Interests of the Church of England^ 6g3 
purposes of health and recruit the ani- 
inal spirits. It is a time, the use of 
«[{ich should give new vigor both to the 
body and to the soul. 
n.—But the zealous labors of the 
clergy will fail in attaining the great ob¬ 
jects in the view of the church of En¬ 
gland, unless they become universal. 
To this end, they must be seconded and 
encouraged by the dispensers ot eccle¬ 
siastical patronage. The highest dig¬ 
nities in the church should be bestowed 
on those, who by precept and example, 
by their theological learning and prac¬ 
tical piety, by their faith and their works, 
liave coiuributed to extend the kingdom 
of God and the salvation of mankind. 
These are the shining lights who should 
be commissioned, by the sovereign autho¬ 
rity in the state, to enlighten the world, 
to dispel the mists of doubt, to clear 
the clouds of scepticism, to spread the 
bright effulgence of Revelation before 
the wanderer benighted in the gloom of 
ignorance. In the selection of these, 
neither private favor nor public interest 
should be permitted to operate. Eccle¬ 
siastical patronage should never be sub¬ 
servient to parliamentary influence. Con¬ 
nexions with the great by birth or do¬ 
mestic habits should not be an introduc¬ 
tion to preferment; still less should ser¬ 
vices of a civil or political nature be re¬ 
warded by ecclesiastical dignities. Where 
high birtli is united with spiritual en¬ 
dowments, with scriptural knowledge, 
and exemplary piety, a minister of state 
will act wisely in giving an occasional 
preference. Tiiere are now clergymen 
of noble families, whose talents and 
whose virtues claim the highest situations. 
These qualifications are the brightest 
gems, which should adorn the mitre. It 
is not sufficient that a candidate for ec¬ 
clesiastical honors should be eminent for 
classical learning. Even a Huntingford 
and a Burgess would not have deserved 
the dignity to which they have been so 
judiciously raised, had they not been 
distinguished tor literary and practical 
services to the cause of religion. It is 
nut merely the publication ot a few 
sermons, such as a person of moderate 
abilities may write, quales ego voL Clu- 
vienuSj that intitles him to aspire to the 
highest honors. The prelates ot the 
church of England should combine all 
the great endowments ot the head, and 
all the good qualities ot the heart, which 
can adorn liuman nature. Ihey should 
exemplify the character drawn by St. 
I^aul; they should have a xea! of God 
according to knowledge; they should b® 
blameless as the stewards of God, not 
given to filthy lucre; lovers of hospita¬ 
lity, lovers of good men; sober, just, 
holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful 
word, that they may be able by sound 
doctrine both to exhort and to convince; 
they should show themselves approved 
unto God; they should, in the emphaticai 
words of his present Majesty, not 
only preach Divinity, but act Morality." 
I’liese strictures are not meant to be 
confined to the highest dignities. The 
disposal of all benefices should be found¬ 
ed on the same conscientious, indepen¬ 
dent principles; it should have no other 
end in view than the external salvation 
of the souls committed to the care of 
the ministers, the prosperity of the 
church, and the advancement of the 
kingdom of God. If the dispensers of 
preferment disdained to listen to any 
plea but that of merit in the candidates, 
in the exercise of their sacred privilege, 
men would not enter into the church 
because their interest could raise them 
to benefices and dignities; the applica¬ 
tion of the reproach of Isaiah to the 
watchmen and shepherds of Israel would 
not be extended to us by the enemies 
of our establishment. No pastors would 
be appointed, but those who do not 
shun to declare all the counsel of God; 
who take heed unto themselves, and to 
all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost 
has made them overseers, to feed the 
church of God, which he lias purchased 
with his own blood. 
As the oracles of God are, in a more 
especial manner, committed to the bi¬ 
shops, they should be more generally the 
dispensers of ecclesiastical preferment. 
Private patronage is one of the 6ause» 
of the extension of schism; it is aa 
abuse which loudly calls for redress. 
Among the sectaries, a minister is not 
raised to a station of eminence by casual 
connexions with the great, or because 
he has distinguished himself for his civil 
or political exerrioiis in favor of a pa# 
tron; but because he has by his zealou* 
efforts extended the celebrity, and in¬ 
creased the numbers, of his sect. Ihe 
spiritual care of their flocks is never 
exposed to sale —Private patrons do not 
consider to what an awful responsibility 
tiiey. subject themselves; they are not 
aware that they are accountable to the 
great Shepherd of our souls for the ne¬ 
glect of the Christian flocks, over wiiom 
it is their duty to appoint attentive and 
faithful pastors. Patronage in the hands 
of 
