There is also great hazard of losing the doc trines when we leave the worship of the Church. When

GG 3

the Church of England, into everlasting fire, with that dreadful sentence-DEPART! And what are they to be damned for? Because they could not approve of Non-con formity! a religion of negatives! They saw enough of its fruits to dislike it in former times, from its first appearance in this kingdom: but they did not see, as we do now, that its end is infidelity; to which it hath been tending for many years past, and hath now attained it in the writings of Dr. Priestley, and the Unitarian Association. These Lectures, with this dreadful sentence of damnation to the bishops, by Brother Robinson, were approved by the Easter Association of Essex, at Harlow, and recommended to the Sister Churches by order of all. June 18, 1778. Of what character must these Sister Churches be, if they are of the same spirit with Brother Robinson? Surely they are not chaste virgins, presentable to a meek and merciful Saviour, who prayed for his murderers; but unmerciful harlots, cursing and damning the established Church for retaining episcopacy. Had there been no con-conformity, the poor bishops might have escaped like other men, and have been entitled to their chance of mercy, through the merits of their Redeemer, who died for them, and for all men, and sent forth the first bishops by his own immediate authority. What would such Non-conformists do, if they had it in their power, who are provoked to such uncharitable ravings under the present most mild and moderate state of the Church of England?

But the most superlative instance of fanatic malignity I ever yet saw, is to be found in the works of Milton, whose malignity was rendered more malignant by the depressed and afflicted condition to which the Church was then re

duced.

When the ten tribes revolted from the worship at Jerusalem, they soon lost the truth of their law, and fell into an idolatrous worshipping of the calves they had set up in Dan and Bethel, Their government was troubled with great disorders, and their confusion ended in their utter dispersion. When men leave the worship of the

Church,

duced. He was a man of a bright and perfect imagination, and gifted with a wonderful choice of beautiful and descriptive expression. But the weapon is the worse for its sharpness, when malice hath the handling of it: and ima gination is a mirror which can reflect the fires of hell as well as the lights of heaven; of which, I think, we have an example in the following invective against the bishops of the Church of England: But they-that by the impairing and diminution of the true faith, the distresses and servitude of their country, aspire to high dignity, rule, and promotion here, after a shameful end in this life (which God grant them!) shall be thrown down eternally into the darkest and deepest gulph of hell; where under the despiteful control, the trample and spurn of all the other damned, who, in the anguish of their torture, shall have no other ease than to exercise a raving and beastial tyranny over them, as their slaves and negroes, they shall remain in that plight for ever, the basest, the lowermost, the most dejected, most underfoot, and down trodden vassals of perdition.' Conclusion of Milton's Treatise on Reformation, vol. I. p. 274. If it were put to my option, whether I would be an ideot, without a single faculty of mind, or a single sense of the body; or whether I would have Milton's imagination, attended with this fiery spirit of fanaticism; I should not hesitate one moment to determine,

Church, it is very natural for them to become disaffected to its doctrines: and they, who hate the Christian Faith, will take part with those who are against the Church; because they foresee, that if the Church be destroyed, the faith will be lost; as the light goes out when the lamp is broken. One of the most blasphemous books that ever was written in this country against the Christian Faith, was all of it apparently directed against the Church: on which consideration, many, who then believed the Christian doctrines, were drawn in by a disaffection to the Church, to take part with an infidel.

2. I am to remark farther, that with those who are ignorant and ill-instructed in the nature and use of the Church, there is a perverse prejudice in favour of preaching; and consequently a shocking neglect of those duties which belong to the people. It is a fine easy way for people with itching years, to hear a preacher talk them into Heaven; while they neglect all the more essential parts of divine. worship. Many hear a Sermon with the same vain curiosity as people hear a speech upon a stage, and consult nothing but their own amusement. And while the whole of the ministerial duty is supposed to consist in preach

persons of all

ing, a man who can bawl and rant is tempted to take himself for a minister of Jesus Christ, without any regular mission; of which sort we have multitudes in this kingdom at this time: and it is to be feared they are increasing. It is no uncommon thing for of all persuasions to meet in the same Church to hear the same preacher; many of whom have no communion with one another at any time: how is a preacher to please such a mixt multitude of hearers, but by leaving the Church of Christ out of the question, and preaching a loose sort of Christianity, which will fit them all? Perhaps, if he were to speak the plain truth, and, from a sincere regard to their souls, give them such information as they stand in need of, many of them would leave him with indignation: as there were those who would walk no longer with Jesus Christ, because they were not able to bear the things that were spoken by him. There is a fashion of inviting people to come to Christ, without telling them where and how he is to be found. Besides, it is a great mistake to suppose, that the whole of religion consists in our taking of Christ; it is beginning at the wrong end: for Christ is to take us, as he took the little children in his arms and gave

them

them his blessing*. He said to his disciples, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. There is a covenant between us and God, into which God, of his infinite grace, takes us; we do not take him, neither can we: and this confines us to the ordinances of the Church, which are not of us, but are the gifts of God's free grace to us miserable sinners: and Christians are united to God, and to one another, by the services of prayer, and the participation of the sacraments, more than by the hearing of the word of God without them; which many hear for reasons of vanity and uncharitableness. Who are the best friends every minister hath in his parish? They who, attend the prayers and sacraments with him: who are edified by his priesthood as well as by his preaching; and are active in the great work of their own salvation.

3. As the latter times of the Jewish Church

were

* Mr. Locke, in his Reasonableness of Christianity (a strange piece of divinity) is in the same mistake. He makes baptism a visible act, whereby those, who believed Christ to be the Messiah, received him as their king. So again in the same style, he says, that by baptism men enroll themselves in the kingdom of Jesus; which is but to say in other words, that they write their own names in Heaven. From such language as this, it is too apparent, that Mr. Locke's ideas of the Christian Priesthood and Sacraments were exceedingly low.