beggar, as the back-settlements of Canada very distinctly show him; and therefore he should remember, that, although he were to give his all to the virtuous poor, except the bare soil, and his bare subsistence from the soil, he is only paying back what they, or their order, have, by honest industry, put into his purse.

But, to keep by the point in hand, the poor are not all connected with our Established Churches; nay, they are, generally speaking, the very class who have chosen to desert them, and have gone, as a matter of honest preference, over to the ranks of Dissent. This is so notorious that, in many parts of the country, Churchmen, to serve the purposes of their pride, have been wont to cast it in our teeth; very complacently blessing themselves in the thought, that "none but the lower orders go to the Dissenters." Be it so; we find glory in what they call shame; although, of late, by some strange fatuity, they seem uncommonly anxious to share in our shame. I repeat, then, and I feel that in doing so I can defy contradiction, that it is not the so-called poor, but the so-called rich, that find their account in our StateChurches, and are, therefore, moving heaven and earth to preserve them in all their entireness. They are the Churches of the rich, and not of the poor; aye, and the rich have an interest in keeping them up, which is but too easily distinguished from the interests of Christian piety. It is in THE CHURCH, now-a-days, more than anywhere else, that our gentry find places and pensions for their relatives and dependants. It is there, or among the vassals whom their patronage has placed there, that they find the most effectual means of controlling public opinion, by schooling it into subserviency to their exclusive politics. It is there, in short, and there alone, that they hope to make a stand against those extensive national improvements, which, when obtained and consolidated, will render the British constitution, not in name only, but in reality, the wonder of the world.

On these grounds, I say, and I say it advisedly, that it is

for the rich, and not for the poor-it is for the great ones of the earth, and not for the God of heaven-that our StateChurches are upheld. Had they nothing to support them but disinterested patriotism, they would not stand a twelvemonth. They are an instrument most cunningly contrived, by which the poor are taxed to feed the rich, to work out the purposes of their ambition, and to keep them in the ascendant; and this renders their inherent justice absolutely shameless.

Now

Fourthly. It is injustice perpetrated in the name of religion. No man who looks around him can possibly believe that it is zeal for pure and undefiled religion, by which the advocates of our State-Churches are generally actuated. Facts, too numerous, and too easily authenticated, put this supposition out of the question. Yet religion is the grand pretext, under which the injustice of which we speak finds its defence, or its palliation. "Be it so," we are told," that to compel Dissenters to support the Church is not strictly just, still it is all for good; it is in the cause of religion that the injustice is done, if injustice it must be called, and surely we may strain a point where religion is concerned." there are, indeed, many points which may well be strained for the sake of religion; a great many more than multitudes are willing to strain; but the infelicity here is that the point strained is an express dictate of religion itself, which requires us first to do justice, and then to love mercy. The apology is so ill-devised as to be the very burden of the charge. Injustice is bad in any case, but, when inflicted under the mask of religion, it is worst of all; because then religion is wounded in the house of its friends; it is betrayed with a kiss; its beauty is tarnished; it is laid open to the assaults of the infidel and the profane; and all under the pretext of doing it homage? This may be for the religion of some parties among us; it may be worship quite congenial to the divinity they adore; but, most assuredly, it is not for, but directly against, the religion of Jesus Christ; and to the wise of this world I would say, in conclusion, Beware; do

no injustice in any circumstances; but if you wish to keep your deeds of injustice from crying for vengeance to the very heavens, bring them not into the sanctuary of God. He hates robbery for burnt-offering; His jealousy burns nowhere so hot as around His altar; and if you come there with your strange fire, you have reason to fear that His wrath may consume you,

INFLUENCE

OF THE

UNION OF THE CHURCH

WITH THE

STATE

UPON

CHRISTIAN UNION

AND

THE PROGRESS OF RELIGION.

BY

THE HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL.

SOCIETY

LONDON:

FOR THE LIBERATION OF RELIGION FROM STATE PATRONAGE AND CONTROL, 2, SERJEANTS' INN, FLEET STREET,

AND

ARTHUR MIALL, 18, BouVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET.