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you my opinion. It is the proper province of the Pulpit to expound and enforce the holy will and word of God, rather than to canvass controverted points of human opinions. But, for the more ready admission of truth, it is sometimes necessary to clear away an error; and in this instance, I feel assured, that if you will lend me your patient attention for a few minutes, you will neither blame me for having presumed upon my office, nor think your own time mis-spent. We are warned by the subject we have been discussing, "not to use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness;" nor do I intend to subject myself to any imputation of indulging in uncharitable censures. My heart's desire is, that true members may be added daily to the universal Church of Christ in all lands; and that in this nation, and in this village, it may please God to "come among us with power, and with great might succour us." And I am instructed by the example of St. Paul to rejoice, if by any means the Religion of Christ may be seriously impressed upon the hearts of my neighbours, producing in them (as it must do, if it be genuine), the fruit of a "godly, righteous, and sober life." "Some indeed," says the Apostle," preach Christ of envy and strife, and some of good will,-what then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."

The first passage which calls for observation is that, in which one of the most beautiful offices of our Church is alluded to, as an example of the shocking profanations, which we hear, of the Holy name of God. "Will you use the name of the true God" asks the writer of the Address, "as the Heathen would not name the name of an Idol? But this name" he adds,

"is often taken in vain in public worship. What serious mind" he continues, "has not been shocked in hearing bold, presumptuous, inconsiderate persons, and children*, desecrate this sacred name, by repeating and bawling without reverence— Lord have mercy on us— Christ have mercy on us'?" But in what respect does this part of our Service become chargeable with profanation, more than every other mode of public worship? Is the Holy name of God profaned by these short ejaculatory prayers, more than by such as are longer? Or, if it be profaned by the prayers of worshippers within the walls of our Churches, how is it not also profaned by public prayers offered elsewhere? It cannot be intended to assert, that "the bold, and the presumptuous, and the inconsiderate", and the young, are admitted only into our churches, but are excluded from the Meetings of Dissenters; because we know that this is not the case. Is it then that these descriptions of persons, if admitted there, are prohibited from joining in public worship? No such thing! Upon what foot then does this imputation stand, as directed exclusively against our Church? Do Dissenters mean to affirm that their modes of worship are more sober and reverential towards the Supreme Being, than our own? We deny that such is the fact. Those who have ever attended their services, and perused the hymns which are sung by their whole congregations, without any exception, as to age or character, (these hymns constituting a very large portion of their worship), must admit the very opposite to be the truth.

* It will be understood, that the introduction of the word children in this place applies and limits this charge to our Churches, in which the Children of Sunday Schools are encouraged, and very properly, as I think, to join in public worship by reading the Responses.

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The great practical religious difference, between the Church of England and dissent, seems to me to lie in this: viz. that the latter (I speak of Dissent generally) has a tendency towards doctrines and feelings, with respect to the Divinity, and particularly with respect to the second person in the Holy Trinity, which in our eyes are irreverent and unbecoming and, hence, that it is calculated rather to bring down the religion and person of Christ to the level of sense and familiar intercourse, than to elevate the thoughts and affections of depraved man, to the standard of truths revealed from Heaven. We are willing to enter into a comparison of the simple, fervent, and humble language of any part of our services, where the people are instructed to answer the Minister, with the hymns commonly sung in dissenting places of worship. Compare, for instance, the conclusion of the Litany, which ends in a supplication for pardon and peace, through, our Lord Christ, the Lamb of God, and the Son of God, with the two following stanzas, from Dr. Watts' Hymn, on "Pardon brought to our senses," (which also alludes to the same Person of the Trinity), and judge for yourselves in which of the two, is to be found more appropriate expressions of reverence.

"He smiles and cheers my mournful heart,

"And tells of all his pain;

"All this' says he 1 bore for thee'

"And then he smiles again :

"What shall we pay our Heav'nly King

"For grace so vast as this?

"He brings our pardon to our eyes,

"And seals it with a kiss."

"When our Saviour was on earth," says Bishop

Heber, "and in great humility conversant with man

"kind; when he sat at table, and washed the feet, and healed the diseases of his people, yet did not his

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disciples give him any more familiar title than "Master or Lord; and now at the right hand of his "Father's Majesty shall we address him with ditties "of embraces and passion, which it would be disgrace"ful for an earthly Sovereign to endure? Such expressions it is said are taken from Scripture; but "even if the original application were clearly and unequivocally ascertained, yet, though the collective "Christian Church may be very properly personified "as the spouse of Christ, an application of such lan"guage to Christian believers is as dangerous as it is "absurd and unauthorized. Nor is it going too far "to assert that the brutalities of a common swearer "can hardly bring Religion into greater contempt, or "more scandalously profane the name, which is above every name in Heaven and Earth, than certain epithets applied to Christ in some of our popular "collections of religious poetry."

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Since, then, whole congregations of dissenters, including "the bold, the presumptuous, the inconsiderate, and children," may, if they please, join in singing their hymns, is it wise or prudent in them to charge others with the offence of "bawling without reverence" in public worship? The expression indeed is a very indiscreet one for any serious Christian to apply, in the sense intended by it: for religious sneers are weapons which have commonly a double edge, and do as much mischief to the assailant, as to the party against whom they are aimed:-and they always wound Religion itself.

The writer of the Address mentions two cases of

awful ignorance* which he met with in this neighbourhood. With the first of them, as far as it appears, I have no concern, because it is not stated that the ignorant person belonged to our Church: but the latter relates to a woman, eighty years of age, who, having been a regular communicant of the Lord's Supper for sixty years, is reported to have said of our Saviour, when asked if she knew Jesus Christ, that she had heard his name, but who he was, or where he lived, she did not know. If I understand rightly the bearing of this statement, it means to charge upon our Church

"I will mention two circumstances of awful ignorance, which, “in this town and Leighbourhood, came under my own observation. "I was requested one morning to visit a very aged woman, greatly "afflicted "-&c. &c.

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"The other case I witnessed in this town. Calling one afternoon "at the habitation of one of my hearers, with whom a widow was re<< siding, , of the age of fourscore, the person being absent whom I "desired to see, I began to converse with this aged female Well, “neighbour, I said, you are very old, and near death, where do you "think you shall go when you die? To heaven, sir,' she replied. “I asked why do you think you shall go to heaven? I never did any one any harm-I always go to church, and have taken the Sacrament "nearly sixty years,' she answered I inquired, do you know Jesus After pausing a little, she said, I have heard his name, "but who he is, or where he lives, I do not know' I asked again, "Do you feel you have a wicked heart? A wicked heart,' she "answered with indignation, no, I have not got a wicked heart, “I have a good heart, I would not injure any one' I reasoned "with her out of the Scriptures ;-but I fear no good was the result. "Her heart was hard, and her mind dark and prejudiced. As I rose "from my seat to leave her, with inexpressible grief and anxiety, I "said, my dear friend, you say you hope to go to heaven, but I must "tell you faithfully, that I fully believe, if you were to die now, you would go to hell. To hell, sir,' she angrily replied; I hope none will go there;' adding,' I shall not alter my religion; your "religion is different from mine.””—Address, pp. 13, 14.

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