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    € < excellent , " is attributed by Mr . W . to " the Rev . Thoraas Wigan , Viear of Bewdley , Worcestershire , where he lived -in obscurity upon a very small income , refusing to accept of any higher Church preferment : he died in 1818 . "

    Lect . VIL is on tlie fruitful subject of * Modes of Worship and Ceremonies . ^ On this topic the Lecturer has tbe following interesting passage : < € Next in order of exterior dignity stands the cathedral worship of the English Church - My hearers may most

    of them know what this is , and may have felt that inspiring awe which involuntarily seizes upon almost every mind on entering the wide portals of a Minster , on passing under its lofty and magnificent arches , on beholding the rich colourings and splendid accompaniments of its altar ,

    on viewing the various and costly robes of its priests and singing-men , and the inspiring chords of a select and well-appointed band of vocal performers , which adorn and dignify that venerable pile of building . Were it not that all this is done

    in the name of the humble prophet of Nazareth , I could delight in its magnificence , I could feast my senses with the rich repast which it affords , and contemplate with some satisfaction the piety which led our ancestors to those arduous

    labours by which the noble edifice was raised : I could indulge in the devotional feelings which those lofty objects inspire , and lift my eyes in devout reverence to that august Being , to whose honour the feeble hand of man has made that costly Sacrifice ; Nor can I altogether escape the enthusiasm which kindles in the breast ,

    by the combination of so many means to gratify the senses , and excite the social sympathies of man , when 1 walk through the aisles of a cathedrarduring the service . But I cannot forget , by what arbitrary and what treacherous means , by what union of pious fraud and of severe mental degradation , such a building first was raised , and such a service obtained credit with

    the disciples of the cross . The history of priests in the Christian community , like that of priests amongst the ancient religions of Egypt , of Persia , and of Gaul , is the history of scenes in which all the vices of the human heart have been

    brought into full play , and in which a road has been paved for riding triumphantly over the necks of the people , and bearing down all the opposition which truth and justice could raise , by the terrors of persecution and by the arts of falsehood and of imposition . ** In all such grand and expensive preparations for payiug homage to the Al-

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    mighty , my mind speedily reverts to the religion of the Gospel , and conies with - out a ipomeut ' s delay to the conclusion , that none of these things pertain unto life and godliness They indulge the senses , they feed the vanity , they impose upon the judgment , they steal away all that

    pare and simple devotion which springs from the heart , and they iix the very root of religion , where idolatry had planted it before , in the indulgence of the senses ^ and in all that which formed the very essence of devotion irk the temples of Greece and of Rome /'—Pp- 137—139 .

    The same subject is continued through Lect . VIII ., in which we have a description of the process of making a , bishop : " When one of the twelve apostles was gone to his own jplace , the whole church met to elect a successor . They

    chose two out of their own number , whom they thought the most proper persons to fill that sacred post ; but , fearing to trust themselves entirely with the choice , they prayed for the Divine hel p * and then cast lots , by which one of them was to be chosen . In a similar way , when a bishop

    is-dead * the reverend bench assemble , to elect another ; they receive from the King a permission , congt d * 4 Ure to elect a new bishop ; they pray to God , after the example of the early church , in the most solemn manner , that he would

    direct them in their choice , and they then proceed without any hesitation or doubt to choose the man whom the king has recommended ; not daring , at the peril of losing their preferment , to choose any other . This mode of choosing the high dignitaries matches very well with their

    maxim , that the King is the head of the Church : they ask the assistance of the Almighty , but , without waiting for its arrival , they obey the commands of their earthly monarch . After this they return thanks to God , * for having

    directed them in the choice of so worthy a person , ' while they know they were wholly directed by the court . As the King chooses and not the Bishops , the proper order of the ceremony should be , that he offer up the prayer and afterwards return the thanks , and not they . "—P .

    159 . The Lecturer makes some pointed remarks upon the inconsistency of the Church of England in her services and particularly of that party in the Church which is denominated

    Evangelical : < c But the most strange of all things is , the more than a miracle which the Church performs , in damning and saving the very

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    416 Review *~~ 1 Ponley > s Lectnrea on Nonconformity .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1824, page 416, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2526/page/32/