which he professes himself a minister. The spirit of the canons is certainly express to this purpose. Seeing this subject, therefore, in the light in which I have been taught to see it, I beg leave to suggest it to the consideration of my brethren, whether there is not a great inconsistency in their appearing under the character of Protestant Dissenters, on one Sunday, and under that of ministers of the established Church on the next; and whether, put ting all other considerations out of the question, the single one of not giving offence, ought not to operate with them so far as to prevent their adopt ing a practice, which renders their ministry less welcome to many serious members of the Church;, at the same time that it tends to bring the esta blishment into that contempt in the minds of the common people, which may prove the

its destruction.

It is not consistent with charity to make the actions of men the decisive interpreters of their principles; because the motives by which men, are impelled are perfectly known only to that Being to whom judgment belongeth. Whether, therefore, there may or may not be a portion of the old Gorinthian leaven mixed up with this zeal for pro1 moting God's honour in an irregular way, is a point upon which I venture not to pronounce, my object being only to consider the evil consequences derivable to the establishment from the eccentric practice of its clergy; which will be the same, let the motives by which they have been directed be what they may.

t

Upon this head it will be sufficient to observe,

of.

that if the present schismatical practice adopted by some clergy, of separating congregations from their bishops, continue to prevail; and nothing more is deemed necessary to the establishment of a congregation upon a Church plan in any place, than money to erect a building, and popular talents to fill the seats, the office both of bishops and patrons is in a fair way to become useless. And thus the building a place for public worship, which in better times was considered a pious undertaking, having the promotion of God's honour for its chief object; degenerates into a business of mercenary speculation, and like other buildings for public resort, is estimated by the probable quantum of interest which it will produce to the proprietor. This is one of the signs of the times, and affords a strong proof of ou living in the latter days, when the love of many is waxed cold, and when faith is a thing rare to be found in the world.

"But the evil will not stop here; for irregularity of any kind, like a bowl running down a declivity, seldom stops till it is arrived at the ne plus ultra of its co coarse.

"If the clergy of the Church act thus independently of the bishop, and in breach of the establishment, it is not to be expected that laymen will feel themselves under greater restraint. Buildings will therefore be erected, and the Church service performed, by persons not in episcopal orders. For in such case, who is to draw the line between the irregularity of an authorized minister, and the licence of a presumptuous layman? If the episcopal

A place of worship of this sort there is now open in Bath.

authority be openly disregarded by those whose duty it is to reverence and support it, we must not be surprised, should God in judgment suffer an establishment to be totally dissolved, of the excellency of which its members seem, by their conduct, to be grown insensible.

It is to be feared, indeed, that the custom which has long since been adopted, even under episcopal authority, of erecting chapels at the expense of individuals for the performance of religious wor ship, has, in some degree, led to this total separation from it. For by withdrawing the parishioner from the charge of his appointed minister, it has introduced a way of thinking more suited to the frequenters of conventicles, than to the members of the established Church; by which the office of the parish priest is in a manner superseded by that of the preacher.

Considering, therefore, that we live in an age, in which many, who neither know the scripture, nor the nature of Christ's Church, think they can make their own religion, their own Church, and their own ministers; it is not to be wondered at, that it should by degrees become a matter of indifference with Christians where they are assembled, provided they like their teacher. But this plan of erecting chapels for the emolument of individuals, not only introduces among us extra-parochial assemblies of an anomalous kind, destructive of the connection which ought to subsist between minister and people; but being incompatible with that principle of unity upon which the Church of Christ is founded, and subversive of that order and discipline

by which it ought to be maintained, tends to undermine the establishment itself. We are told by a celebrated writer of the present day, that should the dissenters from the establishment become a majority of the people, the establishment itself ought to be altered. This must be allowed to be a very summary, though to many it will appear to be neither a very satisfactory nor very practicable way of settling a most important concern. How far an old proverb, though not construed literally, ought to weigh in this case, thinking men will be apt to consider.

Est turba semper argumentum pessimi.”

Indeed this strange and novel idea of putting the establishment of the Christian religion, as it were, to the vote, by making it dependent on the voice of the majority; thus bowing the knee to popular opinion, rather than to the God of our fathers; (in conformity with which the Protestant government of this country may be called upon to desert the cause of Protestantism, and become the establishert of Romish error and superstition;) is an idea, which as it was not to be expected from a minister of the Church, must, it is to be concluded, not have been considered by the Archdeacon in all its bearings.

In Ireland, upon a moderate calculation, there are four Roman Catholics to one one Protestant. In conformity, therefore, with the here advanced by the Archdeacon, the Roman Catholic ought to be the established religion in Ireland. To detail the operation of such an unlimited principle would be an insult to the reader.

"

"

That such should be the ground upon which Dr. Priestley places this subject, can be ind matter of surprise to us, when we consider that such is the ground upon which he builds his projected reforma,}{ tion of our Church. In the character of a decided sectarist, a bold and open enemy to our ecclesiast tical constitution, he tells us plainly, that means are preparing for its destruction; and that the final accomplishment of the undertaking waits only for the time when the majority of the people, shall be separated from it, 2892971 sit in ad

Now though I do not think Dr. Priestley's reli gious tenets calculated to gain him many converts} among the people, and consequently no serious apprehensions are to be entertained on that score, it may not, however, be amiss to draw a lesson of prudence from the Doctor's information on this oc} casion Fas est et ab hoste doceri."ades. odt

Certain it is, that separation from the esta blished Church of this country has of late years abundantly increased; and it is equally certain, that in proportion as this is the case, the esta blishment itself is weakened. For whatever,ben the different opinions of different sects, and what enmity/soever they may bear towards each other on that account, the destruction of the establishment is a point upon which they are at all times ready to join hand in hand. Now, if to this consideration we add the circumstance of that division which is growing up, as it were, within the Church, by which the parochial connection between, minister and people is destroyed; in consequence of which, all ideas about a Church establishment are every day