should go about in every quarter threatening them with profecutions (as the dissenters do) and using all means to compel them?

The Diffenter laments that your correspondent should have meddled with a topic, which he hoped had often and long ago been fettled. No doubt, his lamentation is fincere : for I have heard, that within these few years, what with the importunities of the dissenters, and with their unexpected help from fome bishops, they have been very successful in compelling the clergy to officiate at their graves. The defire of peace, and the aversion to all contention, I fincerely believe to be a leading virtue among both our bishops and clergy: but I conjecture, that it has been sometimes paramount, when it ought not to have been so. I entertain an humble hope, that my "meddling," may by God's assistance, have a tendency to put a stop to this success: a fuccess, which is attended with confequences very ferioufly prejudicial to the interests of found Christianity: for the question in point, is not that trivial, indifferent thing, that it is misrepresented to be, we are not at liberty to treat the faithful Christian within the church, and him who feparates himself, (Jud. 19.) with the fame respect, and to teach others to express the same hope for both.

By your correfpondent's expressing his hope, that the topic "had often and long ago been fettled," I prefume must be understood an affirmation, that it has often and long ago been fettled. I do not write upon such a subject as this, without reading and enquiry; but neither my reading nor enquiry at present, afford me any information that this queftion has been settled as the Dissenter would have it, and perhaps it may have occurred to you, Sir, that that must needs be very unsteady, which requires often settling. But the cafe is this. The church, (particularly the Church of England), has indeed, settled it long ago; but different governors in their respective districts, for reasons best known to themselves, have at different times countenanced an unfettling of it. This aberration from the church's order, the Dissenter calls a settling of the question; and every new aberration, ex cathedra, he calls, I suppose, another fettling: I am curious to know how he would express the act of those bishops who have never countenanced this deviation from the laws of the Established Church; but have been in the habit of respecting all her canons and rubricks, and the opinions of her found and learned defenders. His idea of fettling a "topic of discussion," as he calls it, appears to be this. Should the rulers of the church direct its ministers to proceed in a man. ner contrary to its laws, to please the diffenters, then the " topic of discussion," it seems, is settled. But when any tone attempts to shew that her laws ought to be respected, then is that man said to " meddle with a topic of discussion very unseasonably for the peace of society, and to agitate that which has been often and long ago fettled; but as it is managed, (that is, "the topic of discussion") it is to produce unpleasant effects to the clergy, and the dissenters too!"

But we now come to what the Dissenter confiders, I suppofe, as his proof, that our question has been often and long ago settled. Let us examine them.

In the year 1748, the clergyman of Watersfield, duly respecting the laws of the church, considers dissenters as having no right to the burial service of the church. The bishop of Norwich writes to the clergyman, and expresses his hope, that no occasion would be given for fuch complaints in future. Does this settle the question? Does it prove any thing against the clergyman's opinion, that diffenters have no right to church burial? I must confefs, Sir, I see nothing of the fort. All I do fee is this: that the clergyman wished to abide by the fettled laws of the church: the diffenters wished the contrary: and the bishop of Norwich takes fide with the dissenters, against his clergyman.

In 1769, the vicar of Marshfield refuses to bury a child, and infifts that he has done right. Here, the bishop of Llandaff, (Dr. Jonathan Shipley, I suppose) reprimands him; and orders him to read the church service over the corpse of any diffenter which should be brought to him, without asking any questions. There is something curious in this. The bishop reprimands the vicar for acting according to the laws of the church, and as many, if not most of the clergy, are in the constant habit of acting. -I must declare, that I see no reason for any reprimand at all. But the bishop, it is reported, orders the minister to read the church service over every dissenter's corpse, &c. and ask no questions, that is, as it were, blindfold, with defign of not feeing what might be seen, if a man were to open his eyes.-He was ordered, in short, to keep himself in ignorance of all circumstances respecting dissenters' corpses; he was not to know whether it was a Baptist corpse, or an Independent corpse, or a Quaker corpse, or a Socinian corpse, a baptized or an unbaptized corpfe, &c. &c.-any thing of this fort, the vicar of Marshfield was not to know. He was ordered to pay no attention to the rubricks and canons, but to bury on, let the circumstances

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stances be what they would. Here was a bishop indeed, exactly fitted for the purposes of the deputies and committees of the diffenters. He was a man of business, and did their work well. But it may be a question with some reflecting men, not in the diffenting interest, not only whether the bishop of Llandaff could be justified in his conduct, but whether the clergyman was juflified in implicitly obeying the bishop (I suppose the report means to hand down the fact of his compliance), -for fince the clergy of all ranks are bound to observe the laws of the church, and fince one of those laws explicitly enjoins, that the burial service shall not be used for any that die unbaptized, how can a bishop prefume to enjoin his clergy to bury all promifcuoufly, and to remain in ignorance even of a distinction, which the diffenters themselves admit ? and how can a clergyman confcientioully obferve such an injunction, which commands him to tranfgrefs the written laws of the church? If it was the vicar's duty to bury no unbaptized person, it was his duty to afcertain who were baptized, and who not: which was to be the refult of asking questions. But the bishop orders, that no questions shall be asked: that is, that the vicar shall not afcertain who was unbaptized, that is, that he should not observe the rubrick of the church. And has the bishop of Llandaff fettled the question? Is this question of the dissenters' right to church burial to be fettled by an injunction to ask no queftions? Does the Difssenter ever admit the bishop's volo, fic jubeo; stet pro ratione voluntas?"- It is strange, Sir, that your correspondent and I should fee things so very differently: for I profess, that I have not the least doubt, that the bishop was fo far from having any intention of fettling the question, that he made this remarkable injunction of afking no questions, in order to avoid fettling it.

"Sic

In 1784, the curate of Cheshunt, it seems, was recufant. The dissenting fecretary writes to him. The curate apologizes, and promises to behave better for the future. It will be difficult, I believe, to infer any thing from this anecdote, but that if it had not been for the diffenting secretary, the curate would have been innocent of any breach of church law: as it turned out, it seems, he not only tranfgreffed, but promised that he would make no difficulty in tranfgreffing for the future. So the curate finned, and the secretary triumphed.

The last instance is dated 1792. The vicar of Margate would not permit the burial service to be read over the corpfe of a person who had been baptized by a dissenting minister. The archbishop of Canterbury expressed difapprobation

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probation of the vicar's conduct, and said he should be repri manded, and left to the course of the law, for any future misbehaviour of that kind. It is unfortunate, Sir, that the Dissenter should bring his fourth inflance, and yet bring nothing that can possibly pass for a fettling the question. What does the primate do? He tells the complainant, that the vicar shall be reprimanded, and left to the law; that is, he is pleafed to shew his displeasure, and promises to shew more of it; but as to the fettling of the question, he does nothing in that, but leaves it to be settled by law; if he had a power of fettling it, why did he not fettle it at the time, and not leave it to the law? This plainly tells us, that he had no power of fettling it; and therefore the queftion of the diffenters' rig to church burial, was no more settled in this example, by the prime authority of the church, than it had been by any of the other three examples. The three bishops and the dissenting secretary certainly did all they could to fettle it as the dissenters would have it, they all manifested displeasure against the clergy who had not complied; and it seems, they so far worked upon them as to extort a promise, that they would be governed in future by the diffenters; but there is no settling of the question; fo far from it, that the archbishop himself, finding that the clergyman cannot be punished by him, promises to leave him to the course of the law. But, it may be afked, could the primate have not left him to the course of the law? Could he have fnatched him from the paw of the secretary, if he had thought good to defend his clergy against the secretary, instead of taking part with the latter against the vicar? Perhaps, a man less alarmed than the poor vicar of Margate probably was, might have perceived more of terrific found than real sense in the threat of being turned over to the secular arm. But to proceed,

The Difssenter observes upon these four cases in the following words. "These are few cafes out of many, which may serve to shew, that the bishops confider diffenting baptifm as entitling them to the burial service, the church agreeing with the state, which considers it as valid in any court of judicature." Here is confufion indeed! by the help of which, your correspondent jumps to his wished-for conclusion, and seems to go off in triumph. But he must permit me to shew him that he is a little too hasty in his inferences. In the first instance, it must be denied that his four cases shew any thing respecting the bishops, but that three of that venerable body acted fo and so: it cannot shew their judgment concerning

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the validity of dissenting baptifm; for the three bishops may have acted as they did, upon other motives than their conviction of the validity of dissenting baptifm. I have been inform ed of one of their present lordships who was heard to declare his opinion of the invalidity of it, and that dissenters were plainly not entitled to church burial; who nevertheless had advised a certain clergyman to comply with the diffenters' demands, merely for the fake of peace. Besides it never can be admitted that the example of one bishop in 1748, of another in 1769, and of another in 1792, can poffibly exhibit the judgment of the many other bishops living at those dates, and fince. But your correspondent not only will tell you the opinion of the bishops (that is of the bishops in general) from his three cafes, but goes on to shew you from the faid cafes, the opinion of the church too! I should never have thought of afcertaining the judgment of the national church from the opinion of a few individual bishops, who, at the time they were fuppofed (though erroneoufly) to manifest an opinion, by directing the conduct of their clergy, it must be remembered were always opposed in that opinion by the minister in question, whose opinion, in point of foundness, might be just as good as the bishop's, although he could not fupport it by actual authority, as his fuperior might. The Basingstoke Diffenter, Sir, has so long quitted the church, that he forgets, I suppose, that her judgment is not to be collected from the opinions of individual bishops, which frequently clash one with the other, but from those public and authorised declarations, which are open to the world, in her articles, canons and liturgy. It is here that the judgment of the established church is to be learned; and by these, all her ruling as well as inferior clergy are bound and ought to be directed. These are the laws of the church: and these are always to be considered as the will of her governors, in the same manner, as. the fecular law of our land, is always confidered as the royal will and pleasure. But the Dissenter further says, that difsenting baptifms are valid in a court of judicature; and that church and state agree upon this point. Here, I take it, we must assist your correspondent a little, with a clear idea upon the point; for he seems confused upon the word validity. Therefore let me remark, that when we speak of the validity of baptifm, we speak of it as it is valid, or not valid, to falvation: it is purely a spiritual or ecclesiastical phrase. Whether the baptifms of Socinians, or Baptifts, &c. be valid to falvation, or not, is a question which I never knew had ever

VOL. XIV.

Chm. Mag. Jan. 1808.

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