ing them; but partly from knowing that formerly they had been inculcated beyond their proportion, and even to the disparagement of Christian obedience; partly from fancying them so generally received and remembered, that little needs to be said but on social obligations; partly again, from not having studied theology deeply enough, to treat of them ably and beneficially : God grant that it may never have been, from want of inwardly experiencing their importance; but whatever be the cause, the effect hath been lamentable."

In the same strain of holy anxiety for the cause of vital godliness, did the pious Bishop Porteus address his clergy, in a charge delivered in the year 1798: "If," said this venerable Prelate, "you wish for any effectual success, you must lay before your people with plainness and with force, the great fundamental doctrines of the Gospel you must shew them to themselves; you must tell them plainly and honestly what they are, and what they ought to be; you must convince them that they are frail, corrupt, fallen creatures ; that man since he came out of the hands of his Creator, has contracted a radical taint, which has miserably vitiated his moral frame; that the remedy, the only remedy, for this great, this inveterate disease of the soul, is to be found in the Gospel; in the application of the means there pointed out for

the recovery of what we have lost; in the renovation of the heart and life, by its doctrines and its precepts; in the illumination of the understanding; in the sanctification of the soul; in the aid given to the infirmities of our nature by the heavenly influences of the Holy Spirit; and above all, in the sacrifice made for all mankind upon the cross, by our Redeemer; and in humble reliance on that sacrifice for pardon and acceptance. These are the great EVANGELICAL DOCTRINES which must be pressed repeatedly, with devout and solemn earnestness, on the minds of our hearers; which can alone speak to their consciences, their affections, and their hearts; can alone awaken them to a just sense of their condition, and convince them of the absolute necessity of sincere repentance, of a vital faith in Christ, and a uniform obedience to his laws." (Charge delivered in the years 1798-9, p. 22, &c.) Note (i).

But beside external enemies, the Church of England has had others to contend with, and perhaps the most dangerous to her existence, as having got within her camp,-I allude to those, who calling themselves Church of England divines, and as such enjoying her temporal emoluments, have not scrupled to hold doctrines directly contrary to

her Articles and Creeds; doctrines which have been condemned as heretical in other ages of the church, and

were known under the name of Arian, Socinian, and Pelagian. As long as men are only supposed to hold these opinions, one would charitably hope that the imputation was unfounded; as it would not be possible, to bring a severer charge against any man, than that of his binding himself to preach and teach doctrines which in his heart he did not believe. But when a man not only preaches, but prints and publishes his opinions, obtruding them on the world, Charity can no longer throw her mantle over such a one at the expense of truth. It is to be much regretted that works of this nature have been published at various times, by men whose reputation for learning has made their writings the more dangerous, Note (k); but we have reason to be thankful, that though the poison has thus been widely diffused, it has always, in the providence of God, been followed by an antidote. There have not been wanting in the latter days, ministers in the Church of England, fully equal in learning to the persons alluded to, who have contended successfully against them in the support of truth: among the principal of these were the learned Bishop Horsley (Horsely's to Priestley,) and the well-known author of "The Doctrine of a Trinity proved," Note (1), these "being dead, yet speak," And in our own time, when this uncircumcised Philistine, still puts himself forward to defy the armies of the

living God, he has been most ably met, and I would trust successfully combated, by champions in the Church of England; by a venerable and learned Prelate on the English Bench, (Dr. Burgess, Bishop of Salisbury,) and by a Prelate of the Church of Ireland, (Dr. Magee, late Archbishop of Dublin,) one who, in point of learning and talent, has proved himself not unworthy the University which gave him birth.

But feeling that I have too long trespassed on your attention, I will only entreat your indulgence for a few moments, while I endeavour to make a brief application, and I have done. From what has been advanced, we may see that the Apostle's exhortation in our text is equally addressed to every professing Christian in the present day; and that all who have laid hold on the common salvation, will, it is hoped, esteem it their privilege, no less than their duty, meekly, though "earnestly, to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." Some of you, my younger brethren, may shortly be particularly called upon to do so, when you go forth from these walls, to fill various offices in the church of Christ. Whilst you have been engaged in the laudable pursuits of human literature and human science, I trust that under the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, you have particularly attended to the study of that Word which is able to make you wise unto

salvation that you have seen how vain and empty all knowledge must be, if not made subordinate and subservient to that wisdom which is from above; which, while it enlightens the understanding, purifies the heart. Never for a moment suppose, that these studies are incompatible with each other; you have had the brightest examples in this, and the Universities of the sister kingdom, to prove the contrary; and you may have also seen possessors of eminent talents and extensive human erudition, who, from the want of religious principle, have prostituted that learning, and abused those talents, to the injury of their fellow-creatures—it may have been, to the destruction of their own souls. Seek then to improve the quiet leisure and opportunities you enjoy within these walls, "in reading of the Holy Scriptures, and such studies as help to the knowledge of the same." Study the Scriptures in the original, and it will amply repay your labour. Endeavour to make yourselves acquainted with the history of the church of Christ from the earliest ages; not so much with the view of knowing the various opinions of contending parties on the subject of religion, as if you were to choose yours from among them, but searching for apostolic truth, and tracing it, wherever it may be found. Study the principles of the Reformation, and seek to be well acquainted with the Scripture doctrines of your