be solved is this:-Whether, on the one hand, the evils complained of, are really so considerable that we ought to encounter the dangers which attend all extensive alterations, and remove them; or, whether we shall stand absolved before God, in permitting them to continue, although no better defence of them can be adduced, than the difficulty and hazard of their removal.

This is a question of great importance to the present and eternal welfare of thousands; and it must be determined by no lower authority than that one unerring test by which all human transactions ought to be tried :-The will of God, either expressly declared or necessarily implied in his revealed word. All other modes of solving or evading it, all reference to maxims of mere worldly policy and expediency,all reliance on human wisdom, foresight, or learning, will only lead us into error, imperfection, and mistake. A narrow or unscriptural defence of the Establishment, will accelerate the downfal of its fair and noble bulwarks.

6

The present time also appears to be peculiarly fitted for a deep and calm consideration of this momentous subject. It requires, indeed, but little experience to be "well aware, that Power rarely reforms itself." "So, indeed, it is," said Mr. Burke, "when all is quiet around it." But may it not be hoped, that a due attention, on the part of those in whose hands the issues of this question are placed, to the state and prospects of society, may for once make an exception to this undoubted rule? When they observe the voice of the nation demanding in every public functionary, a higher degree of zeal and purity and public virtue; when abuses are no longer deemed sacred because they are venerable, nor improvements rejected as rash because they are extensive, may they not be induced to do "early and from foresight," and with due caution, and temper, and deliberation, that which every prudent man perceives must be soon done in one way or

another?

Let us hope that these considerations, and the recollection of the mistakes which have been committed in so long resisting the desires of a nation thirsting for improvement and reformation, may make those who ride in the high places of the earth, more humble and tolerant, more attentive to the just demands of the governed, more observant of those claims which the varying condition of society is daily advancing. How obvious was it to all temperate and impartial spectators, that, as soon as Parliament had recovered from the agitation of the Catholic Question, the first subject that would occupy its attention would be that of Parliamentary Reform. How moderate were then the demands of its most ardent advocates: how slight the concessions which would have satisfied the just expectations of the nation! And yet, with what pertinacity were the most temperate alterations resisted, and how wide and extensive, and in the judgement of many how ha zardous, is the measure which this pertinacity has produced!

'Let us, therefore, take warning from our past experience. It is impossible to regard the temper of the nation and of the times, without being convinced that, as soon as the subject which now engrosses its attention has been satisfactorily adjusted, one of the first questions agitated in the Reformed Parliament, will be the extent and nature

and application of the Revenues of the Church. It therefore behoves every sincere friend of our venerable Establishment to prepare for that conflict which most assuredly awaits her; and to see that she is able to give an account of her stewardship, and of the application of those Talents which the piety and munificence of our ancestors have committed to her hands.

If, in the result of an Enquiry, instituted in a humble and kind spirit, and with a sincere desire of attaining to the truth, some portion of error, imperfection, and abuse, be discovered, it will be her wisest policy, as it is her bounden duty, to lose not a moment in putting away all Evils and Corruptions. A superficial, slight, and palliative expedient, will neither satisfy the zeal and love of her friends, nor disarm the rancour of her enemies. The nation will demand a sound, an honest, and above all, a Religious Reformation; a Reformation springing from a deep conviction of the extent and sinfulness of the Corruptions which prevail, and conducted with high and holy aspirations after Christian Purity and Excellence; a Reformation adopted in obedience to God's Word and Will, and conducted in subordination to that heavenly standard.

We must remember that the Endowments of the Church are property given for a special purpose. They are the subject of a great Trust for the maintenance and service of Religion. And whether we regard the Church in the abstract as one vast corporation, or in a more technical point of view, as an aggregate of corporations, she must equally be considered as a trustee invested with the management and control of funds, given for the discharge of a duty of the very highest and holiest nature. And if by time, or accident, or neglect, or by the rise or improvement of property, or by the increase of population, any material impediment shall have arisen to prevent the due performance of this trust, it is the clear right and bounden duty of the Legislature to enforce its faithful execution. And if this cannot be effected except by some change in the channel through which the fund is transmitted, notwithstanding all objections to extensive alterations, yet such alterations must inevitably be effected. It would, indeed, be injustice and tyranny, to abridge the life income of any individual; but when the highest interests of the community, and the strong call of religion, unite with the clear will of the donor, in pointing out the necessity of an alteration in the specific mode of effecting his intentions, there should no longer be any doubt of the justice, or of the propriety, of varying any existing mode of distribution as to all subsequent objects of his bounty. No one now maintains the inviolability of corporate rights, where a clear case of public necessity or expediency demands their sacrifice. And when the first of all duties, and the most urgent of all necessities, call for an alteration in the application of public property, it would be preposterous to contend, that the embryo rights of any number of unappointed or unborn functionaries, can legitimately interpose to prevent a just or necessary measure of Reform. pp. 3-9; 17-18.

This is language worthy of a Christian legislator. Let but such a spirit as this direct the policy of our reformed legislature,

VOL. VII.-N.S.

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and it will not be difficult to satisfy the just and reasonable demands of the nation. The dread, however, of an ecclesiastical reformation following upon a reform in the representation, has been, there can be no doubt, one main ground upon which the corrupt part of the aristocrasy, and a majority of the beneficed clergy, have so obstinately and violently opposed the Reform Bill introduced by His Majesty's ministers. It has been distinctly put forward, indeed, as a valid reason for resisting all innovation, that the reform of political abuses would endanger the Church; as if the Establishment too rested on mere prescription! The ' entire abrogation of the Church Establishment' has been confidently predicted as the certain consequence of disfranchising Old Sarum and Gatton, and of conceding the franchise to the manufacturing towns. But the plain truth is, that such a reform as Lord Henley advocates, would be the emancipation of the Church. The clergy, in opposing it, would be blindly fighting against their own interests. The Church, considered as a body corporate, or, as Mr. Coleridge calls it, the national clerisy", would lose nothing, and gain much, by an equitable adjustment of Church property. It is not really the cause of the Church, though ostensibly hers, but that of the Leviathan Interest which has first enriched itself with the spoils, and then strengthened itself by appropriating the patronage of the Establishment ;-it is the cause of the aristocrasy, not of the clergy, which the antireformers feel to be at stake or in danger. It is of importance that this should be set in its just light, by exposing the true character of the present vicious system.

Lord Henley has noticed two of the main arguments urged in defence of the existing system of Church patronage, and in a few words demonstrated their futility. One favourite argument is, that it is necessary to have sinecures in the Church, as a temptation to men of family to enter the Church, by which means, religion is brought home to the higher classes, and the Church 'obtains a support and an acknowledgement, which is of great 'benefit to the cause of religion.'

Now this object,' remarks his Lordship, the importance of which, however, has been somewhat overrated, may be most amply and effectually secured to any profession, by establishing in it a few splendid prizes of honour and emolument, which may tempt into it men of various qualifications, whether such qualifications be those of birth and family connection, or others of an intrinsically higher and nobler order. But it will neither be effectually nor creditably attained, by the institution of sinecures. If the object of a candidate for Holy Orders be to vegetate upon a sinecure, whatever be his rank and connection, he will at best be nothing more than a dead weight upon the Church. And in most cases, the Church would be better without him; for, the more elevated his birth, the more conspicuous will be the scandal of his inefficiency.

The other argument in favour of Sinecures in the Church is, that it is necessary to have them as a Reward and Support to learned men. As far as this applies to the sustentation of secular learning, it must be distinctly controverted. As long as one Benefice remains without a resident Pastor, or one mass of population without the appointed means of grace, any such application of the funds of the Church is a direct misappropriation of them. But as far as it respects those eminent individuals who serve the cause of religion by their theological attainments and by the exercise of their pens, the argument bears a very different aspect.

The first impulse, indeed, of zeal and piety might be tempted to assert, that the Gospel being essentially and emphatically, though not exclusively, a message to the Poor, the very highest degrees of talent or erudition are neither necessary nor available for its promulgation; and therefore, that the State will have sufficiently performed the duty incumbent upon it of supporting Christianity, when it shall have provided for the maintenance of an adequate number of teachers sufficiently gifted to make a sound and wholesome impression on the understandings of the common race of mankind; and that the description of persons to whom funds given for the service of religion are applicable, must be confined to the Parochial Clergy and those who superintend and direct them.

But it would not be difficult to demonstrate, that however well meaning and pious this view of the question may be, yet that it is infinitely too narrow and contracted. We may safely affirm, that all which is wisely and properly expended in securing a highly "lettered and intellectual Church" is literally expended in the Promotion of Christianity and in the Propagation of the Gospel.

But the argument for Sinecures, drawn from the necessity of encouraging learning, will, on closer examination, appear to have no greater weight in it, than the like argument when applied to the expediency of enticing men of birth into the Church. It proves very satisfactorily the benefit of an opulent endowment, but not at all the necessity of sinecures. To tempt commanding talents and strenuous industry into the service of the Church, it is enough to hold out those splendid prizes which we have already alluded to. And the lustre of such prizes will in no degree be impaired, because the enjoyment of them is attended with much immediate devotion of labour and of time. And these prizes, as they have been the temptation to such men, so will they in most instances be their appropriate remuneration or support. A profound and successful pursuit of ecclesiastical and universal literature till the age of forty or forty-five, will best qualify men of eminent talents to sustain with dignity and efficiency the various duties of the Episcopal Office, and then will that office be their best remuneration. On the other hand, we have many bright examples which shew, that the most conscientious and laborious devotion to the details of duty, does not prevent the acquisition of new triumphs in the paths of Christian authorship, and then the Office becomes the fit and proper maintenance of such valuable Labourers. Nor is it probable, that the same application to theology in the earlier period of

life, will unfit the generality of able men from mixing in the active and evangelizing labours of Parochial Ministration. The result therefore is, that the existence of Sinecures can only be defended, as a maintenance for that very small portion of the theological world, which consists of retired students, fitted neither for Episcopal nor for Parochial Duties. A list so minute, that it would hardly have been necessary in a new system to have provided for them at all, but who, in that fresh arrangement and distribution of Church Property which is here proposed, can be most amply remunerated, without any material violation of the grand principle of that arrangement.

But whatever may be the value in theory of this latter argument for Sinecures, it will be found to have had little real operation in practice. If any one turns to the list of the Dignitaries of our Cathedrals, he will find, that not more than one twentieth of them have had any claims to preferment on the ground of theological or even literary attainments. Parliamentary Interest, Family Connections, or Party Gratitude, have in general filled up all vacancies as they have arisen, with the Sons, the Brothers, and the Tutors of ministers and their adherents. This species of Patronage has generally been considered, to use the language of an able writer in a valuable periodical publication, " only as so much oil for greasing the wheels of Government, that the machine of state may roll on more smoothly." Widely, he observes, as the several parties who have governed the country for the last century have differed in other things, they have all agreed to regard the Church as a source of Patronage, which might fairly be employed either for the gratification of private partiality or the purchase of so much Parliamentary support.' pp. 26-31.

We do not feel it to be within our province to give any opinion of the specific plan proposed by Lord Henley. Among the points which it embraces, are, the more equitable division and arrangement of church property, and the gradual abolition of pluralities; an equalization of the bishoprics, with a view to put an end to the scandal of translations and the objectionable practice of commendams;-the erection of two new sees,-the one, comprising the southern parts of the diocese of Lincoln, to have its seat at Windsor, and the other, comprising the counties of Derby and Nottingham, to have its seat at Southwell; -the extension of the law of residence to the prelates of the Church, and their removal from Parliament;-lastly, the transfer of the Crown Patronage to a Board of Unpaid Commissioners. The Commutation of Tithes, it is remarked, cannot with propriety be de'signated as a measure of Church Reform, being an equitable adjustment of a most lawful, but, to the feelings of many, an irri'tating and vexatious demand.' We cannot refrain from transcribing part of the admirable remarks by which his Lordship supports the proposal for relieving the Prelates from their parliamentary duties. If this can be satisfactorily effected, he says, it would probably do more towards spiritualizing the Church,