244 DR. CHALMERS. 



make any remarks. It has only to be seen to inspire in every breast, 

 be the sentiments of the individual what they may, a feeling of un- 

 mingled disgust. Can it be that the object of the Rev. Gentleman 

 was, by his fulsome adulation, to ingratiate himself with the Bench of 

 Bishops, and certain lords temporal, at any price, even that of his 

 sense of propriety, if not his convictions of truth. We hope better 

 things of the Doctor ; but there are, we fear, many who will trace 

 his conduct to this some, possibly, to a worse motive. 



The most zealous, if not the most judicious, individual among the 

 clergy themselves, who has of late years undertaken the defence of 

 the Church, is the Bishop of Ferns. Perhaps he is among the boldest 

 champions who have ever entered the lists in her favour. It is edifying 

 to witness the amazing temerity of this Right Reverend Father in God. 

 Others of the friends of the Church have admitted that corruptions, 

 though of a slight kind, have somewhat marred her beauty ; and that 

 she might be made to undergo the process of purification with advan- 

 tage to herself. Not so with this redoubled champion of the hie- 

 rarchy. He boldly maintains that there is nothing, either in her 

 constitution or administration, susceptible of the slightest improve- 

 ment, fearlessly offering that she is a paragon of perfection, and that 

 all her clergy are immaculate in their morals. 



The Bishop of Ferns, whose valour no one will dispute, undertakes 

 the defence of the hierarchy on the sense of her unequally divided 

 revenues, as well as on all other points. In his view, the enormous 

 diversity which exists in the salaries of ( ' the servants of the Church," 

 is the perfection of wisdom. Hear him on the subject, " The in- 

 comes," says he, " allotted to the clergy are designed to induce men 

 to enter into the Church with the hope that it will afford them a 

 maintenance, and eventually a competence, or even an affluence. 

 Seen in this light," he continues, f( I will appeal to the experience of 

 all men, whether unequal emoluments, varying through very different 

 degrees, will not be more attractive than the long uniform income 

 which an equal division would afford to each individual." 



Dr. Elrington deserves our thanks for the point-blank manner in 

 which he utters his sentiments. He does not, like the other friends 

 of the Church, so construct his sentences as purposely to conceal his 

 meaning. He speaks so plainly as that he who runneth may read. 

 We dare say, certain of his right reverend brethren will not thank 

 him for his plainness of speech. There is no help for that, but what 

 shall we say touching the purport of the extract we have given ; a 

 mere humiliating admission, or one betraying a more utter destitu- 

 tion of every high and commendable principle of action, it were im- 

 possible to conceive. The only consideration which Dr. Elrington 

 here recognizes, as inducing men to enter into the Church, is one of 

 pounds, shillings, and pence. Personal religion, moral qualifications 

 in the person aspiring at the clerical office, are, according to this 

 bishop's showing, altogether out of the question. It is not that men 

 improve the morals and promote the spiritual interests of those in- 

 trusted to their care, that they assume canonicals: no, no; but that 

 they may secure to themselves a competency of the good things of 

 this life, and if possible rise to affluence. If this be not what is called 



