RELIGION. 



to dcbafi" the iultitulioii, and to introduce into it numerous 

 corruptions and abufcs. The notion, fays our autlior, of 

 a religious eftablifhment comprehends three things, a clergy, 

 or order of men fccUidcd from other profeffions to attend 

 upon the ofiices of rehgion ; a legal provifion tnr the main- 

 tenance of the clergy : and the confining of that provifion 

 to the teachers of a particular fed of Chriftians. Without 

 thefe, there exills no national religion, or ellablifhed church, 

 according to the fenle which thefe terms are ufually made to 

 convey. He, therefore, who would defend ccclefiaftical 

 citabli(hraents, mull Ihevv tlie feparate utility of thefe llu-ee 

 efi'ential parts of their conftitution. Under the firft head he 

 maintains, that the knowledge and profelfion of Chrillianity 

 cannot be maintained in a country without a clals of men 

 fet apai-t by pubhc authority to the ftudy and teaching of 

 religion, and to the condudting of public worfhip ; and that 

 for thefe purpofes they fiiould be precluded from other em- 

 ployments ; and that of courle they ought to derive a main- 

 tenance from tiieir own. If they depended for this mainte- 

 nance upon the voluntary contributions of their hearers, he 

 is of opinion, that few would ultimately contribute any thing 

 at all. To the confideration of the difficulty with which 

 congregations would be eftablifhed and upheld upon the •vo- 

 luntary plan, he adds, that of the condition of thofe who 

 are to officiate in them. Preaching, he thinks, would in 

 this cafe become a kind of begging ; and the preacher, being 

 at the mercy of his audience, would be obliged to adapt his 

 doftrines, and alfo his ityle and manner of preaching, to the 

 pleafure of a capricit)us multitude ; and to live in con- 

 ilant bondage to tyratinical and infolent direftors ; which 

 he could not do without a facrificc of principle, and a de- 

 pravation of charatter. Admitting thefe circumftances to 

 be fairly ilated, which perhaps an objeftor would reluc- 

 tantly allow. Dr. Paley concludes, that a legal provifion 

 for the clergy, compulfory upon thole who contribute 

 to it, is expedient ; and then proceeds to inquire, whether 

 this provifion fliould be confined to one feft of Chriftians, 

 or extended indiflerently to all. This queftion, it (hould be 

 recollefted, can never oiler itfelf where the people are agreed 

 in their religious opinions, and ought never to arife, where 

 a fyftem of doftrines and wordiip may be fo framed as to 

 comprehend their difagreements, and which might fatisfy all 

 by uniting all in the articles of their common faith, and 

 in a mode of divine worfhip that omits every fubjeft of con- 

 troverfy or offence. Where fuch a comprehenfion is prac- 

 ticable, the comprehending religion ought to be made that 

 of the Hate. But where this comprehenfion is impradti- 

 cable, and feparate congregations and different fects muft 

 continue in the country, the queflion fairly recurs, whether, 

 under fuch circumftances, the laws ought to eflablifh one 

 fett in preference to the reft ; 'hat is, whether they ought 

 to confer the provifion afPigned to the maintenance of reli- 

 gion upon the teachers of one fyftem of doccrines alone. 

 This queftion is intimately connected with, and in a great 

 meafure dependent upon, another ; and that is, in what 

 way, or by whom, ought the minifters of religion to be ap- 

 pointed? In that fpecies of patronage which fubfifts in this 

 country, and which allows private individuals to nominate 

 teachers of rehgion for diftridts and coagreg ations, to which 

 they are abfolute ftrangers, forae teft ihould be propofed to 

 the perfons nominated, in order to prevent that difcordancy 

 of reUgious opinions that might othervvife arife between the 

 feveral teachers and their refpedlive congregations. The 

 requifition of fubfcription, or any other teft by which the 

 ;iational rehgion is guarded, may be coniidered merely as a 

 rellrid'tion upon the exercife of private patronage. Where- 

 locver, therefore, this conftitution of patronage is adopted. 



a national religion, or the legal preference of one particulai 

 religion to all others, muft almoll iieceffarily accompany it. If 

 we iuppole tliat the appointment of the miniller of religioi. 

 wa". in every parifh left to the choice of the parifliioners, might 

 njt this choice be fafely exercifed, without its being limited 

 to the teachers of any particular fedt ? The cij'edt, fays our 

 author, of fuch a liberty mull be, tUat a Papifl, or a Pref- 

 byterian, a Methodift, a Moravian, or an Anabaplill, would 

 fucceffively gain poffeifion of the pulpit, according as a ma- 

 jority of the party happened at each eledtion to prevail ; and 

 on every choice, it is apprehended, that violent conflidls 

 would be renewed, and bitter animofities be revived. If 

 the flate appoint the minifters of rehgion, this conftitution 

 will difier little from the eflablifhment of a national religion : 

 for the ilate would undoubtedly appoint only tiiofe whofe 

 religious opinions, or rather whofe religious denomination, 

 agree with its own ; unlefs it be thought that religious li- 

 berty would derive any advantage from transferring the 

 choice of the national religion from the legiflature of the 

 country to the magiftrate who adminiftcrs the executive go- 

 vernment. The only plan which fecms to render the legal 

 maintenance of a clergy pradticable, without the legal pre- 

 ference of one fedt of Clu-iitians to another, is that of an ex- 

 periment which has been attempted (and which is faid to 

 have fucceedcd) in fome of the new iiatcs of North- Ame- 

 rica. The nature of the plan is thus defcnbed. A tax is 

 levied upon the inhabitants for tlie general fupport of re- 

 ligion : the collector of the tax goes round with a regifter 

 in liio hand, in which are infertcd, at the head of fo many 

 diftindt columns, the names of the feveral I'eligious fedls that 

 are profeffed in the country. The perfon who is called 

 upon for the alTeflmeiit, as loon as he has paid his quota, 

 fubfcrlbes his name in which of the columns he pleafes ; and 

 the amount of what is coUedted in each column is paid over 

 to the minifter of that denomination. In this fchemc it is 

 not left to the option of the fubjedl, whether he will con- 

 tribute, or how much he fhall contribute, to the main- 

 tenance of a Chriltian minifter : it is only referred to his 

 choice to determine by what feet his contribution Ihall be 

 received. The above arrangement, fays Paley, is un- 

 doubtedly the beft that has been propofed upon this prin- 

 ciple ; it bears the appearance of liberahty and juftice ; and 

 it may contain fome folid advantages. But our author 

 thinks that its inconveniences will be found to overbalance 

 all its recommendations. It is fcarcely compatible with the 

 firft requifite in an ccclefiaftical eftablifhment, which is the 

 divifion of the country into parifnes of a commodious ex- 

 tent. If tlie parifhes be fmall, and minifters of every deno- 

 mination be ftationed in each, which the plan feems to fup- 

 pofe, the expence of their maintenance will become too bur- 

 denfome a charge for the country to fupport. If, for- re- 

 ducing the expence, the diftridls be enlarged, the place of 

 affembling will, in fome cafes, be too far removed from 

 the refidence of the perfons who ought to refort to it. Be- 

 fides, if the pecuniary fuccefs of the different teachers of 

 religion be made to depend upon the num.ber and wealth of 

 their refpcctive followers, this would naturally generate 

 ftrifes and indecent jealoufies amongi^ them, as well as pro- 

 duce a polemical and profelyting fpirit, founded in or 

 mixed with views of private gain ; which would both de- 

 prave the principles of the clergy, and diltradt the country 

 witli endlefs contentions. 



If it be expedient, lays our author, to eftablifh a national 

 religion, that is, one fedl in preference to all others, fome 

 tefi, by which the teacher of that fedt may be diftinguiflied 

 from the teachers of different fedts, appears to be an indif- 

 penfable confequence. The cxiftence of fuch an eftablifh- 

 ment 



