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for this challenge, and no man is entitled to that deference. The good gifts and promised influences of the Holy Spirit, without which there can be no step rightly made, much less any hopeful progress in the ways of grace, will not warrant any man to dictate in this manner, or to impose a duty upon others to respect such

pretensions beyond the weight and value of the proofs and arguments by which they are supported. Such a privilege would render men indeed infallible, and set their word on a level with the word of Scripture, and above it, as has been often shewn against the delusions of one modern sect. "Or will they give us for the sovereign rule, the collective power of the community? We have that, so far as it is competent, in its representative authorities, and within that limit we respect it and obey it. But we must remember too, that the first believers, as a public body, did not model or prescribe their own faith for themselves; or give their pastors their commission; and therefore there is that to be regarded to which the power of the community is not competent, and for which we must follow the injunctions of his Word, to whom all power belongs. It was indeed for the sake of all, that the Word was published; and it was for the sake of those who were objects of its hallowed dictates, that the pastoral charge was first appointed. A common interest in the faith creates a joint right in that which is the treasure and the property of all: but they who understand this, will find no warrant in it to despise authority; they will be the first at all times to keep within their rightful province; they will of all men be most true to their mutual duty, and upon that ground of mutual duty the whole bond of concord, civil, social, and religious is indeed established.

“ Or will they who spurn at the authority for which we contend, send us to the blind rules of implicit deference to any constituted power on earth, whose dominion shall be purely absolute. This claim is not confined to Rome: the philosopher of Malmesbury made the same plea, and applied it, with as much extravagance, to the Civil Ruler, and the same answer serves for both-take it in the words of Chillingworth, Why, said he to a Romish adversary, an implicit faith in Christ and his Word, should not suffice, as well as an implicit faith in your Church, I have desired to be resolved by many on your side, but never could.

"Or lastly, shall we be sent by those who reject authority to collect all things with precise and punctual exactness from

the Word of Scripture? Our answer is, that the Scripture is our rule and standard, and for this very reason we are not to cast out its general directions, and the privilege it gives within those bounds." P. 22.

In confirmation of these sentiments the Archdeacon quotes Bishops Sparrow and Sanderson, and Archbishop Bramhall; and thus concludes his admirable Charge:

"In a word, they who resolve all faith into an implicit reliance upon Ecclesiastical authority; and they who deny all such authority, destroy either way the grounds of Faith itself; for if there were no deliberate choice, there would be no rational submission of the heart; and if there were no authority to teach, to guide, to govern and direct, there would indeed be none to lead, and none to follow. All would be guides, or rather none; and in what a state would this leave the bulk of mankind in their chief concerns! Thus men would confide in this sole plea for their errors, that they are their own. They would have no claim to be heard but their talent for collecting proselytes and forming sects, with the pride and fate of Icarus, and with the sad result of giving their own name to some troubled waters, restless, and uncertain as themselves.

"What sober man can lose sight of the need there is for a deference to authority, which is neither blind nor servile, but extremely rational and proper, since without it there can be no bound to the wild career of self-will or of fancy, or to the tumult and confusion of capricious insubordination. In a word, to believe only what we please, is not within the compass of our power, unless we are proof against all fit motives to belief, except the single impulse of our own will; but a faith established upon facts and reasons, which are proper to beget belief, and resting on the word of God, and formed under the gracious guidance of his Holy Spirit-such a faith, with the duties which attend it, is neither abject nor unfit for generous bosoms. They who know well how to prize their privilege as reasonable creatures, will remember too that Faith and Charity have their service to fulfil, and that this service must involve submissions of the heart, together with the tender and devotion of an humble spirit; it brings with it the tribute and compliance of a devout mind, and displays the cheerful trust of an obedient, tractable, and candid temper.

"The principles of our Church, then, allow a liberty of conscience and a liberty of practice, subject only to such restraints

as are deemed requisite for the common interest on the grounds of truth itself, and conducive to the common safety. They who would urge their liberty beyond this, as many strive to do at this day, will prepare the way for public mischief, and will supply the leading steps to public ruin. We have lived to see such threatening marks of insolence and outrage, even where the Jewish people could once read the choicest maxims of their law they salute us in our public ways; they speak from the walls and lintels of men's houses.

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If, my Reverend Brethren, I have been led too far in this wide field, I shall but crave your permission to return for a moment to the point from which I took up these reflections.

"To be moderate in all things, in which happy course our Church has so well followed the Apostle's rule, is neither to be flexible nor obstinate, but uniform and equal in our principles and practice. Such a course must ever be opposed to a proud and ignorant licentiousness, clothed perhaps in the garb of liberal opinions, but divested of the real character of a liberal or ingenuous spirit.

"Upon these grounds of faith and practice, has our Church been established, and on these grounds have her claims been vindicated with the best success, from the charge of all intemperate rigour, and much more from the reproach and blemish of a persecuting spirit. The consequence has been that great heats or provoking contests, where they have been raised among those of our own communio:), have never had a long continuance. The silent operation of the moderate spirit which pervades our Ecclesiastical economy, if it cannot prevent such contests altogether, yet supplies no fit materials for them. And with respect to assailants from without, the same shield of moderation has been our best defence. Able combatants have not been wanting, and the most successful have been those who have shunned with a circumspect and prudent temper, those opposite extremes, between which Truth and Moderation will be found to keep their place.

"To be moderate in all things, which is the counsel of St. Paul, is to think the best and to speak the best of what may claim our notice: it is to seek only what is right and good. If a prudent man will not quit his footing or renounce his property in what is right and good, it is because he knows that by departing from them, he will be sure to injure others, whilst he forfeits and forgoes his own best privilege. My plea has been made for principles: sound

and good, as I verily believe, and moderate and equal if any ever were that the Christian world hath known. I have made this plea for the principles of our Church. A moderate and equal temper does not lead to any compromise of principles; to take that course would be a plain departure in some opposite direction, and every step which then should follow, would not fail to shew the bias unhappily contracted.

"In the path we have to tread, we are assailed in various ways, by the wind, and by the sun; and we have need to keep the garment carefully about us. And now, my Reverend Brethren, I may appeal to you for the truth of the first remark in this address, that what is moderate and equal is calculated for duration. This thought arose very naturally in my mind, when it might have been extremely proper for me to have hailed those hopeful prospects which subsist at all times in our Church, because they result from the spirit of moderation, which furnishes the best assurance of that peace which is so opposite in character to the busy, meddling, and censorious temper which accompanies the growth of selfconceit in all its forms.

"Let us be careful, above all things, to remember that the means are but for the end. All the sanctions of an authorized commission, or a National Establishment, do but put the means into our hands: and deep and momentous to the last degree is the responsibility which this trust begets. But if the means be such as our blessed Lord provided, such as were settled in his Church with the seals of his authority, and with the known expressions of his will, they will endure until a sound and duteous faith shall be perfected in knowledge.

"In our age, when the widest range of sentiments which may justly be termed liberal, and are truly so, obtains in every walk in life, and when the public measures of the Government partake so largely of the same good spirit, amidst the cordial gratulations which so beneficent a temper must excite in every generous breast, there is room however for so much caution as should incline us to look well to principles. If they should come to be disregarded for the sake of plausible experiments, we should soon find that a boundless latitude, like anarchy itself, will lend no support to any scheme of things that can be profitable to mankind.

"If we are compelled at any time to notice what obtrudes itself upon the public eye, and becomes a source of danger and seduction in the ways of others, let it be done with charity and candour, and in such manner only that what becomes a public

challenge, or a call to others to forsake the path of faith and fellowship, may be met with firmness, that the truth may be defended, and that the course of misconceptions or divisions may be checked by vigilant and prompt exertions. Without these well-timed endeavours, the mischief which will follow, will be sure to leave a portion of its burden at our door,

"Let me now add, yet again, that the principles professed in our Church, and inserted in its whole frame, bear this character of truth, and of their derivation from the source of truth, that they are marked with moderation. It is this which,

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under the protecting hand of Providence, hath helped to rescue it from utter ruin in some desolating hours, or has restored it after tempests, by that buoyant and well balanced structure of component parts, by which the whole economy is so well distinguished.

"Our Ark has thus preserved its poise by its own well measured symmetry; it has the lines and proportions of the sacred word of God for its acknowledged and illustrious model, it has, we trust, the grace and blessing of Almighty God, the God of truth and mercy, for its never failing succour and support." P. 27.

MONTHLY REGISTER.

Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge.

THE COMMITTEE appointed to carry into effect the unanimous Resolution of a SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING of the SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, to erect a Monument to the memory of the late LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA, by the united Contributions of the several Members of that SOCIETY, and of the SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS, beg leave respectfully to call your attention to the annexed statement.

You will perceive from it, that though the Restriction originally imposed upon each Individual's Contribution has so far answered the intentions of the Meeting, as to have been the means of putting upon record the testimonies of a great number of the SOCIETIES' Members to the merits of the lamented PRELATE, yet the Sum thus collected has fallen very much below Mr. Chantrey's estimate for the execution of the work-that estimate amounting to

Three Thousand Guineas. Large as this sum may appear, the Committee are persuaded that you will agree in thinking, that the respect due to the Memory of BISHOP MIDDLETON, as well as a regard to the SOCIETIES by whom, and the place in which, the Monument is to be erected, would neither allow them to engage the talent of a less distinguished Artist, nor to circumscribe the genius of Mr. Chantrey by narrow pecuniary limits.

Following therefore the example of their Most Reverend PRESIDENT, they have enlarged their own original Subscriptions, and venture earnestly to express their hope, that the measure, which they have thus felt themselves called upon to adopt, will be sanctioned, and rendered effectual by your co-operation.

We have the honour to be,
Your most obedient humble Servants,
WILLIAM PARKER, M.A.

A. M. CAMPBELL, M.A.} Joint Secs.

Bartlett's Buildings,
May, 1824.

Subscriptions for a Monument, by Francis Chantrey, Esq. R.A. &c. to be erected in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, to the Memory of the late Bishop of Calcutta.

COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.

Most Rev. Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY, PRESIDENT of the SOCIETY.

Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of LONDON,

Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Llandaff,

Lord KENYON,

The Archdeacon of LONDON, The Archdeacon of MIDDLESEX,

The Archdeacon of COLCHESTER,

Rev. Dr. D'Oyly,

Rev. H. H. NORRIS,

Rev. J. LONSDALE,

JOSHUA WATSON, Esq.

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Subscriptions received at the Office of the SOCIETY, 5, Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn: by the Secretaries and Treasurers of the Diocesan and District Committees of the Society; and at the Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Carlton-Chambers, 12, Regent-strect,

CLERGY ORPHAN SCHOOL. We know few charities so interesting in themselves or so ably conducted as this for the Orphan Children of the Clergy; and we ever feel a peculiar pleasure in attending their

annual examination.

This took place on the 22d of May, at the School house, St. John's Wood, in the presence of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of Salisbury, St. Asaph, Oxford, Exeter, Gloucester, and Sodor and Man; Lords Bolton and Kenyon; the Dean of Worcester; several of the Clergy and Laity, and a large assemblage of ladies. The examination proved highly satisfactory.

This Charitable Society was instituted in 1749. Its object is implied in its title: "The Governors of the Society for clothing, maintaining, and educating poor Orphans of Clergymen of the Established Church, in that part of the United Kingdom, called England." The School House is situated on a healthy spot, with a spacious play-ground, at St. John's Wood, near the Regent's Park. Both boys and girls are carefully instructed in the principles of our Holy Religion, and taught to read and understand the Scriptures. The 'boys receive further the benefit of a classical education; and the girls whatever is useful to their sex, and may fit them, in due time, for the situation of Governesses in families, or other respectable situations in society. The number at present in the Institution is one hundred and seven. The whole number educated since its first establishment is nine hundred

and fifty.

"This statement is full of satisfaction with reference to the past, and full of encouragement with regard to the future. The increased interest, which has been lately mani. fested for the Institution, justifies the hope, that as the knowledge of its character and beneficial effects

is more widely diffused, it will be enabled to extend its usefulness by additional contributions to its funds. And surely no institution can prefer a stronger claim to general support from the friends of the Established Church in every part of England. For it is not of a local but of a general nature; it does not select its objects from the Metropolis, or its vicinity; but, as far as its means extend, it takes under its protection the Orphans of the Clergy wherever they may be found." Vide Report for 1824.

As a proof of the correctness of this assertion, we subjoin the following statement:

Orphans now on the Establishment. From London and Middlesex.

Berks, Bucks, Herts, Essex, Kent,
and Surrey...

Hants, Dorset, Wilts, Somerset,
Devon, and Cornwall
Wales..

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The Province of York
Other Parts of England
Jersey, Guernsey, and the Colonies.. 8

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All applications for admission must be directed to the Hon. and Rev. Edward John Turnour, Somerset Street, Portman Square, and must contain Certificates, signed by the Minister and Churehwardens of the parishes where the children live, specifying their exact ages,-that they are of healthy constitutions,— have had the small pox or been vac cinated, and are proper objects of the charity. No child is eligible under the age of seven, nor above the age of twelve years: and (cæteris paribus) preference is given to such children as have lost both father and mother.

There are four Quarterly Meetings, held in February, May, August, and November, at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, where all members may attend, and children are elected into the Institution.

Benefactions and Subscriptions

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