union, they shewed to be a futile and ridiculous notion; a supreme controlling power was necessarily inherent in every legislature: no violation of the contract could or would be pretended in consequence of alterations made in either church by its own express defire, and by which the members of that church alone were affected. Two instances were particularly pointed out, in which the legislature, fince the æra of the union, had exercised its ecclefiaftical fupremacy:-the first of these was the act against occafional conformity in England; the fecond, that which destroyed elective patronages in Scotland. Notwithstanding these cogent arguments, the petition was rejected by a vast majority, the numbers being on the division, 71 for, and 217 against the motion. : Such it must be acknowledged is the general tenor of this famous petition, that the main force of its arguments seems directed rather against ecclefiaftical establishments as such, than the specific defects of the particular establishment of which the petitioners were members. National establishments of religion, under any modification, have indeed been regarded by philofophical writers of great talents and celebrity, as very injurious to the cause of truth, and ultimately therefore of virtue and of happiness, by erecting a barrier in the way of free enquiry, by fixing, as far as they have influence, a standard of public opinion, and by making religion a mere instrument and engine of government. To this it may be fatisfactorily answered, that one of the first and most important cares of government respects the manners and morals of the community at large-that to prevent vice is far more beneficial than to punish it: but the morals of the commuity cannot be preserved in any tolerable degree of purity without the affiftance of religion-hence the utility and neceffity of an establishment. But as rectitude of morals is the only rational object which the state can have in view in forming an ecclefiaftical clefiaftical establishment, it is evident that the introduction of theological and metaphysical polemics is totally foreign to the purpose; and that a clear and simple system, which enforces the obligations of morality by the great and obvious fanctions of religion, is all that good sense and good policy require *. Moft happily adapted to this end is the christian religion, as exhibited in the beautiful and fublime compofition of the liturgy, were certain superfluities and redundancies removed, fuch as the brightest ornaments of the national church have ardently wished her public ritual " well rid of." As the establishment is intended for the benefit of all, the basis should be as extenfive as the nature and object of it will admit; but the Articles contain a mass of matter comprehending a VOL. I. multiplicity P * As to the objections urged by writers of another class, bewildered in the mazes of speculative theology, against establishments as inconsistent with the allegiance due to CHRIST as fupreme head of the church, as infringements upon his authority, and subversive of his prerogative, they are of a nature too wild and eccentric to merit any confiderable attention. The proper and direct answer to all arguments of this kind is, that a protestant national establishment is a mere human or civil institution, invested with certain privileges and immunities by the state, for the purpose of inculcating the knowledge of certain moral and religious truths of great and universal importance. Pretenfions indeed highly extravagant have been advanced on the part of the clergy, and even of the protestant clergy, of a divine and independent jurifdiction, of uninterrupted apoftolical fucceffion, of the power of absolution, of authority over the faith, the lives, and the confciences of men; but these monstrous claims, the gigantic phantoms of intellectual darkness, have vanished as the fun of reafon rofe. One bold and arrogant champion of the priesthood alone dares in these times still to affert, that the laity are bound to receive with submission the decifions of the clergy, who, in matters of religion, are AUTHORISED to interpret and declare the SENSE OF SCRIPTUREt. This is language calculated to render the very name of priest odious in the ears of every man of sense and liberality, were not the name and honor of the clerical profeffion happily redeemed by the WATSONS, the PALEYS, and the PECKARDS of the age. At the time the petition of the clergy was pending in parliament, Dr. Jebb, a man of distinguished talents in the university of Cambridge, preached a memorable fermon at St. Mary's Church, upon the subject of subscription, on the words of St. Peter, ACTS XV. 10. Now, therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which weither our fathers nor we were able to "When metaphysical refinements, when scholaftic differences and diftinctions enter into the contexture of national confeffions, to contend," says this truly protestant divine, "for the impofition of them for the purpose of avoiding diversities of opinion, and of establishing confent touching true religion, would be to infult the common sense and reason of mankind. In yielding implicit fubmiffion to such human formularies, an aspirant to the ministry refigns the exercise of his understanding, and the deductions of his better judgment, to an authority not less despotic than the antichristian power of ROME." bear? † Vide bishop Horsley's CHARGE to the clergy of the diocese of St. David's, multiplicity of obscure and complex propositions, upon the truth or falsehood of which it is not at all reasonable, but on the contrary most absurd, to expect a youth of common capacity and attainments at his entrance into the church to be qualified to decide. It must be confessed that the petition in question bore strong marks of crudeness and preci pitation. It cannot be doubted but that a very great majority of the most intelligent and respectable of the clergy secretly joined in the prayer of the petition; and if the tone of its allegations had been lowered, if judicious measures had been adopted to conciliate the minds of the superior clergy, if sufficient time had been taken to mature and digeft the plan of the application, and a period chosen more favorable to its success, it could scarcely have failed to have been attended with confiderable effect; but no prudential pre. cautions being taken to give weight and respectability to this application, it bore in the view of the public at large the appearance of a rash and abortive attempt, In the course of the debate which took place on this petition, it was repeatedly and unreservedly declared by the most respectable of its opponents, that though they could not consent to alter the terms of admission into the established church, the cafe was very different with respect to the diffenting clergy, who were entitled to the benefits of the act of toleration only on the hard and absurd condition of subscribing to the articles of the established church-those relative to ecclefiaftical difcipline only excepted. It is true, indeed, that at the time the act of toleration passed, the difienting clergy, being universally calvinists, made no difficulty of fubfcribing to the doctrinal articles of the church of England; but, in the long fucceffion of years which had elapsed since that period, a great proportion of them had embraced fentiments in theology very different from the system of their forefathers. The act of toleration, therefore, was no act of toleration to them. Others also had adopted a novel refinement in religion, that it was unlawful to to subscribe any human declaration or formulary of faith, howevever confonant to truth, at the requisition of the civil magistrate, as being a tacit admifssion of his authority to impose it. This notion, however false or fanciful, as effectually precluded them from the benefits of the toleration as if they had actually rejected every article of the national creed. It is no wonder therefore that the dissenting minifters eagerly embraced so favorable and inviting an opportunity of obtaining a redress of this great grievance. On a motion subsequently made by Sir George Savile, member for the county of York, a man eminent in every species of excellence by which human nature can be adorned or dignified, and seconded by Sir Henry Houghton, leave was given to bring in a bill for that purpose. The bill itself was received by the house with great approbation, and even applause. Many of those who contended most strenuously against granting relief to the clergy, distinguished themselves by the ardor with which they supported a claim thus respectfully submitted to the legislature; and fo evidently founded on the clearest principles of equity and justice, that it might have appeared previously difficult to conjecture by what sort of arguments it could poffibly be opposed. But there is perhaps no cause however wretched, no position however abfurd and pernicious, in vindication of which the wit of man is not able to devise something specious and plausible. In the present case it was affirmed by the zealous Tories and high-churchmen in the house, that a total exemption from subscription would open the door for such an inundation of enthusiasm, absurdity, and extravagance into the christian church, as would equally deface and deform it-that when this restraint was removed, arians, socinians, deists, and profane scoffers of all denominations, would not hesitate from the pulpit to undermine, ridicule, and attack the principles of the chriftian religion, and perhaps even to deny the divinity of its author. They said, that however respectable the dissenters might be represented P2 presented by the advocates of this bill, the members of the establishment were certainly not less so; and being far more numerous, their interests ought to be taken into confideration as claiming the prior and superior regard of the legif lature. This they said was an act not so much for the relief as the encouragement of the dissenters, and it had a direct tendency to weaken and destroy the church of England by the countenance it gave to a republican religion, which had been at all times the sworn foe to monarchy. It was farther said that the act of toleration was intended only for the relief of those who agreed with the church in thirty-five articles and a half, which contained the essentials of her faith; and that those who now apply for relief are a new defcription of men, not in the contemplation of the framers of the act, and unknown to the law. They afferted, that though by their refufal to comply with the terms prefcribed by the act they had become obnoxious to punishment, yet that the penal laws existed only in terrorem, and were rarely enforced that the lenity of the executive power made the proposed relief wholly unnecessary, for it was well known that a great majority of the perfons for whom this relief was intended live in ease and se-curity under this connivance. Why then trouble the legislature with their complaints? or expect the government not merely to excuse but to justify their neglects and omiffions, and to authorise their breach of one law by paffing another, in order to fecure to them impunity in reward of their perverfeness and temerity? There are perfons whose understandings are naturally so obtuse, or, what is still worse, whose reasoning faculties are fo darkened by the prevalence of paffion and the habitual force of prejudice, that arguments, however demonftrative, make as little impression upon their minds, as the beams of the meridian sun on the eternal snows that invelop the pole. In vain was it urged, in opposition to this class of men, on the present occafion, "That it was no longer a speculative question, |