Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

the fault is in the parties who practise the hypocrisy, inasmuch as they ought to be sincere when they make their vows and promises. I might press you with this question,-How can any man be sincere in promising what he knows he is not able to perform? A man that is truly enlightened, must know that every sponsor promises for the child what no one man in the world has the power to effect for another. But I pass this by, and come to facts. Admitting that men might be sincere, and ought to be sincere if they take such vows upon them, it is a well known truth that thousands of them are not sincere-they do not mean what they say when they make such promises-they do not profess to mean it-they never intend to make the personal religion of the child a matter of concern to themselves. As there is no shadow of sanction to the practice in the word of God, it ought to have been abandoned as soon as it became evident that in practice it was making men hypocrites; but so far from this being the case, you do not make it even optional, but compel parents in your church, either to neglect the baptism of their children, or else to bring parties with them to go through the mockery. For every heartless vow, and every unmeaning profession, and every insincere promise, made at such a time, your church is responsible, because it demands and compels such vows and promises as the only condition on which the child can be baptized.

Let us now turn from your sponsors to your ministers. It is a well-known fact, that the aristocracy set apart and educate their sons for the church just as they do for any other profession, without any regard to moral or religious

character. As those who educate their children for the church are in hundreds of cases the patrons of church-livings, they, of course, have no more scruple in putting an ungodly man into the pulpit, than in setting him apart for the office. Hence multitudes of such men have filled the pulpits of the Established Church, from the times of Henry VIII. to the present day. I am only asserting a fact which every one admits, and which your best friends mourn over, when I say that there are multitudes of ministers now in your church, whose lives prove that they are not converted men. And yet every one of these ministers declared, at the time of his ordination, that he believed himself to be moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him the office of a minister. This declaration is, no doubt, made by some in utter thoughtlessness, -as a mere matter of form, without ever thinking or caring about its import; by others, in conscious insincerity, because they know that they cannot enter "holy orders" without it. But in either case, hypocrisy is prac tised by the men; and hypocrisy is promoted by the church, which admits such men to its ministry, and yet compels them to make such a declaration on entering it.

Follow the men who have thus yielded to the temptation to insincerity at the outset, in the discharge of their official duties; and, at the font, at the grave, in the desk, you hear them address the God of heaven in language which they do not feel and cannot mean; and thus, like the white-robed priests of Jerusalem, in the days of Christ, "they draw near to him with their mouth, and honour him with their lips, while their heart is far from

him." As unconverted men, they cannot enter spiritually and sincerely into God's worship; and, therefore, every time they conduct it, they must be committing the sin of heartless worship, and turning prayer into a solemn mockery.

Do you plead exemption from the charge, for your enlightened and evangelical ministers? Most readily shall it be granted, where they are entitled to it. They may be sincere in what they say at their ordination, and in conducting the ordinary services of the Church. I believe that many of them are sincere and spiritual worshippers generally; but how can they be sincere at the baptismal font, when in words, some of them thank God for what they do not, in their hearts, believe has taken place? How can they be sincere at the grave of an impenitent man, when in words they thank God for taking those to heaven, who, in reality, they believe have not entered, and never will enter there? I shall have more to say to you on all these subjects hereafter, if the Lord permit; I only mention them now, to remind you in how many ways your Church system tends to blunt and destroy the finer sensibilities of conscientious integrity, and to beget and nurse insincerity even in good men.

Go we now from your "priests and deacons" to your bishops. Here at the very outset, we are met with hypocrisy as bare-faced as it is guilty. The crown nominates a person, and the dean and chapter meet to elect him; and yet while they are carrying on this farce of an election, they know they dare not choose any other than the person nominated by the crown. Here, listen to the lamentation and confession

of one of your most ardent advocates, the Rev. Hugh M'Neile, who says,

"We lament exceedingly the moral effect upon themselves, as well as upon others, of a grave and venerable body being assembled, avowedly, and solemnly, before the Church and the world, and in the sight of God, to make a choice; when in point of fact they have, and know they have, no choice."

The next step after this "sham" election, is what is called "the confirmation of the bishop elect." You will see the patronage given to hypocrisy in this stage of the proceedings by what has actually taken place at the recent confirmation of the bishops of Manchester and Hereford. Before Dr. Lee was confirmed as bishop of Manchester, a proclamation was made, inviting any person who objected to the confirmation to come forward and state his objections. In answer to this call, a gentleman from Birmingham came forward, and presented his objection drawn up in writing in a legal form. The commissioners told him the objection could not be received; for though objectors had been invited to come forward, they (the commissioners) were met to confirm the election, and must proceed to confirm it, whatever objections might be urged against it. Three days afterward the same absurdity was acted over again, at the confirmation of Dr. Hampden, as the bishop of Hereford.

The same proclamation was made, inviting objectors to come forward: a gentleman did come forward to object; he was told he could not be heard-and the confirmation was proceeded 'with. The objectors appealed to the Court of Queen's Bench; and here, for two or three days together,

some of the highest legal authorities in the kingdom were putting forth all the forensic power they could command, to prove that the election and the invitation to the objectors were nothing more than "a solemn mockery," "a shadow and a sham." The Court confirmed this view of the case; and the Lord Chief Justice acknowledged that "the absurdity which called on persons to object, and then stopped their mouths, was only exceeded by the further proceeding of declaring those very persons contumacious for non-appearance who had actually appeared, and, claiming to be heard, were not heard."

And is this a position that a Church ought to occupy, to be fettered by laws which its own friends pronounce "absurdities ?" Are "shadows" and "shams" things which a church ought to sanction and practice? If in any thing else, you were to see men acting with the same amount of duplicity and insincerity, you would shun them as hypocrites, and brand them as unworthy the countenance of honest and honourable men. Your prepossessions in favour of the system which sanctions the evil, and your familiarity with it, prevents you from seeing all its guilt and odiousness. Try to look at it for once in its true character. Take the facts named, and think over them with prayer and candour; and then let your conscience answer these four questions: 1. Are these practices right in themselves? 2. Can they be pleasing to God? 8. Do I not countenance them by remaining in the church? 4. By giving my countenance to them, do I not share in their guilt? April 10, 1848.

A FRIEND.

[blocks in formation]

Occasionally I see the Churchman's Penny. Looking into the Number for this month, I found, under the assumptive heading, "England's Church," an article, apparently by the Editor, from which honour and truthfulness are alike banished. London, of all other places, is chosen as the locality in which the failure of Voluntaryism is to be exhibited; and the number of chapel erections is held up as the criterion on which judgment is to be founded. After speaking of the accommodation provided by Voluntaryism for the wants of London, there is this statement: "It has, therefore, given us some degree of satisfaction to find that this one great fact,' taryism to meet the urgency of the at least the utter impotence of Voluncase has been fully admitted by the body which it more immediately concerns."-Where were honour and truthfulness when this was recorded?

Then, after quoting some honourable confessions made in the Banner, indicative of humility and self-reproach, the proposal to build annually in Lonand after a pitiable attempt to ridicule don one chapel, comes the following: "One chapel annually, providing sitdividuals, when the population is adtings for probably some 600 or 700 inmitted to be increasing annually by hundreds of thousands! and this expe. dient merely proposed as a last resource, without apparently the smallest hope of realization!"

Is it true that the population of London increases annually "hundreds of thousands ?" or is it true that London chapels are now built, or proposed to be built on the scale here given? or is it true that the proposition alluded

[blocks in formation]

On these false grounds there is a call to the Congregational body to lay aside their opposition to the Establishment principle; and a puerile attempt to ridicule the commencement, and underrate the influence of the Banner(prompted, I apprehend, by fear)-and a striving to speak triumphantly, by affirming that many things are admitted which the writer must have known, or might have known, are denied. Amongst these admitted things is the following: "That all the good which the Voluntary Principle itself has ever effected has been in connection with the Established Church;" and a sad effort (because the golden motive cannot be concealed) to appeal to pious feelings by stating that "to a mind at all alive to the value of immortal souls and the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, it is deeply painful to contemplate such utter recklessness as is manifested by the announcement that the distinguishing feature of the new journal is to be, Opposition to the principle of all ecclesiastical establishments; and that opposition steady, intense, and unmitigable.""-Alas! for "England's Church," according to the opinion of the writer of the article referred to, if the crutches of State-sup. port be withdrawn!

[ocr errors]

Now, Sir, I am led to write this to ask a few questions:

Is it not shocking, to a rightly-constituted mind, to find this appeal to pious feelings by the editor of a journal connected with a church that expends about £400,000 annually of public money to support its lordly prelates, and has lately expended, according to a declaration in Parliament, £249,000 to increase the comfort of these bishops,

and London still so destitute of church accommodation? If Voluntaryism cannot supply London's wants, will a State Church supply them?

Is it not awful that such untruthfulness should be employed in an attempt to turn the admissions of a generous opponent against the body to which he belongs?

Is it not dishonourable in the State

supported Church to attempt to misrepresent a religious body who, in addition to maintaining and diffusing their own principles, are compelled to aid in the upholding of a system opposed to the teachings of the New Testament? Is it grateful thus to deride the Voluntary Principle, when their own sect, as far as usefully employed, has borrowed and adopted it? or to speak evil of those to whom, humanly speaking, is owing all the vitality found within the pale of the Church to which they so interestedly adhere?

The writer who employs such weapons as we have exposed, must feel that the principle he seeks to uphold is in imminent danger. One thing, however, is encouraging: he reads the publications you so successfully conduct; some day truth may prevail in his mind over interest and prejudice. Perhaps he has read Mr. Baines' Lecture on what Voluntaryism has done and can do; or if he has not, perhaps on reading_this he

will.

Castle Donnington, March 8th.

T. O.

P.S. The number of sittings in London, in 1838, were: Establishment, 259,000; Nonconformist, 257,000. In 1843, the total increase in Church sittings was 200,352, or 113 per cent; increase in Chapel sittings (Nonconformist), 482,443, or 357 per cent.-Congregational Magazine. T. O.

The Counsel Chamber.

YOUNG PEOPLE!-Step into our chamber, and talk with us; and we will tell you something you will be the better for knowing. We first invite young females to listen to the history of Mary B―. Many of you will soon follow her into eternity, and it will be your wisdom first to follow her to the cross.-We have

next a word to say to young men on the eve of forming companionships which are to endure through life. As this is a matter of infinite importance, both to your spiritual and temporal well-being, it requires the utmost prudence, and ought to be gone about in the spirit of a true and deep devotion; for a "good wife is from the Lord."-We have, thirdly, a word to say to youths entering their teens, whom we shall address in the character of a representative whose name shall be "George."—And we have, lastly, to speak a word to young husbands, by way of caution. He who exchanges his own fireside for the tap-room, business for gaming, and the gains of honest industry for the proceeds of secret embezzlement, is near the end of his course. Discovery is certain, and ruin follows on the heels of discovery. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall be suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy!"

MARY B

A YEAR since, Mary B- was a beloved but thoughtless member of the boarding-school in C. Attractive in person and manners, and always cheerful, she was the delight of a widowed mother's heart, and the object of fond regard among her companions. Though but sixteen years of age, her mind was strong and mature for one so young and gay. She commenced the study of "Paley's Evidences of Christianity" in her course of instruction; and as she progressed with this, in connection with a careful reading of the Scriptures, her mind seized upon those radiant truths of the gospel, "life and immortality" for the soul she was amusing with the pleasures of sin.

She left the place of mirth for the circle of prayer, resolving to count the cost before she entered the way to heaven. The dance was the favourite amusement of her youthful hours. She hesitated awhile where others have fatally paused, and then resolved to sacrifice for ever every idol of her heart, and enthrone the Saviour there. Scarcely was the full consecration made, before she was smitten with disease. Though friends regarded the pulmonary attack as slight, she felt it to be the premonition of an early grave. But no doubt or fear cast a shadow over her joyous spirit. She remarked, that "since her unreserved consecration to the Redeemer, her hope had been unclouded, and she felt prepared to enter upon the scenes of eternity."

As disease advanced, and she became unable to leave her room, all thought of her own sufferings and premature doom seemed to be lost in a glowing desire to glorify God, and do good to her weeping associates. She wished earnestly to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and be united to the church militant before she joined the church triumphant above. With a meek and sweet simplicity, she received the emblems of the great atonement. Anxious to depart, yet willing to suffer her Father's will, she firmly refused to take any remedy to mitigate the severity of pain which would stupify her faculties, or darken at all the world of thought. She counselled her friends to attend to salvation "while reason was clear, and the frame not tortured by suffering."

Nothing could be more beautiful than her exertions to console and cheer her sorrowing mother, whose only temporal hope was fading before the destroyer.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Mother," she would exclaim, God will never forsake you; we shall meet in heaven!" It was remarked that young Christians often fear they shall not hold out. She replied, " Let the morrow take care of itself; do your duty each day, and you will hold out." As she approached her last hour, observing her mother deeply distressed at the thought of parting, she said, "Lean upon God; I am happy! When you sadly feel for me to-morrow, think, mother, where I am and what I am enjoying. This world is a state of trial preparatory to the rest in heaven, and afflictions are sent for our good." When she was thought to be dying, she

« AnteriorContinuar »