On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    iwfcWfewnte ^ Wltfe ^ tlie chtrfbh-artel aisurtiptibn of the fdcuftiesW its 8 Jf « 6 fi ] fit Ms * tr ^* de ^ % l anm&d > arid J 5 tb& &stributibri of thS featfoiife g ^ ' ^ cp S feWH » Ft «^; iPe , as it is in sferverat a / tfiw . "Aafcfr K | & % * & **¦ « ^ w ^ w * w SBlf ' yH % " 3 $ &W 9 $ P * i ^ fe ^ WRfW ^ W ^ ti-Pff jtib ^ rlwt « tfen * Jl control a& to tjje , gu ^ f ^ jp ^ pff $ e ;| p ^^ ji& t ^ tr * jste 4 vrith * smh important functions *) i ^ f ^^^ y ^^^ y owbere of , fte epuife&ad ^ iseontenn Without ^ thavolun ^ iary # ssociatio , ns of the Dissenting sects , by which they supply the defects M

    sneha pretende&provision for the spiritual wants of the eomi&fmitj ^ it'is obvious that the latter imist in many cases , under bur * present chuTCb s ^ st ^ ni ; be wholly neglected ; and bne of the strangest features in a High Chtircih * man ' s character and policy , is his continual , restless complaint of this provision for its . deficiencies , which alone renders the continuance of the

    establishment in its present form tolerable to the community . It is hard if the church cannot be content to enjoy its own ill distributed and appropriated revenues , and to permit others , at their own expense , to find the means of remedying the practical inconveniences . We will pursue our author through the various points in which he sees deficiencies , and state shortly the remedies which he proposes .

    1 . As to " Church Discipline . " Waving any inquiry " how far it might be possible , and if possible , how far it would be desirable and expedient , to attempt to restore the discipline which the church once exercised over all her members generally , " he confines himself to " the discipline , to the corrective and primitive control which she ought to possess over her own , ministers . " After observing on the flagrant deficiency of power to remove even the most scandalous disgracers of the clerical character , except after processes tedious in the extreme and personally expensive to the bishop , our author proposes as a remedy , the adoption of something like the

    principle of t | ie courts martial of the army and navy , by which the offender has that species of inquiry and opinion brought to bear on him which the previous acquaintance , habits , and connexion , of those who are to exercise them render most likely to be judiciously and fairly applied . In short , he would convene " a certain number of clergymen , perhaps five or seven , including the president , for the purpose of constituting a court for the trial of the accused person . " The trial to be public . The result to be communicated to . the bishop , who would be the organ of punishment , in its various gradations of fine , suspension , and degradation .

    " if a clergyman , " he observes , " is possessed of a freehold , it is at all events a conditional freehold , and his ecclesiastical superior , assisted by a certaiu number of his peers , —his brother clergymen the peers , —is the proper authority to say , whether the conditions on which the freehold is held have or Jiaye not been fulfilled "—P . 39 . Any thing is better than the present flagrantly deficient system , and if the clergy are content to be tried by their peers , we do not see that the laity need complain , though the latte * Would probably not much covet being themselves brought within the coritrbl of such a tribunal .

    ; 2 .: Asto " Church Law . " l ^ ie ^^^ r / jbe ^ ps . t > y ; ' ofa ^ earving , thfit " ^ As the clergy constitute , what may in several respects be considered as a ( UsUnctbody in the state , with peculiar duties , and peculiar privileges and immunities , it may naturally be supposed that they are governed by a distinct code of laws relating to their particular functions . This is known to be the case with the military professions , which are' governed by Jaws framed for

    Untitled Article

    B 2 S Ch ^^ hmforrn .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1828, page 826, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2567/page/26/