TO THE EDITOR OF THE EXAMINER. 



state of the question, concerning which subtleties he must needs be pro- 

 foundly ignorant. I was all for renouncing the profession at once, and 

 in my virtuous indignation should have liked, had he not been a mild 

 and well-meaning man., to cudgel the wig of the bishop who had con- 

 summated on me this process of moral emasculation. I got involved, as 

 it was, by letting his lordship into a bit of my mind on the subject ; 

 though, as I did this courteously, and he was a human man ; the chief 

 mischief that occurred to me was through his gossipping upon the sub- 

 ject with other parties, through whom of course the ill odour of my 

 contumacy spread rapidly and widely amongst my acquaintance and 

 others. Thus, to a certain extent, I became all at once a naughty young 

 man in the estimation of many who knew nothing of what was passing 

 in my mind, but that I had dared to entertain a few such thoughts as 

 they dared not entertain themselves. 



1 could not, sir, blame my acquaintance for this weakness. Habit, 

 we know, is a second nature ; nor could I presume to judge my fellow- 

 creatures for censuring my exceptions to a code of metaphysical postu- 

 lates, which the veneration of centuries had absolutely sanctified in their 

 esteem. 



Luckily for me, I fell in with a rational clergyman of matured expe- 

 rience, whose mind in early life had passed through the distressing 

 ordeal, to which mine was now subjected. He naturally sympathized 

 with me ; and from the conversation with him, I was enabled to make 

 up my mind to a few conclusions which I have never since seen occasion 

 to unsettle. I took comfort through his arguments and advice, and as, 

 with all its great blemishes of high priestliness and excessive ivorldliness, 

 in some departments, the church of England society, lay and clerical, 

 was by far the most suited of any to my taste ; and as I must needs live 

 in the world, and had no inclination to set up a shop of my own, I had 

 positively nothing left for it, but to expatriate myself, or cut my throat, 

 or remain, as I have done, a member of the church of England. 



Succeeding years, sir, which have confirmed me in the desire for 

 the most searching and thorough reform in the church of England, as 

 well as in her state, have also confirmed me in the belief that no greater 

 injury would be done to those whose cause I love, the great majority of 

 my less elevated and needy brethern, than to divert any portion of the 

 reserved property, which now maintains a parochial clergy, from such 

 application, except it can be proved to be more than enough for the 

 purpose. That it is not more than enough is my, at present, honest 

 belief; and I am happy in being able to bring forward Mr. Hume, the 

 member, in support of this opinion. On some occasion, two or three 

 years, more or less, back (I made a note of the circumstance, but have 

 it not by me), this gentleman expressed in the House of Commons his 

 conviction, that the aggregate church property., that is, property in some 

 portion at public disposal, but also in great portion not within absolute 

 jurisdiction of the public ; that the aggregate of this property was not 

 more than enough to supply legitimate, not corrupt, clerical uses. I am 

 quite open to conviction, to the contrary of this, my present belief; and 

 I trust we shall soon have documents before us to settle this question. 

 In the mean time I submit, that the advantage of opinion rests with me 

 and those, who, being more conversant with details than you can be ex- 

 pected to be, hold very different sentiments from yours on the subject. 



I must just observe here, in addition to what I have urged concerning 



