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    sary that I point out to you , my hearers , the strong lines of difference between this primitive Church , which for three centuries preserved its independence amidst affliction and persecution , and that which in this coantry is called the Church established by law ? The Church in that

    day was simply an assembly of pious men , met to worship God in the name of Christ Jesus ; now it is a privileged corporation , marked by the highest worldly honours , endowed with a large proportion of the wealth of the kingdom , grasping all the offices of honour and of

    wealth in its covetous ; hands , and bound together by canons and rubrics and articles and creeds , none of which are found in the gospel . —The bishops then were plain men , set each over his own society , for the purposes of pious instruction and serious devotional exercises ; and they

    were the only clergy . We have bishops still , but how unlike those I They are for the most part branches of the most wealthy families in the kingdom , controuling the ecclesiastical concerns of some hundreds of parishes , sitting in the Parliament House to make laws for the

    kingdom , driving from county to county in splendid carriages , receiving immense revenues , and in general exercising no spiritual functions , and distinguished by a handsome head-dress , flowing gowns and cassocks , lawn sleeves , long bauds , and little silk aprons , while under them

    are those that are called clergy , holding a long rank of dignities in the Church , and living upon millions of the people's property . —The creed of the early days was , Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved : the creed of the present day consists of some hundreds of

    propositions , so loosely put together , that they who profess to believe it hold very different and even contrary opinions . —If a man was then powerfully impressed with the truth of the gospel , it was his pleasure to contribute a small portion of his wealth to support a common worship : but now , whether he believe it or no , he

    is forced to make the profession of it , by furnishing funds for its support ; and if he happen to be of a different opinion , he must become a hypocrite in the name of Christ , in order to enjoy the dignities and the circulating revenues of the state . " —Pp . 36 , 37 .

    Lect . III . is " On the Union of the Chiireli with the Civil Power , and the Effects thereof . The Councils and the dark Ages which followed . " Lect . IV . is " On the Growth of the Reformation , and the Fluctuation of the State Religion in England , In Henry ' s and the succeeding iieigns , " In the

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    conclusion of this Mr . Worsley asserts the resemblance of the Churches of England and Rome , * and expresses a regret , in which we are not prepared to join with him , that the Reformation in this country was not somewhat delayed .

    " In this , as well as in many other points , there is so strong a resemblance between the avowed principles of the Church of England and those of the Church of Rome , that it is no wonder , that both were so very agreeable to Pope Leo , as to induce him to make the proposal by his legate Parpalio , to confirm the English Church by Papal authority , exactly as it then was , and to make it , as it is now constituted , an integral part of the Romish Church ; if only Elizabeth would acknowledge the Primacy of that See . Its features were in the main so extremely nattering to this great spiritual chief , that he would fain have acknowledged it for his owa child , if it were but willing to receive him as a father . < € I am called upon , therefore , after the consideration of these strong facts , to conclude , by expressing my sincere

    regret , in common with a very large proportion of the Protestant inhabitants of these islands , that the Reformation took place at all under a furious and licentious tyrant , who cared for no religion but as it served to indulge his lusts , and wanted no reform but what would

    increase his arbitrary power . We have reason to regret , that the Pope could not make up his mind to gratify the king ' s inclinations ; whether he was restrained by motives of policy , which was probably the case , or by those of religion .

    England would in that case have remained Catholic a little longer , and but a little longer : for that more complete Reformation , which soon afterwards burst out in Scotland , would have thrown its light into the Southern division of the island ;

    and we should have had a Protestant Church formed amongst us , unencumbered by those enormous expenses , and not disfigured by the prelatical honours and priestly vanities , which render our Church a far more faithful copy of the Pagan Churches of Greece and of Rome ,

    * The Lecturer agrees with the two waggish Nonconformists at Ongar , of whom a traditional tale is told that on a market-day one proclaimed in the streets the bans'of marriage between the Church of Rome and the Church of England , and the other stepped forward and forbade ( he bans , because the two churches were related within the prohibited degrees .

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    414 Review . — Worsteds Lectures on Nonconformity ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1824, page 414, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2526/page/30/