CHARGE

DELIVERED BY

THE LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER.

1841.

SECOND EDITION.

A CHARGE.

A CHARGE

DELIVERED TO THE

CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF CHESTER,

VISITATION

JUNE AND SEPTEMBER, MDCCCXLI.

JOHN BIRD SUMNER, D.D.

LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER.

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:
J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY.
MDCCCXLU.

LOMIOA ;
rRlNTKD BY G. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

TO
THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF CHESTER,
®6(s ®6arge,
PUBLISHED AT THEIR REQUEST,
IS INSCRIBED WITH SINCERE AFFECTION AND RESPECT,
BY THEIR FAITHFUL FRIEND AND BROTHER,
J. B. CHESTER.

A CHARGE.

My Reverend Brethren,
The course of years has glided quickly on, and
I am again permitted to come officially amongst
you, as the witness of your exertions, the encou-
rager of your labours, and your adviser under diffi
culties. Many whom I see around me, I now
meet for the fifth time ; whilst others, who once
filled up our numbers and adorned our com
pany, have been called to their great account.
I feel convinced, that in the nearer prospect of
this change, they did not repent of their works
of faith or labours of love. Their zeal did not
seem to have been too ardent, their devotedness
too complete, their labours too unsparing. May
God give us all grace to remember that we re
main still entrusted with a stewardship, which

8
in their case has been brought to a close ; and
that " it is required of stewards that they be
found faithful."
The years to which we look back as having
been united together in the duties of the ministry,
have been eventful years : not marked indeed
with such outward changes in the general
history of nations, as many of those which pre
ceded ; but distinguished by domestic occurrences
more important to the Church, more affecting
its various interests. Some of these were thought
even to endanger her constitution as a national
establishment : and on the one side there have
been fears, and on the other hopes, that the
time was approaching when her vantage ground
might be cut away, and her outward and earthly
bulwarks overthrown. By God's blessing, the
fears and the hopes have been alike dissipated :
the clouds which lowered over our ecclesiastical
prospects are fast passing away : but as they
were not sent without a reason, so ought they
not to vanish without effect: they have indi
cated to us, by tokens which it is impossible to
mistake, on what alone the security of the
church, as a national establishment, must de
pend. It must depend upon its practical effi-

ciency : upon the experience of its usefulness.
Being ordained of God for the eternal welfare of
the people, it must fulfil the purpose of its ap
pointment. As the people advance in know
ledge, and the collision of many minds sharpens
intellectual acuteness, the ministers of the Church
must advance together with their flock, and
maintain the lead. As the country grows in
population, the Church must also widen the
shelter of her tents, and extend the exercise of
her ministrations, till they be commensurate
with the charge entrusted to her. There might
be complaint, and just complaint, of hardship,
when, with means diminishing rather than in
creasing, fresh and unlimited services are ex
pected from us. Our case may be compared to
that of the Israelites in Egypt, and the public
expectations deemed no more reasonable than the
demands of Pharaoh's taskmasters. And we may
safely urge this plea in reply to unjust accusa
tions, or in extenuation of unavoidable failure.
But it must not be used to relax our energies.
The Church will limit her services by no bounds,
except the bounds of the powers assigned her.
She will meet fresh demands upon her strength,
by prayer that increasing strength may be sup-

10
plied. And going forth in the name of the
Lord, she will trust in his blessing for means to
fulfil the purposes intended by his sovereign
will. Our own diocese, Reverend Brethren, may well
be cited to encourage our hopes, if encourage
ment were needed — to disperse our doubts, if
doubts were entertained. It did present, some
years ago, a specimen of religious destitution,
which might well be deemed in every point of
view appalling. And there are districts, large and
populous districts, still remaining, where " dark
ness still covers the land, and gross darkness
the people." But then there are other portions
of it where the picture is so different, and the
prospect so greatly brightened, as to justify a
sanguine belief that God has still mercy in store
for us, and designs that our Church shall re
main an acknowledged blessing to our land ;
even to those sections of it which had seemed
through circumstances to be farthest removed
from its reach and influence.
Since our first meeting, now twelve years
since, the measures which had been already
commenced for increasing the efficiency of the

11
Church have come into fuller operation, and
spread in new directions. The exertions used
to provide for the wants of an overgrown and
daily-increasing population, have prospered be
yond our hopes. One hundred and seventy ad
ditional churches have opened their doors to
receive a people, of whom the greater part were
before practically excluded from the benefits of
the Establishment.* And it is not less satisfac
tory to know, that God had so prepared the soil,
that the harvest seems to follow close upon the
sowing of the seed. Numerous are the places,
where, a few years ago hundreds, if not thousands,
of families were congregated without any re
gular provision for their spiritual culture. The
visitor of these districts now, will not only find
the house set apart for the worship of God ; but
the minister, whose charge it is, permanently
settled in his parsonage ; the children collected
in schools ; the people systematically instructed ;
the general aspect of a christian community,
where recently all was barren.
In other places, if there is not yet a church,
there is the threshold of a church ; for so, in a
double sense, I may term those licensed buildings
* See Appendix, No. I. p. 45.

12
which are alike preparing the way for churches,
and serving as substitutes for them ; and in
which thousands of the poorer classes are re
ceiving instruction which they could not obtain
elsewhere, at the hands of curates supported
partly by private liberality, but chiefly by the
two invaluable Societies which have relieved our
most urgent wants, by supplying th*, salary of
curates. Through these united aids, the Church
has gained a vast accession of strength in those
districts where her weakness had been previously
most apparent, and where the existing clergy
were hopelessly struggling against a mountain
of impossibilities, in the vain attempt to fulfil the
task assigned them.
Another important mean of usefulness and
influence has advanced with corresponding suc
cess; the department of Education. Through
the indefatigable exertions which have esta
blished the Diocesan Board for this object, we
have returns approaching accuracy from every
division of the diocese. It would be tedious to
enter here into the details. But the exertion
which has been used to provide the machinery
of education for our increasing numbers, may

13
be estimated from the fact, that during the last
ten years, within the parish of Whalley alone,
forty-three school-rooms have been erected, at an
expense of £13,000. We should fall below the
truth, if, looking through the whole extent of the
diocese, we calculated the exertions made for this
same object as less than half of this noble and
pre-eminent example. And the result would be
about three hundred and fifty additional schools,
offering provision for the education of the people
for many generations, and only requiring a
readiness on their part to profit by the oppor
tunities afforded them.
It is no less important that, through the suc
cessful institution of the training school at Ches
ter, the character of the popular education bids
fair to be greatly raised ; to reach, indeed, as
high a standard as the practice (I fear that I
must say the increasing practice) of early labour,
will permit us to attain.
Here, however, I must take the opportunity of
expressing my conviction, that no machinery we
can devise will suffice to inculcate religious
truths, in their practical bearing, upon the young,
unless the Clergy take that department of instruc
tion into their own hands. There is every rea-

14
son why they should. We have earnestly con
tended for the principle, that National Education
should be confided to the Church. Having
established the principle, let us by all means
maintain the practice, and not leave to any
master, however well instructed, that duty which
our Lord committed with such affecting solemnity
to one of his chief Apostles : " Simon, lovest
thou me ? Feed my lambs." You will find, my
Reverend Brethren, that diligence in this duty will
repay you in many ways, besides the improve
ment of your scholars. The habit of familiarly
explaining Scripture to the young, and bringing
it down to the level of their understandings, will
greatly assist the fulfilment of the same duty to
those " children of larger growth" with whom
you have to do. It will promote readiness of
illustration ; it will secure that simplicity of
thought and language, which is indispensable to
success in all religious teaching.
The effect is already evident of the various
measures to which I have alluded. It is perceived
in a growing attachment to the Church, in an
acknowledgment of its excellence, in a practical
sense of the value of its services. The number

15
of attendants at public worship, the number of
communicants, the number of candidates for Con
firmation, have increased far beyond the growth
of our population. In some of our most extensive
parishes, and especially in the two great towns of
the diocese, the communicants have nearly doubled
since the first account which I received of them :
the candidates for Confirmation are trebled : and
thus the clergy have the reward of knowing that
the labour, the anxiety, the personal sacrifices
which have procured an increase of the means of
grace, have not been employed in vain. Proofs,
moreover, are thus given, that opposition, or in-
difl^erence towards the Establishment, or even
separation from it, has not generally arisen from
any distrust of its discipline or doctrines, but
from the difficulty, or practical impossibility, of
obtaining instruction within its pale.
Those obstacles were so long suffered to exist,
that the effects cannot be suddenly removed.
Interests and prejudices have had time to take
deep root, and to ramify widely ; and we must
be strangers to human nature if we suppose that
these will not be like the swell which disturbs
the sea long after the storm which raised it has

16

subsided, and sway the judgment and influence
the conduct, though the cause has ceased, to which
they chiefly owe their origin. Perhaps it is too
much to expect what, nevertheless, we earnestly
desire, that there should be no schisms or divisions
among Christians : that the Church of Christ
should ever be a seamless coat ; that all the con
gregations of faithful men should ever be so strictly
one, as to think alike, and agree unanimously
upon all subjects : upon such subjects, for in
stance, as diocesan episcopacy, or infant baptism,
or liturgical forms, or church membership, or
a national establishment. There may be always
some minds, which, on questions such as these,
may differ from the conclusions which we be
lieve to be justly deduced from Scripture. I
have no wish, in saying this, to encourage or
excuse divisions. To separate from the brethren,
and oppose the general practice of the Church,
is to incur a heavy responsibility. But I judge
from facts, and experience, and human nature.
And the comfort and peace of the Christian
world would be greatly increased, if it were com
monly understood that the unity which the
Scriptures demand, were the unity of those who
hold alike the great doctrines of christian truth.

17
but consent to differ on matters concerning which
Scripture does not carry determinate conviction
to every honest mind.
But, however this may be, the principles of
our national Church, on all such disputable sub
jects, are established on such firm grounds, that
those who abandon her will be the few, and not
the many, as long as she is true to herself, and
faithful to her charge. Men will feel towards
her, as they feel towards their native country,
which some impatient or adventurous spirits
leave, whatever advantages they may forego ;
but to which the mass of the community will
adhere, unless it ceases to afford them shelter
and subsistence. So with our Established
Church : based as it is upon antiquity, accre
dited by authority, and sanctioned by the judg
ment of the wisest and greatest names ; — few will
abandon it, if its benefits are within their reach,
and it is really able to off'er instruction to the
people in the substantive shape of an effective
minister, and an accessible place of worship.
Her plain and scriptural Articles; her spiritual
and comprehensive Liturgy; her agreement with
the earliest examples of christian discipleship ;
united with the advantages which she possesses.

18
justly possesses, as the Church of the nation, the
Church of our forefathers : these grounds of pre
ference will continue, as they ought, to influence
in her favour the great majority of the minds
of our population. They are grounds of pre
ference which can only be counterbalanced by
the individual consideration — " This Church is
not available to me. Granted, that it is the
best and purest channel of Divine truth ; but
no truth can flow to me through that channel.
Its form of worship approves itself to my under
standing; but I have no means of joining in it.
Its ministers are in direct succession from those
whom Christ Himself commissioned. But I am
out of the reach of their instruction." When
these considerations exist, they must come with
overpowering force to persons once awakened
to a concern for their salvation ; with a force
which no reasoner can effectually resist, who takes
his stand on Scripture, or argues with those who
have Scripture in their hands. If a man feels
that he has been personally benefited by the
instructions of a dissenting teacher, being the only
instructions within his reach, no argument can
persuade him that he ought never to have lis
tened to them. Yet the evils of division are many

19
and serious. The mode, then, of preventing them,
must be to remove the chief cause from which
they spring ; not to deny the means of satisfying
their thirst to those who are eager for religious
knowledge ; but to open fresh fountains, and
widen the channel, that all, who will, may " take
of the water of life freely." No further attrac
tion will be needed, than the purity and suffi
ciency of the stream. We may safely draw this
conclusion, from experience of what has been
already done.
But, thankful as I am for the encourage
ments which we enjoy, I should deceive both
myself and you, if I spoke of our difficulties as
overcome, or thought the time arrived when our
exertions could be relaxed. There is an inti
mation of what may be hoped for, and ultimately
achieved ; but we are only girding on our har
ness, and must not boast ourselves as those that
are putting it off, and have obtained the victory.
There is proof that the doctrines of the Gospel,
when diligently inculcated in the spirit of those
Articles which our Church maintains, will not
be proclaimed in vain ; will enlist many hearts
on their side, and on the side of those who
c 2

20
preach them. But there is no proof, and there
never can be proof, that the same effect can be
produced without these means, or by any other
means. A harvest will reward the dihgent, but
not the careless sower ; the sower of good seed,
and not of blighted seed. The truth, as it is in
Jesus, must be preserved in its purity and sim
plicity, or we shall look in vain for the fruits
which we desire to see, and which the present
state of things requires ; attachment to the
teacher, attachment to the Church to which he
belongs, generosity and active zeal in the cause
of God and man, of which he is the advocate.
And here it is impossible not to remark upon
the subtle wiles of that Adversary, against whom
the Church of Christ is set up, and whose power
it is destined to overthrow. His activity is in
exact proportion to the activity which is used
against him. His vigilance never fails to seize
the opportunities which the weakness of man too
frequently supplies. No sooner is good seed
sown in the field, than tares are found spring
ing up amidst the wheat. Such has been the
case throughout the whole history of the Church :
and it has been signally and unexpectedly exem-

21
plified in the present day by the favour shown
to notions which might seem inconsistent with
the advancement of reason, by the revival of
errors which might have been supposed to be
buried for ever.
To enter upon this subject generally or fully,
would be quite incompatible with the limits of a
Charge ;* and to treat it cursorily, would not be
respectful to my brethren. I shall confine myself
to a brief review of two points, in which the inte
rests committed to us are especially concerned.f
1. The principle by which, in all ages and
countries, the power of Satan has been most
successfully assailed, and the human heart most
strongly actuated, is that of simple reliance on
Christ Jesus : simple acceptance of the truth,
* I must add, that it would be altogether superfluous.
The divinity of the Oxford Tracts has been as completely
refuted in all its parts, as any erroneous opinions can ever
be refuted ; and it is a sign of the discretion, if not of the
candour of the writers, to treat these answers generally as if
they had never been written. If this continues to be the
case, after the recent publication of Mr. Goode 's elaborate
" Rule of Faith and Practice," it must be considered as a
tacit acknowledgment of complete refutation.
¦f See Appendix, No. II.

22
that He is " made unto us of God, wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemp
tion." Accordingly, this doctrine, that, lying
under God's wrath and condemnation, we are
justified by faith in Jesus Christ: this plain and
simple truth has uniformly been assailed by
every instrument which the enemy could bring
to bear against it. From the time when certain
men went down from Jerusalem and troubled
the Church at Antioch ;* from the time when
Paul had to grieve over the disciples in Galatia,
that they were " removed from the grace of
Christ into another gospel •,'f which was not
another," for it was no gospel at all ; from the
earliest days until now, this has been the point of
attack, because on this all depends. We are still
experiencing the same, and from the same cause.
Through the merciful providence of God, the
true principles of the Gospel were prevailing
through the length and breadth of the land, and
eff'ects were following, which they alone are
capable of producing. Meanwhile the enemy
is on the watch ; knows well where his danger
lies ; and contrives to cast reproach upon the
doctrine which is the hinge of christian truth
* See Acts xv. 1—25. f Gal. i. 6.

23
and christian practice ; to confound things which
ought to be kept distinct; things inherent in
man with things extraneous to man ; individual
duties with vicarious merits ; and so to reduce
rehgion to that doubt and uncertainty which
never has led, and never will lead, to a con
sistent course of action.
It is notorious that this attempt, frequently
made, and too often successful, has been renewed
in the present day. The Author of our salva
tion, " not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance and the
knowledge of the truth," has commanded that
the Gospel should be preached to every creature.
Those have now risen up who affirm that the
doctrine of the Gospel, the propitiation made for
sin, is a doctrine too dangerous to be openly dis
closed, too mysterious to be generally exhibited ;
and would thus deprive the sinner at once of his
motive to repent, and his comfort in repenting.
It has been another part of the same system to
involve the article of our justification in obscu
rity ; what has been done for us, and what is to
be wrought in us, are confused together ; and,
practically, man is induced to look to himself,

24
and not to his Redeemer, for acceptance with
God. In all this, there is nothing that was unfore
seen. The Apostle has plainly warned us to
" beware of philosophy and vain deceit," lest
they turn us aside from the simplicity of the
Gospel : that very simplicity which fits it for
the reception and benefit of all, but of which
some men profess to be afraid, lest mercy should
be too free, and the way of return to God too
open. It is, in truth, the offence of the cross
renewed under a fresh disguise : the objection
which corrupt nature has always opposed under
various forms to the apostolical doctrine, " By
grace are ye saved, through faith : not of works,
lest any man should boast."
The scriptural truth is as clear as it is simple.
" When all were dead, Christ died for all;" so
that " he that hath the Son hath life, and he
that hath not the Son, hath not life." By one
way alone can man possess the Son ; that is, by
believing in him. And therefore, faith alone
can justify ; faith alone can appropriate to us

25
that remedy, which God has appointed for the
healing of our plague : faith alone can give us
an interest in that sacrifice, which God has ac
cepted as the satisfaction for sin. Thus, " being
justified by faith, we have peace with God
through Jesus Christ.''
It is true, that, being thus accepted with
God, and endued with his Spirit, man becomes
a new creature. But he is not accepted with
God, because he is a new creature, but because
Christ has made atonement for the wrath which
in his old nature he had incurred. His faith
in that atonement which led to his acceptance,
leads also to his doing works meet for one who
is accepted : but the works which follow his
being justified, and are its effect, can never also
be the cause of his justification. If a remedy
were proposed to a man lying under a mortal
disease, and by applying it he were restored to
life ; it would be sophistry to affirm, that, after
all, it was not the remedy which saved, but that
the constitution, strengthened by the remedy,
resisted the disease. It would be injustice to
the remedy, and ingratitude to the physician.
And so it is injustice and ingratitude to depre
ciate the virtue of Christ's propitiation, by mix-

26
ing up with it the righteousness of his redeemed
people. Let no misrepresentation pervert, let
no false philosophy corrupt the wholesome truth,
that man is " delivered from the wrath to come,"
" not by works of righteousness which he has
done," or may do, but by Him alone who " died
for our sins, and rose again for our justification."
The statement which came fresh from the Re
formers' age, is the statement to which we must
still recur. " There is a righteousness which is
inherent, and a righteousness which is not inhe
rent. The righteousness whereby we are sanctified,
is inherent, but not perfect. The righteousness
whereby we are justified, is perfect, but not in
herent."* This is the fundamental and charac
teristic article of all the Reformed Churches :
laid as it were their corner-stone ; that we are
accounted righteous before God through the
merits of Christ alone, and not " for our own
works or deservings:" that a lively faith is
known by its works, as a sound tree by its fruits :
but that they do not bear the root, but the root
them. And we are at no loss for the reason
why the Reformers were so dihgent in laying
this foimdation. They had seen the consequence
* Hooker, Sermon on Habakkuk i. 4. S. 3.

27
of departing from it. If works are to contribute
to justification, " then grace is no more grace."
If man can assist in expiating his own sin, he
is not the corrupt being which needs redemption.
And such was, in fact, the process through which
human error superseded scriptural truth. Our
Reformers knew how the corruption of man had
been first lost sight of, and then the atonement
made for it virtually neglected : they knew how
the satisfaction of Christ had been set aside, and
human works substituted in its stead, often such
works as were neither acceptable to God, nor
profitable to man ; till at length a system over
spread the world, under the name of Chris
tianity, which had neither God for its Author,
nor the. welfare of mankind for its end : who
were debased by what was sent to purify them,
and deceived by what was ordained to deliver
them from error.
If these facts have been forgotten, as they
seem to have been forgotten, by the tendency of
certain writings which have been lately pressed
upon our attention, it is high time that they be
brought back to our remembrance. But if I
endeavour to stir up your minds by this men-

28
tion of them, it is not because I believe that such
admonition is needed here, or that you have
ceased to make the ruin of man by sin, and his
restoration through the sacrifice of the cross, the
cardinal point of all your teaching. God forbid
you ever should, and so close the door against
your own ministerial usefulness ! There are
many other subjects of instruction ; but all must
proceed from this as from a centre. Many
duties are to be performed ; and that they may be
performed, must be inculcated : but they must
be so inculcated, that the great principle of
salvation by grace may be preserved in all its
integrity and consistenc3\ It is necessary to
" keep under the body, and bring it into sub
jection," by abstinence, and mortification, by
whatever means experience has shown to be pro
fitable. Still, for what purpose ? Not that we
may atone for the offences of the body by
the maceration of the body, but because " this
is the will of God, even our sanctification."
It is necessary to cultivate humility, to practise
charity, to exercise piety : not, however, that
we maybe hereby justified, but because we are
justified : for " if any man have not the spirit of
Christ, he is none of his,'' not justified at all.

29
Ingenious men may find much to urge against
this simple truth. They who have studied re
ligion in the closet rather than in the world, or
who know more of other history than of the
history of the human heart, may think that we
are thus leaving the narrow gate too widely
open, and making the road to heaven too
smooth. So it has been from the beginning.
The apostles were accused of encouraging sin,
by proclaiming the abundance of divine grace.
The Jews were jealous that Christians should
enjoy immunity from a burthen which they
themselves had borne, and escape the ordinances
of the law of Moses. And the adversaries of the
christian faith made it one pretence of their
opposition, that it offered the divine favour to
the profligate and malefactor. But they to
whom the truth was committed, did not meet
these imputations by denying that " the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." They did
not escape from a false accusation by a reserve
of the truth which was assailed. They did not
confound the propitiation which atones, with the
sanctification which that propitiation works on
the believer's heart. So far from it, we find
Paul on this matter speaking with a vehemence

30

unusual to him. " If any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have received, let
him be accursed." *
And surely we find here, as we might expect
to find, that " God destroys the wisdom of the
wise, and brings to nothing the understanding
of the prudent." For whilst learned men are
elaborately proving that outward rites and ser
vices are the only means of holiness on which
we can depend, that " bodily exercise " and
" voluntary humiliation"']' are the proper mode
in which the sinner may approach his God, the
plain preacher of the Gospel is confuting them,
not by words, but by faith, and the honest dis
ciple is showing that " they who have believed
in Christ will be careful to maintain good
works." In religion, as in other things, many
a truth which the philosopher passes by, is
picked up by the simple and unlearned ; whilst
many a theory in which the philosopher prides
himself is contradicted by ordinary observation.
And thus, in the present question, experience
proves that the only doctrine which conveys
real comfort to the soul, is the only doctrine
" Gal. i. 9. t See 1 Tim. iv. 8. Col. ii. 18.

31
which produces the genuine spirit of christian
piety. Experience proves, that the more we
labour to establish ourselves in the practice of
holiness, the more need we find of clothing
ourselves in the righteousness of our Redeemer.
And again, the more firmly we trust to that
righteousness which is not our own, the nearer
we advance towards the personal righteousness
which we are striving to attain, and cannot be
satisfied without attaining.
II. The other error to which I purpose to allude,
is no less injurious to the Saviour's glory. Prac
tically he is treated with dishonour, when the
Church which he has established is made to
usurp bis place, to perform his acts, to receive
his homage : is so represented as to be, virtually,
the author of salvation, instead of the channel
through which salvation flows. This is, in
truth, to depose him from his throne, and to
invest his subjects with the authority which
belongs to himself alone.*
It is convenient, no doubt, in language, to
embody the multitude who believe in Christ
* Appendix No. III.

32
under one comprehensive term : and our Lord
has himself taught us by example that we may
do this safely and legitimately.* But language
may mislead. We may personify a body, for
the convenience of discourse, and by degrees
forget that a community is not a person. And
it is still worse, if the body which was first per
sonified, comes afterwards to be deified. Yet a
process of this kind has gone on with regard to
the christian Church. When Jesus declared
that he would build his Church upon a rock,
and that the gates of hell should not prevail
against it, he simply declared that there should
hereafter ever be a body of men believing in Him
as the Son of God — a body which Satan might
assail, but should never succeed in destroying.
He did not say that he would set up a power
upon earth, which should possess his authority,
act in his stead, and as his vicegerent dispense
his anger or his favour. We look in vain for a
single sentence in which such a purpose is
implied : a purpose so important, and, I may
add, so extraordinary, that it must have been
written in words which none could fail to read.
But advantage has been taken of the obscurity
* Matt. xvi. 18.

33
of language, to maintain and encourage this
idea. The Church has been made, first an
abstraction, and then a person, and then a
Saviour. The Church, thus invested with di-:
vinity, has the minister as her visible repre
sentative : and he, explaining the prophetic
anticipation, has assumed the place of God.* We
too well know what corruptions found entrance
at this source : what opportunity was given to
the exercise of the worst of human passions :
what food was supplied to malice, enmity, pride,
covetousness, and ambition. So that one of the
first and most needful works of the Reformers
was to pierce the veil, to divest the Church of
the mystery in which it had been shrouded, and
to disclose it to the world in its true and scrip
tural form, as the company of believers. t The
Church is that body which had assembled in the
upper chamber of Jerusalem, and there received
the promise of their risen and ascended Lord.:};
» See 2 Thess. ii. 4.
f Art. xix. " The visible Church of Christ is a congre
gation of faithful men, in which the pure word of God is
preached, and the sacraments be duly administered according
to Christ's ordinance."
+ Acts i. 13, 14. D

34
The Church is that party which united together,
and "had all things common," and "continued
in the apostles' fellowship." * The Church is
that " congregation of faithful men," in all
ages and of all countries, who maintain in their
purity the doctrines and institutions of the
Gospel. The ministers of this Church are those
called to serve the united body : to perform the
prescribed rites : to teach, to rebuke, to exhort,
to warn, to comfort: and to commit perpetually
to other faithful men the things which they have
themselves received.
Such is the simple analysis of the Church :
the Holy Catholic Church, of which Christ is
the head, and with which he has engaged to be
present by his Spirit unto the end of the world.
We must beware of assigning to the members,
or to the body which the members compose, a
power which really belongs to the Head alone.
If we speak of the ark of Christ's Church, we
must remember that we are only speaking meta
phorically. That ark is not limited to any special
locality on earth, like the ark of Noah ; it extends
as far as the knowledge of Christ extends : for
* Acts ii. 42—47.

3.3
He is the true ark, prepared of God for the
saving of all who commit themselves to Him.
The ministrations of the Church are the door by
which the community of the faithful on earth
is entered : but Christ is the only door by
which heaven can be entered ; and many may
be admitted into the visible fold, who remain
for ever unknown to the true Shepherd. The
members of the Church are branches of the
vine ; but the Church is not the vine : that
name belongs to Christ alone. The Church is
"the pillar and ground of the truth :" but the
Church is not "the truth:" neither has it life
in itself: Christ alone is "the way, the truth,
and the life," through which every individual
member of the Church must seek access to
God. Yet all this, undeniable in itself, is practically
contradicted, whenever the services and the or
dinances and the ministerial office are magnified
beyond their due proportions, or placed before
the people with the prominence to which they
have no claim. Church principles, in their pro
per sense, all must approve. All must approve
of that cordial agreement with the articles, that
sincere preference of the services, that wilhng
D 2

36
conformity to the disciphne of the Church,
which show that our profession is honest and
consistent. This, and nothing else, must be the
meaning of the phrase, unless it is intended to
avow that the Church is to assume the place of
the Church's head, and to be reverenced, served,
and trusted instead of Him. No one will deny
our right to maintain Church principles, in pre
ference to the principles of the Presbyterian or
Independent. But, on the other hand, I must
think that to set up, as it were, Church prin
ciples in opposition to the principles of the
Gospel, and place them in invidious contrast, is
alike unreasonable and unscriptural. It is to
confound the means of grace with the Author of
grace : to worship the thing made, and to dis
honour the Maker. It is to array against Christ
the instrumentality which he has established
against Satan. He appointed his ministers, that
there might be a perpetual provision for opposing
"the power of darkness," a perpetual provision
for carrying into effect, through conviction and
conversion and sanctification, his merciful pur
pose of " bringing many sons to glory." He
instituted his sacraments, that they who observed
them might be a visible body of witnesses to

37
him in the world : and that, after the usual
manner of the divine operations, there might he
known and manifest channels in which his Spirit
might flow, to the edification and comfort of
believers. Therefore he ordained the ministry, and he
ordained the sacraments, that there might be a
Church; a continual "congregation of faithful
men." And shall this Church boast itself
against its Author, and claim a power which he
has never given ? Shall the earthly members
assume the authority of their heavenly Prin
cipal? Such seems to be the case, when they
confound church membership with faith : or so
magnify the ministrations belonging to their
office, as virtually to represent that, except
through their instrumentality, there is no salva
tion. In addition to the chart of Scripture, which is
sufficiently clear and instructive, beacons enough
have been raised in former times, warning us
how those, who in this respect have wandered
from the track, have made shipwreck of their
faith, and left an example to future ages. The
Jewish nation has shown us what it is to make a

38
boast of privileges, and ascribe undue importance
to outward ordinances : to pride themselves as
" the temple of the Lord : " to be satisfied
that they were " Hebrews ;" that they were
"Israelites;" that they were "of the seed of
Abraham." The warning furnished by the
Romish Church comes still more nearly home.
In their creed, they hold the vital truths of the
Gospel. Practically, their dependence is on
their Church. To be within that pale, is indis
pensable to salvation. To receive absolution
from the priest is security. He claims a power of
sanctifying water to the washing away of sin : he
professes to deliver to the communicant what he
has made the very body and blood of Christ. He,
in short, is in Christ's stead. We know all that
follows ; and what we know, might be sufficient
to deter us from approaching principles which
lead to such confusion of truth and error.
My Reverend Brethren, I combat what I hold
to be a mistaken view of the Church and minis
try, because I believe it to be mistaken, and not
because it is a principle inexpedient to maintain.
If the doctrine which I oppose be true, let it be
enforced, without reference to expediency or in-

39
expediency. But certainly if it be not true, we
have every reason which prudence and discretion
can furnish, to forbid our urging it. Had an
enemy devised a plan for marring our useful
ness, he could not have formed a scheme more
likely to effect his purpose. We have to reclaim
a population to the Established Church of the
land, which has beeu in a greater or less degree
estranged from it through causes to which I am
unwilling to allude, lest I seem unnecessarily to
"accuse my nation :" estranged from it through
causes for which the present generation is not
accountable, and which it is strenuously labour
ing to remove. Can we admit a doubt concern
ing the way in which we should approach such
a population ? Must it not be on the broad
principles of the Gospel, proving to every man's
conscience his own lost state, and proclaim
ing the mercy of God in " reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them ?" Surely to set before persons, cir
cumstanced as the people of this country have
been, the exclusive privileges of the Church, is
not the way in which we can expect to draw
them within her walls. If they are to be so
drawn, the apostles must be our model. These,

40
M'hether towards the uninstructed heathen or their
bigoted countrymen, exercised with meekness
their commission : raised no unnecessary barrier
against truths which nature is but too reluctant
to receive : even made personal concessions
which almost surprise us, if by any means they
might gain some. And this one thing they did :
they were constant and unwearied in proclaim
ing that only name under heaven given among
men, whereby they may be saved. Let this be
our example. Whilst we cannot avoid desiring
to bring over to the Church those whom educa
tion aud former habits have made her enemies,
let us show that our first anxiety is that they be
converted to religion. So our good will not be
evil spoken of, nor that zeal ascribed to party
spirit and private interest which really springs
from honest and just conviction.
I am sure that my Reverend Brethren will
judge me candidly in this matter. Whilst I
should especially regret that obstacles were need
lessly interposed, when through God's blessing
so much has been accomplished towards render
ing our Church available to all its purposes, I
must not be suspected of disparaging her minis-

41
ters, or undervaluing their sacred call. How
could I, knowing, as I must know, the disin
terested exertions, the self-imposed duties, the
self-denying labours, which prove of so many
around me their " election of God" to the office
which they bear ? How could I think lightly of
a ministry which I see made instrumental to the
highest purposes of divine mercy : which I see
employed to tame the savage, to enlighten the
blind, to civilize the desert, to fertilize the wil
derness : which I see able, through the grace
given to it, to reclaim the profligate, to make
the simple wise, to comfort the mourner, to
strengthen the weak-hearted : to send light into
the darkest recesses of indigence, to expel
Satan from his strongest holds of wickedness ?
What can I do but admire the man, who,
animated with no other feeling than zeal for
God's glory, and compassion for his fellow-men,
goes forth with the Bible in his hand to meet
the contradiction of the infidel and the sneers
of the lover of this world : pursuing the service
of his Lord, not among " green pastures, or
beside the waters of comfort," but amid scenes
of wretchedness and degradation to which
only christian love could carry him ? We can-

42

not but honour those whom God delights to
honour. And so, again, we love and revere our Church :
for we believe, nay, know her to be " founded
upon the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner-stone." We be
lieve that God has appointed her to great and
peculiar distinction. There are other congrega
tions of Christians which profess the same
truths : we honour them also with brotherly feel
ings ; and gladly say, " Grace be with all them
that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
But the commanding position of the English
nation attaches especial importance to the Church
of the English nation. And we rejoice and are
thankful that it has pleased God to distinguish
her as a witness to himself in all lands : we are
thankful that the Reformed Church of which
most is known in foreign countries, is a Church
which has most strictly adhered to primitive
doctrine and discipline, and most nearly assimi
lates, both in the articles of her creed and the
order of her ministers, to Scripture itself, and to
what may be proved from Scripture. Let us be
content with these advantages, and let all boast-

43
ing be excluded. It is no sign of greatness to
vaunt of authority. In the sight of man, as well
as God, he that humbles himself is more likely
to be exalted than he who boasts of himself
beyond his measure, and assumes an authority
which could never be entrusted to successive
generations of men, unless, like the apostles,
they were enabled to read the heart.* But though
none can forgive sins, save God only : though
regeneration is not of the will or of the work
of man, but of God, whose Spirit bloweth where
it listeth ; — there is much allotted to us which
vi^e may justly prize as a talent, and esteem as an
office, if rather its infinite importance may not
give us cause to tremble at the possession. It is
much to sit in the apostles' seat, and hold the
office which they held. We, like them, are
" ambassadors for God :" our calling is like
theirs : we entreat men, for Christ's sake, to be
reconciled unto God. We are stewards of his
mysteries : we are overseers and shepherds of
his flock. And as successful ambassadors ; as
faithful stewards ; as diligent overseers ; as watch
ful shepherds ; if the Holy Spirit working with
us enable us so to prove, we shall need no
* See Mr. Benson's Five Discourses : Disc. i. and ii.

44
higher honour, we shall want no greater dignity.
And as in no other way can we attain to real
dignity ; so in no other way can we secure to
ourselves the authority to which we are entitled.
We could not, in this land of light, maintain
the fatal claims which the Romish priests as
sume, and which nothing except the darkness in
which they shroud their people could enable
them to preserve. We pity them, whether de
ceivers or deceived : God forbid that we should
either imitate or envy them.
But if we so tend the charge committed to us,
that they grow and flourish as the flock of the
true Shepherd ; they will not fail to esteem us,
at least as much as it is good for frail and falli
ble men to be esteemed. We shall have to the
full as much honour as we can bear. The greatest
joy of an apostle is, when his " children walk
in the truth." And the surest sign of an apostle
is, that in which St. Paul took comfort, " the
work of faith, and labour of love, and patience
of hope," which his disciples exercised, which
resulted from his ministry, and proved that God
was with him. To " turn many to righteous
ness ;" that is real pre-eminence. To " win

45
souls " to Christ ; that is lasting honour. To
" take heed to ourselves and to the doctrine ;"
that is both " to save ourselves, and them that
hear us." To preach the word, to be instant
in season and out of season, to testify, both pub
licly and from house to house, repentance to
wards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus
Christ ; — this is to be the successor of the apostles.
To be " gentle unto all men ; apt to teach ; pa
tient ; in meekness instructing those that op
pose themselves :" this is to be a " man of
God." And in the great day, when many who
have been first may be last, they who have
most faithfully laboured to turn men from dark
ness to light, from the power of Satan unto God :
they will have the surest rejoicing, and wear the
brightest crown.

APPENDIX.

No. I.— Page 11.
It may be interesting to the clergy of the diocese,
and to those who take a concern in its religious welfare,
if I subjoin here a list of the new churches, under the
head of the several parishes in which they have been
built.

Cheshire.

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Astbury.

Buglawtoii

476

Bebington.

Tranmere

500

* Rock Ferry

500

Birkenhead.

Woodside

850

Bromborough

(rebuilt)

400

Budworth, Gt.

Stockton Heath

450

Bunbury.

Tilston

400

Chester.

St. Bride's (rebuilt)

750

Boughton
900
Christ church
600
* Not yet consecrated.
47

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Cheadle.

Handforth

200

Congleton.

* St. Stephens

815

Coddington.

(Rebuilt)

320

Davenham.

* Wharton

400

* Rudheath .

200

Evodsham.

Norley .

340

Grappenhall.

Latchford (rebuilt)

. 1,400

Hanmer.

Bronnington .

250

Macclesfield.

St. George's, Sutton

. 1,500

* St. James's, Sutto

n . 500

Hurdsfield

850

Malpas.

Bickerton

280

Mottram.

Newton

817

Staley •
. 1,004
Tintwistle
970
Nantwich.
Leighton
200
Prestbury.
Bollington
970
Pulford.
(Rebuilt)
300
Runcorn.
Trinity .
800
Rostherne.
Marthall
220
Sandbach.
* Wheelock .
350
Stockport.
Dukinfield
. 1,200
Compsall Bridge
600
Hyde .
. 1,600
Norbury (rebuilt)
. 1,005
Tarvin.
Duddon
200
Wallasey.
Liscard .
. 1,200
West Kirkby.
Hoylake
350
Wybunbury.
Donnington .
200
Weston .
180
48

Lancashire.

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Ashton-under-Line

Stayley Bridge (rebu

ilt) . 1,250

Blackburn.

St. Paul's

800

Over Darwen

: 1,520

Lower Darwen
760
Bamber Bridge
750
Feniscowles
500
Tockholes (rebuilt) .
860
Witton .
700
Mellor .
950
Bolton-le-moors.
Harwood
500
Turton . ' .
. 1,060
Walmesley
648
Emmanuel
700
Bury.
*St. Paul's .
. 1,600
Walmersley
677
St. James's, Heywooi
i . 1,100
Cartmel.
Lindale (rebuilt)
160
Childwall.
Haiewood
370
Aigburth
450
Croston.
Bretherton
400
Maudeslay
400
Deane.
Plorwich (rebuilt)
. 1,500
Halliwell
470
Eccles.
Pendlebury
600
Pendleton (rebuilt)
. 1,500
Walkden Moor
500
Halsal.
Melling (rebuilt)
400
Lydiate .
400
Hawkeshead.
Brathay .
200
49

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Kirkham.

Freckleton

250

Lytham (rebuilt)

700

Lancaster.

St. Thomas

. 1,175

Skerton

700

Quernmoor

200

Glasson
200
Poulton le Sands (rebuilt
) 600
Leigh.
Bedford
650
Leyland.
Whittle-le- Woods .
761
Withnell
756
Liverpool.
St Martin's .
. 2,000
St. Catherine's
1,100
St. Bride's
1,350
St. Luke's
1,300
St. Mary's
1,000
St. Matthias .
1,000
*St. Saviour's
1,400
St. Bartholomew
1,000
St. Barnabas .
1,000
Windsor
1,000
Manchester.
Hulme . . . .
1,800
St. Andrews .
1,800
Christ Church, Salford .
1,-00
St. Saviour's .
1,700
*St. Jude's
1,600
Harpurley
900
Opeushaw
900
Broughton
1,200
Cheetham Hill
1,500
All Souls
1,400
Witliington
700
50

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Middleton.

Ainsworth (rebuilt).

300

Birch . . . .

1,000

St. Michaels.

OutrawcliflPe .

300

North Meols.

Southport

fa'OO

Croscens

280

Ormskirk.

Burscough Bridge .

750

Pen worth am.

Farington

460

Poulton in Fylde.

Thornton

260

Fleetwood

450

Southshore
350
Prescot.
Rainhill
400
Eccleston
500
St. Thomas's in St. Helen
's 850
*Parr (do.) .
370
Preston.
St, James
878
St. Thomas
1,000
St. Mary's
900
Christchurch .
1,000
Ashton . . . .
250
Prestwich.
Tonga . . . .
600
Oldham, Greenacres
1,500
Rochdale.
Smallbridge .
1,010
Spotland
1,500
Todmorden (rebuilt)
1,450
Sephton.
Waterloo
600
Standish.
Adlington
600
Walton.
St. Augusdn's, Everton
. 1,500
St. Jude's
. 1,600
Kirkdale
. 1,100
St John Baptist, Toxtet
ti 1,800
St. Ann's, West Derby
900
Knotty Ash, West Derbj
500
51

Parish.

Church.

Sittings.

Warrington.

St. Paul's

. 1,800

Padgate

450

Whalley.

Accrington

. 950

Tunstead in Newehurch

750

Clayton Moor in Altham

700

Briercliife in Burnley
. 500
Habergham Eaves, do.
1,050
Worsthorn, do.
. 638
Rawtenstall
. 765
Clithero (rebuilt) .
1,100
Chatburn in Clithero
350
St. James, do.
. 688
Oswaldtwistle
764
Fence
410
Barrowford in Colne
. 494
Christ Church, do. .
850
*Sabden
. 500
Wigan.
Pemberton
1,540
Haigh
830
Scholes . . . .
1,200
Abrams .
420
Winwick.
Trinity, Ashton
600
Croft . . . .
450
*Waldgrave
450
Ulverston.
Trinity . . . .
1,213
Westmorland and Cumberland.
Arlecdon.
(Rebuilt)
200
Burton.
Holme .
500
Heversham.
Milnthorp
500
Levens .
400
E 2
52

I'arish.

Church.

Sittings.

Kendal.

St. Thomas .

900

St. George's .

1,400

Grayrigg (rebuilt) .

200

Selside (do.)

200

New Hutton (do.)
150
Kirby Lonsdale.
Caste rt on
500
Lowes water.
(Rebuilt)
150
Melling.
Wray .
220
Warton.
Silverdale (rebuilt) .
150
Yealand
200
This shows an increase of accommodation, in
Cheshire, of 25,047 sittings ; in Lancashire, of 99,037 ;
in Cumberland and Westmorland, of 5,670.
The recent Census (1841) has raised the population
of Lancashire from 1,336,854, to 1,600,431. Suppos
ing the increase in Cheshire to be in the same propor
tion, viz. about 20 per cent., the population of that county
will appear to be raised from 334,391 to 401,269 : being
an increase in the two counties of 330,455.
It is no small encouragement that we have been able
to provide for this vast addition of people, not according
to the former average, which did not exceed one seat for
every eighth person, but even beyond the proportion which
is found to be practically required, viz. one sitting for
every third person. On this improved scale, 124,084
sittings will suffice for more than 330,455 additional per
sons, i. e. for more than the actual increase of Lancashire
and Cheshire.
Manifestly, therefore, the circumstances of our church,
even in the most unfavourable districts, are greatly im-
53
proved; without noticing the vast addition of pastoral
superintendence, or taking into account the thousands
who receive regular instruction in chapels and school
rooms, not included in the foregoing enumeration.
Even in the town of Preston, where the population
has increased from 33,112, to 50,073, the proportion
of accommodation is not diminished. Preston had, in
1831, five churches, with seat-room for 6,450, or about
one-fifth of the population. It has now nine churches,
with seat- room for 10,400; and thus maintains the same
proportion to the increased number.
Parts of the parish of Stockport still exhibit a grievous
deficiency. The churches, however, have far more than
kept pace with the increase of population. The po
pulation in 1831 was 66,610, with seats for 6,391, or
about one in ten and a half. The population in 1841 is
ascertained to be 81,171, and the accommodation has been
raised to 11,011 sittings, about one in seven and a half.
The parish in which the most effectual exertions have
been made to recover the ground which had been lost,
is that of Whalley, which includes the large towns of
Burnley, Colne, and Chthero. It contained, in 1831,
seventeen churches, with seat-room for 13,550, i.e. less
than one in seven of a population of 97,868 ; and
though the population in the interim has grown to
112,000, the accommodation now is, notwithstand
ing, at the rate of more than one in five of the po
pulation ; fifteen churches having been built, holding
11,367 persons.
On the other hand, the important parishes of Ashton
under Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Prestwich, which includes
Oldham, 50,513, and Rochdale, have remained in a

54

great measure stationary. Their population in 1831
amounted to 286,466; their united church-room to
36,654 sittings. That has been since increased by
11,582 sittings, reaching 48,236. But the increased
population, at 20 per cent., must be calculated as
reaching 343,759, leaving the accommodation nearly
as before ; viz. less than one seat for each seventh per
son. There is every reason to fear that in places such as
these the lost ground can never be recovered without
public assistance; and that, unless this be granted as
a stimulus to local exertions, a vast multitude of our
people must still remain without regular spiritual in
struction. We may turn with better encouragement towards
Manchester and Liverpool, in both which places con-
tribudons have been supphed on so liberal a scale, and
Societies for building churches so wisely established,
that we may reasonably hope to see the purposes of the
establishment fulfilled, and no pretext left for deserting
the national Church, through want of adequate provision
within its pale.
I cannot quit this subject, without allusion to the
attempts which have been lately made (sometimes in
a tone which makes it difficult to believe that there is
any sympathy with the object) to depreciate these and
other modern churches, as devoid of taste and ec
clesiastical propriety. On the contrary, it may be
justly asserted that the great majority, as buildings, are
far superior to the average churches which have come
down to us from preceding centuries. They cannot vie
with the beautiful spires aud spacious chancels of some

55
of the midland and eastern counties ; and in every part
of England, in some of our large parishes, a church is
found, which in these altered times we are more able to
admire than to imitate. But I assert that on the whole
they greatly excel the majority of the older churches,
though not yet embosomed in trees, or overhung with
ivy. In point of convenience, there is no sort of com
parison. Whatever an antiquary may think, a church
will be useless for any purposes except his own, which
it is impossible to make warmer than the external air,
or in which the minister can be neither seen nor heard.
Archdeacon Hare, himself no slight admirer of ancient
architecture, has placed the subject in its proper light*
" Though our new churches are not comparable in
grandeur to many of the ancient, yet, when we are taunted
with their inferiority, we may allowably plead that the
larger ancient churches were the work of many long
years, and not seldom of generations, the scantier po
pulation of those times finding ample room for their
worship in a small portion of the projected building.
Whereas in these days our necessities compel us to
complete our work as speedily as possible. We had
to make amends for the unchristian negligence of a
century, during which the increase of population in
some parts of our island was beyond all former ex
ample. When every part of England is adequately
supplied with churches, then we may set about building
minsters and cathedrals. Would the pious men of
former ages have acted otherwise ? Would they have
left thousands and hundreds of thousands of souls with
out a place to worship God, and to hear his word in,
* Notes to Charge to Archdeaconry of Lewes, p. 56.

while they expended their means and energies in erect
ing grand and gorgeous fabrics, far beyond the needs
of the congregations that were to assemble in them ?
Would there have been any true piety in this ? Amid
much errror, much weakness, much extravagance, we
have yet been enabled to lay hold on this one cardinal
truth, that our special duty and mission is to preach the
gospel to the poor."
It may serve to show how these churches have been
built, and to explain some particulars of their constitu
tion and endowment, if I reprint here a short account
of those out of the number, which were consecrated
in the year 1839. The churches there described fur
nish a fair sample of the rest ; and the exertions through
which they were raised, and the circumstances which
made it necessary to raise them, are essentially the
same. On June 21st, 1839, was consecrated a Church at
Rainhill.* The Vicar of Prescot built this Church
by subscription, £500 of which was given by Mrs.
Sherbourne, and intended it for a Chapel of Ease. The
pews were so eagerly taken by the inhabitants, and the
Curate found the sphere of labour so interesting, that
his father desired to endow the Church under the Act
1, 2, Will. IV. c. 38, and possess the patronage in re
turn. Thus a district has been taken out of the un
wieldy parish of Prescot, and 2,000 inhabitants, to whom
before it was impossible to give regular spiritual super-
* Rainhill is a township in the parish of Prescot, containing nearly
2,000 inhabitants, and three miles from the Parish Church.

57
intendence, have a Church within their reach, and the
constant ministration of a Cleryyman residing amongst
them. One is at a loss to know on what principle any
jealousy could have been entertained, as was at first
entertained, on the subject of the Act of Parliament
which authorises the endowing a Church under such
circumstances. Granted, that the Patron and the In
cumbent have a vested interest in the Parishes within
which the Church is raised. What can it be except
clear gain to the Patron and Incumbent of Prescot for
all future time, that the Vicar should have 2,000 or
3,000 fewer persons under his charge ? The present
Vicar has the satisfaction of knowing that by the zealous
exertions through which he endeavoured to provide for
this unmanageable portion of the immense flock com
mitted to him, he has been the means of relieving him
self and his successors from a burthen which must
always have been too heavy for them.
The Church is plain and unpretending, with seats for
400. It cost £850.
On the same day was consecrated a Church at Hale-
wood, as a Chapel of Ease to Childwall, or rather to
Woolton in the parish of Childwall, also available to the
district called Tarbock in Huyton parish. This Church
is built with such successful exercise of architectural
taste, that, like its predecessor in the same neighbour
hood, the Church built last year by Mr. Taylor at Ec
cleston, it may be recommended as a model to those
who have a similar design in view. The cost was £900,
with seats originally for 250 ; but it has been already

58
necessary to increase them to 370, and there is still a
demand for room.
The Vicar of Childwall has settled £ 15 from the
tithes on this Chapel. The Earl of Derby grants an
annuity of £ 20.* The rest of the minister's income
is supplied by the pew-rents, and a surplus of subscrip
tion. Another call to this neighbourhood was occasioned
in October by the consecration of the New Church (St.
Thomas's) at St. Helen's, built at the sole expense of
P. Greenall, Esq. Its construction is ornamental, and
somewhat singular, being a cross, with a gallery in each
transept, and an organ gallery in the front. The whole
roof is arched, without pillars. The Communion-table
and pulpit are especially well contrived, and the position
of the minister is very favourable both to himself and
the congregation.
A school, in character with the Church, is already
in operation, and a Parsonage-house is in progress.
The Church, which holds 850, cost £ 3,200 ; but the
whole expense of endowment, School, and Parsonage,
must exceed £6,000. A noble example of wise em
ployment of fortune. And not the first which has been
shown by the same family, as is testified by the Church
at Wilderspool.
The congregation attending on this occasion showed

* Of the subscription, amounting to £1,304, the Vicar of Huj^on and
his family furnished £300, and the Incumbent of Woolton £150, and
the Communion plate.
So great is the desire of accommodation, that 230 sittings are let at an
areriige of 10s.

59
their sense of the liberal example set them, by a contri
bution of £ 254.
Two years ago, St. Helen's, with a population far ex
ceeding 15,000, had only a single Church. The Church
was capacious, and the clergyman indefatigable. Still
it was impossible to meet the wants of such a popula
tion. The licensed Chapel at Parr has been since
opened on the outskirts of the town, where a Curate's
salary is supplied by the Pastoral Aid Society. St.
Thomas's, with its Minister, provides for another dis
trict. Four clergymen unite their labours : and four
thousand persons may be accommodated in the three
churches now existing in the town. Still a body of many
hundred well-dressed men, who marched with us in pro
cession to the Church, but were unable to follow beyond
the doors, remained to show that the system which has
been so liberally begun must be followed up by further
exertions in this rapidly increasing neighbourhood.
It is, however, a matter of thankfulness to know that
the last two years have witnessed the erection of five
new churches,* and the settlement of five additional
clergymen, within a diameter of five miles. These five
churches contain, at every season of public worship,
2,500 persons : of which number not a fifth, we may
confidently affirm, had any opportunity before of attend
ing the Established Church.
The next duty was at Emmanuel Church, Bolton.
The origin of this church gives it peculiar interest.
Two years ago a general anxiety was felt among the
* Parr and St. Thomas, in St. Helen's, Eccleston, Kainhill, and Hale-
wood.

60

inhabitants of Bolton to show some token of respect
and gratitude to their Vicar, who for more than twenty
years had laboured amongst them with indefatigable
zeal, and with diligence truly disinterested. They raised
a large subscription, which was to be laid out in a service
of plate, and furnish a memorial to Mr. Slade's family
hereafter of the esteem in which he had been held.
The Vicar heard of their purpose, and saw at once that
an opportunity was now given, which he had long de
sired, of increasing the Church accommodation in the
vast town under his charge. He begged to divert the
honour intended for himself, and devote it to the glory
of God : and now the Church of Emmanuel, Bolton, will
remain for ages a monument of his disinterestedness, as
well as of the grateful feelings of a flock towards the
shepherd who has long " ruled them prudently with all
his power."
The church contains 700 : is handsomely built, with
a well-proportioned tower ; cost £2,200.
From Bolton we proceeded to Adlington, a part of the
extensive parish of Standish, three miles from the church,
and containing 2,000 inhabitants. Here we find a
church built with great economy: holding within a small
area six hundred persons, by means of front and side
galleries. This mode of building, though not ornamental,
is very popular : such a church is easily warmed, and
all are within easy reach of the clergyman. The church
has been inconveniently crowded from the time of its
first opening : and every pew is taken.
The church cost £1,560. Her Majesty's Commis
sioners furnished £400. The Chester Diocesan So-

ciety £300. The late Sir Robert Clayton £500.
The rest was obtained by subscription. Sir Robert
.Clayton als6 gave £100 for a bell and other requisities ;
£200 towards a school-room ; and £500 towards en
dowment. On the following day St. Thomas's Church, at
Preston, was consecrated ; being the fourth church *
built by the f present Vicar within the last four years,
by means of funds which he has been the sole agent
in raising, amounting in the whole (together with the
endownments) to more than £20,000. The expense of
this Church was furnished from the fund called Hynd-
man's Trust. The late Miss Hyndman left her fortune,
more than £60,000, for the purpose of building Churches.
Owing to some informality in the will, it might have been
set aside. But her brother, on whom the fortune would
have devolved, refused to take the advantage which the
law gave him, and carried his sister's design into full
effect. When " the world shall have passed away, and
the lust thereof;" when all that an ample fortune could
have provided shall have lost its value, if value it ever
had : the blessings which have been thus produced will
remain, and that approval duly appreciated which the
Most High has recorded for our encouragement, " That
* One at the village of Ashton, three miles from Preston. In the town,
Christ Church, St. Mary's, and St. Thomas. Besides which, a Chapel
originally built by some Dissenters, has been purchased, and makes a very
useful place of worship for 900 persons.
These Churches are no less ornamental to the town, than they are
valuable for higher reasons. They display great architectural taste and
knowledge, and are in imitation of the pure Norman style.
f Unhappily it must now be said, 1841, " the late lamented Vicar."

62
it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, it
is well that it was in thine heart."
Each of these new churches provide for different dis
tricts of the town of Preston, and have an average of
6,000 persons attached to them. But how great is
the effort which is required, and the resolution which
must be exercised, in order to give any adequate supply
of pastoral superintendence to a population so rapidly
increasing! And yet the consequence is certain, if
such exertions are neglected. The population, then
left to itself, must either grow up without any sense of
religion, or receive whatever instruction it enjoys from
those who are opposed to the Established Church in
practice and in principle. Now they are attached to the
Establishment by ties least of all likely to be broken :
by the regular superintendence of one appointed to
watch over them; by daily acts of kindness and assist
ance ; by the education of their children ; by the spi
ritual benefits arising from domestic and public instruc
tion. If these things had been attended to earlier, the
present generation might have witnessed a very different
state of religion throughout the land. Let us be
thankful for the spirit which has now, though late, been
roused. The village of Holme consists of 1,000 persons, two
miles distant from their Parish Church of Burton in
Westmoreland. Here a Chapel of Ease was consecrated
on the last day of September ; being built by subscrip
tion, and a grant of £200 from the Incorporated Society.
The ground was given, and a liberal portion of the

63
funds was contributed, by the Honourable Col. and Mrs.
Howard, who, at a cost of £7,000, have also built and
endowed a church on their own estate at Levens, and
have largely aided the many other good works which
have been undertaken in their neighbourhood.
Holme Church is built on the plan of that at Cas-
terton, as described by the Rev. W. Carus Wilson in
his useful publication, entitled " Hints for Building
Churches." He was scarcely credited, in asserting that
" a church like that at Casterton could be built for
£750." Here the plan is repeated for the same money.
An oblong building, surmounted by a tower; having a
deep front gallery ; and not more remarkable for its
cheapness than its neat appearance, and convenient ac
commodation for 500 persons.
Mention of Casterton, reminds me of the Clergy
Daughters' School established there ; in which, and in
the nursery attached to it at Silverdale, 140 daughters
of the poorer clergy receive an education which would
be valuable for any station in life, and enjoy advantages
which the richest of our land might be happy to secure
for their children. Without believing that all our sense
of beauty has its basis in utility, we cannot but acknow
ledge that the effect is unusually gratifying, when na
tural and moral beauty is found in association. Cas
terton affords an example of all that is picturesque, as
well as of all that is useful. A group of buildings, de
signed and employed for the highest purposes, is shel
tered by surrounding hills, and surrounded by spreading
trees: and pleasure-grounds, beautiful in themselves,
are ornamented by parties of happy children, who are

64
here allowed to take their occasional recreation. The
owner of these grounds, Carus Wilson, Esq., has for
more than forty years been a zealous promoter of every
object which could contribute to the glory of God, or
the welfare of man. And now, in the decline of life, he
has seen raised on his estate a memorial which will
perpetuate the name and the benevolence of his family
through future generations.
Mr. W. Wilson has also in operation another esta
blishment, where a hundred orphan or otherwise desti
tute children are received and educated, and prepared
under the best instruction to fill the office of domestic
servants, or country school-mistresses, at the annual
payment of £10 per head. They are here brought up
in Christian principles, their morals closely watched
over, their characters formed; and doubtless, in nume
rous instances, the destitution which once seemed a
grievous calamity, has been overruled, by directing them
to this refuge, to their temporal and eternal blessing.
These Schools have already set the example of several
others on a like plan. One for the daughters of clergy
men, has been established at Bristol ; another at Brighton
by the Rev. Henry Elliot ; and a fourth is now pro
posed for Yorkshire.
What a different scene our country would present, if
these examples of benevolence were more common !
There will always be orphan children; deserted chil
dren ; children from some cause or other left destitute.
These poor young creatures, left without natural protec
tion, are too often seized upon by abandoned persons, and
before they can either know the nature or consequences of
sin, are plunged into the depths of vice and misery. If

65
christian charity were as quick-sighted as selfish in
terest, if the good were as active in well-doing as the
wicked in evil-doing, these might be preserved from
ruin, and the community, instead of being injured by
their profligacy, might be profited by their industry.
And of such charity, beyond all others, may it be
affirmed that " it is twice blessed ;" blessed no less " to
him that gives, than to him that takes." The superin
tendence of such plans is an object of delightful interest,
occupying hours which would otherwise be vacant : sug
gesting also thoughts of comfortable reflection, if the
mind, looking towards futurity, finds need of some
proofs of faithful stewardship, and is led to inquire what
"foundation has been laid up in store against the time
to come."
Such, if she were not too humble to entertain them,
might justly have been the reflections of the late Mrs.
Richardson of Kendal. It would be ungrateful to leave
this district and this subject, without mention of her
name : for she was indeed a faithful stewardess : " faith
ful over a few things :" not rich, in the usual sense of
the word, but certainly rich towards God : for instead
of increasing her establishment, or surrounding herself
with superfluous luxuries, she gave to His glory what
many might have supposed that her own comfort and
station required. It was said of a patriot of old, that
instead of children, he left two victories to his country.
This lady left two Churches ; neither of them, indeed,
built solely by her means, but neither of which could
have been raised so early, or completed so satisfactorily,
without her ample contributions, amounting to several
thousand pounds. She was rewarded, before she died,
F

66
by the gratification of seeing a regular congregation of
nearly a thousand persons added to the establishment
at Kendal, without any diminution of attendance at the
parish Church. And Milnthorpe, where 1,300 persons
had been collected together as a flock without either fold
or shepherd, is now possessed of its due ecclesiastical
provision: its Church, its Parochial School, its Par
sonage-house, its Clergyman.
We now proceed to Clitheroe. In the preceding year
a Church had been constructed at Chatburn, a village
of that parish two miles from the town. The opening
of a School-room for evening service some years ago
had been welcomed by the inhabitants with unexpected
satisfaction: now the school-room serves its proper
purpose, and the beautiful village church receives its
congregation, in the midst of which their settled minister
resides. This year the advantage of another church and Cler
gyman is given to Clitheroe itself. It contains about
700 on a large area ; and by the erection of galleries, as
the population increases, will easily accommodate 1,200.
The Diocesan Society may be said to have erected this
Church : having given £800 in a direct grant, and
having indirectly contributed £300 towards the endow
ment, by causing the erection of a Church at Oswald
twistle. The late Mr. Halstead resided there : and
when he saw the rising Church, and anticipated in his
mind the blessings which might follow, he endowed it
with £2,000, and afterwards bequeathed a portion of
his estate, which eventually produced £4,600, towards
the endowment of other new Churches which might be

67
built in the parish of Whalley. Of this sum, Sr. James's,
Clitheroe, shares £300.
In the district assigned to this Church, 1080 of the
people were found to be Dissenters, 650 Churchmen.
Had not timely measures been taken, such would have
been the case in all our populous towns: and no re
flecting person can be doubtful as to the ultimate result.
It has pleased God to awaken us, and by a view of the
consequences, though through his mercy a distant view,
to show us the danger of conniving at spiritual desti
tution. The change cannot be illustrated by an example more
striking than is furnished by the parish of which Cli
theroe is a part, the vast parish of Whalley. It extends
over 108,140 acres; the population being at the last
census 97,868. To this population, in 1834, there were
20 Clergymen: viz. 17 Incumbents of the different
chapelries, and 3 assistant Curates. There are now
43: viz. 26 Incumbents, and 17 Curates. Since Sep
tember 1835, nine new Churches have been opened, and
one enlarged : giving an addition of 6,268 sittings, by an
expenditure of £27,000.* Five more Churches are in
progress, the sum raised for which exceeds £18,000.
And £5,200 are offered as a beginning for four more.
During the same period, viz. since the year 1834, the
sum of £7,192 13s. Id. has been expended in the erec
tion of 22 School-rooms : and £2,336 is raised towards
building 14 others.-]-
• One of these, Habergham Eaves, in Bumley, was built by Her
Majesty's Commissioners. A small endowment has been added by sub
scription. t £3,833 had been expended on ten others between the years 1830-
1834.
F 2

68
Within a period, therefore, not exceeding five years,
there will have been added to the means of religious
instruction, in this single parish of Whalley, twenty-
seven Clergymen, fourteen Churches, and thirty-six
Schools.* That this should be recorded, is due not less to the
liberality which has contributed to this large expendi
ture, than to the indefatigable personal exertions by
which that liberality has been called into action, and
conducted to such a successful end. Providentially,
also, the " Pastoral Aid" and " Curates' Fund" Societies
were instituted at the precise moment when the local
exertions were requiring such extensive aid. Out of
the seventeen Incumbents who in 1835 superintended
the parish of Whalley, the annual income of 16 averaged
£141. Such incomes left no surplus for Curates. Of
the Clergy since appointed, nine receive the greater part
of their salaries from the Pastoral Aid Society, and two
from the Curates' Fund.
For many preceding years there had been a duty to
perform at Blackburn, where, as at Preston, the Vicar
has made strenuous exertions to meet the wants of his
increasing parish by proportionate church accommoda
tion.-!- Consequently, Preston and Blackburn are, per-
* I was furnished with the exact particulars of these Churches and
Schools by the Rev. J. Rushton, whose industry and experience have
greatly coutributed to many of them. It ought to be mentioned that
the Parliamentary Grants gave valuable assistance towards building the
different Schools.
+ The Churches at Mellor, Over Darwen, Lower Darwen, St. Paul's,
Tockholes, Bamber Bridge, Feniscowles, and Witton, in Blackburn parish,
have all been consecrated within the last ten years; and two Chapels

69
haps, the only towns of any size in Lancashire where
there is seat-room for one in five of the population.
There is still, however, great occasion for another
Church at Blackburn, on the north-eastern side, and the
foundation is already laid. The approach to the prin
cipal entrance will be through a quadrangle flanked
with Schools in character with the architecture of the
Church: and when the proposed plan is completed,
Blackburn will possess two of the finest Churches in the
kingdom. Passing on, therefore, this year, through Blackburn,
we proceeded to Walmslv, in the parish of Bolton,
three miles to the north of the town. We left behind
the old Chapel, with seats for 128 persons, and came to
the beautiful building now substituted for it, from a
design by Mr. Sharpe, and mainly completed through
the exertions of Mr Haworth. It contains 650, with
out a front gallery, which is in contemplation, and might
easily be added. The cost £2,600 : the whole of which
was raised by local subscriptions, except £350 from the
Incorporated, and £300 from the Diocesan Society.
Schools in character, and a Parsonage-house, are in the
course of erection; towards which £113 was collected
on the morning of the consecration, and the following
Sunday raised the sum to £200.
The amount may seem large, in comparison with the
seat-room, which this Church, and some others which
I am to mention presently, have cost. But the addi
tional or ornamental expense has been furnished by
formerly occupied by Dissenters, have been converted to the use of the
Church.

70
private munificence; the Societies, when they have given
at all, have only given according to the accommodation •
and we cannot be surprised if the inhabitants of a flourish
ing neighbourhood, whose own houses are built with
every attention to comfort and even luxury, should be
unwilling to dedicate to God " that which cost them
nothing." Such was David's feeling, when he reflected
within himself, " Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar :
but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." And the
contrary disposition is severely censured by the Prophet •
" Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses, and
this house (the house of God) lie waste ?"
There seemed great danger, some years ago, that this
reproof would apply to England. Privately and indi.
vidually we have begun to wipe off the reproach : and
perhaps, before it is too late, the nation at large may be
moved to say, " With the help of our God we will arise
and build."
We next proceeded to Tonge, a township in the ex
tensive parish of Prestwich, but in locality more nearly
allied to Middleton, with a population of at least 2,000
entirely destitute of ecclesiastical superintendence. To
wards this Church Her Majesty's Commissioners granted
£1 ,200 ; to which a local subscription of £700 was added.
The accommodation is for 500 : and the parishioners wel
come the boon which has been bestowed on them, and
are likely to secure the residence of their Clergyman by
the erection of a Parsonage.
Broughton Church came next, in a different neigh
bourhood, aud a different style of architecture. It is

71
built in the oblong form, with side aisles and galleries
and a clerestory, very successful in its proportions and
the position of its pillars. The accommodation is for
],200. Broughton, as well as Cheetham Hill, where a
Church was consecrated on the following day, is covered
by the villas of residents whose business lies in Man
chester, fi'om which they are distant about two miles.
Hitherto they have been forced to resort with their
famihes to the churches of Manchester :* they have now
obviated this inconvenience, and provided for themselves
and their neighbours at home, taking advantage of
the Act 1, 2, Wdl. IV.f And this has been done in a
manner suitable to the object. The Church at Brough
ton was built for £5,600, the valuable site being given
by Rev. Mr. Clowes of Broughton Hall : but the whole
expense has reached several thousands more, towards
which the same benevolent individual has been a .prin
cipal contributor. So has Mr. Lloyd to the Church at
Cheetham Hill, which is one of the handsomest struc
tures of modern times, the site being given by
Lord Derby. The tower and spire, perfect in their
* The original Chapel at Cheetham Hill had become insufficient for the
increasing numbers.
i" Objections have been raised against the patronage of Trustees, but
without sufficient consideration. According to the rules of our Establish
ment, a Clergyman once appointed to a Church, is independent of the
Trustees who nominated him, as completely as if he had been selected by
the Bishop or the Lord Chancellor. There is therefore no disadvantage on
this ground. And local subscribers are apt to think that there is leas pro
bability of a partial or injudicious appointment, when three, or four, or five
persons are to concur, than if the nomination rests with a single individual.

72
proportions, are imitated from the Church of Louth in
Lincolnshire. The cost has exceeded £13,000. But
the effect is answerable to the expenditure. The ac
commodation is ample for 1,500, and it is worth re
marking that both these Churches, though comparatively
so large, are extremely favourable to the voice, and re
quire less exertion than many others which do not con
tain half the number of persons. I suspect that the low
flat roof which is commonly adopted in modern Churches
is very objectionable; and the oblong buildings, without
aisles or galleries, have uniformly an unpleasant echo.
This point, as well as the ventilation, ought to be pro
perly considered in the first construction of the plan.
They are very important concerns in the usefulness of
Churches. Whoever contemplates the building of a
Church, would act wisely in determining to copy an
existing model, according to the size and expenditure
intended. He is more likely to escape disappointment
by following experience than by making an experiment.
And examples of every kind, of what is to be imitated
and what is to be avoided, may be easily discovered in
every neighbourhood.
The next summons was to Openshaw, a district con
taining about 4,000, two miles east of Manchester. Here
a Church has been built at an expense of £4,500, the
whole of which, except a subscription of about £700,
was furnished by the Manchester and Eccles Church
Building Society. Like the two last mentioned, it has
side aisles with galleries and a clerestory.
This district is entirely occupied with factories and
print-works. The service was attended by a crowd of

73
operatives, to whom a holiday had been given by their
employers, and whose interest in the Church is equally
gratifying and encouraging. A handsome School ad
joining to the Church has been built at the sole expense
of Mr. Nedin, and we had the pleasure of seeing it filled
by three hundred scholars.
I might justly mention among churches deserving of
imitation the one which came next in order, St. Paul's
at Staley. It seats 1,004, and cost less than £4,000.
Both the tower and body of the church, interior and
exterior, without the ostentation of ornament, have all
the ornament that can be desired.
The site of this church, which is spacious and of con
siderable value, was given by Lord Stamford, who also
liberally assisted the subscription, amounting to £4,000.
The £1,000 endowment was granted by the Diocesan
Society. It was gratifying to see many persons at the
opening service, who probably never had been in a
church before; and to know that many have taken
pews who were supposed to hold doctrines very unlike
those of the Church of England. A convincing proof
was afforded by a collection of £204, that the day
was hailed by many present as an earnest of better
times. Passing on to Newton, we see the new church now
rising at Staley Bridge, instead of the old and insuf
ficient one; and another at Dukinfield, which has been
so long anxiously desired. These will be ready for their
congregations in the course of the ensuing summer. And
greatly are they needed. For the enlarged Church at

74
Staley is the first addition made to the accommodation
of the Establishment within a space of two miles and a
half from its site since the year 1 773. In the mean while
the population enclosed in that space has increased to
at least 40,000, and fourteen Dissenters' meeting-houses
of various denominations have been built during the
last 16 years alone, four of which cost, each of them,
£4,500. It is grievous to record such things. But it is better
that they should be acknowledged and amended, than
concealed and rued.
Newton is a township of the large parish of Mottram,
formerly a pastoral district, now increased by manufac
tures to a population of 20,000. The township of New
ton alone contains 8,000, totally unconcerned with their
parish Church. The whole cost here was furnished by
public contribution ; viz. Her Majesty's Commissioners
£1,000, The Incorporated Society £500, The Diocesan
Society £600. The Church has therefore been built
with strict attention to economy, and, like that at Ad
lington, has galleries on three sides. It contains 820.
And there appeared, on this occasion, every reason to
anticipate that the Establishment, though hitherto a
stranger, would be gladly received at Newton.
Mottram parish has now four Churches,* instead of
one : Newton, Staley, and Tintwistle having been added
since 1 837. Virtually it may be said to have become
four parishes, though the secular boundaries and ancient
rights remain unaltered.
* Leaving out of account the small ancient chapel at Woodhcad, in
the remote north-e;i3torn corner.

75
Probably there is no district in England, even includ
ing the Metropolis, in which the Church has so mnch
still to do, as in that which is passed between Staley and
Stockport The road winds through a continued forest
of streets for nine miles, and we meet with a single
church in existence : that of Hyde.
Macclesfield is in a more improving state. Ten years
ago there were two Churches and two Clergy for that
town. Now there are four Churches and seven Clergy •
for three of whom we have to thank the Curates' Fund
and Pastoral Aid Societies. The fourth Church, con
secrated October 10, is in the district of Hurdsfield. It
is placed in a commanding situation, and is a hand
some structure ; the arrangement within being peculiar :
no centre aisle, but with side aisles, and three rows of
pews parallel with the side-walls, and facing the centre.
Including the galleries, there is ample space for 900,
Hyndman's Trust furnished £2,000 for the endowment ;
The Diocesan Society £759 ; the remainder being made
up by subscription.
Marthal Chapel, consecrated the last in order, is of
a very different character, being solely intended for a
portion of the wide parish of Rostherne ; and, with the
exception of £100 from the Cheshire Rural Chapel
Society, built and endowed at the sole expense of Wil-
braham Egerton, Esq., whose tenants will derive the
principal benefit of the building. It is one of fourteen
of a like description, holding from 200 to 400 persons,
some with and some without endowment, which have
been lately added to the Church in the agricultural dis.

76
tricts of Cheshire : and bear testimony alike to the zeal
of the Incumbents, who have taken the responsibility of
so much fresh service, and to the liberality of the land-
proprietors and residents, who have provided the means
for these useful buildings.
The result of this year's exertions, on the whole, is an
addition to the preceding Church accommodation of about
13,000 sittings : while pastoral superintendence has been
brought within the reach of more than 50,000 persons,
to the vast majority of whom it was before practically in
accessible. The cost of the buildings has been £53,300 ;
of the endowments £1 1,500. Towards the whole sum
£18,350 was derived from what may be termed public
sources, though all, with the exception of £2,700, origi
nating in private benevolence : viz. Incorporated Society,
£900. Her Majesty's Commissioners, £2,700. Dio
cesan Society, £3,550. Manchester and Eccles Church
Building Society, £4,700.* Hyndman's Trust, £6,500.t
The remaining £46,500 has been contributed by indivi
duals locally or benevolently induced to provide the
means of public worship and pastoral care for them
selves and those around them and connected with them.
It seems a large sum, because we are not accustomed to
look upon such objects as a part of our expenditure.
And yet how small is the amount, in real fact, compared
with the expenditure of the two millions of people resi
dent in the Diocese of Chester ! How little would be
added to the outlay when an acre of ground is covered
• Viz. the whole Church at Openshaw, except about ^700 subscription.
t The whole expense of St. Thomas's, Preston, except <i 370 for the site,
and tho Endowment of Ilurdslield ^"'2,000.

77
with buildings, if, at the same time, provision were
made that those who are to be employed , in the manu
factory, or on the surrounding estate, should be treated
as immortal beings ! How Httle would be diminished
from the annual returns of the business, or added to the
annual expense of the establishment, if a hundred
pounds or two were devoted to the maintenance of a
Clergyman who should watch over the eternal interests
of those on whom our own temporal interests depend ! In
deed, it may be justly questioned whether, even in a tem
poral point ot view, a better return would not have been
made for capital, if places of worship had been built,
and religious instruction provided, with a fraction of
those sums which during the last few years have been
expended iu adding factory to factory, and machinery to
machinery, with little consideration of that intellectual
machine which is to endure for ever, but which has been
too often treated as if it were to perish together with the
material things on which it is employed.
Still we are thankful for what God has already put
within our power, whether it be reckoned much or little.
And by his blessing we will proceed in the same career,
" pressing onward to that which is before ;" and think
nothing achieved, till in practice, as well as in theory,
every individual of our population has a church which it
is possible for him to attend, and a Minister who shall
know and care for him.

78

No. II.— p. 20.
Contrary to my original intention, I find myself con
strained to add a few words on the general subject, by
the terms of Dr. Pusey's recent letter to Dr. Jelf. He
speaks of the perplexity which might occur " if any of
our bishops should advert to Tract 90, and, without
explaining their own views, seem to countenance its
condemnation."* There are many, he says, "by whom
the slightest word of their bishop would be deeply felt,
and who would be at a loss to decide whether they could
continue to serve in a diocese in which their views of
the Articles, on subscribing which they have been ad
mitted to their cure, seemed to have been censured."
This, and more to the same purpose which follows,
renders it necessary to state briefly the opinions which I
entertain on this matter of subscribing.
I consider that the Articles do contain " a system of
faith :" that system, according to which those who sub
scribe them, are bound to regulate the tenor of their
ministerial instructions.
That any could hold a different opinion, I should
never have conceived, if I had not read the following
sentences, " There has been a recent tendency to set up
the Reformers — as the founders of a system of faith,
and the authorized expositors of our belief.f This is
the real point at issue. Men must lean upon some
authority : they cannot guide themselves.^ The only
real question is, from whom we shall learn the meaning
of the Scriptures, whether from ancients or moderns. §
*Letter, p. 3. f lb. 73. Jib. 141. § lb. 145.

79
It will not, then, I conceive, be generally objected to
any of us as a grave error, that we hold that the Articles
are to be interpreted according to the teaching of the
Church Catholic."
If I rightly apprehend the argument here, a clergy
man may preach or teach what manifestly contradicts
the " true, usual, literal meaning"* of the Articles, if he
thinks he can support his doctrine by the teaching of the
Church Catholic.
This obliges me to say, that I understand the Articles
subscribed officially before me, as articles, not of the
Universal Church of Christ, but of the United Church
of England and Ireland, of which the subscriber is a
member. They do not, therefore, admit of interpretation
borrowed from any remote or undefined authority, pro
fessing to be that of a church calling itself, or imagined
to be, the Church Catholic. But they "contain the
true doctrine of the Church of England agreeable'to
God's word" And we " receive them on the authority
of our immediate mother." We cannot consistently
evade that obligation, by appealing to the authority of
" the Jerusalem from above, who is the" common
" mother of us all."f
Lest, therefore, silence should be misconstrued, I
think it needful to say that in my judgment a clergyman
would be departing from the sense of the Articles to
which he subscribes, if he were to speak of the Church
as "a life-giving ordinance of divine appointment, one
vast sacrament ;"% and not as " a congregation of faithful
men." — Art xix.
* Prefatory Declaration to the Articles. f See Letter, p. 12.
t British Critic, No. LIX., p. 26.

80
To speak of the Romish Church as having erred in
matters of faith, so as to imply that it is no longer in
error.* — Art. xix.
To speak of CEcumenical Councils as infallible, be
cause the term used in Art. xxi. is not CEcumenical,
but general.f
To speak of Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matri
mony, or extreme Unction, as in any sense to be
" counted sacraments of the Gospel."^ — Art. xxv.
To speak of " the consecrated elements as not re
maining simply what they were before, and what to
sight they seem."§ — Art. xxviii.
To speak of the celebration of the Lord's supper, as
a propitiatory sacrifice offered by the priest. — Art. xxxi.
" An offering for the quick and the dead for the remis
sion of sin." II
To speak of Purgatory, Pardon, Adoration of images
or relics. Invocation of Saints, as only " condemned ac
cording to the Romish doctrine on these points," and
otherwise admissible. — Art. xxii.l[
To speak of Justification by faith, as if baptism and
newness of heart concurred towards our justification : or
as if " a number of means go to effect it." — Art. xi.**
To speak of " Forgiveness, or works of mercy," as
" availing to obtain remission of sins from God." —
Art. xii. xiii.-f-|-
It does certainly require an elaborate system of argu
ment, such as is attempted in the writings referred to,
• Dr. Pusey to Dr. Jelf, p. 22. f lb. 24. Tract 90, p. 21.
X lb. 32. Tract, p. 43. § lb. p. 44. |1 lb. 60. Tract 63.
m Tract, p. 25. ** Tract 90, p. 13. Letter, 141,
ft Tract, p. 16. Letter, p. 145.

81
in order to prove that persons holding the opinions here
excepted against, are consistent members of the Church
of England.

No. 111.— p. 30.
Many, I doubt not, through fear of schism, and a sense
of the evils which attend it, have been led to countenance
what they consider to be the cause of Church authority,
without being aware of the consequences which follow-
when that authority is unduly raised : how the Church,
rather than the Church's Head, is looked up to as the
source of spiritual life or religious power : how incor
poration with the body of the Church, is identified with
incorporation with the Saviour's body ; as if to be in the
Church, and to " be in Christ Jesus," were the same.
Now the Scripture, whether using the language of
invitation or of promise, uniformly addresses us as indi
viduals. Individuals needing deliverance are addressed
by an individual Saviour. The Church, in its character
of witness, or messenger, or steward, is the medium
through which the offer is made, but not through which
the benefit is received. The benefit comes not through
the Church, but through faith, individual faith ; and men
have their religious life by virtue ¦ of union with Christ,
faith being the instrument of that union. The language
of Scripture agrees with this view and no other.
" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Can we write
instead. Come into the Church, and the Church shall
give you rest ?
" I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no man
G

82
cometh unto the Father but by me." Shall we substitute
the Church Catholic for the individual Saviour ?
" All that the Father giveth unto me, shall come unto
me : and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise
cast out." Shall we write instead, Him that cometh
into the Church, the Church will in no wise cast out?
Can we be justified in thus altering the terms of Scrip
ture in a matter of such importance as everlasting salva
tion ? Invited to approach God on an individual
footing, as believers in the Son whom he hath sent,
shall we seek out another door of approach for ourselves,
and come to Him, not as believers in Christ, but as
members of a body ?
" Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that
he may winnow you as wheat: but / have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not." Could Simon suppose that
the Church was to be the source of his spiritual life, and
not the Saviour ?
" / know my sheep, and am known of mine," (^ Can we
be content to leave the care, the power, the omniscience
of the Saviour, to derive from the Church a portion
of its life ? And will the testimony of the Church, that
she knows her own, avail us " in the great day ?" Is there
no danger of the awful sentence, " I never knew you ?"
"He came unto his own, and his own received him
not : but to as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God : who were born, not
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Could any one suppose from these words that our
religious life was to be derived to us by virtue of incor.
poration icith the Church '? Can we affirm it, without
presuming to set aside the words of God himself?

83
The texts which I have quoted are some among mul
titudes of plain declarations, in which God proposes to
establish relation with us on the footing of faith, indi
vidual faith, in his Son Jesus Christ. If his purpose
were changed, and he designed to set up a visible
institution, like the Christian Church, as the medium of
man's communication with him, he surely would have
revealed this to us in clear and intelligible terms.
Scripture contains nothing of the kind. So difficult
has it proved to confirm such an idea from Scripture,
that the commission of Christ to his apostles has been
forced into the service, and made to bear the whole
burthen. " Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost ; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world." * I am with you, and with those
after you who shall be ordained to the like office, to
proclaim the redemption which I have wrought, and
gather men into one body, having " one Lord, one faith,
one baptism." " And lo, I am with you alway :" to
support, and guide, and strengthen you ; to give an
answer to your prayers, to give life to your words.
" For without me ye can do nothing." A blessed pro
mise; independently of which there could be little hope
to the apostles originally, and little hope now either
for ministers or for their people : but certainly no sub
stitution of person ; no delegation of authority : " I am
with you alway," Not, Ye are in my stead alway.
How, then, can we venture, with such plain declara-
uons on the one hand, and with nothing, hterally
* Matt, xxviii. 19,20. Some other texts, as the promise to Simon
Peter, &c , alleged by the Romish Church, are so entirely irrelevant, that
only a Romish disputant can urge them.

84
nothing, except a vague inference on the other — how
can we venture to interpose the Church instead of
Christ, as the mediator between God and man ;. or affirm
that " Christ has appointed the Church as the only way
unto eternal life ?" *'j
I examine the word of God, and there I find all its
promises annexed to individual faith. Can I venture
to turn aside from this, and claim the promises as
a member of the Church ? .
Especially when the danger of such doctrines, when
generally propounded, is neither slight nor doubtful.
They have been again introduced, and maintained, and
disseminated, in defiance of all the lessons of ex
perience, and all the warnings of example. Doubtless
there are excellent persons who are out of the reach of
such danger, and may even imagine that a high doctrine
concerning the Church would have the opposite effect
from obstructing our contemplation of the Redeemer :
would bring men more palpably near to Christ, and
greatly promote their sacred and vital union with him.
But it cannot do so, if the doctrine be not true and
scriptural. And, practically, it never has done so. It
has done the very contrary. The majority of mankind
will take occasion from such doctrines to satisfy them
selves with the external relation, and substitute it for
individual faith : as the annals of the Jewish and the
Roman Catholic Churches too fatally demonstrate. Such
is, in fact, the natural bias, which needs to be constantly
opposed. What, then, is the Church, if it is not " a life-giving
oidluaiice;" a "sacrament" in which the mysteries of
* Tract 48, p. 12.

85
eternal life are contained and communicated ? * in the
hands of whose rulers the ordinances of hfe are de
posited ?
What the Church is, and what the Church is not,
may perhaps be made clearer by changing for a moment
the light in which the object is viewed.
An offended sovereign sends a message to his people :
proposes terms of reconciliation : and engages, that
whoever shall swear allegiance to a certain commander,
and remain faithful to him, shall receive indemnity for
what is past, and be possessed of peculiar privileges for
life. A* multitude come in ; accept the terms, and
swear allegiance : pass through the prescribed form :
such, for example, as christian baptism. These are
united, enrolled together ; and formed into a regiment.
It becomes the favoured regiment, the peculiar, the
chosen, the royal regiment.
Such is the Church of Christ. The promise is,
" He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved."
Many trust the promise, cleave to him, and are bap
tized. And these are collected in a company, called
by his name, and entitled to many blessed privileges, of
guidance, and superintendence, and spiritual protection.
This they enjoy in the present world ; and in the world
to come, life everlasting.
Here, however, we have a company of persons, re
ceiving privileges, not conferring them. When and how
does the change take place, empowering the members of
this church, whether its teachers or its scholars, to im
part " religious life?" Or where is it implied, that
simply to be a member of this church, is to be in
possession of spiritual life, or to " have life eternal?"
* British Critic, lix.

86
The sovereign has made his promises, not to the
members of the regiment, but to the faithful adherents
of the commander. And we see the important differ
ence. In process of time, the privileges become attrac
tive : and many may enrol themselves in the regiment
and comply with the appointed service, who in their
hearts intend no fidelity to the commander, and are
ready to desert him on the first occasion.
Now, had the promises been made to all who enrolled
themselves in the regiment, all would be equally en
titled to reward, whether in their hearts they were
faithful or not to the commander.
But as the case really stands, the sovereign is under
no obligation to any who have not this inward qualifi
cation. Some such may have entered into the body,
with the usual ceremonies : nay, they may hold the
colours, or wear the dress of the truly faithful ; but the
state of their hearts disqualifies them for any effectual
claim. It is thus between Christ and the Church of Christ.
As long as all the company are believers, all is well.
To believe, to be baptized, to be in the company, and
to be saved, are the same thing. But if, from whatever
cause, those become enrolled in the company who bear
no fealty towards the head of the company, these have
no claim upon him who knows the heart, and who
made the faith of the heart a condition of the promised
privileges. So dangerous is that system of religious teaching
which places salvation (though it may be only virtually)
in tiie Church; makes the Church the prominent object:
and would le.ad us, in praetico, to depend upon a supposed

87
union with Christ through the Church, instead of on those
evidences by which Scripture teaches us to "examine our
selves, whether we be in the faith ; to prove our own selves."
We cannot venture to say, Whosoever is in the Church of
Christ, is born of God : or substitute this for the apostolical
test, " Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world."*
It may happen, that all who are of the Church, may also
be in Christ : the members of the company may also
be adherents of the commander. But the case may be
otherwise : and therefore it must be constantly borne in
mind, that salvation is not offered to men because they are
baptized, or because they are enlisted in the company :
but, as being faithful to Him who is the Head of the
company, they become entitled to the privileges annexed
to believers, and to none except believers. Grievous,
indeed, is tbe responsibility, — for fatal are the conse
quences, of keeping this out of sight : and of incul
cating, instead, the religion to which (whatever some
may affirm) corrupt human nature is characteristically
disposed; the religion which substitutes the visible for
the invisible, the external form for the interior principle,
the fulfilment of the ordinance for the devotion of the
heart. " The prophets prophesy falsely ; and the priests
bear rule by their means : and my people love to have
it so: and what will ye do !n the end thereof .-"'f The
whole system is destructive ; equally destructive to the
minister and the people. It lulls the people in a fancied
security : it elates the minister with a vain superiority.
"The leaders of this people cause them to err: and they
that are led by them are destroyed.''^
* See 1 John v. 1—6. f Jer. v. J Isa. ix. 16.
LONDON :
G. J. PALMER, S.WOY STREET, STRAND.

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