356 COUNSEL FOE THE CLERGY. 



were as pregnant as any with proofs of clerical animosity to light, 

 and freedom; and affection, for ignorance and despotic power. The 

 name of churchman, in short, has begun to pass current in our lan- 

 guage as a synonyme, sometimes for a bigot, sometimes for an extor- 

 tioner, sometimes for an overbearing tyrant, sometimes for a crouching 

 and supple slave, sometimes for a revolting compound of all these base 

 and odious characters; never conveying the idea of the preacher of a 

 pure religion, a pattern of an unworldly spirit, breathing peace and 

 charity, and believing with the " good parson" that of the revenues 

 assigned him by the state 



" Nought was his own, but all the public store 

 Entrusted riches to relieve the poor." 



Now it is plain, that it is from the prevalence of such views as these of 

 the church and churchmen, that the perilous situation of the establish- 

 ment arises ; and it is equally manifest, that if this state of the public 

 mind be suffered to continue much longer the apprehension of danger 

 will be dispelled by the certainty of ruin. How then is a revolution in 

 popular opinion on this subject to be effected ? This is the question, 

 which, in our tender love for the clergy and all that is their' s, we have 

 with much labour investigated ; and to which we venture to suggest, 

 approaching such high and sacred interests with becoming deference, 

 the following simple, yet we are vain enough to think, original reply. 



We shall not condescend to prove that the charges commonly brought 

 against the church, are totally unfounded ; we assume it confidently : it 

 is not only uncharitable but monstrous to suppose them true. Surely, 

 if avarice was a principle of churchmen, they would not number 

 amongst their patrons such a man as the Earl of Eldon ; if they were 

 justly accusable of political tergiversation, so consistent a statesman as 

 Peel would scarcely be their champion ; if their bent w r as to arbitrary 

 power, the Duke of Wellington would never have been their friend ; 

 were they bigoted and factious, surely the Winchelseas, Bodens, and 

 Kenyons, would discountenance them ; were they the enemies of know- 

 ledge and improvement, is it credible that they would not long ago have 

 been repudiated by such lights as Herries, Inglis, Croker, and Spenser 

 Perceval ? 



Well then, assuming boldly the spotless innocence of the church and 

 her ministers ; it is clear that all that is wanting for her protection is to 

 dispel the mist of error which not only hinders the public eye from dis- 

 cerning that innocence, but actually, as it happens sometimes with the 

 mists of the material world, has the effect of inverting the object, and 

 causing it to be mistaken for the most aggravated guilt. As to the safety 

 of the church, it is precisely the same thing, whether she is really 

 criminal, or erroneously thought to be so. She must not, therefore, rest 

 content with the consciousness of her sinless perfection : she must take 

 measures to prove and blazon it to the world. Thus only can she con- 

 ciliate opinion ; thus only can she ensure safety. 



We are now come to the point. Away with false modesty ! Let the 

 church unfold her merits to the nation ; let the services rendered by the 

 bench of bishops to the interests of truth, freedom, and humanity, be 

 hid no longer under a bushel, but trumpeted forth to all the corners of 

 the land. Modesty becomes the mitre ; but unseasonably exercised, that 

 graceful virtue is a token of weakness more than an evidence of worth. 



