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from the storms of the world around; mind was brought into contact with mind; all that remained of learning and philosophy found there a sanctuary, and by being allied to religion, was saved, and became its hand-maid in civilizing and converting. The solemn and stated ceremonial, and unceasing round of services, impressed the pagan mind with the reality of unseen things, and formed a powerful contrast with the savage sacrifices offered to those beings whom superstition had invented.

"Besides this, the inmates were not mere solitaries; but the numerous brotherhood found their allotted tasks in the practice of all the arts, the production of manufactures, the education of youth, the copying of the Scriptures, the cultivation of learning, and the active offices of charity. It could not be, too, but that the holy austerity they exhibited, the spirit of obedience, the power of the Christian Faith, the blessings of civilized life, should attract the unsettled tribes amongst whom the convents rose, and to whom they became the present dispensers of light, as indeed they contained in germ the civilized Within them, moreover, was found an advancement of subsequent ages. asylum for the oppressed and injured, for orphans, for redeemed slaves, for helpless infirmity. Within them schools were formed for the instruction of the young, and of the newly converted; here was nursed the spirit of Christian enterprise, and native missionaries were trained and sent forth, sometimes into the surrounding country, sometimes into distant lands, to bear the knowledge of the Redeemer. Thus were gathered together all the main instruments for evangelizing a heathen country; hence, under God, tribes were converted, and the kingdom of Christ extended; until what religious men founded in piety, princes afterwards established on worldly policy for the civilization of their dominions."-Grant's Bampton Lectures, 1843, pp. 123-5.

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Study what a Bible Christian is; be silent over it; pray for grace to comprehend it, to accept it; and next ask yourselves this question, and be honest in your answer. This model of a Christian, though not commanding your literal imitation, still is it not the very model which has been fulfilled in others, in every age, since the New Testament was written? You will ask me, In whom? I am loth to say: I have reason to ask you to be honest and candid; for so it is as if from consciousness of the fact, and dislike to have it urged upon us, we and our fore-fathers have been accustomed to scorn and ridicule these faithful obedient persons, and in our Saviour's very words, to "cast out their name as evil for the Son of Man's sake." But if the truth must be spoken, what are the humble monk and the holy nun, and other regulars, as they are called, but Christians after the very pattern given us in Scripture? What have they done but this, contemn in the world the Christianity of the Bible? Did our Saviour come on earth suddenly, as He will one day visit, in whom would He see the features of the Christians He and His Apostles left behind them, but in them? Who but these give up home and friends, wealth and ease, good name and liberty of will, for the Kingdom of Heaven? Where shall we find the image of St. Paul, or St. Peter, or St John, or of Mary, the mother of Mark, or of Philip's daughters, but in those who, whether they remain in seclusion, or are sent over the earth, have calm faces, and sweet plaintive voices, and spare frames, and gentle manners, and hearts weaned from the world, and wills subdued; and for their meekness meet with insult, and for their purity with slander, and for their gravity with suspicion, and for their courage with cruelty; yet meet with Christ everywhere,-Christ, their all-sufficient, ever-lasting portion, to make up to them, both here and hereafter, all they Sermons on Subjects of suffer, all they dare, for His name's sake."-Newman. the Day, pp. 327, 329.

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734

THE ANCIENT CATHOLIC AND MODERN SOCIETY SYSTEM OF CHURCH ENDOWMENT CONTRASTED.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER.

SIR, The very great importance of the subject must be my apology for calling your attention to the accompanying document; and perhaps the following questions and considerations may serve as an introduction to its contents.

Has the Church been provided with any legitimate system of endowment, which, by Divine appointment, will increase with the increasing number of her children? or is she dependent on the guinea subscription list; or on what the State chooses to give her? As the Gospel is to be preached to every creature, common sense seems to require that every creature should pay proportionably for its propagation and support. High authority has fixed a quota as the amount of contribution. Ancient Christendom-and, as a part of it, ancient England-submitted to this appointment, and it is confirmed by English laws. Is the Catholic rule now to be neglected, when he who runs may see the want of it? Is private judgment to rule the question, and is every man to do that which is right in his own eyes? Again, Are there no sacred principles which are the common birthright of the Clergy and the poor? Have we no scriptural protests against consigning the poor to the State, or supporting them on secular views? Have we no ancient statutes enforcing the payment in full of a sacred tribute to the Church, and assuming or providing that a portion of it should be assigned to the poor? Are not the poor, as, in one sense, the representatives of their Elder Brother, entitled to a share of the sacred tribute, which is due primarily to Him who is a Priest FOR EVER after the order of Melchisedec?

Such questions as these may, perhaps, suggest that there are some parts in the sacred system of the Church which are yet in abeyance; and that it is only by their practical adoption that we can cure our social evils, or provide for the spiritual wants of the masses of the people. We might, indeed, as well hope to pay off the national debt by voluntary subscription, as expect that any of our modern schemes should bring the one hundred and thirty million souls of the English empire within the pale of the English Church. When we have principles laid up in the Church and constitution of England to do this mighty work, how sad it is that, instead of developing them, the Bishops and the Clergy should be forming associations, and supporting societies which are nothing but the voluntary, or private judgment system in disguise!

But, what is far worse than all this, we are going backward, instead of forward. We are pulling down, with heedless and (but for our ignorance) sacrilegious hands, the model system of Church endowment which the piety of former ages had constructed, and which laws of a thousand years' duration have secured to us. If it were not a certain truth, it would not be believed, that, at a time when the want of Church endowments is most deeply felt, the Primate of all England could be giving his sanction to a Commission which goes to destroy that sacred system to which all the Bishops and Clergy owe the revenues of their bishoprics and livings,—a Commission which abro

gates those ancient statutes that contained in themselves seeds, by the propagation of which the Gospel would be effectually planted in England's metropolis, in England's manufacturing towns, and in England's colonies.

Too many of the Clergy have been caught in the tempting trap which has been unconsciously laid for them. They must use all fair means to extricate themselves; but they must not hope for a remedy by any alteration in the assessment-book; but rather they must go back to early times, and reconcile their flocks to a second adoption of their old endowment deeds. The Clergy who are still free must, on no account whatever, accept any award, but throw themselves upon the consciences of the people-take their stand on sacred groundappeal to the oath of their Sovereign. The constitutional law is still on their side; and if that is to be respected, no commutation of tithes is valid without their free consent. Meanwhile, they must be careful to show, in every possible way, that, in their opposition to this measure, they are not actuated by any spirit of faction or of filthy lucre, but solely by a determination not to betray what they know to be the truth. Nor should they suppose that by adopting this course, they are embarking in any visionary crusade, or joining any forlorn hope; but rather, that they are attaching themselves to a band SURE of victory, because its watchword is, THE SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Over a modern ACT OF PARLIAMENT, AND RESPECT

AND REGARD TO PRINCIPLES HELD SACRED THROUGH THE LENGTH

AND BREADTH OF ANCIENT CHRISTENDOM.

Yours faithfully,

C. M.

To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled,

The Humble Petition of CHARLES MILLER, M. A. Clerk.

Sheweth,

That your Petitioner is Incumbent of the Living of Harlow, in the Diocese of London.

That your Petitioner desires to call the attention of your Right Honourable House to an Act, called an Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales, 6 and 7 of William IV., c. 71.

That your Petitioner cannot but acknowledge that this Act of the Legislature is quite in accordance with the present feelings and habits of the English people, who, perhaps, may be ready to form themselves into Religious Societies conducted upon the Voluntary principle, yet are, nevertheless, quite averse to give Tithes, or to adopt any fixed proportionate system of Contribution in the service of true religion.

But that the Tithe Commutation Act is quite at variance with the religious character and spirit of the English Constitution, and that wise and statesmanlike policy, which, regarding the universal practice of Ancient Christendom, and looking to the real origin of Church Endowments, and the real means of increasing them, has hitherto secured to the English Church the enjoyment of her revenues by attesting with civil sanction the sacred principle on which they were granted.

That your Petitioner earnestly entreats your Right Honourable House not to be influenced in this question by any modern prejudices, or by any modern school of theology or politics, but to regard existing wants, to examine the Constitutional Law of England, and other authorities, in favor of this petition,

to mark the evil which is resulting from the neglect of its principles, and the good which has resulted from the practical adoption of them.

That Bishop Andrewes has observed that two Patriarchs-as many Prophets -Christ-His Apostles-the whole Church-Fathers-Councils-Historyboth Laws, civil and canon-reason-the imperfect pieces and fragments of the heathen, and finally, experience itself have brought in their evidence for Tithes. (De Decimis, 1629.)

That, either these authorities must be disregarded, or that to give Tithes of all is obligatory upon all, as an essential part of Christian Worship, and as the appropriate practical thanksgiving for that Divine blessing through which "the earth brings forth her increase," and our trade prospers.

That Spiritual Destitution, with all its concomitant evils, prevails to an alarming extent in those parts of the Metropolis and Manufacturing Towns which have been built since the true doctrine of Tithes has been exploded.

That to build Churches and to provide Pastoral superintendence with Parlia mentary Grants of Public Money is a practice, which, though recently defended and partially adopted, has no sanction, either from natural religion, or from the patriarchal, or from the Jewish dispensations, or from the practice of the Christian Church, or from the Constitution of England; that Church Societies are utterly inefficient; and that the real remedy of existing evils is to be found in the practical development of that ancient system, which requires from every Christian a proportionate contribution in the service of true religion, and which provides for the infirmity of human nature by fixing a quota as the minimum of its amount.

That the appropriation of the Tithe of the produce of the earth and the tenth of every Christian's income, for the use, not of the Clergy, but of the Church, is a part of that Divine scheme which would make provision for preaching the Gospel to every creature, and that, where this practice has prevailed, every Christian has been provided with a Church, an Altar, and a Minister, and every Minister with the means of subsistence.

That though the sacred principles which the piety of former ages has bequeathed to us are forgotten, yet that, through the wholesome operation of our ancient Tithe Laws, in most of our villages, in our old towns, and in parts of our metropolis, we may even yet see substantial proofs of the value of the institution of Tithe as the basis of Church Endowment; but that, if we would rightly estimate our forefathers' wisdom in upholding it, we must compare the fruits of their system with the miserable results of our own endeavours, by Societies, to raise adequate funds for the support and effectual propagation of the Gospel; and that this comparison must of itself predispose your Right Honourable House to a favourable consideration of the prayer of this Petition. That it appears, from a Report of the Commissioners appointed by his late Majesty King William the Fourth, that in the year of our Lord 1831, the net annual income of the Incumbents of England and Wales amounted to the sum of three millions, four thousand six hundred and thirty nine pounds; and that these are the fruits of that system which the piety and laws of our forefathers have bequeathed and secured to us; that it appears from a recent Report, that the income of the Society for promoting Additional Curates in populous places for the year 1842, amounted to ten thousand three hundred and eighty-five pounds, five shillings, and one penny; that the income of the Pastoral Aid Society for the year 1843, amounted to seventeen thousand five hundred and sixty-two pounds, nineteen shillings, and eleven pence.

stance.

*We are not only to worship God with our lips, and give him praises with our tongue, which is but an inferior and contemplative worship; but He has required that we should pay Him an active worship,-that is, worship Him with our subThis is a necessary part of that glory which we must give to God, and as much preferable to verbal praises as deeds are more than words. The Psalmist describes this plainly, Psalm xcvi. 8. "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name." What is that glory? The next words show it." Bring an offering, and come into His courts."-Leslie, vol. ii. 819. 1721.

That one of these Societies enjoys the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen, the two Archbishops, and other Bishops; that the other Society has also extensive support, and that, if it be considered, at the same time, that there is an immense mass of property practically exempt from all Ecclesiastical Taxation, it must appear to your Right Honourable House, from the small sum collected by these Societies, that the system of contribution adopted by them is essentially erroneous; that it can neither remove the existing deficiency in Church Endowment, or be in conformity with any Scriptural rule or principle, or with any practice which either the ancient Catholic Church, or the Church and Realm of England have received.

But that the Church and Constitution of England are provided with a principle to meet the growing evil; for that, as the present Bishop of Llandaff* has observed, the Church of England was not endowed by carrying about the box for contributions, but by the piety of our forefathers dedicating and by law confirming to her service a portion of the produce of the land, and that to increase her endowments, this great exemplar must be copied by the miner, and by the manufacturer, (and, as your petitioner would add,) by the lawyer, by the physician, by the tradesman, by all according to their means who would acknowledge that it is the Divine hand that maketh rich; and who would conform to that sacred ordinance which requires that they who preach the Gospel should not only live by the Gospel but of the Gospel.

That Sir Robert Peel has observed that offerings made to Him, through whom our affairs prosper, and to uphold His ordinances, are natural expres sions of piety and thankfulness; but that Tithes are offerings, and that the unconscious declaration in favour of this petition, by this distinguished statesman, proves the native force of truth, that the sacred principles of the Tithe system find a home in the natural workings of the human heart, and that they commend themselves to the protection of your Right Honourable House by their origin as well as by their results.

That, at a meeting held on the 4th day of April, A.D. 1837, at Chelmsford, in the county of Essex and diocese of London, Lord Rayleigh in the chair, Sir Brook Brydges observed, that "If we, as a nation, or as individuals, did not honour God with our substance, and give to Him the first-fruits of our increase, we must expect a curse not a blessing;" that this solemn warning may serve to remind your Right Honourable House of the true protective principle, the basis of all sound legislation, as assuredly it tends to vindicate the claims of this petition, by adding to the unconscious testimony in its favour.

That your petitioner is fully sensible that it is the especial office of the Church, by the charges of her Bishops, by the teaching of her Clergy, and by the due and prescribed use of the offertory service, to call forth and to keep in continual action those sacred principles which the present Bishop of Llandaff, Her Majesty's Prime Minister, and Sir Brook Brydges have so truly declared to be the proper basis of Church endowment and national prosperity; but that the laws of this country, for a thousand years' duration in their defence, prove that they are proper subject matter for protection by civil legislation, and also, in the judgment of your petitioner, that it is alike the wisdom and the duty of your Right Honourable House still to uphold them.

For that Tithes have in this country been made over to the service of God and the Church, by a deed of endowment, presented and consecrated at the Altar; that this is the sacred groundwork of the laws of Edward the Confes

Speech at Abergavenny, 1839.

In the year 855, King Ethelwolf did renew this (a former) grant in a more solemn manner, dedicating and vowing the tithe of all the lands in England, in Sempiterno Graphio in Cruce Christi, as it is expressed, and was the manner, at that time, of the most solemn vow; and tendered the charter by him signed, upon his knees, offering it up and laying it upon the great Altar of St. Peter's Church, in Westminster; the Bishops receiving it from him on God's part. And this was done, not only with the consent of both Lords and Commons, of whom an infinite number was present, but all the Bishops, Abbots, Earls, and Nobles, did subscribe it, with

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