listening to the kind and tender accents of peace on earth, and good-will to man, I seem to be dragged to the foot of Sinai, and while I lift up my eyes in terror, I hear from amidst the smoke, and lightning, and thunder, words of stern rigour, and harsh severity, with which not one sound of mercy is mingled. It is still further to be deplored, that what too commonly happens to aged people has happened to her; this sternness and repulsive rigour have increased with her years.

"You bring false accusations against me, you wicked man." Indeed, madam, I do not. I will prove my charge, or consent to be thought what you call me. If the most learned, the most holy, and the most zealous man in England was desirous to take orders in the church, and scrupled three of the collects, two petitions in the litany, and the use of the burial service, would he be admitted to officiate as a clergyman? I trow not. If an eminent saint were to present his child for baptism, and to say to the rector, "I do not approve of godfathers and godmothers, my wife and I wish to stand for our child, and take the vows upon ourselves;" would his child be received into the bosom of the church? "No, sir, it would be said, it is impossible to comply with your desire; you must conform to the rubric." Should the most pious man in the parish say to the priest, “reverend sir, I scruple kneeling at the altar: pray allow me to sit while I receive the Lord's supper." Would his request be granted? You know it would not. In all these cases, the clergyman's oath stands in the way, and he dare not, however much he may be inclined. "Why should we give way to such weak people as these? Is it not proper that they should

yield to us, and not we to them?" This speech, my friends, was not dictated by the spirit of Christ, but by the spirit of the world. It savours strongly of its pride, haughtiness, and disdain. Besides, allow me to ask, if it be with them a matter of conscience, while with you it is not, who, according to the spirit of the Gospel, should yield?

Would Christ, think you,reject such a man as I have just described from being a minister of his Gospel, because he scrupled the use of a few things in the rubric ? Would Christ refuse to baptize the child of two pious parents, because they disliked godfathers and wished themselves to devote it to his service? Would Christ deny the Lord's supper to a humble disciple who desired to receive it sitting, and thought it improper to kneel? Can you say that he would not? "Lovest thou me," would be the question from the lips of Jesus. If that was answered to his satisfaction, there would no obstacle in the way: the other things would all be overlooked. Is it not evil then in any church to enact regulations which prevent her from doing what Christ would have done? Does not this more resemble a rigid adherence to the forms of the Jewish law than the mild condescending spirit of the Gospel?

Perhaps it may be said, " have you not an unquestionable proof of the kind, lenient, and forbearing temper of the church of England, in being permitted to bring such accusations against her with impunity? It is a full answer to your charge." Pray do not mistake the matter. I am not more obliged to your church for the enjoyment of religious liberty, than I am to the army, or the navy, or the customs, and the excise and I should as soon think of returning my

thanks for it to the commander in chief of the army, the board of admiralty, the commissioners of customs and excise, as to the hierarchy of the church of England. My obligations are to the constitution of my country, in which I glory. It is to it that I am indebted for that freedom of discussion which Britons enjoy; and which authorises me frankly to propose my sentiments to the consideration of all those who choose to pay any attention to them. The bitter reflections against dissenters, which appear from month to month in the publications of some of the clergy, but too plainly betray their dissatisfaction with the present state of things; and give us reason to conclude that if our privileges depended on their inclinations, we should not long continue to enjoy them. This, while it lessens any sense of obligation to that part of the church at least, makes me love the constitution and government the more, and unspeakably heightens the feelings of my gratitude.

What if I should add that I do not like to belong to a church which has a mark, that I cannot perceive in the church of Jesus Christ. "A spirit of tormenting fear" seems to haunt her, and on every occurrence which she fancies to be unfavourable to her interests, a long, loud, and bitter cry is heard, "The church is in danger, the church is in danger, the church is in danger." From the accession of the house of Stewart to the civil wars, it was the order of the day. From the restoration to the revolution severe acts of parliament against the dissenters were the effect of this doleful cry. During William's reign it never ceased. When Anne became his successor, it waxed louder and louder, and at last so agitated the nation as to

' endanger the country's peace. In those days of old, when she uttered this mournful complaint, nothing. pleased her better, and seemed to operate so effectually as a sedative on her fears, as severe acts of par!liament against the dissenters, that it was difficult not to believe that she placed more reliance on the sword of the magistrate, than on the power of Christ. Not to descend to every instance, when the dissenters applied for a repeal of the corporation and test act, the cry of the danger of the church rang throughout the land; and from the strange events which have since occurred, and which have in succession been continued to the present day, the cry has been lengthened out for these twenty years. Dissenters have created the chief alarm, but of late the fear of Roman catholic soldiers and sailors, and Roman catholic officers in the army and navy, has taken off one of the church's eyes at least from the dissenters, and turned it towards Rome; or rather, some of the children are afraid of the dissenters, and others of the papists: and between the two a most doleful cry is raised; and the danger of the church excites a piteous wailing, which has been made by her most dignified sons, even at the foot of the throne.

From the pulpit, in all its gradations of splendour, from the cathedral to the village church, has the cry resounded. The press has teemed with hundreds of volumes, thousands of pamphlets, and passages without number, in works of various discussion, all re

echoing the complaint, "the church is in danger." The universities, which are the seminaries of the future pastors of the church, have ever been the first and the loudest in their complaints. Multitudes of the laity have caught the sound, and have felt as

much at least on the subject as those who raised the alarm.

But is the church so weak as to excite such lively fears? To all human appearance no establishment on earth is more firm and more secure. The king and queen, and all the royal family, are most cordially devoted to the church of England, with the exception of some Roman Catholic lords, for there is not one protestant dissenter, or but one, the whole nobility of the realm belong to her communion. She has the mass of the gentry: when they go to worship any where, it is in her temples, and at her altars. The army and navy profess the same faith and a vast majority of the labouring classes in the community are of the religion of the country. Laws and acts of parliament without number, secure her in all her rights, and defend every outwork of the citadel. Was ever church so well protected by buttresses without, and faithful and zealous guardians within? And yet there is fear.

Is there cause of fear? Does danger exist? If not, it is wicked to raise a false alarm. If they fancy there is danger when there is none, they are weak, and it is no honour to have any connection with them. If it be insisted on that there was danger whenever the cry was raised, and there is danger now, I must say that I am greatly amazed. "But have not the universities lately said that the church is in danger: D. South called them the two eyes of the nation, and who will dare to contradict him?" Well, gentlemen, if you conceive this to be really the case, I can only say that if you think these two eyes look more deeply and profoundly into the building than those who are without, and know better its real state,