"Prophets, and teachers, priests, and victor kings, Strong-hearted Paul, instinct with seraph-fire, Oft hast thou come heaven-wafted to my breast, I praise my God, and tend the sick soul's needs; &c. &c. It would take up too much time to continue the poem, of which I have attempted the above rude translation; nor is it to the purpose to set before the reader of the present day a formal defence and recommendation of celibacy, though there is no reason why Gregory should not have his own opinion about it as well as another. I end with the following specimen, which is of a different character: THE DEATH OF A YOUNG MAIDEN. Painful to lose; but twice our pain, bereft Of what is dear; and thrice, of maiden young; Should she be fair; and it is throughly cleft, If she have promised love, and then her pledge have left. REGARD DUE TO THE OPINION OF THE EARLY FATHERS IN THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. It is obvious that the Bible, consisting as it does of histories, prophecies, psalms, and letters, does not propose Divine truth in the simplest form, and that, in many cases, it requires a very accurate judgment to separate a general truth from the particular circumstances in which it is involved. We find in the inspired volume no creeds and catechisms, but declarations made in certain cases, or the history of God's dealings with certain nations or individuals, and from these it is required to make a general inference which may be applied to any given case. Now, if we merely look at the various sects by which we are surrounded, all claiming the support of Scripture, it is manifest that different minds may build out of these Divine materials very different edifices. To a person considering this state of things, it must be satisfactory to recollect that our Lord and his apostles authorized certain men to teach, and provided means for their perpetuation as a separate class; that the earliest of the men thus authorized, heard the Gospel from the mouth of the apostles, applied to themselves in the simplest form, and that many writings composed by these favoured persons and their disciples are still extant. The sentiments and admonitions of these men afford a clew to the right interpretation of Scripture which no sober person ought to disregard: much as they are overlooked now, there was a time when the Christian world gave them their true value. The following passage from Irenæus, bishop of Lyons, in the 2nd century, (Euseb. Eccles. Hist. iv. 14) may probably surprise some persons, but yet it is merely a single illustration of the views which then prevailed. and Polycarp, having not only been instructed by the apostles, and been in the society of many who had seen the Lord, but having been stationed by the apostles in Asia, as bishop of the church in Smyrna, whom we also saw in our first youth, for he remained a long time and at a great age, having been a glorious and most illustrious martyr, departed this life, having always taught those things, which also he learned from the apostles, which also the church hands down, which also alone are true. To these doctrines the churches in Asia bear witness, and those who up to this time have succeeded Polycarp, a martyr to the truth much more worthy of credit and more certain than Valentinus and Marcion and the other ill-judging people. This Polycarp, having been at Rome in the time of Anicetus, turned many of the afore-named heretics to the church of God, having proclaimed that he had received from the apostles the one only truth— namely, that handed down by the church.' H. Y. CHURCH-OF-ENGLAND SOCIETY.-REGISTRATION BILL." SIR,-I perceive, by a notice in the "Advertiser" of your last number, that a Society is to be formed, called " The Established Church Society," "" to ward off the dangers with which the united church is There are many points of this letter from which the Editor entirely dissents; but there is very much which deserves particular attention. threatened;" and, without knowing any thing about the peculiar objects and character of this Society in particular, or pledging myself to its approval, I still think that a Society of such a nature is essential to the very existence of the establishment in the present day. So long as the government were the bonâ fide protectors of the church, acting in concert and communication with its bishops, such a Society would have been superfluous; but now that the government has undertaken the patronage of dissent, and acts not only not in concert with the bishops, but in direct hostility to and contempt of their official character, it is absolutely necessary that something should be done to produce that security which a union of councils alone can give. I have been more convinced of this by a complaint which I lately heard made by a valuable member of parliament, respecting the want of communication and co-operation which there was between the heads of the church and its lay friends in the House of Commons, owing to which there were bills of the most vital importance brought into the house every week, which were either not contested at all, or contested ignorantly, and therefore feebly and ineffectually, by laymen who did not know, and could not be supposed to know, what the wishes and interests of the church really were; the result of which was, that the battle was to be fought in the House of Lords, to the great increase of the odium which already rests upon that branch of the legislature, the spiritual part of it in particular. The case particularly instanced was the parochial registration bill, which was unexpectedly brought on in a thin house, when only one member was present who seemed to know any thing about it; and this bill, I do not hesitate to say, is nearly as insulting and injurious to the clergy as even Lord Brougham's notorious residence bill could be. It proclaims to the nation that the clergy are no longer thought worthy of being the national registrars, and appoints the tax-gatherer as their worthy substitute. It separates registration from baptism, and will thereby tend to unchristianize the land. It affronts the religious prepossessions of the pious, by forcing those who have always identified registration with baptism, (? are there such people?-ED.) to go to the tax-gatherer for registration, under the mild and merciful penalty of 107.; and fosters the irreligious prejudices of the ungodly by telling them that when once registered by the taxgatherer, that part of the business is complete, and that the sacrament of baptism is no longer necessary to insure the benefits of civil registration. The motive of this is plain-hatred to the clergy; its object, to separate the people from the clergy; its end, to destroy the clergyman's influence, and thereby promote dissent. Not but that the clergy, in some measure, deserve this. They said they would not act as civil registrars; they set up their backs against the humiliation, as they called it; and in this respect shewed, I think, very little of the wisdom of the serpent. Had they been willing to register The correctness of this opinion may be very much questioned; but, if correct, where does the fault lie? Can the friends of the church doubt for a moment of the anxiety of the church to afford them every information on every occasion? the baptisms of those who came to be baptized, and the births of those who only came to be registered, they would, in most cases, have had both baptisms and registrations, and the labours of the tax-gatherer might have been spared. The same would have held good with regard to marriages. Had they been willing to register the marriages of those who came to be joined by them in a religious contract, and the marriage declaration of those dissenters who, objecting to our forms, came merely to declare their marriage as a civil contract, the degradation would only have been in their own imaginations, and the mischiefs and difficulties which now threaten us might have been averted. But this is now too late; our enemies are in power, united against us without, while we are splitting straws within.* But to revert to the registration bill, which the clergy ought to be well acquainted with. Clause 5 appoints the tax-gatherer registrar; clause 13 compels every houseoccupier to give notice to the said tax-gatherer of every birth+ or death that happens in his house, under a penalty of 107.! clause 14 compels all parents or next of kin to give particulars of birth or death to the said tax-gatherer when required,+ under penalty of six months' imprisonment!! clause 15 says, births are not to be registered after fourteen days, under penalty of 50%.!!! clause 16 says, no burial shall take place without certificate from the tax-gatherer, under penalty of 10%., so that, if a corpse comes (as it will in nine common cases out of ten) without certificate, the friends must be kept in the church or churchyard till the fugitive tax-gatherer is found, and his license obtained. Clause 17 says, that if a child has been registered without a name (as in the poor man's case it will generally be), the name may be added on payment of a 20s. fee !-a nice provision this for a day-labourer! Clause 18 settles the payment as follows:-5s. each for the first ten entries; 2s. 6d. each for the next ten; and 1s. for the remainder,so that one hundred entries will cost 50 + 25+ 80 shillings, or 71. 15s. In my parish church we register all our births for 6d. a-head, so that, with us, 100 baptisms cost 27. 10s. The new mode, therefore, will cost 5 guineas a hundred more than the old one. So much for economy. Clause 11 compels the clergyman to keep the tax-gatherer's duplicates in his parish chest; clause 21 enacts that they shall be deemed to be in his keeping; and clause 24 very kindly enacts, that if he shall wilfully allow the said duplicates to be injured, he shall be liable to be transported for his natural life, or for any number of years not less than fourteen. How kind and considerate to the spiritual pastors of the land! and what a glorious prospect for informers does Surely they who cannot or will not take higher ground might ask themselves whether it is not wise to resist the first attempt to impose mere civil duties on the clergy. Can Clericus even guess, in these days of economy, where this may end? Why should not the clergy, who are so rich and have so little to do, save the national purse by being the tax-collectors, &c. &c.?-ED. ✦ Thus, if a fraud (for purposes of altering inheritance) is intended, a birth which has never taken place may be registered, for the child need not be shewn to the collector.-ED. But why and when will the collector require such particulars, especially in large parishes?-ED. VOL. VI.-August, 1834. Y this hold forth! It is the beau-ideal of utilitarian legislation incorpo rated in the form of a registration bill, warm from the plastic hand of Mr. William Brougham. These precious clauses may no doubt be altered in committee; but the animus of Brougham, who conceived, 、 and Russel, who adopted them, is everlastingly embodied in them, and ought not to perish from the memory of the clergy. They ought to know who and what their legislators are. Clause 23 enacts, that if the clergyman carelessly allows the duplicates to be injured, he shall forfeit 501. This again is very pleasant to the poor hapless incumbent. He is forced by law to take charge of nobody knows how many folios of registers sent to him by the tax-gatherer, and then told that if he carelessly allows one line to be injured he shall forfeit 507. Clause 25 enforces correction of errors, under a penalty of 107.; and clause -30 empowers distress and sale of goods in case of nonn-payment, and for want of distress inflicts one month's imprisonment (most of this thunder and lightning of legislation being directed, be it remembered, against tax-gatherers and clergymen); and clause 35 enacts, that the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th sections shall be read four times in the first year, and once in the three following years, in every parish church and dissenting chapel throughout England and Wales, to the great edification, no doubt, of the respective congregations. Finally, this precious act creates three penalties of 10., two of 50%., one of 201.; one six months' imprisonment; one fourteen years' transportation or for life. In order to relieve dissenters, it compels churchmen to be registered by a tax-gatherer; it robs the clergy of their registration fees, and compels them to keep the tax-gatherer's registers, under penalties of 107., 201., and 501., with liability to six months' imprison ment and transportation for life; and all this for the good of the subject and the relief of scrupulous consciences. Trusting that you will be able to find room for this in your next, I remain, Your very obedient servant, CLERICUS. ON DISSENTERS BURYING IN OUR CHURCH-YARDS. SIR,-One of the many grievances dissenters complain of, is their not being permitted to bury their dead as they like. In what manner this is to be remedied, has not yet been clearly developed. It may be fairly deduced, however, from the tone and tenor of the numerous petitions that have of late been presented by the complainants, what they would be at, if they could get every thing their own way. They do not desire to bury their dead, it ought to be remarked, out of the churchyard, as they crave to be permitted to marry and register those who belong to them out of the church. If they knew anything of law, equity, or common right, this is an absurdity which such knowledge would have hindered them from falling into. The church-yard, they ought to know, is just as real a part of the church establishment as the Liturgy which they so much dread, and as those forms and ceremonies they so much despise. They dislike to be married before the altar in the church, |