scientious innovators be it narrated, -outlived the obloquy and died at peace with his monks and all mankind.

Almost the whole of the faults which happen to exist in any diocese, cathedral, parish, parsonage, or church, are currently ascribed to the neglect or positive sanction of the bishop for the time being; but often with great injustice, especially where, owing to deaths or translations, a bishop scarcely knows the localities of his see before he yields his place to a successor. A bad or indifferent bishop may easily do much harm; but the efforts of a bishop who is determined at all hazards to do only good, so far as he has it in his power, will be too often vexatiously counteracted on every side. Prejudice and self-interest will combine against him; and some of his foes will, perhaps, be of his own spiritual household. I do not say that a bishop can do nothing; on the contrary, I believe he may do much, very much; but, for the most part, it can only be effected gradually, as occasions arise, so that it will be years before he can really permeate his diocese. Bishop Mansel of Bristol, wishing to promote Bible Societies throughout his see, issued, as you doubtless well remember, an admirable pastoral letter to that effect to his clergy; but his design, though warmly and affectionately followed up by not a few of them, was vehemently opposed by others, and the nucleus of the opposition, I am sorry to say, was in his own cathedral.

I know no places in which the inhabitants are more anxious for zeal ous and faithful pastors than in our cathedral towns; or where a clergyman who preaches scripturally, lives holily, justly, and unblameably, and devotes himself with diligence and humility to the duties of his high calling, is more venerated. Yet I fear that some of these privileged towns exhibit as inefficient samples of parochial instruction as the most neglected villages in the kingdom; and a bishop cannot always effect

so much as is popularly supposed, at least by summary measures, to remedy the evil, especially as the local patronage is seldom in his hands, and old custom has oftentimes built up formidable ramparts against the beneficial exertion of his authority. Of late years there has been a wide-spread revival of religion in our church, and the doctrines delivered from our pulpits are much more generally scriptural than was the case a few years since; but I am not sure that all our cathedral towns have partaken as widely of the beneficial influence as some other places. What may be the causes of the deficiency, I leave those who are better versed in details than myself to decide; but of the mournful fact I have little doubt. Is it, among other causes, that the spirit of selfsatisfied decent formalism which often flourishes in ecclesiastical vicinities, is a more powerful impediment to the growth of spiritual-mindedness, than even the common habits of ignorance and thoughtlessness in popular society? Or is it, as another cause, that there exist peculiar difficulties in the allocation to places thus situated, of any clergyman who is supposed to overstep a certain prescriptive notion of what is just righteous enough without being righteous over-much? I am quite sure, however, that whatever difficulties may exist in these, or other respects, the

common people" in our cathedral towns " hear gladly" the faithful earnest preaching of the Gospel; and though I fear that, for whatever reason, the clergy are not always popular in the precincts of our large ecclesiastical establishments, yet sure I am that the elements of popularity

rather would I say, of Christian affection and esteem-are to be found widely scattered, so that it is their own fault if they do not avail themselves of them. But I grieve to say, that in some of our cathedral towns the parochial churches are not always well supplied, even as regards ordinary clerical efficiency and canonical form; whether it be that the

cathedral draws off the best, and leaves the parishes the worst; or that secular advantage attracts to the spot some who view the church and its emoluments not as a means to an end, but as the end itself, and who therefore disturb their minds as little as possible beyond the bare statutable details of their profession. Such hirelings there are in every visible Christian communion; and it is not to be wondered at if the ample endowments, easy life, and agreeable society of an ecclesiastical city should draw some of them within its walls. The consequence is, that the people too often exhibit a form of godliness without the power; for no portion of our poor are-or at least were, till national schools in part supplied the defect-worse instructed than those of our cathedral towns none are more ignorant of the nature and blessedness of true religion, while they have a sort of superstitious feeling of the duty of keeping their church," frequenting the holy communion, and forming a few of the external ceremonies of religion. Such at least was my own experience, as gathered in a pastoral cure, some years since, in a cathedral town in the West of England, and I think I have witnessed the same elsewhere.

per

The difference, said Sir Richard Steele, between the Church of Rome and the Church of England is, that the former is infallible, and the latter always in the right. If to entertain this notion be the test of a good churchman, I fear I shall be proved a bad one for, much as I revere our beloved church; pre-eminent as I consider her among ecclesiastical communities; grounded, as I believe her to be, on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; yet in her actual administration and defective discipline, I must rather blush and weep than indiscriminately panegyrize. But the only point that comes within the scope of my present remarks is the anomaly, that, where we might look for most, least CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 359.

is sometimes found; so that the focus of a diocese, where we might expect to discern spiritual light and warmth in unusual abundance, where we might hope that our parishes would be best regulated, our pulpits best supplied, ignorance and prejudice banished, and scriptural truth every where familiar, is often found to a wide extent formal, frigid, and unenlightened,—any thing but a pattern of clerical, pastoral, and parochial discipline and instruction.

I some time since was passing a Sunday in a cathedral town; I say not when, or where; and I find in my pocket-book the following memoranda, which I copy, as they may in part illustrate my present remarks:

"Went to the cathedral at ten. Was not aware that there was only the Litany, Communion Service, and Sermon, the first service having been celebrated at seven o'clock; according to the old custom, till modern indolence crushed the three services into one. Why not return to the precedent (the hours excepted), in those of our churches where service is performed three times in the day? This would prevent much repetition, and reduce each service to a reasonable length; and so far from being an innovation, it would only be reverting to the habits of our forefathers, and the original intention of our church. Would there be any thing irregular in a clergyman's making a trial of the plan, reading the first service in the forenoon, the Litany and Communion Service in the afternoon, and the evening service in the evening? According to our present arrangement of hours there might be some adjustments necessary, especially on communion days: but these might be easily arranged; and the whole plan would be restoration, not innovation.

"Much interested in the cathedral service; which was performed with solemnity, as well as mere musical effect. To my own mind, nothing is more devout than choral worship; I find one benefit in parti4 S

cular from it, that, while it raises my thoughts and affects my feelings by the service high, and anthem clear," it also allows me more time to think over, to pray over, and, if I may so say, to glow over, the words, than in the rapidity of ordinary reading. I doubt, however, whether it is a desirable form of worship for a popular assembly. The mass of a congregation in choral service entertain the idea of religion being done for them by proxy; the singers sing, and the priest prays and absolves; and the audience listen to the performance. Cathedral worship appears to me better calculated to awaken sentiments than to create ideas: it is admirably adapted to cultivated minds; nothing human so effectually calls back the spirit from fatigue and care to heavenly musings; and it may be made a handmaid to true devotion where devotion already exists: but it is not popularly edifying; it does not catechise; among uninstructed persons, it takes away attention from the words uttered, rather than impresses them upon it; and, in point of fact, it may be just as much the refuge (as, indeed, what may not?) of pharisaic formality as of evangelical piety. Still I would keep it up, with some modifications, in our cathedrals; and would also introduce it to a larger extent than is common in our churches. It would edify and delight many, and could injure none; that is, provided it was conducted in a really devout spirit, and not as a display of musical skill. The sermon should teach sound doctrine and inculcate heavenly-mindedness, and the prayers be a practical comment on the discourse. I fear it was not quite so on this occasion. The preacher did not direct his remarks to the sins of the congregation before him (myself as one, for instance), but to those of the rioters and rick-burners; none of whom, I presume, were present to hear his animadversions, so that much good remonstrance was lost; nay, worse than lost, as the inference from the whole discourse was,

that those who duly avoided such nefarious practices, and lived honestly, and said their prayers, and went to church, were all fairly in the road to heaven. Of the sins of the heart, of worldliness, deadness to God, living without him, ingratitude for his mercies, self-righteousness, and our need of Christ as guilty, perishing sinners, we heard nothing. The moral of the discourse was, Thank God, we are not rick-burners; followed up with an unmeaning commonplace, through Jesus Christ our Lord,' to wind up the whole. What did the mass of the people learn of the real character of the Gospel from this sermon, any more than if they had been at a popish chapel? I verily fear, little or nothing.

"I went in the afternoon to a parish church, and heard another discourse in the same style of doctrine. I feel quite convinced that to this hour, with all the boasted effusion of Christian light among us, and its real and rapid advance of late years, a large number of our divines do not know Scripture from moral philosophy, or Protestant doctrine from Popish. I firmly believe, that either of the clergymen whose sermons I have noticed would concur without scruple in the following sentiments; they are a perfect echo of their own discourses; and yet they are avowed Popery, and copied from a wellknown popular Roman-Catholic manual. The popish writer says,"Christ's death was profitable for us, First, by way of redemption: Secondly, by way of satisfaction: Thirdly, by way of merit; meriting thereby grace for us to rise from the state of sin, to resist temptations and to do good works meritorious of eternal bliss: for all grace (observe this well) is derived from the merits of Christ's passion: Fourthly, by way of sacrifice, which, of infinite value, was offered upon the cross for our redemption." The third of these items vitiates the whole, and is the very essence of Popery; yet this is nearly the doctrine which one hears in some Church-of-England pulpits.

While I am transcribing the above from my pocket-book, an illustration of the truth of my remarks occurs to me in the writings of Bishop Ravenscroft, a North-American prelate, recently deceased, and whose works have just been published by the New-York Episcopal Society, as a model of orthodox Church-ofEngland doctrine. Bishop Ravenscroft was a remarkable man: he had lived for many years in habits of dissipation, and avowedly viewed Christianity as a fable; and as for the Church of England, and

its daughter in the United States, he was doubly prejudiced against them, both as an infidel by choice, and a Presbyterian by education. But it pleased God by means of affliction deeply to impress his heart with a sense of the importance of religion: he became a firm believer; a man of intensely devout habits; and so zealous a high churchman, that he even exceeded Bishop Hobart in the strength of his denouncements of Dissenters, considering it unscriptural and highly dangerous to send Bibles where you cannot send the 'sacraments to accompany them; teaching that "an honest Unitarian is as excusable before God as an honest Presbyterian or Congregationalist; " and above all, enforcing the power of the keys, saying, that "to be cut off from the visible church upon earth is a virtual exclusion from the church of the first-born, which are written in heaven;" which would be true, if the rulers of the visible church were infallible in their judgments. The whole of the writings of this prelate so much lauded by our Anglo-American church friends are a comment on the above remarks. I copy a single sentence as a specimen.

"By preaching Christ Jesus the Lord, and determining to know nothing among the Corinthians but Jesus Christ and him crucified, St. Paul did not mean that the name of Christ, or the sufferings of Christ, or faith in his name, or reliance upon his merits, were to form the subject-matter of preaching exclusively; but rather, that, as his undertaking for us gave worth and efficacy to any endeavours of ours to propitiate God and regain his favour, therefore they are not to be separated; but that Christians should be continually instructed to look to him and the atonement of his cross, as the ground of their acceptance with God." This doctrine of Christ's work being the giving efficacy to ours, is heard in hundreds of Church-of-England pulpits; I have myself heard it in various forms in both our academical St. Mary's, and at many cathedrals; and it is the practical system of tens of thousands of our lay for

"The rapidity with which the afternoon service was dispatched,there was no singing, the clergyman wore no band or gown, he raced through the prayers, and preached only about twelve minutes, and even this meagre performance was but once in the day; and all this negligence and uncanonicalness in a parish church, in the heart of a cathedral city!-left me time to attend another service at a neighbouring church, where I had the satisfaction of hearing a discourse constructed on scriptural principles, and well calculated, by the Divine blessing, according to the old definition of a good sermon, to humble the sinner, to exalt the Saviour, and to lead to repentance, faith, and holiness.' What a different scene was this to the one I had just left! Instead of eighteen or twenty impatient attendants, I found a crowded congregation joining with heart and voice in the responses and the singing, and listening with eager attention to a discourse of considerable length. was evident that religion was felt to be a matter of solemnity and earnestness, not a mere ecclesiastical form to be dispatched as rapidly as decency, or rather indecency, permitted; but a concern of infinite importance to every individual present. Strongly did I feel at that moment what a cathedral town would be, in which every church in the place, twice every Sunday and once or more in the week, exhibited such a spectacle, and this malists, male and female. And yet when we urge the grievousness of the error, and shew its unscripturalness, we are constantly told that no one holds it. No, not avowedly, and when pressed closely in argument, but not perhaps the less really in practice. We should not think of inscribing on the tomb of the founder of one of our new Protestant churches the bold popish distich, which deforms the beautiful shrine of Wykham in Winchester Cathedral,

It

Jugiter oretis tumulum quidcunque videtis Pro tantis meritis quod sit sibi vita perennis;

but does self-righteousness less truly lurk in the unrenewed heart, under some more specious aspect? Is pharisaim confined to Popery? Are Protestant altars or deathbeds unconscious of it?"

in connexion with all those subsidiary means of spiritual benefit for which the present age has invented abundant machinery in its schools, daily and Sunday, its Bible, tract, and missionary institutions, its visiting societies for the poor, and its plans for promoting Christian knowledge at home and abroad." So far my pocket-book: the moral I leave to your own reflections.

It is very much the habit of the opposers of the Church of England to resolve all her scriptural and edifying forms into modified Popery; from the cross in baptism, to the imposition of hands in confirmation; from the ring in marriage, to the ashes to ashes in the grave; fonts, rituals, vestments, bells, steeples, organs, chaunting, tithes, orders all are Popery. Now I think you will allow, my friend, that I have not shrunk from speaking honestly of the faults of our church, our clergy, or our cathedrals; but to place them on the same shelf with Popery and its corruptions, is as absurd as it is unjust. Protestants in general do not know what Popery is, even in its mitigated form as exhibited in this country, and much less as it luxuriates in Spain, Portugal, or Italy. Whatever has been used by Popery, it is at once concluded must be Popish. Why did not the reformers, it is said, pull the whole edifice down, and build it up again on a better plan? It is always bad work, patching up an old house, instead of erecting a new one. But stop; the conclusion is too hasty for the reformers did pull down all that was of modern invention; the foundation they found solid; it was based on our common Christianity; and they therefore left it untouched many of the arches and pillars also were as old as the time of the Apostles, and were in as perfect a condition as ever: they needed only that the paint, and white wash, and dust of ages should be removed; the unsightly and insecure additions taken away; the rubbish carted off; and then the edifice resumed its pristine

:

beauty and simplicity. Our ecclesiastical communion, in this respect, may be likened to the restorations and re-edifications of Winchester cathedral. This venerable structure had undergone various mutations, from the time of its alleged foundation by king Lucius, a. D. 180: it had been destroyed, it is said, in Dioclesian's persecution; it had lapsed into a heathen temple, under the West Saxons; it had been restored to Christian uses by Birinus; it had been a third time built under king Kinegils and his son; it had been next dilapidated by the Pagan Danes, and rebuilt by its bishop St. Ethelwold, whose massy crypts remain to this hour. Again, another of its bishops, Walklyn, cousin to William the Conqueror, undertook its re-construction, and there is still his great square tower, built as if to last till the destruction of the world itself, over the intersection of the cathedral and the transepts, to speak to his admirable and stupendous labours. Next Bishop Edyngton began to rebuild, and was followed by Bishop Wyckham, the never-enough-to-beadmired architect of the greater portion of the present magnificent structure. Now Wyckham had the same alternative respecting his building, as the reformers had, some centuries after, respecting the worship that should be solemnized in it; and how did he act? He might have razed the whole of the superstructure, and with infinite pains have removed the foundation itself. But he acted more wisely than to incur this superfluous labour and expense. He ascertained that the foundation was firm and solid, and was capable of sustaining the edifice which he proposed to erect upon it. Why then, he asked, remove it? What would be gained by subversion for subversion's own sake? And could he be sure that if he began to lay it again, he could lay it better? He was convinced that he could not; and he therefore determined to leave it as he found it. He went farther, and preserved whatever might be rendered useful of