -means of detecting the _heresy_ they contain. - -But really, Sir, to be serious—“I feel very strong objections to the -whole plan, not indeed the simple, pure object of” securing the -Scriptures from perversion; “the mischief lies in the _manner_ and -means,” which must at all events be employed for “carrying that object -into effect.” {34} - -The word of God, which is a savour of life unto life, _may_ also, I know, -become a savour of death unto death. I am sorry for it: but to restrain -the circulation of it, in order to provide against this _contingent_ -evil, would, I continue to think, with the authority before cited, be at -once as unreasonable and unjust, as to “forbid people to eat or drink, -for fear they should abuse that liberty.” - -I am really sorry, Sir, you were so much at a loss to interpret the -meaning of that “liberal basis,” upon which his Lordship recommended the -Society to your notice. The terms “broad bottom,” {35a} which you -substitute in their place, would have expressed well enough his -Lordship’s intention; but as he was writing to a _Country Clergyman_, and -not to “a preaching blacksmith,” he would not “fail in the respect” that -is due to “a gentleman and a Christian.” {35b}—“Those who are used to -good company (you say) know how to behave.” {35c} What then is his -Lordship to think of _you_, when you tell him, that you have “not been -educated on liberal-basis’d or broad-bottomed principles,” {35d} but that -either you have not put on your prettiest behaviour, or that you would -“feel” less “uneasy,” than you pretend, in that class of company to -which, as a member of the Bible Society, you would expect to be -introduced? - -But were there no other authorities to which you could have recourse, -when the lexicographer failed you, than the mouths of the “_vulgar_?” -{36} I have an authority before me, which throws so much more light upon -his Lordship’s “liberal basis,” than either the synonyms of the -“lexicographer,” the slang of the “vulgar,” or the etymological quirks of -the “Country Clergyman,” that I shall make no apology for producing it: - - “Give us all grace, to put away from us all rancour of religious - dissension, that they who agree in the essentials of our most holy - faith, and look for pardon through the merits and intercession of the - Saviour, may, notwithstanding the differences upon points of doubtful - opinion, and in the forms of external worship, still be united in the - bonds of Christian charity, and fulfil thy blessed Son’s commandment, - of loving one another as he hath loved them.”—_Form of Prayer for the - Fast_, _October_ 19, 1803. - -Now here, Sir, I found that “liberal basis” upon which the Society is -erected, and I am surprised you did not think of looking for it in the -same place. But perhaps the liberal basis of the prayer, like that of -the Society, “has no charms for” _you_. I will not presume such a fact; -but if you were to affirm that it is so, I should have very little -difficulty in believing you. - -You do not however intend “to deny the possibility of any _sort or -degree_ of union among certain descriptions of persons composing the -Society.” {37a} You are “perfectly aware that all the various and -discordant tribes of dissenters from the church of England may unite from -the Papist down to the Quaker; for they frequently have, and frequently -do unite _against_ the church.” {37b}—“But when (say you) was it ever -known that they have united _with_ the church? Show me the history, lay -your finger on the page, and say, my Lord, _when_, _where_, and upon what -_occasion_, did they ever unite _with_ the church for any important and -righteous design. I must be satisfied on this point; I must request some -fair example and precedent, to prove that the thing is neither impossible -nor improbable, before it can be even prudent to listen to your -Lordship’s proposal.” {37c} - -Now here, Sir, you throw out a challenge, which, with his Lordship’s -permission, I am willing to accept. I will show you the history of such -union as you indirectly deny: I will lay my finger on the page, and say, -_when_, and _where_, and upon what _occasion_ the different tribes of -Dissenters _did_ unite with the church for an important and righteous -design. The _history_ then to which I refer is that portion of our -country’s annals which commenced with the autumn of 1803, and which is -not yet completed. The _page_ upon which I lay my finger is that which -displays the voluntary creation of a national force; in which, if one -feature was more illustrious than another, it was the magnanimity with -which the subjects of the same government agreed “to put away all rancour -of religious dissension,” and to unite in the prosecution of that -_righteous_ and _important_ design in which they had embarked, -“notwithstanding their differences upon points of doubtful opinion, and -in the forms of external worship.” Let the Country Clergyman peruse this -awful yet luminous page of our history; let him weigh well the danger -which threatened the throne, the church, and the nation; let him read in -those discourses, which gratitude will not allow us to forget, how that -danger was proclaimed by preachers of every denomination; let him walk -through the land, in the length of it and the breadth of it, and see how -many myriads were added to the national force by those powerful and -seasonable appeals to the feelings, the conscience, and the spirit of -Britons; and he will want, I think, no other “example and precedent” to -prove that an union of the various tribes of Dissenters WITH the church -of England, for an important and righteous design, “is neither impossible -nor improbable.” - -With such a recent portion of history before your eyes, I cannot see, I -confess, either the justice or the policy of your travelling back over a -century and half of ground in order to find matter of accusation against -those of our fellow-subjects, with whom a sense of common danger has -united us, and with whom it is as important now as it was two years ago, -that we should continue united. The politico-religious strife which -subsisted between our ancestors and theirs is not a sacred inheritance. -I trust the various denominations of Christians of the present day would -think themselves as much disgraced by the events of “the grand -rebellion,” {39a} as the modern members of the establishment would by the -revenge with which it was followed. “The church” has, I know, “her sores -and scars;” and so, I lament to say, have those who dissented from her. -Let us own the truth—“the heavenly dove” {39b} has been sometimes -encouraged to make a little too free with “the wings and feathers” of the -smaller birds, and it must not therefore be wondered if her own have -suffered. Let her but act up to the sweetness of her nature, and allow -the other tenants of the air to have their note; she then may plume her -golden breast without annoyance, and bear her grateful blessings on -outstretched wings to every nation under heaven. - -Your zeal for extending the boundaries of that church in which you -minister, is both natural and just: I participate in it with all the -feelings of my heart. It is an object which has my prayers, and shall, -by God’s assistance, through life command my services. But I will not -set her up as the entire and only spouse of Christ: for how can I then -curse those whom God hath not cursed?—Away with those superannuated -fears, that she must grow barren because her younger sisters are -fruitful. I have no doubt but both she and they have “borne many an -illustrious child of God” {40a} to their heavenly bridegroom, and will -continue to bear many more. I lament with you, that they prefer their -_Gerizim_ to our _Zion_: but I must not therefore refuse to have any -dealings {40b} with them, or to entertain any charity for them. If they -worship God in spirit and truth, if with the heart they believe on the -Lord Jesus unto righteousness, if they “agree in the essentials of our -most holy faith, and look for pardon through the merits and intercession -of the Saviour,” I cannot, I dare not, I will not put them out of the -covenant of grace and mercy and peace. Aliens from our external -commonwealth, they are yet fellow-citizens with the saints: and though -the earthly Jerusalem disclaim them, they will hereafter be acknowledged -by the Jerusalem above—the mother of us all. {40c} - -But the treason can no longer be dissembled; the eleventh article of the -Society’s constitution proclaims it: that article purports, that “the -committee (which is to conduct the business of the Society, appoint all -officers except the treasurer, have power to call special meetings, and -are charged with procuring for the Society suitable patronage) shall -consist of thirty-six laymen; of whom, twenty-four, who shall have most -frequently attended, shall be eligible for re-election for the ensuing -year; six shall be foreigners resident in London or its vicinity; half -the remainder shall be members of the church of England, and the other -half members of other denominations of Christians!!!” - -“_We have here_ (say you) _a standing majority against the church_!” and -then, after declaiming, with all the art of the buskin, upon this -“death-warrant of the established church,” and with all the prescience of -the seer upon the return of the “halcyon days of 1648,” you surround -yourself with the imaginary ruins of “our” demolished “Zion,” and make -your exit “weeping.” {41} I thought indeed when you played such awkward -antics upon “his Lordship’s liberal basis,” that every thing was not -right. I could not but regard the laugh in which you indulged, as a -symptom of something very different from humour; and I have not been -deceived. It was, I perceive, a _moody laugh_, and has ended, as all -such hysterical affections do, in _a flood of tears_. As the fit is now -over, we may examine this treasonable article, with a better chance of -coming to a mutual understanding upon it. - -I will then indulge you for a moment with the full benefit of your -assertion, that there is in this committee “_a standing majority against -the church_;” and what will you gain by such a concession? The object, -you must now bear in mind, is specific—the circulation of the Scriptures; -that object, you must also recollect, is limited, within the kingdom, to -the _authorized_, versions in use among us. The same sort of limitation -is not resorted to in case of foreign versions, for the best of all -reasons; that it _cannot_ in the nature of things be applied. The -different Protestant churches on the European continent have their -authorized versions, and _there_ the line of proceeding is direct: but -where the church of Rome, or, as she calls herself _the church_, -prevails; _there_, the Country Clergyman would scarcely wish the rule for -circulating the _authorized_ version to be observed. As for those -languages into which translations remain to be made, they are for the -most part so remote from the ordinary sphere of study and commerce, that -the office of executing such translations, and judging of their merits, -must generally be consigned to foreigners; who probably neither -understand the distinctions to which we annex importance, nor could be -made to understand them. No questions, therefore, can arise in this -committee, which might bring into discussion the points of disagreement -between the church of England and Dissenters: so that if there should be -in such committee, a standing majority of members _out of_ the church, -that will by no means constitute a Standing majority _against_ her. - -But let us see whether your _hypothesis_ does not assume rather too much. -The Society is denominated _British_ and _Foreign_. In the constitution -of its committee, it was but just to pay respect to both parts of its -designation: nor does it appear extravagant to have assigned a sixth part -of that committee to the members of those foreign churches, with which -the Society sought a friendly co-operation, and with which, I understand, -she _is_ actually co-operating to a very considerable extent. Now these -foreigners cannot be identified with the Dissenters from the established -church, without as much violence to speech as makes a _solecism_, and to -the rights of hospitality, as constitutes a _calumny_. Neither these men -have sinned, nor their parents, in the way which the Country Clergyman -_supposes_: they brought their religion with them, as they did their -language; and they might as truly be said to have dissented from a -language which they never spake, as from a mode of religious worship -which neither they nor their fathers ever professed. They are, it should -be observed, for the most part members of sister churches, from which the -Society for promoting Christian Knowledge has obtained some of its most -laborious missionaries, and the established church of this country has -derived, and must continue to derive, her nursing mothers. {44} On many -grounds, these foreigners would feel the ties which bind them to the -established church; and she may therefore fairly reckon upon their -_neutrality_, if she may not promise herself their _support_. - -Let these _neutrals_ (for such _at least_ I am privileged to call them) -be withdrawn, and there remain fifteen members to support the church’s -interests, and fifteen, as it is supposed by the Country Clergyman, to -impugn them. The former will naturally be links of the same chain; -common interest, and pledges of a peculiar nature, dictate to them an -uniformity of reciprocal support, from which they may not be expected to -depart. They may therefore be reckoned upon to the extent of their -number. But will you, Sir, who seem to know something of the world, will -you allow yourself to believe, that the same uniformity of co-operation -may be expected from the fifteen members who are to fight the battles of -_dissent_? Some among them are advocates for _infant_ baptism, some for -_adult_ baptism, and some for _no_ baptism at all. Some hold the tenets -of Calvin, some of Arminius, and some of neither. Their sentiments upon -church government are also scarcely less various, than their opinions -upon matters of faith: so that, widely as they may seem to dissent from -the church of England, many of them would be found, if controverted -questions could arise, to differ still more widely from each other. Yet -all these discordant members must harmonize together; and the foreigners, -who probably differ from them all, must harmonize with them; or else _the -standing majority against the church_ must remain a mere _standing_ -bugbear, to scare the Country Clergyman, and terrify those who choose to -participate his alarms. - -I am, however, no enemy to strong improbabilities where a pleasant -argument is concerned. The fifteen members of all denominations of -British Christians _shall_ unite together; the six members of foreign -churches shall do the same: and then, like the miraculous pieces of St. -Peter’s chain {45} (of which _the church_ makes such notable mention), -these two parties shall form a junction; _a majority_ shall thus be -created _against_ the church. What then? Are not the presidents, -vice-presidents, and treasurer, by virtue of their respective offices, -members of the committee? Suppose then for a moment, that the committee -should entertain so foul a proposition as that for “blowing up the -establishment, clergy and all;” suppose, that the Quakers should consent -to renounce, _pro hâc vice_, their objections to the employment of -gunpowder; suppose further that the foreigners should concur, nobody -knows why, in voting for such a measure; the terrified minority would not -be without a remedy. It would still be in their power, by the accession -of these honorary members, to outnumber their dissenting adversaries at -the ensuing meeting; and, by objecting to the confirmation of the -minutes, prevent the explosion of this nefarious plot. But indeed there -is no end of remedies. Every clergyman subscribing a guinea a year, is a -_member of the committee_. (Art. 12.) Every subscriber of five guineas a -year, is a _member of the committee_. (Art. 5 and 7.) Every subscriber -of 50_l._ at one time, is a _member of the committee_. (Art. 6.) And -lastly, every executor paying a bequest of 100_l._ is a _member of the -committee_. (Art. 8 and 7.) Now, Sir, supposing the members of the -church of England to be (upon your own estimate) to those of other -denominations as four to one, _whose_ fault do you think it will be, if -the balance of influence in the committee of the Bible Society should be -against her? Will _you_ be wholly innocent?—“Oh, Sir, how could you join -in such a plot? What could induce you to lend your” professional “name -to such a business as this? And why should you think so basely of the -clergy as to tempt them by your example,” and the presumption of your -fair reputation, to believe, that, in strengthening the hands of their -ecclesiastical brethren, they would “sign the death-warrant of the -established church, and the instrument of their own ruin?” {47a} Do, -Sir, lose no time in writing your palinodia. I will not ask you to alter -your opinion of the Society, or to part with one of your suspicions of -its mischievous designs. You shall still be at liberty to talk, as -freely as ever, of “preaching blacksmiths and fanatical ranters in holy -orders;” and of such “doves,” as you and your friends, becoming “a -luscious and inviting morsel to all the several hungry denominations of -Christians;” provided you do but seek to multiply the number of our -ecclesiastical subscribers, as much as you have hitherto laboured to -diminish it. I will not promise, in return, that your “liberality will -be sounded forth by every gospel-preacher in the church, and every -twanging teacher in the conventicle;” {47b} but I may then venture to -promise you, what I should think would afford you quite as much -pleasure—the satisfaction of having converted a standing majority -_against_ the church into a standing majority _in her favor_. - -I will not dispute with you, whether the established church will be a -gainer by this new connexion on the score of _dignity_ and fashion. I am -told, indeed, that there are among the nonconformists those who can wear -as gay a coat, play as good a hand at whist, and give as modish an -account of an opera or a play, as “those men of the world” among us, who -“think it more creditable to be accounted members of our venerable -church, than a subscriber to the meeting-house:” but I cannot say how -many there may be of this description among the subscribers to the Bible -Society. However, though “few men of opulence, and fewer still of rank, -frequent the meeting-house or conventicle,” there is “influence and -consideration” {48a} enough among the members of our communion to give -respectability to both. I grant, indeed, that “the presence of _a -nobleman_ cannot make the company which he honours with his presence -either creditable or polite,” yet surely the presence of a _number_ will -go a great way towards doing it: but then I admit with you, that they -must not be “wandering stars,” {48b} which shed a momentary lustre, but -luminaries which keep a _fixed_ position, and dispense a _certain_ light. - -You expect, as the result of this new association, that all will become -unity, and charity, and Christian benevolence, and that you shall see -“realized the pretty hand-in-hand frontispiece to the Christian Ladies -Pocket-Book 1803.” {48c} Now though I am not so sanguine in my -expectations as you are, yet I trust you will not be wholly disappointed. -And, in my opinion, a Protestant clergy will be not acting less out of -their character by promoting “unity, charity, and Christian benevolence,” -than by disturbing them: nor can Christian prelates be quite so much -disgraced by shaking the hands of Dissenting ministers in the -frontispiece of a pocket-book, {49} as they would be if represented as -drawing those hands through the holes of a pillory. - -Your fears are awakened for the _purity_ of the church:—I am certainly -more tender of her _purity_ than I am of her _dignity_; and that because -I have been taught to regard her _white raiment_ as her truest _glory_. -But what defilement has she to apprehend from a co-operation with persons -differing from her, in an object upon which they are agreed? If -Socinians are to be feared, if Calvinists are to be shunned, I question -whether the Bible Society will furnish dangers nearly so great as those -which the established church incurs from members of her own communion. -Socinians are not remarkable for their zeal in promoting the circulation -of the Scriptures; and I question whether half a dozen of them have -subscribed their names as members of the Bible Society. As for the -Calvinists, they constitute, it must be remembered, only a proportion of -those denominations which are represented in the committee. The Wesleian -Methodists are not _Calvinists_; many of the Presbyterians are not -_Calvinists_; the Quakers are not _Calvinists_; the Lutherans are not -_Calvinists_; and individuals of other persuasions, which might be named, -are not _Calvinists_. Besides, though “scratchings and fightings” may be -“usual with the parties when on the outside of the tavern walls,” {50} -that is not a reason for there being theological wranglings within. The -line of business is, with few exceptions, as direct at the Bible -Committee as it is at Lloyd’s; and there is as little reason to expect -the peculiar tenets of Calvin or Socinus to enter into a debate for -dispersing an edition of the Scriptures, as there would be if the same -men were met to underwrite a policy of insurance. But why may it not be -hoped that churchmen will not be the only losers by this connexion? What -if some of _us_ should grow less proud and phlegmatic, may not some of -_them_ become less snarlish and fanatical? The friction which takes off -our asperities will assuredly do the same by theirs. It is therefore -highly probable, that we may severally bring away with us our faith, our -hope, and our charity, which are all we wish to save; and leave nothing -behind us but that “bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and -evil-speaking, and malice,” {51a} which can very well be spared. - -You ask, “what concord hath a mitre with a meeting-house?” The Pharisees -of old were fond of asking questions of the same sort—“Why eateth your -Master with publicans and sinners?” The Pharisees were very little -satisfied with the answer they received; and, I dare say, any answer that -could be given to the Country Clergyman would satisfy him as little. I -must therefore leave him to doubt whether _any concord_ can subsist -between kindred souls, pursuing the same object under different forms, -and in unequal stations, till he shall see how near the spirits of an -Usher and a Baxter, of a Taylor and a Henry, of a Tillotson and a Watts, -of a Seeker and a Doddridge, will _venture_ to approach each other, in -the new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth _righteousness_. - -And pray what are we to understand by your merry question about the -_unequal yoke_? “Why (you ask) should a clergyman of the church of -England be unequally yoked with a lovely sister of the conventicle?” And -then you desire “a certain officer of the Society” {51b} to be consulted. -What sort of an answer that “officer” might think proper to give, it -belongs to himself to determine; but I confess I see nothing in the -question which I should be afraid to meet. I am at a loss to see what -harm “a lovely sister of the conventicle” can do to any man. I am sure -there is every probability that such an “unequal yoke” would do the -Country Clergyman’s temper a great deal of good. But I cannot give him -any great encouragement, if he should _venture himself_ upon such a -speculation, _into the company of those of whom he has always hitherto -been horribly afraid_. The sectaries, on whom he has laid such heavy -blows, will keep (I fear) their “lovely sisters” for priests of a gentler -nature and better breeding; and leave the Country Clergyman to whisper -his tale of love into some high-church ear, and to be as “equally yoked” -as Richard Hooker, {52} or any other country clergyman ever was before -him. - -But though I can pardon in this “certain officer of the Society,” his -_hymeneal_ error (for matches, you know, Sir, are made in heaven), yet I -have no such allowance to make for those other transgressions, in which -he is, or ought to be, a freer agent. “Perhaps (you say) he can resolve -us, how a clergyman of the church can attend the meeting-house, without -danger to his principles, or gross indecorum towards the church and its -spiritual superior. He perhaps can show us too, how a clergyman of the -church can securely, and without breach of trust, take his pupils to hear -the harangues of those who daily revile her. This, to common -understandings, does not appear to be the likely way ‘to banish and drive -away all erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God’s word,’ which -every clergyman at his ordination solemnly promises to do. It wants some -clearing up.” {53} - -There is really, Sir, no accounting for the fancies of some of our order. -Dean Swift was fond of vulgar manners, and therefore he would take his -dinner in a cellar; some clergymen love the sports of the field, and -therefore join the hounds at a fox-chase: I suppose this “certain officer -of the Society” has a sort of ear for public speaking, and has sometimes -stepped a little out of his way in order to gratify it. But then (as you -might naturally say) are not the _theatres_ open for him, as well as for -his brethren; and if he wants a slice of good oratory, cannot he give six -shillings to a box-keeper, and take it like a gentleman? _He_ may -perhaps have a doubt (for he seems to hold opinions of his own) “how a -clergyman of the church can attend” _the theatre_, “without danger to his -principles, or gross indecorum towards the church and its spiritual -superior.” Perhaps also he may entertain a doubt “how a clergyman of the -church can, securely, and without breach of trust, take his pupils to -hear the harangues of those” dramatic characters, “which,” as Archbishop -Tillotson says, “do most notoriously minister to infidelity and vice.” -{54a} Possibly “this,” to his understanding, may “not appear to be the -likely way ‘to frame and fashion himself and his family according to the -doctrine of Christ, and to make both himself and them, as much as in him -lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ,’ {54b} -which every clergyman at his ordination solemnly promises to do.” But I -think with you, that the whole of this matter “wants clearing up.” I -have, I confess, some difficulty about conceiving how this priest can -execute either such, or so many duties as he is said to do, of a -parochial and domestic nature; and yet find either time to conduct his -pupils to hear the church reviled, or pupils tractable enough to be -conducted by him. But, as I said before, the whole matter “wants -clearing up;” and if you should be found to have aimed a blow at his -professional character, which he has not quite deserved, you have nothing -to do but to say, as the Roman assassins are reported to do when they -stab the wrong man in the dark, “_Padrone è un sbaglio_,”—“I beg your -pardon, it was _a mistake_.” - -Your last objection respects “the purity of the Holy Scriptures,” which, -you think, will be endangered “if the translation and edition of the -Sacred Book are to be intrusted to all the different denominations of -Christians.” {55} The greater part of this objection has been -anticipated. It has been already stated that the Society is restrained -to editing and distributing the versions, _printed by authority_, -throughout the united kingdom. In supplying the different parts of the -European continent, the Society will find the versions already in -circulation among the Protestant churches; and its proceedings in these -cases will be chiefly directed by those Lutheran prelates and ministers, -with whom a confidential communication has, I understand, been already -opened, through the medium of its foreign secretary. Nor can there be -any danger of the Bible Society intrusting “either the translating or the -editing the Holy Scriptures to the care of that denomination of -Christians called Papists;” {56a} for, besides the _improbability_ of -“that denomination of Christians” joining the Bible Society, there is the -absolute _certainty_, that there would always be in the committee a -_standing majority against them_. With regard to _new_ translations, -they relate, as has been already observed, to languages, over which the -jurisdiction of the church of England would be as nugatory as that of any -other denomination of Christians. The manner of conducting these must be -almost, if not entirely, matter of discretion; and such a committee as -the Bible Society has been shown to possess, affords the best security -that such discretion will never be wanted. So far as the influence of -the church in these cases is of importance, she has it, by the natural -constitution of the committee; and if a preponderating influence be -desirable, the doors are opened for obtaining it by proportional -subscription. Should she adopt this measure, as I trust she will, “you -see the consequences as well as I can.” The Society will then contain, -beyond all question, _a standing majority in favor of the church_; and -there will be no room for apprehending that “our present pure English -Bible will be thrust aside to make way for others:” but while “every -different party has its doctrine and its interpretation,” all parties -will have but ONE BIBLE. {56b} - -But, it seems, you have got possession of a fact which strengthens all -your fears: you have been “credibly informed that the British and Foreign -Bible Society are at this time preparing an edition of the Holy -Scriptures in the Welsh language, in which such liberties are taken in -the translation as are by no means warrantable.” You are right in saying -you give this “merely as a _report_;” however, I cannot help suspecting -that, where the Bible Society, or any of its _officers_, are likely to -suffer by it, you have no particular objection to publishing what are -“merely _reports_.” Others before you have charged upon the Society the -nefarious crime of taking “unwarrantable liberties with the -_translation_” and they had just as good authority for saying so as you -have. The fact is, that _the original informer_ never imputed to the -Society the guilt of altering the _translation_, but the _orthography_ of -the text; and he, it must be observed, had never seen any portion of the -corrected copy. But before your pamphlet left the press—perhaps before -it went there; the parties, to whom the information had been originally -conveyed, were in possession of another sort of _report_—a Report from -the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society; in which the -corrections that had occasioned this alarm, were shown to have been made -(whether right or wrong, _judicent periti_), upon a collation of the -orthographical variations, in the several _authorized editions only_. -However, the question between the parties is in a train of arbitration, -under the direction of the syndics of the Cambridge University-press; -_who_, and _not the Committee of the Bible Society_, are to be the -printers of the Welsh impression. - -But lest the Welsh rumour should subside before the Society is -overthrown, you have another little story to keep up the public prejudice -against it. “The author (you say) has likewise been _told_, that the -distribution of tracts as well as Bibles, was in the original plan of -some of the first projectors of this scheme, one of whom is known to be a -zealous adversary of the establishment.” {58a} Now, Sir, it is very -possible that the original projector of this Society, and his project -too, may have been very exceptionable, and yet the present institution be -entitled to a very honorable character. I have never thought the worse -of the Reformation, because I could not for the life of me think well of -Henry the Eighth and his “original plan.” The “Philanthropic Society” is -founded upon a supposition, which I think a very just one, that something -may be made of the _offspring_, when nothing can be made of the _parent_; -{58b} and I suppose the Country Clergyman would rather have his pamphlet -judged from the _fair copy_ which he sent to the press, than from any one -of those “original plans” of it, which were projected by his busy and -inquisitive _reporters_. The question is, whether the _actual_ plan of -the Society comprehends or excludes the distribution of _tracts_. The -answer to this is, that the _first article_ of the constitution -peremptorily _excludes_ them. After such a declaration, it is as -unreasonable to dispute the _present_ object of the Bible Society, by a -reference to any _antecedent_ designs; as it would be to question whether -the Paradise Lost be an _epic poem_, merely because it stood as a _drama_ -in Milton’s “original plan.” - -But I have done.—My business was not to proclaim the _excellence_ of the -Bible Society; but only to rescue it from _reproach_. I have therefore -confined my remarks to those specific objections with which you have -opposed it. - -What _further_ objections you could have produced (and, it seems, you -have nine times as many in reserve) {59} I shall not concern myself to -inquire: if they resemble those, which have been already considered, I -rejoice that you have had the grace to conceal them. You have already -condescended enough “to do the enemy’s work:” and deserved sufficiently -well of those who seek the church’s degradation. If this be _really_ the -object of the several denominations of Christians, they are abundantly -more indebted to the hostility of the _cassock_ than to the friendship of -the _mitre_. _Yours_, Sir, is the description of services upon which -they will set the most value: and, if they do you justice, “not a single -nonconformist, Papist, Socinian, or Quaker, will be silent in your -praise.”—“Ungrateful wretches would they be, were they to pass by -unnoticed and un-eulogized so great a friend to their cause.” {60a} But -I trust you have mistaken _them_, as much as you have dishonored _us_: -_they_ will hope to get to heaven, though they should not have pulled -down the church in their way; and _we_ shall hope to get there too, -though we should not have _compelled_ them “to be like-minded,” nor -refused them the free use of Bibles, and the offices of brotherly love. - -And now, Sir, before I take my leave (a ceremony to which we are -hastening with mutual impatience), let me challenge your acknowledgment -of that courteousness and suavity with which I have treated you. It was -natural for you to expect revilings and reproaches; you esteem them an -“honor;” you “have enjoyed them before;” {60b} and I must do you the -justice to say, that you take some pains to deserve them. However, in -the present instance, you have been disappointed. I have neither reviled -nor reproached you: I have not once called you “Beelzebub,” through the -whole of my letter: I have never once insinuated that you were a wolf in -sheep’s clothing: I have never once pried into the table of your -alliances, nor dodged you from your house to your favorite places of -amusement, nor pretended to know any more of your private history, than -was strictly consistent with “a gentleman and a Christian.” - -I owe this self-government to “those liberal-basis’d and broad-bottomed -principles,” to which you appear so profound a stranger: and I trust, -this consideration will do a great deal towards recommending them to your -favor. They are, Sir, be assured, the genuine principles of -Christianity, as well as those of the British constitution. They are -calculated to reflect honor on the church, and to promote harmony through -the nation. On them the British and Foreign Bible Society has been -erected; and from such an institution, resting upon such “a basis,” the -happiest events may, under God, be expected, to the country—to Europe—and -to the habitable world. - - I am, Rev. Sir, - - Your humble Servant. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - THE END. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - S. GOSNELL, Printer, Little Queen Street. - - - - -FOOTNOTES. - - -{1} Address, p. 1. - -{2} Address, p. 1 and 2. - -{3a} Address, p. 16. - -{3b} This resolution was occasioned by the combination of the journeymen -printers, &c. against their masters. - -{6a} Address, p. 28. - -{6b} Ibid. - -{6c} P. 21. - -{6d} “History proves that none but _the church_ have enjoyed the -_splendour and favour of princes_.” Address, p. 27. - -{8} Address, p. 5. - -{9a} Address, p. 32. - -{9b} P. 5. - -{9c} P. 6. - -{10a} Address, p.8. - -{10b} P. 9. - -{10c} P. 8. - -{11a} Address, p. 5. - -{11b} P. 7. - -{12} Address, p. 5. - -{14a} Address, p. 7. - -{14b} P. 10. - -{15} Address, p. 8. - -{16} Address, p. 8. - -{17} Address, p. 8, 9. - -{19} Address, p. 9. - -{20} Address, p. 16. - -{21a} Address, p. 11. - -{21b} P. 26. - -{24a} Address, p. 21. - -{24b} P. 12. - -{26} Address, p. 18. - -{27} Address, p. 13. - -{31} Address, p. 32. - -{34} Address, p. 11. - -{35a} Address, p. 16. - -{35b} P. 2. - -{35c} P. 16. - -{35d} Ibid. - -{36} It struck me suddenly at last, that your Lordship must intend by -these classical words, only what the vulgar would call “broad bottom.” -Address, p. 16. - -{37a} Address, p. 17. - -{37b} Ibid. - -{37c} P. 18. - -{39a} Address, p. 21. - -{39b} “Whose delight,” speaking of the Dissenters, “has always been to -clip the silver wings of the heavenly dove, and to pluck her golden -feathers from her breast.” Address, p. 20. - -{40a} Address, p. 21. - -{40b} John, iv. 9. - -{40c} Gal. iv. 26. - -{41} Address, p. 25. - -{44} It need scarcely be observed, that our virtuous Queen, and the -wives of her royal sons, were of the Lutheran church. - -{45} A church at Rome, called _San Pietro in Vincolis_, is said to have -been built in consequence of such a miraculous event. - -{47a} Address, p. 23. - -{47b} P. 24. - -{48a} Address, p. 28. - -{48b} P. 27. - -{48c} Ibid. - -{49} The reader, who is not acquainted with this part of ecclesiastical -history, must be told, that a bookseller, desirous, it is presumed, of -reconciling all “denominations of Christians” to the purchase of his -Christian “Ladies’ Pocket-book, for 1803,” took the liberty of -representing three ministers, respectively of the Presbyterian, Baptist, -and Independent denominations of Protestant Dissenters, and a prelate of -the established church, together with an union of hands, in the -frontispiece of his work. - -{50} Address, p. 22. - -{51a} Ephes. iv. 3. - -{51b} Address, p. 32. - -{52} Richard Hooker was prevailed upon by Mrs. _Churchman_, the wife of -“a draper of good note,” as honest Isaac Walton calls him, to let her -choose a wife for him. “Now,” continues the pleasant biographer, “the -wife provided for him was her daughter Joan, who brought him neither -beauty nor portion; and for her conditions, they were too like that -wife’s, which is by Solomon compared to a dripping house: so that he had -no reason to _rejoice in the wife of his youth_, but rather to say with -the holy prophet, ‘_Wo is me_, _that I am constrained to have my -habitation in the tents of Kedar_’.” Walton’s Life of Hooker. - -{53} Address, p. 32. - -{54a} Vide Archbishop Tillotson on the Stage (as quoted by Law). - -{54b} Vide Ordination Service. - -{55} Address, p. 32. - -{56a} Address, p. 33. - -{56b} P. 34. - -{58a} Address, p. 36. - -{58b} This Society provides for educating the _children of felons_. - -{59} “I have mentioned not a tenth part.” Address, p. 35. - -{60a} Address, p. 24. - -{60b} P. 4. - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN, -OCCASIONED BY HIS ADDRESS TO LORD TEIGNMOUTH*** - - -******* This file should be named 62232-0.txt or 62232-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/2/3/62232 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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