P R · E F A C E. fbop if Litchfield andCoventry*, who, in a la~e charge to ~he clergy of his diocefe, is pleqjed to lament over the times tn the fillowmg mournful language: " At fo critical a juncture (fayr his lordjhip) 1 whm common '' chriflianity is treated with an avowed contempt and open profanenefs ; Cba~~c·4~· « when an undifguifed immorality prevails .fo very generally ; when there is 41 ' ' • " fcarce honefty enough (o .(clve the nation from ruin; ~vhen, w_ith r~gard " to the eftablifhed church t1t particular, the royal fupremacy ts prqfe.lfed- " ly expojed, as incof!liftent with the rights of con(cience, even THAT su- " PREMACY, ~vhich 'Uias the ground-work of the riformation among us "from popery, which was ackno7vledged, andfworn to by the old puritans, " though now, incoif!flently enough, difowned and condemned in the new h!f- " tory, and vindication of them and their principles.--When .fo de- " jlruCiive an attempt has been made o1z the legal maintenance of the clergy, " by the late tithe bill, and confequently, on the fate of the chriftian re- " , ligion among us.--When an attempt has been lately made on the im- " ,portant out-works of our eccld£aflical eflablijhment, the corporation and '' te!l: aCts, with the greatd/ iifolences towards the church, and mojl undu- " tiful menaces to the civil government.--When the epifcopal authority " has been well nigh undermined, under a pretence if r~forming the eccle- " jit!flical courts; and if that order had been rendered u_felefs, as it muft " have been, when it had loft its authority, then the revenues would have " been foon thought ufelefs ; and in the r€fult of things, the order itfelf " might have been confidered as Juperjluous, and perhaps in due time, " thought .fit to be abolijhed.--When churches have been put into foch a '' method qj repair, as would end in their ruin in a little time; and whm " the correCiion of the abtifes if the matrimonial lice1!fes has been laboured " in fo aijurd a manner, as to permit the marriage qf. minors without COIZ- '' fent qj' tbeir parents or guardians: When thefe melancholy circumjlances " have fo lately concurred, it is natural to irifer, our zeal for the church '' fhould be in proportion to its danger; and if tbtfe are not proper occajions " for zeal fo1· our eccliftajlical conjlitution, it is not eojy to aj)ign circum- " fiances that may jujlly demand it."-How .fine and jitbtile are tbfje foeculations ! I have not olfer?Jed any infolmm towards tbe church, or undutiful menaas to the civil government, in the late writings of the dijfenters; but if one pin qj' the hierarchy be removed by the wzfdom af the legijlature, Vid.~ l<>t~ the wbole building is fuppojed to fail, and all religion along ~vith it. His exce_llmt e~·/ordjbip tberefore advifes his clergy to }ludy t the bijhop qf Lond0n's codex, ahmmadtw,_of · d J j d · d · J h . J. • t eeo exJU– tn or er to ue en tt; an zt can uo t em no real pre;ut~tce to examzne at ris eccl. the fame time, the principles if law and equity, on which it is founded. Angl. As to the diff'enters, his lordjhip adds, " ho·wever, it will become us if the Charge, P• ~· clergy, in point of prudence, not to give anyjujl fufpicions of our difgu!l: 46 • VoL. H. b " to * Dr. Smallbrook. t Dr. Gibfon.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=