their moral influence, they cling to temporal power; and lose in their officiousness in political matters, even the semblance of the character of ministers of religion. It is impossible that such a system can last; it is at war with the spirit of the age, as well as with justice and reason; and the beetles who crawl about amidst its holes and crevices, act as if they were striving to provoke and accelerate the blow, which, sooner or later, will inevitably crush the whole fabric, and level it with the dust."

Now we will put out of view the truth or falsehood of the above accusations against the Durham clergy, and content. ourselves with simply proving how inconsistent is their mode of treating their opponent with those scriptures, for the teaching of which they are so liberally rewarded.

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The Durham clergy assert that the above accusations are false, and intended to revile them. Let it be so. "Blessed are ye, when men shall REVILE you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you FALSELY, for my "sake; rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward "in heaven!" (Matt. v. 10, 11.) The public will believe how ill the clergy deserve censures like those directed against them in the Durham Chronicle, when they shall consent to treat such censures in the spirit of the apostles, Being reviled we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being "defamed, we intreat." (1 Cor. iv. 11, 12.) And though the reverend institutors of this prosecution succeed in sending their enemy to a prison, and his family to a workhouse, the world will still fail to perceive how they have, thereby, heaped" coals of fire on his head," or illustrated the Divine precept" be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, "or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing." (1 Pet, iii. 8, 9.)

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Mr. Brougham's speech for the defendant, in this prosecution, exhibited a most splendid and extraordinary display of talent; and some of the passages are too excellent not to be preserved in the Freethinking Christians' Register; they are also peculiarly appropriate to our present purpose, as descriptive of the character of the clergy, Mr. Brougham is a supporter of the church of England, and a friend to the clerical character, down even to the parish clerk; as will be remembered in his celebrated speech, on moving his education bill, in the House of Commons. And, on the present occasion, he describes the church establishment as "built on a rock, and towering with its head to the other "world," and as possessing an imperishable existence." Well then! what are the sentiments of this good churchman concerning the Durham clergy--an opulent and numerous

body, consisting of a lord bishop, an archdeacon, twelve prebends, and about eighty rectors, vicars, and curates?

In maintaining the right of freely examining all the institutions of the country, and the church itself, the learned gentlemen adopts the following language :

:

"And if there is any part of England in which an ample license ought more especially to be admited, in handling such matters, I say, without hesitation, it is this very bishopric, where, in the 19th century, you live under a Palatine Prince, the Lord of Durham; where the endowment of the hierarchy, I may not call it enormous, but, I trust, I shall be permitted, without offence, to term it splendid; where the establishment, I dare not whisper proves grinding to the people, but I will rather say it is an incalculable, an inscrutable blessing; only it is prodigiously large-showered down in a profusion somewhat overpowering, and laying the inhabitants under a load of obligation, overwhelming by its weight.

"I am taking it for granted that they all act the part of good shepherds, making the welfare of the flock their first care; and only occasionally bethinking them of shearing, in order to pervent the too luxuriant growth of the fleece proving an incumbrance, or to eradicate disease. If, however, these operations be so constant that the flock actually live under the knife— if the shepherds are so numerous and employ so large a troop of the watchful and eager animals that attend them (some of them, too, with a cross of the for or even the wolf in their breed) can it be wondered at if the poor creatures, thus fleeced, and hunted, and barked at, and snapped at and, from time to time, worried, should, now and then, bleat-dream of preferring the rot to the shears; and draw invidious, possibly disadvantageous, comparisons between the wolf without, and the shepherd within the fold? It cannot be helped-it is in the nature of things that suffering should beget complaint; but for those who have caused the pain to complain of the outcry, and seek to punish it—for those who have goaded to scourge and to gag, is the MEANEST OF ALL INJUSTICE!"

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This right of the sheep to complain Mr. Brougham might have strengthened, by reference to the divine denunciations. against shepherds such as he has described. "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ye eat the fat and ye clothe ye with the wool; ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed "not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither "have ye healed that which was sick; neither have ye bound up that which was broken; neither have ye brought again that which was driven away; neither have ye sought that "which was lost, but WITH FORCE AND WITH CRUELTY ‘HAVE YE RULED THEM!" (Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, 4.)

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The following passage will convey a finished picture of the degree of hypocrisy, which Mr. Brougham ascribes to the clergy of the diocese of Durham. The counsel for the prosecution had represented, that the reason why the Durham clergy were not so loud in their grief for the death of

the queen, as the defendant, was-that they were, perhaps, more sincere. To which representation Mr. Broughamreplies

"That you may understand the meaning of this passage, it is necessary for me to set before you the picture my learned friend was pleased to draw of the clergy of the diocese of Durham, and I shall recall it to mind almost in his own words. According to him they stand in a peculiarly unfortunate situation-they are, in truth, the most injured of men. They all, it seems, entertained the same generous sentiment with the rest of their countrymen, though they did not express them in the free old English manner, by openly condemning the proceedings against the late queen; and after the course of unexampled injustice, against which she vigorously struggled, had been followed by the needless infliction of inhuman torture, to undermine a frame whose spirit no open hostility could daunt, and extinguish the life so long embittered by the same foul arts after that great princess had ceased to harass her enemies (if I may be allowed thus to speak, applying, as they did, by the perversion of all language, those names to the victim which belong to the tormentor) after her glorious, but unhappy life, had closed, and that princely head was, at last, laid low by death-which living all oppression had only the more illustriously exalted-the venerable the clergy of Durham, I am now told, for the first time, though less forward in giving vent to their feelings than the rest of their fellow citizens-though not so vehement in their indignation at the matchless and unmanly persecution of the queen-though not so unbridled in their joy at her immortal triumph, nor so loud in their lamentations over her mournful and untimely end, did, nevertheless, in reality, all the while deeply sympathize with her sufferings, at the bottom of their reverend hearts. When all the resources of the most ingenious cruelty hurried her to a fate without parallel, if not so clamorous, they did not feel the least of all the members of the community; their grief was, indeed, too deep for utterance-sorrow clung round their bosoms, weighed upon their tongues, stifled every sound; and, when all the rest of mankind, of all sects and of all nations, freely gave vent to the feelings of our common nature, THEIR silence, the contrast which THEY displayed to the rest of their species, proceeded from the greater depth of their affliction -they said the less because they felt the more! Oh! talk of HYPOCRISY after this! MOST CONSUMMATE OF ALL HYPOCRITES! After instructing your chosen official advocate to stand forward with such a defence-such an exposition of your motives, to dare utter the word hypocrisy, and complain of those who charged you with it! This is, indeed, to insult common sense, and outrage the feelings of the whole human race! If you were hypocrites before, you were downright, frank, honest hypocrites to what you have now made yourselves; and surely, for all you have ever done, or ever been charged with, your worst enemies must be satiated with the humiliation of this day, its JUST ATONEMENT AND AMPLE RETRIBUTION!!"

Can we wonder that, at the conclusion of such a period, nature should have risen superior to all restraints, and have vented her approbation in a long and loud applause, which the court could neither suppress nor controul. But let it be borne in mind, that this is the language-these are the sentiments of an admirer of the clergy--a communicant of the church—it is Mr. BROUGHAM who gives this picture of the DURHAM PRIESTHOOD!

It is pertinent to our present purpose to advert to a very singular discourse, delivered in July last, to the clergy of the diocese of London, by the Lord Bishop of London. There peeps out, in this charge, we suspect, somewhat of an APOLOGY for the clergy; and this, indeed, not before it was wanted: some oblique suggestion is also given as to the prudence of their amending their manners. We scarcely know whether we understand his lordship aright; for the discourse, though well written, and containing some excellent points, is, nevertheless, so cautiously prepared, and mixed up with such opposite ingredients, balanced together in such nice chemical proportions as to produce, when combined, a mere nursery draught-perfectly neutral and inoffensive. The rapid diffusion of knowledge, and cultivation of intellect, among all classes, in the present age, form a subject matter of reflection in this discourse. These are circumstances that do not, at least, excite the ecstacies of the right reverend bishop: like Lot's wife, the good bishop looks back upon that state of darkness and crime, which the lightning of genius and the fires of heaven are destroying; and seems, in his present charge, to bid

66 a long-a last-a sad farewell"

to those good and olden times of the church, "when" (to adopt his own words) "reverence to OFFICIAL STATION "might protect the infirmity, or throw a veil over the "failings of the minister!!!"

But my lord bishop is certainly a sensible man, he does not permit himself to quarrel outright with what he can neither suppress nor controul, but prudently suggests such advice as shall enable his reverend brethren to shift, as well as they can, in the dilemma to which, upon his own shewing, the increased knowledge of the age has reduced them.*

"But" (says the charge, page 12) "of the general improvement which took place in society, at the revival of letters, the largest portion had fallen to the share of the LAITY. The clergy, from various causes, were not benefited, in an equal degree; and, from this alteration in their relative circumstances, and its effects on the feelings of the public, they necessarily lost the ascendancy which had been preserved without difficulty, by their less meritorious predecessors, in a darker age. In referring to these historical facts, it is simply my object to urge the necessity of maintaining our proper position, in

"It is not easy to calculate the multiplied difficulties which, from these "and similar causes, increase on the clergymen, as the world advances in knowledge."-See Charge, p. 13.

relation to the mass of society; to press the important truth, that, if other classes advance in knowledge, intelligence, virtue, and piety, and the CLERGY, whatever are their positive merits, in all these respects, continue stationary; they are placed on a different level in regard to their flocks, and will suffer a proportional loss, in their credit and weight with the public, and consequently in their professional utility!!"

This is all very proper in his lordship, and peculiarly welltimed; but then it is not to be supposed that he admits the moral and intellectual deficiencies of the clergy-oh, no! this he afterwards denies; and, indeed, asserts his belief in their superior excellence to the other classes of society, thereby proving how unnecessary was the above exhortation. Nay, his Lordship volunteers a defence of the clergy against the charge of being "hirelings."

"The hireling" (says the charge)" is he, whether beneficed or not, who acts on personal views of pleasure or profit, without concern for the welfare of his flock; and nothing can be less consistent with truth than the imputation of such criminal profligacy, on any description of the clergy."

We like the definition here given of the "hireling," and let the reader consult history-let him take a review of the present state of the religious world-let him consult only the evidence brought together in these pages, and say whether there is not good reason to suspect that the clergy do" act on personal views of pleasure or profit, without "concern for the welfare of the flock;"-let him remember their treatment of " the flock," as described by Mr. Brougham.

We have opened and supported our case against the clergy, by reasons and by facts-we close it by authorities; and we content ourselves with two only, which were quoted by Mr. Brougham, in the trial alluded to.

Dr. Hartley, in speaking on this subject, states

"I choose to speak of what falls under the observation of all serious, attentive persons, in the kingdom. THE SUPERIOR.CLERGY are, in general, ambitious, and eager in the pursuit of riches-flatterers of the great, and subservient to party interest; negligent of their own particular charges, and also of the inferior clergy. THE INFERIOR CLERGY imitate their superiors, and, in general, take little more care of their parishes than barely what is necessary to avoid the censure of the law; and the clergy of all ranks are, in general, either ignorant, or, if they do apply, it is rather to profane learning, to philosophical or political matters, than to the study of the scriptures, of the Oriental language, and the fathers. I say this is, in general, the case; that is, FAR THE GREATER PART OF THE CLERGY, OF ALL RANKS, IN THE KINGDOM, ARE OF THIS KIND."

Dr. Hartley is very properly pronounced, by the late