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claiming all intention of deriving pecuFrom his ministry; but then he expressly

or "power," and, as a general rule, hose who minister at the altar are entitled ar, and that it is a small matter (as much should be ashamed to murmur at it) for f spiritual benefits to give their "carnal expresses it, to those from whom they reIn a word, put it how we will, (that is, ì question of christian propriety,) we cannot ondemn the abstract principle of christian patronizing what they consider the purest e catholic church; and to say, as some do, ncede that church property came originally s sources, and those mostly private ones, and he public, for whom a surrender is demanded: at the Roman Catholics are entitled to our dowments, is like saying that those gifts to the ere to sanctify, and perpetuate, any dross, any corruption, which, in after ages, might be dis

The truth is, that the Church of England was d with the concurrence of Parliament, and the conon of the clergy; (that is, legally speaking, with the it of every man, lay or clerical, from the king to casant;) and, moreover, there was nothing, strictly ing, like taking property from the clergy of one and giving it to the clergy of another; and, in most nces, the same individuals continued in their rective preferments; and the alterations of doctrine, ich, with one exception, were not completed till the xt reign, were such as had been talked of for a long ae before the Pope's very proper (I admit) refusal to enry the Eighth, gave the enlightened (as they contended hey were) part of the clergy an opportunity of avowing heir sentiments. That, sooner or later, a reformation must, even without Henry's rupture with the court of Rome, have taken place, none who have read of such men as Dean Colet, and others, can well doubt. There was, however, no intended, or actual, change of church, as witness the Creeds, the Prayers, the Articles, and the Canons, which know but of one church, the catholic. Shall we say that the catholic, or universal, (for that is the mean

Lazarus is conclusive against the purple, fine linen, and mode of living, of our bishops.* Now, I should like to see him point out any part of Scripture, which says any thing about wealth, or the avoiding it, which, if applying to the clergy of the present day at all, does not equally apply to the laity, to christian disciples generally. Will he begin with the mission of the Seventy, without purse, or any necessary even? He will find it said, in that very chapter, (the 10th of St. Luke,) "the labourer is worthy of his hire." Or will he prefer the chapter before, in which the same regulation is made for the twelve apostles? He will find that every lay-believer was, in the same chapter, and in various other places, required, at that time, to sell all he had and give to the poor, and take up his cross, and follow Christ through hardships scarcely supportable; and, by the 36th verse of the 22nd chapter of St. Luke, in which the diametrically opposite injunction is given, (their Lord foreseeing the necessity, from the approaching change of circumstances,) he will see how uncandid, or unlearned, it is to fasten upon one or two passages, perhaps never meant for more than a temporary purpose, instead of fairly looking at the spirit of the whole of Scripture in its common-sense meaning. Or will he go to the Acts of the Apostles, and, with the St. Simonians, or Owenites, insist upon a community of goods? If that, in his opinion, is now binding, in God's name, let him share his pecuniary emoluments with his compositors, &c.; let the capitalist also give his superfluity among the needy, and let those who have lands, sell them, or cultivate them, for the benefit of the common fund. But he will find, if he will read with that candour, in which he is never found wanting when the subject is unconnected with politics or the church, that the practice of having a common fund was never compulsory, and merely a temporary expedient; in fact, that it obtained for only so short a time, that St. Paul, in his Epistles, speaks of the saints, or baptized believers, as being some poor and some rich, and recommends among the latter a weekly collection for the former. It is true, that he will find the apostles working for their bread, and St. Paul,

* The reader will find my view of this parable in my observations upon the 74th Canon.

in particular, disclaiming all intention of deriving pecuniary emolument from his ministry; but then he expressly asserts his right, or "power," and, as a general rule, lays down, that those who minister at the altar are entitled to live by the altar, and that it is a small matter (as much as to say, they should be ashamed to murmur at it) for the receivers of spiritual benefits to give their "carnal things," as he expresses it, to those from whom they received them. In a word, put it how we will, (that is, arguing it as a question of christian propriety,) we cannot consistently condemn the abstract principle of christian governments patronizing what they consider the purest branch of the catholic church; and to say, as some do, who will concede that church property came originally from various sources, and those mostly private ones, and not from the public, for whom a surrender is demanded: to say, that the Roman Catholics are entitled to our church-endowments, is like saying that those gifts to the church were to sanctify, and perpetuate, any dross, any error or corruption, which, in after ages, might be discovered. The truth is, that the Church of England was reformed with the concurrence of Parliament, and the convocation of the clergy; (that is, legally speaking, with the consent of every man, lay or clerical, from the king to the peasant;) and, moreover, there was nothing, strictly speaking, like taking property from the clergy of one sect, and giving it to the clergy of another; and, in most instances, the same individuals continued in their respective preferments; and the alterations of doctrine, which, with one exception, were not completed till the next reign, were such as had been talked of for a long time before the Pope's very proper (I admit) refusal to Henry the Eighth, gave the enlightened (as they contended they were) part of the clergy an opportunity of avowing their sentiments. That, sooner or later, a reformation must, even without Henry's rupture with the court of Rome, have taken place, none who have read of such men as Dean Colet, and others, can well doubt. There was, however, no intended, or actual, change of church, as witness the Creeds, the Prayers, the Articles, and the Canons, which know but of one church, the catholic. Shall we say that the catholic, or universal, (for that is the mean

ing of the word,) church is such an absurd thing, that when any one branch of that church discovers what it contends is a corrupt innovation, and discards it, it ceases, by that act, to be a branch of the original tree, and becomes a new church altogether, and therefore-(for Mr. Cobbett is right, in one sense, in his "Reformation," in saying, that there cannot be two true churches of Christ) -and therefore a spurious one.* But it may be said, that the temporalities in question are inexpedient; or, to apply Swift's well-known tale, that it does not follow, that because possibly one awkward fellow could not take off all the lace without destroying some of the original cloth, another more careful cannot contrive to do so. Let us see. The truth is, that we cannot, if we take every farthing from the church, restore it to the state of apostolic circumstances our Bishops are so often told they ought to fall back upon. Give the church those parts of the coat it lost before any lace, v. c., was put on it-give it the original power of working miracles, among them the gift, not of unknown, (and therefore useless,) as has been stupidly said of late, but of known tongues, enabling her most illiterate preachers to argue with the most profound linguists (this miracle alone is enough to convince any true believer, that an extensive education is necessary to the ministry);-give the church, moreover, the advantages the primitive church enjoyed, in arguing from prophecy, (the latter almost thought more important than arguing from the miracles, by Tertullian,) in consequence of there being possibly no dispute then about many events, concerning which sophistry and infidelity bave, from the lapse of time, been able to raise some plausible questions. Restore all these advantages to the church, and then, to a proposal of taking all temporalities from the church, I would give a hearty Amen. It appears that the Almighty, for his own wise reasons, gave supernatural assistance to Christianity at the outset, (without which it could not have

* For the sake of not enlarging too much, I forbear using some arguments that will occur to many readers, about the ancient liberties and rights of the British and Irish branches of the Catholic Church. Even admitting, for the sake of argument, that the Bishop of Rome has the jurisdiction he claims in some countries, he cannot have the shadow of claim, I think, in England or Ireland.

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