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currence is necessary to the enactment of a law, is necessary also to its modification or repeal.

The next branch of the subject cannot be discussed before a mixed assembly, without stating views and opinions, from which some will differ, who, in the main, may have agreed with the preceding remarks; yet, if the comparison between the British and American constitutions, as respects the religious instruction of the people, be made with a love at once of truth and of charity, avoiding controversy on questions purely theological, (which here, I admit, would be out of place,) and asking for no verdict that is not warranted by facts, such a statement, I trust, will be received, as it is made, with candour and good will. Here we are to consider the subject as a constitutional, not as a theological question. An integral part of the British constitution is a national and protestant church, to give religious instruction to the people generally. All are invited to profit by its ministrations,-while those who dissent from its doctrines or discipline, are free to choose or provide for themselves another mode of worship and instruction.

Undoubtedly the paramount object to be aimed at is, that all the people should become Christians, not in name only, but in deed and in truth. For, how little can the human lawgiver do, without the aid of religion, to inspire men with a reverence for truth and justice, to inculcate pure morality from the highest motives, and to prevent crime. But, for this end, it is not enough that churches and chapels,-comparatively few, in the midst of a numerous and increasing population, -should be built, by those, and for those only, that are willing to worship there; while many thousands besides, who profess and call themselves Christians, seldom enter a church or chapel, from the hour of their baptism till that of their funeral. The great

truths of Christianity have been regularly taught in England for centuries, and in the United States from its first colonization; consequently there are in both countries many who are willing to build and endow places of worship. But the assertion, that the duty of providing religious instruction for the people may best be left to their own voluntary zeal and benevolence,— how far is it borne out by facts?

Dr. Chalmers, in his Lectures on Church Establishments, which are characterized by that comprehensive practical wisdom and liberality of sentiment, for which he is distinguished, says: "If we wait till the taught seek after the teacher, we shall have to wait for ever; for, in reference to the great mass and majority of an alienated parish, there is no taste, no predisposition for the lessons of the gospel, and nothing, therefore, to originate a right impulse among the people. The only thing which remains then is, that the teacher shall seek after the taught. The missionary spirit, or the missionary effort, is required for short as well as long distances to reclaim a parish, as well as to reclaim a continent; and never, but by a system of aggression on the households of any given territory, shall we be able to retain, and far less to recover, a parochial congregation."

If all Christians were really united, as Christianity and truth are one, the territorial or parochial system, which Dr. Chalmers considers to be the only effectual method of Christianizing the people, might be carried into full effect by the state, under one uniform plan, embracing all its subjects. But, although the truth is one and perfect, the numerous recipients of it have manifold errors and imperfections, and hence the sectarian differences existing within the districts into which the country is divided for the purposes of Christian instruction. It is obviously impossible to allot a distinct territory to each sect.

Dr. Chalmers then supposes that government should abandon the system of parochial division, and endow every sect "within the limits of scriptural and evangelical protestantism;" and he asks, What then would become of those who "choose to be nothing at all ?” These would be left in their native irreligion, neglected by the ministers of all sects, as belonging to none. It is obvious, from the experience both of Great Britain, since its parishes became too populous for exact clerical superintendence, and of America, when it had endowed ministers of various denominations, that the community would rapidly degenerate under such a system. In short, the plan of endowing not only all existing but all future sects equally, and of thus providing for the religious instruction and clerical superintendence of the whole people, is utterly impracticable. The state can only perform its duty of promoting the Christian religion by one simple and efficient plan, like that which is recognised by the law and constitution of this protestant kingdom. Its worship and ordinances are celebrated, its doctrines and precepts are taught by a church which takes revelation for her guide. The great body of dissenters agree with the church in those grand truths which lie at the very foundation of religion and morality, and on which our hopes of salvation mainly depend. Thus, not only individually, and by separate classes, but as a nation, we acknowledge the Supreme Being; while our rulers, as the heads and representatives of the nation, may extend to all ranks the benefit of religious instruction. A perfect system may be desired, but a more perfect one cannot easily be obtained.

Dr. Chalmers truly observes, that it is neither to exalt one sect nor to stigmatize others, that government performs its duty, of giving sound religious instruction to the people, by the ministers of one denomination

who "are vitally and essentially right," but because it is thus only that the great object of general Christian education can be best accomplished. On this broad and intelligible ground he contends for the necessity of a national church.

In London, and other large cities, and in many rural and manufacturing districts, the people have immensely outnumbered all the means of religious instruction, whether in churches or dissenting places of worship. Even in this wealthy Christian country, the result of throwing the people on their resources, and leaving them to their own inclinations has been, that in many towns and districts, not one tenth, and sometimes not one fifteenth, or one twentieth part of the inhabitants attend any place of worship; and the voluntary contributions of the beneficent, to supply the melancholy deficiency, have not even kept pace with the increase of the population, amounting to nearly four hundred thousand souls every year. These contributions, inadequate as they are, have been chiefly derived from the middling classes, on whom the burden falls, with a very unequal pressure; whereas, if it were generally distributed over the community in proportion to wealth, it might easily be borne, and the devout and bountiful would still have ample scope for their private munificence. Hence a numerous population, nominally Christian, but practically the reverse, have sprung up and are multiplying around us. If the voluntary principle were a sound principle, it would have proved its efficiency with regard to those unenlightened myriads-those many sheep without a shepherd.

In republican America, where labour is abundant and almost all the people are able, if willing, to provide for their own religious instruction, and where there is no national church, of which it can even be alleged that

it interferes, directly or indirectly, with spontaneous exertion, how has this voluntary principle proved its vaunted excellence? The author of "Essays on the Church, by a Layman," has given, in the fifth chapter of his clear and able work, a summary of unexceptionable evidence, derived from the reports of American religious societies, from which I cull a few facts.

A report of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge states, that in the counties of Rockingham and Strafford there are forty-five towns, containing upwards of forty thousand inhabitants, which have been destitute of the means of grace, some ten, some twenty, some thirty, some forty years; and in one town, containing one thousand and sixty-three souls, the visible church of Christ, after a stated ministry of twenty-eight years, has been many years wholly extinct. In a report, dated 1834, referring to the Baptist churches, it is said, that in the west there are more than a thousand towns and villages in which there is no stated worship. The American Tract Society's report for 1833 says, "It is estimated by those who have the best means of judging, that not far from five millions of our population are now unblessed with the means of grace.' The American Baptist Home Missionary Society's report for 1833 stated, that even if all who profess to be Christian teachers were duly qualified, there would then have been a deficiency of four thousand ministers, to meet the wants of the country. But it is added, a further large deduction must be made for those that are propagating error, -for those who are "too ignorant of Christianity to teach its doctrines with advantage to others;"-for those who are " necessarily so engaged in secular occupations, as to prohibit their devoting time to preparation for much usefulness in the ministry. These facts evince a great and alarming destitution of Christian instruction."

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