Essays on the principles of morality, and on the private and political rights and obligations of mankind
Dymond, Jonathan, 1796-1828
t Arcbd(;acon Blackburn's Confeesional : FM ] <7HAP. XfV.] RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 451 of mankind, does more towards recommending the belief, and with the belief the influence of Christianity, to the understand- ings and consciences of serious enquirers, and through them to universal reception and authority, than can be effected by a thousand contenders for creeds and ordinances of hmnan es- tablishments." If the benefits of dismissing such an article are so great, what must be the evil of continuing it ? If the benefit of dimissing one such article be so great, what must be the evil of an established system which tends habitually and constantly to retain mantf of them? Yet these "articles, which thus contradict the reasoning of mankind," are actually retained by established churches. " Creeds and confessions," says Dr. Paley, " however they may express the persuasion, or be accommodated to the controversies or to the fears of the age in which they are- composed, in process of time, and by reason of the changes which are wont to take place in the judgment of mankind upon religious subjects, they come at length to contradict the actual opinions ' of the church whose doctrines they profess to contain."* It is then confessed by the members of an established church that religious establish- ments powerfully obstruct the belief, the influence, the uni- versal reception and authority of Christianity. Great, indeed, must be the counter advantages of these establishments if they counterbalance this portion of its evils. II. This last paragraph anticipates the second class of dis- advantages attendant upon religious establishments : their ill effects upon religion generally, . It is indisputable, that much of the irreligion of the world has resulted from those things which have been mixed up with Christianity, and placed be- fore mankind as parts of religion. In some countries, the mixture has been so flagrant that the majority of the thinking part of the population have almost rejected religion altogether. So it was, and so it may be feared it still is, in France. The intellectual part of her people rejected religion, not because they had examined Christianity and were convinced that it was a Action, but because they had examined what was pro- posed to them as Christianity and found it was absurd or false. So numerous were the " articles that contradicted the experience and judgment of mankind," that they concluded the whole was a fable and rejected the whole. Now that which the French church establishment did in an extreme degree, others do in a less degree. If the French church retained a hundred articles that contradicted the judg- ment of mankind, and thus made a nation of unbelievers, the » Paley : Mor. and Pol PhU. b. 6, c 10. 4fi2 msLioious establishments. [sssat iii church which retains ten or five such articles, toeakens the general influence of religion although it may not destroy it. Nor is it merely by imauthorized doctrinal articles or forms that the influence of religion is impaired, but by the general evils which aflect the church itself. It is sufficiently manifest, that whatever tends to diminish the virtue, or to impeach the character, of the ministers of religion, must tend to diminish the influence of religion upon macJund. If the t«acher is not good, we are not to expect goodness in the taught. If a man enters the church with impure or unworthy motives, he can- not do his duty when he is there. If he makes religion sub- servient to interest in his own practice, he cannot effectually teach others to make religion paramount to all. Men asso- ciate (they ought to do it less) the idea of religion with that of its teachers ; and their respect for one is frequently mea- sured by their respect for the other. Now, that the effect of religious establishments has been to depress their teachers in the estimation of mankind, cannot be disputed. The effect is, in truth, inevitable. And it is manifest that whatever c<hi- veys disrespectful ideas of religion diminishes its influence upon the human mind. In brief, we have seen that to estab- lish a religion is morally pernicious to its nunisters ; and whatever is injurious to them diminishes the power c^ religiim in the world. Christianity is a religion of good-will and kind affections. Its essence, so far as the intercourse of society is concerned, is Love. Whatever diininishes good-will and kind affections amongst Christians, attacks the essence of Christianity. Now, religious establishments do this. They generate ill-will, heart- burnings, animosities — ^those very things which ova religion deprecates more almost than any other. It is obvious that if a fourth or a third of a community think they are unreason- ably excluded from privileges which the other parts enjoy, feelings of jealousy or envy are likely to be generated. If the minority are obliged to pay to the support of a religion they disapprove, these feelings are likely to be exacerbated. They soon become reciprocal ; attacks are made by one party and repelled by another, till there arises an habitual sense of un- kindness or ill-will.* The deduction from the practical influ- *■ I once met with rather a grotesqae definition of religious dissent, hot it illustrates my proposition : — " Dissenterism " — that is, " systematic op- position to the established religion." " The placing all the religious sects (in America) upon an equal foot- ing with respect to the government of the country, has efiectually w< cured the peace of the community, at the same time that it has \ CRAP. XtV.] RfiLIGIOVS SSTABLISHITENTS. 453" ence of religion upon the minds of men which this eifect of religious establislunents occasions, is great. The evil, I trust, is diminishing in the world ; but then the diminution results, not from religious establishments, but from that power of Christianity which prevails against these evils. From these, and from other evidences of the injurious effects of religious establishments upon the ' religious condition of mankind, we shall perhaps be prepared to assent to the ob- servations which follow : " The lustory of the last eighteen centuries does, indeed, afford, in various ways, a strong pre- sumptive evidence, that the cause of true Christianity has very materially suffered in the world in consequence of the con- nexion between the church and the state. It is probably in great measure the consequence of such an union that the chiirch has assumed, in almost all Christian countries, so sec- ular a character — ^that Christianity has become so lament- ably mixed up with the spirit, maxims, motives, and poli- tics of a vain and evil world. Had the union in question never been attempted, pure religion might probably have found a freer course ; the practical effects of Christianity might have been more unmixed and more extensive ; and it might have spread its influence in a much more efficient manner than is now the case, even over the laws and politics of kings and nations. Before its union with the state, our holy religion flourished with comparative incorruptness ; afterwards it gradually declined in its purity and its power until all was nearly lost in darkness, superstition, and spiritual tyranny ." * " Religion should remain distinct from the political constitu- tion of a state. Intermingled with it, what purpose can it serve, except the baneful purpose of conununicating and of receiving contamination ?" t III. Then as to the effect of religious establishments upon the civil welfare of a state— we know that the connexion be- tween religious and civil welfare is intimate and great. tially promoted the interests of truth and virtue." — ^Mem. Dr. Priestley, p. 175. Mem. in the MS. Pennsylvania. — " Although there are so many sects and such a differ- ence of religious opinions in this province, it is surprismg the harmony which subsists among them ; they consider themselves as children of the same father, and live like brethren because they have the liberty of thinking like men ; to this pleasing harmony, in « great measure is to be attributed the rapid and flourishing state of Pennsylvania above all the other provinces." Travels through the Interior parts of North America, by an Officer. 1791. Lond. The oflicer was Thomas Aubery, who was taken prisoner by the Americans. Mem. in the MS. » J. J. Gumey : Peculiarities, c. 7. t Charles James Fox : Fell's Life. 454 ItSLiaiOtTS eSTASLISHMfiNTS. [esSAT Ttt* Whatever therefore diminishes the influence of religion up- on a people, diminishes their general welfare. In addition, « however, to this general consideration, there are some parties ular modes of the injurious effects of religious establishments which it may be proper to notice. And, first, religious establishments are incompatible with complete religious liberty. This consideration we requested the reader to bear in mind when the question of religious Ub- erty was discussed. * " If an establishment be right, re- ligious liberty is not; and if religious liberty be right, an establishment is not." Whatever arguments therefore exist to prove the rectitude of complete religious liberty, they prove at the same time the wrongness of religious establish- ments. Nor is this all ; for it is the manifest tendency of these establishments to withhold an increase of religious Ub- erty, even when on other grounds it would be granted. The secular interests of the state religion are set in array against an increase of liberty. If the established church allows other churches to approach more nearly to an equality with itself, its own relative eminence is diminished; and if by any means the state religion adds to its own privileges, it is by deducting from the privileges of the rest. The state religion is, besides, afraid to dismiss any part even of its confessedly use- less privileges, lest, when an alteration is begun, it should not easily be stopped. And there is no reason to doubt that it is temporal rather than religious considerations — ^interest rather than Christianity — which now occasions restrictions and dis- abilities and tests. In conformity with these views, persecution has generally been the work of religious establishments. Indeed, some alliance or some countenance at least from the state is neces- sary to a systematic persecution. Popular outrage may per- secute men on account of their religion, as it often has done ; but fixed stated persecutions have perhaps always been the work of the religion of the state. It was the state religion of Rome that persecuted the first Christians ; not to mention that it was the state religion of Judea that put our Saviour himself to death. — " Who was it that crucified the Saviour of the world for attempting to reform the religion of his countr)' ? The Jewish priesthood. — Who was it that drowned the altars of their idols with the blood of Christians for attempting to abolish Paganism ? The Pagan priesthood. — Who was it that persecuted to flames and death those who, in the time of WicklifFe and his followers, laboured to reform the errors * Essay 3, c. 4. OBAP. XIV «] RELI0I0TT8 ESTABLISHMSNTB. 495 of Popeiy ? The Popish priesthood.-— Who was it, and who is it that, both in England and in Ireland since the Reforma- tion^— but I check my hand, being unwilling to reflect upon the dead, or to exasperate the living."* We also are unwill- ing to reflect upon or to exasperate, but our business is with Slain truth. Who, then, was it that since the Reformation as persecuted dissentients from its creed, and who is it thai at tlus hour thinks and speaks of them with imchristian an- tipathy 1 The English Priesthood, It was, and it is, the state religion in some European coimtries that now persecutes Dissenters from its creed. It was the state religion in this coimtry that persecuted the Protestants ; since Protestantism has been established, it is the state religion which has persecuted Protestant Dissenters. Is this the fa.ult principally of the faith of these churches, or of their alliance with the state ? No man can be in doubt for an answer. We are accustomed to attribute too much to bigotry. Big- otry has been very great and very operative ; but bigotry alone would not have produced the disgraceful and dreadful trans- actions which All the records of ecclesiastical history. No. Men have often been actuated by the love of supremacy or of money, whilst they were talking loudly of the sacredness of their faith. They have been less afraid for religion than for the dominance of a church. When the creed of that church was impugned, those who shared in its advantages were zealous to suppress the rising enquiry ; because the dis- credit of the creed might endanger the loss of the advantages. The zeal of a Pope for the real presence, was often quite a Action. He and his cardinals cared perhaps nothing for the real presence, as they sometimes cared nothing for morality. But men might be immoral without encroaching upon the Papal Power — they could not deny the doctrine without endangering its overthrow. Happily, persecution for religion is greatly diminished; yet, whilst we rejoice in the fact, we cannot conceal from our- selves the consideration, that the diminution of persecution has resulted rather from the general diflfusion of better princi- ples than from the operation of religious establishments as such. In most or in all ages, a great portion of the flagitious trans- actions which furnish materials for the ecclesiastical historian, have resulted from the political connexions or interests of a church. It was not the interest of Christianity but of an es- tablishment, which made Becket embroil his king and other » Miscellaneoiu Tracts by Richard Watson, D. D., Bishop of Lan- daff, Y. 2. 456 RSLIQIOITS £8TABLISHMEST8. [iBSAT HI. sovereigns in distractions. It was not the interests of Chris- tianity but of an establishment, which occasioned the mon- strous impositions and usurpations of the Papal see. And I do not know whether there has ever been a religious war of which religion was the only or the principal cause. Besides all this, there has been an inextricable succession of intrigues and cabals— of conflicting interests — ^and clamour and dis- traction, which the world would have been spared if secular interests had not been brought into connection with religion. Another mode in which religious establishments are inju- rious to the civil welfare of a people, is by their tendency to resist political improvements. That same cause which iih duces state religions to maintain themselves as they are^ indu- ces them to maintain the patron state as it is. It is the state in its present condition, that secures to the church its advan- tages ; and the church does not know whether, if it were to encourage political reformation, the new state of things might not endanger its own supremacy. There are indeed so many other interests and powers concerned in political reformations, that the state reUgion cannot always prevent alterations from being effected. Nor would I affirm that they always endea- vour to prevent it. And yet we may appeal to the general experience oi all ages, whether established churches have not resisted reformation in those political institutions upon which their own privileges depended. Now, these are seri- ous things. For after all that can be said, and justly said, of the mischiefs of political changes and the extravagances of political empiricism, it is sufficiently certain that almost every government that has been established in the world, has needed from time to time important reformations in its constitution or its practice. And it is equally certain, that if there be any influence or power which habitually and with little discrimi- nation supports political institutions as they are, that influence or power must be very pernicious to the world. We have seen that one of the requisites of a religious es- tablishment is a " legal provision " for its ministers — ^that is to say, the members of all the churches which exist in a state must be obliged to pay to the support of one, whether they approve of that one or not. Now in endeavouring to estimate the effects of this system, with a view to ascertain the preponderance of public advan- tages, we are presented at the outset with the enquiry — Is this compulsory maintenance right? Is it compatible with Christianity ? If it is not, there is an end of the controversy ; for it is nothing to Christians whether a system be politic or CJBAP. XZ¥.] &ELIOI0US ESTABLISHlCBirTa. A9t impolitic, if once they have discovered that it is wrong. But I waive for the present the question of rectitude. The reader la at liberty to assume that Christianity allows governments to make this compulsory provision if they think fit. I waive, too, the question wheUier a Christian minister ought to receive payment for his labours, Whether that payment be voluntary or not. The single point before us is, then, the balance of advao!* tages. Is it more advantageous that ministers should be paid by a legal provision or by voluntary subscription ? ThcU advantage of a legal provision which consists in the supply of a teacher to every district has already been noticed ; so mat our enquiry is reduced to a narrow limit. Supposing that a minister would be appointed in every district although the state did not pay him, is it more desirable that he should be paid by the state or volimtarily by the people ? Of the legal provision some of the advantages are these : it holds out no inducement to the irreligious or indifferent to absent themselves from public worship lest they should be expected to pay the preacher. Public worship is conducted — the preacher delivers his discourse— whether such persons go or not. They pay no more for going, and no less for stay- ing away : and it is probable, in the present religious state of mankind, that some go to places for worship since it costs them nothing, who otherwise would stay away. But it is manifestly better that men should attend even in such a state of indifference than that they should not attend at all. Upon the voluntary system of payment, this good effect is not so fully secured ; for though the doors of chapels be open to all, yet few persons of competent means would attend them con- stantly without feeling that they might be expected to con- tribute to the expenses. I do not believe that the non-attend- ance of indifferent persons would be greatly increased by the adoption of the voluntary system, especially if the payments were as. moderate as they easily might be ;— but it is a ques- tion rather of speculation than of experience, and the reader is to give upon this account to the system of legal provision, such an amount of advantage as he shall think fit. Again.— Preaching, where there is a legal provision, is not " a mode of begging.'' If you adopt voluntary payment, that payment depends upon the good pleasure of the hearers, and there is manifestly a temptation upon the preacher to accom- modate his discourses, or the manner of them, to the wishes of his hearers, rather than to the dictates of his own judgment. But the man who receives his stipend whether his hearers be 39 J458 &ELtOtOTJ8 fiSTABLISHMEKTir. [eSSAT nf. "pleased or not, is under no sucIl temptation. He is at liberty to conform the exercise of his fiinctions to his judgment with- out the diminution of a subscription. This, I thmk, is an undeniable advantage. Another consideration is this : — That where the>e is a re- i ligious establishment with a legal provision, it is usual, not to say indispensable, to fill the pulpits only with persons who entertain a certain set of religious opinions. It would be ob- Tiously idle to assume that these opinions axe true, but they are. or are in a considerable degree, t^ni/brm. Assuming then, that one set of opinions is as sound as another, is it better that a district should always hear one set, or that the teachers 4>f twenty difierent sets should successively gain possession of the pulpit, as the choice of the people might direct ? 1 presume not to determine such a question ; but it may be ob- served, that, in point of fact, those churches which do pro- ceed upon the voluntary system, are not often subjected to isuch fluctuations of doctrine. There does not appear much ^difficulty in constituting churches upon the voluntary plan which shall in practice secure considerable imiformity in the sentiments of the teachers. And as to the bitter animosities and distractions which have been predicted if a choice of new teachers was to be left to the people — ^they do not, I believe ordinarily follow. Not that I apprehend the ministers, for in- stance, of an independent church are always elected with that unanimity and freedom from heart-burnings which ought to subsist, but that animosities do not subsist to any great extent. Besides, the prediction appears to be founded on the suppo- sition, that a certain stipend was to be appropriated to one teacher or to another, according as he might obtain the greater number of votes — whereas every man is at Uberty, if he pleases, to withdraw his contribution from him whom he dis- approves, and to give it to another. And, after all, there may be voluntary support of ministers without an election by those who contribute, as is instanced by the Methodists in the pres- » ent day. Ji On the other hand, there are some advantages attendant on the voluntary system which that of a legal provision does not possess. And first it appears to be of importance that there should be a union, a harmony, a cordiality between the minister and the people. It is, in truth, an indispensable requisite. Chris- tianity, which is a religion of love, cannot flourish where un- kindly feelings prevail. Now, I think it is manifest that har- mony and cordiality are likely to prevail more where tht CHAP. Xnr,] RBLIOIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 45ft minister is chosen and voluntarily remunerated by his hearers, than where they are not consulted in the choice ; where they are obliged to take him whom others please to appoint, and where they are compelled to pay him whether they like him or not. The tendency of this last system is evidently opposed to perfect kindliness and cordiality. There is likely to be a sort of natural connexion, a communication of good offices induced between hearers and the man whom they themselves choose and voluntarily remunerate, which is less likely in the other case. If love be of so much consequence generally to the Christian character, it is especially of consequence that it should subsist between him who assumes to be a dispenser^ and them who are in the relation of hearers of the gospel of Christ. Indeed the very circumstance that a man is compelled to pay a preacher, tends to the introduction of unkind and unfriendly feelings. It is not to be expected that men will pay him more graciously or with a better will than they pay a tax- gatherer ; and we all know that the tax-gatherer is oae of the last persons whom men wish, to see. He who desires to ex- tend the influence of Christianity, would be very cautious of establishing a system of which so ungracious a regulation formed a part. There is truth worthy of grave attention in the ludicrous verse of Cowper's — A rarer man than you In pulpit none shall hear ; But yet, methinks to tell you true, You sell it plaguy dear. It is easy to perceive that the influence of that man's exhor-^ tations must be diminished, whose hearers listen with the re- flection that his advice is " plaguy dear." The reflection, too, is perfectly natural, and cannot be helped. And when super- added to this is the consideration, that it is not only sold " dear," but that payment is enforced — ^material injury must be sustained by the cause of religion. In this view it may be remarked, that the support of an estabHshment by a general tax would be preferable to the payment of each pastor, by his ovm hearers. Nor is it unworthy of notice that some persons will always think (whether with reason or without it) that compulsory maintenance is not right ; and in whatever degree they do this, there is an increased cause of dissatisfaction or estrangement. Again, the teacher who is independent of the congregation —who will enjoy all his emoluments whether they are satis* fled with him or not — ^is under manifest temptation to remisS'*^ 40^ MTLMIOVS BaTABLXBHMSMTS. [eBBJLY JU, Besa in his duty ; not perhaps to remissness in those partic- ulars on which his superiors would animadvert, hut in those which respect the unstipulated and imdefinable, but very im- portant duties of private care, and of private labours. To mention this is sufficient. No man who reflects upon the human constitution, or who looks around him, will need argu- ments to prove that they are likely to labour negligently whose profits are not increased by assuidity and zeal. I know that the power of religion can, and that it often does, counteract this ; but that is no argument for putting temptation in the way. So powerful indeed is this temptation, that with a very great number it is acknowledged to prevail. Even if we do not assert, with a clergyman, that a great proportion of his breth- ren labour only so much for the religious benefit of their par- ishioners as will screen them from the arm of the law, there is other evidence which is unhappily conclusive. The des- perate extent to which non-residence is practised, is infalUble proof that a large proportion of the clergy are remiss in the discharge of the duties of a Christian pastor. They do not discharge them con amore ; and how should they ? It was not the wish to do this which prompted them to become cler- gymen at first. They were iuiiuenced by another object, and tibiat they have obtained — they possess an income : and it is not to be expected that, when this is obtained, the mental de- sires should suddenly become elevated and purified, and that they who entered the church for the sake of its emoluments, should commonly labour in it for the sake of religion. Although to many the motive for entering the church is the same as that for engaging in other professions, it is an unhappiness peculiar to the clerical profession, that it does not ofier the same stimulus to subsequent exertion ; that ad- vancement does not usually depend upon desert. The man who seeks for an income from surgery, or the bar, is continu- ally prompted to pay exemplary attention to its duties. Un- less the surgeon is skilful and attentive, he knows that practice is not to be expected : imless the pleader devotes himself to statutes and reports, he knows that he is not to expect cases and briefs. But the clergyman, whether he studies the Bible or not — ^whether he be diligent and zealous or not — still pos- sesses his living. Nor would it be rational to expect, that where the ordinary stimulus to human exertion is wanting, the exertion itself should generally be found. So naturally does exertion follow from stimulus, that we believe it is an observation frequently made that curates are more exemplary than beneficed devgymen. And if beneficed clergymen wew OHAP. XIY.] &ELI«iOU6 ESTABLtSfilTKirrS. '461 more solicitous than they are to make the diUgishce of timr curates the principal consideration in employing them, this difference between curates and their employers would be much greater than it is. Let beneficed clergymen em{^y and re- ward curates upon as simple principles as those are on which a merchant employs and rewards a clerk, and it is probable that nine-tenths of the parishes in England would wish for « curate rather than a rector. But this very consideration affords a powerful argument against the present system. If much good would result from making clerical reward the price of desert, much evil results from making it independent of desert. This effect of tiie En* ^lish Establishment is not, like some others, inseparaMe from die institution. It would doubtless be possible, even with compulsory maintenance, so to appropriate it that it should form a constant motive to assiduity and exertion. Clergymen might be elevated in their profession according to their fidelity to their office ; and if this were done — ^if, as opportimity offered, all were likely to be promoted who deserved it ; and if all who did not deserve it were sure to be passed by, a new face would soon be put upon the affairs of the church. The complaints of neglect of duty would quickly be diminished, and non-residence would soon cease to be the reproach of three thousand out of ten. We cannot, however, amuse our- selves with the hope that this will be done, because, in refer- ence to the civil constitution of the church, there is too near an approach to that condition in which the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. If then it be asserted, that it is one great advantage of the establishment that it provides a teacher for every parish, it is one great disadvantage, that it makes a large proportkm of those teachers negligent of their duty. There may perhaps be a religious establishment in which the ministers shall be selected for their deserts, though I know not whether in any it is actually and sufficiently done. That it is one of the first requisites in the appointment of religious teachers is plain ; and this point is manifestly better consulted by a system in which the peo]de voluntarily pay and choose their pastors, than when they do not. Men love goodness in others, though they may be bad themselves ; and they espe- cially like it in their religious teachers : so that, when ihey come to select a person to fill that office, they are likely to select one of whom they think at least that he is a good man« The same observation holds of nou'^esidence. Ncm-resi- 39* 48S KSLtototrs lesTALtsfiEitEirrft. [essay nt. dence is not necessary to a state religion. By the system of Yoluntiry payment it is impossible. It has sometimes been said (with whatever truth) that in times of public discontent these persons have been disposed to disaffection. If this be true, compulsory support is in this respect a political evil, inasmuch as it is the cause of the alien- ation of a part of the community. We will not suppose so strong a case as that this alienation might lead to physical opposition; but supposing the dissatisfaction only to eocistj affords no inconsiderable topic of the statesman's enquiry. Happiness is the object of civil government, and this object is frustrated in part in respect of those who think themselves aggrieved by its policy. And when it is considered how nu- merous the dissenters are, and that they increase in number, the political impropriety and impolicy of keeping them in a «tate of dissatisfaction becomes increased. The best security of a government is in the satisfaction and affection of the people ; which satisfaction is always diminished, and which affection is always endangered, in re- spect of those who, disapproving a certain church, are com- pelled to pay to its support. This is a consequence of a '* legal provision" that demands much attention from the legis- lator. Every legislator knows that it is an evil. It is a point that no man disputes, and that every man knows should be prevented, unless its cause effects a counterbalance of ad- vantages. Lastly, Upon the question of the comparative advantages of a legal provision, and a voluntary remuneration in securing the due discharge of the ministerial function, what is the evi- dence of facts ? Are the ministers of established, or of un- established churches, the more zealous, the more exemplary, the more laborious, the more devoted ? Whether of the two are the more beloved by their hearers ? Whether of the two lead the more exemplary and religious lives ? Whether of the two are the more active in works of philanthropy ? It is a question of facts, and facts are before the world. The discussions of the present chapter conduct the mind t)f the writer to these short conclusions : That of the two grounds upon which the propriety of Re- ligious Establishments is capable of examination, neither af- fords evidence in their favour: That Religious Establishments derive no countenance from the nature of Christianity, or from the example of the primitive churches ; and, That they ars not recommended by practical Utility. ,C1IAF^ ZV.^ KSLIOXOtrs BSTABLXSRMSKTdi STO. 46^ CHAPTER XY. the religious establishments of england and Ireland. i The English Church the offspring of the Refonnation> the Church eHab» liahment, of Papacy— Alliance of Church and State — ** The Priesthood averse from Reformation" — Noble Ecclesiastics — ^Pmrchase of Advow- sons — ^Non-residence^Pluraiities — ^Parliamentary Returns — ^The Cler- ey fear to preach the truth — Moral Preaching — ^Recoil from Works of Philanthropy— Tithes— "The Church is in Danger"— The Church establishment is in danger — Monitory Suggestion. THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT IS OF PAPAL ORIGIN. If the conclusions of the last chapter be just, it will now become our business to enquire how far the disadvantages "which are incidental to religious establishments actually oper- ate in our own, and whether there subsist any additional dis- advantages resulting from the peculiar constitution or circum- stances of the English church. We have no concern with religious opinions or forms of church government, but with the church as connected with the state. It is not with an Episcopalian church, but with an estab- lished church, that we are concerned. If there must exist a religious establishment, let it by all means remain in its present hands. The experience which England has Had of the elevation of another sect to the supremacy, is not such as to make us wish to see another elevated again.* Nor would * The religious sect who are now commonly called Puritans, " pro- hibited the use of the Common Prayer, not merely in churches, chapels, and places of public worship, but in any private place or family as well, tmder a penalty of five pounds for the first offence, ten pounds for the second, and for the third a year's imprisonment."* These men did not understand, or did not practise the fundamental duties of toleration. For religious liberty they had still less regard. " They passed an ordinance by which eight heresies were made punishable with death upon the £rst offence, unless the offender abjured his errors, and irremissibly if he re- lapsed. Sixteen other opinions were to be punished with imprisonment, till the offender should find sureties that he would maintain them no more."t And they quite abolished the Episcopal rank and order, as if each church might not decide for itself by what form its discipline should be conducted ? To have separated the civil privileges from the episcopal order was within the province of the Legislature, and to have abolished those privileges would, we think, have been wise. * Sottthey's Book of (he Charch. t U« 464 RBLiGiotrs s«f ABLtsMMifcKirr Q9 [bssat nr any seel iTjiIcL laKes a just view of its own religious interests desire the supremacy for itself. The origin of the English establishment is papal. The political alliance of the church is similar now to what it was m the first years of Henry VIII. When Henry countenanced the preachers of the reformed opinions, when he presented some of them with the benefices which had hitherto been pos- sessed by the Romish clergy ; and when at length these ben- efices and the other privileges of the state religion were bestowed upon the " reformed" only — no essential change was effected in the political constitution of the church. In one point indeed the alliance with the state was made more strict, because the supreiUlacy was transferred from the pope to the monarch. So that the same or a kindred politicad character was put in connexion with other men and new opinions. The church was altered but the establishment remained nearly the «ame : or the difference that did obtain made the establishment Hiore of a state religion than before. The origin therefore oi the English establishment is papal. It was planted by papal pcdicy, and nurtured by pervsuling superstition : and as to the transfer of the supremacy, but litde credit is due to its origin or its motives. No reverence is due to our establishment on account of its parentage. The church is the offspring of the reformation — the church estahlishfnent is not. It is not a daughter of protestantism but of the papacy — ^brought into un- natural alliance with a better faith. Unhappily, but httle anxiety was shown by some of the reformers to purify the political character of the church when its privileges came into their own hands. They declaimed against the corruptions of the former church, but were more than sufficiently willing to retain its profits and its power. The alliance with the state of which we have spoken, as the inseparable attendant of religious establishments, is in this country peculiarly close. " Church and State" is a phrase that is continually employed, and indicates the intimacy of the connexion between them. The question then arises, whether those disadvantages which result generally from the alliance, result in this country, and whether the peculiar in- timacy is attended with peculiar evils. Bishops are virtually appointed by the prince ; and it is manifest that in the present principles of political affairs, re- gard will be had, in their selection, to the interests of the state. The question will not always be, when a bishoprick becomes vacant, Who is the fittest man to take the oversight of the CHiUP. ZV.] £KOlJUfD ANP XRBLUU). '4i5 ehurch ? but sometmie« — ^What appointment will ntost effect- ually strengthen the administration of the day ? — Bishops are temporal peers, and as such they have an efficient ability to promote the views of the government by their votes in par- liament. Bishops in their turn are patrons ; and it becomes also manifest that these appointments will sometimes be regu- lated by kindred views. He who was selected by the cabinet because he would promote their measures, and who cannot heme for advancement if he opposes those measures, is not likely to select clergymen who oppose them. Many ecclesi- astical appointments, again, are in the hands of the individual officers of government— of the prime minister, for example, or the lord chancellor. That ^ese officers will frequently regard political purposes, or purposes foreign to the njorth of men, in making these appointments, is plain. Now, when we reflect that the highest dignities of the church are in the patronage of the king, and that the influence of their dignita- ries upon the inferior clergy is necessarily great, it becomes obvious, that there will be diffused through the general whole of the hierarchy a systematic alliance with the ruling power. Nor is it assuming any thing unreasonable to add, that whilst the ordinary principles that actuate mankind operate, the hie- rarchy win sometimes postpone the interests of religion to their own. 