"unless we are prepared to believe that clerical ordi"nation, the mere opus operatum entirely alters the "nature of man, and renders him a being of a diffe"rent species from the rest of his brethren, we may be "assured that an established clergyman will not, ge 66 nerally speaking, go far beyond what the law can en"force."*-If the principle or ground of argument here laid down were once admitted, we should be equally bound to infer from " the nature of man," that so far as dissenting ministers are diligent in the discharge of their duty, it is only because they feel themselves dependent on the people to whom they minister. But I am far from imputing to them anything so base as what would be involved in this conclusion. Respecting the charge so broadly and indefinitely laid against the established clergy, the only qualified judges are that part of the public who submit to, and desire to profit by, the ministrations of a national or established church ;—and to their award I most willingly leave the question at issue. With still more confidence shall I decline making any reply to some more extraordinary and unexpected charges. We are directed to look to "those Insensate Beings "who are now appearing in the pulpits of the esta"blishment;"† we are told that an established clergy, * Comparison of Established and Dissenting Churches, pp. 152, 3. + Idem, p. 33. 66 as a body, are capable of almost any thing ;"* and we are gravely informed that, in the opinion of the writer, “the press makes fewer infidels than the pulpit.”+ If I could, from the beginning, have condescended to any thing so mean as an endeavour to accomplish my object by retorting abuse, this exemplification of it would certainly have deterred me from so vain an attempt. Those objections against the utility of church establishments, to which I have replied, are all that, in my apprehension, call for an answer;—and it is not without some confidence in the answer which has been given that I now approach the conclusion of the whole argument. • Comparison of Established and Dissenting Churches, p. 117. + Idem, p. 118. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE I HAVE presented the different parts of the argument in that order, which I hoped would be most conducive to a just understanding and estimate of the whole. But our views of the case have proved so very miscellaneous, that some reflection on the part of the reader, may be necessary, in order to his perceiving the combined force, with which they direct us to the same conclusion; and, for this reason, it may be useful that we now take a brief retrospect of what has been advanced. My great object has been to vindicate that connection between church and state which is essential to an ecclesiastical establishment,-that interposition of civil power in what outwardly concerns the church, which contributes to its outward support and maintenance. Now, in a case which so nearly concerns the service and honour of God, and the everlasting well-being of men, it was natural to look for some indications of the purpose and design of Heaven; and we have accordingly found such manifestations of the Divine counsel and will upon this subject, as it seems impossible to contemplate in all their connection and bearing, without admitting that ecclesiastical establishments have the sanction of Divine authority. Keeping duly in mind that all the ways of God are consistent, we have looked back to the earliest dispensation of Divine grace-to the condition of the visible church under the patriarchal dispensation,-in the hope of tracing, even at that period, some of the first elements of an ecclesiastical establishment ;—and, considering how brief are the notices which the Scriptures afford of what passed at that early age, we have certainly found more than could well have been anticipated. We have seen that, in the person of one individual (Melchisedek) the office of priest of the Most High God was combined with that of a king or an earthly potentate,-a strong presumption (to say the least) that the power with which he was invested, as a king, would not fail to be exercised, as it should become necessary, for the accomplishment of the objects of his priesthood. We have also seen that, even at the same early period, tenths or tithes of men's increase or acquisitions were, in some cases, consecrated to the service of the Divine Being,—and, in one case, were certainly paid to that priest of the Most High God, whose priestly office we are directed to regard as a type of the priesthood of Christ. An examination of the Mosaic economy has enabled us to ascertain that its provisions were strictly conformable in their import to what had been more or less recognised under the patriarchal dispensation. As a contrast to the earlier case, the enactments of the Mosaic law, and the history of the Israelitish nation are extremely minute. But, while they supply all that was wanting in our information, respecting the counsel and will of God, under the patriarchal system, they do not, in a single point, contravene the information and evidence which it had afforded us. We find that the authority of kings and other potentates was exercised in all its vigour for the support of the visible church of God, and exercised in a way which entitles us to regard their conduct as an example to others. The payment of tithes, also, to the ministers of religion was unequivocally required,-not for their occasional accommodation merely, but for their regular and continued support. We have found, after strict examination, that what was thus sanctioned, under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, was not abrogated by Christ. The prophecies in the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah and his church upon earth, had distinctly intimated that, after an ineffectual opposition to the establishment of his spiritual kingdom, the potentates of this world should be brought to serve and honour him, to present to him gifts, and fall down before him, and that kings in particular should become the nursing fathers of the Christian church. These prophecies were, in their due time, fulfilled; and the Christian world were encouraged to regard their fulfilment as a pledge of the continued aid and support of earthly |