CHAPTER III.

APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING DEDUCTIONS TO ECCLESIASTICAL FORMS.

SECTION 1.-THE CHURCH OF ROME.

Ir is not my intention to enter upon a full discussion of the principles of Roman Catholicism. The history, tyranny, and cruelty, of this power of evil, are too well known to need any comment. Popery seeks and demands uniformity of opinion, and condemns all diversities. Man's individual responsibility is denied. The priests think for the people. The Pope claims authority to dictate to the world. His judgment is believed to be infallible, and woe to the man who has moral courage to call into question the most absurd dogma. The moment, therefore, a man becomes a papist, he sells his noblest birthright—the right to form and hold and propagate his own opinions. The lofty intellect is degraded from its throne, and man ceases to be

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THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.

the noble creature God made him, and becomes the dupe of a base, dark, and tyrannical superstition.

These facts are so generally known and acknowledged that I shall not weary the patience of my reader with any proofs of what appears to him selfevident, but proceed to the application of the principles examined in the preceding pages, to—

SECTION II.-THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

I have no wish to find fault with my brethren of the Established Church, or with the Institution to which they belong. I can easily conceive of the powerful motives which may induce many a young man of talent, piety, and zeal to enter the ministry in connexion with the Establishment. Apart from all worldly inducements, which are neither few nor small, there are many others of a most honourable character which may act upon the mind. I can conceive of a young man making such remarks as these-in fact I have heard them-" What hinders me from entering into the Church? I am desirous of doing good. Having found the value of religion myself, I am anxious to convince others of the loss they incur by neglecting so great a salvation. I have thoughts in my soul and feelings in my heart that burn within me and force me to give them utterance. To save souls from hell is the one

ATTRACTIONS or THE CHURCH.

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purpose of my life. I care but little about forms, formularies, and all the minor points on which Christians differ in opinion. My only wish is 'to preach Christ and Him crucified.' How can I publish the Gospel with the greatest effect and where? My time of labour may be very short, and yet I see before me a great and solemn work. There is a large church near the old bridge. It is venerable with age and hallowed with old associations. Peasants and peers flock within to listen to the Gospel, and the ancient edifice is crowded with attentive hearers every Sabbath day. The present vicar is eighty-eight years of age, and declining fast, and my Uncle John has the right of presentation. The living is worth £500 a-year. I can live on that. I am offered the living, and earnestly pressed to accept it. If I become a clergyman, I shall at once be able to preach the Gospel of Christ to a large congregation. My influence for good will become immense, not only among the labouring population and the middle classes of society, but also among the aristocracy of the land. My presence will be esteemed an honour, where that of a dissenting minister would be regarded a disgrace. I am wishful to become a blessing to my country and the world, and the field is open before me. I ask therefore, why may I not enter and possess the

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MENTAL SLAVERY IN THE CHURCH.

land?" Reasonings like these I am persuaded are common; and without any deeper examination of the system thousands of conscientious and pious men have become clergymen in the Church of England.

To those young gentlemen who have not, as yet, taken holy orders, as the phrase is, and to those who are the lovers of Freedom, and of the Truth as it is in Jesus, I beg to submit the following.—

1.-That the Church of England fetters the mind, and seeks to destroy the universal law of nature to which I have referred. The Church of England imposes upon its ministers a Creed. From this Creed--for better or worse--no one is allowed to depart, without incurring the penalty of excommunication. One proof of this, out of a large number which might be given, will be sufficient.

"Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, that ANY of "the Nine and Thirty Articles agreed upon by the "Archbishops and Bishops of both provinces, and "the whole Clergy in Convocation, holden at Lon"don, in the year 1562, for the avoiding diversities "of opinions, and for the establishing of consent "touching true religion, are in ANY PART super"stitious or erroneous; or such as he may not with A GOOD CONSCIENCE subscribe unto LET HIM BE EX“COMMUNICATED ipso facto, and not restored but

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ANOMILIES IN THE CHURCH.

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"only by the Archbishop after his repentance and "public revocation of such his errors.”—Canon v.

It is plainly stated in this Canon, that " NOT ANY "—not a single one-of the Articles of the Creed is in "ANY PART" superstitious, erroneous, or doubtful. Doubtful is the only meaning I can attach in the above connexion to the phrase, "such as he may not with a good conscience subscribe unto." We can subscribe only when we are certain. If we have any doubt in reference to the truth of any statement, we cannot conscientiously subscribe to it. So that the Canon teaches that every part of every Article in the Creed must be held and be believed without any doubt.

The natural and necessary differences of men-a law of mind and of matter—is thus ignored. But the impossibility of securing uniformity of thought and belief, in detail, as required by the formularies of the Church is clearly demonstrated in the Church itself; for in it the clergymen differ as widely from each other as the most eccentric individuals outside its pale. There are clergymen who are Atheists, as truly as Holyoake, Deists equal to Paine, Rationalists who surpass De Wette or Strauss, Evangelicals as orthodox as Wardlow, and Papists almost as bold as Cullen and as Jesuitical as Loyola himNever was the impossibility of destroying the

self.

D