Church succeeded in ranging on their own side the religious hypocrite, the Socinian, the Deist, the Atheist of every grade in society, from my Lord King down to Richard Carlile.

Now, what do sectarians mean by the constantly reiterated taunt of "endowed Church," as applied to the Establishment? Have they no" endowed" meeting-houses? What is the specified nature of that property for which the Socinians and Independents so fiercely contend?* If " endowments" are so pernicious, so unholy, and so abominable in the eyes of these money-hating men, why contend for the possession of endowments? Why does brother go to law with brother, and that before a heathen (Church) judge, for the enjoyment of endowments? Are there no recent cases on record, of dissenting teachers seeking and obtaining richer livings (for they too have their "livings") under the specious pretext of occupying a more extended sphere of labour? Is there, for instance, any difference between the dissenting "living" at Stepney and that at Blackburn? Is not such a difference deemed sufficient to validate "a call?" Would it not be commendable in the possessor of the Stepney "living" to apportion a share of his £1000 a year to some poor brother, on the plan recommended to Church Ministers; and would not such an example form a stronger argument for the equalization of Church property, than a hundred volumes of such sophistry as "The Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge?"

The effect of the sacrilege recommended and urged by infidels and dissenters, of placing the minister of religion on the precarious contribution of some whimsical hearers,-of framing the minister's doctrines by the crude opinion and fiat of some "lord-deacon,"-the effect of these on the religious aspect and condition of the country is admirably portrayed by Mr. Hamilton Gray. We shall introduce his own eloquent and forcible language:

Were the abandonment of the communion of the Church, and the adoption of that of some dissenting sect, to be made a valid claim for exoneration from the payment of support to the national Establishment, we should soon have all the griping misers, the dissolute spendthrifts, and the careless, thoughtless Diveses in England, zealously attaching themselves to the Baptists, Socinians, or Congregational Union, in order to get quit of a religion which they are incapable of knowing, honouring, and loving. Or, if these sects rejected their unholy alliance, [no great danger of this,] we should see them openly avowing themselves to be of no creed whatever, and thus saving themselves from the grievous mulct and fine, as some have the effrontery [knavery?] to term the endowments which the piety of our ancestors made for the decent celebration of the worship of God; and this, too, when their estates have been bought and sold, perhaps fifty times over, at a lower rate than would otherwise have been the case, in consequence of the understanding of this very payment. Were it possible that this assessment might be thus evaded; and suppose a man lays out £20,000, on a property subject to a share of the burden of the support of an ecclesiastical Establishment:

• Vide the "Manchester Controversy."

next month he emancipates himself from this burden by becoming Socinian or Independent; and immediately, the value of his property being raised to £25,000, he becomes a pecuniary gainer as a reward for his want of principle! Were the Church of England an establishment which was ungodly and opposed to Scripture, then, indeed, it might be thought hard that a disciple of Christ should pay largely for the support of antichrist. But this is a position which no one in his senses will advance, as applicable to the condition of our Church; or if any one does, I shall not argue with him, as I consider him to be one who will not be convinced.-Pp. 12, 13.

In an equally strong and clear mode of reasoning, and powerful eloquence, does Mr. Gray demonstrate the direful consequence of demolishing the national Establishment, and of reducing all denominations to a level, after the plan adopted in America and France.

Do away in Britain with a national Church, and let religion be put upon the footing of a set of voluntary associations; instead of dioceses subdivided into parishes, wherein a uniform worship is maintained; let each congregation for itself fix upon its creed, and appoint its pastor, who shall be equally recognised by government, whatever it be :-let the country have no national religion at all; but let it be subdivided into societies, some rallying on the ground of an episcopally ordained Protestant priest; others adhering to the superstitions of the Church of Rome; others, to the Jewish synagogue; others, to the Socinians; others, to the Congregational Union; others, to Joanna Southcote; and others, to the Baptists; while others are at full liberty to declare themselves without the pale of any sect:-We shall soon find that were the country parcelled out into this extraordinary medley of every varied system of religion, or of infidelity, which may soothe the consciences or please the tastes of their respective votaries, the most widely prevalent sect will be that of no religion at all; for, when left to its own free choice, corrupt nature will, in too many cases, speedily throw off, altogether, the trammels of religion, and its worship, and its restraints, and its expense; and we shall soon have atheism as the prevailing denomination among us.-P. 19.

Speaking of the unnatural (apparently unnatural) combinations for one object, namely, the destruction of the Church of England, Mr. Gray thus expresses his astonishment: :

And I am still more amazed when I see the godless union which religious party-spirit creates between these, (the orthodox dissenters,) and the enemies of our Christian faith, who can surely have no point of mutual sympathy, but rancorous hatred against the Established Church. I hail such truly godless associations, which the present times present to our view, as decidedly favourable to our Establishment, by opening the eyes of all good men to the true nature of the unchristian warfare with which she is about to be assailed; and by causing them to rally around her, to protect the true bulwark of purity and orthodoxy from the darts of Satan! yet I cannot help mourning over the degradation which is brought on some sects of our brothers in the faith, though not in the unity of the Church, by their thus making common cause with, and even wretchedly following in the train of, Socinians and infidels. -P. 20.

To a parallel case of "godless unions," we can direct the attention of Mr. Gray and others, who stand "amazed" at what may, at first, appear to every simple-hearted and honest Christian a phenomenon. That case is recorded, Luke xxiii. 7-12.

We are frequently and triumphantly told, that the inadequacy of the Establishment for the religious instruction and moral renovation of the people, is demonstrated by the fact of the great increase of dissenters. We might retort by saying, that the inadequacy of the independent scheme for the religious instruction and conservation of its own adherents, is demonstrated by the fact of whole congregations of that persuasion having sunk into the cold swamp of Socinian heresy; and in the meeting-houses, built and "endowed" for the publication of the "orthodox faith," are, at this very day, the fundamental doctrines of our holy religion denied, denounced, and reviled: and, in reply to remonstrances against this woful defection from the faith, the Socinian assures the Independent that the religious scheme of the latter is only naturally matured when it terminates in Socinianism.* We believe the Socinian to be correct in this view of the natural tendency of the congregational system. Our refutation of the above conclusion from the increase of sectaries, that the Established Church is inadequate, because it is established, to instruct the people, we shall rest upon another ground;-a ground on which our opponents delight to tread and stand, when encamping themselves against the Church of England. We shall select the United States of America, where, we are told, the model of religious liberty and equality is perfected. Can the rapid increase of sectaries in the United States be ascribed to an established Church, when there is no such Church in those states? The converse of the proposition contained in this question is the truth: and we refer the reader to the melancholy description of the religious state of America, in Mr. Gray's pamphlet, p. 19; and to the still more gloomy description given by two authors, who cannot be suspected of attachment to established Churches; namely, Mr. Bristed, in his work, "America and her Resources;" and Dr. Mason, in his "Plea for Catholic Communion." The exclusive application, by dissenters, of the term "Church," to the body of communicants united in one place, and as distinguished from the congregation or assembly, is shewn to be erroneous by Mr. Gray, p. 8. The English word "Church" is not literally synonymous with the Greek word translated "Church in the New Testament; but metonymically applied to a congregation or assembly of people. The term "Church" is derived from kúptov olkoç, the house of the Lord. Literally, the term "Church" is applicable only to the building, though a reverend tractitian,† in his "Tractate on the Principles of Dissent," ridicules this application of the term; and heroically challenges any scrutator to attach to the term "Church" the idea of a "Church, framed of wood or stone, or brick and

• Vide the "Manchester Controversy."

+ T. Scales, Leeds.

mortar, and built in any style of architecture from the rude and humble barn, to the magnificent cathedral." As the tractitian has been already castigated by a highly talented periodical,* for meddling with things too high for him, we shall dismiss him, and his crude definitions of a "Church." Our readers would do well to consult Mr. Cawood's "Church of England and Dissent," where they will find the subject ably handled.

We regret that we must close this article without adducing further specimens of Mr. Gray's masterly Essay: however, we rejoice in the hope of meeting him again, and that soon, on the ground which he has so ably taken up. The diffusion of such clear, candid, and cheap publications, as the one now before us, in our respective parishes, may produce incalculable good. If our parishioners be ignorant of the principles, value, and excellency of our Church; and if, as the consequence of such ignorance, they be "tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine;" to whom are they indebted for their ignorance, and upon whom falls the awful responsibility of their being seduced by "the cunning craftiness" of men who "lie in wait to deceive," and who "beguile unstable souls?"-Their spiritual guardian; whose business it is as much to protect his flock from predatory wolves, as to feed the flock with sound knowledge.

Let the minds of the people be enlightened, not perverted. Let the principles of the Church, in their foundation, their nature, and tendency, be proclaimed, and fearlessly and unequivocally proclaimed. Let the appointed minister bear in mind, that he has vowed not to encourage, but discourage heresy and schism in his parish; and the Church of England has nothing to dread, but every thing good to hope for. We are aware that the probable interference of our expediencymongers rather darkens the cloud that now hovers over our ecclesiastical horizon; but "the Lord of hosts is with us," and that is enough.

And while we rejoice that the principles of our beloved, though calumniated Zion, will endure the most rigid but fair scrutiny,-while we rejoice that within her hallowed pale are to be found men, who, possessing the spirit of her martyrs, are able and willing to defend her principles; we also regret that there should be within her walls watchmen who are ignorant of her excellency,-heedless of her prosperity or stability; and others, who throw their influence into the scale of the subtle adversary. From such compromising watchmen within the citadel, and not from the enemy without, has the Church a cause of fear for her safety. We cannot undertake to state how far the indiscriminate admission into the ministry of the Church, of candi

Fraser's Magazine, for May, 1831.

dates, who, perhaps, can assign no reason why they should minister in the sanctuary rather than in the conventicle, may have tended to strengthen the hands of the enemy. Unaffected scriptural piety, consistency of character, competency of learning, and devotedness to the work of the ministry, are the paramount qualifications for the high and holy vocation of the Christian minister. But we are inclined to think, that had each candidate for ordination been required, in addition to these qualifications, to give a satisfactory reason of his preference of the established Church, and a satisfactory evidence of his ability and willingness to explain and defend her principles, many a SIMON, now within our holy city, would have been advantageously excluded.

ART. III.-The Life of Wiclif. By CHARLES WEBB LE BAS, M. A. Professor in the East India College, Herts, and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. London: Rivingtons. 1832. 12mo. Pp. 454.

An account of him who first kindled the spark of the Reformation in England, naturally suggests itself as the most appropriate introduction to an English "Theological Library ;" and the editors have done well to intrust its preparation to Mr. Le Bas, whose talents in ecclesiastical biography have shone so prominently in his "Life of Bishop Middleton." With respect to the success which awaits the projected undertaking, the prospect cannot be otherwise than cheering to the proprietors. From the talent which has been engaged, and the capital which has been employed, they have every reason to anticipate an extensive patronage; and, if we may augur from the specimen before us, they unquestionably merit it. Theology, it is true, is frequently regarded by general readers as dry and uninteresting; and while the light and airy trifles of the day are devoured with an eager rapidity, the more substantial and important information, which may be derived from the lives and writings of the Fathers of the English Church, is rejected and disdained. This perversion of judgment is founded upon a false though fashionable presumption against the possibility of treating a subject connected with religion, in any other form than that of tedious and learned disquisition. Nothing can be more mistaken than this notion: and we need go no further than the work of Mr. Le Bas to prove its fallacy. Among all the volumes of all the Libraries" now in progress, we will venture to assert that there

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is not one more replete with interest, as well as instruction, than the "Life of Wiclif."

In order to form a just estimate of the character of this great protoReformer, and of the effect which his conduct produced upon the