disclaimed by the Church of England; but the worship of the Trinity is retained, and with it, of necessity, those representations of the Deity which are in our view so degrading.

The 1st article commences with a fine description of the Deity: "There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness, the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible." Compare this with such adorations as the following: (Litany:) "O holy blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons and one God: have mercy upon us miserable sinners. Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the of fences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood-by the mystery of thy holy incarnation; by thy holy nativity and circumcision; by thy baptism, fasting and temptation; by thine agony and bloody sweat; by thy cross and passion; by thy precious death and burial; by thy glorious resurrection and ascension."-And all this is addressed to GoD!

In Ordination, the candidate must profess to be moved by the Holy Ghost; and the bishop, a frail, unauthorized mortal, pronounces—“ Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office of a priest;-whose sins thou forgivest, they shall be forgiven; whose sins thou retainest, they are retained; in the name

of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Do these parties believe that the one bestows, and the other receives, the Holy Ghost? If so, they should speak more respectfully of Methodists, Southcottians, Swedenborgians; and if not, what is the ceremony? When Christ forgave sins, he was charged with blasphemy. There was but one way of disproving the charge; i. e. by a miracle, which he immediately wrought. So let them, or allow the accusation. The priest, thus commissioned, visits the sick: he tells the ignorant trembler, "I shall rehearse to you the Aticles of our faith, that you may know whether you do believe as a Christian man should or no." If satisfied, he proceeds, " by the authority committed unto me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

The constitution of the Church demands some attention. It is a massy and imposing edifice, not modelled, indeed, with Grecian simplicity, but shooting up, like its own Gothic buildings, into towers and pinnacles of various diguity, all of aspiring form-though while their heads are in the clouds, their foundations press heavily upon the earth, and their shade throws gloom and chilliness around on monuments of death; and all is overtopped by the lofty spire of archiepiscopal eminence; where, sometimes, to finish the resemblance, has been seen only a vane, veering

Truly

to every breeze of political direction. this complicated apparatus of Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Chapters, Canons, Archdeacons, Prebendaries, Rectors, Vicars, Curates, &c., with their offices, oaths, emoluments, titles and subordination, from the poor stipendiary to those who rear their "mitred front in courts and senates," is as unlike as possible to any thing in the New Testament. And though some of the means adopted in Popery to cut off the clergy from the common ties of family, friendship and society, that they may act more decidedly for the interests of the body, are not retained by the Church of England, nor, indeed, by any Protestants, there is still too much of a separate interest. They are not one with the people, in their opinions, feelings, hopes and fears; not even with the laity of their own church. Who knows not that the clergy have a political character; that on certain measures they act together and powerfully? These are invidious topics; I wish to touch them lightly. Some other charges against the Romish, cannot be preferred against the English hierarchy. The latter is not guilty of the affected austerity of monkery; and the disuse of pretended miracles, if not of forged Scripture, has left to sophistry and dogmatism the defence of the faith. (g)

As the charge of persecution was applied alike to Catholic and Nonconformist Churches, an

exemption will not be expected for the Church of England; nor has she any claim. Cranmer, her first martyr, but suffered what he had previously inflicted on some unoffending Baptists: penal laws of great severity are but just repealed: Scotland, too, could tell some bloody tales: but waving all this, the Church has borne her faculties with tolerable meekness. God forbid that some classes of Dissenters should have had her opportunities; nor would I prefer any accusation but of such persecution as no establishment can exist without. A certain portion is essential to its being. This is felt chiefly in privations of what is one's right; as 1. Property: man tills the ground, and from it gets his bread by the sweat of his brow: is not that produce his own? But he should support religion: well, he does so, the religion which he approves; which, though not exalted by the State, has touched his heart, reformed his character, ministered to his consolation, filled him with hopes of immortality, and will, he trusts, be the inheritance of his children, and bring them to him in heaven; yet, as if he had done nothing, his tenth is wrung from him by Church-of-Englandism. 2. An honest ambition to be useful is a disposition to be cherished in every good citizen. Talents and principles should be called into action for the public weal, and honourably rewarded. They exist; there is the appropriate sphere for their

exercise; but they are kept out by the exclusive spirit of Church-of-Englandism. 3. This makes a favoured and a degraded class in society; a distinction which is often fatal to friendliness, and poisons charity. In country villages, how many poor Dissenters see their children deprived of education, unless they be also taught a religion they have abjured, by the persecuting spirit of Church-of-Englandism!

Amid these censures, let me render one cordial tribute of praise, and that is to the Liturgy. Making, of course, some doctrinal exceptions, that is indeed Christian. Excluding holy writ, it may challenge competition with the devout productions of all countries and ages. It is a simple, pure and noble composition. From the bottom of my soul do I admire it, and, as far as my private feelings are concerned, know of no fitter form of words for man to hold communion with his Maker in. Probably much of it has descended from a very early age of Christianity. However that may be, it is worthy of the best days of Christianity. Bred a Dissenter, no early associations prompt this praise. It is the dictate of unbiassed conviction, which, in such a discourse as this, to withhold were uncandid and unjust; like my censures, it is honest and heartfelt.

The Church of England is but a scct, though it may be a fortunate and powerful one.

It has